Asia-Business

News from China

Rural areas urged to start businesses and innovate

30th November 2016

THE central government yesterday released guidelines to encourage rural residents to explore entrepreneurship and innovation.

According to a State Council document, the government will offer policies to encourage migrant workers, college graduates, retired servicemen, scientists and technicians to start up businesses in the countryside to aid rural economic development.

The government expects them to work together and inject new energy into the rural economy by introducing modern technology, systems and management concepts to the countryside, which would make China’s agricultural sector more competitive and lift farmers’ income.

New agrobusinesses including large-scale farming, farm produce processing, leisure agriculture, rural tourism, producer and consumer services are priorities of the policy support, it said. The government will also encourage new types of business entities like family farms and farming cooperatives and online businesses.

The measures include easing market access, improving rural financial services, raising fiscal support, providing entrepreneurship and innovation training, and enhancing social safety net, it said.

Source: Shanghai Daily, November 30, 2016

October services trade deficit at US$20.9b

29th November 2016

CHINA’S foreign service trade deficit narrowed in October while the trade volume dropped, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed yesterday.

The deficit stood at US$20.9 billion last month, down from US$23.3 billion in September and US$25.4 billion in August.

Income from trade in services stood at US$22.3 billion last month, down from US$23 billion in September. Meanwhile, expenditures totaled US$43.2 billion, less than September’s US$46.3 billion.

Distinct from merchandise trade, trade in services refers to the sale and delivery of intangible products such as transportation, tourism, telecommunications, construction, advertising, computing and accounting.

China’s service trade volume grew from US$362.4 billion in 2010 to US$713 billion in 2015, doubling the average international growth speed in the sector. The country is aiming to increase its service trade volume to more than US$1 trillion by 2020.

The State Council has pledged measures to improve the development of service trade, including gradually opening up the finance, education, culture and medical sectors. SAFE began releasing monthly data on service trade in January 2014 to improve the transparency of balance of payments statistics.

Source: Shanghai Daily, November 29. 2016

Suzhou picked for German plant

28th November 2016

GERMAN machine tool maker Schwabische Werkzeugmaschinen GmBH has set up its first factory outside Germany in Suzhou Industrial Park.

“We plan to establish smart assembly lines and an automatic production department in China,” said Reiner Fries, managing director sales of SW.

Since SW’s Shanghai office was set up in 2010, it has won nearly 50 clients and sold more than 200 machines.

Fries said SW is instilling in China the concept of German Industry 4.0 step by step, contributing to the development of “Made in China 2025.”

Source: Shanghai Daily, November 28, 2016

Index set to measure rising ‘new economy’

25th November 2016

THE National Bureau of Statistics is working on an index that will measure the burgeoning China’s “new economy,” a bureau official said yesterday.

The index will gauge the new economy in terms of knowledge, economic vitality, innovation, digitalization, transformation and upgrading, as well as achievements, Xian Zude, the bureau’s chief statistician, said at a forum.

The new economy has seen rapid development in China in recent years, with high-tech industries accelerating, Internet-based business prospering, online retail sales soaring, as well as new products and services springing up, Xian said.

However, China lacks statistical standards and a unified indicator to reflect the development of the new economy, he said.

To better grasp the status of the new economy, since May the bureau has started to collect data on new industries, new forms of commercial activities and new business models, Xian said.

An ongoing nationwide agricultural census also includes data about how farmers use the Internet and transact online, he said.

The sharing economy, such as ride-sharing and room-letting businesses, will be excluded from the new-economy index due to difficulty in quantitative measuring, Xian said.

China’s economy grew 6.7 percent year on year in the third quarter, but it was the slowest growth since the global financial crisis.

Source: Shanghai Daily, November 25, 2016

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