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News from China

Chinese financial institutions criticized for excessive loan fees to small businesses

23rd November 2020

Several Chinese banking, insurance and credit institutions have been criticized for charging excessive fees on loans to small and micro businesses, involving a total of nearly 100 million yuan (US$15.24 million) in violations, said the country's banking and insurance regulator Saturday.

Targeted inspections by the General Office of the State Council and China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) found that some branches of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Minsheng Bank had charged fees that should have been abolished for loan issuance to small and micro businesses.

An inclusive financing company under Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Ltd and Industrial Bank Co Ltd bundled insurance sales when extending loans to businesses to charge high service fees, according to a statement by the regulator.

The CBIRC urged financial institutions to enhance support for businesses to help firms get over difficulties, and not to attach unreasonable conditions.

The regulator vowed to act against practices that flout regulation.

It is necessary to effectively safeguard companies' rights to know, to make independent choices and conduct fair transactions. Banking and insurance institutions should not use market advantage to attach unreasonable conditions, force bundling sales and illegal charges, which will increase the hidden financing costs of small and micro enterprises.

They should strengthen corporate governance, implement the main responsibility for the management of branches or subsidiaries, and strengthen the management of cooperation with third-party institutions, said the regulator.

Source: Shanghai Daily, November 23, 2020

China's economic recovery momentum to sustain: Bloomberg

18th November 2020

Based on China's economic performance in October, analysts said the country's recovery momentum will sustain in the coming months, according to a report released recently by Bloomberg.

In the article published Monday with the title "China's Strengthening Recovery Cements Status as Global Outlier," the analysts reviewed the growth in industrial output, retail sales, and improving consumer confidence and employment in October, forecasting "faster growth overall" ahead.

According to data from the country's National Bureau of Statistics, in October, China's value-added industrial output went up 6.9 percent year on year, the same as that of September. And retail sales of consumer goods, the main gauge of China's consumption, climbed 4.3 percent year on year.

Noting a boom in China's holiday sales, Julia Wang, an executive director and global market strategist at JPMorgan Private Bank, was quoted as saying that the consumer sector "which I think by mid-next year should be a much bigger driver of the post-pandemic growth recovery in China."

"Crucially, consumer spending is catching up after a slow start and complementing what has been an industrial-led recovery," the report commented, foreseeing retail spending to get a boost from the Singles' Day shopping festival, which fell on November 11.

According to China's central bank, online payments through NetsUnion, the Chinese online-payment clearinghouse, and China UnionPay, a card-payment giant, soared 19.6 percent year on year to 1.77 trillion yuan (US$267.22 billion) on the Singles' Day.

Taking into account the signs of an improving labor market — the surveyed nationwide jobless rate in urban regions fell to 5.3 percent, Bloomberg said that more spending can be encouraged over coming months.

"Looking ahead, growth is expected to stay robust through year-end and into the first few months of 2021," said Chang Shu, chief Asia economist for Bloomberg Economics.

Source: Shanghai Daily, November 18, 2020

Chinese mainland reports 8 new imported COVID-19 cases

16th November 2020

The Chinese mainland on Sunday reported no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission said Monday.

A total of eight imported COVID-19 cases were reported across the mainland Sunday, the commission said in its daily report.

Of the new imported cases, three were reported in Sichuan, two in Guangdong, and one each in Shanxi, Jiangsu and Shaanxi, the commission said in its daily report.

Among all the 3,701 imported cases, 3,348 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery while 353 remained hospitalized, the commission said.

No deaths had been reported from the imported cases.

Source: Shanghai Daily, November 16, 2020

Chinese military releases outline to improve joint combat capabilities

13th November 2020

The Central Military Commission has released an outline on improving the joint combat capabilities of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

The outline, which took effect on November 7, establishes basic concepts and rules, clarifies basic responsibilities, addresses from the institutional level the fundamental questions such as how to fight future wars, and strengthens the orientation of war preparedness.

The CMC has ordered all levels of the armed forces to study and implement the outline, and take it as the fundamental basis for organizing joint combat and training activities, so as to boost the military's capabilities to win wars in an all-round manner.

Source: Shanghai Daily, November 13,2020

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