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News from China

What China will do to boost industrial resilience

20th July 2022

China's industrial economy showed great resilience in the first half of the year amid complex situations at home and abroad.

The value-added industrial output went up 3.4 percent year on year in H1. In June alone, industrial output growth quickened to 3.9 percent year on year, expanding by 3.2 percentage points from that in May, official data showed.

Looking ahead, there is much to be anticipated in the high-quality development of the nation's industrial economy. The following are some facts, figures and development measures of several key sectors provided by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology at a press conference on Tuesday.

DIGITAL ECONOMY

China's digital economy has ranked second in the world for several years and has driven the country's overall economic growth.

In H1, the growth of the "contactless" economy, which includes online shopping, online education and telemedicine, picked up speed, while the total revenue of the electronic information manufacturing, software, communications and internet sectors exceeded 10 trillion yuan (1.5 trillion U.S. dollars).

In the next step, the country will strive to make breakthroughs in core technologies and promote the innovative development of digital industries.

Efforts will be made to accelerate the development of new digital infrastructure, promote the integration of the digital economy and the real economy, strengthen digital economy governance, foster a sound industrial development ecosystem, and deepen international cooperation.

CONSUMER GOODS

Consumer goods play an important role in creating jobs, increasing exports and promoting economic development. In H1, the value-added output of the consumer goods industry grew by 4.6 percent year on year, demonstrating strong resilience.

Next, enterprises will be encouraged to add customization, green, intelligence and other new elements into their products, create new sources of growth, and meet consumer demand for personalized and high-quality products.

The country will speed up fostering a batch of smart manufacturing demonstration factories in industries such as garments, home appliances, food and medicine.

Efforts will be made to accelerate building a quality traceability system for key consumer goods to boost consumer confidence.

NEW-ENERGY VEHICLES

China's new-energy vehicle (NEV) industry has grown steadily this year, attracting global attention.

In H1, the country's NEV output and sales reached 2.66 million and 2.6 million units, respectively.

More than 10,000 power battery recycling service stations have been built so far, while 1.3 million charging and swapping facilities were built in the January-June period.

Next, China will further expand the promotion scale of NEVs and encourage automobile consumption.

The country will improve standards, enhance industry supervision, and ensure the supply and stable prices of automobile chips and upstream raw materials.

Source: Xinhua

China's employment market perks up amid broader positive signs, gov't support

15th July 2022

China's employment market has seen signs of an upturn, amid broader improvements in key economic indicators and the implementation of multiple pro-employment policies.

The country's surveyed urban unemployment rate fell to 5.9 percent in May from 6.1 percent in April, compared with the overall goal of keeping the rate no more than 5.5 percent in 2022 set in the government work report.

Key economic indicators have also been on the mend. The purchasing managers' index for China's manufacturing sector, which measures the country's factory activity, came in at 50.2 in June, returning to the expansion territory.

Looking ahead, as the economic activities gradually get back on track, China's employment market is expected to improve further, according to an official with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Source: Xinhua

China aims to build modern national road network by 2035

13th July 2022

China has unveiled a plan outlining major targets for a national road network as part of the country's efforts to sustain a modern economic system with an improved inter-area transport layout and increased traffic capacity.

By 2035, the country aims to basically build a modern national road network that is extensive, fully functional, efficient, green, intelligent, and safe, according to a circular jointly released by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Transport.

The new plan involves national roads with a total length of about 461,000 km, consisting of 162,000-km expressways and 299,000-km highways.

China will seek to form a multi-center road network pattern, and further smoothen a transport network that links provinces, city clusters and counties.

Source: Xinhua

China makes efforts to sustain economic recovery in H2

11th July 2022

With COVID-19 outbreaks waning and pro-growth policies taking effect, China is making multi-pronged efforts to continue its recovery trend in the second half (H2) of this year.

The economy has come under strain from COVID-19 resurgences and global geopolitical conflicts since March. To help it navigate the trough, multiple supportive moves ranging from bolstering market entities to spurring domestic demand have been taken by the country's policymakers.

Thanks to the efforts, the latest data has pointed to upticks of key indicators. For instance, the purchasing managers' index for China's manufacturing sector, which measures the country's factory activity, came in at 50.2 in June, returning to the expansion territory.

China's economic operation has been through an unusual journey since the start of this year, said Premier Li Keqiang at a symposium this week. Generally speaking, the economy is seeing a hard-fought recovery based on the implementation of a raft of economy-stabilizing policies, he said.

The premier also stressed that the foundation for recovery is still unstable and called for more hard work to stabilize the economy.

Specifying the priorities for the mid-year economic work, Li noted that China's 160-million market entities are where economic resilience comes from and are vital to the country's employment and overall economic operation. He called for more measures to revitalize market entities, particularly micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed individuals.

Toward this end, the State Council, or China's cabinet, has recently launched inspections in 12 provincial-level regions over government work concerning market entities and employment. Inspection reports showed that the majority of these regions have unveiled supportive measures that have effectively boosted market confidence.

In late June, state organs including the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the State Administration for Market Regulation announced a campaign to toughen a crackdown on irregular fee charges. This is part of the efforts to ease the burden on companies in sectors such as logistics, finance, and energy.

To further shore up market entities, the country has recently expanded the coverage of VAT refunds to companies in seven more sectors, including wholesale and retail sales, agriculture, accommodation, and catering. This move will bring the total amount of tax refunds and reductions to 2.64 trillion yuan (about 393 billion U.S. dollars) this year.

As part of the efforts to drive domestic demand, Ou Hong, an NDRC official, told a recent press conference that priorities will be given to projects such as water conservancy and transportation, as well as the implementation of policies aimed at spurring the consumption of automobiles and home appliances.

Amid the infrastructure drive, the country is allocating in advance the local government special bonds to catalyze investment in infrastructure construction. By the end of May, over 2 trillion yuan of such bonds have been issued nationwide, accounting for 59 percent of this year's quota.

Fresh move in this regard came earlier this week, as the central bank announced that it will support two policy banks to raise up to 300 billion yuan via financial bond issuance to fund the country's major projects.

On the local level, governments are handing out billions of yuan in shopping vouchers and subsidies to shore up local spending. A case in point is the central city of Zhengzhou, which has announced a massive voucher giveaway worth 240 million yuan from late May to August.

Looking ahead, Ou said that the economic planner will enrich and improve its policy toolkits on a regular basis and roll out measures as appropriate to get prepared for more challenging headwinds.

"We have full confidence in overcoming difficulties and challenges, and we are capable of coping with all kinds of unexpected changes to ensure healthy, sound, and sustainable economic development," Ou said.

Source: Xinhua

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