Top news of the week:

• Premier Li calls for strengthening China-ASEAN ties and APT cooperation

  November 14, 2022

  Premier Li Keqiang attended the 25th China-ASEAN Summit on November 11, during which he called for enhancing cooperation with ASEAN countries, and jointly maintaining regional peace and stability. On the morning of November 12, Li attended the ASEAN, China, Japan, and Korea (ASEAN Plus Three, APT) Summit and said that East Asia is an important driver for world economic growth, and the APT Summit is a major mechanism for East Asia cooperation. It is conducive to stable and unimpeded international industrial and supply chains. In the face of the current complicated and volatile international situations, APT countries should continue to commit themselves to safeguarding peace and stability and achieving development and prosperity to improve the well-being of the people.

• China eases COVID curbs on domestic trips

  November 15, 2022

  China has eased COVID curbs for domestic group tours organized by travel agencies, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Tourists can make cross-province trips organized by travel agencies with proof of negative test results in 48 hours and are no longer subject to an earlier rule that ban some of such trips when COVID cases emerge, the ministry said in a statement. Travel agents were blocked from organizing trips linking a county that has reported high or medium Covid risk before. However, the ministry said cross-border group travel in and out of China is still suspended.

• China further eases corporate burden with tax & fee cuts

  November 16, 2022

  China’s tax refunds, as well as tax and fee cuts and deferrals, topped 3.7 trillion yuan (about USD 525.8 billion) this year as of November 10, as the country continued efforts to reduce the burden on enterprises, official data showed Wednesday. With tax and fee policies paying off, sales revenue of Chinese enterprises has grown 3.4 percent year on year since the third quarter, accelerating from 1.1 percent in the second quarter. From the beginning of this year to November 10, enterprises’ spending on equipment purchases rose 4.9 percent year on year, 1 percentage point higher than the increase in the first half of this year, Wang said.

   
• Beijing Stock Exchange advances rapidly, boosting liquidity through reforms

  November 17, 2022

  The Beijing Stock Exchange has supported the innovation and development of small- and medium-sized businesses since its inception a year ago and has begun to introduce reforms to boost liquidity. Beijing Stock Exchange has attracted 123 listed companies so far and has raised 26.8 billion yuan (USD 3.8 billion). Most of its listed firms are involved in high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy, software, hardware technologies and new materials. Its listed firms combined operating revenue totaled 73.21 billion yuan in the first three quarters of this year, up 33.25 percent year on year. Data from the bourse showed that over 5.2 million investors had opened accounts by November 14, including social security funds, insurance funds, and eligible overseas institutional investors.

• China’s actualized FDI continue double-digit gains in Jan-Oct

  November 18, 2022

  In the first 10 months, actualized foreign direct investment (FDI) totaled USD 168.34 billion, an increase of 17.4 percent year-on-year, MOFCOM spokesperson Shu Jueting told a regular press conference. A breakdown of the FDI numbers revealed that South Korea’s actual investment in China soared 106.2 percent. The amount of FDI from Germany rose by 95.8 percent, that from the UK went up 40.1 percent and that from Japan was 36.8 percent higher. As measured by domestic regions, eastern China recorded a 12.4 percent increase in the actual use of FDI, per MOFCOM data, with 33.6 percent for central China and 26.9 percent for western China.