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NATIONAL ECONOMY AND KEY REGULATORY CHANGES

1. Xi leads efforts to draw China's new development blueprint
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has charted the course for the country's development, with the adoption of the Party leadership's proposals for formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, explained a draft of the proposals at the fifth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, held in Beijing from Monday to Thursday. He also made an important speech after the proposals were adopted. At the session, Xi said China is about to accomplish the goals and tasks of the 13th Five-Year Plan and a victory is in sight in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. [CGTN.com, 2020/10/31] read more

2. China to keep improving business environment: Xi
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that the country will keep improving its business environment. In the wake of COVID-19, China has adopted a range of pro-business relief policies that apply equally to all companies registered in China, Xi said while delivering a keynote speech via video at the opening ceremony of the third China International Import Expo. Earlier this year, the Foreign Investment Law and its supporting rules and regulations came into effect, and the negative list on foreign investment was cut still shorter, he said. [Xinhuanet.com, 2020/11/04] read more

3. China further cuts items on negative list for foreign investment: Xi
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that the items on the national negative list for foreign investment have been cut from 40 to 33. [Xinhuanet.com, 2020/11/04] read more

4. Premier Li stresses key role of innovation
Premier Li Keqiang underscored the importance of fundamental science in fostering groundbreaking innovations and pushing forward a new type of industrialization during an inspection trip to Henan province on Tuesday and Wednesday. It is more than necessary for China, with its huge market, to press ahead with integrated innovation and innovation for application purposes, the premier said as he visited Zhengdong New District in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital. [chinadaily.com.cn, 2020/11/05] read more

5. Chinese premier stresses high-standard formulation of new five-year plan  
Premier Li Keqiang has called for high standards in formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development to secure a good start in fully building a modern socialist country. Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks while presiding over a Friday meeting of the State Council leading group on the draft plan's formulation. [CGTN, 2020/10/31] read more

6. China's plan for next five years  
The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee which concluded on Oct 29 sets course for China's growth in the next five years (2021-25) Have a look at some highlights. 1 China is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development at present and for the foreseeable future, but there are new developments in both opportunities and challenges facing the country. 2 Placed at the top of the priorities is upholding the central role of innovation in the modernization drive and implementing the innovation-driven development strategy. [chinadaily.com.cn, 2020/10/31] read more

7. China adopts law on export control protecting national security
China's top legislature on Saturday passed a law on export control, allowing the government to act against countries that abuse export controls in a way that harms China's interests. With detailed stipulations on export-control lists and measures, the law was passed on Saturday at a bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislative body. It will go into effect on December 1. According to the law, China may "take reciprocal measures" against any country or region that abuses export-control measures and poses a threat to China's national security and interests. [CGTN.com, 2020/10/18] read more

8. China to pursue innovation-driven development
China will pursue innovation-driven development and shape new development advantages, according to the full text of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee's development proposals made public on Tuesday. The country will uphold the central role of innovation in its modernization drive and take self-reliance in science and technology as strategic underpinning for national development. Focusing on world-leading technologies, economic development, the major demand of the country and people's lives and health, China should further implement the strategies of invigorating the country through science and education, developing a quality workforce as well as of driving development through innovation, according to the proposals. [chinadaily.com.cn, 2020/11/04] read more

9. FDI in China grows in first nine months of 2020
Foreign direct investment in China reached $103 billion in the first nine months of the year, up 2.5 percent from last year, despite the pandemic. In September, the FDI was $14 billion, up 25 percent from a year earlier. Investment has grown each month since April. A senior official with the Chinese Commerce Ministry said many foreign companies adopted a "wait and see" attitude in the early stage of the pandemic, but they are now expanding their investments. Companies like BMW, Siemens, LG, and Toyota plan to make big investments in China. [CGTN.com, 2020/10/22] read more

10. Industrial profits restore as economy perks up
Profits of China's major industrial firms maintained an upward momentum in September as production demands have gradually warmed up amid solid efforts to contain COVID-19 and bolster economic development, official data showed Tuesday. Profits of the country's major industrial firms totaled 646.43 billion yuan (about 96.5 billion U.S. dollars) in September, increasing by 10.1 percent year on year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. The growth narrowed 9 percentage points from August, said NBS senior statistician Zhu Hong. [org.cn, 2020/10/27] read more

11. Factory activity rises to near decade-high
Factory activity expanded in China for the sixth straight month in October amid a strong resurgence in business confidence, a private survey showed on Monday. The Caixin China General Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 53.6 for October compared with 53.0 in September. It was also the highest reading since January 2011, according to survey data released by media group Caixin and information provider IHS Markit. A PMI reading above 50 reflects economic expansion, while one below 50 indicates contraction. [org.cn, 2020/11/03] read more


12. China's October manufacturing PMI at 51.4, continues recovery
China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) slipped to 51.4 in October from 51.5 in the preceding month, official data showed on Saturday. The figure released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) beats Reuters' median forecast of a marginal fall to 51.3. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) is a key gauge of China's manufacturing activity. Although the reading is slightly lower than last month, it has been above 51.0 since July this year, operating in the expansionary territory for eight months in a row and indicating the overall manufacturing industry has continued to pick up, Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician with the bureau explained. [CGTN.com, 2020/10/31] read more

13. Planners envision innovation as key in science, technology development
China will uphold the central role that innovation plays in modernizing the country and turn self-reliance in science and technology into a strategic pillar for national development, according to the communique of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which was released on Thursday. China has entered the phase of pursuing high-quality development. While the nation enjoys many political, economic and social advantages, its current innovation capability is unable to satisfy the nation's need for quality growth, the communique said. As a result, reform and innovation should be the fundamental driving force behind China's socioeconomic growth for the next five years. The nation should also see substantial improvement in its capacity for innovation in that time. [chinadaily.com.cn, 2020/10/30] read more

14. China fully implements opening-up measures announced at last year's CIIE
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that the opening-up measures he announced at last year's China International Import Expo (CIIE) have been implemented to the full. China has taken steady steps to expand imports, with imports of goods and services outpacing the global average over the past year, Xi said while delivering a keynote speech via video at the opening ceremony of the third CIIE. [Xinhuanet.com, 2020/11/04] read more

15. Beijing plans sci-fi-based sci-tech park in former industrial complex
China will build a sci-fi-based science and technology industrial park in a reclaimed steel plant in western Beijing in an effort to boost the development of the country's sci-fi industry. China has attached great importance to scientific and technological innovation, and is seeing a boom in its sci-fi industry. It will promote Beijing as a central city with global influence in the sci-fi field through the China Science Fiction Conference, which opened in the capital on Sunday, said Bai Xi with the China Association for Science and Technology. [CGTN.com, 2020/11/02] read more

 

INDUSTRY SPECIFIC

1. Airport development drives growing civil aviation sector
China has made major achievements on its way to becoming a global power in air traffic with significant progress in the infrastructure sector. Continuously improved and upgraded airports and other infrastructures have sustained the high-quality development of China's civil aviation industry over the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). China positioned the civil aviation industry as an important strategic industry of the country's socio-economic development and invested big in the sector. [org.cn, 2020/10/23] read more

2. China Focus: China's commercial space industry forges ahead
China will promote the development of the commercial space industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), aerospace experts at the 6th China (International) Commercial Aerospace Forum held in Wuhan said Monday. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China will continue building space infrastructure, enhance the capability of commercial space systems, and integrate them into major national development strategies, said Fu Zhimin, chief engineer of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC). [xinhuanet.com, 2020/10/19] read more


3. China's steel industry sees output growth in September
China's steel sector registered output expansion in September as the country's economic recovery maintains momentum, industrial data showed. Crude steel output rose by 10.92 percent to reach 92.56 million tons in the period, with a daily output of 3.09 million tons, according to the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA). The output of pig iron gained 6.93 percent year on year to hit 75.78 million tons last month, while that of rolled steel reported a year-on-year increase of 12.33 percent, according to the CISA. [org.cn, 2020/11/01] read more

4. China's natural gas output up 7.6% in September
China saw accelerated growth in its natural gas output last month, according to official data. The country's natural gas output rose 7.6 percent year-on-year to 14.6 billion cubic meters last month, accelerating from the 3.7 percent rise seen in August, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Average daily production came in at 490 million cubic meters. [chinadaily.com.cn, 2020/10/26] read more

5. China's crude oil output up 2.4% in September
China's crude oil output increased 2.4 percent year-on-year to 16.1 million tons in September, accelerating from an increase of 2.3 percent in August, official data showed. During the period, China processed about 57.35 million tons of crude oil, up 1.3 percent year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. [chinadaily.com.cn, 2020/10/26] read more

6. China National Nuclear Power's electricity generation up 8.24 percent
China National Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. generated more than 109.64 billion kWh of electricity for commercial operations in the first three quarters of this year, up 8.24 percent on the same period last year, the company said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. During the period, electricity generated by the company's nuclear-power units totaled 107.59 billion kWh, up 6.57 percent year on year, said the statement, which was filed Thursday. [xinhuanet.com, 2020/10/17] read more

7. Nation set to dominate lithium-ion cell market
Between 2020 and 2025, China will dominate the lithium-ion battery supply chain in the world, a new report said. Japan and South Korea were market leaders for much of the previous decade. But, according to the report from BloombergNEF, a research firm, China has already surpassed them. China's success came on the back of its huge (72 gigawatt-hours) domestic battery demand, control of 80 percent of refining of the world's raw materials, 77 percent of the world's cell capacity and 60 percent of the world's component manufacturing. [chinadaily.com.cn, 2020/10/27] read more

8. East China province to expand digital economy scale
East China's Shandong Province plans to ramp up efforts to bring its digital economy to a world-class level by 2030, according to a press briefing held in the capital city of Jinan on Monday. The province aims to foster innovative enterprises and industrial clusters in Jinan and build it into a national leading technology center in computing power, arithmetic, and algorithms based on its advantages in computing power infrastructure. Jinan has attracted 56.6 billion yuan (about 8.4 billion U.S. dollars) in investment, covering 68 projects in 12 categories to expand its digital industrial scale. [xinhuanet.com, 2020/10/19] read more

9. AI applications gather pace in medical field
China's healthcare industry is finding increasingly sophisticated applications for artificial intelligence as it evolves from basic uses of AI, industry experts said. Specialist AI enterprises related to the medical industry have also formed mature business models, they said. According to a recent report from online healthcare website Vcbeat.top, use of AI in China's healthcare sector is expected to generate a business of 30 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) this year, on the back of a compound annual growth rate in excess of 40 percent over the past five years. [chinadaily.com.cn, 2020/10/28] read more

10. China sees surge in medical device manufacturers
China had a total of 26,456 medical device manufacturers at the end of August, up 40 percent year-on-year, official data showed. To cope with the raging COVID-19 epidemic in the first months of the year, Chinese authorities accelerated the approval of medical devices, according to the National Medical Products Administration. So far, 22 provincial-level regions including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Jiangsu have launched trials of the medical device registration system [xinhuanet.com, 2020/10/25] read more

11. China's export container shipping index rises in September
China's index of export container transport went up last month, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange. The average China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) stood at 965.7 last month, up 9.9 percent from that of August, according to the exchange. The sub-reading for the South America service led the growth with a month-on-month increase of 51.1 percent, followed by those for the South Africa and west coast of America routes, which climbed 24.3 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from the previous month. [chinadaily.com.cn.com, 2020/10/19] read more

12. China's transport sector returning to normalcy after sped-up recovery
China's transport industry is returning to normalcy after experiencing some fluctuations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past three quarters, said Wu Chungeng, spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport. Official data shows the sector's resilience. During the first three quarters of the year, China's fixed-asset investment in transportation reached 2.51 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.8 percent from the same period last year. The growth rate of freight volume has returned to normal levels. In the first three quarters, 32.78 billion tons of commercial freight was completed. Although it still translates to a decrease of 3.3 percent year on year, the construction has narrowed down from 4.5 percent of the first half of the year. The third quarter saw an increase of 4.4 percent, achieving positive growth for five consecutive months. [CGTN.com, 2020/10/28] read more

13. Development of smart airports in China takes wing
China's civil aviation industry has seen progress in developing smart airports, according to a senior official of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). The country's civil aviation industry has been implementing a smart tech-driven development strategy over the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), Dong Zhiyi, deputy head of the CAAC, said. Over the 2016-2020 period, industry-wide efforts have been made to develop smart airports, which highlight data sharing, effective coordination and intelligent operations, Dong said. [xinhuanet.com, 2020/10/30] read more

14. China auto sales jump 13% in 'Golden September' as shoppers return to showrooms
Automobile sales in China rose 12.8 percent in September from the same month a year earlier, marking the sixth consecutive month of gain, as the world's biggest vehicle market comes off lows hit during the coronavirus lockdown. Sales reached 2.57 million vehicles last month, showed data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Sales are still down 6.9 percent for the first nine months of the year at 17.12 million vehicles, CAAM said. Auto insiders refer to "Golden September, Silver October" as they regard the months as the high season for China sales. [CGTN.com, 2020/10/13] read more

15. China unveils plan for new energy vehicle industry
On Monday, unveiled a development plan for its new energy vehicle (NEV) industry from 2021-2035 that aims to accelerate the country into an automotive powerhouse. The plan, released by the State Council, China's cabinet, listed five strategic tasks -- to improve technology innovation capacity, build new-type industry ecosystems, advance industrial integration and development, perfect the infrastructure system, and deepen opening-up and cooperation. The specific targets include bringing the average power consumption of new, purely electric passenger cars down to 12 kWh/100 km and raising the proportion of new NEVs in the sales of new vehicles to 20 percent by 2025. [org.cn, 2020/11/02] read more

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