1. New engine for China's financial market opening up 

 

The trading of Swap Connect, an interest rate swap market access scheme in the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), was officially launched on May 15th. As the world's first derivatives market interconnection mechanism, the launch of "Swap Connect" marks another important step in the opening up of China's financial market to the outside world. It will further improve the efficiency and build an expressway for domestic and overseas investors in interest rate derivatives markets.

 

2. Building a modern industrial system cannot be done behind closed doors

 

The first meeting of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs (CCFEA) held recently emphasized the need to accelerate the building of a modern industrial system with the real economy as the mainstay, and demanded that we adhere to opening-up and cooperation. This is not only in line with China's basic national policy of opening-up, but also an inevitable requirement for building an open industrial system. Building a modern industrial system behind closed doors means falling behind and being eliminated. Only through opening-up and cooperation can we make good use of both domestic and international markets and resources.

 

3. Restoring and expanding demand are key to development

 

With various proactive policy measures, China's demand for production has stabilized and rebounded. At the same time, the constraints of unstable foreign demand and insufficient domestic demand are obvious. The key to promote sustained overall improvement of economic performance is restoring and expanding demand. Efforts should be made to boost consumption and investment, and continuously optimize policy measures to form policy synergy. In that way, it will fully leverage the fundamental role of consumption and the key role of investment.

 

 

1.China will adopt the tariff rates it pledged under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement on certain imports from the Philippines on June 2 this year, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council has said. The annual rates for subsequent years will be implemented on Jan. 1 each year.

 

2.The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration has jointly released a guideline to support people living in rural areas to purchase and use new energy vehicles (NEVs), with a focus on boosting the construction of charging infrastructures with innovative operation and maintenance models.

 

1.According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in April this year, China's imports and exports totaled RMB 3434.7 billion, up 8.9% year on year. Among them, exports reached RMB 2026.5 billion, up 16.8%, and imports reached RMB 1408.1 billion, down 0.8%，with a trade surplus of RMB 618.4 billion.

 

2.China's global ranking in terms of innovation indicators has jumped from 34th in 2012 to 11th in 2022, marking it as one of the innovative countries, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology. 

 

3.Data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed that the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China during the first four months reached 2.291 million, and 2.222 million respectively, both with an increase of 42.8% year on year.

 

4.According to the State Administration for Market Regulation, in the first quarter this year, there were 2.039 million new private enterprises, up 10.7% year on year. By the end of March, the number of registered private enterprises exceeded 49 million nationwide, with private enterprises accounting for 92.3% of the total enterprises. 

 

5.According to China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, from January 2022 to March 2023, 201,700 RCEP Certificates of Origin have been issued from CCPIT, and 126 million US dollars of tariffs were expected to be reduced for importing Chinese products to RCEP member countries. 

 

6.2022 Report on Digital China Development showed that there were 1.067 billion internet users in China, with the internet penetration rate of 75.6%. The size of China's digital economy reached RMB 50.2 trillion, ranking second in the world.

 

7.From January to April this year, the imports and exports of agricultural food products between China and the Central and Eastern European countries totaled 720 million US dollars, up 34% year on year, making agricultural food trade an important area of trade cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries.

 

8.According to China Customs, during the first four months this year, the imports and exports between China and five Central Asian countries totaled RMB 173.05 billion, up 37.3% year on year. In April, the monthly imports and exports from China and five Central Asian countries exceeded RMB 50 billion for the first time, reaching RMB 50.27 billion.

 

9.According to China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, China's logistics totaled RMB 347.6 trillion, an increase of 3.4% year on year, and the market size of logistics in China ranked first in the world for seven consecutive years. 

 

10.Data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed that by the end of April this year, China's foreign exchange reserves stood at 3204.8 billion US dollars, up 20.9 billion US dollars or 0.66% from the end of March.

 

 

(Source: Economic Daily)