1. Accelerating the modernization of agriculture

 

In the face of challenges posed by climate change, resource restrictions and demand upgrading, China's agricultural sector has developed smoothly this year, and progress has been made in scientific and technological innovation, and green and sustainable development. Intelligent agriculture and precision agriculture will become the trend in agricultural development.

 

2. Sci-tech finance as a strong pillar for financial development

 

While China's economy is likely to register a "U-shaped"growth momentum for the full year of 2024, the scientific and technological innovation has delivered outstanding performance, with a year-on-year growth rate of 8.8 percent in the investment of high-tech manufacturing sector from January to November. This indicates that investment in scientific and technological innovation has become an important driving force for industrial restructuring and smooth economic development, as well as in coping with internal and external economic pressures. 

 

 

 

1. Guidelines on financial support for China's elderly care to better serve the high-quality development of greying economy were issued recently by the People's Bank of China, the National Financial Regulatory Administration and other seven departments. According to the guidelines, stage-by-stage goals for the development of pension finance in 2028 and 2035 are clarified, and 16 key initiatives in five aspects are put forward, such as supporting the pension finance needs of different groups of people, expanding the financing channels of the greying economy, improving the financial guarantee mechanism, consolidating the foundation of financial services, and constructing a long-term effective mechanism. 

 

2. China's private pension program has been fully implemented since December 15 after a two-year trial run, aiming to establish a multi-pillar pension system and cope with the aging problem. Five central departments, including the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration, jointly released a notice on December 13 stating that the private pension program would be entirely operated nationwide from December 15.

 

3. Wenjindu Port in Shenzhen City, Guandong Province has become the city's first departure tax refund land port since December 16. It aims to provide a new option for overseas travelers to handle departure tax refund, marking Shenzhen as the first city in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with a full range of land, sea and air ports for departure tax refund.

 

 

 

1. China's total grain production amounted to 706.50 million tons (1,413.0 billion jin), an increase of 11.09 million tons (22.2 billion jin) or 1.6 percent compared with that in 2023, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. It marked that with nine consecutive years of surpassing 1.3 trillion jin, China's grain production made the record of more than 1.4 trillion jin for the first time.

 

2. Sales revenue of consumer products under the policy-backed trade-in program reached over RMB 1 trillion this year, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

 

3. China's lithium-ion battery sector sustained its growth momentum in the first ten months this year, with the total output rising 16 percent year on year to 890 gigawatt-hours (GWh), and the profits of the sector increased 39.4 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

 

4. The Three Gorges project, the world's largest hydropower project, has generated over 1.7 trillion kWh of electricity. The amount is equivalent to saving 550 million tonnes of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1.49 billion tonnes, according to the Ministry of Water Resources. It marked the 30th anniversary of its construction on December 14. 

 

5. In the first eleven months, a record of 52,379 foreign-invested companies were established in China, up 8.9 percent from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Commerce. In November, foreign direct investment in the Chinese mainland in actual use reached RMB 749.7 billion.  

 

6. According to the National Healthcare Security Administration, as of the end of November, the basic health insurance fund garnered RMB 3.11 trillion in revenue, and spent RMB 2.63 trillion in total.

 

7. In a year of heightened challenges, China's property market is showing clearer signs of recovery, bolstered by well-targeted policies that have restored confidence and rekindled demand. A total of 3.24 million housing units have been successfully delivered as of the end of November under the Chinese government's efforts to guarantee smooth delivery, said the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

 

8. It is expected that with enhanced energy security guarantee capacity and green, low-carbon development, China's energy self-sufficiency rate will remain above 80 percent in 2024, with the country's total nuclear power generation capacity topping the global list, data from the National Energy Administration showed.

 

9. As of 10 o'clock on December 15, the cumulative cargo transported by the new western land-sea corridor this year has exceeded 900,000 TEUs, reaching 903,000 TEUs, an increase of 9.6 percent year on year, exceeding the volume of last year of 861,000 TEUs, hitting a new record high.

 

10. According to the Southern Power Grid, since the supply of electricity to Macao in 1984, the cumulative amount of electricity delivered by the mainland to Macao has reached 75.7 billion kWh as of November.

 

(Source: Economic Daily)