Opinion

1. Stronger talent support for Chinese modernization

Talent is the primary resource. In recent years, amid intensifying global competition for talent, China has established a strategic focus on talent-driven development, leveraged major talent projects as a driving force, deepened reforms in talent development systems and mechanisms, and promoted the deep integration of talent chain, innovation chain, and industrial chain. The creativity and vitality of talent have continued to flourish, the scale of talent across various fields has steadily expanded, and a solid talent foundation has been forged to support high-quality development.

2. Providing comprehensive financial services for manufacturing

In the first half of this year, China's industrial production achieved rapid growth, with strong performance in equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing. Meanwhile, medium- and long-term loans to the manufacturing sector maintained high growth, increasing by RMB 920.7 billion in the first half of the year. Industry experts stated that efforts should be intensified to further align financial services with corporate needs, introduce medium- and long-term flowing capital loans, provide integrated "equity + debt" financial solutions for enterprises, and explore the potential of finance in supply chain.

Policy

1. Beijing on August 8 announced the removal of its limits on the number of home purchases outside the city's fifth ring road, marking the latest move to boost the local property market. From August 9, there will be no restriction on the number of homes purchased outside the city's fifth ring road by families with local household registration, and families without local household registration but with at least two years of social insurance or individual income tax payment records in Beijing, according to a circular issued on August 8.

2. China's Ministry of Natural Resources announced on August 11 that the country has completed property rights registration for its first five national parks, a key step in advancing ecological conservation. The five national parks, namely the Sanjiangyuan National Park, the Giant Panda National Park, the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park, the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park and the Wuyishan National Park, now have their ownership of various natural resource assets formally established and declared through statutory registration.

3. China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on August 12 that eight categories of eligible service sector businesses will benefit from a new loan interest subsidy policy action plan recently unveiled by nine government departments, including the MOF. The action plan targets service sector businesses in the categories of catering and accommodation, health care, elderly care, childcare, housekeeping, culture and entertainment, tourism and sports.

Data

1. Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, marked a new milestone on August 8 after delivering its first pure car and truck carrier, named Grande Tianjin, with a capacity of 9,000 parking spaces. The newly delivered pure car and truck carrier were built in just 179 days from dock to delivery, setting a new construction record for ships of its class.

2. The cargo throughput of ports along the Yangtze River is expected to hit a record 2.34 billion tons during the first seven months, up 4.8 percent year on year, underscoring the waterway's vital role in domestic logistics, the river administration announced recently.

3. The new western land-sea corridor train service transported 872,000 TEUs from January to July this year, up 75.3 percent year on year, according to China Railway Nanning Group Co. Ltd on August 9.

4. China National Light Industry Council data showed sector revenues hit RMB 11.3 trillion and the output expanded 7.0 percent year on year during the first half of this year, continuing the recovery trend since Q4 last year.

5. The China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area in China's eastern coastal city of Qingdao saw robust trade with member states, as the trade value grew 26.1 percent year on year to RMB 53.26 billion, the customs statistics showed.

6. Over 13.278 million new market entities were established in China in the first half of this year. Among them there were 4.62 million new enterprises, 8.629 million individual businesses, and 29,000 farmer cooperatives. All types of business entities demonstrate steady growth momentum, said the State Administration for Market Regulation.

7. The X9043 train, fully loaded with 55 containers of photovoltaic modules, set off from Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, to Baku, Azerbaijan, on August 13. This departure marked a new milestone as the total number of China-Europe freight trains departing from Xi'an since the launch of the first service in 2013 exceeded 30,000.

8. China has completed the issuance of RMB 188 billion of ultra-long special treasury bonds in 2025, supporting the implementation of large-scale equipment upgrades across key sectors, the National Development and Reform Commission announced. The funding will back more than 8,400 initiatives in industrial production, energy systems, transport infrastructure and supply chain modernization, leveraging over RMB 1 trillion in combined investments.

9. The outstanding margin financing balance in China's A-share market totaled RMB 2,012.188 billion as of August 11, exceeding the mark of RMB 2 trillion after ten years.

10. China's regional trade performance showed sustained improvement from January to July. The total foreign trade value of the Yangtze River Delta reached RMB 9.59 trillion during this period, up 5.4 percent year on year, and the region's trade value accounted for 37.3 percent of the country's total. The trade value of nine mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area totaled RMB 5.2 trillion, up 4.7 percent year on year, accounting for 20.2 percent of national trade volume. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region saw exports surge past RMB 120 billion monthly for four straight months (April-July), setting new 2025 records for both export value and growth pace.

(Source: Economic Daily)