Opinion

1. Strengthen the foundation of the domestic circulation

Since the beginning of this year, the international environment has become more complex, and the impact of external shocks has increased. To pursue development in a more uncertain and unstable world, it is crucial to place greater emphasis on strengthening the domestic circulation, continuously unleashing the vitality and potential of the ultra-large market. This will effectively mitigate the impacts of external shocks and declining external demand, solidifying the foundation of China's economic development. The recently held Ninth Plenary Meeting of the State Council proposed to strengthen the domestic circulation through key focal points, and leverage the inherent stability and long-term growth potential of the domestic circulation to hedge against the uncertainties of the international circulation.

2. Effectively stimulate the vitality of private investment

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that in the first half of this year, private project investment (excluding private investment in real estate development ) increased by 5.1 percent year-on-year, achieving stable growth. The recently held meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee proposed "stimulating the vitality of private investment and expanding effective investment." This means that investment efforts in the second half of the year need to focus more precisely on efficiency, promoting the continued recovery and structural optimization of China's private investment by expanding the space for effective investment.

Policy

1. China will expand the circumstances under which individuals can withdraw funds from their private pension accounts starting Sept. 1, according to a circular released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and four other government organs. The new policy aims to enhance the flexibility of the private pension system, allowing withdrawals in situations such as high personal or family medical expenses and long-term unemployment.

2. The Beijing E-Town Comprehensive Bonded Zone recently passed its pre-acceptance inspection, marking that Beijing's fourth comprehensive bonded zone and the nation's first comprehensive bonded zone themed on new quality productive forces is about to commence separate customs operation.

3. China has launched a pilot program for green foreign debt financing in a bid to attract the inflow of global capital into the country's green sector. Piloted in 16 provincial-level regions and cities, including Shanghai, Beijing, Hebei and Qingdao, non-financial enterprises are encouraged to use cross-border financing funds for qualified green and low-carbon transition projects, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) announced on August 21.

Data

1. The National Development and Reform Commission released on August 15 important achievements made in the five years since the major proclamation on carbon peak and carbon neutrality. China's energy transition towards green and low-carbon development has achieved significant results. The proportion of coal consumption decreased from 56.8 percent in 2020 to 53.2 percent in 2024, while the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption increased from 15.9 percent to 19.8 percent.

2. According to China State Railway Group on August 16, in the first seven months, national railway fixed asset investment reached RMB 433 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.6 percent.

3. According to the State Post Bureau, in the first seven months, China's express delivery volume cumulatively reached 112.05 billion parcels, a year-on-year increase of 18.7 percent.

4. China's installed capacity of renewable energy power generation is the largest and its growth rate is the fastest globally, consistently maintaining its dominant position in newly installed capacity. As of the end of June, the national renewable energy installed capacity reached 2.159 billion kilowatts, accounting for approximately 59.2 percent of China's total installed capacity, according to the National Development and Reform Commission .

5. In the first half of this year, the total demand for food cold chain logistics services was 192 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.35 percent; the total revenue of food cold chain logistics service enterprises was RMB 279.94 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.84 percent, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

6. In the first seven months, China's automobile exports reached 3.68 million units, a year-on-year increase of 12.8 percent. The production and sales of commercial vehicles increased by 6 percent and 3.9 percent year-on-year respectively. New energy vehicle exports increased by 84.6 percent year-on-year, becoming an important growth driver for foreign trade development, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers .

7. According to a 2024 survey by the Credit Reference Center of the People’s Bank of China, the overall scale of China’s movable property financing market is approximately RMB 15 trillion (USD 2.1 trillion).

8. From January to July this year, China Development Bank issued RMB 385 billion in loans for advanced manufacturing and strategic emerging industries, a year-on-year increase of 51.3 percent.

9. China's trade volume with fellow Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members from January to July reached RMB 2.11 trillion (about USD 295.58 billion), marking a 3-percent increase year on year, a record high. In 2024 alone, China's trade with other SCO members hit RMB 3.65 trillion, 36.3 times the level recorded when the organization was established, data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed on August 20.

10. Rural e-commerce entrepreneurship remains active. Data from relevant research institutions shows that as of the end of July, the number of rural online merchants nationwide exceeded 19.5 million, a year-on-year increase of 6.4 percent.

(Source: Economic Daily)