Opinion

1. Capital markets to better serve new industrialization

On the new journey of the new era, advancing the Chinese modernization to comprehensively build a strong nation and achieve national rejuvenation hinges on new industrialization. The China Securities Regulatory Commission recently stated that it will leverage capital market resources to boost China’s strength in manufacturing and new industrialization.

2. Investing in China means investing in the future

The 2025 Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment outlines 20 specific measures across four key areas. These include expanding independent opening-up, enhancing investment promotion, improving the effectiveness of open platforms, and strengthening service and guarantee efforts. The plan seeks to further relax market access, optimize the business environment, and attract foreign investment, so as to propel China’s high-quality economic development. Through concrete measures China once again demonstrates to the world that investing in China is investing in the future.

Policy

1. Efforts will be made in China’s ten key sectors to maintain stable growth this year. China will build more national manufacturing innovation centers, and drive the manufacturing sector to leverage strengths, address weaknesses, and expand its growth potential. These steps will promote the sector to climb higher in the global industrial and value chains, laying a solid material and technological foundation to achieve Chinese modernization.

2. The National Financial Regulatory Administration issued a notice on March 14, calling on financial institutions to diversify financial products, enhance digital, green, and smart finance solutions, and increase credit support for key consumption sectors including cultural tourism, health and elderly care. Banks are also encouraged to issue more personal consumer loans and optimize financial services to stimulate consumption.

3. Shanghai strives to build itself into a hub for debut economy. The city introduced ten measures on March 16, including pilot streamlined inspection procedures for imported debut consumer goods, pilot streamlined customs procedures for debut cosmetics, and optimized enterprises service package to facilitate customs clearance for imported debut products.

Data

1. China's domestically developed tonne-class unmanned transport aircraft, the TP1000, has completed its maiden flight in east China's Shandong Province on March 15. The maiden flight signifies another significant advancement for China in the field of high-end unmanned aviation equipment.

2. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, there were 263 transportation airports in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) by 2024, and the three major production indicators, including passenger throughput, cargo and mail throughput, and aircraft takeoffs and landings all reached historical highs.

3. China's medical equipment market size reached RMB 1.35 trillion (about USD 188.2 billion) in 2024, a year-on-year increase of about 6 percent, according to a medical equipment conference that opened in southwestern Chongqing Municipality on March 15.

4. China's digital industry operated steadily in 2024. The industry's business revenue reached RMB 35 trillion (about USD 4.9 trillion) last year, a 5.5 percent year-on-year increase. Total profits grew 3.5 percent year on year to RMB 2.7 trillion, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) showed on March 17.

5. According to the China Development Bank, RMB 83.5 billion in transportation infrastructure loans were disbursed in the first two months of this year.

6. The total electricity consumption in China was 743.4 billion kilowatt hours in February, a year-on-year increase of 8.6 percent, according to the data released by the National Energy Administration on March 18. Among them, the electricity consumption of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries has maintained a rapid growth trend.

7. The People's Bank of China issued a 2025 Chinese Loong silver commemorative coin on March 18, which is the legal currency of the People's Republic of China.

8. China is set to debut an RMB-denominated sovereign green bond in London. The value will not exceed RMB 6 billion (USD 833 million). the Ministry of Finance said on March 19.

9. According to the data of the National Migration Administration, since December 17, 2024, when China implemented the 240 hour transit visa-free policy, 8.805 million foreigners entered the country at all ports as of March 17, up 34.9 percent year on year.

10. Yunnan Province in southwest China exported 32,500 tonnes of coffee in 2024, marking a year-on-year increase of 358 percent. The coffee was exported to 29 countries and regions, including the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, and Vietnam, according to the customs of Kunming.

(Source: Economic Daily)