Hunan’s Belt and Road Trade Surges

In 2017, Hunan’s exports to "Belt and Road" countries increased 43.14% to 48.25 billion CNY; imports increased 44% to 10.47 billion CNY. Of the total, foreign trade between Hunan and ASEAN countries reached 27.18 billion CNY, up 49.9% and accounting for 46.3%. Foreign trade between Hunan and Russia was 5.49 billion CNY, an increase of 140%; the trade volume accounted for 9.3%, 3.7 percentage points higher than the same period last year. Electro-mechanical products were the main export commodities, and exports of traditional labor-intensive products increased substantially. In 2017, Hunan exported 22.23 billion CNY of electro-mechanical products to Belt and Road countries, up 43% and accounting for 46.1% of the total exports between Hunan and these countries. During the reported period, exports of traditional labor-intensive products amounted to 11.31 billion CNY, up 82.5% and accounting for 23.4%. In terms of imports, fast growth was seen in the imports of electro-mechanical products, agricultural products, and high-tech products. In 2017, Hunan imported 2.03 billion CNY of electro-mechanical products from Belt and Road countries, an increase of 110%. And imports of high-tech products valued 1.27 billion CNY, an increase of 180%.

China's service exports expand fast in 2017

China's service exports witnessed fast expansion in 2017, outpacing the growth of imports for the first time in seven years, data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed. The value of service exports gained 10.6 percent to 1.54 trillion yuan (about 240 billion U.S. dollars) last year, while imports increased 5.1 percent to 3.16 trillion yuan, resulting in a 1.62-trillion-yuan deficit, the MOC said in a statement. In contrast to merchandise trade, trade in services refers to the sale and delivery of intangible products such as transportation, tourism, telecommunications, construction, advertising, computing, and accounting. The overall volume of service trade maintained a steady growth, rising 6.8 percent from the 2016 level to 4.7 trillion yuan, said the MOC. Xian Guoyi, head of the ministry's service trade department, attributed the faster growth in exports to China's expanding producer service sector and stronger competitiveness in professional services and emerging services. In 2017, imports and exports in emerging services surged 11.1 percent, 4.3 percentage points higher than the overall increase. As part of efforts to create new economic drivers, China has been improving its service sector and rolling out measures to make it more competitive, including gradually opening up the finance, education, culture and medical sectors. In 2016, ten provinces and cities including Tianjin, Shanghai, Hainan and Shenzhen, as well as five new economic zones were chosen as pilot areas for service trade innovation. The country has also launched an investment fund of 30 billion yuan last month to guide service trade development and facilitate the transformation of China's foreign trade patterns.

Hunan to Further Improve Foreign Investment Environment

The 2018 Spring Festival Symposium for Foreign-invested Enterprises of Hunan Province was held in Changsha. Twenty-three foreign-invested enterprises such as Wal-Mart, GAC FAC, Yum China Holdings, Inc., China Resources Group, and Foxconn, three Hunan liaison offices of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and four law firms including Price waterhouse Coopers attended. Hunan Vice Governor He Baoxiang delivered a speech at the meeting. Hunan Provincial Department of Commerce Director Xu Xiangping first announced the feedback on 50 issues and suggestions put forward by 19 companies and institutions at last year’s session. Participants then shared their enterprises’ development and performance in Hunan in the past year, and gave opinions on better investing in Hunan. Mr. He thanked these enterprises for their contributions to the economic and social development of Hunan Province. He expected more suggestions on Hunan’s rise and opening up would be made by them in the future. He emphasized, “The Department of Commerce and other related governmental departments should attach great importance to the opinions and suggestions from the present representatives. It is also important to sort out the issues raised, and to have them handled and replied.” He continued, “The next step is to further optimize the investment environment for businesses, improve service quality, and establish highlands of preferential policies and systems to attract more foreign investment to Hunan. Through these efforts, better support will thus be given to foreign-invested enterprises.” “We are willing to see more foreign enterprises come to, settle down, and make fortunes in Hunan.” He added.

China's retail sales to grow 10% in 2018

China is expected to see retail sales of consumer goods expand about 10 percent to exceed 40 trillion yuan ($6.38 trillion) this year. The strong consumption growth will be powered by innovative products and services as more affluent Chinese are willing to pay for higher quality and unique experiences, according to a report from the research institute of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). Smart services enabled by the internet will be the most powerful engine for consumption growth this year, said Zhao Ping, a researcher with the institute. China's retail sales of consumer goods expanded 10.2 percent to exceed 36 trillion yuan in 2017, official data showed. The report also estimated that consumption will contribute to over 60 percent of total GDP growth while consumption gaps between urban and rural areas as well as among different regions will narrow. Retail sales in rural areas are likely to grow 12 percent this year, about 1 to 2 percentage points faster than that in urban areas, according to the report.

Central China's Wuhan city welcomes foreign investors: mayor

WUHAN - Central China's Wuhan city, capital of Hubei province, welcomes more foreign investors to invest and live in the city, the city's mayor said. The city currently has over 300 British-funded firms whose investment in the city has totaled more than $5 billion, Wuhan mayor Wan Yong said at a business event attended by Liam Fox, the UK Secretary of State for International Trade, along with over 40 entrepreneurs from the United Kingdom. New contracts were also signed at the Wuhan/Hubei - UK Business Networking Event, covering fields from e-commerce to cultural exchanges. "We want to ensure that UK companies are able to come and invest in the opportunities available here, and we want to see investors from Wuhan invest in the United Kingdom," said Fox. Wan told the British entrepreneurs that the city is working to create favorable conditions for foreign investors to invest and live in the city. Wuhan is a major industrial and education base. As a transportation hub and a resort destination, the city has tremendous development potential.

China, Armenia discuss future trade collaborations

During his meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Armenia Tian Erlong on Tuesday, Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said his country was keen on further activating and expanding cooperation with Chinese investors, according to a statement issued by the Armenian government. "I am confident that our joint work will reinvigorate the expansion of Chinese capital in the Armenian economy," Karapetyan said while highlighting the consistent development of economic cooperation between the two nations. "We have good opportunities for the development of mutual relations. The trade turnover between our countries grew by 34.5 percent from January through November of 2017. This is good dynamics for bolstering bilateral links," Tian said, according to the statement. He cited Armenia's economic indicators of 2017 as favorable conditions for new successful ventures and expansion of economic ties. The ambassador also informed the prime minister that China was willing to strengthen and expand cooperation with Armenia within the frameworks of specific projects. China has allocated $15 million for the construction of a Chinese language school in Yerevan and the country will remain committed to replenishing the numbers of Armenia's ambulance vehicles, Tian reiterated. The two sides have also discussed a range of issues regarding cooperation in the fields of agricultural products and processing, information technologies, construction, tourism and other areas. .