Coastal Tianjin to apply for free trade port

Tianjin, a coastal city in north China, plans to deepen its opening up by constructing a high-standard pilot free trade zone (FTZ) this year and applying to establish a free port, Chinanews.com reported Wednesday, citing the acting mayor’s work report. The coastal city will promote comprehensive opening up externally and internally, and better improve its logistics services for international trade, said Zhang Guoqing, acting mayor of Tianjin, when delivering a government work report at the opening ceremony of the 17th Municipal People’s Congress. Fortune 500 companies will be encouraged to locate headquarters or centers for research and development, settlement, and logistics in Tianjin, noted Zhang. Tianjin will strengthen cooperation with provinces around the Bohai Bay and eastern coastal area, coordinate with other economic zones, and build Tianjin into a favored environment for investment.

Belt and Road Initiative will embrace more cooperation in 2018

The Belt and Road Initiative is expected to embrace more cooperation in 2018 as it solves imbalanced regional development and improves connectivity worldwide, experts said. In a recent symposium held by China Shield Consulting, which carries out risk and security assessments for foreign investment, Chinese experts on international relations shared thoughts about the Belt and Road Initiative and the security situations in several countries and regions as the plan marks its 5-year anniversary. Sun Yuxi, a former spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the world's welcome for the B&R Initiative shows four points that the involved countries and regions share. "The first is that improving infrastructure is essential for any country or region to develop its economy and raise its people's living standards; secondly, it is universally accepted that the principles of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration is pragmatic; thirdly, China respects others' local development strategies and never imposes on others; and fourthly, most participants recognize the importance of improving interconnectivity," said Sun. "Beijing's blue skies and clean air this winter is also evidence showing the fruit of the cooperation under Belt and Road Initiative," Sun added. "Thanks to the initiative, Turkmenistan's natural gas now can be transported to China, which has changed the situation in the past that heating was mainly supported by burning coal." Yao Guimei, a researcher of African studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in the symposium that the plan has tapped the potential for China-Africa cooperation and makes an important contribution to economic recovery in the participating countries. The plan, proposed by China in 2013, aims to build connectivity among Asian, African and European countries in infrastructure, policies, trade, financing and people-to-people exchange. Since its launch, the initiative has involved more than 140 countries and regions and 80 international organizations worldwide. "The international and regional situations have experienced twists and turns in turmoil in 2017, however, the cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative is still on-going and has made great contributions to world economics despite the complex geo-political environment and prominent security issues," said Luo Ying, general manager of China Shield Consulting. "In 2018, the initiative will embrace more cooperation as building a shared community for mankind is known and recognized by more and more countries," Luo said.

Shenzhen's 2017 GDP to top $340b

Shenzhen's gross domestic product is expected to grow 8.8 percent year-on-year to exceed 2.2 trillion yuan ($340 billion) in 2017, said mayor Chen Rugui in a government work report delivered Wednesday to the local people's congress as reported by China News Services. This means the southern Chinese city will overtake Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, in GDP once again. Guangzhou reported a 2.15 trillion yuan GDP for 2017. The city surpassed Guangzhou in 2016 for the first time as its revised GDP, which factored in previously uncalculated expenditures on research and development, topped 2 trillion yuan, ranking third among all cities nationwide. Continuous input in R&D is one of the major highlights of Shenzhen's economic growth, said Cao Zhongxiong, executive director of the New Economy Research Center of the China Development Institute. The city is home to Fortune Global 500 companies such as Tencent Holdings Limited and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. It is also a hub of innovation that is gaining increasing global influence. At the just concluded Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018 held in Las Vegas, more than 600 companies from Shenzhen participated, accounting for nearly a half of the Chinese exhibitors. Statistics show the average profits of enterprises above designated scale in Shenzhen soared 22.7 percent year-on-year, while the per capita disposable income of local residents rose 8.8 percent.

Foreign direct investment logs 7.9% growth in 2017

Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland soared to an all-time high of 877.56 billion yuan ($136.36 billion) in 2017, up 7.9 percent from 2016, official data showed on Tuesday. The substantial rise in FDI illustrates the country's continued efforts to improve the overall business environment for foreign investors, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its website. FDI into the high technology industry was notably strong, up 61.7 percent from a year earlier, the data showed. High-tech businesses such as electric, telecommunication and medical device manufacturing have become popular investment choices for global companies as China is undergoing an industrial and service upgrading boom. "The steady momentum of FDI was attributed to government measures like easing restrictions in its 11 free trade zones and simplified procedures for investment entrance," said Tang Wenhong, director general of the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Foreign Investment Administration. The number of newly established foreign companies rose to 35,652 last year, up 27.8 percent year-on-year, the ministry said in the statement. Foreign companies, which comprised less than 3 percent of the total firms operating in the mainland, contributed to a quarter of the country's manufacturing business profits and one-fifth of tax revenue, it said. Last December, FDI into the Chinese mainland fell 9.2 percent year-on-year to 73.94 billion yuan. The country would face relatively large external pressures to attract foreign investment in 2018, the ministry said in the statement. As for non-financial outbound direct investment in 2017, the ministry's data showed the figure decreased nearly 30 percent year-on-year to $120.08 billion, which covers 6,236 overseas businesses from 174 countries and regions. "The sharp decline reflects the effective reining in of irrational outbound investment," said Li Guanghui, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing. Han Yong, commercial counselor at the Department of Outward Investment and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, said outbound investment mainly flowed into sectors such as leasing and business services, wholesale and retail, manufacturing and information transmission last year. It did not go to the property, sports or entertainment industries. China has been taking a host of measures to curb irrational offshore investment activities and ensure the authenticity of outbound investment. In a document released last August, the State Council said overseas investment in areas including real estate, hotels, cinemas and entertainment would be limited, while investment in sectors such as gambling would be banned. The National Development and Reform Commission, China's economic policy regulator, released a new draft rule last November on outbound investment, including stipulations on the investment activities of firms established overseas by domestic companies. Outbound investment to countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative totaled $14.36 billion in 2017.

Chinese business owners satisfied with political environment: Survey

Chinese business owners were satisfied with the political environment in the localities where their enterprises are based, according to a survey on private businesses. Respondents gave the political environment a score of 3.98 out of 5.0 total points, with five representing "very satisfied," according to the survey. Factors taken into consideration when rating the political environment include the efficiency of local governments in administrative approval and the integrity of officials, it said. The survey found that the respondents were more satisfied with the political environment than the marketing environment, which scored 3.38 on the five-point system, with 3 representing "average." The entrepreneurs surveyed generally remained optimistic about China's five-year outlook, indicating that economic and social crises were unlikely to occur. The business owners gave scores of 2.51 and 3.24 for economic and social risks, respectively, the survey showed. The survey interviewed people from 8,111 private enterprises, with 47.7 percent of the surveyed in the service industry and 29.6 percent in the manufacturing industry.

China’s value of imports, exports to Belt and Road countries rises in 2017

China’s value of imports and exports to Belt and Road countries rose by 17.8 percent in 2017 on a year-on-year basis, said Huang Songping, spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs at a press conference held by China’s State Council Information Office on Jan. 12. China’s value of imports and exports to Belt and Road countries reached 7.37 trillion yuan ($1.14 trillion) in 2017, up 17.8 percent on a year-on-year basis, accounting for 26.5 percent of the country’s total value of imports and exports, said Huang. The Belt and Road Initiative complies with the requirements of the era and Belt and Road countries’ wishes to accelerate development, which, therefore, will contribute to trade among the en-route countries, Huang noted. The spokesman also disclosed that China will continue to strengthen cooperation with the en-route countries, optimize services concerning customs supervision, and actively engage in making international trade rules to build an open global economy.