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. .

Tianjin Binhai New Area recombines functional zones

As a national structural reform testing district, the Central Business District of Tianjin, which was a part of Tianjin Binhai New Area, has been incorporated into the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, and the Tianjin Harbor Economic Area, has been incorporated into the Tianjin Airport Area of Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone.Also, the social responsibility for economic-technological development in Tianjin has been transferred to TEDA Street.After Tianjin Binhai New Area joined the national development strategy in 2006, Tianjin Binhai New Area implemented two system reforms for administrative control. Seven functional zones were settled in Binhai New Area: the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, Tianjin Airport Area of Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone, the Tianjin Binhai Hi-tech Development Zone, the Tianjin Port Dongjiang Area of the Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone, Sino-Singapore Eco City, the Central Business District and the Harbor Economic Area. All seven zones have promoted implementation of the national strategy and striven for more high-end technical characteristics.Due to the repetition of functional zones in Binhai New Area, it has been reduced to five zones to improve efficiency and scientific development. The integration of functional zones will now realize different advantages and promote common development.In 2018, the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area will consolidate the competitive automobile and pharmaceutical health industries, speed up the development of the intelligent and financial industries, build the industrial base of medical big data and Internet plus, promote the construction of FAW-VOLKWAGEN and FAW-TOYOTA, start to construct Sumsung SDI, and XIUZHENG Medicine, and put JD intelligent logistics and the financial exhibition center.Tianjin Airport Area of Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone will focus on port trade, biotechnology, intelligent manufacturing and hi-end equipment, build the GE China Intelligent Manufacturing Center, Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group Center and the Synthetic Biotechnology Innovation Center, and accelerate the construction of a sea water desalination and comprehensive utilization project and a rail transit project.The Tianjin Binhai Hi-tech Development Zone will pay attention to new energy and the new energy automobile industry, promote the construction of the National Battery and Hi-tech New Energy Auto and Tsinghua UniGroup Headquarters.The Tianjin Port Dongjiang Area of Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone will give priority to development of finance leasing, international trade, and shipping logistics, and build a platform for leased assets to promote the development of export leasing and Cross-Border Electronic Commerce.The Sino-Singapore Eco-city will develop culture innovation, tourism and health and intelligent industries to build an international leading e-sports center and 5G joint innovation lab, and ensure the opening of a National Ocean Museum.The working committee of TEDA Street is responsible for social management, public services and market supervision.Tianjin Binhai New Area will further deepen reform of functional zones and optimize their structures to build a golden age.

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.