The strategic cooperation between Tanikawa and Guangzhou Nansha Free Trade Experimental Zone

Recently, Guangzhou Nansha Free Trade Test Zone signed a formal cooperation agreement with Tanikawa Technology Co., Ltd.. Nansha Free Trade Zone pays high attention to the use of market forces to invite investment, broaden the channels of investment, improve investment efficiency, and plays the management functions of the government departments in more effective method. The cooperation, Tanikawa will recommend and promote high-end manufacturing, technological innovation, and financial services enterprises to operate their business activities in Nansha Free Trade Zone. The network platform of Tanikawa has wealthy domestic and foreign project information resources and professional investment service team, adhering to the "thinking for client, using for clients, service for clients"  as our operation principle, relying on independent research and development project management system (MMS) to manage projects in scientific and efficient way, each year there are more than 100,000 enterprises to be provided location consulting and services.

China sets goals for green agriculture

China released guidelines on green development in agriculture, setting goals for resource conservation and environmental protection.The guidelines were published by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council.The country should maintain the area of arable land and prevent the land quality from worsening, according to the guidelines.By 2020, farmland quality should be improved by 0.5 grade on average, while the total arable land area should be no less than 124 million hectares.China grades its farmland quality on a scale of one to ten.The government aims to prevent excessive exploitation of groundwater and improve the efficiency of irrigation.The document set the target of zero growth in the amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides used in major crops by 2020. Forest coverage is to exceed 23 percent.The comprehensive production capacity of grains should be stabilized at or above 550 million tonnes by 2020, with the quality of farm produce markedly improved.Straw, animal waste and agricultural plastic film should be fully utilized, according to the guidelines.The agricultural sector remains resource-intensive, with pollution and ecological degradation yet to be contained, while the supply of high-quality and green farm produce cannot satisfy growing demand, the document said. Agriculture should be more sustainable, farmers better off, and the countryside more beautiful and liveable.

China's economic achievements since 18th CPC national congress

The data came ahead of the 19th CPC National Congress, which is scheduled to open on Oct 18.The following are facts and figures from the report:GDP:GDP expanded by an average annual rate of 7.2 percent during 2013-2016, compared with 2.6-percent average global growth and the 4-percent growth of developing economies.Calculated at 2015 prices, average annual GDP growth was valued at 4.44 trillion yuan ($670 billion) in 2013-2016.In H1 2017, GDP growth was 6.9 percent, within the 6.7-6.9 percent range for eight quarters in a row.China's 2016 GDP of $11.2 trillion accounted for 14.8 percent of the world economy, up 3.4 percentage points from 2012.China's average contribution to world growth in 2013-2016 was about 30 percent, the largest among all countries and higher than the total contribution from the United States, the eurozone and Japan.Employment:China created more than 13 million new urban jobs annually for four consecutive years in 2013-2016. New jobs created in the first eight months of this year stood at 9.74 million.The surveyed unemployment rate in 31 large cities was about 5 percent. In September, the figure was 4.83 percent, the lowest since 2012.The number of rural residents working in cities rose at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in 2013-2016.Innovation:Research and development (R&D) expenditures rose 52.2 percent from 2012 to 1.57 trillion yuan in 2016. The share of R&D spending in GDP rose from 1.91 percent to 2.11 percent in the same period.Thanks to reforms to simplify business registration and streamline approvals, the number of new companies registered in 2014-2016 totaled 13.62 million, an annual increase of 30 percent. In the first eight months, 3.99 million companies were registered.The number of patent applications China received in 2016 rose 69 percent from 2012, while the number of patents granted rose 39.7 percent from 2012.Structure:The share of service output in GDP rose from 45.3 percent in 2012, to 51.6 percent in 2016. In H1 2017, service output accounted for 54.1 percent of GDP.From 2013 to 2016, the service industry grew by an annual rate of 8 percent, 0.8 percentage point faster than average GDP growth. Service output expanded 7.7 percent year-on-year in H1 2017.The contribution of final consumption to economic growth averaged 55 percent in 2013-2016. In H1, the contribution of final consumption to economic growth stood at 63.4 percent.At the end of 2016, the ratio of permanent urban residents to total population stood at 57.35 percent at the end of 2016, up from 52.57 percent at the end of 2012.Environment:From 2012 to 2016, energy and water use per unit of GDP dropped 17.9 percent and 25.3 percent, respectively. In H1, energy use per unit of GDP dropped 3.9 percent year-on-year.At the end of 2016, the installed nuclear power capacity rose 167.6 percent from 2012, in-grid wind power capacity rose 140.1 percent and in-grid solar power capacity surged 21.4 times from 2012.PM2.5 density in 338 cities dropped 6 percent year-on-year in 2016 and by 2.3 percent in the first eight months.The total area of new forests stood at 7.2 million hectares in 2016, up 28.7 percent from 2012.Opening up:The value of goods trade stood at 24.3 trillion yuan in 2016, accounting for more than 11 percent of total global trade volume.The value of service trade was $657.5 billion, up 36.8 percent from 2012, representing an average annual growth of 8.1 percent.Foreign direct investment rose by an annual rate of 3.1 percent to $489.4 billion in 2013-2016.Non-financial outbound direct investment rose by an average rate of 21.6 percent to $491.5 billion in 2013-2016.People's lives:The per-capita disposable income of all residents rose from 7,311 yuan in 2012 to 23,821 yuan in 2016, an annual increase of 7.4 percent. The figure for H1 2017 rose 7.3 percent year-on-year.The number of rural people living in poverty dropped to 43.35 million last year, from 98.99 million in 2012.The disposable income per capita of rural residents in poor areas rose 10.7 percent on average in 2013-2016, faster than the 8 percent for all rural residents.The average life expectancy rose from 74.83 years in 2010 to 76.34 years in 2015.

Belt and Road Initiative takes auto industry globally

Industry insiders have hailed China's supportive policies as the backbone of expanding international automobile partnerships linked to the Belt and Road Initiative.Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, said China's automobile manufacturing industry is accelerating its progress in "going global"."Within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese automakers will have wider scope and emboldened vision. As a result, they are forming overseas partnerships and establishing joint manufacturing plants, in addition to international trade in completed cars," said Cui.He said the initiative has created a favorable political environment and business opportunities for Chinese carmakers' development. He added companies should work together systematically, going global in clusters.Xu Haidong, an assistant to the secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that, "Chinese carmakers could join together in negotiating with local auto dealers to ensure their voice is heard, in case the dealers have stronger influence in the market."Xu added Chinese carmakers have embraced the concept of selling brands and services, upgrading from the earlier idea of simply selling cars.Last month, Egypt-based Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport announced it is sealing a deal with Chinese partners to produce 900 vehicles a month, leveraging the automakers' experience in assembling and machinery.Its next step is to secure agreements on tractors and bulldozers with Chinese partners in 2018.After acquiring a 49.9 percent stake in Malaysia-based Proton Holding and 51 percent of British sports car brand Lotus this year, chairman of the board of Zhejiang Geely Holding Li Shufu attributed the achievements to China's Belt and Road Initiative.Yu Ning, senior consultant to Geely Holding, said: "The Proton deal was reached in the environment characterized by the nation's Belt and Road Initiative. Initiatives at the country level have played a critical role."Sources familiar with the matter said that without the country's policy-based support, Geely would not have beaten two rival European auto giants in bidding for Proton and Lotus."The partnership between the automakers is also about the Sino-Malaysian relationship. It is Chinese Geely who willingly took on the responsibility of reviving Malaysian auto manufacturing, instead of taking Lotus only," according to the sources.Learning curveExperts said that Chinese carmakers' relatively low costs are their major advantage in better meeting local demands in Asia, Africa, Latin America and other developing regions, but shortcomings remain in terms of effective localization.Cui at the China Passenger Car Association said: "Chinese products still lag behind those of mature automakers for two reasons: the overall standards of our manufacturing industry and a lack of local insight."China-made products might suit the domestic situation well, but can fail amid local challenges in other countries, resulting in negative word-of-mouth reputations in those markets."Japanese and South Korean players adjust their products in accordance with the destination markets, launching local editions in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, for example.Bai Ming, an official at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, also said that Chinese carmakers suffer from not fitting into local markets well."Usually it is not a matter of quality products, but the unfulfilled need for after sales services," he continued.Bai advised: "Carmakers should pay attention to establishing value chains, especially connecting with partners on the supply and service side."Both Bai and Cui said they viewed the development of a strong service network as much more important than sales, as service offerings decide a carmaker's long-term sustainability in an overseas market.The experts suggested auto financing as a suitable business that is complementary to overseas services, since the sector has remained underdeveloped among Chinese companies for a long period of time.State-owned FAW Group established its investment arm, FAW International Investment Co on Sept 24, aiming to support and consolidate its auto services in countries and regions along the Belt and Road.A week later, Geely Holding announced it will increase its stake in Denmark's Saxo Bank to 51.5 percent. The deal is seen as highlighting the carmaker's drive to tap the expertise of European financial firms, although the transaction awaits regulatory approvals.

China social security fund sees stable investment return

China's social security fund had a stable investment performance last year despite downward economic pressure, the fund's operator said.The National Council for Social Security Fund said they made 31.94 billion yuan (4.7 billion U.S.dollars) in investment profit last year.It said the annual investment yield for the national social security fund in 2016 stood at 1.73 percent.Investment profits have totalled 822.731 billion yuan since it was established in 2000, with an average annual investment yield of 8.37 percent.By the end of 2016, the fund's managed assets totalled 2 trillion yuanThe fund was designed to aid the country's aging population and be a strategic reserve to support future social security expenditure.The funding sources include fiscal allocation from the central government, allocation of proceeds from the public welfare lottery, individual contributions and capital raised by other methods approved by the State Council.

China's IT, Internet industry prospers

China's IT and Internet industry continued to prosper in 2016 thanks to a better business environment and technological innovation, according to a report of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).Total revenues of major IT and Internet companies reached 17 trillion yuan (about 2.6 trillion U.S. dollars), 1.55 times that of the 2012, the latest official data showed.This represents 11.6 percent annual growth from 2012 to 2016, with the electronics manufacturing and software sectors leading growth by expanding 9.5 percent and 18.1 percent respectively.Profit growth at major electronic IT and Internet companies gathered pace in 2016 on increasing investment and lower tax rates.Last year such firms reported total profits of 1.3 trillion yuan, nearly double that in 2012, with a 17.3 percent annual growth.The report said that last year the electronics manufacturing sector continued to support the country's industrial growth with its value-added output expanding 10 percent year on year.The number of IT and Internet companies with annual revenues of more than four billion yuan exceeded 200 and nearly a thousand companies made cross-border operations last year.Investment in the electronics manufacturing sector rose 1.6 percent year on year. The growth was 14.7 percentage points higher than that of 2015, according to the report.The industry's rapid development was boosted by Internet-based innovations including virtual reality, smart television and drones.IT is playing a bigger role in consumption, which will boost combined output of related industries to 15 trillion yuan in 2020, according to an industry guideline released recently by the State Council.China will bolster online information consumption in the next few years to stimulate domestic demand and shore up economic growth.By the end of 2020, the consumption of online information products and services is expected to grow at least 11 percent per year to reach 6 trillion yuan, according to the guideline.Online information consumption stood at 3.9 trillion yuan last year, contributing 0.26 percentage points to the country's 6.7 percent year-on-year GDP growth.The government has said it will create a sound business environment by adopting inclusive and prudent regulation, cutting red tape, and improving the protection of personal information and intellectual property.