Shanghai cuts GDP target, takes on new tasks

Shanghai lowered its growth target for 2019 and took on the tasks of expanding its free trade zone, setting up a registration system and a new board on its stock exchange, and integrating with regional development.The municipality projects its gross domestic product growth rate at 6 to 6.5 percent for the year, Mayor Ying Yong said in his government work report at the annual session of the ongoing Shanghai People's Congress on Sunday.Last year, Shanghai's GDP grew by 6.6 percent, exceeding its target by 0.1 percentage point and reaching 3.27 trillion yuan ($484.8 billion)."Though we have maintained steady economic growth, elements exist that will cause uncertainties and challenges to, or even slow down the economy," Ying said. "Even harder work is needed to sustain healthy, steady growth."Sun Lijian, a Fudan University professor of economics, said the 6 to 6.5 percent growth range indicates the city has prepared for the global uncertainties, such as protection-ism, and it shows the Shanghai government's determination in shifting its development model and industrial restructuring, which often takes time and will affect direct economic indicators like GDP.Xu Xiaoliang, executive chairman of the Fosun International Ltd board and a deputy to the congress, said he is optimistic about 2019 because Shanghai has kept improving the business environment, and that a lower GDP target can ensure sustainable growth.The three major tasks President Xi Jinping mentioned during his inspection in Shanghai in November－expanding the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, launching a science and technology innovation board on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and a pilot registration system for listed companies, and promoting higher quality growth and integration of the Yangtze River Delta region－led the municipal government's work agenda."Putting the three new major tasks at the top of our agenda, we will be more open-minded ... as we play our role ... to overcome the most difficult challenges," Ying said.Besides planning out a new section of the free trade zone, Ying said the government will take on institutional innovation in the FTZ, set mechanisms in line with international norms and work on making Shanghai a competitor among the world's free trade zones.The municipality will cooperate with the central government to establish the new board and pilot registration system at the stock market to provide more financing opportunities for high-quality IPO candidates, channel more loans to small and medium-sized private enterprises and expand the policy financing guarantee fund for small and medium-sized enterprises.Joint projects in infrastructure, technological innovation and environmental protection will be advanced in the Yangtze River Delta region, and regional public services, such as elderly care and social security will be explored, Ying said about the integration of the area.Bo Dongxi, a deputy from Jiading Power Supply, said the company has been participating in upgrading the Yangtze River Delta regional energy network, which will allow more input from the distributed generation, storage and transmission of electricity, such as solar power plants and wind farms.Regulation in the real estate market will continue, and property prices will stay at a stable level, Ying said, adding that the municipal government will add 100,000 rental housing and 60,000 subsidized housing units to improve availability.During the congress's five-day session, municipal legislators will review a draft of the city's first regulation on management of domestic waste and vote on a final version on Thursday.Source: China Daily

Belt & Road Initiative expands China-Iran cooperation

"The economies of the two countries are complementary to each other. We are one of the biggest energy producers in the world and China is one of the biggest energy consumers in the world," said Hassan Shahbeig, chargé d'affaires at the Iranian embassy in China, during a recent interview with China Daily. The investment reached a frenzy in September 2017. In just one week, a series of deals were reached between China's top financial institutions and a business delegation led by Iran's central banker Valiollah Seif, in which China promised $35 billion in financing and loans to support Iran's economy.The Iran Daily first reported a credit line of $10 billion from Beijing-based CITIC Group, a State-owned investment firm, to finance water, energy and transport projects.Scarcely a day passed before the newspaper reported that the China Development Bank had signed preliminary deals with Iran worth $15 billion for its infrastructure and production projects, adding that officials from Export-Import Bank of China would travel to Iran to finalize another $10-billion letter of credit.Iranian officials told the newspaper that all these deals were part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to build infrastructure, from highways and railways to ports and power plants, between China and other Asian countries, Europe and Africa to promote trade.Iran's strategic location renders it a vital component in the BRI's global framework. As Shahbeig put it, "Iran is located in the central part of the Middle East, as a bridge between China and Europe. It is located in a place which can connect the north and south corridor, and also the west and east corridor.""The Iranian government has supported the Initiative of Belt and Road, and we have been following up this idea and have been in discussion with the Chinese government," he added.There is already a direct freight train between China and Iran. The rail route, also known as the New Silk Road, stretches 2,300 kilometers from Urumqi in western China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region to Tehran, connecting Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan along the way, cutting transportation to 14 to 15 days, compared with 45 to 50 days by sea. According to Iranian business daily Financial Tribune, five cargo trains have traveled the route to the Iranian capital since January 2016, loaded with myriad Chinese goods, from automobile accessories and spare parts to household appliances and ceramic tableware.As a strand of the global New Silk Road, China is also building a 926-km railroad from Tehran to the eastern city of Mashhad, Iran's primary pilgrimage site which attracts tens of millions of visitors each year. Construction of the electrified railway by China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation, also a State-owned enterprise (SOE) , is expected to take up to four years. Once completed, it will reduce the journey from 12 hours to 6 hours and increase transportation capacity to 25 million passengers and 10 million tons of cargo per year.For Iran, the Tehran-Mashhad electrification project is part of its wider rail development plan to electrify all railroads by 2025. The government has placed expansion of the country's rail network on top of its agenda. In its sixth five-year development plan (2017-22), Iran vowed to increase the share of rail in cargo and passenger transportation to at least 30 percent and 20 percent respectively by the end of the period.Iran's ambitious program of rail construction and upgrading has attracted a lot of Chinese companies to participate, especially those big SOEs. The State-owned China Railway Engineering Corp is building a 415-km high-speed rail line between Tehran and Isfahan via Qom. In January 2018, a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corp won a 3.53 billion yuan ($513 million) contract to build a 263-km railway in western Iran between Kermanshah and Khosravi. In March 2018, China National Machinery Industry Corp signed a contract to build an $845 million railway connecting the Iranian cities of Tehran, Hamedan and Sanandaj.As China's BRI enters its sixth year, with more Chinese SOEs venturing into not just Iran but also other international markets, Shahbeig had a grand vision for its future."We are thinking that if this idea could be expanded and at the same time others be involved in this initiative, it will make a safer and more prosperous and more secured globe for all human beings," he said.Source : China Daily

IMF maintains China economic growth forecast for 2019

The International Monetary Fund maintained its China economic growth forecasts while trimming global growth projections for 2019 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.China's economic growth is projected to be 6.2 percent for 2019, the same as the IMF's previous prediction in October. Domestic demand is also estimated to remain robust, aided by policies to boost consumption this year, the IMF said in its Global Economic Prospects.Figures show growth in China remains robust, in part reflecting resilient consumption. However industrial production and new export orders have moderated, asset prices have experienced downward pressure and sovereign bond spreads have risen amid trade tensions. Prices of newly constructed residential buildings have rebounded, including in first-tier cities following a period of correction according to the report.The Fund projects a 3.5 percent growth rate worldwide for 2019 and 3.6 percent for 2020, down 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points compared to its forecasts in October, said IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath at an Update of the World Economic Outlook press conference.The world economy is growing more slowly than expected, risks are rising and the expansion seen in recent years is losing momentum, said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde at the forum, calling for policymakers to collaborate to address global risks.The reason for the gloomy forecast is the US-triggered trade tension between China and the US, which could dampen confidence in investment and economic development, said Wang Huiyao. Wang is a counselor of the State Council, China's Cabinet, and founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization, the Beijing-headquartered non-governmental think tank.China is one of the world's largest economic engines and the leader of the global value chain, so if the tension hurts both countries' economies it would definitely harm world economic forecasts, Wang said.China should continue its reform and opening-up and continue to support the world economy, Wang added.China's support for the World Trade Organization and free trade is a counterbalance to the loss of momentum for the world economy, said Daryl Guppy, international financial technical analysis expert and special consultant to Axicorp.The IMF forecast does not adequately assess the contribution of the Belt and Road Initiative to economic growth - not just in developed economies, but in emerging economies as well. In 2008 the world relied on China to lead the way and 2019 will be no different, Guppy said.China's year-on-year GDP growth reached 6.6 percent in 2018, achieving its goal of around 6.5 percent GDP growth set for the year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.With the magnitude and size of the GDP at present, this kind of rate is already very impressive, so it is extremely important for China to maintain its above six percent GDP growth with continuous reform and opening-up and trade with more countries at a fast pace, Wang said.Source : China Daily

Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Special Cooperation Zone has become a "The Future City"

The latest data shows that in 2018, Shenzhen has added more than 3,200 national High-tech Enterprises, with a total of 14,400, the ranked second in the country. According to statistics, from January to November 2018, the output value of High-tech industries in Shenzhen was 2,162.552 billion yuan, up 12% year-on-year; the added value of high-tech industries was 734.401 billion yuan, up 13.07% year-on-year. The effective invention patent of Shenzhen has maintained a rate of 84.99% for more than 5 years, higher than that of large and medium-sized cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The number of PCT International Patent applications was 14,058, which continued to rank first among the major cities in the country. In 2018, Shenzhen fully supported the development of key areas of Science and Technology such as Artificial Intelligence, Integrated Circuits and Biomedicine, and realized a expenditure of 55.5 billion yuan in Science and Technology, an increase of 57.7%. In 2019, Shenzhen's current budget will continue to promote the construction of a high-level Scientific and Technological Innovation System.Shenzhen and Hong Kong have inherent advantages. At present, Hong Kong and Macao compatriots still have less creative ideas in Shenzhen. It is suggested that Hong Kong and Macao compatriots, especially young people, should take advantage of creativity and international cooperation to actively develop some double-creation bases to make the truly creative Science and technology projects can be settled in Shenzhen.In response to the situation in Shenzhen's High-tech Industries and Strategic Emerging Industries, Shenzhen CPPCC members suggested that Shenzhen should attract Top-notch Laboratories, Research Institutes, Universities and Multinational Companies at home and abroad to set up the world-leading science laboratory and the R&D center that strives to achieve breakthroughs in a number of core key technology areas and emerging technology areas.

The National Science and Technology Award of Shanghai accounted for 16.5% of the total in the country

The National Science and Technology Awards in 2018 were announced.As the highest award in National Science and Technology, a total of 278 projects and 7 scientific and technological experts won the award.It is worth noting that in the year of 2018, a total of 47 major scientific and technological achievements completed and cooperated in Shanghai won the National Science and Technology Award, accounting for 16.5% of the total number of awards in the country. This is the 17th consecutive year that Shanghai has won more than 10%.It is reported that among the 47 award-winning projects, Shanghai won 3 national natural science awards, accounting for 7.9% of the 38 national natural science awards; 7 national technical invention awards (including 3 lead projects), accounting for 10.4% of 67 National Technology Invention Award; 37 National Science and Technology Progress Awards (including 23 lead projects), accounting for 21.4% of the 173 National Science and Technology Progress Awards.In addition, there were 29 projects led by the Shanghai research team in 2018, which was the most in the number of awards since the 2015.Among the high-level awards, among the two national science and technology progress special awards, Shanghai participated in one (special project); among the 20 national science and technology progress first prizes, Shanghai led one (special project).From the specific content point of view, some projects involving Shanghai research team have international leading advantages in related fields.

FDI on Chinese mainland rises: Ministry of Commerce

Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland rose 0.9 percent year-on-year to 885.61 billion yuan ($130.93 billion) in 2018, the Ministry of Commerce said.Data showed a total of 60,533 new foreign-funded companies were established last year in China, up 69.8 percent year-on-year. During the period, FDI flowing into the traditional manufacturing sector increased 20.1 percent from a year earlier.In December, FDI into the country reached 92.34 billion yuan, up 24.9 percent year-on-year, according to the data.Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said China will reduce restrictions on foreign investments and address difficulties facing foreign firms investing in the country.Source: China Daily