Tianjin optimized the supply of Industrial Land Use Rights

Recently, Tianjin optimized the supply of Industrial Land Use Rights and post-supply supervision, promoted the adjustment and upgrading of industrial structure from the land supply, and solidly promoted the high-quality development of the economy.Before the innovation and optimization, the supply of industrial land in Tianjin can only be transferred in the form of bidding, auction and listing according to the legal maximum 50-year transfer period. After innovation and optimization, on the basis of continuing to implement the 50-year supply method of bidding, auction, listing and transfer, the enterprise may choose to obtain the right to use industrial land by means of long-term lease, and flexible period. The period of transfer is shortened to generally no more than 20 years, and the option of land use for enterprises is fully expanded to reduce the cost of land use in the initial stage of the real economy. At the same time, improve and improve the system of renewal of industrial land use, and renew the use of the contractually agreed terms of use after comprehensive evaluation.Tianjin will also guarantee the development of strategic emerging industry projects, give priority to the strategic development of strategic emerging industrial projects, and implement a transitional policy that continues to use land according to the original use and land rights types to support the integration of physical industries and research and innovation industries, and support the construction of innovative entrepreneurial space.

Shell obtained the wholesale qualification of refined oil products

Shell (Zhejiang) Petroleum Trading Co., Ltd., with the approval of the Ministry of Commerce, obtained the domestic wholesale qualification of refined oil products. This is also the first multinational oil company to obtain this qualification in China.Shell (Zhejiang) Company was established in September 2017 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Shell China Group. The acquisition of the above qualifications means that Shell will be able to carry out the procurement and sales of refined oil products for corporate customers in the Chinese market.It is reported that there are three main customers of Shell's refined oil wholesale business: Gas Station Outlets, Industrial Enterprise Customers and Commercial (truck) Fleet Operators.In June 2018, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce issued the “Special Management Measures for Foreign Investment Access (Negative List) (2018 Edition)”. This negative list cancels the restrictions on the construction and operation of chained gas stations with the same foreign investors' establishment of more than 30 branches and sales of different types and brands of refined oil from multiple suppliers.In August of the same year, Shell announced that it would add more than 2,000 Gas Stations in China by 2025. Shell is one of the world's largest energy traders, delivering more than six million barrels of refined oil to customers every day.On November 26, 2018, the Department of Market Operation and Consumer Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce issued the second batch of publicity lists for oil companies applying for projects. Eight companies obtained wholesale qualifications for refined oil products, of which five were private enterprises and two were state-owned. Enterprise, Shell is the only Foreign-funded Enterprise.

Positive signs for China in 2019

While China suffered something of a slowdown in the past year, the beginning of 2019 has shown positive signs, both globally and domestically, said Shen Jianguang, chief economist at JD Finance, in Beijing on Tuesday.Trade tensions between the largest two economies in the world last year caused uncertainty for both nations. Top Chinese and US leaders agreed in December to continue negotiations, to stop imposing new tariffs and to exchange visits at an appropriate time."The restart of trade talks between China and the US alleviated the risks of intensifying trade frictions and avoided direct confrontation and escalation between the two countries," Shen said when releasing the report Opportunities and risks of China's economy in 2019."In the domestic sector, the government has increased the counter-cyclical adjustment through macro policies, and the Central Economic Work Conference has also released positive reform signals in 2019. If these can be implemented, it will help stabilize market expectations," he said.These positive factors aside, in order to maintain employment levels and stability in the financial, foreign trade, and foreign and domestic investments sectors, the government is expected to issue more substantive reform policies in addition to macroeconomic policy adjustments, according to Shen."With more progress in the economic system reform, land system reform, fiscal and taxation system reform, opening-up and more explorations in the long-term system, China can confound expectations, and stabilize the economy," he said.The latest round of vice-ministerial level trade talks between China and the United States has concluded in Beijing on Wednesday.Both countries had "extensive, in-depth and detailed communication" on trade and structural issues and they agreed to maintain close contact after this meeting, said a statement released by the Ministry of Commerce.Source: China Daily 

17 Chinese cities GDP expected to surpass 1t yuan in 2018

17 Chinese cities are expected to join the "1 trillion yuan club" with each city's GDP surpassing 1 trillion yuan in 2018, news outlet chinanews.com reported on Thursday.Knocking on the doors of the club were Ningbo, Foshan and Zhengzhou, with the GDP of 984.21 billion yuan, 954.96 billion yuan and 913.02 billion yuan, respectively, in 2017.Foshan's GDP will be more than 1 trillion yuan in 2018, based on an estimate of the city's GDP which rose 6.2 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2018, the news outlets said.According to chinanews.com, citing government report of Zhengzhou released on Sept 27, the city's GDP will break through 1 trillion yuan in 2018, with the region's per capita GDP increasing more than 100,000 yuan in 2018.Ningbo also said its GDP will reach 1 trillion yuan, with the city's disposable income per capita over 50,000 yuan in 2018.Apart from these three, 14 cities — Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Tianjin, Suzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Qingdao, Wuxi and Changsha — have already entered the club.Among these cities, Shanghai became the first city with its GDP breaking through 3 trillion yuan in 2017, while Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou saw their GDP cross more than 2 trillion yuan.Beijing, which had an estimated GDP of more than 3 trillion yuan in 2018, will reach the annual expected growth target of 6.5 percent, and the per capita GDP of the city will surpass $20,000, said Chinanews.com, citing a news conference held by the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission on Dec 24.As Beijing is expected to enter the "3 trillion yuan club", the numbers of provincial-level regions GDP to hit 3 trillion yuan will expand to 12. These are Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Henan, Sichuan, Hubei, Hebei, Hunan, Fujian provinces and Shanghai.Among the 17 cities, 12 are located in China's eastern region, accounting for 70.9 percent; 3 cities (Wuhan, Changsha and Zhengzhou) are in the central region, and 2 (Chongqing and Chengdu) in the western region.Moreover, Dongguan, Xi'an, Nantong, Quanzhou, Hefei and Jinan plan to enter the "1 trillion yuan club" within the coming years.Source: China Daily

China will continue to be world economy's stabilizer in 2019

China will continue to be world economy's stabilizer in 2019 with uncertainty in the first half of the year and relatively stable status in the second half, an expert said in Beijing.In the first three trading days of 2019, the fluctuations in the US stock market due to movements in Chinese market reflects the impact of Chinese economy, said Li Daokui, an economist of Tsinghua University, at the 2019 Impact Summit.Li said China will contribute more than 30 percent to the world economy this year with investment in fixed-asset relatively stable in the second half and more job opportunities in service sector.China has entered service economy which is highly interconnected by cutting-edge technologies and has changed boundaries of government and businesses, said Jiang Xiaojuan, a professor of Tsinghua University, at the summit co-organized by chinadaily.com.cn and netease.com.Different from international experiences where as service industry developed the economy would face downward pressure, Chinese economy is expected to maintain relatively high growth rate as service technologies and interconnected technologies may improve efficiency in service sector, Jiang said.Artificial intelligence's contribution to labor productivity will exceed 55 percent of GDP from 2017 to 2030, said Wu Hequan, president of Internet Society of China and member of Chinese Academy of Engineering.By 2030, AI is expected to contribute an additional $13 trillion of GDP growth to the world, with an average annual growth rate of 1.2 percent, which is comparable to steam engine in the 19th century, industrial robot in the 20th century and information technology in the 21st century, according to global market consultancy McKinsey and Company.AI's contribution to economy is projected to reach $7 trillion in China and $3.7 trillion in North America and medical and healthcare, automobile and financial services will become top three industries with highest AI index in 2030, Wu said.China has paid great attention to intellectual property protection and Chinese enterprises are estimated to contribute over one third of key 5G technologies international standards, according to Wu.China is in the forefront in only a few technological areas and ranks top 20 in world's tech arena comprehensively, so more efforts are needed to increase the contribution rate of scientific and technological progress for industries by accelerating the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, Wu said.With current economic development pace, China is expected to take a leading role in the next two to three decades and the key is not to be big but strong with advanced industries leading the charge hopefully, Wu said.Source：China Daily

Chinese enterprises eye green growth

China's green sector is attracting growing investment from enterprises as the country strives to balance economic development and environmental protection.Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed investment in the environmental sector surged 42 percent year-on-year in the first 11 months of 2018, up 5.3 percentage points from the January-October period.China National Machinery Industry Corporation Ltd (Sinomach), a State-owned machinery conglomerate, is targeting green areas such as the production of equipment related with environmental protection and core components of new energy vehicles (NEVs), according to Sinomach general manager Zhang Xiaolun."I believe green manufacturing will accelerate the transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry, improve its core competency and facilitate its sustainable development," he told a recent forum.Energy enterprises are also on the move. As China begins exploiting its abundant geothermal resources and clean and sustainable energy, Sinopec Green Energy Geothermal Development Co Ltd is expanding its services in the country's urban and rural areas.The company now provides geothermal heating for an area of around 50 square km, and it aims to increase the area by 100 square km by 2023, according to Chen Menghui, deputy general manager of the company."Local governments are very willing to cooperate with us, given the mounting pressure of environmental protection," Chen said, noting that Hebei province, which neighbors the country's capital Beijing and faces a heavy task in reducing air pollution, is currently the company's biggest market.The recycling industry is booming, too, with more enterprises investing in transforming waste, including steel, nonferrous metals and plastics, into renewable resources by using new technologies.Cities like Beijing, Shenzhen and Hangzhou have all seen the emergence of Internet-based recycling. Many big companies have joined the recycling business, with NEV battery giant Tianneng Group making inroads in the regenerated lead industry.China aggregately recycled 282 million tons of waste including steel, nonferrous metals and plastics in 2017, up 11 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.The country has launched a full-scale campaign to safeguard clean air, water and soil in recent years, with laws put in place, inspectors mobilized and officials punished for pollution. The push has created plenty of business opportunities."China's environmental industry maintained a growth of about 17 percent in 2017, and the growth of the environmental engineering and equipment sector specifically could reach 15 to 30 percent in 2018," said Wu Shunze, director of the environmental and economic policy research center at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.By 2020, sales of major products and equipment related to energy conservation and environmental protection are expected to double their level in 2015, according to a government plan.Source： China Daily