Economics

China's first-quarter GDP expanded 4.8 percent compared to a year ago amid pressures from a more complicated and grimmer international environment and a resurgent of COVID-19 cases, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. The country's gross domestic product reached 27.02 trillion yuan ($4 trillion) in the first quarter. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, China's GDP grew by 1.3 percent in the first three months of the year, the NBS said. China, the world's second-largest economy, maintained steady growth in the first quarter with the help of the government's effective measures to prevent and control the pandemic, Fu Linghui, spokesman with the NBS, told at a news conference in Beijing. The country's value-added industrial output grew 6.5 percent on a yearly basis in the first quarter, with the March reading jumping 5 percent year-on-year, the NBS data showed. Retail sales grew by 3.3 percent to 10.87 trillion yuan in the first quarter from the same period last year. Fixed-asset investment rose by 9.3 percent year-on-year and 0.61 percent quarter-on-quarter in the January-March period, the bureau said. The surveyed urban jobless rate came in at 5.8 percent last month, up from 5.5 percent in February, the bureau said. The NBS warned…Original link

• Beijing has rolled out tax relief and other beneficial policies such as more favourable loan rates and rent exemptions, rather than cash handouts • Some Omicron-hit regions such as Shanghai and Tianjin are also implementing local support measures, but analysts still expect a big hit to consumption Beijing says it has stepped up relief measures for coronavirus-hit businesses, as the highly contagious Omicron variant has spread to 28 of the country’s 31 provincial jurisdictions and authorities stick to their zero-Covid strategy that involves large-scale lockdowns and mass testing. In addition to a planned 2.5 trillion yuan (US$393 billion) tax cut, authorities have also rolled out a variety of supportive measures, including rent exemption and credit support. Relief packages announced so far Premier Li Keqiang announced the 2.5 trillion yuan tax-cut package at the “two sessions” in early March, and it is considerably larger than last year’s 1.1 trillion yuan.   Key points: Value-added tax (VAT) will continue to be exempted for small taxpayers – those with monthly sales revenue of below 150,000 yuan Income tax will be halved if annual payment is between 1 million and 3 million yuan 1.5 trillion yuan worth of VAT refunds planned for this…Original link

The 131st China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, will be held online from April 15 to 24. Themed as facilitating dual circulation, this year's event will showcase 16 product categories across 50 exhibition areas. More than 25,000 businesses at home and abroad will participate online. The exhibitions cover online display platform, business matchmaking and cross-border e-commerce. During the upcoming 10-day session, this year's Canton Fair will focus on making its business matchmaking services more efficient and making the platform more easy to use for both exhibitors, purchasers and guests. The rural vitalization zone will continue to be set up this year to bring together the products of the enterprises coming from areas that have been lifted out of poverty. The 131st Canton Fair is free of charge both for the participating businesses and the cross-border e-commerce platforms involved in the online sessions. Domestic and international companies are welcome to join in this mega online event to seek business opportunities and common development. As China's No. 1 fair, the Canton fair is deemed to be the barometer of China's foreign trade. With 65 years of history (founded in 1957), it is a comprehensive international trading event.Original link

China's gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded 114 trillion yuan (about $18.1 trillion) in 2021, registering an increase of 8.1 percent over the previous year and an average growth of 5.1 percent over the preceding two years, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a release (link in Chinese) on Monday (28th, Feb, 2022). In 2021, consumption contributed 5.3 percentage points to GDP growth, with investment making up 1.1 percentage points and exports 1.7 percentage points, according to the release. The country's total retail sales of consumer goods reached 44.1 trillion yuan last year, up 12.5 percent compared to the year before. Nationwide investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) reached 54.5 trillion yuan, a 4.9-percent jump over the previous year. China's foreign trade volume of goods reached 39.1 trillion yuan in 2021, up 21.4 percent year on year. Exports and imports respectively increased 21.2 percent and 21.5 percent in 2021. The NBS said that China's population rose to 1.41 billion by the end of 2021. The country's per capita GDP was 80,976 yuan, and disposable income averaged 35,128 yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 8 percent and 9.1 percent respectively. Rising GDP also means more jobs. China's job market…Original link

When handling cash deposits and withdrawals on a single transaction of 50,000 yuan or more, or on foreign currency equivalent to up to $10,000, the identity of the individual customer shall be confirmed and verified, and the source or purpose of the funds shall be registered, according to the jointly order issued by the People's Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission on January 19. The order will take effect on March 1. The new regulation drew immediate attention and debate online. Many expressed their support to the strict but necessary approach to tackle money laundry and other related illegal activities. In recent years, illegal and criminal activities like telecommunications fraud, illegal fundraising and cross-border gambling have become rampant, seriously endangering public interest. In 2021 alone, the public security organs investigated and handled more than 370,000 telecom fraud cases, according to media reports. Strengthening the management of cash deposits and withdrawals is based on the requirement for financial institutions to fulfill their anti-money laundering obligations while complying with international standards for anti-money laundering, the central bank said. Moreover, in general terms, the order is expected to produce a very limited impact…Original link

China's economy expanded 8.1 percent year-on-year in 2021, bringing the average growth rate from 2020 to 2021 to 5.1 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. The country's gross domestic product reached 114.4 trillion yuan ($18 trillion) in 2021, with major indicators reaching the expected targets, NBS said. China, the world's second-largest economy, is expected to cover over 18 percent of the global economy in 2021, said Ning Jizhe, head of NBS, at a news conference in Beijing. China's GDP grew by 4 percent in the fourth quarter, down from 4.9 percent in the third quarter, the bureau said. The country's total added value of industrial enterprises above a designated size grew 9.6 percent on a yearly basis in 2021, bringing the average growth rate from 2020 to 2021 to 6.1 percent, the NBS data showed. During the first 11 months of 2021, profits at major industrial companies surged 38 percent, with an average growth rate of 18.9 percent between 2020 and 2021. For the whole year of 2021, total retail sales of consumer goods came in at 44 trillion yuan, up by 12.5 percent over the previous year. In 2021, investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households)…

From January to July, China’s foreign trade registered steady and fast growth, firmly supporting the creation of a new development paradigm. On July 2nd, the State Council General Office issued the Opinions on Accelerating the Development of New Business Forms and Models of Foreign Trade to build up new growth drivers for foreign trade. The Ministry of Commerce, together with local governments and other ministries, has spared no effort to see through relevant policies and measures and made a solid step toward high-quality development of foreign trade. First, scale of import and export grew fast. In January-July, the volume of import and export reached 21.34 trillion yuan, with export standing at 11.66 trillion yuan and import 9.68 trillion yuan, all hitting a new record high compared with the same period in the past. The total import and export grew by 24.5% year-on-year, with export up 24.5% and import 24.4% year-on-year , all reaching a ten-year high. Two-year average growth rates were 10.6%, 10.9% and 10.2% respectively. In July, import and export reached 3.27 trillion yuan, the second highest in a single month in history (second only to 3.29 trillion yuan in June this year). Second, international market demand continued to…Original link

On September 18, the World Trade Organization (WTO) released its latest barometer of trade in goods, with a reading of 110.4. That's the highest since July 2016. It is worth noting that all the components of the goods trade barometer were higher than expected, suggesting that the recovery is broadly based. In particular, the indices for air cargo (114.0), container transport (110.8) and raw materials (104.7) continued to rise, indicating that trade growth was above average. Indices for air freight, container traffic and raw materials continued to rise The WTO's barometer of goods trade is a composite leading indicator that is updated quarterly, with a reading above 100 indicating higher than expected growth in global goods trade, while a reading below 100 indicates lower than expected growth. The WTO noted that all component indexes of the barometer had been above trend for the past month. In addition, the automobile product index (106.6) showed an upward trend in July, despite the decrease in automobile production and sales in some countries due to the shortage of semiconductors. At the same time, you can see a sharp rise in the air cargo index, reflecting a rebound in the air transport industry, as some…

China's tax data for the first half of this year, released on July 26, reflect solid corporate performance, as enterprises' sales revenues rose 34.4 percent year-on-year, based on value-added tax invoices, robust economic growth and steady recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the State Taxation Administration said. Taken together, first-half sales revenues of corporates in 2020 and this year averaged 15.1 percent, indicating stable economic growth momentum, said Zhao Lianwei, deputy head of the STA's Revenue Planning and Accounting Department. STA tax data showed sales revenues accelerated in the second quarter, especially in the high-tech and innovative industries like information services and research and development design services. In the first half, high-tech companies' sales revenues increased by 33.6 percent year-on-year, and enterprises in the industrial sector witnessed revenue growth of 32.9 percent. Data also indicated the energy supply structure has been gradually optimized, and the ecological and environmental protection industry has developed rapidly, Zhao said. Services-related consumption recovered in the first half, with sound development of new consumption businesses. Investment also increased steadily, and the investment structure has been gradually improved, he said. Some 6.24 million new market entities that will have to pay corporate taxes at an appropriate time were…

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