The Sunday Mail
Manyika Kangai
Typhoon Muifa Lands in China
High winds and heavy rain lashed China’s densely populated east coast on Thursday after Typhoon Muifa forced around 1,6 million people to leave their homes and grounded most flights at Shanghai’s main airports. Muifa is the strongest tropical cyclone to hit Shanghai – home to more than 25 million people – since record-keeping began in 1949. Muifa had previously hit the city of Zhoushan in Zhejiang province on Wednesday, forcing authorities in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang to order ships to return to port, shut down schools and evacuate tourists from nearby islands. The typhoon brought strong winds of nearly 160 km per hour. The Central Meteorological Observatory issued its first red alert – the highest level of typhoon warning – for the year across parts of the country’s eastern coast.
China Doubles Down on Stabilising Economy
China’s Premier Li Keqiang presided over a State Council executive meeting, which made decisions on multiple economic issues. The country will further extend the tax and fee deferrals for manufacturing firms as part of the stepped-up support for enterprises to navigate hardships. Deferrals that have expired will be extended for another four months starting from September 1. This will result in tax relief of 440 billion yuan (US$63,7 billion). China will support commercial banks in issuing medium- and long-term loans for firms in manufacturing, services and social services industries, and MSMEs and self-employed households in other industries, to upgrade equipment in the fourth quarter, at an interest rate of no more than 3,2 percent. Measures to further stabilise foreign trade and investment were also introduced. Several new integrated pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce will be established and the building of overseas warehouses will be supported. The meeting also approved nuclear power projects in the city of Zhangzhou in Fujian Province and the city of Lianjiang in Guangdong Province.
China’s Central Bank Adds Liquidity
China’s central bank added liquidity to the banking system through operations of Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) and Reverse Repos. The People’s Bank of China injected 400 billion yuan (about US$57,9 billion) into the market through one-year MLF with an interest rate of 2,75 percent. The MLF tool helps commercial and policy banks maintain liquidity by allowing them to borrow from the central bank using securities as collateral. The central bank also conducted seven-day Reverse Repos worth 2 billion yuan (about US$290 million) at an interest rate of 2 percent.
China-Europe Freight Train Trips Grow
The number of China-Europe freight train trips surged by 18 percent year-on-year last month, hitting a record-high 1 585 trips, according to the China State Railway Group. About 154 000 20-foot Equivalent Units (TEU) of goods were shipped through the freight trains in August, up 19 percent from a year ago, according to the company. During the first eight months, the number of China-Europe freight train trips rose 5 percent year-on-year to 10 575. The trains transported a total of 1,02 million TEU of goods, an increase of 6 percent from a year ago.
China to Increase National Hi-Tech Zones
China has established 173 National Hi-Tech Zones so far and will raise the number to 220 by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), according to the Ministry of Science and Technology on Wednesday. The total output value of the National Hi-Tech Zones grew from 5,4 trillion yuan (about US$781,3 billion) in 2012 to 15,3 trillion yuan in 2021. In 2021, the national high-tech zones generated 13,4 percent of GDP with 2,5 percent of the country’s land for construction.
*Manyika Kangai helps African businesses realise the full potential of the vast opportunities China presents. He has over 15 years of experience facilitating and advising on China-Africa trade and investment deals. Feedback: +27743487997/
