Here are five things that happened in China this week

Manyika Kangai

China Sentences Former Senior Official to Death
Former senior official Fu Zhenghua was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes worth more than 117 million yuan (about US$16,8 million) and bending the law for personal gains.

The Intermediate People’s Court of Changchun in northeast China’s Jilin Province established that Fu, former deputy head of the Committee on Social and Legal Affairs of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, took bribes by abusing power in various positions he held between 2005 and 2021.

The court also found that Fu, when working as head of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau from 2014 to 2015, shielded his younger brother who was suspected of serious crimes from investigation and prosecution.

Fu was deprived of his political rights for life, and all his personal assets were confiscated. After the two-year reprieve for his death sentence, Fu’s sentence can be commuted to life in prison in accordance with the law, but no further reduction or parole shall be given to him.

China’s Loan Prime Rates Remain Unchanged
China’s one-year Loan Prime Rate (LPR), a market-based benchmark lending rate, came in at 3,65 percent, unchanged from the previous month.

The over-five-year LPR, on which many lenders base their mortgage rates, also remained unchanged from the previous reading of 4,3 percent, according to the National Interbank Funding Centre.

The country had lowered the one-year rate by 5 basis points to 3,65 percent in August. The over-five-year rate has been slashed by 15 basis points twice this year, first in May and again last month to the current figure.

China’s FDI Inflow Up
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 16,4 percent year-on-year to 892,74 billion yuan in the first eight months of the year, according to the Ministry of Commerce. In US dollar terms, the inflow went up 20,2 percent year-on-year to US$138,4 billion.

China’s Coal Output Up
China’s raw coal output posted stable expansion in August. The country produced 370 million tonnes of raw coal last month, up 8,1 percent year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

In the first eight months of 2022, the output was 11 percent higher than a year earlier at 2,93 billion tonnes. China’s coal imports stood at 167,98 million tonnes in the January-August period, down 14,9 percent from the same period last year.

Chinese Scientists Design Virus-Detecting Face Mask
A group of Chinese scientists have developed a face mask that can detect viral exposure from a 10-minute conversation with an infected person.

Respiratory pathogens that cause Covid-19 and influenza spread through small droplets and aerosols released by infected people when they talk, cough, and sneeze.

The wearable bioelectronic mask designed by researchers from Tongjin University can detect common respiratory viruses, including influenza and the coronavirus, in the air in droplets or aerosols, and then alert the wearers via their mobile devices.

*Manyika Kangai is dedicated to help 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/www.muvambi-sa.co.za