Here are five things that happened in China this week

Manyika Kangai

China urges US to stop TikTok suppression

China’s Ministry of Commerce called on the United States to stop the unreasonable suppression of companies from other countries, following a US bill targeting the short-video app TikTok. A spokesperson for the Ministry said the US should earnestly respect the market economy and the principle of fair competition, and provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory environment for enterprises from all countries. He added that relevant parties should strictly abide by Chinese laws and regulations. The US House of Representatives approved a bill that would require TikTok to divest from its parent company, Chinese tech giant ByteDance, or face a nationwide ban in the United States.

 

China’s auto sales

China’s auto sales rose 11,1 percent year-on-year to nearly 4,03 million units in the first two months of this year, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Passenger car sales stood at 3,45 million units, up 10,6 percent year-on-year. Commercial vehicle sales increased by 14,1 percent year-on-year to 575 000 units. Sales of NEVs rose 29,4 percent year-on-year to 1,21 million units. Total auto exports amounted to 822 000 units during the period, an increase of 30,5 percent year-on-year. In February alone, auto sales reached about 1,58 million units, down 19,9 percent from the same period a year ago.

 

PetroChina announces record gas output

The PetroChina Dagang Oilfield Company in north China’s Tianjin Municipality, a subsidiary of China’s oil giant PetroChina, announced that its natural gas output has set a record. A total of over 2,2 billion cubic metres of gas has been produced during the latest annual gas extraction period lasting five months until March, up 16 percent year-on-year. The facilities have operated for over 8 500 days and extracted around 33 billion cubic metres of natural gas so far. The storage complex is expected to double its annual gas production by 2030.

 

Apple to expand China labs

US technology giant Apple announced that it will expand its applied research lab in Shanghai and establish a new lab in Shenzhen later this year. The labs in Shanghai and Shenzhen will support intelligent manufacturing, along with the reliability, quality, and material analysis of products, providing resources for the global engineering and design team. Apple said it has cumulatively invested 1 billion yuan (about US$140 million) in building applied research labs in China. Currently, it has research and development centres in Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Shenzhen. Over the past five years, its research and development team in China has doubled in size.

 

China’s National Tree Planting Day

China celebrated its 46^th National Tree Planting Day on Tuesday and released official data showing it stepped up its greening efforts last year with 3,998 million hectares of forest planted. The figure was higher than the 3,83 million hectares of afforestation seen in 2022, according to a report by the National Greening Commission. In 2023, the country also restored 4,379 million hectares of degraded grassland and treated 1,905 million hectares of sandy and stony land.

 

*Manyika Kangai is dedicated to helping African businesses and governments realise the full potential of the vast opportunities China presents. He has over 18 years of experience facilitating and advising on China-Africa trade and investment deals