Manyika Kangai
China’s legislature releases legislative plan
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress – China’s national legislature – has released its 2023 legislative plan, listing 18 new Bills for the first reading. The plan also scheduled 17 Bills that have been reviewed and will go through further deliberation this year. According to the plan, the national legislature is committed to revising the Company Law and formulating laws on rural collective economic organisations, financial stability, value-added tax and other issues. Lawmakers will also advance legislation on cultural heritage protection, national defence education and patriotic education to build cultural confidence and strength.
China’s manufacturing sector contracts
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for China’s manufacturing sector came in at 48.8 in May, down from 49.2 in April, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Wednesday. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 reflects contraction. Among the 21 surveyed sub-sectors, 11 remained in the expansion zone. The Production Index and the New Orders Index came in at 49.6 and 48.3, respectively. The PMIs of equipment manufacturing, high-tech manufacturing and consumer products industries stood at 50.4, 50.5 and 50.8, respectively.
China’s insurance sector maintains adequate solvency
China’s insurance sector maintained steady operations and adequate solvency in the first quarter of the year, according to the country’s financial regulator, the National Financial Regulatory Administration. The average comprehensive solvency ratio of the 185 insurers reviewed at a regulatory meeting was 190,3 percent by the end of March, and their average core solvency ratio was 125,7 percent. Specifically, the average comprehensive solvency ratios of property insurance companies, life insurance companies, and reinsurance companies stood at 227,1 percent, 180,9 percent, and 277,7 percent, respectively. The solvency ratio is a key metric of an insurer’s ability to meet its debt and other obligations.
China’s telecom industry expands
China’s telecommunication industry logged a steady expansion in the first four months of this year, buoyed by emerging businesses, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The combined revenues of firms in the sector totalled 569,9 billion yuan (about US$80,5 billion), up 7,2 percent year-on-year. Of the total, emerging sectors, such as internet data centres, cloud computing, and the internet-of-things (IOT), saw their revenues rise 22,3 percent year-on-year, driving the revenue of the telecom industry up by 4,3 percentage points. The data also revealed the spread of 5-G services. The country had over 2,73 million 5-G base stations by the end of April and secured a net increase of 73,08 million 5-G cell phone users in the first four months.
China resumes cold-chain China-Europe freight train
The cold-chain China-Europe freight train service, coded Chang’an, which was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, resumed on Monday with a batch of imports of Russian meat products being cleared by customs in Xi’an, the capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province. The train service not only signified a resumption of imports via the cold-chain China-Europe freight train service, but also the first of the service linking Moscow and Xi’an. The Chang’an China-Europe freight train service can transport frozen food, fresh vegetables and fruits, candy, and aquatic products, as well as cosmetics, chemicals, and electronic products with precise temperature requirements. It used to take about 45 days for imports from Moscow to arrive in Xi’an but the train service takes 12 to 15 days, while reducing logistics cost by about 10 percent.
*Manyika Kangai has over 15 years of experience facilitating and advising on China-Africa trade and investment deals. Feedback: +27743487997/www.muvambi-sa.co.za