The Sunday Mail
Manyika Kangai
Xi calls for enhanced open economy
China’s President Xi Jinping called for new systems for a higher-standard open economy while presiding over a meeting of the Central Commission for Deepening Overall Reform, which he heads. Xi said that new systems for a higher-standard open economy are a strategic move to proactively boost reform and development through opening up. He highlighted the importance of institutional opening up and deepening institutional reform in investment, trade, finance and innovation, among other key areas of foreign exchanges and cooperation, to actively raise China’s opening up to a new level.
China’s latest CPI, PPI
China’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, came in flat in June, compared with the same period last year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. The figure was lower than the 0,2 percent increase in May. On a monthly basis, the prices were slightly down by 0,2 percent. China’s Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures cost of goods at the factory gate, went down 5,4 percent year-on-year in June. The decrease expanded by 0,8 percentage points from that in May. On a monthly basis, the PPI edged down 0,8 percent, narrowing from the 0,9 percent drop a month earlier.
China to extend financial support for real estate sector
China will extend two financial policies supporting the stable and healthy development of the real estate market to the end of 2024, according to a notice released by the People’s Bank of China and the National Administration of Financial Regulation on Monday. China’s financial authorities rolled out a 16-step guideline last November to beef up policy support for the housing sector. The country will now extend relevant policies to December 31, 2024. The purpose of the move is to guide financial institutions to continue deferring loan payments for real estate companies, while propping up financial support for the real estate companies to ensure the delivery of housing projects.
China’s foreign trade up
China’s total goods imports and exports expanded 2,1 percent year-on-year in yuan terms in the first half of 2023. The country saw goods imports and exports exceeding 20 trillion yuan (about US$2,8 trillion) for the first time in the January-June period, according to the General Administration of Customs. Exports grew 3,7 percent year-on-year to 11,46 trillion yuan (about US$1,6 trillion) while imports edged down 0,1 percent from a year earlier to 8,64 trillion yuan (about US$1,2 trillion). The total export value of China’s three major tech-intensive green products – solar batteries, lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicles – soared 61,6 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2023 and contributed 1,8 percentage points to the overall export growth.
China to enhance childcare services
China will step up efforts to provide childcare services for children under the age of three in a bid to relieve mothers of the burden of child-rearing, according to a senior official with the National Health Commission, at a seminar marking this year’s World Population Day. The country now has about 75 000 nurseries for children under three, which can take in more than 3,6 million children. Only about 6 percent of Chinese children under three have gone to nurseries, while a majority are taken care of by their families, particularly mothers who are struggling to balance child-rearing with their careers. Apart from establishing a childcare service system that is accessible to all, the Chinese government will encourage fathers and mothers to share the responsibilities of child-rearing as part of its population policies. In 2021, China began to allow each couple to have three children and is implementing various measures to boost the fertility rate as the country faces an aging population.
*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
