The Sunday Mail
Manyika Kangai
Xi meets Biden
Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden held talks on Wednesday for four hours at Filoli Estate, a country house approximately 40km south of San Francisco, California. The two presidents agreed to resume high-level communication between the two militaries, as well as promote and strengthen bilateral dialogue and cooperation in such areas as China-US government talks on artificial intelligence (AI) and the establishment of a working group on counter narcotics cooperation. Xi said, “for China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option”, while Biden called the talks “some of the most constructive and productive discussions we’ve had”.
China’s retail sales up
China’s retail sales of consumer goods — a major indicator of the country’s consumption strength— climbed at a faster pace of 7,6 percent year-on-year in October, according to official data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday. The increase, which is the fastest since May this year, accelerated from a rise of 5,5 percent registered in September. Total retail sales of the country’s consumer goods topped 38,54 trillion yuan (about US$5,37 trillion) in the January-October period, up 6,9 percent from a year earlier. Online retail sales jumped 11,2 percent year-on-year to 12,29 trillion yuan (about US$1,71 trillion) in the first 10 months. Online retail sales of physical goods rose 8,4 percent year-on-year, accounting for 26,7 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.
Tencent reports growth
Tencent raked in more than 154,6 billion yuan (about US$21,5 billion) in revenue during the third quarter (Q3), up 10 percent year-on-year, according to the company’s financial results released on Wednesday. Its net profit rose 39 percent year-on-year to over 44,9 billion yuan (about US$6,24 billion) during the same period. Wednesday’s report noted that revenue from fintech and business services grew 16 percent year-on-year to 52,05 billion yuan (about US$7,24 billion), becoming Tencent’s main growth engine. Meanwhile, game revenue increased 7 percent year-on-year to 46 billion yuan (about US$6,4 billion), while revenue from advertising registered a 20 percent year-on-year growth to 25,72 billion yuan (about US$3,58 billion).
China commences mega gas field project
China’s largest offshore crude oil and natural gas producer, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), announced that its Bozhong 19-6 Condensate Gas Field Phase I Development Project has commenced production. The explored natural gas reserves of the project — located in the central Bohai Sea — exceed 200 billion cubic meters, and the reserves of condensate oil exceed 200 million cubic meters. The main production facilities include one newly built central processing platform, three unmanned wellhead platforms and one gas process terminal. In addition, 65 development wells are planned to be commissioned.
China Box Office hits milestone
The Chinese film market hit the 50-billion-yuan mark (about US$7 billion) in 2023 box office revenue on Monday. The feat — accomplished in 317 days — saw domestic productions generate 83,4 percent of the total box office earnings, according to China Movie Database. In 2017, the annual total box office earnings in China reached 55,91 billion yuan (about US$7,8 billion), breaking the 50-billion-yuan mark for the first time. Riding on the wave of booming growth in the Chinese film market, both 2018 and 2019 witnessed the 50-billion-yuan threshold being crossed in 277 and 276 days, respectively. However, the subsequent years were marred by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, plunging the Chinese film market into a challenging period with cinema closures and fewer screened titles. In 2022, the annual box office stood at around 30 billion yuan (about US$4,2 billion).
*Manyika Kangai has over 17 years of experience facilitating and advising on China-Africa trade and investment deals. Feedback: +27743487997/ www.muvambi-sa.co.za
