Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
- China’s December forex reserves return to above $3.2 trillion;
- Guangdong sees energy storage project filings quadruple in 2024's first week.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
China's foreign exchange reserves reached a two-year high of $3.238 trillion as of the end of last year while gold reserves increased for the 14th consecutive month, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said.
The country's forex reserves were up by $66.2 billion, or 2.1 percent, compared with the end of November, SAFE said on Sunday, marking the second consecutive month of increase and hitting the highest level since December 2021.
Experts said the latest figures reflect the dynamics of China's indigenous growth drivers and the vibrancy of the country's foreign trade. The ample forex reserves will also enable the country to better respond to external uncertainties this year, further consolidating the momentum of recovery.
For the full year of 2023, the country's forex reserves rose by $110.29 billion while gold reserves were up by 7.23 million ounces.
The SAFE attributed the increase to the comprehensive impact of exchange rate conversions and changes in asset prices. The prices of global financial assets increased versus a decline in the US Dollar Index in December.
In 2023, China's international balance of payments remained basically stable amid complex circumstances. Foreign exchange reserves stayed above $3.1 trillion throughout the year, according to the SAFE. The efficiency of forex management services for the real economy has continued to improve, and forex supervision has become more precise and effective, it added.
The administration said that China's continued economic recovery and high-quality development will provide solid support for the stability of the country's forex reserves.
Meanwhile, China's official gold reserves reached 71.87 million ounces at the end of December, up from 71.58 million ounces a month earlier, marking the 14th consecutive month of increase, according to SAFE.
- The Civil Aviation Administration of China said on Saturday that it aims to significantly increase the number of direct flights between China and the US in 2024. CAAC data showed that regular direct passenger flights between China and the US have risen to 63 per week. According to a previous announcement, they are expected to rise to 70 a week during the winter/spring season.
Moving on to regional highlights
- The Xihoumen Highway and Railway Bridge in East China's Zhejiang Province marked phased progress when 18 drill piles belonging to pier No 5 of the bridge, each with a diameter of 6.3 meters - the world's largest - were injected with cement on Sunday. The Xihoumen Highway and Railway Bridge, dubbed the world's longest super sea-crossing bridge with a total length of 3,118 meters, and connecting Zhoushan's Jintang and Cezi islands, is among a total of 10 landmark projects Zhejiang Province is undertaking to boost regional connectivity.
- Airports in Xinjiang and Xizang welcomed record volumes of passenger throughput in 2023. As of the end of last year, Xinjiang Airport Group reported record high of passenger throughput of 40.61 million and facilitated 490,000 takeoffs and landings, returning to 108.2 percent and 113.2 percent of 2019 levels, respectively.Xizang’s civil aviation regulator also reported a record 6.9 million passenger trips in 2023, representing growth of 106.1 percent over 2022.
- Blossoms Shanghai, a TV series set in 1960s and 1990s Shanghai, has succeeded in spurring consumption at the historic locations that feature in the drama. Tourism-related searches for the Fairmont Peace Hotel surged more than five-fold from Dec. 27 to Jan. 5 compared with the previous 10 days, according to Chinese online travel agency Tongcheng. And searches for Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, which is round the corner from the Fairmont Peace Hotel, soared 73 percent. While searches for Park Hotel and Okura Garden Hotel Shanghai, which also appear in the TV drama, jumped by 61 and 55 percent, respectively.
Greater Bay Area, Greater future
- Some 16 energy storage projects, mainly for lithium batteries, were registered in China’s southern Guangdong province in the first five days of the year, four times that of the same period last year, as the country’s biggest provincial economy aims to cement its position in the burgeoning sector. And the amount of investment has increased substantially. The maximum investment for each project is 800 million yuan, more than five times last year’s 150 million yuan.
- Dongguan in Guangdong Province has announced to give out subsidies to stabilize employment and manufacturing around the 2024 Chinese Lunar New Year holidays. Dongguan will offer subsidies worth 300 yuan to every worker outside Guangdong that will return to their positions at key enterprises in the city from February 12-17, while 200 yuan in subsidies will be provided for those willing to return to their posts from February 18-20, according to a circular on local government website. In addition, enterprises in the city will get subsidies of up to 300,000 yuan for new hiring from February 10 to March 9. Meanwhile, Quanzhou in East China's Fujian Province and Yongkang in East China's Zhejiang Province have recently announced similar measures.
Next on industry and company news
- China's first domestically-built large cruise ship finished its commercial maiden voyage on Sunday after traveling 1,119 nautical miles on the trip of seven days and six nights. Carrying more than 3,000 passengers, theAdora Magic Cityset off from the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal on Jan 1 and stopped at the ports in the city of Seogwipo on Jeju island, Korea, as well as the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Fukuoka before returning to the Wusongkou terminal.
- Chinese shipbuilders won the most new orders worldwide for a total of 24.46 million compensated gross tons in 2023, 59 percent of the total, data from UK-based Clarksons Research showed.Meanwhile, the delivery dates for Guangzhou Shipyard International Co run into 2027 and 2028, as fleet operators worldwide are attracted by the company's strengths in green production and environmental protection, media reported.
- China's indigenous third-generation superconducting quantum computer, Origin Wukong, began operation on Saturday at Origin Quantum Computing Technology (Hefei) Co, East China's Anhui Province.The quantum computer is powered by Wukong, a 72-qubit indigenous superconducting quantum chip. It is China's latest and most advanced programmable and deliverable superconducting quantum computer, according to the company.
- China has no Boeing 737 Max 9 in operation, media reported today after the aircraft was grounded in the United States following the failure of its emergency hatch during a flight in the country. The US aviation regulator has said 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes will remain grounded until it is satisfied the planes are safe.
Switching gears to financial news
- The Shanghai Stock Exchange has punished Chinese port operator Fujian Provincial Port Group for illegal speculation with the stock of Industrial Bank after the commercial bank's shares suddenly surged by their daily trading limit before the market closed. The SSE has banned Fujian Provincial Port's securities accounts from trading for six months after it bought 13.3 million shares of Industrial Bank at a maximum price of around 216 million yuan in the call auction on Dec. 29, driving the lender's stock price up 9.7 percent that day, the bourse said on Saturday.
- UBS Group AG aims to grow its wealth and asset management business in China, as the nation is a key strategic global market, according to Eugene Qian, the China head for UBS said in an interview on the sidelines of the bank’s Greater China Conference in Shanghai Monday.
Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market
- Chinese shares started the week with a hefty loss as the benchmark Shanghai Composite dropped 1.4 percent and the Shenzhen Component lost 1.9 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also tumbled 1.9 percent and the TECH index plunged 3 percent.
Biz Word of the Day
- Superconducting quantum computing is abranch of solid state quantum computing that uses superconducting electronic circuits to implement a quantum processor.
Executive Editor: Sonia YU
Editor: LI Yanxia
Host: Stephanie LI
Writer: Stephanie LI
Sound Editor: Stephanie LI
Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni
Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.
Presented by SFC
编委: 于晓娜
策划、编辑:李艳霞
播音:李莹亮
撰稿:李莹亮
音频制作:李莹亮
设计:郑文静、廖苑妮
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