SwedCham China Insights for April 24-April 28

Top news of the week:

China stresses enterprises’ role in innovation, reaffirms support for private sector

April 24, 2023

A meeting presided over by President Xi Jinping stressed the principal role of enterprises in innovation and reaffirmed the government’s support for the private sector. The meeting pledged to optimize the private sector’s development environment, remove institutional barriers to make sure fair market competition, and guide private enterprises to find their right positioning in high-quality development through their own reform and development, compliance operation, transformation and upgrading.

China replaces PCR test requirement for inbound travelers with antigen test

April 25, 2023

All inbound travelers will only need to show a COVID-19 antigen test result taken within 48 hours before boarding flights starting April 29, dropping the PCR test requirement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on April 25. Airlines will no longer require test results before boarding, she added.

China completes landmark national real estate registration system

April 26, 2023

China has finished building a national and unified system for real estate registration, Minister of Natural Resources Wang Guanghua said on April 25, in a landmark move that will boost transparency in ownership. After 10 years of efforts, the country has established a unified registration system that covers all types of immovable property rights, according to Wang.

China issues guidelines to stabilize scale, optimize structure of foreign trade

April 27, 2023

China has released a guideline document with 18 specific measures to promote the stability of its foreign trade scale and to improve its structure. Measures include expanding the market by boosting the promotion of trade, scaling up imports and exports of key foreign trade products, stepping up financial support, expediting the innovative development of foreign trade, and optimizing foreign trade development environment, etc.

China unveils measures to boost employment

April 28, 2023

China has unveiled measures to boost employment and promote social development, officials said on April 27. The measures include supporting companies to hire college graduates, providing financial subsidies to firms, and offering assistance to the unemployed.

Insight of the week:

China’s President Xi Jinping announced that a special representative on Eurasian affairs will visit Ukraine and other countries to engage in discussions with all parties involved in the Ukraine crisis. The statement was made during a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on April 26, 2023, in which both leaders exchanged views on bilateral ties and the ongoing crisis. Xi reiterated that dialogue and negotiations are the only viable solution to the crisis and emphasized the need for all parties to remain calm and exercise restraint. He also stated that China would continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and work towards an early ceasefire and restoration of peace. The Ukrainian President, in turn, thanked China for its assistance and committed to the one-China policy while expressing hopes for all-around bilateral cooperation with China. The appointment of Ukraine’s new ambassador to Beijing was also announced. It is worth noting that Ukraine was not among the 70 ambassadors whose credentials Xi accepted the day before the call.

The phone call, the first between the two leaders since the Russian invasion, happened against the backdrop of French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to China, and a recent crisis caused by Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye’s comment on the sovereignty of former Soviet Union countries. Analysts believe that China is reaffirming its commitment to playing a peacemaking role and that more concrete moves towards mediating an end to the war are expected.