SwedCham China Insights for the Week of February 26 - March 1, 2024

Top news of the week:

China to expand carbon market soon

February 26, 2024

China will strive to expand its carbon trading market as soon as possible, as both trade volume and prices in the program are increasing, Zhao Yingmin, vice-minister of ecology and environment, said on February 26.

China unveils plan to better protect data of industrial firms

February 27, 2024

From 2024 to 2026, China will work to raise awareness of data protection, protect important industrial data, strengthen data security management at key enterprises, and enhance data protection in key scenarios, according to the plan released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

China's top securities watchdog vows to enhance rule of law in capital market

February 28, 2024

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the country’s top securities regulator, pledged to further strengthen the rule of law in the capital market to support its high-quality development, consolidate the market’s fundamentals, stabilize expectations and benefit it in the long term.

Number of round-trip flights between China, US to increase

February 29, 2024

Passenger flights between China and the US will increase to 100 round trips per week from March 31, about one-third of the flights that were offered between the nations before the pandemic. From February 12 to 18, 5,389 international round-trip flights were operated between China and other nations, about 70.7 percent of the volume seen before the pandemic, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

China to accelerate the green development of manufacturing

March 1, 2024

On March 1, China’s first guideline to accelerate and promote the green development of manufacturing was jointly released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other 6 ministries.

Insight of the week:

The concurrent annual meetings of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC), which are known as “two sessions”, will begin on March 4 and March 5, separately. Chinese authorities made preparations and adjustments before the two sessions, sending out important signals.

On February 23, Premier Li Qiang chaired a State Council executive meeting, which studied measures to make greater efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment. Stabilizing foreign investment should be a focus of this year’s economic work, and efforts must be made to widen market access, level the playing field further, and smooth the flow of innovation factors, according to the meeting.

On February 27, Qin Gang, China’s former foreign minister, who has been missing from public view since June 2023, resigned from his position as an NPC delegate, according to China’s state media. Qin was removed as foreign minister in July 2023. The 14^th CPC currently had 2956 deputies, according to a statement issued by the NPC Standing Committee on February 27.

On February 29, the Politburo, the party’s top decision-makers, discussed the draft government work report, which will be submitted by the State Council at the top legislature's annual session for deliberation. A statement from the Politburo meeting said that “proactive fiscal policy must be moderately strengthened and improved in quality and efficiency, while prudent monetary policy should be flexible, moderate, precise and effective”. It added that China should improve the consistency of the direction of its macro-policy and create a “stable, transparent and predictable policy environment”. The meeting marked the final gathering of the 24-member body before the two sessions.

On February 29, President Xi Jinping stressed vigorously promoting the high-quality development of new energy in China to make greater contributions to building a clean and beautiful world. Xi made the remarks while presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

The two sessions have also received special attention because President Xi Jinping has yet to call a Third Plenum of the Party’s Central Committee, which traditionally approves economic reforms, and Premier Li Qiang will deliver his first government work report.