SwedCham China Insights for the Week of May 8 - May 12 , 2023

Top news of the week:

China’s State Council stresses accelerating development of advanced manufacturing clusters

May 8, 2023

China’s State Council has deliberated and adopted a guideline on accelerating the development of advanced manufacturing clusters, according to a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang. The meeting also made arrangements on speeding up the construction of charging infrastructure to better promote new energy vehicles in rural areas and rural vitalization.

China’s foreign trade up 5.8% in the first 4 months of 2023

May 9, 2023

China's foreign trade grew by 5.8 percent year on year to 13.32 trillion yuan (USD 1.94 trillion) in the first four months of 2023, data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed.

BEYOND Expo kicks off in Macao SAR showcasing frontier technologies

May 10, 2023

The BEYOND Expo 2023 kicked off on May 10 in China’s Macao SAR, showcasing frontier technologies while staging specialized forums and financing summits. The three-day event focused on sustainable development, life science, and consumption technologies, with an exhibition area of almost 100,000 square meters, according to the Macao Technology General Association.

China’s CPI rises 0.1%, PPI down 3.6% in April

May 11, 2023

China’s consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.1 percent year on-year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported, with the increase declining for the third month in a row. On a monthly basis, the prices were slightly down by 0.1 percent, narrowing from the 0.3-percent decline in the previous month.

China to fully resume quick customs clearance at ports

May 12, 2023

Chinese immigration authorities announced to fully resume quick customs clearance procedure at ports and roll out measures to make traveling between the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR easier, starting from May 15, in a bid to facilitate personnel exchanges between China and the SARs and promote China’s opening-up to the world.

Insight of the week:

President Xi Jinping has reaffirmed his commitment to creating a dazzling high-tech hub neighboring Beijing, calling on state-owned enterprises and financial institutions to relocate to the flagship city of Xiong’an. On May 10, Xi visited Xiong’an New Area, located in Hebei province about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southwest of the capital. This is the Chinese leader's third visit to the area. He first visited the region in February 2017, more than one month before the announcement of the official establishment of Xiong’an New Area, and then in January 2019. Xi has hailed the development of this new area as a “miracle” and ordered officials to speed up plans to relocate institutions from the capital. The goal is to relocate some state-run institutions, including state-owned enterprises and universities based in Beijing, to the site, to ease the pressure caused by the capital’s large population. The plan has been viewed with suspicion by some observers as the landlocked area is not close to any regional commercial hubs and there are few incentives for people to move there. But during this tour, Xi hailed the decision to build this new district as “completely correct”, and praised the progress of the project as “solid and effective”. As a sign of his determination to advance the project, Xi brought some of the country’s most senior figures with him, including three members of the Politburo Standing Committee – Premier Li Qiang, director of the General Office of the Communist Party’s Central Committee Cai Qi, and first Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang. Two Politburo members, the party’s new personnel chief Li Ganjie and Vice-Premier He Lifeng, were also present.