SwedCham China Insights for the Week of September 2 – September 6

SwedCham China Insights for September 2 – September 6

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Top news of the week:

China's manufacturing PMI comes in at 49.1 in August

2 September 2024

The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector, which gauges activity in the sector, came in at 49.1 in August. The PMI in August was slightly down 0.3 from the reading in the previous month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

China issues guidelines to promote service trade with opening up

3 September 2024

China's State Council has unveiled a set of guidelines to promote high-quality development of trade in services with high-standard opening up. The introduction of the guidelines, which listed 20 major tasks in five aspects, is expected to accelerate the process of digital, intelligent and green development of trade in services in the country.

Norwegian prime minister to visit China September 9 to 11

4 September 2024

At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store will pay an official visit to China from September 9 to 11, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning announced on September 4.

PM2.5 levels below average in China, Europe in 2023, WMO report says

5 September 2024

China and Europe measured below-average PM2.5 levels in 2023, thanks to decreased anthropogenic emissions, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization published on September 5.

China to exempt import tariffs on drugs, medical devices in Boao Lecheng pilot zone

6 September 2024

China will apply exemptions on import tariffs and value-added tax for eligible drugs and medical devices in the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in Hainan Province, before the whole island achieves independent customs operations in 2025, according to a circular published on September 5.

Insight of the week:

China welcomed more than 50 Africans leaders to Beijing for a summit to strengthen ties at a time of increasing political and economic turmoil around the world. The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) run from September 4 to 6 in Beijing. President Xi Jinping held bilateral events with foreign leaders attending FOCAC since September 2.

On September 5, President Xi delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony, stating that China currently enjoys its “best-ever” relations with African nations. In his 10-minute speech, Xi outlined 10 action areas for cooperation over the coming three years, including infrastructure connectivity, trade, security and green development. He promised to unilaterally exempt 33 of Africa’s less-developed countries from import tariffs, and committed 360 billion yuan (US$50.6 billion) in new financing over the next three years to “help turn China’s big market into Africa’s big opportunity”. Besides bankrolling the building of green energy, “small but beautiful” livelihood-improving and big connectivity projects, Xi also pledged to deepen military and economic cooperation by training thousands of military personnel, providing food relief and sharing its governance experience with Africa.

Some analysts believed that the pledges aligned with Beijing’s efforts to position itself as the leader of the world’s developing countries – also known as the Global South – by appealing to a common pursuit of modernization and opposition to a West-led order.

Forum attendees and observers hailed the elevation of ties as a visionary guidance for the future and were impressed by the concrete, across-the-board blueprint that will be able to yield substantial benefits to Africa, boost modernization shoulder to shoulder, and bring China-Africa cooperation to new heights.

A declaration on jointly building an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era and an action plan of the FOCAC for the next three years were adopted at the 2024 FOCAC summit.