China will launch measures to speed up the resumption of operations and production in the manufacturing and logistic sectors, said the State Council’s standing committee after Premier Li Keqiang chaired a meeting on Tuesday.
The State Council urged all government departments to follow the plan set by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to further increase domestic demand and support the private sector. Government departments should help maintain “six stabilizations” – stable employment, steady finance, firm foreign trade, steady foreign capital inflows, steady investment and stable expectation.
With transparent and scientific anti-epidemic measures, China will proactively and orderly push the resumption of operations and production, ensure the stability of the supply chain and support e-commerce development in rural places.
As the number of international passenger flights declined due to the pandemic, China’s cargo transport was also affected, the State Council said. China will increase its international airfreight capabilities and enhance cooperation with global airlines in order to improve its airfreight network, it said.
Government revenue
In the first two months of this year, revenue in China’s general public budgets reached 3.52 trillion yuan (US$496.2 billion), down 9.9% from the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Finance.
During the period, revenue in the central government’s general public budgets fell 11.2% to 1.72 trillion yuan, while revenue in local government general public budgets decreased 8.6% to 1.8 trillion yuan.
China’s tax revenue decreased 11.2% to 3.12 trillion yuan, while non-tax revenue grew 1.7% to 405.7 billion yuan. Expenses in general public budgets eased 2.9% to 3.25 trillion yuan.
It is inevitable that China’s fiscal deficit will increase substantially in 2020 as the government has to adopt a counter-cyclical fiscal strategy to offset the negative impact of the epidemic on the Chinese economy, said China International Capital Corporation (CICC).
A couple of provincial governments have recently announced their investment plans with a heavy focus on new infrastructure projects, which can help their social and economic development get back to a normal track as early as possible, according to a commentary published by Xinhua News Agency.
New infrastructure projects should focus on how to promote industry development and city reform, it said. They should concentrate on the digital economy, follow market trends, fully utilize corporates’ professional and innovative abilities and their market adaptiveness. These projects should have long-term plans.
G20 special summit
Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the G20 special summit to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic in Beijing on Thursday, said Hua Chunying, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The video summit will be hosted by Saudi Arabia, the G20 Presidency in 2020.
Telecom sector
Three Chinese telecom giants recorded a combined profit of 132.1 billion yuan in 2019, or 362 million yuan per day, China News Service’s Jwview.com reported. They generated a combined revenue of 1.41 trillion yuan last year.
China Mobile was the most profitable company with a daily profit of 292 million yuan. Its revenue grew 1.2% to 745.9 billion yuan.
China Telecom saw a 0.4% decline in revenue to 375.73 billion yuan for the period, while China Unicom recorded a 0.1% drop in revenue to 290.51 billion yuan.
The three companies’ capital expenditure for 2020 will reach 334.8 billion yuan, up 11.65% from 2019. Capital expenditure related to 5G will be about 180.3 billion yuan, an increase of 338%.
Company news
Sinopec Oilfield Service, a subsidiary of China Petrochemical Corp, said its net profit rose 543.6% to 914 million yuan last year from 2018. Operating income surged 19.6% to 69.87 billion yuan.
SF Express, a Shenzhen-based delivery services company, said its net profit rose 27.23% to 5.8 billion yuan for the year ended December 31, 2019, from a year earlier. Its total revenue surged 23.37% to 112.2 billion yuan, while its total number of deliveries grew 25.84% to 4.83 billion. However, revenue per delivery unit fell 5.67% to 21.94 yuan last year from 23.26 yuan in 2018.
The story was written by Xu Jiangshan and Yang Zhijie and first published at ATimesCN.com.