China will take steps to boost new types of consumption by supporting new business forms and models with a view to promoting economic recovery, according to the State Council’s executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang.
The meeting said consumption, a key engine of growth, had been significantly affected by Covid-19 and had become a drag on economic recovery.
However, new forms and models of business based on the internet and digital technologies had generated rapid growth in new types of consumption despite the overall downward trend and had shown enormous potential.
New types of consumption needed to be expanded and upgraded. “Zero-touch consumption” or online shopping would be promoted while online courses and internet diagnosis and treatment would be encouraged.
Online and offline services in the fitness and tourism sectors would be better integrated. New retail forms such as grocery stores with automated checkout systems would be explored.
Infrastructure supporting new consumption types needed to be built at a faster pace. Central business districts, industrial parks and transportation hubs would be prioritized in planning 5G and internet of things networks.
Traditional ways of consumption would be better leveraged. Support would be given to brick-and-mortar companies in opening online businesses and to internet platform companies in offline development. Businesses would be encouraged to carry out online promotion to boost offline consumption.
Local government bonds
China’s local government bond issuance hit 1.2 trillion yuan (US$175.4 billion) in August, up 110% from 569.5 billion yuan a year ago, the Ministry of Finance said.
Total local government bond issuance amounted to 4.96 trillion yuan between January and August, up 25.1% from 39,626 trillion yuan in the same period of last year, as authorities accelerated bond sales to help shore up the virus-hit economy.
Among the issuance, new sales amounted to 3.75 trillion yuan, accounting for 79.3% of the 4.73-trillion-yuan quota planned for the year, ministry data showed.
The ministry pledged to continue to quicken bond sales to facilitate the implementation of proactive fiscal policy.
Import exhibition
Bank of China (Malaysia) signed an agreement with the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) to jointly hold the third China International Import Expo (CIIE) in November.
The bank said it would work hand in hand with ACCCIM, through the CIIE Trade and Investment Business Matching Platform hosted by Bank of China. Both online and offline methods will provide Malaysian enterprises with cross-border investment and trade matching services.
The CIIE is the first dedicated import exhibition in the world and has seen fruitful outcomes over the past two expos. The third CIIE will take place in Shanghai from November 5 to 10.
Company news
Tesla Model Y production in China is likely to begin ahead of schedule, as early as November, InsideEVs reported.
Work is progressing rapidly on the phase 2 project of Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory, which will be mainly used to produce the Model Y, and the main structure of the plant has been completed.
Tesla has to proceed with “interior decoration” and “electromechanical works,” with the former set to be done by October, and the latter by November. Model Y SUV is the second model Tesla make in China after the Model 3 sedan.
The stories were written by Xu Jiangshan and first published at ATimesCN.com. They were translated by Nadeem Xu.