China will try to make new strides in economic development by boosting the domestic market, improving the economic structure and strengthening the capacity for innovation during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).
The country aims to realize sustained and healthy economic development on the basis of a marked improvement in quality and efficiency, with growth potentials to be fully tapped, according to a communiqué released after the fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) ended on Thursday.
The industrial base will be upgraded, while the industrial chain will be further modernized, according to the communiqué. China will see a more solid foundation for agriculture and more balanced development between urban and rural areas and between different regions.
With new steps to be taken in reform and opening-up, China will further improve its socialist market economy and basically complete the building of a high-standard market system. Market entities will show more vitality and significant progress will be made in the reforms of the property rights system and the market-based allocation of factors of production.
The systems of public cultural service and cultural industries will be further advanced, with rich cultural and intellectual activities organized for the public. The influence of Chinese culture will be increased and the Chinese nation’s cohesiveness will be further strengthened.
Foreign investment
Shanghai’s foreign capital inflows rose 6.1% year-on-year to about US$15.52 billion in the first three quarters of 2020, according to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.
A total of 38 regional headquarters of foreign-funded multinational companies and 14 foreign-funded research and development centers were established in Shanghai in the first nine months, raising their total numbers to 758 and 475 respectively.
Data showed that the nearly 60,000 foreign-funded enterprises in Shanghai now contribute more than one-quarter of the city’s gross domestic product, over one-third of its tax revenue and about two-thirds of its foreign trade volume.
To further attract foreign investment, Shanghai will hold a city promotion convention during the upcoming third China International Import Expo from November 5 to 10, inviting guests from foreign companies, investment promotion agencies and other related institutions, according to the municipal government.
Shanghai has always attached great importance to improving the business environment. Visits have been made and 15 government-enterprise meetings have been held this year to help foreign companies tide over the difficulties brought by Covid-19. The city also came up with many preferential policies for foreign investment.
Market liquidity
China’s central bank pumped cash into the banking system through open market operations to maintain liquidity Friday.
The People’s Bank of China injected 100 billion yuan ($14.87 billion) into the market through seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2.2%, according to a statement on its website.
The move was intended to maintain reasonably ample liquidity in the banking system, the central bank said. With 70 billion yuan of reverse repos maturing on the same day, the move led to a net liquidity injection of 30 billion yuan into the market.
Company news
China’s telecom equipment maker ZTE saw its operating revenue surge 15.4% year-on-year to 74.13 billion yuan in the first three quarters of this year.
In the third quarter, ZTE realized an operation revenue of 26.93 billion yuan, an annual increase of 37.2%. Net profit fell 67.83% to 854.76 million yuan.
The company invested 10.79 billion yuan in research and development in the January-September period, up 15.3% year-on-year. By the end of September, ZTE had obtained 55 commercial 5G contracts and started 5G cooperation with more than 90 telecom operators around the world.
PetroChina, China’s largest oil and gas producer, said its net profit for the third quarter increased 353.6% to 40.05 billion yuan from one year ago.
The company attributed the upsurge of net profit, despite the dual impacts of plummeting oil prices and a demand slump amid the Covid-19 outbreak, to effective cost control and high-quality development.
The stories were compiled by Nadeem Xu and Shan Hui and first published at ATimesCN.com.