China has called for fostering a secure and stable development environment, consolidating integrated development, leveraging the catalytic role of sci-tech innovation and pursuing people-centered cooperation with the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Premier Li Keqiang on Monday made a four-pronged proposal for the future development of the SCO while addressing the 19th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the SCO, which was held via video link.
Noting that the SCO members have joined hands to fight the virus since the outbreak of Covid-19, Li expressed hope that all parties would implement the outcomes of the recently held SCO summit and steadily advance the SCO’s cooperation agendas to open up new vistas for its development in the post-pandemic era.
All parties vowed to safeguard multilateralism and free trade, promote trade, investment and personnel exchanges, facilitate cooperation in the joint construction of the Belt and Road, tap the potential in interconnectivity and speed up economic recovery in the post-pandemic era.
They also agreed to jointly combat terrorism in all its forms, safeguard regional security and stability, strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges and create solid public support for mutually beneficial cooperation.
Li and the leaders of other member states signed a joint communique and approved a series of agreements and resolutions on SCO cooperation in trade and other areas.
The SCO now comprises eight member states – China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – four observer states interested in acceding to full membership – Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia – and six “dialogue partners” – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
New QDII quotas
China’s foreign-exchange regulator on Monday issued a new round of quotas for the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) scheme, an important channel for domestic investors to access overseas assets.
The new QDII quotas valued at US$4.3 billion were granted to 23 financial institutions, including fund companies, securities firms, banks, banks’ wealth management subsidiaries and trust companies, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
The move echoed the administration’s previous efforts at normalizing the issuance of QDII quotas.
The administration has granted three rounds of quotas under the QDII scheme since September, issuing a total of about $12.72 billion worth of quotas to 71 institutions.
After the new issuance, a total of 169 institutions received quotas amounting to roughly $116.7 billion under the QDII scheme, official data shows.
Caixin PMI
China’s economic recovery kept up its momentum last month as manufacturing activity achieved its fastest growth in a decade, a Caixin-sponsored survey showed.
The Caixin China General Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which gives an independent snapshot of the country’s manufacturing sector, rose to 54.9 in November from 53.6 the previous month, according to a report released Tuesday. Last month’s reading was the highest since November 2010.
A number above 50 indicates an expansion in activity, while a reading below that signals a contraction. The November reading marked the seventh consecutive month of expansion.
Company news
Huawei Technologies has announced it will further upgrade its Optical Networking 2.0 (ON2.0) solution at Huawei’s 7th Optical Network Innovation Forum which featured new speed, new sites, new smart O&M, new schema and new services. This solution will help operators develop innovative services and thrive.
In 2019, Huawei released the 5G-oriented ON2.0 solution that features three new technologies: new speed, new sites and new smart O&M, which aim to build an experience-centric service transmission network. In 2020, Huawei upgraded its ON2.0 solution to promote the evolution of the all-optical network industry and help operators build all-optical metro architectures that provides a superior service experience.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has placed Tesla’s Shanghai-made Model Y on a list that grants new energy vehicles exemption from purchase tax, signaling the US automaker should soon start selling the electric sports utility vehicle in China, a market which it sees as one of its most important revenue sources.
The approval comes three months after Tesla began accepting Chinese pre-orders for Model Y cars that are expected to be produced at the company’s Shanghai plant as early as next year.
The stories were compiled by Nadeem Xu and Shan Hui and first published at ATimesCN.com.