XI SAYS FUNDAMENTALS OF CHINA'S LONG-TERM GROWTH WILL NOT CHANGE

The fundamentals of China's long-term sound economic growth have not changed and will not change, President Xi Jinping said Wednesday in a reply letter to global CEOs.

He also pledged that China will keep deepening reform and expanding opening-up, and provide a better business environment for the investment and development of Chinese and foreign enterprises.

Writing back to representatives of Global CEO Council members, Xi said he appreciates their firm confidence in China's peaceful and open development, their commitment to staying rooted in China, and their constructive suggestions on China's economic development.

China, he added, is dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic and socio-economic development in a coordinated manner, striving for a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and eradicating poverty.

He said China will comprehensively implement major policies and measures aimed at ensuring the six priorities of employment, people's livelihoods, development of market entities, food and energy security, stable operation of industrial and supply chains, and smooth functioning at the community level, and ensuring stability in the six areas of employment, finance, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment and market expectations.

China will foster new opportunities and create new prospects for Chinese and foreign enterprises, Xi said, adding that those CEOs have made the right choice to stay rooted in China.

In today's world, the interests of all countries are highly integrated, the human race is a community with a shared future that shares weal and woe, and win-win cooperation is the trend of the times, stressed the Chinese president.

China, he added, will be unswervingly committed to pursuing the path of peaceful development, making economic globalization more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all, and promoting the building of an open world economy.

Xi expressed his hope that those CEOs will adhere to the principle of win-win cooperation and common development, strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Chinese companies, and contribute to the world economic recovery.

Xi's letter was in reply to a recent joint letter from 18 CEOs of the Global CEO Council, which groups 39 multinational companies that are global leaders in their respective industries.

The CEOs spoke highly of the fact that China, under Xi's strong leadership, has rapidly contained the coronavirus epidemic, taken the lead in resuming work and production, and played a positive role in supporting the global COVID-19 fight and maintaining world economic stability.

They added that Xi's proposition on creating new opportunities out of crises and opening up new prospects in changing circumstances, as well as his resolve to unswervingly promote economic globalization in a manner that will be more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all, have further consolidated their confidence in China and commitment to staying rooted in and serving China.

In their letter, the business leaders also offered suggestions on China's economic development and international cooperation in the post-pandemic era.

CHINA'S GDP UP 3.2% IN Q2

- China's GDP grew by 3.2 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

In the first half of the year, the gross domestic product totaled 45.66 trillion yuan, down 1.6 percent year-on-year, the bureau said.

- China's surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas stood at 5.7 percent in June, 0.2 percentage points lower than that of May.

- China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 4.4 percent year-on-year in the second quarter as factories stepped up production amid COVID-19 control.

- China's fixed-asset investment went down 3.1 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2020, narrowing from the 6.3-percent decline in the first five months.

- China's retail sales of consumer goods declined 3.9 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of this year.

- China's investment in property development edged up 1.9 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2020, compared with the 7.7-percent decline during the January-March period.

- China's per capita disposable income stood at 15,666 yuan in the first half of the year, up 2.4 percent from the same period last year in nominal terms. After deducting price factors, per capita disposable income fell 1.3 percent year-on-year.

- China's industrial capacity utilization rate stood at 74.4 percent in the second quarter of 2020, up 7.1 percentage points from the first quarter

- Output of the primary industry rose 0.9 percent year-on-year, while the service sector and the secondary industry saw a decline of 1.6 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

CHINA'S E-COMMERCE MARKET SIZE TOPS THE WORLD

China's e-commerce market size was the biggest in the world, according to the E-Commerce in China 2019 report released recently by the Ministry of Commerce, the People's Daily overseas edition reported on Thursday.

As per the report, there were more than 900 million online shoppers in 2019. Total transaction volume of e-commerce reached 34.81 trillion yuan ($4.98 trillion), among these, retail sales stood at 10.63 trillion yuan, up 16.5 percent year-on-year. Online retail sales of physical commodities registered 8.52 trillion yuan in 2019, rising to 20.7 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

Since 2020, due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, e-commerce platforms have registered more volume. They not only have met the demand from the consumption side but also provided strong support for merchants and firms to keep afloat.

The trend for online-and-offline integration driven by e-commerce is increasingly prominent, a leading official from the Department of Electronic Commerce and Information of the Ministry of Commerce said when explaining the report, with catering enterprises and retail stores dynamically exploring online market space and traditional brick-and-mortar economies trying to go digital. Internet retails' expansion into smart production and e-commerce platforms' digital connection with each part in the industrial chains significantly boost efficiency in the supply chains and industrial transformation and upgrading.

The boom of e-commerce creates jobs. As per the report, employees in the e-commerce sector reached 51.26 million in 2019, up 8.29 percent year-on-year, among them, 31.15 million people were at a position directly related to e-commerce, 20.11 million people were at a position related to information technology and other industries serving or supporting the e-commerce.

The development of e-commerce drove up the sales of related hardwares. Data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed firms above designated size in the electronic information manufacturing industries saw increase in both operation revenue and profit in the first five months, among these, computer manufacturing saw operation revenue growth by 6 percent and benefit grow by 41.6 percent.

NEW STEPS TO INCREASE CONSUMPTION, JOBS

New business models and self-employment ventures will drive China's ongoing efforts to boost consumption and create more jobs, the nation's top economic regulator said on Wednesday.

Nineteen measures have been identified for the development of new business models such as online education, livestreaming, e-commerce and individual business running via WeChat, according to a guideline jointly released by the National Development and Reform Commission and 12 other central departments.

The rapid growth of digital technology has created several new business models despite the novel coronavirus outbreak and played a key role in the prevention and control of the epidemic, apart from boosting the slowing economy and stabilizing employment.

According to the document, China will look to foster the integrated development of online and offline businesses, boost industrial digitalization and encourage self-employment ventures. The new measures also include development of online health services, encouraging telecommuting, accelerating the digital transformation of traditional enterprises, building virtual industrial parks and clusters, and boosting the development of the sharing economy.

Experts said the new guideline is in line with the country's efforts to ensure "six priorities" and stability in six areas for steady economic momentum, with a key focus on creating jobs, and is also a key measure to maintain economic and social stability amid mounting downside pressure both at home and abroad.

Chen Duan, executive director of the Zhongjing Digital Economy Research Center, said as social distancing is becoming the new normal, consumers are shifting from brick-and-mortar stores to online shopping platforms.

"Against this backdrop, the government must step up efforts to deepen reforms, develop new forms of business and spark innovation in individual enterprises," said Chen.

New technologies are leading to a new round of digital transformation of traditional businesses, he said. "New technologies such as big data and online streaming e-commerce will help manufacturers get a better understanding of the shopping habits of consumers and enable them to tailor customized, personalized products."

The new guideline comes after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday called for renewed efforts to prepare for the tough battle ahead, as international uncertainties continue to mount and employment pressure on the domestic front remains prominent.

Efforts are also needed to develop the industrial internet, foster new forms of business and further release the country's consumption potential via reforms, Li said in his remarks at a symposium.

RAINFALL WILL MOVE INTO NORTH CHINA

Heavy rainfall will move into North China in the next 30 days while continuous rainstorms that hit and flooded southern parts will subside, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

Since June, seven bouts of heavy rainstorms hit about 64 percent of counties in South China.

From June 1 to July 14, the average precipitation in the south reached 344 millimeters, the sixth highest during the same period since 1961.

By Monday, the sustained rainstorms had affected 38.7 million people across the country, with 141 people missing or dead, and had damaged about 29,000 houses, according to the latest national data available from the Ministry of Emergency Management.

The latest monitoring from the administration's remote sensing satellite showed that coverage of the main parts and surrounding waters of Poyang Lake in Jiangxi province, where the flood situation is one of the most urgent, has reached 4,403 square kilometers, the largest since 2010 and 25 percent larger than the average size during the same period in previous years.

However, the result also showed that the recent water level of the lake has declined due to less rainfall.

Song Lianchun, head of the National Climate Center, said at a news conference on Wednesday that global warming and a subtropical high are to blame.

He said that global warming leads to frequent occurrences of extreme weather and climate changes. China, which is sensitive to such changes, has seen its number of rainy days increase by 3.9 percent every decade since 1960.

"Since June, the subtropical high has been stronger than in previous years, a result of an unusually warmer North Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, cold air in the north, which has been relatively frequent, met warm air in the south, resulting in frequent and continuous heavy rainfall," he said.

According to the administration, the rain belt will move northward in mid-July and hover over northern parts of the country for the first half of August.

Wang Zhihua, deputy head of the disaster relief and public service department of the administration, said that from July 20, there will be more rainfall in northern regions.

He said that the main rain belt will gradually move to the Yellow and Huaihe rivers, North China and then the northeast, raising precipitation in these areas by 20 to 50 percent more than the past month.

Rain in areas south of the Yangtze River will be reduced by 20 to 50 percent.

GOVT TO UNVEIL NEW POLICIES ON INNOVATION

China will roll out new policies to boost entrepreneurship and innovation, with a special focus on employment and business startups by college graduates and other key groups, the State Council's executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided on Wednesday.

The meeting urged keeping to the strategy of innovation-driven development and spurring society-wide entrepreneurial activities and innovation to unleash market vitality and people's creativity.

New drivers of growth will be fully harnessed to support jobs and market entities, with a particular focus on the employment of college graduates, rural migrant workers who have returned to their hometowns and other key population groups.

"Stimulating entrepreneurship and innovation is highly important for providing employment for key groups of people and increasing their income. Competent departments should work out greater support for the employment of college graduates and rural migrant workers," Li said.

A series of measures were adopted at the meeting.

Support for entrepreneurs and innovators will be scaled up. Special funds will be earmarked from central budgetary investment for the development of entrepreneurship and innovation demonstration centers.

Idle factory buildings and underused land will be brought into full play as part of the greater support for key entrepreneurial and innovation projects.

Government-invested incubators will provide a portion of their venues free of charge to college graduates and rural migrant workers.

One-off subsidies may be granted to first-time entrepreneurs returning or moving to the countryside, who have kept their business startups in regular operation for no less than a year.

Enterprises, entrepreneurship and innovation demonstration centers and online platforms will be encouraged to jointly provide training on entrepreneurial skills in nursing, elderly care, domestic services, tourism and e-commerce to help shape the expectations of job seekers and broaden their employment prospects.

"We need to provide proper guidance for college graduates in their expectations for jobs, and encourage them to start their own businesses," Li said.

Financial institutions will be encouraged to provide insurance services for the financial leasing of equipment and entrepreneurial activities.

Restrictions on sectors where insurance funds may be used for financial equity investment will be lifted, and the quota transfer of equity investment and venture capital investment will be piloted in regional equity markets.

The meeting urged stepping up basic research in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, and encouraging teenagers to learn and explore basic theories.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Each morning sees some task begin, Each evening sees it close;

Something attempted, something done, Has earned a night's repose. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (The Village Blacksmith)