【CONTENTS】
I. Chinese banks report forex settlement deficit in 2024
II. China pledges efforts to expand opening-up, welcomes foreign investment
III. China reports active trade with BRI countries in 2024: commerce ministry
IV. New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor connects 555 ports worldwide
V. CNOOC-Shell joint venture invests 60 billion yuan in two projects in S. China
VI. China's cross-border trade, investment more vibrant
I. Chinese banks report forex settlement deficit in 2024
BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's commercial banks saw a forex settlement deficit of 110.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, official data showed Tuesday.
In yuan terms, forex purchases by banks reached 16.54 trillion yuan (about 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars), while sales stood at around 17.33 trillion yuan, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed.
In December alone, these commercial banks saw a net forex settlement deficit of 76.8 billion yuan, according to the administration.
In 2024, the balance of payments maintained a basic equilibrium, Li Bin, deputy head of SAFE, told a press conference.
Looking ahead, Li expressed optimism about the stability of China's balance of payments, highlighting the increasing resilience of the forex market and the favorable conditions for a stable RMB exchange rate.
(2025-01-15 Source: Xinhua News Agency)
II. China pledges efforts to expand opening-up, welcomes foreign investment
BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China will roll out more measures to expand opening-up and attract more foreign investment in 2025, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Wednesday.
Efforts will be made to further ease market access, MOC official Li Yongjie told a press conference. She said that after China placed zero restrictions on foreign investment in its manufacturing sector last year, it will advance the opening-up of its services sector this year -- particularly pilot programs in the telecommunication, medical care and education fields.
On optimizing the country's business environment, Li pledged continuous efforts to promote the Invest in China campaign this year, and improve services for foreign-invested firms.
Efforts will be made to resolve problems foreign-invested firms face in qualification licensing, standard setting and government procurement, according to Li.
Efforts should also be made to build high-level opening-up platforms that align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, the official said, calling for continued work to improve the quality and efficiency of the country's pilot free trade zones.
(2025-01-16 Source: Xinhua News Agency)
III. China reports active trade with BRI countries in 2024: commerce ministry
BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's trade in goods with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries hit 22.1 trillion yuan (3.07 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2024, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.
Nearly 54 percent of China's imports came from BRI partner countries last year, as China's super-large market has been providing development opportunities for nations around the world, ministry official Li Yongjie told a press conference.
China's exports to BRI partner countries covered consumer goods as well as industrial equipment and components, and these exports have helped promote the industrial development of those countries, she said.
Two-way investment with BRI countries has continued to expand. In the first 11 months of last year, China's non-financial direct investment in BRI countries totaled 214.66 billion yuan, and investment in China from those countries climbed to 99.87 billion yuan.
China signed 36 investment cooperation agreements with BRI countries from January to November last year, mainly involving emerging fields such as the green, digital and blue economies, Li said.
She noted that in the first 11 months of 2024, China's contracted projects in BRI partner countries saw a turnover of 826.34 billion yuan, and China organized and implemented 700 aid projects in those countries, helping to improve their development.
Looking ahead, Li said that China will continue to pursue practical cooperation with BRI partner countries in the areas of digital economy, clean energy and green minerals.
China will also work to secure more free trade agreements and bilateral investment protection agreements with BRI partner countries, Li added.
(2025-01-16 Source: Xinhua News Agency)
IV. New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor connects 555 ports worldwide
CHONGQING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a key logistics network connecting China's western regions to global markets, has expanded its reach to 555 ports in 127 countries and regions.
With an operational hub based in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, this trade corridor connects global ports via railways, sea routes and highways through southern Chinese provincial regions such as Guangxi and Yunnan. The cargo service now covers 157 points in 73 domestic cities.
According to the data released on Thursday by the Chongqing Port and Logistics Office, more than 251,800 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods were transported through Chongqing via the trade corridor in 2024, with the total value reaching 46.7 billion yuan (about 6.4 billion U.S. dollars), up 41 percent and 67 percent year-on-year respectively.
The number of rail-sea trains running through the trade corridor each year has surged from more than 900 in 2019 to over 10,000 in 2024, while the variety of goods has expanded from dozens to over 1,160 types, said Liu Taiping, chairman of the New Land-Sea Corridor Operation Co., Ltd.
Relying on the fast and efficient corridor, specialty products from western China, such as goji berry juice and red wine from Ningxia, oranges from Chongqing and tea from Guizhou, have become new growth drivers for local foreign trade. Additionally, the export of new energy vehicles from these western regions has accelerated, with local auto enterprises establishing factories in Southeast Asian countries.
Tao Liang, an official with the Chongqing Port and Logistics Office, noted that driven by construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, building of a modern collection and distribution system will be accelerated to promote the integration of logistics, trade and industry.
(2025-01-16 Source: Xinhua News Agency)
V. CNOOC-Shell joint venture invests 60 billion yuan in two projects in S. China
GUANGZHOU, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A Sino-foreign petrochemical joint venture has finalized an investment decision for two projects with a total investment of nearly 60 billion yuan (about 8.35 billion U.S. dollars) in Huizhou City, South China's Guangdong Province.
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Shell plc's joint venture, CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Company Limited (CSPC), announced Wednesday they would invest in the Huizhou Phase III Ethylene Project and the Polycarbonate Project, with both projects officially commencing full-scale construction.
"Today's announcement of the final investment decision for the two projects marks a significant milestone. It represents CSPC's third major expansion," said Roelof Heezen, CSPC deputy general manager.
The Phase III Project will build 16 sets of production units, including an Ethylene unit with a capacity of 1.6 million tonnes per year and other downstream units and supporting facilities.
It is expected to be completed in 2028.
Through project scope optimization and electrification of large compressor groups, the project will achieve an overall 20 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, promote the use of renewable green energy, and support the implementation of the country's "dual-carbon" strategy, according to the company.
The Polycarbonate Project will debut Shell's proprietary technology globally, with the advantages of cost efficiency, low energy consumption, safety and environmental friendliness.
To be completed in 2026, it will produce over 320,000 tonnes annually of high-performance specialty chemicals, including polycarbonate and carbonate solvents. These products will play a vital role in the transportation, construction, health care and consumer goods industries.
According to CSPC, the investment in the two projects is also a testimony of the shareholders' confidence in CSPC, the local government and the overall growth of performance chemicals in China.
Established in 2000, CSPC is one of the largest petrochemicals joint ventures and the largest single-site ethylene complexes in operation in China.
(2025-01-16 Source: Xinhua News Agency)
VI. China's cross-border trade, investment more vibrant
BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's cross-border trade and investment became more vibrant in 2024, said an official with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) on Tuesday, quoting official data.
The cross-border receipts and payments by non-banking sectors, including enterprises and individuals, increased by 14.6 percent year on year to 14.3 trillion U.S. dollars last year, hitting a record high, Li Bin, deputy head of the SAFE, told a press conference held by the State Council Information Office.
A basic equilibrium was maintained in the balance of payments, and foreign exchange reserves were stable at over 3.2 trillion U.S. dollars, Li said, adding that the RMB exchange rate remained generally stable at a reasonable, balanced level.
Li added that the country's external financial assets surpassed the 10-trillion-dollar mark for the first time at the end of September 2024.
Noting that China's macroeconomic policies will help strengthen efforts in counter-cyclical adjustments, Li said the SAFE will implement a more proactive foreign exchange management policy to support high-quality economic development and high-level opening up.
Speaking at the presser, Xuan Changneng, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank, said that in 2024, the PBOC implemented four significant monetary policy adjustments aimed at sustaining economic recovery and supporting high-quality economic development.
These policy adjustments include cutting the reserve requirement ratio by a total of 1 percentage point and the central bank's policy interest rate by a total of 0.3 percentage points, Xuan explained.
Xuan said that, in 2024, China's monetary policy has yielded promising results, with a reasonable growth in the total financial volume.
By the end of December 2024, the social financing scale increased 8 percent from a year ago, and M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 7.3 percent year on year, all above the nominal economic growth.
"For the next period, we will adjust and optimize the intensity and pace of our policies appropriately, based on domestic and international economic and financial conditions, as well as the performance of financial markets, to help achieve the economic and social development goals for the whole year," Xuan added.
(2025-01-15 Source: Xinhua News Agency)
