State Council issues action plan for promoting high-level opening-up to attract foreign investment

Ning Jizhe, a member of the standing committee of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the former chief of the National Bureau of Statistics, expressed his confidence in China achieving the GDP growth target of about 5 percent this year, while dismissing hype about the Chinese economy entering a recession.

Ning, who is also the deputy director of the Economic Affairs Committee of the CPPCC National Committee, made the remarks in an exclusive interview with the Global Times on Wednesday.

China has set its 2024 GDP growth target at about 5 percent, according to the Government Work Report submitted on Tuesday to the national legislature for deliberation.

Setting a goal of achieving around 5 percent GDP growth requires a proactive approach as it will involve hard work, overcoming obstacles and challenges. However, with determination and perseverance, this goal can be successfully achieved, Ning said.

Ning said that his confidence comes from China's huge market, complete industrial system and push for technological innovation. The unstoppable trend of globalization and the new wave of technological revolution also offer favorable conditions for China's development.

Ning noted that an economic growth target of around 5 percent effectively refutes negative narratives about the Chinese economy.

The "China economic recession" theory has been circulating for decades and it resurfaces whenever China faces key development challenges. However, facts have proven that every time, China has overcome difficulties through reform, opening-up and transformation, Ning said.

Ning highlighted China's resilience in the face of past economic challenges, such as the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and the global financial crisis in 2008, and he expressed optimism in China's ability to navigate challenges.

"Despite the challenges, China is currently in a phase of transitioning growth drivers, changing development modes and optimizing its economic structure. I am confident that we can achieve a GDP growth target of about 5 percent this year," Ning said.

He also dismissed claims that China's economy has peaked. "This is not only an unscientific judgment, but also a malicious attempt to discredit China. Among those who hold this view, some are ignorant of the situation," Ning said.

Ning emphasized that although China's per capita GDP reached about $12,700 in 2023, it is still the world's largest developing country, with significant room for development and potential for further growth.

The GDP growth target of about 5 percent was set based on scientific reasoning and aligns with the long-term development goals laid out in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25). This is a target that can be achieved through utmost endeavor, Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The favorable conditions for China's economic development this year are stronger than the unfavorable factors, and China's economic rebound will be further consolidated and strengthened, Zheng said.

Zheng noted that China will expand macro regulation this year. Incremental policies such as large-scale equipment upgrades, trade-ins for consumer goods, and the issuance of ultra-long special-purpose treasury bonds will be implemented to support economic stability.

Positive momentum in the economy emerged in the first two months of this year, with indicators such as electricity consumption and consumer spending showing strong growth, paving the way for growth in the first quarter.

Industrial electricity usage expanded by 9.7 percent in the first two months of 2024, while the number of domestic tourist trips during the Spring Festival holidays shot up by 34.3 percent year-on-year, with a gain of 19 percent from 2019.

It's believed that imports and exports in January and February continued the growth trend that began in October last year, officials said.

China’s securities regulator vows to protect small investors' interests, strengthen market regulation

Chinese mainland authorities have released sweeping guidelines to support East China's Fujian Province in exploring new paths for cross-Straits integrated development, outlining a flurry of specific measures to boost economic and trade cooperation between Fujian and Taiwan region in a wide range of areas from services trade and small businesses to high-tech industrial clusters. 

Many Taiwan entrepreneurs on Tuesday hailed the new measures as concrete steps to help businesses from the island to further explore and expand in the mainland, stressing the cross-Straits integrated development is an irreversible trend. Some Taiwan entrepreneurs also expressed doubt about the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) willingness and ability to develop the regional economy. 

Analysts also said that the move fully demonstrated the mainland's goodwill in supporting Taiwan's regional economy and Taiwan compatriots' livelihoods, in stark contrast to the DPP authorities' secessionist rhetoric and actions, which run counter to the development interests of the region. More importantly, if the DPP authorities continue to pursue secessionist actions and jeopardize cross-Straits cooperation, the mainland will take firm actions in response, analysts noted.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said that after the mainland suspended preferential tariffs on 12 chemicals from Taiwan under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), in response to the DPP authorities' restrictions on mainland exports, the DPP has not taken any effective measures to lift those restrictions and has instead tried political manipulation. 

Currently, relevant departments are studying to further suspend preferential tariffs and take other measures on fishery, machinery, auto parts, textile and other products in line with the ECFA, the MOFCOM said.

In a circular made public on Monday, the Ministry of Commerce, the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology outlined 14 measures in five economic and trade areas, including supporting Fujian's opening-up and cooperation with Taiwan, high-quality trade and integrated industrial development. 

Specifically, the circular said that Fujian will explore and establish an institutional system and regulatory model that is conducive to advancing cross-Straits integrated development. Efforts will be made to attract Taiwan petrochemical, textile, machinery, cosmetics and other industry projects to Fujian, and help them explore international markets under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Cooperation, or RCEP, a regional trade agreement among 15 Asia Pacific countries includes the ASEAN members, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

According to the guidelines, measures will be taken to support micro and small businesses from Taiwan to explore the mainland market. Efforts will also be made to support Taiwan businesses' in participating in the new industrialization process and guiding them to invest in advanced manufacturing and high-tech industries. Fujian will also leverage its advantages in the digital economy, integrated circuit (IC), new energy, lithium battery, petrochemical, textile and other sectors to build a Fujian-Taiwan industrial clusters with global competitiveness. Notably, Fujian will build a cross-Straits IC industrial cooperation pilot zone.

The guidelines come after the CPC Central Committee and the State Council announced in September 2023 that Fujian will be built into a demonstration zone for the integrated development across the Taiwan Straits, in a move aimed at deepening integrated development in all fields and advancing the peaceful reunification of the country. 

Coming as the DPP authorities on the island continue to hype secessionist rhetoric ahead of the election of regional leader, the concrete measures offered much-needed assurance for Taiwan businesses and boosted their confidence in future cross-Straits economic and trade cooperation despite noise from the DPP authorities and some in the West. 

Boosting confidence

"This new circular will be of great boost to [Taiwan's] future exchanges and development with Fujian and will support more Taiwan businesses to invest in Fujian," Lai Cheng-i, chairman of the General Chamber of Commerce of the Taiwan island, told the Global Times on Tuesday, noting that industrial cooperation in areas such as services and semiconductors will be boosted. 

Lai said that all businesses from around the world, including those from Taiwan region, seek to enter the mainland market given its massive size. "I think Taiwan's business community is looking forward to continued positive development across the Taiwan Straits. This is the general trend." 

Teng Tai-Hsien, secretary general of Straits Economic & Cultural Interchange Association, also said that Fujian has offered Taiwan compatriots equal treatment in both living and investing, which is "very attractive" to Taiwan compatriots. 

"I think the industrial integration and cooperation between Taiwan and Fujian will likely surpass other regions in the future, and the future prospects are promising," Teng told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

Following the announcement of the establishment of Fujian as a demonstration zone for the integrated development across the Taiwan Straits, mainland authorities have taken a slew of measures to support that. In November, the Ministry of Public Security's exit and entry administration announced new entry-exit policies for Taiwan compatriots, including streamlining the application process for travel passes.

"With support from so many mainland government departments, these measures also demonstrate the mainland's unswerving efforts to promote the integrated development of cross-Straits economic and trade cooperation and its goodwill toward Taiwan compatriots," Wang Jianmin, a senior cross-Straits expert at Minnan Normal University in Fujian, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Wang said that in stark contrast to the mainland's goodwill, the DPP authorities have only been interfering, disrupting and undermining cross-Straits economic and trade cooperation, which will only squeeze the space for cross-Straits cooperation and directly harm the vital interests of Taiwan compatriots.

In addition to its secessionist words and deeds, the DPP authorities have been trying to cut cross-Straits economic and trade ties, while disregarding provisions in the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between the mainland and the island. DPP authorities have imposed restrictions on more than 2,500 mainland products. In a firm response, the mainland suspended preferential tariffs under the ECFA on a dozen chemical products from Taiwan starting on January 1.

Analysts said the mainland has made it clear that it would firmly counter the DPP's actions that undermine cross-Straits cooperation and hurt the vital interests of Taiwan compatriots, while at the same time taken favorable policies to boost cross-Straits integrated development and support Taiwan compatriots.

"I think the mainland's policies fully reflect its goodwill toward Taiwan. They are not what some in Taiwan claim to be 'trade barriers' aimed at sanctioning Taiwan," Zhang Wensheng, deputy dean of the Taiwan Research Institute at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Tuesday. "The mainland has always maintained goodwill toward Taiwan compatriots and also hopes that Taiwan compatriots would treat Fujian as their home."

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) producer BYD Co overtook US-based Tesla Inc to become the world's biggest EV maker in the fourth quarter of 2023 for the first time, according to latest data from the companies. This had added another milestone to a historical year for China's auto industry as it's poised to propel China to become the world's biggest auto exporter. 

BYD's success, which also include an impressive growth rate throughout 2023 that outpaced Tesla and other EV makers, is a microcosm of the achievement in China's upgrade of its vast manufacturing industry, export sector and the domestic market - all crucial to China's high-quality development, experts said. 

On Tuesday US time, Tesla said that it delivered 484,500 EVs in the final quarter of 2023, which also marked a new record for the company. However, that means BYD, which said on Monday that it had sold about 526,400 EVs during the same period, overtook Tesla to become the world's biggest EV maker in the fourth quarter of the year for the first time.

For the whole year of 2023, Tesla retained its spot as the biggest EV maker, as it delivered a total of 1.8 million EVs, larger than BYD's total sales of about 1.57 million units. Still, BYD's recorded a year-on-year sales growth rate of 73 percent for 2023, far outpacing Tesla's sales growth of 38 percent. Such sales growth rate has also led many to speculate that BYD will surpass Tesla to become the world's biggest EV maker in 2024. 

This is also significant considering that BYD's market capitalization, at 573.17 billion yuan ($80.21 billion) as of Wednesday, represents only a fraction of Tesla's $778.42 billion. Over the past six months, BYD's shares dropped by 28.85 percent, while Tesla's shares fell by 11.22 percent. 

Despite such a huge gap in the financial market, analysts expect that BYD is well positioned to maintain its lead in EV sales in 2024 over Tesla. 

Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, said BYD's success is due to a slew of factors, including its own technological innovation, major policy support for industrial upgrading, a complete and stable domestic supply chain - which all helped BYD to make high-quality but affordable EVs. 

"Given all these factors, it is no wonder that BYD surpasses Tesla," Hu told the Global Times on Wednesday.  

In a statement it sent to the Global Times, BYD noted that it has grown to be the world's biggest EV company, and since its passenger car export strategy in May 2021, it has exported to 58 countries and regions around the world.

"Going forward, BYD will continue to promote the overseas expansion of passenger cars and continue to accelerate the global expansion of new-energy passenger cars," the company said. 

BYD's milestone also came as China's whole EV sector saw a bumper year in 2023. According to the latest data from the China Association of Automobile Manufactures, in the first 11 months of 2023, China's exports of new-energy vehicles jumped 83.5 percent year-on-year to 1.09 million units. Thanks to such rapid growth, China's total auto exports reached 4.41 units, up 58 percent year-on-year and outnumbering Japan's 3.99 million units during the same period. 

This also represents a landmark event for China's auto industry as it becomes the world's biggest auto exporter after surpassing Japan in 2023 and Germany in 2022 - two countries that had been dominating the world's auto market for decades. 

Industrial upgrading

The success of BYD as well as the whole Chinese EV sector directly reflect solid progress China has made in relentlessly pushing for industrial upgrade and high-quality development, experts said.

Cui Dongshu, secretary general of China Passenger Car Association, said BYD and other Chinese EV makers have benefited greatly from China's vast domestic market as well as the country's efforts to boost industrial transformation and upgrade. 

"The biggest factor behind Chinese EV's success is the technological transformation. In addition, the Chinese market also offered a huge advantage for them to grow," Cui told the Global Times on Wednesday, noting that China's auto industry, especially the EV sector, has seen relatively better growth than other countries around the world thanks to China's policy supports. 

For its success, BYD also pointed to various policies, including China's continued reform and opening-up, support for private businesses and the building of a new development model. 

"Looking back, we feel more and more strongly that it was the reform and opening-up that gave birth to BYD, and it was the new development concept that created huge opportunities that strengthened BYD," the company said in the statement.

Policy support for the EV sector is just part of China's broader effort to transform and upgrade its industrial system, which has become a top priority in the pursuit of high-quality development. The Central Economic Work Conference held in December, which set priorities for economic work for 2024, listed the development of a modern industrial system led by innovation as a top priority.

Hu said that China's industrial transformation and upgrade has made great strides. "Through industrial transformation and upgrade, our international competitiveness is also strengthening and in terms of the macroeconomic situation, all three main drivers have been revitalized," he said. 

One example of industrial upgrade revitalizing China's main economic drivers is the exports of EVs. Lithium batteries and solar panels became a highlight of China's exports in 2023, and they have been described as "the new three items" of China's exports sector, a drastic shift from the previous "three items" of China's exports - clothes, furniture and electronics. 

In the first three quarters of 2023, total exports of "the three new items" jumped by 41.7 percent year-on-year, compared to a mere 0.6 percent in China's total exports during the period due to weak external demand. 

Police in Meigu county in Liangshan, Sichuan, recently received a report from the School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, which said that a black-necked crane with a tracker for scientific research had remained in a static status for an extended period. The institute asked for an investigation into the condition of the migratory bird. 

The police immediately formed a task force to investigate into the incident in the outskirts of a sparsely populated hamlet. 

After extensive investigations and visits, the police finally tracked down the suspect surnamed Jike. 

Jike confessed under interrogation that he illegally captured and killed the rare species of the endangered wildlife animal black-necked crane. 

According to Jike, he happened to see the big bird resting on the river bank on his way home and the idea of catching and eating the bid just occurred to him. A thought that he soon followed up on.  

According to the judicial appraisal results by a forestry judicial appraisal center in Sichuan, the bird killed by the suspect was a black-necked crane, which is one of China’s national first-class key protected animals. The tracking device tied to the bird’s foot and the serial number show that the black-necked crane was exactly the one that was used for ecological study of migration of the crane by the college institute. 

Jike has been placed under criminal detention by the police for the suspicion of the crime of endangering precious and endangered wildlife animal. The case is currently under further investigation. 

According to media reports, the black-necked crane is the only species of crane endemic to China and is among the 15 crane species that currently exist in the world. It is also the only crane species in the world that grows and breeds on plateaus, earning it the titles of “plateau fairy” and “plateau divine bird.”

China’s top legislature passed regulation on February 24, 2020 to strictly ban the illegal wildlife trade and eliminate bad habits of eating wild animals in China to safeguard people’s health and livelihoods. 

According to China’s Criminal Law, anyone who illegally captures, kills, transports, purchases or sells national protected, precious, endangered wildlife and their products, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for up to five years or faced with criminal detention, along with a fine. 

In cases of serious circumstances, the punishment may be extended to 5-10 years of imprisonment, along with a fine. In particularly severe cases, the sentence may be more than 10 years of imprisonment, along with a fine or confiscation of property and assets. 

Preliminary investigation shows the separation of carriages accident along the Changping Line of Beijing subway on Thursday evening was due to the snowy weather, which affected the train's braking system, resulting in a rear-end collision with the front train, Beijing transportation authorities said on Friday.

Around 11:00 pm on Thursday, the personnel transfer was completed, and the on-site disposal work basically finished. A total of 515 people were sent to the hospital for examination, and 102 people were found to have suffered fractures, with no fatalities, the authorities said on Friday.

According to the authorities' announcement, the accident occurred as a result of the slippery tracks caused by the snowy weather. The preceding train had to make an emergency brake to stop. Unfortunately, the following train was situated in a downhill section, making it difficult to effectively brake due to the snowy conditions.

Beijing transportation authority apologized for the inconvenience, fright, and injuries caused to the passengers in this accident, and vowed to do a good job in carrying out post-accident work and conduct a comprehensive investigation to improve extreme weather operation and emergency response to ensure the safety of operations.

It was at 6:57 pm on Thursday, when a rear-end collision occurred in the section between Xi’erqi to Life Science Park stations of the Changping Line. The municipal government officials immediately went to the scene and set up a working group for on-site accident disposal. The relevant departments including transportation, firefighting, health, public security and emergency response responded quickly and made efforts for rescue, according to the authorities.

As of 6 am on Friday, 423 people have been discharged from hospital, 25 people are under observation, and 67 people are receiving hospital treatment, the authorities said.

On Friday, Beijing Subway apologized again over the incident, while putting in place measures to reduce inconvenience for passengers.

Currently, the Beijing municipal government has established an investigation team for the Changping Line accident, which will further investigate the cause of the accident, evaluate the emergency response, and learn lessons from the accident, effectively carrying out rectification measures.

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management on Tuesday have urgently allocated 200 million yuan ($28 million) in disaster relief funds to northwest China’s Gansu and Qinghai provinces. This funding will support local earthquake relief efforts and ensure the safety of people's lives and property, minimizing the impact and losses caused by the disaster, China Media Group (CMG) reported.

China is stepping up rescue and relief efforts to ensure the safety of people's lives and property after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake shook Jishishan County in northwest China's Gansu Province at midnight Monday.

The State Council has sent a working group to the stricken regions to help guide relief work. Gansu and Qinghai provinces have organized relief support with immediate allocation of relief supplies such as camps and folding beds to impacted areas.

Relief supplies were immediately redeployed from nearby areas, with supplies gradually arriving to impacted communities, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) told a press conference on Tuesday.

The NDRC has activated emergency response mechanism to ensure energy, electricity, and essential supplies. Efforts are being made to repair damaged power facilities and provide emergency power supply. Food and material reserves are being allocated for disaster relief, a spokesperson from the NDRC said.

The first shipment of 46,100 emergency relief supplies from central and provincial level have been dispatched to the disaster-stricken areas, including cotton tents, quilts, mattresses, folding beds, cotton shoes, and stoves, according to Gansu provincial grain and material reserve bureau. The bureau has also obtained 15 tons of flour for emergency supply in Jishishan.

The State Council's earthquake relief headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management have upgraded the national earthquake emergency response to Level II.

At present, the earthquake has led 105 deaths in Gansu and 11 deaths in Qinghai, with damaging basic infrastructure such as water, electricity, transportation, and communications, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Rescue and relief efforts are progressing in an orderly manner, including hazard inspections, evacuation and resettlement of residents, and repair of damaged facilities, China Media Group reported.

China released the 2023 Report on Xinjiang's Human Rights and Legal Protections, which is Xinjiang's first blue book of its kind, on Wednesday in Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, comprehensively demonstrating the efforts and achievements of promoting high-quality development of human rights cause in Xinjiang in Chinese modernization drive.

The newly released blue book is the first book led by scholars that examines Xinjiang's human rights and legal protections as well as future directions of the people in Xinjiang from an academic perspective, which is groundbreaking, Chang Jian, director of the Human Rights Research Center at Nankai University, told the Global Times on Wednesday at the 2023 Idea and Story Sharing Conference: Promoting High-Quality Development of Human Rights Cause in Xinjiang in Chinese Modernization Drive, where the blue book was published.

Erkin Tuniyaz, chairman of the people's government of Xinjiang region, revealed at the event that currently the overall social situation in Xinjiang remains stable, and there have been no incidents of violent terrorism for nearly seven years. The public's sense of security has reached an unprecedented level. In the eyes of tourists, Xinjiang has become "a place with the best public security management, the safest social environment and the most secure stability." The number of tourists to Xinjiang has increased from 48.6 million in 2012 to 260 million this year, reaching a historic high.

Over the past decade, Xinjiang's GDP has increased from 0.84 trillion yuan ($0.12 trillion) in 2013 to 1.77 trillion yuan in 2022, doubling in size. Per capita disposable income has increased from 13,700 yuan in 2013 to 27,000 yuan in 2022, with an average annual growth rate of over 8 percent. Many economic indicators have outperformed the national average, and the people of all ethnic groups are richer with more development opportunities.

For many years, more than 70 percent of the local fiscal expenditure has been used to guarantee and improve people's livelihoods. The average life expectancy has increased from over 30 years at the establishment of the autonomous region to 75.65 years today, according to a senior official.

The official added that Xinjiang attaches great importance to the excavation, inheritance, and protection of the excellent traditional cultures of all ethnic groups. For example, Uygur Muqam art, Uygur Meshrep and the Kirgiz epic Manas have been included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The promotion and standardized use of the national common language has been vigorously promoted in Xinjiang, and the languages and scripts of all ethnic groups have been widely used in education, judiciary, administration and social public affairs.

According to Erkin, in recent years, Xinjiang has actively expanded the ways for people of all ethnic groups to acquire religious knowledge and translated and published religious scriptures in multiple languages. Xinjiang has built a new campus for Islamic theological colleges and established eight branch campuses in Ili, Hotan, Kashi, and other areas, cultivating a group of high-quality Islamic talents. In particular, for religious activity venues such as mosques, Taoist temples, and Buddhist temples that have been in disrepair for a long time, Xinjiang has effectively improved their conditions by respecting the wishes of religious believers. This has been achieved through new construction, renovation, and expansion, ensuring the unhindered continuation of regular religious activities.

Practice has shown that the development of human rights in Xinjiang is in line with China's national conditions and the reality of Xinjiang, meeting the expectations of people of all ethnic groups, as well as the basic spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Erkin said.

However, some countries turn a blind eye to the increasingly prominent human rights issues in their own countries, and wear colored glasses to criticize the human rights situation in Xinjiang, using human rights issues to interfere in China's domestic affairs, Erkin noted.

The people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are the ones who know best whether the path of human rights in Xinjiang is right or not. The people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have the most say in whether the human rights situation in Xinjiang is good or not, the regional senior official remarked.

Chang stated that some countries in the international community have weaponized human rights issues to strategically contain China, desperately smearing China's human rights situation. Xinjiang, as a focus of attention, has been falsely portrayed as a region with "forced labor," despite the fact that cotton harvests are good, mechanization levels are high, and efforts have been made to improve the employment rights of the people.

In this context, we have proactively released the blue book to show the outside world and help them understand, how the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang live, showing them experiences of individuals and personal stories. This can clarify the facts and enable the international community to see the true situation of human rights protection in Xinjiang, Chang stressed.

About 200 experts and scholars in the field of human rights from universities and research institutions inside and outside Xinjiang, media journalists, representatives of relevant departments and people sharing their personal stories attended the event on Wednesday.

By sharing touching stories and personal experiences, 10 representatives from various industries and fields in Xinjiang truly demonstrated the development and progress of Xinjiang's human rights cause.