Welcome to China Business News, NEO’s weekly roundup of top business developments as reported by news outlets in China and the region.
This week’s highlights:
- China’s growth target this year could be set as high as 6%, in a bid to boost investor and consumer confidence. The latest data show that China’s economy is recovering faster than expected. Data released on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the purchasing managers’ index within the manufacturing sector stood at 52.6 % in February, up 2.5% compared with January and the highest level in more than 10 years. Peng Aiyao, an economic analyst for Greater China at ING Group in Hong Kong, said the data released earlier this week gave Beijing good reason to set a high growth target of 5.5% to 6%. Yu Yongding, an economist who worked as an adviser for China’s Central Bank, thinks that “given the low base last year, growth of more than 6% this year is not really high.” (The United Morning Post)
- After three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, “promoting the economy” has become a buzz-phrase in China since the beginning of 2023. As part of this goal, Guangdong province’s BYD Auto Industrial Park in Shenzhen-Shantou has launched 13 new energy autopart production plants. Guangdong, a major economic province in China, is focusing on the “manufacturing industry to enhance high-quality development, build a globally competitive advanced manufacturing base, and enrich the meaning of ‘Chinese modernization’.” (The United Morning Post)
- China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said this week that foreign executives are still optimistic about China’s economic development prospects and are willing to continue to boost investment in China. According to the minister, some of the executives with whom he spoke said that “China’s market is not an option, but a must.” China’s actual utilization of foreign investment in 2022 stood at $189.1 billion, up 8% year-on-year, while the actual use of foreign investment in January 2023 was $19 billion, up 10 %year-on-year. President Xi Jinping recently noted that attracting more foreign investment was one of the key issues in China’s current economic effots. Wang Wentao said that 2023 will see more activities to promote high-quality foreign investment in the country. (Caixin)
