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LOLRussia & China cooking up joint projects worth more than $100bn
Russian and Chinese businesses have agreed to develop trade and economic cooperation as well as increased mutual investments at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
China's manufacturing sector registered sound growth in the first nine months of this year, with higher profits for enterprises, an official said.
The value-added output of the sector expanded 6.7 percent year on year in the first three quarters, Xin Guobin, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), told a recent press conference.
Profit climbed 13.5 percent year on year in the first eight months, Xin said, adding that the sector has found a bright spot in investment growth.
Xin said the faster growth of private investment in the manufacturing sector reflects mounting confidence in the market amid a slew of favorable policies designed to beef up private investment.
MIIT data shows manufacturing investment for technological upgrades expanded 15.2 percent from the previous year in the January-September period and served as the main driver of overall investment growth in the sector.
Official data also points to China's progress in cutting overcapacity and industrial upgrading.
Value-added output from high-tech and equipment manufacturing sectors jumped 11.8 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively, in the first nine months, overshooting the 6.4-percent growth rate of the industrial average.
Despite rising downward pressure, China's economy is holding steady against headwinds with strong resilience and large market potential, Xin said.
China's GDP expanded 6.7 percent year on year in the first nine months to about 65.09 trillion yuan (about 9.38 trillion U.S. dollars), official data shows.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said Thursday that the country will unswervingly encourage, support and guide the development of the non-public sector and support private enterprises to develop toward a broader stage.
Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while presiding over a symposium on private enterprises.
The basic economic system of retaining a dominant position for the public sector and developing diverse forms of ownership side by side is an important part of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and crucial for improving the socialist market economy, Xi said.
The non-public sector's status and functions in the country's economic and social development have not changed. The principle and policies to unswervingly encourage, support and guide the development of the non-public sector have not changed, and the principle and policies to provide a sound environment and more opportunities to the sector have not changed either, Xi said.
"On the new journey to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and further fully build a modern socialist China, our country's private sector should only grow stronger instead of being weakened and march toward a broader stage," Xi said.
At the meeting, 10 entrepreneurs shared their opinions and made suggestions on the private enterprises' development. Xi interacted with them and made a very important speech afterward.
The country's non-public sector has grown under the guidance of the Party's principles and policies since the implementation of the reform and opening up, Xi said.
"Over the past 40 years, the private sector of the economy has become an indispensable force behind China's development," Xi said.
The private sector has become the main contributor to job creation and technological innovation and an important source of tax revenue, he said, adding that the sector has played an important role in developing the socialist market economy, transforming government functions, transferring surplus rural labor and exploring the international market.
"The private sector's contributions are undeniable for the country to be able to make miraculous achievements in economic development," Xi said.
The Party's viewpoint on adhering to the basic economic system is "clear and consistent," and there has never been any irresolution, Xi said.
"Any word or action that denies, doubts or wavers over the country's basic economic system is not in line with the principles and policies of the Party and the country," Xi said.
"All private companies and private entrepreneurs should feel totally reassured and devote themselves to seeking development," Xi added.
Stressing that the private economy is an essential element of China's economic system, Xi said that "private enterprises and private entrepreneurs belong to our own family."
He underlined the important role that the private economy plays in pushing the development of the socialist market economy, promoting the supply-side structural reform, seeking high-quality development and building a modernized economy.
The private economy is also an important force for the Party's long-term governance and for the Party to lead the Chinese people to deliver on the two centenary goals and realize the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation, Xi said.
Some private companies have recently encountered some difficulties and problems in their development in terms of market, financing and transformation, Xi said, citing the combined result of multiple contradictions including external and internal as well as objective and subjective factors.
"These difficulties are obstacles in the process of development, issues in the course of progress and pains as the country grows, and they will surely be solved through development," Xi said.
Xi stressed that staying focused, enhancing confidence and concentrating on the country's own affairs is the key to coping with all kinds of risks and challenges.
Currently, the country maintains overall economic stability with steady progress, and economic performance is kept within a reasonable range, Xi said.
At the same time, growth uncertainties have been on the rise, downward pressures have increased and companies have been facing more difficulties, he said.
"Those are all inevitable issues in the course of progress. We must see the favorable conditions and have full confidence in the country's economic development," Xi said.
Noting the country's strength in areas including a huge market and relatively low labor cost, Xi said that the fundamentals of the Chinese economy remain healthy and stable, the conditions for factors of production to support high-quality development have not changed and the long-term trend of steady growth with a sound momentum has not changed.
"We have the strong leadership of the CPC, the political advantage of pooling resources to solve major problems, new sources of development from deepening overall reforms and the continuously growing capabilities of macroeconomic regulation," Xi said.
As long as the country maintains its strategic resolve, upholds the underlying principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, takes the supply-side structural reform as the main task and further pushes reform and opening up in all fronts, the country will speed up the transition to the track of high-quality development and embrace brighter growth prospects, Xi said.
Xi demanded the implementation of policies and measures in six aspects to create a better environment for the development of private enterprises and address their difficulties.
First, the burden of taxes and fees on the companies should be eased. Substantial tax cuts including the reduction of value-added taxes should be advanced, while tax exemptions can be provided for micro and small firms as well as technology startups. The nominal rates for social security contributions should be lowered in accordance with actual conditions.
Second, measures should be taken to address the difficulty and high cost of financing for private firms. The financial market thresholds should be lowered to expand the fund-raising channels of private firms. Necessary financial aid should be provided for private companies that follow the direction of the country's economic upgrading and have good prospects.
Third, the playing field should be leveled. Various hidden restrictions and hindrances for private enterprises should be removed. An environment of fair play should be created for private enterprises in market access, administrative approvals, business operations, bids and tenders and military-civil integration. Private firms are encouraged to participate in the reform of state-owned enterprises.
Fourth, policy implementation should be improved. Policies should be better coordinated and implemented meticulously to give private firms a stronger sense of fulfillment. In the process of reducing overcapacity and leverage, the same standards should be observed for enterprises of all types of ownership. In law enforcement involving work safety and environmental protection, authorities should avoid the one-size-fits-all approach.
Fifth, a new type of cordial and clean relationship between government and business should be established. Party committees and governments at all levels should spend more time and energy caring for private enterprises and entrepreneurs, listen to their opinions and appeals and take initiatives to help them solve problems. Major policies should be explained correctly, and some erroneous assertions should be cleared up.
Sixth, entrepreneurs' personal and property safety should be ensured. When performing their duties, disciplinary and supervisory agencies should not only solve cases but also safeguard legitimate personal and property rights and protect the lawful operation of businesses.
Xi also called on the entrepreneurs to treasure their social images, raise corporate competitiveness in lawful operations, raise operational and management capabilities and broaden their international outlook to become competitive in the global arena.
Wang Yang, Wang Huning and Han Zheng, all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also attended the symposium.
China's landmark import expo comes as the government moves to open domestic markets wider globally in the year marking the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening-up policy.
The China International Import Expo (CIIE), the world's first national-level import expo, starts Monday in Shanghai. With the slogan "New Era, Shared Future," the event will strengthen business ties, promote easier market access and garner support for free trade.
As the world's second-largest importer of goods for nine consecutive years, China remains committed to pro-import policies.
Instead of seeing imports as a threat to the domestic economy, analysts believe increasing quality products from overseas will help satisfy a bigger appetite from domestic buyers and serve as a catalyst for faster industrial transformation.
"The market supply will be enriched, and the prices will be more wallet-friendly for Chinese consumers," said Liu Shangxi, head of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences.
China has impressed the world with its rising consumption power, which largely stems from a rapidly growing middle-class.
Wooed by an ever-growing Chinese market, more than 3,000 companies from over 130 countries and regions plan to bring their new products and technologies to the CIIE, including Italian helicopters and German machine tools.
Many products at the expo will enjoy lower import tax rates, as a total of 1,585 tariff lines, including electromechanical and textile products, started seeing lower levies on Thursday, down from 9.8 percent to 7.5 percent on average.
This latest round of tariff reduction is expected to boost imports to China.
Zhao Ping with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade said the increase in foreign products would intensify competition, see upgrades in domestic industries and push Chinese companies to move up the global value chain.
Automakers are among the first batch of domestic players that will more directly face global counterparts, as new tariffs for vehicles and auto parts came into effect on July 1, with rates lower than the average of other developing economies.
"China has a complete automotive industrial system but needs fiercer competition for further development," said Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association. "The reduced tariffs will bring more imports and push the sector to realize quality development in a more open circumstance."
A wide range of other industries from food to fashion will also experience this no-pain-no-gain process.
The import-triggered industrial upgrades are in line with China's new development concepts and the drive to high-quality growth, and efforts have been taken to motivate companies to innovate and improve their competitiveness, including tax breaks and easier loans.
By expanding imports, China will share the benefits derived from its development model with other parts of the world and achieve common growth, according to analysts.
Chinese authorities expect the country will import goods worth 24 trillion U.S. dollars in the next 15 years.
China's financial system showed resilience and stability amid mounting external uncertainties, as the country moved to resolve systemic risks, the central bank said in a report released Friday.
The country's economic and financial risks remained generally under control, wrote the report released by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), which ruled out the possibility of systemic risks.
It said the macro-economic and financial policies will be more forward-looking, flexible and coordinated in 2019, and the country will continue to push forward financial reform and opening up.
The report warned of financial risks associated with local government debts, real estate loans and shadow banking, and said financial risks related to "grey rhino" events may surface.
However, it noted as the country remained committed to preventing and defusing major risks, structural and institutional risks will be well contained and resolved.
The country is expected to unveil regulation rules on financial holding groups in the first half of 2019, according to the PBOC.
A pilot scheme of regulation has been launched on five financial holding companies, including the China Merchants Group and Ant Financial, to gather experiences for the regulation rules, said Zhou Xuedong, a senior PBOC official.
The central bank also released its first financial institutions ratings in Friday's report. Covering 4,327 financial institutions, the ratings divided the institutions into 10 classes, with 10 representing the riskiest.
Most banks were rated three to seven, accounting for 87.5 percent, while about 10 percent of the financial institutions saw their rankings over eight, on which stricter restrictions will be applied in terms of financial policy support, business access and reloan extention.
Russia & China cooking up joint projects worth more than $100bn
Russian and Chinese businesses have agreed to develop trade and economic cooperation as well as increased mutual investments at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.