Chinese cities roll out measures to drum up consumption and help ease burden of businesses;

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Keywords summary

• Chinese cities roll out measures to drum up consumption and help ease burden of businesses;

• China secures a bumper grain harvest for 2022.

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours

China Economic News

Several Chinese cities are introducing concrete steps to stimulate consumption and maintain stable economic growth amid optimization of the country's COVID-19 rules in recent weeks.

In southern China's Guangdong province, Guangzhou is giving out a total of 30 million yuan worth of consumption vouchers in three rounds from December 8 to 19, which cover stores and supermarkets, e-commerce, dinners and drinks, as well as accommodation.

Shenzhen has increased its quota of car license plates and provided government subsidies to encourage residents to buy hybrid and new energy vehicles. The city had also started another round of consumption subsidies of up to 15 percent discounts on electronic devices and white goods starting last Friday.

Meanwhile, the city has helped companies reduce their burden by more than 150 billion yuan ($21.56 billion) through various policies this year. These have effectively helped the majority of market entities overcome financial hurtles and resume production, said Wang Jun, dependency director of the city's Development and Reform Commission.

Chengdu, Sichuan province, one of the country's most popular tourist destinations, has big plans, To boost consumption, Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, is offering free subway and bus rides on all public holidays and weekends through Feb 28.

Beijing has introduced a slew of measures as well to save the burden on businesses, meet market expectations and support steady economic growth. The list includes reducing taxes and fees, increasing policy support, resolving payment arrears and strengthening financial backing.

Official data show that the total tax and fee reductions, refunds and rebates in Beijing have reached 200 billion yuan so far this year, and 920 million yuan in arrears to small and medium-sized enterprises has been cleared.

Entering December, many places across the country held various forms of consumption season activities to help consumption recover, and the city's "fireworks" gradually returned.

From 20:00 on December 8 to 24:00 on December 19, Guangzhou issued a total of 30 million yuan in three rounds of uninterrupted consumption coupons. The distribution of consumption coupons covers five categories: light tea catering, supermarkets, e-commerce, regular meal accommodation, and department stores, with face value ranging from 10 yuan to 100 yuan.

Haikou City will carry out city-wide consumption promotion activities and issue 8 million yuan of government consumption coupons, including 4 million yuan of duty-free consumption coupons and 4 million yuan of catering retail consumption coupons. The issuance date is from December 12 to 17. At the same time, the duty-free industries in Haikou have also started promotional models. In addition, supermarkets, automobiles, home appliances, catering, retail and other industries in the city have also joined the ranks, and many other business formats such as business districts and night markets have simultaneously launched the Juhui Carnival.

With the recent optimization and adjustment of national epidemic prevention policies, scenic spots in many places have reopened, and tourism consumption has sent positive signals. In the past few days, winter tourism has kicked off in Sichuan, and eight preferential policies including "100 million yuan" cultural and tourism special consumption coupons are issued, rewards and subsidies for travel agencies, and "buy one free tickets".

In order to further stabilize the economy and promote consumption, Shenzhen will also release a series of "big moves", and many industries such as tourism, retail, and automobiles will soon receive a "big gift package". It is understood that since this year, Shenzhen has put out real money to help enterprises develop and help consumption growth, and has reduced the burden on enterprises by more than 150 billion yuan.

At the same time, Shenzhen has also carried out multiple rounds of subsidy activities, with subsidies covering a variety of commodities such as automobiles, consumer electronics, , home appliances, and home furnishings. The "Tesgo Shenzhen" consumer electronics and household appliance purchase subsidy activity was launched on December 9. The subsidy is implemented as "buy now and enjoy". Consumers can receive the required denomination coupons at offline stores of sales companies participating in the event based on their personal needs and purchase qualified consumer electronics and household appliances. Subsidies will be given at a maximum of 15% of the sales price. Next, Shenzhen will implement the new energy vehicle new purchase subsidy policy in a timely manner, support financial institutions to increase auto credit supply, and encourage citizens to purchase new energy vehicles.

In addition, Beijing continues to increase its efforts in implementing tax and fee reductions, strengthening policy assistance, repaying arrears, and strengthening financial support. It reduces costs and stabilizes expectations through multiple measures, effectively helping the city's economy run smoothly. It is understood that Beijing has added nearly 200 billion yuan in new tax cuts, fee reductions, tax refunds, tax relief and fee relief this year, resolving 920 million yuan in accounts arrears of small and medium-sized enterprises.

• China's grain output totaled about 686.53 billion kg this year, up 0.5 percent or 3.68 billion kg over 2021, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Monday. This is the eight consecutive year for China to register a grain harvest of over 650 billion kg.

  my country's total grain output hit a new high : The National Bureau of Statistics released data on December 12, and the national total grain output in 2022 was 1373.06 billion jin, an increase of 7.36 billion jin over the previous year, an increase of 0.5%. Grain production has stabilized at more than 1.3 trillion jin for eight consecutive years.

Next on industry and company news

Industry and company news

• The Communication Big Data Trip Tracking Card, which traces the movements of people in China first introduced in March 2020, will no longer operate from midnight today, the service provider said this morning. Data from Trip.com shows that searches for cross-provincial travel and vacation during the Spring Festival rush increased 12 times between midnight and 1 p.m. today compared with the same period last week.

  "Communication Travel Card" will be officially launched tomorrow: According to the "Communication Travel Card" WeChat official account, the "Communication Travel Card" service will be officially launched from 0:00 on December 13. The query channels such as "Communication Itinerary Card" SMS, web pages, WeChat mini programs, Alipay mini programs, APPs, etc. will be offline simultaneously. Ctrip data shows that after the notice of cancellation of the communication trip card was issued, from 0:00 to 13:00 on December 12, the search popularity of cross-provincial travel, transportation, vacation and other products during the Spring Festival travel rush increased by 12 times month-on-month last week, and the number of air ticket searches was basically the same as before the epidemic.

• The flight volume of two airports in Beijing are expected to reach 70 percent of daily flights in the same period in 2019 in the near future, CAAC North China Region Administration said on Sunday. Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport saw a 63 percent increased in flights on Sunday, and the growth rate hit 100 percent on Saturday, and 169 percent on Monday. The number of inbound and outbound flights at Haikou Meilan International Airport reached more than 300 on Saturday, an increase of 50 percent within four days.

  Flights in airports in many places are accelerating recovery: As domestic epidemic prevention and control policies continue to be optimized and adjusted, the number of flights at the capital of Beijing and Daxing airports has recently shown a step-by-step increase. On December 10, the daily flights of the two airports increased by 100% compared with the previous period, and on December 11, it is expected to increase by 169% compared with the previous period. It is expected that the daily flights of the Capital and Daxing airports will reach 70% of the same period in history in 2019 in the near future. Guangzhou Baiyun Airport has 45 international and regional passenger routes, and the number has recovered to 50% in 2019. On December 10, more than 300 inbound and outbound flights at Haikou Meilan International Airport had , and the number of commanded flights increased by 50% within 4 days.

• The latest Xiaomi 13 handset series is "the most powerful Xiaomi flagship model," a masterpiece that exceeds expectations, according to the Chinese firm's founder. The smartphone series, which has the new MIUI 14 operating system, is the first product released after Xiaomi's system software team was reorganized, Chairman Lei Jun said during a launch ceremony yesterday. Prices of the latest models start at 3,999 yuan and the Xiaomi 13 Pro costs at least 4,999 yuan.

  Xiaomi releases 13 series mobile phones and MIUI 14 system : On December 11, Xiaomi officially released the new Xiaomi 13 series phones, and brought the new MIUI 14 and 5 new Xiaomi technology ecological products. The new Xiaomi 13 series launched at this press conference includes two products, Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro, both of which are equipped with the latest flagship chip Snapdragon second-generation processor of Qualcomm . The MIUI 14 operating system has launched the Razor Plan, which can cut the operating system to only retain 8 non-deletion applications, achieving smaller system memory and system firmware usage, and adding the MIUI photon engine, which improves the startup response speed of the system and third-party applications. In terms of price, the Xiaomi 13 standard version starts at 3,999 yuan, and the Xiaomi 13 Pro starts at 4,999 yuan.

• Shandong Gold Mining, China's biggest producer of the precious metal, said it will take a majority stake in smaller historical Yintai Gold for 13 billion yuan, the two firms said yesterday. State-owned Shandong Gold will buy a 20.9 percent stake in Yintai Gold for 22.38 yuan per share, a 71 percent premium on its closing price of 13.09 yuan on Dec. 5, when trading in the stock was suspended.

  Shandong Gold plans to acquire Yintai Gold : On December 12, Shandong Gold announced that it plans to acquire 20.93% of Yintai Gold shares held by Shen Guojun and and China Intime Investment Co., Ltd. , with the transfer price of the target shares shall not be higher than 13 billion yuan. If all this transfer is successfully implemented, Shandong Gold will become the controlling shareholder of Yintai Gold. Based on the market value of Intime Gold 's 's suspension of trading, the highest premium rate of Shandong Gold's 13 billion bid can reach 70%.

• Longfor Group Holding has become the first Chinese real estate developer to receive the help of a state-owned bank to repay overseas debts. Bank of China provided Longfor with a 700 million yuan offshore loan, with the Chongqing branch of BOC issuing financing guarantee to the developer and BOC Hong Kong offering loan financing for the company’s overseas units with Chinese yuan-denominated assets as guarantee, Beijing-based Longfor announced on Dec. 9.

  Longfor received the first order of " domestic guaranteed foreign loan " 700 million yuan : After the "three arrows" of credit, bond issuance , and equity support real estate, the "domestic guaranteed foreign loan" that banks help real estate companies to raise overseas has also begun to be implemented. On December 9, Longfor Group reported that Bank of China has used domestic and foreign market resources to successfully provide Longfor Group with "domestic guarantee and foreign loan" business. The loan scale is 700 million yuan and has been withdrawn on December 9.

Switching gears to financial news

Financial market news

• China's new yuan-denominated loans totaled 1.21 trillion yuan (about 174 billion U.S. dollars) in November, central bank data showed Monday. The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 12.4 percent year on year to 264.7 trillion yuan at the end of last month. China's newly added social financing growing by 1.99 trillion yuan in November, more than double the reading in October.

  RMB loans increased by 1.21 trillion : Data released by the People's Bank of China on December 12 showed that the increase in social financing scale in November was 1990 billion , the previous value was 907.9 billion . In November, RMB loans were added 1.210 billion yuan, compared with the previous value of RMB 615.2 billion. China's M2 money supply in November increased by 12.4% year-on-year, with the previous value of 11.8%.

• China will issue 750 billion yuan ($108 billion) worth of three-year special treasure bonds to bolster its economy, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday. The notes will be issued on December 12, and targeted and issued to particular banks in the interbank bond market.

  The Ministry of Finance issued 750 billion special treasury bonds : The Ministry of Finance website reported on December 9 that in order to raise financial funds and support the development of the national economy and social undertakings, the Ministry of Finance decided to issue the 2022 special treasury bonds. According to reports, in terms of issuance methods, this issue of treasury bonds issuance in the national interbank bond market to relevant domestic banks, and People's Bank of China will carry out open market operations for relevant banks. This period of treasury bonds are three-year fixed interest rate interest-bearing bonds with a face value of 750 billion yuan and can be listed for trading. The issuance date and interest rate date are scheduled for December 12, 2022.

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock markettml2

Stock market closing

• Chinese stocks fall on Monday with some profit-taking following their sharp recent gains and as general caution prevailed in equity markets ahead of global central bank meetings. The benchmark Shanghai Composite fell 0.87 percent, while the Shenzhen Composite lost 0.89 percent. Hong Kong shares finished Monday with big losses, as the Hang Seng index sank 2.2 percent and the TECH index dropped 4.05 percent.

  A shares fluctuated Hong Kong shares fell : On Monday, the three major A-share index fluctuated weakly throughout the day. As of the close, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.87%, the Shenzhen Component Index fell 0.89%, the ChiNext Index fell 0.79%, and the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange Index fell 909.8 billion yuan throughout the day. Hong Kong stocks opened low and closed low, Hang Seng Index closed down 2.20%, and Hang Seng Technology Index closed down 4.05%.

Biz Word of the Day

Financial vocabulary focus

• A financial guaranteeeis an agreement that guarantees a debt will be repaired to a lender by another party if the borrower defaults. Essentially, a third party acting as a guarantee promises to assume responsibility for a debt should the borrower be unable to keep up on its payments to the creditor. Domestic banks can provide guarantee to the overseas registered subsidiary of domestic firms for overseas banks to issue them loans.

  Financing Guarantee refers to the act of the guarantor agreeing with the banking financial institutions and other creditors that when the guarantor fails to perform the financing sexual debts to the creditor, the guarantor shall bear the guarantee liability agreed in the contract in accordance with the law. "Domestic Guarantee and Foreign Loan" means that domestic banks provide guarantees for affiliated enterprises or equity-invested investment enterprises registered overseas by domestic enterprises, and overseas banks will issue corresponding loans to overseas investment enterprises .

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI

Sound Editor: Stephanie LI

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni

Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.

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Broadcasting: Li Yingliang

Written by: Li Yingliang

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Design: Zheng Wenjing, Liao Yuanni

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