CBN丨China reports 5.2% GDP growth for 2023

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.Coming up on today’s program- China achieves 5.2% GDP growth in 2023, successfully meeting yearly target;- Premier Li Qiang urges global cooperation and vows continued opening-up at WEF.Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hoursChina's gross domestic product expanded by 5.2 percent in 2023 - meeting the country's preset annual growth target of around 5 percent, fueled by a slew of policy measures taking effect gradually last year, official data showed on Wednesday.The country's annual GDP came in at 126.06 trillion yuan ($17.52 trillion) in 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. For the fourth quarter of 2023, the Chinese economy grew 5.2 percent year-on-year, following a 4.9 percent growth in the third quarter. Experts called China's 2023 GDP growth as "relatively fast" in contrast to other major economies, highlighting China's role as a key growth engine for the world economy.Looking ahead, they expect to see better economic performance with China's existing supportive policies continuing to take effect and more stimulus in the offing.In the breakdown,China's value-added industrial output grew by 4.6 percent year-on-year in 2023. In particular, that of the equipment manufacturing industry grew by 6.8 percent.Retail sales, a key measurement of consumer spending, grew by 7.2 percent for the year. Spending in the services sector experienced rapid growth, with a year-on-year increase of 20 percent.The annual per capita disposable income of residents nationwide reached 39,218 yuan, marking a nominal growth of 6.3 percent compared to the previous year.The annual national fixed-asset investment (excluding rural households) reached 50.3 trillion yuan, showing a growth of 3 percent compared to the previous year. Notably, investment in the manufacturing sector increased by 6.5 percent, with the high-tech industry investment emerged as a highlight, growing by 10.3 percent. However, the real estate sector saw its investment decline by 9.6 percent to 11.09 trillion yuan, with investment in residential housing projects hitting 8.38 trillion yuan. The national sales area of commercialhousing stood at 1.12 billion square meters, reflecting a decrease of 8.5 percent, while total sales value reached 11.66 trillion yuan, down by 6.5 percent.NBS data released on Wednesday also showed that home prices in 70 major Chinese cities continued to fall in December.In the four first-tier cities, prices of new homes edged down 0.4 percent last month, while that of resold homes dropped 1.1 percent.Prices of both new and preowned homes in 31 second-tier and 35 third-tier cities in general also went down in December from a month earlier, the data showed.• Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday called for global cooperation in various areas to rebuild global trust, warning that lack of trust and fragmentation will risk global economic growth and peaceful development. In a special address at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Li offered a five-point plan, including macroeconomic policy coordination, international industrial specialization and cooperation, cooperation in innovation, cooperation in green development, and north-south and south-south cooperation. Noting that China's economy is making a steady recovery, Li vowed to continue to open up China's markets for global businesses, no matter how the global situation changes. He called on enterprises from around the world to continue to invest in China, and said "choosing the Chinese market is not a risk, but an opportunity".Greater Bay Area, Greater future• Guangdong province’s foreign trade value inched up 0.3 percent, totaling 8.3 trillion yuan last year to a new record high, according to the latest official data. Exports rose 2.5 percent to 5.4 trillion yuan while imports fell 3.6 percent to 2.9 trillion yuan. Foreign trade firms in Guangdong, China’s largest provincial-level economy, topped 130,000 for the first time last year, 80 percent of which are private enterprises, up over 11 percent from the year before. They contributed 5.04 trillion yuan to the province’s total foreign trade, an increase of 6 percent, accounting for 61 percent of the total. The province’s foreign trade with the US, countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, the Hong Kong SAR, and the EU rose 8.7 percent, 4.7 percent, 4.3 percent, and 3 percent, respectively, in 2023.• A batch of retail bonds of the Hong Kong Airport Authority starts  book-building today, which is set to see a flock of investors with an annual interest rate of 4.25 percent. Aiming to raise up to HK$5 billion, the Airport Authority plans to use the proceeds on its third runway project. The subscription will close on Jan 25 and the bonds will be listed on Feb 6 on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX).• Micro Connect, an investment platform founded by former CEO of HKEX Charles Li Xiaojia, on Tuesday released a set of financing standards for micro and small-sized enterprises. The firm said investors can reference the daily revenue sharing certificates listed on the Micro Connect Macao Financial Assets Exchange to estimate cash flow and risk. Micro and small enterprises needing financing can determine the proportion and revenue they need to transfer to raise sufficient funds.Next on industry and company news• The demand for cross-regional passenger trips in China during the upcoming 40-day travel rush for the Lunar New Year holiday is expected to hit a new record high, according to the latest official statistics. Some nine million passengers will likely travel inside China between Jan. 26 and March 5, a substantial increase from last year, the Ministry of Transport predicted yesterday.• Chinese-brand passenger vehicle sales jumped 24.1 percent year on year in 2023 to 14.6 million units, industry data shows. The market share of such vehicles hit 56 percent last year, 6.1 percentage points higher than in 2022, while that of new energy vehicles stood at 49.9 percent, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.• BYD, the world’s largest maker of electric vehicles, showed off a range of new smart car features on Tuesday in Shenzhen. BYD released a whole-vehicle intelligent architecture Xuanji, which is composed of a self-developed smart brain, a dual AI system both inside the vehicle and in the cloud, as well as four “chains” including sensor, controller, data and mechanical systems. The automaker said it plans to add “navigation-on-autopilot” feature to some of its electric and hybrid cars. It also unveiled an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system that has been jointly developed with Chinese drone-maker DJI.• Japanese fast fashion brand Uniqlo has filed a lawsuit accusing Chinese competitor Shein of copying its popular round mini shoulder bag. A petition was filed on Dec 28 in the Tokyo District Court demanding the immediate halt of sales of the imitation products and compensation for damages incurred as a result of these sales, the parent firm Fast Retailing said in a statement yesterday. The round mini bag, which has become a global hit, sells for 1,500 yen ($10.27) in Japan, according to Uniqlo's web site. Switching gears to financial news• The Chinese yuan outpaced the US dollar to become the most traded foreign currency on Russia's Moscow Exchange in 2023, with the yuan trading volume accounting for almost 42 percent of all foreign currency traded on the exchange, which more than tripled year-on-year to reach 34.2 trillion roubles ($391.5 billion), Russian media reported on Tuesday. Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market• Chinese stocks tumbled on Wednesday as the benchmark Shanghai Composite lost 2.1 percent and the Shenzhen Component sank 2.6 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also plunged 3.7 percent and the TECH index slumped 5 percent.Biz Word of the Day• “Whole-vehicle intelligent architecture” refers to a new approach to designing the electronic systems of a car. This approach aims to reduce complexity and consolidate many microprocessors into two or three system-on-chips.