CBN丨China's largest air show takes off with star fighter jet model

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.Coming up on today’s programPLA Air Force celebrates 75th anniversary at Airshow China 2024 with J-35A stealth fighter;China's e-commerce giants report robust sales during the “Double 11” shopping festival.Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours Aviation enthusiasts are gearing up for China’s biggest air show which begins on Tuesday in the southern city of Zhuhai, in Guangdong province. The 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition – a biennial event also known as Airshow China – will give visitors a glimpse of the country’s expanding aviation industry and military advances. This year’s show opens a day after the People’s Liberation Army Air Force marks its 75th anniversary. Fighter jets and attack drones took centre stage with the air force debuting some of its most advanced weapons, including the J-35A medium-sized stealth fighter, the HQ-19 surface-to-air missile weapon system and a new attack reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle at the airshow.J-35A, the super star of the air show this year, has attracted attention from world media and military enthusiasts that have made the trip to Zhuhai. The jet, which uses airstrips to take off and land, is a variant of the J-35, a stealthy aircraft China is developing for use on aircraft carriers. Experts noted that with the official commissioning of the J-35A into the PLA Air Force, China becomes the world's second country to operate two types of stealth fighter jets.A group of J20s also performed a display flight on Tuesday morning, in a diamond formation across the sky. Experts said that the combination of the two models greatly enhances the PLA Air Force's ability to conduct offensive operations in high-threat and contested environments.The Air Force will bring 36 types of equipment for aerial flight demonstrations and ground static displays to showcase the development of its equipment in a comprehensive and close-up manner, it announced on Tuesday at a press conference.The 6-day air show also features spectacular aerospace performances and showcases the latest advanced military equipment for global visitors. The airshow has attracted 1,022 companies from 47 countries and regions, including Russia, France, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Italy.Greater Bay Area, Greater futureAccording to official statistics released Monday, Guangdong, China's biggest foreign trader, achieved an import and export volume of more than 7.5 trillion yuan in the first 10 months, up year-on-year by 10.6 percent and representing 20.9 percent of the country's total.Nearly 1.9 million AI enterprises were set up in China as of the end of October, with Guangdong province leading other provincial-level regions by being home to 280,000 AI companies, the country's top market authority said.Next on industry and company newsChinese e-commerce giants Tmall and JD reported strong sales during the 2024 "Double 11" shopping festival, which came to a close on Monday. The trading value of 589 brands on Tmall reached 100 million yuan during Double 11, up 47 percent from a year earlier, official data showed. JD's livestreaming orders nearly quintupled while recording a 20 percent year-on-year growth of shoppers on its platform. Meanwhile, JD has become the latest online shopping site to accept a third-party payment provider, allowing customers to make online purchases using Alipay, following the integration of Tencent's WeChat Pay with Taobao and Tmall in late September.China's Ministry of Education yesterday stipulated that social capital shall not control public or non-profit private kindergartens through buyout activities, and kindergartens shall not be listed as enterprise assets on domestic or overseas stock exchanges. No exams or tests in any form will be allowed for preschool-aged children to be enrolled into kindergartens, the ministry said. Some 40.93 million children were enrolled in kindergartens in China last year.The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) on Tuesday said that national carrier Air China would be the launch customer for the company's C929 wide-body aircraft under development that is designed to compete with twin-aisle models from Airbus and Boeing. While Hainan Airlines said yesterday that its subsidiary Urumqi Air plans to purchase 40 ARJ21-700 aircraft from COMAC at USD38 million each, totaling up to USD1.52 billion. Deliveries are set to take place in batches from 2025 to 2032.FedEx yesterday opened its Qingdao international gateway, the company's fifth gateway facility in China, joining those in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The US delivery giant has also increased its Qingdao-U.S. cargo flights to five times a week.Switching gears to financial newsChina's yuan-denominated loans rose by 16.52 trillion yuan in the first 10 months of 2024, central bank data showed on Monday. The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 7.5 percent year-on-year to 309.71 trillion yuan at the end of October 2024, accelerating the pace of increase from a 6.3 percent boost a month earlier, according to the People's Bank of China. Outstanding yuan loans reached 254.1 trillion yuan at the end of October, an increase of 8 percent year-on-year. New yuan loans totaled 16.52 trillion yuan for the first ten months.Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock marketChinese stocks fell on Tuesday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite down 1.4 percent and the Shenzhen Component slid 0.65 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also sank 2.8 percent and the TECH index tumbled 4.2 percent.