China confident of achieving full-year growth targets: NDRC

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.Coming up on today’s programThe NDRC expressed confidence in achieving full-year development targets after China released data showing upturn of industrial profits in Q1;137th Canton Fair draws over 220,000 overseas buyers.Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours With ample policy reserves and sufficient policy room, China is fully confident in achieving this year's economic and social development goals and tasks, Zhao Chenxin, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference on Monday.China will roll out measures to keep its employment and economic performance stable and promote high-quality development, Zhao said, adding that the nation will intensify efforts to ensure the full effect of existing policies, including special campaigns to boost consumption and effectively utilize the 5-trillion-yuan investment funds at the national level.At the same press conference, Zou Lan, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, said that any single market volatility has limited impact on China’s foreign exchange reserves. It will also strengthen the resilience of the forex market, stabilize market expectations, enhance market management, and prevent the RMB exchange rate overshoot, Zou noted.On the monetary policy front, Zou said the central bank will cut the reserve requirement ratio and interest rates at the appropriate time, based on economic conditions and financial market developments, to maintain abundant liquidity, and will continue to implement a moderately loose monetary policy and intensify support for the real economy. Meanwhile, industrial profits has shown improvement in the first quarter, underpinned by the strengthening of high-tech sectors and pointing to strong economic resilience amid trade tensions with the United States. Profits at China's major industrial companies saw total profits increase 0.8 percent year-on-year to reach 1.5 trillion yuan, following a 3.3 percent decline last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Sunday.In March, profits of industrial enterprises above designated size jumped 2.6 percent year-on-year, reversing a 0.3 percent decline in the first two months.The NBS said the rebound in industrial profits was mainly driven by the robust performance of high-tech manufacturing, aided by stimulus packages including incentives for large-scale equipment upgrades and trade-in deals for consumer goods.Despite the continued recovery in industrial profits, the bureau noted that amid rising instability and uncertainties in the external environment, more efforts are needed to better implement the announced policy measures and fully unleash the policy potential.China on Sunday introduced a new policy that enables foreign visitors to claim departure tax refunds for purchases as low as 200 yuan per day at the same store, significantly reducing the previous threshold of 500 yuan. GBA expressA total of 224,372 overseas buyers from 219 countries and regions had attended the 137th China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, by the conclusion of its second phase on Sunday, according to the China Foreign Trade Centre. The second phase, focusing on quality home furnishings, kicked off on Wednesday with a total exhibition area of 515,000 square meters, featuring 24,735 booths and 10,313 exhibitors, up by 273 from the previous session.  Hong Kong is expected to welcome about 840,000 tourists from the Chinese mainland during the upcoming five-day May Day holidays, which would be up 10 percent from the same period last year and up 13 percent from this year's Spring Festival holidays in terms of average daily visitor arrivals, the SAR Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Sunday. China's self-developed car carrier, the BYD Shenzhen, the largest of its kind worldwide, set off on its maiden voyage with over 7,000 NEVs of the Chinese auto giant from Taicang Port in China's eastern Jiangsu province yesterday and is expected to reach Itajai Port in Brazil after over 30 days.Industry and company newsChina is expected to see an average of 2.15 million daily border crossings during May Day holiday, representing a 27 percent increase from last year, according to the National Immigration Administration (NIA) on Monday. Also, some 10.75 million domestic air passenger trips are expected to be taken during the holiday, with a daily average of 2.15 million, up by record 8 percent from a year earlier, according to China's civil aviation authority.China’s cabinet has given the green light to 10 new nuclear reactors across five projects, with a total investment of more than 200 billion yuan. Each reactor unit, which will cost over 20 billion yuan, will be powered by China’s third-generation atomic power technologies, including Hualong One and CAP1000, and have an installed capacity of about 1,200 megawatts each.Around 40 Brazilian soybean ships are expected to dock at Zhoushan port in Zhejiang Province in April, a 48 percent year-on-year increase from the 27 shipments recorded in the same period last year, media reported on Monday, as China accelerates shift to Brazilian soybeans amid a tariff-induced plunge in US agricultural exports.JD.Com said yesterday that it plans to recruit another 100,000 full-time riders for its new food delivery service over the next three months, intensifying its rivalry with takeaway market leader Meituan. JD is offering comprehensive benefits, including full coverage of social insurances and housing fund, paid leaves, health check-ups, etc.Xiaomi's smartphone shipments soared 40 percent to 13.3 million units in the first quarter of the year from a year earlier, seizing a Chinese market share of 19 percent and reclaiming the top position after a decade, Chairman Lei Jun said on Weibo, citing Canalys' data.China had applied for 1.57 million AI patents as of April 9, ranking first worldwide, accounting for nearly 39 percent of the global total, CCTV reported, citing official data. Adora Cruises said China's second domestically-built large cruise ship, the Adora Flora City, has completed its in-dock floating at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding. The project is over 70 percent complete and has entered the critical interior decoration and system debugging stage.The crew of China's Shenzhou-19 spacecraft held a handover ceremony with that of Shenzhou-20 yesterday and will return to the Dongfeng landing site tomorrow, according to the China Manned Space Agency.Asia-Pacific highlightsThe China Pavilion at the Osaka Expo in Japan has accepted almost 90,000 international visitors since opening on April 13, an official from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade said today.Singapore has experienced an influx of restaurant brands from the Chinese Mainland entering its market. It is reported that the country had around 32 Chinese catering brands as of the end of June last year, which are now operating 184 outlets. Cao Zhongming, the Chinese Ambassador to Singapore, said on a Friday event that for those visiting the city country, try and search for the “Black Pearl Restaurant Guide-Singapore”, the Chinese equivalent of the Michelin Guide.Leading Chinese powertrain manufacturer Weichai has been honored with the Manufacturing accolade at the Singapore Business Review (SBR) International Business Awards 2025 for its achievement in developing a diesel engine with a 53.09 percent thermal efficiency, the first of its kind globally.