China pledges expanded market access for foreign investors

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.Coming up on today’s programPremier Li Qiang pledges to expand market access for foreign investors at high-level economic forum in Beijing; "Ne Zha" franchise slays Chinese film record with 20 billion yuan earnings.Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours Reiterating China's commitment to openness and global collaboration, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday that China will further expand market access in various sectors for foreign investors.Delivering the opening address at the China Development Forum 2025 (CDF), Li pledged to introduce more measures to help foreign-funded enterprises integrate into the Chinese market.More than 80 top executives from leading foreign multinationals including Tim Cook of Apple, Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm, Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca and Amin Nasser of Saudi Aramco are attending the forum on Sunday and Monday.Li noted that the Chinese economy has strong resilience, tremendous potential and great vitality, adding that the country is confident and capable of maintaining long-term stable growth while providing more opportunities for global economic recovery.The Chinese premier called for joint efforts to promote the development of the world economy in a more open, inclusive and sustainable direction.Speaking at the forum, the Chinese premier called on global executives to seize opportunities in China's vast consumer market, renewed momentum in innovation and booming green economy.Li also expressed hope that entrepreneurs would be "staunch defenders and promoters of globalization" and "resist unilateralism and protectionism,” and warned that decoupling and breaking supply chains would only deepen crises."We have preparations for possible unexpected shocks, which of course mainly come from external sources. Where necessary, the Chinese government will also introduce new policies to ensure the smooth operation of the Chinese economy," Li told participants.The CDF 2025 is being held under the theme "Unleashing Development Momentum for Stable Global Growth." This year's CDF features 12 symposiums and several closed-door sessions, covering topics such as healthcare, consumption, AI and sustainable supply chains.GBA expressHong Kong will strengthen its connections with traditional markets such as Europe and the US, while also actively exploring new markets and collaborating with mainland Chinese provinces and cities to attract more overseas investment, Paul Chan, the financial secretary of the SAR said at the CDF yesterday.Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Pacific Airways said that it aims to raise the number of Chinese mainland employees from 3,000 to 4,000 by the end of this year. With operating bases in Beijing and Shanghai, Cathay plans to mainly hire flight attendants in the Chinese mainland, as well as more pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, ground crew members and information technology personnel. In Shenzhen and Guangzhou of Guangdong province, the company has two offices that focus on the technology side of the business and it hopes to soon expand these teams to about 200 people in total.Hong Kong's metro and train operator MTR has introduced the "China T-union" card as a new payment method starting from Saturday. This means that Guangzhou’s Yangchengtong transit cards bearing the "China T-union" logo can be used for MTR rides in Hong Kong. Currently, over 330 cities in China have joined the "China T-union" network. Three Chinese cities, namely Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, have been listed among the world's 10 largest financial centers by UK think tank Z/Yen Group and the China Development Institute. Hong Kong ranked 3rd with 760 points, moving just two points behind London at 762. Shanghai and Shenzhen scored 744 points and 743 points, up by six and 11 points, respectively. Industry and Company newsThe Ne Zha franchise broke the Chinese film sector's earnings record, with its box office exceeding 20 billion yuan yesterday, making director Yang Yu, or Jiaozi, the first filmmaker in Chinese cinema history to helm a franchise with a combined box office exceeding 20 billion yuan. Ne Zha 2 has grossed over 15.3 billion yuan, while the animated flick's 2019 predecessor contributed 5 billion yuan.China approved 129 domestic online games this month, including titles from Tencent and NetEase, a record high in the past two years and bringing the total of this year to 362. The Black Myth: Wukong for PS5 was also greenlit.China will allow commercial banks to raise individual consumption loans' maximum amount to 500,000 yuan from 300,000 yuan and extend the credit line of personal internet consumption loans to 300,000 yuan from 200,000 yuan in stages, media reported today citing the National Financial Regulatory Administration.Ant Group, the Alibaba-affiliated fintech giant, reportedly used Chinese-made semiconductors to develop techniques on training artificial intelligence models that would cut costs by 20 percent. Ant used domestic chips, including from Alibaba and Huawei, to train models using the Mixture of Experts machine learning approach, with training results similar to those from Nvidia chips including the H800, the report said. Vivo established a robotics laboratory that will focus on the incubation and research of robotics-related products, particularly home robots and AI agents, media reported today, citing the Chinese handset maker. Vivo will unveil more details about the business at the Boao Forum for Asia.Xiaomi has officially announced the MIJIA Smart Audio Glasses 2, confirming its launch through Xiaomi Youpin. The crowdfunding campaign is set to begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday, with a special price of 999 yuan. Meanwhile, the Chinese tech giant opened its first direct store in Japan on Saturday and plans to open its second outlet on April 5.Agibot has completed a new financing, led by Tencent, with investors including Longqi Technology and Wolong Electric, media reported today. The Chinese robotics startup is gearing up for another fundraiser, targeting a valuation of 15 billion yuan.Apple said on Monday it will set up a new clean energy fund in China worth 720 million yuan, coinciding with a Beijing visit of its chief executive Tim Cook. Apple said in a statement that it is a move aimed at expanding its clean energy capacity in China, and is part of the company's efforts to transition its supply chain to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.Shanghai saw a record-breaking tourism revenue of 576.1 billion yuan last year, according to the local culture and tourism bureau. The city received around 390 million domestic tourist visits and over 6.7 million inbound tourist visits in the period.Asia-Pacific highlightsChinese foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday that China, Japan and the South Korea have agreed to further strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust, and deepen cooperation, after attending the 11th China-Japan-ROK Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Wang called for promoting trilateral cooperation to achieve the effect of “1+1+1>3,” enhancing trade cooperation among the three countries, resuming negotiations to reach a China-Japan-ROK free trade agreement at an early date, and setting up a trilateral dialogue mechanism on export controls. The three countries will also strengthen coordination and cooperation under mechanisms such as ASEAN Plus Three and the East Asia Summit. The ministers also agreed to make preparations for a leaders' meeting this year.Laos has signed a US$1.45 billion clean energy deal with a Chinese power plant equipment manufacturer as the country furthers its push into clean power generation and transmission. China Western Power Industrial, along with a Singapore-based construction company, signed the agreement with Xekong Thermal Power Plant in Laos to design, supply, and build a 1,800-megawatt clean energy power project in southern Laos, according to a stock exchange filing by the Sichuan-based company on Monday. Executive Editor: Sonia YUEditor: LI YanxiaHost: Stephanie LIWriter: Stephanie LISound Editor: Stephanie LIGraphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO YuanniProduced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.Presented by SFC