Afleveringen
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
May Day travel bookings surge, signaling robust Q2 consumption growth;
Over 40% of new private enterprises are registered in the "four new economies” in Q1.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
As China gears up for the May Day holidays, a wave of travel bookings has swept across online travel platforms, painting a vivid picture of a burgeoning consumer market, which signals robust consumption growth for the second quarter.
The domestic travel demand is particularly striking this year. Tuniu.com said on Sunday that domestic travel reservations for the five-day May Day holidays have more than doubled year-on-year.
Data from Trip.com showed that in just the past week, domestic hotel searches soared 100 percent week-on-week, while flight ticket searches spiked 80 percent.
Meituan Travel said that since early April, searches for "May Day travel" have increased by more than 500 percent year-on-year, searches for "tourist attractions" have risen 167 percent and the popularity of five-star hotels has climbed nearly 40 percent.
The trends in this year's May Day travel market are diverse and eye-catching. Inbound tourism has experienced explosive growth, with Trip.com reporting that the search index for inbound hotels during the May Day holiday period has surged 200 percent year-on-year, while inbound tourism bookings have increased by 173 percent.
The viral success of American YouTuber IShowSpeed's China travel series and recent policies like the instant tax refund for overseas tourists have significantly contributed to this growth, according to Trip.com.
Economists are optimistic about the far-reaching impact of these trends, as major holidays serve as key barometers of consumer trends. This holiday consumption surge is set to further accelerate overall consumption growth in the second quarter, they said.
Official data also reflected positive momentum. First-quarter retail sales expanded 4.6 percent year-on-year, 1.1 percentage points faster than in 2024, reaching 12.47 trillion yuan.
Notably, services consumption outpaced goods sales, with retail sales of services growing 5 percent year-on-year. Per capita expenditure on transportation and communications rose 10.4 percent, while spending on education, culture and entertainment increased 13.9 percent.
GBA express
The first phase of the 137th edition of the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, concluded on Saturday. By April 19, a total of 148,585 overseas buyers from 216 countries and regions had attended the event, marking a 20.2 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu is set to lead a delegation to visit Zhejiang on Tuesday. The group will attend the the Hong Kong/Zhejiang Co-operation Conference in Hangzhou, and the Hong Kong Investment Promotion Conference in Ningbo. Hong Kong and Zhejiang have long maintained frequent exchanges, keeping close ties in economic affairs and trade, cultural exchanges and youth engagement, Lee said.
Hong Kong's associate director-general of investment promotion at InvestHK Charles Ng commenced his duty visit to India's Mumbai and New Delhi on Sunday. Ng's visit includes high-level discussions with prominent Indian firms and investors focusing on establishing a presence in Hong Kong to capitalize on its strategic advantages to expand into the Chinese mainland and across North Asia and Southeast Asia.
Industry and Company news
Over 1.97 million private enterprises were established in China in the first quarter of the year, up 7.1 percent from a year earlier, data from the SAMR showed today. China’s registered private enterprises topped 57 million as of March 31, accounting for over 92 percent of the country’s total. New quality productive forces have become a key highlight for China's private sector, with 836,000 new private firms registered in the "four new economies”, namely new technologies, industries, business formats, and models, accounting for over 40 percent of new private enterprises in the period.
Chinese e-commerce giant JD announced on Monday that, starting today, consumers who wait more than 20 minutes for their takeaway orders will receive them free of charge. This move comes as its rival restricts food delivery riders to take orders from only one platform. The company said in an open letter that it will step up the recruitment of full-time delivery riders, raising the quota from 50,000 to 100,000 in the next three months.
Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, won the world's first humanoid robot half marathon in Yizhuang, Beijing's Daxing district, on April 19. It crossed the finish line in 2 hours and 40 minutes, with Noetix's N2 coming in second and the robot of Shanghai-based DroidUp third.
BYD’s luxury brand Yangwang said today its sales have exceeded 10,000 units, setting a new milestone for China’s premium car segment. New Oriental founder Yu Minhong was the 10,000th buyer after getting a Yangwang U8.
A Boeing 737 MAX set for delivery at Boeing’s Completion Center in Zhoushan in China’s Zhejiang province departed today for Seattle, media learned today. Due to the US new “reciprocal tariffs,” Chinese airlines have started suspending acceptance of Boeing aircraft.
China will provide subsidies of no less than 1 billion yuan for movie tickets, as the country launched the China Film Consumption Year campaign, which will last till the end of next year’s Spring Festival movie season.
China’s grain output will likely top 709 million tons this year, with the soybean output growing 2.5 percent to 21.2 million tons from the previous year, according to a report released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs yesterday.
China's one-year loan prime rate, a market-based benchmark lending rate, remained unchanged at 3.1 percent in April from March, according to the National Interbank Funding Center. The over-five-year LPR also stayed the same at 3.6 percent.
Asia-Pacific highlights
Koh King Kee, President of Malaysia’s Centre for New Inclusive Asia, said in an exclusive interview with 21st Century Business Herald that intimate interactions between Malaysian and Chinese leaders reflect political mutual trust, aiding in addressing U.S. tariff challenges. Koh believes global trade turbulence from U.S. "reciprocal tariffs" will, to some extent, indirectly advance economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN. Having followed China for 40 years, Koh has personally witnessed the great achievements of China’s reform and opening-up and the vigorous momentum of Chinese-style modernization. Looking ahead, with the expected signing of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement 3.0, Koh believes Malaysia and China can explore broader cooperation in the digital economy. As China and Malaysia have already launched local currency settlement cooperation, Malaysia is expected to gain more convenience in cross-border trade and investment settlement, he said.
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Stephanie: Hello! Welcome to this edition of CBN Correspondent. I’m Stephanie Li.
In the lively springtime of Guangzhou, the 137th Canton Fair, the world's biggest trade event, opened its doors to welcome global buyers.
While the United States tries to create a new trade order that is exclusively beneficial to itself with its so-called “reciprocal tariffs,” more than 31,000 enterprises are participating the biannual event, with over 4,200 new faces in the mix. The export exhibition alone boasts nearly 73,000 booths, and for the very first time, the number of exhibitors has soared past 30,000.
What's more, the exhibition layout has become far more diversified. Newly-added zones such as the service robot zone and integrated housing zone have injected fresh energy into the fair.
Our correspondents, Sharon, is joining us with firsthand observations today. She's been covering the Canton Fair for three years in a row.
As we all know, the US' so - called "reciprocal tariffs" are casting a shadow over global trade. How are Chinese exporters at the fair navigating through this tough situation?
Sharon: From my on-the-ground observation, Chinese exporters are displaying incredible resourcefulness. A great number of them are placing a strong emphasis on product innovation. Take the "new trio,” namely new energy vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products, for instance. There are a plethora of state-of-the-art exhibits in these sectors.
Besides, they're actively seeking out new markets. Instead of being overly reliant on traditional Western markets, they're exploring emerging economies in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, opening up new channels for growth.
Some companies have even adjusted their supply chain strategies. They're setting up factories overseas to avoid the impact of tariffs.
Take a company in Dongguan as an example, they've transferred part of their production to Southeast Asia, while still maintaining close cooperation with Chinese suppliers for raw materials.
Stephanie: What about the foreign buyers? Are they still as enthusiastic about the Canton Fair and "Made in China" products?
Sharon: Absolutely! There are over 200,000 pre-registered overseas buyers hailing from 215 countries and regions.
At the service robot zone, I saw many foreign purchasers snapping pictures of robotic dogs and industrial exoskeleton equipment with great excitement.
A buyer from Australia told me that he was really impressed by the high tech products at the fair, like the service robots. He believed these products had great potential in the Australian market.
And it's not just the high-tech products. Here, products featuring the latest technology, unique designs, and innovative solutions are on display, with product lines catering to diverse purchasers. Buyers now not only consider product prices but also care about product novelty, the new technologies incorporated, and the novel functions offered.
In the fiercely competitive domestic environment, Chinese manufacturing has sped up technological upgrades, leaving global competitors far behind. Enterprise R&D and product-driven strategies have become the core driving force for "Made in China" to succeed globally.
Stephanie: Thank you, Sharon, for sharing these invaluable insights. Indeed, the Canton Fair serves as a vivid portrayal of the resilience of China's foreign trade.
For years, in the narrative of Western media, "Made in China" was commonly linked to affordability. There was a lopsided perception that "Chinese enterprises depend on the US market for survival, rather than the US market relying on Chinese goods". This misguided view provided the pretext for the US to impose tariffs recklessly and initiate trade wars. However, the market is now dispelling this false belief.
Take, for instance, IShowSpeed, the American YouTuber with 38 million followers, has wrapped up his Chinese odyssey, livestreaming the unedited, authentic China to the world using 5G network on China-built bullet train, experiencing flying car in Shenzhen and taking home three Huawei smartphones.
At a time when the US administration's bullying and threats are creating increasing uncertainty, the Canton Fair is being widely viewed as a "barometer" of China's continued commitment to opening-up and its willingness to share its development opportunities with the world.
Forty-plus years ago, when China launched its reform and opening-up policy, the event was mainly a market for foreign buyers to purchase agricultural produce, handicrafts and local specialties, and a window for the Chinese to see the outside world.
Now it has become a major platform displaying not only "Made in China" but "Innovation in China”, attracting countless companies to access the Chinese market.
Highlighting this transformation, the event this year has for the first time set up a service robot zone, reflecting the new pulse of the industry. Notably, the number of enterprises with titles such as national high-tech, specialized and new "little giants", and manufacturing champions in their respective niche exceeds 9,700, an increase of 20 percent over the previous event.
It is this spirit that has not only enabled the phenomenal rise of new kids on the tech-block, such as DeepSeek, but also generated an insatiable industrial and market yearning for collaboration and openness as a means to innovations.
The key message sent by the trade event is that openness and cooperation are the general trend, and the nation will never cease its endeavor to advance in technological development. Amid external uncertainties, China will stick to joining hands rather than shaking fist, dismantling barriers rather than erecting walls, and fostering connectivity instead of decoupling.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
Chinese travel to ASEAN soars 40% in Q1, fueled by tourism and business demand;
Nvidia CEO Jenson Huang arrived in Beijing.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
Outbound travel from the Chinese mainland to ASEAN destinations surged in the first quarter of 2025, driven by both steady growth in leisure tourism and booming business activity, according to a report by Chinese travel agency Tongcheng Travel.
Data from the platform showed that ticket bookings from major mainland cities to key cities in ASEAN countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, rose about 40 percent year-on-year in Q1 2025.
Flight bookings from major Chinese mainland cities to destinations such as Penang, Malaysia, rose 130 percent year-on-year. Bookings to popular cities in Vietnam increased nearly 60 percent, while those to Cambodia jumped close to 90 percent, according to the platform.
Tongcheng attributed part of the growth to favorable visa policies. Countries like Thailand and Malaysia, which offer visa-free access to Chinese travelers, have maintained strong growth momentum since 2024.
From a demand perspective, while leisure travel continued to grow steadily, business travel between Chinese mainland cities and major destinations in Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia saw rapid growth, according to the report.
In the first quarter, ASEAN remained China's largest trading partner, with total trade reaching 1.71 trillion yuan, a 7.1 percent year-on-year increase and accounting for 16.6 percent of China's overall foreign trade, said Lü Daliang, a spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs, on Monday.
Canton Fair Global Share
Chinese home appliance manufacturers have focused more on innovation to attract international buyers through competitive differentiation at the first of this year's bi-annual Canton Fair. The number of AI-powered home appliances, including air conditioners, televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines, has significantly increased at the event this year. For example, Haier Group displayed its smart refrigerator that can recommend recipes using DeepSeek-R1.
GBA express
Swire Properties has not slowed down its investment pace in the Chinese mainland, as it is looking for new opportunities in Shenzhen, according to the Hong Kong-based builder's chief executive officer. "We hope to find new opportunities in Shenzhen, as it is a suitable city for the development of Swire Properties," Tim Blackburn said at the 10th-anniversary ceremony of mixed-use development Taikoo Li Chengdu.
Hong Kong's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2023 amounted to approximately 34.5 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e), representing about 20 percent decrease compared to the 2005 levels and about 25 percent decrease from the peak emissions in 2014, official data showed on Thursday.
Industry and company news
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang arrived in Beijing today on an invitation by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade(CCPIT), CCTV News reported. Huang arrives at a time when the US has put new restrictions on China-bound shipments of H20 GPUs, the only compliant AI chip Nvidia can sell legally to China. During his meeting with Chairman of the CCPIT, Huang said the US chip company will “spare no effort” to optimize its product portfolio in compliance with regulatory requirements and remain “unswervingly committed” to serving the Chinese market.
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek's founder and CEO Liang Wenfeng was featured in the Pioneers category of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2025. "The buzz around DeepSeek’s low-cost AI helped add billions to the value of tech stocks," Time said.
Tencent today unveiled its largest-ever employment plan, adding 28,000 internship roles and expanding graduate hiring over the next three years. This year alone, the Chinese tech giant will offer 10,000 campus internship positions, 60 percent of which will be geared toward tech talents.
Douyin said it will launch a special support program for foreign sellers of premium goods, including lowering commission fees and offering interest-free loans to ease cash flow pressures to help them expand into the Chinese market. Merchants will be able to register and list products on a new dedicated section on its recruitment site, with the entry thresholds for qualified small and medium-sized sellers further lowered with a "free entry" policy, it added.
China's railway passenger trips exceeded 1 billion last quarter, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier, China Railway Group announced today. Railway freight volume rose 1 percent to 1.25 billion tons in the period.
Shanghai will provide policy support for private firms to invest in AI and new infrastructure and promote commercial banks to offer preferential interest rate loans for their key projects, such as trusted data space, embodied intelligence, and the low-altitude economy, Chen Yanfeng, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Development & Reform Commission, said at a press briefing today.
The global merchandise trade volume is likely to decline 0.2 percent this year under the current tariff conditions, nearly 3 percentage points lower than the previous prediction based on a “low tariff” baseline scenario, according to the WTO's latest Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report.
Asia-Pacific highlights
China and Malaysia jointly announced on Thursday that the two sides have agreed to build a high-level strategic China-Malaysia community with a shared future to accelerate their modernization efforts and jointly promote regional and global prosperity and stability. China and Malaysia vowed to strengthen strategic coordination, deepen synergy of development, tighten people-to-people bonds, maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, strengthen regional cooperation, and conduct multilateral cooperation. Focusing on four key areas of digital economy, green economy, blue economy and tourism economy, the two sides pledged to expand future economic cooperation. The two governments has signed an official agreement of mutual visa-free arrangement for their citizens, Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Ascott told media yesterday that it remains bullish on China's long-term prospects, with over 130 projects in operation and nearly 100 to open within five years. The Singaporean real estate and lodging firm plans to launch a new business model in the second half of this year to speed up its expansion in China.
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
China’s economy got off to a strong start in Q1 of 2025;
E-commerce platforms from China top US' shopping apps download chart.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
China's gross domestic product expanded by 5.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the same pace as the previous quarter, official data showed on Wednesday, posting a steady recovery despite headwinds and mounting uncertainties.
The country's GDP grew to 31.88 trillion yuan in the first quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
During the period, China’s value-added industrial output grew by 6.5 percent compared to the same period last year, while retail sales, a key measurement of consumer spending, rose by 4.6 percent in the quarter compared to the same period last year. Fixed-asset investment - a gauge of expenditures on items including infrastructure, property, machinery and equipment – rose by 4.2 percent in the first three months.
The steady growth of Chinese economy in the first quarter, amid looming tariff war launched by the US and expected impacts on world trade in the second quarter, injected stability and positive momentum to the global economic growth, analysts noted.
Despite the improvement in key economic indicators, the NBS warned of pressures from a more complicated and grimmer external environment and lackluster domestic demand, saying the foundation for sustained recovery is yet to be consolidated.
In the next step, the NBS said the country should implement more proactive and effective macro policies. More efforts should also be made to stimulate the vitality of market entities of all types and actively respond to uncertainties from the external environment.
In response to the question regarding the impact of the US' "reciprocal tariffs" on China's GDP, Sheng Laiyun, a deputy head of the bureau, told a press conference on Wednesday that high tariffs imposed by the US cannot change the long-term positive trend of the Chinese economy.
Meanwhile, China on Wednesday unveiled a work plan to boost service consumption in 2025, part of the country's efforts to unleash new drivers of domestic demand and spur economic growth. The plan, jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce and eight other government departments, aims to expand the supply of consumer services, improve service quality and unlock the growth potential of the sector.
The plan proposes 48 specific measures across a broad spectrum of industries, covering both main service sectors as well as new forms of business and new consumption scenarios. The measures outlined focus mainly on six areas, including policy support, promotional activities, opening up and the consumption environment. It calls for increasing the supply of quality consumer services by expanding opening up and reducing restrictions for domestic market players.
Notably, the plan has also formulated special policy measures for elderly care, childcare, housekeeping and other services concerning people's livelihood.
Canton Fair Global Share
Guangzhou has put in place trade-in subsidies for compatriots from Taiwan and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions as well as foreign nationals, in order to further spur and expand consumption. The subsidies will reach up to 20,000 yuan if the consumers trade in their old vehicle for a new energy car, and 2,000 yuan, or 20 percent of the prices, for a household appliance, according to the guidelines. Each person can utilize the trade-in subsidies to purchase a maximum of three air conditioners. The move also aims to help the large number of merchants and business representatives from outside the mainland who attend the Canton Fair, enhance their shopping experiences as well as fully sense the charm of the southern metropolis, which is an international consumption center.
Foreign exhibitors and business representatives attending the Canton Fair can now go through customs clearance procedures for their exhibits and related exhibition business via a single website, according to Guangzhou Customs. It has introduced 12 specific facilitation measures to help ensure smooth and efficient customs clearance of personnel, exhibits, and related materials entering and exiting the fair, as well as provided a one-stop service to help foreign Canton Fair participants go through customs procedures to facilitate offshore exhibitors' participation in the fair and implement the tax incentives for imported exhibits.
A dedicated Service Robot Zone in the Canton Fair officially debuted yesterday, featuring 46 companies showcasing 184 booths with a variety of service robots designed for personal, household, and professional use, reflecting China's latest advancements in AI and smart manufacturing. A considerable part of the service robots displayed at this Canton Fair are embodied intelligent robots represented by humanoid and quadruped robots, said Zhou Nan, secretary general of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products' home appliance branch.
GBA express
Amid rising trade tensions between China and the US, Hong Kong is stepping up efforts to attract high-quality issuers from around the world. Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Sunday that he has instructed Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd and the Securities and Futures Commission to prepare and ensure that "Hong Kong must be the preferred listing destination" of overseas-listed Chinese mainland firms seeking to return. He added that Hong Kong has now established a regulatory framework to facilitate dual listings or secondary listings of companies listed overseas in Hong Kong.
Hongkong Post said today that it will suspend postal service for items containing goods addressed to the US, with surface mail stopping today and air one on April 27, after the US said earlier that it would eliminate the duty-free treatment for postal items despatched from Hong Kong and increase the tariffs for postal items to the US starting from May 2.
Nansha District of Guangzhou has introduced a new policy package to promote high-quality foreign trade development, offering rewards of up to 10 million yuan for enterprises. The focus is on four key areas: strengthening enterprises, fostering new trade formats, enhancing platform functions, and improving services, providing comprehensive support for foreign trade enterprises.
Macao Chief Executive Sam Hou-fai on Monday highlighted closer integration with Hengqin's development, expanded tourism offerings and a more efficient government, during his maiden policy address. Speaking at the Legislative Assembly, Sam emphasized Macao's commitment to the strategy of "one center, one platform and one base "under the "one country, two systems" framework. He vowed to deepen the development of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, calling it a critical platform for the city's integration into national development.
Industry and company news
Chinese e-commerce platforms DHgate, Taobao, and Shein have topped the free shopping apps download ranking on Apple's App Store in the US, with consumers paying more attention to Chinese goods amid trade frictions between the world's two largest economies. DHgate, which only recently became very popular in the US, topped the relevant chart yesterday, followed by Alibaba Group Holding's Taobao in second and online budget fashion retailer Shein in third. Taobao also climbed to the top of France's app store and secured the second spot in the shopping category in both the UK and Canada, according to Sensor Tower's data.
Zhejiang China Commodities City Group yesterday signed a three-year deal with Alibaba Cloud to establish an innovative ecological system integrating global digital trade with the real economy, the operator of the world’s largest small commodities market in Yiwu said today.
Flying cars may account for 20 percent of the total commercial vehicles over the next two decades, Xpeng's CEO He Xiaoping said yesterday. The Chinese NEV startup is building a flying car plant in Guangzhou with an annual production capacity of 10,000 units, expecting to achieve mass production and deliveries of its Land Aircraft Carrier models next year, he added.
Some 3,499 Teslas, including 3,015 revamped Model Ys, were shipped from the Shanghai Nangang port to Australia's Port Kembla yesterday, marking the first international delivery of the new China-made Model Ys in batches.
Legoland Shanghai Resort will run a trial operation in June and officially open in July, said Wang Zhen, director of the Shanghai Housing Administration Bureau. Located in Jinshan district, the theme park has eight themed lands featuring over 75 interactive rides, shows, and attractions.
Asia-Pacific highlights
This year marks the 75th anniversary of China-Vietnam diplomatic ties, a milestone in the two nations' profound traditional friendship featuring "camaraderie plus brotherhood.” China and Vietnam pledged joint efforts to accelerate the building of a community with a shared future that carries strategic significance. The two countries also signed 45 bilateral cooperation agreements on Monday, including memoranda on railway projects, trade certification, and enhanced production ties.
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
Canton Fair kicks off with record export exhibitor turnout and new thematic zones debut;
China sees 33.4% growth in foreign visitors in Q1.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
The China Import and Export Fair, also known as Canton Fair, which is one of the world's largest trade events, kicks off its 137th session today in Guangzhou, South China’s Guangdong province, with 31,000 exhibitors participating, exceeding 30,000 for the first time as there are over 4,200 newcomers.
At 9 am on Tuesday, the first phase of the Canton Fair, with an exhibition area of 520,000 square meters in total, welcomed a large influx of people.
The service robot zone, which debuts for the first time, was particularly lively. Many overseas buyers held up their mobile phones to take pictures of robotic dogs, industrial exoskeleton equipment, automatic cruise robots and other scenes. The zone is dedicated to showcase a diverse array of robotic solutions for personal, domestic, and professional use. A new section for integrated housing is also introduced.
The Canton Fair, where numerous merchants gather, has long been regarded as the “barometer of China's foreign trade.” As of Sunday, more than 200,000 overseas purchasers from 215 countries and regions have pre-registered for this session.
Covering approximately 1.55 million square meters, the biannual event will present a broader scope of exhibition themes, with each of its three phases spotlighting a distinct focus: "Advanced Manufacturing," "Quality Home Life," and "Better Life,” and will feature 55 exhibition sections and 172 product zones in total, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.
Furthermore, the fair boasts higher quality participation with over 4,200 new exhibitors. Among all the exhibitors, more than 9,700 participating companies have earned national titles, such as specialized and sophisticated small and medium enterprises, manufacturing single champions, and national high-tech enterprises, a 20 percent increase from the previous session.
Nearly 3,700 companies focus on new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, solar cells, digital technology, and intelligent manufacturing. Additionally, more than 17,000 exhibitors will showcase their own brands, and nearly 22,000 companies have obtained various international certifications.
GBA express
China Southern Airlines has boosted flights and services to support the ongoing Canton Fair, which expects to operate over 15,600 flights in and out of Guangzhou during China's largest trade show, an 18 percent increase from the previous session. The airline is also offering complimentary shuttle buses between Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and the exhibition venue for verified exhibitors and buyers.
Dongguan in Guangdong unveiled a work plan on Monday to support stable foreign trade growth, with a focus on minimizing the negative impact of trade frictions on the city. The document highlighted strengthening ties with leading mobile phone producers to monitor supply risks and guiding key enterprises to improve their response to supply chain issues, including imbalances in raw materials, components and price fluctuations.
Guangdong signed 30 cooperation projects worth over two billion yuan during a trade and investment promotion event held on the sidelines of the 5th China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) on Sunday. Meanwhile, at the 5th CICPE, Guangdong's exhibition spanned more than 2,300 square meters, making it one of the largest provincial showcases.
In 2024, the Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) recorded 749.39 billion yuan in imports and exports, marking a robust year-on-year growth of 25.6 percent. This figure accounted for 8.2 percent of Guangdong's total foreign trade value and contributed 1.8 percentage points to the province's overall trade growth.
Industry and Company news
China recorded 163 million inbound and outbound trips in the first quarter of the year, up 15 percent from a year earlier, data from the National Immigration Administration showed today. About 17.4 million foreigners entered and exited the country, up 33 percent in the period.
CATL’s net profit widened 33 percent to 14 billion yuan in the first quarter of the year from a year earlier, the Chinese battery giant said in its latest earnings report yesterday. Revenue rose 6.2 percent to 84.7 billion yuan. The US "reciprocal tariffs" have little impact on CATL's performance because its US business only accounts for a small proportion of its shipments, the firm added.
Meituan will invest 100 billion yuan over the next three years to support the catering industry, Xue Bing, GM of Meituan’s delivery business, said yesterday. The funds will go toward consumer subsidies, merchant incentives, rewards for quality operators, and expanding open kitchens to 100,000 stores to enhance industry infrastructure.
BASF’s Cellasto business will invest 500 million yuan to build a second plant in Shanghai to tap into China’s fast-growing EV market. The factory, set to open in 2027, will have a modern mold production line and boost overall production capacity by nearly 70 percent.
Sinopec yesterday launched the country's first cross-region hydrogen heavy-duty truck route, spanning 1,150 kilometers from Chongqing to Qinzhou Port in southern Guangxi province, the oil giant said today. The route has four hydrogen refueling stations.
Brazil has overtaken the US as China's largest soybean supplier despite China remaining the US' largest soybean export destination, CCTV News reported.
Chinese cross-border e-commerce platform DHgate has become very popular in the US, climbing to No. 2 on Apple’s free app chart behind ChatGPT. Last week, it ranked 352nd among non-game free iPhone apps, according to Appfigures.
China EximBank announced on Monday that it has issued two themed financial bonds totaling 12 billion yuan in the interbank bond market to facilitate the quality and efficiency improvements of the country's foreign trade and support connectivity in related infrastructure.
China's services consumption is not only rebounding but evolving rapidly, becoming a key driver of overall consumption growth, according to a report released by the China Institute for Reform and Development. The report forecasts that by 2030, the per capita services consumption of China's urban and rural residents could exceed 20,000 yuan, accounting for more than half of total consumption.
Asia-Pacific highlights
The ASEAN+3, which consists of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China, Japan, and South Korea, remains resilient with strong economic fundamentals, as governments in the region have sufficient policy flexibility to manage short-term challenges, and their central banks have room for monetary easing and ensuring financial stability amid sweeping tariffs shock, according to the bloc's economic outlook released today. It projected the region's economy will grow more than 4 percent this year and the next, "supported by robust domestic demand, recovering investment, and low, stable inflation.” However, the US’ “reciprocal tariffs” could drag the growth to below 4 percent this year and 3.4 percent in 2026, it added.
The partnership between Australian and Chinese companies is expected to remain "strong and flourishing" for “a high degree of complementarity”, despite intensified global trade volatility amid the US' tariff increases and lingering political uncertainties, said Vaughn Barber, chair of the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce in an interview. According to Barber, Woodside Energy's liquefied natural gas supply agreement with China Resources Gas International last month — the first time that the Australian energy giant signed a long-term sale agreement with a customer in China on a standalone basis — has showcased the strong complementarity and collaboration potential of the two countries in clean energy.
The upcoming May Day holiday has sparked a surge in China’s short-haul outbound travel, with over 750,000 outbound and inbound flight bookings for the 5-day break. Reservations to Japan and South Korea have risen by 28 percent year-on-year as of April 9, industry data showed.
The Chinese Embassy in Japan issued a notice on Monday reminding Chinese nationals to remain vigilant and take precautions against potential earthquake disasters following a Japanese government report released on March 31 estimating that up to 298,000 people could die in a megaquake occurring in the Nankai Trough.
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
China's foreign trade grew 1.3% in the first quarter of 2025;
Guangdong firms including BYD and Huawei offer over 35,000 positions at Shanghai job fair.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
Despite a complex and challenging external environment, "the sky won't fall" for China's export, a Chinese customs official told a press conference on Monday.
China's foreign trade recorded steady performances in the first quarter of 2025, with total goods trade volume growing by 1.3 percent year-on-year to 10.3 trillion yuan ($1.41 trillion), data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed on the same day. In March alone, the country's foreign trade rose by 6 percent year-on-year.
The foreign trade data comes amid a new round of trade tensions, with the United States recently raising tariffs on several trading partners, including China.
Exports rose 6.9 percent from the same period last year to reach 6.13 trillion yuan in the first quarter, while imports went down 6 percent year-on-year to 4.17 trillion yuan, according to customs data.
In recent years, China has made steady progress in diversifying its foreign trade markets and deepening industrial and supply chain cooperation with partners around the world, according to Lyu Daliang, an official with the GAC.
"These efforts have not only supported our partners' development but also enhanced our own resilience," Lyu said.
He emphasized that China's vast domestic market remains a strong backup for the economy, adding that the country will turn domestic certainty into a buffer against global volatility.
China's foreign trade with economies participating in the Belt and Road Initiative grew faster than the overall foreign trade, which totaled 5.26 trillion yuan in the first quarter, up by 2.2 percent on a yearly basis, accounting for 51.1 percent of the nation's total foreign trade. Trade with the ASEAN soared 7.1 percent year-on-year to 1.71 trillion yuan from January to March,.
In the meantime, China's exports of electromechanical products amounted to 5.29 trillion yuan in the first three months, marking a 7.7 percent increase year-on-year, said the GAC.
US Customs and Border Protection announced late Friday that smartphones, computers, laptops, semiconductor devices, memory chips and flat panel displays are among exempted products.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said Sunday the move can be seen as a small step toward correcting its erroneous unilateral practice of “reciprocal tariffs.”
Smartphones were the top US import from China in 2024, totaling $41.7 billion, while Chinese-built laptops ranked second at $33.1 billion, according to US Census Bureau data.
GBA express
More than 35,000 positions were up for grabs at a spring job fair held in Shanghai by Guangdong province-based companies, including BYD, Huawei Technologies, and Tencent Holdings. BYD is offering nearly 1,000 positions covering departments like research and development, production, and operation at this job fair, with annual salaries ranging from 500,000 yuan to 1 million yuan. A total of 751 employers from Guangdong attended the two-day job fair that kicked off at the Shanghai National Exhibition and Convention Center yesterday. More than 4,000 openings were for jobs with annual salaries of 500,000 to 1 million yuan, and over 800 had salaries of over 1 million yuan.
Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) retained its position in 2024 as the world’s busiest cargo airport. Fresh from expanding and adding a third runway, it handled 4.9 million metric tons of freight, a 3.3 percent year-on-year increase, according to provisional figures released on Monday by Airports Council International. It is the thirteenth time since 2010 that HKIA has been named the world's busiest cargo airport, slipping in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some 6.04 million travelers — both outbound and inbound — are expected during the upcoming four-day Easter break, Hong Kong authorities said on Monday.
Industry and company news
China issued 9.78 trillion yuan in new yuan-denominated loans in the first three months of 2025, central bank data showed yesterday. China's yuan-denominated deposits increased by 12.99 trillion yuan in the period from a year earlier, with household deposits accounting for 9.22 trillion yuan.
Chinese food delivery platform Ele.me signed a deal with Rino.ai to pilot L4 self-driving delivery with vans of the Chinese autonomous driving firm, the pair announced yesterday. The first batch will cover 100 universities and colleges in China.
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.Com and Alibaba Group’s supermarket chain Freshippo have rolled out initiatives to support export companies reach domestic sales channels. JD.Com will purchase products worth no less than 200 billion yuan from firms that previously relied on exports and then sell them in China through its e-commerce and logistics channels, while Freshippo said it will open a green channel for foreign trade firms wishing to open stores on its platform.
Didi unveiled a 2 billion yuan investment plan to stabilize employment and boost consumption. The Chinese ride-hailing giant will invest 1 billion yuan this year to support new driver groups in key export regions and another 1 billion yuan in passenger subsidies to stimulate consumption.
The fifth China International Consumer Products Expo kicked off yesterday in Haikou, Hainan province, and will run until April 18. Highlighting innovation and global collaboration, this year’s event features over 4,100 brands from more than 70 countries and regions.
Asia-Pacific highlights
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Saturday that the kingdom's ties with China will be deepened continuously for mutual benefits, as both countries have been working together to build a community with a shared future. Noting that he has presided over the inauguration ceremonies of many Chinese mega-projects, the Cambodian leader said that Cambodia-China relations are walking on the track of mutual support and mutual respect for sovereignty and rights since he took office. Meanwhile, Hun said China is the top investor in Cambodia, and has greatly contributed to Cambodia's socio-economic development and the improvement of Cambodian people's livelihoods. He added that both countries would continue to work together closely under the frameworks of the Belt and Road Initiative and "Diamond Hexagon" cooperation towards a high-quality, high-level and high-standard Cambodia-China community with a shared future in the new era.
Sunday marked the 75th anniversary of the establishment of China-Indonesia diplomatic relations. Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Wang Lutong said China and Indonesia are actively exploring new areas for collaboration in various sectors, with industries such as digital economy and green development emerging as priorities. Wang said the bilateral ties have maintained strong momentum, and this partnership has become a model among Global South nations. Bilateral trade between China and Indonesia exceeded 1 trillion yuan for the first time last year, according to customs data. China imported its first batch of 200 kg of fresh coconuts from Indonesia to Fuzhou in Fujian province on April 12.
Sunday marks the second anniversary of China-Laos Railway's launch of international passenger trains. Over the past two years, the international passenger trains have transported a total of 1.91 million passengers, including 487,000 cross-border passengers from 112 countries and regions worldwide, according to China Railway.
Singapore on Monday downgraded its economic growth forecast for this year, the government said, as the trade-dependent nation braced for the sweeping US tariffs. The Ministry of Trade and Industry said preliminary estimates showed that the economy grew 3.8 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter, slower than the previous quarter’s 5 percent.
Pop Mart is setting up several regional HQs, including Asia Pacific, Europe, and America, as part of the Chinese toy maker's organizational restructure, media reported today, citing a letter CEO Wang Ning sent to all staffers today.
The China Pavilion officially opened on Sunday at the Osaka Expo, with an opening ceremony held in front of the pavilion's main building, which is designed to resemble a traditional Chinese scroll. Inspired by traditional Chinese calligraphy scrolls, the pavilion's architectural design embodies the theme of "Building a Community of Life for Man and Nature -- Future Society of Green Development." Osaka Expo 2025 will run for 6 months starting April 13. The China Pavilion, one of the largest foreign self-built pavilions at the event, covers approximately 3,500 square meters.
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Hello! Welcome to this edition of CBN Perspective. I’m Stephanie Li.
The internet’s latest obsession isn’t another TikTok dance trend or AI-generated meme – it’s watching American YouTuber widely known as IShowSpeed in the US and as "Hyperthyroid Bro" in Chinese cyberspace, get culturally ambushed by everything from Sichuan hotpot to Shaolin sticks.
"This is what China looks like! This is China right here!" Speed marveled as he live-streamed at Shanghai's Bund area, with a skyline featuring the landmark Oriental Pearl Tower and modern skyscrapers right in front of him.
From there, the 20-year-old content creator, whose real name is Darren Jason Watkins Jr. and whose zesty and contagious shows have won over 38 million subscribers on YouTube, embarked on his first tour in China since the end of last month.
On China’s high-speed train, Speed nearly had a heart attack when he saw the 5G signal was maxed out. At the Shaolin Temple, he was reduced to tears after taking a whack from a monk's stick. In Shenzhen, he was in absolute shock when taking a wild ride on a flying car after snapping up three Huawei smartphones on spot.
This hybrid appeal reached its zenith during his Shanghai subway freestyle session, as commuters rapped the song's chorus in regional dialects while grandmothers beat-boxed, a moment of cross-generational harmony that no soft power initiative could engineer.
This guy, with his phone in hand and a knack for chaos, turned our everyday life into a sequel to "Crazy Alien." Foreign viewers, seeing real-time comments like "Welcome to Earth," finally realized that China is way cooler than they thought, as they’re seeing China through Speed’s wide-eyed disbelief.
What unfolded before his camera was a wonderland of 21st-century infrastructure. As his bullet train plunged into mountain tunnels, Western viewers gasped to see his livestream continue flawlessly, as China's ubiquitous 5G covers even the most remote transit routes. The session garnered more than 2 billion views in just one day.
This technological seamlessness extended to daily commerce: at street vendors, subway turnstiles, and rural bus stops alike, a single QR code scan from his Alipay app completed transactions instantly, constructing a cashless ecosystem.
When Speed tested Xiaomi's new EV, he wasn't just breaking sound barriers - he shattered Western tech superiority complexes. His live-streamed shock at China's infrastructure sparked more geopolitical discussion than a decade of White House press briefings.
Unlike the bleak and even grim pictures often painted by some Western media, Speed's unedited shows reveal a China that is a safe, perky, diverse, hospitable and prosperous place, that even his body guards were having so much fun during the trip.
The YouTuber's unexpected role as a cultural ambassador stems from his February 2023 viral cover of Chinese singer Da Zhangwei's Sunshine Rainbow White Pony — a song whose absurdist lyrics have become a TikTok meme.
More and more Americans, binge watching his videos, realized that the China the White House was talking about and the China they were seeing were two completely different places.
But the real explosion was about the authentic, unscripted, unrehearsed China travel that only Speed was able to pull off, since authenticity is his brand that has attracted tens of millions of followers worldwide.
Interestingly, this is the second time that a massive scale of cultural exchange has occurred voluntarily this year. When Speed later joined Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, like many in the US did when TikTok temporarily went offline in the US, his posts drew over 1 million followers in weeks.
As one fan on YouTube put it, "this man is doing the lord's work in dispelling all of the western propaganda about China in only 6 hours."
Speed's China tour also coincide with a time when China is promoting tourism and global engagement, which has led to a "China Travel" fever in the world.
China has experienced a surge in visitors from overseas since implementing a 240-hour visa-free transit policy on December 17, 2024, with 8.885 million foreigners entering the country in the three months to March 17 this year, up 34.9 percent over the same period in 2024.
When Speed was gifted a fan in Hangzhou with "A friend in need is a friend indeed" written on it, or when American viewers pushed his Great Wall dance video to the top of the trending list, it was clear that this grassroots thawing was way more powerful than any diplomatic speech.
So, next time you see a foreign blogger learning to dance the square dance on the Great Wall, don't be surprised. This generation has turned cultural collisions into a massive online meet-up. After all, as the hospitable Chinese people often say, “there’s no gap that a hot pot can't bridge. If there is, just add an extra spicy pot!”
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
China and the EU vowed to jointly uphold the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core;
China rolls out “refund-upon-purchase” tax policy nationwide for foreign tourists.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
The joint efforts of China and the European Union to uphold a rules-based multilateral trading system and promote trade liberalization will enhance the stability and certainty of global trade and the world economy, said senior trade officials on both sides.
During his meeting with European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic via video on Tuesday, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said China is willing to resolve differences through consultation and negotiation, but if the US insists on going its own way, China will fight to the end, according to a statement released by China's Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.
Sefcovic said the US tariff hikes have severely impacted international trade, causing significant repercussions for the EU, China and many vulnerable countries. The EU is willing to work together with other World Trade Organization members, including China, to jointly safeguard the normal functioning of global trade.
EU member states voted Wednesday to approve retaliatory tariffs on $23 billion in goods in response to President Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, as the largest U.S. trading partner described them as “unjustified and damaging.”
The tariffs will go into effect in stages, with some on April 15 and others on May 15 and Dec. 1. The EU executive commission didn’t immediately provide a list of the goods.
Following the US' imposition of 104-percent tariffs on Chinese goods, China responded with a raft of measures on Wednesday, including lifting the additional tariffs on products imported from the US to 84 percent, and adding a number of US companies to its export control list and unreliable entity list.
Emphasizing the importance of China-EU economic and trade relations, Sefcovic said that the European side is ready to strengthen dialogue and communication with China and to promote expanded two-way market access, investment and industrial cooperation.
China and the EU agreed to promptly launch consultations to conduct in-depth discussions on market access-related issues, with the aim of creating a more favorable business environment for their businesses, said the commerce ministry statement.
They will also immediately begin negotiations on electric vehicle price commitments and discuss investment cooperation in the automotive industry. Both sides expressed support for restarting the China-EU trade remedy dialogue mechanism, engaging in discussions on trade diversion issues, and effectively managing trade frictions.
China officially launched the nationwide rollout of a new tax refund policy for foreign tourists after piloting in five regions including Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong. According to the State Taxation Administration (STA), the reform replaces the traditional "refund-upon-departure" model with a more streamlined "refund-upon-purchase" mechanism. Under this upgraded mechanism, eligible foreign tourists can now instantly claim value-added tax (VAT) rebates at designated tax-free retail stores by completing a credit card pre-authorization. The refunded amount is immediately available at the point of purchase, allowing tourists to reinvest those funds into additional spending during their stay.
China does not want to fight trade and tariff wars, but will not flinch when a trade and tariff war comes, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a press briefing today after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose more tariffs on imported Chinese products. Meanwhile, the commerce ministry announced to add 12 US entities, including American Photonics and Novotech, to its export control list, and add six US firms, including Shield AI and Sierra Nevada, to its unreliable entity list, both effective 12.01 p.m. Beijing time today.
GBA express
As of Tuesday, over 170,000 overseas buyers from 210 countries and regions had registered to attend the 137th Canton Fair, which will be held from April 15 to May 5, according to the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday. About 72 percent of the registered buyers for the fair are from Belt and Road Initiative partner countries, 27.4 percent are from BRICS countries, 11.7 percent from RCEP members, 14.3 percent from the Middle East and 10.5 percent from Europe and the Americas.
The Hong Kong Investment Corporation is optimistic about the “Belt and Road” market's potential and is seizing the opportunities, including the organization and forthcoming launch of the inaugural international patient capital forum in May to promote synergies among global patient capital institutions, says chief executive Clara Chan Ka-chai. Chan also revealed that HKIC plans to lead a delegation to Southeast Asia next quarter to support its portfolio companies in expanding their business and building networks with regional partners.
Shein is continuing to ramp up investment in its Guangzhou-based supply chain, the city's government said, in response to reports that the fast-fashion retailer plans to shift part of its production overseas. Local authorities said Shein, a global company that grew out of Guangzhou, continued to see export growth from the city in the first quarter, "undoubtedly putting to rest the rumors of a shift in the supply chain."
Industry and company news
China's sales of passenger vehicles expanded 14.4 percent in March from the year before to 1.94 million units, an increase of 40.2 percent from February, bringing the total of this year to 5.13 million units, up 6 percent from the same period last year, according to the China Passenger Car Association. Retail sales of NEVs exceeded 990,000 units, up 38 percent from a year earlier and 45 percent from February.
China's CPI, a main gauge of inflation, fell 0.1 percent in March from a year earlier, according to data released by the NBS yesterday. The PPI, which measures the cost of goods at the factory gate, dropped 2.5 percent in the period.
Sinopec and Saudi Aramco plan to expand their joint venture refinery to meet growing demand for high-end petrochemicals in Saudi Arabia. The project will add an ethylene cracker with an annual capacity of 1.8 million tons, an aromatics unit producing 1.5 million tons a year, and downstream polyolefin unit at the complex owned by Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company.
Nearly 3.1 million content creators on Bilibili earned money last year, with their total revenue up 21 percent from 2023, the Chinese video streaming site’s latest ESG report showed. As of Feb. 28, Bilibili initiated 101 charity projects, attracting 1.1 million users donating over 27 million yuan to support rural education, minority groups, and cultural heritage protection.
JD.Com has begun recruiting international and Chinese brands going global in the maternal, child, and toy categories for its European online retail business, media reported yesterday, citing the Chinese e-commerce giant. The firm also started testing its European retail brand, Joybuy, in London.
Asia-Pacific highlights
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said during a video meeting with Tengku Zafrul Aziz, Malaysia's minister for investment, trade and industry on Wednesday, that the US "reciprocal tariffs" severely undermines the legitimate rights and interests of all parties involved, including China and ASEAN countries, and represents a typical act of unilateral bullying. Wang reiterated that China is willing to work with its trading partners, including ASEAN, to strengthen communication and coordination, address respective concerns through equal-footed dialogue and consultation based on mutual respect, and jointly uphold the multilateral trading system. Tengku Zafrul said that the relevant policies of the US government don't conform to the principles of free and fair trade as stipulated by the WTO. Malaysia fully respects China's position and is willing to jointly support multilateralism and the development of global trade. Malaysia will consult with ASEAN countries on the series of US "reciprocal tariff" measures to formulate a coordinated response, he said.
Vietnam welcomed a record number of tourists in the first quarter, with Chinese visitors leading the pack at nearly 1.6 million, a remarkable 78.3 percent year-on-year increase, local media outlet said. Vietnamese local carrier VietJet Air has recently launched four new direct routes connecting Beijing and Guangzhou with Vietnam's Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The Beijing-Hanoi route will be upgraded to a daily service starting on April 27, while a new Shanghai-Hanoi route is set to launch on April 29 with daily flights.
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
Chinese state-owned investment funds raise ETF holdings, while SOEs and listed firms announce buybacks to stabilize capital market;
China takes strong stance against US threat of additional 50% tariff.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
China has launched its own version of a "stock market stabilization fund" as the country's central bank vowed to provide funding support for the Central Huijin Investment Ltd to increase holdings in the A-share market.
On Tuesday, the People's Bank of China said it firmly supports Central Huijin's efforts to increase its holdings of stock market index funds and will provide sufficient re-lending support to Central Huijin when necessary to resolutely maintain the steady operation of the capital market.
This came after Central Huijin, an arm of China's sovereign wealth fund, provided liquidity to the A-share market during the slump on Monday by increasing its holdings in exchange-traded funds while vowing to further increase its exposure.
Chinese stocks rebounded today, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index advancing 1.6 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index also regained 1.5 percent.
State-owned asset manager China Reform Holdings said its subsidiary Guoxin Investment Group will hike its holdings of central SOEs and tech stocks and ETFs through a special reinvestment fund, with an initial investment of 80 billion yuan.
China Chengtong Holdings Group, a capital operation platform of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, said late Monday that its financial subsidiaries have increased their holdings of ETFs and shares of central SOEs, to firmly safeguard the stable operation of the capital market.
On Tuesday, China’s Social Security Fund announced that it has recently actively increased its holdings of domestic stocks and will continue to do so in the near future. While the National Financial Regulatory Administration said it has allowed more equity asset allocation by insurance funds.
Meanwhile, several Chinese central SOEs and private enterprises have rolled out share repurchase initiatives. China’s three energy majors, Sinopec, PetroChina and CNOOC, on Tuesday have all disclosed similar buyback plans that worth between 3 billion and 5.6 billion yuan over the next 12 months, while China Electronics Technology Group Corporation said it had already completed over 2 billion yuan in buybacks.
Listed firms are making similar moves, with CATL saying on Tuesday that it will repurchase shares worth between 4 billion and 8 billion yuan using its own or raised funds, and Zijin Mining said it plans to use up to 1 billion yuan of its own money to repurchase A-shares. The newly-merged brokerage titan Guotai Haitong has proposed a repurchase plan of up to 2 billion yuan, while China Merchants Group's 7 listed firms pledge to accelerate share buybacks.
China on Tuesday vows to retaliate and fight till the end after the US threatened to impose a further 50 percent tariff on the nation. "China firmly opposes this. If the US escalates tariffs, China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests," a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said. "The US' threat to escalate tariffs on China is a grave mistake on top of an existing one, which once again exposes the US' blackmail nature. China will never accept this. If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end," said the ministry.
GBA express
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday slammed the US for undermining global trade and bringing risks and uncertainties to the world through its “reckless imposition of tariffs”. “The US no longer adheres to free trade, arbitrarily undermining the internationally established rules of world trade, and its ruthless behavior damages global and multilateral trade,” he said. According to Lee, Hong Kong will seize national development opportunities and integrate itself into the national development framework. He said the city would also strengthen international exchanges and deepen regional ties by signing more free trade agreements with other countries.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge saw a surge in traffic over the Qingming Festival holiday, with both passenger and vehicle numbers reaching record highs for this time of year. From April 4 to noon on April 6, more than 272,000 travelers and 57,000 vehicles crossed the border at Zhuhai Port, marking year-on-year increases of 32.1 percent and 41.7 percent, respectively, according to data from border authorities.
Hong Kong will offer “any possible help” to social media influencers who want to promote the city through live streams, the chief executive has said after YouTube star IShowSpeed’s visit, which some saw as a missed opportunity to highlight local signature features. John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that he paid close attention to IShowSpeed’s visit, adding that authorities proposed to help the 20-year-old live stream across the city, but he did not take up the offer. IShowSpeed, who recently visitedHong Kong and Shenzhen, has more than 38.4 million followers on YouTube.
Industry and Company news
A growing number of Chinese tourists embarked on domestic trips during this year's Qingming Festival, contributing to nearly 7 percent growth in tourist spending. From April 3 to April 6, around 126 million tourists traveled domestically, marking a 6.3 percent year-on-year increase, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced yesterday. With Tomb Sweeping Day falling on Friday, April 4, this year’s long weekend boosted tourism expenditures, rising 6.7 percent to 57.5 billion yuan.
Alibaba-backed Moonshot AI said it had changed the price system of its Kimi AI models, with the cost of the Kimi-latest-8k model down to 2 yuan per million input tokens and 10 yuan per million output tokens from unified 12 yuan per million input/output tokens.
BYD rose after the Chinese EV and battery giant said it expects its first-quarter net profit to have jumped between 86 and 119 percent to 8.5 billion to 10 billion yuan from a year ago. BYD also announced yesterday it entered the Nigerian market with the Yuan Plus and Dolphin, while also launching its premium Denza brand in Europe to support its global expansion.
Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motors said today it inked a deal with Unitree Robotics to ally on robotics tech and intelligent manufacturing, covering humanoid and quadruped robots, hardware and software development, and intelligent control systems.
Apple’s iPhone production costs could reportedly surge by 50 percent per unit due to US’ latest tariff shock, as most iPhones are assembled in China. The latest US tariffs could lead to annual losses of up to USD33 billion for Apple, Morgan Stanley estimated.
China Railway will pilot a pet transport service on some high-speed trains on the Beijing-Shanghai route from today. Passengers need to make online reservations at least two days in advance to carry with them one healthy domesticated cat or dog with certain limits in size.
Asia-Pacific highlights
The Asia-Pacific stock market experienced a significant rebound today. The Japanese Nikkei 225 Index and the South Korean KOSPI Index each surged by 6 percent. Australia’s ASX 200 climbed 2.3 percent, and India’s Nifty 50 futures pointed to a higher open. In contrast, Southeast Asian markets continued their downward trend, with Singapore’s Straits Times Index falling 1.4 percent, Vietnam’s VN plunging 6.4 percent, Thailand’s SET down 4.8 percent and Indonesia’s JKSE slumping 8.3 percent.
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
Global markets open on a tailspin on Monday caused by Washington’s “reciprocal tariffs” policy;
China’s foreign exchange reserves hovering at over $3.2 trillion for 16 consecutive months.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
Global markets kicked off the week with a sharp downturn on Monday amid growing jitters over escalating US protectionist tariffs and the ripple effects the tariffs caused all around the world.
Japanese markets led losses in Asia in early trade. The benchmark Nikkei 225 plunged 8.03 percent, its weakest level since October 2023.
South Korea's Kospi 200 index futures plummeted 6.8 percent, triggering a temporary halt on program-driven sell orders. Trading in Nikkei 225 and Topix index futures was also temporarily halted in early session as frenzied selling triggered circuit breakers.
Stocks in Singapore dipped over 7 percent at the start of Monday with the Straits Times Index plunging 7.4 percent. Indian shares declined at the beginning of the day, with the key Nifty index dropping over 3 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index plunged more than 6 percent, extending its decline to over 15 percent from February's peak. This puts the benchmark index within 5 percentage points of entering technical bear market territory.
The European market opened lower, with the Euro Stoxx 50 index down 6.2 percent, Germany's DAX dropped 7.1 percent, the UK's FTSE 100 fell 4.1 percent, Italy's FTSE MIB declined 7.4 percent, and Spain's IBEX 35 dropped 4.9 percent.
China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 7.3 percent today, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped 13.2 percent.
China's Central Huijin Investment has increased its holdings of ETFs and will continue to do so in the future to resolutely maintain the stable operation of the capital market, the Chinese sovereign fund company under China Investment Corporation announced on Monday afternoon, emphasizing its confidence in the A-share market.
The impact of US tariff policies continues to reverberate across global financial markets, with US stock index futures, crude oil, cryptocurrencies, and precious metals all plunging further during Monday's early Asian trading session.
After last week's nearly 10 percent drop in US equities, Nasdaq 100 futures tumbled more than 5 percent at the open, while S&P 500 futures slumped over 4 percent.
Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 2-year US Treasury note fell to 3.445 percent, hitting its lowest level since September 2022 as investors sought safer assets amid the market selloff.
As of the end of March, China's foreign exchange reserves stood at $3.24 trillion, reflecting an increase of 0.42 percent from a month earlier, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) revealed today. This marks the 16th consecutive month that China's foreign exchange reserves have remained largely stable above $3.2 trillion.
China's countermeasures against US' abuse of tariffs are not only aimed at protecting the legal rights of enterprises, including US-funded enterprises, but also at urging the US to return to the correct path of multilateral trade, said Ling Ji, China's vice commerce minister and deputy China international trade representative on Sunday when hosting a roundtable meeting with representatives from over 20 American companies, including Tesla, GE Healthcare, and Medtronic, according to the official website of the commerce ministry on Monday. These remarks came as China on Friday announced countermeasures against the US' so-called "reciprocal tariffs" on its trading partners including China, with moves including imposing additional 34-percent tariffs on all products imported from the US and filing a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization concerning the US "reciprocal tariffs."
GBA express
Cross-boundary travel between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland surged 18.9 percent year-on-year during the Qingming Festival, with 3.39 million passenger trips recorded, as families performed their annual tomb-sweeping traditions and went on a three-day holiday break. According to the SAR’s Immigration Department, the average number of daily passenger trips between April 4 and 6 reached 1.13 million daily – up from the daily average of 950,000 trips made during last year’s 11-day Easter and Qingming holidays.
Chinese biotech firm Duality Biotherapeutics launched an initial public offering (IPO) of up to HK$1.56 billion on Monday in Hong Kong, testing investor appetite amid a global stock market rout. The company is selling 15.07 million shares in the price range of HK$94.60 to HK$103.2 each, according to its prospectus.
Industry and company news
Multiple Chinese A-share listed companies, including Chinese home appliance giant Media Group and Shenzhen-based medical technology and solutions supplier Mindray, have publicly addressed the potential impact of the latest US tariff hikes, emphasizing limited exposure to the US market and proactive global supply chain adjustments to cushion disruptions. Suzhou Recodeal Interconnect System Co, a Chinese manufacturer of high-tech connection systems, said on Sunday that the latest US tariffs will further drive the company's localized production and sales at its overseas factories.
China has added 11 US companies, including drone makers Skydio and Brinc Drones, to its unreliable entity list and 16 others, including High Point Aerotechnologies and Universal Logistics, to its export control list, the Ministry of Commerce announced.
The Qingming Festival holiday is expected to bring about 790 million cross-regional trips in China, an increase of 7.1 percent year-on-year, making a record new high in the number of trips during the holiday, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Transport. The country’s box office during the holiday topped 300 million yuan as of 5 p.m. yesterday. Fantasy adventure comedy A Minecraft Movie, based on the hit video game, led the box office, followed by crime flick My Girls and Mumu.
The China Retail Prosperity Index, released on Sunday by the China General Chamber of Commerce (CGCC), edged up 0.3 point from March to 50.5, which is in the expansion territory. The CGCC said that the uptick mainly stemmed from merchandise operations and leasing activities, reflecting stronger momentum after a raft of pro‑consumption policies took hold.
Asia-Pacific highlights
The third batch of emergency humanitarian earthquake relief supplies provided by the Chinese government arrived in Yangon, Myanmar at noon on Saturday. In addition, Chinese rescue forces, including the Chinese International Rescue and Search and the China Rescue and Search, have jointly carried out medical outreach activities in Mandalay, Myanmar. The death toll from Myanmar's earthquake reached 3,564 as of Sunday evening.
Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) Charles Ng Siong-kwong started a visit to the Middle East on Sunday, with key engagements in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to promote the SAR as a premier gateway for Middle Eastern businesses seeking opportunities on the Chinese mainland and in the broader Asia-Pacific region.
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
US announces sweeping “reciprocal tariffs,” sparking strong responses from multiple countries;
China’s semiconductor sector shows strong performance in 2024.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
Amid widespread opposition, US President Donald Trump declared a "national emergency" and announced a sweeping "reciprocal" tariff policy on Wednesday, setting a baseline tariff of 10 percent on all imported goods, with higher tariffs on many countries.
In remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House on Wednesday, Trump displayed a comprehensive chart outlining the reciprocal tariffs he is imposing on various countries. The plan imposes steep tariff rates on many countries, including 49 percent on Cambodia, 46 percent on Vietnam, 34 percent on China, 24 percent tariff on Japan, 20 percent on the EU, with a total of more than 180 countries and regions facing tariffs.
Markets around the world shuddered on Thursday. Futures on the S&P 500, which allow investors to trade the index outside normal trading hours, slumped over 3 percent. Shares of the US' seven biggest tech giants continued to plunge in after-hours today. Apple fell 7.1 percent, Nvidia 5.7 percent, Tesla 8 percent, Amazon 6 percent, Meta 4.8 percent, Alphabet 3.5 percent, and Microsoft 3.1 percent.
Asian markets fell sharply, with benchmark indices dropping more than 3 percent in Japan, and nearly 2 percent in Hong Kong and South Korea.
Gold hit a record high on Thursday, as nervous investors rushed towards safe-haven assets. Spot gold was up 0.4 percent at US$3,145.93 an ounce.
Trading partners from the European Union to Canada and Mexico have vowed to respond with retaliatory tariffs and other countermeasures, even as some have sought to negotiate with the White House.
In Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his rival in a May election, Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton, said they would stand up for the country's national interests in the face of looming US tariffs that could hit Australian beef.
Pascal Lamy, former Director General of the WTO has warned that the US administration's tariff policies are built on "completely mistaken" diagnosis of its domestic economy and will ultimately backfire—fueling domestic inflation and pushing interest rates higher instead.
In response to US' announcement of "reciprocal tariffs" on all its trade partners, China's commerce ministry said on Thursday that China strongly opposes the move and will firmly take countermeasures to safeguard its own interests.
"There is no winner in a trade war, and protectionism leads nowhere. China urges the US to immediately remove unilateral tariffs and resolve differences with trade partners through dialogue," a ministry spokesperson said.
Following the imposition of 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports on February 4, the US added another 10 percent tariff on China, effective March 4. In a strong response, China has announced a series of countermeasures, including imposing additional tariffs of 10-15 percent on US agricultural products starting from March 10.
GBA express
Douyin Group recently purchased a land plot in Guangzhou’s Haizhu district at an auction for 1.2 billion yuan. The 5.5-hectare site plot will house the Douyin South China Innovation Base, aiming to boost digital marketing, entertainment, and AI.
The world’s “big four” accounting firms all expect IPO fundraising in Hong Kong to hit at least HK$100 billion this year, and perhaps as much as HK$160 billion, as a pipeline of Chinese mainland tech firms and overseas companies awaiting listing approval fuel capital-market optimism. The international financial hub recorded 15 IPOs raising HK$18.2 billion in the first quarter.
The Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin implemented a new regional tax policy aimed at promoting offshore trade on Tuesday, which exempts enterprises registered in the cooperation zone from stamp duty on contracts for offshore resale transactions, further enhancing the zone's appeal for businesses engaged in international trade.
The Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport has recorded a significant rise in cross-border travel, with over four million passenger movements in the first quarter of 2025—an increase of 24.5 percent year-on-year. This milestone was reached 20 days earlier than in 2024.
Industry and company news
As of Wednesday, 1,083 Chinese listed companies have announced their financial results for last year, among which 646 have reported year-on-year revenue growth, or about 60 percent of the total, according to data from information provider Wind. Meanwhile, 616 listed companies saw year-on-year profit growth. By industry, semiconductor, consumer electronics, and auto parts firms showed particularly strong performance amid booming demand from the country's rapid adoption of cloud computing and AI.
China's wholesale sales of domestic new energy passenger vehicles likely soared 37 percent to 1.14 million units in March from a year earlier, the CPCA said yesterday. The figure for the first quarter is expected to have climbed 43 percent to 2.86 million units.
Kweichow Moutai’s net profit widened 15 percent to 86.2 billion yuan and revenue rose 16 percent to 174.1 billion yuan last year from the year before, according to the Chinese liquor giant's 2024 earnings report. Kweichow Moutai will distribute 34.7 billion yuan in cash dividends.
Asia-Pacific highlights
The death toll of Myanmar’s 7.9-magnitude earthquake has risen to 2,886, with 4,639 injured, and 373 still missing, Xinhua reported yesterday, citing the Southeast Asian country’s State Administration Council. The second batch of emergency humanitarian aid supplies dispatched by the Chinese government arrived in Yangon on Thursday. Meanwhile, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee met with Myanmar Consul General Han Win Naing on Thursday morning to express condolences and announced a major aid package that includes over 20 metric tons of relief supplies for the earthquake-stricken nation.
The first passenger flight from Lhasa, Xizang autonomous region in China, landed at the Pokhara International Airport in Nepal and received a water cannon salute on Monday. The airport, funded by Beijing, wasinaugurated on January 1, 2023. Pokhara, as Nepal's tourism capital, is the gateway to the world-famous Annapurna Circuit trekking route. Since the airport became operational, Pokhara no longer depend on Kathmandu for tourist inflow and has seen significant investments in the hospitality industry.
GIC Private, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, has reduced its holdings in Zijin Mining Group, divesting about HKD1 billion worth of shares, amid a sustained rapid rise in gold and copper prices which has boosted the Chinese gold miner's stock price.
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
US so-called “reciprocal” tariffs are set to take effect, triggering widespread opposition and market uncertainty;
Leapmotor tops Li Auto to become China's best-selling NEV startup in March.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
The new US administration is set to announce the reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday local time, prompting widespread concern and opposition over the uncertainty they could unleash, according to media reports.
As the date approaches, global financial markets including the US stock market have experienced a rollercoaster ride as investors' anxiety continues to worsen.
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly down Wednesday as investors brace for US President Donald Trump to roll out fresh tariffs. US stocks closed mixed on Tuesday following a volatile session on Monday. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite posted on Monday their worst quarterly performances since 2022, as uncertainty around the Trump administration's economic agenda roiled US equity markets in the first quarter of 2025.
Gold prices on Monday surged above $3,100 per ounce for the first time as concerns around the US tariffs and the potential economic fallout, combined with geopolitical worries, drove a fresh wave of investments into the safe-haven asset.
The tariff plan has also drawn widespread opposition from the US's trading partners, with officials from various countries voicing to safeguard their interests while potentially retaliating if necessary.
Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to fight unjustified trade actions, protect Canadian workers and businesses, and build Canada's economy, including through increased trade between Canada and Mexico as he spoke with President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday.
The EU has "a strong plan to retaliate if necessary", European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen said, according to the speech released by the EC on Tuesday.
Chinese authorities including the Foreign Ministry and the Commerce Ministry have stated multiple times that trade and tariff wars have no winners and unilateral imposition of tariffs by the US undermines the multilateral trading system, as well as disrupting the normal international trade order.
Experts warned that the tariffs would backfire, disrupting global supply and industrial chains and saddling US businesses and consumers with higher costs.
Studies indicate that 25 percent tariffs could raise consumer costs by $5,000 to $10,000, exacerbating uncertainty for both the US and global economies.
In a report released on Sunday, Goldman Sachs raised the probability of a US recession to 35 percent from 20 percent and said it expects more rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, as the Trump administration's tariffs roil the global economy and upend financial markets.
GBA express
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport has marked a significant expansion in its international network as two foreign airlines launched three new direct routes on the same day. Kazakhstan's Air Astana and Vietnam's VietJet Air introduced fresh connections linking Guangzhou with key cities in Central Asia and Southeast Asia.
Guangdong on Tuesday announced measures aimed at accelerating innovation in its artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics industries. Among the 12 initiatives announced, the province pledged financial support of up to 50 million yuan for the national-level AI and robotics manufacturing innovation centers and up to 10 million yuan for provincial-level centers.
Hong Kong’s initial public offerings market raised HK$18.2 billion in the first quarter of this year, up nearly 2.9 times from a year earlier, ranking fourth globally, according to Deloitte. The first quarter saw 15 IPOs in Hong Kong, a 25 percent increase compared to 12 listings in the same period of 2024. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange ranked ninth and tenth globally, respectively.
Industry and company news
Leapmotor became the best-selling Chinese new energy vehicle startup in March, after its sales exceeded those of rival Li Auto. Leapmotor delivered 37,095 cars last month, up over 154 percent from a year earlier. In comparison, Li Auto delivered 36,674 units, an increase of nearly 27 percent in the period. Xpeng Motor ranked third, with deliveries soaring 268 percent to 33,205 units. Xiaomi Auto followed suit, with more than 29,000 cars delivered in March. Nio's deliveries rose 27 percent to 15,039 units.
Chinese electric vehicle battery giant CATL will join hands with state-owned oil giant Sinopec to build 10,000 battery swap stations, media reported on Wednesday. As part of a strategic deal signed in Beijing, the two companies will build at least 500 battery swap stations this year, according to the report, without giving the timeline for the long-term goal of 10,000 such stations.
The Xiaomi SU7 that crashed and burst into flames on March 29, did not have a CATL battery, the Chinese battery giant told investors today. The standard version of the Xiaomi SU7 is equipped with a 73.6 kWh battery pack and reportedly adopts a dual-supplier system, with BYD and CATL as suppliers. Xiaomi's stock fell over 5% yesterday. CEO Lei Jun on Tuesday night expressed his deepest condolences after a fatal accident involving a Xiaomi SU7 EV, saying that the accident is still under investigation and pledging that the company will continue to cooperate with the police investigation.
Legoland Shanghai Resort today announced a six-tier pricing system based on seasonal visitor traffic. Adult tickets are priced from 319 yuan to 599 yuan, while children tickets range from 255 yuan to 479 yuan. The theme park is set to open in May.
JD.Com will raise the payroll for Dada Nexus employees to 19 months this year and extend it to 20 from next year, with additional bonus stock for outstanding workers, the Chinese e-commerce giant said today. The move marks the 8th pay rise of the year throughout JD-affiliated firms.
The Beinao-1 smart brain-computer interface device has been successfully implanted in the first three patients, allowing them preliminary motion decoding and decoding output of nearly a hundred common Chinese words. The patients have recovered well after the operation, the Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, the leading developer of Beinao-1, announced yesterday.
Local governments in China issued a record 2.84 trillion yuan of bonds in the first three months of this year, soaring about 80 percent from a year earlier, according to ChinaBond.
China’s services trade jumped nearly 10 percent to 1.31 trillion yuan in the first two months of 2025 from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Trade in travel-related services soared 29 percent to 409.8 billion yuan.
China has allocated over 230 billion yuan in ultra-long special treasury bonds this year to support major national strategies and strengthen security capacity in key areas, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Tuesday.
Standard Chartered on Wednesday revised its 2025 economic growth forecast for China to 4.8 percent from 4.5 percent, given "stronger-than-expected" real activity performance in the first two months and the March PMI survey.
Asia-Pacific highlights
Chinese rescue teams are continuing to work in the hard-hit Mandalay in central Myanmar following the 7.9-magnitude temblor last week, and have so far saved eight survivors as of 8 am local time on Tuesday in the country. The Chinese Embassy in Myanmar has also delivered cash assistance worth 1.5 million yuan to the Myanmar Red Cross Society. The death toll from Friday's earthquake in Myanmar has risen to 2,886, with 4,639 injured and 373 still missing, according to the State Administration Council information team on Wednesday.
The China-ASEAN New Energy Electric Vehicle Production Base, covering an area of 6.67 square kilometers with a planned investment of 15.7 billion yuan, has rapidly become a pivotal player in Asia's green transportation sector. Located within the Guigang National Eco-Industrial Park, the base has repurposed over 300,000 square meters of existing factory space to attract leading industry participants.
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
China’s 4 state-owned banks will bring in Finance Ministry as strategic investor, a move to reinforce capital adequacy;
Immigration authority forecasts 2.1 million passenger border crossings during upcoming Qingming holiday.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
China's major State-owned commercial banks plan to raise up to 520 billion yuan via private placements from investors, including the finance ministry, a forward-looking move which analysts said will help forestall financial risks and better support the real economy.
The fundraising aims to replenish core tier-1 capital — the core capital held in a bank's reserves — to help ensure that the financial system has the necessary resilience and lending capacity to support the economy's transition toward innovation and consumption-led growth, they said.
Bank of Communications, Bank of China, Postal Savings Bank of China and China Construction Bank announced plans on Sunday to raise a combined 520 billion yuan through additional offerings through the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
The Ministry of Finance will fully subscribe to the new shares issued by Bank of China and China Construction Bank, while also taking up over 90 percent of the new shares offered by Bank of Communications and Postal Savings Bank of China, committing a total of 500 billion yuan in cash subscriptions.
The banking sector is currently facing challenges of limited profit growth, primarily due to factors such as narrowed net interest margins. This constraint has hindered the capacity to strengthen capital reserves through retained earnings, necessitating external capital infusions.
After capital replenishment, it is expected that these banks will notably boost credit issuance, with a specific focus on channeling additional financial resources toward strategic fields, including tech-focused small and medium-sized enterprises and strategic emerging industries.
The ministry said in a statement on Monday that it will issue the first batch of 500 billion yuan in special government bonds in 2025, with the proceeds earmarked to support the core tier-1 capital replenishment of major State-owned banks.
According to the latest financial data, the core tier-1 capital adequacy ratios for the four lenders as of the end of last year were well above regulatory minimums of 5 percent.
The bank-specific and market-oriented approach to capital replenishment is a forward-looking strategic arrangement, prioritizing the long-term financial stability and growth of the real economy, experts said, adding that by leveraging a multiplier effect of eight, the 500-billion-yuan capital injection can potentially catalyze 4 trillion yuan in additional lending capacity.
GBA express
Hong Kong and Shenzhen will establish a co-location checkpoint in Shenzhen for the planned Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Rail Link, with no customs facilities on the Hong Kong side, the government told a Legislative Council panel yesterday. The rail link will connect Hong Kong's Hung Shui Kiu to Qianhai in Shenzhen.
Industry and company news
China is expected to handle a daily average of 2.1 million entry-exit passenger crossings during the upcoming Qingming Festival holiday (from Friday to Sunday), up 21.4 percent from a year earlier, the National Immigration Administration said on Tuesday.
XPeng’s flying car unit said it has secured a 1.26 billion yuan syndicated loan to support the construction of a mass production facility for its flying car model. This is the world’s largest syndicated loan for producing flying cars, XPeng AeroHT said in a Weibo post on Tuesday. Also Xpeng Motors' deliveries more than tripled to 33,205 vehicles last month from a year earlier, its fifth consecutive month with over 30,000 deliveries, the Chinese NEV maker said today. Its quarterly deliveries surged more than fourfold to 94,008 units from a year ago.
Ubtech Robotics is expected to produce 1,000 humanoid bots this year, with the target for next year set at 5,000-10,000, said Founder and Chairman Zhou Jian. The bill of materials cost for the industrial humanoid robot is now controlled under 500,000 yuan, he added.
BYD refuted media reports claiming the Chinese NEV giant is mulling setting up a car factory in Hyderabad, the capital city of India's southern Telangana state, with an expected investment of 10 billion yuan.
Xiaomi Auto delivered 29,000 SU7 in March, the EV unit of Chinese tech giant Xiaomi said on Weibo today, adding that it is confident to meet the annual sale target of 350,000 units. Xiaomi Auto announced last month it would hike the capacity of its second plant in Beijing.
China will encourage banks to increase credit loans and medium- and long-term loans to technology enterprises, the National Financial Regulatory Administration said in a statement on Tuesday. Banks can extend the term for working capital loans to such enterprises to a maximum period of 5 years.
Several Chinese banks received regulatory notices requiring them to suspend the issuance of consumer loan products with interest rates below 3 percent from this month to standardize the market and avoid financial risks, media reported today. Data show that online consumption loan interest rate of Chinese national banks was 2.91 percent in February, much lower than the 3.1 percent one-year loan prime rate in the past five months.
Nanjing, the capital city of China’s Jiangsu province, yesterday lifted home resale restrictions, as part of its measures to promote the property sector. This allows commercial homes to be listed for sale as soon as the owner obtains a property ownership certificate.
Asia-Pacific highlights
Multiple rescue teams from China have rescued six survivors, including a pregnant woman, in earthquake-hit Myanmar as of 8 am local time on Monday, as the first group of emergency humanitarian aid from China arrived in the Southeast Asian country. Around 400 Chinese personnel, including experts, rescuers and medical workers, have been assisting in the disaster relief efforts in various places in Myanmar. On Monday, the first shipment of emergency humanitarian earthquake relief supplies worth 100 million yuan provided by the Chinese government arrived in Yangon, including tents, first aid kits, food and drinking water, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular news conference. Meanwhile, rescue and medical teams from across the Asia-Pacific region, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, are continuing relief and search operations in Myanmar.
Myanmar's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology reported on Monday that 36 aftershocks, with magnitudes ranging from 2.8 to 7.5, have occurred as of Monday morning. Also, a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province on Monday evening without triggering large waves.
The Japanese government on Monday released an updated projection, saying that nearly 300,000 people could be killed if an anticipated massive earthquake occurs in the Nankai Trough off the country's Pacific coast. Japan's GDP could nearly be halved, losing as much as JPY270 trillion (USD1.81 trillion) under the worst-case scenario, as the country will likely evacuate 1.23 million people, around 1 percent of its population.
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
China, South Korea and Japan agreed to enhance trade cooperation as US is implementing reciprocal tariffs on April 2;
China’s manufacturing PMI rises to 50.5 in March.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
Top trade officials from China, Japan and South Korea exchanged in-depth views on the enhancement of trade and investment cooperation, regional and multilateral cooperation on Sunday, and reached a broad consensus during the 13th Trilateral Economic and Trade Ministers' Meeting among China, Japan and South Korea held in Seoul, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said.
Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao co-chaired the meeting with South Korean Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoji Muto. It marked the first time since December 2019 that the industry ministers of the three nations held a trilateral meeting.
The Sunday meeting took place as the US announced plans to impose 25-percent auto tariffs starting on April 2. With the increase of external unilateral moves, the trilateral meeting points the direction for the three sides to further utilize their respective strengths in the field of economic cooperation to jointly resist the turbulence brought by the US' irresponsible approach, analysts said, noting that the consensus to deepen economic and trade cooperation reached by the meeting will inject stability into the world.
During the meeting, Wang Wentao noted that the economic and trade departments of the three countries agreed to strengthen cooperation under regional and multilateral frameworks such as the WTO, RCEP and APEC, discuss accelerating the negotiations on the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA), strengthen supply chain cooperation and dialogue on export control, as well as deepen cooperation on the digital and green economies.
Wang said China, Japan and South Korea, as important economies in the region and the world, should jointly safeguard free trade and the multilateral trading system, oppose unilateralism and protectionism, and continue to push forward regional economic integration, so as to inject strong impetus into the prosperity and development of the world economy.
According to a joint media statement after the meeting released by China’s commerce ministry, the three countries support a rules-based, open, inclusive, transparent, non-discriminatory multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core.
Experts noted that the three countries, acting as a locomotive for economic development in the Asia-Pacific region, have sent voices in support of multilateralism and free trade to the world, and the consensus to deepen economic and trade cooperation reached by the meeting has practical significance.
The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector came in at 50.5 in March, up 0.3 percentage points from a month earlier, running in the expansion territory for the second consecutive month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday. NBS statistician Zhao Qinghe said that both production and demand in the manufacturing sector expanded at a faster pace. In March, the production index and new orders index stood at 52.6 and 51.8, respectively, rising by 0.1 and 0.7 percentage points from the previous month.
GBA express
Passenger and vehicle trips through the Zhuhai highway port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) set a new record in the first quarter of the year, the highest since the bridge opened in 2018, underscoring the mega bridge's growing role in integrating the GBA. According to Zhuhai border authorities, the port recorded 7.5 million passenger crossings in the first quarter, a 23 percent year-on-year increase, while vehicle crossings soared 31 percent to reach 1.56 million, both setting new records.
Guangdong's EHang has received the first-ever operation certificate (OC) for autonomous passenger drones issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the first time that the regulator has issued these certificates for passenger-carrying civil unmanned aircraft. Hefei Hey Airlines also got the OC.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is discussing with the nation’s central bank widening cross-border banking data sharing in a bid to expedite loan approvals for enterprises. Alan Au Yuk-lun, the HKMA’s executive director for banking conduct, said about 40,000 active Hong Kong-owned enterprises in Shenzhen require financing from mainland banks, while a similar number of mainland-related personal loan applications are processed by Hong Kong banks annually.
Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP) and China Resources jointly launched a new talent recruitment program on Friday, offering subsidies of up to HK$10,000 per month to returned overseas talents. Under the “Beyond Dreams – Global Talent Ignite” initiative, eligible returnees will receive the subsidy for a period of six months to one year.
Industry and Company news
Chinese airlines started on Sunday to implement a set of summer and autumn flight plans, which will run until October 25, while the mileages of international flight routes continues to expand. The CAAC said on Sunday that it has approved 140 domestic and foreign airlines, including 32 Chinese airlines, to operate 17,512 passenger flights per week, of which 11,004 flights are by Chinese carriers, an increase of 38.4 percent year-on-year, involving 77 foreign countries.
Four Chinese state-owned banks announced plans on Sunday to introduce the Ministry of Finance as a strategic investor through targeted share placements, with their boards having approved proposals to issue A-shares to designated investors.
China will issue 500 billion yuan of special treasury bonds to support large state-owned commercial banks in replenishing their core tier-one capital, the Ministry of Finance said today.
Alibaba Cloud and Nanjing University today announced a partnership to cultivate AI talents. Alibaba Cloud will provide free cloud computing and AI resources to all Nanjing University students, supporting their research and innovation in AI.
PetroChina's net profit grew 2 percent to record 164.7 billion yuan last year from the year prior, according to the Chinese oil giant. Revenue fell 2.5 percent to 2.94 trillion yuan because of declining prices and sales of gasoline and diesel products.
The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced on Monday that it has discovered a major oilfield in the eastern South China Sea, with proven reserves exceeding 100 million tons. The newly discovered Huizhou 19-6 oilfield marks a breakthrough in China's offshore oil exploration, as it is the country's first large-scale integrated clastic oilfield discovered in deep to ultra-deep layers, CNOOC said.
Asia-Pacific highlights
China will provide Myanmar with 100 million yuan in emergency humanitarian aid to support earthquake relief efforts and deliver supplies, a spokesperson for the China International Development Cooperation Agency said on Saturday. The first batch of supplies is scheduled for delivery today. One Chinese national was confirmed dead and 13 got injured in the earthquake in Myanmar, the Chinese embassy in the Southeast Asian country said today. A total of 1,644 people died, 3,408 were injured, and 139 remain missing in Myanmar after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake on Friday. The Hong Kong SAR has also announced to set aside HK$30 million to help the victims of the earthquake, and sent a 51-strong team to assist in the search and rescue work in the earthquake-stricken areas of Myanmar on Saturday.
The China-Laos Railway's "Lancang-Mekong Express" international freight train arrived at Wangjiaying West Station in Kunming, the capital city of Southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Sunday, reaching a milestone in total freight volume since its launch in December 2021, according to China Railway Kunming Group.
COMAC delivered its first C909 aircraft to Lao Airlines on Sunday, marking the first time that a Chinese jet airliner has entered the Lao market. Delivered under a lease agreement, it will begin operations after preparatory work is completed in Laos, COMAC said.
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Stephanie: Hello! Welcome to this edition of CBN Correspondent. I’m Stephanie Li.
Holding a cup of coffee made by a robot powered by green electricity, strolling leisurely around Dongyu Island, where solar panels glisten in the sunlight, PV tiles line the plaza ground, flower-shaped wind turbines gently spin in the sea breeze, and greenery-covered walls drape buildings in a lush ecological coat.
Quietly and seamlessly, a zero-carbon lifestyle has become part of people's everyday lives in this tropical land that became famous for holding the Boao Forum for Asia(BFA), which has been held from Tuesday to Friday this week.
Our correspondents, Sharon and Harry, are in Boao right now to cover the annual gathering. Apart from the daily hustle and bustle at the venue, they also explore the green highlights of this incredible event.
Harry: I’m here at the zero carbon demonstration zone in Boao. The zone covers an area of around 190 hectares and consists of three core carbon reduction areas: green transformation for buildings, renewable energy utilization, and green transformation for transport.
I can see a few of these flower-shaped wind turbines. They are designed to capture wind energy and convert it into electricity that powers the conference facilities. Notably, unlike traditional wind turbines, they can generate energy even in gentle breezes, ensuring consistent power supply.
The transport here is another green spotlight. The forum has introduced a fleet of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, green methanol-powered shuttles, and electric shuttles to transport attendees between venues, with zero emissions and noise pollution.
Stephanie: How’s the coffee there? I heard you could get a coffee with the “carbon coins” collected by recycling on the island.
Harry: That’s right. Recycling paper cups or plastic bottles, riding shared bicycles, using degradable tableware…all these “green actions” can help get you the electronic coins as every carbon footprint syncs to your account. You can use these coins to exchange for coffee and jianbing guozi, both made by smart robots! Well, I would say, the coffee has a double flavor—rich Hainan coffee and the refreshing tang of carbon-neutral achievement!
Stephanie: Sounds amazing! Thanks Harry and enjoy your coffee!
Sharon: And I’ve also discovered a “coffee magic” here. Guess what 3 cups of coffee grounds plus 5 plastic bottles equal to?
Stephanie: Emm…no idea. But don’t they belong in the trash can?
Sharon: No, these two can make a shirt!
I’ve talked to the staff member here, and he displayed an earthy-hued fabric to me, which is the magical coffee shirt. And the magic happens when caffeine-rich extracts from spent coffee grounds marry recycled polyester from melted-down plastic bottles, forming dark, gritty coffee pellets.
These are fed into a spinning machine, where they’re heated to a molten state and extruded into silken, amber-tinged yarns. Advanced weaving techniques then transform these threads into luxurious fabrics with surprising versatility—from buttery-soft knits to crisp, moisture-wicking blends—each carrying the faint aroma of roasted beans as a signature scent.
Stephanie: Wow, that’s incredible. Thanks Sharon!
In fact, all these technologies and innovations are managed by an intelligent platform at the near-zero carbon management centre in the demonstration zone that continuously tracks water supply, electricity consumption and air quality within the zone, and streams this information to management platform by collecting real-time data. So it’s basically the “brain” of zero carbon management.
The upgraded demonstration zone now generates approximately 30 million kWh of green electricity annually—enough to fully power the island’s 21 million kWh annual demand while feeding 9 million kWh of excess renewable energy back into the grid.
In 2024, the demonstration zone achieved a 96.2% reduction in carbon emissions, becoming the first region in China to reach near-zero carbon emissions.
In recent years, Boao has been actively promoting green development and building a zero-carbon demonstration zone, making it an important window into China's efforts toward sustainable development.
During a sub-forum with the theme of "Energy transition for a sustainable and shared future," Zhang Jun, secretary-general of the BFA, said that the forum attaches great importance to combating global climate change, promoting the implementation of the sustainable development goals, and pushing the world to take the path of sustainable, high-quality and green development in its economic transformation.
The annual BFA continues its commitment to carbon-neutral operations this year, implementing cutting-edge decarbonization strategies across key sectors, including achieving 100% renewable energy power on Dongyu Island, leveraging solar, wind, and hydro energy to eliminate fossil fuel reliance.
Eco-friendly, recyclable materials also take center stage in constructing pavilions and facilities, minimizing waste while maintaining functional elegance. Even the menus prioritize locally sourced produce and carbon-certified products, including "zero-carbon coffee," "carbon-labeled tea," and "carbon-footprint mangoes.”
These practices have not only positioning the BFA as a global trailblazer for sustainable event management, but also provided a perfect “China answer” to the development of the green economy in Asia and beyond.
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
Global financial institutions are bullish on Chinese equities amid vigorous AI push;
China’s major industrial firms continue to show improvement in profit in first 2 months.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
Wall Street investment banks stepped up their bullish calls on Chinese equities as Morgan Stanley upgraded its target for a second time in as many months and Goldman Sachs said feedback from clients signaled global interest is at the highest level since the market’s previous peak four years ago, partly fueled by China's push for AI Plus initiative.
An estimate projects that the widespread AI adoption in China could ramp up more than US$200 billion in inflows into the Chinese stock market.
"We expect more fundamental upside for Chinese stocks after 20 percent gains year to date. Global funds are motivated to return to China and most investors agree that the Chinese AI story is a game changer," Goldman Sachs said in its latest report.
Buying sentiment has improved since analysts at Deutsche Bank published its “China eats the world” report early last month, and global peers chimed in to recommend the nation’s stocks.
In particular, Goldman Sachs pointed out that the DeepSeek moment is perhaps a game changer in terms of its impact on investors' perception of Chinese equities. At the macro level, it estimated that AI will start raising potential growth rate in China by 2026 and provide a 0.2-0.3 percentage point uplift to annual GDP growth by 2030.
"In the equity market, we estimate that widespread AI adoption could boost Chinese EPS by 2.5 percent per year over the next decade via lower costs, higher efficiency, and new revenue opportunities, raise the fair/equilibrium valuations for China equity by 15-20 percent, and potentially usher in over US$200 billion of portfolio inflows," said Goldman Sachs.
Morgan Stanley raised the year-end index target for Hong Kong market's Hang Seng index to 25,800, which implies a 9 percent upside from the current market levels. The target for MSCI China was also raised by 9 percent.
Morgan Stanley forecasted a larger exposure to the Internet and tech in the Hong Kong market.
"The A-share market does not have Internet exposure for historical reasons, making the Hong Kong market through Stock Connect a more straightforward option for those who look for AI and technology innovation and adoption plays," said Morgan Stanley.
Riding on the latest AI boom, HSBC’s latest survey on the private wealth market has revealed that 55 percent of the surveyed high-net-worth investors expected at least a 5-10 percent increase in the Hang Seng Index, US’ S&P 500 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index by the end of this year.
In this year's Government Work Report, China said the country will work to effectively combine digital technologies with China's manufacturing and market strengths under the AI Plus initiative.
GBA express
Guangdong Province retained its position as the country's most populous province and top fertility area in 2024, official data showed on Wednesday. The economic powerhouse recorded 1.133 million newborns last year, the seventh consecutive year it has led the nation in births. By the end of 2024, permanent resident population in Guangdong reached 127.8 million, an increase of 740,000.
Shenzhen-based Huawei was the second-largest applicant at the European Patent Office (EPO) in 2024 with 4,322 applications, according to the Patent Index 2024. Chinese companies and researchers filed a record 20,081 patent applications at the EOP last year, accounting for 10.1 percent of all applications and securing China's position as the fourth-largest filer globally.
Hong Kong has received over 900 applications under the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme that aims to attract asset owners to settle in the city, according to Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu on Wednesday. The 918 applications are expected to bring more than HK$27 billion to the city if all are approved.
Industry and company news
Profits of China's industrial enterprises above the designated size fell 0.3 percent to 910.9 billion yuan in the first two months of the year, narrowing 3.0 percentage points from a year earlier, the NBS said today. Their revenue rose 2.8 percent in the period, up 0.7 percentage point from 2024.
ByteDance's founder Zhang Yiming surpassed Tencent's Pony Ma and Nongfu Spring's Zhong Shanshan to become China's richest person, with a net worth of USD57.5 billion, according to Bloomberg's real-time Billionaire Index. Elon Musk retains the world's richest person, far ahead runner-up Jeff Bezos.
Mixue Group jumped 5 percent today after the Chinese tea drinks chain said its net profit rose 40 percent to 4.5 billion yuan and revenue jumped 22 percent to 24.8 billion yuan last year from the year before.
Bank of China's net profit last year inched up by 2.6 percent to 237.8 billion yuan as lower interest rates hurt its income. The state-owned bank's revenue rose by 1.4 percent to 632.8 billion yuan, for the year ended in December 2024. Non-interest income rose by about 17 percent to 183.8 billion yuan.
China will promote the transformation of Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Tianjin into international consumption centers to expand domestic demand and promote high-quality opening-up, according to a document released by the Ministry of Commerce.
China’s National Health Commission and State Administration for Market Regulation today issued 50 national food safety standards and nine amendments, prohibiting the use of terms like “no additives” or “zero additives” to highlight food ingredients.
Asia-Pacific highlights
Hozon Auto aims to sell 10,000 vehicles in Thailand this year, Sun Baolong, GM of the Chinese NEV startup, said at the 2025 Bangkok International Motor Show. The international version of its Neta X model will start being produced in the country in July.
Former Singaporean diplomat and Distinguished Fellow at Asia Research Institute of National University of Singapore Kishore Mahbubani on Wednesday warned of a critical imbalance in global governance at the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia. "The world faces a paradox—rising demand for multilateralism coincides with dwindling supply. This contradiction undermines institutions like the UN.” Mahbubani explained that as our planet shrinks into an interconnected village, the UN serves as our global “village council.” Yet today, we’re weakening this council when we need it most. He noted that US President Donald Trump represents the most aggressively unilateralist US leader in 80 years. His MAGA agenda prioritizes bypassing multilateral constraints, from the UN to trade agreements. Mahbubani called for persuasion, not confrontation, as “the key challenge is convincing Trump and Americans that US greatness hinges on global prosperity. America cannot thrive if the rest of the world falters,” he said.
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
John Lee champions free trade at Boao Forum and strengthens cooperation with Hainan in investment and ASEAN market expansion;
Singapore's Deputy PM visited Baidu's Apollo park in Beijing.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday championed free trade and multilateralism during the Boao Forum for Asia, branding the city as a land of opportunity amid rising global protectionism and highlighting its role as a vital gateway to the Chinese market.
Speaking at the Global Free Trade Port Development Forum, a highlighted subevent on the first day of the forum, Lee called on responsible economies to unite in a “changing world” by expanding free trade, streamlining customs clearance procedures and harmonizing standards.
As a founding member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the SAR has long been a proponent of free and multilateral trade, Lee said. The city has signed investment agreements with 33 economies and free trade agreements with 21 economies, and is on track to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) — the world’s largest free trade pact.
Lee noted that Hong Kong was recently crowned the third-freest economy worldwide as well as the fifth-most competitive economy globally, which he attributed to the principle of “one country, two systems” that positions Hong Kong as a global city with both Chinese and international advantages.
“We will continue to join hands with our friends in Hainan to promote the vast opportunities and benefits that free trade and market liberalization can bring to the world,” Lee said.
Regarding Hainan as an ideal gateway leading to the vast market of the Southeast Asia, Lee said the move will also support Hong Kong’s bid to join the RCEP, a trade pact aimed at deepening regional ties between China, members of ASEAN, and other partners.
Lee added that Hong Kong and Hainan could share expertise on developing free trade port, zero-tariff policies, and ASEAN market expansion.
During the second day of his trip in Hainan, Lee signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the southern island province, reflecting the superimposed advantages of the two regions. Lee noted that the deep cooperation will cover fields in economic and trade investment, finance, data flow, tourism, and talent exchange.
After listening to Lee’s speech, Pei Sai Fan, an adjunct professor at the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, noted the potential for greater cooperation between Hong Kong and Singapore as world-class free trade ports, despite competition.
“Singapore primarily focuses on ASEAN, while Hong Kong mainly targets the mainland. Each region has its own advantages,” he said, adding that collaboration would benefit all parties.
GBA express
Guangdong remained a prime destination for foreign investment during the beginning of the year, indicating that global enterprises continue to have a positive outlook on Guangdong and the Greater Bay Area, officials said at a news conference on Monday. Zhu Xiaojun, deputy director of the provincial commerce department, said the global production base attracted 3,484 new foreign-funded enterprises with an actual foreign investment of 23.31 billion yuan in the first two months, up 16.8 percent and 5.9 percent year-on-year, respectively, outperforming the national average and major economic provinces. Guangdong's manufacturing industry played an outsized role in growth, with used foreign investment jumped 34.5 percent to 7.41 billion yuan in January and February.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is preparing to kickstart “Wealth Connect 3.0”, an enhancement of the cross-border mechanism for wealth-management products that would raise quotas and expand the product menu, according to its chief executive Eddie Yue Wai-man. The upgrade would also potentially expand the scheme to investors in regions of the mainland beyond the Greater Bay Area, Yue said at the HSBC Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong today.
The Human Cell Lineage Atlas Facility (CLAF), a major scientific and technological infrastructure in China's 14th Five-Year Plan, officially commenced construction on the Guangzhou International Bio Island on Tuesday.
OPPO has recently inaugurated its largest sports health laboratory in Dongguan's Binhaiwan Bay Area. This facility aims to enhance hardware and software products through innovative health solutions.
Shenzhen-based United Aircraft's TD550D coaxial uncrewed helicopter has secured type certification from China's aviation watchdog, marking the birth of the country's first airworthiness-certified unmanned helicopter system.
Boao Forum for Asia 2025 will hold the International Science, Technology and Innovation Forum in Hong Kong from June 6 to 7. The forum will focus on global innovation and technology and serve as a high-level international platform for collaboration and exchanges.
Industry and Company news
Pop Mart rose today after the Chinese toy maker reported that its net profit surged 186 percent to a record high of 3.4 billion yuan last year from the previous one, while its revenue more than doubled to 13 billion yuan.
BMW will reportedly establish a comprehensive AI partnership with e-commerce giant Alibaba. The German carmaker will integrate Alibaba’s Qwen AI models into its next-generation autos for the Chinese market.
CATL said it received regulatory approval from China’s securities watchdog to sell up to 220.17 million shares in Hong Kong, the company said in a filing late on Tuesday. The battery giant planned to raise at least US$5 billion in what could be the largest initial public offering in Hong Kong in four years.
Haidilao's profit rose 4.6 percent to 4.7 billion yuan last year from the year before, while its revenue climbed 3.1 percent to 42.8 billion yuan, the Chinese hot pot chain said yesterday. It launched 62 new restaurants in 2024.
Pony.AI closed down 8 percent in New York yesterday after the Chinese autonomous driving startup reported that its non-GAAP net loss widened nearly 30 percent to USD153.6 million last year from the previous one. Its revenue rose 4.3 percent to USD75 million.
Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams visited the GoerTek's office in China's Qingdao on Monday, and then headed to the automated speaker production line and mold center located in Weifang, the Chinese acoustic components company said yesterday. GoerTek has been collaborating with Apple since 2010 over the assembly of AirPods, AirPodsMax, and HomePods.
Asia-Pacific highlights
Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat visited Baidu's unmanned driving test base, Apollo Park, in Beijing yesterday and met with founder Robin Li. "This is the future," Heng said after taking a test ride in the Chinese tech firm's 6th-generation robotaxi. Heng also welcomed the arrival of Apollo Go in Singapore.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit 2025 hosted by South Korea will place artificial intelligence and demographic shifts at the forefront of the agenda for discussion — topics that have never before taken the spotlight at the regional economic forum. Yoon Seong-mee, chair of the 2025 APEC Senior Officials' Meeting, emphasized the urgency and significance of prioritizing cooperation on AI technologies and responding to population changes such as low birthrates and aging societies.
Voices of ASEAN
In an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald at the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia, Erik Berglof, Chief Economist of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), emphasized the urgency of global cooperation on climate action despite rising geopolitical frictions. Berglof warned that the current geopolitical complexities have complicated discussions on climate change, underscoring the need for countries to unite in addressing this existential challenge. Berglof also praised China’s green development strides, noting the nation's experiences in sustainable development will be invaluable for other developing nations. He highlighted the AIIB’s focus on leveraging policy-based lending to finance climate projects, revealing that the bank successfully channeled funds into such initiatives last year.
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
Boao Forum for Asia kicks off its annual conference with a highlight in cooperation amid uncertainties;
BYD closes out record 2024 with over USD100 billion in sales.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
With the conclusion of the China Development Forum (CDF), one of the country's major international event, China ushers in its "Boao moment," as the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) kicks off its annual conference in South China's Hainan Province on Tuesday.
With the theme "Asia in the changing World: Towards a shared Future", this year's event, which will be held from Tuesday to Friday, will focus on development, foster dialogue, explore innovative formats, and value tangible outcomes, all aimed at promoting international development and cooperation, according to the event organizer.
Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang will deliver a keynote speech at the opening plenary on Thursday.
The event is set to bring together nearly 2,000 representatives from over 60 countries and regions. Over four days, the forum will feature around 50 events and sub-forums and focus on four subject areas: building trust and promoting cooperation in a fast-changing world; re-balancing globalization for inclusive development; accelerating the Sustainable Development Goals for more effective responses to global challenges; and strengthening AI application and governance for innovation-driven development.
Amid rising trade tensions, the BFA once again serves as a vital economic cooperation platform for the region, an important occasion for Asian nations to address trade pressures, including growing protectionist moves from certain countries that are reshaping global trade patterns, experts noted.
The forum also released its flagship report today, projecting the Asian economy to grow by 4.5 percent in 2025, with its share rising to 48.6 percent among the world's economic output measured by purchasing power parity.
The Asian Economic Outlook and Integration Progress Annual Report 2025 said economies including China, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, Mongolia, Cambodia and Indonesia will maintain a relatively high growth rate over 5 percent.
China and ASEAN remained the most attractive Asian economies for foreign investment, the report noted. With regard to innovation, Asia far exceeded other regions in terms of research and development investment intensity and patent filings. Steady progress has also been made in new-generation trade agreements such as the RCEP, CPTPP, and DEPA.
Asia has become a key pillar of global value chains, as China has basically maintained its dominance and ASEAN has remarkably elevated its position in global value chains, while India has been increasingly integrated into Asia’s regional value chains, according to the report.
Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng met with John Swire & Sons Limited CEO Merlin Swire and Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan on Monday in Beijing, who are here for the China Development Forum 2025. Han noted that the Swire Group, a globally renowned multinational company, has seen strong development in both the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong SAR. He expressed hope that the company will actively contribute to the building of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the Hainan Free Trade Port, while also supporting Hong Kong's role as an international aviation hub. During his meeting with Vas Narasimhan, Han praised Novartis as a world-renowned innovative pharmaceutical company that has made significant contributions to global health. It is hoped that Novartis will seize the opportunity, give full play to its own advantages, deepen and expand mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides, and achieve greater development in China, he said. Merlin Swire and Vas Narasimhan both spoke highly of China's economic and social development achievements in recent years, and expressed optimism about the country's future prospects and confidence in investing in China.
Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met with Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm, in Beijing yesterday, the commerce ministry said. The US communications giant will continue to increase its China investments and facilitate constructive dialogue between the two countries, Amon noted. Wang also met with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday. The US tech giant is ready to actively promote the stable, healthy development of China-US economic and trade relations, Cook said.
GBA express
Hong Kong will seize every opportunity to “make more friends” with mainland and international partners at the Boao Forum, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said. In a Facebook post, he emphasized the forum’s role in advancing multilateralism and addressing global challenges. Lee is set to speak at the Global Free Trade Port Development Forum on Tuesday, highlighting Hong Kong’s strengths in trade, finance, and connectivity.
JD.com has expanded its operations in Hong Kong with a new operation center. And the Chinese e-commerce giant has also rolled out a new refund policy to boost business. Its supply-chain subsidiary JD Logistics opened its fifth operation center - occupying over 10,000 square feet in Chai Wan - in a bid to meet growing demand for logistics services, according to Invest Hong Kong.
Hong Kong, benefiting from capital market recovery, is expected to surpass Switzerland between 2027 and 2028 to become the world’s largest wealth management center, said HSBC chairman Mark Tucker at the Global Investment Summit 2025 in Hong Kong.
Industry and Company news
China's leading NEV manufacturer BYD reported the strongest ever annual performance driven by booming car sales. BYD's net profit grew 34 percent year-on-year to 40.25 billion yuan last year, the company said in a filling late Monday. It generated 777.1 billion yuan in revenue, an annual increase of 29 percent. BYD's total deliveries last year climbed to 4.27 million and forecast to sell between 5 million to 6 million vehicles this year. The Chinese EV maker also increased the dividend by 28 percent to 39.74 yuan per 10 shares. BYD's shares in Hong Kong have risen by 51 percent year-to-date.
Xiaomi’s shares tumbled 6 percent today after revealing plans to place 800 million existing shares at HKD53.25 each. The offering will likely raise around HKD42.5 billion for business expansion, R&D investment, and other general purposes.
Artificial intelligence is developing rapidly, and risks are emerging, Alibaba chairman Joseph Tsai Chung-Hsin said at a summit in Hong Kong. Tsai noted that various institutions are eager to increase their investments into AI, leading to the formation of a bubble in the industry.
Award-winning AI researcher Qi Guojun has returned to China and joined Westlake University in Hangzhou as head of its AI lab, after a decade-long career in the US, the website of the university showed. Qi was appointed Technical VP and Chief AI Scientist of Huawei's US Research Center in 2018, and later founded the Oppo Research Center in Seattle.
China lifted the maximum credit for small and micro enterprises to 50 million yuan from 30 million yuan and set the maximum credit for self-employed businesses at 10 million yuan to increase financial support for stabilizing and expanding employment, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security announced yesterday.
Chinese tennis player Zheng Qinwen advanced to the quarterfinals of the Miami Open after defeating American Ashlyn Krueger today. She will face top seed and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka next.
Asia-Pacific highlights
Deeper regional integration — especially in terms of trade, investment and migration — has been the key driver of growth in the Asia-Pacific region for the past 20 years, but such gains are being threatened by geopolitical tensions that constrain global trade, according to a report of the Asian Development Bank. The Asian Economic Integration Report 2025, published on Monday, said that the degree of trade integration in Asia is comparable to that of the EU plus the UK. While financial integration has lagged, regional integration in foreign direct investment has advanced significantly, while that of "movement of people" — which covers migration, remittances and tourism — has remained steady, the report said.
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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
Coming up on today’s program
Premier 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 express
Hong 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 news
The 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 highlights
Chinese 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 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.
Presented by SFC
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Hello! Welcome to this edition of CBN Perspective. I’m Stephanie Li.
If your English teacher was someone who looks just like the renowned Hong Kong-based American actor Daniel Wu Neh-tsu, would you still have struggled with English learning?
Probably no. For my friend Shirley, a 30-year-old white collar in Guangzhou who paid 398 yuan for Daniel Wu’s AI-powered English course, her “romantic yet educational render-vous” with Mr. Wu every night after work has so far proved to be quite worthy.
“After two weeks into the course, I’m impressed by its structure. Beyond Wu’s video lessons, it includes four supplementary live-streamed English sessions, creating a surprisingly systematic curriculum. And his teaching focuses on real-life scenarios such as hotel reservations, which are genuinely practical for working professionals like me looking to reignite their English skills. The beginner-friendly content makes it ideal for easing back into language learning,” Shirley said.
Like many others, Shirley signed up primarily to the actor's charming self. The novelty of "Daniel Wu as an English teacher" is almost irresistible, especially after seeing his charismatic teaching clips on social media.
The chance to watch him on-screen, hear his authentic pronunciation, and even engage in AI-powered dialogues with a simulated version of Wu adds tremendous enjoyment and motivation to the learning process, especially for fans like Shirley.
Wu, who was born and raised in California, is widely celebrated for his good looks and is regarded as one of the most proficient English-speaking stars within the Chinese film industry who graduated from the University of Oregon.
The course, titled “Learn Spoken English with Daniel Wu”, is priced at 398 yuan and consists of 84 short videos featuring Wu teaching daily oral English, with promises that students can “ace 35 conversational scenarios in just 30 days.”
The e-learning product encompasses a diverse array of topics, including everyday expressions for traveling and shopping, intriguing slang and idioms, as well as engaging tongue-twister exercises.
It was a collaboration between Beijing-based education group Gaotu and Wu’s own education venture, Yashi Education Technology. Not surprisingly, the course became an instant hit. It generated sales of 5 million yuan within just five days of launch.
Wu has played action heroes, gangsters, and warriors, with acclaims across the movie industry and even won a Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor, but the reviews are mixed this time in his latest role as an English teacher.
Many users believe the price for learning English with the "attractive" and "handsome" star is reasonable. And the course is remarkably interactive, allowing students to practice oral English through dialogues and role-plays while engaging in vocal conversations with an AI powered by DeepSeek, which synthesizes Wu’s voice.
However, some complained that Wu only appears for five minutes in each lesson and that the course takes advantage of Wu's reputation for promotion.
As discussions are heating up, Wu said in a recent video: “From an actor to a director, my roles have constantly evolved; but what has remained constant is that English has always been an essential tool for me to connect with the world.”
In fact, Wu is not alone in his endeavor to educate via online platforms; notable personalities such as author J.K. Rowling and Hollywood film star Edward Norton have also explored similar ventures.
According to incomplete statistics complied by media, 13 celebrities in China have entered the education market in the past decade, mainly focusing on language training and music education.
In 2018, former CCTV host Zhang Quanling launched an app offering Chinese language training camps, and live classes for children aged 5 to 15. In 2021, singer Wang Leehom created a music learning app, launching a 30-day singing course.
While celebrity endorsements are commonplace, this venture into education raises more eyebrows. Let’s explore the nuances.
Celebrities traditionally endorse tangible goods—cosmetics, apparel, or fitness products—where trust stems from personal branding rather than expertise. Wu’s course, however, diverges by selling intangible educational value. Here, credibility hinges not just on star power but on measurable outcomes like pronunciation accuracy and pedagogical structure.
The course’s marketing leverages Wu’s native speaker credential. Yet, unlike a skincare product’s immediate effects, language learning requires sustained engagement. This shift from impulse buying to intellectual investment challenges consumers to weigh fandom against functionality.
Initial sales figures highlight the allure of celebrity-driven education. However, user reviews reveal a tension: while some praise the structured 84-lesson format and bite-sized videos, others note Wu’s limited screen time, with a co-instructor delivering half the content. This raises questions about transparency in advertising educational roles.
Different from previous celebrities crossovers, the course has also marketed its distinct AI features, branded as “AI Ah-tsu,” exemplifies the industry’s tech-forward aspirations. Yet, the AI currently supports voice-only practice, instead of the promotional visuals of video-based dialogues, which many deem as “false advertising.” Some users also find that a few key tools like film clip exercises remain “in development.”
These challenges mirror broader EdTech growing pains. While Wu’s team utilizes DeepSeek’s language models, the gap between marketing ambitions and technical delivery underscores a sector-wide need for responsible AI implementation.
Can celebrity courses evolve beyond “edutainment” into legitimate skill-building tools? The answer may lie in content architecture. Wu’s course emphasizes situational dialogues over grammar drills—a pragmatic approach praised by some but criticized as “structurally light” by language experts, as celebrities lack clear teaching qualifications.
But that’s probably going to cost a lot more than 398 yuan. A 2024 Nielsen report shows 62% of Gen Z prefer influencer-led learning. So maybe my friend Shirley is on to something:
“In an era where many celebrities monetize their fame through livestream sales, Wu’s pivot to leveraging his bilingual expertise as an educator feels socially constructive. Not only because he can, but also it promotes educational values over commercial endorsements.”
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