CBN丨Deeper integrated development, security governance stressed during LMC meeting

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21世纪经济报道 2023-12-26 20:30:00

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Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

Coming up on today’s program

Chinese Premier Li stresses deepening integrated development and security governance for LMC;
Guangzhou Baiyun Station starts operation and Shantou-Shanwei High-speed Railway opens to traffic on Tuesday.

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours

Chinese Premier Li Qiang called for the deepening of development for regional integration and security cooperation to crack down on telecom fraud among the six countries during the fourth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Leaders' Meeting via video-link on Monday, with the attendance of leaders from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, the five ASEAN member states that the Mekong River runs through.

During the meeting, Li made four suggestions on strengthening Lancang-Mekong cooperation: First, deepening integrated development, and strengthen cooperation in economy, trade, production capacity, agriculture and intelligent manufacturing.

Second, to promote green cooperation and fully respect the legitimate rights and interests of all countries in the reasonable development and utilization of water resources.

Third, to strengthen security governance and vigorously crack down on criminal activities such as online gambling and telecom fraud.

Fourth, to deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cultivate new highlights in cooperation among youth, think tanks, and local governments.

The leaders of the five Mekong countries thanked China for its outstanding contribution to promoting Lancang-Mekong cooperation, and said that the six countries should share opportunities and deal with challenges together, jointly plan the future development of Lancang-Mekong cooperation, and strengthen cooperation in all fields to build the Lancang-Mekong economic development belt, and build a community of shared future for Lancang-Mekong countries.

The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR), the first HSR in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, has handled more than 1 million passenger trips since its commercial operation was officially launched on Oct. 17, according to the China State Railway Group on Monday. As the year-end is approaching, the rapidly growing passenger flow has prompted PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China, a joint venture consortium between Indonesian and Chinese firms that constructs and runs the HSR, to intensify the train services up to 48 trips per day, from the previous 14 trips.

Moving on to regional highlights

Chinese localities issued 9.14 trillion yuan worth of government bonds in the first 11 months, 24 percent more than a year earlier, data released yesterday by the Ministry of Finance showed. Among them, 4.55 trillion yuan were new bonds, which usually fund local infrastructure projects, and 4.6 trillion yuan were refinancing bonds, which are used to repay the principal of maturing government bonds. Economic powerhouses Guangdong and Shandong issued 681.6 billion and 606.1 billion yuan debts, respectively, continuing to stay far ahead of other provincial-level regions, according to the MOF data. Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, and Hebei provinces also remained among the top issuers. Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, and Guizhou were the three provincial-level regions with the highest local government bond issuance increase, up by 138 percent, 111 percent, and 93 percent, respectively.
The Chinese capital Beijing and neighboring regions unveiled a plan on Monday to promote coordinated pilot free trade zone (FTZ) development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area. The plan proposes 16 measures to promote the area's coordinated development in FTZs, including advancing trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, boosting the development of financial innovation and promoting the coordinated development of the industrial sector.

Greater Bay Area, Greater Future

A railway station with more than 100-year history in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, completed upgrading and opens on Tuesday, according to the China State Railway Group, the national railway operator. The Guangzhou Baiyun Railway Station is an important station linking several major railway routes, including the Beijing-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway and Guangzhou-Maoming Railway. After upgrading, the station has 21 departure and arrival tracks and 21 platforms for passenger service, respectively. The station has seven floors, including three floors above ground and four floors below ground.
A major new high-speed railway is scheduled to open in the Greater Bay Area on Tuesday, introducing a rapid transportation corridor in the eastern part of Guangdong province. A substantial section of the line, linking Shantou South with Shanwei, is inaugurated today. The 162-kilometer line connecting Shantou and Shanwei in Guangdong, is designed for speeds up to 350 km per hour. The final leg, extending only 20 km and incorporating an undersea tunnel in Shantou Coastal Bay, is currently under construction, and the timetable for its full opening remains undisclosed. After opening of this section, travel times between Shantou South, Shanwei, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen will be notably reduced to 36 minutes, 113 minutes, and 109 minutes, respectively, according to the China State Railway Group.
A three-year action plan was released on Monday by China's economic planner to foster world-leading business environment in the Greater Bay Area (GBA). The plan, unveiled by the National Development and Reform Commission, also highlighted the introduction of special measures to relax market access in the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, Guangdong province. More efforts are also expected to support the launch of pilot projects to ease market access requirements in Nansha district, Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. In addition, the action plan indicated a commitment to steadily advancing financial market connectivity. Specific measures include expanding the opening of the financial sector to Hong Kong and Macao, supporting cooperation among the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the Guangzhou Futures Exchange and the Hong Kong stock exchange. It also called for acceleration of the opening up of the bond markets. The action plan further outlined the exploration of regional pilot projects for cross-border credit cooperation within the GBA, establishing a mutual recognition mechanism for credit evaluation products.

Next on industry and company news

Activision Blizzard has reportedly chosen to cooperate with Chinese game developer and publisher NetEase again after the two cut ties last year and following the renowned US game developer's negotiations with many other local peers. NetEase and Blizzard will need to rebuild the team that operated the California-based firm's games in the Chinese mainland and test servers and relevant systems, media reported yesterday, citing several sources. The games, highly anticipated by local players, will likely take half a year or longer before being available, the sources noted. NetEase declined to comment while Blizzard China said that there is no information or update it could share at this time.
Chinese carmaker Changan Automobile and Chinese battery materials supplier Ganfeng Lithium have joined hands to co-develop solid-state batteries. The pair signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a 50:50 joint venture that will promote the research, development, and production of solid-state batteries, and explore cooperation on mining resources, lithium salt deep processing, battery materials, and battery manufacturing and recycling, Changan Auto announced yesterday.
Leading Chinese solar silicon supplier Tongwei announced late yesterday to invest 28 billion yuan to expand its production capacity despite the photovoltaic industry’s overcapacity. The new plant in Ordos, Inner Mongolia will be built in two phases, with the first phase, to be completed by the end of December 2025, having an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons of high-purity polysilicon materials and 200,000 tons of raw material of industrial silicon products, Tongwei noted. The second phase will have the same capacity of polysilicon materials and 300,000 tons of industrial silicon products.
Changjiang & Jinggong Steel Building Group, a Chinese supplier of large steel structural parts, has made a winning USD218 million bid for a steel structural parts supply and installation for a project in the Philippines. The total building area of the project is about 164,400 square meters, which will become a landmark building in the Metro Manila region after completion, Changjiang & Jinggong Steel said late yesterday.
Chinese premium electric carmaker Nio will introduce affordable models to cover a larger share of the market in the future, according to founder Li Bin yesterday. High-end applications can be used in more affordable models later, Li said at a press conference, adding that widening the market could lower the cost of future technologies. Nio is growing its business quicker than average, as in its hometown Shanghai and other highly developed cities, the startup sells more products priced above 300,000 yuan than other luxury brands, Li said.
Chinese tourism booms as New Year approaches, data from major travel platforms has indicated. As of December 15, overall travel bookings for the New Year's Day holiday had surged more than threefold compared to the previous year, with hotel reservations experiencing a remarkable increase of over fivefold. Airline ticket bookings have seen a remarkable growth of 205 percent year-on-year, according to online travel agency Trip.com. Domestic travel platform Mafengwo said on Monday that over the past week, the topics of "New Year's trip destination" discussed on the platform have increased by 266 percent.

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.68 percent on Tuesday, while the Shenzhen Component Index fell 1.07 percent. Hong Kong stock market is closed for Boxing Day.

Biz Word of the Day

The Lancang-Mekong area is one of the regions with the greatest development potential in Asia and beyond. Originating from China's Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, the river runs across Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, with 4,880 kilometers in length, covering an area of 795,000 square kilometers and feeding 326 million people.