China's manufacturing activity picks up in August -- China's manufacturing sector expanded for the 13th straight month in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on August 31. The country's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 51.7 in August, up from 51.4 in July, according to NBS data.
China's trade with BRICS countries up 26 pct -- China's trade with BRICS countries experienced fast growth in the first seven months, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on August 30. Trade volume between China and BRICS countries increased 26 percent year on year to hit 167.07 billion U.S. dollars during the January-July period, MOC spokesperson Gao Feng said at a press briefing.As of the end of July, China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) to BRICS countries had reached 870 million U.S. dollars, Gao said. China's non-financial ODI dropped 44.3 percent year on year to 57.2 billion U.S. dollars in the first seven months of 2017, official data showed.
China, Russia freight train delivers success, 17,000 tonnes of cargo -- With a long whistle, a freight train coded X8426 and loaded with electronic products, garment and machinery left southern China's city of Guangzhou Saturday morning, heading for Vorsino, Kaluzhskaya Oblast in Russia. Over the past year, a total of 43 trains have run on the route, delivering more than 17,000 tonnes of products, worth 236 million U.S. dollars, from Guangzhou to Russia. It takes the train 15 to 18 days to reach Vorsino, about 10 days less than the sea-rail transport service, and 25 days less than a ship. The costs are just one-third of air transportation.
China's industrial profit up 21.2 pct in first 7 months -- China's major industrial firms posted steady profit growth in the first seven months of the year, official data showed on August 27. From January to July, industrial companies with annual revenue over 20 million yuan (about 3 million U.S. dollars) reported total profits of more than 4.2 trillion yuan, 21.2 percent more than the same period in 2016, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement. The growth rate was slightly slower than the 22 percent in January-June but much faster than the 8.5 percent increase in 2016.
Chinese visitors fuel tourism of UAE capital in Jan.-July -- Hotels in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), welcomed during January to July 2017 approximately 2.6 million visitors, representing a 7 percent year-on-year increase, with Chinese tourists driving the demand, suggested figures released Wednesday by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA). TCA said that growths of "key tier one markets" of Britain and the United States have increased by 28.5 percent and 20 percent respectively, with an upsurge in the summer demand, and the "phenomenal expansion" of Chinese tourists in summer continued unabatedly, seeing a peak increase of 87 percent month on month in July.
China's social security funds balance reaches 7.36 trln yuan in H1 -- China's social security funds have maintained a stable balance in the first half (H1) of this year, with both revenue and expenditure seeing fast growth, the country's finance minister said on August 29. The total balance of social security funds stood at 7.36 trillion yuan (1.11 trillion U.S. dollars) by the end of June this year, said Finance Minister Xiao Jie at a five-day bimonthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee that opened on August 28. Revenue of the funds increased 28.8 percent to 3.14 trillion yuan in H1, while expenditure climbed 23.8 percent to 2.47 trillion yuan, he said.
N. China Inner Mongolia's trade with “B&R” countries and regions up 41pct in Jan-July -- North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has seen its trade with the countries and regions along the Belt and Road grow rapidly since the beginning of the year, according to the local government on August 24. In the first seven months of the year, Inner Mongolia registered total imports and exports of 37.26 billion yuan , up 41 percent year on year. To be specific, the Region’s exports with the above countries and regions amounted to 11.86 billion yuan, up 40.8 percent year on year, while the imports amounted to 25.4 billion yuan, up 41.1 percent year on year.
China-Africa industrial parks soar under "Belt and Road" Initiative -- The China-Africa industrial parks have soared in number. More than 30 industrial parks established by Chinese enterprises have been put into operation in Africa and more than 70 are under construction. Such parks are located in the African countries that have established diplomatic ties with China, according to a report on African development in 2016-2017 released jointly by the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Social Sciences Academic Press on August 30.
IPR courts concluded 33,000 cases in three years -- Three intellectual property rights (IPR) courts have concluded the proceedings over 33,000 cases in the past three years, according to a report submitted to the top legislature on August 29. These cases include more than 8,000 concerning highly technical issues such as patents, new species of plants, layout designs of integrated circuits and computer software, according to the report from the Supreme People's Court.
Hong Kong's retail sales value up 4 pct in July -- Hong Kong's value of total retail sales in July rose 4 percent year-on-year to 36 billion HK dollars (about 4.6 billion U.S. dollars), the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said here on August 29. A HKSAR government spokesman said the pick-up was underpinned by robust local consumption demand and further improvement in inbound tourism.
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