Growth of Beijing housing loans slows in 2017 -- Loans for home buyers in Beijing grew at a slower pace last year due to a series of regulatory policies to curb the property market, authorities said on January 18. In December last year, Beijing individual housing loans grew by 1.81 billion yuan (about 281 million U.S. dollars) from November, the lowest level of the year, down by 10.4 billion yuan compared with the average growth in the first 11 months, according to figures from the People's Bank of China. New loans for house purchases accounted for 20.2 percent of the total new RMB loans in 2017, down 20.1 percentage points year on year.
China's 2017 investment slows, but new growth drivers rise -- China's fixed-asset investment (FAI) grew 7.2 percent year-on-year in 2017, 0.3 percentage points slower than that recorded in the first three quarters, and 0.9 percentage points slower than a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on January 18. In 2017, the FAI was 63.17 trillion yuan (9.8 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the NBS. Specially, private investment reached 38.15 trillion yuan, up 6 percent year on year, 2.8 percentage points faster than the previous year, accounting for 60.4 percent of the total investment.
China's trademark applications hit record high in 2017 -- China's trademark applications exceeded 5.7 million last year, up 55.7 percent year on year, both setting record highs. Most of the applications were made online as China has streamlined the trademark application process, according to the Administration for Industry and Commerce. At the end of 2017, China had 14.92 million qualified registered trademarks, the most of any country worldwide.
China VC investment hits record high in 2017: KPMG -- Venture capital (VC) investment in China reached a record high of over 40 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, up 15 percent year on year, an industrial report showed. The positive sentiment was driven by a number of mega deals as investors sought opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI), autotech and enterprise services companies, according to the latest report by global auditing and consultancy firm KPMG.
China’s Shaanxi sees B&R foreign trade up 39.8pct o-y in 2017 -- China’s Shaanxi province achieved an import and export value of 32.37 billion yuan with the countries and regions along the Belt and Road routes in 2017, up 39.8 percent year on year, accounting for 11.9 percent of the province’s total import and export value. To be specific, its exports and imports with the above countries and regions amounted to 27 billion yuan and 5.37 billion yuan, up 49.8 percent and 4.8 percent year on year, respectively.
Beijing foreign trade hits record high in 2017 -- Foreign trade in Beijing totalled 2.19 trillion yuan (341.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, up 17.5 percent year on year, with both imports and exports surging substantially, the municipal customs announced on January 22. Imports reached 1.8 trillion yuan, up 18 percent year on year, while exports topped 396.3 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 15.5 percent. The EU, the United States and ASEAN were the city's major trade partners last year, with trade surging 12.9 percent, 12.4 percent and 35.8 percent, respectively, the customs said.
Chinese firms' non-financial direct investment in B&R countries in 2017 down 1.2pct y-o-y -- In 2017, the Chinese enterprises' non-financial direct investment in the 59 countries along the Belt and Road routes totaled 14.36 billion U.S. dollars, down 1.2 percent year on year, accounting for 12 percent of the total investment in the period, up 3.5 percentage points, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC). Their investment went mainly to countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Indonesia, Pakistan, Vietnam, Russia, United Arab Emirates and Cambodia.
Chinese mutual funds earn 20 bln USD in Q4 -- Chinese public mutual funds earned a total of 130 billion yuan (20 billion U.S. dollars) from investment in stocks, bonds, commodities and money market instruments in the fourth quarter of 2017. The funds reversed from a loss of 27.9 billion yuan in the same period of 2016, said market data provider TX Investment Consulting Co. in a report released on January 21.
Chinese SOEs achieve 23 pct profit growth in 2017 -- Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) saw 23.5 percent profit growth last year as the economy held steady, official data showed on January 23. Combined SOE profits rose to 2.9 trillion yuan (around 453.2 billion U.S. dollars) for 2017, the Ministry of Finance said.
China rust-belt province sees fastest GDP growth in 4 yrs -- Heilongjiang, a province in China's Northeast rust belt, reported its fastest economic growth in four years in 2017. The gross domestic product in Heilongjiang, one of three provinces in the Northeast traditional industrial zone, grew 6.4 percent to 1.62 trillion yuan (250 billion U.S. dollars) last year, the provincial statistics bureau said on January 23. The growth rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than a year ago, it said.
China becomes Abu Dhabi's largest tourist market in 2017 -- Guests from China to Abu Dhabi surged 60 percent to more than 372,000 in 2017, becoming the largest overseas tourist market of the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), local authorities said on January 23. Meanwhile, approximately 4.88 million visitors stayed in Abu Dhabi's 162 hotels and hotel apartments during 2017, representing a 9.8 percent year-on-year rise, said the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) of Abu Dhabi in an e-mailed statement. DCT attributed the surge mainly to the easing of visa restrictions, as Chinese visitors now can get visas on entry in the UAE.
Xinjiang receives 2.37 bln USD investment from 19 provincial regions in 2017 -- Nineteen provincial-level regions offered a total of 15.18 billion yuan (2.37 billion U.S. dollars) in aid to northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last year, supporting anti-poverty work and improving employment rate in the region. The 19 provinces or major cities, including the prosperous Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangdong Province, provided both financial and technological support to Xinjiang.
Beijing's economy expands 6.7 pct in 2017 -- Beijing's economy grew 6.7 percent year on year in 2017, lower than the 6.8 percent in 2016. The municipality's gross domestic product totalled 2.8 trillion yuan (about 436 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, accounting for about 3.4 percent of the country's total output. Beijing saw 9.5 percent growth in its high-tech industry and strategic new industries expanded 10.6 percent year on year.
Shanghai's economy up 6.9 pct in 2017 -- Shanghai's economy grew 6.9 percent year in 2017 to 3 trillion yuan (460 billion U.S. dollars) last year, said local statistics bureau. The growth was achieved through measures to boost the real economy when the property sector cooled, said the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The industrial output of six major industries, including the auto and electronics and information sectors, expanded at 9 percent with much stronger 19.1 percent growth in the auto industry.
Tianjin's economy expands 3.6 pct in 2017 -- Tianjin's economy grew only 3.6 percent in 2017, much lower than 9 percent registered in 2016, data from Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Statistics showed. The municipality's gross domestic product totalled nearly 1.9 trillion yuan (about 290 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, said Chu Liping, deputy head of the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Statistics.
Chongqing economic growth slows in 2017-- The economy of southwest China's Chongqing municipality expanded by 9.3 percent year on year in 2017, ending a 15-year streak of double-digit growth, municipal statistics bureau announced on January 24. Despite the slowdown, Chongqing outpaced the 6.9 percent national GDP growth last year. The municipality boasted the country's fastest economic growth from 2014 to 2016.
Tibet reports double-digit growth in 2017 -- Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region reported 10-percent GDP growth last year, marking the 25th straight year of double-digit growth, local authorities said on January 24. Tibet's GDP reached 131.06 billion yuan (around 20.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, according to statistics announced at the 11th Regional People's Congress. Last year, the plateau region achieved a 23.9-percent increase in its fixed asset investments, totalling around 205 billion yuan, and raised the per capita disposable income of its urban and rural residents by 10.3 percent and 13.6 percent respectively.
A single purchase
