5 Things That Happened in China This Week (140) 19 July

Here are 5 things that happened in China this week.

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CPC Central Committee Third Plenary Session

The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) adopted a resolution on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization at its third plenary session held from Monday to Thursday in Beijing. The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee presided over the meeting and General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping presented a report on the work of the Political Bureau. The objectives of further deepening reform are to continue improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and to modernize China's system and capacity for governance and will be completed by the time the People's Republic of China celebrates its 80th founding anniversary in 2029, according to a communique released after the session.

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?China Advances U.S. Subsidies Complaint

China filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on March 26 which began a dispute settlement process over U.S. subsidies for New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. Consultations failed to reach a solution, so China has advanced the case by requesting the WTO set up an expert panel to adjudicate, according to China's Ministry of Commerce. The three main stages to the WTO dispute settlement process are: (i) consultations between the parties; (ii) adjudication by panels and, if applicable, by the Appellate Body; and (iii) the implementation of the ruling, which includes the possibility of countermeasures in the event of failure by the losing party to implement the ruling. China urged the U.S. to abide by WTO rules and stop abusing its industrial policies to undermine international cooperation on climate change.

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China's GDP

China's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 5 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2024, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). China's GDP reached around 61.68 trillion yuan (about 8.65 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first half. In the second quarter, the country's GDP expanded 4.7 percent year-on-year. The secondary sector expanded 5.8 percent year-on-year in the first half, outpacing a 3.5-percent increase in the primary sector and 4.6 percent in the service sector. China's economy expanded 0.7 percent in the second quarter. The NBS attributed the performance to policy incentives, rebound in external demand and development of new quality productive forces.

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China EximBank Issues BRI Bonds

The Export-Import Bank of China (China EximBank) has launched financial bonds that will mature in 3 years to boost the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in both interbank and over-the-counter markets. This is the first time such bonds are being traded beyond the interbank market, with the funds raised aimed at supporting China EximBank's BRI projects, according to the bank. As a policy bank supporting China's foreign trade, investment and international economic cooperation, the China EximBank has so far issued 39 billion yuan (about 5.47 billion U.S. dollars) of financial bonds to promote BRI cooperation. China announced last October that two Chinese policy banks, including the China EximBank, would each set up a 350 billion yuan (about 49 billion U.S. dollars) financing window, and an additional 80 billion yuan (about 11.2 billion U.S dollars) would be injected into the Silk Road Fund.

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?China's Natural Gas Output

China's production of natural gas has maintained steady expansion in the first half of 2024, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The country produced 123.6 billion cubic metres of natural gas in the January-June period, up 6 percent from a year earlier. China's natural gas imports also posted fast growth during this period with a total of 64.65 million tonnes imported in the first six months of 2024, up 14.3 percent year-on-year. In June alone, the natural gas output expanded 9.6 percent year-on-year to 20.2 billion cubic metres. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Good running leaves no tracks – Lao Tzu