Top 10 China News- September 30，WK 40

1# RCEP delivers big dividends?

Trade between China and the other 14 Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) members reached 8.32 trillion yuan in the first eight months of this year, accounting for 30.5 percent of China's total foreign trade, Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said.?

Since RCEP went into force on Jan 1 this year, it has delivered increasingly prominent dividends to companies through tariff concessions, trade facilitation, and other policies, he said.?

Driven by the world's largest free trade deal, the level of free trade and investment has been raised in East Asia, and the region's business environment has seen continuous improvement, with growing confidence in economic recovery, Wang said.?

2# China's tax, fee cuts, deferrals inject market vitality

The country's accumulated tax refunds, tax and fee cuts, and tax and fee deferrals this year topped 3.3 trillion yuan as of Aug. 31, according to the State Taxation Administration.?

These preferential policies have taken effect in easing the financial burden on enterprises, value-added tax invoices data shows.?

From April to August, the sales revenue of enterprises that received VAT credit refunds increased by 6.9 percent year-on-year, 4.6 percentage points higher than enterprises that did not get the refunds.?

During the same period, sales revenue of manufacturing enterprises that received VAT credit refunds expanded by 7.5 percent year-on-year, 4.2 percentage points higher than enterprises that did not.?

Small and micro firms are the major beneficiaries of tax and fee preferential policy package, accounting for 93.1 percent of the taxpayers getting VAT credit refunds during that period.?

3# Global cooperation key in preventing online fraud

China's public security authorities have intensified cooperation with counterparts abroad in combating telecom and online fraud, and have become a useful reference in the fight against the crime, according to the Ministry of Public Security.?

Under the Interpol framework, Chinese police worked with police from 76 countries to combat fraud between March and June this year, leading to the discovery of 1,770 hideouts located in various countries, the apprehension of over 2,000 suspects, and the interception of more than $50 million in illicit funds.?

In addition, China's top legislative body recently approved a new law on telecom and online fraud, which will go into effect on Dec 1, to strengthen the fight against fraud and those aiding fraudsters, through the application of harsher punishment.?

4# China's industrial profits down 2.1% in first 8 months

Profits at China's major industrial firms fell during the first eight months in the face of renewed COVID-19 outbreaks and slackening domestic and external demand.?

For the January-August period, industrial firms' profits fell 2.1 percent year-on-year to 5.5 trillion yuan ($698 billion), after a 1.1 percent decline in the first seven months of 2022. ?

The industrial profit data covers large firms with annual revenues of at least 20 million yuan from their main operations. ?

During the first eight months, profits recorded by mining firms grew by 88.1 percent, while profits at manufacturing firms and industrial firms which supply electricity, heat, gas and water shrank by 13.4 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively. ?

Due to recovery in the industrial and supply chain, profits of equipment manufacturing enterprises fell by 2 percent on a yearly basis in the first eight months, narrowing from a 5.7 percent decline in the first seven months. Notably, profits at the auto manufacturing enterprises increased by 1.02 times in August, according to the bureau. ?

5# A standard working committee established to drive China's auto chip industry

More than 40 companies and institutes, including Chinese chip-making company Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, have established a working committee on automotive electronic components standards, as part of the nation's broader push to cultivate the domestic auto chip industry.?

The move came as a prolonged shortage in auto chips has highlighted the importance of processors in vehicles which are getting increasingly smarter, electrified, and internet-connected.?

Yang Xudong, deputy head of the electronic information department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said electronic components represented by chips are the key and core of automotive electronic systems, and are also an important foundation for the intelligent transformation of the automotive industry.

6# Made-in-China.com launches game-changing international express service

The cross-border logistics channel of Made-in-China.com just launched an international express service, aiming to prepare for the coming peak season of cross-border e-commerce.?

Joining hands with UPS, FedEx, DHL and other top carriers, the network links more than 220 countries and regions around the world, offering nationwide door-to-door collection and "one bill to the end" delivery services.?

As a comprehensive service platform for foreign trade, Made-in-China.com is devoted to building a standardized platform to provide a more convenient digital shipping experience through steps such as price checking, order placement and after-sales. By entering logistics requirements into the website, logistics products can be intelligently matched with a single click, while cross-border logistics trajectories can also be tracked throughout the entire process.?

Customers around the world using this international express service only need to enter the shipping address, receiving address and parcel information to ask and compare prices as well as place orders online. In comparison, the whole process could require repeated communication and confirmation offline in the traditional cross-border logistics service model.?

So far, Made-in-China.com has basically formed its strategic layout of cross-border logistics. Besides the launch of the cross-border direct mail parcel service, it has developed international air freight, international sea freight, overseas warehouses and international express services, gradually building a full-chain logistics product matrix.?

7# Chinese e-commerce firms enhance overseas warehouse network

Chinese logistics firms are beefing up efforts to invest in logistics infrastructure and launch overseas warehouses in a key step to bolster the development of cross-border e-commerce and ensure the stability of industrial and supply chains, industry experts said.?

JD Logistics, the logistics arm of Chinese e-commerce giant JD, said it plans to speed up infrastructure construction globally and build more overseas warehouses in the Americas, Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia and the Middle East, where Chinese enterprises are accelerating steps to expand business activities with the e-commerce penetration rate continuing to rise.The company operates approximately 90 overseas warehouses, covering an aggregated floor area of nearly 900,000 square meters.?

"Overseas warehouses serve as a vital infrastructure that boosts growth in the nation's cross-border e-commerce sector," said Zhang Zhouping, a senior analyst of business-to-business and cross-border activities at the Internet Economy Institute, a domestic consultancy, adding such facilities enable quicker Customs clearance, faster delivery and lower costs.Zhang said overseas warehouses are playing a critical role in enhancing delivery efficiency, and ensuring the stability of the supply and industrial chains.

8# Exports to EU rise as winter nears

Chinese makers of heating appliances, including electric blankets and electric heaters, have seen explosive growth in exports to Europe as the continent heads into winter in the throes of an energy crisis amid rising prices of natural gas, industry experts said.?

Statistics from AliExpress, Alibaba Group's business-to-customer or B2C site that sells consumer goods to overseas markets, showed sales of heating appliances, such as electric blankets, in the European market surged nearly 300 percent in September compared with that in August.?

Sales of Chinese heating appliances in France, Germany and Poland skyrocketed 306 percent, 303 percent and 297 percent month-on-month, respectively, during this period, given that European consumers are expanding their purchases of heating appliances ahead of the approaching winter.?

Moreover, there is surging demand for heat pump water heaters, which gather ambient warmth from the air and compress it to heat up water, especially in Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, with orders soaring more than 100 percent year-on-year in the past 90 days, said Alibaba.com, the business-to-business platform of Alibaba.?

9# Chongqing noodles ride the wave of booming ready-made food market

With the burgeoning growth of China's "prefabricated food" industry, Chongqing xiaomian (spicy noodles), popular street food in southwest China's Chongqing municipality, is tapping the novel business model to expand its market.?

Chongqing's Dadukou district established an industrial park in August 2021, particularly aimed at cultivating a larger market for its signature xiaomian. "In total, Chongqing has about 84,000 xiaomian eateries, selling 13 million bowls of the spicy noodles a day and garnering an annual sale of nearly 40 billion yuan," said Li Xiaodan, deputy director of the district commission of economy and informatization.?

China's current prefabricated food market size has the potential to reach 1 trillion yuan in the next six to seven years, according to a report released by Shenzhen-based research firm AskCI Consulting.?

10# Chinese mobile gaming apps gain popularity globally

Chinese mobile gaming apps are getting more popular in overseas markets, with their total installation volumes growing by 115 percent in the past five years, according to a latest report.?

The report, published by AppsFlyer, an Israeli mobile marketing analytics company, has studied about 5,200 Chinese gaming apps and more than 4.6 billion installations of these apps in overseas markets, revealing how Chinese gaming apps are going global.?

The past five years, which started from the third quarter of 2017 and ended in the second quarter of this year, have been a golden period for China's mobile gaming apps to go global. During the time frame, less Chinese gaming companies went to the United States for opportunities, while the Latin American market has become a dark horse for growth, the report added.?

Looking at the most recent data for the past nearly one and a half years, the number of paid users of China's mobile gaming apps worldwide has increased. In May 2022, 13.28 percent users were paying money for Chinese mobile gaming apps, marking an increase of 58.3 percent compared with the data in January 2022, the report added.?

The progress showed that marketing activities have produced remarkable results, and it also highlighted the continuous potential of the growth of paid users, AppsFlyer said.?

Wang Wei, general manager of AppsFlyer Greater China, said "China's gaming industry does not lack good products suitable for overseas markets. How to cultivate more high-quality global games is the key to the future journey".