What's happening in China this week? (Mar.2-Mar.8,2024)

China's economic activity rebounds in 2023: IMF ( Mar. 2, 2024)

China's economic activity rebounded in 2023 following the post-COVID reopening with real GDP estimated to have grown broadly in line with the authorities' growth target of around 5%, the executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.

The recovery was driven by domestic demand, particularly private consumption, and supported macroeconomic policies, including the further relaxation of monetary policy, tax relief for firms and households, and fiscal spending on disaster relief, according to the statement published on the IMF website.

China's top political advisory body to hold annual session from March 4 to 10 (Mar. 3, 2024)

The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, will hold its annual session from March 4 to 10, a spokesperson said on Sunday.

Investment grows in the search for mineral resources ( Mar.4, 2024)

China has stepped up investment in mineral resources exploration to bolster reserves and production, according to a bulletin released recently by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

National investment in such exploration rose 8% last year to 110.5 billion yuan ($15.4 billion). Over 80% was directed toward oil and gas exploration, which was up 9.8% year-on-year.

Through the establishment of a conducive market environment and the effective utilization of fiscal investment, more social capital was drawn into prospecting last year, with social investment accounting for 87.6% of total investment.

China increased R&D investment by 8.1% to over $458b（Mar.5, 2024)

Last year, China's annual R&D investment exceeded 3.3 trillion yuan ($458.4 billion), an increase of 8.1% over the previous year, said Yin Hejun, minister of science and technology.

He added that the funding for basic research was 221.2 billion yuan, an increase of 9.3% over the previous year. 950,000 new technology contracts were signed in China; authorized invention patents reached 921,000, an increase of 15.3% from the previous year, he said.

Deputy calls for a national plan for AGI development in China (Mar.6,2024)

As artificial intelligence takes the world by storm, efforts are needed in China to draft a national plan to boost the development of artificial general intelligence, the latest tech frontier that is a key part of new quality productive forces, said a national legislator.

AGI refers to AI's versatility in doing multiple tasks such as writing essays, checking program bugs and making business plans. This differentiates it from previous narrow AI projects that excel in only one area. The emergence of the AI chatbot ChatGPT and the text-to-video generation tool Sora triggered widespread discussion regarding the rapid development of AGI.

"We need to address the gaps and focus on the 'main battlefield' of large language models. We must concentrate national resources to catch up rapidly while systematically constructing the ecosystem and applications for AGI," Liu said.

Xi's keywords during two sessions (Mar. 7, 2021)

President Xi Jinping stressed developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions while deliberating with fellow lawmakers from Jiangsu province on March 5 during the second session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's national legislature.

"Developing new quality productive forces does not mean neglecting or abandoning traditional industries," Xi said. "It is necessary to prevent a headlong rush into projects and the formation of industry bubbles, and avoid adopting just a single model of development."

Stronger support for advanced machine tools urged ( Mar. 8, 2024)

More policy support is expected by national legislators and political advisers to back major technological innovations and wider applications of advanced equipment, fortifying tech advancements for machine tools, in a bid to propel the green and high-quality transformation of the manufacturing sector.

The suggestions came after the government called to give full rein to the leading role of innovation and press ahead with new industrialization, according to the Government Work Report delivered during the ongoing two sessions.