US-based Citigroup Inc plans to launch a wholly owned investment banking unit in China by the end of 2024, according to Reuters, adding to an increasing number of global financial institutions that are actively expanding their presence in the Chinese market.

While some foreign media outlets and institutions continue to paint a grim picture of the Chinese market's outlook, global investors' concrete business plans in China are a "vote of confidence" in its economic prospects, Chinese analysts said on Friday, noting that continuous financial opening-up and an improving business environment offer greater opportunities for global businesses.

Citing an unnamed source, Reuters reported on Thursday that Citigroup aims to launch a wholly owned China investment unit by the end of 2024 and hire about 30 employees. The unit, which will focus on the Chinese capital market, could hire nearly 100 people in the coming years, including local hires and transfers from Hong Kong and other markets, according to Reuters.

Reached by the Global Times on Friday about the report, Citi China referred to a New Year's message from Christine Lam, CEO of Citi China, in which she talked about Citi's long history and extensive presence in the Chinese market.

"The Chinese market is extremely important in Citigroup's global strategy," Lam said in the message posted on the company's WeChat account, pointing to two trips made by Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup, to China in 2023.

"In this market full of opportunities, Citi will remain committed to providing excellent cross-border services to corporate and institutional clients," Lam said. "At the same time, we will continue to help foreign-funded institutions participate in China's ever-opening market and share the new opportunities brought by China's opening-up and development."

Reports of Citi's plans for the Chinese market came just two days after Chinese regulators approved US-based AllianceBernstein Holding LP's application for a license to run its wholly owned mutual fund business in China.

Following the approval, "AllianceBernstein will provide Chinese investors with domestic investment products and solutions, and help tap investment opportunities in China's local market," the company said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.

The plans by Citi and AllianceBernstein are latest examples of the growing number of foreign financial institutions that are expanding in the Chinese market, which shows their confidence in the Chinese economy amid continuous opening-up and an improving business environment, analysts said.

"It is mostly foreign media outlets and so-called analysts who are smearing the Chinese economy because of bias and political and other motives, but for businesses that are seeking opportunities and profits, they are obviously optimistic about China's economic prospects," Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times.

Li said that China's continued financial opening-up measures and efforts to improve the business environment, including through institutional opening-up, have made "tangible progress," which explains the growing expansion by foreign businesses in the Chinese market.

"Also, importantly, Chinese officials of all levels pay great attention to foreign businesses and they often hold talks with foreign executives to not just hear about the problems they face but actually solve them," Li said.

During her visit to China in June, Fraser met with several Chinese regulators and clients. During a meeting with Li Yunze, head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), Fraser expressed confidence in China's economic and financial development and Citi will continue to expand in the Chinese market, according to an NFRA statement.

In October, Citigroup was one of several global financial institutions that raised China's 2023 economic growth forecast. Citi expected China's GDP growth to reach 5.3 percent in 2023 up from its earlier forecast of 5 percent.

Chinese regulators have also stepped up efforts to expand market access for overseas financial institutions. In December 2023, the China Securities Regulatory Commission approved six overseas institutional investors' qualifications to conduct businesses in the Chinese market, bringing the total to 81 in 2023.

China's Central Financial Work Conference in October, a crucial meeting that sets financial work priorities for the coming years, called for efforts to promote high-level financial opening-up. Specifically, the meeting called for the steady expansion of institutional opening-up in the financial sector, improved cross-border investment and financing facilitation, and more foreign financial institutions and long-term capital to expand and conduct businesses in China.

"There is a growing number of reasons that more foreign capital will flow into China's capital market in 2024," Yang Delong, chief economist at Shenzhen-based First Seafront Fund Management Co, told the Global Times on Friday, noting that China's economic recovery is expected to speed up, while the US is entering a cycle of rate cuts which will pressure financial markets.

The "Linyi Trade City  China Aggregation" International Brand Promotion Conference themed on "Gathering and Selling of Quality Goods around the World" was held in Beijing on December 10, 2023. The conference gave a detailed introduction of the achievements of Linyi, East China's Shandong Province in the trade and logistics industry in recent years and the development and deployment of Linyi Trade City's transformation and upgrading, aiming at further enhancing the influence of Linyi Trade City's international brand and helping the investment attraction to a new level. 

Zhang Xiaobin, member of the Standing Committee of CPC Linyi Municipal Committee and head of the city's publicity department presided over the conference. More than 100 foreign envoys, heads of business associations and representatives of trade and logistics enterprises attended the event. 

Linyi is a well-known commercial city in China and the country's logistics capital. And Linyi Trade City is the city's market cluster. Linyi Trade City is a fruitful achievement of more than 40 years of reform and opening-up, and has become a world-renowned bright business card and a source of vitality for Linyi's modernization.

Ren Gang, Secretary of CPC Linyi Municipal Committee, delivered a speech at the conference. He pointed out that in recent years, based on the advantages of trade logistics, Linyi has vigorously implemented the strategy of putting trade logistics first, and cultivated Linyi Trade City, which is "buying and selling goods all over the world."

He said that at present, Linyi is in a critical period of great change. The overlapping empowerment of major policies such as "the Belt and Road Initiative" and achieving green, low-carbon and high-quality development has brought unprecedented opportunities for city's leap-forward development. Linyi will continue to optimize its business environment, actively adapt to the trend of restructuring international economic and trade rules, promote exchanges and cooperation with all partners, and strive to achieve mutual benefit and common development.

Chen Jian, former vice minister of China's Ministry of Commerce, delivered a video speech and put forward three suggestions for the next development of Linyi Trade City: First, drive the city's development to a new level through the "big channel." With the channel to bring logistics, trade and industry, the city will be able to continuously enlarge the opening-up and market advantages of Linyi Trade City; The second is to promote trade growth with digitalization as a new engine. The city will continue to accelerate the innovation of digital technology and carry out high-quality cooperation in cross-border e-commerce and mobile payment. The third is to stimulate new impetus with the construction of an excellent environment to empower the park. Strengthen the creation of an excellent business environment for the park, and make Linyi Trade City a powerful cornerstone for enterprises' development.

Awais Zafar, First Secretary of Pakistani Embassy in China, said that China-Pakistan friendship is profound and long-lasting. The development of Linyi in recent years reflects the vitality and innovation of China's economy. Building a modern commercial and logistics city not only tapped Linyi's own development potential, but also promoted it to become an important participant in the global economic structure. In the face of unprecedented cooperation opportunities, China and Pakistan will be able to further strengthen economic and cultural exchanges and expand new areas of cooperation.

Juan Xinyang, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Linyi Municipal Committee, and Vice Mayor of Linyi, made a promotion of "Linyi Trade City · China Aggregation." He pointed out that Linyi Trade City has adhered to the integrated development of "commerce, warehouses, logistics, parks and exhibitions," accurately served and merged into the construction of "four trade cities" - digital trade city, international trade city, green trade city and chain trade city, and has developed into a pilot area of market procurement trade mode, a national logistics hub of business service, a cross-border e-commerce and a provincial "Belt and Road Initiative" comprehensive experimental area, with obvious advantages of policy superposition. Juan said the city expects domestic and foreign merchants to visit Linyi for sightseeing, negotiation and cooperation, and make new and greater contributions to comprehensively accelerating the pace of transformation and upgrading of Linyi Trade City.

At the promotion conference, Zhou Keren, former deputy minister of China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, delivered a keynote speech entitled "grasping the present situation and trends of international trade development and promoting the foreign trade construction of Linyi Trade City." He pointed out that in the face of the current challenges in global trade, the city needs to respond by strengthening cooperation, promoting innovation and inclusive growth. In this process, Linyi Trade City should exert its efforts in deepening regional economic cooperation, focusing on innovative cooperation in new fields, cultivating new formats and models of digital trade, strengthening international cooperation and exchanges, and increasing the international spread of brands.

Zhu Siqiao, an associate research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said that the digital economy which brings with it new innovation, strong permeability and wide coverage has become a new economic growth point, a fulcrum for transforming and upgrading traditional industries, and an important engine for building a modern industrial system. Empowering business logistics through digital technology, realizing intelligent warehousing, logistics and other scene applications, and promoting related enterprises to carry out model innovation and product innovation, which can organically link production and consumption, expand the scope of transactions, promote the deepening of division of labor, and improve production efficiency, which is of great significance to promoting the stable development of China's economy.

Yu Xinwen, CEO of Shandong Huafeng Enterprise Group, Guan Zhaojun, CEO of Shandong Lanhua Group, Sun Siyong, Chairman of Linyi Wholesale Market Group, Sun Baoan, President of the Linyi Wholesalers Association, and Li Hui, General Manager of Linyi Xinminghui Safety Technology spoke as enterprise representatives respectively.

The conference was hosted by Linyi Municipal People's Government, and jointly undertaken by Linyi Trade City Management Committee and the government of Lanshan district.

Beijing Subway on Friday issued measures to maintain normal operation of parts of the city's Changping Line including using shuttle buses to ensure normal commuter traffic, with all subway trains on above-ground and elevated lines being operated manually, at reduced speed and increased intervals between trains to ensure the safe operation during extreme weather, after a carriage disengagement incident occurred on Thursday night.

Beijing Subway apologized again on Friday over the incident, which injured more than 30 people, while putting in place measures to reduce the inconvenience to passengers. 

The Changping Line will maintain normal operation from Zhuxinzhuang Station to Changping Xishankou Station, and the section from Xi'erqi Station to Xitucheng Station. Residents can transfer to downtown via Line 8 and Line 13. Shuttle buses will be available for transportation between Xi'erqi Station and Zhuxinzhuang stations. In addition, bus services along the route will be increased to provide transportation options for commuters, according to Beijing Subway.

On Thursday evening, several videos circulating online showed that a Beijing subway Changping Line train split in the middle as carriages disengaged. Beijing Subway said a preliminary finding shows that the incident on the Changping Line was due to a vehicle malfunction.

More than 30 people were injured due to the incident and no one died. The injured are being sent to hospitals for treatment, and the cause of the accident is being investigated, according to an official announcement.

Around 10:30 pm on Thursday, the Beijing transportation authority stated that all people involved at the site had been completely evacuated and that all injured individuals had been transported to hospitals for treatment. There were no fatalities.

The authority also issued a reminder to residents that service between Xi'erqi Station and Life Science Park Station on the Changping Line has been suspended. However, service on other sections of the line is operating normally.

Beijing Subway said there was no power on the contact rails on the section from Xi'erqi station to Life Science Park station on the Changping Line (northbound). Some trains have been temporarily stopped and some have been delayed. The staff are currently organizing rescue operations.

A passenger was quoted as saying in media reports that around 6:50 pm, they heard a loud noise in front of them, and then the train stopped with "a strong sense of impact." There were many passengers in the carriage and many of them fell down.

"I was pinned down, and everyone was shouting in the dark. Fortunately, the people next to me pulled me up," the passenger recalled. "Now everyone is standing."

On-site videos show that the subway was in a suspended state, with dark and crowded carriages. Some passengers were searching for their lost phones on the floor. Many were using their phone lights to gradually walk out of the carriage and wait for rescue. The sound of nearby rescue vehicles could be heard, according to media reports.

A netizen named TY_lizhenwei said via Sina Weibo, "I never expected to experience such an incident in my life. I was near the door where the subway carriage disengaged. I am grateful that I was not injured and thank the private car driver who gave me a ride, ensuring my safe arrival home."

Another netizen expressed a wish that each worker could get home safely and early during the snowy day.

There was currently a power outage in the subway. Passengers called 110, 119 and other emergency numbers, and some rescuers were heading to the site of the incident. Some netizens also saw ambulances and fire trucks parked near the Life Science Park station. Online videos showed that passengers in the train were injured.

The meteorological information shows that on Thursday, there were moderate snow in Changping, a district in Beijing. The highest temperature during the day is -1 C, the lowest temperature at night is -6 C, and the wind is easterly.

Some passengers who were stuck in the train used survival hammers to smash the windows to escape from the train, some online videos showed.