The Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia have enhanced their infringement in the islands and reefs they illegally occupied in the South China Sea, according to a report Chinese think tank Grandview Institution released on Tuesday. Experts from the institution also warned of increasing illegal resupply activities by the Philippines to the illegally grounded warship in the South China Sea in 2024.

In recent years, China’s land reclamation and deployment of defensive military facilities on the islands and reefs in the South China Sea, out of its concern for maintaining national sovereignty and security, have been hyped up by the Western media as a testimony of the alleged "China threat" theory. Thereafter, the US and other extra-regional countries have been intensifying their interference, especially military interference, in the South China Sea issue. Their intervention has further worsened the maritime security environment in China’s periphery. In sharp contrast, the Western media turns a blind eye to the fact that Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia have occupied more than 40 islands and reefs in the Nansha Islands over the past four decades, and kept expanding land area, building facilities and deploying military capabilities on some of these islands, read the report.

In particular, Vietnam and the Philippines have further intensified their construction activities on occupied islands and reefs since 2022. Vietnam has carried out large-scale land reclamation on several islands and reefs, increasing the land area by three square kilometers, far exceeding the total construction scale of the past forty years. The Philippines has frequently attempted to reinforce its construction on the illegally grounded warship at the Ren'ai Jiao (Ren'ai Reef).

These actions have complicated and escalated the disputes, and have had an impact on peace and stability, the report said.

On May 9, 1999, the military vessel BRP Sierra Madre illegally intruded into China's Ren'ai Jiao, or what the Philippine side calls as the Second Thomas Shoal, running aground due to purported "technical difficulties."

According to the report, the vessel Sierra Madre has been grounded in the Ren'ai Jiao for a long time with over ten Filipino soldiers stationed and this has constituted actual encroachment of the Ren'ai Jiao. The Philippine military's Western Command is responsible for commanding the grounded troops and the Philippine Navy sends ships to resupply the grounded troop.

In 2022, the Philippine Navy conducted 11 illegal resupply activities to the Ren'ai Jiao, while in 2023, the number increased to 14 with more disguised approaches, according to the report.

Liu Xiaobo, director of the ocean research center of the Grandview Institution, told the Global Times that, before 2023, the Philippine Navy supplied the grounded military vessel once a month, but after that, the number of illegal resupply activities increased.

The current trend shows that the illegal supply actions in 2024 will continue to increase, according to Liu. "In order to reduce sensitivity, the Philippines has rented civilian ships - instead of sending military vessels - to supply the stranded ship under the escort of coast guard ships, but the Philippines has been reportedly taking advantage of the opportunity of resupplying troops to transport illegal construction materials to the grounded ship and China firmly opposed such attempt."

In addition, the Philippines currently invites international media to board transport ships and openly hype up China's so-called "interception actions" against them in order to gain sympathy and support from the international community. However, images accompanying the report show that compared to before, the main deck of the vessel Sierra Madre as been partially reinforced and renovated in 2023, indicating that the Philippines had secretly transported building materials long ago.

The report also points out that the Philippines has enhanced construction on the islands it occupied in the South China Sea. Apart from Ren'ai Jiao, the Philippines has illegally occupied eight islands and reefs in China's Nansha Islands, namely, Mahuan Dao, Feixin Dao, Zhongye Dao, Nanyao Dao, Beizi Dao, Xiyue Dao, Shuanghuang Shazhou, and Siling Jiao. In June 1978, it unilaterally went beyond its territorial scope to set up the so-called "Kalayaan Island Group," which violates China's territorial sovereignty.

Before 2022, the Philippines conducted less construction on the occupied islands and reefs. But in March 2022, the Philippines built a new helicopter landing pad on the Mahuan Dao; and in May of that year, the Philippine Coast Guard established command observation stations on the Mahuan Dao and others. These command observation stations monitor surrounding vessels and report information to the Philippine Coast Guard headquarters, according to the report.

In January 2024, Manila's military chief Romeo Brawner told media that the Philippines would develop islands in all the nine islands and reefs in the South China Sea that it considers part of its territory to make them more habitable for troops.

The Philippines Coast Guard recently claimed that China was attempting to build an "artificial island" in the Ren'ai Jiao. In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference on Monday "the Philippines has repeatedly spread rumors, deliberately vilified China and tried to mislead the international community. None of those attempts will succeed."

Wang also urged the Philippines to stop making irresponsible remarks, face up to the facts and return to the right track of properly handling maritime disputes through negotiation and consultation.

Liu believes the Philippines will continue to advance its confrontational South China Sea policy in 2024. He points out that main factors contributing to the escalation of the disputes between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea include the pro-US stance of the Marcos government, the increased assistance from the US and its allies to the Philippines, as well as the joint defense commitment of the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty that backs and encourages the Philippines' provocative actions of encroachment.

In addition, the Philippines has strengthened its maritime military capabilities in recent years, providing it with confidence, Liu said. But ASEAN countries will continue to be important forces in maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea with China as resolving disputes through peaceful means and maintaining regional peace and stability remains a consensus between ASEAN countries and China despite the differences in their concerns and positions on the South China Sea issue, Liu noted.

International financial institutions are increasingly upbeat on Chinese stocks, with the NASDAQ Golden Dragon China Index surging by 14.86 percent in the 10 trading days ended on Friday, the highest growth rate for a two-week period since January 2023. 

According to international financial giants including Morgan Stanley and Bridgewater Associates, the China market is a good place to diversify their investment portfolios and explore value, as international investors' interest in yuan-denominated assets is on the rise.

On Thursday, the index jumped by 6.01 percent, the highest daily increase since the end of July last year, data showed. Analysts said that an opportunity is emerging for medium- and long-term capital to flow into yuan assets, especially China's stock market.

Given the rollout of targeted policies to boost the high-quality development of the A-share market and the sustained recovery of China's economy, now is a good opportunity to invest in China's stock market and Chinese companies, Yang Delong, chief economist at Shenzhen-based First Seafront Fund, told the Global Times on Sunday.

He said the valuations of the A-share and Hong Kong stock markets are near record lows, and confidence and patience are needed to achieve long-term gains.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau meeting, held on April 30, vowed to front-load efforts to effectively put the established macro policies in place, and well implement a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy. 

Those policies will further promote an economic recovery and boost the development of China's stock markets, Yang said.

Since the beginning of 2024, global asset management companies have expanded their investment portfolios in China, boosted by their growing confidence in Chinese assets. 

"Global funds are returning to China stocks," Bloomberg reported in March, citing Morgan Stanley analysts.

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio posted on social media platform LinkedIn on April 1 saying that "[T]here is no such thing as a bad market; there is only bad decision making. I find the markets in China good for my type of decision making."

Recently, stocks in the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) staged a stunning rebound after the State Council, the country's cabinet, pledged measures to keep the stock market stable. 

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index regained the 3,100 level at the end of April after diving to a multi-year low.

In the first quarter of this year, net inflows of northbound capital - overseas money flowing into China's A-share market through the HKSAR - reached 68.22 billion yuan ($9.65 billion), exceeding the total in 2023, the China Securities Journal reported, citing data from information provider Choice.

In April, the State Council released guidelines on strengthening regulation, forestalling risks and promoting high-quality development of the capital market. This was the third guideline document on the capital market from the State Council in two decades.

By strengthening supervision, and effectively preventing and defusing risks, the new guideline has made arrangements in areas including listings, transactions and the entry of long-term capital. This is expected to enhance fairness and efficiency in the A-share market and stimulate market vitality, Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times.

The challenges faced by the A-share market are temporary and a bull market will eventually come, Dong said, noting that targeted policies and sound macroeconomic operations will inject new impetus into the capital market.

He said that more efforts are needed to strengthen regulations involving the major shareholders of listed companies, agencies, local governments and stock exchanges. In addition, diversified delisting channels are needed to protect the rights and interests of common investors during the whole process of delisting.

China's imports and exports roared back to growth in April after a significant drop in the previous month, according to official data on Thursday, and the strong data add to growing signs that the world's second-largest economy remains on a steady recovery trend despite lingering challenges at home and abroad. 

The strong trade data underscored the resilience of China's trade sector, with growth in exports pointing to the country's unshakable role in global supply chains, while the expansion in imports highlighted strong domestic demand, experts said. With the country's laser-like focus on the economy through a slew of stimulus measures, China's economic recovery will continue to consolidate and is on track to meet annual growth targets, they noted. 

In April, in US dollar terms, total imports and exports surged 4.4 percent year-on-year, reversing a 5.1 percent drop in March, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Thursday. Notably, exports expanded by 1.5 percent year-on-year in April, compared to a 7.5 percent contraction in the previous month, while imports jumped by 8.4 percent year-on-year, reversing a 1.9 percent decline in March, the GAC data showed.

"First-quarter trade data were dragged down by the drop in March due to a high base in March 2023. And April's data more accurately reflected the development trade in China's import and export sectors," Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

Zhou said that the trade data demonstrated the steady recovery trend of the Chinese economy supported by a strong rebound in the trade sector in the first four months of 2024. 

During that period, in Chinese yuan-denominated terms, China's total imports and exports expanded by 5.7 percent year-on-year, accelerating from a 5 percent growth in the first quarter of the year, according to the GAC.

In terms of top trading partners, China's imports and exports with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, better known as ASEAN, its largest trading partner, jumped by 8.5 percent year-on-year from January to April. Imports and exports with the EU, the second-largest trading partner, dropped by 1.8 percent year-on-year, while that with the US, the third-largest trading partner, grew by 1.1 percent year-on-year.

Moreover, among the highlights of Thursday's data are the robust growth in exports by private enterprises and exports of mechanical and electrical products - both major growth drivers. Private firms' total exports expanded by 9 percent year-on-year in the first four months in yuan terms, accounting for 64.7 percent of China's total export value. Exports of mechanical and electrical products grew by 6.9 percent, accounting for 59.2 percent of China's total export value, according to the GAC.

Momentum to last

The strong figures for the January-April period also reflected China's strong competitiveness and prominent role in the global industrial and supply chain, Zhou noted. "If there are no major 'black swan' events in the future, and there are no policies and actions that significantly interfere with trade activities, trade will still maintain a sustained recovery," he said.

While the growth in exports highlighted China's unshakable role in global trade, the expansion in imports accentuated the strong recovery in China's domestic demand, which is key to the overall economic recovery, according to experts. 

"In the previous two years, the growth rate of imports was relatively low, and the total import and export volume was mainly supported by exports, reflecting insufficient domestic demand, Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"But vis-à-vis this year's data, the growth rate of imports is higher than that of exports, indicating that domestic demand is recovering and the overall internal circulation is becoming smoother," Hu noted.

Hu said that China has moved swiftly to tackle systemic risks, consumption has been recovering steadily and operations of various industries have been improving significantly. 

The impressive trade data on Thursday come on the heels of a slew of indicators that showed a strong recovery momentum in the Chinese economy. In the first quarter of 2024, China's GDP expanded by 5.3 percent year-on-year, beating market expectations. Retail sales, a main gauge of consumption and the biggest economic growth driver, increased by 4.7 percent year-on-year.  

Such strong momentum in China's economic recovery is widely expected to further gather traction, as Chinese policymakers continue to step up policy support to boost the economy, experts said. 

The latest signal of strong policy support came from a meeting, held on April 30, of the Political Bureau of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee. Noting that the economy has secured a good start this year, the meeting called for various measures to further consolidate the recovery momentum, including front-loading efforts to effectively put the established macro policies in place and issuing ultra-long special treasury bonds at an early stage, according to the Xinhua News Agency. 

In terms of trade, the meeting called for efforts to actively expand trade in intermediate goods, service trade, digital trade, and cross-border e-commerce exports, and support private enterprises in expanding overseas markets.

Apart from policy support, the strong recovery in domestic consumption will help stabilize trade throughout the year, according to Hu. "The full-year trade will maintain a generally positive growth rate that is higher than that of last year," he said. 

Beyond trade, China's two other main economic drivers - consumption and investment - are also expected to maintain a strong recovery momentum, thanks to intensifying policy support, which will ensure that the full-year economic development goals will be met, experts noted. 

In spite of challenges both at home and abroad, China has set a GDP growth target of around 5 percent this year. With the growing positive signs, many experts are increasingly confident that China will be able to meet its 2024 GDP growth target, and the country will remain the main driver for global growth.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. High-level interactions between the two countries have been frequent, and exchanges in various fields such as the economy and trade have been increasing.

At the end of November, the 12th meeting of the China-Vietnam Economic and Trade Cooperation Committee, aimed at discussing the high-quality development of bilateral economic and trade relations, was held in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. The Vietnam News Agency reported that enormous potential dwells in the China-Vietnam trade cooperation - a highlight in bilateral ties. Vietnamese media sources also pointed out that China has been Vietnam's largest trading partner for many years, and Vietnam is China's largest trading partner within the ASEAN.
It proves that achievements in China-Vietnam economic and trade cooperation have been highly recognized by both sides. Recently, several Chinese and Vietnamese experts, based on their own research and observations, spoke to the Global Times about the cooperation between China and Vietnam in the field of economy and trade, and expressed their optimism about future development potential.

3,000 tons of durian export to China

Bui Trong Van, former minister counselor at the Vietnamese Embassy in China, told Global Times that economic and trade cooperation between China and Vietnam has evolved from a simple trade pattern to a higher level of cooperation closely related to the industrial and supply chains. This is mainly due to the political and strategic guidance of the top leaders of both countries, as well as the continuous, stable, and healthy development of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two sides. At the same time, the two economies have great complementarities. Deepening economic and trade cooperation fully serves the fundamental interests of both countries.

Data are the most convincing evidence. In 1992, when the two countries signed the economic cooperation agreement, the bilateral trade volume was only $179 million. In 2000, trade volume between the two countries surpassed $2 billion. Statistics provided by China's customs authorities showed that the two countries' trade increased by 19.7 percent to $230.2 billion in 2021, surpassing the $200 billion mark for the first time in history. In the first 10 months of this year, the bilateral trade volume has reached $185.1 billion.

Trade growth is inseparable from the comprehensive development of port infrastructure. In recent years, both central and local governments on both sides have attached great importance to port upgrading to improve customs clearance efficiency. Cross-border ports between the two sides are connected by highways, and China's high-speed rail has been extended to border cities in Vietnam and will soon be extended to port cities.

Border trade is drawing increasing attention from both China and Vietnam. For example, Dongxing, a county-level city in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is the only port city in China connected by both land and sea to Vietnam. Mong Cai is the largest, most open, and most promising economic zone in northern Vietnam.

At the end of November and the beginning of December, Dongxing and Mong Cai jointly held the 15th Vietnam-China International Trade and Tourism Fair, as well as a forum on promoting cross-border tourism between Dongxing and Mong Cai, attracting extensive media attention.

According to Vietnamese statistics, in the first 10 months of this year, Vietnam's vegetable and fruit exports to China reached $3.18 billion, a year-on-year increase of 165 percent. Among them, Vietnamese durian is a particular favorite for Chinese consumers. Since being allowed to enter the China market in July 2022, Vietnamese durian has directly promoted the surge in vegetable and fruit exports to China. A woman engaged in the fruit business in Vietnam's Long An Province told the Global Times, "In the first half of this year, my family exported over 3,000 tons of durian to China and made a lot of money."
The highlights of the China-Vietnam economic and trade cooperation are not only reflected in trade, but also in the accelerated promotion of investment and industrial cooperation.

During the first half of 2023, Global Times' special correspondent conducted an in-depth research at the industrial zones in Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Hai Duong, and Hai Phong in Vietnam, and found that compared to the situation five years ago, the proportion of Chinese-funded enterprises in various industrial parks has significantly increased, and the signboards of Chinese-funded enterprises are particularly prominent. Almost all interviewed representatives of Chinese-funded enterprises stated that their decision to invest in Vietnam has turned out to be correct, and they are optimistic about Vietnam's development prospects.

According to statistics from Vietnam, China is Vietnam's sixth-largest source of foreign direct investment, with 3,949 active projects, and total registered capital exceeding $25.8 billion.

Chinese enterprise investment in Vietnam has provided employment for hundreds of thousands of local people, improved local industrial support mechanisms, and driven local export growth. For example, China's investment in the Vietnamese textile industry has increased year-on-year, and several Chinese large-scale modern textile enterprises have formed a relatively complete industrial chain locally.

The China-Vietnam economic and trade cooperation has entered a new stage of building international industrial supply chains. Vietnam imports intermediate products like industrial raw materials and mechanical equipment from China, processes and assembles them, and then exports them to other countries, including the US, South Korea, Japan, and other Southeast Asian countries. It can be seen that the China-Vietnam main industrial and supply chains naturally extend to a global industrial and supply chains. This is the most vivid embodiment of the success of jointly building the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which is not only of important economic significance but also of important strategic significance.

Xu Liping, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that Vietnam regards its relationship with China as a strategic choice and a top priority in its foreign policy, and China regards Vietnam as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy. Both sides attach great importance to their diplomatic positioning toward each other. Although Vietnam has elevated its bilateral relationships with the US and Japan to comprehensive strategic partnerships this year, its comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with China has lasted 15 years, which is apparently long, and we have one more element - cooperation.

Gu Xiaosong, dean of the ASEAN Research Institute at the Hainan Tropical Ocean University, told the Global Times that although Vietnamese businesspeople also realize that close cooperation with China in the industrial chain and supply chain may be under US pressure, this cooperation nonetheless holds huge commercial interests. If the chain with China is cut off, it will be difficult for the Vietnamese manufacturing industry to sustain itself based solely on its own industrial foundation and manufacturing capabilities. Therefore, Vietnamese companies often take measures to avoid adverse effects from the West.

At the 12th meeting of the China-Vietnam Economic and Trade Cooperation Committee, held on November 28, the Chinese side expressed its willingness to work with Vietnam for high-quality development of bilateral economic and trade relations. China will continue to take measures to promote unimpeded trade with Vietnam, support bilateral cooperation in railway, 5G, and other infrastructure projects, accelerate investment cooperation in the digital economy and green development, and expand cooperation in agriculture, border trade, supply chains, industrial parks, and at sub-national levels. China will ensure high-quality implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP) and accelerate the development of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0.

Zhao Weihua, director of the Center for China's Relations with Neighboring Countries at Fudan University, told the Global Times that Vietnam views the RCEP positively, as it brings tariff reductions that benefit countries like Vietnam and promote its exports to China. Vietnam attaches great importance to exporting agricultural products to China, which is its largest export market for agricultural products.

Zhao pointed out that Vietnam also recognizes that China's demand is changing, and ordinary agricultural products can no longer meet the demand. Instead, it needs to export high-quality agricultural products.

Therefore, in the agricultural sector, Vietnam holds a welcoming attitude toward various Chinese enterprises and hopes that they can assist Vietnam in food processing in areas such as rice, tropical fruits, and aquatic products, with the end products being exported to China, he noted.

Xu, who is currently on a research visit to Vietnam, pointed out that one area of focus in the China-Vietnam economic and trade cooperation is green energy.

Vietnam, with a high demand for solar energy, needs to promote the rapid development of the photovoltaic industry, Xu said, adding that Vietnam faces significant pressure to transition to new-energy sources but lacks the necessary technological expertise. On the other hand, China has been rapidly developing in the field of new energy. This creates strong complementarities between the two countries.

China discovers 100-million-ton oil field in Bohai Sea

China's exports to the US reached 522 billion yuan ($72.52 billion) in the first two months of 2024, up 8.1 percent year-on-year, which analysts said reflects the strong competitiveness of Chinese products despite Washington's protectionism.

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Thursday, the US remained China's third largest trade partner in January and February, with bilateral trade up 3.7 percent on a yearly basis to reaching 707.7 billion yuan.

China's imports from the US fell 7 percent to reach 185.7 billion yuan.

China's trade surplus with the US hit 336.3 billion yuan during the period, up 18.8 percent year-on-year, GAC data showed.

"The remarkable growth in China's export to the US during a slack season is uplifting, underscoring the important trade relations between the two countries," Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Although China and the US have engaged in dialogues in a variety of fields following the meeting between the two heads of state in San Francisco in November, they failed to reach consensus in many aspects. The US needs to send more cooperation signals to the market, Zhou said.

Dismissing Western media hyping up that Mexico replaced China as the top exporter to the US in 2023, Zhou said that Chinese goods are internationally competitive, and without Washington's political interference, there is still possibility that China and the US will continue to be each other's most important trade partners.

He said there is a great potential for China to export machinery products, electric vehicles and charging equipment to the US. While the US aims to revitalize its domestic manufacturing sector, China also has advantages in exporting intermediate products and components.

In response to the US investigation into Chinese made vehicles that use "connected" car technology, Zhou said the US' protectionist moves bring harms to market stability and global industrial and supply chains.

"If the US wants to reach some achievements in climate change and green development, it should fully give play to each country's advantages across the global market and reduce the trade barriers," he said.

China has become a major intellectual property (IP) power and important pole in the world's innovation landscape after 30 years in the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing on Wednesday. 

"China attaches great importance to international patent cooperation and intellectual property protection," Wang said, noting that the number of international patent applications by Chinese applicants through the PCT has ranked first in the world for four consecutive years.

According to Wang, in the 30 years since joining the PCT, China has actively participated in the revision and improvement of international rules such as those of the PCT and continuously improved the domestic IP legal system, while carrying out fruitful cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). 

"IP is an important source of support for innovative development. With the support of patented technology, China has continuously improved its IP quality and efficiency to accelerate innovation," Wang noted. 

He gave the example of China's 126,400 global patent applications for solar cells, which ranked first in the world. China's leading new-energy vehicle producers have more than 100,000 valid global patents, leading in the green and low-carbon industry.

China continues to expand the opening-up of the IP field to create a market-oriented, legal and international first-class business environment, according to Wang. 

A total of 115 the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries have applied for 253,000 patents in China during the past 10 years, with an average annual growth rate of 5.4 percent. As of the end of 2022, the number of valid foreign invention patents in China reached 861,000, a year-on-year increase of 4.5 percent, which fully reflects the recognition of foreign-invested enterprises in China's IP protection.

China will continue to adhere to the principles of openness, inclusiveness, balance and universal benefit, strengthen international exchanges and cooperation with other countries in the field of IP, promote the development of global IP governance in a more fair and reasonable manner, and allow innovation to benefit more people of all countries, Wang said. 

According to the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2023 released by the WIPO in September, China ranked 12th globally, with six indicators ranking first in the world. Three science and technology clusters - Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai-Suzhou - were among the world's top five. 

In addition, the GII identified 24 science and technology clusters in China, up from 21 in 2022, as the country is now home to the greatest number of science and technology clusters, said the WIPO.

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.