OnAugust29,Chinaunveiledthelatestrankingofits500largestprivateenterprises,withtelecomequipmentmanufacturerHuaweiande-commerce铿乺mSuningatopthelist.
Thelist,bytheAll-ChinaFederationofIndustryandCommerce,cameatthe2018SummitofChinaTop500PrivateEnterprisesheldinShenyang,northeastChina鈥檚LiaoningProvince.
Therevenuesoftheninelargestprivate铿乺msallexceeded300billionyuan($44billion)in2017.TheyincludeHuawei,Suning,AmerInternational,JD,WeiqiaoPioneeringGroup,LegendHoldings,Evergrande,GomeHoldingsandHengliGroup.
Ofthetop500privatecompanies,61铿乺mssawtheirrevenuessurpass100billionyuan($12.7bil-lion)lastyear,11morethanin2016.
EighteenofChina鈥檚private铿乺msalsomadethelistoftheworld鈥檚top500companies,comparedwith17in2016.
FinancialPartnership
TheUNEconomicCommissionforAfrica(ECA)forgedapartnershipwithChina鈥檚leading铿乶techcompanyAntFinancialinAugusttopromote铿乶ancialinclusiononthecontinent.
ECAExecutiveSecretaryVeraSongwestressedtheimportanceofdigital铿乶ancialinclusionplatformsforAfrica鈥檚futuredevelopmentandunderscoredthepositiveprospectsofworkinginpartnershipwithAntFinancial.
AntFinancialisanaf铿乴iateofe-commercegiantAlibabaGroupandaspecialistinonline铿乶ancialservices.
Digital铿乶ancialinclusionplatformscouldhelpAfricarealizetheglobalsustainabledevelopmentgoalsaswellasthecontinentalAgenda2063,anECAstatementquotedSongweassaying.
NotingthatAntFinancialrunsoneoftheworld鈥檚largestonlinepaymentplatforms,valuedat$150billion,SongwepointedoutthatAfricahasan鈥渙pportunitytoleapfrogtechnologyforsocial,铿乶ancialandpoliticalinclusion鈥漛yworkingwiththeChinesegiant.
AntFinancialCEOJingXiandongsaidthatthecompanyservesover650millionpeopleonadailybasisandisrecordingtremendoussuccessineffortstobridgethegapbetweentherichandthepoorinmanycountriessuchasIndiaandthePhilippines.
HesaidthathebelievesthecompanycanreplicateitssuccessinAfricasothat铿乶ancialinclusioncanbeenhancedonthecontinent.
XINHUAAirportintheSky
TheChongqingWushanAirportunderconstructiononAugust29.Dubbedthemostspectacularairportintheworld,itisexpectedtobecompletedbytheyear鈥檚endandoperationalinthe铿乺sthalfof2019.
ConsumerConfidence
China鈥檚consumercon铿乨enceremainedhighinthesecondquarteroftheyear,accordingtoaresearchreportbyglobalmeasurementanddataanalyticscompanyNielsen.
Thecountry鈥檚ConsumerCon铿乨enceIndex(CCI)stoodat113pointsbetweenAprilandJune,downtwopointsfromthepreviousquarter,butstillwellabovethebaselineof100thatdemarcatesoptimismandpessimism.
AndyZhao,PresidentofNielsenChina,sawaresilientChineseeconomydespiteamorecomplexglobaleconomicsituation.
鈥淭hestructureandproductionef铿乧iencyoftheeconomyaresteadilyoptimizing,andthetransformationandupgradingoftheeconomycontinuetoopennewdriversforgrowth.Thatlaidasolidfoundationforhigh-qualityeconomicdevelopment,鈥漢esaid.
Nielsen鈥檚CCImeasuresperceptionsoflocaljobprospects,personal铿乶anceandwillingnesstomakepurchases.
AllthreecomponentsoftheCCIremainedhighinthesecondquarter,withlocaljobprospectsclimbingsevenpointsfrom68pointsinthesameperiodlastyear.
Thewillingnesstospendincreasedfourpointsfrom56pointsayearearlier,whilepersonal铿乶anceinthesecondquarterstoodat68points.
Inthe铿乺stsevenmonthsoftheyear,China鈥檚retailsalesexpanded9.3percentyearonyear,comparedwith9.4-percentgrowthinthe铿乺sthalf,datashowed.
CleanPower
TheXionganNewAreainnorthChina鈥檚HebeiProvince鈥攁stateleveleconomiczonesetuplastyeartoreduceBeijing鈥檚non-essentialfunctions鈥攊saimingtorunon100-percentcleanpower.
Thearea,locatedaround100kmsouthwestofBeijing,willseeitsenergymixoptimizedandactasademonstrationhubforcleanheatinginnorthChina,saidGuoZhi,chiefeconomistwiththeNationalEnergyAdministration,duringaninternationalcleanheatingexhibitioninXionganonAugust25.
Naturalgas,togetherwithbiomass,geothermalandsolarenergy,willbeencouragedinXiongan,accordingtoXieQiuye,headoftheChinaElectricPowerPlanningandEngineeringInstitute.
Chinahasvowedtohavecleanenergygenerate50percentofwinterheatinginitsnorthernregionby2019.Thatwouldreplace74milliontonsofcoalequivalentayear.Thepercentagewillincreaseto70percentby2021,replacing150milliontonsofcoalequivalentannually.
Somelargestate-ownedenterpriseshavecommittedtosupportingtheconstructioninXiongan.
Sinopecsaidthatitwillincreaseinvestmentingeothermalenergyinthearea,whilePetroChinaandCNOOChavepromisedaplentifulsupplyofcleanenergy.
TheStateGridCorp.hasalreadyestablishedasubsidiarytofacilitategrid-planning.
Xionganwillinitiallycover100squarekmandlaterincorporateotherpartsofHebei鈥檚Xiongxian,RongchengandAnxincounties,eventuallytakingup2,000squarekm.
XINHUA
PickingtheWool
Customersperusecashmereproductsatthe2018ChinaSonidInternationalWoolFestivalinSonidRightBanner,northChina鈥檚InnerMongoliaAutonomousRegion,onAugust25.Theeventattractedover70exhibitorsfrombothChinaandMongolia.
ICBCCenter
TheIndustrialandCommercialBankofChina(ICBC)Yangonbranch,the铿乺stChinesecommercialbanktooperateinMyanmar,hasinaugurateditsnewcenter.
Atthecenter鈥檚openingceremonyonAugust24,ChineseAmbassadortoMyanmarHongLiangexpressedhishopesfortheICBCYangonbranchtobecomeoneofthemostpowerfulandef铿乧ientforeignbanksinMyanmar,callingforthepromotionof铿乶ancialandmonetarycooperationbetweenthetwocountriesandtheconstructionoftheChina-MyanmarEconomicCorridor.
DawMayToeWin,DirectorGeneraloftheForeignExchangeManagementDepartmentoftheCentralBankofMyanmar,pledgedtocontinuestrengtheningbankingsupervisionbyguidingforeignbankssuchasICBCinthecountrytocreateabetterregulatoryenvironmentforthedevelopmentofMyanmar鈥檚铿乶ancialindustry.
HeBiqing,CEOoftheICBCYangonbranch,saidthatthenewICBCcenterwillbringnew铿乶ancialserviceexperiencetocustomers.
TeaExports
SouthwestChina鈥檚GuizhouProvincehassetitselfthetargetofbecomingthecountry鈥檚largestteaexporterby2020byexporting50,000tonsannually.
Combiningtheecologicaladvantagesofhighaltitude,lowlatitude,andminimalsunshineandpollution,Guizhouwashometothecountry鈥檚largestareaofteacultivationattheendof2017with478,000hectares.
Theprovince鈥檚agriculturalcommissionunveiledplansonAugust27tosupportlocalteacompaniestoexpandexportstotheoverseasmarkets.
Meanwhile,Guizhouencouragesdomesticandoverseasteatrading铿乺mstosetupprocessingbasesandworkshopsintheprovincesoastoboostexports.
Finlays,asubsidiaryofJohnSwire&SonsLtd.,hasstartedconstructiononateaprocessingplantinthecountyofSinanintheprovince,withanannualprocessingcapacityofmorethan20,000tons.
Localauthoritieswilllaunchqualityinspectionsandseektoensurethat33,300hectaresofteaplantationmeetEuropeanstandards.
In2017,Guizhou鈥檚teaoutputstoodat327,000tonswithexportsreaching2,852.6tons.XINHUAKeepingItCool
AvillagerharvestsvegetablesinYaomoVillage,Guyuan,northwestChina鈥檚NingxiaHuiAutonomousRegion,onAugust27.
Inrecentyears,theGuyuanlocalgovernmenthasstrivedtodevelopthecultivationofcool-climate-adaptedvegetablesthroughamechanismthatcombinesplantingbases,cooperativesandfarmers.