Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

大家好，我是主持人李瑩亮。

Coming up on today’s program.

重點提要 

• China's manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than a decade in February;

• Finance Minister stressed that China’s local finances are mostly “stable.” 

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours 

中國經濟要聞

The official gauges of China’s factory, services and construction activities rebounded strongly in February, shaking off the impact of Covid after Beijing reopened the economy late last year.

China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 52.6 in February from January’s 50.1, said the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. The result marks the highest reading since April 2012, when it hit 53.5, and well exceeds the 50.5 expected by economists.

China's non-manufacturing PMI, which tracks activity in the services and construction sectors, continued to expand to 56.3 in February after 54.4 in January, indicating the fastest pace of growth since March 2021.

Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician with the NBS, attributed the improvement in economic activity to the accelerated resumption of work and production as well as the reopening of the business, as stimulus policy measures further take effect and the country gradually shakes off the COVID-19 impact.

Global markets cheered the big surprise in the PMI with Asian stocks reversing earlier losses, the offshore yuan perking up and oil rallying, as investors took a more optimistic view on China's economic prospects. The Chinese onshore yuan stood at 6.9325 against the U.S. dollar today while the offshore yuan strengthened 0.15 percent to 6.9480 against the greenback.

Markets also expect the annual two sessions, which kick off this weekend, will set economic targets and elect new top economic officials.

隨著穩經濟政策措施效應進一步顯現，疊加疫情影響消退等有利因素，企業復工復產、復商復市加快，我國經濟景氣水平繼續回升。2月官方制造業、非制造業PMI均高于臨界點，生產經營景氣水平繼續上升。

3月1日，國家統計局發布數據顯示，2月份中國制造業采購經理指數(PMI)繼續回升至52.6%，比上月上升2.5個百分點，并創下2012年5月以來新高；官方非制造業PMI上升至56.3，前值54.4。

從分類指數看，構成制造業PMI的5個分類指數均高于上月，調查的21個行業中有18個位于擴張區間，比上月增加7個，制造業景氣面繼續擴大。

“2月份，穩經濟政策措施效應進一步顯現，疊加疫情影響消退等有利因素，企業復工復產、復商復市加快，我國經濟景氣水平繼續回升?！眹医y計局服務業調查中心高級統計師趙慶河說。

產需兩端同步擴張，隨著春節假日因素和疫情影響消退，制造業企業生產恢復加快，市場需求繼續改善，生產指數和新訂單指數分別為56.7%和54.1%，高于上月6.9和3.2個百分點。

值得注意的是，當前各規模企業活力普遍提升，大、中、小型企業PMI分別為53.7%、52.0%和51.2%，其中中型企業PMI和小型企業PMI分別較上月上升3.4個和4個百分點，都在連續多月運行在50%以下后回到擴張區間，顯示中小企業連續下行態勢有所扭轉。

市場預期繼續改善，生產經營活動預期指數為57.5%，高于上月1.9個百分點，升至近12個月來高點，企業信心繼續增強。

非制造業恢復態勢良好，分行業看，建筑、運輸、郵政、住宿、租賃及商務服務等行業商務活動指數位于60.0%以上高位景氣區間，服務業商務活動指數為55.6%，比上月上升1.6個百分點。

分析認為，2月處于春節后，疫情高峰期過后，國內處于復工復產、復商復市階段，國內經濟活動恢復較快，市場預期也隨之提升。但是市場需求不足問題仍較突出，我國經濟恢復基礎尚需鞏固，采購經理指數后續走勢有待進一步觀察。

• China’s local governments were mostly financially stable last year, Finance Minister Liu Kun said in a briefing on Wednesday, adding that fiscal conditions will likely improve in 2023. He vowed that Beijing would allow them to sell a “reasonable” amount of special bonds to support investment. Liu said that the decline in land sale income had only a limited impact on finances, given that a small portion of that income was set aside for use in their general budget expenditures. The amount of funds that the central government has transferred to local regions in recent years has also grown quickly, Liu added, effectively making up for any shortfall. Liu added the overall level of government investment wouldn’t decline. Meanwhile, the ministry will fully expand domestic demand by boosting consumption, with measures including supporting trade-in of home appliances and continuing tax exemption for NEVs purchases this year.

  財政部回應賣地收入減少疊加債務集中到期壓力：3月1日，國新辦舉行“權威部門話開局”系列主題新聞發布會，財政部部長劉昆表示，2022年地方財政運行總體平穩，隨著疫情防控政策優化調整，以及穩經濟一攬子政策和接續措施持續發力顯效，今年經濟有望總體回升，地方財政狀況預計逐步向好。關于土地出讓收入問題，土地出讓收入列地方的政府性基金預算，是地方政府性基金預算的主體。去年雖然出現了下降的情況，但對地方一般公共預算支出的影響是可控的。劉昆表示，關于債務集中到期的壓力問題，我國法定債務的負債率約為50%左右，在全世界都是比較低的。中國地方政府的債務分布不均勻，我們已督促有關地方切實承擔主體責任，抓實化解政府債務風險，牢牢守住不發生系統性風險的底線。同時，地方40%左右的財力來自中央對地方的轉移支付，過去三年，中央對地方轉移支付年均增長了9.3%，有效彌補了本級收入的不足。促消費方面，財政部副部長許宏才表示，財政部門將全面落實擴大內需戰略，圍繞更好發揮消費基礎性作用。積極完善政策措施，鼓勵有條件的地方通過現有的資金渠道對家電“以舊換新”、綠色智能家電下鄉等予以支持。對于購置期在2023年的新能源汽車繼續免征車輛購置稅。

• China’s urban employment fell for the first time in six decades last year and per capita spending also marked a rare decline, the new data from the NBS showed yesterday. The number of China's urban jobs dropped by 8.4 million to 459.31 million, the first drop since 1962. Per capita spending fell 0.2 percent in real terms, with spending made by urban residents down 1.7 percent, while retail sales also declined by 0.2 percent. 

  城鎮就業人員60年來首次減少：2022年我國城鎮就業人員比2021年減少了842萬。2月28日，國家統計局發布了《2022年國民經濟和社會發展統計公報》。公報顯示，年末全國就業人員73351萬人，其中城鎮就業人員45931萬人，占全國就業人員比重為62.6%，而2021年城鎮就業人員為46773萬。這是自1962年以來，我國城鎮就業人員首次減少。此外，全年全國居民人均消費支出24538元，比上年增長1.8%，扣除價格因素，實際下降0.2%。其中城鎮居民人均消費支出30391元，實際下降1.7%。

Moving on to regional highlights

區域觀察

• Chinese provinces and regions have accelerated the construction of major projects ahead of this year's two sessions, with the total amount of investment that has been made public by 18 provinces and regions reaching nearly 10 trillion yuan, media reported on Monday, with some regions yet to disclose these figures. 

  18省今年重大項目投資近10萬億：最近，各地密集發布重大項目清單和推進重大項目集中開工。據媒體梳理統計，現在已經18個省份明確2023年重大項目年度投資9.65萬億，接近10萬億。另外還有一些省份沒有公布投資金額。

• The metro line connecting Suzhou in Jiangsu province with neighboring Shanghai has started trial operation with no passengers on board. The Suzhou Metro Line 11, connected to the Shanghai Metro Line 11, began its first tests today and will start trial operation with passengers in the first half of the year, according to the government of Kunshan in Jiangsu.

  上海蘇州即將實現地鐵跨省出行：根據昆山發布消息，2月26日，蘇州軌道交通11號線項目工程驗收合格，初步具備試運行條件，3月1日進行載重不載人試運行，年中進行開通初期運營。也就是說，2015年延伸到昆山的上海地鐵11號線，即將與蘇州地鐵聯通，上海、蘇州兩地居民將可乘坐地鐵實現跨城出行。

Greater Bay Area, Greater future

新使命，大未來

• Shenzhen has further eased rules for property purchases and lowered the age threshold for skilled workers seeking cheap public homes in the city. The city's housing and construction bureau said it will provide 2,279 homes in the first batch of social security housing for talents this year. The homes are usually priced at 60 percent of the current market rate and for the new batch, the age limit for single applicants has been lowered to 30 from 35 years. Also, spouses and minor children without a hukou or household registration in the city can be "joint applicants" under certain conditions.

  深圳放寬人才房申購條件：2月28日，深圳市2023年首批可售型人才房發布配售通告。認購本批次住房，按照申請家庭資格條件分為第一隊列和第二隊列，第二隊列申請條件較前批次人才房有所放松，具體體現為：一是降低了未婚購買可售人才房的年齡限制門檻，由35周歲下調為30周歲；二是放寬了對共同申請人的戶籍要求，主申請人為深戶，非深戶的孩子和配偶，在一定條件下可以作為共同申請人。

• The 133rd session of the China Import and Export Fair, known as Canton fair, is scheduled to fully resume its offline activities on April 15 after three years. The fair will include a venue expansion for the first time, with the accumulated exhibition area increased from 1.18 million square meters to 1.5 million square meters, with over 30,000 enterprises participating, according to the organizer yesterday.

  廣交會全面恢復線下實展：2月28日，第133屆廣交會推介會上主辦方表示，本屆廣交會以高質量發展為主題，全面恢復實體展，擬線上線下同步于4月15日開幕。本屆廣交會將首次啟用四期展館，展覽面積由過去的118萬平方米擴大到150萬平方米，規模再創新高。3萬多家企業參展，擁有制造業單項冠軍、國家級高新技術企業等稱號的優質企業超過5000家，參展質量顯著提升。 

• A petrochemical project of PetroChina, the country's leading oil and gas producer, has become fully operational in southern province of Guangdong this week. The project, with a total investment of 65.4 billion yuan, processes 20 million tons of crude oil per year, while producing 1.2 million tons of ethylene products and 2.6 million tons of paraxylene. As a key project to support the Greater Bay Area strategy, the project is capable of producing a full range of petrochemical products, including more than 20 kinds of oil products and 200 kinds of chemical products.

  中石油654億煉化一體化項目廣東投產：2月28日中石油消息，中石油廣東石化一體化項目打通全流程并全部產出合格產品，實現一次開車成功，進入全面生產階段。該項目年煉油2000萬噸，年產120萬噸乙烯、260萬噸二甲苯。廣東石化煉化一體化項目總投資654億元，是中石油一次性投資規模最大的項目，也是其首個世界級煉化一體基地。項目投產后，預計在華南地區每年可增加250萬噸合成樹脂產品供應，將降低粵港澳大灣區家電、電子等產業在化工原料方面的對外依存度。

Next on industry and company news

產業及公司新聞

• Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd said its chairman Yeung Kwok Keung, 68, had tendered his resignation because of his age and handed over China's largest developer by sales to his daughter Yang Huiyan, who has been co-chairman since 2018. The developer's Hong Kong-listed shares jumped over 7 percent in morning trading. Yeung also resigned as executive director, with both changes effective today.

  碧桂園正式完成交班：3月1日早間，碧桂園在港交所公告，公司主席及執行董事楊國強因年齡原因提出辭任公司主席及執行董事職務，2023年3月1日起生效。楊國強辭任后以特別顧問的形式繼續參與公司經營。公司聯席主席楊惠妍已接任為主席，并獲委任為公司提名委員會主席、企業管治委員會主席、環境、社會及管治委員會主席、執行委員會主席，以及薪酬委員會成員，自2023年3月1日起生效，并將繼續擔任本公司的執行董事。

• Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies said the 5.5-generation technology standard for broadband mobile networks will bring a 10-fold increase in network performance over 5G in the recent 2023 World Mobile Communication Conference held in Barcelona, Spain, when Huawei showcased industry progress in the 5.5G era. The company said services with both immersive and interactive experiences will become commonplace, and it expects that the number of online users of such services will exceed 1 billion, a 100-fold increase.

  華為稱5.5G將帶來10倍網絡性能提升：2023年世界移動大會(MWC23)于2月27日至3月2日在西班牙巴塞羅那舉行。展會期間，華為展示了5.5G時代的5大主要特征，即10Gbps體驗、全場景物聯、通信感知一體、L4級別自動駕駛網絡、綠色ICT。華為表示，5.5G時代通過技術創新，相比目前的5G能力，將給運營商帶來10倍的網絡性能提升，并助力運營商開辟5大商業新前沿，撬動100倍商業新機會。

• Guangzhou Shipyard International Co Ltd, a unit of State-owned China State Shipbuilding Corp, said on Tuesday that it has completed building work of the world’s first double-ended roll-on roll-off hybrid passenger ship. The deluxe cruise ship built for UK’s P&O Ferries will leave Guangzhou for Europe within the week, the shipbuilder said. The hybrid ship will be powered by large-capacity batteries, and mainly sail between the Port of Dover in the UK and the Port of Calais in France.

  全球首艘油電混動雙頭豪華客滾船啟航：2月28日，由中國船舶集團旗下廣船國際為英國P&O Ferries公司打造的全球首艘大容量電池混動雙頭豪華客滾船——1500客/3658米車道豪華客滾船首制船舉行啟航儀式暨媒體開放日活動。之后這艘船將投入到英吉利海峽運營，主要往返于英國多佛港和法國加萊港。

• Chinese NEV giant BYD will launch a new electric car brand this year. According to sources, the marque’s first model aims to compete with Mercedes-Benz’s G-Class SUV. The new brand, internally dubbed “F,” will take on overseas luxury brands BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi, media reported yesterday. The F brand will develop different types of auto products with their own characteristics to meet diversified needs based on BYD’s technological accumulation, BYD said earlier.

  比亞迪年內將推全新豪華品牌：2月28日媒體報道，比亞迪預計在2023年內發布專業個性化全新品牌（內部代號為“F品牌”），未來產品矩陣將涵蓋跑車、越野、轎跑等多個品類。其中，首款產品將聚焦越野領域，整體性能上對標奔馳大G，將于年內推出。比亞迪專業個性化全新品牌整體價格定位將比肩BBA（寶馬、奔馳、奧迪）等豪華汽車品牌，主打多品類、獨特性的專業級新能源車型。

Earnings reports express

財報速遞

• CanSino Biologics and BGI Genomics, two Chinese firms that went from strength to strength during the height of the pandemic, have posted disappointing results for last year as demand for Covid-19 vaccines and test kits plunge amid the lifting of the country's Zero-Covid policy. CanSino logged a net loss of 902 million yuan in 2022, a big turnaround from the net profit of 1.9 billion yuan a year earlier. Revenue sank 75.9 percent to 1 billion yuan, as sales of its jabs tumbled. BGI expects net profit to plummet 44.4 percent to 812 million yuan as the price of testing reagents keeps falling. Revenue is likely to climb 5.3 percent to 7.1 billion yuan, around half of which is from its PCR tests.

  康希諾、華大基因凈利暴跌：2月28日，康希諾發布2022年度業績快報，公告顯示，2022年度營業總收入為103459.54萬元，比上年同期下滑75.94%；2022年凈虧損9.02億元，上年同期凈利潤19.14億元?？迪ＶZ稱，報告期內新冠疫苗需求量同比大幅下降，市場競爭不斷加劇，公司新冠疫苗產品銷售收入大幅下降。而華大基因2月27日晚也發布了2022年業績快報，營收71.26億元，同比增長5.32%；凈利潤8.1億元，同比下降44.42%。華大基因表示，利潤下降主要因市場競爭不斷加劇，新冠核酸檢測服務及試劑單價持續下降，以及新冠檢測需求大幅下降。

• China’s rising NEV producer Nio reported its fourth quarter deliveries to over 40,000, capping the full year at 122,486, an increase of 34 percent from 2021, the carmaker said in its financial results late Wednesday. Car sales in 2022 stood at some 45.5 billion yuan, up 37 percent year on year, and drove total revenue to 49.3 billion yuan, while it net loss attributable to shareholders expanded by 38 percent yearly to 14.6 billion yuan. Nio also predicted deliveries for the first quarter of 2023 to be between 31,000 and 33,000 vehicles, with revenues standing at 10.6 billion to 11.5 billion yuan.

  蔚來2022年度總營收創新高：3月1日，蔚來發布2022年第四季度及全年財報。蔚來四季度營收160.6億元，同比增長62.2%，連續11個季度正增長，全年總營收達492.7億元，同比增長36.3%，均創新高。2022年全年，歸屬于普通股股東的凈虧損為145.594億元，同比擴大37.7%。2023年Q1交付指引為3.1萬-3.3萬臺，營收指引為106.2億元-115.4億元。

Switching gears to financial news

金融市場消息

• The Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SSE) and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) online on Tuesday, saying they will explore and promote multi-level cooperation in the areas of depositary receipt connectivity business, index product development, cross-border investment and financing services and market cultivation and promotion.

  深交所倫交所簽署合作備忘錄：2月28日，深交所與倫敦證券交易所集團(下稱倫交所)通過線上方式簽署雙方合作諒解備忘錄。深交所與倫交所在本次備忘錄中明確，將在互聯互通存托憑證業務、指數和產品開發、跨境投融資服務、市場培育推廣等方面探索推進多層次合作。在兩國監管機構的統籌指導下，雙方交易所正穩步推進“深倫通”項目，有序開展互聯互通存托憑證業務和技術準備，支持企業積極利用兩個市場、兩種資源融資發展。 

• China Aoyuan Group, a Chinese real estate developer that is restructuring its debt, said that some of its creditors have agreed to delay bond repayments. A provisional group of creditors holding about 20 percent of Aoyuan’s outstanding bond principal agreed to the company’s debt repayment proposal, the firm said in a statement late yesterday. Aoyuan has 12 outstanding US dollar bonds worth about USD3.5 billion, five of which were due last year.

  奧園境外債權人同意“暫緩償債”：2月28日晚，中國奧園在港交所公告宣布，已經與部分主要境外債權人達成了協議，后者原則上同意建議暫緩償債安排，該部分債權人約占境外優先票據未償還本金額的20%。據奧園披露，其目前有12筆美元債，票面利率在4.2%-8.5%，合計約34.5億美元，其中有5筆在2022年到期。

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

股市收盤情況

• Chinese mainland and Hong Kong stocks rallied on Wednesday as China’s factory activity surged to a decade high last month. The benchmark Shanghai Composite gained 1 percent to top 3300 points, and the Shenzhen Component rose 1.1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 4.2 percent to above 20,000 points, while the TECH index soared 6.6 percent.

  A股港股全面大漲：周三A股震蕩走高，三大指數均小幅上漲迎3月開門紅，滬指站上3300點，創階段收盤新高。截至收盤，滬指漲1%，深成指漲1.11%，創業板指漲0.61%。數字經濟全面爆發。兩市全天成交額9189億元，北向資金凈買入70億元。港股高開高走，恒指收漲4.21%，恒生科技指數收漲6.64%。

Biz Word of the Day

財經詞匯劃重點

• Debt restructuring is a process used by companies, individuals, and even countries to avoid the risk of defaulting on their existing debts, such as by negotiating lower interest rates. Debt restructuring provides a less expensive alternative to bankruptcy when a debtor is in financial turmoil, and it can work to the benefit of both borrower and lender.

  債務重組，是指在不改變交易對手方的情況下，經債權人和債務人協定或法院裁定，就清償債務的時間、金額或方式等重新達成協議的交易。也就是說，只要修改了原定債務償還條件的，即債務重組時確定的債務償還條件不同于原協議的，均作為債務重組。

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI 

Sound Editor: Stephanie LI

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni

Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.

Presented by SFC

編委:  于曉娜

策劃、編輯：李艷霞 

播音：李瑩亮

撰稿：李瑩亮

音頻制作：李瑩亮

設計：鄭文靜、廖苑妮

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