China plans to build world-class advanced industrial cluster in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on Tuesday.

The region’s coordinated industrial development will be improved significantly by 2025, according to the plan.

The region will focus on developing high-end, smart and green industries and advanced manufacturing.

 

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Chinese mainland fell 3.3% from a year earlier to $73.5 billion in the first four months of the year, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

Meanwhile the country’s non-financial outbound direct investment rose 17.6% to $42.19 billion.

FDI in actual use expanded 2.2% from a year earlier to 499.46 billion yuan in the same period.

China’s non-financial ODI in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative rose 9% year on year. 

China on Sunday issued guidelines for building a basic elderly care system by 2025.

Promoting the building of the basic elderly care system is part of national strategy to actively respond to population ageing and achieve equalisation of public services, said the guidelines.

The guidelines require all provinces to implement a list of basic elderly care services based on factors including economic and social development levels and financial situation.

Services provided by the system include material assistance, nursing and care-giving.

The system should follow the principles of meeting essential needs and be universally accessible.

China will continue to welcome US companies to develop in the country, said China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao at a seminar with US business executives.

Wang said China’s push for high-level opening-up will provide more opportunities for foreign companies including US ones to develop in the country.

Wang is visiting the US on May 25-26 and is scheduled to meet with US commerce secretary and trade representative.

The consumer price index in the UK rose 8.7% in April, down from 10.1% in March, official data showed on Wednesday.

The easing of inflation mainly reflected prices changes in the housing and household services division particularly for gas and electricity, said the Office for National Statistics in a statement.

The consumer prices index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) rose by 7.8% in the 12 months to April 2023, down from 8.9% in March.

Electricity and gas prices contributed 1.42 % to the fall in annual inflation in April while food and non-alcoholic beverage prices continued to rise in April and contributed to high annual inflation.

Africa’s GDP is set to expand in 2023 and 2024 but that of South Africa will drop, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said on Wednesday.

Africa’s GDP is projected to grow 4% this year and 4.3% in 2024, the bank said in its annual African Economic Outlook on Wednesday.

Growth in Southern Africa is set slow to 1.6% this year due to poor economic performance in South Africa.

 

//

 

France unveils plan to cut carbon emissions by 50% by 2030

 

 

France unveiled a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions to reach its goal of a reduction of 50% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, according to reports by French media.

The plan detailed targets of reductions for different sectors of the economy, ranging from the transport industry to households.

The plan includes speeding up the transition to electric cars and switching freight from road to rivers.

 

Global debt rose by $8.3 trillion in the first quarter to a near-record high of $305 trillion and the rising debt service costs prompted concerns about the use of leverage in the financial system, according to a report by the Institute of International Finance.

Global debt is now $45 trillion higher than its pre-pandemic level and is expected to continue increasing rapidly, the IIF said in its quarterly Global Debt Monitor.

“With financial conditions at their most restrictive levels since the 2008-09 financial crisis, a credit crunch would prompt higher default rates and result in more ‘zombie firms’ — already approaching an estimated 14% of U.S.-listed firms,” the IIF said. 

 

Singapore’s economy grew at an annualised rate of 0.4% in the first quarter of the year, data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) showed on Thursday.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, the economy contracted 0.4%.

MTI expected the economy to grow by 0.5-2.5% in 2023, “with growth likely to come in at around the mid-point of the range”.