Author: WuhuW

President Xi Jinping meets with US President Joe Biden in Bali, Indonesia, Nov 14, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

The first face-to-face meeting between the leaders of China and the United States in years is being viewed as significant for people around the world, according to officials and analysts in Bali, Indonesia.

President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden met in Bali on Monday on the sidelines of the 17th Group of 20 Summit and talked for about three hours. Xi said he looked forward to working together with Biden “in bringing China-US relations back to a track of healthy and stable growth to the benefit of our two countries and the world as a whole”.

The meeting of the two leaders has been noticed by people in Indonesia and around the world, and may have been a surprise to many, said Usman Kansong, director-general of information and public communication at the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Informatics.

Their bilateral meeting was “a symbol of how to solve our problems in the world together”, he said.

Michael Vatikiotis, a summit attendee and a senior advisor at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a private foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland, said the meeting itself was an achievement.

“It was an extremely important meeting, and probably the main outcome of the summit, in a sense that everyone is hoping for them to meet and address issues of concern,” said Vatikiotis, a writer, broadcaster and journalist in Asia for more than 35 years. “The main achievement is they agreed to engage on different issues at the senior official level.”

Hong Kong legislator Edward Leung Hei said that the meeting will allow Biden to gain a better understanding of China, and the Chinese path to modernization and peaceful development.

As history shows, Western countries realized modernization by the path of war, colonization and plunder, thus the Western world is seriously concerned that the development of China might threaten other countries’ interests, based on a zero-sum mentality, Leung said. “It’s of utmost importance for the world to learn that Chinese modernization is the modernization of ‘peaceful development’.”

Xi told the Biden team that China-US relations should not be a zero-sum game where one side outcompetes or thrives at the expense of the other, and the success of both nations should be seen as opportunities, instead of challenges, for each other.

Jameel Al Theyabi, editor of Saudi Gazette, said the Xi-Biden meeting is important and possibly everyone in the world is looking for a result. “It is very good for world peace,” he said.

“Everyone if you ask now in Bali, Indonesia or Saudi, or anywhere in the world will give you the same answer: It’s a right decision to shake hands, to talk and to negotiate, to have dialogue,” he said.

China and the US should lead the world in these initiatives and the US should rethink and withdraw its financial, trade and technology wars it started against China, said Hong Kong legislator Kennedy Wong Ying-ho in Bali.

Moreover, the US should “stop stirring up cross-Straits tension as it would be a futile effort to derail China’s peaceful development, which has contributed so much to the world’s growth in the past decades”.

Arsjad Rasjid, the host of B20 Indonesia and chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Indonesia is proud to welcome Xi to Bali for the G20 Summit.

“As we approach the Asian century, I believe that Indonesia, China and everyone around us will begin to see the world from a new perspective,” Rasjid said on Monday. “We will shift from a world driven by profit to a world driven by the need to create common prosperity.”

Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the National Bureau of Rural Revitalization announced the list of demonstration counties for national rural revitalization in 2022. Fanchang District is on the list, which is the only county (district) selected in Wuhu. 

In recent years, Fanchang has strove to find a unique road to rural revitalization. The district is building a series of national and provincial pilot demonstration areas, including the first batch of national agricultural modernization demonstration areas and the provincial digital rural pilot counties. In the provincial performance appraisal of implementing the rural revitalization strategy, Fanchang ranked first in the province in 2021. There are two national leading agricultural industrialization enterprises, eight provincial leading enterprises, 51 municipal leading enterprises, and 38 agricultural product processing enterprises above the designated size. The whole district has achieved the integration of water supply, power supply, gas supply, environmental sanitation and communication between urban and rural areas. It is the national pilot area for high-quality and balanced compulsory education. It has been rated as the national advanced village clean action county, the national comprehensive demonstration county for e-commerce into rural areas, and the improvement of rural environment has been supervised and encouraged by the provincial government. The district also has 3 national civilized villages and towns, 4 provincial civilized villages and towns, 75% of which are at or above the municipal level. The implementation rate of village rules and regulations is 100%. New features have been explored in rural governance. The per capita disposable income of rural residents in the region has increased by 9.6% in the past three years, reaching 29361 yuan in 2021, reaching the average level of the Yangtze River Delta.

According to reports, in the process of implementing the establishment of the National Demonstration County for Rural Revitalization, Fanchang District plans to initially implement 44 projects in three years, with a total investment of about 14.2 billion yuan, to ensure that the central government’s decisions on rural revitalization are fully implemented in Fanchang, and to establish a top promotion mechanism to achieve full coverage of rural revitalization instructors in 74 villages (agricultural communities), and select a group of secretaries who stick to their mission and shoulder their responsibilities with dedication.

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

From October 11 to 12, Wu Jinsong, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of Anhui Provincial Department of Science and Technology, led a delegation to Wuhu to inspect technological innovation and held a meeting. Vice Mayor Zhu Di‘e presided over the meeting.

After listening to the establishment of technological innovation system in Wuhu and the speeches of entrepreneurs’ representatives, Wu Jinsong emphasized that technological activities are economic activities, and only by highlighting the dominant position of enterprises can we speed up the construction of a higher level of technological innovation system. We should further change our thoughts and the working mode, focus on key links of technological innovation, and roll out policies on the allocation of innovation elements to stimulate the innovation vitality of enterprises. Technological innovation should be accompanied by institutional innovation. Efforts should be made to strengthen enterprises’ dominant position in technological innovation. We should boost the principal role of enterprises in innovation decision-making, innovation investment, talent introduction and achievement transformation, helping enterprises to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Science and technology departments at provincial and municipal levels should make joint efforts and facilitate technological innovation as the new driver and contributor for the high-quality development.

During his stay in Wuhu, Wu Jinsong came to Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. and the Institute of International Engineering Education of Anhui Polytechnic University to learn about the improvement of enterprise innovation capability and the implementation of the pilot reform of scientific and research findings in colleges and universities, and visited Xidian–Wuhu Research Institute, CETC Diamond Aircraft, Huaming Aviation, Haery Aviation and other enterprises.

Translated by Wang Mengxiao from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

BEIJING — The Communist Party of China (CPC) outlined China’s overall development objectives for the year 2035, according to a report submitted to the 20th CPC National Congress, which opened Sunday.

The report said China’s overall development objectives for the year 2035 are as follows:

— Significantly increase economic strength, scientific and technological capabilities, and composite national strength; substantially grow the per capita GDP to be on par with that of a mid-level developed country;

— Join the ranks of the world’s most innovative countries, with great self-reliance and strength in science and technology;

— Build a modernized economy; form a new pattern of development; basically achieve new industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization;

— Basically modernize the system and capacity for governance; improve the system for whole-process people’s democracy; build a law-based country, government, and society;

— Become a leading country in education, science and technology, talent, culture, sports, and health; significantly enhance national soft power;

— Ensure that the people are leading better and happier lives; bring per capita disposable income to new heights; substantially grow the middle-income group as a share of the total population; guarantee equitable access to basic public services; ensure modern standards of living in rural areas; achieve long-term social stability; make more notable and substantive progress in promoting the people’s well-rounded development and prosperity for all;

— Broadly establish eco-friendly ways of work and life; steadily lower carbon emissions after reaching a peak; fundamentally improve the environment; largely accomplish the goal of building a Beautiful China;

— Comprehensively strengthen the national security system and national security capabilities; achieve basic modernization of national defense and the armed forces.

After basically realizing modernization, the CPC will continue to work hard and build China into a great modern socialist country that leads the world in terms of composite national strength and international influence by the middle of the century, the report said.

The reporter learned from Chery Holding Group that in September, Chery sold 145380 cars, reaching an increase of 92.1% year on year and breaking the historical record of single month sales for three consecutive months.

According to the estimated data of China Automobile Association, the sales volume of the national automobile industry in September increased by 21.3% year on year. Chery has created a brilliant “Golden September” performance with a “running” posture that is four times the growth rate of the industry sales. Among the main passenger car brands of Chery Group, the sales volume of Chery Automobile in September was 112980, with a year-on-year growth of 112.6%; The sales volume of Xingtu Automobile in September was 7840, up 111.5% year on year, and it has formed three star products: Zhuifeng, Lingyun and Lanyue; Jetour Automobile sold 19018 cars in September, up 89.6% year on year.

In September, Chery sold 22185 new energy vehicles (including new energy passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles), a year-on-year increase of 135.8%; From January to September, 188539 vehicles were sold, up 190.7% year on year. After Chery’s new energy pure electric passenger vehicles created the top three market share of its own brands and the ninth largest sales volume of new energy vehicles in the world this year, a new milestone was added in September. On September 26, the newly upgraded Chery Ant was officially launched in the Wuhu factory, marking that Chery Ant became the only high-end pure electric vehicle in China that exceeded the sales volume of 300000 units.

Since entering the second half of the year, Chery Group has exceeded 100000 vehicles for the fourth consecutive month. At the same time as the sales volume climbed, “Technology Chery” accelerated its transition and seized the technical commanding height of the new track.

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

Photo taken on Oct 5, 2021 shows a decorative installation near the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), the main venue for the China International Import Expo (CIIE), in East China’s Shanghai. [Photo/Xinhua]

SHANGHAI — The fifth China International Import Expo, set to be held a month from now, is in its final preparation stage with foreign companies eager to gain access to more market opportunities.

The expo, to be held in Shanghai, is on schedule despite the recurring impact of COVID-19, and will showcase the country’s commitment to further opening up its massive market for shared growth.

As the fifth CIIE approaches, exhibits are arriving in Shanghai via various means. On Sept 20, the first shipment of inbound exhibits, with a declared value of 560 million yuan ($78.70 million), cleared customs at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

The China-Europe freight train has also become a popular choice for transportation among companies attending the CIIE, said Wang Jinqiu, chairman of Shanghai Oriental Silk Road Multimodal Transport, adding that this is the second year that the service has been used to deliver products to the CIIE in Shanghai.

According to Shanghai Customs, the peak of exhibit arrivals is expected to occur in October.

Shanghai Customs said it will continue to optimize the clearance process for exhibits and provide safe, convenient and efficient customs clearance services.

Sun Chenghai, deputy director of the CIIE Bureau said the work of inviting enterprises to participate in the fifth CIIE had been completed and positive progress is being made in terms of setting up exhibitions.

Thousands of miles away, Roy van den Hurk, general manager of Theland Global R&D at Milk New Zealand Dairy, is busy applying for his visa to attend the coming 2022 expo.

“China’s huge consumer market helps foreign trade enterprises like us to find opportunities in the green food industry and promote global economic recovery,” said van den Hurk, who has participated in the event three times before.

The expo has helped the New Zealand company to embark on the “fast track” of development in China, van den Hurk noted, as Theland products are now even available on the shelves of supermarkets in small counties in central and western China.

Data shows that more than 280 of the world’s top 500 enterprises and industry giants will participate in this year’s CIIE, with nearly 90 percent of the participants from last year also joining this year.

Will Song, global senior vice-president and China chairman at Johnson & Johnson, said that over the last four years the company had debuted dozens of products at the CIIE, and this year at the fifth expo it will unveil about 40 new products to China.

China’s Vice-Minister of Commerce Sheng Qiuping said the CIIE has given full play to its role as a window for building a cooperation platform for those engaged both at home and abroad, and has become a place for exhibitors to debut their new global products, cutting-edge technologies and innovative services.

BEIJING — China has ramped up its tax and fee incentives and supporting policies to enterprises, a move that has not only offered a “timely rain” to companies in financial drought but also served as a shot in the arm for the economy.

Official data from the State Taxation Administration showed that China’s tax refunds as well as tax and fee cuts and deferrals had exceeded 3.4 trillion yuan (about $478 billion) by Sept 20.

The total consists of approximately 2.21 trillion yuan worth of value-added tax credits that had been refunded to taxpayers, 591.6 billion yuan of tax and fee cuts, and 632.6 billion yuan of deferred tax and fee payments.

The combined tax and fee incentives have been vital in bailing out businesses in difficulty. A waste management firm based in Ji’an city of Jiangxi province in the east of China, for instance, had been seeing negative profit margins before May, according to the company’s financial chief Zhang Leshan.

However, after receiving a tax rebate of 10.48 million yuan in May and an exemption of 160,500 yuan that was refunded to its account, the company’s monthly profits have rebounded to positive territory and reached 2.86 million yuan.

Zhang also said that the company’s monthly operating costs have lowered 5.3 percent. “It is estimated that the company would see a 25-percent yearly increase in whole-year business revenue.”

Animal husbandry firm Zhonghong Sanrong Group Co Ltd enjoyed a tax refund totaling about 500,000 yuan in July.

“We used the money to purchase soybean pulp, brown rice and other raw materials for broiler feed. After three months, the chickens were sold at a good price and farmers have reaped a harvest,” said Sang Shujun, the legal representative of the company.

A survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that 90 percent of firms that received tax refunds since the policy was implemented believed that their cash flow had improved.

On top of these inclusive tax and fee incentives, an executive meeting of China’s State Council last week decided to temporarily defer payments of certain government-levied charges and deposits to further ease the burden on market entities, especially micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, self-employed households and manufacturing firms.

Li Xuhong, a senior researcher with the Beijing National Accounting Institute, said that the tax and fee policies implemented in 2022 mainly center on support for key enterprises, such as the sci-tech, manufacturing and micro, small and medium-sized firms, and aim to precisely “drip irrigate” market entities experiencing financial strain.

As policies and measures to stabilize the economy continue to take effect, and the negative effects of heatwaves wane, China’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector has bounced back to expansion territory, according to NBS figures.

The PMI for the manufacturing sector came in at 50.1 in September, above the boom-bust line of 50, and up from 49.4 in August.

Data showed that the confidence of manufacturing companies strengthened in September, with the sub-index for production and operation activity expectation standing at 53.4, up 1.1 points from the previous month.

“The foundations of economic recovery will be further consolidated, as supporting policies continue to take effect,” said Fu Linghui, an NBS official.

On September 30th, Shan Qiangqian, secretary of the CPC Wuhu municipal committee, and Ning Bo, deputy secretary of the CPC Wuhu municipal committee and mayor, held a meeting with Wang Chuanfang, vice president of BYD Co., Ltd., and witnessed the signing of the cooperation agreement between Wuwei municipal government and BYD on the new energy auto parts project. Municipal officials Zhang Dong, Hou Mingwen, Cai Yi and Wu Ruixin attended the meeting.

Shan Xiangqian said that as a leading enterprise in the new energy vehicles (NEVs) industry, BYD has a complete industrial chain and strong R&D and production capacity and is an important partner for Wuhu to develop new energy and intelligent networked vehicle industries. We will fully support BYD’s investment in industries and projects in Wuhu, provide high-quality development environment for the enterprise with efficient services. It is hoped that BYD and Wuhu will work together to promote the high-quality development of the new energy industry, creating a model of cooperation between the city and the enterprise.

Ning Bo said that BYD’s NEVs project is of great significance to the industrial development and urban construction of both Wuwei and Wuhu. We will make all-out efforts to improve the project services, ensure the flow of resources, and do everything necessary for the rapid advancement and early production of the project.

Wang Chuanfang said that Wuhu has unique geographical advantages and sound industrial environment, and is an ideal city for enterprises to achieve their development goals. BYD will focus on the ecological construction of the new energy industry, strengthen the flow of resources into Wuhu, promote complementary advantages of the industry, and strive to achieve mutually beneficial and win-win development.

It is learned that BYD plans to invest in the construction of a new energy passenger car parts and battery parts production base in Wuwei City, with a total investment of about 8 billion yuan. It is planned to start construction in October 2022 and is expected to be put into production in June 2023.

Translated by Wang Mengxiao from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

A smart cabin attracts visitors at a Chery event on Sept 16, 2022. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese carmaker Chery is to spend 100 billion yuan ($14.25 billion) in five years to sharpen its competitive edge in such fields as electrification and smart cabin features.

It will also build a network of six research facilities in China, North America, South America, Europe as well as Central Asia, employing over 20,000 engineers, said the carmaker.

The Wuhu, Anhui province-based company unveiled the plan, called Yaoguang 2025, on Friday, which involves 13 core technologies including vehicle platforms, smart driving and electrification.

The carmaker also presented a concept vehicle at the event, showcasing Chery’s ideas in the aspects.

Chery Chairman Yin Tongyue said the Yaoguang 2025 plan is a new effort for the company, marking the start of its transition into a global technology company.

As part of the plan, Chery is building three platforms for electric vehicles, including one for premium vehicles.

Yin said the company will launch a model in September 2023, which will rival Tesla’s products.

He said electrification will become a driving force of the company, adding that Chery’s NEV marque, now called iCar, will grow its sales to 1 million units.

Chery is one of the major Chinese carmakers. It sold 749,000 vehicles in the first eight months this year, up 30 percent year-on-year. The carmaker’s sales goal for this year is 1.5 million units.

“130,000 house purchase subsidy has received, I’m really happy!” As a real beneficiary of Wuhu’s talent policy, Mr. Ruan felt it hard to calm down for a long time after receiving the housing subsidy. It is reported that the first phase of housing subsidies for young talents in our city has been paid recently, and 803 people have received the first batch of housing subsidies.

This year, the city issued “Wuhu young talent house purchase subsidies issued implementation rules”. According to the detailed rules, since June 30, 2018, college graduates under 35 years old introduced by enterprises in the administrative region of our city (excluding central enterprises in Wuhu, provincial state-owned enterprises, and urban partner units shall implement according to relevant regulations) and continuously participate in social insurance lawfully, who do not have their own housing in Wuhu can enjoy housing purchase subsidy. Graduates with bachelor’s degree or above will be given a housing subsidy of 12% of the purchase price up to 200000 yuan. The first subsidy is 7% of the purchase price. The remaining 5% will be paid in equal amounts over five years. Graduates with junior college (including secondary vocational schools and technical colleges) will be given a housing subsidy of 10% up to 200000 yuan. The first subsidy is 5% of the purchase price. The remaining 5% will be paid in equal amounts over five years. Couples can enjoy a maximum of 400000 yuan.

The reporter learned from the Municipal Talent Group that the first batch of 1457 applications for housing subsidies for young talents in the city were accepted. After the joint review and confirmation of the Municipal Housing and Urban Rural Development Bureau, the Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the Municipal Self regulatory Bureau, the Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, the Municipal Taxation Bureau and other departments, the website of the Municipal Housing and Urban Rural Development Bureau and the Ziyunying talent service platform announced that the first batch of 803 people met the requirements. The first subsidy fund was 66.6447 million yuan, of which 34 couples enjoyed policy superposition. The second batch of 264 talents is expected to complete publicity and subsidy distribution before September 30.

Since last year, our city has accelerated the implementation of the main strategy of giving priority to talent development, vigorously promoted the “double recruitment and double introduction” project, launched the “Ziyunying Talent Plan”, took the lead in establishing a talent development group in the province, and made every effort to build a city that needs talents. Under the leadership of the Municipal Organization Department (Municipal Talent Office), the city’s talent work has achieved remarkable results. From January to August this year, 48000 college students were recruited to work and start businesses in Wuhu.

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government