Economy

China Unveils“Internet Plus”Action Plan to Fuel Growth

China on July 4 unveiled an “Internet Plus” action plan， aiming to integrate the Internet with traditional industries and fuel economic growth.

The notion of “Internet Plus” was brought up by Premier Li Keqiang in March this year while delivering the government work report.

Chinas “Internet Plus”action plan will combine mobile Internet， cloud computing， big data， and the Internet of Things with modern manufacturing to encourage the healthy development of e-commerce， industrial networks， and Internet banking， and to help Internet companies increase their international presence， Li said.

The campaign is very important in creating a new engine for economic growth， said the premier.

The action plan maps development targets and supportive measures for key sectors which the government hopes can establish new industrial modes by integrating with the Internet， including mass entrepreneurship and innovation， manufacturing， agriculture， energy， finance， public services， logistics， e-commerce， traffic， biology， and artificial intelligence.

Toulouse CCI， ICBC Ink Pact to Promote France-China Commercial Ties

On July 2 the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Toulouse （Toulouse CCI） and the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China （ICBC）， one of Chinas leading banks， signed an agreement to develop commercial relations between France and China.

According to the agreement， the Toulouse CCI will advise on investment projects for companies wishing to expand activities in China. The selected projects will then be referred to ICBC， which will be the financing body.

ICBC will establish a credit line amounting to 1 billion over the next five years to support the projects selected by Toulouse CCI， and also offer such services as providing information about financing tools and international markets， among others.

Jean-Michel Vernhes， chairman of the Management Board of Aeroport Toulouse-Blagnac（ATB）， said， “This partnership， which will facilitate links with China， will open up potential markets to local businesses. ATB will be actively involved in this cooperation and will act as a facilitator to develop exchanges between the two countries.”

Alain di Crescenzo， chairman of the Toulouse CCI， hailed the signing of the agreement， which will further the Toulouse CCIs commitment to the economic development of the region， as “an outstanding opportunity for our businesses.”

Chinese E-commerce Giant JD.com Launches Australian Mall

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com， Inc. （JD）， an online direct sales company， on June 29 launched its Australian Mall in Melbourne. As a new platform for Chinese consumers to buy authentic Australian products， JDs Australian Mall will focus on such commodity categories as nutrition and health care， food， and outdoor activities.

At the launching ceremony， Australian Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull encouraged Australian businesses to embrace the innovative platform JD.com offers where Australian products reach Chinese consumers in only two days.

Seeing great value in a multitude of Australian brands and products， JD Group CEO Richard Liu said it was a pity that the Australian brands were inhibited by the relatively small domestic market in Australia. Australian Mall on JD.com offers these Australian brands a market 70 times the size of the Australian market， according to Liu. “We hope JD.com can help the Australian brands achieve sustainable success，” he added.

This year， prior to the opening of the Australian Mall， JD started French， Korean， and Japanese malls in succession， in a move to rev up its global strategy. Liu revealed that before the end of the year， JD would open one foreign country mall a month.

A China-Australia Free Trade Agreement has been officially signed by both sides recently. Per the free trade pact， upon its coming into effect， 85.4 percent

Chinas “Belt and Road” Bonds Listed on Nasdaq Dubai

The Abu Dhabi branch of the Bank of China （BOC） held a market bell ringing ceremony for the issuance of the “Belt and Road” bonds on Nasdaq Dubai. The RMB 2 billion bonds would be listed on both the Nasdaq Dubai and the Singapore Exchange for two years. Around 25-30 percent of the current bond investors are from the Middle East.

Tian Jun， general manager of the BOCs Abu Dhabi branch， said that the United Arab Emirates （UAE）， an important country along the “Belt and Road，” is also a vital transportation hub and financial center of the Middle East. The BOC is obliged to support Chinas“Belt and Road” Initiatives and promote it in the region， Tian added. As part of the BOCs bond issuance package worth US $4 billion， the Abu Dhabi branchs RMB bond issuance would be of great significance for promoting the “Belt and Road” Initiatives and deepening China-UAE economic ties.

Recently， the BOC has issued“Belt and Road” bonds equivalent to US $4 billion respectively in Dubai， Singapore， Taiwan， Hong Kong， and London， as the first “Belt and Road” themed bonds in the international financial market， which also marks the largest-ever overseas bond issuance for the BOC.