PHASE-ONE DEAL SIGNED

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He， head of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue， and U.S. President Donald Trump hold up the signed China-U.S. phase-one economic and trade agreement during a ceremony at the White House in Washington， D.C. on January 15.

In a message read out by Liu， Chinese President Xi Jinping said the conclusion of the agreement is good for China， the United States and the whole world.

In the next step， the two sides need to implement the agreement in real earnest and optimize its positive impact， so as to make even greater progress in China-U.S. trade and economic cooperation， the Chinese president said.

Battle in the Wild

A rider tames horses in the snow-covered grassland in Xilinhot， Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in north China， on January 12.

Stable Employment

The job market remained stable with the registered urban unemployment rate standing at 3.62 percent at the end of 2019， well below the governments annual target of 4.5 percent， offi cial data showed on January 14.

Lu Aihong， a spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security （MHRSS）， said at a press conference that 13.52 million new urban jobs were created last year， much higher than the 11-million target.

Jobs for college graduates and migrant workers have been particularly expanded， he said.

Stable growth of the job market can be attributed to employmentboosting policies， and Chinas expanding economic growth and optimized industrial structure that have been creating new job opportunities and new forms of employment， MHRSS offi cial Zhang Ying said.

Zhang said the job market would remain generally stable in 2020.

Efforts will be made to implement the policy of prioritizing employment， and to promote more adequate employment with higher quality， according to the ministry.

One-China Principle

China opposes all forms of offi cial ties between Taiwan and countries that have diplomatic relations with China， the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on January 12.

Spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks after senior offi cials in some countries that have diplomatic ties with China， including the U.S.， the UK and Japan， congratulated Tsai Ing-wen for winning Taiwans leadership election.

The election in Taiwan is a local Chinese affair， Geng said， stressing that China deplores and fi rmly opposes these countries violation of the one-China principle by making such a move， and has lodged solemn representations with each of them.

The Taiwan question concerns Chinas core interests， Geng said.

China urges the countries to earnestly abide by the one-China principle， refrain from having any offi cial ties or exchanges with Taiwan， deal with Taiwan-related issues properly and with caution， and avoid sending any wrong signals to the “Taiwan independence” forces， the spokesperson said.

He added that these countries should take concrete actions for the peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Straits and strive to uphold their relations with China.

Virus Source

The World Health Organization（WHO） said on January 12 that China had shared the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus in the latest outbreak in Wuhan， Hubei Province in central China， which is of great importance for developing specifi c diagnostic kits.

WHO said it had received further detailed information from Chinas National Health Commission， which suggested that the outbreak was associated with exposure at a seafood market in Wuhan， a major domestic and international transport hub.

It added that the quality of ongoing investigations and the response measures implemented in Wuhan are reassuring.

The international health group also confi rmed that respiratory pathogens such as infl uenza， avian infl uenza， adenovirus， severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus were ruled out as the cause.

While investigations are still under way to assess the full extent of the outbreak， WHO does not recommend any specifi c health measures for travelers， advising against any travel or trade restrictions on China based on the information currently available.

The cluster of the novel coronavirus was initially reported on December 31， 2019. Local authorities have so far confi rmed 41 cases with the infection preliminarily diagnosed in Wuhan， of whom seven are severely ill. The only death recorded was of a patient with other underlying health conditions.

Service Requirements

The fi rst set of mandatory national standards in the fi eld of elderly care have been rolled out， according to the State Administration for Market Regulation.

It outlines the required qualif ciation， assessment of safety risks and management of organizations in the industry， said Tian Shihong， deputy head of the administration， at a press briefi ng on January 13.

It also requires improving the training of caregivers for the elderly and the management of pension organizations， including making emergency response plans.

Next， China will speed up the formulation of standards on home and community-based elderly care and long-term care services， and bring them in line with international standards， according to Tian.

By the end of 2018， China had about 249 million people aged 60 and above， the largest elderly population in the world， and had set up 163，800 elderly care institutions and facilities， offering 7.46 million beds.

Game Challenge

More than 300 teams from around the world have signed up to participate in the ASC Student Supercomputer Challenge 2020（ASC20）， according to the organizing committee.

The events launch ceremony was held in Beijing on January 10， while the preliminaries started on January 6 and will conclude on February 28. The fi nals will take place in Shenzhen， Guangdong Province in south China， on April 25-29.

The competition will include a cutting-edge quantum computing competition for the f rist time， where classical supercomputers will be used to complete quantum comput- ing simulations and train artifi cial intelligence （AI） models to answer English test questions， according to the Inspur Group， Chinas leading cloud computing and big data service provider and sponsor of the ASC20.

The annual ASC Student Supercomputer Challenge is the worlds largest supercomputing contest for college students initiated by China in 2012， and has since attracted more than 8，500 students from all over the world.

Teaching Inheritance

A child practices painting at a cultural center in Cixi， Zhejiang Province in east China， on January 13. Over 20 primary school students took part in the activity to promote local intangible cultural heritage art.

PM2.5 Drop

The average density of fi ne particulate matters （PM2.5） in Beijing fell to 42 micrograms per cubic meter in 2019.

The fi gure was released in the government work report delivered on January 12 at the Third Session of the 15th Beijing Municipal Peoples Congress.

Beijing has sped up efforts against air pollution by gradually bringing down the concentration of particulate matters in the air.

Law enforcement was enhanced on mobile pollution sources. Over 28，000 heavy-duty diesel trucks were under real-time monitoring. More than 3.1 million checks were done on such trucks last year.

The Yangtze River Economic Belt consists of nine provinces and two municipalities that cover roughly one fi fth of China. It has a population of 600 million and generates more than 40 percent of Chinas GDP.

Record Time

Train crew members welcome passengers during the launch ceremony of the Fuxing （Rejuvenation） bullet train at the Panzhihua South Railway Station in Sichuan Province， southwest China， on January 9. The CR200J Fuxing bullet trains link Panzhihua and Kunming in Yunnan Province， southwest China， slashing travel time between the two cities from about fi ve and a half to two hours.

Chinese Bonds

Overseas investors increased their holding of Chinese bonds as China opened up its fi nancial sector， offi cial data showed.

Overseas institutional investors bought bonds worth 3.2 trillion yuan （$461.4 billion） in 2019 and sold bonds worth 2.1 trillion yuan（$304.8 billion）， resulting in a net increase of 1.1 trillion yuan （$159.7 billion） in holdings， according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

As China opens its fi nancial sector， its bond market has become an important part of global asset allocation， said Li Yang， Chairman of the National Institution for Finance and Development.

Chinese bonds are relatively undervalued in the global bond market and overseas institutions would continue to add them at the right time， a report by investment bank CICC said.

Vehicle Sales

Growth in the domestic passenger vehicle sales is expected to reenter the expansion territory after a decline in 2019 thanks to a more stable market and favorable policies.

The retail sales of passenger vehicles went down 7.4 percent year on year in 2019， compared with a 3-percent drop in 2018， to some 20.69 million units， according to the China Passenger Car Association（CPCA） on January 9.

Although month-on-month growth in December 2019 reached 11.1 percent， the reading is still among the lowest in history， the CPCA said.

However， the association predicts a 1-percent year-onyear growth for sales to reach 21 million units in 2020 as manufacturers gear up production and the wholesale sector saw faster growth.

In December 2019， the output of passenger cars reached 2.1 million， up 3.5 percent year on year and a consecutive growth from November 2019. Inventory was reduced by 250，000 units in 2019， compared with 150，000 in 2018.

“The foundation for positive growth in Chinas auto market is solid，” the association said in an analysis on its website.

After 18 years of growth in the fast lane， the Chinese car market has accumulated a large population of car owners. Faster upgrades in products and technology and growing appetite for replacing their cars have created favorable conditions for healthy sales growth， the CPCA said.

Shanghai Boom

Foreign capital in Shanghai achieved a new high in 2019： $19.05 billion， up 10.1 percent year on year， the municipal government said on January 10.

An average of over $52 million of foreign capital was invested in Shanghai daily. In 2019， 50 regional headquarters of foreign-funded multinational companies and 20 foreign-funded research and development （R&D） centers landed in Shanghai.

In total， the regional headquarters of 720 foreign-funded multinational companies， as well as 461 foreign-funded R&D centers had landed in Shanghai by the end of 2019， as the citys headquarters economy took off.

Business services continued to lead the city in attracting foreign investment， while information services， trade， fi nancial services and real estate achieved balanced development. Science and technology services continued to be the fastestgrowing industry.

A series of opening-up policies and business environment improvement contributed to investment growth， according to the local government. The Foreign Investment Law， which went into effect on January 1， is expected to stimulate the market.

Sixty foreign investment projects worth over $7.3 billion were signed on January 10 at a ceremony organized by the municipal government.

Organic Growth

A worker checks endives in Bazhou， Hebei Province in north China， on January 9. Bazhou promotes an organic endive cultivation and processing center with advanced technologies. The center use no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. The products are mainly exported to Japan and the Republic of Korea through contract farming.

QR Code Payment

Smartphone payment services that use QR code technology became more prevalent in China in 2019， according to a report by popular social media platform WeChat.

Over 50 million individual businesses used WeChat Pay， one of the two major third-party payment platforms in China， accounting for nearly 80 percent of all domestic payments.

The number of retail transactions using WeChat Pay surged 62 percent year on year.

Taking orders through QR codes has become trendy at restaurants， with 53 percent of diners paying bills through WeChat Pay.

The report also said an increasing number of consumers used WeChat to hail taxis， buy scenic spot tickets and book hotels.

WeChat saw more than 1.15 billion monthly active accounts in 2019， increasing by 6 percent from the same period in 2018. Investment Drop Chinese investments in North America and Europe hit a nineyear low in 2019， according to a report from global law fi rm Baker McKenzie and independent research provider Rhodium Group released on January 8.

Chinese investors completed deals worth $19 billion in North America and Europe in 2019， representing the lowest level since 2010 and 83 percent down from the peak of $107 billion in 2017， the report said.

Chinese investment in North America fell by 27 percent to $5.5 billion in 2019， the lowest level since 2009， while in Europe it fell by 40 percent to $13.4 billion in 2019， the lowest since 2013.

Chinas outbound investment continues to be weighed down by a number of factors including restrictions on outbound investment from Beijing， strengthened regulatory reviews in the United States and Europe， slowing growth and lower liquidity in the Chinese economy， and geopolitical tensions， according to the report.

However， easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China， steps to liberalize the inbound foreign direct investment policy in China and more liquidity in the Chinese economy will lay the foundations for a potential rebound in Chinese outbound investment in 2020， the report said.

“Several rounds of policy liberalizations by the Chinese Government have abolished previous equity thresholds for foreign investors and driven deals in sectors such as automotive and fi nancial services. This in turn helps set the scene for the return of higher levels of Chinese outbound investment in the coming years，”said Michael DeFranco， global head of merger and acquisition （M&A） at Baker McKenzie.

The report also said a phase one trade deal between China and the United States could help put both countries back on a more rational track of economic relations and in turn diffuse investor concerns about worst case outcomes.

“We see grounds for a degree of optimism as there are a number of variables showing change in the right direction， which could propel Chinese outbound investment to bottom out and return to modest growth in 2020，” said Tracy Wut， an M&A partner at Baker McKenzie in Hong Kong.

On Target

People select different sauces and food for Spring Festival at a market in Wuhan， Hubei Province in central China on January 14. Chinas consumer price index， a main gauge of infl ation， rose 2.9 percent year on year in 2019， within the government target of 3 percent， offi cial data showed on January 9.