CBN丨China's factory activity stuns with fastest growth in a decade

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

大家好，我是主持人李莹亮。

Coming up on today’s program.

重点提要

• 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

中国经济要闻

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.

随着稳经济政策措施效应进一步显现，叠加疫情影响消退等有利因素，企业复工复产、复商复市加快，我国经济景气水平继续回升。2月官方制造业、非制造业PMI均高于临界点，生产经营景气水平继续上升。

3月1日，国家统计局发布数据显示，2月份中国制造业采购经理指数(PMI)继续回升至52.6%，比上月上升2.5个百分点，并创下2012年5月以来新高；官方非制造业PMI上升至56.3，前值54.4。

从分类指数看，构成制造业PMI的5个分类指数均高于上月，调查的21个行业中有18个位于扩张区间，比上月增加7个，制造业景气面继续扩大。

“2月份，稳经济政策措施效应进一步显现，叠加疫情影响消退等有利因素，企业复工复产、复商复市加快，我国经济景气水平继续回升。”国家统计局服务业调查中心高级统计师赵庆河说。

产需两端同步扩张，随着春节假日因素和疫情影响消退，制造业企业生产恢复加快，市场需求继续改善，生产指数和新订单指数分别为56.7%和54.1%，高于上月6.9和3.2个百分点。

值得注意的是，当前各规模企业活力普遍提升，大、中、小型企业PMI分别为53.7%、52.0%和51.2%，其中中型企业PMI和小型企业PMI分别较上月上升3.4个和4个百分点，都在连续多月运行在50%以下后回到扩张区间，显示中小企业连续下行态势有所扭转。

市场预期继续改善，生产经营活动预期指数为57.5%，高于上月1.9个百分点，升至近12个月来高点，企业信心继续增强。

非制造业恢复态势良好，分行业看，建筑、运输、邮政、住宿、租赁及商务服务等行业商务活动指数位于60.0%以上高位景气区间，服务业商务活动指数为55.6%，比上月上升1.6个百分点。

分析认为，2月处于春节后，疫情高峰期过后，国内处于复工复产、复商复市阶段，国内经济活动恢复较快，市场预期也随之提升。但是市场需求不足问题仍较突出，我国经济恢复基础尚需巩固，采购经理指数后续走势有待进一步观察。

• 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. 财政部回应卖地收入减少叠加债务集中到期压力：3月1日，国新办举行“权威部门话开局”系列主题新闻发布会，财政部部长刘昆表示，2022年地方财政运行总体平稳，随着疫情防控政策优化调整，以及稳经济一揽子政策和接续措施持续发力显效，今年经济有望总体回升，地方财政状况预计逐步向好。关于土地出让收入问题，土地出让收入列地方的政府性基金预算，是地方政府性基金预算的主体。去年虽然出现了下降的情况，但对地方一般公共预算支出的影响是可控的。刘昆表示，关于债务集中到期的压力问题，我国法定债务的负债率约为50%左右，在全世界都是比较低的。中国地方政府的债务分布不均匀，我们已督促有关地方切实承担主体责任，抓实化解政府债务风险，牢牢守住不发生系统性风险的底线。同时，地方40%左右的财力来自中央对地方的转移支付，过去三年，中央对地方转移支付年均增长了9.3%，有效弥补了本级收入的不足。促消费方面，财政部副部长许宏才表示，财政部门将全面落实扩大内需战略，围绕更好发挥消费基础性作用。积极完善政策措施，鼓励有条件的地方通过现有的资金渠道对家电“以旧换新”、绿色智能家电下乡等予以支持。对于购置期在2023年的新能源汽车继续免征车辆购置税。
• 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. 城镇就业人员60年来首次减少：2022年我国城镇就业人员比2021年减少了842万。2月28日，国家统计局发布了《2022年国民经济和社会发展统计公报》。公报显示，年末全国就业人员73351万人，其中城镇就业人员45931万人，占全国就业人员比重为62.6%，而2021年城镇就业人员为46773万。这是自1962年以来，我国城镇就业人员首次减少。此外，全年全国居民人均消费支出24538元，比上年增长1.8%，扣除价格因素，实际下降0.2%。其中城镇居民人均消费支出30391元，实际下降1.7%。

Moving on to regional highlights

区域观察

• 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省今年重大项目投资近10万亿：最近，各地密集发布重大项目清单和推进重大项目集中开工。据媒体梳理统计，现在已经18个省份明确2023年重大项目年度投资9.65万亿，接近10万亿。另外还有一些省份没有公布投资金额。
• 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. 上海苏州即将实现地铁跨省出行：根据昆山发布消息，2月26日，苏州轨道交通11号线项目工程验收合格，初步具备试运行条件，3月1日进行载重不载人试运行，年中进行开通初期运营。也就是说，2015年延伸到昆山的上海地铁11号线，即将与苏州地铁联通，上海、苏州两地居民将可乘坐地铁实现跨城出行。

Greater Bay Area, Greater future

新使命，大未来

• 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. 深圳放宽人才房申购条件：2月28日，深圳市2023年首批可售型人才房发布配售通告。认购本批次住房，按照申请家庭资格条件分为第一队列和第二队列，第二队列申请条件较前批次人才房有所放松，具体体现为：一是降低了未婚购买可售人才房的年龄限制门槛，由35周岁下调为30周岁；二是放宽了对共同申请人的户籍要求，主申请人为深户，非深户的孩子和配偶，在一定条件下可以作为共同申请人。
• 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. 广交会全面恢复线下实展：2月28日，第133届广交会推介会上主办方表示，本届广交会以高质量发展为主题，全面恢复实体展，拟线上线下同步于4月15日开幕。本届广交会将首次启用四期展馆，展览面积由过去的118万平方米扩大到150万平方米，规模再创新高。3万多家企业参展，拥有制造业单项冠军、国家级高新技术企业等称号的优质企业超过5000家，参展质量显著提升。
• 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654亿炼化一体化项目广东投产：2月28日中石油消息，中石油广东石化一体化项目打通全流程并全部产出合格产品，实现一次开车成功，进入全面生产阶段。该项目年炼油2000万吨，年产120万吨乙烯、260万吨二甲苯。广东石化炼化一体化项目总投资654亿元，是中石油一次性投资规模最大的项目，也是其首个世界级炼化一体基地。项目投产后，预计在华南地区每年可增加250万吨合成树脂产品供应，将降低粤港澳大湾区家电、电子等产业在化工原料方面的对外依存度。

Next on industry and company news

产业及公司新闻

• 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. 碧桂园正式完成交班：3月1日早间，碧桂园在港交所公告，公司主席及执行董事杨国强因年龄原因提出辞任公司主席及执行董事职务，2023年3月1日起生效。杨国强辞任后以特别顾问的形式继续参与公司经营。公司联席主席杨惠妍已接任为主席，并获委任为公司提名委员会主席、企业管治委员会主席、环境、社会及管治委员会主席、执行委员会主席，以及薪酬委员会成员，自2023年3月1日起生效，并将继续担任本公司的执行董事。
• 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. 华为称5.5G将带来10倍网络性能提升：2023年世界移动大会(MWC23)于2月27日至3月2日在西班牙巴塞罗那举行。展会期间，华为展示了5.5G时代的5大主要特征，即10Gbps体验、全场景物联、通信感知一体、L4级别自动驾驶网络、绿色ICT。华为表示，5.5G时代通过技术创新，相比目前的5G能力，将给运营商带来10倍的网络性能提升，并助力运营商开辟5大商业新前沿，撬动100倍商业新机会。
• 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. 全球首艘油电混动双头豪华客滚船启航：2月28日，由中国船舶集团旗下广船国际为英国P&O Ferries公司打造的全球首艘大容量电池混动双头豪华客滚船——1500客/3658米车道豪华客滚船首制船举行启航仪式暨媒体开放日活动。之后这艘船将投入到英吉利海峡运营，主要往返于英国多佛港和法国加莱港。
• 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 persified needs based on BYD’s technological accumulation, BYD said earlier. 比亚迪年内将推全新豪华品牌：2月28日媒体报道，比亚迪预计在2023年内发布专业个性化全新品牌（内部代号为“F品牌”），未来产品矩阵将涵盖跑车、越野、轿跑等多个品类。其中，首款产品将聚焦越野领域，整体性能上对标奔驰大G，将于年内推出。比亚迪专业个性化全新品牌整体价格定位将比肩BBA（宝马、奔驰、奥迪）等豪华汽车品牌，主打多品类、独特性的专业级新能源车型。

Earnings reports express

财报速递

• 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. 康希诺、华大基因净利暴跌：2月28日，康希诺发布2022年度业绩快报，公告显示，2022年度营业总收入为103459.54万元，比上年同期下滑75.94%；2022年净亏损9.02亿元，上年同期净利润19.14亿元。康希诺称，报告期内新冠疫苗需求量同比大幅下降，市场竞争不断加剧，公司新冠疫苗产品销售收入大幅下降。而华大基因2月27日晚也发布了2022年业绩快报，营收71.26亿元，同比增长5.32%；净利润8.1亿元，同比下降44.42%。华大基因表示，利润下降主要因市场竞争不断加剧，新冠核酸检测服务及试剂单价持续下降，以及新冠检测需求大幅下降。
• 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. 蔚来2022年度总营收创新高：3月1日，蔚来发布2022年第四季度及全年财报。蔚来四季度营收160.6亿元，同比增长62.2%，连续11个季度正增长，全年总营收达492.7亿元，同比增长36.3%，均创新高。2022年全年，归属于普通股股东的净亏损为145.594亿元，同比扩大37.7%。2023年Q1交付指引为3.1万-3.3万台，营收指引为106.2亿元-115.4亿元。

Switching gears to financial news

金融市场消息

• 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. 深交所伦交所签署合作备忘录：2月28日，深交所与伦敦证券交易所集团(下称伦交所)通过线上方式签署双方合作谅解备忘录。深交所与伦交所在本次备忘录中明确，将在互联互通存托凭证业务、指数和产品开发、跨境投融资服务、市场培育推广等方面探索推进多层次合作。在两国监管机构的统筹指导下，双方交易所正稳步推进“深伦通”项目，有序开展互联互通存托凭证业务和技术准备，支持企业积极利用两个市场、两种资源融资发展。
• 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. 奥园境外债权人同意“暂缓偿债”：2月28日晚，中国奥园在港交所公告宣布，已经与部分主要境外债权人达成了协议，后者原则上同意建议暂缓偿债安排，该部分债权人约占境外优先票据未偿还本金额的20%。据奥园披露，其目前有12笔美元债，票面利率在4.2%-8.5%，合计约34.5亿美元，其中有5笔在2022年到期。

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

股市收盘情况

• 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股港股全面大涨：周三A股震荡走高，三大指数均小幅上涨迎3月开门红，沪指站上3300点，创阶段收盘新高。截至收盘，沪指涨1%，深成指涨1.11%，创业板指涨0.61%。数字经济全面爆发。两市全天成交额9189亿元，北向资金净买入70亿元。港股高开高走，恒指收涨4.21%，恒生科技指数收涨6.64%。

Biz Word of the Day

财经词汇划重点

• Debt restructuring is a process used by companies, inpiduals, 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. 债务重组，是指在不改变交易对手方的情况下，经债权人和债务人协定或法院裁定，就清偿债务的时间、金额或方式等重新达成协议的交易。也就是说，只要修改了原定债务偿还条件的，即债务重组时确定的债务偿还条件不同于原协议的，均作为债务重组。

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI

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