Ministry of Commerce Spokesman Gao Feng said that China will keep opening up and improving its business environment, to further optimize the structure and quality of foreign investment and maintain its overall scale. He said that there would be some pressure in attracting foreign capital this year, despite the steady growth in foreign investment during the first three months of the year. During the first quarter of this year, China’s actual use of foreign investment stood at CNY302.47 billion, up 39.9% on a yearly basis. Moreover, 10,263 enterprises with foreign investment were established during the period, up 47.8% on a yearly basis, 6.7% higher than in the same period in 2019. 

According to a recent survey conducted by the Ministry, 96.4% of the more than 3,200 foreign-invested companies had a positive attitude toward future business prospects in the country, up 2.1 percentage points from the beginning of this year, according to MOFCOM Spokesman Gao. Western China registered a year-on-year growth of 91% in the actual use of foreign investment in the first quarter. The figures for East China and Central China were 38.2% and 36.8%, respectively. Gao said western China’s increasing attractiveness to foreign investors was largely due to the impact of new government policies, especially the new industry catalog, released at the end of last year, which encourages foreign investment. Under the new catalog, foreign-invested enterprises in the region that meet certain qualifications can enjoy income tax rebates, tariff exemptions on equipment imports for their own use, and preferential land supplies, said Gao.

Sixty-five items have been added to the national catalog, and 34 more items have been added as regional advantageous industries for western China, thereby expanding the alternatives for foreign investors, he said. Cui Fan, International Trade and Economics Professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said China has demonstrated strong economic resilience during the pandemic. Its future growth potential, together  with the continuous rollout of policy measures facilitating investment and enhancing the business environment, make it an attractive destination for foreign investment, the China Daily reports. 

Huge potential exists for further cooperation between China and the European Union in fields like the digital economy and the green economy, Zhao Ping, Deputy Director of the Research Institute of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), said.

Baidu, well-known for its internet search function, rolled out its paid driverless taxi service in Beijing, making it the first company to commercialize autonomous driving operations in China. Unlike previous Baidu autonomous driving demonstrations in Beijing, this was the first time there was no safety driver sitting behind the wheel, but a safety officer was still seated in the front passenger seat to deal with any emergencies. Up to 10 Apollo “robotaxis” are now operating simultaneously in an area of about 3 square kilometers, picking up and dropping off passengers at eight stops in Shougang Park in western Beijing. Each ride costs CNY30 and is available to passengers aged 18 to 60. The park is the former site of an iron and steel plant that has been redeveloped into a sightseeing destination and a future venue for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. 

The robotaxis were repeatedly forced to brake when encountering jaywalkers or curious tourists who came close to the vehicles to take photos. Kelly Wang and her husband, who both work in the artificial intelligence industry, said they had a smooth ride. “I would recommend people experience this. There is a strong sense of technology, because nobody is in the driver’s seat,” Wang said. Passengers can order a robotaxi on an app called Apollo Go. When the taxi arrives, passengers must have their identities verified before getting in. The taxi will start to move after it detects the passengers have fastened their seat belts. 

Baidu has been testing autonomous driving on the open road since last year. Its Apollo Go robotaxi service has carried more than 210,000 passengers in three Chinese cities and aims to expand to 30 cities in the next three years, the company said, as reported by the Shanghai Daily. 

China’s residential property market is expected to stay firm during the rest of the year in spite of the tightening of home-buying rules, industry insiders said. This could, however, still pose risks to those who may have entered the market purely for investment or speculative purposes, they said. In late April, Tang Hua, Senior Director Savills China, said she expects to see a surge in prospective homebuyers’ visits to properties during the five-day Labor Day holiday. Since the second half of last year, residential property markets in major Chinese cities have seen a quick pick-up, as the Covid pandemic is under control in the country. In the first quarter of this year, nationwide residential property investments soared nearly 29% year-on-year to CNY2.06 trillion. Sales of homes in terms of gross floor area surged 68% year-on-year and new home sales revenue surged 95.5%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

“In the 20 major cities tracked by JLL, new residential property transaction volume maintained good momentum with 98% year-on-year growth in the first quarter, and grew 32% from the same period of 2019,” said Sheng Xiuxiu, Research Director of JLL China residential sector. Performance of the four top-tier cities was extraordinary. Their combined sales volume of new homes reached about 10.7 million square meters in the first three months, more than twice the level in the same period of last year, and up 96% over that of the same period of 2019, Sheng said. “The double-digit growth in both investment and sales resulted from the low base of the same period of last year,” said NBS Spokesperson Liu Aihua. Xie Chen, head of research with CBRE China, however, said the high-digit growth may not be sustainable over the long term, due to the strengthening of financial regulations, tightened restrictions on home transactions and greater control over land supply. Such fine-tuning, be it at the national level or the local level, is aimed at both eliminating speculation and better protecting the firm demand, Sheng said. Lu Wenxi, Researcher with Centaline Shanghai, said residential markets in top-tier and hot spot cities in clusters such as the Yangtze River Delta, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Pearl River Delta region will likely remain stable this year, while other cities may see demand cooling off. 

Experts expect that more local governments will fine-tune property-related policies in the following months to stabilize their home markets. They also suggested the market adjustment may provide good opportunities for homebuyers. “Any property bought for living will likely be held for the long term. Since the value of residential property will likely rise along with China’s economic growth, homebuyers will think purchasing property early is a better choice,” said Wei Feng Yu, Director of the Shanghai branch of Taipei-based Sinyi Realty. According to Wei, an apartment in Shanghai where the owner lives in for about seven to eight years can see average annual value appreciation of between 5% and 8%, the China Daily reports. 

China and Germany held intergovernmental consultations via video link on April 28 with 25 ministers of the two governments participating. Chinese analysts said this meeting shows the pragmatic and rational mindset of the two sides and will show the way for the future development of bilateral ties. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel co-chaired the sixth round of intergovernmental consultations. Starting from 2011, the intergovernmental consultation between the two countries was usually held once every two years, but it was canceled last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Li said in his opening remarks that China and Germany should set an example of opening-up, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, because the current international situation is experiencing profound changes, the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over, and protectionism exists. The Chinese Premier stressed that China and Germany have different views on some issues, but as long as each respects the other’s core interests and major concerns, communicate based on equality and non-interference, reduce divergences and focus on cooperation, the two sides would be able to create good conditions for further dialogue and cooperation.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that thanks to the intergovernmental consultation mechanism, cooperation between both sides in diplomacy, trade, agriculture, food, security, sustainable development and climate have been greatly deepened and broadened, and she hopes the mechanism could be continued. China remained the biggest trading partner of Germany for the fifth consecutive year in 2020, with goods worth €212.1 billion traded between Germany and China. Feng Xingliang, Chief Representative of NRW Global Business, the trade and investment agency of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia in Beijing, told the Global Times that both parties have a huge potential for cooperation in sectors like biomedicine, information technology, electronic equipment, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, and environmental protection. “Electric vehicles can be a new spotlight for further China-Germany cooperation,” Feng said, adding that there are currently no native mature battery manufacturers in Germany, and Chinese companies can actively explore opportunities.

Merkel said the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) is transparent and equal, and will provide more guarantees. Wang Yiwei, Director of the Institute of European Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times that the CAI would be one the most important political heritages of Merkel, who is set to step down in September. Despite uncertainties within the EU about the agreement, the CAI will not fall apart because the business community will be supportive, experts said.

The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has started an investigation on food delivery company  Meituan for alleged monopoly conduct. It is focussing on the practice whereby a company forces vendors to use their platform exclusively, known as “choose one from two.” The investigation is based on a tip-off, the regulator said. Tencent-backed Meituan said it will actively cooperate with authorities to improve compliance and protect consumers’ rights. The company’s various businesses were “operating normally.” Meituan, which competes with Alibaba-backed Ele.me among others, had an estimated 68.2% share of China’s food delivery market in the second quarter of 2020, according to Trustdata. Meituan’s businesses also include bike sharing, community group buying and restaurant reviews. The investigation comes amid China’s increased supervision of internet companies suspected of anti-competitive practices.

In April, SAMR imposed a record USD2.75 billion fine on e-commerce giant Alibaba over the same practice and ordered 34 internet companies, including Tencent and Pinduoduo, to rectify any anti-competitive practices within a month. In March, Meituan was among five backers or owners of community group-buying platforms fined by SAMR over “improper pricing behavior” related to subsidies. Internet giants like Alibaba and Tencent have become hugely profitable on the back of growing Chinese digital lifestyles. But as the platforms amassed hundreds of millions of regular users, concern has risen over their influence in China, where they are used for a huge number of daily tasks.

Zheng Wei, Partner with Beijing-based law firm Anli Partners, said regulators aimed to reduce the impact of dominant internet players on consumers, employees and smaller firms. The government released anti-monopoly guidelines in February aimed at ending practices such as exclusivity contracts and the heavy use of subsidies to gain market share and squeeze out competitors, the Shanghai Daily reports. 

China’s financial regulators also held talks with representatives of 112 other internet firms which have fintech businesses, including Tencent, Du Xiaoman Finance, JD Finance, ByteDance and Didi Finance, on strengthening anti-monopoly supervision and preventing disorderly expansion of capital. Other internet platforms who participated in the meeting include Lu.com, Air Star, 360 Digital Tech, Sina Finance, Suning Finance, Gome Finance and Ctrip Finance.