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Manyika Kanagai
CPC Celebrates 103rd Anniversary
China celebrated the 103rd founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1.
In Shanghai, the CPC’s birthplace, hundreds of new party members read the party admission oath in unison at the Memorial of the CPC’s First National Congress, with their right fists clenched and placed next to their ears.
Other activities held included a national flag-raising ceremony, visiting museums and historical sites that chronicle the CPC’s history, poetry reading, and song and dance performances. An encyclopedia of the history of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was also published.
The CPC currently has nearly 100 million members and will hold its third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee in Beijing from July 15 to 18.
Xi attends SCO meeting
China’s President Xi Jinping attended the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Xi called on the members of the SCO to ensure security in the face of a threat from the Cold War mentality. The meeting formally approved Belarus’ accession to the SCO and decided that China will resume the rotating presidency of the organization for 2024-2025.
The SCO was established in Shanghai on June 15, 2001, by six founding nations – Kazakhstan, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
In addition to the founding members, the SCO now has ten members, including India, Iran, Pakistan, and the recently added Belarus. There are three observer states – Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia, and 14 dialogue partners, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye.
PBOC announces Treasury bond borrowing
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), China’s central bank, announced plans to conduct Treasury bond borrowing operations with primary dealers in the open market to stabilize market yields. The decision came following a decline in China’s long-term Treasury bond yields.
Recently, yields on 30-year Treasury bonds fell below 2.5 percent, and 10-year yields dropped below 2.3 percent, thereby attracting significant market attention. China’s central bank has repeatedly warned about the risk of low yields on medium to long-term Treasury bonds since April.
Pan Gongsheng, governor of the PBOC, last month emphasized the importance of maintaining a normal upward-sloping yield curve to preserve market investment incentives.
BYD’s first S.E Asia factory
China’s BYD opened its first Electric Vehicle (EV) plant in Southeast Asia in Thailand. The 490 million U.S. dollar factory which was announced two years ago will have a production capacity of 150 000 vehicles per year, including plug-in hybrids.
The right-hand-drive EVs manufactured at the plant will potentially allow BYD to circumvent EU tariffs, which apply to China-made vehicles. BYD will also assemble batteries and other important parts, according to BYD’s Asia Pacific general manager.
Thailand is the largest overseas market for BYD, which commanded a 46 percent share of the country’s EV market in the first quarter and is the third-largest player in passenger cars.
Other EV rivals in the local market include Great Wall Motor, which also has a production facility in Thailand, and U.S. automaker Tesla.
McDonald’s invest in China supply chain
U.S. fast food chain McDonald’s has teamed up with four bakeries and food suppliers, including Bimbo and Tyson Foods, to jointly launch a food supply base in central China’s Hubei Province.
The smart industrial park in Hubei’s Xiaogan City which was built with a total investment of 1.5 billion yuan (about 206 million U.S. dollars) is expected to produce nearly 300 million loaves of bread, 30 000 tonnes of meat products, 30 million pastries and two billion packaging products annually and covers an area of more than 300 000 square meters.
McDonald’s has been in China for over 30 years and the industrial park will further improve the supply efficiency of McDonald’s outlets and accelerate the company’s localization in China’s central and western regions.
Manyika Kangai is dedicated to helping African businesses and governments realise the full potential of the vast opportunities China presents. He has over 18 years of experience facilitating and advising on China-Africa trade and investment deals.
Online Reporter