NEW: Five things that happened in China this week

Manyika Kangai

Typhoon Gaemi hits China

Typhoon Gaemi has reached south-eastern China after sweeping across the Taiwan Strait, leaving three people dead and 380 injured.

The third and most powerful typhoon to hit China’s eastern seaboard this year, Gaemi, made landfall in Fujian province on Thursday night. It is forecast to unleash intense rainfall in at least 10 Chinese provinces in the coming days.

Before its arrival, 240 800 people in Fujian were evacuated. President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to study and arrange work related to flood control and disaster relief.

The Beijing Declaration

China invited senior representatives of 14 Palestinian factions to hold reconciliation talks in Beijing from July 21 to 23. China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi attended the closing ceremony of the reconciliation talks and witnessed the signing of the Beijing Declaration on Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity by the 14 Palestinian factions.

The declaration reaffirms commitment to establishing an independent State of Palestine with Jerusalem as the capital city. This will also see the forming of an interim national reconciliation government to carry out reconstruction in Gaza and prepare to hold a general election as soon as possible. The Arab League welcomed the Beijing Declaration and commended the efforts and initiatives of the Chinese leadership.

China cuts rates

China’s central bank lowered the Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) interest rate to 2.3 percent, 20 basis points lower than the previous level. The People’s Bank of China also pumped 200 billion yuan (about US$28 billion) into the market via the MLF, which will mature in one year.

The one-year Loan Prime rate (LPR) came in at 3.35 percent, down from the previous reading of 3.45 percent, according to the National Interbank Funding Centre. The over-five-year LPR, on which many lenders base their mortgage rates, was lowered by 10 basis points to 3.85 percent. The central bank also lowered the interest rate on seven-day reverse repos, a key short-term policy rate, from 1.8 percent to 1.7 percent.

China’s ODI

China’s non-financial Outbound Direct Investment (ODI) increased 16.6 percent year-on-year to US$72, 62 billion in the first six months of the year, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

During the first six months, cooperation under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework gained steam as ODI in countries participating in the BRI surged 9,2 percent year-on-year to US$15,46 billion. The turnover of contracted overseas projects amounted to US$72,25 billion, an increase of 2,2 percent, and the value of new contracts surged 22 percent to US$115,5 billion.

China’s education spending

China’s annual expenditure on education totalled 6,46 trillion yuan (about US$906 billion) in 2023, according to data released by the Ministry of Education. The figure increased 5,3 percent from 2022. Spending on compulsory education accounted for the greatest share of the overall expenditure with a total of 2,84 trillion yuan (about US$398 billion), up 6 percent.

Spending on higher education was 1,76 trillion yuan (about US$247 billion), up 7,6 percent. Spending on preschool and high school education came in at 538,2 billion yuan (about US$75 billion), up 4,7 percent and 1,02 trillion yuan (about US$143 billion) up 6,2 percent, respectively.