2020-02-13 Beijing Review

6 BEIJING REVIEW FEBRUARY 13, 2020 http://www.bjreview.com

THIS WEEKECONOMY

Logistics Activity

China’s logistics activity slowed in
January due to the impact of the
Spring Festival holiday, industry
data showed on February 3.
The logistics performance index
for January came in at 49.9 percent,
retreating from 58.6 percent in
December 2019, according to the
China Federation of Logistics and
Purchasing.
A reading above 50 percent
indicates expansion while a reading
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He Hui, Director of the
China Logistics Information
Center, attributed the slowdown
to cyclical factors such as the
Spring Festival holiday.
As China is intensifying efforts
to curb the novel coronavirus
(2019-nCoV), he said the emergency

will affect logistics demand in the

short term, but production and con-

sumption will be unleashed when

the situation improves, which will

pull the sector’s growth onto

a stable track.

The employment sub-index

for the sector was 48.6 percent in

January, down 3.6 percentage points

from a month earlier.

The sub-index for new orders

stood at 50.1 percent while that

for business expectation was 51.

percent, indicating that logistics

activity is likely to see stable expan-

sion as the new production season

approaches.

Boost Investment

Yunnan Province in southwest China

will encourage foreign companies to

invest with a maximum bonus of 50

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2019 can send applications for the

reward by March 1, according to the

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Property Sales

Some leading property developers

had steady sales growth in January.

China Vanke, one of the coun-

try’s biggest property developers,

saw sales jump 16.1 percent year

on year to 56.73 billion yuan ($8.

billion), while those of Country

Garden and Evergrande Group,

two other property giants, were

46.51 billion yuan ($6.6 billion)

and 41.01 billion yuan ($5.8 billion),

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year earlier, according to data

from China Real Estate Information

Corp., a property research

institution.

However, sales of the country’s

top 100 developers fell 12 percent

year on year in January, partly due

to the Spring Festival holiday.

Some developers rolled out

promotions in the latter half of

2019, attracting consumers to buy

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to weak demand at the start of the

new year, said Zhao Ke, an analyst

with the China Merchants Securities

Research Center.

Analysts also agreed that the

outbreak of the 2019-nCoV will

have a short term impact on the

property market and transactions

are expected to rebound as long as

the epidemic is contained.

New Rail Line

With the Beijing-Shenyang high-

speed rail line set to open later this

year, Fuxin in Liaoning Province in

northeast China is expecting to at-

tract more investment and tourism

through the modern transportation

infrastructure, its mining-themed

tourism spots and hot springs.

The new railway will boost the

economy and help carry out the

development strategy of the north-

east region, bringing investment to

areas such as manufacturing, retail

million yuan ($7.3 million).

The reward method will give

back 2 percent of the total invested

foreign capital to newly registered

projects if their investment reaches

or exceeds $30 million within a

year.

The existing projects that have

increased foreign investment by

more than $10 million will also

enjoy the bonus, according to the

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investment promotion, commerce,

market regulation and foreign

exchange.

The projects receiving the bonus

cannot move out of the province or

have their registered capital reduced

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released earlier this month.

The rewards will be given till

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years 2019 to 2022.

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Steady Food Supply

A woman buys vegetables at a market in Shanghai on February 2. The city has launched measures to ensure food
supply at local shops at reasonable prices.