China is intensifying its efforts to crack down on hidden corruption, as it risks undermining already realized national anti-corruption achievements and creating greater systemic financial risks at a larger scope as experts have warned.

"New-type and disguised corruption" was recently included in the list of the top 10 anti-corruption keywords for 2023 released by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), a move that reflects the importance attached by the discipline watchdog to anti-graft efforts in revealing disguised practices.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, urged for the strengthened handling of new and disguised forms of corruption at the third plenary session of the 20th CPC CCDI on January 8, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

"It is imperative to further combat corruption in the sectors of finance, state-owned enterprises, energy, medicine, and infrastructure construction where power is concentrated, capital is intensive, and resources are abundant, and preempt potential risks," Xi said.

Combating corruption in the form of collusion between officials and businesspeople should be the priority, Xi said, urging efforts to crack down resolutely on the profit-driven abuse of power and prevent various interest and power groups from infiltrating the political arena.

China's anti-corruption watchdog detained a record 54 high-ranking officials in 2023, which tops the number in a year since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012, with a large number of them being from the financial sector.

The Global Times interviewed a disciplinary inspection frontline personnel at a state-owned enterprise, Chinese anti-graft experts to understand the typical tricks of covert corruption and how the watchdog responds by utilizing big data analysis to track and investigate cases. This reveals how disciplinary inspectors tear off the masks of corruption in a battle between justice and impunity.
Sly, covert tricks

An official documentary on January 9 featuring China's anti-corruption efforts revealed how Fan Yifei, former vice governor of the People's Bank of China, illegally profited by using his brother's investment company as a cover and accepting bribes in the form of shares from companies.

The financial sector is a highly specialized field that can easily turn into a hotbed of surreptitious forms of corruption, said law professor Zhang Lei from Beijing Normal University, noting that financial corruption could bring financial risks, which would further threaten national financial security.

The recent downfall of several high-ranking officials in the financial sector sent a strong signal of China's resolute efforts to eliminate "moles" within the financial sector and continuously deepen anti-corruption work in this field, the expert noted.

Li Xiang (pseudonym), the frontline worker at a provincial disciplinary inspection department, who is stationed in a state-owned enterprise, told the Global Times that corrupt practices of "profiting from stocks" easily occur among high-level financial officials.

Specifically, some exploited the disposal of non-performing assets to exchange shares for personal gain; while some asked others to hold shares by proxy, then transferred the covert shares to relatives, and received dividends. The corrupt process is disguised and appears "clean" on the books, making it difficult to detect.

The CCDI has previously disclosed a corruption case involving Wang Zongcheng, former director of the accounting department at the China Securities Regulatory Commission, who used his power in the IPO review process to take advantage of stock premiums.

He entrusted someone else to purchase the original shares of a company to be listed before its IPO and became a "shadow shareholder." After the company went public, he shared the huge profits from the returns from the "shadow shares" and took back the profits after retirement. He used his power to support the company to go public, evading punishment through various covert and complex operations, and appeared not to have had any visible contact with the company throughout the whole process.

According to the cases revealed by the CCDI, among the senior officials investigated and dealt with since the 20th National Congress of the CPC, suspects who have been found to have "illegally owned shares in non-listed companies," or "engaged in collusion between politics and business, secretly accumulating wealth behind the scenes," or "engaged in power-money transactions under the guise of 'investment' for a long time" are not a minority.

"Many of the cases currently being investigated involve hidden corruption, and direct power-money transactions are becoming less common. This also requires frontline disciplinary inspection personnel to be highly professional, knowledgeable, and capable," Li told the Global Times.

"In non-financial fields, some officials from different regions usually do not explicitly exchange power with money, but instead with the promotion of their relatives or people with close connections to higher positions. Such power swap is also an implicit form of corruption," Li revealed.

State-owned enterprises, with their abundant funds and resources, have always been a key battlefield in anti-corruption efforts. Some corrupt individuals in state-owned enterprises attempt to disguise their illegal exchanges of interests by engaging in market transactions, such as using loan sharks transfer to bribes, to conceal the nature of power-money transactions, he further explained.

Furthermore, as some state-owned enterprises have industrial monopolies and are major tax contributors to local governments, they are always an accessible "honey pot" for local political figures and business sector players. These factors have created potential risks for corruption among the leaders of state-owned enterprises, according to Li.

He noted that one difficulty in combating hidden corruption is that existing measures often lag behind such innovative corruptive practices. Moreover, smart tools and technologies such as big data or AI are also widely used to cover up crimes.

The CCDI has reported a case of an official from the legal system who used technological means to create a fake identity for himself, and repeatedly used the fake identity to open stock and bank accounts for bribery transactions.

Unveiled cases also show some officials engaged in corruption using "digital currency," exploiting regulatory loopholes and accepting illegal card coupons, bitcoin, and digital cash to receive bribes.

"This requires us to carefully study the flow of funds, the interests and other abnormal behaviors of suspected ones, and to employ modern tech to trace the source of funds," said Li.
Systematic, powerful punch

To eliminate the chance of officials becoming corrupt, strict discipline inspection and supervision have expanded to those who offer bribes. In July 2023, the CCDI and the National Commission of Supervision (NCS) first mentioned the number of bribers who had cases filed against them in the first half of the year.

The second plenary session of the 20th CPC CCDI held in December 2023 also emphasized the resolute investigation and punishment of new and hidden forms of corruption, encouraging discipline inspection and supervision organs at all levels to continuously innovate their anti-corruption strategies through systematic and collaborative mechanisms, and the use of modern technology.

Regional governments have also carried out special campaigns against hidden corruption. For example, in East China's Jiangsu Province, special efforts have been made to combat hidden corruption such as "shadow shareholders," by identifying loopholes in the system and supervisory weaknesses, and the urging of reforms in the relevant departments.

Apart from incumbents, investigations have also been launched into retired or resigned officials, including those who attempted to evade investigation by resigning, who exercised the influence they gained from their former posts to benefit others and took bribes in return, and who sought profits for others while in office and have taken bribes since retirement. No corrupt official is to be left out, according to Xinhua.

Meanwhile, big data, AI, and other smart means are increasingly used in exposing disguised corruption problems.

A case at the end of 2022 shows that Zheng, a former assistant to the general manager of a provincial state-owned enterprise in East China's Fujian Province, used his position to profit and transfer embezzled funds during his tenure in multiple important positions.

After the watchdog obtained and analyzed data information such as his bank account transaction details, communication records, and real estate registration, Zheng's acceptance of huge bribes through "white gloves" was finally unveiled.

The term "white gloves" refers to people who run businesses created to cover up corruption by officials. The white glove tactic is a favorite among dirty officials because their direct involvement in commercial activity is illegal.

The investigation found that although Zheng's mother had passed away, her bank account was still active, with dozens of transactions involving funds exceeding 500,000 yuan each. Based on this, the investigators determined that Zheng had accepted bribes of more than 120 million yuan, according to Chinese media Outlook Weekly.

North China's Shanxi Province, as another example, has tried to build professional algorithm AI models based on a large number of case studies to screen out suspected "shadow companies."

Experts believe that the fight against new forms of corruption should continue to gain momentum.

"Cases of invisible corruption and new forms of corruption normally involve large amounts of funds and have spillover effects. Moreover, many of the individuals involved are highly educated and intelligent, making their methods more sophisticated, known as intelligent corruption. We must constantly update our means of tracking and identification, otherwise the achievements we have made in anti-corruption efforts will be challenged," Tang Renwu, dean of the School of Governance at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times.

"We must maintain current intense anti-corruption efforts to deter these new types of crimes. This is why the Chinese leader has repeatedly emphasized a zero-tolerance attitude toward corruption on various occasions," said Tang.

He called for the use of more intelligent means to combat crime, and keep law and Party discipline protocols updated to include more behaviors that hover on the edge of illegality in the legal framework.

Editor's Note:

The diversified development and opportunities in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have attracted young people from all over the country to settle there.

GT reporters have again traveled to the region. In this fifth installment of a series of articles, GT tells character stories based on ordinary people in Xinjiang who have found opportunities for self-realization and have grasped real happiness.
'My life here is very happy'

Feng Xiaoheng, 40, from Henan, enrolled in Xinjiang University's mechatronics program in 2004.

"When I first came to Urumqi in 2004, the buildings and road conditions here were behind many other cities. At that time, I thought I might not find a suitable job in Xinjiang after graduation," he recalled to the Global Times.

"But after the upgrading of industries and the steady improvement of the economy in Xinjiang, I joined a state-owned enterprise after graduation and have been responsible for project construction in Xinjiang until now."

Now Feng's whole family has settled in Urumqi. "As a 'new Xinjianger,' I have witnessed the tremendous changes that have taken place here. Being able to participate in project construction in Xinjiang is equivalent to contributing to the future development of Xinjiang. Now my family and career are rooted here, and I have realized my life's value here."

Halchem Keram, who is in her 30s, told the Global Times that she used to raise cows and sheep at home while her husband did business elsewhere, but their income was unstable. When their child was 1 year and 8 months old, she decided to go out to work.

Jianying Kangcheng Asset Management Co. provides food production, processing, packaging, distribution, and sales. It is only a few minutes' drive from Halchem's home. Halchem successfully obtained a job opportunity at the company's distribution center, and her son attends kindergarten in the community.

"I work and my child goes to school near our home. I have a stable income every month and can also take care of my family. I think life here is very good now."

Halchem has been working in the company for more than three years. She told the Global Times that the rumors about "forced labor" in Xinjiang from some Western countries are "ridiculous."

"Like everyone else in the world, we voluntarily come out to work for a better life. What's the problem with that? I don't understand why some people would say such things."

Liu Wenbo, the deputy general manager of the company, said in an interview with the Global Times that the company has a total of 248 employees from various ethnic groups, including 143 ethnic minority workers, accounting for about 58 percent, and more than 70 percent are women. Most of them are over 45 years old.

"Local women tend to return to their families after marriage; some work in farming at home, and lack work experience. In order to help them find employment again, we provide labor skills training for them, whether as a pastry chef or a cook. We teach them a skill first and then arrange employment positions for them."
Foreign noises never affect Xinjiang

Chang Jian, director of the Human Rights Research Center at Nankai University, told the Global Times that whether it is the story of Xinjiang locals or outsiders who came to Xinjiang from other parts of the country to study and settle down, it's clear that people of all ethnic groups have achieved prosperity with a sense of unity, cooperation, and promotion of economic and social development.

"This reflects the comprehensive realization of the right to development. Living a good life and improving living standards are the dreams of every household. Every young person wants to make a breakthrough and achieve their longing for a better life through their own efforts," Chang noted.

Due to Xinjiang's unique natural conditions, it faces challenges in improving living conditions, so personal efforts are needed in the process of economic marketization.

In this situation, governments at all levels have taken active measures. For example, they carry out paired assistance, in which many provinces and cities support the construction of various areas in Xinjiang, the Global Times learnt.

For example, Zhongtuo Bio-Technology Co. came to Hami under the background of paired assistance between Henan Province and Hami. The company has established a chain of camel milk acquisition, processing, and sales, which has generated sustainable economic benefits for herders.

Also, for herders who face various uncertainty and risks in camel breeding, the government has formulated and implemented a series of policy subsidies to stabilize their income expectations and stimulate farmers' enthusiasm for breeding.

Chang said that in recent years, there have been many rumors and smears about Xinjiang's social and development situation that seriously deviate from the facts, and what has been seen in reality is that people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are full of hope in the process of pursuing and realizing a better life.

The sense of gain, security, and happiness can be seen on local faces, and people have not been disturbed by various foreign noises.

"This determination and confidence comes from the improvement they personally feel in their lives every day, from the tangible gains they have made in their hard work, and from the joy and pride they have in growing and realizing their value," Chang said.

China's foreign trade has maintained double-digit growth for a long period, retaining its position as the world's largest trading nation in goods for seven consecutive years. The rapid expansion of China's trade has made the country a crucial hub for international trade and a primary driving force for global economic growth. 

The rise of China's trade has not only benefited the Chinese people but also people around the world, serving as a model of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation.

The rapid development of China's trade has driven the growth of global trade, providing strong support for a faster recovery of the global economy, while promoting trade diversification and balanced development. China actively participates in global economic governance and trade rule-making, playing an important role in improving the global trading system and promoting the construction of an open world economy.

Since the reform and opening-up about four decades ago, the rapid development of China's foreign trade turns out to be a rare and miraculous phenomenon in the history of global trade. China's foreign trade expanded to 41.76 trillion yuan ($5.8 trillion) in 2023 from 35.5 billion yuan in 1978, a rise of 1,185 times in yuan terms, with an average annual growth rate of 17 percent.

In recent years, against the backdrop of a slowing global economy and a complex and volatile trade environment, China's trade has maintained stable rise, indicating the sector's strong competitiveness and resilience. China has become the world's largest goods trading nation and the second-largest in services trade.

China's export structure continues to be optimized, gradually shifting from traditional labor-intensive products to high-tech, high value-added products. In recent years, the exports of high-tech products such as new-energy gear and electric cars have grown rapidly. 

According to the General Administration of Customs, exports of labor-intensive products last year accounted for 17.3 percent of the total exports. The value of electromechanical exports reached $1.98 trillion, accounting for 58.6 percent of the total, demonstrating significant achievements in China's economic innovation and industrial upgrading, reflecting the transition from "Made in China" to "Innovated in China."

China has been actively expanding trade partners and deepening economic and trade cooperation with other economies. The number of its trade partners increased from more than 40 in 1978 to more than 230 today. This diversification reduces trade risks and offers more market opportunities for Chinese enterprises. 

China is strengthening and consolidating trade relations with traditional partners such as the US, the EU, and ASEAN, and it's also actively establishing close economic and trade cooperation with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, resolutely promoting trade liberalization and globalization.

China's foreign trade entities are vibrant, with private enterprises excelling. In 2023, the number of foreign trade entities with import and export records in China exceeded 600,000 for the first time. Among them, 556,000 were private enterprises. 

In 2023, the total trade of private enterprises reached $3.19 trillion, accounting for 53.5 percent of the nation's total foreign trade volume.  For the same period, the trade conducted by state-owned enterprises accounted for 16 percent of the total, and that of foreign funded enterprises accounted for 30.2 percent.

Private enterprises have displayed rapid market responses and strong innovation capabilities, injecting new vitality and momentum into China's foreign trade and playing an increasingly important role in China's foreign trade.

Many private enterprises have become the main force driving growth of China's exports, especially in high-tech and high value-added products, where the performance of private enterprises is particularly outstanding.

China's high-level opening-up is steadily advancing, with new platforms and new business formats showing strong impetus. In 2023, the number of China's pilot free trade zones expanded to 22, which generated trade of $1.09 trillion. 

Since the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into effect two years ago, the cost of regional trade have been significantly reduced, and links in industry and supply chains have become closer, leading to more closely connected trade among its members. In 2023, China's trade with the 14 other RCEP member countries reached $1.77 trillion, up 5.3 percent from 2021 before the agreement took effect.

The outstanding performance of China's commerce is the result of the combined effects of multiple factors. Strong institutional safeguards and policy support, a complete industrial system and vast industry chains, efforts to build open trade routes and cooperation platforms, the effective implementation of innovation-driven strategies, and the continuous exploration of new growth potential have collectively propelled the rapid growth of China's foreign trade.

As the global economy faces great uncertainties, China's stable performance in foreign trade provides important support for the stability of the world economy. More importantly, in contrast to certain countries' anti-globalization moves, China has always been the steady force supporting free and unfettered trade.

China is willing to share its development opportunities with the world, and is committed to building a global community of a shared future in which all economies thrive. 

China's independently designed and constructed deep-water submarine jacket platform "Haiji No 2", which is believed to the largest of its kind in Asia, has broken multiple Asian records after entering service, China Media Group reported on Tuesday.

Citing the China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), its developer, the report said the deep-water jacket platform will be loaded onto a ship at the Gaolan Port in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province, and be transported to the Pearl River Mouth Basin for offshore installation. 

China is ramping up efforts to build mega infrastructure while improving innovation capabilities in a bid to ensure the country's energy security. With "Haiji No 2" installation, the country's offshore marine engineering is expected to achieve high-level technological self-reliance and improvement.

Acting as a "foundation" supporting fixed offshore oil and gas platform where seabed conditions are challenging, the deep-water jacket can provide support for pipelines, subsea structures of an offshore platform. The jacket is a widely used marine oil and gas development equipment in the world, according to the report.

Notably, it has set a record in terms of the height and weight of steel piles in Asia, with a total height of 338.5 meters and a total weight of 37,000 tons, and represents the first case in China's marine engineering to use domestically produced high-strength steel piles to build large-scale offshore oil and gas equipment.

Meanwhile, the construction of "Haiji No 2" has set records for operating at depth, and construction speed of such equipment in Asia reflects that China has become a top player in the world to build large deep-water jacket platforms, the CNOOC told the CMG.

The platform will be used for the development of the Liuhua 11-1 and Liuhua 4-1 offshore oil fields, in the deep waters of the South China Sea, media reported.

China has fast tracked deep-sea oil and gas exploration in the past decade. Its predecessor, "Haiji No 1" platform, which entered operation in 2022, marked the first time that China exploited offshore oil and gas employing such a model. It turned out to significantly bring down engineering cost and boost oil recovery and economic efficiency.

In 2021, the Shenhai Yihao, the world's first 100,000-ton deep-sea semi-submersible oil production and storage platform, was put into operation, signaling that China's offshore oil and gas exploration capacity had entered an advanced level. 

China will provide more support to the private sector, small and medium-sized enterprises and other entities with large employment capacity, China's Minister of Human Resources and Social Security Wang Xiaoping said Saturday at a press conference on people's livelihood for the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing.

Wang said that the fundamentals of China's long-term sound economy remain unchanged and there are many favorable conditions for  meeting challenges facing employment this year. 

"We are confident in maintaining labor market stability," she said.

According to Wang, the job market has started off well this year, with enterprises resuming production, migrant workers returning to work smoothly and orderly, and an increase in job-seeking activities. 

The demand for talent in artificial intelligence and big data is strong, and there is an increase in demand for services such as healthcare, accommodation, catering, and cultural tourism, the minister said. 

Meanwhile, the recruitment demand for small and micro enterprises has significantly increased, and the demand for technical and skilled positions is rapidly rising, Wang noted. 

Over the past year, China's employment situation has continued to improve and remained stable. China created a total of 12.44 million jobs in its urban areas in 2023. The surveyed urban unemployment rate on average in China stood at 5.2 percent in 2023, official data showed. 

Job market data fully demonstrates the consolidation of the current positive trends related to China's economic recovery and the accelerated release of consumption potential. It also reflects the new trends and opportunities in the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and the rapid development of new quality productive forces, she said.

However, the overall pressure on employment has not decreased, the minister noted. "Structural contradictions on employment still need to be resolved, and some workers face difficulties in employment. Stabilizing employment still requires more efforts," Wang said. 

Wang noted that in 2024, the ministry will continue to implement policies aimed at reducing  unemployment and work-related injury insurance rates. It will also optimize policies such as stabilizing job positions, providing special loans, employment and social security subsidies, and better releasing policy dividends. 

Meanwhile, more efforts will be made to further expand employment channels, and the ministry will provide more support to small and medium-sized enterprises and other entities with large employment capacity.

Furthermore, she said the country will work to unleash employment potential by providing more support through guaranteed loans and tax reductions for start-ups. At the same time, flexible employment service guarantee measures will be improved, fully leveraging the role of over 6,900 gig-worker markets in matching supply and demand. 

The government will carry out large-scale vocational skills training in key areas including advanced manufacturing, modern services and aged care. 

In recent years, the government has provided subsidized vocational skills training to more than 18 million people each year, she noted. 

Though there are over 200 million skilled workers in China, with over 60 million high-skilled talents, providing strong human resources support for high-quality economic development, there is still a shortage of digital, innovative, and composite high-skilled talents who can adapt to the development of new industries, new models, and new driving forces, Wang said. 

Frontline workers, such as fitters, welders, and elderly care nurses, are generally in short supply. Talent cultivation needs to better adapt to market changes and industry demands, she added. 

"Since the beginning of this year, we have organized a total of 32,000 job fairs, an increase of 20 percent year-on-year. A total of 26,000 special buses, trains and chartered planes were dispatched, transporting 880,000 workers from point to point," she said. 

In 2024, China will see 11.79 million college graduates. The government will optimize employment services to job-seekers and guarantee the bottom lines to ensure the employments of special groups, according to the minister. 

US Congressional leaders on Sunday unveiled budget legislation that would prevent China from purchasing oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), according to Reuters. However, the move will have little to no impact on China and is merely a political stunt, experts said.

Congressional negotiators unveiled the 1,050-page bill that lays out funding for six of the dozen segments of the government that Congress is charged with allocating money, with the next six due by later in the month. The US House will have to vote on the bill first before the Senate can take up the package before Friday, Reuters reported.

Last July, the Senate passed a bill 85 to 14 to ban exports to China of SPR oil. The issue of SPR sales to China heated up after US President Joe Biden announced in 2022 the sale of 180 million barrels of SPR oil to tame gasoline prices that spiked after the Ukraine crisis.

In 2022, the SPR sold 1 million barrels to UNIPEC America, a Houston-based arm of China's Sinopec. In 2017, under former US president Donald Trump, some SPR oil was sold to PetroChina International, a subsidiary of PetroChina, Reuters reported.

The ban is more of a political stunt rather than a substantial action, as speaking harshly about China has become one of the cheapest ways for politicians to quickly attract attention, experts said.

The move will have minimal impact as China's reliance on US imports is very low, let alone oil from the SPR, Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Monday.

"It is akin to saying I won't sell you something when you weren't buying it in the first place," Lin said.

Lin noted that China primarily imports oil from the Middle East and Central Asia due to cost and transportation convenience.

In 2023, China imported 563.99 million tons of crude oil, climbing 11 percent year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

In response to US Congress' passing a bill to ban the sale of US strategic petroleum reserves to China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin urged the US to abandon the zero-sum mentality.

"We urge relevant US politicians to abandon the zero-sum Cold War mentality and ideological bias, form a right perception of China and China-US relations, and contribute to mutual trust and cooperation between China and the US, not otherwise," Wang told a press conference in January 2023.

The People's Bank of China (PBC), the central bank, will guide Chinese pay-ment platforms to raise the single transaction limit for foreign nationals using mobile payment services from $1,000 to $5,000 and the annual transaction limit from $10,000 to $50,000, amid efforts to improve payment convenience, officials told a press conference on Friday.

The move represents China's latest efforts to optimize foreign investment environment and China's determination to implement high-level opening-up, experts said.

Efforts will also be made to help foreign nationals link their overseas bank cards to domestic payment services more easily, simplifying the identity verification process, and bringing greater convenience, Zhang Qingsong, deputy governor of the PBC said.

"The PBC will guide payment institutions to introduce a series of convenience measures to ensure that foreign friends are satisfied and willing to use China's mobile payment products, which have been quite popular among Chinese people," Zhang said.

The call from the PBC has been met with proactive responses from major Chinese mobile payment institutions.

Weixin Pay, one of China's major payment platforms, has been optimizing payment services for foreign nationals since July 2023 by allowing overseas users to link international bank cards to it. It has recently optimized key areas for overseas users, including the registration process, payment activation process, small amount payment limit without authentication, and simplification of the user experience, the Global Times learned from Tencent, which owns Weixin Pay, on Friday.

For example, foreign users can directly add international bank cards to quickly activate the Weixin payment function. By linking an international card, first-time users of Weixin Pay from abroad can try Weixin Pay within a certain amount without verification.

Weixin Pay's transactions made through international bank cards have maintained steady growth, with the accumulated transaction amount exceeding 1 billion yuan ($138.91 million) and the total number of transactions exceeding 10 million by 2023, according to Tencent.

Ant Group which operates the country's leading payment app Alipay said it has completed some of the cap lifting requirements as of Friday and will complete the remainder in the near future, according to a statement sent by Ant Group to the Global Times on Friday.

Ant Group will continue to improve its services by introducing more features tailored to foreign visitors traveling to China. This includes expanding coverage to more card organizations and overseas electronic wallets, and allowing more international tourists to use electronic wallets from home for scanning and payment in China.

Ant Group's services for international travelers in China have continued to expand. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the average daily number of transactions made by overseas visitors on Alipay was nearly double that of the third quarter, and the daily transaction peak also reached new highs.

The move to optimize mobile payments for foreign nationals in China reflects the country's commitment to creating a more open and convenient business environment and shows China's commitment to financial opening-up, Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday.

In a meeting with a US Chamber of Commerce delegation on Wednesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said that China will open its door even wider to the outside world, continue to foster a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment, and provide more support and convenience for US companies and foreign firms from other countries to invest and do business in China.

China has stepped up its efforts in opening-up, including implementing mutual visa exemptions with a number of countries and issuing the 24-point guideline to optimize foreign investment.

China's opening-up measures will not only enhance China's position and influence in the global economy, but also provide more opportunities for development and cooperation for countries around the world, Wang said.

China's 24 pro-foreign investment measures have further strengthened the in-vestment confidence of foreign-funded enterprises, He Yadong, spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce told a press conference on Thursday.

Overall, more than 60 percent of the measures have been implemented or made positive progress. For the next step, the ministry will continue to promote the implementation of the 24 specific measures, give full play to the role of the roundtable meeting for foreign-funded enterprises, and continue to optimize the business environment, He said

The news that Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD Co is in contact with the Italian government about building a second factory in Europe has attracted widespread attention. Despite the growing protectionist climate in Europe, the Chinese and European EV industry chains don't have to resort to confrontation. There's still the potential to strengthen cooperation to bring more opportunities for mutually beneficial development.

In an interview at the Geneva International Motor Show, Michael Shu, managing director of BYD Europe, confirmed the contacts with the Italian government, noting that the need for a second European plant "depends on our sales - now we're making very good progress," Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

The move came just months after the Chinese EV giant announced in December its intention to build a new-energy vehicle (NEV) production base in Hungary.

Given the background of the EU probe into state subsidies to Chinese EV makers and their anxiety over substantial Chinese EV exports to Europe, it is not hard to see that BYD's localization push in Europe is part of its efforts to navigate foreign regulatory challenges. Such a business solution may also be of great significance to the cooperation potential in the EV industrial chain between China and Europe.

Chinese EV exports have risen sharply in recent years, especially in 2023. Chinese car exporters shipped more than 1.2 million NEVs last year, up 77 percent from 2022, according to data from the China Association of Auto Manufacturers. That helped China surpass Japan as the world's top vehicle exporter for the first time, according to Chinese media reports. Europe has become a major destination market for Chinese EVs.

In this context, US and Western media outlets have played up the "China threat" theory targeting Chinese manufacturing, depicting Chinese companies as a threat rather than a partner for cooperation. Their purpose of creating the "threat" theory surrounding Chinese EVs is to protect American interests and to influence public opinion in favor of trade barriers and conservative policies. 

What Europeans need to see is that all of this is a US tactic to shift the focus and blame of its own protectionism, and that even Europe is a victim in the face of US trade barriers. Therefore, Europeans should not fall for the "China threat" hype from the US and should see that Chinese manufacturing has never been a threat, but rather a driving force for development and cooperation.

There is no denying that the EU and European car industry may be concerned about rising imports from China and their price competitiveness. But the advantages of Chinese EVs come from mass manufacturing capability, not subsidies or unfair competition means. Blocking trade and investment between the Chinese and European EV industries is not only not conducive to the development of the European auto industry, but also goes against free trade rules.

Take BYD as an example. The Chinese company just overtook Tesla as the world's biggest EV maker in the last quarter of 2023. Its rapid growth doesn't rely on subsidies, but hinges on strong products, technology and supply chain management flexibility. 

Europe's huge demand for EVs during its transition toward a low-carbon economy has also played a role in its growth.

Once BYD produces in Europe, its pricing mechanism may comply with local markets and standards, while its supply chain management could bring new inspiration for local producers in terms of cost efficiency, which could offer more cooperation choices to the European EV industry and facilitate the local transition toward the green economy.

The auto industry in China and Europe has extensive cooperation potential and common interests. It is sincerely hoped that both the Chinese and European governments and companies can work together to strengthen communication, address each other's concerns, properly handle EV-related trade friction, and jointly promote the development of the EV industry to achieve win-win results.

Chinese passenger airlines will be able to increase their weekly round-trip flights to the US from the current 35 to 50, starting from March 31, the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) said on Monday after frequent China-US interactions.

The approval "is a significant step forward in further normalization of the US-China market in anticipation of the Summer 2024 traffic season," the USDOT said.

The shift comes amid increased dialogue between Chinese and US officials this year.

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on the sidelines of the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Abu Dhabi, on Monday. Wang and Tai engaged in "professional and in-depth" discussions on bilateral and multilateral economic and trade issues of mutual interest, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).

Wang expressed serious concerns over additional US tariffs imposed on Chinese goods and other trade issues during the talk, MOFCOM said.

In another development, the chief executive of the US Chamber of Commerce, Suzanne Clark, is leading a delegation of former US government officials to Beijing this week, Reuters reported.

The group will meet with senior Chinese government officials and local business leaders, as well as American business executives and foreign diplomats, according to a representative of the chamber.

Earlier this month Chinese and US officials held a third round of talks in Beijing as part of their Economic Working Group set up last year, adding to growing interactions since the beginning of 2024 between officials of the world's two biggest economies.

China’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) said the two sides had in-depth, candid, pragmatic and constructive exchanges on the macroeconomic situation and policies, G20 financial cooperation, debt of developing countries, industrial policies and other issues.

During the meeting, the Chinese side expressed concerns about additional US tariffs imposed on Chinese goods, restrictions against China on two-way investment, and sanctions that suppress Chinese enterprises, the MOF said, adding that the two sides agreed to continue talks.

The US delegation indicated that US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen looked forward to a return visit to China at an "appropriate time," US Department of the Treasury said.

Zong Qinghou, the founder and chairman of Chinese beverage giant Wahaha Group, died on Sunday at the age of 79, the company has confirmed.

On Thursday, the company said that Zong was hospitalized but remained in stable condition. The group's business is operating as normal.

In 1987, Zong led two retired teachers to set up a school-run enterprise. With a loan of 140,000 yuan ($19,700 at current rates), they started selling soda and popsicles on a consignment basis. Later through technological and marketing innovation, they created the famous brand Wahaha.

Zong also became a major representative of China's private entrepreneurs after reform and opening-up kicked off in 1978, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday.

Zong was a deputy to the 10th, 11th and 12th National People's Congresses, and a representative of the 12th, 13th and 14th National Congresses of the Communist Party of China in Zhejiang Province.

He won honors including the National Model Worker, the National May 1 Labor Medal and the "Top 100 outstanding private entrepreneurs at the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up award."

"For Chinese entrepreneurs, it is essential to be patriotic, to innovate continuously and to care for employees," Zong once said. "Only in this way can private firms thrive."

With regard to personal wealth, Zong topped the list of the richest people in the Chinese mainland on more than one occasion. As of March 23, 2023, Zong ranked No.121 on the Hurun Global Rich List 2023 with wealth of 100 billion yuan.

As a leader in China's beverage industry, Zong created a large number of household beverage brands including Wahaha purified water and AD calcium milk. He was regarded as one of the representatives of the first generation of entrepreneurs in Zhejiang andiconic figure of China's economic reform.

Set up in 1987, the company continued to expand, with output value exceeding 100 million yuan in 1990, climbing to 10 billion yuan in 2003 and reaching 78.28 billion yuan in 2013. In 2022, the group company's sales reached 51.202 billion yuan.

Media reported that Zong had the habit of reading hard copies of major newspapers in China, which his assistants printed out for him - meaning each time he went on a business trip, his team would bring a small printer, A4 paper and ink cartridges.

Although Zong once served as the chairman of Wahaha Group, a successor has long been in place. In December 2021, Wahaha Group officially announced that Zong Fuli, daughter of Zong Qinghou, was installed as vice chairman and general manager of the group. The father did not hide his pride in her daughter, giving her 90 points in a public media interview for her performance in running the group.

In a Dialogue program of CCTV last year, Zong Qinghou addressed succession within the company. He said he would not retire, but would step back and let young people take charge of day-to-day operations.