CX Daily: China’s International Air Travel Resumes, But Covid Turbulence to Delay Takeoff
China’s passenger traffic surges on the first day of the Spring Festival travel rush
Travel /
Cover Story: China’s international air travel resumes, but Covid turbulence to delay takeoff
China is reopening its borders which have been largely shut for the last three years,scrapping quarantine requirements for inbound travelers and removing restrictions on international flights. But how quickly will cross-border travel return to pre-Covid levels? The answer: It’s complicated.
In a – very – optimistic scenario, international flights to and from China will return to frequencies not seen since 2019 by this northern hemisphere summer at the earliest, several civil aviation experts told Caixin.
Covid-19 /
Pfizer’s Paxlovid to be dropped from national subsidy program as talks collapse
Pfizer Inc.’s breakthrough Covid drug will be excluded from China’s medical subsidy program this year, health officials said, after pricing talks broke down over the weekend.
The National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA), which oversees the system, said negotiations failed due to the high bulk price that Pfizer quoted for the combination antiviral.
Chinese mainlanders can book omicron-specific mRNA shot in Hong Kong
Foreign Ministry /
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian transferred to Ocean Affairs Department
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian became the deputy director-general of the ministry’s Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, the ministry’s website showed Monday.
Zhao had been a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since February 2020. He became the deputy head of the ministry’s Information Department in August 2019. The 50-year-old previously worked in the ministry’s Asia Department and served various roles at Chinese embassies in the U.S. and in Pakistan.
FINANCE & ECONOMY
Regulator /
China wraps up two-year tech crackdown, top official says
China’s more than two-year clampdown on its sprawling internet sector is coming to an end, according to a top central bank official.
The special campaign to rectify 14 internet platform companies’ financial businesses is basically complete with few remaining issues to resolve, said Guo Shuqing, Communist Party secretary of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).
Fines /
Central bank fines three financial institutions $19.5 million
China’s central bank handed out fines totaling 134 million yuan ($19.5 million) to three financial institutions citing violations in their payment and clearing businesses as regulators step up scrutiny of financial misconduct.
China Merchants Bank, the largest joint stock bank in the country, was slapped with 34.2 million yuan of fines in addition to confiscation of 56,900 yuan of illegal gains. The punishment was for 13 violations including breaching anti-money laundering and consumer protection rules as well as failures to comply with payment and clearing industry rules.
Shenzhen /
Shenzhen district selects first site for joint development with Hong Kong
A district in southern metropolis Shenzhen designated its first plot of land to be a special territory for joint economic development with Hong Kong. The area will have industrial parks and adopt tax policies similar to those in the special administrative region, a local official said.
Shenzhen and Hong Kong will jointly explore special policies to regulate the 96,000-square-meter (23-acre) area in Luohu district as if it were part of Hong Kong and will use it to support the country’s “dual circulation” economic strategy, Xia Dong, a deputy head of the district, announced at a recent meeting.
Corruption /
China’s ex-justice minister conned by ‘political swindlers,’ documentary says
Fu Zhenghua, a former justice minister convicted of corruption, was exploited by "political swindlers" for as long as 20 years during his 47-year police career, according to an anti-corruption TV documentary produced by China’s top graft buster and state broadcaster CCTV.
The four-episode documentary series is an exposé of crimes committed by fallen officials. The first episode spotlighting Fu aired Saturday.
Quick hits /
China formalizes expanded currency swap with Argentina
U.S.’s Principal Financial invests in Chinese pension manager
Editorial: Take international rules seriously
BUSINESS & TECH
Property /
Chinese property developers get year-end financing boost, consultancy says
Chinese real estate developers reported sharply higher levels of financing at the end of 2022 as regulators relaxed policy curbs to ease an unprecedented industrywide liquidity crunch, industry data show.
Total financing raised by 100 major developers, including by issuing bonds and equities, reached 101.8 billion yuan ($14.9 billion) last month, up 84.7% from the previous month and 33.4% year-on-year, according to data published Wednesday by China Real Estate Information Corp. (CRIC), a consultancy.
Travel rush /
China passenger traffic rebounds on first day of New Year travel rush
China’s passenger traffic surged almost 39% year-on-year on the first day of this year’s official Spring Festival travel rush, suggesting that unwinding its “zero-Covid” policy will help restore travel demand during the world’s largest annual human migration.
On Saturday, Chinese public transport systems carried 34.7 million passengers, according to data (link in Chinese) from the State Council, the country’s cabinet. Despite the year-on-year increase, the number represents a 48.6% drop from the first day of the travel rush before the pandemic in 2019.
Personnel /
State aluminum giant hires new chairman to fill months-long vacancy
State-owned Aluminum Corp. of China, the world’s largest aluminum producer, hired Duan Xiangdong from a state-run heavy equipment company as its new chairman, filling a position that has been vacant for more than five months.
Duan, 54, also took up the post of party secretary at the firm, also known as Chinalco, according to a notice published on the company’s website Friday.
Quick hits /
Tesla slashes China EV prices to 40% less than in U.S.
Taiwan passes act offering tax credits to chipmakers
Long Read /
Covid is rife at China’s colleges. Exams are going ahead anyway
GALLERY
Gallery: China officially opens
