Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

Coming up on today’s program

• The NDRC urges local governments to increase cross-regional market connectivity;
• Chinese tech giants refute US “Section 1260H” list inclusion.

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours

China’s state economic planner asked all local governments to act under the same standards to eliminate cross-regional restrictions in market entry, aiming to accelerate their integration into the unified national market and actively support its development.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) released a trial about “Guidelines for the Construction of a National Unified Market” in a briefing on Tuesday.

The move is part of the efforts to implement the key tasks outlined at the tone-setting Central Economic Work Conference held in December 2024, which emphasized the importance of formulating a guideline for building a unified national market.

The guideline outlined key measures including unifying the underlying institutions and rules of the market, improving the high-standard market infrastructure connectivity, building a unified market for factors and resources, advancing the high-standard integration of goods and services markets, enhancing fair and unified regulation, and curbing unfair market competition and improper intervention.

Among the proposed measures, the NDRC urged all regional governments not to use administrative and criminal means to intervene in economic disputes and shall not carry out law enforcement or exercise jurisdiction outside of their administrations, which would violate the law.

The NDRC has also requested that local governments should not restrict the free flow of commodities and production factors across regions, and should not set unreasonable limitations to exclude, restrict or prohibit local business entities from supplying commodities and services to other regions.

The local governments should also refrain from strengthening the protection of local products or specific products in the form of targeted subsidies, local recommendation catalogs, etc., as well as restricting the entry of products from other areas into the local market.

The NDRC also proposed to accelerate the development of a unified capital market and to strengthen information sharing with capital market-related institutions and interconnection with bank credit information.

• Rescuers are braving freezing temperatures in combing through rubble in their search and rescue of survivors after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted a county in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on Tuesday morning. Ninety-five people have been killed and 130 others injured as of 4 pm today. The Finance Ministry has allocated 100 million yuan to support rescue, relief and rebuilding work in quake-stricken areas.

Greater Bay Area, Greater future

• Hong Kong eased some requirements of its revived investor visa schemes to attract more millionaires, with measures effective from March 1. The government will allow the investment made by an applicant through a wholly-owned eligible private vehicle to be calculated into the amount of the required investment, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and Invest Hong Kong announced on Tuesday. Officially launched in March 2024, the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme raised the investment threshold to HKD30 million from HKD10 million before being suspended.
• Shenzhen Airport’s passenger throughput reached 20,400 people on Dec. 22, setting a new single-day record high since the full resumption of border crossings after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the city’s border inspection authorities yesterday. The passenger throughput at the airport doubled to a five-year high of 5.5 million last year from the previous one, ranking among China’s top airports.

Next on industry and company news

• Chinese tech company Tencent Holdings on Tuesday refuted its inclusion on a US blacklist over allegations of aiding Chinese military, stating that the “inclusion on this list is clearly a mistake.” According to a document published by the US Department of Defense, it added Tencent Holdings, leading battery maker CATL and artificial intelligence software company SenseTime, among a number of other Chinese companies, to its “Section 1260H” list of firms allegedly linked to China’s military. SenseTime also expressed its strong opposition to the decision, saying that it is entirely unfounded and will not have a substantial effect on the company’s business. CATL also called the designation a mistake, saying it "is not engaged in any military related activities.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun today urged the US “to immediately lift its illegal unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction against Chinese companies” during a routine press conference.
• Xiaomi raised the cash prize of its annual Million Dollar Technology Award to 10 million yuan and awarded it to the engineer team that developed HyperEngine V8s for the SU7 electric car, Chairman Lei Jun said today.
• JD.Com launched a housekeeping business recruitment plan for 100,000 cleaning staff from hundreds of counties and thousands of towns in China, with plans to expand its housekeeping services to 100 cities and invest 1 billion yuan to improve workers' earnings and experience by the end of this year, the Chinese e-commerce giant said today.
• Switzerland's Roche and other pharmaceutical companies are churning out their influenza drugs in China as a massive flu outbreak sweeps across the country during the cold winter months. Sales of flu drugs have soared more than two-and-a-half times in the last month on certain drug purchasing platform.
• China's southeastern province of Fujian will reward its top travel agencies with up to 600,000 yuan each to boost tourist arrivals from areas such as the Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan province, as well as foreign countries. Local travel agencies that are among the top 10 in terms of inbound group tourists and show the fastest growth rates, can receive between 400,000 and 600,000 yuan in rewards, the provincial department of culture and tourism announced yesterday. Eligible agencies must also host at least 3,000 tourists annually and provide tours in foreign languages.

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

• Chinese stocks rebounded on Tuesday after losing for four straight sessions. The benchmark Shanghai Composite added 0.7 percent and the Shenzhen Component jumped 1.1 percent. While Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed 1.35 percent lower and the TECH index dipped 0.9 percent.

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI

Sound Editor: Stephanie LI

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni

Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.

Presented by SFC