On Tuesday evening, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) raised the bar for new energy vehicles (NEVs) to be eligible for consumer subsidy. The subsidy was first put in place in 2010 when the country pledged to address its air pollution.
In 2013, the amount of subsidy for purchasing a NEV could be as much as half of the vehicle price. The preferential policy led to a boost in NEV sales. While total auto sales in February dropped 17.4% year-on-year, NEV sales grew 53.6%, according to the latest data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
The new measures toughen the NEV subsidy criteria regarding battery systems and energy consumption. They also raise the required mileage threshold for continuous driving that pure electric passenger vehicles must complete in order to receive a subsidy.
For those NEVs that are still eligible, the amount of subsidy is halved with a final goal of no subsidies by 2020. Local governments are required to stop subsidising purchases of NEVs other than for new energy buses and fuel cell vehicles.
The policy went into effect on the day of the announcement but there will be a transition period until June 25. The money saved will be used to improve the NEV power charging infrastructure.
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Ireland-domiciled funds can now invest in the Chinese interbank bond market via the Bond Connect scheme, according to Ireland's central bank.
Ireland has a quota of Rmb50bn ($7.4bn) whcih can be invested in bonds and equities in mainland China under the RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor policy initiative.
Chinese government and policy bank bonds will be formally included in the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index as of April 1.
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Yi Gang, governor of People’s Bank of China, said during the China Development Forum that the country will further open up its financial industry to international investors and encourage them to invest in the trust, banking, consumer finance, automobile finance and financial leasing sectors.
In addition, the central bank will lift the foreign ownership cap on asset management and wealth management joint-ventures.
Further, regulators will also broaden the business scope of foreign-domestic securities, joint-ventures and foreign-controlled banks.
Finally, foreign insurers will be no longer required to open a representative office in mainland China for two years before they officially set up insurance affiliate branches in the country.
On the same forum, Pan Gongsheng, head of State Administration of Foreign Exchange, said that the Chinese government will continue to improve the convertibility of its currency, according to local media.
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On Monday, Chinese premier Li Keqiang met with five global business leaders attending the China Development Forum. They were Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche, IBM chairman Ginni Rometty, BMW chairman Harald Krüger, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques.
“China’s large, open door will become ever larger and ever more open,” Li said to them.
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On March 18, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) signed a memorandum with the Germany Federal Financial Supervisory Authority to collaborate on regulation setting and information exchanging on market derivatives, according to an announcement by the CSRC on March 25.
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US-China trade talks continued in Beijing on Thursday.
Reuters reported that China had proposed “unprecedented” proposals on issues including forced technology transfer, quoting one of four senior US administration officials.