CBN丨GBA tops global bay area economies by the end of 2023

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

Coming up on today’s program

• GBA’s economic scale surpassed those of New York and San Francisco Bay areas;
• China is set to raise deficit-to-GDP ratio and expand government bond issuance in 2025.

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

A blue book on the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Area (GBA) released on Monday indicates that the region's economic scale ranked top among global peers at the end of 2023, surpassing New York and San Francisco Bay areas.

The comprehensive think tank report, published annually since 2018, was jointly released by the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences and China's Social Sciences Academic Press in Guangzhou.

Since the Chinese government issued a pivotal development plan for the GBA more than five years ago, the region's GDP soared from 10.8 trillion yuan in 2018 to 14 trillion yuan in 2023. This growth is nearly equivalent to Shenzhen's GDP in 2023, according to the report, citing Wan Lu, an official from the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences.

The report revealed that the economic scale of the GBA by the end of 2023 far outpaced the USD1.8 trillion of the New York Bay Area and the USD1.38 trillion of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its size was on par with that of the Tokyo Bay Area.

The report underscores that the GBA has consistently prioritized the development of manufacturing and the real economy, improved urban functions and encouraged cooperation among industries.

On December 11, the Huangmaohai Link, a cross-sea passage in the GBA, opened to traffic, serving as another major cross-sea passage following the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge and the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link in the region.

With the completion of the cross-river and cross-sea channels, the region is building a world-class industrial corridor anchored by trillion-yuan-level clusters in sectors like advanced equipment manufacturing on the west bank of the Pearl River and high-end electronics on the east bank, according to the report.

In addition, the GBA has constructed a world-class regional transportation corridor with rail and aviation infrastructure. By the end of 2023, the region's railway network surpassed 2,700 kilometers, while urban rail systems reached 1,373 kilometers. The GBA also boasts a world-class aviation network, featuring seven airports and 11 runways. Key hubs in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shenzhen have collectively emerged as a leading global airport cluster, achieving passenger throughput surpassing that of Tokyo, New York and San Francisco, the report said.

Greater Bay Area, Greater future

• The total number of enterprises in the core industries of China's digital economy has topped 4.57 million as of the end of November, marking an increase of 18 percent from the end of 2023, official data showed Monday. The number of core industrial enterprises in Guangdong, Zhejiang and Shandong provinces ranked the top three in the country.

Next on industry and company news

• China exported 5.84 million cars in the first 11 months, up 23 percent, with 1.86 million new energy vehicles, an increase of 13 percent, according to Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association on Tuesday. In November alone, the export volume of NEVs was 140,000 units, down 14 percent on a yearly basis and 32 percent monthly.
• JD.Com’s employees with an A rating will get a year-end bonus equivalent to eight salaries, while those with B rating will receive five months extra this year. Procurement and sales staff will get three and six months bonuses by 2026, the e-commerce giant announced late yesterday. Meanwhile, JD.Com announced plans to spend nearly 3.3 billion yuan to buy a majority stake in Home Credit Consumer Finance, the first wholly foreign-owned consumer finance firm in China.
• Chinese EV maker Xpeng said on Monday that it has delivered its 10,000th smart EV in the European market, and ranks as the top seller for models priced above 40,000 euros among all Chinese carmakers this year, according to He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xpeng.
• Shenzhen Dobot raised HKD681 million in its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday, becoming China's first manufacturer of collaborative robots, which are robots with an operable mechanical arm, to go public. 

Switching gears to financial news

• China's Ministry of Finance on Tuesday unveiled plans to implement a more proactive fiscal policy in 2025. These plans include increasing the fiscal deficit-to-GDP ratio and issuing larger-scale government bonds, as outlined in an official statement.
• The panda bond market, in which overseas institutions issue renminbi bonds in China's onshore market, posted record-high issuances by value this year. The panda bond market saw 109 issuances this year worth 194.8 billion yuan as of Friday. The issuance total, according to market tracker Wind Info, was up 26 percent year-on-year.

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

• China’s A-share market rebounded sharply on Tuesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component each jumping 1.3 percent. Hong Kong stocks rose by the most in nearly two weeks, driving the benchmark above the 20,000 level before it closed at noon up to Thursday for Christmas. Both the Hang Seng index and the TECH index added 1.1 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.

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