Economy

　　PMI Rises

　　Growth in China’s manufacturing sector continued to accelerate in May， rising to the highest level this year and adding to signs of a stabilizing economy， official data showed on June 1.

　　The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) increased to 50.8 in May， up from 50.4 in April， according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).

　　The reading， which inched further above the 50-point level marking monthly expansion in factory activity， indicated a pickup in China’s manufacturing sector and the economy as a whole.

　　This is the third consecutive monthly uptick in the widely watched data. The index， seen as one of the key indicators of economic performance， began to climb in March after three consecutive months of decline.

　　Zhang Liqun， a researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council， pointed to the improving data as an indication that “the economy is continuing to stabilize， and this trend is becoming evident.”

　　China’s non-manufacturing activity further expanded in May， with the sector’s PMI rising to 55.5 from 54.8 in April， according to data released by NBS and CFLP on June 3.

　　The non-manufacturing PMI tracks activity in sectors including construction， software， aviation， railway transport and real estate.

　　The rise marks the second straight month of improvement， following a 0.3-percentage-point rebound in April and a decline in March. In January， the index hit its lowest level in more than a year at 53.4.

　　Business activity in the real estate sector remained lackluster. The sub-index for the property sector still fell below the boom-bust line of 50， with its business outlook sub-index down for three months straight.

　　Boosting Efficiency

　　In an effort to improve government efficiency， the State Council’s executive meeting decided on June 4 to abolish or delegate 52 items of administrative procedures previously subject to the State Council’s review.

　　These administrative procedures， as part of the 200 items that Premier Li Keqiang proposed cutting this year in his annual work report to the legislature， will streamline the administration for investors and business startups， create job opportunities and ensure that favorable policies make full use of innovation in the market， according to a statement released after the meeting.

　　For example， applications for preferential tax rates for small and micro-sized companies and businesses offering job opportunities to laid-off workers will be streamlined to simplify tax reduction procedures.

　　The government will continue to reduce the number of items subject to government approval before starting a business and release details about those items to the public for supervision， the statement said.

　　Supporting Xinjiang

　　The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on June 4 that it will work to implement a variety of support policies in employment， education and poverty reduction for northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

　　In the short term， the NDRC will focus on promoting economic and social development and improving quality of life in southern Xinjiang， which has difficult geographical conditions and experiences lower standards of living.

　　It will also speed up the building of major transportation， water conservation and agricultural infrastructure.

　　The NDRC’s statement came as part of follow-up moves to major decisions made at the Second Central Work Conference on Xinjiang， a two-day meeting which came to a close on May 29.

　　To better implement the decisions of the meeting， the NDRC will deepen reform of the administrative approval mechanism， increase the efficiency of the approval process， and create a favorable investment environment.

　　It will also optimize the allocation of Xinjiang-supporting funds and enhance supervision and inspection over how policies aimed at boosting Xinjiang development are carried out.

　　Non-Stop Flight

　　Air China has begun offering non-stop flights between Beijing and Washington， D.C. four times a week from June 10 in the latest move to expand its network in the United States.

　　The flight， operated with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft， is scheduled to leave Beijing at 1：00 p.m. (Beijing time) and arrive at 2：35 p.m. (Washington time) on the same day. The return flight is expected to depart at 4：35 p.m. and arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport at 6：15 p.m. the next day.

　　The flight number for the Beijing-Washington service will be CA817/818.

　　The United States is a popular travel destination for increasingly affluent Chinese tourists. China is expected to be the top tourist source market for the United States in 2018 with the number of visiting Chinese hitting 4.7 million， according to predictions from the U.S. official tourism and marketing organization Brand USA.

　　Offshore Gold Trading

　　Offshore gold contracts denominated in yuan will be traded in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ)

　　later this year， top officials of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) said on June 4.

　　The People’s Bank of China， the central bank， in May gave the green light for setting up an “international board” for gold trading at the Shanghai FTZ.

　　SGE officials indicated that the plan to accept offshore yuan-denominated investments will speed up the Chinese currency’s internationalization process and make the Chinese bullion market more accessible to overseas investors.

　　SGE is the world’s largest physical gold exchange and handles most of the gold transactions that take place in China.

　　The central bank statement indicated that the various categories of gold being traded at the SGE will also be made available on the international board.

　　SGE officials said that most of the preparations are in place and the bourse remained confident of starting trading at the FTZ by the end of the year.

　　They also said that registration of the Shanghai Gold International Exchange， technical preparations and recruitment of international members will be completed by the end of the third quarter.

　　Financial Reform

　　The government of south China’s Guangdong Province said on June 4 that it will deepen financial reforms and encourage more private capital into the financial market.

　　Social capital and provincial enterprises will be supported in participating in the capital increase， as well as share expansion and restructuring of such local financial institutions as rural and urban commercial banks or rural credit cooperatives， said a document issued by the Guangdong Provincial Government.

　　The province plans to push forward integrated and innovative development of financing， science and technology and manufacturing.

　　Financial services for small businesses will be improved and innovative online financing will be promoted， the document added.

　　By the end of 2013， the added value of the financial industry had accounted for 6.1 percent of Guangdong’s GDP， said Liu Wentong， head of the financial work office of the provincial government.

　　That is forecast to reach 9 percent for Guangdong in 2020， said Liu.

　　Guangdong， a forerunner of China’s reform and opening-up policies more than 30 years ago， has vowed to further reforms in order to maintain its important role in the country’s economy.

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