Maritime economy

THE gross production value of China’s maritime industry grew by 7.5 percent annually on average in the past five years, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the country’s GDP, according to the State Oceanic Administration (SOA).

The maritime economy generated 7.8 trillion yuan (US$1.22 trillion) in 2017, said SOA director Wang Hong at a national maritime meeting.

China aims to increase the gross production value of its maritime industry to 10 trillion yuan by 2020 and have it account for around 15 percent of the country’s GDP by 2035, according to Wang.

Trademarks

CHINA’S trademark applications exceeded 5.7 million last year, up 55.7 percent year on year and setting record highs.

Most of the applications were made online as China has streamlined the trademark application process, according to the Administration for Industry and Commerce.

At the end of 2017, China had 14.92 million qualified registered trademarks, the most of any country worldwide. Thirty-seven Chinese brands made it into the top 500 global brands last year, an increase of 150 percent compared with 2013, according to the World Brand Lab.

Power use

CHINA’S electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, rose 6.6 percent to 6.31 trillion kilowatt hours in 2017.

The rate was faster than a 5-percent increase for 2016, according to the data released by the National Energy Administration (NEA).

Electricity used by the service sector rose 10.7 percent last year, followed by a 7.3-percent increase for the agricultural sector and 5.5 percent for the industrial sector. Residential power use rose 7.8 percent, the NEA said.