Trade uncertainties

THE country’s trade faces rising uncertainties this year, a commerce ministry official said yesterday.

Ren Hongbin, an assistant minister at the commerce ministry, made the comment at a news conference. At the same briefing, Vice Industry Minister Xin Guobin, when asked about the Made in China 2025 plan, told reporters that every country has the right to pursue its own development.

Employment policy

THE government will adopt a more proactive employment policy this year as it needs to create 15 million new jobs in 2019, an official of the human resources ministry said yesterday.

China’s urban registered jobless rate stood at 3.8 percent at the end of 2018, Vice Minister Qiu Xiaoping told a news conference.

Infrastructure projects

THE country’s top economic planner has approved construction of seven infrastructure projects with a total investment of 485 billion yuan (US$72 billion) this year, according to the Securities Daily.

The National Development and Reform Commission authorized plans to build infrastructure projects in transportation, water conservancy and energy, the paper reported. The projects include several rail transit projects in the city of Wuhan, a hydroelectric station at the Jinsha River and airports in the cities of Lianyungang, Hohhot and Xianyang.

New loans

BANKS in China extended far more new loans in December than expected, bringing last year’s tally to a record US$2.4 trillion.

Chinese banks extended 1.08 trillion yuan (US$159.95 billion) in net new yuan loans last month, central bank data showed Tuesday.