Tariffs suspension

China suspended the planned additional tariffs on some U.S. products to be implemented at 12:01 p.m. on Sunday, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said.

The suspension covers the 10-percent and 5-percent additional tariffs, respectively, on the imported products, according to the commission. Besides, the country will continue to suspend its additional tariffs on American-made vehicles and auto parts.

Key economic meeting

The annual Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing last week, as Chinese leaders charted course for the economy in 2020.

In a speech at the conference, President Xi Jinping reviewed the country’s economic work in 2019, analyzed the current situation and outlined key tasks for 2020. Facing the complicated situation of mounting risks and challenges at home and abroad in 2019, China has maintained sustained and sound economic and social development, and made key breakthroughs in the “three tough battles,” seeing notable progress in targeted poverty reduction, effective prevention and control of financial risks, and general improvement of the environment.

Rail trips

About 440 million trips are expected to be made by rail during the world’s largest annual human migration* — the Spring Festival travel rush — an 8 percent year-on-year increase, according to the China’s railway operator.

The upcoming 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, or “Chunyun” in Chinese, which will start on January 10 and end on February 18, will handle an average of 11 million train journeys per day, China State Railway Co. said. There will likely be 32.5 million more train trips than last year thanks to the country’s fast-expanding high-speed rail network, it said.

5G satellite

Chinese enterprise GalaxySpace is set to launch its first 5G Internet satellite by the end of 2019, the company said in Beijing.

The company wants to use 5G technology to build a new kind of satellite network system that can bring a cheaper and faster connection to the world. Traditional satellite connections require a dish or a special kind of cellphone to get the signals, which many users prefer not to invest on.

(SD-Agencies)