Consumption vouchers

BEIJING has joined dozens of other Chinese cities to issue consumption vouchers to citizens, in an effort to encourage spending after retail sales collapsed following the coronavirus outbreak.

The Beijing government plans to issue 12.2 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion) in consumption vouchers, which can be used to shop online or in physical stores in sectors including dining, shopping, tourism, education and sports. Distribution began Saturday.

Retail sales in the city slumped 20.4 percent in the first four months of the year, worse than the national decline of 16.2 percent, according to the local and national statistics bureaus. At least 50 cities across China have distributed vouchers amounting to more than 6 billion yuan via e-payment systems, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, including Wuhan, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Shenzhen.

Rent reduction

CENTRAL State-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been asked to reduce or waive rents for small businesses in a bid to cut the latter’s operating costs and bolster the slowing economy, according to the country’s top State-owned asset regulator.

A circular, issued by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council last week, said that small and micro firms in the services sector and self-employed businesses which have rented premises from central SOEs and encountered financial difficulties, should be exempted from rent for at least three months in the first half of the year.

Soybean imports

SOYBEAN imports by China rose 27 percent in May from a year earlier, after crushers increased purchases from Brazil to take advantage of cheap supplies amid strong crush margins.

The country shipped in 9.4 million tons in May, compared with 7.4 million tons in the same month last year, and 6.7 million tons in April, according to customs data.

Coal imports

CHINA’S coal imports in May fell nearly 20 percent compared with a year earlier even as demand recovered at power plants and industrial users, customs data showed yesterday.

Yesterday’s data showed the country imported 22.06 million tons of coal last month, according to the General Administration of Customs. That compares with 30.95 million tons in April and 27.47 million tons in May 2019.