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Agriculture Brief Economics & Trade Health Care

US business lobby says coronavirus unlikely to halt purchase agreements in phase one trade deal

The head of an American business lobbying group said on Thursday that he was confident that China will still meet its phase one trade deal commitments to massively increase purchases of US goods and services despite the coronavirus crisis, reported the South China Morning Post. Craig Allen, president of the US-China Business Council (USCBC), said that […]

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Banking & Finance Brief Health Care

Chinese banks told to go easy on business borrowers during epidemic

Several local banking industry regulators instructed banks to loosen standards for recognizing companies’ nonperforming loans in a bid to offset damage to businesses and the economy from the coronavirus epidemic, reported Caixin.  Local branches of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu issued notices over the weekend asking local banks […]

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Brief Health Care Law & Regulation Politics & Society

China fires highest-level officials over Coronavirus outbreak

Beijing fired the highest-ranking officials yet over the handling of the coronavirus outbreak, replacing two provincial health officials in charge of virus-racked Hubei province with a trusted official from China’s national health agency, reported the Wall Street Journal.  The director and Communist Party secretary of Hubei’s provincial health committee were removed, state broadcaster China Central Television […]

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Banking & Finance Brief Health Care

Government revenue growth dips to more than three-decade low

China’s fiscal revenue grew at the slowest pace since 1987 last year amid slowing economic growth and big tax and fee cuts, official data showed on Monday, reported Caixin. Fiscal revenue grew 3.8% to RMB 19 trillion ($2.7 trillion) in 2019, according to the Ministry of Finance, missing the annual target of 5% growth. It was 2.4 percentage […]

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Agriculture Brief Economics & Trade Health Care

Coronavirus could impact Chinese purchases of US farm goods: US official

The coronavirus outbreak could reduce Chinese purchases of US agricultural products this year under the Phase 1 trade deal signed by the two countries, White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said on Tuesday, reported Reuters.  “We expect the Phase 1 deal will allow China to import more food and open those markets to American farmers, […]