Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

大家好，我是主持人李莹亮。

Coming up on today’s program.

重点提要 

• China has unveiled a draft plan for the biggest reorganization of State Council departments in five years;

• China is confident in the recovery of the real estate sector, minister of housing and urban-rural development said.

China’s Two Sessions 2023 

聚焦2023年全国两会

China on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping reform plan for a slew of state institutions, with a focus on restructuring the Ministry of Science and Technology and establishing a national financial regulatory administration, underscoring the country's intensifying efforts to bolster its scientific-technology capabilities and economic and financial security amid growing external uncertainties. 

The institutional reform plan, which also covers areas ranging from data administration and elder-care work to intellectual property rights and agricultural and rural sectors, are in line with the top leadership's goal of improving governance efficiency to tackle risks and challenges and pursue high-quality development, experts noted. 

The draft plan on the institutional reform of the State Council, China's Cabinet, includes 13 steps to restructure several ministries and set up new regulatory bodies. For example, a new regulator for data governance will be created and administered by the National Development and Reform Commission, which will be responsible for advancing the development of data-related fundamental institutions and pushing forward the planning and building of a Digital China, the digital economy and the digital society.

In another crucial bid to improve regulatory capability and efficiency to tackle financial risks, the reform plan includes broad reforms to its financial regulatory mechanism both at the national and local levels. China will set up a national financial regulatory administration directly under the State Council, on the basis of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. Also, the reform of the local branches of the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, will be deepened.

The plan was submitted on Tuesday to the National People's Congress (NPC) for deliberation, which is part of important arrangements made at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) for deepening reform of Party and state institutions, and was adopted at the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee last week. When implemented it will mark the most sweeping reform plan of state institutions since 2018.

3月7日下午，十四届全国人大一次会议听取了关于国务院机构改革方案的说明，方案着眼转变政府职能、加快建设法治政府，重点加强科学技术、金融监管、数据管理、乡村振兴、知识产权、老龄工作等重点领域的机构职责优化和调整。

这次国务院机构改革，作出了重新组建科学技术部、组建国家金融监督管理总局、深化地方金融监管体制改革、中国证券监督管理委员会调整为国务院直属机构、统筹推进中国人民银行分支机构改革、完善国有金融资本管理体制、加强金融管理部门工作人员统一规范管理、组建国家数据局、优化农业农村部职责、完善老龄工作体制、完善知识产权管理体制、国家信访局调整为国务院直属机构、精减中央国家机关人员编制等13个方面的重大部署。

其中多项改革内容备受关注。根据国务院机构改革方案议案，在银保监会的基础上组建金融监督管理总局作为国务院直属机构，证监会也调整为国务院直属机构。此外，统筹推进央行分支机构改革，不再保留央行县（市）支行；国家发改委的企业债券发行审核功能划入证监会；深化地方金融监管体制改革；金融监管部门工作人员纳入国家公务员统一规范管理。

金融监督管理总局的设立可以更好地协调混业经营与分业监管的关系，协调处理好行为监管、主体监管、功能监管和审慎监管。证监会的保留、优化，体现对“健全资本市场功能，提高直接融资比重”的重视。此番调整后，中国金融监管部门将形成“一行一总局一会一局”（人民银行、国家金融监督管理总局、证监会、外汇管理局）的架构。

在国务院关于提请审议国务院机构改革方案的议案中，也包括重新组建科学技术部。加强科学技术部推动健全新型举国体制、优化科技创新全链条管理、促进科技成果转化、促进科技和经济社会发展相结合等职能，强化战略规划、体制改革、资源统筹、综合协调、政策法规、督促检查等宏观管理职责，保留国家基础研究和应用基础研究、国家实验室建设、国家科技重大专项、国家技术转移体系建设、科技成果转移转化和产学研结合、区域科技创新体系建设、科技监督评价体系建设、科研诚信建设、国际科技合作、科技人才队伍建设、国家科技评奖等相关职责，仍作为国务院组成部门。

此外，拟将中央网信办与国家发展改革委部分职责合并，组建国家数据局，负责协调推进数据基础制度建设，统筹数据资源整合共享和开发利用，统筹推进数字中国、数字经济、数字社会规划与建设。专家指出，将国家知识产权局调整为国务院直属机构，也有配合重新组建的科技部、加强对科技知识产权保护力度的制度性调整的规划。

• China is fully confident in the recovery of the property sector, Ni Hong, minister of housing and urban-rural development, said on the sidelines of the two sessions on Tuesday. Sales of new and second-hand commercial housing in China ended 13 months of falls in January and February, Ni said, adding that he expected the market to stabilize and rebound. "A positive impact has occurred on both the supply and demand side of real estate," he noted, as work on many housing projects has resumed at a much higher rate than before and the transaction volume had improved significantly with the number of viewings of new homes increasing. He also stressed that the recovery is occurring on the basis of the principle that housing is for living in, not for speculation, and the ministry will continue to keep a close watch on preventing systemic risks that combined risks from the property and financial sector and local government debts.

  住建部部长称对楼市恢复充满信心：“年初我说对房地产市场企稳回升‘很有信心’，现在我要回答‘充满信心’。”3月7日，在2023年全国两会第二场“部长通道”上，住房和城乡建设部部长倪虹表示。“在稳中起好步，在进上下功夫。”他表示，2023年住房城乡建设工作将在三个方面下功夫：第一稳支柱，第二防风险，第三惠民生。倪虹表示，房地产供需两端都发生了积极变化，住房项目复工率大大提高，售楼处看房量大幅提升，成交量也明显改善。今年1、2月份，全国一手和二手商品房销售结束了13个月的负增长，70个大中城市的房价总体平稳，“保交楼”工作扎实推进，市场主体信心正在恢复。购买首套住房的大力支持政策、购买二套住房的合理支持政策已经出台，正在落实见效；不让投机炒房重新入市、原则上不支持三套以上购房的要求，各地也在认真落实。倪虹还特别强调了防风险的重要性。他表示，要防范化解房地产“灰犀牛”的风险，避免和金融风险、地方债风险交织发生系统性的风险。 

• China is further promoting the revision of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and improving relevant regulations and guidelines such as the declaration standards of the concentration of operators, Luo Wen, head of the State Administration for Market Regulation said Tuesday. "The government aims to make relevant regulatory rules and law enforcement procedures clearer, so that all kinds of enterprises can catch up and improve together on the track of fair competition," Luo said. Meanwhile, China has 115 million self-employed business owners, growing from 40.6 million in 2012, which fully indicates the vitality and resilience of China's economy. This year, the administration will implement more favorable measures and improve services to support individual business operators.

  市场监管总局谈优化市场环境：市场监管总局局长罗文7日第二场“部长通道”上在表示，持续优化公平竞争市场环境，要筑牢公平竞争的法治基础，提升常态化监管水平，破除地方保护和行政性垄断，营造公平竞争的良好氛围。目前反不正当竞争法修改工作正在推进，同时也在完善经营者集中申报标准等有关法规和指南，力求让监管规则更加明确、执法程序更加清晰。罗文说，个体工商户既是市场经济的“毛细血管”和“神经末梢”，也是老百姓就业创业的“蓄水池”。我国个体工商户蓬勃发展，从2012年底的4059万户增长到现在的1.15亿户。今年市场监管总局将针对个体工商户开展分型分类帮扶工作，会同有关部门在社保、税费等方面积极开展政策研究工作，逐步加大支持力度，提高精准帮扶水平；依托个体工商户公共服务平台，积极为个体工商户提供创业培训、招聘用工、法律政策等信息服务。同时加强调查研究和监测分析，帮助个体工商户找出新的发展机会，不断提高服务水平。

Next on industry and company news

产业及公司新闻

• One of Hong Kong’s leading broadcasters, Television Broadcasts Ltd., saw its shares almost double after its stars began selling products on the Alibaba-backed Taobao online platform. The company garnered sales of 23.5 million yuan in just six hours of the first of at least 48 live-streamed shows planned for this year, it said in a statement. Shares of TVB has surged more than 200 percent in the past four trading days. 

  淘宝TVB直播间开播销售额2350万元：3月7日晚，TVB首次入驻淘宝直播，“TVB识货”直播间观看人次累计达到485万，收获10万粉丝，全场销售额突破2350万元。据淘宝官方透露，年内TVB将在淘宝开启至少48场明星直播。直播首秀后，今天TVB母公司电视广播股价再度大涨，盘中一度涨近100%，收盘涨幅为85%。近4个交易日，电视广播已累计升超4倍。

• The United States Committee on Foreign Investment has approved Chinese drugmaker Sino Biopharmaceutical's USD161 million acquisition of US-listed clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm F-star Therapeutics. Sino Biopharm's subsidiary invoX Pharma will become the new shareholder of F-star, according to the deal the pair signed last June, the Cambridge-based firm said in a statement yesterday.

  美批准中生物制药收购F-star：3月7日，纳斯达克上市的生物技术公司F-star Therapeutics宣布，美国外国投资委员会（“CFIUS”）已经批准了之前宣布的中国生物制药子公司invoX Pharma Limited对其的全现金收购，至此该交易已获得全部所需监管批准，交易双方预计收购将迅速完成。此前，中生制药宣布将以1.61亿美元收购F-star。

Earnings reports express

财报速递

• China's online travel platform Trip.com swung to a profit of 1.4 billion yuan last year, compared with a loss of 550 million yuan in 2021. Revenue for the period edged up 0.1 percent to 20.06 billion yuan. The revenue of its transportation ticketing business in 2022 was 8.3 billion yuan, increasing 20 percent compared to a year ago. For the fourth quarter, the net profit of Trip.com was 2.1 billion yuan. The company's revenue in the last three months of 2022 was 5 billion yuan, recorded a quarter-on-quarter drop of 27 percent due to the surges of Covid-19 infections in certain regions of China and the winter. However, outbound air-ticket bookings and hotel bookings jumped by over 200 percent and 140 percent year over year in the fourth quarter of 2022 respectively.

  携程四季度出境预订同比翻倍：3月7日，携程集团公布了截至2022年第四季度及全年未经审计的财务业绩。财报显示，2022年携程集团全年营业收入为200亿元，同比保持稳定，2022年Non-GAAP归属携程集团股东的净利润为14亿元人民币。其中国际业务贡献主要营收，成为2022年携程全年业绩相比去年保持稳健的关键因素，四季度出境机票和酒店预订分别同比上升超过200%和140%，国际平台上的机票预订同比上升80%。四大主营业务中，携程2022年住宿预订业务收入74亿元，同比下降9.5%；交通票务收入83亿元，同比增长20%；旅游度假收入7.97亿元，同比下降38%，商旅管理收入11亿元，同比下降18%。

Switching gears to financial news

金融市场消息

• Chinese property developer Sunac China Holdings has reportedly received the support of its main offshore creditors over a US dollar bond restructuring plan that will likely be published by the end of the month. In the restructuring plan, Sunac proposed to issue new US dollar notes on the offshore market to replace the USD9.1 billion existing ones and extend the maturity by between two and nine years, media reported yesterday. The creditors can also apply to make partial or complete conversions of their US dollar bonds to shares of Sunac or its unit Sunac Services Holdings, according to the plan. 

  融创境外债重组计划获支持：3月7日，有媒体报道称，融创中国境外债重组计划获得主要持有人临时小组的支持，双方将签署重组支持协议。在完成协议签署后，融创中国拟在3月底前对外公布其债务重组计划。在融创中国的境外债重组方案中，融创提到或将通过发行新的美元票据来置换现有的票据，展期期限最短为两年，最长为九年。债权人还可以申请将部分或者全部的美元债进行债转股，即将手中持有的美元债按照一定的比例来转换成融创中国或者融创服务的股份。

• Airwallex, an Australian cross-border payment platform, said it received a license to conduct internet payment business in the Chinese mainland. Airwallex acquired Chinese payment firm Guangzhou Shangwutong Network Technology to get its online payment service license, it announced yesterday.

  空中云汇获国内支付牌照 ：继PayPal之后，又一家外资公司拿到中国第三方支付（互联网支付）牌照。Airwallex空中云汇处3月7日表示，经中国有关部门批准，公司已完成对持牌支付机构广州商物通网络科技有限公司的100%股权收购，获得在中国内地的支付业务许可。这也意味着，今后Airwallex空中云汇可通过上述被收购主体在中国内地开展第三方支付业务，进一步拓宽全球金融服务范围，提升合规水平和客户服务水平。

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

股市收盘情况

• Chinese stocks slid on Wednesday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component each eased 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong stocks tumbled with the Hang Seng down 2.4 percent and the TECH index sinking 3.2 percent.

  A股小幅收跌港股大跌：周三A股午后探底回升，沪指小幅收跌0.06%，深成指跌0.09%，创业板指跌0.26%，两市超3500只个股上涨，全天成交额7185亿元，北向资金净卖出10.14亿元。港股恒指高开低走，收跌2.35%，恒生科技指数跌3.23%。

Biz Word of the Day

财经词汇划重点

• A bond conversion is the process of changing a bond into shares. The number of shares that a bond can be converted into depends on the conversion ratio, while the conversion price determines the cost per share. The most common type of bond to be converted are convertible bonds. These are normal corporate bonds that have a predetermined number of shares that they can be converted into.

  债转股是指国家组建金融资产管理公司，收购银行的不良资产，把原来银行与企业间的债权、债务关系，转变为金融资产管理公司与企业间的股权、产权关系。债权转为股权后，原来的还本付息就转变为按股分红。

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI 

Sound Editor: Stephanie LI

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni

Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.

Presented by SFC

编委:  于晓娜

策划、编辑：李艳霞 

播音：李莹亮

撰稿：李莹亮

音频制作：李莹亮

设计：郑文静、廖苑妮

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