Briefly

Online sales up in poverty-stricken areas

Online retail sales, an important force in the fight against poverty, jumped 26 percent year-on-year to 301.45 billion yuan ($46.49 billion) across China's 832 national-level poverty-stricken counties last year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. The counties were home to about 3.07 million online retailers at the end of last year, up 13.7 percent from the end of 2019, said Gao Feng, a spokesman for the ministry.

Yiwu to start more freight trains to Europe

Yiwu, China's small commodities trade hub in Zhejiang province, will launch more than 1,500 Europe-bound freight trains this year, according to the provincial government. The cargo route linking Yiwu with Europe handled 1,399 China-Europe freight trains in 2020, soaring by 165 percent year-on-year, said the report.

Foreign trade sees steady growth in China

China had maintained its position as the world's largest trading nation in goods during the past five years, with its imports and exports accounting for a record in the global market, the country's Customs regulator said Thursday. China's foreign trade accounted for 12.8 percent of the world's total during the first 10 months of 2020, rising from 11.9 percent in 2015 and hitting a historic high, said Ni Yuefeng, head of the General Administration of Customs.

Central bank conducts $772.7m bill swap

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, conducted this year's first central bank bill swap operation on Friday to improve the liquidity of perpetual bonds issued by commercial banks. The CBS, valued at 5 billion yuan ($772.7 million), is open to primary dealers for bidding at a fixed rate of 0.1 percent, the central bank said in a statement. The swap will be due on April 29, said the statement.

Baidu receives test permit in California

Internet search giant Baidu Inc said on Thursday it has received approval from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to test driverless vehicles on public roads. The permit will allow Baidu to test three autonomous vehicles without a safety driver on designated streets within Sunnyvale, in Santa Clara County. The company said it had obtained a permit to test its autonomous vehicles with safety drivers in 2016 in California.

Renminbi strengthens against greenback

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 136 pips to 6.4709 against the US dollar on Friday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. In China's spot forex market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate.

Global VC firm raises $2.52b in latest round

GGV Capital, a global venture capital firm, said it has raised $2.52 billion in its latest funding round. Over $1.46 billion will be invested through its eighth flagship fund, which aims to support entrepreneurs across all stages of growth.

BOE sees limited impact from US probe

Display panel maker BOE Technology Group Co Ltd said on Friday that the Section 337 investigation initiated by the US International Trade Commission will not have substantive impact on its current production and operations. The US ITC has decided to launch Section 337 investigation into certain active matrix OLED display devices and related components.

Xinhua