Briefly

Wuhan 2021 GDP grows robustly

Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, once hit hard by the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, notched up 12.2 percent GDP growth in 2021 to 1.77 trillion yuan ($280 billion), according to the municipal statistics bureau. The figure also represents a 6.7 percent increase from that of the same period in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, showing a sound momentum in economic recovery and development. With a population of more than 12 million, Wuhan saw strong growth in both trade and investment last year. Fixed-asset investment rose 12.9 percent year-on-year.

Reverse repos net 150b yuan

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, on Monday conducted 150 billion yuan ($23.7 billion) of 14-day, 2.25 percent reverse repos to ensure liquidity in the banking system remains stable ahead of the Spring Festival. A reverse repo is a process in which the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

Bourses attract 1.37m new investors in Dec

Over 1.37 million investors opened accounts to trade in stocks on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets in December last year, up 2.71 percent from November, according to China Securities Depository and Clearing Corp Ltd. There were 197 million investors with A-share accounts. More than 19.63 million new investors started trading in stocks in 2021.

Tencent, CATL among most valuable firms

Internet giant Tencent topped the list of the 500 most valuable private Chinese companies in 2021, according to a new ranking released by a Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute. Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd, China's leading automotive lithium-ion battery maker, made it to the top 10 for the first time. Companies were ranked on the basis of their market capitalization or valuation. The total value of the companies on the list came in at 66 trillion yuan ($10.4 trillion).

Pickup truck sales increase 14%

Sales of pickup trucks in China grew 14 percent to 550,000 units last year on the back of policy support, the release of passenger-use pickup models by some major automakers and the development of a "pickup truck culture", the China Passenger Car Association said. In December alone, sales increased 21 percent year-on-year to about 59,000 units. More than 40 percent of demand came from the northwestern and southwestern regions.

Foreign trade of Heilongjiang recovers

The foreign trade of Heilongjiang province bounced back last year, local Customs said on Saturday. The province saw its foreign trade in goods grow by 29.6 percent year-on-year to 199.5 billion yuan ($31.4 billion) in 2021, according to the Harbin Customs in the provincial capital.

Xinhua