Briefly

Solar capacity to rise in 2023-30 period

China is expected to add 120-140 gigawatts of solar capacity each year during the 2023-30 period in the optimistic case, as the country sped up renewable installations to reach its ambitious climate targets, an industry group said on Thursday. Meanwhile, newly added solar capacity globally is expected to reach 330-516 GW each year in an optimistic forecast, according to the China Photovoltaic Industry Association. Wang Bohua, honorary chairman of the association, said China has set record in solar power production and exports last year, with production for polycrystalline silicon, wafers, cells and modules all rising more than 50 percent year-on-year.

Banks log forex settlement surplus

China's banks saw a net forex settlement surplus of $2.5 billion in January, according to the country's forex regulator. Forex purchases by banks totaled $175.3 billion and sales hit $172.8 billion, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed. "Overall, China's forex market got off to a good start in 2023, with steady expectations from market entities and rational and orderly trading," said Wang Chunying, deputy director and spokesperson of SAFE. In January, foreign trade in goods registered a surplus of $38.7 billion, up 9 percent over the previous month.

CNOOC crude reserve starts ops

China's largest crude oil commercial reserve project, located in Dongying of East China's Shandong province, started commercial operations on Thursday, said its operator China National Offshore Oil Corp, China's top offshore oil and gas driller. The Dongying crude oil commercial reserve project saw an investment of up to 6.4 billion yuan ($930 million). Including 50 crude oil storage tanks, each with a storage capacity of 100,000 cubic meters, the project is capable of storing around 4.25 million metric tons of crude, it said.

Insurance total assets $3.97 trillion

The total assets of China's insurance sector were worth 27.1 trillion yuan ($3.97 trillion) at the end of 2022, official data showed. This figure was 2.3 trillion yuan more than that at the beginning of 2022, said the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. The total assets of the sector grew steadily in 2022 as it continued to strengthen efforts to serve the real economy, the commission said. Combined insurance premium incomes stood at 4.7 trillion yuan, while expenditure on compensation and payment reached 1.5 trillion yuan in 2022.

Xinhua - China Daily