Xi Jinping made the remarks while presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on 27 Sep. Noting that the WTO is an important pillar of multilateralism and an important stage for global economic governance, Xi said it is a common consensus and a general trend to implement necessary reforms of the WTO. He urged efforts to fully participate in WTO reform and adjustments of international economic and trade rules, while promoting deep-level reform and high-quality development with high-level opening-up. He also stressed improving the Chinese solutions in the country's extensive and in-depth participation in WTO reform while upholding the concept of a global community of shared future, as well as firmly protecting the legitimate interests of developing countries including China.

On September 26, the Kunming Rail Transit Group Party Committee Office responded that there was indeed a situation of wage arrears, and the specific number of employees needed to be verified. According to reports from netizens, the salary arrears for Kunming Metro employees began in May this year and have been for several months. Kunming Metro responded that the company is currently solving financial problems through various channels and hopes to return to normal. The company apologizes for the difficulties that the arrears of wages have brought to the lives of all employees and said it will resolve the problem as soon as possible.

Geopolitics is the single largest issue weighing down business sentiment over the long term. Continued deterioration in the US-China relationship over the last 12 months has led to uncertainty, lost sales, and rising costs for more USCBC member companies than ever before. The US-China Business Council conducted its annual Member Survey in summer 2023 and released the results in late September. About half of companies surveyed have expressed an "optimistic" or "somewhat optimistic" outlook, a new all-time low for the second consecutive year. At the same time, pessimism has reached an all-time high of 28 percent, up seven percentage points from last year and over triple the figure from 2021. More than one-third of respondents say that the impact of US-China tensions has resulted in delayed or canceled investments in China, the same proportion as last year, while 34 percent have changed their own suppliers to mitigate uncertainty around continued supply.

Noting China-U.S. relations are the most important bilateral relations in the world, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng Tuesday met with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in Beijing. Han said the two countries, one being the biggest developing country and the other the biggest developed country, should enhance mutually beneficial cooperation in all areas, push forward the world's economic recovery together, and address global challenges. China always follows the guiding principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation in dealing with relations with the United States. It is hoped that the U.S. side could work with China to bring the bilateral ties back to the track of sound and steady growth.

"Currently, the external environment is becoming more complex and grave, with a slowdown in the world economy as well as international trade and investment, and still high inflation and with interest rates in developed countries expected to remain elevated," the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said. Chinese economy continues to recover with increasing momentum, but it still faces challenges such as insufficient demand, according to the statement released after the third-quarter meeting of the PBOC monetary policy committee. It vowed to enhance support for key sectors and weak links of the national economy, such as inclusive finance, green development, technological innovation and infrastructure construction, and guide enterprises' financing costs and household loan costs downward.

China has upgraded its digital renminbi payment services as part of the country's efforts to improve the profile of its digital currency and make the payment process more user-friendly for foreigners. The newly launched "recharge before use" feature on the e-CNY app allows foreigners to replenish the wallet of the app using online services of global payment networks Visa and Mastercard. Foreigners can also go to bank service outlets to recharge the digital RMB wallet with cash. The new function allows foreigners to use more convenient online payment methods, such as "quick pay", just like domestic users. It shortens the payment duration, makes the operation simpler and smoother, improves payment efficiency, reduces waiting time due to foreign card verification and enhances the overall payment experience.

China's State Council Information Office released a white paper titled "A Global Community of Shared Future: China's Proposals and Actions." To build a global community of shared future, all peoples, all countries, and all individuals must stand together through thick and thin, navigating towards greater harmony on this planet that is called home, it said. The white paper called for efforts to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity, turning people's longing for a better life into reality.

Lianjia has cut its commission to 2 percent from 2.7 percent and is splitting it equally between buyers and sellers, whereas only buyers paid previously, the report said today. The 2.7 percent was made up of 2.2 percent in brokerage charges and a 0.5 percent service fee to guarantee the transaction. China's property market has slumped over the past two years after developers got into financial difficulties and consumer confidence faltered. Pre-owned home sales in Beijing halved in June from March to 11,607, according to figures from the city's housing commission, and almost half, around 5,000, were sold by Beijing-based Lianjia.

Ford Motor (F.N) said on 25 Sep. it has paused work on a $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan, citing concerns about its ability to competitively operate the plant at a time when it remains locked in broader contract negotiations. Ford in February announced plans to build the plant in Michigan, betting that making the batteries in the United States would help it and Chinese partner CATL (300750.SZ) attract U.S. customers to embrace a lower-cost technology pioneered in China. The industry is watching how new rules around future EV tax credits will be implemented as automakers make investment decisions on producing batteries for the transition to EVs.

Vietnam plans to restart its biggest rare-earths mine next year with a Western-backed project that could rival the world's largest, according to two companies involved, as part of a broader push to dent China's dominance in a sector that helps power advanced technologies. The move would be a step toward the Southeast Asian country's aim of building up a rare-earths supply chain, including developing its capacity to refine ores into metals used in magnets for electric vehicles, smartphones and wind turbines. As an initial step, Vietnam's government intends to launch tenders for multiple blocks of its Dong Pao mine before the year's end.

The European Union agreed to resume dialogue and set up dispute settlement mechanisms to remain a part of China's "success story" despite unresolved economic concerns, but it stopped short of halting trade remedies even as Beijing urged restraint. " EU companies want to be part of China's success story, which is why it's important we devoted time to discuss the business environment," EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said. In a speech at Beijing's Tsinghua University earlier on 25 Sep., the EU trade chief put the ball in China's court, telling students that China "could do a lot to help reduce our perception of risk."

New measures released by the Beijing and Shanghai municipal governments to grant greater freedom to foreign investors to move their capital in and out of China underscore the nation's efforts to improve the business environment, attract more foreign investment and better facilitate the country's institutional opening-up. In terms of capital remittances, businesses are allowed to freely and promptly transfer their legitimate and authorized transfers related to foreign investment. Such transfers include capital contributions, profits, dividends, interest payouts, capital gains, total or partial proceeds from the sale of investments and payments made under contract, among others, according to the State Council.

The figure accounted for more than 20 percent of the total investment, according to the report released by the research center of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. Investment in new-energy vehicles, communications and electronics manufacturing maintained double-digit growth, the report stated.

Local governments in China went 4 trillion yuan ($548 billion) into the red during the three-year pandemic, and the central government needs to issue special bonds to help them pay off debts owed to businesses, according to Bai Chongen, dean of the School of Economics and Management at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University. Accounts payable to businesses by local governments have mushroomed, hurting the ability of enterprises to invest.