NEWS ON 03/15

1. MAJOR ECONOMIC SECTORS GREW WELL IN THE JAN-FEB PERIOD

国家统计局：1-2月我国经济企稳回升

2. CHINA'S 5% GROWTH TARGET-AMBITIOUS BUT CERTAINLY POSSIBLE, SAY EXPERTS

专家：5%增长目标“雄心勃勃”但“切实可行”

3. META TO LAYOFF 10,000 MORE EMPLOYEES

Meta科技公司第二轮裁员再裁一万人

-----------------记得点亮右下角的爱心哦-----------------

1.MAJOR ECONOMIC SECTORS GREW WELL IN THE JAN-FEB PERIOD

国家统计局：1-2月我国经济企稳回升

The NationalBureau【局】of Statistics today reviewed growth figures for the last two months, showing major portions of China's economy in stable expansion.YingJunyi has more.

国家统计局今日（03/15）公布了过去两个月的国民经济运行数据。数据显示，我国经济运行整体呈现企稳回升的态势。记者英俊一带来更多报道。

The statistics bureau reports that China's economy began to show substantial improvement in the January-February period.Value-added【增值的】industrial output went up 2.4 percent year-on-year during the first two months of the year, up from a gain of 1.3 percent recorded in December last year. Retail sales for the two months also saw a year-on-year growth of 3.5 percent, marking the first gain since October last year.

国家统计局报告显示，中国经济在1月至2月期间开始出现大幅改善。1-2月份，全国规模以上工业增加值同比增长2.4%，高于去年12月1.3%的增幅。社会消费品零售总额同比增长3.5%，是自去年10月以来的首次增长。

Fu Linghui, Spokespersonof National Bureau of Statistics

付凌晖国家统计局新闻发言人

“这些情况充分表明1-2月份经济运行整体上呈现企稳回升态势。当然也要看到，今年经济发展还面临不少困难，比如国际环境依然复杂，世界经济增长趋于放缓，外部主要经济体通胀问题比较突出。稳定经济运行、促进经济运行整体好转还需付出艰苦努力。”

“The data for the two month as a whole represent a trend of stabilization and recovery. But we are still facing many difficulties, including a complicated external environment, lagging global economic growth, and inflation in other major economies. We need to work harder to stabilize the economy and fuel a steady recovery.”

Real estate investment fell again in the first two months, however, by 5.7 percent. Property sales by floor area also slid by 3.6 percent, but things did begin to turn up as that decline was much less than the 31.5 percent contraction recorded in December.

然而，1-2月份全国房地产开发投资同比下降5.7%。商品房销售面积也下滑了3.6%，但情况已经开始好转，因为这一跌幅远远小于12月份的31.5%。

Fu Linghui, Spokesperson of National Bureau of Statistics

付凌晖国家统计局新闻发言人

“今年来看，在一系列政策作用下，随着经济转暖，房地产市场出现了一些积极变化，主要表现在市场销售降幅明显收窄。”

“There are some positive signs in the real estate sector, as the economy continues to recover and more supportive policies take effect. We have seen the declining rate of property sales strongly narrowing.”

The statistics bureau also reported that the surveyed urban unemployment rate in China stood at 5.6 percent during the last two months. A total of 12 million new urban jobs are expected to be created during the year.

统计局数据还显示，1-2月份，全国城镇调查失业率为5.6%。政府工作报告将今年城镇新增就业预期目标设置为1200万人左右。

2.CHINA'S 5% GROWTH TARGET-AMBITIOUS BUT CERTAINLY POSSIBLE, SAY EXPERTS

专家：5%增长目标“雄心勃勃”但“切实可行”

Premier Li Qiang said on Monday that this year China will focus on improving the quality of its economic growth and people's well-being, while intensifying policy support to achieve an annualGDP growth target of around 5%. Where does that number come from, and what do the experts think of it? ZhangShixuan has more.

周一（03/13），国务院总理李强表示，今年中国发展将聚焦于提高经济增长质量和切实增进民生福祉，同时加大政策支持力度，实现5%左右的GDP年度增长目标。“5%”这个数字从何而来，专家们对此有何看法？记者张诗旋带来详细报道。

The 5 percent GDP growth rate target in the latest Government Work Report sets the tone for this year's economic development - seeking progress while maintaining stability. So what do the experts think of it?

2023《政府工作报告》将今年的GDP增速目标设定在5%左右，为今年的经济发展定下了基调——稳中求进。那么，专家们是如何看待这一目标的呢？

Jimmy Zhu, Chief Strategist ofFullerton Research

祝浩富乐敦研究公司首席策略分析师

“If we look at the China growth in the past 3 years, the average growth rate is around 4.7%. So I think around 5% growth is a gesture that after the reopening, China will start to kick off its growth activities. For this year, China is not really focusing on the short-term growth, like previously, Ithink. At this moment, China is more focusing on the long-term, more durable growth, like high-end【高端的】manufacturing, like tech. This is probably will take some time to realize in the GDP figures.”

“如果我们回看过去3年中国的经济增长情况，平均增长率约为4.7％。因此，我认为大约5％的增长是一个信号，即在重新开放后，中国将开始各项促进经济增长活动。我认为今年，中国不会再像以前一样专注于短期增长。当下中国更加关注长期、持久的增长，例如高端制造业、技术行业等。这可能需要一些时间才能实现在GDP增长的目标。”

But despite analytical caution, just one day after the release of the official GDP growth target, UBS upgraded China's GDP growth forecast for this year to 5.4%.

尽管市场情绪相对谨慎，在官方发布GDP增长目标的一天后，瑞银将今年中国的GDP增长预测上调至5.4％。

Dr. Zhang Ning UBS Senior China Economist

张宁博士瑞银投资银行高级中国经济学家

“Economic re-opening is proceeding better and earlier than we had expected previously, with 18cities’ subway passenger turnover climbing above pre-Covid levels.And there was little sign of supply disruptions【中断】. Recent 30cities’ property sales rebounded close to the 2019 level, suggesting that property sales may have bottomed earlier than expected.”

“经济重新开放的进展比我们之前预期的更快更好，18个城市的地铁客流量已经超过了新冠疫情前的水平，并且没有出现明显的供应中断迹象。最近30个城市的房地产销售已经反弹至接近2019年同期水平，这表明房地产市场可能比预期更早触底反弹。”

At his first news conference as premier, Li outlined the central government's policy objectives and priorities. While saying that achieving the GDP target will not be an easy task, Li vowed that the central government will intensify its efforts to achieve the goal and continue to push for high-quality growth, especially in terms of housing, income, education and healthcare - the keys to people's well-being.

在作为新总理上任后的首次记者会上，李强总理概述了中央政府的政策目标和优先事项。李强表示，实现国内生产总值目标并非易事，中央政府将加大力度实现这一目标，并继续推动高质量增长，特别是在住房、收入、教育和医疗方面——这些是人民福祉的关键。

So what are expected to be the main drivers of growth this year?

今年推动中国经济增长的主要驱动因素将是什么呢？

DarisTang, Associate Director Corporates of Fitch Bohus

唐大千 惠誉评级子公司惠誉博华工商企业部副总监

“China's economy will prevent the demand pattern of bright domestic and external in 2023.This consumption leading the rapid recovery of domestic demand, the service sector of the change of COVID-19 control measures would take the lead in the wave of recovery, including catering, hotel, transportation and tourism subfactors. Infrastructure and manufacturing investment may show high rise in the first half of the year, while low rise in the second-half and the decline of real estate investments will be significantly narrowed. However, the weakening of external demandwilllead to export pressure.”

“2023年中国经济将呈现“内需亮眼、外需黯淡”格局。随着消费带动国内需求的快速恢复，服务业在疫情防控措施变化中将带头带来复苏浪潮，包括餐饮、酒店、交通和旅游行业。基础设施和制造业投资可能在上半年迎来高峰，而下半年可能会有所减缓，房地产投资的下降幅度也将显著缩小。然而，外部需求的减弱可能会导致出口压力增大。”

Tang stresses that the primary task for the Chinese Government now is to stabilize the employment rate, raise personal income and restore consumers expectations of future earnings.

唐大千强调，中国政府目前的首要任务是稳定就业率，提高个人收入，恢复消费者对未来收入的预期。

The hope is that this will encourage people to divert【转移】the countries currently high level of savings into spending to offset【抵销】as much as possible the negative impact of weaker export demand.

希望这将鼓励人们将目前的高额储蓄转向消费，以尽可能抵销出口需求疲软带来的负面影响。

3.META TO LAYOFF 10,000 MORE EMPLOYEES

Meta科技公司第二轮裁员再裁一万人

U.S. tech giantMeta said yesterday that the company is cutting an additional 10,000 staff in its second round of massive lay-offs【解雇】.

美国科技巨头Meta公司昨天（03/14）表示，将在第二轮大规模裁员中再裁减1万名员工。

The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp previously laid off around 11,000 workers in November, 2022. With 21,000 total lay-offs, the social media company has cut more jobs than any other tech-firm so far, exceeding Amazon's 18,000 cuts.

美国社交媒体Facebook、Instagram和WhatsApp的母公司Meta此前在去年11月20至22日裁减了约11000名员工。Meta总共裁员达2.1万人，到目前为止比任何一家科技公司裁员都多，超过了亚马逊的1.8万人。

Also yesterday, financial ratings giant Moody's down-graded its score of the collapsed New York-based Signature Bank deep into junk territory, they've also placed six other US banks under review for a possible down-grade.

同样在昨天（03/13），国际评级机构穆迪公司下调美国“签名银行”债券至垃圾级，同时考虑下调6家其他美国银行债券评级。

#热词加油站

bureau /ˈbjʊərəʊ/【局】

value-added /,vælju:'ædɪd/【增值的】

high-end /ˌhaɪ ˈend/【高端的】

disruption /dɪsˈrʌpʃn /【中断】

divert /daɪˈvɜːt/【转移】

offset /ˈɒfset/【抵销】

lay-off /ˈleɪ ɒf/【解雇】

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03/16 TOP NEWS | 1-2月我国经济企稳回升/专家谈5%增长目标/Meta再裁员 06:02 Share

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03/16 TOP NEWS | 1-2月我国经济企稳回升/专家谈5%增长目标/Meta再裁员