New national data and financial agencies, 119,000 cases of corruption since 2017, Auto exports up by 78.9%

Markets in Hong Kong and ADRs in the U.S. took a beating yesterday and today on news from the National People’s Congress that a new national regulatory body will be established under the State Council to regulate the financial industry. The body will replace the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and expand its responsibilities. Plans have also been announced for the restructuring of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

China will establish a national data agency, according to Xiào Jié 肖捷, Secretary-General of the State Council, at yesterday’s first session of the National People’s Congress (NPC). The agency will be administered by the National Development and Reform Commission, and will be responsible for coordinating data systems, data sharing, and the digital economy. In November 2021, China’s government released a Big Data 14th Five-Year Plan and in June 2022 a planning document followed for building a basic data system, but there is still a lack of data coordination among the highest levels of government and a lack of clear data property rights. So far, China’s fledgling data trading market has also failed to take off.

China’s courts handled 119,000 cases of corruption and bribery since 2017 involving 139,000 people, including 92 officials from the central leadership, according to China’s Chief Justice. In his report at yesterday’s second session of the NPC, Zhōu Qiáng 周强, President of the Supreme People’s Court of China, reported that since the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party in October 2017, there were 238,000 cases of violent crime, 226,000 cases of telecommunications and online fraud, and 4,523 people were sentenced for pension fraud. Other estimates have put the number of Party and government officials arrested for corruption since 2012 (when Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 came to power) at up to 30,000 people.

China’s auto exports increased by 78.9% year-on-year in the first two months of the year, amounting to 682,000 units worth 96.83 billion yuan ($13.94 billion), according to China Customs. Over the same period, China’s auto imports decreased by more than 30% to 106,000 units worth 49.47 billion yuan ($7.12 billion). In 2022, China became the world’s second-largest auto exporter (behind Japan) when it exported 3.11 million units, including 679,000 electric vehicles (EVs).