Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

大家好，我是主持人李莹亮。

Coming up on today’s program.

重点提要 

• China's home prices in 70 large and medium-sized cities continued the downward trend in May;

• Shanghai’s Disneytown and a hotel reopen today, while the main park remains closed.

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours 

中国经济要闻

China's home prices continued to fall for a ninth month in May, official data showed on Thursday, though the pace of decline slowed, showing a still fragile real estate demand.

Average new-home prices in 70 major cities fell 0.1 percent on a monthly basis, after a 0.2 percent decline in April, according to calculations of data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Existing-home prices declined 0.39 percent from a month earlier, the largest drop since February 2015.

Shares of property developers retreated on Thursday, after staging a broad rally on Wednesday. The CSI 300 Real Estate index slid 1.3 percent today.

In May, 43 out of the 70 cities saw a month-on-month drop in new home prices, down from 47 in April, while 53 cities witnessed a slide in resale home prices, up by 3 from the previous month, said Sheng Guoqing, an analyst at the statistics bureau. 

More cities reported monthly growth, as 25 out of the 70 cities recorded a month-over-month increase in home prices last month, up from 18 cities in April, he added.

Home prices in first-tier cities, which include the four cities that contribute the most to the Chinese economy, rose 0.4 percent in May from the previous month, accelerating from a 0.2 percent increase in April, according to the NBS. Prices in second-tier cities were flat, while the price decline for third-tier cities narrowed.

Local authorities in China have been stepping up efforts to arrest a property slowdown that has weighed on the world’s second-largest economy for almost a year. These include urging banks to lend more, easing mortgage costs and partially relaxing ownership rules. 

There have been early signs that the market may be bottoming. Last month’s new-home sales rose nearly 30 percent from April, the first month-on-month gain since December, NBS data showed Wednesday. Property investment also picked up 14 percent from the previous month. 

Positive changes have taken place in the property sector thanks to a series of supportive measures to stabilise the market, and real estate's gradual stabilisation will also promote overall economic stability in the second half, the NBS said on Wednesday.

6月16日，国家统计局发布70城房价数据。5月份，70个大中城市商品住宅销售价格环比总体延续降势，但降势趋缓，新建商品住宅环比下降城市个数减少；一、二、三线城市商品住宅销售价格同比涨幅均有回落或降幅扩大，同比下降城市个数增加。

5月份，70个大中城市中，新建商品住宅销售价格环比下降城市有43个，比上月减少4个。25个城市新建商品住宅售价指数环比上涨，比4月增加了7个，其中广州、深圳、北京分别上涨了0.5%、0.5%和0.4%，成都以0.9%的幅度领涨全国；上海环比持平。

相较于4月50座城市环比下跌的形势，5月二手房价格下跌范围有所扩大。5月份，70个大中城市中，二手住宅销售价格环比下降城市有53个，比上月增加3个。北京下跌0.1%，上海环比持平；还有15座城市环比上涨，广州、深圳环比分别上涨0.2%和0.1%。

周三，国家统计局新闻发言人、国民经济综合统计司司长付凌晖在发布会上表示，目前来看，应该说房地产市场今年以来整体处于下行态势。但也要看到，随着房地产市场长效机制不断完善，坚持房住不炒，持续稳房价、稳地价、稳预期，因城施策，积极推进保障房和长租房建设，有利于房地产市场的健康发展。“从近期的调研情况看，房地产市场已经出现一些积极变化。”

尽管前5月多指标同比降幅扩大，但是从5月单月来看，多指标均出现环比回升。根据国家统计局的数据测算，5月单月，房地产开发投资环比回升14%，新开工面积环比回升20.1%，土地购置面积环比增长了45.9%；全国商品房销售面积环比增长了25.8%，商品房销售额环比增长29.7%；房企到位资金环比增长14.7%。

• China will support private investment and take forward projects that deliver multiple effects as part of the efforts to better spur effective investment, consumption and employment, according to a decision made at the State Council's Executive Meeting on Wednesday. The meeting pointed out that efforts to expand effective investment should prioritise projects that will not only strengthen areas of weakness and facilitate structural adjustments, but also boost consumption and create jobs, hence hitting multiple targets with one shot and mobilising more stakeholders.

  国常会部署支持民间投资：6月15日国务院常务会议部署支持民间投资和推进一举多得项目的措施，更好扩大有效投资、带动消费和就业。会议指出，扩大有效投资，要注重启动既能补短板调结构、又能带消费扩就业的一举多得项目，调动各方积极性。民间投资占全社会投资一半以上，要坚持“两个毫不动摇”，加大政策支持。

Moving on to regional highlights

区域经济新闻

• Beijing on Wednesday introduced 17 measures to promote the high-quality development of the human resources service industry in the city. The measures aim to promote the transformation and modernization of the human resources service industry and facilitate the listing of human resources service enterprises on the Beijing Stock Exchange, where eligible enterprises can receive a subsidy of no more than 3 million yuan as listing funds.  

  北京补贴人力资源服务企业上市：6月15日，北京市人力资源和社会保障局印发《关于推进新时代首都人力资源服务业高质量发展的若干措施》提出17项具体举措，包括强化转型升级新动能、构建规模发展新格局、拓宽对外开放新空间等内容，推动“专精特新”人力资源服务企业在北交所挂牌上市，符合条件的企业可获得不超过300万元的市级上市资金补贴。

• Shanghai witnessed the signing of 322 major industrial projects totaling 565.8 billion yuan on Thursday during a global investment promotion convention, signaling a fresh vote of confidence in the megacity. A total of 90 newly secured projects are in line with the city's three strategic pillars, namely integrated circuit, biopharmaceuticals and artificial intelligence, with a combined investment value of 204.9 billion yuan.

  上海集中签约322个重大产业项目: 6月16日，2022上海全球投资促进大会在上海举行。本次大会见证了总投资5658亿元的322个全市重大项目签约，项目数与总投资额均高于去年。这些重大产业项目，既涵盖了“3+6”新型产业体系，也包括一批金融、生产性服务业、生活性服务业等现代服务业项目。三大先导产业共签约项目90个，总投资2049亿元。

• Guangzhou ranked second among 157 cities in China in the 2021 national administrative assessment of intellectual property protection, according to the local market regulator on Wednesday.

  广州知识产权行政保护绩效考核全国第二：6月15日，广州市市场监管局（知识产权局）消息，在国家知识产权局近日公布的2021年度全国知识产权行政保护工作绩效考核结果中，广州市在全国参与考核的157个副省级城市及地级市中排名第二。

Next on industry and company news

产经消息及公司新闻

• China's railway system operation map will be upgraded starting from June 20, which will increase the capacity of railway networks in central regions of the country and shorten travel time between major cities, media reported Wednesday.

  20日起全国铁路运行调图：据中国铁路官微消息，6月20日零时起，全国铁路实行新的列车运行图，客货运输提质增效，城市间旅行时间再压缩，有效助力经济社会发展。

• Shanghai Disney Resort reopens Disneytown and Shanghai Disneyland hotel on Thursday, but the main Disneyland park and the Toy Story Hotel will remain closed until further notice, the resort operator said in a statement on Tuesday. The Shanghai Disney Resort reopened some retail and park areas last week.

  上海迪士尼小镇今起恢复运营：上海迪士尼度假区14日晚宣布，迪士尼小镇和一座主题酒店16日起恢复运营。上海迪士尼乐园及玩具总动员酒店继续保持关闭。 6月10日，根据政府部门相关安排，度假区内的星愿公园、蓝天大道及迪士尼世界商店首批恢复运营。

• Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding’s video website Youku announced on Wednesday that it will hike its VIP membership fees by between 20 percent and 40 percent from June 21, marking its first VIP price increase in five years. Monthly membership fee will rise to 25 yuan from 19 yuan. Its rivals, Tencent Video hiked its VIP membership prices in April and iQiyi did so last December. 

  优酷跟进视频会员涨价：6月15日，优酷VIP发布公告，正式宣布会员价格上调，其中包括了优酷VIP和酷喵VIP会员两个业务，涨幅约为20%～40%不等。 此次价格调整从6月21日开始实施。调整后连续包月价格从19元升至25元，涨幅31%；连续包季从53元升至68元，涨幅28%。此次上调会员费后，优酷会员价格追平了分别在去年12月和今年4月调价的爱奇艺和腾讯。

• Search engine giant Baidu is not planning to sell its majority stake in iQiyi, the Chinese online video platform said on Wednesday, referring to an earlier media report that Baidu planned to offload its 53 percent stake in iQiyi for a possible $7 billion. Yet iQiyi did not provide any further information.  

  爱奇艺回应百度出售其股份：6月15日，据媒体报道，百度正在与潜在收购者谈判，打算出售所持的53%爱奇艺股份，吸引了包括香港私人股本公司PAG、中国移动在内的买家的兴趣。对此，爱奇艺回应该消息属市场谣言，但未进一步提供相关信息。 

• Shandong Airlines has received Air China's tender offer and will withdraw from Shenzhen's B-share market, according to the Jinan-based aviation company's statement released on Tuesday. After the acquisition, Air China will inject more funds into Shandong Airlines Group and become the actual controller of the firm with no less than 66 percent of its equity, up from the earlier 49.4 percent.  

  国航要约控股山航：6月14日晚间公告，ST山航B披露了中国国航欲获公司控制权事项的进展。公告显示，中国国航将通过收购与增资，获得*ST山航B控股股东山航集团的控制权。拟议交易完成后，中国国航将通过前述交易合计持有山航集团不低于66％的股份，高于此前49.4%的股份；公司实际控制人将由山航集团变更为中国航空集团有限公司。

Switching gears to the financial sector

金融市场要闻

• The People’s Bank of China injected 200 billion yuan of fresh funds into the financial system on Wednesday via renewed one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans, the same amount as the past two months, and kept the interest rate unchanged. Another 200 billion yuan worth of one-year MLF loans were released at a rate of 2.85 percent to offset the 200 billion yuan due to expire the same day, according to the PBOC.  

  央行等量续作2000亿MLF：6月15日，人民银行发布公告，为维护银行体系流动性合理充裕，当日开展2000亿元中期借贷便利（MLF）操作，期限1年，中标利率2.85%，与上月持平。本月MLF到期规模为2000亿元，因此本月MLF为等量平价续做。 

• China's Ministry of Finance issued this year's first batch of yuan-denominated treasury bonds worth 7.5 billion yuan in Hong Kong on Wednesday. The first batch included 2.5 billion yuan each for two-, three- and five-year bonds. 

  财政部在港发行75亿元国债：6月15日，财政部在香港发行2022年首期75亿元人民币国债，其中包括2年期、3年期和5年期各25亿元。

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

最后来看股市收盘情况

• Chinese stocks closed mixed in bumpy trade on Thursday, after an aggressive rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve. At the close, the benchmark Shanghai Composite slipped 0.61 percent, while the Shenzhen Component edged up 0.11 percent. The turnover of the two markets hit one trillion yuan for the fifth consecutive trading day. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 2.17 percent and the TECH index was down 3.33 percent. 

  周四A股高开后震荡，午后走势分化。截至收盘，沪指跌0.61%，深成指涨0.11%，创业板指涨0.40%，两市成交额连续第五个交易日破万亿。教育、造纸、元宇宙等板块涨幅居前，油气开采及服务、煤炭开采加工、证券等板块飘绿。港股恒生指数跌2.17%，恒生科技指数跌3.33%。

Biz Word of the Day

财经词汇划重点

• B-share (Mainland China) refers to equity share investments in China-based companies, and it is open to investment by individuals in China who have foreign currency accounts as well as foreign investors. B-shares trade on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in mainland China, and are denominated in renminbi but settle in U.S. dollars (Shanghai) and Hong Kong dollars (Shenzhen). 

  B股的正式名称是人民币特种股票，是以人民币标明面值，以外币认购和买卖，在中国境内（上海、深圳）证券交易所上市交易的外资股。B股公司的注册地和上市地都在中国境内。

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI,  XIE Kaishan, JIA Yuxiao, ZENG Libin

Sound Editor: JIA Yuxiao

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni

Co-produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News & SFC Audio/Video Dept.

Presented by SFC

编委:  于晓娜

策划、编辑：李艳霞 

播音：李莹亮

撰稿：李莹亮、贾雨逍、谢凯珊、曾丽镔

音频制作：贾雨逍

设计：郑文静、廖苑妮

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