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 rise at slower pace in April as demand ebbs;
Well-known comedy firm was fined 13.4 million yuan for inappropriate joke.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
中国经济要闻
China's new home prices in major cities grew at a slower pace in April, official data showed Wednesday.
Average new home prices in 70 major Chinese cities rose 0.32 percent in April from a month earlier, slowing from the 0.44 percent month-over-month increase recorded in March, according to media calculations based on official data.
In April, seven out of the 70 cities surveyed by the National Bureau of Statistics reported price falls for new homes from the prior month, compared with five cities in March. Thirty-four cities saw pre-owned home prices down in April.
Largest Chinese cities reported bigger price gains from a month earlier in April. New home prices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen increased 0.4 percent month-on-month, 0.1 percentage points higher than March, while price increases in medium-size and small cities slowed to 0.4 percent and 0.2 percent respectively.
The increase of sales prices for second-hand housing in first-tier cities fell 0.3 percentage points to a month-on-month increase of 0.2 percent, and the figure turned flat from the previous increase for second- and third-tier cities.
In annualized terms, the April home prices in first-tier cities grew, while the prices declined across second- and third-tier cities slowed, data from the NBS showed.
Positive changes have been seen in the real estate sales data released yesterday. The value of China's residential home sales rose by 11 percent over the first four months. Total sales of commercial housing prices in the first four months decreased 0.4 percent year-on-year while the decline narrowed 1.4 percentage points compared with the first three months.
However, investment in the real estate sector remained sluggish, which fell 6.2 percent in April, deeper than a 5.8 percent drop seen in March.
An NBS spokesperson said Tuesday that the overall real estate market is in a period of adjustment, and continued efforts are needed to stabilize the real estate market. In the next stage, as the economy recovers, the policies to stabilize the real estate market take effect and market expectations improve, the real estate market is expected to gradually stabilize.
5月17日，国家统计局发布70城房价数据显示，4月份，70个大中城市商品住宅销售价格环比整体涨幅回落。
数据显示，4月，70个大中城市中，新建商品住宅和二手住宅销售价格环比上涨城市分别有62个和36个，比上月分别减少2个和21个，二手住宅减少个数较多。
国家统计局城市司首席统计师绳国庆解读称，2023年4月份，70个大中城市中商品住宅销售价格环比上涨城市个数减少，同比上涨城市个数增加。70个大中城市商品住宅销售价格环比整体涨幅回落、二手住宅环比涨幅回落更为明显，各线城市商品住宅销售价格同比上涨或降势趋缓。
根据国家统计局数据，从新房来看，4月份，一线城市新建商品住宅销售价格环比上涨0.4%，涨幅比上月略扩0.1个百分点，其中，北京、上海、广州和深圳环比分别上涨0.6%、0.4%、0.2%和0.3%；二三线城市新建商品住宅销售价格环比分别上涨0.4%和0.2%，涨幅比上月分别回落0.2个和0.1个百分点。
二手房方面，环比整体涨幅回落更为明显。4月份，一线城市二手住宅销售价格环比上涨0.2%，涨幅比上月回落0.3个百分点，其中，北京、广州和深圳环比分别上涨0.1%、0.3%和0.5%，上海由上月上涨0.7%转为下降0.2%；二三线城市二手住宅销售价格环比均由上月上涨转为持平。
从上涨城市个数来看，4月份，70个大中城市中，新建商品住宅和二手住宅销售价格环比上涨城市分别有62个和36个，比上月分别减少2个和21个，二手房房价上涨城市数量下降较多；新建商品住宅和二手住宅销售价格同比上涨城市分别有22个和9个，比上月分别增加4个和1个。
对于4月份70城的房价指数，易居研究院研究总监严跃进认为，房价数据回暖趋势不变，但回暖的节奏要比预期的弱。同时，二手房的降温迹象更为明显，包括上涨的城市数量少、目前从上涨转入停涨阶段等，需要高度重视。
前一天，国家统计局也发布了1-4月房地产开发投资和销售数据。1-4月商品房销售面积37636万平方米，同比下降0.4%，降幅收窄；商品房销售额39750亿元，增长8.8%，增幅较1-3月扩大4.7个百分点。4月房地产市场热度有所回落，但同比来看，在去年同期低基数影响下，销售端维持了一季度的回暖态势，呈现弱复苏特征。
销售回暖为房地产行业复苏提供支撑，但暖意仍未传递到开发投资端，房地产市场整体仍处调整期。1-4月，全国房地产开发投资35514亿元，同比下降6.2%，降幅略有扩大。房屋新开工也未现好转迹象，新开工面积同比降幅扩大到21.2%。
国家统计局新闻发言人、国民经济综合统计司司长付凌晖指出，当前房地产市场整体处于调整期，稳定房地产市场，保障和改善民生，仍需要继续努力。下阶段，随着经济恢复向好，稳定房地产市场政策显效、市场预期好转，房地产市场有望逐步企稳。
Moving on to regional highlights
区域观察
China will increase flights to and from the five countries of Central Asia in a bid to strengthen regional connectivity and economic exchanges, according to the the country's aviation regulator on Tuesday. Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, will open an air route to Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan, on Thursday. Over the weekend, Xi'an Xianyang International Airport opened a route to Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. The Xi'an-Urumqi-Ashgabat route is scheduled to be operated every Saturday. The city, which is the starting point of the ancient Silk Road and host city of the upcoming China-Central Asia Summit, will have passenger air routes to all Central Asian countries, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Tuesday.
西安实现中亚“五国六城”通航全覆盖：5月16日，民航局表示，西安目前已开通至中亚四国航线，18日西安—杜尚别（塔吉克斯坦）航线开通后，西安将实现至中亚五国航线全覆盖，这将极大便利中国、中亚地区的人员和经贸往来。西安至乌鲁木齐至阿什哈巴德航线自5月13日起每周一个往返，去程每周六，回程每周日。西安至乌鲁木齐至杜尚别航线将于5月18日起每周四执飞，回程每周五。2022年以来，在民航西北管理局推动下，多家航空公司新开或复航西安至阿斯塔纳、阿拉木图、比什凯克、塔什干4条中亚国际航线，随着本月又有2条中亚航线的开通，西安将实现对中亚五国客运航线全覆盖。
Greater Bay Area, Greater future
新使命，大未来
China's central bank plans to issue 25 billion yuan worth of bills in the Hong Kong SAR on May 23. Of the total, central bank bills worth 10 billion yuan will mature in three months, and the other 15 billion yuan will mature in one year, the People's Bank of China said Wednesday.
央行将在港发行250亿元人民币央票：央行网站17日消息，2023年5月23日（周二）中国人民银行将通过香港金融管理局债务工具中央结算系统（CMU）债券投标平台，招标发行2023年第四期和第五期中央银行票据。根据介绍，第四期中央银行票据期限3个月（91天），为固定利率附息债券，到期还本付息，发行量为人民币100亿元，起息日为2023年5月25日，到期日为2023年8月24日，到期日遇节假日顺延。第五期中央银行票据期限1年，为固定利率附息债券，每半年付息一次，发行量为人民币150亿元，起息日为2023年5月25日，到期日为2024年5月25日，到期日遇节假日顺延。
The northbound trading of the Swap Connect scheme between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong bond markets that launched on Monday has its first day’s turnover at 8.2 billion yuan amid keen investor interest. Twenty market makers and 27 foreign investors made 162 Chinese yuan interest rate swap transactions on Monday, data from the Foreign Exchange Trading Center showed.
“北向互换通”首日达成交易162笔：中国外汇交易中心16日发布数据显示，内地与香港利率互换市场互联互通合作（简称“互换通”）上线首日，20家“北向互换通”报价商与27家境外投资者通过交易中心系统达成人民币利率互换交易162笔，名义本金总额82.59亿元人民币，覆盖境外银行、境外券商、境外资管产品等各个类型境外投资者，交易品种包括Shibor和FR007。
Next on industry and company news
产业及公司新闻
China's top economic planner approved 56 fixed-asset investment (FAI) projects in the first four months of the year, with combined investment totaling 378.4 billion yuan, official data showed Wednesday. The projects were mainly in the high-tech, energy and water conservancy industries, according to the National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC). In April alone, 14 FAI projects worth 98 billion yuan were approved, the data revealed.
前4月审核批准固定投资项目56个：国家发改委17日在新闻发布会上表示，1-4月份，发改委共审批核准固定资产投资项目56个，总投资3784亿元，其中审批43个，核准13个，主要集中在高技术、能源、水利等领域。其中，4月份审批核准固定资产投资项目14个，总投资980亿元，主要集中在高技术等行业。
The cloud service providers of Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings and the world’s biggest telecoms carrier China Mobile followed Alibaba Cloud, in saying they will slash the prices of some products. Tencent Cloud will lower the cost of cloud servers in some regions by as much as 40 percent and that of database products by 25 percent from June 1, it said yesterday. China Mobile Cloud said the same day it will trim the fees for its general-purpose entry-level cloud hosting and general-purpose network optimizing cloud hosting by 60 percent from today, while the cost of its cloud security center and cloud hard disk backup will be halved.
云厂商吹响降价号角：16日，腾讯云宣布对多款核心云产品降价，部分产品线最高降幅达40%，降价政策将在6月1日正式生效。具体来看，针对部分区域云服务器，腾讯云价格降幅最高将达40%；云网络方面，腾讯云对负载均衡CLB的LCU费降价18%，对标准型NAT 网关降价15%；数据库方面，腾讯云数据库TDSQL-C serverless全新发布资源包付费模式，刊例价对比同规格包年包月产品降幅高达 25%。除了降价，腾讯云还推出了一些免费服务给用户使用。当天晚间，移动云也宣布对多款云产品降价，部分产品线最高降幅达 60%。降价政策将于5月17日正式生效。此前，阿里云宣布史上最大规模降价，其核心产品价格全线下调15％至50％。
BYD has confirmed that the Chinese new energy vehicle and battery giant plans to continue its expansion in Vietnam, media reported today. During a visit to Vietnam, BYD's Chairman Wang Chuanfu met with Vietnamese deputy prime minister Tran Hong Ha and pledged the carmaker will introduce its best NEV manufacturing and assembly technology into Vietnam to serve the local market and its exports to Southeast Asian countries. Wang hoped Vietnam will provide favorable conditions for BYD to complete the investment process so that it can quickly invest in electric vehicles in the country and start selling them throughout Southeast Asia. The Shenzhen-based firm also plans to create a local supply chain.
比亚迪证实将到越南造车：近日，有媒体报道称，越南副总理陈红河在河内会见王传福，比亚迪计划在越南生产电动汽车，并希望得到越南政府的支持。据报道，王传福希望越南为比亚迪完成投资程序提供“有利条件”，进而可以在越南迅速投资电动汽车，并在当地和东南亚其他市场销售。此外，比亚迪还计划在当地建立供应链。5月17日消息，媒体对此向比亚迪方面进行求证，对方表示“消息属实”。
Chinese authorities fined a standup comedy operator about 13.35 million yuan and suspended its programming in Beijing “indefinitely” after a comedian joked about a military slogan last weekend. The talk show company Xiaoguo Culture and comedian Li Haoshi caused “grave insults” to the People’s Liberation Army in two performances in Beijing on May 13, Beijing’s Municipal Cultural and Tourism Bureau said in a statement on Wednesday. Xiaoguo said that it accepted all criticism and punishment, would deeply reflect on its errors and would not run away from its responsibilities, in a statement after the fines were handed out. The company also announced the immediate termination of its contract with Li and vowed to tighten up internal management and strengthen staff training.
笑果文化被罚款1335万：5月17日，北京市文旅局发布通报称，经查实，上海笑笙文化传媒有限公司及其演员李昊石肆意篡改演出申报内容，在5月13日下午、晚上连续两场“笑果脱口秀”演出中出现严重侮辱人民军队的情节，造成恶劣社会影响。依据《营业性演出管理条例》规定，北京市文化市场综合执法总队决定对该公司作出相应行政处罚：警告、没收违法所得1325381.6元、罚款13353816元。对涉案人员及其演出经纪机构和演出场所经营单位相关违规行为将进一步依法依规追究责任。北京市文旅局决定无限期暂停涉事公司在京所有演出活动。5月17日，笑果文化发布声明，承认在思想上存在侥幸心理、管理上存在重大漏洞，做出了对公司高管团队和相关业务团队分别进行留职察看、降薪等处分；即刻解除涉事演员house劳动合同和艺人经纪合同；对全国各地所属线下演出业务立即进行全面整顿、学习等。
Dai Wei, the controversial founder of failed Chinese bike-sharing firm Ofo which still owes millions in un-refunded deposits, has opened a new coffee chain in the United States, media reported today. Similar to Luckin Coffee, the new venture About Time Coffee allows customers to place orders via mobile apps, which also offers boba coffee that cost from USD6 to USD7, while its standard coffees are priced from USD3 to USD6. Insiders said the chain has raised over USD10 million for a valuation of USD40 million.
OFO创始人戴威赴美再创业：媒体报道，ofo创始人戴威在美国成立一家名为About Time Coffee的咖啡品牌，项目已经以4000万美元的估值筹集了1000多万美元资金，投资方包括IDG、真格基金和北京唯猎资本（ofo早期投资者）。About Time Coffee的app显示，该店主打冷萃、珍珠咖啡、芋头咖啡等产品，售价普遍在4至5美元左右。而据企业信息查询平台风险信息显示，戴威名下存在40条限制消费令，均涉及ofo相关公司案件。
Chinese provider of contract research, development, and manufacturing services WuXi Biologics will produce German biopharmaceutical company InflaRx’s Covid-19 drug. WuXi Biologics signed a manufacturing cooperation agreement with InflaRx for the production of Gohibic, the firm announced late yesterday without revealing any further detail.
药明生物与德药企合作生产新冠药物：5月16日，药明生物宣布与德国生物制药企业InflaRx就新冠治疗药物Gohibic（vilobelimab）达成生产合作协议。FDA于2023年4月发布紧急使用授权（EUA），允许在接受有创机械通气或体外膜肺氧合后48小时内使用Gohibic治疗住院新冠重症成人患者。根据协议条款，药明生物将为同类首创的抗C5a单克隆抗体Gohibic提供cGMP/GMP制剂生产服务。InflaRx是一家总部位于德国耶拿的临床阶段生物制药公司。
Xianyu, Alibaba Group Holding's app for second-hand goods, said it will start charging certain sellers a fee from June 6. Sellers who get more than 10 orders a month worth a total of over 10,000 yuan will be charged 1 percent of the transaction value for each order after the excess, Xianyu announced yesterday.
闲鱼将对高频高额卖家收取1%服务费：5月16日，根据闲鱼APP发布的公告，闲鱼将从6月6日起正式对部分商家实行收费政策。根据通知，收费门槛为当月闲鱼社区账户下产生的成交订单数量大于10件且累计成交金额大于1万元。达到收费门槛后，针对当月超出收费门槛的成交订单，以每一笔订单实际成交额为基数收取1%。每笔软件服务费为当月该笔超出收费门槛订单实际成交额的1%。
Earnings reports express
财报速递
Baidu reported a net profit of 5.83 billion yuan in the first quarter of this year, marking a significant turnaround from the net loss of 885 million yuan in the same period last year, and the adjusted net profit witnessed a 48 percent increase, reaching 5.73 billion yuan. During the same period, Baidu's total revenues reached 31.1 billion yuan - a 10 percent year-on-year increase. Within this, revenue from Baidu's core business amounted to 23 billion yuan, showing an 8 percent year-on-year growth. This figure includes online marketing revenue of 16.6 billion yuan - a 6 percent increase compared to the previous year - and non-online marketing revenue of 6.4 billion yuan, which saw an 11 percent yearly rise.
百度Q1净利大增近五成：百度5月16日公布最新一季财报显示，2023年第一季度，百度实现营收311亿元，同比增长10%；归属百度的净利润（non-GAAP）达到57亿元，同比大幅增长48%，营收和利润双双超市场预期。百度核心经营利润（non-GAAP）同比大幅增长45%至53.6亿元，其中百度智能云在本季度实现了盈利（non-GAAP）。百度2023年第一季度来自百度核心的收入为230亿元（33.5亿美元），同比增长8%；在线营销收入为166亿元（24.2亿美元），同比增长6%，及非在线营销收入为64亿元（9.28亿美元），同比增长11%。
Baidu's online video platform, iQiyi , generated a revenue of 8.3 billion yuan, up 15 percent from a year ago. Two thirds of this, or 5.5 billion yuan, came from its membership services. Net profit surged over two-and-a-half times to 618.1 million yuan. Hit drama The Knockout generated the highest membership revenue for a new release, while other new dramas were also well-received, it said. Original content, including The Knockout, made up 70 percent of the livestreamer’s dramas released over the period, the highest proportion ever. During the quarter, iQiyi reported an average daily subscribing member count of 129 million.
爱奇艺Q1业绩“狂飙”：5月16日，爱奇艺发布截至2023年3月31日未经审计的第一季度财报。财报数据显示，爱奇艺一季度总营收83亿元人民币，会员服务营收55亿元，总营收和会员服务营收均创历史最佳表现。在营收增长带动下，基于非美国通用会计准则财务指标（以下简称Non-GAAP）运营利润增至10亿元，连续六个季度实现增长。一季度日均订阅会员数达1.29亿，较上一季度净增超1700万。一季度归属于爱奇艺的净利润为6.18亿元，去年同期为1.69亿元。自制内容成为爱奇艺收入贡献主力。爱奇艺在一季度上线了包括《狂飙》在内的多部自制内容，重点上新内容中自制内容占比达到70%。《狂飙》打破平台多项历史纪录，成为爱奇艺成立以来热播期会员收入最高的剧集。
Switching gears to financial news
金融市场消息
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 2.2 percent year on year in the first four months to 499.5 billion yuan, the Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday. Foreign investment in manufacturing rose 4.1 percent to reach 130 billion yuan, while high-tech manufacturing surged 37 percent. Growths in investment from France and the UK are the highest, jumping 567 percent and 324 percent respectively.
前4月实际使用外资增长2.2%：中国商务部17日数据显示，2023年1-4月，全国实际使用外资金额4994.6亿元人民币，同比增长2.2%，折合735亿美元，下降3.3%。从行业看，制造业实际使用外资金额1300.5亿元人民币，增长4.1%。高技术产业实际使用外资增长12.8%，其中高技术制造业增长37.1%，高技术服务业增长6%。从来源地看，法国、英国、日本、韩国实际对华投资分别增长567.3%、323.7%、68.1%和30.7%（含通过自由港投资数据）。
China’s securities watchdog on Tuesday ordered online brokers Futu Holdings and Up Fintech Holding to remove their apps from Chinese mainland app stores. In separate statements yesterday, the pair said that they will pull Tiger International and Futu Niuniu from mainland app stores tomorrow and on May 19, respectively, as required by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Mainland users who have already downloaded the apps can continue to use them, Up Fintech and Futu said, adding that users in other countries and regions can continue to download and use the apps normally.
富途与老虎国际下架境内APP： 5月16日，根据中国证监会有关跨境证券业务整改要求，富途控股与老虎国际同时宣布，拟于本周起在境内应用商店下架各自的港美股证券交易APP。根据公告，富途2023年5月19日起，在中国境内在线应用程序商店中下架富途牛牛APP。富途称，目前其存量境内客户仍可通过富途牛牛APP进行交易，相关服务和业务均不受任何影响。香港及所有境外用户下载和使用富途牛牛APP也均不受任何影响。老虎国际称，将于2023年5月18日起调整境内用户更新客户端的方式，在境内应用市场下架旗下APP“老虎国际”，本次调整不影响存量客户对APP的正常使用。
Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market
股市收盘情况
Chinese stocks closed slightly lower on Wednesday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite down 0.2 percent and the Shenzhen Component sliding 0.1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also ended 2.1 percent lower and the TECH index fell 2.2 percent.
A股微跌港股下探：周三A股三大指数小幅收跌。截止收盘，沪指跌0.21%，深成指跌0.07%，创业板指跌0.02%，两市成交继续缩量，全天成交额7814亿元。港股指数午后持续下探，恒生指数跌2.09%，恒生科技指数跌2.23%。
Biz Word of the Day
财经词汇划重点
A cloud server is powerful physical or virtual infrastructure that delivers applications, processes information or provides data storage. Some cloud servers are created using virtualization software that divides a single physical (bare metal) server into multiple virtual servers. Cloud service providers use an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) model to make virtual or bare metal servers avalable to customers.
云服务器是在云计算环境中运行的虚拟(非物理)服务器，不受限制的用户可以按需访问这些服务器。使用虚拟化软件(称为虚拟机监控程序)将物理服务器划分为多个虚拟服务器，从而创建云服务器。虚拟机监控程序将服务器的处理能力抽象化，并将它们集中在一起，从而创建虚拟服务器。
Executive Editor: Sonia YU
Editor: LI Yanxia
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Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.
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