January 17th Macroeconomic Index: China Enhances Patent Standards for AI and Big Data, Guangxi's Trade Surges

   Daily Macro Economy News

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International Crude Price Trend and Exchange Rate of RMB to USD Trend

Domestic News

1. State Intellectual Property Office: Improve the patent examination standards for new fields and new forms of business such as big data, artificial intelligence, and gene technology

2. In 2023, the total import and export value of Guangxi was 693.65 billion yuan

3. The ten thousand ton battery-grade lithium carbonate project in Zabuye Salt Lake was successfully flooded and entered trial production

4. The subsidiary of China Coal Group plans to liquidate its 20% stake in Shanyin Rural Commercial Bank again

International News

1. Although the situation in the Red Sea has exacerbated the risk of the oil market, oil prices remain stable

2. South Korea plans to invest 30,000 won in the robot industry by 2030

3. Royal Bank of Canada looks forward to Canadian CPI data

4. The dollar moved higher as traders weighed interest rate cut bets and Red Sea tensions

Domestic News

1. State Intellectual Property Office: Improve the patent examination standards for new fields and new forms of business such as big data, artificial intelligence, and gene technology

Hu Wenhui, Deputy Director of the State Intellectual Property Office, said that the legal protection of intellectual property rights should be strengthened in an all-round way. We will further implement the newly revised Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law, effectively implement the Measures for the Protection of Geographical Indication Products and the Provisions on the Registration and Administration of Collective Marks and Certification Marks, and accelerate the new round of revisions to the Trademark Law and its implementing regulations, the study of special legislation on geographical indications, and the revision and demonstration of the Regulations on the Protection of Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits. Deeply promote the establishment of rules for the protection of intellectual property rights in data. We will continue to improve the quality and efficiency of intellectual property examinations, improve the standards for patent examination in new fields and new forms of business such as big data, artificial intelligence, and gene technology, expand and accelerate the scale of examinations, and support the development of strategic emerging industries.

2. In 2023, the total import and export value of Guangxi was 693.65 billion yuan

The reporter learned from the press conference on Guangxi's import and export situation in 2023 that according to customs statistics, in 2023, the total import and export value of Guangxi was 693.65 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%, exceeding the annual target of the autonomous region. Among them, exports were 363.95 billion yuan, an increase of 1.5 percent, and imports were 329.7 billion yuan, an increase of 14.6 percent, making a success in the stable growth of import and export scale and superior and improved development quality.

3. The ten thousand ton battery-grade lithium carbonate project in Zabuye Salt Lake was successfully flooded and entered trial production

Recently, the pre-concentrated salt field of the 10,000-ton battery-grade lithium carbonate project of Zabuye Salt Lake Green Comprehensive Development and Utilization in Tibet, which provides all membrane process sections by BGT Group, has successfully entered the water, marking the official start of the trial production of the salt field. The project is the first modern large-scale industrial project in Tibet and the first project to realize the comprehensive development and utilization of salt lake resources, and it is also the first large-scale salt lake lithium extraction project undertaken by Bejet in Tibet (all membrane process sections), and the project adopts the process of "membrane separation + evaporation crystallization" to efficiently recycle lithium, potassium and other resources from Zabuye salt lake.

4. The subsidiary of China Coal Group plans to liquidate its 20% stake in Shanyin Rural Commercial Bank again

China Coal Group, a state-owned enterprise, plans to transfer all the shares of one of its rural commercial bank again. According to the announcement disclosed by the Shanghai United Equity Exchange on January 15, China Coal Group Shanxi Huayu Energy Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the state-owned China Coal Group, intends to transfer all 140 million shares of Shanxi Shanyin Rural Commercial Bank, accounting for 20% of the total share capital, and the reserve price for the transfer is about 188 million yuan.

International News

1. Although the situation in the Red Sea has exacerbated the risk of the oil market, oil prices remain stable

Oil prices remained stable as the global economic outlook was shaky, offsetting heightened tensions in the Middle East caused by continued Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea. While tensions have risen in the Middle East, which supplies one-third of the world's crude oil, crude oil futures are still facing downward pressure from broader financial markets. Vandana Hari, founder of Singapore's Vanda Insights, said it seemed a bit of a surprise that crude oil continued to ignore the latest escalation of tensions in the Middle East. This shows the extent to which people's views on global oil fundamentals have become bleaker.

2. South Korea plans to invest 3 trillion won in the robot industry by 2030

South Korea's Industry Ministry unveiled a plan on Tuesday for private companies to invest 3 trillion won ($2.26 billion) in robotics by 2030, with the goal of supplying 1 million robots to local industry. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the focus of the smart robot plan is to increase the proportion of key robot components produced locally to 80% by 2030, up from the current 44%. The plan aims to increase the size of the local robotics industry to 20 trillion won by 2030, compared to 5.6 trillion won in 2021.

3. Royal Bank of Canada looks forward to Canadian CPI data

The Royal Bank of Canada said that Canada's CPI is expected to rise to 3.4% y/y from 3.1% in December due to the low base effect, as gasoline prices fell sharply more than expected a year ago. The year-on-year pace of growth, the BoC's preferred core inflation gauge, should not change much, while the three-month annualized CPI growth rate, which the central bank has been watching, is more likely to edge higher. Still, overall, the scale and impact of inflation continues to decline. The increase in mortgage costs contributed to a third of the growth in the core CPI. The Bank of Canada will continue to focus on the price growth of this component, as this increase is a direct result of previous rate hikes. Excluding this component, price growth has been operating within the central bank's inflation target of 1-3%.

4. The dollar moved higher as traders weighed interest rate cut bets and Red Sea tensions

The dollar rose on Tuesday as investors reduced bets on the Federal Reserve's near-term interest rate cuts after hawkish comments from ECB officials, while fears of more attacks on ships in the Red Sea weighed on risk sentiment. Charu Chanana, head of FX strategy at Saxo Bank in Singapore, said: "The ECB's hawkish comments last night added to concerns that the market may also be pricing in the Fed's interest rate path too aggressively. Hamish Pepper, fixed income and foreign exchange strategist at Harbour Asset Management, said: "We believe the market may be overly optimistic about pricing in the Fed's nearly seven 25bp rate cuts this year. He added that the dollar could find support if the market reassesses easing expectations and pushes short-term interest rates higher.

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