China firmly supports building of ASEAN Community: Chinese premier

China

China firmly supports building of ASEAN Community: Chinese premier

2024-10-10 19:42 Last Updated At：23:17

China firmly supports the building of the Community of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as ASEAN's central position in regional cooperation and its greater role in international affairs, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday.

China is ready to have in-depth exchange of views with all parties on major regional cooperation issues and contribute to joint efforts in making the region an important engine for global development, he noted.

Li made the statement in a written statement released upon his arrival at the Wattay International Airport in Vientiane, Laos, where he was received by Lao Minister of Planning and Investment and Chairman of the Lao-China Cooperation Committee Office Phet Phomphiphak, and Chinese Ambassador to Laos Fang Hong.

Li arrived in Vientiane to attend leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation, and pay an official visit to Laos at the invitation of Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, which currently holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN.

Li pointed out that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese president, and Thongloun Sisoulith, general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao president, China and Laos have continued to deepen and consolidate their comprehensive strategic cooperation, and the bilateral relations have entered a new era of building a community with a shared future.

China is ready to work with Laos to further synergize their development strategies, strengthen solidarity and coordination, and push for more substantive progress in building a China-Laos community with a shared future, so as to better benefit the two peoples, he added.

During his stay, Li is also scheduled to attend the 27th China-ASEAN Summit, the 27th ASEAN Plus Three Summit and the 19th East Asia Summit to be held from Oct 9 to 12.

Shanghai, Shenzhen bourses see fourth day with combined turnover topping 2 trillion yuan

2024-10-10 22:17 Last Updated At：22:37

The combined turnover of China's Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses reached 2.14 trillion yuan (about 302.5 billion U.S. dollars) on Thursday, marking the fourth consecutive trading day with volume exceeding 2 trillion yuan.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 1.32 percent to 3,301.93 points, while the Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.82 percent lower at 10,471.08 points.

Shares related to coal, wind power and banking sectors led the gains, while the semiconductor, securities and property sectors suffered major losses.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, lost 2.95 percent to close at 2,212.91 points Thursday.

China's central bank announced Thursday that it has decided to set up Securities, Funds and Insurance Companies Swap Facility (SFISF), with the initial scale of 500 billion yuan (about 71 billion U.S. dollars) for "the healthy and steady development of the capital market."

The SFISF, which is the first monetary policy tool created by China to support the capital market, will allow eligible securities, funds and insurance companies to use their assets including bonds, stock ETFs and holdings in constituents of the CSI 300 Index as collateral in exchange for highly liquid assets such as treasury bonds and central bank bills, the People's Bank of China said in a statement.

This development sparked interest in high-dividend stocks, with stocks controlled by state capital collectively rising.

More than 10 stocks including Metallurgical China (601618.SH), China Railway Group Ltd. (601390.SH) and COFCO Capital (002423.SZ) hit limit up.