MNI China Press Digest Aug 23: Electricity, Investment, EU EVs

MNI (MNI (BEIJING)) - Highlights from Chinese press reports on Friday:

• China’s electricity consumption increased 7.7% from January to July, reaching 559.71 billion kilowatt hours, with demand up 5.7% last month, National Energy Administration data showed. Electricity consumption of primary, secondary and tertiary industries increased by 7.5%, 6.6%, and 11.0% y/y. In July, electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing grew 12.4% y/y, photovoltaic equipment went up 20.7% and new energy vehicle manufacturing rose by 42.8%. Song Xiangqing, vice president at the Chinese Society of Business Economics, expects demand to maintain rapid growth driven by mobile internet, big data, cloud computing, and charging services sectors.
• China’s outward non-financial direct investment increased 16.2% y/y in the first seven months to reach USD83.5 billion, according to He Yadong, spokesperson at the Ministry of Commerce.  Investment in Belt and Road countries was USD17.9 billion, up 7.7% y/y, He noted. Outward investment will maintain strong growth going forwards driven by China’s competitive advantage in key industries and infrastructure construction, said Lv Yue, professor at the University of International Business and Economics. Lv expects strong investment in green and digital sectors, future industries, and industrial supply chain.
• The EU’s action against Chinese EV makers weakens investment confidence and hinders cooperation, according to Wang Zhisheng, vice president at the European Union China Chamber of Commerce. Anti subsidy investigations have damaged investment confidence in 82% of Chinese firms, Wang noted, citing a European Union Chamber of Commerce in China report. Imposing tariffs will raise prices, suppress demand and slow the EU’s green transformation, Wang noted.