Economy/Resources - 2. page

A smart rail transit line in Shaanxi’s Xixian New Area — once promoted as a flagship urban transport upgrade — was shut down after just 33 months of operation. Despite a 705-million-yuan (US$102 million) investment, ridership remained well below break-even levels and operating losses continued to grow, prompting authorities to terminate service and dismantle the infrastructure. The case reflects a broader national pattern in which newly built rail systems in several cities have been suspended, left idle, or halted due to weak demand.

Zhuhai Tram Line 1 in Guangdong Province illustrates the challenge. Built at a cost of about 1.5 billion yuan, it operated for fewer than four years before closing and is now being dismantled. Average daily ridership reached only a small fraction of projections, requiring significant public subsidies. A similar situation occurred in Tianshui, Gansu Province, where inspectors criticized a tram project as unrealistic and debt-driven after revenues failed to cover operating costs. Several BYD SkyRail projects have likewise stalled amid tighter regulations and financing constraints.

Many of these projects share underlying weaknesses: routes often disconnected from major residential and employment centers, and planning prioritized funding opportunities and development branding over practical transportation needs. When measured against real travel demand, these systems have struggled to justify their costs, resulting in financial strain and early shutdowns.

Source: NetEase, January 30, 2026
https://www.163.com/dy/article/KKI9GL7H0556818Z.html

China’s National Energy Administration recently released data showing that the country’s total electricity consumption reached a historic milestone in 2025, surpassing 10 trillion kilowatt-hours for the first time.

In global terms, this figure is striking: China’s annual electricity use is more than double that of the United States and exceeds the combined total consumption of the European Union, Russia, India, and Japan. The scale underscores China’s position as the world’s largest electricity consumer.

China has built the world’s most comprehensive and largest energy system, with total energy production accounting for more than one-fifth of the global total. Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the country’s energy self-sufficiency rate has remained above 80 percent, with over 90 percent of incremental energy demand met through domestic supply. Extensive ultra-high-voltage (UHV) transmission infrastructure allows China to transmit clean energy from resource-rich western and northern regions to major demand centers in the east and central regions, addressing longstanding regional imbalances. To date, China has completed 24 UHV direct-current transmission projects, providing west-to-east transmission capacity of 340 million kilowatts, with foreign media projecting continued expansion of UHV corridors through 2050.

Source: People’s Daily, February 5, 2026
https://www.peopleapp.com/column/30051371789-500007341668

China’s individual income tax revenue grew 11.5 per cent in 2025, significantly outpacing growth rates for value-added tax, corporate income tax, and consumption tax, according to Ministry of Finance data. Analysts attribute this surge primarily to stricter enforcement and a targeted crackdown on unreported foreign income, which has emerged as a key driver of revenue growth.

Recent cases publicized by Chinese tax authorities revealed substantial amounts of unreported overseas earnings, with back-tax payments ranging from 1.7 million yuan (approximately $234,000) to 6.987 million yuan (approximately $962,000). Experts note that since 2017, China has participated in the Common Reporting Standard for tax purposes, enabling authorities to systematically track citizens’ overseas financial accounts.

Beginning in late 2024 and continuing through 2025, numerous individuals with foreign income received notices from tax departments requiring self-examination or audits. Tax bureaus in Hubei, Shandong, Zhejiang, and Shanghai simultaneously announced cases involving unreported overseas income. Late last year, authorities urged residents to review their foreign earnings from the past three years and file proper declarations, warning that non-compliance would result in tax collection enforcement.

This intensified scrutiny comes amid China’s ongoing economic slowdown and mounting fiscal pressure on local governments. Experts predict that enforcement will strengthen further this year. Last year’s efforts primarily relied on notifications and voluntary reporting, with much of the data and declarations remaining incomplete and imprecise. As tax authorities acquire more comprehensive data and develop systematic methodologies, analysts expect increasing numbers of people will take overseas income reporting obligations more seriously. The enhanced enforcement represents a significant shift in China’s approach to capturing tax revenue from citizens’ global earnings.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), February 9, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202602090108.aspx

China Security Times (STCN) recently reported that, the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing jointly released the China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). Data shows that in January, the Manufacturing PMI fell to 49.3 percent, below the 50 percent line in the contraction territory.

According to the Bureau of Statistics, the low number is due to some manufacturing sectors entering their traditional off-season, coupled with insufficient effective market demand.

Looking at the 13 sub-indices, compared with the previous month, the product inventory index, import index, purchase price index, and ex-factory price index increased, with the increase ranging from 0.3 to 3 percentage points; while the production index, new orders index, new export orders index, backlog orders index, purchasing volume index, raw material inventory index, employment index, supplier delivery time index, and production and operation activity expectation index all decreased, with the decrease ranging from 0.1 to 2.9 percentage points.

The survey shows that over 34 percent of manufacturing companies reported declining profits in January, highlighting the need to address the issue of corporate profits.

Source: STCN, January 31, 2026
https://www.stcn.com/article/detail/3623890.html

The Hurun Research Institute released its “2026 Hurun Best of the Best – China High-Net-Worth Individuals Quality of Life Report,” which surveyed 470 Chinese individuals with assets exceeding 10 million yuan (US$1.44 million), including 70 respondents with assets above 100 million yuan.

The report found that economic confidence among China’s wealthy has declined for the fourth consecutive year, with the confidence index dropping to 5.4—its lowest level since 2012. Only 26 percent of respondents said they were highly confident about the economy, while 59 percent described themselves as moderately confident. By comparison, confidence levels were higher during previous periods of economic stress, including the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, and reached a peak of 7.2 in 2022.

Looking ahead, high-net-worth Chinese households expect to reduce annual discretionary consumer spending by an average of 242,000 yuan over the next year.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), January 31, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202601310174.aspx

China’s Ministry of Finance released data on fiscal revenue and expenditure for 2025 on January 30. Nationwide general public budget revenue—fiscal revenue in the narrow sense—totaled 21.6 trillion yuan (US$3.95 trillion), marking a year-on-year decline of 1.7 percent. Tax revenue reached 17.64 trillion yuan, up slightly by 0.8 percent from a year earlier, while non-tax revenue fell 11.3 percent year on year to 3.97 trillion yuan.

On a monthly basis, fiscal revenue weakened significantly toward the end of the year. After remaining flat year on year in November, general public budget revenue plunged 25 percent in December.

Analysts said the sharp slowdown in fiscal revenue growth over recent months further reinforces the view that demand suffered a “cliff-like decline” in the second half of 2025.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, February 2, 2026
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/finance/china/story20260202-8262100