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Real-time News
On April 28, the State Council Information Office held a regular policy briefing to introduce the "Opinions on Promoting the Expansion and Quality Improvement of the Service Industry." Shen Zhulin, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, stated that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, local governments will be guided to promote the construction of urban parking facilities in a categorized manner, with a focus on older residential areas. This will involve revitalizing existing resources and exploring idle and marginal land resources to support the construction or renovation of parking facilities, thereby helping to address the parking difficulties.April 28 – A survey released by the European Central Bank (ECB) on Tuesday showed that eurozone banks tightened credit access in the three months to March and expect it to continue tightening this quarter, driven by the Iranian conflict pushing up energy prices and financing costs. The ECBs quarterly bank credit survey of 21 eurozone countries showed that financing conditions began to deteriorate after the outbreak of the conflict in Iran in late February. Banks tightened their lending standards more than expected, particularly for businesses, the most significant tightening since the third quarter of 2023. The ECB stated, "A rise in risk perceptions of the economic outlook and a decline in banks risk tolerance were the main reasons, with banks noting in an open-ended question that geopolitical and energy developments put pressure on credit tightening." The bank added, "Some banks also reported additional tightening pressure related to exposure to energy-intensive businesses and the Middle East." The ECB said that banks expect credit standards to tighten "generally and more significantly" further in the three months to June.On April 28, Ke Jixin, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), stated at a State Council policy briefing that the MIIT will further implement General Secretary Xi Jinpings important instructions on service industry development and the spirit of the National Service Industry Conference, promoting the extension of producer services towards specialization and the high end of the value chain, and accelerating the innovative development of the software and information technology service industry. Specifically, regarding the application of artificial intelligence in the information service industry, the MIIT will launch a special action plan for "Artificial Intelligence + Software," accelerate the research and application of intelligent programming, and cultivate new business models such as Model as a Service (MAS) and Intelligent Agent as a Service (IAS). The MIIT will further strengthen the construction of the open-source ecosystem and promote the intelligent upgrading of basic software and industrial software. It will also deepen the implementation of the Industrial Internet Innovation and Development Project, orderly promote the deployment of computing power and the construction of edge computing power, and improve the intelligent computing cloud service system. Finally, the MIIT will implement the Industrial Data Foundation Building Action, constructing a number of high-quality datasets in the industrial field.On April 28, Zhang Li, Assistant Minister of Commerce, stated at a State Council policy briefing that China has been and will continue to improve the negative list management system for cross-border service trade, proactively aligning with high-standard international trade and economic rules, orderly relaxing market access restrictions in the service sector, breaking down barriers to cross-border service trade, and promoting the convenient and safe flow of capital, personnel, data, and other factors closely related to service trade across borders. China will also coordinate the construction of major open cooperation platforms such as national service trade innovation and development demonstration zones, strengthen institutional innovation and policy integration, and generate a number of replicable and scalable demonstration experiences.April 28 – A key European Central Bank (ECB) survey showed that eurozone consumers significantly raised their inflation expectations in March, unsettling policymakers. Inflation has risen significantly since the Iran war pushed up energy prices, and the ECB is closely monitoring whether this shock will have a second-round effect, necessitating policy tightening. The ECBs monthly consumer expectations survey, released Tuesday, showed that inflation expectations for the next year jumped to 4.0% from 2.5% a month earlier, while expectations for the next three years rose to 3.0% from 2.5%, both significantly higher than the banks 2% medium-term target. However, five-year inflation expectations rose only slightly to 2.4% from 2.3%. The survey also showed that consumers are increasingly pessimistic about overall economic growth, expecting the economy to contract by 2.1% over the next year, compared to only a 0.9% decline expected the previous month. Income expectations remained unchanged over the next year, but expectations for spending growth rose to 5.1% from 4.6%.
