China Taking Steps to Facilitate International Trade

During a press conference held in April， the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade said it will make moves to facilitate imports and exports in the coming three years. The council said it will help about 100 countries and regions to promote up to 10，000 commodities in China， especially advanced technical equipment， key components， and highquality consumer goods.

Meanwhile， the council will organize Chinese delegations to go abroad to make collective purchases and hold meetings for entrepreneurs both at home and abroad. It will also hold activities to recommend Chinese brands and services abroad， while soliciting foreign investment.

China earlier unveiled a number of landmark measures to be taken this year to significantly broaden market access， from lowering import tariffs for vehicles to opening up the financial sector.

The countrys foreign trade has become more balanced since the start of this year， with import growth outpacing that of exports and the trade surplus narrowing by 21.8 percent in the first quarter of this year.

Internet Copyright Industry Maintains R apid Growth

The market scale of Chinas Internet copyright industry reached RMB 636.5 billion （about US $100.3 billion） in 2017， increasing 27.2 percent from the previous year， according to a report on the industry released by the National Copyright Administration in April.

The different sectors of the industry have all seen increasing user numbers and market growth. The market for pay-per-view videos reached RMB 21.8 billion in 2017 and is expected to maintain a 60 percent year-onyear increase in the next two years， according to the report.

The digital reading market achieved a year-on-year growth of 31.1 percent in 2017. Digital reading platforms became popular， thus cultivating more users who prefer online reading. According to a report jointly released by Chinese online book retailer Dangdang.com and big data analysis service provider Analysys， the trade volume of Chinas e-book market is expected to reach RMB 33.5 billion （about US $5.34 billion） by 2020. The market is expected to see an average annual growth of 29.8 percent in the next three years.

The online music market grew by 22 percent year-on-year to RMB 17.5 billion， and the number of live streaming users reached 422 million， and the live streaming market totaled nearly RMB 40 billion.

The report said that the sustained increase of residents disposable incomes promoted the development of the Internet copyright industry， which has seen a benign development mode bolstered by paid users and income from advertisements.

China， the W orlds Largest Mobile App Market

The Chinese mainland will remain the worlds largest mobile app market in 2022. China already stands above the rest of the world in terms of both downloads and consumer spending， and in 2022 it will continue to be a dominant force in the global app economy， according to a report released by global app data provider App Annie in May.

Spending on mobile apps could reach US $62.4 billion in 2022 on the Chinese mainland， more than double the sum registered in 2017. The Chinese mainland could make up about 40 percent of the total global spending on apps in 2022. Meanwhile， the Chinese mainland will see 119.5 billion downloads of apps in 2022. Consumer spending in app stores is forecast to pass the US $100 billion mark in 2018， and expected to exceed US$156.5 billion by 2022.

The Asia-Pacific region has driven a lot of app growth， and the area is expected to account for 72.4 percent of all downloads and 64.8 percent of spending in app stores.

5G Technology to Be Commercialized in 2019

China will apply 5G technology to terminal devices as early as the second half of 2019， leading to the primary commercialization of the technology in the near future， according to Wen Ku， head of the information and communication department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology （MIIT）.“China started 5G experiments in 2016， and entered the third stage of system verification this year，” said Wen at the first Digital China Summit in Fuzhou， capital of east Chinas Fujian Province in late April.

China has launched 5G cooperation mechanisms with Japan， the Republic of Korea， the EU， and the U.S.， with international companies joining the research and development， he said. Device manufacturers such as Huawei and Ericsson have participated in developing 5G products to help create a complete 5G industrial chain.

Next-generation ultra-fast networks will offer greater download speeds up to 10 gigabits per second， and will reshape technology infrastructure and peoples lives in various areas.