2016’s Top 10 Business News Stories

1. Supply-Side Structural Reform

As more policies and measures are rolled out throughout China， the countrys supply-side structural reform has been gaining momentum， with solid economic figures being posted. In recent years， the international community has been concerned about problems in the Chinese economy such as overcapacity， high debt-to-assets ratios in industrial enterprises and high operation costs. To address these issues， the Chinese Government has deployed supply-side structural reform featuring five major tasks—cutting overcapacity， destocking inventory， deleveraging， cutting costs and strengthening weak links in the economy.

The National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that for 2016， the overcapacity-reduction targets for coal and steel are 250 million tons and 45 million tons， respectively. The whole-year target has been accomplished ahead of schedule， with more being cut than what was previously planned. In terms of destocking， by the end of August， the inventory of finished products from industrial enterprises above the designated size—principal businesses with revenues of more than 20 million yuan （$3.15 million）—had been decreasing for the last five months in a row. By the end of September， the floor-space of unsold commercial residential housing had been in decline for seven months in a row. When it comes to cost reduction， operation costs and businesses debt-to-asset ratio have dropped. With regard to strengthening weak links in the economy， in sectors such as environmental protection， agriculture， forestry， water conservancy and infrastructure construction， investments are now growing at a rapid pace.

2. Shenzhen-HK Stock Link

Two years after the launch of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect program， China introduced another stock trading link between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. The stock trading link between Shenzhen， south Chinas Guangdong Province and Hong Kong was officially launched on December 5， a move aimed at further pushing forward the yuans internationalization and cementing Hong Kongs status as an offshore yuan hub.

According to some analysts forecasts， the launch of the Shenzhen-HK link may increase the likelihood of index compiler MSCI adding Chinas A shares to its influential benchmark index， which could attract billions of dollars of funds into the Chinese stock market.

In June， Chinas A shares failed to gain inclusion in the MSCI index for the third time. The MSCI Inc. cited accessibility issues as the reason for its decision. A critical requisite for Chinas A shares to be included in the MSCI index is that global capital can invest in stocks in both the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges.