Economy to be back on track soon: official CHINA’S economy will return to normal operations soon thanks to effective epidemic control and a raft of policies, an official said yesterday. The economy is now facing strong headwinds due to unexpected impacts from recent COVID-19 resurgences and the volatile global situation, said Meng Wei, spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission. However, it should be noted that in 2020 when the sudden COVID-19 outbreak dealt an unprecedented blow, China managed to swiftly reverse the downturns of some economic indicators through solid epidemic control and work resumption, and saw steady recovery quarter by quarter, said Meng. Express delivery volume rises 4.2% CHINA’S courier sector reported a 4.2% rise in its business volume in the first four months of this year, official data showed Monday. The country’s delivery service providers handled 31.71 billion parcels in the January-April period, according to the State Post Bureau. During this period, business revenue of the sector gained 2.3% year on year to total 313.33 billion yuan (US$46.17 billion), the bureau said. In April alone, Chinese delivery service providers saw their business volume and revenue down 11.9% and 10.1%, respectively, from a year ago. 8 fixed-asset investment projects approved CHINA’S top economic planner in April approved eight fixed-asset investment projects worth 18.8 billion yuan (US$2.78 billion), spokeswoman Meng Wei told a news conference yesterday. The National Development and Reform Commission approved 38 fixed-asset investment projects with a combined investment totaling 533.3 billion yuan in the first four months of this year, according to Meng. The projects approved in April primarily came from the information technology and energy industries, Meng said. Firms apply for industrial design patents CHINESE firms are actively applying for the international registration of industrial designs, the country’s top intellectual property regulator said Monday. A total of 49 Chinese firms submitted 108 international applications for industrial designs May 5, the first day the Hague Agreement came into effect in China. The Hague Agreement is a mechanism aimed at intellectual property protection to help contracting parties enjoy worldwide protection for their industrial design. | 