Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.
大家好，我是主持人李莹亮。
Coming up on today’s program.
重点提要
-President Xi praises Hong Kong’s new electoral system, and says mainland always backs Macao's prosperity and stability during the two SARs chiefs’ visit to Beijing;
-Tencent offloads its US$16 billion stake in No.2 e-commerce player JD.com.
Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours
中国经济要闻
President Xi Jinping met with Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam and Chief Executive of Macao Ho Iat Seng on Wednesday on their annual duty visit to Beijing.
Over the past year, Hong Kong has consolidated the achievements in restoring order and the situation has constantly improved, Xi said, adding that the region has achieved notable results in COVID-19 response, steadily recovered its economy and maintained social stability.
Xi said the elections of the Election Committee and the seventh LegCo held under the new electoral system were both successful, with the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" implemented, and a political landscape established with wide and balanced participation from all social groups and constituencies.
As Hong Kong underwent a transition from chaos to stability, the central government brought up new requirements for local governance team, expecting them to accelerate the integration of the Chinese city into the national development plan.
During the meeting with Ho, Xi told Macao’s chief that the mainland will always be a "firm backing" to the prosperity and stability of Macao.
The city's economy is gradually recovering, and those in need and small and micro-businesses have also been assisted, Xi said, adding that the legal system and enforcement mechanism for safeguarding national security have also been continuously improved in the Macao SAR.
Premier Li Keqiang also met with the two chief executives, hearing their reports on governments’ work. Li hopes the Macao SAR government can actively take part in and advance the building of the Hengqin cooperation zone and make new strides in boosting a diverse economy.Li also expressed hope that the HKSAR government will actively define its development strategy within the national development strategy, and contribute to the country's reform and opening up.
国家主席习近平22日下午在中南海瀛台会见来京述职的香港特别行政区行政长官林郑月娥，听取她对香港当前形势和特别行政区政府工作情况的汇报。
习近平指出，一年来，香港由乱到治的局面不断巩固，局势不断向好发展。
习近平指出，在新选举制度下，香港特别行政区选举委员会选举和第七届立法会选举先后举行，都取得了成功。广大香港同胞当家作主的民主权利得到体现，“爱国者治港”原则得到落实，社会各阶层各界别广泛、均衡参与的政治格局得到确立。
同日，习近平在中南海瀛台会见来京述职的澳门特别行政区行政长官贺一诚，听取他对澳门当前形势和特别行政区政府工作情况的汇报。
习近平表示，祖国始终是澳门保持长期繁荣稳定的坚强后盾。习近平指出，一年来，澳门保持稳定发展良好态势，澳门经济逐步复苏，困难群体和小微企业得到扶助。维护国家安全的法律制度和执行机制不断完善。
国务院总理李克强12月22日在中南海紫光阁会见来京述职的林郑月娥与贺一诚，听取他们对香港澳门当前形势和特别行政区政府工作情况的汇报。李克强指出，希望澳门特别行政区政府主动对接国家发展战略，积极参与和推动横琴粤澳深度合作区建设。李克强说，希望香港特区政府主动对接国家发展战略，助力国家改革开放和构建新发展格局。
疫情简报
The Chinese mainland reported 71 new local cases yesterday. Xi'an, which is home to about 13 million people, reported 61 new infections on Wednesday. The city has tightened travel controls and locked down communities since last night to combat a growing flare-up after the detection of more than 140 local cases within two weeks. So far, the outbreak has affected five other cities across China, sparking concerns of wider transmission.
全国昨日新增本土病例71例（陕西63例，均在西安市；广西4例，均在防城港市；河南2例，均在周口市；浙江1例，在绍兴市；广东1例，在东莞市）。
陕西西安全市小区实行封闭式管理，每户家庭每2天由1人外出采购生活物资，其他家庭成员除在疫情防控、城市运转保障、居民生活密切相关行业工作外，一般不外出，外出需持单位、社区开具的证明。昨天，陕西西安市召开新闻发布会，介绍疫情防控有关情况。12月9日0时—21日24时，西安市累计报告本土确诊病例143例。经专家研判，西安市存在隐匿性传播，已经出现一定规模的社区传播，并且出现外溢病例，疫情已经进入病例报告的高峰期 。
产经消息及公司新闻
Chinese gaming and social media company Tencent said on Thursday it will transfer HK$127.7 billion worth of its JD.com stake to shareholders, slashing its holding in China's second-biggest e-commerce company to 2.3 percent from around 17 percent. Tencent said the divestment will not affect its strategic collaboration with JD.com. Shares of Tencent jumped more than 4 percent today, while JD.com tumbled 7 percent.
腾讯“派息减持”京东：12月23日早间，腾讯控股公告，以中期派息方式，将所持有约4.6亿股京东股权发放给股东。本次派息后，腾讯对京东持股比例将由17%降至2.3%，不再为第一大股东，同时腾讯总裁刘炽平也将卸任京东董事。未来，腾讯将与京东继续保持战略合作伙伴关系，助力京东实现长期价值。今天港股腾讯涨超4%，而京东大跌7%。
China's state asset administration has approved a major merger of rare-earth assets under various state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to form a new company, according to a filing from one of the SOEs involved, marking a significant step toward the country's efforts to optimise the management of the key resources.
稀土“巨无霸”正式成立：12月23日，中国稀土集团有限公司正式成立。中国稀土集团是由中国铝业集团有限公司、中国五矿集团有限公司、赣州稀土集团有限公司为实现稀土资源优势互补、稀土产业发展协同、引入中国钢研科技集团有限公司，有研科技集团有限公司等两家稀土科技研发型企业，按照市场化、法治化原则组建的大型稀土企业集团。
Tax authorities including the ones in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Guangdong are urging celebrity performers and live-streamers to report and correct their tax-related issues after top live-streamer Viya was fined 1.34 billion yuan for tax evasion. Tax bureaus will hand out smaller fines or even no penalties at all, if celebrities report and correct all tax-related issues before this year-end, the notices said.
年底前纠正纳税问题：近日，北京、上海、广州、江苏、四川、河北等多地税务部门先后发文，要求艺人、主播等自查并于年底前纠正涉税问题。税务部门将依通知要求从轻、减轻或者免予税务处罚。对仍拒不自查自纠或者自查自纠不彻底的，税务部门将依法依规严肃处理。
Debt-ridden Chinese streaming service provider LeTV announced that it will raise employee salaries and restore compensation for expenses to pre-pandemic levels as the company comes to the end of a financially sound year, according to an internal letter.
乐视宣布涨薪：12月22日消息，乐视人力资源部在一封内部信中表示，在不考虑历史债务影响的前提下，公司实现了经营利润和现金流的双平衡。同时宣布，从2022年春节后，恢复员工去年疫情期间的降薪部分和补贴。在2020年疫情来袭时，乐视曾针对月薪3万以上的员工进行过一轮降薪。
金融市场要闻
The World Bank has projected that China's economy will expand by 8 percent in 2021, a downward revision of the group's June forecast at 8.5 percent. Economic activity in the country cooled in the second half of this year after a strong rebound in the first half, the World Bank said in a report published on Wednesday.
世行调整预测至8%：12月22日，世界银行发布《中国经济简报：经济再平衡——从复苏到高质量增长》指出，今年上半年，中国经济强劲反弹后，下半年经济活动迅速降温，预计今年中国实际GDP增长率为8.0%。
最后来看股市收盘情况
Chinese stocks closed higher on Thursday with energy related stocks leading the gains. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.57 percent, and the Shenzhen Component closed 0.49 percent higher. The Hang Seng Index also rose 0.4 percent, yet the TECH Index retreated.
周四A股上升，沪指收涨0.57%，深成指涨0.49%。电力股领涨两市，风能、光伏等概念大涨靠前。港股恒生指数涨0.4%，电力股再度走高，而腾讯系美团、快手等个股普跌。
财经词汇划重点
The rare earth elements (REE) are a set of seventeen metallic elements that include the fifteen lanthanides on the periodic table plus scandium and yttrium. Rare earth elements are necessary components of more than 200 products across a wide range of applications, especially high-tech consumer products.
稀土元素是对全部镧系元素，以及钪和钇共17种元素的合称。稀土主要应用于军事、冶金、石油化工、玻璃陶瓷、新材料等领域。
