Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI. Coming up on today’s program · Central bank approves 100 billion yuan mortgages for rental housing groups in 8 pilot cities; · China's auto production and sales topped 30 million units for the first time in 2023. Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours  The People's Bank of China (PBOC) approved a total of 100 billion yuan in mortgages for rental housing groups to support the purchase of commercial properties for long-term rental in eight pilot cities, as a way to relieve pressure on local governments to raise rental housing and reduce housing inventory, media reported today.  The eight pilot cities are Tianjin, Chengdu, Qingdao, Chongqing, Fuzhou, Changchun, Zhengzhou and Jinan. The loans for rental housing groups enjoy an annualized interest rate of 3 percent and a maximum tenure of 30 years, extended by seven state-owned banks, including China Development Bank (CDB) and Bank of China (BOC). According to the terms, only residential commercial properties can be purchased, and the acquisition of commercial apartments is not permitted. At the same time, the target project must be acquired as a whole building or unit. The decision comes after the PBOC and the National Administration of Financial Regulation (NAFR) on Friday issued a guideline on stepping up financial support for the housing rental market, vowing to offer more innovative credit products and services for housing rentals and to expand financing channels for the rental housing market. Among the main measures, the guideline, which was sent to the PBOC and the NAFR's local branches and various types of banks, calls for an increase in credit support for housing rental development and construction.  On the purchasing side, the guideline also encouraged commercial banks to extend loans for entities that purchase housing rental for employees. The term for such loans cannot exceed 30 years and the amount should not exceed 80 percent of the property value. However, the regulators had made it clear that the premise of the commercial banks to issue these mortgages is that the risk is controllable and commercially sustainable, and that new local government hidden debt is strictly forbidden.  Since March 2023, the eight pilot cities have been working to identify suitable housing for the program. These cities must wrestle for the mortgage quota on first-come, first-served basis, instead of being allocated in fixed amounts.   · China's National Immigration Administration officially implements five measures to facilitate foreign nationals coming to China, effective on Thursday, including relaxing visa application requirements and simplifying visa application materials. Foreign nationals can transit through nine international airports in China without going through immigration procedures for up to 24 hours. In addition, an official with the immigration bureau said today that the applications for the new version of China’s permanent residence permit for foreigners saw a rapid increase since it was launched on Dec. 1, 2023. With the new ID cards, foreign holders can open accounts to trade Chinese mainland-listed shares online, as well as purchase tickets for flights and trains, open WeChat Pay and Alipay accounts as well as forex trading accounts, among other benefits and services more similar to Chinese citizens’ ID cards. · The World Bank has issued a stern warning that the global economy is set for a "weakest" half-decade performance in three decades, as it forecasts a slower growth rate of 2.4 percent in 2024, down from 2.6 percent for 2023. In its latest Global Economic Prospects report released on Tuesday US time, the World Bank said China's economy will grow by 4.5 percent in 2024, 0.1 percentage points less than its June 2023 projection, yet still the fastest among major economies.   Moving on to regional highlights · Beijing raked in a commercial performance revenue of over 2.3 billion yuan