There is heavyweight news coming from China and the United States.
On November 6th, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced that at the invitation of US Treasury Secretary Yellen, He Lifeng, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Vice Premier of the State Council, and Chinese leader in Sino US economic and trade, will visit the United States from November 8th to 12th.
In addition, at the routine press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the same day, a reporter asked that China and the United States would hold arms control consultations in Washington. Please introduce China's basic position and the main objectives of this negotiation. Spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated that China maintains close communication with major countries around the world on arms control and non-proliferation issues. China and the United States will hold departmental level arms control and non-proliferation consultations in Washington recently, and the two sides will engage in dialogue and exchange on a wide range of topics such as the implementation of international arms control treaties and non-proliferation.
The US Food and Agriculture Museum opened on November 6th at the 2023 CIIE. At the opening ceremony, US Ambassador to China Burns delivered a speech stating that economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States is crucial and that the United States does not seek to decouple from China. Shen Bo, Senior Vice President and President of China for Dutch lithography giant Asma, stated that Asma China's business has grown rapidly this year, and it is expected that China will account for over 20% of Asma's global revenue for the entire year. He is also very optimistic about his business in China next year.
Just now, the A-share giant of 600 billion has signed a large order in the Middle East. According to CCTV Finance, recently, Sinopec and Qatar Energy signed a cooperation agreement, including a 27 year long-term liquefied natural gas agreement and equity participation cooperation projects. According to the agreement, Qatar Energy Company will supply 3 million tons of liquefied natural gas to Sinopec every year and transfer 5% equity of the joint venture company to Sinopec.
China and the United States weigh heavily
At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 6th, a reporter asked that China and the United States would hold arms control consultations in Washington. Please introduce China's basic position and the main objectives of this negotiation.
In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated that China maintains close communication with major countries around the world on arms control and non-proliferation issues. China and the United States will hold departmental level arms control and non-proliferation consultations in Washington recently, and the two sides will engage in dialogue and exchange on a wide range of topics such as the implementation of international arms control treaties and non-proliferation.
Regarding the relevant situation of the consultation, China will release information in a timely manner, please keep an eye on it, "Wang Wenbin said.
At the same time, the latest signal released by the United States at this year's CIIE has also attracted attention.
On November 6th, the US Food and Agriculture Museum opened at the 2023 CIIE. At the opening ceremony of the museum, US Ambassador to China Burns delivered a speech stating that Sino US economic and trade cooperation is very important and the US does not seek to decouple from China. The CIIE is an important opportunity for the United States to showcase its products.
In an interview, Burns said, "I am the first US ambassador to participate in the CIIE and I am here to establish a more stable and productive relationship
It is worth mentioning that at this year's CIIE, the US government established its first official exhibition hall - the US Food and Agriculture Museum. According to the People's Daily, the US Department of Agriculture led 17 exhibitors to participate in this year's CIIE, with the largest scale in history.
In addition, according to the US Embassy in China and the head of the American Soybean Export Association, the US Department of Agriculture has established the US Food and Agriculture Pavilion at this year's CIIE, with a booth area of over 440 square meters. It has led 17 exhibitors from local state governments, associations, exporters, food processing and packaging in the United States to participate. The scale of the delegation is the largest in history, and it is also the first time that the US federal government has participated in the CIIE and set up an exhibition under its official name.
It is worth mentioning that China is the largest export destination for agricultural products from the United States. China's imports of agricultural products from the United States have been increasing for four consecutive years. In 2022, the trade volume of agricultural products between China and the United States exceeded the $50 billion mark, and the export of agricultural products from the United States to China reached a record high of $42 billion.
The latest voice of lithography machine giants
On November 6th, Shen Bo, Senior Vice President of Dutch lithography giant Asma Global and President of China, stated in an interview with China Daily during the CIIE that Asma China's business has grown rapidly this year and is expected to account for over 20% of Asma's global revenue for the entire year. He is also very optimistic about his business in China next year.
Shen Bo said, "Our recruitment in China in 2023 will exceed 200 people. In 2024, we anticipate that the development of our business will continue to bring a lot of demand, and our team expansion should be relatively large. Of course, we still need to make an annual plan. We are still looking at the specific numbers, but the growth of the entire team is certain
It is reported that in the third quarter of this year, China accounted for 46% of Asma's global business revenue. We expect to outperform 20% throughout the year, which is a significant increase compared to previous years
Shen Bo stated that from the first machine shipped to China in 1988, by the end of 2023, ASML had installed nearly 1400 lithography machines and measured machines in China. In fact, our growth in China over the years has been very considerable. We have been continuously investing in this matter
Regarding the recently announced chip export control measures in the United States, Shen Bo stated that the new measures are somewhat complex, and ASML is still studying their specific impacts. From the current understanding, there will be restrictions on export controls for a small number of customers. If viewed from a quantity perspective, based on the business volume of ASML China this year, it will have an impact of approximately 10% to 15% on the company's business next year, so overall it is okay.
Due to geopolitical and other factors, the global semiconductor industry is currently facing a series of challenges, with some practitioners even stating that 'globalization is dead'.
In this regard, Shen Bo believes that global cooperation has always been the most effective way for the entire semiconductor industry to promote technological progress, or can be said to be the only way. Only globalization can help the entire industry move forward most efficiently.
Shen Bo introduced that currently, nearly 85% of Asma's products are not produced by themselves, but require collaboration with the world's best suppliers to solve different problems in various fields, including some of the most challenging problems faced by humans.
We need to work together with China. China has always played a very important role in the ecological field of semiconductors. China's market potential will bring opportunities to China's entire semiconductor industry, while also allowing China's semiconductor industry to better integrate into the global industry. "Shen Bo emphasized.
A-share 640 billion giant signs large orders
According to a report from CCTV Finance and Economics, on November 4th, Sinopec and Qatar Energy signed a cooperation agreement, including a 27 year long-term agreement for liquefied natural gas and a joint venture project, which will further enhance the supply capacity of domestic natural gas.
According to the cooperation agreement, Qatar Energy Company will supply 3 million tons of liquefied natural gas to Sinopec annually and transfer 5% equity of the joint venture company to Sinopec. Qatar is one of the world's leading exporters of liquefied natural gas. Sinopec's newly acquired North Gas Field Phase II expansion project will build two new liquefied natural gas production lines with a capacity of 16 million tons per year. This is also the world's largest natural gas field phase II expansion project.
Sinopec Chairman Ma Yongsheng stated that this is the third LNG (liquefied natural gas) long-term contract signed by both parties. Together, Qatar Energy Company will provide us with 9 million tons of LNG (liquefied natural gas) annually, equivalent to the annual production of a large natural gas (gas field) in China. This will help further improve the supply capacity of natural gas.
As of the close on November 6th, Sinopec's A-share price was at 5.37 yuan, while its H-share price was at HKD 4.07. The latest total market value (calculated by taking into account the prices and quantities of different types of shares) is approximately 603.2 billion yuan.
According to previous reports by Xinhua News Agency, in June this year, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Qatar Energy Company signed a cooperation document for the expansion project of the northern gas field in the capital city of Doha.
According to the agreement between the two parties, Qatar Energy Company will supply 4 million tons of liquefied natural gas to PetroChina annually for the next 27 years, and transfer 1.25% of the shares in the Northern Gas Field Expansion Project to PetroChina.
According to the "2023 Natural Gas Market Report" released by the Natural Gas Exporting Countries Forum, Qatar became the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas with an export volume of 80 million tons in 2022. In 2021, Australia, the country with the largest export volume, ranked second, while the United States and Russia ranked third and fourth respectively.
The report predicts that global liquefied natural gas exports will increase by 4.2% to 435 million tons in 2023.