BEIJING    -   China’s Internet of Things (IoT) sector is expected to log strong expansion in the coming years, and the country’s number of IoT connections will be near 10.25 billion by 2026, according to an industry report.

The consumption sector will take the lion’s share of these con­nections, with the smart home and wearable devices fields con­tinuing to be the major growth drivers, says the report from glob­al market research firm Interna­tional Data Corporation (IDC).

The number of consumption-related IoT connections is ex­pected to be approximately 5.98 billion by 2026, and connections related to the manufacturing and public facilities sectors will be about 300 million and 2.2 billion, respectively, the report says.

IDC also forecasts a double-digit expansion of IoT connections in the healthcare and education indus­tries in the coming years. China has pledged to develop its digital infra­structure, represented by 5G, IoT, cloud computing and the industrial internet, to a globally advanced lev­el by 2025. The country is making strong moves to accelerate the in­tegration of IoT and other new gen­eration information technologies.

CHINA’S USED CAR MARKET EXPECTS STEADY REBOUND IN 2023

China’s used car market is expect­ed to see a steady recovery this year, with a sales volume possibly reaching 20 million units, indus­try data showed.

In January, about 1.25 million second-hand vehicles were traded in China, with a total transaction value of 78.03 billion yuan (about 11.36 billion US dollars), accord­ing to the China Automobile Deal­ers Association.

The trade volume went down 15.93 percent year on year, said the association, noting that the drop was due to a shorter trad­ing period as most dealers closed shops early to return to their hometowns for family reunions during the Spring Festival.

Meanwhile, it emphasised the increase in demand before the week-long Spring Festival holiday, saying the expansion of traffic to stores and quicker inventory clear­ing indicated a sound recovery of the market. The association also forecasted a year-on-year sales growth in February and projected a rebound of the industry in 2023. Survey data showed that about half of the used car dealers expected more than 20 percent of the growth in trade volume this year, it said.

CHINESE INTERBANK BONDS HELD BY OVERSEAS INSTITU­TIONS STAND AT 3.28 TR YUAN

Bonds in China’s interbank market held by overseas institutions stood at 3.28 trillion yuan (477.72 billion US dollars) at the end of January, about 2.6 percent of the total custo­dy of the country’s interbank bond market, official data shows.

The figure was lower than the 3.39 trillion yuan registered at the end of December last year, according to data released by the People’s Bank of China Shanghai Head Office. In breakdown, over­seas institutions held 2.23 tril­lion yuan of treasury bonds and 720 billion yuan of policy finan­cial bonds at the end of January. In January, four new overseas institutional investors entered China’s interbank bond market, bringing the total number to 1,075 by the end of last month.