Page 3 - Chinese Economic Policy

China's consumer prices suffer steepest fall in more than 14 years

Citigroup economists said in a research note last week that they expect mild reflation in 2024, and forecast annual CPI inflation at 1.2 per cent year-on-year

Chinese state fund to expand share holdings to help support equity markets

A Chinese state investment fund has promised to expand its purchases of stock index funds to help markets that have been sagging under heavy selling pressure from a property crisis and slowing economy. Shares logged moderate gains on Tuesday after the announcement by Central Huijin Investment, a Chinese sovereign fund that owns China's state-run banks and other big government-controlled enterprises. The fund has stepped up buying of shares in big state-owned banks and other companies to counter heavy selling pressure in the Chinese markets. On Monday, benchmarks in Shanghai and the smaller market in Shenzhen bounced between small gains and big losses, while share prices of state-run banks and other big companies rose. The move followed warnings by the market regulator of a crackdown on market manipulation, insider trading and other abuses and promises to protect smaller investors who usually account for the majority of trading in Chinese markets. The market watchdog, the China ...

TikTok CEO Shou Chew grilled by US lawmakers regarding China connections

The grilling was held at a dramatic Senate Judiciary Committee hearing of the CEOs of major tech companies, who faced intense scrutiny over the potential harms of their platforms on teens

China's factory activity shrinks again in January, demand still weak

The composite PMI, which includes manufacturing and services, was at a four-month high of 50.9 in January compared with 50.3 the previous month

Court orders Evergrande to liquidate after it failed to reach debt deal

A Hong Kong court on Monday ordered property developer China Evergrande Group to liquidate after it was unable to reach a restructuring deal with creditors. Judge Linda Chan said it was appropriate for the court to order Evergrande to wind up its business given a lack of progress on the part of the company putting forward a viable restructuring proposal as well as Evergrande's insolvency. Evergrande was granted an earlier reprieve after it said it was attempting to refine a new debt restructuring plan of more than USD 300 billion in liabilities. Evergrande, the world's most indebted property developer, is one of many property firms that ran into trouble when Chinese regulators cracked down on excessive borrowing in the real estate sector. The company first defaulted on its financial obligations in 2021, just over a year after Beijing clamped down on lending to property developers in an effort to cool a property bubble.

Baidu, not Google, to power AI on Samsung Galaxy S24 series phones in China

Samsung is making a push to expand its small share in China, the world's largest smartphone market

China doubles down on moves to mend its economy, fend off financial crisis

China's leaders launched a barrage of new policies this week to prop up languishing financial markets and rekindle growth in the world's second-largest economy. The moves to support lending and spending with billions of dollars of fresh cash gathered pace when the central bank cut bank reserve requirements and issued new rules to encourage banks to lend more to property companies. A collapse in China's real estate market has been one of the key factors hindering the country's recovery from the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. What's at stake: stable financial markets and a major driver of global economic growth. HOW IS THE CHINESE ECONOMY DOING? The Chinese economy grew at a 5.2% annual pace in 2023, exceeding the government's target, and many indicators including factory output and retail sales show signs of improvement. But most economists are forecasting a slowdown this year and next that will drag on global growth. Meanwhile, Chinese stock markets have swooned since late 2023,

China expands access to loans for developers, acting to end debt crisis

China has rolled out new rules meant to expand access to commercial bank loans for property developers as Beijing doubles down on its effort to end a prolonged crisis in the real estate industry. The policies will allow real estate companies to use bank loans pledged against commercial properties such as offices and shopping malls to repay their other loans and bonds and to cover operating expenses. They were announced late Wednesday by the People's Bank of China, the National Financial Regulatory Administration and the Finance Ministry. Beijing has moved this week to stabilise ailing financial markets and boost the economy by freeing up more money for lending in various ways. That includes cutting required bank reserves. The flurry of new measures and pronouncements from senior Communist Party officials about the need to stabilise financial markets and build confidence in the economy, the world's second largest, appears to reflect a renewed determination to get growth back on ...

Chinese economy growing, open for business: China's Premier Li Qiang at WEF

Li said China, with a rapidly urbanizing population of 1.4 billion people, would play an important role in boosting aggregate global demand

Former chief of state-owned Chinese bank Everbright arrested for corruption

The former chairman of state-owned Chinese bank China Everbright Group has been arrested on suspicion of embezzlement and bribery, prosecutors said in a statement on Monday, amid an intensified campaign against corruption. The investigation into Tang Shuangning, the former party secretary and chairman of China Everbright Group has ended and the case would be transferred to the procuratorate for review and prosecution, China's Supreme People's Procuratorate said in a statement. Tang, 69, was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party earlier this month over violations of disciplines and laws, amid a crackdown on corruption in China's financial sector. He retired in 2017. Other allegations against him include weakening the party's leadership over the bank, failing to prevent and defuse financial risks, privately reading publications with serious political problems and resisting organisational scrutiny, the party-run newspaper Global Times cited the Central Commission for Discipline ...

Chinese exports decline 4.6% after seven years amid economic crisis

Amid the economic crisis, Chinese exports saw a downfall for the first time since 2016 after global demand for Chinese-made goods slowed in 2023

China's exports rise, but deflation persists as economy enters 2024

Analysts also anticipate that interest rates will drop at least 1.5 percentage points in the United States and Europe this year, which should improve demand for imported goods

China's homes register steep decline in prices, major blow to sentiment

New-home prices in 70 cities, excluding state-subsidized housing, declined 0.3% last month from August, when they slipped 0.29%, National Bureau of Statistics figures showed Thursday

China has made its housing crisis worse, has houses to meet 7 years' demand

China has made its housing crisis worse. The country has enough new apartments to meet seven years' worth of demand. This can cripple the country's economy, as per the New York Times

Chinese developer Country Gardens warns of $7.6 bn loss as it nears default

That compares with a profit of approximately 1.9 billion yuan (USD 264.3 million) for the same time last year

China's investment firm misses payments amid concerns of financial crisis

The scale of payments missed exceeded 110 million yuan ($15 million), according to their statements

Dollar set for fifth straight week of gains as China stays top of mind

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) set a much stronger-than-expected daily fixing, lifting the yuan from a 9-month low hit on Thursday

China's space ambitions: Plans to land astronauts on moon before 2030

China launched a new three-person crew for its orbiting space station on Tuesday, with an eye to putting astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade. The Shenzhou 16 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan launch center on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China atop a Long March 2-F rocket just after 9:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) Tuesday. The crew, including China's first civilian astronaut, will overlap briefly with three now aboard the Tiangong station, who will then return to Earth after completing their six-month mission. A third module was added to the station in November, and space programme officials on Monday said they have plans to expand it, along with launching a crewed mission to the moon before 2030. China built its own space station after it was excluded from the International Space Station, largely due to US concerns over the Chinese space programmes' intimate ties with the People's Liberation Army, the military branch of the ruling Communist Party. China's

Manufacturing, rise in air travel to take India oil demand to 5.4 mb/d

A better-than-expected rebound in Chinese economic activity may further empower oil demand in Asia which should be complemented by the rise in domestic demand for air travel

Chinese factory activity rebounds, adding to recovery signs: Survey

Chinese factory activity rebounded in January from three months of contraction, adding to signs the world's second-largest economy might be recovering from a painful slump, an official survey showed Tuesday. A monthly purchasing managers' index issued by the Chinese statistics agency and an industry group rose to 50.1 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show activity growing. That was an unusually large gain of 3.1 points from December's 47. China's economic growth sank to 2.9 per cent over a year earlier in the final three months of 2022, but economists point to increased investment and improved consumer spending as signs activity is recovering. Manufacturers have been hurt by lackluster US and European demand for exports after central banks raised interest rates to fight inflation. Chinese consumer demand weakened following COVID-19 outbreaks and a downturn in the real estate industry. New orders, new export orders, factory activity and employment improved in January,