China Chart Pack Financial risks once again at centre stage There is no clearer sign that China’s economy is back to normal than the return to centre stage of concerns about property developers, the bad debts of SOEs and financial risks. Regulators’ tolerance... 25th November 2020 · 12 mins read
China Chart Pack The high stakes for China’s Five-Year Plan China’s leaders concluded their discussions on the 14th Five-Year Plan today. The initial post-meeting communique offered few new details but more may be revealed at a press conference tomorrow. The... 29th October 2020 · 12 mins read
China Chart Pack Policymakers refocus on property developer debt The speed at which officials in China have pivoted from crisis response to another round of restrictions on property developers has caught many by surprise. Developers might have hoped that they would... 28th September 2020 · 11 mins read
China Chart Pack Recent stimulus has set back domestic rebalancing The consumption share of GDP had edged up in recent years, but that progress has been reversed by the COVID-19 stimulus response, which has focused on boosting investment. The consumption share should... 27th August 2020 · 11 mins read
China Chart Pack State share of investment heading for a 10-year high Private investment is down 7.3% y/y so far this year, held back by the uncertain economic outlook. State firms have stepped in to fill the gap. Despite a sharp downturn at the time of China’s lockdown... 31st July 2020 · 12 mins read
China Chart Pack Export sector cushioned by COVID-linked demand China’s exports have held up remarkably well in the face of the sharp slump in global activity. They contracted just 3.3% y/y in US dollar terms in May. The detailed trade data published today show... 24th June 2020 · 11 mins read
China Chart Pack Debt-to-GDP ratio to jump by most on record this year The government’s annual work report published on Friday made clear that policymakers will engineer an acceleration in credit growth this year. The report didn’t offer an explicit target for aggregate... 27th May 2020 · 11 mins read
China Chart Pack Industrial restart feeding inventories Output from China’s industrial sector rebounded in March, as the government encouraged firms to re-open. But revenues remained much weaker, signalling that demand remained depressed. Inventories... 27th April 2020 · 10 mins read
China Chart Pack Labour market conditions continue to worsen Activity across both industry and services is recovering as measures to contain the coronavirus have been eased. But the recovery is likely to run into the constraint of weak demand before long. The... 27th March 2020 · 11 mins read
China Chart Pack Most factories now open but production still subdued Chinese factories were slow to reopen even after the extended Lunar New Year holiday came to end. One week after most of the country officially went back to work on 10th February, more than half of... 28th February 2020 · 12 mins read
China Chart Pack Coronavirus toll mounting The number of deaths inside China attributed to the new coronavirus is now on course to exceed those from SARS by early next week. The measures taken by the government and the public to limit... 30th January 2020 · 11 mins read
China Chart Pack US demanding implausibly large import ramp up China’s apparent reluctance to commit to the extra $200bn of US imports relative to 2017 levels that the US is requesting over the next two years as part of the Phase One deal is understandable... 18th December 2019 · 11 mins read
China Chart Pack December tariffs likely to be averted As things currently stand, the US is due to extend its punitive tariffs to cover nearly all goods imported from China in two weeks’ time. But the Trump administration has appeared keen to avoid that... 29th November 2019 · 11 mins read
China Chart Pack Corporate earnings falling short of expectations The corporate earnings season currently underway in China has been disappointing. Admittedly, the Q3 results published so far point to a slight improvement in year-on-year growth in earnings per share... 30th October 2019 · 11 mins read
China Chart Pack PBOC not tying its own hands with forward guidance PBOC Governor Yi Gang today appeared to pour cold water on the prospect of imminent monetary easing. He said that the PBOC would not rush to follow the US Fed and ECB in cutting rates and that “China... 24th September 2019 · 12 mins read
China Chart Pack Hong Kong’s role as a gateway to China at risk Hong Kong’s GDP is now just 3% of mainland China’s, down from 18% in 1997 when the city returned to Chinese control. But Hong Kong still serves as the main gateway between China and the world where... 22nd August 2019 · 12 mins read
