China Chart Pack More targeted support for small firms Although liquidity operations by the PBOC have received the most attention this week, further measures to support small firms that were announced by the State Council on Wednesday are arguably more... 18th September 2014 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack Constraints on banks, not demand, behind loan slump A record RMB2.0trn fall in bank deposits in July, which put pressure on banks’ loan-to-deposit ratios (LDRs), appears to have been the main factor behind last month’s weakness in lending. LDRs are a... 19th August 2014 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack Mixed ownership no guarantee of stronger performance Six state-owned firms were named last week to take part in pilot reforms intended to boost state sector performance, partly by encouraging private investment. The experiment could have far-reaching... 21st July 2014 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack FX accumulation by firms allows PBOC to step back The People’s Bank (PBOC) further reduced its foreign exchange purchases to around $6bn in May, the lowest in almost a year. Given last month’s large trade surplus, this might suggest that capital... 18th June 2014 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack NPL ratio remains low but is set to climb Rising non-performing loans (NPLs) at Chinese banks have been making headlines recently. So far the increase has not been much to get excited about. Official data suggest the NPL ratio has barely... 21st May 2014 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack Oversupply weighs on property sector The outlook for China’s property sector is increasingly gloomy. The usual rebound in sales after Chinese New Year has been feeble, and the glut of unsold properties on developers’ books continues to... 24th April 2014 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack Hand of People’s Bank seen in currency fall A rare trade deficit in February relieved some of the upward pressure on therenminbi, but the latest data suggest that the People’s Bank (PBOC) additionally purchased around $25bn of foreign exchange... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack No shift of monetary stance January’s surge in bank lending in China does not signal any change in policy stance. Bank lending is always strong in January. Looked at in y/y terms, last month’s increase in loan growth was barely... 18th February 2014 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack Credit risks remain high Worries about the health of China’s financial sector have been eased by today’s news that a high-profile default has been avoided on a troubled RMB3bn trust product (“Credit Equals Gold No. 1”). In... 27th January 2014 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack Local government debt key challenge for 2014 China's government has sounded a sanguine note about GDP growth at the close of its Economic Work Conference. Monetary policy will remain "prudent" and fiscal policy "proactive" in 2014. In practice... 13th December 2013 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack Plenum promises shift in market rules The reform plan unveiled following the Third Plenum has refocused attention on the position of state-owned firms in China’s economy. During the first decade of this century, China’s state sector... 18th November 2013 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack Property sales not keeping up with sentiment For all the headlines talking about a rebounding property sector in China, sales over the past few months have been no higher than they were a year ago. Developers may be benefiting from price rises... 23rd October 2013 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack State sector leads a rebound August’s data confirmed that the economy has turned a corner. Industrial output growth was the strongest since spring last year. Investment and exports also gathered pace. It is notable though that... 18th September 2013 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack NPLs continue to pick up There has been an increase in the value of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the banking system since Q3 2011, as the economy has slowed. At face value, this problem does not yet appear too serious... 15th August 2013 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack Credit starts to slow Credit growth slowed last month, a sign that the cash crunch delivered some of what policymakers were hoping for. But credit is still expanding more than twice as fast as economic output, which means... 19th July 2013 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack Digger sales may give early hint of rebound The high profile data releases of the last week have provided little evidence that growth in China is picking up, even though credit has now been expanding at a rapid pace for several months. But... 13th June 2013 · 1 min read
