Alicia García Herrero (Natixis) | Chinese policy makers have been engaged in a massive regulatory crackdown for over a year. A number of sectors have been affected, starting with the tech sector, followed by the education sector. At the same time the real estate sector has also been severely affected by a specific regulatory crackdown (the three red lines) and a more general antitrust push has also taken place. In…
Luís Pinheiro de Matos (CaixaBank Research) | China’s real estate sector is often described as «the most important sector in the world» because of the importance it has amassed in recent decades in the Asian giant’s growth model. We analyse how significant a role it plays in the Chinese economy and the risks of the Evergrande effect.
Alicia García Herrero (Natixis) | Chinese economy has rebounded by 8.1% in 2021 after slumping to 2.2% in 2020. While the Q4 year-on-year growth rate was lowered to only 4%, the current growth momentum was still positive as the QoQ growth rate (seasonally adjusted) have accelerated to 1.6% in Q4 from 0.7% in Q3. However, there are signs that the Chinese economy is facing increasing challenges, raising questions on whether…
Amitrajeet A. Batabyal ( The Conversation) In December 1978, the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping introduced economic reforms that dramatically altered China’s economy by strengthening trade and cultural ties with the West. Beginning in the 1990s, these reforms set China on a trajectory to become what it is today: a nation with a dynamic and substantially market-driven economy that is also the world’s second-largest. U.S. residents have enjoyed lower-priced goods exported…
Kent Matthews ( The Conversation) | Growth in China was in fact declining well before the pandemic struck: from a peak of 15% in the second quarter of 2007 to 6% in the first three months of 2019. The nation’s growth strategy rests on four pillars. Three are frequently talked about – infrastructure, exports and consumers – while the fourth is only whispered in official circles – and that is the property sector.
Alicia García Herrero (Natixis) | The PBoC cut the Required Reserve Ratio (RRR) by 0.5 percentage points yesterday, amid the economic slowdown. This should not surprise us, as China is in the midst of a cyclical slowdown. However, the move has happened when China’s PPI and CPI have just edged up to 13.5% and 1.5% from 10.7% and 0.7% respectively in November. The message to the market is clear: avoiding…
Peter Rodgers | While providing a credible US-led alternative to the Belt and Road Initiative is desirable, the US must commit adequate financial and leadership resources to the effort. This is a good first step, but Washington must be careful not to create a new paranoia by demonizing economic and geopolitical rivals such as China and Japan to the point where it distorts priorities and leads to increased military spending rather than public investments in education, infrastructure and basic research, all of which are critical to America’s future prosperity and security.
Link Securities | China’s General Administration of Customs reported early this morning that the September trade surplus rose to $66.67 billion, up from a consensus expected reading for a $45 billion surplus, and up from a figure of $53.3 billion in August. Dollar exports rose by 28.1% y-o-y, against a consensus reading of 21.5%, and compared with a 25.6% increase in August. Meanwhile, imports rose 17.6 per cent year-on-year, compared…
Intermoney | A slightly higher opening (Eurostoxx futures +0.3%) after yesterday’s 2% falls in the main American and European indices, with the Ibex registering a better relative performance, buoyed by the tourism and defensive sectors. This environment of greater risk aversion and fears about economic growth also translated into additional moderation of IRRs. In the case of Europe, this was also supported by the statements from Villeroy, the governor of…
China’s country’s largest real estate company, Evergrande, which is on the verge of bankruptcy with more than $300 billion in debt (about 2% of China’s GDP), has announced that it will not be able to pay interest next week. Weak home sales, especially in the last year, have put it in this cash-strapped position. Therefore, the situation is becoming increasingly tense. The group is described by Beijing as a “grey rhinoceros”, i.e., a large company with an alarming debt load representing a systemic financial risk.