Page 7 - Chinese Economy

China's coast guard to ramp up patrols in Taiwan after two fishermen die

China is stepping up patrols in the waters off the coast of Taiwan's Kinmen archipelago, days after two of its fishermen drowned while being chased by the Taiwanese coast guard, which accused the boat of trespassing. The Chinese coast guard's Fujian division will regularly monitor the waters off the southern coast of the city of Xiamen a few kilometers from Kinmen to strengthen maritime law enforcement, said the coast guard's spokesman, Gan Yu, in a statement Sunday. Fishermen from Taiwan and China regularly sail that stretch of water which has seen a rise in tensions as the number of Chinese vessels including sand dredgers and fishing boats have notably increased in the area. Kinmen residents have complained of both the noise and sound pollution from the vessels, as well as losses to their livelihood in fishing. The fishermen's deaths are unusual despite the level of Chinese activity in the waters near Kinmen, which is closer to China than it is to Taiwan's main island. China

Chinese minister says trying to cut country out of trade would be mistake

China's foreign minister told a gathering of international security policy officials Saturday that trying to shut China out of trade in the name of avoiding dependency would be a historic mistake. Wang Yi spoke at the Munich Security Conference. Host Germany wants to avoid over-reliance on trade with an increasingly assertive China and diversify its supply of key goods in an approach it calls de-risking. That's in line with the approach of other industrial powers in the Group of Seven, which has stressed that it doesn't seek to harm China or thwart its development. Beijing has criticized the strategy. Today ... more people have come to realize that the absence of cooperation is the biggest risk, Wang said through an interpreter. Those who attempt to shut China out in the name of de-risking will make a historical mistake. The world economy is like a big ocean that cannot be cut into isolated lakes, he added. The trend toward economic globalisation cannot be reversed. We need to wor

India narrows gap with China in key MSCI index with weight hitting new high

In comparison, China's weight in the index fell to 25.4 per cent after the February revision, from 26.6 per cent a year ago

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 ...

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

Taiwan holds military drills to defend against threat of Chinese invasion

Almost every day, Chinese warships sail in waters around Taiwan and warplanes fly toward the island before turning back. What if they suddenly attacked? Taiwan's military began a two-day drill at sea and in the air on Wednesday to practice defending against such a surprise attack. Journalists observed the training from fast boats that escorted a mine-laying ship. Any unilateral irrational action could very easily escalate tensions and sabotage stability in the Taiwan Strait region, Maj. Gen. Sun Li-fang, a defence ministry spokesperson, told reporters at the Tsuoying Naval Base in southern Taiwan. China claims the self-governing island of 23 million people as its own territory and says it must come under Beijing's control. The long-running divide is a flashpoint in US-China relations. As relations between the rivals have deteriorated in recent years, fears have grown that America could get pulled into a war if hostilities break out. Taiwan's defence ministry, in a daily report, sa

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.

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 ...

Best of BS Opinion: China's long stumble, importance of Asean & more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

China's long stumble

Stock market decline an opportunity for other developing nations

Chinese lawmakers weigh stock market rescue package backed by $278 billion

Policymakers are seeking to mobilize about 2 trillion yuan ($278 billion), mainly from the offshore accounts of Chinese state-owned enterprises

China's economy is in serious trouble

Why is China's economy, which only a few years ago seemed headed for world domination, in trouble?

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 economy has become 'more resilient, dynamic', says President Xi

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday that China's economy has become "more resilient and dynamic than before" as he vowed to consolidate and strengthen the momentum of economic recovery and work to achieve long-term economic development. "We have gone through the test of winds and rains, have seen beautiful scenes unfolding on the way, and have made plenty of real achievements. We will remember this year as one of hard work and perseverance. Going forward, we have full confidence in the future, Xi said in his 2024 New Year message. Xi said that as China achieved a smooth transition in COVID-19 response efforts, its economy has sustained the momentum of recovery, and steady progress has been made in pursuing high-quality development in the outgoing year, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. "Having weathered the storm, the Chinese economy is more resilient and dynamic than before, he said. Xi said that while pursuing its development, China has also embraced the world and ..

China Nov industrial output rises 6.6%, retail sales below expectations

The data on output released on Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) exceeded analysts' expectations for a 5.6% rise in a Reuters poll and made it the strongest growth since September 2022

China's central bank injects $112 bn of cash to revive economic growth

The People's Bank of China offered commercial lenders 1.45 trillion yuan ($204 billion) via its medium-term lending facility - 800 billion yuan more than the expected maturity this month

The China story

Growth has slowed, but dominance remains