Topic
This topic charts China's economic recovery as it, in 2023, enters an era of slower growth, along with an ageing and shrinking workforce, weak consumer demand and a property market downturn.
Chinese cities are rushing to dismantle a long-standing housing policy regime designed to keep speculators at bay, a remarkable U-turn that is just the beginning of a new chapter in the nation’s real estate market.
Services sector and overseas demand for exports may have buoyed first-quarter GDP, but daunting challenges remain for country on path to recovery.
March PMI reveals country’s manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in over a year, as more industries show increased confidence.
- Property investment in China dropped by 9.8 per cent year on year in the first four months of 2024, while retail sales rose by 2.3 per cent year on year in April
- China’s industrial output remained strong and rose by 6.7 per cent from a year earlier, while fixed-asset investment growth slowed
Beijing has announced 300 billion-yuan in funds to help clear excess housing inventory, as well as measures to ensure developers have access to financing and that homes are delivered on time.
German industrial engineering firms reported a negative outlook for their China business in a recent survey, with weak demand and overcapacity most frequently mentioned as the cause for their low confidence.
He Lifeng stressed the need to ‘carry on the battle’ to surmount the risks that unfinished and unconstructed homes represent, as the health of the property market is tied closely to social wellness and economic development.
Another set of weak housing market data for April underscores the urgency among officials in Beijing to stem the crisis and rescue some of the nation’s biggest yet cash-strapped developers.
China’s property investment fall accelerated in the first four months of the year, while retail sales growth slowed in April, data released on Friday showed.
With the end of pandemic control measures severely reducing the demand for medical testing services, China’s laboratories are facing massive declines in revenue and laying off large portions of their staff.
The visa-policy easing is expected to boost tourism that has yet to fully rebound since the pandemic, and the move could also give local economies a jolt.
The added value of the financial sector is being calculated via a new set of metrics to increase statistical accuracy and cut down on data manipulation, making GDP figures more resilient to massaging by localities.
A meeting of political officials and experts has been convened to propose new ways to boost dropping fertility rates, as recent policies have made little headway in encouraging births.
China’s shock credit contraction is adding pressure on the government to spend more money – and on the central bank to help.
Premier Li Qiang tells a State Council meeting that ‘digital, smart and green’ development of the sector would help make the economy more efficient.
Property slump and rising debt piles provide debt-ridden local governments the opportunity to increase the cost of services such as rail fares and utilities.
Weapons sales, security cooperation ‘destined to increase’, experts say, as China opens ‘new chapter’ in Serbian ties.
Policy adviser Liu Yuanchun says expanding weak domestic demand remains the ‘key measure’ for China, with reforms needed to empower rural population as Beijing eyes sustainable economic growth.
More multinationals are undergoing a ‘decoupling’ with their China-based operations, a new business survey finds as foreign direct investment sinks and analysts say expatriate staff are harder to come by.
European firms have been revising expectations for the Chinese market while planning for a projected economic slowdown, further adding to China’s challenges and ‘setting a negative cycle in motion’.
With the government pulling out the stops to show support to the private sector, some scholars have called for an official delineation between entrepreneurs and ‘capitalists’ to demonstrate ideological sincerity.
China’s exports returned to positive growth in April amid a recovery of global demand, but analysts said the focus should still be on sustaining momentum in domestic demand.
Local governments in China are exploring the use of data as an asset to help reduce their heavy debt burdens, but this has prompted concerns over efficacy and legality.
China’s exports and imports returned to growth in April, but analysts said that domestic demand will still be the key driver for economic growth this year.
State media article on Wednesday says it is ‘certain’ that China’s central bank will participate in treasury bond trading amid better coordination with the finance ministry.
Scholars have suggested a realignment of industries, with some pain in the short term, would go a long way towards resolving China’s overcapacity problem and adapting to trade restrictions in those sectors.
Shenzhen and Wuhan have become the latest Chinese cities to ease home purchase restrictions to boost sales, as a growing number of major metropolises take steps to support the country’s slumping property sector.
Numerous stressors are causing China’s middle class to seek professional help, leading to rapid growth in the mental health industry – but will that be enough to soothe their nerves?
China’s manufacturing production activity expanded in April, but analysts pointed to supply-demand imbalances and lingering deflationary pressures, while services activities moderated last month.
The Labour Day holiday saw a surge of tourism in China, setting records and providing a boost to consumption at a time when the country is looking to solidify its economic recovery.
A record 246,000 international visitors flocked to the spring session of the Canton Fair over the last three weeks in Guangzhou, but deals signed rose by only 10 per cent from the previous edition.
