Everything You Need to Know About China's Economy on Friday (July 26)
Your Daily & Trustworthy Updates on the Chinese Economy
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Good Friday! This is TIAN in Shandong in east China for summer vacation.
Welcome to monitor the pulse of China’s economy together with me.
DRIVING THE DAY, the value of China's international trade in goods and services reached about 4 trillion yuan in June 2024, marking an increase of 2 percent year on year, official data showed on Friday.
In U.S. dollar terms, the country's exports and imports of goods and services amounted to 301.1 billion U.S. dollars and 260.4 billion U.S. dollars, respectively, recording a surplus of 40.7 billion U.S. dollars, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said.
The export value of goods reached 1.93 trillion yuan while the import value of goods totaled 1.53 trillion yuan, resulting in a surplus of 405.2 billion yuan.
The value of exported services amounted to 212.5 billion yuan and the value of imported services stood at 328 billion yuan, producing a deficit of 115.5 billion yuan.
Transport was the biggest contributor to services trade, with its trade value totaling 158.6 billion yuan, followed by travel services, according to the administration.
MEANWHILE, Jeff Williams, Apple's Chief Operating Officer (COO), has praised the upgrade of China's manufacturing industry, describing the shift from manual production lines to advanced lights-out factories as "exciting."
Williams was impressed by the level of automation and smart manufacturing he encountered when visiting the factory of an Apple supplier, Lingyi iTECH, in south China's Guangdong Province on Thursday.
Out of Apple's top 187 suppliers, 157 have manufacturing operations in China, he said.
Williams recalled that when Apple first entered the Chinese market, its operations were confined to basic manufacturing, while the company's presence in China now encompasses retail, research and development, and an extensive supply chain network.
"It's amazing to see the evolution through the years as we continue to pack more and more technology into the products, and see that this is only enabled by the advances in manufacturing that I see with our partners, including here in China," he said.
ALSO ON FRIDAY, Chinese comedy "Successor" continued to top the daily box office chart on the Chinese mainland with a daily earning of 69.62 million yuan (about 9.77 million U.S. dollars) on Thursday, said the China Movie Data Information Network.
Featuring comedy stars Shen Teng and Ma Li and directed by Yan Fei and Peng Damo, the film tells the story of a wealthy couple who deliberately fakes a challenging environment for their son in order to foster his personal growth.
It was followed by crime thriller "A Place Called Silence," which raked in 17.42 million yuan on Thursday.
Universal and Illumination's animated comedy "Despicable Me 4" came up third with 7.38 million yuan of box office sales.
The total box office revenue of the Chinese mainland on Thursday stood at about 119.03 million yuan.
IN TODAY'S FINANCIAL MARKET,
Shanghai Composite Index Rose 0.14% on Friday
China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (000001.SH) gained 0.14% on Friday, while the Shenzhen Component Index (399001.SZ) rose 1.45%.
Shanghai’s tech-heavy STAR 50 Index (000688.SH) gained 0.84% for the day, while Shenzhen’s similar ChiNext Index (399006.SZ) rose 0.92%.
Chinese yuan strengthens to 7.127 against USD Friday
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 51 pips to 7.127 against the U.S. dollar Friday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.
In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.
China's benchmark interbank gold prices lower Friday
According to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, the benchmark price for gold that is 99.95 percent pure or above stood at 551.53 yuan (about 77.39 U.S. dollars) per gram, 13.65 yuan lower than the previous trading day.
The price for gold that is 99.99 percent pure or above went down 13.95 yuan from the previous trading day to 552.4 yuan.
China's central bank conducts reverse repos Friday
China's central bank conducted 358.05 billion yuan (about 50.24 billion U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.7 percent Friday.
The move aims to keep liquidity reasonable and ample in the banking system at the end of this month, the central bank said.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closes 0.1 pct higher
Hong Kong stock market ended mixed Friday with the benchmark Hang Seng Index up 0.1 percent to close at 17,021.31 points.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slid 0.1 percent to end at 6,010.64 points, and the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 0.66 percent to 3,443.73 points.
AT THE END OF TODAY'S SHARING, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR DAILY FUTURES:
Cotton futures closed higher Friday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE).
The most active cotton contract for September 2024 delivery gained 70 yuan (about 9.82 U.S. dollars) to close at 14,155 yuan per tonne.
On Friday, the total trading volume for six listed cotton futures contracts on the ZCE was 465,170 lots with a turnover of 32.9 billion yuan.
Sugar futures closed higher Friday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange.
Iron ore futures closed higher on Friday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange.
The most active iron ore contract for September 2024 delivery gained 11.5 yuan (about 1.61 U.S. dollars) to close at 779 yuan per tonne.
On Friday, the total trading volume of 12 listed iron ore futures contracts on the exchange was 550,086 lots, with a turnover of 42.56 billion yuan.
No.1 soybean futures closed higher on Friday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE).
The most active No.1 soybean contract for September 2024 delivery gained 21 yuan (about 3 U.S. dollars) to close at 4,541 yuan per tonne.
On Friday, the total trading volume of six listed No.1 soybean futures contracts on the exchange was 109,665 lots, with a turnover of 4.96 billion yuan.
About the Newsletter:
Ran by TIAN Dongdong, this newsletter features daily, trustworthy content on China's economy and regularly updates the insights of Chinese youth on Sino-US relations. Having worked in Brussels, London, Cairo, and Tripoli for Chinese media as correspondent for several years, TIAN is now based in Beijing.