Everything You Need to Know About China's Economy on Monday (April 15)
Your Daily & Trustworthy Updates on the Chinese Economy
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Good Monday! This is TIAN in Beijing.
Welcome to monitor the pulse of China’s economy together with me.
DRIVING THE DAY, Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz in town for a three-day official visit to China.
Scholz and his delegation arrived in Shanghai on Monday morning. He took part in a dialogue with students at Tongji University's Jiading Campus and visited German company Covestro's Asia-Pacific Innovation Center.
On Sunday he visited a Sino-German joint venture and a Sino-German cooperative scientific research project on water monitoring after his arrival earlier the day in Chongqing Municipality, accompanied by senior representatives of Siemens, Bayer, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Zeiss, among others.
At the joint venture Bosch Hydrogen Powertrain Systems (Chongqing) Co., Ltd., Scholz learned about the hydrogen powertrain products and fuel cell powertrain solutions, and experienced the assembly of hydrogen fuel cell power modules.
Scholz said the company's technology progress and the factory construction speed were “gratifying”.
More than 5,000 German companies are operating in China -- which has been Germany's largest trading partner for 8 Consecutive Years.
MEANWHILE, Jack Ma tells employees “we must reform for the future”, China’s Caixin media reported.
It has been a turbulent year for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. since it began a sweeping reorganization aimed at revitalizing growth. Yet, internal reshuffling and business adjustments persist as the e-commerce giant ramps up efforts to realign its strategy and regain momentum in an increasingly competitive market.
Attention has focused on the Hangzhou, China-based company after Jack Ma, its billionaire co-founder, wrote a lengthy memo (Chinese version: 刚刚,马云发声!退休五年来首次长篇分享!)on April 10 aimed at boosting morale of the more than 200,000 employees.
He praised the new leadership’s efforts to refine Alibaba’s businesses over the past year and urged them to stay the course.
ALSO ON MONDAY, China’s Caixin media reported that Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. (奇瑞控股集团) has acquired a plant in Spain, as it attempts to establish a stronger foothold in Europe.
The Chinese state-owned company is currently in talks with two European luxury carmakers over launching models based on a Chery platform, Chairman Yin Tongyue said. A deal will be signed with one of them during his trip to Europe this week, according to Yin.
IN TODAY'S FINANCIAL MARKET,
Shanghai Composite Index Rose 1.26% on Monday
China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (000001.SH) gained 1.26% on Monday, while the Shenzhen Component Index (399001.SZ) rose 1.53%.
Shanghai’s tech-heavy STAR 50 Index (000688.SH) gained 1.69% for the day, while Shenzhen’s similar ChiNext Index (399006.SZ) rose 1.85%.
China's benchmark interbank gold prices higher Monday
According to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, the benchmark price for gold that is 99.95 percent pure or above stood at 566.36 yuan (about 79.79 U.S. dollars) per gram, up 7.27 yuan from the previous trading day.
The price for gold that is 99.99 percent pure or above gained 13.07 yuan from the previous trading day to 567.21 yuan.
Chinese yuan weakens to 7.0979 against USD Monday
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened 12 pips to 7.0979 against the U.S. dollar Monday, 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 central bank adds liquidity via reverse repos, MLF
China's central bank injected liquidity into the banking system through reverse repos and medium-term lending facility (MLF) on Monday.
The People's Bank of China conducted 2 billion yuan (about 281.77 million U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.8 percent.
A total of 100 billion yuan was also injected into the market via the MLF, which will mature in one year at an interest rate of 2.5 percent.
The move is aimed at keeping liquidity reasonable and ample in the banking system to fully satisfy the needs of financial institutions, the central bank said in a statement.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closes 0.72 pct lower
Hong Kong's stock market ended lower on Monday with the benchmark Hang Seng Index down 0.72 percent to close at 16,600.46 points.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 0.39 percent to end at 5,856.44 points, and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.92 percent to close at 3,442.49 points.
AT THE END OF TODAY'S SHARING, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR DAILY FUTURES:
Cotton futures closed higher Monday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE).
The most active cotton contract for September 2024 delivery gained 55 yuan (about 7.75 U.S. dollars) to close at 16,395 yuan per tonne.
On Monday, the total trading volume for six listed cotton futures contracts on the ZCE was 402,759 lots.
Sugar futures closed lower Monday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange.
The most active sugar contract for September 2024 delivery lost 71 yuan (about 10 U.S. dollars) to close at 6,333 yuan per tonne.
On Monday, the total trading volume for six listed sugar futures contracts on the ZCE was 574,717 lots with a turnover of 36.63 billion yuan.
Iron ore futures closed higher on Monday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange.
The most active iron ore contract for September 2024 delivery gained 18 yuan (about 2.54 U.S. dollars) to close at 845.5 yuan per tonne.
On Monday, the total trading volume of 11 listed iron ore futures contracts on the exchange was 592,620 lots, with a turnover of about 49.74 billion yuan.
No.1 soybean futures closed lower on Monday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange.
The most active No.1 soybean contract for May 2024 delivery dipped 54 yuan (about 7.61 U.S. dollars) to close at 4,722 yuan per tonne.
On Monday, the total trading volume of six listed No.1 soybean futures contracts on the exchange was 132,722 lots, with a turnover of about 6.3 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.