Everything You Need to Know About China's Economy on Thursday
Daily Updates on the Chinese Economy
by TIANDongdong@CPW
-- China establishes national financial regulatory administration
The National Administration of Financial Regulation (NAFR) was officially set up on Thursday as China's new financial regulator, marking an important step in the country's institutional reform on financial supervision.
The NAFR, directly under the State Council, is formed on the basis of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.
The new administration is in charge of regulating the financial industry, with the exception of the securities sector. It will take over certain functions of the People's Bank of China and the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
The establishment of the new regulator is seen as an important move to deepen structural reform in the financial regulatory sector, strengthen and improve the country's modern financial regulation, and promote full coverage of financial regulation in the sector.
The administration plans to dispatch 2,000 teams to inspect about 2,500 banking institutions, and nearly 800 teams to supervise about 800 non-banking institutions this year, according to an official budget document posted on its official website.
-- China's fiscal revenue sustains growth in first 4 months
China's fiscal revenue has maintained steady growth momentum in the first four months of 2023, official data showed on Thursday.
The country's fiscal revenue expanded 11.9 percent year on year to nearly 8.32 trillion yuan (about 1.19 trillion U.S. dollars) during the period, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The increase was partly driven by the country's continued economic recovery, the ministry said.
-- BMW celebrates 20th anniversary of taking root in China
BMW Group's joint venture in China, BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd. (BBA), on Thursday marked the company's 20th anniversary, announcing further investment and localization of its electro-mobility in China.
During a press conference by the company, it said the new generation electric vehicle Neue Klasse is set to be rolled out in 2026 from its production base in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.
On Thursday, a ground-breaking ceremony was held to kick off the construction of BBA's new battery production plant in Shenyang with a total investment of 10 billion yuan (about 1.43 billion U.S. dollars). Dubbed the sixth generation high-voltage battery, it is expected to power the new model Neue Klasse.
-- China's Hunan sees trade with Africa up 90.4 pct in Jan-April
In the first four months of 2023, central China's Hunan Province saw its foreign trade with African countries soar by 90.4 percent year on year to hit a record high of over 22 billion yuan (about 3.14 billion U.S. dollars), said local customs authorities on Thursday.
The growth was 40.6 percentage points higher than that of the province's overall foreign trade. During the period, the growth was greatly contributed by the province's export sector, with the export volume reaching 17.4 billion yuan, up 148.7 percent year on year, according to Changsha Customs.
-- China's central bank adds liquidity via reverse repos
China's central bank continued to inject funds into the financial system through open market operations Thursday.
The People's Bank of China said it has conducted 2 billion yuan (about 285.85 million U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2 percent.
The move is aimed at keeping liquidity reasonable and ample in the banking system, according to the central bank.
-- China's benchmark interbank gold prices lower Thursday
China's benchmark prices for spot interbank gold transactions were lower Thursday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.
The benchmark price for gold that is 99.95 percent pure or above stood at 448.8 yuan (about 64.14 U.S. dollars) per gram, down 3.12 yuan from the previous trading day, while the price for gold that is 99.99 percent pure or above went down 1.79 yuan to 449.17 yuan per gram.
-- Chinese yuan weakens to 6.9967 against USD Thursday
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened 219 pips to 6.9967 against the U.S. dollar Thursday, 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.
-- Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closes 0.85 pct higher
Hong Kong's stock market ended higher on Thursday with the benchmark Hang Seng Index up 0.85 percent to close at 19,727.25 points.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed 1.19 percent to end at 6,715.56 points, and the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 1.21 percent to close at 3,917.09 points.
-- Soybean futures close lower
No.1 soybean futures closed lower on Thursday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE).
The most active No.1 soybean contract for July 2023 delivery dipped 21 yuan (about 3 U.S. dollars) to close at 5,063 yuan per tonne.
On Thursday, the total trading volume of six listed No.1 soybean futures contracts on the exchange was 187,219 lots, with a turnover of about 9.39 billion yuan.
-- Iron ore futures close higher
Iron ore futures closed higher on Thursday in daytime trading at the DCE.
The most active iron ore contract for September 2023 delivery gained 14 yuan (about 2 U.S. dollars) to close at 746.5 yuan per tonne.
On Thursday, the total trading volume of 12 listed iron ore futures contracts on the exchange was 860,150 lots, with a turnover of about 63.96 billion yuan.
-- Cotton futures close higher
Cotton futures closed higher Thursday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE).
The most active cotton contract for September 2023 delivery gained 90 yuan (about 12.86 U.S. dollars) to close at 15,855 yuan per tonne.
On Thursday, the total trading volume for six listed cotton futures contracts on the ZCE was 769,546 lots with a turnover of 60.93 billion yuan.
-- Sugar futures close higher
Sugar futures closed higher Thursday in daytime trading on the ZCE.
The most active sugar contract for July 2023 delivery gained 70 yuan (10.00 U.S. dollars) to close at 6,968 yuan per tonne.
On Thursday, the total trading volume for six listed sugar futures contracts on the ZCE was 919,891 lots with a turnover of 63.43 billion yuan.