Everything You Need to Know About China's Economy on Wednesday (July 24)
Your Daily & Trustworthy Updates on the Chinese Economy
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Good Wednesday. 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, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
Here are some key economic take aways from the talks:
The third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee has started a new round of deepening reform comprehensively. China's comprehensive promotion of Chinese modernization will bring new opportunities to people of all countries, Wang told Kuleba.
China will continue to expand grain imports from Ukraine and jointly maintain smooth logistics channels and international food security.
Ukraine was one of the first countries to support and participate in the Belt and Road Initiative. China has been Ukraine's largest trading partner and the biggest export destination for Ukrainian agricultural products in recent years.
In the first half of 2024, bilateral trade volume recorded a momentum of rapid growth, showing the space and potential of bilateral cooperation.
The Ukrainian side hopes to jointly activate cooperation with China in various fields including economy, trade and agriculture.
MEANWHILE, China plays an essential role in the economic growth of Brazil, and Brazil hopes to forge a "new strategic partnership" between the two countries, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told China’s state media Xinhua recently.
The Brazilian leader said he will participate as a guest for the first time in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to be held in November in Lima, Peru, where he plans to discuss with Chinese officials the possibility for Brazil to join the Belt and Road Initiative.
"I want to know ... what position we are going to play, because we do not want to be bench players, we want to be in the starting lineup," he told Xinhua.
ALSO ON WEDNESDAY, China will accelerate the process of optimizing the layout of state capital and centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and adjusting their structure, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council said.
Zhang Yuzhuo, chairman of the commission, said it will work to steer state capital toward major industries and key fields that are vital to national security and serve as the lifeblood of the national economy, toward sectors such as public services, emergency response, and public welfare, which concern the country's prosperity and people's wellbeing, and toward forward-looking and strategic emerging industries.
Zhang called for efforts to improve the mechanism regulating the reasonable flow of state capital, promote the revitalization of existing assets and the disposal of inefficient assets, and free up more resources for core technology breakthroughs in key fields and forward-looking strategic industries.
He also urged the enhanced management and governance of SOEs, the establishment of a system to assess SOEs' performance in fulfilling their strategic missions and revision to the law on the state capital in enterprises.
Efforts should be made to promote the integration of centrally administered SOEs into the national innovation system and establish a reserve system for enterprise research and development to promote full-chain innovation from fundamental research to industrial application, according to Zhang.
IN TODAY'S FINANCIAL MARKET,
Shanghai Composite Index Fell 0.46% on Wednesday
China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (000001.SH) lost 0.46% on Wednesday, while the Shenzhen Component Index (399001.SZ) fell 1.32%.
Shanghai’s tech-heavy STAR 50 Index (000688.SH) lost 1.08% for the day, while Shenzhen’s similar ChiNext Index (399006.SZ) fell 1.23%.
China's benchmark interbank gold prices lower Wednesday
According to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, the benchmark price for gold that is 99.95 percent pure or above stood at 559.73 yuan (about 78.44 U.S. dollars) per gram, 3.07 yuan lower than the previous trading day.
The price for gold that is 99.99 percent pure or above went down 3.32 yuan from the previous trading day to 560 yuan.
Chinese yuan weakens to 7.1358 against USD Wednesday
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened 24 pips to 7.1358 against the U.S. dollar Wednesday, 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 conducts reverse repos Wednesday
China's central bank conducted 66.1 billion yuan (about 9.26 billion U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.7 percent Wednesday.
The move aims to keep liquidity reasonable and ample in the banking system, the central bank said.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closes 0.91 pct lower
Hong Kong's stock market ended lower Wednesday with the benchmark Hang Seng Index down 0.91 percent to close at 17,311.05 points.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 0.85 percent to end at 6,142.32 points and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 1.52 percent to close at 3,491.2 points.
AT THE END OF TODAY'S SHARING, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR DAILY FUTURES:
Cotton futures closed lower Wednesday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE).
The most active cotton contract for September 2024 delivery lost 330 yuan (about 46.25 U.S. dollars) to close at 14,245 yuan per tonne.
On Wednesday, the total trading volume for six listed cotton futures contracts on the ZCE was 757,988 lots with a turnover of 54.38 billion yuan.
Sugar futures closed higher Wednesday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange.
The most active sugar contract for September 2024 delivery gained 69 yuan (9.67 U.S. dollars) to close at 6,150 yuan per tonne.
On Wednesday, the total trading volume for six listed sugar futures contracts on the ZCE was 446,904 lots with a turnover of 27.05 billion yuan.
Iron ore futures closed lower on Wednesday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange.
The most active iron ore contract for September 2024 delivery dipped 13 yuan (about 1.82 U.S. dollars) to close at 775.5 yuan per tonne.
On Wednesday, the total trading volume of 12 listed iron ore futures contracts on the exchange was 390,201 lots, with a turnover of about 30 billion yuan.
No.1 soybean futures closed lower on Wednesday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange.
The most active No.1 soybean contract for September 2024 delivery dipped 5 yuan (about 70 U.S. cents) to close at 4,536 yuan per tonne.
On Wednesday, the total trading volume of six listed No.1 soybean futures contracts on the exchange was 100,084 lots, with a turnover of about 4.54 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.