Everything You Need to Know About China's Economy on Tuesday (Nov. 18）
Your Daily & Trustworthy Updates on the Chinese Economy
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HOWDY. Tian here in Beijing, welcoming you to your Tuesday edition of Everything You Need to Know About China’s Economy.
DRIVING THE DAY, China Development Bank boosts China-Europe Railway Express with additional $4b loan
China Development Bank announced on Tuesday the establishment of a 30-billion-yuan ($4.22 billion) special-purpose loan dedicated to the China-Europe Railway Express.
The announcement was made at the second China-Europe Railway Express Cooperation Forum held on Tuesday in Xi’an, the capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi province.
The funds will be earmarked for supporting corridor development, port construction, hub infrastructure, supporting facilities, as well as the operations of relevant enterprises, the bank said in a statement.
In the first three quarters of this year, the bank has disbursed 7.59 billion yuan in loans to China-Europe Railway Express projects.
MEANWHILE, China-Europe freight train trips hit nearly 120,000, according to figures announced at the Forum.
To date, the trains have transported nearly 12 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods and now serve 232 cities in 26 European countries as well as more than 100 cities in 11 Asian countries, said Guo Zhuxue, chairman of China State Railway Group Co., Ltd., at the forum’s opening ceremony.
As a flagship project and a landmark brand of the Belt and Road Initiative, China-Europe freight trains have built a comprehensive logistics network across Eurasia.
The value of goods transported by China-Europe freight trains reached 426.4 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2024. From 2013 to 2024, the value grew by about 33 times, with the trains’ share in China-Europe trade rising from 0.4 percent to 8.5 percent, according to a report released on the forum.
ALSO ON TUESDAY, BMW says its China-built iX3 to feature Momenta’s ADAS solution
BMW’s China-made Neue Klasse iX3, slated for launch in early 2026, will be the first model to carry the intelligent driver-assistance system the carmaker is co-developing with Chinese autonomous driving company Momenta.
The two companies formalized their partnership in July to create a new assisted-driving solution tailored for the Chinese market.
The system is designed to deliver full-scenario navigation assistance across both highway and urban environments, aligning more closely with local traffic patterns.
R&D teams from Momenta and BMW are conducting joint development and road testing in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang in Liaoning province, and Nanjing in Jiangsu province.
The program adheres to BMW’s validation standards, with large-scale on-road trials covering heavy-traffic conditions and demanding edge-case scenarios, supported by hundreds of millions of kilometers of simulation to assess stability and reliability.
The technology is built on Momenta’s end-to-end “flywheel” foundation model and uses a unified perception-planning-control architecture.
It incorporates large-scale neural networks for environment sensing, path planning and high-precision vehicle control, enabling more advanced driving strategies.
Combined with BMW’s experience in safety, driver-centric interaction and driving behavior, the system aims to interpret complex road situations and make decisions in a manner closer to a human driver.
IN TODAY’S FINANCIAL MARKET,
Chinese stocks closed lower on Tuesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.81 percent to 3,939.81 points.
The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.92 percent lower at 13,080.49 points.
The combined turnover of these two indices stood at 1.93 trillion yuan (about 272.38 billion U.S. dollars), up from 1.91 trillion yuan on the previous trading day.
Shares related to coal, chemicals, and pesticides and fertilizers suffered major losses, while those related to furniture, electronics information, and printing and packaging posted significant gains.
The ChiNext Index, tracking China’s Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, lost 1.16 percent to close at 3,069.22 points Tuesday.
China’s benchmark interbank gold prices lower Tuesday
According to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, the benchmark price for gold that is 99.95 percent pure or above stood at 928.30 yuan per gram, 19.70 yuan lower from the previous trading day.
The price for gold that is 99.99 percent pure or aboves stood at 931.42 yuan per gram, down 16.61 yuan per gram.
Hong Kong stocks close 1.72 pct lower
Hong Kong’s stock market ended lower Tuesday with the benchmark Hang Seng Index down 1.72 percent to close at 25,930.03 points.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 1.65 percent to end at 9,174.84 points. The Hang Seng Tech Index fell 1.93 percent to end at 5,645.73 points.
Chinese yuan weakens to 7.0856 against USD Tuesday
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened 40 pips to 7.0856 against the U.S. dollar Tuesday, 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.
AT THE END OF TODAY’S SHARING, LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR DAILY FUTURES:
Cotton futures closed lower Tuesday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE).
The most active cotton contract for January 2026 delivery lost 40 yuan (about 5.65 U.S. dollars) to close at 13,395 yuan per tonne.
On Tuesday, the total trading volume for six listed cotton futures contracts on the ZCE was 234,402 lots with a turnover of 15.72 billion yuan.
Sugar futures closed lower Tuesday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange.
The most active sugar contract for January 2026 delivery lost 58 yuan (about 8.2 U.S. dollars) to close at 5,407 yuan per tonne.
On Tuesday, the total trading volume for six listed sugar futures contracts on the ZCE was 369,374 lots with a turnover of 20 billion yuan.
Iron ore futures closed higher on Tuesday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE).
The most active iron ore contract for January 2026 delivery gained 11 yuan (about 1.55 U.S. dollars) to close at 792 yuan per tonne.
On Tuesday, the total trading volume of 12 listed iron ore futures contracts on the exchange was 365,337 lots, with a turnover of about 28.49 billion yuan.
No.1 soybean futures closed lower on Tuesday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange.
The most active No.1 soybean contract for January 2026 delivery dipped 38 yuan (about 5.36 U.S. dollars) to close at 4,149 yuan per tonne.
On Tuesday, the total trading volume of six listed No.1 soybean futures contracts on the exchange was 219,434 lots, with a turnover of about 9.18 billion yuan.
About the Newsletter:
Run by TIAN Dongdong, this newsletter features daily and trustworthy content on China’s economy. Having worked in Brussels, London, Cairo, and Tripoli for Chinese media as correspondent for several years, TIAN is now based in Beijing.