Everything You Need to Know About China's Economy on Thursday (April 11)
Your Daily & Trustworthy Updates on the Chinese Economy
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Good Thursday! This is TIAN in Beijing.
Welcome to monitor the pulse of China’s economy together with me.
DRIVING THE DAY, China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, decreased by 2.8 percent year on year in March. The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, edging up 0.1 percent year on year in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.
The decrease widened from a 2.7-percent decline in February. On a monthly basis, the PPI edged down 0.1 percent, narrowing from a 0.2-percent decrease a month earlier, the data showed.
In the first quarter of 2024, the PPI went down 2.7 percent year on year.
Among the major industries, the PPI of the oil and gas extraction industry went up 1.1 percent month on month, while that of the petroleum, coal and other fuel processing sectors rose 0.2 percent from the previous month as imported price factors drove up domestic prices in industries related to oil and non-ferrous metals.
The supply of coal was generally stable last month while warmer weather reduced demand for heating coal, causing the PPI of the coal mining and washing industry to decrease by 1.6 percent month on month in March.
The carry-over effect of last year's price movements dragged down the year-on-year PPI decline by 2.3 percentage points last month.
MEANWHILE, China, the United States and the EU reached new consensus on Wednesday on deepening cooperation on consumer product safety, said China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC).
The three sides agreed to build common standards, deepen common supervision, focus on common protection of consumer rights and interests, and strive to protect the common safety of consumer products at the Eighth China-US-EU Trilateral Summit on Consumer Product Safety in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province.
Joint action will be taken to make full use of existing cooperation frameworks for the protection of the health and safety of consumers, guided by new consensus on seeking international standards, pooling regulatory efforts, and enhancing risk information sharing.
With coordinated governance, the three sides will deepen project cooperation, exchanges, seminars and professional training, and strengthen information communication and technical consultation under the framework of continuous high-level exchanges.
IN ANOTHER DEVELOPMENT, China on Thursday criticizes EU's recent detrimental moves against bilateral trade.
The EU decided on Tuesday to initiate subsidy investigations into Chinese wind turbine suppliers under its Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), marking the fourth probe targeting Chinese firms in just two months.
Ministry of Commerce said that China is strongly “dissatisfied” and “firmly opposes these actions and the World Trade Organization's rules do not contain such concepts as significant distortions and related criteria.
ALSO ON THURSDAY, after the United States added more Chinese companies to its export blacklist, China called on the United States to “immediately correct its erroneous practices and cease its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies.”
By overstretching the concept of national security and abusing export control measures, the United States is imposing unilateral sanctions on and exercising long-arm jurisdiction over Chinese companies, said Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong.
IN TODAY'S FINANCIAL MARKET,
Shanghai Composite Index Rose 0.23% on Thursday
China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (000001.SH) gained 0.23% on Thursday, while the Shenzhen Component Index (399001.SZ) closed nearly flat.
Shanghai’s tech-heavy STAR 50 Index (000688.SH) gained 0.4% for the day, while Shenzhen’s similar ChiNext Index (399006.SZ) fell 0.44%.
China's central bank adds liquidity via reverse repos
China's central bank conducted 2 billion yuan (about 281.82 million U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.8 percent Thursday.
The move aims to keep liquidity in the banking system reasonable and ample, the People's Bank of China said in a statement.
China's benchmark interbank gold prices higher Thursday
According to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, the benchmark price for gold that is 99.95 percent pure or above stood at 555.85 yuan (about 78.32 U.S. dollars) per gram, up 11.35 yuan from the previous trading day.
The price for gold that is 99.99 percent pure or above gained 2.4 yuan from the previous trading day to 557.9 yuan.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closes 0.26 pct lower
Hong Kong's stock market ended lower on Thursday with the benchmark Hang Seng Index down 0.26 percent to close at 17,095.03 points.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dipped 0.21 percent to end at 6,003.97 points, and the Hang Seng Tech Index lost 0.38 percent to close at 3,538.39 points.
Chinese yuan weakens to 7.0968 against USD Thursday
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened 9 pips to 7.0968 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.
BEFORE ENDING TODAY'S SHARING, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR DAILY FUTURES,
Cotton futures closed lower Thursday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE).
The most active cotton contract for May 2024 delivery lost 65 yuan (about 9.16 U.S. dollars) to close at 16,210 yuan per tonne.
On Thursday, the total trading volume for six listed cotton futures contracts on the ZCE was 518,805.0 lots with a turnover of 42.26 billion yuan.
Sugar futures closed lower Thursday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange.
The most active sugar contract for September 2024 delivery lost 42 yuan (5.92 U.S. dollars) to close at 6,455 yuan per tonne.
On Thursday, the total trading volume for six listed sugar futures contracts on the ZCE was 766,142.0 lots with a turnover of 49.65 billion yuan.
No.1 soybean futures closed higher on Thursday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange.
The most active No.1 soybean contract for May 2024 delivery gained 8 yuan (about 1.13 U.S. dollars) to close at 4,794 yuan per tonne.
On Thursday, the total trading volume of six listed No.1 soybean futures contracts on the exchange was 77,764 lots, with a turnover of about 3.72 billion yuan.
Iron ore futures closed higher on Thursday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange.
The most active iron ore contract for September 2024 delivery gained 10.5 yuan (about 1.48 U.S. dollars) to close at 826 yuan per tonne.
On Thursday, the total trading volume of 12 listed iron ore futures contracts on the exchange was 655,289 lots, with a turnover of about 53.71 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.