Everything You Need to Know About China's Economy on Friday (Nov. 15)

Your Daily & Trustworthy Updates on the Chinese Economy

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HOWDY. It’s Friday! This is TIAN in Beijing.

Welcome to monitor the pulse of China’s economy together with me.

DRIVING THE DAY, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) published China’s economic data in October. On the industrial output:

• Industrial output edged up 0.41 percent in October from the previous month. From January to October, it rose 5.8 percent year on year. Value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, expanded 5.3 percent year on year in October.

• The equipment manufacturing sector's output climbed 6.6 percent from a year ago last month, 1.3 percentage points higher than the overall industrial output.

• The high-tech manufacturing industry also posted stellar performance, with its output up 9.4 percent year on year in October. The growth pace outstripped the overall industrial output by 4.1 percentage points.

• In particular, the country's production of new energy vehicles, industrial robots, and integrated circuit products surged 48.6 percent, 33.4 percent, and 11.8 percent last month, respectively.

• China's manufacturing sector returned to expansion in October after five consecutive months of contraction, earlier data showed. The purchasing managers' index for the sector came in at 50.1 last month, up from 49.8 in September and surpassing the boom-or-bust line of 50 for the first time since May.

MEANWHILE, about China's property market：

The decline in the prices of commercial residential homes in China's 70 large and medium-sized cities generally moderated on a month-on-month basis in October, said the NBS.

• In the country's first-tier cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, new home prices edged down by 0.2 percent, narrowing from a 0.5-percent drop in the previous month, according to the NBS.

• Prices of second-hand homes in first-tier cities rose 0.4 percent in October, reversing a 1.2 percent decline in the previous month and marking the first increase in 13 months.

• Second- and third-tier cities registered narrower drops in both new and second-hand home prices in October, the NBS added.

IN ADDITION, retail sales of consumer goods went up 4.8 percent year on year last month, quickening from the 3.2 percent increase in September, said the NBS.

• Specifically, household appliances and audio-visual equipment reported a 39.2 percent surge in combined sales compared to a year earlier, and the sales of stationery and office supplies jumped 18 percent. Furniture and automobiles also saw increases of 7.4 percent and 3.7 percent in sales, respectively.

• The sales of major trade-in products contributed 1.2 percentage points of the overall retail sales growth in October.

• In the first 10 months, retail sales of consumer goods expanded 3.5 percent from a year earlier, 0.2 percentage points higher than the January-September period. In particular, the increase of online sales of physical goods accelerated from 7.9 percent to 8.3 percent, said the NBS.

ALSO ON FRIDAY, there are two more impressive figures for you:

• China-Europe freight train service has hit 100,000 trips.

  • The 100,000th China-Europe freight train departed from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Friday morning.

  • Fully loaded with a diverse array of goods such as electronic products, vehicles and auto parts, mechanical components, and household appliances, the train is expected to arrive in Duisburg, Germany, in just over 10 days.

  • Over the past 13 years, the China-Europe freight train service has transported over 11 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) containers of goods, valued at more than 420 billion U.S. dollars.

  • So far, the China-Europe freight train network has expanded to 227 cities in 25 European countries and over 100 cities in 11 Asian countries.

• Over 80 pct of China's buses are powered by new energy.

  • China boasts 554,000 new energy buses, accounting for 81.2 percent of its total bus fleet, according to the Ministry of Transport.

  • To date, there are nearly 80,000 public bus lines across the country, with buses plying a cumulative route length of more than 1.7 million kilometers and dedicated bus lanes surpassing 20,000 kilometers.

  • Currently, 313 urban rail transit lines operate in 54 Chinese cities, with an operational mileage of 10,455 kilometers, according to the ministry. 

IN TODAY'S FINANCIAL MARKET,

Chinese stocks closed lower on Friday,

with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 1.45 percent to 3,330.73 points.

• The Shenzhen Component Index closed 2.62 percent lower at 10,748.97 points.

• The combined turnover of these two indices stood at 1.83 trillion yuan (about 254 billion U.S. dollars), down from the 1.85 trillion yuan recorded on the previous trading day.

• Shares in the semiconductor sector suffered heavy losses.

• The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, lost 3.91 percent to close at 2,243.62 points Friday. 

China's central bank conducts reverse repos Friday

• China's central bank conducted 981 billion yuan (about 136.27 billion U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.5 percent Friday.

• The move aims to offset the impact of factors such as maturing medium-term lending facility (MLF) and tax payment peak, and to keep liquidity in the banking system adequate at a reasonable level, the central bank said.

Chinese yuan weakens to 7.1992 against USD Friday

• The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened 26 pips to 7.1992 against the U.S. dollar Friday, 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 benchmark interbank gold prices lower Friday

• According to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, the benchmark price for gold that is 99.95 percent pure or above stood at 591.57 yuan (about 82.17 U.S. dollars) per gram, 10.63 yuan lower than the previous trading day.

• The price for gold that is 99.99 percent pure or above went down 11.97 yuan from the previous trading day to 591.12 yuan.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closes 0.05 pct lower

• Hong Kong's stock market ended lower Friday with the benchmark Hang Seng Index down 0.05 percent to close at 19,426.34 points.

• The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 0.1 percent to end at 6,980.06 points, and the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 0.22 percent to end at 4,327.84 points.

AT THE END OF TODAY'S SHARING, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR DAILY FUTURES:

Cotton futures closed lower Friday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE).

• The most active cotton contract for January 2025 delivery lost 75 yuan (about 10.42 U.S. dollars) to close at 13,955 yuan per tonne.

• On Friday, the total trading volume for five listed cotton futures contracts on the ZCE was 368,276.0 lots with a turnover of 25.82 billion yuan.

Sugar futures closed lower Friday in daytime trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange).

• The most active sugar contract for January 2025 delivery lost 46 yuan (6.4 U.S. dollars) to close at 5,864 yuan per tonne.

• On Friday, the total trading volume for six listed sugar futures contracts on the ZCE was 291,500 lots with a turnover of 17.12 billion yuan.

Iron ore futures closed lower on Friday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE).

• The most active iron ore contract for January 2025 delivery dipped 23.5 yuan (about 3.3 U.S. dollars) to close at 736 yuan per tonne.

• On Friday, the total trading volume of 12 listed iron ore futures contracts on the exchange was 453,413 lots, with a turnover of about 33.82 billion yuan.

No.1 soybean futures closed lower on Friday in daytime trading at the Dalian Commodity Exchange.

• The most active No.1 soybean contract for January 2025 delivery dipped 99 yuan (about 13.75 U.S. dollars) to close at 3,859 yuan per tonne.

• On Friday, the total trading volume of six listed No.1 soybean futures contracts on the exchange was 258,904 lots, with a turnover of about 10.13 billion yuan.

About the Newsletter:

Ran 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.