China

According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the annual GDP growth of the country fell to 3 per cent much below the 5.5 per cent official target in 2022. This was also slightly lower than forecasts published by the IMF in October 2022. IMF predictions expected a GDP growth rate of around 4.4 percent.  This marked a dramatic slowdown from 8.4 per cent in 2021. The NBS said, "despite the overall stable economic performance", the foundation for economic recovery remains "unstable". The annual GDP of the country stood at 121.02 trillion Yuan ( $17.94 trillion) in 2022. It declined from $18 trillion in 2021 mainly due to a sharp rise of the dollar against RMB.  This is the slowest growth of the Chinese economy since the 2.3 per cent registered in GDP in 1974. The effe...

While addressing the severe Covid outbreak and attempting to prevent an economic catastrophe brought on by the strict lockdowns that were only recently lifted in response to public pressure, the government is still facing a serious crisis involving thousands of unfinished apartments throughout China.  The country's real estate loan market is seeing an increase in bad loans. They currently account for 29% of all loans this year. People are just refusing to pay off their mortgages, and existing housing market price losses are now the sharpest in almost a decade. Since the majority of Chinese spend all of their resources on housing, the problem may soon jeopardise people's ability to support themselves. The government is desperately trying to ease the panic. The China Banking and ...

In two back-to-back reports in September and December 2022, the World Bank has projected a grim picture of the Chinese economy in 2022 and 2023. The second largest economy of the world is now falling back in the race, not only with the USA, the global leaders, but also its closest neighbour India with which China is vying to gain supremacy in Asia. The two World Bank reports said the growth rate of the Gross Domestic Product of China is expected to slow sharply to 2.7 percent in 2022, much below the 8.1 percent rate achieved in 2021. It could recover to 4.3 percent in 2023. The latest growth forecast for Indi in 2022-23 is seven percent. An AP report from Beijing on October 31, 2022, quoting an official survey in China, says the manufacturing sector in China has weakened, adding to ...

According to China Beige Book International, deflationary pressure in China exacerbated in the fourth quarter as the economy contracted, and price rise is likely to be muted even when the economy recovers later this year.  According to a report released by CBBI on Tuesday, businesses saw their wages and input costs grow at the slowest rate since mid-2020 in the final three months of 2022. According to the report, growth in sale prices has dropped to its lowest point since late 2020.  The study's foundation is a survey of 4,354 enterprises that was carried out by CBBI, a source of impartial economic data, during the relevant time. Sales price increase has slowed to a crawl, indicating that short-term disinflation is already underway, it claimed. The Covid hit to retail m...

Chinese growth story is facing a serious headwind China’s exports fell by 0.3% in October 2022 from a year ago in dollar terms, missing analysts’ expectations for a decent increase. There has been a drop in the value of goods sold to the U.S. and EU. China’s exports to its largest trading partner, the U.S, fell by 12.6% in October, a third-straight month of decline. Exports to the EU were down by 9%. High inflationary pressure forced the US and Europe to squeeze the money supply in their respective economies. The U.S. Federal Reserve is resorting to aggressive interest rate hikes ignoring the risks of triggering recessionary trends. As the demand slows down in the West, the pressure is felt in China. In a recent forecast, Barclays predicted that China’s exports will drop by 2% to...

After the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPP), all major stock markets fell sharply, reflecting the market's panic over the future situation in the country. Now, foreign capital is withdrawing from the Chinese market at record speed, and rich and wealthy people have started fleeing the mainland. So, why are investors so bearish on China's future prospects? “Xi Faction” is in total control of the “Power” as the new members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission belong to the Xi faction. Almost all the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee are his own family members. At the same time, the opposing “Tuan Faction”, which is more inclined to continue market ‘reform and opening...