China’s consumer prices fell at their fastest pace in 15 years in January, as the world’s second-largest economy sank deeper into deflation amid weakening demand. Data released on Thursday showed that China’s consumer price index tumbled last month, falling by 0.8% compared with a year earlier. It marks the fourth consecutive month of declines, as well as the sharpest drop since September 2009, when the global economy was still grappling with aftershocks from the 2008 banking crisis. Food prices were the biggest drag on the headline inflation figure, having fallen…
Tag: Chinese economy
Snookered by China? Masters tournament owner plots Asia expansion
The owner of the Masters snooker tournament is plotting an expansion trail across Asia after the pandemic exposed the company’s reliance on China, its chair has said. Steve Dawson, who chairs World Snooker, said it was considering staging tournaments in India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Thailand, after its business was held back by three years of Beijing-imposed Covid lockdowns. He also hopes young players in the sport can take inspiration from 16-year-old Luke Littler’s astonishing run to the PDC World Darts Championship final, which is also run by World Snooker’s owner…
China’s many systemic problems dominate its outlook for 2024 | George Magnus
There were contrasting reactions when the US rating agency Moody’s downgraded China’s A1 credit rating outlook from stable to negative last month. Financial markets, focused on the economy, paid it barely any attention. Chinese state media, looking at the politics, saw red. Global Times called it “biased and unprofessional”. A few days later, the Ministry of State Security issued a statement stipulating that the only purpose of “negative talk” was to doubt or deny China’s socialist system, and to contain its development. The Chinese Communist party’s prickly attitude to criticism…
China cracks down on negativity over economy in bid to boost confidence
China is cracking down on negative commentary about the financial market and other sectors as the authorities seek to boost public confidence despite challenging economic headwinds. This month the Weibo account Weibo Finance, which has more than 1.5 million followers, issued an instruction against posting any comments “that bad-mouth the economy”. The post appears to have since been deleted. Bloomberg reported that several other finance influencers had been told by Weibo to “avoid crossing red lines” and to post less about the economy. Weibo did not reply to a request…
EU expected to issue veiled warning to China over supply of cut-cost goods
The EU is to tell China that its €400bn (£343bn) trade deficit is not sustainable long term amid fears that it will flood the bloc with subsidised electric cars, solar panels and medical devices, threatening European manufacturing and jobs. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission chief, and Charles Michel, the European Council president, will meet Xi Jinping at a summit on Thursday, the second of its kind this year. They are expected to issue the Chinese president with a veiled warning that unless China does something about the supply…
Moody’s cuts China credit outlook to negative as economy slows
China’s ability to repay its government borrowing has been downgraded by the credit rating agency Moody’s, which said the ripple effects from a crisis in the property sector would undermine efforts to revive its flagging economy. Moody’s warned that Beijing would need to bail out local and regional governments and state-owned enterprises that were struggling with rising debts, hampering efforts to boost investment and growth. The rating agency downgraded its outlook for Chinese sovereign bonds from stable to negative on Tuesday, sending a signal to potential lenders that the risk…
China’s Evergrande wins more time to restructure debts
The property developer Evergrande has been granted an extension until late January to try to restructure its debts and avoid liquidation in one of the most high-profile cases in China’s long-running property crisis. Evergrande was once China’s biggest property developer, but a default on offshore debt obligations in 2021 started a lurch from one crisis to another. It has reported debts of more than $300bn (£237bn), much of it to individuals whose properties were never built. The company is facing the prospect of liquidation after a creditor, Top Shine Global,…
Chinese shadow bank admits £30bn shortfall after ‘management ran wild’
One of China’s biggest financial conglomerates with links to the country’s ailing property market has admitted a shortfall of nearly £30bn as it warned investors that it is “severely insolvent”. Zhongzhi, an asset and wealth management company in China’s shadow banking sector, said its total assets amounted to 200bn yuan (£22.5bn) against obligations of up to 460bn yuan, in a letter to shareholders issued on Wednesday. In the letter, the company blamed its brewing insolvency crisis on the departure of several senior executives, which left a situation in which “internal…
China’s carbon emissions set for structural decline from next year
China’s carbon emissions could peak this year before falling into a structural decline for the first time from next year after a record surge in clean energy investments, according to research. Emissions from the world’s most polluting country have rebounded this year after the Chinese government dropped its Covid restrictions in January, according to analysis undertaken for Carbon Brief. However, this rebound in fossil fuel demand emerged alongside a historic expansion of the country’s low-carbon energy sources, which was far in excess of policymakers’ targets and expectations. Beijing’s solar and…
China falls back into deflation territory; UK energy companies pay £10.8m for missing smart meter targets – business live
From 31m ago Introduction: China’s economy falls back into deflation as pork prices tumble Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. China has dropped into deflationary territory for the second time this year, reigniting concerns over its economy. Consumer prices in the world’s second-largest economy fell by 0.2%, compared with the previous year, in October, a larger decline than the 0.1% expected. Chinese producers also cut their prices at a faster rate. The producer price index (a measure of prices…