Economy/Resources - 14. page

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that China’s three major stock exchanges (the Shanghai Exchange, Shenzhen Exchange and Hong Kong Exchange) will stop disclosing real-time trading volume data starting in mid-May so as to reduce market volatility. The announcement has triggered concerns about downgraded data transparency in the market.

As part of the Chinese State Council’s recent market guidelines, a key effort is the tightening of control over high-frequency trading in mainland Chinese markets. The Shenzhen exchange regulator said that the move to cut real-time market data disclosures was aimed at “unifying investor practices” so as to ensure “fair access to information”.

The newly-announced exchange rules may further reduce foreign investability in China’s equity markets and restrict Hong Kong’s role as a gateway for investment into China. Since 2014, foreign investors have been allowed to invest in A-shares through the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connection and the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connection. Real-time data is critical for fund managers, especially hedge funds, to measure liquidity and execute their trades in a timely fashion.

The Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges are China’s two primary mainland stock exchanges. As of Monday, the A-shares market value on these exchanges was 71.21 trillion RMB (about US$9.84 trillion). A-shares are RMB-denominated shares of mainland Chinese companies, generally only available to trade by domestic investors and certain qualified foreign institutional investors.

Source: Sina, April 19, 2024
https://portal.sina.com.hk/finance/marketdigest/2024/04/19/814828/

China is launching a large-scale initiative to promote equipment upgrades as well as the recycling of consumer goods. The government’s goal is that, by 2027, investment in 7 key industrial sectors should increase by over 25% compared with 2023 levels. The government milestones include doubling the recycling of scrapped vehicles as well as a 30% increase in recycling of used home appliances.

Officials say this push is about transitioning from foreign to domestic products.

The initiative, titled “Action Plan to Promote Large-Scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Replacement” (“推动大规模设备更新和消费品以旧换新行动方案”), was announced by the Information Office of China’s State Council on April 11th. The government will provide funding support for the initiative, but the exact amount is unclear.

China currently faces overcapacity issues, with exports accounting for much of the country’s economic growth. Shifting to domestic consumption through equipment upgrades and recycling is a potential path to addressing these issues.

The quality of Chinese-made products remains a challenge to adoption. Many Chinese companies prefer to use more expensive imported equipment; domestic products often require more maintenance and repairs, raising production costs. Some industries such as smart tech and precision machinery are still heavily reliant on foreign technology.

Currently, China has over 39 trillion RMB in fixed assets, with 28 trillion RMB comprising industrial equipment. The new action plan aims to spur economic growth through massive replacement of such fixed assets, promoting self-sufficiency and reducing reliance on foreign goods. Feasibility and efficacy of this approach remain to be seen.

Source: Radio Free Asia, April 12, 2024
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jingmao/ql2-04122024072046.html

Xinhua News Agency reported rapid growth in the “going global” trend of China’s e-commerce platforms. This includes the B2B model of Alibaba International or the B2C models of AliExpress, Temu, and TikTok Shop. According to data from China’s Ministry of Commerce, the imports and exports for China’s e-commerce platforms reached 2.38 trillion Yuan (US$ 330 billion) in 2023, an increase of 15.6 percent from the previous year. Exports, specifically, amounted to 1.83 trillion Yuan, an increase of 19.6 percent year-over-year.

Take Japan as an example. Since its launch [in Japan] in July of 2023, Temu has seen its number of users grow at a rate of 2.2 million per month. In January 2024, its number of users in Japan reached 15.5 million, 52 percent of the combined average of the three major e-commerce platforms in Japan — Amazon, Rakuten Market, and Yahoo! Shopping — which is 29.7 million. The number of users on the clothing e-commerce platform SHEIN has also surpassed that of the well-known Japanese clothing e-commerce platform ZOZOTOWN. TikTok, with its millions of users in Japan, may soon become a big player in the e-commerce field as well.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the latest data released by South Korea’s statistical department shows that, in 2023, imports from China’s e-commerce platforms surged by 121.2 percent year-over-year. For the first time, China surpassed the United States to become South Korea’s largest source of e-commerce imports.

Source: Xinhua, February 23, 2024
http://www.xinhuanet.com/20240223/d2eff099b86441ba8f7f6f45377ef0bd/c.html

To promote used car exports, China’s Ministry of Commerce and four other departments jointly issued a notice on February 5 regarding matters related to the export of used cars. On February 7, they released a “Notice on Further Improving the Practice of Used Car Exports” (the “Notice”), to implement used car export businesses in 10 pilot cities nationwide.

The Notice encourages localities to establish used car export bases, achieving efficient results by integrating functions such as showrooms, handling of transactions, maintenance, inspection and certification, customs clearance, support for exports, warehousing, logistics, and financial services. As after-sales service is the biggest challenge for the used car dealers, the Notice directed companies to establish overseas maintenance service systems through self-construction, resource sharing, or multi-channel cooperation. This means setting up additional after-sales service outlets overseas and ensuring a supply of spare parts through multiple channels. It supports automotive companies further expanding their international marketing networks and fully leveraging brand and channel advantages. It also encourages companies to establish public showroom and sales centers and overseas warehouses in key markets.

China’s customs data shows that the volume of China’s used car exports has repeatedly reached new highs since the used car export pilot launched in 2019. In 2021, China exported 15,000 used cars. This figure soared to 69,000 in 2022. As of 2023, used Chinese cars have been sold in more than 140 countries and regions worldwide. The main markets are the five Central Asian countries, Africa, and some Southeast Asian countries. Since 2022, Russia has also become an important market. Now, the Western and Eastern Europe markets are increasing significantly due to energy shortages; a considerable portion of the used cars exported from China are electric vehicles.

Source: Xinhua, February 27, 2024
http://www.xinhuanet.com/auto/20240227/bee6287a6d464b1faaf7b7cfd04fb1fa/c.html

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that, amid the “shock waves” of the real estate market downturn and early mortgage repayments, Chinese banks’ personal mortgage businesses continue to face pressure. By the end of 2023, the total mortgage loan balance of the six major state-owned banks was approximately RMB 26 trillion yuan (around US$3.66 trillion), a decrease of approximately RMB 500 billion yuan (around US$70.34 billion) from the end of the previous year.

Among the six major state-owned banks, the balance of personal housing loans of the five largest banks all decreased year-over-year. Only one of the six largest banks — the Postal Savings Bank of China — saw an increase. In terms of asset quality, five of the six major banks had suffered a year-over-year increase in non-performing mortgage loan ratios by the end of 2023. The Chinese central bank’s “Statistical Report on Loan Investment by Financial Institutions in 2023” showed that the balance of personal housing loans at the end of 2023 suffered an overall year-over-year decrease of 1.6 percent.

In response to the significant decrease in mortgage loans on their books, most banks have been intensifying their efforts to issue new mortgage loans. That being said, increasing early mortgage repayments in 2023 brought further pressure on outstanding mortgage loans and banks’ loan yields.

Source: Sina, April 8, 2024
https://finance.sina.com.cn/wm/2024-04-08/doc-inararwv6421091.shtml

Well-known Chinese news site NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) recently reported that, according to Chinese customs data, China’s imports and exports both experienced sharp declines in March, far below market expectations. Export shipments fell 7.5 percent year-over-year, while imports also fell 1.9 percent year-over-year. Chinese policymakers are facing challenges as they try to shore up a fragile economic recovery.

Exports suffered their biggest drop since last August, well above the 2.3 percent decline forecasted by economists. Exports for the period January through February increased by 7.1 percent year-over-year.

Over the past year, China’s exporters experienced many difficulties due to weak overseas demand and a tightening global monetary environment. At this point, with the U.S. Federal Reserve and other developed countries showing no urgency regarding the need for interest rate cuts, Chinese manufacturers may continue to face challenges as they try to boost international sales. Analysts warned that Western concerns about overcapacity in certain Chinese industries [and the impact of such overcapacity on Western markets] could bring more trade barriers to China’s manufacturing sector.

China’s imports for March fell 1.9 percent year-over-year, compared with a growth of 3.5 percent in the previous two months, indicating weakness in domestic demand. Analysts do not believe China’s economy will fully recover any time soon, mainly because the crisis in the Chinese real estate industry has been going on for quite some time.

Global ratings agency Fitch recently downgraded China’s sovereign credit rating outlook to negative, citing risks to public finances as the country’s economy faces growing uncertainty during a shift to a new growth model. Structural flaws in China’s economy have reduced the effectiveness of its central bank’s monetary policy tools.

Source: NetEase, April 12, 2024
https://www.163.com/dy/article/IVJQBCIC055292RI.html