28/04/2020
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s factory activity likely rose for a second straight month in April as more businesses re-opened from strict lockdowns implemented to contain the coronavirus outbreak, which has now paralysed the global economy.
The official manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI), due for release on Thursday, is forecast to fall to 51 in April, from 52 in March, according to the median forecast of 32 economists polled by Reuters. A reading above the 50-point mark indicates an expansion in activity.
While the forecast PMI would show a slight moderation in China’s factory activity growth, it would be a stark contrast to recent PMIs in other economies, which plummeted to previously unimaginable lows.
That global slump, caused by heavy government-ordered lockdowns, as well as the cautious resumption of business in China, suggests any recovery in the world’s second-largest economy is likely to be some way off.
“The recovery so far has been led by a bounce-back in production, however, the growth bottleneck has decisively shifted to the demand side, as global growth has weakened and consumption recovery has lagged amid continued social distancing,” Morgan Stanley said in a note.
“The expected slump in external demand has likely capped further recovery in industrial production.”
The latest official data showed 84% of mid-sized and small business had reopened as of April 15, compared with 71.7% on March 24.
Hobbled by the coronavirus, China’s economy shrank 6.8% in the first quarter from a year earlier, the first contraction since current quarterly records began.
That has left Chinese manufacturers with reduced export orders and a logistics logjam, as many exporters grapple with rising inventory, high costs and falling profits. Some have let workers go as part of the cost-cutting efforts.
A China-based brokerage Zhongtai Securities estimated that the country’s real unemployment rate, measured using international standards, could exceed 20%, equal to more than 70 million job losses and much higher than March’s official reading of 5.9%.
Sheng Laiyun, deputy head at the statistics bureau, said on Sunday migrant workers and college graduates are facing increasing pressures to secure jobs, while official jobless surveys show nearly 20% of employed workers not working in March.
Chinese authorities have rolled out more support to revive the economy. The People’s Bank of China earlier in April cut the amount of cash banks must hold as reserves and reduced the interest rate on lenders’ excess reserves.
Source: Reuters
Posted in 15, 20%, 24, 50-point, 70, above, according, activity, amid, amount, April, banks, began, Beijing, bottleneck, bounce-back, brokerage, Business, businesses, capped, cash, caused, cautious, China, China's, China's economy, China-based, China’s, chinese authorities, college graduates, compared, consumption, contain, continued, contraction, contrast, coronavirus, coronavirus outbreak, cost-cutting, costs, country’s, current, cut, decisively, demand, deputy head, due, earlier, ease, economies, Economists, economy, efforts, employed, equal to, estimated, exceed, excess, expanding, expansion, expected, export orders, exporters, external, facing, Factory, falling, first, first quarter, forecast, from, further, global economy, global growth, global slump, government-ordered, grapple, growth, heavy, high, Hobbled, hold, implemented, increasing, indicates, industrial, Interest rate, international, inventory, job losses, jobless, jobs, lagged, latest, led b, left, lenders,, let, likely, lockdowns, logistics, logjam, lows, manufacturers, Manufacturing, many, March, March’s, Mark, measured, median, mid-sized, migrant workers, million, moderation, month, more than, Morgan Stanley, much higher, nearly, note, off, Official, official data, other, paralysed, part, People’s Bank of China’s, plummeted, PMI, PMIs, polled, pressures, previously, production, profits, purchasing managers’ index (PMI), quarterly, rate, re-opened, reading, real, recent, records, recovery, reduced, release, reopened, reserves, resumption, Reuters, Reuters Poll, revive, rising, rolled out, rose, said, second, seen, shifted, show, showed, shrank, side, since, slight, slump, small business, Social distancing, some way, standards, stark, statistics bureau, straight, strict, suggests, Sunday, support, surveys, Thursday, to fall, to secure, Uncategorized, unemployment, unimaginable, using, weakened, while, workers, world’s second-largest economy, would, year |
Leave a Comment »
26/04/2020
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s smog-prone northern province of Hebei met its air quality targets by a big margin over the winter after concerted efforts to tackle emissions, a local official said on Sunday, without mentioning coronavirus-related factory shutdowns.
Average PM2.5 concentrations over the October-March period dropped 15% from a year earlier to 61 micrograms per cubic metre, while sulphur dioxide also fell by a third, said He Litao, vice-head of the provincial environmental bureau.
Most experts have attributed the significant decline in air pollution throughout China in the first quarter to the coronavirus outbreak and tough containment measures, which saw cities and entire provinces locked down and sharply reduced traffic and industrial activity throughout the country.
With millions staying at home, concentrations of lung-damaging PM2.5 particles fell by nearly 15% in more than 300 Chinese cities in the first three months of 2020.
Shanghai saw emissions fall by nearly 20% in the first quarter, while in Wuhan, where the pandemic originated, monthly averages dropped more than a third compared to last year.
However, He of the Hebei environmental bureau attributed the local decline in pollution to the “conscientious implementation” of government decisions even in the face of unfavourable weather conditions.
According to a winter action plan published last year, 10 cities in Hebei were expected to cut lung-damaging small particles known as PM2.5 by 1%-6% compared to the previous year.
Despite the decline, average PM2.5 was still much higher than China’s official standard of 35 micrograms, and the recommended World Health Organization level of 10 micrograms.
Source: Reuters
Posted in 10, 15, 15%, 20%, 2020, 300, 35, according, action plan, air pollution, air quality, also, at home, attributed, Average, averages, “conscientious implementation”, big, China, China's, China’s, cities, compared, concentrations, concerted, conditions, containment, coronavirus outbreak, coronavirus-related, Country, cubic metre, cut, decisions, decline, dropped, earlier, efforts, emissions, entire, environmental bureau, even, expected, experts, face-of, Factory, fall, Fell, first, first quarter, from, Government, Hebei, industrial activity, known as, last year, level, local, local official, locked down, lung-damaging, March, margin, measures, mentioning, micrograms, millions, monthly, months, more than, most, nearly, northern province, October, Official, originated, over, pandemic, particles, Period, PM2.5, Pollution, previous, provinces, provincial environmental bureau, published, recommended, reduced, said, saw, Shanghai, sharply, shutdowns, significant, small, standard, staying, sulphur dioxide, Sunday, tackle, targets, third, Three, throughout, tough, traffic, Uncategorized, unfavourable, weather, which, while, winter, without, World Health Organization, Wuhan, year |
Leave a Comment »
23/04/2020
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will cut its subsidies on new energy vehicles (NEV) by 10% this year, and will expand government purchases of NEVs, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
China will in principle cut such subsidies by 20% in 2021 and 30% in 2022, the finance ministry said in a statement. However, it will not cut subsidies on qualified new energy commercial vehicles earmarked for public purposes this year.
Under the plan, China would extend subsidies for NEV purchases to 2022, rather than ending them this year, and extend their purchase tax exemption for two years.
China will slightly lift the requirements for the driving range and power efficiency of cars qualified for the subsidies, the statement said, adding authorities will support the sales of cars with swappable batteries, a technology that has been pursued by Chinese electric vehicle makers Nio Inc (NIO.N) and BAIC BluePark (600733.SS).
Only passenger cars cheaper than 300,000 yuan (34,330.23 pounds) will be offered subsidies, it said. The price is higher than starting price of Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) China-made Model 3 sedans.
China also said authorities will give priority to purchase new energy vehicles for government use but did not give further details.
The new policy is effective from April 23. NEVs include battery-powered electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.
China has set an aggressive goal for NEVs to account for a fifth of auto sales by 2025 compared with the current 5%, as it seeks to reduce pollution and cultivate homegrown champions.
Sales of NEVs, however, contracted for a ninth month in a row in March and were down over 50% from a year earlier, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
Source: Reuters
Posted in 10, 20%, 2021, 2022, 2025, 30, 50%, according, account, aggressive, April, auto sales, BAIC BluePark, batteries, battery-powered electric, cars, champions, cheaper, China, China-made Model 3, Chinese, commercial vehicles, compared, contracted, cultivate, current, cut, Data, down, driving, earlier, earmarked, effective, efficiency, electric vehicle makers, ending, exemption, expand, extend, fifth, Finance Ministry, from, goal, Government, higher, homegrown, However, in a row, in principle, lift, March, month, new, new energy vehicles (NEV), ninth, Nio Inc, offered, only, passenger, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, policy, pounds, power, price, public purposes, purchase tax, purchases, pursued, qualified, range, reduce pollution, requirements, Sales, sedans, slightly, starting price, statement, subsidies, swappable, Technology, Tesla Inc’s, this year, Thursday, to cut, two, Uncategorized, year, years, yuan |
Leave a Comment »
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 