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☆ China's March factory activity expands for first time in six months
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-31 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

China's manufacturing activity expanded for the first time in six months in March, an official factory survey showed on Sunday, offering relief to policymakers even as a crisis in the property sector remains a drag on the economy and confidence. New export orders rose into positive territory, breaking a 11-month slump, but employment continued to shrink, albeit at a slower rate, the PMI data showed. Premier Li Qiang announced an ambitious 2024 economic growth target of around 5% earlier this month at the annual meeting of the National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp parliament. Citi on Thursday raised its economic growth forecast for China for this year to 5.0% from 4.6%, citing "recent positive data and policy delivery". China's cabinet on March 1 approved a plan aimed at promoting large-scale equipment upgrades and sales of consumer goods.

Persons: Zhou Maohua, Premier Li Qiang Organizations: PMI, China Everbright Bank, Manufacturing, Premier, National People's Congress, Citi Locations: Shandong, China, Japan

☆ China expected to keep key lending rates unchanged next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A man wearing a mask walks past the headquarters of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, in Beijing, China, February 3, 2020. In a poll of 26 market watchers, all participants predicted both the one-year LPR and the five-year tenor would stay unchanged. "The changes in LPR are more affected by the MLF rate," Zhou said, expecting the LPR to stay unchanged this month. The PBOC on Wednesday injected 1.45 trillion yuan ($200.12 billion) worth of one-year MLF loans into the banking system but kept the rates on those loans unchanged. Expectations of steady LPR fixings also come as new bank lending in China fell less than expected in October from the previous month.

Persons: Jason Lee, Zhou Maohua, Zhou, Winni Zhou, Wu Fang, Tom Westbrook, Sam Holmes Organizations: People's Bank of China, REUTERS, Rights, China Everbright Bank, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Rights SHANGHAI, SINGAPORE, United States, outflows, Shanghai, Singapore

☆ China's Sept industrial profits extend gains helped by policy support
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Gabriel Crossley/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Profits at China's industrial firms extended gains for a second month in September, adding to signs of a stabilising economy as the authorities launched a burst of supportive policy measures. For the first nine months, profits slid 9% from a year earlier, narrowing from a 11.7% decline in the first eight months, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Friday. A fall in producer prices last month indicated that some industrial firms were still cutting prices to promote sales, putting a drag on overall industrial revenues and profits, Zhou said. The improvement in industrial profits is expected to sustain in the coming months, partly due to the lag effect in domestic macro pump-priming, he added. Industrial profit numbers cover firms with annual revenues of at least 20 million yuan ($2.73 million) from their main operations.

Persons: Gabriel Crossley, Yu Weining, Zhou Maohua, Zhou, Pan Gongsheng, Qiaoyi Li, Ryan Woo, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: II, REUTERS, Rights, National Bureau of Statistics, Graphics, NBS, China Everbright Bank, Thomson Locations: Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China, Rights BEIJING

☆ China's central bank vows to support demand, price rebound
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Headquarters of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, is pictured in Beijing, China September 28, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Sept 13 (Reuters) - China's central bank will boost demand and support a modest rebound in prices, the Financial News, a publication run by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on Wednesday, citing a unnamed senior central bank official. The central bank "will create an appropriate monetary and financial environment to promote effective demand in the real economy, support a moderate recovery in prices and enhance economic vitality," the official said. New bank loans beat expectations by nearly quadrupling in August from July, as the central bank sought to shore up economic growth amid soft demand at home and abroad. The central bank last cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) - the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves - in March.

Persons: Jason Lee, Zhou Maohua, Kevin Yao, Liangping Gao, Tom Hogue, Sam Holmes, Miral Organizations: People's Bank of China, REUTERS, Rights, Financial, China Everbright Bank, Officials, Beijing Newsroom, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Rights BEIJING

☆ China's industrial profits slump deepens on soft demand, high costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The slump in Chinese industrial firms' profits deepened in the first two months of 2023, weighed by lacklustre demand and stubbornly high costs as the world's second-largest economy struggled to fully shake the long-term effects of Covid. NBS statistician Sun Xiao attributed the decline to still soft demand despite an uptick in industrial output, according to a statement on the bureau's website. "Currently, international commodity prices remain at high levels and overseas demand is still on a downtrend," Zhou wrote. "Industrial and manufacturing departments still need to offer policy support, alleviating fiscal, cost and financing pressures and stabilizing firm confidence." Foreign firms posted a 35.7% decline in profits, while private-sector firms saw their profits down 19.9%, according to a breakdown of the 887.21 billion yuan ($128.92 billion) profits.

☆ China's industrial profits drop further as COVID woes take toll on economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Liz Lee | Liangping Gao | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s industrial firms saw overall profits decline further in the January-October period as COVID-19 outbreaks flared up and cities imposed new virus curbs, including targeted lockdowns, dampening economic activity. Profits declined for 22 of China’s 41 major industrial sectors. Sectors showing the steepest declines included the petroleum, coal and fuel processing industry which saw profits tumble 70.9%. Some sectors that have seen strong profit growth saw the pace of growth slow significantly. Last month, China’s industrial output surged 5.0% from a year earlier, missing expectations for a 5.2% gain in a Reuters poll and slowing from the 6.3% growth seen in September.

☆ China seen partially rolling over policy loans at steady rate - Reuters poll
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

But some still expect the People's Bank of China (PBOC) to ease banks' reserve requirements next month, to aid an economy hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and property market woes. Most of the 27 participants in the poll conducted this week said they predicted the PBOC will partially renew 50 billion yuan ($6.98 billion) worth of policy loans that mature on Saturday. Traders point out that China's banking system is not short of cash - evidenced by the fact that market rates are lower than policy rates, curbing demand for central bank loans. "We don't expect policy rate cuts until pressure on the currency eases," wrote Zichun Huang, an economist at Capital Economics. Zhou Maohua, analyst at China Everbright Bank, said September's robust credit expansion also made monetary easing less urgent.

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