Bloomberg (October 3)
“Global funds further trimmed their Chinese stock holdings in September, extending a relentless selloff and lowering their average position in the country to the lowest level since 2020,” as “outflows surpassed the $3 billion level for a second consecutive month.” The MSCI China Index has now slumped more than 11% in 2023 and is “ on track for a third straight year of losses, which would mark its worst losing streak in two decades.”
Tags: $3 billion, 2020, 2023, China, Global funds, Losing streak, MSCI China Index, Outflows, Selloff, September, Slumped, Stock holdings
Reuters (October 2)
“Tensions between the West and China are rising, from tit-for-tat trade tariffs to tech rivalry and spying allegations. The ramifications for global markets are significant, with Washington and Beijing’s determination to loosen dependence on each other fraying long-established supply chains. That could help keep inflation and interest rates elevated. Still, there are gains for emerging nations and tech giants on the right side of the power battle.”
Tags: China, Dependence, Emerging nations, Fraying, Global markets, Inflation, Interest rates, Ramifications, Rising, Spying, Supply chains, Tech rivalry, Tensions, Tit-for-tat, Trade tariffs, West
Bloomberg (September 25)
“China is the biggest buyer of Australian goods from iron ore to coal and food products and a windfall from recent elevated commodity prices helped Canberra report its first budget surplus in 15 years. If Chinese demand were to weaken, it would lower those prices and slim Australia’s trade surpluses, or even return it to deficits.” The Council of Financial Regulators (CFR) found that “The impact of a deeper economic deterioration in China will be mainly felt in Australia through weaker trade and reduced risk appetite in financial markets.”
Tags: Australia, Budget surplus, Buyer, Canberra, CFR, China, Coal, Commodity prices, Food products, Iron ore, Risk appetite, Trade surpluses, Windfall
Reuters (September 23)
“China’s population of 1.4 billion would not be enough to fill all the empty apartments littered across the country,” according to a former official “in a rare public critique of the country’s crisis-hit property market.” Official data shows approximately 7.2 million homes, but that excludes “the numerous residential projects that have already been sold but not yet completed” and speculatively purchased homes that remain vacant. Estimates vary, but “He Keng, a former deputy head of the statistics bureau,” estimates there aren’t enough people to fill China’s available housing inventory.
Tags: 1.4 billion, Apartments, China, Completed, Crisis-hit, Empty, Keng, Official data, Population, Property market, Residential projects, Sold, Speculative, Statistics bureau
Wall Street Journal (September 20)
“China’s economic and technological strength dwarfs that of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Since 1885 the U.S. has never faced a competitor or group of competitors with a gross domestic product greater than 40% of our own. China’s economy is likely at least 75% of ours. It also has a larger navy (even more so in its home waters) and a shipbuilding capability that far exceeds ours.”
Tags: 1885, China, Cold war, Competitor, Economic, GDP, Navy, Soviet Union, Strength, Technological, U.S.
South China Morning Post (September 16)
“The European Union is scrambling to answer SOS calls from its hi-tech industries to fend off the challenge of China’s manufacturing juggernaut. From electric vehicles (EVs) and solar panels to wind turbines and hi-tech batteries, European businesses say they are being eaten alive by Chinese imports sold well below market rates.”
Tags: Batteries, Challenge, China, EU, EVs, Hi-tech, Imports, Manufacturing juggernaut, Market rates, Scrambling, Solar panels, SOS, Wind turbines
Financial Times (September 15)
Internal combustion engines “are on their way out,” while sales of EVs “are set to increase worldwide from about 10mn in 2022 to about 14mn in 2023, or 18 per cent of all cars sold.” This partly explains legacy carmakers low valuations, but the switch also lowers barriers to entry. “Chinese imports already account for about 15 per cent of EVs sold on the continent,” with Chinese automakers hoping to seize more of “a $130bn revenue opportunity by 2030.”
Tags: $130bn, Barriers to entry, China, EVs, Ice, Imports, Legacy carmakers, Opportunity, Revenue, Sales, Valuations
Bloomberg (September 15)
“China’s economy picked up steam in August as a summer travel boom and a heftier stimulus push boosted consumer spending and factory output, adding to nascent signs of stabilization…. Optimism is slowly building among some investors that Beijing’s recent efforts to boost the economy and financial markets are starting to bear fruit. Even so, it’s early days — and a single month of data isn’t enough to confirm a sustained recovery trajectory.”
Tags: August, China, Consumer spending, Economy, Factory output, Investors, Nascent, Optimism, Stabilization, Stimulus, Travel boom
Irish Times (September 10)
Some are hoping government stimulus will jumpstart the Chinese economy. “The more likely scenario is continued weak growth.” What remains to be seen is “is how quickly the government will shift away from stimulus measures to a faster fundamental overhaul of its growth strategy.” China needs to tackle “more persistent and structural growth challenges,” which have resulted from “an economic strategy that has historically over-relied on real estate, high local debt, inefficient state-owned enterprises, lower-end manufacturing, and domestic consumer internet platforms.”
Tags: Challenges, China, Economy, Government, Growth strategy, Inefficient, Jumpstart, Manufacturing, Overhaul, Persistent, Real estate, State-owned enterprises, Stimulus, Structural, Weak
New York Times (September 7)
“Shares in Apple, the world’s most valuable public company, continued to tumble on Thursday” amid reports of a China “ban on iPhones for government workers.” Apple looks poised “to lose $200 billion of market value, with shares falling about 6 percent over two days to roughly $175.” Ultimately, however, “the ripples will be felt more broadly: If one of the most successful operators in the world’s second-largest economy is at risk, can any Western company thrive there?”
Tags: $200 billion, Apple, Ban, China, Economy, Government workers, iPhones, Market value, Ripples, Risk, Shares, Successful, Thrive, Tumble, Valuable, Western company
