ASIA: China’s GDP grew by 7.9% year on year in the second quarter of 2021, which was lower than the Caixin survey of economists that showed the median estimate for the second quarter was 8.2% growth. Chinese economists broadly agree that China’s potential growth rate is 6%. So, taking into consideration the base effect, China’s […]

ASIA: Japan’s economy grew faster than initially estimated in the April-June quarter, helped by solid capital expenditure, although a resurgence in COVID-19 is undermining service-sector consumption and clouding the outlook. Revised gross domestic product (GDP) data by the Cabinet Office released on Wednesday showed the economy grew an annualized 1.9% in April-June, beating economists’ median […]

ASIA: China’s exports unexpectedly grew at a faster pace in August due to solid global demand, helping to take some of the pressure off the world’s second-biggest economy as it is facing challenges from several fronts. Shipments from the world’s biggest exporter in August rose 25.6% year-on-year, picking up speed from a 19.3% gain in […]

ASIA: BNP Paribas’ asset management arm is in talks to form a wealth management venture with a unit of Agricultural Bank of China (AgBank), as the French firm pursues a bigger slice of China’s $19 trillion market, Reuters reported. China further deregulated its financial markets in 2019, allowing foreign asset managers to form majority-owned wealth […]

ASIA: President Xi Jinping announced plans this month to spread “common prosperity” in what is one of the world’s most unequal major economies, signaling a shift from his predecessors’ pursuit of growth and heralding a tough crackdown on wealthy elites – including China’s burgeoning group of technology billionaires. China, the first country to succumb to […]

ASIA: China’s economy stalled this month as the country tried to stamp out a surge in coronavirus cases and contended with the ongoing shipping crisis. China’s economy initially coped with the pandemic much better than many of its peers, recording growth last year as others shrank. But the fallout from the Delta variant and China’s […]

ASIA: China’s businesses and the broader economy came under increasing pressure in August as factory activity expanded at a slower pace while the services sector slumped into contraction, raising the likelihood of more near-term policy support to boost growth. The world’s second-biggest economy staged an impressive recovery from a coronavirus-battered slump, but momentum has weakened […]

ASIA: China is maintaining “normal communication” with the United States on trade, the Chinese government said on Thursday. Washington and Beijing signed a so-called Phase 1 trade deal in January 2020, before the widespread outbreak of COVID-19. The pact calls for China to increase its purchases of U.S. exports by $200 billion over two years. […]

ASIA: The Reserve Bank of India may launch its first digital currency trial programs by December, central bank governor Shaktikanta Das told CNBC. Central banks including those in China, Europe, and the UK are exploring digital currencies that they would issue, either to commercial lenders or to the public directly. The RBI is studying various […]

ASIA: China’s President Xi Jinping said China will strive to hit key economic and social development targets set for this year, even as authorities maintain an aggressive approach to containing Covid-19. Xi said China should push for high-quality development and better coordinated policies around development and safety. He was speaking during a visit to Chengde […]