China Economics Update Inflation Monitor (May) The gradual slowdown in economic growth should help to ease price pressures over coming months. Recent figures show that food prices continue to fall, while underlying non-food inflation appears to be... 2nd June 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update How much further will China tighten? Monetary conditions in China are no longer particularly loose and efforts to “normalise” policy are probably nearer to completion than generally believed. We expect three more reserve ratio increases... 31st May 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Does China face a hard landing? China has been slowing for a while but a hard landing is unlikely. The threat from power shortages is less severe than may first seem and with inflation likely to fade – in part due to slower growth –... 23rd May 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Strong Hong Kong growth stokes property bubble fears Hong Kong is on course for another year of above-trend growth after a strong performance in Q1, but its property bubble is growing. Prices could plausibly halve if buyers started to question how long... 13th May 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Inflation high, activity unexpectedly weak Inflation fell last month but it remains at a level that will keep China’s policymakers on edge. There was also further evidence that the economy was weaker at the start of Q2 than previously thought... 11th May 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Inflation Monitor (Apr.) Headline inflation probably fell last month on the back of sharp outright falls in vegetable prices. With economic growth stabilising, policymakers signalling they are willing to tolerate faster... 10th May 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Thaw in US-China relations unlikely to last Today’s economic discussions between China and the US are taking place in an atmosphere of unusual warmth. There are two obvious reasons – the fall in China’s trade surplus and the renminbi’s recent... 9th May 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update A policy shift on the renminbi China appears to be on the verge of allowing faster currency appreciation in response to inflation . This may not last long if inflation drops back in the second half of the year, as we expect. For... 19th April 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Activity slows, inflation concerns remain China’s Q1 GDP data confirm that the economy has slowed, though the seasonally-adjusted figures were less enlightening than we had hoped. The continued strength of food price inflation is a concern... 15th April 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update What should we make of the new financing measure? The People’s Bank today launched a new measure of financing conditions. In this Update we outline what the new measure is and how useful we expect it to be. 14th April 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update People's Bank still intervening heavily China may have recorded a trade deficit last quarter but the pace of its intervention to hold down the renminbi barely slowed. Meanwhile, a rebound in lending last month is consistent with our view... 14th April 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Inflation Monitor (Mar.) Food prices probably drove headline inflation back above 5% in March, but non-food inflation still seems subdued, particularly when the impact of January’s re-weighting of the CPI basket is taken into... 13th April 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update What should we make of today's rate hike? The timing of today’s rate hike was a minor surprise but the bigger picture is that interest rates have played a small part in China’s tightening cycle to date. We think that monetary tightening over... 5th April 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Commodity prices drive abrupt rebalancing of China's trade High commodity prices have achieved what the last Five-Year Plan and a string of summits with key trading partners could not: a rebalancing of Chinese trade. In this China Watch we consider the... 31st March 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Overheating concerns set to decline Evidence is mounting that China’s overheating threat is receding. The People’s Bank will continue to raise reserve requirements, as it did today, to ensure that bank lending remains under control... 18th March 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update The view from the ground - Q1 2011 China’s businesses are signalling that demand is slowing. Households are slightly less concerned about inflation than they were three months ago. By a wide margin, they still prefer to save rather... 16th March 2011 · 1 min read
