China kept lending benchmark rates unchanged on Wednesday. China's usage of power and natural gas reached record high on Sunday due to surging energy demand as strong cold waves hit many parts of the country, the country's top economic planner said on Tuesday. Major Chinese cities reported falling home prices in November. China’s industrial output rose 6.6% in November, up from October’s growth of 4.6%.
IFF Vice Chair speaks at Hong Kong’s finance forum
Zhu Xian, Vice Chair and Secretary General of the International Finance Forum (IFF) spoke at the 13th Hong Kong International Forum.
As an international financial hub, Hong Kong plays a key role in global finance and provides financial services for the Chinese mainland, Zhu pointed out.
The development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area) is a key strategic planning in China’s development blueprint and Hong Kong plays an important role in the development of the Greater Bay area, said Zhu.
He stressed that the IFF established its Hong Kong centre in May because of Hong Kong’s unique positioning and its important role in connecting the Chinese mainland with the rest of the world. “The city is an ideal place to host high-level international financial and economic forums,” said Zhu.
IFF Academic Committee member Xia Le speaks on innovation during CGTN interview
Enterprises should take the lead in China’s innovation drive, said Asia Chief Economist at BBVA and IFF’s Academic Committee Member Xia Le.
During an interview with CGTN, Xia said innovation from enterprises will be the most effective way to implement innovation strategy.
Xia added that government can play a very important role to facilitate innovation and forge innovative competition between different enterprises.
He thinks finance plays a key role in the innovation process. A robust and competitive financial system can help support innovation.
China keeps lending benchmark rates unchanged
China kept lending benchmark rates unchanged on Wednesday.
The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was kept at 3.45%, unchanged from the previous month while the five-year LPR was kept at 4.2%.
The one-year LPR is the market-based benchmark lending rate and many lenders base their mortgage rates on the five year LPR.
China sees record usage of power, gas amid cold wave
China's usage of power and natural gas reached record high on Sunday due to surging energy demand as strong cold waves hit many parts of the country, the country's top economic planner said on Tuesday.
The country's electricity load reached 1.242 billion kilowatts and gas consumption totaled 1.423 billion cubic meters, which were 83 million kilowatts and 108 million cubic meters higher than the peaks of last year's heating season, Li Chao, spokesperson of the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference.
China has seen sharp temperature drops and heavy snowfall over the past week.
China’s home prices fall in November
Major Chinese cities reported falling home prices in November, official data showed.
China’s 70 large and medium-sized cities saw month-on-month declines in both new and existing home prices, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.
In China’s biggest cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, prices of new homes edged down 0.3 percent last month, while prices of resold homes dropped 1.4 percent.
Meanwhile investment in the property sector fell 9.4% in the first 11 months of the year.
China's industrial output grows 6.6% in November
China’s industrial output rose 6.6% in November, up from October’s growth of 4.6%, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.
Industrial output edged up 0.87% from October.
The output of equipment manufacturing expanded 9.8% year on year last month, up 3.6 percentage points from that in October. High-tech manufacturing registered a 6.2% increase in industrial output in November, up 4.4 percentage points from October, the data showed.
China’s fixed-asset investment rises 2.9% Jan-Nov
China’s fixed-asset investment rose 2.9% in the first eleven months of the year from the same period last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.
Investment in infrastructure construction and the manufacturing sector expanded 5.8% and 6.3%.
China’s retail sales expand 10.1% in November
China's retail sales of consumer goods expanded 10.1 percent year on year in November, official data showed Friday.
Online retail sales rose 11% year on year in the first 11 months. In particular, online retail sales rose 8.3% year on year to 11.77 trillion yuan, accounting for 27.5 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.
EU countries reach deal on fiscal rules
Finance ministers of the European Union reached a deal to reform the bloc’s fiscal rules.
The new rules set minimum amounts of average deficit and debt reduction a government must observe.
The new rules will set a slow but steady pace of deficit and debt reduction from 2025 over five or seven years, according to Reuters.
Toshiba delisted after 74 years
Japan’s industrial giant Toshiba was delisted on Wednesday after 74 years on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The company is taken private by a group of investors led by private equity investor Japan Industrial Partners.
The move comes after the company was embroiled in an enormous accounting scandal.
The $14 billion deal followed eight years of turmoil which included a bitter battle between management and overseas activist investors.
Canada’s inflation rises 3.1% in November
Canada’s consumer price index rose 3.1% in the twelve months to November, official data showed on Tuesday.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 3.5%.
Higher prices for travelling put upward pressure on consumer prices, which was offset by lower food and energy prices.
Prices edged up 0.1% on a monthly basis in November.
UK inflation falls to 3.9% in November
Inflation in the UK fell to 3.9% in November, down from 4.6% in October, official data showed on Wednesday.
Core inflation which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices rose 5.1% in the twelve months to November, down from 5.7% in October.
The easing in the annual rate between October and November 2023 was a result of prices falling by 0.2% on the month compared with a rise of 0.4% a year earlier, according to Office for National Statistics.
