HOME>NEWS CENTER>The 4th Board of Directors of IFF (2018-2023)
IFF Newsletter Issue 109
TIME：2024-02-01
From the Editor
China’s fiscal revenue rose 6.4% in 2023 from a year earlier, up from a 0.6% increase in 2022, China’s Vice Finance Minister Wang Dongwei told the press on Thursday. The International Monetary Fund has upgraded China’s growth outlook for 2024 to 4.6%, up by 0.4% in its latest world economic outlook. China’s factory activity shrank again in January, according to official data. And profits of China’s industrial firms rose 16.8% in December from the previous year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Saturday. Hong Kong’s economy grew 3.2% in 2023 from the previous year, according to the advance estimates of the Census and Statistics Department.
The International Monetary Fund said the global economy was descending to a soft landing after upgrading the global economic growth forecast. South Korea’s online shopping reached a record high in 2023 on solid demand for travel, food and other services, official data showed on Thursday. Canada’s fertility rate dropped to an all-time low in 2022 with one woman bearing 1.33 children, official data showed on Wednesday.
China‘s fiscal revenue rises 6.4% in 2023
China’s fiscal revenue rose 6.4% in 2023 from a year earlier, up from a 0.6% increase in 2022, China’s Vice Finance Minister Wang Dongwei told the press on Thursday.
Fiscal expenditure increased 5.4% in 2023.
Wang ascribed the fiscal revenue growth to economic improvement and the low base effect due to tax and fee cuts in 2022.
All of China’s 31 provincial economies saw fiscal revenues’ growth last year according to Wang.
China’s factory activity shrinks in January
China’s factory activity shrank in January, official data showed on Wednesday.
The official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) came in at 49.2, up from 49.0 in December but still below the expansion mark of 50, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
Activity for small-sized enterprises were particularly low with a reading of 47.2, down from December’s 47.1.
New orders rose 0.3% from December to 49 whereas the index for production rose to 51.3 in January.
IMF revises up China growth outlook for 2024
The International Monetary Fund revises up China’s growth outlook for 2024 in its latest update on world economic outlook.
China now is projected to grow 4.6% in 2024, up from 4.2% in its earlier projection in October. China’s growth momentum in 2023 and increased government spending on disaster-resilient infrastructure.
In 2025, the country’s economy is expected to grow 4.1%.
China’s industrial profits rise 16.8% in Dec.
Profits of China’s industrial firms rose 16.8% in December from the previous year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Saturday.
Profits at industrial firms dropped 2.3% in 2023 from a year earlier, according to the data.
Last year, profits at state-owned enterprises fell 3.4% whereas profits of private firms rose 2%, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
Profits of the manufacturing and mining sectors declined 2% and 19.7% respectively.
Hong Kong’s economy grew 3.2% in 2023 from the previous year, according to the advance estimates of the Census and Statistics Department.
The region’s GDP grew 4.3% in the fourth quarter last year, thanks to inbound tourism and private consumption.
Private consumption increased 7.4% last year from a year earlier while exports of services rose 21.2%.
International News
The International Monetary Fund said the global economy was descending to a soft landing after upgrading the global economic growth forecast.
In its latest forecast, the IMF projects that global economy will grow 3.1% in 2024, up by 0.2% from its previous projection in October on account of “greater than expected resilience” in the US and several large emerging and developing economies, as well as fiscal support in China,
The IMF’s chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas wrote that the global economy was descending towards a soft landing.
South Korea’s online shopping reached a record high in 2023 on solid demand for travel, food and other services, official data showed on Thursday.
The value of online shopping rose 8.3% in 2023 to 227.35 trillion won from the previous year, according to data from Statistics Korea, the highest level since 2001, according to Yonhap news agency.
Growth momentum slowed last year compared to 2022 and 2021 which saw 20.2% and 10.3% increases respectively.
Japan exported 4.42 million vehicles in 2023, up 16% from the previous year, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
Domestic auto sales totaled 4.78 million units last year.
Canada’s fertility rate dropped to an all-time low in 2022 with one woman bearing 1.33 children, official data showed on Wednesday.
The 7.4% decline from 2021 to 2022 was the steepest since the 7.6% decline from 1971 to 1972.
The sharp drop in fertility was observed in 11 of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories.
