The China-Central Asia Summit kicked off in Xi’an on Thursday.

China’s President Xi Jinping is expected to discuss economic and security cooperation with his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The two-day summit is the first in-person event as last year’s event was held online.

China’s trade with the five central Asia countries reached $70 billion last year according to the official Xinhua news agency.

 

China’s industrial output rose at an annualised rate of 5.6% while retail sales jumped 18.4% in April, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Tuesday.

Industrial output expansion was largely driven by growth in manufacturing and the energy sector.

Catering sales surged 43.8% in April while goods retail grew 15.9%.

China’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged and added more liquidity on Monday.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) kept the one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans to some financial institutions unchanged at 2.75% while injecting 125 billion yuan into the market through one-year MLF.

The central bank also added 2 billion yuan through seven-day reverse repos.  

China extended 718.8 billion new yuan loans in April, a sharp drop from those in March. The broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits rose 12.4% from last year by the end of April, down by 0.3% from March.

China’s investment in property development fell at an annualised rate of 6.2% in the first four months of the year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Tuesday.

Sales of commercial buildings dipped 0.4%, up from a drop of 1.8% in the first three months of the year.

The index tracking China’s property sector continued to rise and came in at 94.78 in April, slightly up from March’s reading of 94.72.

Meanwhile, fixed-asset investment rose 4.7% in the first four months of the year.

 

China’s e-commerce logistics activities expanded in April, the official Xinhua reported citing industry data.

The index tracking e-commerce logistics activities went up 0.7 points from March to 109 points, exceeding the highest point in 2022, according to a survey by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and e-commerce giant JD.com.

The world economy is to expand 2.3% this year and 2.5% in 2024, according to a report by the United Nations on Tuesday.

Prospects for a robust global economic recovery remain dim as the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic carry on, according to the UN’s latestWorld Economic Situation and Prospects report, released on Tuesday.

Risks of a prolonged period of low growth stand, amid stubborn inflation, rising interest rates, and heightened uncertainties, in addition to the ever-worsening impact of climate change, thereport found.

Inflation in the euro zone rose 7% in April, up from 6.9% in March, data from Eurostat showed on Wednesday.

Core inflation, prices excluding food and energy prices, slowed to 7.3% from 7.5%.

Food, alcohol & tobacco rose 13.5% in April, down from March’s 15.5% while services grew 5.2%, down by 0.1% from March. Energy prices meanwhile rose 2.4% compared to a 0.9% drop in March.

 

The Group of Seven planed to launch a new scheme to diversify global supply chains this year, finance ministers of the group agreed on Saturday.

In a communique after the meeting between G7 finance ministers and central bank governors, the group said they are developing “Partnership for RISE” a programme that aims to support low- and middle-income countries in playing bigger roles in the midstream and downstream in supply chains of clean energy products.

The ministers reiterated their support for Ukraine and vowed to maintain financial stability.

China’s director of the Office of Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi met with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Vienna last week.

The two sides held “candid, in-depth, substantive and constructive discussions” to “remove obstacles in and stabilise China-US relations”, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.

The White House said the meeting was part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage competition.