This daily digest focuses on market sentiment, new developments in China’s foreign exchange policy, changes in financial market regulations and Chinese-language economic coverage in order to keep DailyFX readers up-to-date on news typically covered only in Chinese-language sources.
- The Chinese Yuan ranks #6 in the global payments in May, making up 1.9% of all global transactions.
- China’s State Council approved railway infrastructure plans for medium-to-long term.
- IPOs in the Chinese market dropped -66% over the first six months of 2016.
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Hexun News: Chinese leading online media of financial news.
- The PBOC issued 210 billion yuan of 7-day reverse repos on June 29th. After deducting the 150 billion yuan of reverse repos maturing on the day, the net liquidity added was 60 billion yuan. The Central Bank has significantly increased cash injections this week in the effort of coping with external turbulence and internal demand. The net liquidity added on Monday and Tuesday was 100 billion and 70 billion yuan respectively.
- The Chinese Yuan accounted for 1.9% of the global payments in May, rising from 1.82% in April, according to SWIFT. The Yuan remains No.6 in the ranking of world payment currencies. Among all the Yuan offshore settlements (excluded in mainland and Hong Kong), the settlements made in the UK took up 23.6%, the most. Yuan payments in Singapore, Taiwan and the US took up 19.8%, 11.6% and 10.5% respectively. Yet, these percentages may change soon due to the Brexit decision as the London offshore Yuan center may lose part of its role as the gateway to the Europe.
- The State Council approved China’s Railway Plan in the Medium to Long Term on June 29th. The Plan reveals detailed targets of railway infrastructure projects in the Midwest region. Also, local governments, private investors, as well as foreign investors are encouraged to participate in the railway projects. This provides opportunities for Chinese manufacturing firms which are facing overcapacity and low demand. The plan could also help balance the uneven development between the East-coast and the Midwest regions: As the central government is expected to invest significantly in these projects (amounts not yet disclosed), this may also help to balance the uneven income distribution between the central and local governments.
Sina News: China’s most important online media source, similar to CNN in the US. They also own a Chinese version of Twitter, called Weibo, with around 200 million active usersmonthly.
- Chinese IPOs dropped by -66% over the first half of 2016 from a year ago, according to a report from Ernst & Young (China). Over the past six months, 63 companies went public and attracted 21.7 billion Yuan. The average amount raised through IPOs was 503 million Yuan, the lowest since 2008. This slowdown was mostly guided by regulators in the effort of stabilizing China’s equity market, while the economy has entered the L-shaped growth period. IPOs in the Hong Kong market shrank as well: Over the same period, 23 companies went public in Hong Kong, dropping 26% from a year ago.
- China’s coal production dropped -8.4% to 1.34 billion tons over the first five months of 2016, led by the national production cut. As of the end of May, coal inventory fell by -9.2% to 120 million tons. However, imported coal increased by 3.7%, to 86 million tons over the first five months. This reveals that the high inventory in China’s coal sector is not only led by domestic over-supply but also because of lower quality-to-price compared with overseas products. Thus, in order to solve the overcapacity issue, Chinese coal firms need to continue to cut excess production; as the same time, they need to improve the efficiency and the quality of their products and in-turn better compete with international producers.
- China’s investment in renewable energy increased +425% to $657 million in the first quarter of 2016 on an annualized basis. The nation has been actively promoting the development of renewable energy with policy support. In late September 2013, the Chinese government set up a national plan to establish a financing system designated for projects with environmental benefits. On January 27th, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank issued the first ‘Green bond’ in China. According to the Chief Economist from the PBOC, Ma Jun, the Green bonds approved by the regulator over the first five months has exceeded 100 billion yuan.
Written by Renee Mu, DailyFX Research Team
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