CX Daily: Five Things to Know About Chinese Policy Banks’ Latest $45 Billion Infrastructure Stimulus
The stimulus could in theory leverage as much as 1.2 trillion yuan in credit from the market, economists say
Policy banks /
Five things to know about Chinese policy banks’ latest $45 billion infrastructure stimulus
The Chinese government has once again leveraged its policy banks to aid its “all-out” infrastructure investment drive in hopes of rescuing a struggling economy in the last six months of the year.
The State Council, China’s cabinet, announced June 30 that 300 billion yuan ($45 billion) will be raised through financial bond sales and other methods to fund infrastructure projects. The arrangement comes in addition to an 800 billion yuan increase in policy banks’ lending quota announced June 1, also to support infrastructure investment.
Covid-19 /
Beijing neighborhoods take back electronic bracelets after quarantine complaints
Several neighborhoods in Beijing are retrieving Covid-19 monitors they gave out to residents in home quarantine after online criticism of the requirement to wear the temperature gauges during isolation gained considerable traction.
The quarantine bracelets were deemed by social media users as likely to threaten rights and privacy amid growing concerns over data privacy in China’s Covid-19 playbook.
Hong Kong /
Hong Kong bogus marriage ‘masterminds’ sentenced to 33 months in prison
A Hong Kong district court sentenced the ringleaders of a gang that arranged more than 150 fake cross-border marriages to almost three years in prison, a longer term than usual due to the seriousness and extent of their criminal activities.
The main culprits, 45-year-old male Chen Jingwei, who was identified as the “mastermind,” and 52-year-old female Shi Yunping, each received sentences of 33 months Wednesday, according to a statement on the Hong Kong government website.
FINANCE & ECONOMY
GDP /
China’s second-quarter GDP growth sinks to 0.4% as lockdowns bite
China’s economy expanded 0.4% year-on-year in the three months through June, the weakest quarterly expansion since the coronavirus pandemic first gripped the country in early 2020, official data showed Friday.
The GDP growth rate slumped from a 4.8% year-on-year pace in the first quarter and trailed the average estimate of 0.8% growth in a Caixin survey of economists. For the first half of the year, GDP grew 2.5%, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show, raising the odds that full-year growth will miss the government’s target of around 5.5%.
Banking /
Spreading mortgage strike stokes financial contagion fears
Escalating refusals by frustrated homebuyers to make mortgage payments on stalled property projects delivered a hit to Chinese bank stocks amid growing fears of financial contagion.
Stocks of Chinese banks plummeted for two consecutive days as the news swirled. Bank stocks in Shanghai declined 1.69% Wednesday and a further 1.54% Thursday, according to data from Hithink Flush Information Network Co. Ltd.
Jobless /
Shanghai jobless rate soars amid Covid-19 lockdowns
Shanghai’s urban unemployment rate climbed to 12.5% in the second quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, making it the only province-level area in China with a double-digit jobless level during the period.
After enduring severe Covid-19 lockdowns in April and May, unemployment in the city is now double the national average of 5.8%. Its half-year figure of 8.9% is also 3.2 percentage points higher than the national level.
China’s premier pledges to shore up employment as economy sputters
Quick hits /
Industrial Bank joints digital yuan pilot program
China’s budget deficit widens 600% as pandemic cuts revenue
BUSINESS & TECH
The 1,318 kilometer Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway is one of the busiest in the world.
Railway /
Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway to post first quarterly loss since IPO
Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway Co. Ltd. expects to report its first quarterly loss since the railway operator went public in 2020 as train travel shrinks amid strict pandemic control measures in China, the company said Thursday.
The bottom line swung to a net loss of 1.55 billion to 1.03 billion yuan ($230 million to $153 million) for the first half, the railway said.
Cloud /
Kingsoft word processor scandal raises awkward questions for cloud firms
Kingsoft Corp., the company behind one of China’s most popular word processors, was forced to deny that it censored a writer’s draft novel — stored on her hard drive — by locking her out of it. The incident raises awkward questions for cloud service providers about unauthorized policing of private documents.
The case was propelled into the public eye this week by an online influencer. After a groundswell of social media reaction that included other users sharing similar experiences, the company issued a statement Monday saying it had suspended the file for suspicion of violating the law.
The company backtracked Wednesday with another statement saying it never censors, locks or deletes a user’s local files but that it does review files hosted on its platforms in accordance with Chinese law.
Quick hits /
Hotpot chain Haidilao’s overseas unit files for Hong Kong flotation
JD.com unit buys one of China’s largest warehouse operators
Tech Insider /
Alibaba probe report spooks investors, Chinese sorting robots headed to U.S.
GALLERY
China’s National Museum exhibits Italy’s origins
WEEKEND LONG READ
