Bloomberg reports: “China’s trade surplus widened to a record in September, boosting the currency reserves that may shield the world’s fourth-biggest economy from the global crisis. Exports rose 21.5 percent from a year earlier to $136.4 billion after gaining 21.1 percent in August, the customs bureau said on its Web site. The trade surplus climbed […]

Another month, another set of stats: • Inflation: “China’s politically sensitive consumer inflation eased in August to a 14-month low…Consumer prices rose 4.9 percent in August over the same month last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said. That was down from July’s 6.3 percent and well below February’s 8.7 percent rate — the peak […]

This month’s stat wrap core comes courtesy of Caijing Magazine, which informs us in its newsletter that: • “China”s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 10.4 percent to top 13 trillion yuan during the first half of the year (according to National Bureau of Statistics)…was down 1.8 percentage points from the same period last year. • […]

While China has been in the WTO since December 2001, it has only now had the first case (the background to which we reported here in September 2006) found against it, as PA reports: “The World Trade Organization made public its first official condemnation of Chinese commercial practices on Friday, releasing a February ruling that […]

The infamous trade surplus is falling, but rather than being driven by structural changes in trade, it is sky-high commodities prices that are having an impact, as AFP reports: “Soaring imports caused China’s trade surplus to shrink nearly 10 percent as rising global commodity prices stoked inflation in the domestic economy, official figures showed Wednesday. […]

The latest stats (with the usual warnings) to come out of China include: Trade: AP reports “China’s trade surplus shrank 10 percent in May from a year earlier, the second straight monthly decline…The $20.2 billion surplus for May was still relatively large — up from a $16.7 billion gap in April and $13.4 billion in […]

While all eyes are rightly on the situation in Sichuan, long-term worries about the economy – especially inflation – continue to rumble in the background, and the impact on agriculture in Sichuan could put more pressure on food prices. AP reports: “China’s inflation rebounded in April to near decade-high levels…Consumer prices in April were up […]

Our old friend David Lammie at Yantze Business Services provides news of their updated report on Yangtze river ports. Yangtze container volumes increase 38 per cent in 2007 as domestic trade surges; Huge spending on transport networks opens up the interior to more inward investment Container traffic volumes on the Yangtze River surged to a […]

It has been a long time coming (we covered developments here in November 2006), but New Zealand recently become the first developed nation to sign a free trade agreement with China. CEP News reported: “The pact will allow a limited number of Chinese workers to enter New Zealand in order to fill sectors experiencing labour […]

While the IMF estimates that China’s GDP will grow at 10 percent in 2008 (below an earlier NDRC estimate), a bigger number, which is causing more angst is that for inflation. Already hitting the headlines (and driven by food price increases) Goldman Sachs recently increased its prediction from 4.5 percent (which was in line with […]