China Economic Scan - Your daily update on the Chinese economy.
In this edition: Morgan Stanley raises 2009 China GDP forecast, China shipbuilder orders fell 95% YTD, Hong Kong Exchange reported earnings down 49%, HK & China Gas to invest 5bln yuan in China, Chinese shares close down on Thursday.
Top 5 headlines
Morgan Stanley raises 2009 China GDP forecast
- Morgan Stanley raised its forecast for China economic growth to 7-8% from 5% for 2009
- Morgan Stanley Asia Chairman Stephen Roach said growth may fall back to 5.5 to 7% in 2010 as external demand will remain weak.
- "It's premature to say China is enjoying a V-shaped recovery. I think the outcome is going to be closer to the letter W."
China Shipbuilder Orders Fell 95% in First 4 Months
- New orders placed with China’s shipyards fell 95 percent during the first four months of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.
- Orders from January to April dropped to 990,000 deadweight tons, the ministry said on its Web site.
- New orders last month reached 200,000 deadweight tons, taking total order books to 195 million deadweight tons at the end of April, 7% higher than a year earlier, it said.
Hong Kong Exchange Declines to Say Profits Bottomed
- Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing said net income dropped 49% to HK$834.2 million ($108 million) in the 3 months ended March 31, after the global recession caused trading to decline.
- The average daily value of securities traded on the exchange slumped 55 percent to HK$44.7 billion from a year earlier.
- The value of securities traded has climbed to a daily average of HK$70.5 billion this quarter and yesterday increased to HK$146.6 billion, the highest since Jan. 23, 2008.
HK & China Gas to invest up to 5 bln yuan in China
- Gas distributor Hong Kong and China Gas Co Ltd said on Thursday it plans to invest 4 billion yuan ($586.3 million) to 5 billion yuan in China this year.
- Its capital expenditure in China amounted to about HK$3 billion last year ($385 million).
- The increased investment this year will be focused on new energy projects such as coal and chemicals in Inner Mongolia, managing director Chan Wing-kin said.
Chinese shares down 0.9% on fall of surrounding markets
- Chinese stocks closed down on Thursday; the Hang Seng was down -3.04% to 16,542, Shanghai Composite -0.90% to 2,640, Shenzhen Component -0.41% to 10,252, TAIEX -1.87% to 6364.
- Weak blue chips pulled down the market. PetroChina declined 1.35% to 13.11 yuan (1.93 U.S. dollars), and Sinopec lost 2.21% to 10.6 yuan.
- Financial shares led the fall. China Merchants Bank slid 2.93% to 17.23 yuan, and China Ping An declined 2.75% to 40.37 yuan.
Financial Indicators:
| Metric | Value | Point change | % change |
| Hang Seng Index | 16,542 | -517.93 | -3.04% |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,640 | -23.88 | -0.90% |
| Shenzhen Component | 10,252 | -42.22 | -0.41% |
| TAIEX | 6,364 | -120.97 | -1.87% |
| CNY/USD | 6.8295 | 0.0025 | 0.04% |
Source: China Economic Scan
