China Economic Scan - Your daily update on the Chinese economy.
In this edition: Wen says China should have 'moderately loose' monetary policy, China state firms profits fall 30.3%, China increases cigarette tax, Suning Appliance to raise 3 bln yuan in private placement, Franklin Templeton renews Chinese investment license.
Top 5 headlines
China Should Have ‘Moderately Loose’ Monetary Policy
- China should have a “moderately loose” monetary policy and implement “proactive financial policies,” Premier Wen Jiabao said during a visit to Hebei.
- “We need to fully realize the stimulus measures,” Wen said, according to the statement. “We should focus on structural adjustment while maintaining economic stability and relatively fast growth.”
- Wen “is trying to maintain optimism while acknowledging risks,” David Cohen, head of Asian forecasting at Action Economics in Singapore, said over the phone today. “Global demand will start to pick up and that should provide some boost to Chinese manufacturing.”
China Jan-May state firm profits down 30.3 pct y/y
- Profits at Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) continued to fall in the first five months from year-earlier levels, but the pace of decline slowed from the first four months, an official newspaper said on Saturday.
- Overall profits of SOEs in the first five months reached 425.4 billion yuan ($62.3 billion), down 30.3% from a year earlier, compared with a drop of 32.3% in the first four months, the Securities Times quoted the Ministry of Finance as saying.
- Among them, enterprises controlled by the central government registered profits of 331.55 billion yuan from January to May, down 23.3% year on year, while those backed by local governments had profits of 93.85 billion yuan, down 47.4%.
China increases cigarette tax to add to state coffers
- China has increased tax on cigarettes by between 6-11% to tap additional revenue for for future government spending.
- The tax rise took effect from the beginning of May 1, and a new tax of 5% was also imposed on cigarette wholesalers, China State Administration of Taxation said in a statement posted on its Web site (www.chinatax.gov.cn) on late Friday.
- "This is to appropriately increase the government's fiscal revenue and also to perfect the cigarette taxing system," it said. The tax has not yet been passed on to smokers.
China's Suning to raise 3 bln yuan in placement
- Chinese retailer Suning Appliance said on Saturday that it intended to raise around 3 billion yuan ($439 million) in a private placement for purposes including building new chain shops around China.
- Suning planned to issue up to 200 million new yuan-denominated A shares to private investors, including its chairman Zhang Jindong, it said in a statement published in the China Securities Journal.
- Proceeds would also be used to build six logistics centres in Chinese cities including Beijing and Tianjin and to supplement working capital, it said.
Franklin Templeton Gets Chinese Investment License
- Franklin Resources Inc., manager of the Franklin and Templeton mutual funds, said it received a new license to invest in Chinese stocks and bonds after an earlier permit held by a unit expired.
- Franklin Templeton will also invest in China through private-equity and its joint venture in the world’s third- largest economy, the statement said. It will also buy shares of Chinese companies traded in Hong Kong, it added.
- Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc are among more than 80 overseas institutions cleared to invest in Chinese stocks and bonds under the so-called QFII program.
Financial Indicators:
| Metric | Value | Point change | % change |
| Hang Seng Index | 17,921 | ||
| Shanghai Composite | 2,880 | ||
| Shenzhen Component | 11,242 | ||
| TAIEX | 6,231 | ||
| CNY/USD | 6.8376 |
Source: China Economic Scan
