A @KittySquiddy Special: This month in China, February 2023 π¨π³π§΅
A monthly summary of market news and headlines from China.
By @bbsteamer @bubbagumo @foxglobalinvest @jordicalaveraa and @KiwiPMI
By @bbsteamer @bubbagumo @foxglobalinvest @jordicalaveraa and @KiwiPMI
February. The month begins with global attention fixed on a Chinese High-Altitude Balloon (HAB) which has drifted onto the North American continent.
3 Feb: The PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledges that the HAB is from China. "The MFA regrets the unintended entry of the civilian airship into US airspace due to force majeure."
4 Feb: C4ADS, a Washington-based nonprofit, identify customs records that show Chinese state-owned defense companies are shipping navigation equipment, jamming technology and jet-fighter parts to sanctioned Russian government-owned defense companies.
6 Feb: After a US F-22 aircraft shoots down the Chinese HAB, MFA Spokesperson Mao Ning condemns the use of force. βThe US in particular should act in a calm, professional and proper manner without the use of force.β
7 Feb: Addressing top Communist Party and government officials at a follow-up session to the 20th party congress, Xi said Chinaβs path βshowed a new modernisation model, different from the Westβ, which he called a βbrand new form of human civilisationβ.
7 Feb: Later that evening, US President Joe Biden taunts Xi Jinping in his 2023 State of the Union Address, saying autocracies had grown weaker around the world and no one would want the Chinese leaderβs job.
8 Feb: NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg holds a joint press conference with the US Secretary of Defense. Stoltenberg states there is evidence that China is substantially building up its military forces (including nuclear weapons) without any international transparency.
16 Feb: US President Joe Biden seeks to ease public concerns after the recent shooting down of a Chinese balloon. βWeβre not looking for a new Cold War, but I make no apologies, and we will competeβ.
19 Feb: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi of consequences should China provide material support to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Afterwards, Blinken said that Washington was concerned Beijing was considering supplying weapons to Moscow.
19 Feb: Also at the Munich Security Conference, Zhou Bo, a PLA Senior Colonel (Ret.) says that the war in Ukraine 'has nothing to do with China'.
h/t @RealKing_Mufasa
youtu.be
h/t @RealKing_Mufasa
youtu.be
However, once balloon tensions abated, it was business as usual for China
9 Feb: We are slowly seeing the repercussions of local govt finance drying up because of 3 red lines and then Covid expenditure.
h/t @foxglobalinvest
h/t @foxglobalinvest
11 Feb: βSales of newly built homes in Chinaβs 30 major cities fell 31 per cent in 2022 and continued to decline last month (Jan), according to Wind, a financial data provider.β
h/t @foxglobalinvest
h/t @foxglobalinvest
11 Feb: Is China at 896,000 covid deaths? Govt. experts officially said the Covid death rate by Dec. 2022 was 0.08%. It also said 80% of Chinese were infected during this wave = 890k deaths.
h/t @liqian_ren
h/t @liqian_ren
12 Feb: From early 2020 to mid-2022, China attracted 100s of billions in Foreign Direct Investment.
Now, the inflow has evaporated, and net corporate investment flows are negative for China!
h/t @jnordvig
Now, the inflow has evaporated, and net corporate investment flows are negative for China!
h/t @jnordvig
14 Feb: Diana Choyleva's observations on the China post-Covid economic recovery.
15 Feb: Xiβs Consumer Boom Thwarted by Secret Trades and Debt Misuse
h/t @foxglobalinvest
bloomberg.com
h/t @foxglobalinvest
bloomberg.com
15 Feb: Has China become uninvestable? The jury is increasingly saying yes for now.
22 Feb: Hangzhou city gives 5k to newly-formed 2nd child families, and 20k Yuan to three-child families. More money transfers will occur in every city, as birth rates are now part of the local official KPI.
h/t @liqian_ren
h/t @liqian_ren
22 Feb: CSRC announces a pilot programme, which allows the creation of fixed-asset PE investment funds to invest in residential & commercial real estate to encouraged foreign investors to support their property market.
h/t @foxglobalinvest
scmp.com
h/t @foxglobalinvest
scmp.com
23 Feb: Superb piece on Chinaβs countless challenges ahead. βBy midcentury, China will be the oldest big economy in the world, with an army of 350 million pensioners who donβt produce but soak up ever more social support resources.β
h/t @BurggrabenH
tabletmag.com
h/t @BurggrabenH
tabletmag.com
24 Feb: The Chinese MFA publishes proposals for political settlement of the crisis in Ukraine.
The 12-point settlement plan, put forward by the Chinese side, includes a call for de-escalation and a ceasefire.
h/t @RealKing_Mufasa
tass.com
The 12-point settlement plan, put forward by the Chinese side, includes a call for de-escalation and a ceasefire.
h/t @RealKing_Mufasa
tass.com
The End!
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