China’s automobiles exports jumped 34% in April from a year earlier, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed.

The country exported 504,000 vehicles last month, most of which are passenger cars, according to the data.

In the first four months of the year, China exported 1.827 million vehicles, up 33.4 percent from the same period last year.

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   China adds 730 bln yuan new bank loans in April

 

 

China added 730 billion yuan in new yuan loans in April, down from 3.09 trillion yuan in March, data from the central bank showed.

New loads totaled 10.19 trillion yuan for the first four months of the year.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, climbed 7.2 percent year on year to 301.19 trillion yuan at the end of last month.

The M1, which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, stood at 66.01 trillion yuan at the end of April, down 1.4 percent year on year, according to the People's Bank of China.
 

China’s railway passenger trips rose 9.6% in April, official data showed on Tuesday.

The country recorded 1.37 billion railway passenger trips in the first four months, up 22.9% from last year, the National Railway Administration said.

In April alone, the country saw 360.15 million railway passenger trips.
 

China has launched a nationwide campaign to boost sales of new energy vehicles in rural areas.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and four other government bodies have launched an initiative to bolster sales of NEVs in rural China.

The campaign which runs from May to December will include exhibitions, test drives and other consumer experiences.

China left a key policy rate unchanged on Wednesday.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said it kept the rate on 125 billion yuan in one-year medium-term lending facility loans to some financial institutions unchanged at 2.50%.

Australia's unemployment rate rises to 4.1% in April, up from a revised 3.9% in March, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.

Employment rose by around 38,000 people whereas the number of unemployed grew by 30,000, according to Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics.

Jarvis said the country’s labour market remains tight but less tight than in late 2022 and early 2023.

U.S. President Joe Biden announced sharp increases on an array of Chinese imports including electric vehicle batteries, semiconductors and solar cells and medical products.

The Biden administration has doubled its levies on Chinese semiconductors and solar cells from 25% to 50%. It raised tariffs on syringes and needles from 0%to 50%.

The tariff on electric vehicles was hiked up from 25% to 100%.

U.S. retail sales were unchanged from March, official data showed on Wednesday.

Retail sales was revised down to a 0.6% increase in March.

Gasoline prices went up 2.8% in April whereas cost of shelter increased 0.4%.
 

The euro zone economy expanded 0.3% in the first quarter of the year, Eurostat said on Wednesday.

The economy contracted 0.1% in the last quarter of 2023.

Spain’s economy expanded 0.7% in the first quarter, the strongest performer within the euro zone countries.

Employment grew 0.3% in the first quarter.

 

Japan’s economy fell 2% in the first quarter from the same period last year, according to the preliminary gross domestic product data from the Cabinet Office.

The economy barely grew in the fourth quarter of 2023 in the downwardly revised data.

The revised first quarter data will be released in June, according to Reuters.