HOME>NEWS CENTER>Newsletters
IFF Newsletter Issue 126
TIME：2024-06-07
From the Editor
China’s factory activity shrank in May, official data showed on Friday. The country's spacecraft Chang’e-6 has lifted off from the far side of the moon, carrying lunar samples. Lottery sales saw robust growth in April. And China’s securities regulator has fined a unit of China Evergrande 4.175 billion yuan for fraudulent bond issuance and illegal information disclosure.
Canada’s central bank cut its key policy rate on Wednesday, the first rate cut since March 2020. Australia’s economy grew 1.1% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed on Wednesday. U.S. job openings in April fell to the lowest level since February 2021, official data showed on Tuesday. Brazil’s economy edged up 0.8% quarter on quarter in the first three months of the year. Japan’s birth rate hit a new record low in 2023.
China’s factory activity shrinks in May
China’s factory activity shrank in May, official data showed on Friday.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 49.5 in May from 50.4 in April, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. The 50-mark separates growth from contraction.
The non-manufacturing PMI edged down to 51.1 in May from 51.2 in the previous month.
The PMI’s sub-index for new orders fell 1.5 percentage points from the previous month to 49.6 whereas the sub-index for inventory came in at 47.8, down from 48.1 in April.
China’s spacecraft collects samples from far side of moon
China’s spacecraft Chang’e-6 has lifted off from the far side of the moon, carrying lunar samples, a statement from China National Space Administration (CNSA) said on Tuesday.
It’s the first time that samples has been collected from the far side of the moon.
CNSA said Chang’e-6 withstood the test of high temperature on the far side of the moon.
The spacecraft faced additional operating challenge as communications with ground stations on Earth relied on relay satellite Queqiao-2.
Chang’e-6 displayed China’s national flag for the first time on the far side of the moon.
The samples are expected to land in China’s Inner Mongolia around June 25.
China’s electronics manufacturing sector expands in Jan.-Apr.
China’s electronics manufacturing sector posted strong growth in the first four months of 2024, official data showed.
The combined profits of major companies in the sector rose 75.8% from January to April from the same period last year, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.
The combined operating revenue of these companies rose 7.9% year on year.
Industrial output of the sector rose 13.6% year on year, the data showed.
The growth was attributed to steady increase in production and recovering domestic and global demand.
China’s lottery sales grew 10.2% year on year to 55.46 billion yuan in April, data from the Ministry of Finance showed on Tuesday.
Sales of welfare lottery tickets rose 20.3% to 18.76 billion yuan in April while those of sports tickets increased 5.7% to 36.69 billion yuan.
Lottery sales went up 17% on year in the first four months of the year to 204.92 billion yuan.
China’s securities regulator has fined a unit of China Evergrande 4.18 billion yuan for fraudulent bond issuance and illegal information disclosure.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said on Friday that it would fine China’ Evergrande’s flagship unit Hengda Real Estate for inflating its business revenues and profits in 2019 and 2020 during its issuance of corporate bonds.
The regulator also fined Evergrande founder Xu Jiayin 47 million yuan and barred him from the securities market for life.
Newsletter
International News
Canada’s central bank cut its key policy rate on Wednesday, the first rate cut since March 2020.
The Bank of Canada lowered its rates to 4.75% from 5%.
The central bank said in a statement that “monetary policy no longer needs to be as restrictive” since there is “continued evidence that underlying inflation is easing”.
Canada’s inflation eased to 2.7% in April.
Australia’s economy grew 1.1% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed on Wednesday.
The economy rose 0.1% quarter on quarter.
“GDP growth was weak in March, with the economy experiencing its lowest through the year growth since December 2020. GDP per capita fell for the fifth consecutive quarter, falling 0.4 per cent in March and 1.3 per cent through the year,” said Katherine Keenan, ABS head of national accounts.
U.S. job openings in April fell to the lowest level since February 2021, official data showed on Tuesday.
Job openings fell to 8.1 million in April, down from a revised 8.36 million in March, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.
Job openings decreased in health care and social assistance and in state and local government education, according to the data.
Brazil’s economy edged up 0.8% quarter on quarter in the first three months of the year, official data showed on Tuesday.
The growth was driven by strong growth in agriculture, which rose 11.3%, data from the Brazilian Institute of Statistics (IBGE) showed.
Household consumption has shown continued growth in the quarter, according to Rebeca Palis, IBGE’s Coordinator of National Accounts.
Japan’s birth rate hit a new record low in 2023, official data showed on Wednesday.
The number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime dropped to 1.2 last year, according to Japan’s Health Ministry.
The number of newborns, 727,277, was also the lowest since record began in 1899.
In contrast, the country recorded 1,575,936 deaths last year.
SHARE:
