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IFF Newsletter Issue 82
TIME：2023-06-29
From the Editor
China and New Zealand on Wednesday signed a ranged of cooperation agreements on trade, agriculture, forestry, education, and science and innovation. Profits at Chinese industrial firms dropped at an annualised rate of 18.8% in the first five months of the year. Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday called for global cooperation and said the so-called ‘de-risking’ by the West was a false proposition.
A scorching heat wave is to spread from Texas across the Gulf Coast, affecting more than 55 million people in the US. The UN chief called for a debt relief mechanism that supports payment suspensions, longer lending terms and lower rates to make borrowing more affordable for poorer nations. ECB chief Lagarde said corporate profits are the biggest factor that drove up prices in the EU. Canada launched the country’s first climate adaptation strategy on Tuesday. The European Parliament and the Council of the EU on Tuesday agreed on rules that regulate how tech companies use European consumer and corporate data.
Kazakhstan delegation visits IFF in Guangzhou
A delegation led by IFF Board Member and former deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Kairat Kelimbetov on Sunday visited the International Finance Forum at its headquarter in Guangzhou. The delegation and IFF Academic Committee Member Prof. Song Min as well as IFF Deputy Secretary-General Zhuang Jue exchanged opinions on deepening cooperation for countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and using the IFF platform to enhance international dialogues.
Kelimbetov said the IFF platform could promote dialogues as well as sustainable development among countries along the BRI.
Prof. Song thanked Kelimbetov for his support of the IFF and its initiatives and invited him to participate in the 20th Annual Meeting of the IFF.
China, New Zealand sign range of cooperation pacts
China and New Zealand on Wednesday signed a ranged of cooperation agreements on trade, agriculture, forestry, education, and science and innovation, Reuters reported.
The agreements were signed during New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’s five-day visit to China.
President Xi on Tuesday told Hipkins that the two countries should promote trade and investment.
Hipkins said the focus of his meeting with Xi was to boost economic ties with China.
New Zealand officially entered a recession after its economy contracted for two consecutive quarters.
China’s premier calls for cooperation, criticises de-risking at forum
China’s premier Li Qiang on Tuesday called for global cooperation and said the so-called ‘de-risking’ by the West was the a false proposition.
Delivering a keynote speech at a World Economic Forum summit in Tianjin, Li said China is committed to openness an cooperation.
Li thinks some people in the West are hyping up ‘de-risking’, which “to some extent...is a false proposition”.
Li said China will take steps to boost demand and accelerate green transition and China is expected to reach its growth target of around 5%.
China will increase the size of the market, create opportunities of cooperation, and provide a consistent source of dynamism to the world economic recovery and growth as well as opportunities of win-win cooperation to investors from all countries, Li said.
China Dragon Boat Festival trips exceed pre-Covid levels
Tourism trips in China during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival last week rose 32.3% from a year earlier to 106 million, 12.8% higher than that in 2019, data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed.
Revenues from domestic tourism trips however reaches 94.9% of the 2019 level despite a year on year growth of 44.5%.
The country recorded 70.38 million railway trips during the holiday, 7.14 million more than during the same holiday period in 2019, Xinhua reported citing data from China Railway.
Profits at industrial firms dropped at an annualised rate of 18.8% in the first five months of the year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday.
Profits at industrial firms contracted 20.6% in January-April.
"As the external environment becomes increasingly complicated and severe, domestic demand still appears to be insufficient, weighing on further recovery in industrial profits," said NBS statistician Sun Xiao.
Profits at state-owned enterprises fell 17.7% in January-May while earnings dropped 21.3% at private-sector firms.
Beijing and part of northern China experienced record temperatures in the past week, prompting authorities to issue red alerts for extreme heat.
The Nanjiao observatory in southern Beijing on Saturday for the first time recorded temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius for a third consecutive day, according to the China Meteorological Administration. Until Saturday, the city has never recorded three straight days above 40 degrees Celsius.
Temperatures have also soared above 40 degrees in recent days in Tianjin and nearby Hebei province.
Shandong province recorded surface temperatures exceeding 70 degrees Celsius on Saturday.
Temperatures will continue to rise in northern China’s Hebei, Henan and Shandong province later this week, according to forecasts.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing opened its new office in New York last Wednesday as the Hong Kong bourse aims to attract more overseas listings.
As a purpose-driven company, enhancing connectivity across markets and geographies is at our core. Supporting our international clients around the world by being on the ground and listening to their needs is critical so that we can deliver shared sustained success,” said HKEX Chief Executive Officer Nicolas Aguzin.
Apart from New York, HKEX runs international offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore and London.
Newsletter
International News
A scorching heat wave is to spread from Texas across the Gulf Coast, affecting more than 55 million people, according to American media report.
Cities including Dallas and New Orleans have issued excessive heat warnings, the highest criteria of heat alerts,
Heat index in Austin, Texas soared to 118 degrees Fahrenheit (47.78 degrees Celsius) last week.
Earlier US media reported a teenage boy and his stepfather died while hiking in southern Texas where temperatures reached 119 degrees Fahrenheit.
Human-caused climate change has made the extreme heatwave at least five times more likely, according to a recent analysis by Climate Central, a non-profit.
UN chief António Guterres said high debt and exorbitant borrowing costs prevented developing countries from reviving their economies.
Speaking at the Paris Finance Summit, Mr. Guterres said many African States were spending more on debt repayments than on desperately needed healthcare, and that over 50 countries were either in default or “dangerously” close to it.
The UN chief called for adebt relief mechanism that supports payment suspensions, longer lending terms and lower rates to make borrowing more affordable for poorer nations, as well as increased access to liquidity for developing countries via the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights.
The European Central Bank (ECB) will continue to increase rates in July to rein in inflation, said its President Christine Lagarde on Tuesday.
Speaking at a central banking conference in Portugal, the ECB chief said future decisions will ensure that the key ECB interest rates will be brought to levels sufficiently restrictive to achieve a timely return of inflation to our 2% medium-term target and will be kept at those levels for as long as necessary.
Corporate profits are main driver of inflation in the EU as firms reacted to steeply rising input costs by defending their margins, Lagarde said in her speech.
“Unit profits contributed to two-thirds to domestic inflation in 2022,” said Lagarde.
The European Parliament and the Council of the EU on Tuesday agreed on rules that regulate how tech companies use European consumer and corporate data.
The European Data Act was proposed by the European Commission in February 2022, which “aims to boost the EU's data economy by unlocking industrial data, optimising its accessibility and use, and fostering a competitive and reliable European cloud market”.
The measures provide protection from unfair contractual terms imposed by Big Tech, which will enable SMEs to participate in the digital marketplace.
Canada launched on Tuesday the country’s first climate adaptation strategy, the Canadian government said in a statement.
The National Adaptation Strategy lays out a framework to reduce the risk of climate-related disasters, improve health outcomes, protect nature and biodiversity, build and maintain resilient infrastructure, and support a strong economy and workers.
A C$164 million investment to improve flood mapping is already underway and the government has committed C$2 billion since fall 2022 to implement adaptation strategy and support other adaptation-related activities.
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