china first-quarter GDP topped Reuters poll expectations for a 5.1% growth year on year, building on a recovery that began in late 2024, thanks to a broad policy stimulus push.
▶️Retail sales in March rose by 5.9% year on year, sharply beating analysts’ estimates for a 4.2% growth. Industrial output expanded by 7.7% from a year earlier, versus median estimates of 5.8%. ▶️The urban unemployment rate slipped to 5.2% in March, following a two-year high of 5.4% in February. Source: CNBC
China has the largest manufacturing workforce on Earth, by far.
Source: UN, Markets & Mayhem
Some Europeans start to realize what is coming...
▶️ British retailers have warned that Chinese companies risk flooding the U.K. with low cost goods, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs choke off access to the world’s largest consumer market. ▶️“Retailers are very concerned about the risk of some lower quality goods being rerouted from the US to Europe as a result of the tariffs,” said Helen Dickinson, chief executive at the British Retail Consortium. ▶️Analysts said that risk was especially pronounced among Chinese producers selling via online marketplaces such as Amazon, Shein and Temu. Source: CNBC
Crazy numbers coming out of China
A $100 billion (goods) surplus in March, a $275 billion goods surplus for q1 (up from $185 billion last year) and a surplus of nearly $1.1 trillion over the last 4 quarters... The easy explanation is tariff front running. But it seems "too easy" as an explanation. China's exports to the US and the EU look identical -- and there is no "reciprocal" tariff threat out of the EU. Same story with emerging markets: more exports and fewer imports. Source: Brad Setser @Brad_Setser on X
China has suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals and magnets to the U.S. and other countries
It’s also drafting new regulations to block these materials from reaching American companies Source: Stocktwits
Indeed...
Source: @AesPolitics1
Breaking news: China’s finance ministry said the increase from current additional levels of 84% would take effect from April 12.
Xi Jinping breaks silence, says Trump is bullying Europe and the entire world “There are no winners in tariff wars. Going against peace means isolating yourself,” Xi said during a meeting in Beijing with Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez — one of the hardest-hit in this trade war. The Chinese leader urged the EU to unite with Beijing against the U.S. president’s “unilateral intimidation.” Source: FT
Breaking news: China’s finance ministry said the increase from current additional levels of 84% would take effect from April 12.
Xi Jinping breaks silence, says Trump is bullying Europe and the entire world “There are no winners in tariff wars. Going against peace means isolating yourself,” Xi said during a meeting in Beijing with Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez — one of the hardest-hit in this trade war. The Chinese leader urged the EU to unite with Beijing against the U.S. president’s “unilateral intimidation.” Source: FT
