I would say most of that has come from the 4-trillion yuan (585.5 billion U.S. dollars) stimulus package they created last year to keep from feeling the pressure of our 4 day recession we had in our economy. Inflation should be a concern moving forward and also keep in mind that there is a bubble growing. The amount of stimulus put forward throughout the world economy is going to cause major problems moving forward as inflation runs rampant and asset bubbles start to multiply everywhere. China's Economy Grows 11.9% in First Quarter On-Year Reuters | April 14, 2010 | 10:11 PM EDT China's annual gross domestic product growth accelerated in the first quarter to 11.9 percent from 10.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday. Economists had forecast growth of 11.5 percent. It was the fast growth rate since 2007, when the economy expanded 13 percent. The CPI in March fell 0.7 percent from February, while the PPI rose 0.5 percent, the NBS said. The food component of CPI in the first quarter rose 5.1 percent. The economic recovery has gained momentum, laying a good foundation for achieving the government's full-year targets, the NBS said. Only by implementing polices that adjust the economic structure and manage inflationary expectations can China achieve sound and fast economic and social development, the NBS said in a statement. It said GDP in the first quarter totalled 8.058 trillion yuan. In 2009 it amounted to 33.53 trillion yuan. Urban per-capita disposable income was up 7.5 percent from a year earlier in the real terms in the first quarter; real rural per-capita cash incomes were up 9.2 percent.
China SAYS its GDP grew by 11.9%. Read that again, with the explicit understanding of China's command economy and level of media control.
What about Singapore's Q1 2010 GDP of 13.1% YoY. What's going on there? Is that command and control sorta thing too?
No, no. Everythin just fine in good,old China : BEIJING: Chinese companies face climbing overdue payments in both length and amount despite the return to strong economic growth, signaling an increased probability of defaults or even bad debts, said a report from French credit-insurance provider Coface. According to Coface's survey of 966 Chinese companies from October to December 2009, household electrical appliances, transportation, construction, agriculture, industrial machinery, steel and metals are the top six industries benefiting from a government stimulus package. Yet these sectors, with the exceptions of agriculture and transportation, also include the highest numbers of companies reporting long overdue payments accounting for over 2 percent of total sales. "Generally, more than 2 percent of total sales overdue is regarded as a dangerous level, whilst a payment that is overdue for over 12 months has a high probability of becoming a bad debt," said Richard Burton, regional managing director of Coface in China. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2010-04/15/content_9733648.htm Trade in Chinese stock index futures will begin April 16, the China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) said Friday in a statement on its website. The CFFEX released the statement straight after the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the country's securities watchdog, gave official approval for the launch of a stock index futures contract tracking the Shanghai-based CFFEX Hushen 300 Index. The Hushen 300 Index, which covers about one fifth of all stocks listed on China's stock markets and about 60 percent of the markets' value, mainly reflects the performance of China's Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets. Contracts for May, June, September and December will be the first to trade, according to the statement. Investors are required to put down cash deposits equal to 15 percent of the contract value for the May and June contracts as a maintenance margin. For the September and December contracts, the margin is 18 percent. A 0.05 percent transaction fee will be levied on the total turnover, the statement said. On January 8 the State Council approved "in principle" the launch of stock index futures and a margin-trading pilot program in a move to further develop China's financial markets. Investors began applying for the trading account in late February and are required to have a minimum 500,000 yuan ($73,206) to open an account. http://www.cffex.com.cn/zjs_en/gyjys_1141/xw/201003/t20100329_8199.html If you belive in coincidence, the start date of index derivatives trading has nothing to do with China's economic advance, isn' t it ?
Do we have any ET members on the ground in China that can look around and give us the pulse of the people? How things look on a microcosmic level?
I would read online English news site from China, to gain a glimpse of what is going on over there. i.e. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/index.html http://www.bjreview.com.cn/