MORE EVIDENCE OF CHINA’S SLOW-DOWN
By Walter Kurtz, Sober Look
The Australian: - STRONGER evidence of a significant slowdown in the Chinese economy has emerged with much weaker-than-expected imports for April, as well as lower growth in exports.
Although economists are still not expecting a hard landing generally across the world’s second largest economy, there is likely to be something of a thud in the construction sector where government policies have deliberately sought to deflate any bubble that has been forming.
China’s trade surplus widened to $US18.4 billion in April from $US5.35 billion in March, data from China’s General Administration of Customs showed today, with the surprise news spooking sharemarkets.
The disappointing trade data from China had an impact on Australian shares which fell back on the news, after initially rising on better-than-expected local jobs data.
The sharemarket later recovered to close firmer with the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index ending 0.5 per cent at 4295.6.
Chinese imports rose 0.3 per cent, much lower than economists’ expectations for a 10 per cent rise and March’s 5.3 per cent increase.
It is fully expected that Australian firms will feel the impact of decreasing China’s economic growth. The US firms however are seeing it as well. The latest ISI China sales survey index of 20 U.S. based multinationals has been on a sharp decline – yet another piece of evidence of a material slowdown in China.
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| Source: ISI Group |
2 Comments
I think “slowdown” might be putting it mildly.
“Although economists are still not expecting a hard landing generally across the world’s second largest economy”
We’re so trusting. It saddens me. That’s the ultimate source of all the world’s problems today: we read dumbass journalists quoting dumbass economists and believe them, because they have certifications from schools that care more about profit than pedagogy. We never think that perhaps the MSM in Canada isn’t reporting the bad housing news because, er, most journalists own houses, and a thing known as “confirmation bias” exists. We never think that maybe the debt we’re taking on might be a problem one day, because of a thing known as “optimism bias”. We’re forced to read “classic literature” in school, but no-one teaches us about our own cognitive traps. It’s a colossal oversight.
“there is likely to be something of a thud in the construction sector”
Ah, yes. That might have something to do with all the empty cities they’ve been building on credit.
I don’t mean we trust economists *because* their schools suck — I mean we don’t realize how much they suck. That was badly phrased.