Trade

  • China and South Korea: Adjustment of the format of the certificate of origin under the Free Trade Agreement. Recently, the General Administration of Customs of China issued an announcement that from June 12, the limit of 20 items in the certificate of origin of imported and exported goods under the China-Korea Free Trade Agreement will be cancelled, and the certificate format will be announced.
  • China National Textile and Apparel Council: In the first quarter, China’s textile and apparel exports were US$72.25 billion, an increase of 11.2% year-on-year. Among them, textile exports were 36.57 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 15.1%; apparel exports were 35.68 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%. In March, textile exports reached US$11.83 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.4%.
  • China: Exports increased by 13.4% in the first quarter, and sales of solar cells, lithium batteries and automobiles were good. The total value of imports and exports was 9.42 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.7%, of which exports were 5.23 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.4%. In terms of export products, in the first quarter, China exported 3.05 trillion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, an increase of 9.8%, accounting for 58.4% of the total export value, of which solar cells, lithium batteries and automobile exports increased by 100.8%, 53.7% and 83.4% respectively. In the same period, the export of labor-intensive products was 900.05 billion yuan, an increase of 10.9%, of which the exports of luggage, shoes and toys increased by 24%, 20.4% and 16.9% respectively.
  • Nepal: Suspend the import of bulk products. Nepal has restricted the import of automobiles, locomotives, bicycles and motor equipment, machinery and parts, rice, rice, gold, garments, electrical appliances, textiles, silver and sewing thread by letter of credit (L/C). In addition, footwear, fabrics, feathers, umbrellas, walking sticks, perfumes, cosmetics, shampoos, wood, charcoal, decorative stone, cement, chimney equipment, bottles, cans, silverware, furniture-related products, toys, sporting goods, braces etc. will also suspend imports. Others including fish, dairy products, natural honey, eggs, plants, vegetables and nuts, betel nut, bananas, chickpeas, peppers, meat, optics, medical and surgical equipment have also stopped importing.
  • Myanmar: Goods import permit will be submitted before arrival at port. The Trade Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce of Myanmar issued a (6/2022) Import and Export Announcement. From April 20, 2022, import license applications submitted after the arrival of the goods will no longer be approved.
  • Vietnam: Wood products, textile orders have been placed in the third quarter. Thanks to CPTTP and EVFTA, in the first quarter, the export volume of the wooden furniture industry reached US$3.94 billion, showing a slight growth trend, and corporate orders have been placed in the third quarter. On the other hand, the Vietnamese textile industry has grown substantially since the end of 2021, and the industry will maintain strong growth from January to February 2022. The chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association said that from January to February 2022, Vietnam’s textile exports will reach 8.2 billion US dollars, an annual increase of 59%.
  • China’s cross-border e-commerce import and export reached 434.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.5%, of which exports were 310.4 billion yuan, an increase of 2.6%, and imports were 124.1 billion yuan, a decrease of 4.2%.
  • Decorative paper: India revises final anti-dumping ruling. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India recently issued an announcement to revise the final ruling of the anti-dumping case for decorative paper originating in or imported from China, and adjusting the tax rate of China Hangzhou Huawang New Material Technology Co., Ltd. to US$297 per metric ton.

Industry

  • Energy Bureau: In March, the electricity consumption of the whole society continued to grow, reaching 694.4 billion kWh, a year-on-year increase of 3.5%. In terms of different industries, the electricity consumption of the primary industry was 7.8 billion kWh, a year-on-year increase of 12.3%; the electricity consumption of the secondary industry was 479 billion kWh, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%; the electricity consumption of the tertiary industry was 106.3 billion kWh, a year-on-year increase of 4.0%. %.
  • Canalys: In the first quarter, PC shipments fell 3% to just 80.1 million units, the first year-over-year decline since the same period in 2020. A lack of supply in the market, continued increases in computer prices, and increasing consumer demand for higher-priced PCs led to overall revenue growth of more than 15 percent to $70 billion.
  • SEMI: In 2021, global sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment will increase by 44% year-on-year to $102.6 billion, a record high. Among them, the Chinese mainland market sales reached 29.62 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 58%, once again becoming the world’s largest semiconductor equipment market.
  • He Xiaopeng, founder of Xiaopeng Motors: If Shanghai and surrounding supply chain companies cannot find a way to dynamically resume work and production, all Chinese OEMs may suspend production in May.
  • 58, Ganji: In the first quarter, the overall average monthly salary for recruitment in China increased by 9.07% year-on-year to 9,605 yuan.

Company

  • Meta intends to charge a 47.5% fee for sales on the Metaverse platform.
  • CMA CGM has announced that it will no longer carry plastic waste. A few days ago, the global shipping company CMA CGM (CMA CGM) announced that from April 15, 2022, the ships of the CMA CGM Group will no longer carry plastic waste. The move reinforces its commitment to protecting oceans and biodiversity.
  • Ozon has announced the launch of a loan tool “Money Before Sales” for sellers. With the help of the new program, Ozon sellers can access credit funds as soon as the goods are delivered to the Ozon warehouse. Additionally, sellers who have sold on Ozon for at least 3 months can use the service in April.
  • The collapse of Pier 6 at Felixstowe, the largest container port in the UK, is facing closure. The pier was undergoing dredging operations at the time of the accident. Port operations will face a period of disruption until the damage is repaired. The port is accounting for 48% of the UK’s container trade.
  • JPMorgan’s net revenue and net profit both fell year-on-year. JPMorgan Chase released its first-quarter 2022 performance report: the company’s net revenue was US$31.6 billion, down 5% year-on-year; net profit was US$8.282 billion, down 42% year-on-year. And the company set aside $902 million for expected loan losses.

China

  • Ministry of Commerce: From January to March, China’s actual use of foreign capital was 379.87 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25.6%. The features include double-digit growth in foreign investment; rapid growth in foreign investment in high-tech industries; overall growth in foreign investment in the eastern, central and western regions, and 21 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country have achieved double-digit growth in actual use of foreign capital.
  • Since March, due to weakening market demand, banks in more than 100 cities across the country have voluntarily lowered their mortgage interest rates by an average of 20 to 60 basis points based on market changes and their own business conditions.
  • Same trip: On the eve of the May 1st holiday, young tourists paid much attention to cultural-related attractions and experiences. The popularity of museum-related tourism increased by 184% month-on-month, and the “intangible cultural heritage”-related search popularity increased by 43% month-on-month. Various outdoor experiences have also become a hot spot for travel recently, and the search popularity of various parks has increased by 122% month-on-month. Camping is still the “top trend” in the travel market this spring, with searches continuing to rise by 68% after the Qingming holiday boom.
  • Hurun Research Institute: The total wealth of wealthy Chinese families reached 160 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%, of which investable assets reached 49 trillion yuan, accounting for 30% of the total wealth. As of January 1, 2021, China’s “wealthy households” with a total wealth of 6 million yuan increased by 1.3% from the previous year to 5.08 million. “High-net-worth households” with a total wealth of 10 million yuan increased by 2% to 2.06 million, and “ultra-high-net-worth households” with a total wealth of 100 million yuan increased by 2.5% to 133,000 households.

World

  • India: Consumer prices rose to a 17-month high in March, rising to 6.95%. Prices of food, clothing, and energy in India all rose significantly during the month. Food inflation, which accounts for nearly half of India’s CPI, jumped to 7.68% from 5.85% previously; fuel and electricity prices rose 7.52%; clothing and footwear prices rose 9.4%.
  • France: Nearly 10,000 companies closed in the first quarter. The number of business closures in France in the first quarter of 2022 increased significantly by 34.6% compared to the same period last year. A total of 9,972 bankruptcy proceedings have been initiated in France since the beginning of this year, and the corporate bankruptcy rate has increased for the first time since the fourth quarter of last year, and is gradually approaching the pre-epidemic level.
  • Analysed by industry type, two-thirds of the industries have high closure rates, with construction, industry and commerce being the most serious. In commerce, the retail industry has the highest growth rate of closures, an increase of 83% over the same period last year. The auto industry also underperformed, with bankruptcies at auto sales and repair companies up 33 percent from a year earlier.
  • IMF: Russia-Ukraine conflict has led to downgrades in economic outlook for 143 countries.
    US: Avian flu pushes up processed food costs.
  • South Africa: Set an annual mineral exploration target of $900 million. According to South African media reports on April 13, South Africa’s Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy announced an exploration strategy focused on exploring metals for the production of electric vehicles, battery storage and hydrogen. South Africa aims to attract $900 million a year in mining exploration spending by 2025.
  • World Bank: Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic growth to fall to 3.6% this year
  • Canada: The central bank announced it would raise its key interest rate to 1%.
  • World Trade Organization: Downgraded global trade growth forecast to 3% from 4.7%.
  • Inflation in Spain hit a record high of 9.8%. According to the latest data released by the Spanish National Statistics Institute, Spain’s inflation rate reached 9.8% in March 2022, the highest level since May 1985. In March, the price of household energy such as electricity and gas in the country increased by 68.3% year-on-year.
  • Iran announced it had received $7 billion in unfrozen overseas funds.