China's manufacturing at slowest for 17 months

China's manufacturing grew at the slowest pace in 17 months in July as the government clamped down on property speculation and investment in energy-intensive and polluting factories.

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 51.2 from 52.1 in June, the Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said on its website on August 1. That was less than the median forecast of 51.4 in a Bloomberg News survey of 15 economists. A reading above 50 shows an expansion. [Full Story]   

China's housing prices grow 10.3% in July

Housing prices in major Chinese cities rose 10.3 percent year-on-year in July, 1.1 percentage points lower than the increase in June, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said August 10.

This was the third consecutive month that China's property prices grew at a slower pace. Property prices in the 70 large and medium-sized cities grew 11.4 percent in June, one percentage point lower than that of May. [Full Story]

Growth in China's exports, imports slows down in July

China's exports rose 38.1 percent year on year to $145.52 billion in July, but the growth rate was down from a 43.9-percent surge in June, the General Administration of Customs said August 10.

Imports increased 22.7 percent from a year earlier to $116.79 billion. The pace of growth was slower than June's 34.1-percent increase. [Full Story]

China's July CPI rises 3.3%

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 3.3 percent year-on-year in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced August 11.

The July data grew from 2.9 percent in June, a 0.4 percentage points increase month-on-month.[Full Story]

China's PPI up 4.8% in July

China's producer price index (PPI), a major measure of inflation at the wholesale level, increased by 4.8 percent year-on-year in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on August 11.[Full Story]

China's July industrial output grows 13.4%

China's industrial output grew by 13.4 percent year-on-year in July, 0.3 percentage points lower than June's 13.7 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on August 11.[Full Story]

Retail sales of consumer goods hit 1.23t yuan in July

The July growth rate is 0.4 percentage point lower than that of June, the NBS said. [Full Story]

China's July new lending reaches $78.6b

China's fixed asset investment up 24.9% in Jan-July

Total fixed asset investment in China for the first seven months rose 24.9 percent year-on-year to 11.99 trillion yuan ($1.76 trillion), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on August 11. [Full Story] 

 China's FDI up nearly 30% in July

The amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) China received in July rose by 29.2 percent year on year to $6.924billion, said Yao Jian, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), on August 17.

The figure brought the country's FDI inflow to $58.35 billion in the first seven months of the year, an increase of 20.65 percent from a year earlier.

Stephen S. Roach,non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia

The silver lining of wage increase

Notwithstanding all the hype over rising wages in China, it is entirely premature to declare an end to the global labor cost arbitrage that has long worked in China's favor. China remains highly competitive by international standards, and the recent round of sharp increase in wages is not likely to alter that key conclusion.  [Full Story]

Qin Xiaoying,researcher at the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies

Low-wage era not over yet

As a country with a 1.3 billion population, China is surplus in labor supply.

The country's accelerated urbanization drive has led to the flow of hundreds of millions of laborers from less developed rural areas into the cities.  

[Full Story]

Yi Xianrong, researcher with the Institute of Finance and Banking under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

More concerns than cheers

Despite its enormous economic aggregate, China's per capita GDP still lags that of the US and European counterparts.

Pay rise, labor cost, urbanization, what do they mean for ordinary Chinese people, China and even the whole world? 

China has been on the fast lane of development. The country wants to retain its competitiveness of low-cost labor and at the same time wants to stimulate domestic demand, where will the country head for?

He Xuefeng, director of the China Rural Governance Research Center

Urbanization not all that
good

A pro-active urbanization strategy has become popular both in academic and policymaking domains, because theoretically, it reduces farmers' population and prompts them to produce on larger scales and earn more. [Full Story]

Wang Zhanyang, director of political science teaching and research sector at the Central Institute of Socialism

China's huge administrative expense shows the government's distribution system is far from reasonable. This makes China a prosperous country but with a large population that lives in poor conditions.

The basic reason why some people say China is a "rich country with many impoverished people" is the government's failure to establish a sound public finance system. [Full Story]

Jia Kang, director of the Institute for Fiscal Science Research, affiliated to the Ministry of Finance

The debate over whether China is a "rich country with many impoverished people" shows the public is paying greater attention to the widening income gap and has made it important for the government to deal with the sensitive issue properly.

The "rich-country, impoverished-people" contention may be baseless and illogical but it tells the government to pay special attention to social problems. [Full Story]