Weak holiday consumption; PRC-Russia; US-China; Patriotic education; Heat wave; Covid origins
Summary of the Essential Eight:
Weak holiday consumption data - The Dragon Boat Festival holiday data are another sign of weaker than expected consumption data, as several data points came in at levels below pre-pandemic 2019. The rumored bigger stimulus still has not materialized, and while some may hope that now that Li Qiang has returned from Europe he can roll up his sleeves and announce something much more meaningful, I think we may have to wait until at least later in July, perhaps after the long overdue National Financial Work Conference?
PRC on Wagner incident - Given how little anyone seems to really know about what happened over the weekend, and that the PRC was on holiday, it is no surprise that the PRC government was slow to react to the events of the weekend, and when it did the statement was short and said it is “Russia’s internal affair…China supports Russia in maintaining national stability and achieving development and prosperity.” Internally what Xi and his advisors a…