April trade data; Declining PRC investment in the EU; Back to Bali; PRC expels Canadian diplomat; Urban wages
April trade data; Declining PRC investment in the EU; Back to Bali; PRC expels Canadian diplomat; Urban wages
Summary of the Essential Eight:
Disappointing April trade data - Imports surprisingly fell 7.9% in April from April 2022, and exports grew 8.5%, in more possible signs that both the global economy is weakening and the Covid exit wave recovery in China has been disappointing. The weakness may spur hopes in some quarters for more stimulus. The government is clearly concerned about foreign trade, as demonstrated by the April plan to bolster foreign trade.
Qin Gang in Germany - Qin warned against the rumored sanctions on PRC firms over sales to Russia, and tried to dismiss concerns that the PRC snubbed the German Finance Minister by postponing his visit to the PRC to meet Finance Minister Liu Kun. Unless something is going on with Liu, say he is being replaced, as was expected at the Two Meetings, and it is too early to meet the new person, it is hard not to see the postponement as a snub.
PRC investment into the EU continues to decline - Rhodium Group and MERICS have published a report su…