Gavekal Research
June 10, 2021
China’s producer price gauge is surging, stoking fears that the country is both succumbing to global inflationary pressures and stirring them up. However, such fears are misplaced, writes Thomas, since China does not face the kind of bottleneck problems blighting the supply-side of the US economy.
Gavekal Research
June 8, 2021
After officials moved against crypto-currency and commodity speculation a few weeks ago, investors jumped back into equities, perking up a market that had been moribund since March. However, on balance, this looks like a counter-trend rally that should ultimately be faded, as the corporate profit cycle is starting to roll over.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 7, 2021
China’s 2020 census revealed that urbanization has been faster over the past decade than official statistics showed. That means the fundamentals for housing demand are stronger than most had realized. As Rosealea argues in this piece, the census should drive an upward reassessment of long-term trends in China’s urbanization and commodity demand.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 20, 2021
April’s shaky retail sales figures have raised questions about the strength of China’s consumer recovery. Ernan explains that the figures should be taken with a grain of salt: a closer inspection of April consumption indicators reveals that these worries are unfounded, and that consumer spending is continuing to recover at a healthy pace.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 17, 2021
Domestic futures prices for iron ore, steel rebar and coal fell sharply last week after China’s government signaled concern about rising commodities prices. In this Quick Take, Rosealea and Wei explain that policymakers are counting on a mix of tougher demand and softening demand to cool down, if not reverse, the commodities spike.
Gavekal Dragonomics
April 16, 2021
Chinese GDP growth lost momentum in 1Q21 according to economic data released on Friday, with broad strength in the industrial sector offset by weakness in household consumption, particularly within services. In this Quick Take, the Dragonomics team dive into China’s Q1 economic figures and explain why they paint a picture of stability.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 1, 2021
China’s central bank responded to the renminbi’s continued appreciation by raising the foreign-currency reserve requirement ratio from 5% to 7% effective June 15, the first change since 2007. Wei explains why this policy shift makes it clear that officials are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the renminbi’s trade-weighted exchange rate.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 24, 2021
The People’s Bank of China reiterated that its exchange-rate policy has not changed, a signal to markets that they should not get too excited by speculation that officials will tolerate greater appreciation of the renminbi. Instead, Wei believes the PBOC is hoping for the currency to appreciate less against the dollar than against other currencies.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 11, 2021
China’s central authorities are ramping up their campaign to deal with hidden local-government debt, rolling out new rules and high-level political instructions. In this piece, Xiaoxi explains how this scrutiny will produce more defaults by state-backed firms, but also hopefully clarify the problematic legacy of implicit sovereign guarantees.
Gavekal Research
May 13, 2021
Semiconductors are tough to come by these days, and the shortage will be deep and long-lasting. Yet chips are about to turn into more of a commoditized product, just as companies make huge investments in production capacity and governments spend big to achieve self-sufficiency on national security grounds.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 4, 2021
The US has changed generals in its tech war against China, but that has not brought a respite in the campaign. President Joe Biden is deploying many of the same sanctions used by the Trump administration, while also looking to invest in extending the US technological lead. In this piece, Dan surveys the state of play in the US-China tech war.
Gavekal Dragonomics
April 28, 2021
China’s antitrust crackdown on its internet sector is just getting started. Earlier this month, regulators brought in 34 major internet platforms and made clear that abusive business practices will no longer be tolerated. In this report, Ernan explains why firms still focused on trying to outwit the system could suffer disproportionately.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 2, 2021
China’s steel output restrictions are softening following a sharp downward price correction. Rosealea writes that while environmental targets prevent officials from abandoning production curbs altogether, they will need to introduce demand-side constraints to match these supply-side measures and to avoid a repeat of the recent price dislocations.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 17, 2021
Domestic futures prices for iron ore, steel rebar and coal fell sharply last week after China’s government signaled concern about rising commodities prices. In this Quick Take, Rosealea and Wei explain that policymakers are counting on a mix of tougher demand and softening demand to cool down, if not reverse, the commodities spike.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 5, 2021
China’s iron and steel prices have broken through their post-financial crisis highs, the result of strong domestic demand, constrained international supply and government plans to curb steel production. In this report, Rosealea explains why prices are likely to remain elevated but slowing demand growth should keep them from rising further.
Gavekal Dragonomics
April 29, 2021
The size of China’s equity mutual-fund industry has doubled over the past year, a sharp rise driven by policy shifts and strong performance. While fund performance and fundraising has suffered in 2021, Thomas argues that mutual funds can still help increase the role of institutional investors in China’s volatile, retail-dominated equity markets.
Gavekal Dragonomics
February 25, 2021
The writing is on the wall for China’s post-Covid bull market as the underlying credit and profit cycles that typically drive prices over the medium term are turning down in 2021. In this report, Thomas explains why liquidity flows can trump these fundamentals for a while, but not indefinitely.
Gavekal Dragonomics
February 8, 2021
China’s corporate profits rebounded in 2H20 after a horrific start to the year, but the profit cycle is now close to its peak. Looking past huge base effects, Thomas believes underlying growth will fade toward 10% in the first half of this year and zero in the second—not a bad macro outcome, but slower profits usually weigh on equity markets.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 25, 2021
China’s Covid-19 vaccination program has significantly accelerated in May, bringing it on track to reach its target of administering at least one dose to 40% of the population by end-June. In this report, Ernan explains why this achievement does not mean the country will be opening its borders or removing domestic precautions this year.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 7, 2021
The number of tourists over China’s five-day Labor Day holiday recovered to 3.2% above 2019 levels, according to the Ministry of Culture & Tourism, although tourism revenue was still 23% below 2019. In this Quick Take, Ernan outlines explains what renewed confidence in domestic travel means for China’s services recovery.
Gavekal Dragonomics
March 26, 2021
China administered over 3mn doses of Covid-19 vaccines on Thursday, accelerating its vaccination drive from around 1mn doses per day in February and 2mn per day last week. In this Quick Take, Ernan explains why this acceleration is not enough to meet the country’s vaccination targets, as the government’s main hurdle is not production but logistics.
Gavekal Dragonomics
April 27, 2021
China’s reliance on coal is a major hurdle to its goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2060. The country is gradually improving its energy mix; however, despite these efforts, Rosealea argues that China’s appetite for coal and continued dependence on the energy-intensive construction complex mean that its green transition will be slow and painful.
Gavekal Dragonomics
March 18, 2021
The 14th five-year plan outlines significant changes to China’s household registration (hukou) system. In this report, Ernan writes that this new policy direction is to reduce the significance of the system over time by reducing urban/rural inequality. Rural areas will benefit, but at a cost to China’s overall economic growth.
Gavekal Dragonomics
March 12, 2021
Consumption and domestic demand are everywhere in the Chinese government’s latest policy rhetoric, with high-level promises to “boost consumer spending across the board” and “create a robust domestic market.” In this piece, Andrew explains why the new five-year plan is not actually a plan to boost consumption.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 4, 2021
China’s latest census revealed a low fertility rate, pointing to the population soon topping out. In response, the government has said that couples can now have up to three children but, as things stand, there is no reason to think that they will.
Gavekal Research
April 23, 2021
Risk is alive and well in China even amid a record economic recovery. Antitrust authorities are turning their attention to the rest of China's internet platforms, financial regulators are taking a tougher line and Chinese equity markets are looking a bit wobbly.
Gavekal Dragonomics
March 19, 2021
The annual session of China's National People's Congress has wrapped up with the approval of a new five-year plan, a sweeping document that promises not only technological self-sufficiency but a different style of economic management in coming years.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 27, 2021
China’s companies are enjoying a historic boom as domestic and global demand bounces back from the shock of Covid-19. But how long will it last, and what will the longer-term effects be? In this annual chartbook, Thomas lays out the fundamentals of China’s corporate sector through a detailed examination of income statements and balance sheets.
Gavekal Dragonomics
April 22, 2021
China’s post-Covid recovery continues, but Q1 should be the peak of the cycle. The strength of the rebound has given policymakers confidence to focus on longer-term issues; the result is a multi-dimensional tightening of policy. In the latest edition of our regular chartbook, the Dragonomics team explains the outlook for the economy and markets.
Gavekal Dragonomics
January 25, 2021
China’s unbalanced, industry-driven recovery from Covid has been very strong but is probably close to its peak. Meanwhile, renewed outbreaks are further delaying the normalization of consumer spending and services. In the latest edition of our regular chartbook, the Dragonomics team explains how these tensions will affect the economy in 2021.
Gavekal Dragonomics
April 20, 2021
China is using the best-funded industrial policy in history to engineer greater self-reliance in semiconductors. Ambition and a big checkbook, however, do not guarantee success. In this DeepChina report, Dan argues that Chinese chip firms will increase their market share in some segments, but will not make it to the technological frontier.
Gavekal Dragonomics
Rogier Creemers
December 10, 2020
China’s social credit system is widely misunderstood as a totalitarian tool. The reality is that it is a relatively low-tech part of a sophisticated Communist Party strategy to use digital means to deliver both better governance and social control. In this 22-page DeepChina report, Rogier Creemers explains the truth behind the social credit myths.
Gavekal Dragonomics
October 1, 2020
The retreat of the state from the command of China’s economy has been greatly exaggerated. In this 25-page DeepChina report, Andrew uses new estimates of SOEs’ share of GDP to show how little has changed in the state’s role in the economy in the past two decades, and explains how that stability has affected China and the rest of the world.