Gavekal Dragonomics
August 21, 2019
With exports and domestic investment both weakening, China’s government hopes that consumer spending will support growth. The bad news is that all indicators of consumer spending are still softening. With a deteriorating job market weighing on household income Chinese consumer spending is set to weaken further over the coming quarters.
Gavekal Dragonomics
August 20, 2019
After a brief respite earlier in the year, China’s private sector is once again facing a credit squeeze. The PBOC’s announcement over the weekend of a change in the calculation methodology for the loan prime rate is likely to lower the cost of corporate loans, but it does not make it any easier for private firms to get finance.
Gavekal Dragonomics
August 14, 2019
After a end-of-quarter bounce in June, China’s economy resumed its gradual downward course in July, with industrial production, fixed investment, housing starts, retail sales and credit growth all slowing. The bright spots were exports, which registered a surprising pickup despite the trade war, and housing sales, which reversed three months of declines with a modest gain.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 31, 2019
The world’s major economies are seemingly united on the need for a fresh round of stimulus—except for China. And hopes for a more aggressive approach were dashed by the latest Politburo meeting, which declared that China would not boost the housing market to revive growth. In this piece, Andrew explains what’s behind China’s policy stance.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 16, 2019
China’s economy ended the second quarter on a high note, with industry and exports doing better than expected in June. The data reassured markets that the government’s macro policy stance—which has been quite conservative—is justified. But as Andrew argues in this piece, growth is being driven mainly by property, and can slow further.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 14, 2019
China’s growth momentum faded noticeably in May, and while the government rolled out new supportive measures, they are fairly modest. The data over the next couple of months could be pretty uninspiring. But as Chen Long argues in this report, policymakers still prefer to soften the slowdown rather than try to generate a big cyclical upswing.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 5, 2019
As China and the US restart their trade talks, negotiators face a daunting list of issues to resolve. One of the stumbling blocks is the US allegation of “forced technology transfer.” In this piece, Dan explains what China is doing to address the problem, how that might not be enough—and why forced transfers of technology don’t even always work.
Gavekal Research
June 27, 2019
It is now almost certain that presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will restart trade talks at the G20 summit in Osaka this weekend. Moreover, discussions in Washington suggest that there is a good chance these talks will result in a deal in the next few months. Our core scenario now is that macro risk from an escalating trade war is receding.
Gavekal Research
June 26, 2019
Vietnam is being touted as the big winner of the US-China trade war as companies shift their supply chains toward the low-cost export powerhouse. In the long term that is likely. In the short term, however, an improved export performance may be partly down to Chinese exports being routed through Vietnam to escape US detection.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 17, 2019
The takeover of Baoshang Bank in May was China’s biggest bank failure in at least a decade. But the People’s Bank of China managed the ensuing market jitters well, once again proving itself to be an effective financial firefighter. Still, Baoshang’s failure does confirm that the era of rapid, unregulated growth for China’s smaller banks is over.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 24, 2019
China’s policymakers are pushing banks to offer more financing to private-sector firms, trying to solve their liquidity squeeze. In this piece, Thomas inspects the data for the effects of that push, and finds that new credit is flowing mainly to the largest and smallest firms. The mass of medium-sized private firms are still in a tough spot.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 30, 2019
The escalation of the trade war with the US likely means that the People’s Bank of China will keep easing monetary policy. But as Chen Long explains, the PBOC will also be pursuing a structural reform agenda. It wants to boost lending to the private sector and move to market-based interest rates—while still preserving overall financial stability.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 3, 2019
Housing policy in China has taken a cautious turn, with policymakers more concerned about potential overheating in prices than worried about a downturn in sales and construction. In this piece, Rosealea explains how this shift is playing out through cuts in housing subsidies and changes to local policies, and evaluates the risks to the market.
Gavekal Dragonomics
April 25, 2019
China’s property market data has been surprising on the upside. Thanks to easier credit and looser administrative restrictions, sales volumes picked up in March and prices rose. In this paper, Rosealea examines whether the upturn can last, and assesses what it means for land sales, construction activity, materials prices and the broader economy.
Gavekal Dragonomics
February 20, 2019
China’s local governments are cutting back their slum redevelopment plans, which points to lower government subsidies for housing in 2019. As a result, Rosealea argues, housing sales are likely to have a deeper decline this year, although Beijing will manage the phase-out of subsidies with a careful eye on how it affects the market.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 18, 2019
The future of Huawei, China’s most successful electronics manufacturer, has looked bleak ever since the US put it on an export blacklist in May. But with the Trump administration proving willing to soften its export controls, and companies being able to find loopholes in them, it now looks like Huawei has a decent chance to survive.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 17, 2019
It is easy to forget that the US trade war with China is founded on the issue of intellectual property—and to miss the fact that, despite the breakdown in trade talks, China is pushing through many legal changes to improve IP protection. But as Dan explains, while the technical improvements are real, so is political pressure on the legal system.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 21, 2019
The US government has China’s most prominent technology firm in a stranglehold. The question now is whether the US government continues to strangle Huawei until it goes out of business, or chooses to eventually stop squeezing and allow a weakened Huawei to keep operating under some limitations. In this report, Dan explores the possible scenarios.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 9, 2019
China’s auto market is still locked in the worst downturn in its history. In this report, Ernan explains how the government’s rushed transition to new vehicle-emissions standards worsened that downturn, and why it hasn’t reversed course. Though an end-year recovery for auto sales is still likely, 2019 will be a second bad year for the industry.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 11, 2019
The boom in China’s outbound tourism could go down as another casualty of the trade war. As Ernan explains in this piece, the combination of a weakening currency and rising political tensions is becoming a major drag on international travel by Chinese—just as the structural factors driving outbound tourism growth are shifting into a lower gear.
Gavekal Dragonomics
May 23, 2019
The rapid rise in China’s household debt has become a major concern for markets and policymakers. While most analysis looks at the household debt-to-GDP ratio, in this report Ernan calculates the household debt service ratio for a better angle on the problem. She finds that the debt burden on household budgets will keep increasing in 2019.
Gavekal Research
July 22, 2019
Trading on the world's newest stock market board got off to a predictably volatile start on Monday, when Shanghai's STAR market opened for business.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 5, 2019
Chinese listed companies have lately suffered more than their fair share of shocks to earnings. In this piece, Thomas explains the financial and accounting problems that have squeezed profits in recent quarters. But he argues that, even with the trade war, 2019 is likely to be a normal profits downcycle rather than a disastrous one.
Gavekal Research
April 30, 2019
China’s equity bull market has lost steam in the last 10 days after the Politburo adopted a less supportive tone following stronger than expected economic data in March. Even before the announcement, market ebullience had moderated.
Gavekal Dragonomics
August 5, 2019
China’s government is once again going after pollution from the steel industry, raising the risk of more policy-induced spikes in steel prices. While forced shutdowns to ensure blue skies are on the way, Rosealea argues that the bigger risk to steel prices is on the downside, due to weakening construction activity and cautious housing policy.
Gavekal Dragonomics
April 16, 2019
The world’s deadliest pig disease is now established in the world’s largest pork market. The spread of African swine fever in China has been more severe than the government has admitted, and as a result pork prices are spiking and imports are surging. But as Ernan argues in this report, the impact of this epidemic is still only in its early stages.
Gavekal Dragonomics
March 11, 2019
It’s looking like a good spring for China’s steel industry. In this piece, Rosealea reports on her findings from a recent visit to the steelmaking capital of Tangshan. Steel and iron ore prices are being supported by a combination of stable demand from property, recovering demand from infrastructure and supply constraints from scrap shortages.
Gavekal Dragonomics
July 11, 2019
The new enthusiasm of some European countries for China’s infrastructure-building Belt and Road Initiative has raised alarm across the continent. Brussels fears China is buying influence in Europe’s periphery, sowing disunity and threatening democracy. Our latest in-depth DeepChina report explains the real story of China’s influence on Europe.
Gavekal Dragonomics
December 4, 2018
China’s ambitious goals to lead in the technologies of the future are backed by huge resources. Since late 2014, there has been an explosion in state-backed funds targeting high technology. Our latest in-depth DeepChina report digs into these government guidance funds to find out how they work, and how successful they will be.
Gavekal Dragonomics
August 8, 2018
China is going port-crazy in Southeast Asia. Chinese firms are now engaged in building 15 port projects in the region, at a total cost of more than US$50bn. Will these bricks in the Maritime Silk Road prove to be valuable assets, or financial black holes? In our new DeepChina report, Lance Noble and Tom Miller find the answer is: some of both.
Gavekal Dragonomics
November 19, 2018
China’s property market has had a record-breaking run, but where is it headed next? In this concise chartbook, Rosealea delivers her annual overview of the key drivers of housing sales and construction activity and explains the outlook for 2019. An overdue correction in sales is coming, but construction should hold up relatively well.
Gavekal Dragonomics
October 3, 2018
Where is China heading as it undergoes demographic change of unprecedented speed and scale? In this chartbook, Ernan offers a comprehensive guide to the unfolding transformation of the nation’s population, focusing on changes in family-planning policy, the implications of an aging society, and the shifting patterns of migration.
Gavekal Dragonomics
September 20, 2018
In this chartbook, Thomas outlines the key trends in the fundamentals of China’s corporate sector. Growth in sales and profits has stayed stronger for longer, but is driven mainly by high materials prices. A rebound in capex is starting to fade. Deleveraging continues but more slowly, and may not last much longer as profits cool and debt rises.
Gavekal Dragonomics
June 28, 2019
Chinese equity markets are up around 26% for the year. Yet there has been no recovery in earnings growth, and the trade war and shaky domestic economic momentum continue to loom. The reason for the market optimism is expectations of supportive government policies, whether or not those expectations are valid.
Gavekal Research
May 29, 2019
In yesterday's special Gavekal Research Conference call Gavekal's Arthur Kroeber and Dan Wang, along with Fathom China's Matt Forney, considered what the breakdown of the US-China trade talks means for the trajectory of the trade war, and what the blacklisting of Huawei means for the tech cold war.
Gavekal Research
May 24, 2019
