Beijing has this week announced some of the strongest measures in years to boost activity in the world's second-largest economy, which has yet to achieve a full recovery from the pandemic.
Among the woes facing policymakers are a prolonged debt crisis in the property sector, sluggish domestic consumption, and high youth unemployment.
Beijing is now considering injecting as much 1 trillion yuan ($142 billion) into large state-run banks, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The measure -- aimed at giving the banks more room to lend to businesses -- will be implemented mainly through the issuance of "new special sovereign bonds", the report said, adding that the details have not yet been finalised.
China has not made major capital injections of this kind into the country's top banks since the 2008 financial crisis, it said.
The slew of moves announced this week, which include key rate cuts and policies intended to encourage home purchases, have been welcomed by investors as stocks in Shanghai and Hong Kong rally this week.
But analysts warn that more fiscal stimulus is needed to get the economy back up to full speed, as leaders continue to seek ways to achieve this year's official growth target of five percent year-on-year.
Recent economic data has been disappointing, with second-quarter growth coming in lower than expectations at 4.7 percent.
Youth unemployment climbed in August to 18.8 percent -- its highest level this year -- according to official figures released last week.
This week's stimulus measures represent a "shift towards a more aggressive easing stance, given the sustained weakness in domestic growth", said Chaoping Zhu, global market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management.
"The sense of urgency may convince investors that more policy support is on its way," added Zhu.
China admits economy facing new 'problems', vows to fix property sector
Beijing (AFP) Sept 26, 2024 -
China's top leaders, including President Xi Jinping, admitted Thursday that the economy was facing new "problems" and vowed to resolve a long-running housing sector crisis, state media said.
Beijing this week unveiled a raft of new measures aimed at boosting its ailing economy, which the leadership aims to grow by five percent in 2024 -- an objective analysts say is optimistic given the headwinds it is facing.
On Thursday, the ruling Communist Party convened a meeting of its top body, the Politburo, to "analyze and study the current economic situation".
"Some new situations and problems have emerged in the current running of the economy," the Xinhua news agency reported after the meeting, which was attended by Xi.
"We must view the current economic situation comprehensively, objectively and calmly, face difficulties squarely, (and) strengthen confidence," it added.
Politburo members agreed on the need to "further improve the focus and effectiveness of policy measures" aimed at lifting the economy.
They also vowed to "respond to the people's concerns" about the economic malaise.
Beijing would "adjust housing purchase restriction policies, lower interest rates on existing mortgage loans... and promote the construction of a new model for real estate development", Xinhua said.
- Splash the cash -
The meeting came the same day Bloomberg reported Beijing was considering pumping more than $140 billion into the country's large state-run banks, in the first major capital injection of its kind since the 2008 global financial crisis.
The measure -- aimed at giving the banks more room to lend to businesses -- will be implemented mainly through the issuance of "new special sovereign bonds", the report said, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The details have not yet been finalised, it added.
The slew of moves announced this week, which include key rate cuts and policies intended to encourage home purchases, have been welcomed by investors as stocks in Shanghai and Hong Kong rally.
But analysts warn that more fiscal stimulus is needed to get the economy back up to full speed, as leaders continue to seek ways to achieve this year's official growth target of five percent year-on-year.
Recent economic data has been disappointing, with second-quarter growth coming in lower than expectations at 4.7 percent.
Youth unemployment climbed in August to 18.8 percent -- its highest level this year -- according to official figures released last week.
This week's stimulus measures represent a "shift towards a more aggressive easing stance, given the sustained weakness in domestic growth", said Chaoping Zhu, global market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management.
"The sense of urgency may convince investors that more policy support is on its way," added Zhu.
Van Gogh painting set to break Asia record in Hong Kong auction
Hong Kong (AFP) Sept 26, 2024 -
A Vincent van Gogh painting displaying the artist's shift from dark realism to vibrant impressionism could become the most expensive Western painting sold in Asia if it fetches its top estimated value of $50 million at a Hong Kong auction on Thursday.
"Les canots amarres" -- or "the moored boats" -- will be the centrepiece of an inaugural evening sale held to celebrate the opening of auction house Christie's new Asia Pacific headquarters.
According to Christie's, it could fetch between HK$230-380 million (US$30-50 million) on the auction floor.
To date, the most expensive Western painting sold in the region is "Warrior" by Jean-Michel Basquiat, the auction house said.
It had the Christie's gavel dropped at HK$323.6 million -- roughly US$41.9 million at the time -- in Hong Kong in 2021.
Owned by the Italian royal family of Bourbon Two Sicilies, the Van Gogh painting is "the most important painting by the artist ever to be offered in Asia", Christie's said in its introduction.
"'Les canots amarres' marks a vital stepping stone in his career," it said.
The painting is one of about 40 works Van Gogh developed around the scenic French town of Asnieres, a boating hub on the outskirts of Paris, during the summer of 1887.
With those paintings, "he left behind for good the dark, earthy tones of his realist pictures of old. He now adopted a vibrant palette and loose expressive brush instead," said Christie's.
In a letter to his sister Willemien in October 1887, the artist wrote: "When I painted landscape in Asnieres this summer, I saw more colour... than ever before."
Princess Camilla of the House of Bourbon Two Sicilies called it a painting "of incredible history in the very particular moment of the artist's (career)", according to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.
She said she chose the Chinese city for the sale to tap into the Asian market's "strong and expanding base of collectors who are increasingly interested in Western art".
Born in the Netherlands in 1853, Vincent van Gogh was among the most famous and influential figures in Western art. He created around 2,100 pieces, including about 860 oil paintings, in a career that lasted only a decade before his death in 1890.
Christie's high-profile auction on Thursday will also feature 45 other masterpieces from the 20th and 21st centuries -- ranging from the French impressionist painter Claude Monet to the England-based street artist Banksy.
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