Chinese Economics Thread

[Lethe]

Just doing a little reading around the future Medog Hydropower Station on the Yarlung Zangpo river in Tibet. Annual electricity generation of up to 300 TWh has been cited, a figure that appears to come from PowerChina Chairman Yan Zhiyong back in 2020 and represents a little under triple the annual generation of Three Gorges Dam. Comparing, I notice that this exceeds the annual generation of

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

hydroelectric power stations in the United States, which combined to generate

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

. It also exceeds the total annual

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

of the United Kingdom...

 

[tphuang]

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

The Hainan free trade zone trial is quite interesting. They are already allowing visa free travel there from 59 different countries, which is attracting a lot of Russians.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

I wonder if Hainan will be set up as China's Medical tourism destination also.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

It's kind of interesting to see what's going on there, because they are kind of just allowing it to freely develop

 

[Wrought]

Port throughput is up pretty much everywhere except the US, which saw significant declines this year.

The Greater China Container Port Throughput Index slightly softened, experiencing a 0.4% month-over-month decline to 124.9 points. However, the year-over-year (y/y) perspective was more positive, with a 4.5% increase. The top five ports in Greater China saw average y/y growth of 7.2% in May. Shanghai particularly stood out, with volumes surging by an impressive 10.2%.

Notably, the major West Coast ports experienced significant declines. Throughput at Long Beach plummeted by 26.3% m/m and 8.2% y/y, while Los Angeles saw decreases of 15% from April and 4.8% y/y. Manzanillo in Mexico and Seattle also faced declines, with throughput slipping by 10.4% and 9.6% y/y, respectively. Vancouver, Canada and Mexico’s Lazaro Cardenas bucked the downward trend as y/y volume was better by 13.9% and 12.6%, respectively.

Europe also demonstrated resilience, where the Container Port Throughput Index saw a 3.7% increase April to May, coupled with a 5.3% rise y/y to reach 113.7 points. The rolling 12-month average growth rate improved to 5.4%, though still trailing behind the global average of 6.5%.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

 

[zbb]

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Beijing and Washington are expected to extend their tariff truce by another three months at

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

beginning on Monday, according to sources close to the matter on both sides.
China and the United States

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

to remove most of the heavy tariffs levied on each other’s goods for 90 days while continuing trade negotiations. That suspension is set to expire on August 12.

 

[Wrought]

Steel profit margins have recovered somewhat from last year's slump due to lower output and higher demand.

At the half-year mark,

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

from ferrous metal smelting leaped nearly 14-fold, albeit from the tiny base of the same period last year, according to the statistics bureau on Sunday. Margins found support in June as mills cut output, and raw material costs were generally weaker than product prices.

And the outlook is getting brighter, not least from the jump in demand likely to result from the construction of China’s

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

in Tibet. Over 60% of steelmakers are now profitable, UBS AG said in a note last week, compared with just 30% in July 2024.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!