China’s Central Bank conducted 32 billion Yuan (about 4.51 billion U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.8 percent on Monday.
The move aimed to keep liquidity in the banking system reasonable and ample, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement.
The reverse repo is a process in which the Central Bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.
Abuja, Feb. 5, 2024: The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Cui Jianchun, has assured Nigeria of a robust China-Nigeria collaboration for Nigerian products and commodities to be made available in Chinese market within the next five years.
The Ambassador made this known in an interview on Saturday during a temple fair organized to mark the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year on Saturday in Abuja.
The Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 10, is the year of the Dragon after the 12-year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac.
According to Jiachun, China is the largest economy in Asia while Nigeria is a leading economy in Africa with a lot of similarities in culture and strategic knowledge about the international situation and economy.
He said the volume of trade between China and Nigeria had grown in the past few years.
“China has demonstrated its willingness to give Nigeria and other African countries opportunities to supply their products to its markets.
“This is to support the developing countries to make substantial profits in the spirit of the South-South Cooperation which is an essential component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
“Nigeria is a pilot country for China and Africa to build the joint BRI,” he said.
Jiachun noted that over his past few years in Nigeria, the 5GIST Nigeria-China GDP Strategy had gradually become a reality.
He said: “The 5GIST Nigeria-China GDP Strategy consists of 4 parts, which are 5G, 5l, 5S and 5T.
“5G refers to the 5 Goals of the Strategy, which are political consonance, economic cooperation, military & security collaboration, international coordination and people’s communication.
“China and Nigeria have been cooperating a lot from infrastructure, ICT, agriculture, mining sector, oil and gas, insurance of banking sectors and also the industry.
“We have done a lot of industrial work here and the most important thing that I would like to let you know is that we are encouraging Nigerians to have more product commodities to be in the Chinese market in the coming five years.”
The Ambassador also noted that with adequate arrangements, large products from Nigeria would enter the Chinese market, which would also encourage innovation.
Also speaking, Ja’afaru Yakubu, Chairman, House Committee on Nigeria-China Relations, expressed his appreciation to the Chinese government for their continuous support to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.
He said that Nigeria would be hosting a spectacular event to celebrate this important cultural festival, the Chinese New Year temple fair to reciprocate the friendship received from China.
“This year, we are thrilled to bring vibrant and colorful celebrations to Nigeria, as a symbol of the strong and growing relationship between our two nations.
“The fair will be a celebration of unity and friendship as we continue to straighten our ties with China.
“We believe that events like the Chinese temple fair will serve as a reminder of cultural exchange and mutual respect that underpins our relationship.
“It is my hope that this event will foster greater understanding and appreciation between our two nations and that will be a stepping stone toward even closer cooperation in future.
“We also look forward to seeing Nigeria’s products in the Chinese market,” Yakubu said.
Beijing Feb 3, 2024: China’s bank wealth management market expanded and saw more investors in 2023, industry data showed.
‘’By the end of 2023, the number of investors holding wealth management products in the banking market rose 17.84 per cent year on year to 114 million, according to the China Banking Wealth Management Registration and Depository Centre.
The centre said that 1,100 wealth management products were launched in China’s banking system last year, raising a total of 57.08 trillion Yuan (about 8.04 trillion U.S. dollars).
“In addition, by the end of 2023, there were 39,800 products from 258 banking institutions and 31 wealth management companies, up 14.86 per cent compared to the beginning of last year, ‘’the centre said.
Guiyang, Jan. 25, 2024: Southwest China’s Guizhou Province seeks to ensure its digital economy accounts for over 45 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2024, exceeding 1 trillion yuan.
According to the on-going annual session of the provincial people’s congress, Guizhou’s GDP surpassed 2.09 trillion yuan in 2023, with the digital economy contributing about 42 per cent of its GDP.
Peng Xianhua, Deputy Director of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, said that Guizhou saw breakthrough growth in its computing power last year as one of eight designated national computing hubs.
Xianhua said Guizhou was also with over 70,000 intelligent computing chips now in use in the province, a 93-fold year-on-year increase.
He said Guizhou also reached a milestone in 5G infrastructure construction, deploying 35,000 new base stations across key areas, industrial parks and transport hubs in 2023.
“Since the province was approved to build the country’s first national, comprehensive big-data pilot zone in 2016, it has become the frontrunner in the country’s big-data industry.’’
Beijing, Jan. 19, 2024: China’s food prices are expected to stay stable in the next stage, driven by multiple factors, an official of the country’s top economic planner said on Thursday.
Jin Xiandong said the factors included the gradual reduction of base and cyclical effects, the steady recovery of market demand and the effectiveness of policies benefiting farmers.
Xiandong, an official of the National Development and Reform Commission, said this at a news conference.
China’s consumer price index went up 0.2 per cent in 2023, with a growth pace slower than that in 2022, earlier data showed.
In 2022, the prices of energy and food in the international market saw sharp rises driven by some non-economic and unconventional factors.
The prices registered significant declines in 2023, Jin said.
He said that the prices of grain, edible oil, and fruits went up in 2023, while that of pork saw a cyclical decline, and the price of vegetables also dropped.
According to him, China’s agricultural product market sees abundant supply, smooth logistics, sound order and stable prices.
In the next stage, the commission will work with relevant parties to closely follow market supply, demand, and price trends and ensure adequate market supply and stable prices of vital commodities for people’s livelihoods, Jin said.
Beijing, Jan. 19, 2024: China’s top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said on Thursday that it would take solid steps to boost domestic demand and expand effective investment.
NDRC said that the steps were part of efforts to consolidate the improving trend of economic recovery in 2024.
Yuan Da, from the NDRC, said that the country would give more prominence to employment, ensure the employment of key groups, and enlarge the size of the middle-income group.
Da said that the country would work to develop new consumption growth points ,such as smart homes, sports events, domestic products and China-chic goods.
“ Efforts will also go into boosting, spending on big-ticket items and improving the consumption environment, ‘’he said.
“In expanding effective investment, greater support will be given to fields such as core technologies in key fields, new infrastructure, energy conservation and decarbonisation, the NDRC official added.
“In addition, the state planner said it will take steps to stimulate the vitality of private investment and cut the costs of investment and financing, ‘’he said.
London, Jan. 18, 2024: Oil fell above one dollar on Wednesday due to the economic growth in China the world’s second-largest crude user.
There were slightly missed expectations, raising concerns about future demand, while U.S. dollar strength dented investor’s risk appetite.
Brent crude futures fell 1.26 dollars (1.6 per cent) to 77.03 dollars per barrel by 1158 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) were down 1.35 dollars (1.9 per cent) at 71.05 dollars.
Even the ongoing naval and air conflicts on the Red Sea were not enough to support oil.
Regardless of the concerns, tankers have to pause or reroute, increasing shipping costs and slowing down deliveries.
In the fourth quarter, China’s economy expanded by 5.2 per cent year-on-year, missing analysts’ expectations and calling into question forecasts that saw Chinese demand fuelling 2024 global oil growth.
Priyanka Sachdeva, a senior market analyst at Phillip Nova reported that the economic data “doesn’t end the headwinds over crude oil demand, the Chinese outlook for 2024 and 2025 is still bleak,”
The oil industry-backed the notion that despite a bumpy recovery, oil demand from China has been resilient and will likely reach record levels in 2024.
Still, China’s oil refinery rose 9.3 percent to a record high throughout 2023, indicating elevated demand though it lagged some analysts’ expectations.
Other signs of steady Chinese demand appeared.
Additionally, the U.S. dollar hovered near a one-month high on Wednesday after comments from Federal Reserve officials lowered expectations for aggressive interest rate cuts. A stronger dollar reduced the demand for dollar-denominated oil from buyers using other currencies.
Sachdeva said, “Higher rates can lead to a weaker outlook for oil demand as economic activity tends to cool in a high interest rate environment, leaving oil prices vulnerable.”
In the U.S. oil refiners are expected to likewise have 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of capacity offline for the week ending Jan. 19.
Research company IIR Energy said on Wednesday that there was a decrease in the available refining capacity by 954,000 barrels per day.
In the Red Sea, tensions remained high as the U.S. on Tuesday mounted fresh strikes against Iran-aligned Houthi militants in Yemen after a Houthi missile hit a Greek vessel.
Vivek Dhar, mining and energy commodities strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, wrote in a note, “While oil benchmarks may not reflect the Red Sea attacks, the realised price for oil and oil products for consumers had increased given the disruption to trade flows through the Red Sea and Suez Canal,”
Beijing, Nov. 26, 2023: China’s Central Bank on Friday conducted 664 billion Yuan (about 93.32 billion U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.8 per.
The move was aimed at keeping liquidity stable in the banking system at the end of the month, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement.
The reverse repo is a process by which the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them in the future.
Abuja, Nov. 11, 2023: The International Monetary Fund(IMF) says China’s slowing economy will hit Sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA) growth.
This is according to the IMF Country Focus Report by Hany Abdel-Latif, Wenjie Chen, Michele Fornino, and Henry Rawlings.
The report said China’s economic engagement with SSA was evolving, with implications for growth, trade, and investment.
It said China had forged deep economic ties with countries in SSA over the past 20 years, making it the region’s largest single-country trading partner.
The report said China buys one-fifth of the region’s exports—metals, minerals, and fuel and provides most of the manufactured goods and machinery imported by African countries.
“However, it said China’s recovery from the pandemic had slowed recently due to a property downturn and flagging demand for its manufactured goods as global growth had also slowed.
” How this will affect Africa, the latest Regional Economic Outlook said one percentage point decline in China’s growth rate could reduce average growth in the region by about 0.25 percentage points within a year. ”
It said for oil exporters, such as Angola and Nigeria, the loss could be 0.5 percentage points on average.
The report said the ripple effects of China’s slowing economy extended to sovereign lending to sub-Saharan Africa, which fell below one billion dollars in 2022, the lowest level in nearly two decades.
“Chinese loans to the region rose rapidly in the 2000s, with the country’s share of total sub-Saharan African external public debt jumping from less than two per cent before 2005 to 17 per cent by 2021.
“This makes China the largest bilateral official lender to countries in the region.
“However, the share of debt owed to China remains relatively small, at just under six per cent of the region’s overall public debt, and is mostly owed by five countries—Angola, Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia.”
The report said with the geoeconomic fragmentation on the rise, sub-Saharan African countries would need to adapt to China’s growth slowdown and declining economic engagements.
It said it would be done by building resilience through increased inter-African trade and by rebuilding buffers, including through tax policy reforms and improvements to revenue administration.
The report said efforts to diversify African economies were also vital to sustain future growth.
“The strong demand for minerals that support renewable energy development could provide an opportunity for countries to forge new trade relationships and develop more local processing capabilities.
“Countries can improve their competitiveness by creating a favorable business,” it said.
Beijing, Nov. 3, 2023: China’s Central Bank conducted 43 billion Yuan (about 5.99 billion U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.8 per cent Friday.
The move was aimed at keeping liquidity reasonable and ample in the banking system, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement.
A reverse repo is a process in which the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.
