This episode contains segments on:
- China April official macroeconomic indicators
- Action plan to advance China’s digitalisation
- Anti-dumping duties on imported polyoxymethylene copolymer
- Yicai report on household savings
Listeners are invited to attend the European Chamber’s annual Business Confidence Survey online launch on 28th May.
Contact:
We’d love to hear your feedback. Contact us at website@europeanchamber.com.cn.
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Read more:
China April official macroeconomic indicators
https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/202505/t20250519_1959862.html
https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/202505/t20250519_1959858.html
Action plan to advance China’s digitalisation
https://english.www.gov.cn/news/202505/17/content_WS6827c405c6d0868f4e8f29cc.html
Anti-dumping duties on imported polyoxymethylene copolymer
https://trb.mofcom.gov.cn/myjjdc/art/2025/art_72d8c893010746cab862526dc1e7bbbe.html
Yicai report on household savings
https://www.yicai.com/news/102616586.html
European Chamber event: Business Confidence Survey 2025 national launch
Transcript:
RUI: Hello and welcome to China ShortCuts,
MARIANN: the European Chamber’s weekly catchup on China’s business landscape.
RUI: This episode was recorded on 21st May 2025.
(MUSIC)
RUI: Data released by the statistics bureau on 19th May indicate that in April, China’s economy showed resilience in the face of sweeping US tariffs, with key macroeconomic indicators maintaining growth.
MARIANN: Production at larger industrial firms increased 6.1 per cent year-on-year. Although this meant a slowdown in growth from the previous month, when the reading peaked at 7.7 per cent, it was still faster than the median forecast of 5.7 per cent. Out of the 41 main industrial sectors gauged by the headline figure, 36 maintained growth in April. High levels of production growth were recorded in several key manufacturing industries, including automotive—at 9.2 per cent—and rail, shipping, aviation and other logistics equipment manufacturing at 17.6 per cent.
Retail sales increased 5.1 per cent year-on-year. This was below expectations, but it was still the second fastest pace recorded since February 2024.
(MUSIC)
RUI: In a statement issued on 16th May, the National Data Administration announced a new action plan aimed at promoting digitalisation in key areas.
MARIANN: The 2025 Action Plan for the Construction of a Digital China consists of eight key points focussing on areas such as technological innovation, local brand development, applications of artificial intelligence and the cultivation of digital talent. The plan also calls for accelerating international cooperation in the digital field and sets targets for the year, including that the added value of the digital economy should account for over 10 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product. Data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology indicates that the total revenue of China’s digital industry reached 8.5 trillion yuan in the first quarter of 2025, increasing 9.4 per cent compared to the same period last year.
(MUSIC)
RUI: On 18th May, the Ministry of Commerce issued a statement announcing that it would impose anti-dumping duties on a specific engineering plastic imported from the European Union, the United States, Taiwan and Japan.
MARIANN: The decision was the conclusion of a year-long investigation into a type of imported copolymer. This copolymer is used as a replacement for various metals in a wide range of products, including automotive components, healthcare equipment and industrial machinery. The ruling set anti-dumping duties ranging from 3.8 to 74.9 per cent – with imports originating from the United States receiving the highest level of tariffs. For the next five years, starting from 19th May, importers have to pay duties of 34.5 per cent for affected goods originating from the European Union.
(MUSIC)
RUI: In an article published on 15th May, the Chinese economic paper Yicai reported that household savings in China surpassed 160 trillion yuan in the first quarter of 2025, after an increase of nearly 100 trillion yuan in the past eight years.
MARIANN: According to data from the central bank’s April 2025 Financial Statistics Report, and calculations by Yicai, the share of household deposits in renminbi was 50.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2025. However, the paper found that while the proportion and scale of household deposits have been increasing over the past two years, their growth rate has been gradually falling from a high of 17.4 per cent in 2022 to 10.3 per cent in the first quarter of this year. The article suggested that this trend might continue as domestic consumption is expected to increase. It cited the central bank’s survey of urban depositors from the fourth quarter of 2024, which found that while over 60 per cent of urban residents still preferred to have more savings, their proportion decreased from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the rate of those reporting a preference for more consumption rose slightly, coming close to a quarter of all survey respondents.
(MUSIC)
RUI: After China ended its zero-COVID policy in late 2022, Chinese officials began issuing a series of policy plans geared towards improving the country’s business environment and economic fundamentals. However, two years on, this has not yet resulted in an uptick in business confidence.
MARIANN: Faced with a mixture challenges—including persistent regulatory and market access barriers, heightened geopolitical tensions, price deflation, low domestic consumption and narrowing margins—Chamber members’ optimism over the near- and medium-term outlook now sits at a record low level. Many firms are continuing to re-evaluate their engagement with the Chinese market, with large numbers cutting costs, toning down expansion plans, shifting investments to other regions and taking steps to silo their China and rest of the world supply chains.
RUI: Join us on the 28th May online or in person in Beijing to hear Chamber president Jens Eskelund present the key findings of this year’s Business Confidence Survey. Following the president’s presentation, representatives from the Chamber’s six chapters will each provide an overview of business confidence among European companies in their respective localities.
(MUSIC)
MARIANN: Thanks for listening, and don’t forget to tune in again next week.
RUI: In the meantime, please find useful links in the episode notes.