As I retire tired, I put on the only English TV channel, BBC, that is available in my hotel. The news of third-quarter GDP growth of China at 6% is out, belying expectations. The Chinese were aware of the downtrend and had doubled the infrastructure spending on the ninth month, pushing the average spending from 4.2% to 4.5% of their GDP. They are out with more strategies ready on the table.
The Chinese National Development and Reform Commission approved 21 infrastructural projects like rail, roads and airports worth US$ 107.8 Billion between January and October. It is double of their spending $52.8 Billion during the same period last year. For a while, China has kept aside their commitment to curb reliance on coal-fired plants and have opened seven new mines at $ 4.2 Billion.
China has been steadily investing, in particular in the energy sector around the world, which has crossed a massive $ 2 Trillion. The Chinese local governments have been empowered to issue bonds for $ 200 Billion. The US-China trade standoff on tariffs has indeed impacted a few core areas, including the service sector. Roughly a tenth of the market cap of $1.3 Trillion of shares pledges with banks and institutions are underwater at present. The Chinese government is doing all out to assist the industry to come out of the rut, President Xi urging his citizens to be more self-reliant. This, however, is a difficult task given the Chinese reliance on the US market.
The Chinese FMCG market has resisted a fall, growing 6.3% and the supermarkets growing by 5%. The consumerism in China has thus helped stave off a crisis. The loss of skilled jobs from the manufacturing sectors could be partly addressed with thawing relations with Japan, which requires more than 500000 workers by 2025.
China witnesses a stable consumer price inflation as against high and volatile price inflation over the past decade. However, its pork industry has been affected severely due to a virus, wiping off 39% of its pig inventories and causing a foreseeable shortage of 10 million tonnes this year. The remedy was found by farming huge pigs of nearly 500 kgs weight each. Steroids? I wouldn’t know, neither of the Impact on the people who would consume such huge grown pigs. All these apprehensions can wait! First, the 70% increase in the cost of pork has to be reversed! That’s China!
The train stations are spic and span and usually run on time. The security clearance is like in airports, luggage scan body tickle et al. One has to always be well in advance as long queues are everywhere.
For tourists, I have some advice. Make sure you carry Chinese currency. Even the Hong Kong dollar, earlier traded at 1:1 is now 89.72 RMB per 100 HKD and cannot be exchanged easily. No bank in any town will exchange any foreign currency as the rules seem that only account holders can exchange money. The many Gujarati Indians, whom I had met, were loaded with enough ‘Thepla,’ or ‘Bujia.’ One whom I confronted hurriedly biting off a burger sheepishly smiled and replied, “but these are not holy cows, unlike the go-mata in India.” I scooted when he offered me to buy one.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix