By John Richardson THE CHINESE economy remains one of the most overlooked threats to the conventional opinion that we are in the midst of a synchronised global economic recovery. Sure, some alarm bells rang with last week’s release of China’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). The official PMI saw its steepest fall in six years. […]
Asian Chemical Connections
China’s Li Keqiang Pulls No Punches On The Challenges Ahead
By John Richardson Li Keqiang was short on detail during a major speech last week, said some analysts. This was taken as a sign that Beijing has become nervous about the pace of the economic slowdown, a theory supported by “policy backtracks” – for example, last month’s decision to lower interest rates for the second […]
China NPC Meeting: Quality Over Quantity
China’s National People’s Congress Source of picture: Rex Features By John Richardson The focus of next week’s National People’s Congress (NPC) meeting in China – the country’s annual “parliamentary” meeting – is likely to be on the quality rather than the quantity of growth. This is reflected in the fact that almost half of […]
China Auto Sales Point To Long-term Shift
By John Richardson The impact of Chinese government policy adjustments on petrochemicals demand was further highlighted late last week, when auto-sales figures for January-February were released. Sales declined by 4.4 percent, the worst two-month start for the industry in seven years, with local-brand sales falling by 17 percent. This is sure to dampen the mood […]
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