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Economy

Manufacturing remains weak

Factory activity in China weakened for a fourth straight month in April, although the rate of decline eased, HSBC Holdings Plc said on April 23 as it released its monthly Purchasing Managers' Index.

The preliminary reading was 48.3, compared with 48.0 in March. A reading below 50 indicates a contraction.

"The PMI reading in April shows growth stabilizing at a low level," the bank said.

Domestic demand improved slightly, as suggested by an increase in new orders. The sub-index reading rose to 47.7 in April from 46.5 in March. Output rebounded to 48.0 from 47.2.

China aims to join 'high-income club'

China will strive to reach the "high-income club" by 2020, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference to announce the beginning of work on the 13th Five-year Plan (2016-20), Xu Lin, director of the department of development planning of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the government hopes implementing it will allow China to approach the high-income threshold under the World Bank's standard.

"If we do better, hopefully we can enter the high-income club," Xu said.

The World Bank classifies countries by their per capita gross national income. Countries with a per capita GNI of more than $12,616 are categorized as high-income countries.

Spending accelerating in smaller cities

China's household consumption may rise to as high as 50 percent of gross domestic product by 2020. That compares with 35 percent today and creates opportunities in second and third-tier cities, findings from Nielsen Holdings BV show.

"The upper end of this range amounts to additional spending of nearly 26.9 trillion yuan ($4.35 trillion) over 2012 levels," said Nielsen CEO Mitch Barns.

That's more than 18,500 yuan additional per capita consumption and will take total spending to over double 2012's, he said.

Resources

Russian natural gas contract looks likely

Russia and China are highly likely to nail down a natural gas deal during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Beijing in May after years of negotiations, experts from both sides said on Tuesday.

Sergey Pikin, director of Russia's Energy Development Fund, was optimistic about the deal, saying during a video interview that it's "100 percent" possible that a bilateral agreement will be signed next month. However, Alexy Belogoriev, deputy director-general of the Institute of Energy Strategy in Russia, put the possibility at 50 percent. He said that even if the deal doesn't happen during Putin's visit, it might be finished by this autumn.

Trade

Marginal pickup in orders at fair

The number of buyers at China's largest international trade fair grew marginally, while demand from developed economies remained subdued. The first phase of the 115th China Import and Export Fair held from April 15 to 19, attracted 101,198 foreign buyers, up 10 percent from the previous session during last fall. But the figure failed to match last year's spring session, mainly due to the slump among European merchants, who traditionally constitute a large percentage of buyers.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily European Weekly 04/25/2014 page20)