The IMF raised its growth forecast for China to 5%
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its forecast for China’s economic growth to 5% this year, taking into account the strong GDP growth in the first quarter of this year and related policy incentives, First Deputy Managing Director Geeta Gopinath said Wednesday. Gopinath, speaking at a press conference on the 2024 China Article IV consultation in Beijing, said China’s economic growth will remain resilient.
In the first four months of the year, foreign non-financial investment increased by 18.7% year-on-year
Ministry of Commerce spokesman He Yadong introduced China’s overseas investment cooperation from January to April this year at a regular press conference. From January to April, China’s foreign non-financial direct investment reached 343.47 billion RMB, up 18.7% year on year. Among them, Chinese enterprises invested 77.77 billion RMB in non-financial direct investment in the “Belt and Road” jointly building countries, an increase of 20.4%..
On May 30, the offshore RMB strengthened against the dollar and euro and depreciated against the yen
The offshore RMB exchange rate against the US dollar appreciated sharply, as of press time, the offshore RMB exchange rate against the US dollar was 7.2531, compared with the previous trading day’s close of 7.2715, an appreciation of 184 basis points.
Offshore RMB against the euro exchange rate rose slightly, as of press time, offshore RMB against the euro exchange rate of 7.8427, compared with the previous trading day’s close of 7.8525, an appreciation of 98 basis points.
Offshore RMB against 100 yen unchanged, as of press, offshore RMB against 100 yen exchange rate of 4.6200, compared with the previous trading day’s close of 4.6100, devaluation of 100 basis points.
On May 30, the onshore RMB strengthened against the dollar and euro and weakened against the yen
The onshore RMB strengthened slightly against the US dollar, trading at 7.2366 as of press time, up 117 basis points from the previous close of 7.2483.
The onshore RMB strengthened slightly against the euro, as of press time, the onshore RMB against the euro exchange rate of 7.8243, compared with the previous trading day’s close of 7.8284, up 41 basis points.
The onshore RMB weakened sharply against the 100 yen exchange rate, as of press time, the onshore RMB to the 100 yen exchange rate of 4.6100, from the previous trading price of 4.5900, down 200 basis points.
On May 30, the central parity rate of the RMB depreciated against the US dollar and appreciated against the euro and the yen
The RMB depreciated against the US dollar, with the central parity rate of the RMB to the US dollar at 7.1111, 5 basis points weaker than the previous trading day’s 7.1106.
The RMB appreciated sharply against the euro, with the central parity rate of the RMB to the euro at 7.7222, up 286 basis points from 7.7508 in the previous trading day.
The exchange rate of RMB against 100 yen slightly appreciated, the central rate of RMB against 100 yen was 4.5480, compared with the previous trading day 4.5519, an appreciation of 39 basis points.
India’s actual use of foreign investment is at a 17-year low
According to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the actual utilised foreign direct investment (FDI) in India fell to $26.6 billion in the 2023-24 fiscal year, down 37% from the previous fiscal year. The figure is the lowest since the 2006-07 financial year. The analysis found that the main reason for the decline in the actual utilization of foreign investment in India was the surge in foreign investment withdrawal.
Mexico’s GDP grew 1.6% in the first quarter from a year earlier
Recently, Mexico’s National Geographic Statistics and Census Bureau released preliminary GDP data for the first quarter of 2024. The data showed that excluding price factors, real GDP grew by 1.6% year-on-year, down 0.7 percentage points from the previous quarter and down 2.0 percentage points from the same period last year. On a seasonally adjusted basis, real GDP in the first quarter of 2024 increased by 0.28% quarter-on-quarter, or 1.1% annualized.
Ireland has announced a series of initiatives to support small and medium-sized enterprises
Ireland’s Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has announced a series of support initiatives to help smes cope with rising cost pressures, including: The Innovation Grant will be doubled to €20,000, the Energy Efficiency grant will be increased to €10,000, the corporate share will be reduced from 50% to 25%, the microcredit limit will be increased from €25,000 to €50,000, and the Business Cost Increase scheme will be reopened for 14 days.
The penetration rate of e-commerce users in South Korea will increase to 53.2%
According to the latest data from Statista, South Korea’s e-commerce market is showing strong growth momentum. According to the data in 2024, the penetration rate of e-commerce users will increase to 53.2%, and in the following five years, this proportion is expected to further climb to 63.7%. This means that in South Korea, which has a total population of about 51.682 million, more than 30 million consumers will choose e-commerce as a shopping method.
Walmart opens its fourth high-tech distribution center
Walmart has opened its fourth high-tech distribution center in Pennsylvania. The facility, located in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, will cover 1.5 million square feet (about 139,000 square meters) and employ more than 1,000 people. The high-tech facility will feature automated, high-density storage and retrieval systems to streamline operations.
The national port cargo throughput increased by 5.2% year on year
Recently, the Ministry of Transport released the national port throughput data for the first four months of 2024. Data show: From January to April 2024, ports across the country completed 5.552 billion tons of cargo throughput, an increase of 5.2%. Among them, the port of Shanghai completed a total container throughput of 16.64 million TEU in the first four months of this year, an increase of 7.4%; Ningbo Zhoushan Port ranked second with a total throughput of 12.35 million TEU, up 9.1% year on year.
Cma CGM’s first-quarter net profit fell 61% from a year earlier
Recently, CMA CGM Group announced the results of the first quarter of 2024, achieving revenue of about 11.83 billion US dollars, down 7.0% year-on-year; Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of approximately $2.39 billion, down 30.3% year-over-year; Net income was approximately $790 million, down 61.0% year-over-year.
Samsung Electronics suffered its first strike since its founding
On the 29th, the national Samsung Electronics labor union announced the breakdown of labor negotiations and will launch the first strike in the 55-year history of Samsung Electronics on June 7 in the form of a collective annual leave. The National Samsung Electronics Union is the largest labor union within Samsung Electronics, with 28,400 members, accounting for about 22% of the company’s total workforce. The representative of the national Samsung Electronics labor Union said that the main reason for the decision to officially strike was the company’s “disregard for the union.”
Burberry’s revenues fell 4% year on year in 2024
Recently, the British luxury goods group Burberry announced the preliminary results of the 2024 financial year ended March 30. During the period, the group’s revenue was £2.968 billion, down about 4% year-on-year; Adjusted operating profit was £418m, down about 34% from a year earlier and ahead of analyst expectations of £405m. Burberry’s chief executive said that while the results were lower than initially expected, the group was making good progress in refocusing its brand.
The big dialect recognition model is online
Recently, at the 7th Digital China Construction Summit, China Telecom Artificial Intelligence Research Institute released a large speech recognition model that supports the free mixing of 30 dialects – Star super dialect speech recognition large model. This is the industry’s first open source speech recognition model based on discrete speech representation. It is reported that the model can understand more than 30 dialects, including Cantonese, Shanghai, Sichuan and Wenzhou.
