TradeStrongasUncertaintyLooms
China鈥檚tradefiguresarestillregisteringstablegrowth,withbothexportsandimportscontinuingtoincrease,especiallythelatter.However,whilstpositivemomentumcharacterizedtheeconomyasawholeatthebeginningoftheyear,theoutlookfortradeisrelativelyuncertain.Thisuncertaintycomesfromwhatappearstobeslowingglobaldemand,astrongerChinesecurrency,aswellasincreasedtradeprotectionismintheUnitedStates.
KeyEconomicIndicators
Surpassingeconomists鈥檉orecastsofa2.5-percentrise,China鈥檚consumerpriceindex(CPI)rose2.9percentinFebruary.ThisisasubstantialincreasecomparedtoJanuary鈥檚1.5-percentCPIgain.WhendeliveringtheGovernmentWorkReportinMarch,PremierLiannouncedanoverallinflationtargetforChinaof3percentfor2018.Easingfromthepreviousmonth,theproducerpriceindexrose3.7percentinFebruary,ascomparedto4.3percentinJanuary.Thisrepresentsa15-monthlowfortheindex.
TheYearoftheEmergingEconomy
Thepositiveoutlookembodiedbythe6.5-percentGDPgrowthtargetChinasetforitselfthisyearbodeswellfortherisingprosperityofdevelopingandemergingeconomies.Amongthemilestonesthat2018bringswithitarethe10thannualBRICSsummitinJune,theForumonChina-AfricaCooperationSummit,nowinits18thyear,andthe20thanniversaryofChina-SouthAfricarelations.China鈥檚economicstrengthwillbeanimportantpillaronwhichthecontinuedmaturityofthesevariousforarests.
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