Symbolic imageChina's inflation cools as its trade gap with Germany widens
China's producer and consumer price inflation both slowed in July as the oil shock from the war on Iran eased. Weak home demand leaves exports as the growth engine.
Producer prices rose 3.5 percent year on year, down from 4.1 percent in June and below the 3.8 percent forecast, the statistics bureau said on Sunday. Annual consumer inflation eased to a six-month low of 0.5 percent. ANZ strategist Zhaopeng Xing cited lower oil prices and weakening demand; the Politburo's July pledge of faster fiscal spending will take time to feed through.
Germany's China deficit widens
German exports to China fell more than 12 percent to just under 37 billion euros in the first half, leaving China only the ninth-biggest market for German goods, Germany Trade & Invest reported. Imports rose 8.9 percent, widening the half-year deficit to some 55 billion euros from 40 billion.
Record Chinese EV share in Europe
Chinese brands took 14.2 percent of battery-electric sales in western Europe in the first five months, nearly five points more than a year earlier, Schmidt Automotive Research found. A quarter sold in the UK, which has not copied EU tariffs of up to 35.3 percent. Matthias Schmidt expects the share to have peaked as makers switch to plug-in hybrids, untouched by EU tariffs.
Other opinions
Global Times ties the export slump to Chinese industrial upgrading and rejects the 'China shock' framing Reuters revives as 'China Shock 2.0'.