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South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Guangzhou and Shenzhen, once China's growth engines, report GDP underperformance
Two cities that have served as economic pillars for China's southern province of Guangdong appear to be losing steam relative to their peers, prompting calls for stronger action to revive businesses. Advertisement Tech hub Shenzhen and manufacturing centre Guangzhou reported gross domestic product growth of 5.1 and 3.8 per cent respectively in the period from January to June, both below the national average of 5.3 per cent. The simultaneous slowdown came as uncertainty grips the global supply chain and domestic demand fails to make up the shortfall, analysts said. 'Shenzhen is facing dual headwinds from weakening global demand and a local property downturn, particularly in the commercial real estate sector, which has dragged down both exports and investment,' said Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform, a think tank affiliated with the provincial government. Shenzhen's decline is particularly notable. According to city government statistics, fixed-asset investment dropped 10.9 per cent year-on-year and real estate development plunged 15.1 per cent, reflecting weakened investor confidence. Advertisement While the city's hi-tech industries grew by over 35 per cent, its exports fell 7 per cent and total trade dipped by 1.1 per cent.
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump's order to end ‘de minimis' tariff break expands from China to rest of the world
Washington's decision to suspend the 'de minimis' tariff exemption for all countries – expanding on an earlier move that targeted Chinese shipments – is set to disrupt and ultimately reshape the global cross-border e-commerce sector, analysts said. The White House announced the order on Wednesday as part of efforts to close loopholes used to evade tariffs and smuggle 'deadly synthetic opioids as well as other unsafe or below-market products' into the United States. It will come into effect on August 29. In May, the US eliminated the exemption – which had allowed small packages worth less than US$800 to enter the country duty-free – for goods from China . The move aimed to close what many considered a regulatory loophole exploited by Chinese platforms like Temu and Shein to rapidly scale their businesses. Experts said the latest action marked a return to trade normalcy and left Chinese exporters with limited options: either compete in an already saturated domestic market, or battle fellow Chinese sellers abroad. 'Before, they could source from other countries to get around rules — that's no longer viable, as the pathways to the US market are all blocked,' said Zhuang Bo, global macro strategist at Loomis Sayles Investment Asia, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers.
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Singapore fines 2 Chinese yuan remittance firms for sharing information
Two remittance companies in Singapore have been fined S$5.36 million (US$4.14 million) for exchanging information on the Chinese yuan rate to charge customers. Advertisement This went on for six years. In doing so, the companies – ZGR Global and Hanshan Money Express – were less pressured to offer competitive rates to customers, Singapore's competition watchdog said on Thursday. The case was uncovered after a member of the public noticed that the two shops, located beside each other in People's Park Complex, offered very similar rates and submitted a complaint to the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS). The penalty is the highest that has been meted out for Information Exchange Conduct. Advertisement ZGR Global, previously known as Zhongguo Remittance, was fined S$2.79 million. Hanshan Money Express will have to pay S$2.57 million. It received a 10 per cent discount, amounting to around S$285,000, on its penalty because it accepted liability under CCCS' fast track procedure, a streamlined process to resolve cases more efficiently.
