Latest news with #Nezha2
Zawya
17-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
China's Jan-Feb retail sales pick up as economy navigates tariff strains
BEIJING - China's retail sales growth quickened in January-February in a welcome sign for policymakers' efforts to boost domestic consumption even as joblessness rose and factory output eased, underscoring the strains on an economy facing fresh U.S. tariff pressure. The data followed weaker-than-expected exports and inflation indicators earlier this month, as a burst of U.S. trade tariffs against key trading partners including China threatens to upend the global trade order. China's top leaders have maintained an economic growth target of "around 5%" for 2025, but analysts say that may be a tall order given pressure on exports, tepid household demand and a protracted property crisis. "The risk to the economy is the damage from higher U.S. tariffs on China's exports which will likely show up in the trade data over the next few months," said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. "I think Beijing will continue its current policy stance. There is no urgency to loosen monetary policy by cutting RRR or interest rate at this stage," he said, adding that policymakers may choose to wait for a few months before cutting rates given the trade uncertainties. Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed retail sales, a gauge of consumption, rose 4.0% in the January-February period, better than a 3.7% rise in December and marking the quickest rate since November 2024. Analysts had expected retail sales to grow 4.0%. Household consumption in the first two months were buoyed by holiday spending during the 8-day Lunar New Year holidays, when China's box office raked in record takings with animated hit "Nezha 2". In the annual parliament meeting earlier this month, China's leaders pledged stronger fiscal and monetary support for the economy. Policymakers have put expanding domestic demand as the top priority this year. Among other measures, they have lined up 300 billion yuan ($41.5 billion) for a recently-expanded consumer goods trade-in scheme for electric vehicles, appliances and other goods. "Retail sales growth was decent, reflecting the vital role of subsidies in supporting home appliance and mobile phone sales," said Tianchen Xu, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. However, the effect of the scheme may "fade over time", with auto sales already down in the first two months, he added. The NBS data showed home appliance and audio-visual device sales grew 10.9%, compared with December's 39.3% jump. Catering revenue, however, rose 4.3% underpinned by the festival boost, faster than the 2.7% rise in December. On Sunday, China unveiled a "special action plan" to boost domestic consumption, featuring measures including increasing residents' income and establishing a childcare subsidy scheme. Officials from the country's top economic ministries will brief media on consumption-boosting measures later on Monday. UNEMPLOYMENT, TRUMP WOES Highlighting the stress facing households, the urban survey-based jobless rate in February climbed to 5.4%, the highest in two years. U.S. President Donald Trump has piled an additional 20% of tariffs on all Chinese goods and is threatening more action. Exports were one of the lone bright spots for China's economy last year. With factories shutting down temporarily during the Lunar New Year holidays, China's industrial output grew 5.9% year-on-year in the first two months, slowing from the 6.2% expansion in December. However, it was ahead of expectations for a 5.3% rise. China publishes data for the two months in a combined release to smooth out the impact of the LNY holidays, which fall in either of the two months. Fixed asset investment, which includes property and infrastructure investment, expanded 4.1% in the Jan-Feb period from the same period a year earlier, versus expectations for a 3.6% rise. It grew 3.2% in 2024. The real estate sector remained underpowered, underlining the low confidence. Property investment fell 9.8% in the first two months of 2025 year-on-year, after tumbling 10.6% in 2024. An NBS spokesperson said the country's housing market faces some pressure despite signs of stabilising. ($1 = 7.2308 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Kevin Yao, Ellen Zhang, Yukun Zhang and Ryan Woo Editing by Kim Coghill and Shri Navaratnam)
Reuters
17-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
China's Jan-Feb industrial output slows, retail sales growth picks up speed
BEIJING, March 17 (Reuters) - China's industrial output slowed in January-February, while retail sales growth accelerated slightly in a mixed start for the economy this year as policymakers navigate mounting pressure from U.S. trade tariffs. The data followed weaker-than-expected exports and inflation indicators earlier this month, as a burst of U.S. trade tariffs against key trading partners including China threatens to upend the global trade order and highlights the need for more policy support to foster a sustainable economic recovery. here. China's top leaders have maintained an economic growth target of "around 5%" for 2025, but analysts say that may be a tall order given pressure on exports, tepid household demand and a protracted property crisis. "The data release suggests a decent momentum in the opening months, even if the economy remains in deflation," said Tianchen Xu, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. "Retail sales growth was decent, too, reflecting the vital role of subsidies in supporting home appliance and mobile phone sales." U.S. President Donald Trump has piled an additional 20% of tariffs on all Chinese goods and is threatening more action. Exports were one of the lone bright spots for China's economy last year. China's industrial output grew 5.9% year-on-year in the first two months, slowing from the 6.2% expansion in December, according to the data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). However, it was ahead of expectations for a 5.3% rise in a Reuters poll of 26 analysts. Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, rose 4.0% in the January-February period, better than a 3.7% rise in December and marking the quickest rate since November 2024. Analysts had expected retail sales to grow 4.0%. Household consumption in the first two months were buoyed by holiday spending during the 8-day Lunar New Year holidays, when China's box office raked in record takings with animated hit "Nezha 2". China publishes data for the two months in a combined release to smooth out the impact of the Lunar New Year holidays, which fall in either of the two months. In the annual parliament meeting earlier this month, China's leaders pledged stronger fiscal and monetary support for the economy. Policymakers have put expanding domestic demand as the top priority this year. Among other measures, they have lined up 300 billion yuan ($41.5 billion) for a recently-expanded consumer goods trade-in scheme for electric vehicles, appliances and other goods. On Sunday, China's State Council unveiled a "special action plan" to boost domestic consumption, featuring measures including increasing residents' income and establishing a childcare subsidy scheme. Officials from the country's top economic ministries will brief media on consumption-boosting measures later on Monday. The urban survey-based jobless rate in February climbed to 5.4%, the highest in two years. Fixed asset investment, which includes property and infrastructure investment, expanded 4.1% in the Jan-Feb period from the same period a year earlier, versus expectations for a 3.6% rise. It grew 3.2% in 2024. ($1 = 7.2308 Chinese yuan renminbi)
South China Morning Post
01-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Chinese inspired by Ne Zha 2, DeepSeek and tech trailblazers see signs of brighter future
At the beginning of 2025, few were fully optimistic about China's development prospects in the shadow of the US-China rivalry in trade, tech, security and other aspects. Advertisement The world's second-largest economy remained in the doldrums throughout most of 2024 until Beijing launched an array of stimulus policies in September. In the end, GDP expanded 5 per cent from 2023, meeting the official target of 'around 5' per cent, according to official data. However, a sluggish job market, a protracted property downturn and gloomy wage increase outlook still weighed heavily on consumer sentiment. 01:53 Chinese animation film Nezha 2 becomes country's highest-grossing film ever Chinese animation film Nezha 2 becomes country's highest-grossing film ever The arrival of green shoots in late January came all of a sudden. The blockbuster film Ne Zha 2 , a home-grown animated feature, has been refreshing records in China box office sales since its debut on January 29. Nine days earlier, DeepSeek , a private Chinese company, shocked the world by launching an AI reasoning model that is fully open source and more cost efficient than most of its peers. The technological excellence exhibited by the movie and the start-up have helped buoy confidence around the nation in what Chinese people can achieve in spite of intensifying rivalry between Washington and Beijing. 'I was so moved by the movie. When the 'monsters' chained by the ruler in the deep sea angrily smashed their shackles, I resonated with their desperation and admired their fighting spirit,' said David Qiu, a video game designer in Beijing, who said the movie was reminiscent of people struggling in the depressed years of the pandemic and post-Covid economic stagnation. Advertisement 'We want to live a better life,' he said.
South China Morning Post
01-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Ne Zha 2 and DeepSeek trailblazers inspire Chinese looking for brighter future
Published: 10:00am, 1 Mar 2025 At the beginning of 2025, few were fully optimistic about China's development prospects in the shadow of the US-China rivalry in trade, tech, security and other aspects. The world's second-largest economy remained in the doldrums throughout most of 2024 until Beijing launched an array of stimulus policies in September. In the end, GDP expanded 5 per cent from 2023, meeting the official target of 'around 5' per cent, according to official data. However, a sluggish job market, a protracted property downturn and gloomy wage increase outlook still weighed heavily on consumer sentiment. 01:53 Chinese animation film Nezha 2 becomes country's highest-grossing film ever Chinese animation film Nezha 2 becomes country's highest-grossing film ever The arrival of green shoots in late January came all of a sudden. The blockbuster film Ne Zha 2 , a home-grown animated feature, has been refreshing records in China box office sales since its debut on January 29. Nine days earlier, DeepSeek , a private Chinese company, shocked the world by launching an AI reasoning model that is fully open source and more cost efficient than most of its peers. The technological excellence exhibited by the movie and the start-up have helped buoy confidence around the nation in what Chinese people can achieve in spite of intensifying rivalry between Washington and Beijing. 'I was so moved by the movie. When the 'monsters' chained by the ruler in the deep sea angrily smashed their shackles, I resonated with their desperation and admired their fighting spirit,' said David Qiu, a video game designer in Beijing, who said the movie was reminiscent of people struggling in the depressed years of the pandemic and post-Covid economic stagnation. 'We want to live a better life,' he said. The maker of Ne Zha , Yang Yu , founder of Kekedou Animation, graduated from a prestigious medical school in the western city of Chengdu but decided to become an animator. Going by the name Jiaozi, or 'Dumpling', Yang is self-taught in the art of animation. He struggled to make a living for six years but never gave up, according to media reports.
NBC News
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Chinese film ‘Nezha 2' becomes world's highest-grossing animated movie
BEIJING — Chinese animated blockbuster 'Nezha 2' overtook Pixar's 'Inside Out 2' on Tuesday to become the highest-grossing animated film globally, according to data from ticketing platform Maoyan. 'Nezha 2' has amassed a total box office of 12.3 billion yuan ($1.69 billion) including pre-sales and overseas earnings, making it the eighth-highest box office film globally. Over 99% of 'Nezha 2''s box office income has come from mainland China, starkly in contrast to Hollywood films, which typically rely on a more global distribution strategy. 'Nezha 2' is a sequel to the 2019 hit 'Nezha.' The film is based on a 16th-century Chinese novel 'The Investiture of the Gods,' depicting a hero boy with magic power who tries to defend Chentangguan, a fortress town. Directed by Sichuan-born director Yang Yu, also known as Jiaozi, the film propelled the 2025 Lunar New Year box office in the country to an all-time high.
