China's April CPI up 2.8%, further rises expected

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, increased by 2.8 percent year-on-year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on May 11. The rise was 0.4 percentage point higher than the previous month, which saw a 2.4 percent increase year-on-year. The CPI dropped 1.5 percent in April last year.

The April CPI figure of this year was consistent with market expectations of growth to be between 2.6 percent and 3 percent. [Full Story]

China April PPI up 6.8%

China's producer price index (PPI), a major measure of inflation at the wholesale level, increased by 6.8 percent year-on-year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on May 11.

That is 0.9 percentage point higher than March's 5.9 percent, the NBS said. [Full Story]

FDI rise 24.7% indicates confidence in April

China's foreign direct investment (FDI) grew by nearly 25 percent in April, an indication that the country remains a favorite destination for foreign capital.

The Ministry of Commerce said on its website that China's FDI last month grew by 24.7 percent from a year earlier to hit $7.35 billion. From January to April, China attracted investment worth $30.8 billion, up 11.3 percent year-on-year. [Full Story]

Urban fixed-asset investment up 26.1% in April

China's urban fixed-asset investment increased by 26.1 percent year-on-year to 4.674 trillion yuan ($684.63 billion) in the first four months of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on May 11.

The growth rate was 4.4 percentage points lower from the same period of 2009, said the NBS.

The growth followed a 26.4 percent increase in the first quarter this year. [Full Story]

China's housing price up 12.8% in April

China's property prices rose by a record 12.8 percent year-on-year in April, due to a comparatively low base in 2009 and a time lag for tightening real estate policies to take effect.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the April increase topped an 11.7 percent jump in March that was the highest since the survey of residential and commercial prices in 70 cities started in July 2005. [Full Story]

China's industrial output up 17.8% in April

The growth of China's industrial value-added output was 17.8 percent in April, slightly lower than 18.1-percent increase in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on May 4.

The figure was compared with a 7.3-percent growth in April last year, when the national economy was hit hard by the global financial crisis.

Industrial production was stable, expanding relatively quickly in the first four months, the NBS said. [Full Story]

China's April retail sales up 18.5%

China's retail sales increased by 18.5 percent year-on-year in April, totaling 1.151 trillion yuan ($168.60 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on May 11.

The rise is 3.7 percentage points higher than the same month of last year, and 0.5 percentage point higher than March's 18 percent growth.

Retail sales in the first four months of this year rose 18.1 percent year-on-year to 4.788 trillion yuan. The growth rate is 3.1 percentage points higher than the same period of 2009. [Full Story]

China's PMI of manufacturing sector up in April

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector stood at 55.7 percent in April, up 0.6 percentage points from last month, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) said on April 30.

It was the 14th straight month that the index was above 50 percent.

The PMI includes a package of indices to measure manufacturing sector performance. A reading above 50 percent indicates economic expansion, while that below 50 percent indicates contraction. [Full Story]

China's new loans tops $113b in April

China's April new yuan loans rose to 774 billion yuan ($113.37 billion) from March's 510.7 billion yuan, the People's Bank of China announced on May 11.

Yuan loans outstanding at the end of April were 43.35 trillion yuan, up 21.96 percent higher than a year earlier. The growth rate is 0.15 percentage point higer than that in March.

It was also an increase of 182.2 billion yuan from the same period last year. [Full Story]

Trade surplus hits $1.68b, down sharply in April

China posted a trade surplus of $1.68 billion in April, down 87 percent from a year earlier, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said on May 10.

According to the GAC figures, China's exports in April totaled $119.92 billion, up 30.5 percent from a year ago and 6.3 percent from March. While imports reached $118.24 billion, up 49.7 percent year-on-year. [Full Story]

China's fiscal revenue up 34% in April

China's fiscal revenue in April rose 34.4 percent year on year to 792.6 billion yuan ($116.03 billion), boosted by rising tax revenues and domestic prices, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on May 11.

The rise was also a result of less consumption tax in the same period last year, said the MOF in a statement on its website.

The government took in 2.76 trillion yuan in revenue in the first four months, up 34.1 percent year on year, said the statement. [Full Story]

Mark Williams, senior China economist at Capital Economics.

The fall in China's trade surplus will be reversed soon unless the government is able to push through significant structural changes. [Full Story]

Zhang Monan, economics researcher with the State Information Center.

A country's new round of economic growth is based on its application of new technologies and the building of reasonable and scientific structures for industries, demand and energy and a coordinated regional economic model. [Full Story]

Sun Lijian, deputy dean of the School of Economics and professor of finance, Fudan University.

Government measures, such as improving infrastructure and boosting the housing and automobile sectors, were the government's strategic choice during the global financial crisis. [Full Story]

China needs a sustainable economic growth pattern

China has been dependent on exports and investments, rather than domestic demand and consumption.

Khalid Malik, the United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in China.

By further investing in a green economy and green growth underpinned by emerging green technologies, China has the chance to leapfrog over decades of traditional development based on highly polluting fuels. [Full Story]

Pang Zhongying, professor of international relations at Renmin University of China.

China's sustainable development depends on whether it can persist with its "scientific development" and "economic restructuring". [Full Story]

Hu Shaowei, economist with the State Information Center.

China must shift from a resources-intensive and export-driven economy to one that is resources-efficient and technologically savvy. [Full Storry]