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China exports dive in September on weak global demand
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Oct 13, 2016


China's ranks of super-rich rise despite economic slowdown
Beijing (AFP) Oct 13, 2016 - More Chinese joined the ranks of the super-rich this year, a survey showed Thursday, bringing the total to an all-time high despite dragging growth in the world's second-largest economy.

A total of 2,056 people have a net worth of two billion yuan ($297 million) or more, Shanghai-based luxury magazine publisher Hurun Report said in its Richest People in China report, up from 1,877 last year.

That rise defied the grinding slowdown in China's economic miracle, which saw growth slip to 6.9 percent in 2015 -- its lowest rate in a quarter of a century -- and which has slowed further this year.

Property and entertainment mogul Wang Jianlin, 62, chairman of conglomerate Wanda Group, was tipped the richest man in China with a fortune of $32.1 billion, down two percent from a year ago, the survey said.

He was followed by e-commerce and financial services giant Alibaba's founder Jack Ma, whose wealth was estimated to have surged 41 percent to $30.6 billion on the back of a boom in the company's market capitalisation and a round of investment valuing affiliate Ant Financial at $60 billion, it said.

Pony Ma, head of the online gaming and communications giant Tencent, which owns popular social networking app WeChat, ranked the third richest with a net worth of $24.6 billion after cashing out $1.9 billion from the sale of some of his shares in the company, it said.

The biggest riser this year was mysterious tycoon Yao Zhenhua, who shot up 200 places to fourth on the list on a nine-fold increase in his wealth to $17.2 billion, the survey said.

Yao made headlines over the past year for his hostile takeover bid of the country's leading real estate developer Vanke through his privately-owned Baoneng Group.

"Yao's financial investment model represents the new wave of wealth creation in China," said Hurun Report chairman Rupert Hoogewerf in a statement.

"The first money made in China twenty years ago came from trading, followed by manufacturing, real estate, IT and today it is about using the capital markets for financial investments," he said.

Financial investments and the IT industry were the "hottest" wealth-creating sectors, accounting for a combined 23 percent of the total listers, up from 20 percent last year, the survey showed.

Manufacturing, which is plagued by overcapacity, was the biggest loser, with its share falling to 26 percent this year from 28 percent in 2015, it added.

China's Top Ten

1 Wang Jianlin & family $32.1bn

2 Jack Ma & family $30.6bn

3 Pony Ma $24.6bn

4 Yao Zhenhua $17.2bn

5 Zong Qinghou & family $16.7bn

6 Yan Hao & family $14.9bn

6 William Ding Lei $14.9bn

8 Robin Li & Melissa Ma $14.7bn

9 Lu Zhiqiang & family $12.7bn

10 Xu Jiayin $11.6bn

10 He Xiangjian & He Jianfeng $11.6bn

10 Yan Bin $11.6bn

10 Zhang Jindong $11.6bn

China's exports plummeted in September, data showed Thursday, as anaemic global demand dealt another blow to the world's second-largest economy, while weak imports fuelled worries about crucial domestic appetite.

The figures will come as a disappointment after a recent batch of healthy statistics, and suggest the Asian giant and key driver of the global economy is yet to see the bottom of a years-long growth slowdown.

China's performance affects partners from Australia to Zambia, which have been battered as its expansion has slowed to levels not seen in a quarter of a century.

Customs said exports sank 10.0 percent year-on-year in September to $184.5 billion, while imports fell 1.9 percent to $142.5 billion.

"There remain obvious obstacles facing China's foreign trade development," Customs spokesman Huang Songping told reporters in Beijing. "World growth remains sluggish and global trade lacks effective support."

Both readings missed expectations, with a Bloomberg News survey of economists forecasting a drop of 3.3 percent for exports and a 0.6 percent rise in imports.

The figures are likely to put further pressure on China's yuan currency, which hit six-year lows against the US dollar this week.

The trade surplus declined to $42.0 billion, down around $10 billion month-on-month, which analysts from ANZ said could weigh on the yuan exchange rate, "particularly in the face of a stronger" dollar.

"Against the backdrop of an ongoing capital account deficit, the trade surplus has been an important factor in offsetting capital outflows. But the contraction in exports may continue to see the trade surplus narrow," they said.

Analyst Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economists said the results were "much weaker" than expected, noting that persistently "sluggish global demand" dragged on exports, and that the decline in imports raised questions about the strength of recovery in China's domestic demand.

In August China's imports beat expectations and broke a two-year losing streak, posting a 1.5 percent annual increase.

But last month's return to negative territory, with drops in import volumes of iron ore and copper, could be "an early sign that the recent recovery in economic activity is losing momentum", Evans-Pritchard said. However, he warned against "reading too much into a single data point".

- Lack of momentum -

The weak data underscored that any recovery in global demand was going to be "gradual and susceptible to setbacks", said Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics.

Looking ahead, the world's largest trader in goods faces headwinds due to "downside risks stemming from the US election" and Britain's EU exit, the ANZ analysts said.

Exports -- long a key driver of Chinese growth -- were not expected to contribute to its expansion, they added.

Customs spokesman Huang told the briefing that China's challenges were "not short term" and its traditional trade competitiveness was "weakening".

Domestic economic structural reform was still painful and "there remain rather large downward pressures on the economy", he said.

China is seeking to restructure its economy to make the spending power of its nearly 1.4 billion people a key driver for growth, instead of massive government investment and cheap exports.

But medium to high-end manufacturing was leaving China and returning to developed economies as they sought to boost their own industries to create jobs, Huang noted.

"Global trade protectionism is rising and China's trade is facing risks from increasing trade frictions," he added.

A total of 85 trade remedy investigations were launched against China in the first eight months of the year, up 49 percent year on year, he said.

But traders brushed off the figures, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closing fractionally higher on Thursday, up 0.09 percent.

There are some positive factors that may support external demand in the coming months, CICC analysts said, pointing to a rebound in an export orders index for China's manufacturers, and improved US economic indicators, though they noted a Fed rate hike could "bring uncertainties" to markets.


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