2019-08-27

Qinghai Provincial Fails to Pay Interest on Dollar Bonds

A company linked to local governments in Qinghai province failed to make a coupon payment last week.

Bloomberg: Qinghai Provincial Misses Coupon Payment on 2020 Dollar Bond
Qinghai Provincial Investment Group Co. has again missed a coupon payment on a dollar bond, a sign that a local government-led debt restructuring has yet to ease finances at the Chinese state-backed aluminum producer.

The company has yet to wire funds to pay a coupon that came due Thursday on a $300 million 2020 note, according to a person familiar with the matter. It is in talks with financial institutions for funds to make a delayed payment, said the person who is not authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be identified. Calls to the company’s office responsible for securities information disclosure went unanswered.
财新: 青海省投美元债利息仍未偿付 债务危机何时休?
The principal of the three-year US dollar debt issued in 2017 is 300 million US dollars, with a coupon rate of 7.25%. The lead underwriters are Guangyin International and DBS Bank. On August 22, the interest payable on this bond was US$ 10.875 million overdue. The next day, it was reported in the media that Qinghai Investment Company claimed that it was ready to make the payment on the same day, but so far, Qinghai Investment Company has not made the payment.

According to Caixin reporter's understanding, at present, some funds invested by Qinghai Province to pay interest on US dollar debt are still not in place, "waiting for the government to give money". However, the person in charge of the debt problem of Qinghai Investment Company stressed to Caixin reporter that the overdue interest was due to the cash flow problem of the enterprise and had nothing to do with the provincial government.

Some people close to Qinghai provincial government told Caixin reporter that it is very difficult for the provincial government to directly contribute to the debts of enterprises, and it is necessary to go through procedures such as auditing and approval. Now the Qinghai provincial government and the presidium of the debt Committee are meeting to coordinate and improve the original debt restructuring plan. As for the US dollar debt that has already been defaulted, the Qinghai provincial government is also urging Qinghai to put forward a quick solution.

This is the second time this US dollar debt has defaulted. On February 22 of this year, Qinghai Investment Company failed to pay US$ 10.875 million in interest on the US dollar debt that had been paid for half a year. Since there is no grace period for the debt, bond market investors believe that the two overdue interest payments have already constituted actual defaults. Qinghai Investment Company became the first state-owned enterprise to default on overseas bonds since Guangdong International Trust Company Limited in 1998.

Established in 1993, Qinghai Investment Group Company is one of the two major wholly state-owned companies under the SASAC of Qinghai Province. Its main businesses are electrolytic aluminum production and sales, aluminum product processing, power sales and coal mining. It has 23 wholly-owned and controlled subsidiaries and 3 shareholding companies, including listed company Jin Rui Mining. The largest shareholder is the Qinghai provincial SASAC, which holds 58.4% of the shares and is the actual controller. Western Mining, the second largest shareholder, holds 20.36% of the shares. The actual controller of the latter is also the Qinghai SASAC.
In short, it's a leveraged business exposed to industries hit hard by the slowing economy.

2019-08-26

Digital Tyranny in the West

The West is becoming a totalitarian society. Increasingly large numbers of the public favor socialism, which hands increasing power to a small elite. Support for the First and Second amendments are in decline in the USA. Traditional defenders of liberty and decentralization, such as libertarians, favor extreme centralization. They also support policies that would have pleased Stalin, as long as those policies are carried out by private companies. Google, a company at the center of the flow of information, is a quasi-Maoist state staffed by employees who would have fit right in during the Cultural Revolution, but since it is a private company, their violations of the American spirit are tolerated by many who would be up at arms if the government behaved 1/100th of 1 percent like Google. Totalitarian infrastructure is already in place, it is already being tested against fringe dissidents. Silicon Valley is racing ahead to complete it before they lose political control to a competent upstart populist. They vow to never repeat the mistake of Trump. And while there are hopeful signs of opposition on the right and left, it's quite possible they'll be prevented from doing anything by candidates who are in bed with BigTech.

Digital Maoism in America
China and the Untied States are moving towards a similar point, converging through different methods and from different starting points. China was poor and never had an open system. China is becoming wealthy and sometimes there are cracks of openness, but then central control takes over. China is becoming a rich country without political freedom and history is full of these examples.

The United States was a rich and free country in the past, but now it is becoming a poor and closed country. Universities are indoctrination centers, media are propaganda outlets, Big Tech companies remove dissident content in a manner too consistent with George Orwell's 1984.
I am not particularly bothered by China's social credit system because it is a one-state communist country. I don't agree with that system, but a social credit system allows for a more complete implementation of the CCP's ideology, it extends their control over the country. Social credit makes the negative aspects of China's system worse, but if it is successful, it is mainly hardening their already extensive control over social, political and economic life.

In America, a social credit system is the opposite of the American ideal. Yet for all the focus on China's social creditm, far fewer care that the United States is developing the same system. For some, it is because China bad. Anything China does is bad because it is authoritarian. If the U.S. does the same exact thing, it is good because America is free. If the Chinese government takes a person's house, this is evidence of China's disrespect for property, human rights and its totalitarian impulse. If the United States government takes a person's house, this is legal and for the public good. Some libertarians will get worked up about civil asset forfeiture, but when it comes to similar behavior by Internet giants, the "free market" camp does nothing about it.

For myself, I do favor building alternative companies to replace Big Tech, but I also support any effort to have these companies completely destroyed. I do not favor breaking them up. Fine them out of existence and sell their used office equipment and servers on eBay. They are to the USA what the CCP is to China. Luckily, a bipartisan effort to stop Big Tech is underway. Hopefully, it will be successful.

The Bipartisan Anti-BigTech Push Reveals Tech is Already Doomed
Negative social mood is ushering in negative views of technology. Instead of ushering in utopia, technology and technology companies will enslave the world to racist/SJW/CCP AI, take everyone's jobs and destroy the world. The shift in sentiment accompanied the ever sinking social mood. Attention from politicians also tells us the time to short technology is at hand. The last major tech anti-trust case came as the market was peaking and wasn't concluded until the bear market was underway.

...These companies have more power than Microsoft in the 1990s and they've abused it in ways that go far beyond Microsoft keeping competing browsers off new PCs. They've violated free speech rights and data privacy laws. They've created Orwellian systems to control thought and speech that mirror China's extensive censorship system. Amazon in particular has taken advantage of extremely outdated legal theories of monopoly and anti-trust. It used to be that a grocery store and a car dealer had little in common. A conglomerate with control of both couldn't transfer monopoly power from one to the other. In the Information Age, everything is linked. Amazon will wipe out pharmacies and groceries soon if something isn't done.
A generalized opposition to technology is also building as social mood turns negative: Socionomics Alert: Technology Makes Our Lives Much Worse. Although I didn't discuss it in that post, opposition to 5G is building based on health concerns.

As for the social credit system, I've written about it before: Framework for Social Credit System Already Exists in USA
There's no practical difference between China's "once untrustworthy, always restricted" system run by the government, and a U.S. version of "once right-wing, always restricted" run by private companies in conjunction with political groups like the SPLC. (In some ways the private system is more insidious in the West because many people think, "It's a private company, they can do what they want." If the Trump or Obama administration announced a social credit system, it would be soundly rejected by a vast majority of Americans.) The main difference in the United States is that people can build alternative companies and systems. The rise of cryptocurrencies accelerated in the wake of PayPal's moves because it became clear that even payment companies could become political weapons.

More broadly, political fracturing and "secession" are already happening in America, but it's taking place first in the economic sphere. As social mood trends negative there will be increased conflict, not less. Even though it won't be by the hand of government (yet), there will be increasing levels of censorship and authoritarian controls placed on users by private companies. This will come in two forms. One will be a "fair" censorship system that targets behavior. It might stray into some actual censorship or merely try to deal with bad behavior caused by rising negative mood. Amazon is actually a good example of the latter with their targeting of fake book reviews. The other will be "unfair" censorship that relies on political advocacy group definitions of "hate speech" or internal systems mostly likely dominated by left-of-center people in Silicon Valley. Authoritarians drift into whatever system allows them social control. Now that systems targeting user behavior exist, any company without strict policies on how they are used will eventually be subverted by political ideologies with penchant for thought control.
Now the mainstream is finally catching on. Fast Company has piece out on Silicon Valley's insidious social credit system today: Uh-oh: Silicon Valley is building a Chinese-style social credit system
IT CAN HAPPEN HERE
Many Westerners are disturbed by what they read about China’s social credit system. But such systems, it turns out, are not unique to China. A parallel system is developing in the United States, in part as the result of Silicon Valley and technology-industry user policies, and in part by surveillance of social media activity by private companies.

Here are some of the elements of America’s growing social credit system.
Insurance companies can use the information:
INSURANCE COMPANIES

The New York State Department of Financial Services announced earlier this year that life insurance companies can base premiums on what they find in your social media posts. That Instagram pic showing you teasing a grizzly bear at Yellowstone with a martini in one hand, a bucket of cheese fries in the other, and a cigarette in your mouth, could cost you. On the other hand, a Facebook post showing you doing yoga might save you money. (Insurance companies have to demonstrate that social media evidence points to risk, and not be based on discrimination of any kind—they can’t use social posts to alter premiums based on race or disability, for example.)

The use of social media is an extension of the lifestyle questions typically asked when applying for life insurance, such as questions about whether you engage in rock climbing or other adventure sports. Saying “no,” but then posting pictures of yourself free-soloing El Capitan, could count as a “yes.”
PATRONSCAN
A company called PatronScan sells three products—kiosk, desktop, and handheld systems—designed to help bar and restaurant owners manage customers. PatronScan is a subsidiary of the Canadian software company Servall Biometrics, and its products are now on sale in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

PatronScan helps spot fake IDs—and troublemakers. When customers arrive at a PatronScan-using bar, their ID is scanned. The company maintains a list of objectionable customers designed to protect venues from people previously removed for “fighting, sexual assault, drugs, theft, and other bad behavior,” according to its website. A “public” list is shared among all PatronScan customers. So someone who’s banned by one bar in the U.S. is potentially banned by all the bars in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada that use the PatronScan system for up to a year. (PatronScan Australia keeps a separate system.)
Uber, Airbnb and others have similar systems. They have already expanded the list to include racists and white supremacists. Now, consider that extreme left-wing people, the type who work for these companies, believe President Trump and everyone who voted for him are racists and white supremacists (regardless of the race of the voter). And they've already been abusing their powers within these companies to deplatform used from YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Paypal and payment processors have already gone beyond targeting "hate" to banning pro-family groups.

Donation Processing Company Cancels Christian Group’s Service Because SPLC Labeled It a “Hate Group”
The Ruth Institute, whose primary focus is family breakdown, and its impact on children, informed LifeNews today about the discrimination. Officials indicated Ruth Institute’s on-line donation processor cut them off from further funding for allegedly promoting “hate, violence, harassment or abuse.”

The Ruth Institute learned late Thursday that Vanco Payment Solutuons, their on-line donation processing service, was cancelling their service immediately.
All of the pieces are in place. All of them. Systems integration and a will to use it is all that's needed. Silicon Valley may or may not overreach, thus far they've stuck to targeting the fringes, yet they've drawn President Trump's ire. Since the United States is experiencing an acceleration Cultural Revolution of its own though, it's only a matter of when the ratchet turns and something seemingly innocuous today, or a political view held by even non-extremist left-wingers, becomes the new "hate" idea that must be expunged by any digital means necessary. Barring an effort to stop this system now by salting the Earth beneath BigTech's feet, we'll have to wait and see what happens when they try to go big.

Other coverage of the topic on this blog

Social Credit Systems Coming to the West

Turn in Social Mood: Internet is Totalitarian Tool, Americans Itching for Trade War

This next one is an extremely important topic because many people who will balk at destroying a person's life (getting them fired, banning them from spending money online) may not have a problem with charging them higher prices and fees. Effectively, Silicon Valley could implement a private tax system based on your personal beliefs: Non-Anonymous Digital Cash Will Usher in the Age of Extreme Price Discrimination

Huxley Was Right: Totalitarianism is Sweet

If nothing else, watch the video in this post: Universal Basic Income is the Bribe For You To Accept Totalitarian Control

Finally, if things head in a negative direction, not only will alternative companies be needed, but full encryption of online activity. If you cannot hide all of your economic activity, you will have to conform to whatever ideology Silicon Valley promotes or risk losing your job, your property and maybe eventually, your life. Banning encryption is the "last mile" that allows for complete totalitarian control over information. Opposition to encryption is building, such as the government saying cryptocurrency is a tool for criminals, tax cheats, etc. The government opposed Facebook's Libra project at the outset, but I expect Facebook will eventually sell it as having all the totalitarian features that many in Washington would love to have. And since the government could outsource digital money to Facebook, it could avoid charges of totalitarian control, thus getting libertarians and other supposed defenders of liberty on board.

2019-08-25

12 Banks Stop Existing-Home Mortgage Lending in Hefei

Chinese real estate controls reliably fail. Chinese credit controls fail. Chinese credit policy works. If they are able to cut off credit to the housing market and grow credit, that is something new. There are no signs of credit growth yet.

China has reliably failed to grow the economy without credit pouring into real estate. If they are able to grow the economy and credit, without primary or secondary effects in the housing market, that is something new. There's no sign of that yet.

If they choke off credit to housing without making it up elsewhere, put on your crash helmet.

iFeng: 这个城市12家银行“停贷”二手房,透露啥信号?
Since the second half of the year in 2019, especially since the middle and late July, the mortgage interest rates in many hotspots have increased significantly and the pace has become increasingly dense.

A few days ago, some media reported that the latest loan of 18 banks in Anhui Hefei, the first home loan interest rate rose 20% is the mainstream; and Hefei has many banks do not do second-hand housing loans , and even some banks stop new home loans .

"Is an emergency loan to buy a house, but the bank does not take orders. " Is this true?

Hefei, Anhui: Many banks stop second-hand housing loan business

Ms. Cheng, a citizen of Hefei, Anhui, sold her own property in June this year. The mortgage payment procedures have been completed, and the buyer’s loan approval is over. But recently, the news that many banks stopped originating existing housing loans made her worry.

Ms. Cheng, Hefei, Anhui: I signed a contract with the other party, passed the household, and also mortgaged. Now I am worried that bank loans will not come . When can I get the money? Or I can’t borrow it. What should I do if I breach the contract?

In response to the concerns of Ms. Cheng, the reporter also contacted several banks by phone. Some related banks said that the mortgage policy has not changed, and the reason for the “stop loan” is that the bank’s monthly limit is insufficient.

Reporter: Hello, what is the situation of your bank second-hand housing loan?

Huaxia Bank staff: second-hand housing is not done.

Reporter: Why?

Huaxia Bank: There is no reason why the policy inside and below is not done now.

The staff of China Postal Savings Bank: I am not allowed for the time being. I have to wait for the notice later. I have no quota for the time being, so I will not accept it.

Hangzhou Bank staff: You have to ask the intermediary and Hangzhou Bank whether there is cooperation , if there is something we can do for you, if not , can't do it now.

Everbright Bank staff: Now do not use second-hand housing for the time being.

It is understood that 12 banks in Hefei have not used second-hand housing loans: Construction Bank, Bank of China, Hangzhou Bank, Huaxia Bank, China Everbright Bank, Bank of Communications, Bohai Bank, Agricultural Bank, Guangfa Bank, China Postal Savings Bank. , CITIC Bank, China Merchants Bank .

Among them, Hangzhou Bank and Hua Xia Bank also stopped new home loans.

2019-08-20

Naysayers Already Argue China Interest Rate Reform Will Fail

Caixin: Lending Rate Reform Could Benefit Big Borrowers Most, Analysts Say
Analysts hold different views on whether the new reforms will lead to loan rates actually being lowered. Economists at Nomura said “the new LPR regime and the PBOC quasi-policy rate cuts could favor big state-owned borrowers while delivering few benefits to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” as looming growth headwinds and financial risks have been making banks more risk averse.

Banks may need to do some “national service” by lowering their average loan rates, but they may try to make up for their lower profits by increasing the price of riskier loans to the private sector and SMEs, the Nomura economists said.

Economists at China Merchants Securities also think that if the implicit floor on lending rates is eliminated, the borrowing costs of big companies will probably decline substantially. But more policies will be needed to lower the borrowing costs of SMEs, which are relatively high risk and have little bargaining power.
Every effort to lower borrowing costs for SMEs has failed. I doubt SMEs will see much of a boost beyond some initial window-dressing by banks. The more important issue for the next couple of months is whether lending picks up at all and where the credit flows. The government also has tight restrictions on the property sector and those have also failed at every turn. Moreover, if credit doesn't pick up and real estate restrictions succeed this time, the result will be one of the last pillar's of GDP growth being starved of credit.

Trade-Weighted U.S. Dollar Exceeds 2002 Peak

If this is a basing pattern, God help the global economy. Although it doesn't look it in the zoomed out view, the horizontal is set at the 2002 high.

Prepare for Chaos: Voters Still Have No Idea on Mass Migration

A recurring topic on this blog is how the media and political establishment control debate and discussion, and replace reality with their own narrative of events. This is not the same as common knowledge, a correct or incorrect understanding of events, but a deliberate political act designed to change public perception and public opinion such that the establishment's desired policies can be enacted. Not all narratives fall in this category. Western financial media was convinced China would unleash another major stimulus around 2014, bailing out China and the global economy. Many resource producing companies apparently bought into the narrative and expanded production, with the predictable result of collapsing commodity prices and heavy financial losses. Currently, the financial media and economic establishment is centered on the "trade wars bad" narrative and blaming weak economic data on the trade war or the Federal Reserve's interest rate policies, instead of focusing on China's domestic economy and imbalances between major exporting and importing countries. False financial narratives tend to die though because reality intrudes in the form of losses. The narrative on trade war is already shifting.

Everyone has a narrative or a hypothesis. Expectations either match reality or they don't. When events contradict the hypothesis, people either retreat from reality or move from hypothesis to narrative. The American establishment has a narrative on immigration that is false almost from head to toe, from the economic benefit (it appears to be a net cost if you account for everything beyond GDP) to public support.

Back in 2014 I posted: Immigration Issue Set to Explode in America; Prepare for Political Volatility. UKIP was the first clear warning shot for the Anglosphere on the topic of immigration. UKIP started with a laser-like focus on a referendum to leave the European Union. They focused on topics such as how much money the UK paid to the EU, plus dry political arguments about who decides local policies. When they were out canvassing they heard the same thing from voters over and over: immigration. Being political neophytes, they were naive enough to think they should represent the voters wishes (and not offer false choices that fit into the approve narrative). They began using immigration as an issue and voila, scored a major political upset.
UKIP's reason for existence was to get the United Kingdom out of the EU. There are many issues that fall under the control of Brussels, such as economic regulations, but the big issue that voters wanted to hear about was immigration. UKIP realized immigration was the big issue and it focused on that issue, turning it into a shock electoral victory.
The post went through polling data that shows many voters prefer immigration restriction when the question is properly framed. Many polls put out by American media ask very open ended questions such as "Do you favor immigration reform?" that encompass everything from banning immigration to open borders.

The post concluded with:
UKIP was a distant warning shot. The defeat of Eric Cantor was a much closer shot. Few if any politicians have stepped up to advocate an immigration restriction policy. They have nearly all taken the easy road of bashing President Obama for inaction. This leaves an opening for an ambitious politician.
The final link went to a video of Trump discussing immigration at the time.

What followed? The shock Brexit victory, the shock Trump victory, the League dominating Italian politics and perhaps the quietly biggest news, the Danish center-left swung very hard-nationalist on immigration ahead of its political victory. I made 1700 percent profit on my Trump bets (mainly due to a quirk in the payoff condition, proving the adage the greatest profits are made in the shortest amount of time by the fewest number of traders).

How are things shaping up in the United States? Not good. President Trump has failed to deliver any substantive reform on immigration. Whether through his own failings and personnel choices or because the U.S. courts are now political weapons, nothing has happened. Trump was a gift to the United States and his opponents. If he could pass immigration reform, it would likely take the issue off the table. It would also likely re-anchor the issue to a new center of merit-based immigration. Instead, the border is being overrun by millions of migrants who believe if they simply get their foot in the USA with a bogus asylum claim, they can collect welfare and free healthcare for life. If events continue as they are now, a merit-based immigration system will be the policy of choice for the globalist fringe in a few years.

Meanwhile, Trump's opposition retreated into Narrative Hell. Large portions of the American progressive left live in a world where Trump is an openly-racist, white supremacist Nazi working for the KGB on direct orders from Putin.

Perhaps not incidentally, immigration is now the top issue according to American voters. Gallup: Mentions of Immigration as Top Problem Surpass Record High.
After hitting a new high last month, mentions of immigration as the most important problem facing the U.S. increased further to 27% in July. Since Gallup began regularly recording mentions of the issue in 1993, immigration has been cited by an average of 6% of Americans, though it has been higher in recent years. There have been occasional, typically short-lived, spikes when major immigration events were occurring.

...Race relations or racism (7%) and healthcare (7%) are the only other two issues to receive as many as 5% of mentions this month.
This is not a short-lived spike. It is the predictable new normal.

The media rejects this reality though, and bends every event in contradiction to the truth. A few weeks ago there were mass shootings in El Paso, TX and Dayton, OH. As with almost every mass shooting, the shooters are alienated young men with mental health issues, often taking brain-altering medications. Yet the lunatic in El Paso wrote a manifesto about immigration. The NYTimes: El Paso Shooting Suspect’s Manifesto Echoes Trump’s Language.

The gap between reality and media narrative is vast. Mass shootings are a very difficult problem because they're centered on mental health issues and wider societal developments, including social mood and historical cycles (an increase in mass shooting fits Turchin's model in Ages of Discord). Yet if you were a yellow journalist trying to manipulate random or unconnected events into a somewhat reality-based narrative, you might say the El Paso shooter was caused by mass migration. That is is a reaction to an extreme policy, pushed by government, media, corporations and other major institutions against the wishes of the public. I'm not arguing for that narrative. Shooters grab onto anything they find. If some nut has a website about a fast food chain being evil incarnate, another crazy might write a manifesto about it before shooting up a restaurant. I'm merely highlighting how the major media and everyone who consumes their output is unmoored from reality. The "immigration rhetoric caused a mass shooting" narrative is total nonsense, yet it is the widely-believed official narrative of America's political, social and economic establishment. The people running the United States are like Soviet commisards being told the people love the new 5-year plan and only the imperialst, running dog capitalists oppose it.

The reality is even worse though, because the media has created a situation where the public is almost as misinformed.

Unz: Media Failing Spectacularly
Anyway, a Harvard-Harris poll last Spring asked respondents “about how many people do you think are caught trying to enter through the southern border each year?”. Five possible ranges were offered as answers in multiple choice format.

The subsequent graph is extraordinarily generous in what is counted as a correct answer. Respondents are given credit for answering either “250,000 to 500,000” or answering “over 500,000”, since the reported total number of apprehensions for calendar year 2018 was 467,000, while 2019 is on pace to come in somewhere around 1,000,000.

So on a five item multiple choice question, we’re giving credit for two possible responses. If participants randomly selected answers, the rate of correct responses would be 40%. Well, not a single demographic category of the 26 the survey reported results for did as well as they would have had they randomly guessed:
The American public doesn’t just lack knowledge about what is happening along the southern border, it has anti-knowledge of the situation.
Republicans are only 9 percentage points more informed than the average voter and that was enough to produce President Trump. The average Republican voter is ignorant of the scale of mass migration, two-thirds are cluless along with roughly 75 percent of the general public.

Contrast the reality of mass migration against the reality that a clear majority of the public favors immigration restriction and more than one-quarter voluntarily name immigration as the biggest issue facing the country. That the public is shifting even more in favor of immigration restriction during a period of declining social mood that will turn extremely negative around the time the economy tips into its next recession.

A total ban on immigration that lasts at least one generation is becoming a major possibility. Mass deportation of illegal aliens and possibly foreigners on welfare is also likely if there's a deep economic downturn. That's the bright side. If the establishment instead pushes in a more extreme direction towards open borders, it will grow even more out of touch with the general public, setting up a cataclysmic collapse in legitimacy.

Back in 2014, I posed this video of a woman complaining about migrant children getting resources while her own children didn't. She is a black woman who statistically is not a Trump voter, and yet she expresses an opinion that is more nationalist that President Trump's rhetoric. This video should terrify the American establishment, but it does not because they believe they have enough control over the narrative such that the truth will not get out, that they'll be able to shape opinion. That anyone who points out the emperor's new clothes can be successfully silenced with charges of racism. My warning is that this woman is expressing the centrist immigration policy of the American voter, and yet she is to the "right", more nationalist, than President Trump. If and when this dam breaks, there will be a rush to a new political center. If the American establishment is far enough out on a limb, they will be wiped out be the flood and create an opening for whatever rises up to fill the power vacuum.

2019-08-18

Real Estate Financing Still Tightening

A big moment for the Chinese economy approaches. Economic growth has been propped up by real estate. Loan reform designed to funnel credit towards SMEs was launched this weekend, outcome unknown.

iFeng: 楼市调控政策趋严 银行房贷利率普涨
In this general rise in housing loans, the interest rates for first and second home loans of several banks have increased, and the approval of loans has been stricter. According to a reporter from China Business Daily, the China Banking Regulatory Commission recently requested banks in 32 cities to conduct a special inspection of their real estate loan business, with banks with large real estate loans bearing the brunt of the inspection. In addition, as banks have already made relatively large loans to the real estate industry before, the intention to control the size of loans by tightening credit is now more obvious.

Reporters learned through investigation that mortgage interest rates in second-tier cities such as Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, Xi 'an, Zhengzhou, Nanning, Wuhan and other cities have increased considerably. Some banks have raised the loan interest rate for first-tier apartments directly from the benchmark to 20%, while the loan interest rate for second-tier apartments has risen as high as 25% from the benchmark. In addition, banks have tightened their scrutiny of the use of funds for consumer loans and operating loans for housing loans to prevent funds from bypassing the property market.

Interest rates are high and the wind has changed?

In order to solve major problems such as people's livelihood housing, supervision has been implementing differentiated policies for mortgage interest rates. We will strictly control and raise the loan ratio limit and loan interest rate for the purchase of multiple apartments, while we will be more lenient with the loan interest rate for the first apartment.

It is understood that as early as three years ago, the state-owned big banks in many places were still able to implement a discount of 8.5% or even lower on their first apartments. However, now the trend of bank loans has changed, and the first apartments, which are just needed, are not immune from this general rise in housing loans.

Chen Hua (not his real name) is planning to get married in Changsha. Buying a house is the top priority before marriage. However, when he contacted several banks in the city, he found that the interest rate of the house purchase loan has changed greatly from six months ago.

"Compared with the beginning of the year, the house price in Changsha is still relatively stable, but the interest rate on the house loan has gone up a bit exaggerated." Chen Hua said that the bank loan for the first apartment had a discount on the benchmark interest rate, which was up to 5%. Today, the loan interest rate of most banks has risen to 15% above the benchmark.

He told reporters that a 15% rise in the benchmark mortgage interest rate seemed insignificant, but it meant that a loan of nearly 1 million yuan would have to be repaid more than 400 yuan per month. According to the 30-year term of the loan, the additional interest required for the loan is close to 150,000 yuan. "Since most bank loans are repaid in equal amounts, the part repaid in advance is more interest, which is even more uneconomical for buyers who repay their loans in advance."

Reporters found that the interest rate for bank loans in Changsha, Hunan province, has risen more widely, especially in joint-stock banks, with the interest rate for most first homes rising 15% from the benchmark. The loan interest rate for the second suite is mostly 20% higher than the benchmark, but the loan interest rate for the second suite of a big state-owned bank has also risen to 25% higher than the benchmark, which also means that the loan interest rate has broken "6".

In fact, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Zhengzhou and other places have also received frequent news of bank mortgage interest rate increases in the near future. Take Nanjing as an example. In May this year, many banks raised the interest rate for first-home loans by 5% on the benchmark, which is currently 15% on the benchmark, with a further upward trend.

Market sources said that the mortgage interest rate of some banks in Xi 'an has increased significantly. The loan interest rate for the first suite has increased by 20% according to the benchmark, which is even higher than the loan interest rate for the previous second suite.

Compared with the second-tier cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other first-tier cities have smaller changes in mortgage interest rates. Reporters visited several large state-owned banks and joint-stock banks and learned that the current loan interest rate for the first suite of most banks is 10% higher than the benchmark, while the loan interest rate for the second suite is adjusted from 10% higher than the benchmark to 15% higher than the benchmark.

"The current change in mortgage interest rate may be closely related to the policy, and the scale of bank loans may continue to shrink in the future." A large state-owned bank disclosed to reporters that the rise in mortgage interest rates is determined by the overall market factors, and the bank will make adjustments according to the actual situation.

Tighter Supervision on Bank Shrinkage

The rise in mortgage interest rates is closely related to the tightening of regulatory policies. In order to strengthen the macro-control of the real estate market, the supervision will severely crack down on the illegal entry of funds into the real estate market and will not relent in its punishment.

It is understood that since July, the real estate trust has shown obvious signs of "braking", the supervision has implemented balance management, and the approval of products has slowed down.

It is noteworthy that the general office of the China Banking Regulatory Commission recently issued the Notice of the General Office of the China Banking Regulatory Commission on Carrying out Special Inspection of Real Estate Business of Banking Institutions in 2019, deciding to carry out special inspection of real estate business of banking institutions in 32 cities, and will severely investigate and punish all kinds of illegal acts that divert funds into the real estate industry through misappropriation or diversion.

Reporters learned that the special inspection will specifically target financial institutions with large real estate loan volume and will conduct spot checks on relevant business specifications.

"The real estate industry is a lever game. With the strong support of credit, house prices may have an upward trend. Supervision and strict control of real estate credit is also a policy of strict control of real estate to avoid risks caused by bubbles. " The aforementioned state-owned big banks said.

The source told reporters that under the supervision policy, banks will reduce the amount of mortgage loans and tilt credit resources to first-tier cities, which will reduce the supply of second-tier cities and raise the interest rate of loans. "The mortgage market will cool down in the second half of the year, and banks will increase their control over the total amount."

A stock broker told reporters that in the past two years, the bank's credit to the real estate industry has not been small in scale, with annual growth even reaching double digits. "As the supervision has tightened on real estate financing at this time, banks will also follow up with the contraction in credit."

"Housing loans will still be approved, but it is more difficult than before. There is no such big discount on interest rates." The source said.

China FX Reserves vs Yuan, DXY for July

A China Pattern

Here are two stocks. One is the China Technology ETF (CQQQ). The other is A.O. Smith (AOS), a company that generates about one-third of its revenue in China.

2019-08-17

Will Financing Costs for SMEs Finally Drop?

Reuters: China unveils rate reform to steer funding costs lower for firms
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said it will improve the mechanism used to establish the loan prime rate (LPR) from this month, in a move to further lower real interest rates for companies as part of broader market reforms.

Analysts say the move, which came after data that showed weaker than expected growth in July and followed a cabinet announcement on Friday, underscores the government’s attempts to use reforms to support a slowing economy.

“By reforming and improving the formation mechanism of LPR, we will be able to use market-based reform methods to help lower real lending rates,” the PBOC said in a statement published on its website.
Every effort to lower borrowing costs has failed. Every effort to steer capital away from zombie industries and real estate speculation has failed. That is the reality, not a prediction. This is a crucial moment for the economy.

iFeng: 重磅!央行降低贷款利率出大招 今后贷款更容易了
Financing Difficulties? Interest rate "two tracks and one track" needs to be promoted

The relevant person in charge of the central bank pointed out that at present, the upper and lower limits of China's loan interest rates have been liberalized, but the deposit and loan benchmark interest rates are still retained, and there is a problem of “interest rate double track” where the loan benchmark interest rate and market interest rate coexist. When banks issue loans, most of them still refer to the benchmark interest rate of the loan. In particular, individual banks set a hidden lower limit by a certain multiple of the benchmark interest rate (such as 0.9 times) through coordinated actions, which hinders the transmission of market interest rates to the real economy. An important reason for the obvious downward trend in interest rates but the lack of experience in the real economy is the core issue that needs to be urgently resolved in the current market-based interest rate reform.

"The main measures for this reform are to improve the formation mechanism of the loan market interest rate (LPR), improve the marketization degree of LPR, play a good guiding role of LPR on the loan interest rate, promote the loan interest rate 'two tracks and one track', and improve interest rate transmission. Efficiency, and promote the reduction of financing costs in the real economy," said the person in charge.

Dong Xiwei, vice president of Chongyang Financial Research Institute of Renmin University of China, told the China-China Jingwei client that due to the existence of interest rate “two tracks”, on the one hand, policy interest rates are difficult to be effectively transmitted among financial sub-markets such as currency, bonds and credit, affecting interest rate transmission. The effect is not conducive to the realization of monetary policy objectives; on the other hand, the pricing of financial products is difficult to accurately reflect the market interest rate in a timely manner, which is not conducive to the flow of funds from financial institutions to the real economy, affecting the efficiency of financial resource allocation. Therefore, we must actively and steadily push forward the interest rate "two tracks and one track" work.

Take more measures to reduce the actual interest rate of loans


The National Convention meeting held on the 16th pointed out that since the beginning of this year, all parties concerned have made active efforts, and the overall financing interest rate of the whole society has generally stabilized and declined. We must continue to maintain this situation, especially in the face of the current situation. We must maintain a reasonable and sufficient liquidity, adhere to the reform measures, promote a significant decline in the real interest rate, and work hard to solve the problem of “funding difficulties”.

The relevant person in charge of the central bank said that by reforming and improving the LPR formation mechanism, it is possible to use the market-oriented reform measures to promote the effect of lowering the actual interest rate of loans.

The person in charge said that first, the overall market interest rate in the previous period will be larger, and the LPR formation mechanism will be more reflective of the decline in market interest rates. Second, the new LPR is more market-oriented, and it is difficult for banks to coordinate the implicit lower limit of the loan interest rate. Breaking the implicit lower limit can cause the loan interest rate to decline. The regulatory authorities and the market interest rate pricing self-regulatory mechanism will supervise the banks, and the enterprise can report the bank's behavior of setting the implicit lower limit of the loan interest rate. The third is to explicitly require banks to refer to LPR pricing in newly issued loans, and use LPR as a pricing benchmark in floating-rate loan contracts. In order to ensure a smooth transition, the stock loan is still executed as originally agreed. Fourth, the People's Bank of China will incorporate the bank's LPR application and loan interest rate competition into a macro-prudential assessment (MPA) to urge banks to use LPR pricing.

For more measures to reduce corporate financing costs and loan interest rates, the relevant person in charge of the central bank said that the central bank will also take various measures with relevant departments to effectively reduce the comprehensive financing costs of enterprises. The first is to promote open and transparent credit rates and fees. Strictly regulate the fees and charges of financial institutions, and urge intermediaries to reduce fees and make profits. The second is to strengthen positive incentives and assessments, strengthen credit support for orders and credit companies, and better serve the real economy. The third is to strengthen multi-sectoral communication and coordination, form a policy synergy, and promote multiple measures to reduce the cost of corporate financing and other channels.

Global interest rate cuts look forward to the direction of domestic monetary policy

In early August, the central bank issued the China Monetary Policy Implementation Report for the second quarter of 2019. The report carried out a more comprehensive inventory of China's monetary policy implementation in the first half of the year. From the perspective of monetary policy, the report pointed out that a prudent monetary policy should be tight and moderate, maintain a reasonable liquidity, and implement counter-cyclical adjustments in a timely and appropriate manner to guide the broad-based monetary growth rate of M2 and social financing to match the nominal GDP growth rate.

Since the Fed cut interest rates, many central banks around the world have joined the “reduction of interest rate camps”. 28 countries or regions have chosen to cut interest rates to varying degrees, and have also strengthened domestic expectations for monetary policy liberalization. Looking forward to the direction of domestic monetary policy in the second half of the year, Dong Xizhen believes that China's monetary policy will still adhere to the stable main tone, maintain a moderate degree of flexibility, use a variety of monetary policy tools, and increase the frequency of pre-adjustment and fine-tuning, but there will be no “big flood irrigation”. "The situation." From the perspective of risk prevention, it does not support the further easing of monetary policy. At the same time, the deposit reserve ratio still has a certain room for downward adjustment, but the possibility of targeted RRR reduction is even greater. Dong Xizhen believes that as for the reduction of the benchmark interest rate for deposits and loans, the possibility is not high in the short term.

2019-08-16

China Home Price Increase Slows in July


New home prices increased 0.59 percent nationally in July. Existing home prices increased 0.37 percent.

Shine: China's home prices generally stable in July
Reuters: Modest gains in China's new home prices give authorities breathing room
SCMP: China’s July home prices cool, as escalating trade war and slowest economic growth in decades send shivers through property market
NBS: 2019年7月份70个大中城市商品住宅销售价格变动情况

The Slope of Hope Arrives: Bounce Edition

Ifeng has a special section dedicated to central bank surrender.

iFeng: 5年来首次!又有全球大国降息了:26国"大放水" 中国跟不跟?
Trump just shouted that the Fed accelerated the pace of interest rate cuts, and another national central bank announced its participation in the "reduction of interest rate legions."

The Bank of Mexico recently decided to cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 8% on the grounds that global economic activity is slowing and international economic and trade tensions are tight, and this is the first time the central bank has cut interest rates in five years.

Since the beginning of this year, the central banks of 26 countries have announced interest rate cuts, and the interest rate cut camp has continued to expand. The agitation of the global interest rate cuts has undoubtedly strengthened the market's expectation that domestic central banks will open monetary policy space and follow up interest rate cuts.

However, will “saving” the global economy through the release of money bring about the expected increase? Under the tide of interest rate cuts, risk assets will re-emerge? A series of questions are still waiting to be resolved.

Mexico cuts interest rates by 25 basis points to 8%

The global interest rate cut has not stopped.

The Mexican central bank decided on Thursday to cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 8%, citing the slowdown in global economic activity and the tight international economic and trade situation. This is the first time the central bank has cut interest rates in five years. Before the Mexican central bank announced a rate cut, the market is expected to remain unchanged at 8.25%.

The Bank of Mexico said in a statement that “the risks facing the global economy have increased” and mentioned the commercial disputes, the “disordered” Brexit process and the deterioration of “some political and geopolitical risks”. The agency added that there is still uncertainty in the US-Mexico relationship.

After the announcement of the interest rate cut, the peso fell back 0.4% against the US dollar and quickly fell back. Mexico's 10-year bond yield fell 19 basis points.

In fact, before this announcement of interest rate cuts, institutions have expected that the Mexican central bank may be in a difficult position to eventually choose to cut interest rates.

On August 14th, BBVA expects the Mexican central bank to cut interest rates by 25 basis points in September and cut interest rates by 100 basis points in 2020. Last month, Goldman Sachs released a report stating that Mexico’s economy remained “moderate” in the second quarter of 2019; the weakness of the Mexican economy increased the probability that the Mexican central bank would cut interest rates in August.

It is reported that earlier this week, Moody's analyst Alfredo Coutino predicted that Mexico's GDP growth rate this year is only 0.5%, which is "moderately positive", but the above analysts also said, "If investors remain silent, The economy of 2019 may not grow, and there may even be a moderate contraction."

According to a report by the Global Forex Network on July 30, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in an interview with Bloomberg that Mexican interest rates are too high for a slowing economy, but he added that he Respect the freedom of the central bank to independently set interest rates.


“The Central Bank of Mexico is paying attention to inflation, which is not bad,” Ovrado said. “But it’s important to lower interest rates to start economic development.” This is also the case after the presidents of advanced economies such as the United States and Turkey offered to recommend central bank interest rate cuts. Another president of the country publicly expressed his views on interest rate cuts.

Global central banks set off a wave of interest rates

From the beginning of this year, after India started the "first shot of interest rate cuts", central banks in various countries began to rush to cut interest rates in order to cope with the slowdown in global economic growth. According to statistics, at present, half of the G20 countries have lowered their policy rates, and four of the BRICS countries have cut interest rates.

Starting from August this year, the Fed’s rare interest rate cuts have intensified this round of global interest rate cuts. After the Fed’s interest rate cuts, several countries once again intensively announced interest rate cuts within half a month.

After the interest-rate meeting that ended on August 1, the Fed decided to cut the federal funds rate target range by 25 basis points to 2%-2.25%. This is the first time the Federal Reserve has taken interest rate cuts since December 16, 2008.

The policy statement shows that US economic activity is growing at a moderate rate, the job market remains strong, and household spending growth has accelerated, but corporate fixed investment continues to be weak. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said that the interest rate cut is to cope with the downside risks of global economic slowdown, the uncertainty of the trade situation and the 2% inflation target as soon as possible.

On the day when the US announced a rate cut, the central banks of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain followed the Fed’s pace and lowered the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points. The analysis said that the reason for the rate cut was that the currencies of the three countries were pegged to the US dollar. On the same day, the Brazilian central bank announced a 50 basis point rate cut and cut the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points from 6.50% to 6.00%, exceeding market expectations (the market expects to cut interest rates by 25 basis points).

On August 7, New Zealand, India and Thailand, three central banks announced interest rate cuts on the same day. Among them, the New Zealand central bank cut interest rates by 50 basis points, the second rate cut in the year. It is worth mentioning that New Zealand's interest rate cuts exceeded market expectations. The New Zealand Federal Reserve announced interest rate resolutions, the committee agreed to cut interest rates by 50 basis points, reducing the official cash rate (OCR) to 1%, after the market forecast will cut interest rates by 25 basis points. The Bank of India announced that it will cut its benchmark interest rate by 35 basis points from 5.75% to 5.40%, setting a new low since 2010. The Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee decided to cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.5%. This is Thailand's first interest rate cut since 2015 to stimulate economic growth and curb the strength of the Thai baht.

On August 8, the Central Bank of the Philippines announced that it would cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.25%. This is the second time the country has cut interest rates since May this year. On August 9, the Peruvian central bank announced that the reference interest rate (base rate) was set at 2.50%, compared to 2.75%. In just three days, five consecutive countries have successively implemented interest rate cuts, and the rate cuts are very dense.

In just half a month, 10 central banks announced interest rate cuts, and the global interest rate cuts swept through. From the perspective of the interest rate cut cycle, most of the central bank's interest rate cuts are the first monetary policy water release measures taken many years later.

The domestic central bank is still "not moving"

The global entry into the interest rate cut cycle and the surge in interest rate cuts have undoubtedly strengthened the market's expectation of domestic central bank interest rate cuts. However, in the analysis of industry insiders, China's monetary policy space will be opened, but the scope may be limited.

Judging from the current action of the central bank, although the global central bank has followed the action of cutting interest rates, the domestic central bank has always adopted the strategy of “doing no action”.

On August 15, the People's Bank of China carried out a medium-term loan facility (MLF) operation of 400 billion yuan, 17 billion yuan more than the amount due on the day, and the operating rate was 3.3%, which was the same as the previous period. At the same time, the 7-day reverse repurchase operation was 30 billion yuan, and the operating rate was 2.55%.

This also means that the central bank still adopts other monetary instruments such as MLF to adjust the monetary policy, and the market interest rate cut is expected to fall again.

Earlier, the central bank said in the second quarter monetary policy implementation report that "in view of the possibility of maintaining the medium- and low-speed growth of the global economy in the medium and long term, we must adhere to the principle of taking the initiative, taking into account international factors and grasping the overall balance in multiple objectives. Keep your strength and plan for a long run."

At the same time, in July, in addition to insisting on the attitude of housing and not speculation and long-term mechanism, the Politburo meeting also added a new phrase “not to use real estate as a means of stimulating the economy in the short term”, and real estate regulation has become more stringent. Industry analysts pointed out that since the mortgage interest rate is greatly affected by monetary policy, if the currency is further widened, it will be contrary to the policy intention of not stimulating the real estate bubble. From the perspective of preventing the real estate market bubble, the monetary loosening plus code will also be constrained.

Economist Deng Haiqing said that China's monetary policy is highly independent of the United States. The Chinese central bank is not just like the small country central bank, it can only passively follow the Fed. When judging the monetary policy of the People's Bank of China, giving overseas factors too high a weight may be more emotional rather than rational.

Deng Haiqing said that the central bank's monetary policy will maintain its strength, with structural credit and dredge monetary policy transmission mechanism as the focus to stabilize growth, rather than engage in "big flood irrigation." The crux of the real economy financing also appears in "wide credit" rather than "wide currency."

This also means that looking at the adjustment of monetary policy and simply cutting interest rates is not necessarily a "universal medicine" that stimulates the rapid recovery of economic recovery. It may also bring other effects. It needs to say goodbye to the traditional "big flood irrigation" traditional thinking, but The goal of importing “live water” into the real economy is achieved through diversified policy adjustments and fine-tuning of monetary policy space.

Asset style switched to safe haven assets

It is worth noting that under the surge of global interest rate cuts, the general concern about the economic slowdown has not been much reduced, the short-term elasticity of risk assets has risen hard, and asset styles are shifting from risky assets to safe-haven assets.

On Friday (August 16th), the Asian market reported that the spot gold short-term surge suddenly rose to a maximum of 1528.1 US dollars / ounce. The analysis believes that the recent concerns about the trade situation and the speculation that the Fed will cut interest rates again will support the gold price. Market risk aversion has warmed up again.

According to industry analysis, the price of gold is rising strongly and is currently above the $1520.00/oz mark, thus consolidating the expectation that the price of gold will continue to rise in the future.

At the same time, the gold ETF holdings increased significantly. On August 15, the gold holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold exchange-traded fund, increased by 844.29 tons compared with the previous trading day, indicating that investors are more optimistic about gold investment.

The risk aversion has warmed up, and it has also brought the market's enthusiasm for investment in safe-haven assets. Some hedge fund managers said that as the valuation of traditional safe-haven assets continued to rise, many investment institutions turned their attention to emerging market high-credit rating bonds with relatively high yields as new safe-haven investment targets, including China, Thailand, etc. Emerging market countries, national debt, etc.

Analysts at Zhongtai Securities said that global safe-haven asset prices have risen sharply. Since October last year, the risk-free yields of major economies such as the United States, Europe, and Japan have fallen sharply, and international gold prices have risen by 26%. Although short-term safe-haven assets have risen rapidly or have some pressure to adjust, the global economic downturn is difficult to reverse, and safe-haven assets are still attractive.

2019-08-14

Low Volatility China Plays

Closed $CHU. Still holding $PTR.

July Economic Data Catches Down to Credit Growth

See the prior post on July credit growth for more context. Also the prior posts China Crisis Repeating a Familiar Pattern For the Last Time as well as China Credit Growth and Risk of Financial Crisis, the latter goes into why I believe China is getting very close to a tipping point. The punchline: credit bubbles do not burst when there is a recession and growth turns negative. Credit bubbles burst when credit growth slows to a rate that cannot sustains ponzi or speculative finance. That "no high enough" growth rate tips a high-flying economy still experiencing what looks like rapid credit growth into a recession and financial crisis.

Trade deal are not causing a slowdown in credit. Maybe exacerbating the effects, but not causing. Trade deals will not solve what's ailing China's economy or the global economy.

Here's July industrial production.
Drilling down into the numbers, the usual suspects are still in contraction, but the year-on-year contraction in July is below the YTD contraction, i.e. it's possible a bottom has been hit. Where was the new weakness to print a sub-5 percent industrial production number? Power generation. The left highlighted column is the July yoy, the right is YTD.
Also notable are the drops in pig iron and steel, alternative energy vehicles crash with 9.1 percent growth in July versus 32 percent YTD.

NBS: 2019年7月份规模以上工业增加值增长4.8%

Retail sales report from NBS: 2019年7月份社会消费品零售总额增长7.6%
Sales ex-autos rose 8.8 percent. Cars and fuel were negative, as was gold and silver jewelry.
The economy has been reliant on real estate as the PBoC admitted this week. Real estate did indeed prop up the economy last month, slowing slightly, but still at very elevated growth levels.

NBS: 2019年1—7月份全国房地产开发投资和销售情况
For context, this growth rate was sub-10% for nearly all of 2015 and 2016, several months saw contraction and the overall growth rate even threatened to go negative. Here's the chart from January 2017. I leave it up to readers whether the current growth rate indicates a healthy economy or not. My read is the underlying economy is in far worse shape.
Finally, fixed asset investment. Not negative, but also not positive as it remains at a depressed level.

NBS: 2019年1—7月份全国固定资产投资(不含农户)增长5.7%

2019-08-12

China's Intensifying Credit Slowdown, M2 Falls, TSF Approaching Stall Speed

TSF outstanding increased 10.7 percent in July. The yoy comparisons show a markedly negative trend. A year ago, TSF was up 13.8 percent yoy. The mtm increase in TSF outstanding was 20 percent lower in July of this year versus last. August and September 2018 also saw large increases in TSF, setting up unfavorable comparisons for this year (barring a stimulus or surprise surge in credit). The next two months need to both be ¥2 trillion increases to maintain current growth. The only months above 2T this year, however, were January, March and June. If TSF increases 3 trillion over the next two months, growth in TSF outstanding will slow to 10.1 percent, approaching stall speed for the Chinese economy. Probably need to be closer to 9 percent for fireworks, but the current trend points to an intensifying slowdown.

M2 fell in July. The yoy growth rate slowed to 8.1 percent from 8.5 percent in June. The 3-month annualized increase was only 7.6 percent. Notice on the chart, those big spikes are the end/start of year, the smaller peaks are the mid-year credit burst. You can see the declining trend.
SCMO: China’s bank lending weakened in July, suggesting Beijing’s stimulus efforts not working
Chinese monetary data for July was weak across the board, suggesting that Beijing’s efforts to galvanise new lending are not having the intended effect.

Chinese banks extended 1.06 trillion yuan (US$150.17 billion) in net new loans last month, down from 1.66 trillion yuan (US$235.17 billion) in June, according to the data released by the People’s Bank of China on Monday.

July’s lending was well below the 1.25 trillion added bank credit predicted by a Bloomberg survey of economists, and was the lowest level since April, when banks issued 1.02 trillion yuan in new loans.

The slump raises questions over the need for additional credit easing – when a central bank sets lower interest rates, for example – from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) to offset the effect of a weakening economy and the impact of the protracted trade war with the United States.

2019-08-11

PBoC Digital Currency on the Way, Prototype Blockchain Completed

China is ready to roll out digital cash. It will be a two-tier system to protect the state banks, with digital cash issued through the banking system instead of directly by the PBoC. There's some question about the final technology, with the PBoC saying it remains technology neutral.

A public blockchain will give the PBoC (and the CCP)direct control over all economic activity in China and paving a way for full micro-implementation of the social credit reward/punishment system. It opens up new avenues for capital controls, direct stimulus for favored industries, negative interest rates and currency devaluation or direct inflation (mass money printing) into individual accounts.

CNStock: 穆长春:人民银行数字货币呼之欲出
Sogou: Mu Changchun: People's Bank of China digital cash Is Coming Soon
On August 10, Mu Changchun, a special member of CF40 and deputy director of the People's Bank of China's payment and settlement department of the Shanghai Stock Exchange China Securities Network News (reporter Zhang Jones), said at the 3rd "China Finance Forty-Person Yichun Forum" that the research on digital cash DC/EP of the People's Bank of China has been carried out for five years since 2014. "The People's Bank of China, digital cash, can now be said to be ready."

Mu Changchun said that the digital cash Research Group of the People's Bank of China has made a prototype and adopted a block chain architecture. Later, it was found that there was a problem, because the legal digital cash was replaced by M0. If we want to reach the retail level, high concurrency is an unavoidable problem. He said that in a large country like China issuing digital cash, adopting a pure block chain architecture cannot achieve the high concurrency required by retail. Therefore, it is finally decided that the People's Bank of China should maintain technological neutrality and not preset a technological route. In other words, it does not necessarily depend on a certain technological route.
I'm not sure what the technical argument is there. PBoC being technology neutral makes sense, but blockchain technology can scale.
In addition, according to his introduction, DC/EP adopts a two-tier operation system. The single-tier operation system is that the People's Bank of China issues digital cash directly to the public. The People's Bank of China first exchanged digital cash for banks or other operating institutions, and then these institutions exchanged for the public. This is a two-tier operating system.

There are several considerations for adopting a two-tier operation framework: First of all, China is a complex economy with a vast territory and a large population. The economic development, resource endowment, population education level and acceptance level for intelligent terminals are all different. If a single-tier operation framework is adopted, it means that the People's Bank of China has to face all the public alone. In this case, there will be great challenges. From the perspective of improving the availability and enhancing the public's willingness to use, a two-tier operational framework should be adopted to deal with such difficulties.

Second, the People's Bank of China has decided to adopt a two-tier structure in order to give full play to the resources, talents and technological advantages of commercial organizations, promote innovation and compete for the best.

Third, the two-tier operation system helps to resolve risks and avoid excessive concentration of risks.

Fourth, if a single-tier operating framework is used, it will lead to financial disintermediation.

Mu Changchun said that under the framework of single-tier deposit, the People's Bank of China will directly face the public to deposit money in digital cash. Compared with commercial banks' deposit money, digital cash's competitiveness is better than that of commercial banks' deposit money under the condition of credit endorsement of the People's Bank of China, which will have an crowding-out effect on commercial bank deposits, affect the lending capacity of commercial banks and increase the dependence of commercial banks on the interbank market. In this case, the price of capital will be raised, the cost of social financing will be increased, and the real economy will be damaged.

"To sum up, the People's Bank of China is the top tier and commercial banks are the second tier. This dual delivery system is suitable for our national conditions. It can not only use existing resources to mobilize the enthusiasm of commercial banks, but also smoothly enhance the acceptance of digital cash. "

Mu Changchun pointed out that the two-tier operation system will not change the relationship between the creditor's rights and debts of currency in circulation. In order to ensure that the digital cash of the People's Bank of China will not exceed the limit, commercial organizations will pay 100% of the reserve fund to the People's Bank of China. digital cash of the People's Bank of China is still a liability of the Central Bank, guaranteed by the credit of the Central Bank, and has unlimited legal repayment.

In addition, the two-tier operation system will not change the existing money delivery system and dual account structure, and will not compete with the deposit money of commercial banks. Since it will not affect the existing monetary policy transmission mechanism or strengthen the pro-cyclical effect under pressure, it will not have negative impact on the real economy.

Mu Changchun said that since digital cash of the People's Bank of China is a replacement for M0, no interest will be paid for cash, which will not lead to financial disintermediation and will not have a big impact on the existing real economy. In addition, all existing regulations on cash management, anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism financing, etc. should be observed, and large and suspicious transactions in digital cash of the People's Bank of China should be reported to the People's Bank of China.

Mu Changchun also pointed out that the digital cash of the People's Bank of China must have high scalability and concurrent performance, which is suitable for small retail high-frequency business scenarios. In order to guide the People's Bank of China's digital cash to be used in small retail scenarios, not to produce crowding-out effect on deposits, and to avoid arbitrage and pro-cyclical effect under pressure environment, transaction limits and balance limits can be set according to different levels of wallets. In addition, some exchange costs and friction can be increased to avoid pro-cyclical situations under pressure.
A currency crisis would be a great time to roll out the digital alternative.

Real Estate Trust Issuance Suddenly Cools in July

Real estate is the main driver of trust finance and its cooling sharply. Without offsetting credit growth or stimulus, the economy will slow yet again.

iFeng: 7月份房地产信托发行骤冷
Sogou: Sudden Chill in Real Estate Trust Issuance
Supervision continues to exert its power and the issuing market of the collective trust market is "cooled". Statistics show that the scale of real estate trust fund raising dropped sharply in July compared with the previous month, which may end the boom since 2018. However, the status of basic industry trust has risen after the real estate trust supervision has been tightened.

The scale of issuance has generally declined.

In early July, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) issued a warning to some trust companies whose real estate trust business grew too fast and increased too much. The rapid growth of real estate trust came to an abrupt end. Usufructuary trust data show that 63 trust companies issued collective trust products in July, with a total of 1,632 products issued, a decrease of 20.31% from the previous month. The issuance scale of collective trust products was 184.577 billion yuan, a decrease of 20.22% month on month.

Judging from the issuance situation, the issuance scale of Everbright Trust, which ranks first only, rose 2.48% month on month. However, the other four trust companies in the top five have seen their issuance scale decline to varying degrees.

In terms of product establishment, 59 trust companies established 1,473 collective trust products in July, down 7.06% from the previous month. The establishment scale of collective trust products in the month was 137.071 billion yuan, down 18.9% from the previous month. In July, due to the influence of "policy+window guidance", real estate trust fund raising encountered a "sudden brake" and the establishment scale of the overall collective trust market dropped significantly month on month.

Real Estate Trust Shrinks into Stereotype

In July, the real estate trust raised 58.425 billion yuan, a decrease of 19.63% from the previous month, but the proportion of the real estate trust still ranked first in that month. Since 2019, with the exception of February, which is affected by the long Spring Festival holiday, the scale of real estate trust fund raising in other months in the first half of the year has exceeded 60 billion yuan. The decline in July may be considered as the starting point for the scale contraction of real estate trust.

Industry insiders said that the regulatory requirements for real estate trust continue to tighten, and the contraction of real estate trust business is a foregone conclusion. For some trust companies that rely heavily on real estate trust business, the performance pressure in the second half of the year will be relatively great. Head real estate companies have become "hot cakes". Trust companies will face fierce competition against high-quality counterparties, and the rate of return of real estate trusts is expected to decline.

The scale of basic industry trust increased by 7.31% month on month

Tighter regulation of real estate trust forces trust companies to carry out other businesses to replace them. The continuous policy of "red packets" is an important reason for the growth of basic industry trust against the trend. The foundation scale of basic industry trust increased by 7.31% month on month.

The basic industry trust returned to the upward trend in March, and the product yield remained relatively high. In July, the amount of funds raised by basic industry trust was 36.385 billion yuan, up 7.31% month on month and 2.25 times over the same period last year. The basic industry trust has maintained a good upward trend since the second half of 2018, reaching its peak in March 2019. Influenced by the crowding-out effect of the massive issuance of local bonds and the improvement of local financing environment, the scale and yield of basic industrial trusts both showed significant downward trend in the second quarter. In July, the fund-raising scale of basic industry trust bottomed out and the product income also rebounded.

The status of basic industry trust has risen after the real estate trust supervision has been tightened. Industry insiders said: First, as an important means of counter-cyclical adjustment by the state, the policy effect of expanding investment in infrastructure has begun to emerge, with strong demand for capital in infrastructure and fewer policy obstacles in trust companies' development. Second, the mode of government-trust cooperation is becoming more standardized, and regions with strong fiscal revenue capacity should be carefully selected for cooperation.

It is worth mentioning that in July, the distribution of funds invested in basic industrial trust was distinctive, with economically developed provinces being the first choice, and gradually expanding to the central and western provinces. Jiangsu Province is far ahead with 151 products and has become the hottest area for basic industry trust development, while Sichuan, Shandong, Zhejiang, Guizhou, Hunan and Shaanxi are the second groups, and trust funds are also continuously flowing in.