On April 17, China 2020 Q1 GDP data is released. China’s economy shrank 6.8% in the first three months of 2020 compared with a year earlier, the first such contraction since Beijing began reporting quarterly gross domestic product in 1992. // WSJ
On April 15, China cut the benchmark interest rate for the second time this year, lowering the medium-term lending facility (MLF) for financial institutions to 2.95%. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR), based on banks quotations, was lowered by 20 basis points (bps) from 4.05% to 3.85%. // Reuters | PBOC
China’s central bank has introduced a homegrown digital currency across four cities as part of a pilot program. Internal tests of the digital currency are being conducted in four large cities around China—Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu and Xiong’an, a satellite city of Beijing. // WSJ
As China is reopening its economy, getting consumers to spend is one of the key initiatives. Many cities collaborate with Alipay to give residents discount coupons for various needs. Wuhan, which reopened on April 8, on April 17 announced that it is going to offer coupons worth of 2.3 billion RMB for restaurant, shopping malls, grocery stores and other cultural/sports spendings. // cnbeta