Chinese
economy maintains fast growth
China's economy grew 7.8 percent in the first six month of 2002
against the same period last year, fueled by a massive increase
in government spending achead of a leadership transition expected
soon, it was announced recently.
"In the first half of the year,
the national economy maintained relatively fast growth and the
overall trends were good," said Qui Xiaohua, deputy director
of the National Bureau of Statistics.
"We have laid a good foundation
towards realizing the yearly economic growth target of 7.0 percent."
Growth accelerated during the
period, from 7.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter to
8.0 percent in the second quarter, he said.
Gross domestic product (GDP) reached
4.55 trillion Yuan (548.5 billion dollars) in the first half.
Much of the growth appeared to
be driven by a massive 21.5 percent rise in fixed asset investment
over the same period last year.
The spending of nearly 1.45 trillion
yuan was well above the 10 percent increase set for the whole
year by state planning minister Zeng Peiyan in March.
China's
exports rise
China's exports rose a solid 14.1
percent in the first six months of the year against the same
period in 2001, official figures showed, giving cheer to economic
planners hoping for a year of export led growth.
China exported goods worth 142
billion dollars to the end of June, the General Administration
of Customs announced in figures released by the official Xinhua
News Agency.
Over the same priod, imports totalled
128.7 billion dollars, up 10.4 percent over the same priod last
year, giving total foreign trade growth of 12.3 percent.
In June alone, exports surged 17.8
percent to 26 billion dollars, with imports at 23.1 dollars,
up 8.6 percent.
Good export growth is vital for
China to achieve its government-set growth target of seven percent
for the full year, considered by observers the minimum needed
to prevent further mass unemployment and potential social unrest.
In the first quarter of 2002, China's
economy grew 7.6 percent on year, an improvement on the 6.6
percent recorded the previous quarter which economists put down
mainly to improve exports.
Japan's
economy almost stable
Japan's economy has almost stabilized
due to robust gains in exports and production, but severe fluctuations
in the currency market could derail an export-led recovery scenario,
the Bank of Japan (BoJ) said recently.
"Japan's economy, despite continued
weakness in domestic demand, has almost stabilized as a whole
with an increasing upward impetus from exports and production,
and an improvement in corporate profits and business sentiment,"
the central bank said in its monthly economic report for July.
Upgrading its economic assessment
for the fifth straight month, the BoJ report said exports were
rising "significantly" on the back of overseas economic recovery
and strong demand for information technology-related goods.
In May, Japanese exports rose 8.7
percent year-on-year to 3,933.5 billion yen (34.2 billion dollars),
marking the second consecutive increase, led by growing shipments
mainly to the United States and Asia.
Industrial production was also
picking up in tandem with rising exports, the BoJ said, adding
corporate profits appeared to be turning up and business sentiment
is improving.
South
Korean exports jump by 20%
South Korean exports grew 20 percent
in July from a year earlier in the first double digit expansion
for 21 months, government data showed recently boosting hopes
for a full economic recovery.
However the country's trade surplus
fell to $590 million last month from $1.02 billion in June,
the commerce, industry and energy ministry said.
Customs-cleared exports rose 19.9
percent year-on-year to $13.65 billion in July, compared with
a 0.1 percent rise to $12.94 billion in June, the ministry's
preliminary report showed.
It was the first double-digit export
growth since October in 2000, it said.
Five
Thai state enterprises to be privatised
Five Thai state enterprises have
been approved for privatisation this year and early next year,
the government agency in charge of the public offering process
said recently.
The State Enterprise Policy Commission
said it has approved the listing of Bank Thai Plc, Thai Airways
International Plc, the Telephone Organisation of Thailand (TOT),
the Airport Authority of Thailand (AAT) and Krung Thai Bak Plc.
Bank Thai, Thai Airways International
and Krung Thai Bank are already listed on the Stock Exchange
of Thailand.
The commission has also decided
to scrap Thai Airways' planned share offering to a strategic
partner, approving instead on offer to the public and institutional
investors comprising 300 million new shares and 100 million
shares held by the Ministry of Finance.
