Source:  NCDA&CS, 9/1/21

• Container shipping rates from China and Southeast Asia to the east coast of North America have surpassed $20,000 per twenty-foot equivalent unit, or TEU, CCTV reported. It was the first time for the number to surpass $20,000, up from $16,000 per TEU on Aug 2nd, citing the global container freight index. China-U.S. trade reached $404.6 billion, up 28.9% year-on-year, in the first seven months of this year, which is said to become an important reason for the sharp rise in shipping prices between China and the U.S.

• China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said that the rapid growth of China's foreign trade was driven by a series of factors, among which many are temporary and cannot last long. As effects of those temporary factors fade away, the growth of foreign trade is slowing down in the second half of the year. As the result, China will strengthen cross-cycle adjustments of macro policies, which will mainly target at securing foreign trade enterprises and stabilizing orders, promoting innovation, enhancing operations of industrial and supply chains, and deepening international cooperation. He also emphasized, China has been expanding opening-up in a larger scope and at a deeper level.

• Most economists and business leaders argue that consumption, which contributed more than half of China's GDP in 2020 (USD$14.7 trillion), is estimated to account for as much as about 60% of full-year GDP growth (China's GDP is projected by the International Monetary Fund to grow by 8.1% this year). China's consumption recovery will sustain. Hu Zuquan, a macroeconomic analyst with the State Information Center, said: "China is a super large market with a population of 1.4 billion, a middle-income group of more than 400 million, and per capita GDP exceeding USD$10,000. It still has huge, multi-tiered potential for consumption upgrade."

• China and the U.S. have maintained normal communication in the fields of economics and trade, Gao Feng, spokesman of China's Ministry of Commerce, said on 20th. And President Biden nominated Nicolas Burns as US ambassador to China on August 20th.

• The long-awaited Universal Beijing Resort, which will be the largest of its kind in the world on opening, will start trial operation on Sept 1st, the resort announced on 24th.