Secondary housing market heats up

CHINA’S secondary housing market started to recover in the first quarter amid loosening credit and regulatory policies, according to a report by the Beike Research Institute.

In the first quarter, sales of previously owned homes in 50 cities rose by nearly 7% from the previous quarter, while sales in March saw a month-on-month increase of more than 40%, according to the report. The market recovery has been uneven, with the Yangtze River Delta region seeing stronger growth momentum, the report said.

CATL takes 34.4% of global EV battery market

CHINESE battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) continued to dominate the global electric vehicle (EV) battery market with its market share expanding in early 2022, data from market research firm SNE Research showed.

In the first two months of the year, CATL provided 18.4 gigawatt hours of total EV battery installation worldwide, representing a 34.4% market share, said SNE Research. BYD, a Shenzhen-based new energy vehicle maker and also an EV battery maker, beat out Japan’s Panasonic for third place with a market share of 11.9% during the period, the data showed. The total amount of battery energy for EVs reached 53.5 gigawatt hours globally in the first two months of 2022, SNE Research said.

Shadow-banking assets to continue declining

CHINA’S shadow-banking assets are expected to continue declining in the first half of 2022, according to a report from Fitch Ratings.

Systemic risks associated with shadow-financing activity have eased, as shadow-banking assets were cut by 40% from 2017 under the country’s strengthened regulation, the report stated. It added that the move has contributed to the healthy development of non-bank credit intermediation.

Food industry posts steady growth

CHINA’S food industry saw stable expansion in terms of production and sales in the first two months of the year, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.

The value-added industrial output of the agricultural and sideline food processing sector rose 6.5% year on year in the period, while that of the food manufacturing sector climbed 7.4% year on year, according to the ministry. The sector of wine, beverage and refined tea manufacturing saw its industrial added value surge by 15.4% over the previous year.