China Economic Watch: Interest Rate Lowered Second Time in a Month

Interest Rate Lowered Second Time in a Month
China's central bank cut interest rates for the second time in less than a month, raising concerns that June data would turn out ugly and signaling the government may take further actions to revive the nation's faltering economy, the world's second largest. The benchmark one-year lending rate was reduced by 0.31 percentage points to 6% and the one-year deposit rate was reduced by a quarter of percentage point to 3%. The 3-percentage-point gap is still among the biggest in the world.

Annual Wine Output to Top 2.2m Kiloliters by 2015
China's wine production is expected to hit 2.2 million kiloliters per year by the end of 2015, double the level recorded in 2010, according to a plan released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Revenue from wine sales in the country is expected to grow 13% annually to ¥60 billion from 2010 through 2015, the plan shows.

Textile Profits Fall 2.4% Jan-May
China's textile industry saw its gross profits drop 2.4% year on year to ¥91.7 billion in the first five months of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said, citing weaker domestic and international demand. During the same period, textile industrial output expanded 11.8% to ¥2.14 trillion, and textile exports edged up 2.1% (much slower than the average 8.7% growth rate for all Chinese export goods) to $90.6 billion.

Energy Saving Services Worth ¥300b by 2015
China plans to save the equivalent of 400 million tons of coal per year and attract up to ¥1 trillion in investment in its clean technology industry by 2015, according to a five-year plan released by the National Development and Reform Commission. The energy saving service industry will also benefit from the plan, and is expected to provide ¥300 billion worth of such services per year by 2015.

Mobile Games to Prevail Over Computer Games
The number of mobile game players in China will reach 192 million by the end of this year, surpassing the country's 180 million computer game players, according to Niko Partners, a consulting firm. China's annual revenue from mobile games is expected to increase fivefold in the next five years, up from $600 million in 2011.

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