Wirtschaftsdaten für China

Heute ist in der NYT über die chinesische Volkswirtschaft folgendes zu lesen:

From street markets to corporate offices, consumers and executives alike in China are trying to cope with rising prices. The National Bureau of Statistics announced on Saturday that consumer prices in China were 3.5 percent higher compared with a year earlier, the largest increase in nearly two years.

To make matters worse, inflation over the short term also seems to be accelerating. A seasonally adjusted comparison of August prices to July prices showed that inflation was running at an annualized pace closer to 4.8 percent.

Prices are rising in China for reasons that many Americans or Europeans might envy. The economy is growing, stores are full and banks are lending lots of money, according to other statistics released by the government on Saturday. Compared with August of last year, industrial production rose 13.9 percent last month, retail sales increased 18.4 percent, bank lending climbed 18.6 percent and fixed-asset investment surged 24 percent.

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Separate data released on Friday by the General Administration of Customs showed that Chinese demand for imports also remained surprisingly strong. The trade surplus narrowed to $20 billion last month, and would have been nearly in balance without China’s $18 billion surplus with the United States.

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Inflation is starting to become troublesome, especially for young people entering the work force and retirees on fixed incomes.