China Economic Watch: Non-Manufacturing PMI Slows in Jul; Share Trading Fees Cut 20%

Non-Manufacturing PMI Slows in Jul
China's service sector expanded at a slower pace in July as new orders and outlooks for future business fell, official data show. The non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index declined to 55.6 last month from 56.7 in June, according to the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. The same gauge compiled by HSBC read 53.1 in July, bouncing back from 52.3 a month earlier.

Prudent Policies Reaffirmed
The People's Bank of China said it will keep in place a prudent monetary policy to maintain sustainable growth against the faltering world economy. The central bank said the government will fine-tune the policy when time is ripe, and warned that consumer inflation might pick up in 2H 2012. It also said the Renminbi's exchange rate will be remain largely stable.

Share Trading Fees Cut 20%
China has reduced transaction fees on equities trading by 20% in a bid to stop the nation's stock market from diving. The reduction is set to take effect on September 1 and is expected to save traders ¥600 million in the last four months of the year, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said. Separately, the official Xinhua News Agency said that China is also considering a cut in stamp duties on share trading.

Unpaid Micro Credit Line Amounts to ¥13.5t
Outstanding debts that China's small businesses owed to banks totaled ¥13.5 trillion as of the end of 1H 2012, up 18.5% from a year earlier, according to the banking regulator.

Lending at Top Four Banks Total ¥220b in Jul
New loans at China's four biggest state-owned banks totaled ¥220 billion in July, up ¥30 billion from the month before, according to people familiar with the matter. The four lenders usually represent a quarter of the nation's bank lending.

Port Cargo Traffic Breaks 10b Tons
Cargo traffic at Chinese ports totaled 10.04 billion tons and shipping container traffic totaled 164 million TEUs in 2011, up 12.4% and 12% respectively from the year before, according to the Ministry of Transportation. Eight Chinese port cities were listed the world's top 20.

$1 = ¥6.34