June 21, 2023 Economic and Trade Consulting

   

1. U.S. consumer confidence rises to four-month high in June

A few days ago, the preliminary results of the consumer survey released by the University of Michigan showed that the US consumer confidence index rose in June to the highest level in four months. Separately, U.S. one-year inflation expectations came in at 3.3% in June, the lowest since March 2021, down from the 4.2% expected in May.

   

2. China-EU economic and trade cooperation maintains a good momentum of development

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the EU. Recently, the high-level interactions between China and the EU have been frequent, pointing out the direction for bilateral economic and trade cooperation and injecting new momentum. According to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the invitation of German Chancellor Scholz and the French government, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council will pay an official visit to Germany from June 18 to 23 and hold the seventh round of Sino-German government consultations, pay an official visit to France and attend the New Global Financing Compact Summit.

    

3. The People's Bank of China announces that the one-year LPR will drop to 3.55%

On the 20th, China’s latest loan market quotation rate (LPR) was released. The 1-year LPR was reported at 3.55%, which was 3.65% last time; the 5-year and above varieties reported 4.2%, which was 4.3% last time. Each down-regulated 10BP. In this way, the current round of complete interest rate cuts will start, which not only means the loosening of monetary policy and the start of a new round of loosening, but also will play an important role and significance in boosting the economy.

    

4. The total visits of Lazada/Shopee in Southeast Asia are 657 million

A few days ago, the data analysis website Similarwed released data related to the visits of various e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia in May 2023. In May, the total visits of Lazada/Shopee sites (Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam) were 657 million, a decrease of 2% from 670 million in the previous month, and a positive figure of 3.1% last year.

   

5. China United Shipping officially announced the suspension of the US-West E-commerce Express TPC

Recently, China United Shipping announced that it will suspend its US-West E-commerce Express TPC service from the 26th week (June 25). From the opening to the suspension, China United Shipping's US-West e-commerce route has only been developed for 2 years. At the same time, Maersk, the world's second largest container shipping company, has also recently lowered its freight rates on the US-West route.

   

6. MSC plans to acquire Brazil's 200-year-old port logistics company

Recently, according to Brazilian media reports, the world's largest container shipping company Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) is seeking to acquire Wilson Sons, the country's largest integrated port and shipping logistics service provider. According to the data, Wilson Sons was founded in 1837 and is controlled by Ocean Wilsons Holdings Limited, which owns 57% of the shares.