Business Cycle in China since the Lehman Crisis： Interaction among Macroeconomic Policy,Economic Growth and Inflation

The major objectives of China＇s macroeconomic policy are to stabilize economic growth and inflation, which, in turn, are important factors determining key prices, such as the policy interest rate, the renminbi exchange rate and stockprices. In a framework that distinguishes different phases of the business cycle based on whether the current period＇s economic growth rate and inflation rate are above or below their ＂＇normal＂ values, this paper analyzes the interaction among macroeconomic policy, economic growth and inflation in China since the Lehman crisis, and the implications for these key prices. The path of China＇s economy indicates that stimulus measures taken by the government during the recession phase and tightening measures implemented during the overheating phase have helped minimize the fluctuation over the business cycle. Our analysis shows that Chinese authorities tend to rely more on adjusting the exchange rate than the interest rate to stabilize the economy. Comparing with conditions at the time of the post-Lehman recession, the current slowpace of economie growth in China may reflect not only weakening demand, but also a lowerpotential growth rate associated with the arrival of the Lewis turning point.     

The global recession and China's stimulus package: A general equilibrium assessment of country level impacts

A dynamic computable general equilibrium model is developed to assess the impact of the recent global recession and the Chinese government's stimulus package on China's economic growth. By designing two scenarios – one with and one without the stimulus package – the model results show that GDP growth rate in 2009 could have fallen to 2.9% without the stimulus package, mainly as a result of the sharp decline in exports of manufactured goods. Under the stimulus scenario, with the generated additional demand on investment goods, the Chinese economy grows 8–10% in 2009 and the succeeding years. The model also measures the overall gains of the stimulus package, and the cumulative GDP growth difference between the two scenarios for 2009–15 is about RMB76 trillion.     

Can China's Diplomatic Partnership Strategy Benefit Outward Foreign Direct Investment?

In the context of global integration, whether a diplomatic partnership strategy can promote outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) and how it works are very important issues for China. Based on a dataset featuring China's partnerships collected from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, we establish an empirical framework to assess the role of China's diplomatic strategy in its OFDI arising from partnerships since 1993. The results show that the establishment or upgrade of partnerships has had a positive effect on Chinese firms’ decisions on OFDI for at least the short term, especially for firms with higher demand for policy guarantees from the government, such as non‐central firms and non‐Beijing firms. The results also show that the increase in OFDI is concentrated in host countries with higher political risks, such as developing countries, neighboring countries, and Belt and Road countries, which is consistent with China's diplomatic focus. Our research proves that China's diplomatic strategy can assist firms to invest abroad.     

State-owned Enterprises in China as Macroeconomic Stabilizers: Their Special Function in Times of Economic Policy Uncertainty

China has many state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and they have accounted for a large proportion of China's GDP over the last four decades. China's rapid growth contradicts literature that focuses on the inefficiency of SOEs. This study shows that, in periods of economic policy uncertainty (EPU), SOEs have performed a special function as “macroeconomic stabilizers.” Using Chinese listed firm data from 2008 to 2019, we investigate five aspects of SOEs' unique functions as macroeconomic stabilizers: employment, investment, growth, financial operation, and expectations. When EPU increased, SOEs had more employment, higher investment expenditure, lower performance volatility, more robust financial structures, and more stable expectations than private firms. We employ the US–China trade war as an exogenous shock on EPU to conduct a difference-in-difference-in-differences approach to mitigate the problem of potentially omitted variables. The findings of this study provide a new perspective to better explain the functions of SOEs in the 21st century.     

Expansion of EU's Free Trade Agreements into Asian Countries and Its Impact on the Chinese Economy

Abstract

This study investigates the macroeconomic impact of EU's free trade agreements with Asian countries and the US on the Chinese economy. In addition we examine the impacts on the Chinese industry output based on the framework of production network and production fragmentation. The expansion of the EU's economic reach toward ASEAN and Japan through free trade agreement will generate a positive macroeconomic effect on negotiation participants while it generates a negative effect on the Chinese economy: Some portions of existing trade and foreign direct investment will be shifted to partner countries from non-partner countries. However, according to a sectorial analysis, EU's free trade agreements with three countries result in a positive impact on China's electronics and machinery industry, because China's industry is linked to the production fragmentation and foreign affiliates play a crucial role.     

基于专利分析下的中国工业机器人技术发展现状研究

近年来随着市场与政策的不断利好,中国工业机器人迅猛发展,已成为全球第一大工业机器人市场.但由于中国在该领域起步较晚,从技术与产品的角度与发达国家相比还存在一定差距.通过采用专利地图法对全球与中国范围内的工业机器人专利信息展开分析,了解了中国工业机器人产业在世界市场中的地位以及与世界先进水平间的差距,明确了中国现阶段工业机器人技术布局,为提升产业发展提出对策建议.     

Bank loans and the effects of monetary policy in China: VAR/VECM approach

In this paper, we test the differential effects of monetary policy shock on aspects of banks' balance sheets (deposits, loans, and securities) across bank categories (aggregate banks, state banks, and non-state banks) as well as on macroeconomic variables (output, consumer price index, exports, imports, and foreign exchange reserves). We do so by estimating VAR/VEC Models to uncover the transmission mechanisms of China's monetary policy. Also we identify the cointegrating vectors to establish the long-run relationship between these variables. By using monthly aggregate bank data and disaggregated data on bank and loan types from 1996 to 2006, our study suggests the existence of a bank lending channel, an interest rate channel and an asset price channel. Furthermore, we discuss and explore the distribution and growth effects of China's monetary policy on China's real economy. In addition, we investigate the effects of China's monetary policy on China's international trade. Finally, we identify the cointegrating vectors among these variables and set up VEC Models to uncover the long-run relationships that connect the indicators of monetary policy, bank balance sheet variables and the macroeconomic variables in China.     

The misalignments in Chinese real effective exchange rate from 1994 to 2020: A counterfactual analysis

Using a novel panel data method proposed by Hisao, Ching and Wan (2012), we empirically evaluate the misalignments between the actual and counterfactual values of Chinese real effective exchange rate (REER, CPI-based) from 1994 to 2020, where “counterfactual” refers to the counterfactual scenarios that some major economic events had not happened. These events include China's accession to WTO from December 2001, the reforms of exchange rate regime in July 2005, June 2010 and August 2015, China's economic stimulus package in November 2008, and the US-China trade dispute started from March 2018. We calculate the counterfactual values for both real and nominal effective exchange rates (REER and NEER) in order to examine the channels of the misalignments. We find that the reform of China's exchange rate policy in July 2005 and August 2015 increased Renminbi's trade competitiveness in real term compare to foreign currencies, while other events decreased it or had no effects. The misalignments in REER are caused by the changes in both NEER and China's CPI.     

What Caused the Sharp Downturn in the Chinese Economy during the Global Financial Crisis？ A Critical Note on Causality in Trade Linkage

In responding to a view that attributes sharp downturns in the Chinese economy in late 2008 and early 2009 to the ＂collapse of external demand,＂ the present paper scrutinizes three relevant issues： How have large Chinese importers behaved in a demand-price setting？ How have Chinese commodity imports and exports interacted in recent years？ Did the downturns in China＇s export growth come earlier and were they deeper than those in Chinese import growth？ All answers appear to suggest a conclusion contrary to the abovementioned view： sharp downturns in China＇s trade and economy during the reeent global financial crisis were, to a large extent, caused by certain domestic factors, or by factors that should not be regarded as entirely ＂external. ＂ Insomuch as globalization has advanced, a large economy like China＇s today faces new potential sources of macroeeonomic disturbances, from inside and outside.     

China＇s Construction Land Expansion and Economic Growth： A Capital-output Ratio Based Analysis

Since 2003, the Chinese Government has included land policy as an important component of macroeconomic policy. The present paper analyzes the impact of the expansion of construction land on economic growth in terms of the capital-output ratio. Using provincial panel data for China from 1999to 2005, we conclude that the excess expansion of China＇s construction land led to an increase in the capital-output ratio. Therefore, expanding construction land has made little contribution to economic growth. This paper argues that contractionary land policy does not deter high economic growth, and is a necessary condition for sustainable economic growth.     

An empirical investigation on the temporal properties of China's GDP

This paper employs a structural time series model designed with three components of stochastic seasonality, trigonometric expression of cyclicality and local linear trend to investigate the evolutionary process of China's GDP. In particular, the model is able to detect the stop–go feature of China's economic growth, i.e., growth cycle, as well as business cycle. The empirical result suggests that most variation in China's macroeconomic performance came from business cycle. The investigation of the three components along with historical events suggests that the Chinese economy had been largely influenced by political activities up to the early 1990s. In the mid-1990s China entered a period of stable and highly growing economy, thanks to the economic reform and the successful implementation of macroeconomic policies. However, since the mid-2000s China has become more sensitive to the turbulences in international markets. In the foreseeable future, the challenge facing China is a more volatile economy with possible slowdown in the economic growth, although the growth rate would still be high compared to developed economies.     

Evolutionary Characteristics of China＇s Intermediate Manufactures

China's economic development is characterized by progressive integration with international production chains as an assembly producer. Japan and South Korea are the major partners providing intermediate products to China. The present paper analyzes the Chinese intermediate sector's present condition and evolutionary characteristics revealed in bilateral trade with Japan and South Korea. The analysis uses the framework of new trade theory represented by “intra‐industry trade”. Trade statistics from 1997 to 2004 are analyzed using the database published by the OECD. Results show that China's inter‐industrial evolution is characterized by its expanding positioning in the manner of the flying geese development paradigm of Asian countries. Furthermore, intra‐industrial evolution is characterized by a concentration on price competitiveness. The framework and results of the industrial analysis presented in this paper assist in the understanding of China's manufacturing evolution and of the policy‐making decisions taken in the process.     

Risk Control of Pension Fund Management in China

Based on an analysis of China's current pension system, the present paper indicates that risk control of pension fund management is a serious policy challenge for the Chinese Government. Although some reform efforts have been made, there are still serious institutional and capital market risks that are difficult to overcome but are key in the success of China's pension reform. To ensure a smooth transition in pension reform, China not only needs to build a better institutional framework and facilitate capital market development, but also raise the risk awareness of individual pensioners.     

跨太平洋伙伴关系协定（TPP）对中国经济的影响——基于GTAP模型的模拟评估

运用全球贸易分析模型（GTAP）,就跨太平洋伙伴关系协定（TPP）对中国经济可能产生的影响进行定量评估。模拟结果表明,TPP的建立对中国进出口贸易的影响有限,但会恶化中国的贸易条件,造成GDP和社会福利的下降。就具体产业部门而言,农业和食品加工业的产出将会减少。中国应依托“一带一路”,积极布局“一带一路”周边及沿线,构建全方位多领域的开放格局和国际合作新框架;加快实施国内自贸区战略,以开放倒逼改革。     

China： Unscathed through the Global Financial Tsunami

This paper investigates the reasons behind the resilience of China＇s economy to the global financial tsunami. China ＇s economy is lowly leveraged in its banking, household, public and external sectors and, therefore, is less plagued by the global deleveraging than most developed economies. Chinese domestic sectors have improved significantly over the past decade, giving them larger capacity to cope with external shocks than during the Asian financial crisis a decade ago. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that China＇s economic growth is highly dependent on exports, we find that the main growth engine for China is domestic demand. Destocking, rather than falling exports, was the main cause of the sharp economic slowdown in China in late 2008 and early 2009. Therefore, the global economic slowdown should have limited impact on China＇s economy. We forecast a sustained eeonomic recovery in China in 2009-2011, with real GDP growth exceeding 10 percent in 2010.     

The driving forces of China's business cycles: Evidence from an estimated DSGE model with housing and banking

We study the approximate sources of China's business cycles in an estimated dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model with housing and banking. The model replicates well the volatility and cyclicality of key macroeconomic variables observed in the past two decades in China. A host of shock decomposition exercises demonstrate that, among the shocks being considered, both financial and housing shocks are driving China's business cycles, accounting for a particularly large fraction of the variance in most macroeconomic and financial variables at the business cycle frequencies. In particular, the capital quality, housing demand, and loan-to-value shocks display prominent contributions to the business cycle fluctuations. Moreover, there exists substantial interactions between the banking and housing sectors in China, where the collateral constraint and the financial constraint amplify with each other. The results shed new light in the understanding of China's business cycles, and may serve as a useful benchmark for future quantitative analyses of China's macroeconomic fluctuations using DSGE frameworks.     

Ties Binding Asia,Europe and the USA

We investigate changes in Asia's regional and global trade linkages and their influence on macroeconomic relationships among Asia, Europe and the USA. We first document changes in tripartite trade patterns and discuss stylized facts about East Asia's trade structure, with particular focus on the role of China. China plays a critical role in the rapidly expanding intra‐Asian trade as an assembly and production center that supplies final goods for the advanced economies. However, China's trade shares in final goods with East Asia and in parts and components with Europe and the USA are rising, suggesting that the region's production chains are becoming increasingly integrated into the global business network. Empirical results from a panel vector autoregression model generally confirm increasingly mutual macroeconomic interdependence among East Asia, Europe and the USA. The findings suggest a future role for Asia as an important trade partner and balancing power in the world economy.     

Haste Makes Waste: Policy Options Facing China after Reaching the Lewis Turning Point

This paper provides a framework for assessing the health of China's macro economy and the sustainability of economic growth by combining supply‐side and demand‐side factors and by considering their relationship at different stages of development. As the Chinese economy passed through its Lewis turning point, weakened supply‐side factors caused its growth to slow. The increasing concern regarding the economic slowdown has induced both the central and local governments to implement various stimulus plans through instruments of macroeconomic, industrial and regional policies. By examining where the imbalances of the Chinese economy really lie and investigating the determinants of the current slowdown and of the enhancement of the potential growth rate, the present paper suggests that the best path of action for the Chinese Government is not to stimulate growth through demand‐side factors but to increase the potential growth rate through reforms in certain key areas.     

The process of financial reforms in China

This study aims to show that financial reforms in China can be viewed as an endogenous adjustment process responding primarily to economic growth and changes in political constraints. The author's argument is thus against the mainstream view in which financial reforms are regarded as primary policy tools for the promotion of economic growth. Three factors are carefully examined for the explanation of the endogenous characteristics of financial reforms. First, this paper takes a close look at endogenous aspects of Chinese financial repression. The endogenous characters of financial repression explain why financial reforms in China follow an endogenous path. Second, recent developments of legal frameworks are found to have been institutional responses to macroeconomic imbalances, financial disorders, and increased demands for property right protection. Finally, this paper shows that the lack of market infrastructure and various political constraints have been major obstacles for China's capital market development.     

Forest endowment,logging restrictions,and China's wood products trade

This paper uses the gravity model to investigate determinants of China's wood products trade from 1995 to 2004. The results suggest that trade partners' forest resource endowment and China's own logging restrictions policy affect its wood products imports and exports. China's exported wood products are shown to be inferior goods while China's imported wood products are labor intensive for the exporting countries. Due to rises in Chinese currency against other major currency, transportation costs, and foreign trade actions, China's wood products exports and imports may slow down. The results may have implications on trade and global forest resource conservation.