China's financial aggregates grew at a reasonable pace and the financial system provided stable support for the real economy in the first half of this year, according to the latest official data released by the central bank on Wednesday.
People's Bank of China (PBOC) data show that at the end of June, the balance of the broad money supply (M2) grew by 8 percent year over year, continuing to exceed that of nominal GDP (gross domestic product).
In the first half of the year, new Chinese yuan loans totaled 10.72 trillion yuan (about 1.58 trillion U.S. dollars) and new bond financing amounted to 8.51 trillion yuan (about 1.26 trillion U.S. dollars). The share of bond financing increased and the financial system's support for the real economy remained solid in the first six months.
While aggregate financing volume increased, more credit funds flowed into key areas and weak links such as sci-tech innovation and small and micro enterprises in the first half of the year.
As of the end of June, the outstanding balance of inclusive loans to small and micro enterprises grew by 8.3 percent year on year, and the outstanding balance of medium- and long-term loans to the industrial sector rose by 5.9 percent -- both exceeding the growth rate of total loans.
The overall social financing cost was at a historically low level in the six-month period.
In June, the average interest rate on newly issued corporate loans was around 3.0 percent, about 20 basis points lower than the same period of the previous year. The interest rate for newly issued personal housing loans was about 3.1 percent, basically on a par with that of the same period last year.
The Chinese exchange rate remained stable with an upward trend in the first half of the year. The Chinese yuan had appreciated by 4.7 percent against a basket of foreign currencies by the end of June and by 3 percent against the U.S. dollar compared to the end of last year. "Overall, major macro financial indicators reflecting the operation of the financial sector fully demonstrate the status of the appropriately accommodative monetary policy. The social financing conditions are relatively accommodative, while the quality and efficiency of financial services for the real economy are constantly improving," said Zou Lan, deputy governor of PBOC.
China's financial aggregates grow at reasonable pace in Jan-June
Rally participants gathered in the Japanese capital on Aug 9, which also marked the 81st anniversary of the Nagasaki atomic bombing, to voice strong opposition to the government's push to boost defense spending and revise the war-renouncing Article 9 of the national Constitution.
Holding anti-war placards, chanting anti-war slogans, protesters warned that remilitarizing the nation would betray its pacifist ideals and endanger future generations.
"Defense spending keeps increasing. Based on Article 9 of the Constitution, Japan pledged never to wage war again, yet it keeps strengthening its military. I find this extremely dangerous. They are also trying to revise Article 9. So I believe that for the sake of future young people and children, Article 9 must never be revised. Japan decided never to repeat the mistakes of waging a war after its defeat in WWII. I think we should continue to safeguard that commitment," said a rally participant.
For many in the crowd, the shadow of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remains a powerful moral compass as they believe that militarization offers no path forward for a nation that knows the devastation of war firsthand.
"Japan is the only country in the world to have suffered atomic bombings. Yet now Japan is going to deploy missiles. I believe Japan must never possess nuclear weapons," said another rally participant.
"I believe Japan has no future if it goes down the path of militarization. Nuclear weapons are absolutely bad for Japan," said a third woman, also a rally participant.
Beyond moral objections, some demonstrators said that Japan's economic vulnerabilities articulate that saber-rattling is a luxury the country cannot afford.
"I can't help but wonder what on earth a country with only a 36 percent food self-sufficiency rate would be fighting with. I have always been opposed to war, and I'm deeply dissatisfied with what the Takaichi administration is doing now," said another rally participant.
Other rally participants said that seeing revision of the Constitution could unleash unchecked military expansion, stripping away the very safeguards that have kept Japan at peace for eight decades.
"Article 9 of the Constitution is the key. If the nature of the Self-Defense Forces is elevated to a level beyond collective self-defense, which is explicitly written into the Constitution, it will allow the authority of the Self-Defense Forces to expand without limit. So no matter what, I want to prevent this from happening," said one more rally participant.
Japanese citizens rally against Takaichi's military expansion, constitutional revision
