April 23rd Macroeconomic Index: China's LPR Rates Remain Unchanged, Hydrogen Energy Vehicle Promotion Accelerates

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Domestic News

1. "No interest rate cuts": China's 1-year and 5-year LPRs remained unchanged in April

2. Reliable sources: the promotion and application of hydrogen energy vehicles is expected to be accelerated

3. PetroChina completed the world's first bio-jet fuel physical cargo window transaction

4. Ministry of Water Resources: In the first quarter, 23,500 water conservancy projects were implemented nationwide, an increase of 15.8% over the same period last year

International News

1. Bank of France Governor: The uncertainty of oil price will not prevent the ECB's decision to cut interest rates in June

2. South Korea's trade deficit exceeded $2.6 billion in the first 20 days of April

3. Israel's Defense Minister had a telephone conversation with the U.S. secretary of state to seek to avoid U.S. sanctions

4. World Meteorological Organization: Extreme weather caused Europe's economic losses of more than 10 billion euros last year

Domestic News

1. "No interest rate cuts": China's 1-year and 5-year LPRs remained unchanged in April

In April, LPR quotations were released, and the 1-year and 5-year LPRs remained unchanged. On Monday, April 22, the People's Bank of China authorized the National Interbank Lending Center to announce that the loan market quotation rate (LPR) on April 22, 2024 was: 1-year LPR was 3.45%, unchanged from the previous value, and LPR over 5 years was 3.95%, unchanged from the previous value. To maintain reasonable and abundant liquidity in the banking system, the People's Bank of China carried out a 7-day reverse repurchase operation of 2 billion yuan today, and the winning interest rate was 1.80%, the same as before. There is a reverse repurchase of 2 billion yuan due today. The LPR interest rate is generally formed by the MLF interest rate and the bank markup, and the MLF interest rate this month was stable last month, and the LPR this month was also the same as the previous month. Including this round of quotations, the LPR quotation has been carried out 4 rounds this year, and in the previous LPR quotation in February, the 1-year LPR was unchanged at 3.45%, and the LPR for more than 5 years was 3.95%, a decrease of 25BP, which was the largest reduction in the 5-year LPR. After the LPR remained stable in March, the LPR continued to "stand still" in April, in line with market consensus expectations.

2 Reliable sources: the promotion and application of hydrogen energy vehicles is expected to be accelerated

The hydrogen energy and fuel cell industry is ushering in new development opportunities. On April 21, Wan Gang, chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, said in a speech at the 2024 World Conference on Internal Combustion Engines that as the most direct breakthrough in the application of hydrogen energy, fuel cell engine technology will accelerate the innovation and promotion of application, which will accelerate the electrification and low-carbon process of commercial vehicles. Since the beginning of this year, Sichuan, Shandong, Henan, Guangdong and other places have issued support policies for the hydrogen energy industry, especially to strengthen the demonstration and application of hydrogen energy in the field of transportation, and the industrialization process of hydrogen energy technology has entered the "fast lane". Many industry people believe that under the promotion of policies, the promotion and application of hydrogen energy vehicles will be accelerated.

3. PetroChina completed the world's first bio-jet fuel physical cargo window transaction

PetroChina has learned that PetroChina International London recently completed the first bio-jet fuel transaction on the Argus Open Market Platform (AOM) in Europe. This is also the world's first bio-jet fuel physical window transaction. AOM is the only physical cargo trading platform for bioenergy in Europe. The launch of the bio-jet fuel product on the AOM platform is of great significance for the price formation and trade pricing method of the product.

4. Ministry of Water Resources: In the first quarter, 23,500 water conservancy projects were implemented nationwide, an increase of 15.8% over the same period last year

The Ministry of Water Resources held a press conference on the progress and effectiveness of water conservancy infrastructure construction in the first quarter of 2024 on the 22nd, and Chen Min, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources, said that in the first quarter, 23,500 water conservancy projects were implemented across the country, and the scale under construction was 4.7 trillion yuan, an increase of 15.8% and 12.3% respectively over the same period last year. Among them, 9,683 water conservancy projects were newly started, with an investment scale of 473.3 billion yuan, an increase of 33.8% and 47.6% respectively over the same period last year. In particular, 687 new water conservancy projects with a total investment of more than 100 million yuan were started, an increase of 94.6 percent over the same period last year.

International News

1. Bank of France Governor: The uncertainty of oil price will not prevent the ECB's decision to cut interest rates in June

Villeroy, ECB Governing Council Member and President of the Bank of France, pointed out that: The ECB can respond to external shocks by adjusting the magnitude of interest rate cuts. Oil price uncertainty will not hinder the ECB's (potential decision) to cut interest rates in June. The ECB will not react mechanically because of oil price fluctuations. After June (the rate cut is announced), the ECB will cut rates "pragmatically".

2. South Korea's trade deficit exceeded $2.6 billion in the first 20 days of April

On the 22nd local time, according to the latest statistics from the South Korean government department, South Korea's exports from April 1 to 20 this year were 35.819 billion US dollars, an increase of 11.1% over the same period last year, and major export projects such as semiconductor products continued to show rapid growth momentum. As a result, South Korea's exports have increased for six consecutive months from October last year to last month. From April 1 to 20, South Korea's imports were $38.466 billion, with a trade balance deficit of $2.647 billion.

3. Israel's Defense Minister had a telephone conversation with the U.S. secretary of state to seek to avoid U.S. sanctions

According to the "Times of Israel" in the early morning of the 22nd local time, Israeli Defense Minister Gallant and Wartime Cabinet Member Gantz spoke with US Secretary of State Blinken on the evening of the 21st local time. In the call, Gallant and Gantz asked the United States not to impose sanctions on any IDF troops, but the US briefing did not mention this. According to the report, the U.S. State Department repeated the topics in previous phone calls between the two sides in the briefing, namely the U.S. security commitment to Israel, improving the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and preventing the spread of conflict. The Israeli side made it clear in the briefing that Gallant and Gantz contacted Blinken this time to persuade the Biden administration to abandon its plan to impose sanctions on the Israeli army's Netzah Yehuda Battalion.

4. World Meteorological Organization: Extreme weather caused Europe's economic losses of more than 10 billion euros last year

On the 22nd local time, the World Meteorological Organization and the Copernicus Climate Change Service under the European Union's climate monitoring agency, jointly released the "State of the European Climate Report". Extreme weather due to climate change continues to affect the whole of Europe, which experienced widespread flooding and severe heat waves in 2023, with weather- and climate-related economic losses in Europe estimated to exceed €13.4 billion in 2023, the report noted. According to the report, Europe is the fastest-warming continent, with temperatures rising about twice as fast as the global average. The three hottest years on record in Europe all occurred after 2020, and the hottest decade after 2007.

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