On October 14, the Chinese stock market showed further weakness, continuing a downward trend from the previous day. Despite strong export figures, domestic weakness weighed on the indices. The Shanghai Composite Index closed down 0.88% at 3,767.23, the Shenzhen Component Index fell 1.97% to 12,110.59, and the ChiNext Index dropped 3.10% to 2,866.76.
The General Administration of Customs announced that September exports reached $447.18 billion, a 36.3% increase compared to the same month last year. This figure significantly exceeded the market forecast of 25.5% compiled by Reuters and marked an increase from August's growth rate of 25.0%. Imports also rose to $313.65 billion, up 31.0%, surpassing the market expectation of 24.5% and August's increase of 28.2%. Consequently, the trade surplus for September expanded to $133.53 billion, bringing the cumulative trade surplus for January to September to approximately $938 billion.
While exports showed strong performance, domestic consumption remains weak. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September rose only 0.9% year-on-year. Although this was slightly higher than August's increase of 0.8%, it fell short of the market expectation of 1.0%. Month-on-month, the CPI rose by 0.2%, below the anticipated 0.3%. Gasoline and diesel prices surged by 14.9% compared to the previous year, yet the overall CPI remains low, reaffirming the persistent domestic weakness in China.
In stock highlights, content-related stocks continued to perform well, with Guomai Wenhua and Xinhua Wenxuan hitting their daily limits. Guangda Securities noted in a report that the short-form drama and animated drama industries are entering a critical phase of industrialization and high-quality development, driven by the maturation of AI video models.
Coal stocks also saw gains, with Zhengzhou Meidian reaching its daily limit and Shanxi Meiye hitting an all-time high. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the production of raw coal by large industrial enterprises in August was 360 million tons, a 7.7% decrease from the same month last year. The recent increase in coal prices is attributed to reduced supply and rising demand.
Meanwhile, the People's Bank of China set the yuan's central parity rate against the dollar at 6.7249 yuan, a decrease of 0.0049 yuan from the previous day, reflecting a 0.7% appreciation of the yuan.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.