Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao addresses the opening plenary of the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2009, or the Summer Davos, in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Sept. 10, 2009. Photo: Xinhua/Xie Huanchi

China’s recovery accelerated in August according to data on  investment, industrial output, retail sales and credit. Meanwhile, Japan revised downwards second-quarter economic growth as companies inventories dropped according to new data released on Friday.

China's economic data was better in August than expected but there was a decline in exports and imports compared to the year before, which was sharper than expected.

China's new yuan-denominated lending in August rose to 410.4 billion yuan (US$60.02 billion) from July's 355.9 billion yuan, the People's Bank of China, the central bank, said Friday.

The August figure brought new yuan-denominated loans in the first eight months to 8.15 trillion yuan, 5.04 trillion yuan more than the same period of last year.

China's fiscal revenue in August rose 36.1 percent over the same month last year to 523.75 billion yuan (76.68 billion U.S. dollars), the Ministry of Finance said Friday.

Fiscal revenue in the first eight months topped 4.59 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.6 percent from the same period last year.

Fiscal expenditure in August rose 17.4 percent from a year earlier to 473.71 billion yuan.

This brought total fiscal expenditure in the first eight months to 3.86 trillion yuan, an increase of 22.7 percent compared with the same period last year.

China's consumer price index (CPI), dipped 1.2 percent in August from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday.

Retail sales grew 15.4 percent from a year earlier as domestic demand remained robust. Sales of motor vehicles were up 34.8 percent, as a result of government subsidies and tax cuts

China's foreign trade figures continued to fall in August, but the downward rate slowed, the General Administration of Customs said Friday.

The total value of imports and exports for August was US$191.7 billion, a decrease of 20.6 percent compared with the same month last year, but a 2.3 percent increase from July.

Imports stood at $88 billion, a decrease of 17 percent compared with the same month last year, an increase of 3.4 percent from July.

Exports dropped 23.4 percent from a year earlier to $103.7 billion but their value rose 1 percent from July. 

China's premier, Wen Jibao said at the "Summer Davos" in Dahlin, China, on Thursday: "China's stimulus package focuses on expanding domestic demand and is aimed at driving economic growth through both consumption and investment. Of the total four trillion yuan in the two-year investment program ($587 billion), 1.18 trillion yuan will come from the central government, and it will mainly be used to generate greater investment by local governments and the non-public sector. We have made vigorous efforts to stimulate consumption and make domestic demand, particularly consumer spending the primary driver of economic growth.

We have increased subsidies for farmers, raised the minimum purchasing price of grains, introduced performance-based salaries for primary and middle school teachers, and increased the basic cost of living allowances for urban and rural residents so that the people will be able to spend more. In order to boost consumption, we have offered subsidies for the program of bringing home appliances, agricultural machinery, automobiles and motorcycles to the countryside and the program of exchanging used automobiles and home appliances for new ones.

Purchase taxes on small-engine and energy conserving and environment friendly cars have been cut by half. In the first seven months, a total of 7.31 million cars were sold and total retail sales of consumer goods rose by 15 percent."

Summer Davos in Asia

Japan

Following a revision of Japan's Q2 2009 growth, economists said the country’s recovery remained on track because lower inventories would encourage manufacturers to increase production.

In the three months to June, GDP (gross domestic product) grew 0.6 percent quarter-on-quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis in the three months to June, down from 0.9 percent estimated by the government last month.

On an annualised basis, the economy expanded 2.3 percent, compared with the 3.7 percent as first reported.