Power generation up 8.1% in 2021 CHINA’S power generation reached 8.11 trillion kilowatt-hours (KWh) in 2021, up 8.1 percent year on year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Monday. The 2021 power generation was 11 percent higher from 2019, putting the average growth over the past two years at 5.4 percent, NBS data showed. In December alone, the country’s power output dropped 2.1 percent year on year to 723.4 billion kWh, the data showed. In breakdown, thermal power generation decreased by 4.9 percent year on year last month. Gasoline, diesel retail prices raised CHINA yesterday raised the retail prices of gasoline and diesel, according to the country’s top economic planner. The price of gasoline went up by 345 yuan (US$54.25) per ton, while that of diesel increased by 330 yuan, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. Under the current pricing mechanism, if international crude oil prices change by more than 50 yuan per ton and remain at that level for 10 working days, the prices of refined oil products such as gasoline and diesel in China will be adjusted accordingly. Shandong reports foreign trade surge in 2021 EASTERN China’s Shandong Province saw its foreign trade surge 32.4 percent year on year to 2.93 trillion yuan (US$460.7 billion) in 2021, local authorities said Monday. The province’s exports reached 1.76 trillion yuan last year, up 34.8 percent from 2020, and imports hit 1.17 trillion yuan, an increase of 29 percent, said Zhang Yibing, deputy head of Jinan Customs in the provincial capital. Both growth rates were above the national average. Outstanding yuan funds for foreign exchange rise CHINA’S outstanding yuan funds for foreign exchange expanded month on month at the end of December 2021, the central bank data showed Monday. The funds stood at nearly 21.29 trillion yuan (US$3.35 trillion) at the end of December, up 25.78 billion yuan from the previous month, according to the People’s Bank of China. The outstanding yuan funds increased by 155.91 billion yuan for the whole of 2021, the data showed. As the Chinese yuan is not freely convertible under the capital account, the central bank has to purchase foreign currency generated by a trade surplus and foreign investment in the country, adding funds to the money market. | 