East Asia Econ

East Asia Today

Two things today. First, China's big data releases, which show broad macro stabilisation. Second, TSMC's quarterly earnings. Management comments were positive again, forecasting revenue growth of over 30% this year. That has read through for total exports and Taiwan's overall economy.

Paul Cavey

Apr 16, 2026 • 2 min read

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China – cycle stabilisation

The broad theme is macro is stabilisation, shown by three indicators that are bottoming after multi-year declines: property starts, household demand deposits, and producer prices. The implications, as are already being seen, are slower rate cuts, stabilising yields, and a stronger currency.

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East Asia Today

Lots of data today – fx settlement for China, machine orders and the Reuters Tankan in Japan, import and export prices and labour market data in Korea, and wages in Taiwan.

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Korea – TOT still up in March

Energy import prices surged 50% in March, and that will undoubtedly raise inflation. However, Korea's terms of trade actually continued to rise (just about), helped by the continued sharp rise in chip export prices. For Korean growth, there is an offset to this energy crisis.