East Asia Econ

Japan – auto export prices down again

Auto export prices continued to fall in July, although not as steeply as in Q2. Overall export volumes also dropped, though there have been some offsets in recent months from IT sales and stronger shipments to China. Machine orders for July softened, but not by enough to signal a big problem.

Paul Cavey

Aug 20, 2025 • 2 min read

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East Asia Today

Aside from Trump-Xi, the big event today was the BOJ meeting, though that was much more about continuity than change. In terms of data, Japan released trade data for the first 10 days of October. Korea's JOLTS data for September were weaker than the earlier labour market data had suggested likely.

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East Asia Today

Lots of sentiment surveys to discuss today: business confidence in Korea (better), consumer confidence in Japan (also better, even though inflation expectations remain high) and Q3 economy-wide surveys for China. Also, some details of China's 15th FYP, with some encouraging language on consumption.

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China – shifts in financing, but not quite what is wanted

The PBC's quarterly surveys cover firms and banks too, but I think the household version is most interesting. In Q3, household sentiment is weak, but mixed. Price expectations are very soft. Some of the savings data support the idea that China's economy is near a structural turning point.