From the latest China Beige Book survey of the Chinese economy (adapted from methodology used by the U.S. Federal Reserve's "Beige Book"):

  • Noted an economy growth slowdown in Q1 of 2015

Cited:

  • Weaker capital expenditure - weakest on record (despite interest rate and reserve requirement ratio cuts)
  • Slow holiday sales (retail revenue also registered the lowest first-quarter growth in four years)

More:

  • Says "difficulties are increasing for China to meet its growth target this year" (this has been lowered to about 7% from 7.5% target last year)
  • Said "solid" corporate performance was a bright spot - as easing growth in input costs and wage growth offset a slowdown in sales revenue gains
  • "With firm performance and the labor market both in decent shape, the absence of heavy stimulus should be surprising only to those analysts who still make policy predictions based on GDP growth"
  • Report said deflation fears are overstated. Said China isn't facing an imminent threat from deflation... "True deflation would be a threat to consumption, growth, and rebalancing. It has not arrived yet. ... Both sales prices and input costs are still rising for most firms."

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A more optimistic view of the Chinese economy than we are accustomed to recently. If the CBB areon the right track it's a positive input for the AUD