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    <channel>
        <title>Weekly RSS</title>
       
        <link>https://www.bofit.fi/en/rss/weekly-rss/</link>
        <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
        <language>en</language>
                <item>
                    <title>Rapid emergence of e-commerce in Russia</title>
                    <link>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202637_1/</link>
                    <description><![CDATA[Russian economic growth in recent years has largely been based on growth of industries supporting the war effort and rapid growth in household consumption. The increase in consumer shopping is clearly reflected in retail sales, which experienced soaring growth in 2023–2024. Retail sales growth last year slowed to 10 % y-o-y, and declined further to a 5.4 % annual pace in the first seven months of this year. E-commerce growth this year, on the other hand, has exceeded 30 %, while the share of traditional retail selling in market-square stalls has dwindled to just 2 %. ]]></description>
                    <guid>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202637_1/</guid>
                    <pubDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2026 11:55:56 GMT</pubDate>
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                    <title>People&#x2019;s Bank of China releases independent 5-year plan for monetary policy</title>
                    <link>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202636_1/</link>
                    <description><![CDATA[The five-year plan for 2026–2030 focuses on China’s emergence as an advanced financial powerhouse. While ambitious, the plan, at least according to released information, does not call for adjustments in the current monetary policy framework. Instead, the plan call for continuity to “steadily advance high-level financial opening up.” Chinese policymakers have long opened the country's financial markets cautiously through various special programmes. Unlike many government ministries and agencies, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has not typically published a five-year plan of its own. ]]></description>
                    <guid>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202636_1/</guid>
                    <pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:00:32 GMT</pubDate>
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                    <title>Finland goods imports from China larger than previously estimated</title>
                    <link>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202636_2/</link>
                    <description><![CDATA[Finnish Customs announced changes in its data collection methods last March ( press release ). Finnish Customs, which earlier only collected import data from companies operating in Finland, now also uses goods export data from other EU countries determine goods imports to Finland. According to Finnish Customs, almost all country and product categories saw adjustments in goods imports, so the new import figures are not comparable with previous years. Under the new method, Finnish Customs can generate more accurate statistics on the country of origin for goods arriving in Finland from outside the EU. ]]></description>
                    <guid>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202636_2/</guid>
                    <pubDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 12:59:29 GMT</pubDate>
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                    <title>Russia&#x2019;s diverging economic trends continue</title>
                    <link>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202635_1/</link>
                    <description><![CDATA[Production trends vary considerably from industry to industry Preliminary Rosstat figures show Russian GDP grew by 1.3 % y-o-y in the second quarter of 2026. Due to the contraction in economic activity early this year, GDP growth was just 0.6 % y-o-y in the first half overall. Output trends also varied substantially from branch to branch. Preliminary figures indicate that most 2Q growth was driven by higher retail sales and production of services, while production in extractive industries and construction declined by nearly 2 % y-o-y. ]]></description>
                    <guid>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202635_1/</guid>
                    <pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:46:21 GMT</pubDate>
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                    <title>Chinese domestic demand remained weak in July; no major policy changes on the horizon</title>
                    <link>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202634_1/</link>
                    <description><![CDATA[China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports that retail sales, a rough measure of domestic consumption, grew in July by just 0.6 % in nominal terms. Real growth was likely close to zero. Although China does not release reliable monthly-level fixed investment figures, trends remain weak. There have been no signs of recovery in the housing market. Real estate investment in the first seven months of this year contracted by 19 % y-o-y, while apartment sales measured in terms of floorspace declined by 12 %. ]]></description>
                    <guid>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202634_1/</guid>
                    <pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:45:50 GMT</pubDate>
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                    <title>China finds its stride in global artificial intelligence race</title>
                    <link>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202634_2/</link>
                    <description><![CDATA[China has been catching up with the United States in its development of AI models and related infrastructure. Chinese AI companies operate somewhat differently than their US counterparts, who are currently investing heavily in compute cluster build-outs (large data centres) and AI models that utilise those vast resources. More constrained Chinese firms have responded to their challenges, particularly export restrictions, with their own innovations. Compute is scarce in China as the US, Japan and the Netherlands have tightened rules on exports of advanced chip manufacturing technology to China. In particular, the Dutch ASML has restricted exports to China of its high-end ultraviolet lithographic machines, essential in manufacture of advanced microchips. US-based firms Nvidia, AMD and Intel are also banned from exporting their most advanced chips to China. These limitations have forced Chinese developers to focus on different aspects of AI development. A recent Brookings Institute commentary notes that Chinese developers, due to export restrictions and tighter access to financing, have focused on the calculation efficiency of models and increasing the size of their user bases. China also has a strong position in AI-related supply chains, controlling many of the critical raw materials essential for microchip manufacturing ( BOFIT Weekly 32/2026 ). ]]></description>
                    <guid>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202634_2/</guid>
                    <pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:43:44 GMT</pubDate>
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                    <title>Higher oil prices boost Russia&#x2019;s export earnings, but fiscal deficit widens</title>
                    <link>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202633_1/</link>
                    <description><![CDATA[Russian goods exports and imports up in recent months  Preliminary figures from the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) show that the value of goods exports in January-June rose to 226 billion USD, a 16 % gain from a year earlier. The goods exports trend has been heavily influenced by oil prices as fossil fuels account for over half of Russia’s goods exports. With the outbreak of the Iran war in late February, oil prices on world markets and the price of Russia crude oil surged to levels well above those of spring 2025. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the average export price of Russian oil in the first half of this year was 17 % higher than in 1H25. Oil prices have subsided somewhat in recent months. The IEA put the average export price of Russian crude in June at $65 a barrel and $60 a barrel in July. ]]></description>
                    <guid>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202633_1/</guid>
                    <pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2026 10:50:19 GMT</pubDate>
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                    <title>China-Russia bilateral goods trade increased rapidly in the first half of this year</title>
                    <link>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202632_1/</link>
                    <description><![CDATA[China Customs reports the value of exports and imports of goods both grew by over 20 % y-o-y in the first six months of 2026. China’s first-half exports were valued at $61 billion, while the value of imports climbed to $74 billion. Trade between the two countries contracted in 2025, but with rapid growth goods exports and imports this year are on track to hit record highs. There is no country-specific data available on trade in services overall. However, based on available figures, tourism between the countries show an increase, which has been facilitated by the 30-day visa-free regime introduced last September by China and December by Russia. Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have met over 40 times since 2013, with the most recent meeting being Putin’s visit to Beijing in May. The next meeting might occur next month at the BRICS summit in India. ]]></description>
                    <guid>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202632_1/</guid>
                    <pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 12:49:30 GMT</pubDate>
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                    <title>China retains dominance of critical raw material production</title>
                    <link>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202632_2/</link>
                    <description><![CDATA[This year’s  Global Critical Minerals Outlook , which was released in July by the International Energy Agency (IEA), shows that the mining and refining of critical minerals is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few producer countries, not to mention refining and processing of rare earth elements (REEs). One insight, however, is that REE refining and procession is increasingly happening outside China as well, though in relatively small capacity. Global investment in critical minerals, on the other hand, declined by 9 % last year. China thus continues to account for a significant share of critical mineral processing. China is the largest or second-largest refiner of key critical materials, including lithium (74 %), cobalt (76 %), battery-grade graphite (94 %), copper (47 %) and nickel (31 %). China is not necessarily a dominant player in mining output, however. For example, China’s global share of copper, cobalt and nickel ore production is only 2–8 %, though Chinese firms own many mines abroad. In contrast, refining of the REEs used in permanent magnets (84 %) and mining of REEs generally (59 %) is heavily concentrated in China, even if China’s share of refining magnetic REEs fell last year from its over 90 percent share in previous years. The REEs used in permanent magnets (neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium) are important for electronics and the defence sector, as well as in the manufacture of electrical motors and wind turbines. In 2023–2025, the growth in energy mineral production (includes manganese, nickel and natural graphite) was concentrated in a few producer countries. Indonesia dominated in nickel production, while China accounted for over three-quarters of the total increase in processing of other energy minerals. Chinese-owned firms, however, control about 75 % of Indonesia’s nickel refining capacity. ]]></description>
                    <guid>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202632_2/</guid>
                    <pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 12:48:26 GMT</pubDate>
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                <item>
                    <title>Weak first half for Russian economy; EU expands sanctions</title>
                    <link>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202631_1/</link>
                    <description><![CDATA[Russia’s State Statistics Service (Rosstat) reports that the output of five core sectors of the economy (agriculture, industrial output, construction, transportation, and wholesale and retail trade), that roughly captures trends in GDP growth, increased by 0.2 % y-o-y in the first six months of the year. This positive figure suggests a mild recovery in economic activity following a weak start to the year. GDP contracted by 0.2 % y-o-y in the first quarter. ]]></description>
                    <guid>https://www.bofit.fi/en/monitoring/weekly/2026/vw202631_1/</guid>
                    <pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:06:45 GMT</pubDate>
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