(Yicai Global) April 15 -- As the world was zooming into the first image of a black hole, China's biggest headlines last week included fresh financial data of a widening trade surplus, rising inflation and the IMF's brightening economic forecast.

Cyberspace administrators in Tianjin ordered Visual China Group, a photo agency that claimed it owns the copyright of the first picture of a black hole, to close its site and rectify its business model that allegedly involved free copyright pictures labeled as patented ones. The firm's share price hit the 10 percent lower limit the same day.

China's total social financing rose 40 percent to CNY8.2 trillion (USD1.2 trillion) in the first quarter, the central bank revealed in a document. The M2 money supply increased nearly 9 percent annually, an almost 13-month high, to CNY188.9 trillion. Market analysts estimated that private financing and credit data are better than expected.

Chinese cities that have a permanent population between 1 million and 3 million in their urban areas should cancel limitations of household registration, the macroeconomic planning agency of the National Development and Reform Commission suggested. Bigger cities that have between 3 million and 5 million residents in urban areas should ease their restrictions regarding permits that allow people to tap into social welfare.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index fell 1.8 percent last week to 3,188.63 points. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange Component Index dropped 2.7 percent in the week to 10,132.34 points. The ChiNext Index slid 4.6 percent to 1,695.73 points.

China's consumer price index, a gauge of inflation, rose 2.3 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, while the producer price index increased 0.4 percent, according to the latest official data.

China's foreign trade climbed 3.7 percent annually to CNY7 trillion (USD1 trillion) in the first quarter, and the related surplus rose 75 percent to CNY529.7 billion, as imports from the US fell 11 percent to USD815.9 billion. Trade with Belt and Road countries climbed over 4 percentage points faster than the overall pace of growth.

China's National Social Security Fund is among the top 10 shareholders of nearly 300 of Chinese listed firms that have released annual reports by April 13. Some 173 of them outperformed the market. The fund had an over 26 percent rate of return in the first quarter.

Chinese brokerage Shenwan Hongyuan Securities may become the biggest initial public offering on Hong Kong's bourse this year, as it aims to raise between HKD9.1 billion and HKD9.8 billion (USD1.2 billion up) on April 26. The firm has started offering its equity from April 12 with a price range between HKD3.63 (USD0.50) and HKD3.93.

Pic 9 9/10: MSCI will delay the transition the MSCI All China Indexes to the MSCI China All Shares

Indexes from June till November to respond to market participants' feedback and give them more time to adjust. 

Pic 10 10/10: The International Monetary Foundation has lifted its economic growth forecast for China from 6.2 percent to 6.3 percent, while reducing that for the world to 3.3 percent, the lowest since the financial crisis, according to the latest World Economic Outlook. 

Editor: Emmi Laine