China Economy Forum

[LeveragedBuyout]

Maybe not. Zhejiang is famous for SME entrepreneur and capitalists or speculators. I respect the entrepreneur, but not the capitalists, because they drive up the house prices by investing crazily in real estate everywhere in China and even abroad, of course including Zhejiang. After the house prices reached the peak in 2011-2012, they pull out, leaving the followers brankrupted and poor people homeless.

The frenzy of real estate speculation is definitely a problem. That's why I am disappointed that despite the talk, almost nothing has been done to slow credit growth in the banking system. If the money taps remain open, the speculation will continue.

The Chinese government should encourage these speculators to buy real estate in the US, which will help both of our economies. The Chinese investors are already here, to be sure, but perhaps the Chinese government can be a bit more explicit that further speculation in China's already-hot markets is unwelcome.

 

[Edison Chen]

The frenzy of real estate speculation is definitely a problem. That's why I am disappointed that despite the talk, almost nothing has been done to slow credit growth in the banking system. If the money taps remain open, the speculation will continue.

The Chinese government should encourage these speculators to buy real estate in the US, which will help both of our economies. The Chinese investors are already here, to be sure, but perhaps the Chinese government can be a bit more explicit that further speculation in China's already-hot markets is unwelcome.

Plus several major cities have lifted the ban of restriction on buying real properties. By the way, they also beared unpredictable losses on the downturn of real property market, I guess they will hesitate to enter this field again. They are smart and hard working people, but too greedy. If there is better investment opportunity, they wouldn't do that.

Some of have invested abroad too, in the Europe, US and UAE.

 

[LeveragedBuyout]

Plus several major cities have lifted the ban of restriction on buying real properties. By the way, they also beared unpredictable losses on the downturn of real property market, I guess they will hesitate to enter this field again. They are smart and hard working people, but too greedy. If there is better investment opportunity, they wouldn't do that.

Some of have invested abroad too, in the Europe, US and UAE.

Investing abroad will become a more viable option when capital controls are lifted and currency convertibility is implemented. This is another reminder for why financial market liberation is important as a prerequisite for rebalancing in the rest of the economy; until capital can flow to more profitable investments, the only choice for most households (and many businesses) is real estate.

I hope this is managed better than our own real estate bubble was, but the continued credit growth and real estate price increases give me pause. The anti-corruption drive is good, but financial sector liberalization should be prioritized right now.

 

[Edison Chen]

Investing abroad will become a more viable option when capital controls are lifted and currency convertibility is implemented. This is another reminder for why financial market liberation is important as a prerequisite for rebalancing in the rest of the economy; until capital can flow to more profitable investments, the only choice for most households (and many businesses) is real estate.

I hope this is managed better than our own real estate bubble was, but the continued credit growth and real estate price increases give me pause. The anti-corruption drive is good, but financial sector liberalization should be prioritized right now.

Partly agree. But the financial market liberation won't come until China's real economy is strong enough, I think. The top priority should be reduce the financing cost as the above article said, and eliminate the anti-market and regulation distortions.

 

[dlclong]

I do not know whether someone in the background with computer manipulation,
Anyway, glad to see this news

 

[betonamujin1902]

PLA under heavy investigated because highest ranking officials also related to corruption.

A former No. 2 of the People's Liberation Army is under investigation in China for alleged bribetaking, a Hong Kong-based human rights watchdog said Tuesday.

The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said former Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Guo Boxiong is being probed by a special task force of the commission "for allegedly facilitating promotions in exchange for bribes."

If confirmed, Guo would be the second retired vice chairman of the commission to become a major anticorruption target following Xu Caihou, who was expelled from the ruling Communist Party in June for accepting bribes.

The center said that since Xu and Guo shared power over approval of military promotions, both were likely offered bribes.

Guo's son Zhenggang, reportedly a colonel, may also have been recently investigated by military authorities in a graft probe, Hong Kong's Ming Pao Daily has reported.

Since Xi Jinping succeeded Hu Jintao as head of the Communist Party in November 2012, the party has pursued a wide-reaching anticorruption campaign, with targets ranging from low-level functionaries to high-ranking officials.

Xi has also been working to consolidate control over the country's military since replacing Hu as chairman of the Central Military Commission and state president in March 2013.

 

[Beidou2020]

There are 3 areas we need to concentrate on:

Semiconductors.
Semiconductor equipment.
Software.

 

[Sonyuke_Songpaisan]

Semiconductors represent one of the final rungs of the electronics industry. Once we master it, we will more or less be able to manufacture any gadget using entirely indigenous components, and the entire global market will be our playground. At that point, the only way we can lose market share is if we willingly offshore the lowest parts of the supply chain to places with cheaper labor.

it is important to improve the military capability

 

[TaiShang]

CRC pulls plug on gearboxes made by Voith

By ZHONG NAN/ZHU WENQIAN (China Daily)

A driver enters a train cab for a trial run at the Harmi South Station in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Railway authorities are putting greater importance on transportation safety as more high-speed rail lines start operations. [Photo/China Daily]

The country's railway operator, China Railway Corp, has asked German machinery manufacturer Voith GmbH to stop providing gearboxes to Chinese trainmakers for safety reasons, China Business News reported on Monday.

China Business News said a total of 45 technical breakdowns, including cracks and bearing faults, have occurred on Voith's gearboxes on the electric multiple unit trains on high-speed rail lines of Wuhan-Guangzhou, Beijing-Shanghai and Harbin-Dalian after June 2012.

China CNR Corp Ltd installed more than 100 new Voith gearboxes earlier this year but said it found technical problems while operating them.

Gearboxes are key equipment in the power transmission systems of high-speed trains. Because they are intricately related to driving safety, train manufacturers demand that the products have a high level of accuracy and reliability, as well as sophisticated design technology.

Voith's Shanghai gearbox plant was also asked to temporarily halt production, according to the report.

Neither Voith's global headquarters nor its China branch would respond to media requests for comment. They also declined to answer an e-mail sent by China Daily. CNR was not available for comment on Monday.

Voith, one of Europe's largest family-owned businesses, has more than 40 years of experience in supplying gearboxes to the global market. It also provides them for high-speed trains of Germany's Intercity-Express rail service.

Wang Guiqing, vice-president of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, said the chamber is paying close attention to the issue as two member companies－China CNR Corp and CSR Corp, the nation's two largest trainmakers－use German gearboxes to assemble their products. Both also sell trains on the global market.

Wang said the chamber is willing to help the companies seek alternative gearbox suppliers to ensure operational safety and find out the reason for previous malfunctions.

"Apparently, the CRC's decision on Voith's gearbox products is quite tough for the company," said Zhao Jian, a professor of railway development at Beijing Jiaotong University.

"But it will have a series of effects on EMU manufacturing, operation and maintenance. Chinese trainmakers may face difficulties such as work delays or spending time to seek new suppliers, which will affect vehicle delivery schedules."

Zhao said high-speed trains in China, especially in its southern region, have to pass through many rail tunnels, so foreign rail part suppliers must consider the wind tunnel effect, which can cause cracks in machinery.

 

[TaiShang]

I guess it makes sense not to consume meat products imported from the US. In Taiwan, people abstain from consuming US beef (and others) and it is common for restaurants to put "no US beef" sign on their windows to attract consumers.

***

China halts some US pork imports over feed additive use
China Daily

China has barred pork imports from six US processing plants and six cold storage facilities effective on Wednesday to enforce its ban on the use of a feed additive that promotes lean muscle growth, the US Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday.

China currently requires third party verification that US pork shipped to the country is free of the additive ractopamine, which is sold for hog farm use under the name Paylean.

Pork packing plants now ineligible to export to China include Tyson Foods plants in Perry and Storm Lake, Iowa, along with the company's facility in Logansport, Indiana.

Other processors listed included a Hormel Foods Corp plant in Fremont, Nebraska, Triumph Foods in St Joseph, Missouri. and Quality Pork Processors, Inc in Austin, Minnesota.

Tyson, Hormel and Triumph have not so far replied to requests for comment.

In 2013, US pork exports to China totaled 312,138 tons, valued at $645.3 million, according to the Global Trade Atlas. Overall pork exports worldwide last year totaled 7.5 million tons valued at $20.4 billion.

"China is by far the world's largest pork producer and consumer. Therefore, it is really not possible to make projections about how certain events, such as plant delistings, will impact US exports to China," said US Meat Export Federation spokesman Joe Schuele.

Dan Vaught, economist with St. Louis-based Doane Advisory Services, said that while cutbacks in Chinese pork purchases were not supportive of US market prices, the impact could be tempered by demand both at home and from other buyers.

"This has been an ongoing issue and doesn't seem likely to have that big of an impact given the persistent strength in domestic demand," he said, adding there was also continuing strong buying from four of the US major export customers Japan, South Korea, Canada and Mexico.

 

[TaiShang]

Yuan steady after strong rise against the dollar

The yuan devalued slightly against the US dollar earlier in the year after the central bank started to implement financial reforms [Xinhua]

The Chinese yuan held somewhat steady in its central parity against the dollar late on Tuesday after a seven-day hike.

The upward trend has pushed the increasingly popular currency to its highest level since March 2014.

According to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System, the central parity rate is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers.

At the end of trading on Tuesday, the yuan fell slightly to 6.158 after briefly hitting 6.14 on Monday. The People’s Bank of China held the mid-point trading rate at 6.1517.

In late May, the yuan hit an 8-month low of 1.1699 against the dollar.

China’s Central Bank has enacted restrictions which allow the yuan the flexibility to rise or fall by 2 per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.

Beijing is keen on substituting the US dollar with the yuan in all of China’s trade with other countries. The Chinese currency now trades directly with the Japanese yen, the Australian dollar, the Brazilian real, the EU’s euro, the New Zealand dollar and many other currencies.

In June, the UK government agreed to establish a yuan-clearing bank in London that would “act as a signal for London’s growing yuan activities”.

China and the UK had signed an agreement last year to establish a reciprocal 3-year sterling/renminbi (RMB, or Chinese yuan) currency swap line.

China has also signed an agreement with Germany to work on appointing a clearing bank in Frankfurt.

In March, Philip Lowe, the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), told delegates at the Centre for International Finance and Regulation (CIFR) conference in Sydney that the internationalization of China’s currency could eventually transform global capital markets.

He added that while China’s transition to a more flexible exchange rate will be gradual, it nevertheless carries with it the “potential to create a seismic shift in the international monetary and financial landscape”.

 

[TaiShang]

Ebola crisis: Chinese aid, experts reach Africa
BRICS Post

China’s Ministry of Commerce has announced aid worth 30 million yuan ($4.9 million) to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea as they try to control an outbreak which the WHO warns could continue for months [Xinhua]

Chinese experts have begun leaving for three affected West African nations in separate teams as Beijing vows to assist in the control of the Ebola virus that has killed almost 1000. Three Chinese teams are already working in these three countries.

China’s Ministry of Commerce has announced aid worth 30 million yuan ($4.9 million) to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea as they try to control an outbreak which the WHO warns could continue for months.

China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) is also sending medical supplies to the three countries.

Chinese experts will help train local medical workers and assist Chinese embassies in these countries to distribute medical supplies.

Humanitarian aid was dispatched from Shanghai on Sunday afternoon, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) spokesman Sun Jiwen was quoted by local media reports.

Each medical team will be composed of one epidemiologist and two specialists in disinfection and protection from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) and other institutions.

“The West African nations, lacking medicines and disease prevention knowledge, are in urgent need of material support and expertise as the epidemic has not yet been controlled,” said Wang Yu, head of China CDC.

The materials mainly include medical protective clothes, disinfectants, thermo-detectors and medicines, Sun said.

This is the second batch of Ebola relief from China. In May, the country sent its first batch of relief goods to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau, valued at one million yuan for each country.

Meanwhile, China’s CCTV reported on Sunday that a man receiving treatment under quarantine in a local hospital in Hong Kong could be suffering from Ebola, although further details are awaited.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Ebola epidemic as an “extraordinary event” and an international health risk.

The virus has killed almost 1,000 people so far in four African nations.

Ebola is an incurable disease with a 60 to 90 per cent fatality rate. Symptoms first include headaches, severe fever, throat and muscle pains. This is followed by vomiting and diarrhea. The virus spreads from animals to humans and infection can quickly spread through contact with bodily fluids – even sweat.

 

[xunzi]

Look like our Food Regulation control is starting to improve.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

He added that while China’s transition to a more flexible exchange rate will be gradual, it nevertheless carries with it the “potential to create a seismic shift in the international monetary and financial landscape”.

Seismic shift indeed.

I remember when the Yuan was 8 to the dollar, not that long ago. It jumped in value quite a lot over the years.

I wonder how it will do, once our currency reforms are completed in a few years time? Along with our capital account reforms, it will be hard to hold on to the value of the Yuan, it might go up a lot. Which is good news for our imports and consumption, and should be OK for our exporters too if the changes come slowly, giving them time to adapt. Our nominal GDP will probably soar as well, since that is based on the dollar.

It will significantly boost our buying power overseas, and will boost the status of the RMB as a global currency. Both of which are very important to further our economic influence in the world.

 

[TaiShang]

Individual Taiwan tourism extends to more cities
People's Daily

CHANGCHUN - Residents in 10 more cities in the Chinese mainland on Friday were given official permission to apply to travel to Taiwan as individuals under a cross-Strait agreement.

The newly added cities are Harbin, Taiyuan, Nanchang, Guiyang, Dalian, Wuxi, Wenzhou, Zhongshan, Yantai and Zhangzhou, which brings the total to 30.