China Economy Forum

[Brotherhood]

China's South-to-North Water Diversion roll-out in full swing - People's Daily Online April 27, 2011

Key Data

Eventual Diverted Volume

44.8 billion cubic metres per year

Eastern Route

14.8 billion cubic metres per year

Central Route

13.0 billion cubic metres per year

Western Route

17.0 billion cubic metres per year

Diversion Extent

Eastern Route

1,156km

Central Route

1,267km

The construction officially started on the projects along the main line of the middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project that will connect the route’s southern Yellow River section with its Yangtze River section, Zhang Ye, deputy head of the South-to-North Water Diversion Office (SNWDO) under the State Council, said at the site of a project near the Tuanhe River of Nanyan, Henan Province on April 25.

This marks not only the initiation of the project connecting the middle route’s southern Yellow River section with its Yangtze River section, but also that all major engineering projects along the trunk line of the middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project have begun construction.

According to the construction schedule, the major engineering projects of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project’s first-phase middle route will be completed at the end of 2013, and water will be introduced into the entire route after the flood season in 2014.

Statistics from the SNWDO show that the cumulative investments in the eastern and first-phase middle routes reached 115 billion yuan by the end of March 2011, including 23 billion in central budget investments, 11 billion yuan in central budget funds, 11 billion yuan in south-to-north water diversion funds, 36 billion yuan in major national water project construction funds and 34 billion yuan in loans.

By People's Daily Online

 

[Brotherhood]

China's foreign aid comes with 'no strings attached' - People's Daily Online April 27, 2011

While China's booming economy has allowed it to become a major provider of aid to other countries, analysts warned that Beijing needs to adjust its foreign aid policy to fit the fast-changing world.

At a press briefing on Tuesday, Vice Minister of Commerce Fu Ziying outlined the White Paper on China's Foreign Aid released by the State Council Information Office.

"China does not attach any political strings to its aid. Our foreign aid programs are based on the principles of equality, mutual benefit and mutual development," Fu said. "Many developing countries lack hospitals and roads. Our aid is concentrated on sectors where they need it most."

According to the white paper, by the end of 2009, China had provided 256.29 billion yuan ($39.27 billion) in aid to foreign countries, including 106.2 billion yuan in grants, 76.54 billion yuan in interest-free loans and 73.55 billion yuan in concession loans.

The aid went to 161 countries and more than 30 international and regional organizations. Since 2004, the country's budgeted foreign aid has increased at an annual rate of 29.4 percent.

Yin Jiwu, a professor from the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said that unconditional aid does not always result in a win-win situation.

According to The Economist, although China deserves credit for helping millions of Africans, its unconditional aid may indirectly facilitate corruption in the region, resulting in faulty projects that in turn damage China's image.

The lack of transparency in aid deals between African countries and Beijing also helps embezzlers and fuels suspicion, the magazine added.

Pang Zhongying, a professor at the School of International Studies of the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times that it is time for China to attach conditions to its aid.

"With the scale of aid growing every year, its selfless nature may draw suspicion from taxpayers about exactly how the aid is used, especially when it goes to a country with a terrible record of corruption," Pang said.

"We also need to send independent inspectors to check the usage of the aid money, including the details of all the spending, the quality of the project and its impact on the local economy, environment and society. In this way we can improve transparency of our aid and avoid being linked to misconduct," he added.

Evan A. Feigenbaum, adjunct senior fellow for East, Central, and South Asia with the US-based Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in a commentary for Foreign Policy that Beijing should also change its habit of acting alone and rarely coordinating its foreign aid strategies or programs with other countries.

China is both an investor and a donor of aid. As its power grows, it will face even greater pressure to abandon a solo approach, and will deal with contradictions between its own lending policies and the practices of major multilateral lending institutions, Feigenbaum said.

According to the white paper, by the end of 2009, China had signed debt-relief agreements with 50 countries. The total amount of debt easing came to more than 25 billion yuan.

Wang Fan, a professor of international relations at the Beijing Foreign Affairs University, said that foreign aid is not charity, adding that China needs to improve its aid mechanism and increase cooperation with other countries and international organizations.

Separately, Fu responded to criticism that China's aid to Africa is given with an eye to the continent's resources by saying the help stems from friendship.

"Africa is an important destination for China's foreign aid because the region has the highest density of developing countries. Less than 30 percent of African countries' oil exports go to China. It is nonsense to say we are there only for resources," Fu said, adding that China is also helping countries such as Mali, which does not have discernible natural resources.

According to Fu, since China's foreign aid program began in 1950, more than 700 Chinese workers have died in projects in Africa.

Huang Jingjing and Liu Meng contributed to this story

 

[Brotherhood]

World's top 500 firms eyed for int'l board - People's Daily Online April 27, 2011

The lobby of HSBC Bank Company Ltd's newly built headquarters in Shanghai. According to media reports, the world's top companies, including HSBC Holdings PLC, are likely to be listed on the international board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Provided to China Daily China will likely allow some of the world's top 500 companies to float shares in its A-share market as it prepares the launch of an international board in Shanghai, Chinese media reported on Tuesday.

After considering the views of many parties, the regulator has come to the conclusion that the international board should first consider companies on the world's top 500 list, the China Securities Journal reported on Tuesday, citing a source it described as authoritative. But the report said that the authorities haven't decided whether red-chip companies - domestic companies that are registered overseas - will be allowed to list on the international board.

A press officer at the China Securities Regulatory Commission told China Daily on Tuesday that there is still no timetable for the launch of the long-awaited international board and the delay may be caused by the lack of agreement among higher-level officials and concerns of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, a potential competitor of the Shanghai bourse in the market of new share sales.

Some government departments believe that the board should focus on the red chips in the initial stage while others wanted the board to focus on the world's top multinationals, according to industry players.

Local media reported earlier this month that China's securities regulator may allow about 10 foreign companies in the first batch of listings on the international board. The 10 companies will comprise multinational corporations such as HSBC Holdings PLC and Unilever PLC, as well as foreign-incorporated Chinese firms such as China Mobile Limited and China National Offshore Oil Corp, the 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing a government proposal. Foreign companies looking to list in Shanghai must have a market capitalization of at least 30 billion yuan ($4.6 billion) and a combined three-year net profits of at least 3 billion yuan, according to the proposal. The companies must have posted a net profit of at least 1 billion yuan in the most recent 12 months, the proposal said.

China has long said it plans to open its stock market to foreign listings because it wants to raise the global profile of Shanghai, which aims to become an international financial center. The government also hopes the board will broaden investment channels for its swelling yuan savings.

There had been constant speculation about an immediate launch of the international board since 2009. Fang Xinghai, director-general of the Shanghai Financial Services Office, said late last year that the city government was hoping to launch the board in 2011. Rules for the international board are largely ready, although no timetable for its launch has been set, Geng Liang, president of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, said in March.

Source: China Daily

 

[Brotherhood]

First underground unit of Three Gorges project to run in May - People's Daily Online April 27, 2011

The water filling experiment of the No.32 unit of the Three Gorges underground power station was launched on April 26, marking its entrance into the water debugging stage.

According to plans, the first unit of the Three Gorges underground power station will be officially put into production in May 2011 if the water debugging is completed smoothly.

Engineers launched a series of experiments on April 26 including pressure steel pipe water filling, volute water filling, the opening and closing of the water intake gate and the water supply system adjustment, and the experimental data shows that various functions of the unit are stable, according to the Department of the Three Gorges Underground Power Station Mechanical and Electrical Installation Project under the China Gezhouba Group Corporation.

According to plans, the unit will also undergo experiments on idling, thermal stability and rotor balance weight in the next week and make final preparations for the production and power generation.

Three units out of the total six units of the Three Gorges underground power station are planned to be put into production before the flood season of 2011, and the progress of the installation and adjustment of the No.32 unit, which is planned to be the first unit to generate electricity, is smooth and efficient. In addition, the other two power units are now also implementing assembly and online debugging in accordance with plans.

By People's Daily Online

 

[hembo]

World Bank raises China 2011 GDP forecast, urges more tightening

BEIJING, April 28 | Wed Apr 27, 2011 11:29pm EDT

BEIJING, April 28 (Reuters) - The World Bank on Thursday raised its forecast of China's economic growth in 2011 for the second time in as many months and said it was too early for Beijing to halt policy tightening, not least because of inflationary risks.

In its latest quarterly update of the world's second-largest economy, the bank slashed its projection of China's 2011 current account surplus to 3.6 percent of gross domestic product -- comfortably below the 4 percent ceiling mooted by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for G20 countries.

Following stronger-than-expected outcomes in the past two quarters, GDP is now likely to expand 9.3 percent in 2011, slower than last year's 10.3 percent clip but still a "healthy" rate, the World Bank said.

It had forecast 9.0 percent in a regional survey in March and 8.7 percent in its previous China update last November.

The bank, which pencilled in GDP growth of 8.7 percent for 2012, said there were risks both ways to its forecasts, although the report accentuated the downside dangers.

As a result, flexibility in both monetary and fiscal policy was key.

"The macro stance needs to be normalised fully to address macro risks including on inflation and the property market," the report said.

The bank raised its forecast of year-average consumer price inflation this year to 5.0 percent. Just last month it had projected 4.7 percent; in November it was expecting 3.3 percent.

Nevertheless, the bank said inflation, which rose to a 32-month high of 5.4 percent in the year to March, was unlikely to climb further as food price increases were slowing.

The higher global commodity prices that have helped fuel Chinese inflation prompted the World Bank to scale back its forecast of China's 2011 current account surplus to $264 billion from $356 billion in November.

That would reduce the surplus to 3.6 percent of GDP from 5.1 percent in 2010 and 10.1 percent as recently as 2007.

The World Bank said strong domestic demand and relative price changes has reduced the relative importance of external trade for China. The share of exports in GDP, for example, fell to 29 percent last year from a peak of 39 percent in 2006.

The yuan's real exchange rate has also risen more than commonly assumed if measured against the broadest measure of inflation -- China's GDP deflator -- instead of the narrower consumer price index.

By this gauge, the currency rose 6.6 percent a year on average against the dollar between 2005 and 2010 and by 5.5 percent a year against a basket of currencies of China's trading partners, the bank calculated.

"It is not fully clear what the main reasons are behind these rapid relative price increases and whether they will be sustained. Nonetheless, they have been a major factor in China's catch-up in recent years," the report said.

The global financial crisis had also contributed to the partial external rebalancing by sapping demand for Chinese exports and prompting a massive stimulus by Beijing that boosted home-grown demand.

Whether these trends are sustained will depend on China's policies and global developments, the bank added. (Reporting by Alan Wheatley; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

 

[hembo]

China c.banker eyes explosive growth in securitisation

BEIJING, April 28 | Wed Apr 27, 2011 11:50pm EDT

BEIJING, April 28 (Reuters) - China needs to urgently securitise part of its huge stockpile of bank loans to help stimulate growth in the banking and financial sectors, a vice central bank governor said on Thursday.

The size of China's asset-backed securities and mortgage-backed securities could explode to 3 trillion yuan ($460.7 billion) in the next five years, nearly 45 times of the 67 billion yuan now, Liu Shiyu, a vice governor at the People's Bank of China, told a forum in Beijing.

"We have about 50 trillion yuan in outstanding bank loans. If we can securitise 5 percent of them in the coming five years, we can grow the market," Liu said.

The global financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 gave the securitisation business a bad name because it had contributed to the meltdown in the U.S. housing market.

But Liu argued that banks and investors alike can benefit from more securitisation: it will allow banks to set aside less capital for loan provisions, and individuals will have more investment choices.

Right now, Chinese savers have few places to put their cash apart from bank deposits, the stock market and the property market. The concentration of money in real estate investments has driven up home prices to record levels.

As part of a trial, China has created 17 asset securitisation deals to date, issuing 67 billion yuan worth of securities based on mortgages and other loan assets, Liu said.

The world financial crisis that followed the collapse of the U.S. housing market has made Beijing wary of embracing financial innovation and derivative products.

Even so, Liu said it is time for China to roll out securitisation in a big way.

"It has never been so urgent to develop asset securitisation," he said. "A trial programme or even a bigger trial programme is certainly not enough."

($1 = 6.512 yuan) (Reporting by Zhou Xin and Koh Gui Qing; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

 

[中国万岁-ProsperThroughCo-]

India overtaking China? Not so fast

April 28, 2011 3:35 pm by Akanksha Awal .

As census results from the world’s two most populous countries pour in, the China India demographic transition debate rages on.

The rate of population growth in China has slowed to less than 6 per cent over the past decade, while in India it surged ahead by almost 18 per cent. India’s population is on track to become the biggest in the world by 2030.

But will India be able to transform its demographic transition into long-term sustainable economic growth?

China was home to 1.34bn people in 2010, the latest census shows. The figure is lower than analyst forecasts of 1.4bn, and the rate of population growth, at 5.8 per cent over the past decade, is little more than half the 11.7 per cent growth in the decade to 2000.

By contrast, India’s provisional census results, released in early April, suggest the country’s population grew by 17.6 per cent over the past decade to 1.2bn. Even though the rate of population growth in India also declined, from 21.5 per cent in the decade to 2000, India’s population should overtake China’s during the next two decades.

Many economics predict a promising future for India as it reaps the benefits of the ‘demographic dividend’ – a major component of its recent success.

India’s population is younger than China’s. The country will add 26 per cent to the world’s total working population over the next ten years. These young workers will drive the economy, adding to the savings rate and fuelling investment.

In contrast, China’s population will reach an inflection point during the next decade. The share of elderly people in its population will grow more quickly than that of young workers, adding to strains on labour costs and producing a decline in household savings.

China, the argument goes, has already reaped the benefits of a large working-age population and within the next two decades will be weighed down by the burden of an ageing population, much like the advanced economies of today.

China’s dependency ratio (the number of working-age people supporting children and the elderly) declined 2.9 per cent in the five years from 2005 to 2010, while India’s dependency ratio in 2010 declined 7.7 per cent – almost double that of China – according to calculations by the Population Foundation of India based on UN data.

The UN expects India’s age dependency ratio to go on improving, from 55.6 per cent in 2010 to 47.2 per cent in 2025, as CNN Money reports. Meanwhile, an increasing number of Chinese working-age people will support dependents, with the ratio rising from 39.1 per cent in 2010 to 45.8 per cent in 2025.

But in spite of the figures, many questions remain over whether India will be able to successfully integrate its younger population in a growing economy.

“India is theoretically expected to benefit from a young population, but if the country is unable to train its people then a very large young untrained population can become a liability for the country,” Dr Amitendu Palit, head of development and programmes at the National University of Singapore, told beyondbrics.

According to Palit’s research from 2009, although India is adding 12.8m people to its workforce every year, the total capacity to train in the country is a quarter of the requirement, at 3.1m places.

“China has shown more foresight in handling its challenges. It has done well in training its people to moderate levels and has brought most of its urban populations under social security programmes, unlike India,” he added.

Sona Sharma of the Population Foundation of India agrees, up to a point:

“India faces a huge challenge in terms of training its people, but the challenge is not impossible to overcome. There is an awareness amongst the policymakers and business leaders alike about the extent of the challenge, and I am positive about it,” she said.

India’s business leaders and policy makers face a huge challenge in equipping the country’s population with the skills to integrate into the global workforce. But one thing is clear: the pressure on India in terms of the resources, land-man ratio, skills training and infrastructure will continue to be higher than those in China for the next three decades.

Profits rise at China banks despite tightening

By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing

Published: April 28 2011 22 :20 | Last updated: April 28 2011 22 :20

China’s largest state-owned banks continued to earn strong profits in the first quarter of the year in spite of monetary tightening and rules that now require lenders to hold more than one-fifth of their deposits in reserve at the central bank.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world’s biggest bank by market value, reported a first quarter net profit of Rmb53.8bn ($8.3bn), up 29 per cent from the same period a year earlier, while the smaller but more international Bank of China notched up a profit of Rmb33.4bn, up 27.7 per cent from a year earlier.

The profits were bigger than analysts had expected but showed signs of slowing from last year’s rapid increases. ICBC’s net profit rose 32 per cent from a year earlier in the fourth quarter of last year, while BOC’s profit rose 34 per cent in the same period.

Agricultural Bank of China, which reported its results on Wednesday, said its first quarter net profit grew 36 per cent from a year earlier, a market-beating performance but a lot slower than its fourth-quarter growth of 83 per cent.

China’s central bank has raised interest rates four times since October but bankers say this has had relatively little impact on the banks, which earn almost all of their income from government-set interest rate margins.

The chairman of ICBC, Jiang Jianqing, told the FT in a recent interview that he expected the impact of rising interest rates on his bank to be largely “neutral” because any drop in borrowing demand was offset by higher income from interest margins.

Increases in the reserve requirement ratio, or the portion of overall deposits banks are required to keep in reserve at the central bank, have been more frequent than interest rate rises and had more of an effect on profitability, analysts said.

ICBC president Yang Kaisheng told reporters in March that every 0.5 percentage point increase in banks’ reserve requirement ratio could reduce ICBC’s interest income by about Rmb700m. After another rise in the reserve requirement ratio last week, Chinese banks must hold 20.5 per cent of customer deposits with the central bank.

Due to government efforts aimed at cooling inflation and overheating in the economy, “I expect there will a clear slowdown in bank profits compared with last year’s 30 per cent growth,” says Guo Tianyong, director of the Chinese banking industry research centre at the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing.
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China digs deep to reshape its coal industry

By Leslie Hook

Published: April 28 2011 19 :15 | Last updated: April 28 2011 19 :15

In the dusty grey hills of Shanxi province, China’s coal heartland, a valley of coal mines is silent. Driving towards a coking coal mine that has been idle since 2009, Laby Wu, chief financial officer of Puda Coal, observes: “A year ago this road would have been full of coal trucks.”

The mine shafts have been closed because of the giant coal consolidation project that has swept through Shanxi during the past two years. It is starting to spread to neighbouring coal-producing regions as well, part of a government reorganisation that has had far-reaching implications not only for China, but also for global coal markets.

When China, the world’s largest coal producer and consumer, suddenly became a net importer of thermal coal in 2009 on the back of Beijing’s clampdown on illegal and unsafe mining in Shanxi, the shift helped propel global thermal coal prices. Today, China’s own production of coal – and the challenges to get it to where it is needed – is increasingly pivotal for global coal markets. This year, miners and Asia-based utilities settled the annual contracts for 2011-2012 at a record high of $130 a tonne, up 32.6 per cent from $98 a tonne of 2010-2011.

Chinese coal spot prices have been rising steadily this year, and the benchmark Bohai Rim steam coal index hit Rmb808 a tonne April 27, up from Rmb774 per tonne on January 26, immediately before new year in China. Traders say the domestic spot market is very tight right now, and Chinese officials have warned that some provinces could experience electricity shortages in the hot summer months when people turn on air-conditioning.

However the long-term picture might not be quite as bullish. Large rail infrastructure projects in China are poised to bring fresh sources of coal supplies online, and at the same time the consolidation programme will give policymakers in Beijing more say about how and where coal is produced.

These projects have left the global coal industry divided over whether China will be a net importer of thermal coal in the long term, supporting high prices and lifting the share price of miners such as London-listed Xstrata and Bumi, or whether the country will be self-sufficient as it is increasingly able to tap plentiful domestic reserves.

Until recently, the debate was heavily skewed in favour of long-term imports and high prices. But more recently a growing minority has started to present a bearish case as Beijing acts to ease transport bottlenecks and production increases once more after the government-driven consolidation in Shanxi comes to an end.

“With expansion in the north and west part of China we will see more supply. But the major problem is not production, it is transportation – how to move the coal from the coal-producing regions to the coal-consuming regions,” says Bonnie Liu, coal analyst at Macquarie in Shanghai.

“By 2015, if all the rail expansion comes on time, China should solve the logistics bottleneck, at least in theory.”

The new rail lines will allow Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia provinces to ship more coal to the rest of the China. According to Li Hua, chief researcher at the Ministry of Railroads, the amount of coal transported by rail could grow by 50 per cent in the next five years, from 2bn tonnes in 2010 to 3bn tonnes in 2015. That would make Chinese domestic coal less expensive, because rail transport is much cheaper than road transport.

“We believe that coal prices, especially for steam [ie. thermal] coal, will start to suffer from downward pressure in renminbi terms after 2015, following the strong ramp-up of new railway lines scheduled to be added over the 12th five-year period,” said a recent note from Deutsche Bank.

Also set to have a big impact is China’s domestic coal mining “consolidation” programme, which aims to shut small private mines and to form a handful of state-owned coal giants. The government wants to reduce the role of the private miners known as meilaoban¸ or coal bosses, and to improve safety by closing old mines and by improving standards at existing pits. The programme contributed to the coal import boost of 2009 and 2010 because many collieries were closed while the government reorganised their ownership.

The story of Puda coal is typical of how the process works: New York-listed Puda was appointed by the government to acquire several mines that were formerly privately owned. Once the old owner has agreed on a price, the new owner is responsible for redesigning and improving the mine (a process that has been a boon to suppliers of mine safety equipment).

In Shanxi province, the consolidation programme launched in 2009 caused coal production to fall by 10 per cent in the first three quarters of the year, forcing a 171 per cent increase in coal imports in China. Today, the consolidation process is wrapping up in Shanxi – Ms Wu says their coking coal mine has a deadline to begin production by the end of this year.
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China faces pressure to alter one-child policy

By Kathrin Hille in Beijing

Published: April 28 2011 14 :58 | Last updated: April 28 2011 14 :58

The number of elderly people in China has increased by more than the population of Spain over the past decade, increasing pressure on Beijing to abandon the one-child policy that has contributed to a rapidly ageing society.

China unveiled new census results on Thursday which showed that the number of people over the age of 60 increased by around 48m, reaching 13.3 per cent of the population. Ten years ago, they accounted for just over a tenth of the population. China’s total population is now 1.339bn, up 5.84 per cent from the last decade.

“The census has triggered discussion of how population control needs to adapt,” said Li Jianmin, head of the Institute of Population and Development Research at Nankai University. “We will see steps from the government to tweak it very soon.”

Underscoring the ageing society, the census also revealed that children under the age of 14 comprise less than one-sixth of the population, down from almost a quarter ten yeas ago. It also confirmed the speed at which China is urbanising, with the number of those living in cities and towns jumping to almost 50 per cent from just over a third in 2000.

Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, this week urged officials to “perfect” the existing population policy, saying the government had to “adopt innovative population control systems and methods”. The one-child policy has been in place for three decades.

Experts said that because implementation of the one-child policy differs across the vast country – rural families can for example have two children – minor tweaks could allow Beijing to unofficially phase out the policy.

Beijing previously unveiled a target total fertility rate – the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime – at 1.8. According to population experts who worked on the census, the current total fertility rate stands at 1.7.

“That leaves a lot of room for measures that would de facto end the one-child policy. It is likely to die a quiet death,” said Mr Li, adding that more flexible birth planning policies were likely to be rolled out by provincial authorities.

The government already allows couples to have more than one child if both of them are only children. One proposal is to widen that incentive to allow two children even if only one of the parents is an only child.

Wang Feng, head of the Brookings Tsinghua Center, recently argued that the side effects of China’s population controls, such as rapid ageing, would soon outweigh the benefits which dominated in the past.

He said the shrinkage of China’s young labour force meant the country had to replace low-cost labour-driven export manufacturing with a higher-end economic model driven by domestic consumption.

Mr Wang also urged that Beijing must quickly expand its patchy social security network, as caring for the elderly becomes too heavy a burden for the relatively smaller younger generation.

China is still the most populous country in the world, but the total population increase of 5.8 per cent – around 74m people – over the past decade was almost half the pace recorded in the last census in 2000.
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[Brotherhood]

Wen: China to speed up transport links with SE Asia - People's Daily Online April 30, 2011

China will speed up the development of transport connections with Southeast Asia, building roads, telecommunication and power links as it seeks to boost trade, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday.


Wen, speaking in Jakarta during a two-day visit to Indonesia, said China would give financial support through credit aid and investment, to provide for better exchange of commodities, capital and people.

"In the next 10 years we will speed up the inauguration of land transport routes between China and ASEAN," said Wen in a speech in Jakarta, adding it will also provide funds for air and sea transport. "Today we witness the rise of Asia."

He said China would unconditionally help underdeveloped countries in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

ASEAN has sought to highlight the potential for greater connections between its frontier markets and Asia's biggest economic power, with the group's foreign ministers heading on an unconventional road trip in January from Thailand to China.

Indonesia is seeking $100 billion of private investment to develop its own dilapidated infrastructure, seen as a hurdle to attracting foreign firms and to gaining a sovereign investment grade rating that would cut government borrowing costs and put it on a par with BRIC nations such as China and Brazil.

Wen promised Indonesia $9 billion worth of loans for infrastructure on Friday, after meeting his Indonesian counterpart, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

ASEAN's plan to link new and existing rail, road and sea routes together with China and allow better travel within a free trade area of 1.9 billion people is ambitious.

But analysts say there is huge trade potential between ASEAN and China and better links could encourage Japan and South Korea to forge a closer relationship with ASEAN. Japan has already pledged more than $50 billion in infrastructure investment.

Source: Xinhua

 

[Brotherhood]

China's gross marine product value approaches 4 trillion yuan in 2010: report - People's Daily Online April 30, 2011

The gross product value generated by China's marine industry exceeded 3.84 trillion yuan (590 billion U.S. dollars) last year, up by 12.8 percent from 2009, according to an annual report released Friday.

In the next five years, the annual growth rate of China's emerging marine industry is expected to be around 20 percent, said the 2011 China Ocean Development Report, which was released by China's State Oceanic Administration.

However, the report said pollution and environmental degradation in China's waters have created a "grave situation" for environmental security.

Multiple pollutants in the country's waters are posing a threat to the environment, food safety and the country's economic and social development, the report said. Land-sourced pollutants are some of the biggest culprits, according to the report.

Waters near large coastal cities and other highly-developed areas are suffering the most serious effects from pollution, a fact that has affected the development of China's coastal economies, the report said.

In addition, massive sea reclamation projects overfishing and sea farming have harmed China's marine ecosystem, causing decreases in biodiversity, the report said.

The report urged more environmental protection efforts, as well as the creation of a comprehensive marine ecosystem management system.

Source: Xinhua

 

[ramu]

China growth seen resilient: Report

 

[khurasaan1]

Masha-Allah!... China is doing great progress...

 

[Brotherhood]

Chinese cars aching to hit Turkish roads - People's Daily Online May 01, 2011

Chinese automotive giant Chery might be a newcomer to Turkey, but its fortunes are posed to change if the new half-billion-dollar local car-making plant is completed.

Mermerler Otomotiv, the Turkish company which brought Chery to Turkey back in February 2008, has prepared all preliminary work for the establishment of such a plant in Adapazari in northwest Turkey.

In an interview with Xinhua, Mermerler Otomotiv Deputy General Manager Aydin Akyol explained the progress of the factory and why it was essential to Chery's future in Turkey.

Importing directly from China for over three years, there are more than 6,000 Chery vehicles on Turkish roads now.

Akyol said there should have been more, but the economic crisis made gaining market share difficult, adding that currently, Chery is 21st out of around 50 automotive brands in Turkey.

According to Akyol, one of the biggest obstacles in Turkey has been the lack of diesel engines in Chery cars. Without a strong demand back home for diesel, China does not specialize in that market.

But high fuel prices in Turkey have made the diesel engine the most popular one, with 51-52 percent of cars sold in 2010 being diesel, and 64 percent market expected in 2011.

"If we could put diesel in them, we'd be in the top 10 really fast," added Akyol.

But the biggest obstacle remains price. With Chery's going for between 20,000 and 45,000 Turkish Lira (about 30,400 and 68,400 U. S. dollars) right now, Akyol said that China is selling Turkey their cars for a higher price than feasibility studies suggest.

Akyol estimated that prices will go down by as much as 27-28 percent with the completion of the factory, saving money on everything from customs to transportation to insurance.

So Mermerler began conducting feasibility studies in 12 locations, factors such as transportation cost, proximity to secondary supporting industries, location of skilled labor populations were all found to be ideal in the town of Karasu in Adapazari district.

All that is left is the final paperwork, Akyol said, adding " the preliminary protocols are ready, the money is ready, the land is ready, even all the factory equipment from paint to molds to presses are ready."

Even all the relevant government incentive packages, from tax breaks to subsidies, have been applied for. Akyol praised the government's cooperation in the venture, saying they have given the best possible incentives for such a venture.

"The Turkish government, particularly the prime minister, gives a very high priority to our investment, to all investments from China really," he said.

But some bureaucratic obstacles remain: some basic, such as re- designation of land located in the plot, some more complex, such as asking for an Environmental Impact Analysis before preparing the deed, and asking for the deed before giving the Environmental Impact Analysis.

Initially planning to have begun factory construction before the elections in June, these final complications have delayed the project.

But once construction does begin, it is expected to be completed in one year and six months, and the first prototype should be out six months after that.

The 450 million dollar project, currently planned as a joint project between Chery and Mermerler, will produce 20,000-25,000 vehicles initially, both passenger and light commercial vehicles, but will have a maximum capacity of up to 100,000.

Due to high demand, Akyol said the factory will also be producing diesel engines. While gasoline engines will still be imported from China, every other part of a Chery, including diesel engines, will be produced here.

Akyol even mentioned they hope to make their own original model at the factory, most likely an SUV, the most popular Chery vehicle in Turkey.

But electric cars still need some more time. Chery currently has four models of electric cars and two hybrids, but such vehicles are not yet popular in Turkey.

Akyol said the main reasons for this are the risk of running out of energy and the lack of infrastructure for recharge points. "It will take another 8-10 years before electric cars can be taken seriously here," he said, "and we are just trying to meet the demands of the current market."

But even more than capturing the Turkish market, the factory is about capturing the European one, with an estimated 60-65 percent of production to go for export.

Meanwhile, Turkey provides a launching pad into Europe, according to Akyol. With low costs, good logistical opportunities, and many secondary supporting industries nearby, these vehicles can easily start appearing on European roads.

Akyol added that Europe sees Turkey as a testing ground for automotive brands, saying "a car tested in the Turkish market will be successful in Europe."

Source: Xinhua

 

[Brotherhood]

Profits of China's listed companies up more than 30 pct in 2010 - People's Daily Online May 01, 2011

Net profits of Chinese companies listed both in Shanghai and Shenzhen climbed more than 30 percent in 2010 from a year earlier, as all companies have released their annual reports till Saturday.

Data from the Shanghai Stock Exchange shows that the profits of companies listed in Shanghai climbed 37.25 percent from 2009 to 1,416.8 billion yuan (about 218 billion U.S. dollars).

Only 55 companies, or 6.07 percent of all companies listed in Shanghai reported losses in 2010, down 6.83 percentage points from 2009.

Companies listed in Shenzhen registered a total profits of 248.63 billion yuan last year, up 38.08 percent from 2009.

Source: Xinhua

 

[applesauce]

China growth seen resilient: Report

hmm interesting, japan only increases .4 trl in the next 10 years but increase 2.4 tril the decade after that? how do they get these numbers?

 

[Huan]

China growth seen resilient: Report

The numbers seem far too unrealistic for India.