China Economy Forum

[Brotherhood]

China's electronic information sector outpaces other industries in attracting investment - People's Daily Online July 02, 2011

Investment continued to pour into China's electronic information sector in the first five months despite a slower pace of growth in May, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The electronic information industry attracted a total investment of 84.7 billion yuan (13.1 billion U.S. dollars) of investment in May, up 68.9 percent year-on-year.

The sector's investment growth rate was already 20.6 percentage points lower than April and 23 percentage points lower than March, according to MIIT.

Taking the first five months together, investments in the electronic information industry surged 80 percent from a year earlier to 310.5 billion yuan, or an equivalent to the amount of the first seven months of last year.

The Jan-May growth of investment in the electronic information sector was 38.1 percentage points faster than one year earlier, or 54 percentage points higher than the average industrial investment in the first five months of this year, the MIIT said.

Source: Xinhua

 

[Brotherhood]

Interview: Russia invites China for high-speed rail cooperation - People's Daily Online July 03, 2011

As Russia expands its railway construction, China could enjoy greater cooperation potential with Moscow in the sector, especially on high-speed rail projects, says the president of the state-run Russian Railways company.

Vladimir Yakunin told Xinhua that based on China's rich experience in railway construction and the mature mechanism of technology exchange between the two countries, China would have good chances of winning in the public bidding on major Russian railway projects. Those projects include the Moscow-St. Petersburg high-speed railway, the first in Russia.

Meanwhile, Russia is working on the overall blueprint for a national high-speed rail system before the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Yakunin said.

"These projects are all ambitious, in terms of both investment and construction scale. I believe Russia and China have a very broad space for future cooperation, and I also think Chinese companies have good chances to win (in the bidding)," he said.

According to local media reports, the Russian Railway has announced it will invest 30 billion U.S. dollars to build high speed railways.

Yakunin said all of the high-speed railway projects in Russia would be open for public bidding.

He also said that because Russia has outlined its railway transport development strategy to the year 2030, the advanced railway equipment and technology from China and other countries will be needed.

Besides, Chinese investors are also welcome to join the privatization of the Russian Railways company, which is planned to sell part of its shares starting from 2013, Yakunin said.

Applauding China's advantages and achievements in railway construction, Yakunin said his Russian colleagues especially admire China's remarkable success in building the highland Qinghai-Tibet railway, a high-altitude railway that links Qinghai province and Tibet region in west China.

The railway departments and companies of China and Russia should further strengthen their cooperation in mutual investment, technology research and personnel exchanges, he said.

Russia and China inked in 2009 a memorandum of understanding on jointly developing the high-speed railway system in Russia.

Source: Xinhua

 

[Brotherhood]

Trade volume between Yunnan, ASEAN rises 45 percent - People's Daily Online July 04, 2011


According to the Yunnan Commerce Department, trade between Yunnan province and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has remained healthy since the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area was established.

According to custom statistics, from January to May in 2011, the volume of imports and exports between Yunnan and the ASEAN amounted to 2.35 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 45.4 percent. The rate of increase was 19.3 percent higher than the national average. The volume of trade between Yunnan and ASEAN is about 1.7 percent in proportion to the whole country.

From January to May, mechanical and electrical products ranked first in the main export products from Yunnan to ASEAN. The export volume of the mechanical and electrical products had increased 41 percent to reach 410 million dollars. The volume of imports and exports of other products, including tourism and shopping, were nearly 100 million U.S. dollars.

Foreign trade between Yunnan and the ASEAN countries has maintained relatively rapid growth. The trade volumes with Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos totaled 920 million, 450 million and 110 million dollars, respectively, with rates of increase being 29.1 percent, 68.7 percent and 52.3 percent. The cumulative trade volumes with those three countries are 63 percent of the total and decreased by 1.9 percent compared to last year. In the rest of the countries in ASEAN, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, foreign trade grew notably, while it slipped a bit in Brunei.

During the 11th Five-Year Plan period, Yunnan province has strengthened the road network construction. The opening of the Kunming-Hanoi highway and Kunming-Bangkok highway has significantly promoted the development of foreign trade in the province.

In the first five months, trade transactions utilizing the Kunming-Hanoi highway increased 77 percent to reach 280 million dollars. The trade volume with Laos and Thailand via the Kunming-Bangkok highway stood at 71.15 million dollars and 42.6 million dollars, respectively, representing increase of 16.5 percent and 28.8 percent.

By People's Daily Online

 

[Brotherhood]

Chinese capital eyes Brazil's high-tech sector - People's Daily Online July 05, 2011

China will invest $4.5 billion in Brazil's technology sector this year, as Chinese investment in the Latin American country shifts from agriculture and mining.

Chinese investment is expected to hit $9 billion this year, with half of it going into high-tech industries, Alessandro Teixeira, deputy minister of Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, told China Daily.

China has been Brazil's biggest trading partner since 2009, a position previously held by the United States.

Cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) from China to Brazil reached $12.67 billion by the end of 2009, according to Banco Bradesco SA, one of Brazil's biggest banks, with agriculture and mining each receiving about 20 percent.

Brazil has been urging Chinese companies to invest in non-raw material sectors to help balance its economy.

Teixeira said that Brazil has banned farming businesses established solely through foreign investment. The government in Brazil welcomes Chinese companies cooperating with Brazilian partners in producing agricultural products, such as soybean oil, he said.

"That is the kind of partnership that China and Brazil are looking forward to."

In 2008, Zhejiang Fudi Agriculture Group and the agricultural bureau of Heilongjiang province invested $158.4 million to form a joint venture with a Brazilian partner to grow soybean, according to the department of commerce in Zhejiang province. The company built two farms, in the north and south of Brazil, with a total area of 166.37 hectares.

China and Brazil regard each other as key partners in their global strategy.

Brazil accounts for 40 percent of Latin America's economy and Teixeira predicted that this will rise to 50 percent in the next 10 years.

Trade between the two countries has increased dramatically during the last decade, surging 16-fold between 2001 to 2010.

"Seventy percent of the trade between Brazil and China is basically commodities," Teixeira explained. "But we are keen to improve commercial relations in medium and high-end technology."

China's investment in Brazil was less than $300 million in 2009, but skyrocketed to $17 billion in 2010, making China the largest foreign investor in Brazil.

Teixeira said the Brazilian government has reached an agreement with China to foster FDI in the high-tech sector.

"The trend is that China will invest more in the technology sector," Marcos Almeida, a partner at Ernst &Young Terco, told China Daily.

Chinese companies, such as telecom equipment makers ZTE and Huawei Technologies Co, have invested heavily in Brazil in recent years.

ZTE has set up an industrial park in Hortolandia, close to Sao Paulo. The company recorded $600 million in sales revenue last year and is expected to reach $1 billion this year.

"The Brazil market accounts for about 9 percent of ZTE's overseas revenue. The country is crucial for our company's development in Latin America," Yuan Lie, president of ZTE South America Region, told China Daily. Products from the industrial park will be shipped to other Latin America countries, he said.

Zhuhai Gree Electric Appliances Inc was one of the first Chinese companies to enter the Brazilian market in 1998 and now ranks fourth there. It invested $2 million to build a manufacturing plant in 1999, with an annual output of 300,000 units. Gree sold 400,000 air conditioners in Brazil last year and plans to double the number this year while competing with international brands such as LG Electronics Inc.

Teixeira said both Brazil and China need to gain more experience in investing abroad.

"We need to join together as strategic partners to enter new markets."

Source: China Daily

 

[Brotherhood]

Baidu, Microsoft will provide English-language search service - People's Daily Online July 05, 2011

Google Inc may face a new challenge in China as Microsoft Corp, its main rival in the United States, and Baidu Inc, China's biggest search engine, are joining forces against it in the world's largest Internet market.

Microsoft will provide English-language results from its Bing search engine on Baidu "within this year", the two companies said in a news release on Monday.

The announcement comes at a time that Google's market share in China is falling and Baidu is trying turn that to its advantage to dominate the country's search market.

Zhang Dongchen, Baidu assistant president, said about 10 million English-language searches are made on Baidu every day, mainly by professionals and university students in China.

By cooperating with Microsoft, he said the two companies can provide "the best search experience" for users.

Marsha Wang, spokeswoman for Google China, declined to comment.

While Baidu dominates online searches in China, it has long lagged behind Google in English-language searches.

The cooperation with Microsoft may help it make up for this and complicate Google's development in China, analysts said.

"It will strengthen Baidu's position in the search market in China and for Microsoft, Baidu's large traffic also provides a platform for it to promote itself, which will help it to gain more users," said Dong Xu, an analyst with domestic research company Analysys International.

Chinese users account for only 8.6 percent of Bing's total users globally, according to the researcher, and Bing is still a tiny player in online searches in China. By contrast, it accounted for 14.1 percent of the US search market in May, following Google's 65.5 percent and Yahoo's 15.9 percen,t said website measurement company comScore.

However, it is not known the extent to which the cooperation between the two will affect Google's performance in China.

"It remains to be seen how much English-language searches account for the total Baidu search inquiries and how many Google users will eventually switch to Baidu," said You Tianyu, an analyst with the Chinese research and consultancy company iResearch.

Google's market share reached its peak in China at 35.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, while Baidu registered 58.8 percent at that time.

However, the US search engine controlled 19.2 percent of the market over the first quarter of this year, while Baidu jumped to 75.8 percent, according to Analysys International.

Zhang from Baidu added that the exploration of English-language searches will "largely help Baidu to expand into the overseas search market".

Source: China Daily

 

[Brotherhood]

17 bln yuan invested for better living conditions in Tibetan county - People's Daily Online July 05, 2011

Local farmer Yeshe makes a phone call by his house in Mozhugongka County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 4, 2011. A total of 17 billion RMB Yuan (2.6 billion U.S. dollars) has been invested for better living conditions, which cover 274,800 households, or some 1.4 million people in the region. (Xinhua/Chogo)

Local farmer Dolkar walks into her house in Mozhugongka County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 4, 2011. A total of 17 billion RMB Yuan (2.6 billion U.S. dollars) has been invested for better living conditions, which cover 274,800 households, or some 1.4 million people in the region. (Xinhua/Chogo)

Photo taken on July 4, 2011 shows Tibetan-style houses by a mountain in Gongbo'gyamda County

A local farmer air-cures diary products by her house in Mozhugongka County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 4, 2011

Photo taken on July 4, 2011 shows Tibetan-style houses by a mountain in Mozhugongka County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region

Photo taken on July 4, 2011 shows Tibetan-style houses by a mountain in Mozhugongka County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

 

[Brotherhood]

Central line of South-North Water Diversion Project now fully underway | China business news
July 05, 2011

According to the latest State Council statistics, the first stage of the central and eastern lines of the South-North Water Diversion Project has achieved a total investment of 97 billion yuan.

More than 8 billion yuan of the investments is for the central line, and nearly 1.6 billion yuan is for the eastern line, collectively accounting for 46 percent of the gross investments for the projects under construction. Currently, the construction is going smoothly as well as the migration progress.

More investment will be put into the project this year, which is expected to reach more 54 billion yuan, the largest scale of investment since the launch of the project.

In order to finish the eastern line by 2013 and the central line by 2014, constructors of the project full are speeding ahead to finish the task ahead of schedule. As of the end of May, aggregate investments of the project amounted to 138.37 billion yuan, of which the government budget funds are 23.27 billion yuan, special funds (national debt) are 10.65 billion yuan, project funds are 14.12 billion yuan, significant hydrological project construction funds are 47.78 billion and project loans are 42.25 billion yuan. Last year’s scale of investment is as much as the total of the past seven years.

It is said that the central line construction project has successfully crossed through the Yellow River and related local supporting projects have been activated. About 149,000 residents in Danjiangkou reservoir areas have been relocated to new areas.

The eastern line project has yielded fruitful results in environmental protection and sewage drainage. The 426 sewage cleaning programs were all put into operation and 404 of them have been finished. Water quality along the line has been improved dramatically, and major pollutants have been effectively curbed.

By People’s Daily Online

 

[muse]

Incredible achievment and incredible map --- if I were a navy guy and had spent my entire career building a navy to block or allow passage and then find out that somebody built an overland route that makes my billions of dollars worth of equipment and personnel worthless - I'd be pretty mad.

 

[Brotherhood]

Shigatse solar power station in Tibet starts operation - People's Daily Online July 06, 2011

Photo, taken on July 5, 2011, shows the array of solar photovoltaic power generation panels in Shigatse, Tibet. The first phase of the Shigatse Solar Photovoltaic Power Station has been completed and linked to the Central Tibet grid on July 5. The annual energy output of the power station is 20 million kilowatt hours, which can meet the power requirement of one 100,000 people in Shigatse.

 

[Brotherhood]

China's King Long vehicles replacing Malta's aging bus fleet | China business news July 6 2011

Amid applauses, cheers and fireworks spurting against the night sky, a brand new bus service was officially launched on a grand ceremony here in the capital of Malta Saturday evening.

Among the new buses, 174 are custom-built vehicles manufactured by Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co of China, accounting for 66 percent of the whole fleet.

As the leading bus and coach manufacturer in China, King Long won the contract in January and later delivered to Arriva Malta in May 49 new nine-meter buses and 125 new 12-meter buses.

All the buses are diesel-driven, low-floor vehicles providing wheelchair access, and equipped with Euro V engines, air conditioning, comfortable seating with adequate legroom, and Real Time Passenger Information displays including next scheduled stop announcements.

As from Sunday, new buses have replaced the old ones which have been in use in Malta for up to three decades, outdated and plagued with pollution.

It is widely believed that the launch of the new King Long buses will significantly help reduce the emissions, improve the bus riding experience, optimize the public transport scenario, and ultimately benefit the tourism industry that is vital to the country’s economy.

The contract with Arriva Malta has registered a record sale of over 15 million euros for King Long, so far the largest by a Chinese bus producer to an EU member state, and represented a major breakthrough of the Chinese homegrown brands in the EU auto market. – Xinhua

 

[grey boy 2]

Lhasa-Gongga airport-exclusive highway opens - People's Daily Online July 08, 2011

Photo shows the Liuwu tunnel on Lhasa-Gongga airport-exclusive highway on July 7. The construction of Lhasa-Gongga airport-exclusive highway was officially launched on April 2009. Investments in the highway totaled more than 1.5 billion yuan, and it was put into use recently. It is a two-carriage-way highway with an overall length of nearly 38 kilometers. (Xinhua)

A car drives on the Lhasa-Gongga airport-exclusive highway.(Xinhua)


By People's Daily Online

 

[grey boy 2]

336.9-meter-high Tianjin World Financial Center - People's Daily Online July 08, 2011

A visitor overlooks on a 308-meter-high platform of Tianjin World Financial Center (TWFC) in Tianjin, north China, July 7, 2011. The commerce experience zone of TWFC opened on Thursday, marking the trial operation of the 336.9-meter-high skyscraper. The 79-floor building is the highest one in Tianjin. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

Citizens walk past the Tianjin World Financial Center (TWFC) in Tianjin, north China, July 7, 2011. The commerce experience zone of TWFC opened on Thursday, marking the trial operation of the 336.9-meter-high skyscraper. The 79-floor building is the highest one in Tianjin. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

 

[grey boy 2]

Chinese-made bullet train goes abroad for first time - People's Daily Online July 08, 2011

According to CSR Cooperation Limited, China will export 228 bullet trains to Malaysia to develop intercity transportation for Kuala Lumpur, signifying CRH China Railway High-Speed bullet train is going abroad for the first time.

So far, this is the biggest deal signed for the Chinese domestically-made bullet train. This set of train is specially coordinated according to the track gauge standard in Malaysia and is three tons lighter than other trains of the same kind, saving approximately 20,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year.

As the transportation hub of the entire country, Kuala Lumpur shares the largest percentage of public transportation trip. After put into operation, the bullet train will provide considerable convenience to the local people.

By People's Daily Online

 

[Martian2]

Machine tools: the foundation of industrialization - they're used to make everything

World's largest manufacturers of machine tools in 2010:

1. China - $20 billion
2. Japan - $11.8 billion
3. Germany - $9.7 billion
4. Italy - $5.2 billion
5. South Korea - $4.5 billion
6. Taiwan - $3.8 billion

Source: 2011 World Machine Tool Output & Consumption Survey - Producers

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World's largest exporters of machine tools in 2010:

1. Japan - $7.8 billion
2. Germany - $6.6 billion
3. Italy - $3.3 billion
4. Taiwan - $3 billion
5. Switzerland - $1.8 billion
6. China - $1.8 billion

Source: 2011 World Machine Tool Output & Consumption Survey - Exporters

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Taiwan 6th-largest machine tool maker - CNA ENGLISH NEWS

"Taiwan 6th-largest machine tool maker
2011/07/09 20:39:28

Taipei, July 9 (CNA) Taiwan ranked as the sixth-largest machine tool maker in the world in 2010 in terms of production value, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Saturday.

Citing data released by Gardner Publications Inc., a U.S.-based publisher of media on durable goods manufacturing, the DGBAS said output of Taiwan-made machine tools totaled US$3.8 billion (NT$109 billion) in 2010, up 67.8 percent from a year earlier.

China's production value of machine tools -- worth US$20 billion -- was the largest in the world last year, followed by Japan' s US$11.8 billion and Germany's US$9.7 billion, according to the data.

The top three producers accounted for 62.7 percent of the world's total output, which rose 21.2 percent from 2010 to US$66.3 billion, the data shows.

After the financial meltdown of 2008, the global machine tool sector got back on the road to recovery from the second half of 2009, the government agency said.

In 2010, Japan ranked as the world's largest machine tool exporter, selling US$7.8 billion-worth of products overseas, up 85.8 percent from the previous year, followed by Germany and Italy.

Taiwan was the fourth-largest machine tool exporter, shipping US$3 billion-worth of products abroad, up 72.1 percent year-on-year. (By Lin Hui-chun and Frances Huang)"

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Taiwan shows its prowess as World #4 in machine tool exports

The following videos are all high-definition (e.g. make sure to select 720p for the YouTube video in the bottom right-hand corner), widescreen, and in English. Each one is only a few minutes long. The videos provide a comprehensive and entertaining look at Taiwan's machine tool industry. For anyone interested in technology, I highly recommend watching them.

General overview of Taiwan's machine tool industry:

The following videos have a similar format. The first two-thirds of each video discuss the outstanding technical features of the machine tool. For an ordinary person like myself, it is the last third of the video with action-packed footage that I find the most interesting.

High-tech features of specific machine tools:

CNC Engraving Machines, Laser Engraving & Cutting Machines
A beautifully-compact machine with 0.005 mm accuracy!

CNC Lathe, CNC Automatic Lathe
"Ultra-fast efficient machining"

CNC Lathe, CNC Turning Center
Heavy machining of medium carbon steel, steel alloy, and aluminum alloy
"Fast turns and guaranteed repeatable accuracy"

CNC Turning Center, CNC Turning Lathe
"For milling and complicated machining"

 

[Asian.Century]

China may cut spending on strategic industries

Beijing originally planned to invest up to $1.5 trillion over the next five years

Beijing - China may rein in plans to invest heavily in seven new strategic industries, including high speed rail and wind power, scaling back cutting-edge projects for industries suffering from old-fashioned problems such as corruption and overcapacity, sources said. Beijing originally planned to invest up to $1.5 trillion over the next five years in the seven sectors, hoping they would grow into a pillar of economic growth and help shift the world's second-largest economy away from one centered on manufacturing cheap goods.

The pullback on spending stems partly from worries about corruption in the country's high-speed rail project and overcapacity concerns in the wind power sector, said two sources with ties to China's Communist Party leadership and knowledge of the plan.

"The government is now reconsidering the seven new strategic industries plan," one source said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to reporters. "The (size of the) retrenchment is still under deliberation," the source added.

Beijing has long used infrastructure spending to generate jobs and economic activity, most recently tapping government coffers to stave off the effects of the global financial crisis.

While high rates of fixed asset investment have helped maintain strong growth, some economists, such as Nouriel Roubini, have argued that China's current levels of investment are unsustainable.

These days, China is more concerned about taming inflation and managing a mountain of debt piled up by local and provincial governments that the country's state auditor estimates at 10.7 trillion yuan ($1.65 trillion). The strategic industries cover high-end equipment manufacturing, alternative energy, biotechnology, new generation information technology, alternative fuel cars and energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies.

Analysts welcomed the news, which could mean less borrowing by local governments and faster consolidation of sectors like wind power. "A lot of these projects are already in question because of their (debt) liability and safety standards," said Kevin Lai, an economist with Daiwa in Hong Kong. "The question that needs to be asked is: Is (investment-driven expansion) the kind of growth that China really wants?"

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2011/07/ch...0&width=962