China Economy - News & Updates

[oct605032048]

China tops world in meat production
English_Xinhua 2009-09-03 21:02:00 Print

QINGDAO, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- China has become the world's leading meat producer, with 29 percent of the global total output last year, an industry official said Thursday.

Last year, China's meat production topped 72.69 million tonnes, up 6 percent from the previous year, Deng Fujiang, vice president of the China Meat Association, told the World Pork Conference which opened Thursday morning in eastern China's coastal city of Qingdao.

Of the total, 63.5 percent was pork, he said, adding nearly half of the world's pork last year had been produced in China.

China is a major consumer of meat products as well. It imported1.84 million tonnes but exported only 742,000 tonnes last year, said Deng.

Patrick J. Moore, president of the International Meat Secretariat, said he expected increasing worldwide meat consumption and international trade despite the impact of the global economic downturn and the A/H1N1 flu epidemic.

Global meat consumption is projected to expand by almost 2 percent annually from now to 2018 to more than 320 million tones, 37.5 percent of which would be pig meat, he said, citing an OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)-FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organization) Agricultural Outlook report issued in June.

 

[oct605032048]

China banking on IMF's bond idea
By Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-04 07:55
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China will be expecting more input during the restructuring of the international financial system after agreeing on Wednesday to buy the first $50 billion of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s new bonds.

The purchase, made three weeks before the Group of 20 Summit that will be held in Pittsburgh, is being seen as an example to the rest of the world of China's commitment.

China banking on IMF's bond idea

Chinese think-tank economists said the purchase symbolized the country's "very first step" toward increasing its say in reshaping global financial institutions amid the financial crisis.

The bonds also allow China to diversify its massive holdings of foreign reserves, giving it an alternative to purchasing US State bonds. And it will give the IMF the resources it needs to help other countries battle through the global crisis.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China Yi Gang signed the agreement at the IMF headquarters in Washington.

Under the deal, the Chinese central bank "would purchase up to SDR 32 billion (around US$50 billion) in IMF notes".

SDR (Special Drawing Right) is the name given to an interest-bearing IMF asset based on a basket of international currencies - the dollar, yen, euro and pound. The rate is calculated daily. IMF members can convert SDRs into other currencies.

The IMF executive board approved the plan to issue the notes to governments and central banks in July.

Russia and Brazil have both said they intend to buy $10 billion IMF bonds but, so far, their governments have not entered into an agreement.

Zhang Xiaojing, senior economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said he expects more voting rights will be allocated to China during the next round of IMF reform following the country's commitment to the institution.

Developed economies currently dominate the international institution. The voting rights of the so-called BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - amounts to 9.62 percent of the IMF total, despite the fact that they are some of the world's largest economies and most populous countries. The US, meanwhile, holds nearly 17 percent of the IMF's voting rights.

"The emerging economies are expecting more say in global governance, which will represent their growing economic influence," said Zhang. "The developed bloc nodded their heads but said, you (the emerging economies) should contribute something first."

Now that the world's economy has pulled out of its free-fall, Zhang said the IMF is in dire need of resources to help it support member nations as they battle to rebound from the global financial and economic crises.

AFP reported that any bid by China to expand its formal influence at the IMF is likely to encounter resistance, especially from Europe, which has traditionally provided the fund's managing director.

China's deal with IMF came within hours of an agreement by European Union finance ministers to raise the 27-nation bloc's contribution to the IMF to 125 billion euros ($178 billion), from 75 billion euros.

Yu Yongding, a renowned economist from the same academy as Zhang, said China could have contributed more to increase the institution's resources to tackle the financial crisis.

"However, to obtain the support of the public in China, I shall emphasize more fundamental reforms of the IMF, such as to increase China's voting rights are indispensable," Yu said.

Li Jianwei, senior researcher on macroeconomics with the Development Research Center of the State Council, a powerful think-tank for the central government, said China's purchase was largely aimed at finding new ways to invest its $2.1 trillion in foreign reserves.

"The bond purchase is diversifying China's investment opportunities for colossal foreign reserves," said Li. "The risk of the US dollar depreciating is high and we should think about the danger ahead."

The IMF said the agreement offers China a safe investment instrument while boosting the fund's potential to help its members - particularly developing and emerging countries.

But Zhang Xiaojing added: "We need to assess the safety of the investment because the world's recovery is still sluggish and financial systems remain fragile in many developed countries."

---------- Post added at 03:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:39 PM ----------

Google's Greater China chief to step down
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-04 16:42
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Google's president of Greater China Kai-fu Lee wrote in his blog Friday that his next step is to create a "technology miracle" with young Chinese after he leaves the company in mid-September.

Google China said in a statement Friday that Lee is to step down from his post in mid-September and start his own business in Beijing.

Lee's engineering responsibilities will be taken over by Boon-Lock Yeo, director of the company's Shanghai engineering office. Vice president John Liu, who currently heads Google's Greater China sales business, will take on Lee's business and operational roles.

Shortly after the company announced his resignation, Lee explained in his blog on sina.com that he left to make up for a regret of his life.

"I have no regret with Google now, but I have a regret with my life that needs to be made up for," Lee wrote. "I want to pass on my experiences in technology and business management to the young Chinese.

"My next step is to create a technology miracle with the youths in China," he wrote. "I want to use my initiatives to land a job that can control the whole picture."

Lee left Microsoft to join Google in 2004 and led the company's expansion in China.

He had also recruited many outstanding engineers for Google, Eustace said.

Lee was born in Taiwan in 1961. He also worked for Apple Inc before joining Microsoft.

 

[Omar1984]

Urumqi Trade Fair opens ​

URUMQI, Sep. 1 (Xinhua) -- The 18th Urumqi Trade Fair, China's only business event targeting central, west and south Asia, opened Tuesday, nearly two months after a riot in the city.

The trade fair has attracted more than 500 overseas businessmen from 29 countries and regions, including Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It also attracted many business people from 21 inland provinces and municipalities.

The trade fair, in the capital city of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, covers an area of 35,000 square meters and has more than 2,000 exhibition booths, including a "Hong Kong Hall" and a "Pakistan Hall".

The exhibition booths were sold out before the fair began, and is proof that the riot did not change Xinjiang's geographical advantage, said Nur Bekri, the regional government chairman.

The riot on July 5 left 197 people dead and more than 1,600 injured.

The annual trade fair first started in 1992. The total value of contracts signed with overseas businessmen at the fair in the past 17 years has reached 31.7 billion U.S. dollars.

The fair will end on Saturday.

 

[oct605032048]

HSBC starts yuan cross-border trade settlement service
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-05 11:07
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HSBC China launched its renminbi cross-border trade settlement services Friday in Shanghai, and Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Dongguan of south China's Guangdong province.

The Bank of China, China's largest foreign exchange bank, transacted the country's first cross-border yuan trade settlement deal on July 6.

China's State Council, or Cabinet, announced in April a pilot program to allow exporters and importers in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Dongguan to settle cross-border trade deals in renminbi, or yuan.

 

[Speeder]

China Becomes World's Largest Exporter


Overtakes Germany for first time in first half of 2009
For the first time, China overtook Germany as the world's biggest exporter during the first half of 2009, the World Trade Organization reported Tuesday.

From January through June 2009, China's total export volume amounted to $521.7 billion, slightly exceeding Germany's exports, which totaled $521.6 billion.

Germany has long been the biggest exporter of goods and services but has been closely followed by China in recent years. In 2007, Germany exported $1.32 trillion of goods over the full year while China's exports reached $1.22 trillion, according to the WTO. However, between 2000 and 2007 China's exports grew by an average annual rate of 25 percent, while Germany's exports grew by only 13 percent a year.

A WTO spokesperson said China and Germany remain very close in the competition, and it is too soon to say if China will overtake Germany as the world's largest goods exporter for all of 2009. The final results will depend on several unknown factors, including foreign exchange rates and the pace of economic recovery in the various markets that buy exports from China and Germany in coming months.

China Becomes World's Largest Exporter | Journal of Commerce

 

[SinoIndusFriendship]

China Becomes World's Largest Exporter


Overtakes Germany for first time in first half of 2009
For the first time, China overtook Germany as the world's biggest exporter during the first half of 2009, the World Trade Organization reported Tuesday.

From January through June 2009, China's total export volume amounted to $521.7 billion, slightly exceeding Germany's exports, which totaled $521.6 billion.

Germany has long been the biggest exporter of goods and services but has been closely followed by China in recent years. In 2007, Germany exported $1.32 trillion of goods over the full year while China's exports reached $1.22 trillion, according to the WTO. However, between 2000 and 2007 China's exports grew by an average annual rate of 25 percent, while Germany's exports grew by only 13 percent a year.

A WTO spokesperson said China and Germany remain very close in the competition, and it is too soon to say if China will overtake Germany as the world's largest goods exporter for all of 2009. The final results will depend on several unknown factors, including foreign exchange rates and the pace of economic recovery in the various markets that buy exports from China and Germany in coming months.

China Becomes World's Largest Exporter | Journal of Commerce

I always wonder how is it that Germany was the largest exporter? How can they export more than USA, Japan and China??? I don't see much German cars, no fashion cloths, no electronics from them. And do they export that much military hardware??? Is it cocaine? heroine? ectasy?

What the hell are they exporting that amounts to over a TRILLION dollars a year???

 

[Speeder]

I always wonder how is it that Germany was the largest exporter? How can they export more than USA, Japan and China??? I don't see much German cars, no fashion cloths, no electronics from them. And do they export that much military hardware??? Is it cocaine? heroine? ectasy?

What the hell are they exporting that amounts to over a TRILLION dollars a year???

check this out:
Germany Products, Manufacturers, Importers and Suppliers

You forgot German Beers & Sausages btw...

 

[oct605032048]

Chinese top companies see better profits than U.S. counterparts, says report
English_Xinhua 2009-09-06 00:23:40 Print

HANGZHOU, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Profits of the top 500 enterprises in China exceeded that of their counterparts in the United States, a domestic ranking report said Saturday.

Net profits of the Chinese companies are 170.6 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of this year, while the figure for the U.S. companies are 98.9 billion U.S. dollars, according to a report released by the China Enterprise Confederation (CEC) and China Enterprise Directors Association.

Although the net profits for the Chinese heavyweights are down 12.4 percent from a year ago, it is still less than a 84.67 percent fall for the U.S. companies, which see the worst decline in 55 years recorded by the U.S. Fortune magazine.

Wang Jiming, vice president of CEC, said although the business data showed that the Chinese companies were less vulnerable to the global financial crisis than the U.S. counterparts, it did not mean they have made substantial improvements in comprehensive competitive power.

He said Chinese enterprises enjoy relatively better policies and domestic market environment.

Chinese companies still lacked behind world's leading enterprises in resource allocation, innovation, international presence, business model and corporate culture, he noted.

The threshold of this year's top 500 companies in China is raised to 10.54 billion yuan (1.55 billion U.S. dollars) for sales revenue, compared with last year's 9.31 billion yuan.

 

[oct605032048]

China to launch high-speed train in 2012
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-09-09 16:52
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A trial high-speed train with a speed of 500 km per hour will be off line by the end of next year, Zhang Shuguang, a senior expert with the China Academy of Railway Sciences, revealed at the 11th annual meeting of the China Association of Science and Technology held in Chongqing, the Xinhuanet quoted Chengdu Business Daily as saying.

Travel time between Beijing and Chongqing will be shortened to seven hours by 2012 and it will also take only seven hours to travel between Shanghai and Chengdu, the report said.

Zhang said the country will build 42 high-speed railway lines for passenger transportation with a speed of 350 km per hour in the next three years.

China has made a breakthrough in the development of high-speed railway technologies as high-speed trains can run both on high-speed railways and normal railways, which will greatly enhance the efficiency of China's railway network, Zhang said.

When the high-speed network completes construction between 2011 and 2012, it will be able to carry over 7 billion passengers each year, Zhang noted.

 

[oct605032048]

China's Geely plans joint bid for Volvo
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-09 13:12
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China's Geely plans joint bid for Volvo
A Geely TX4 car is seen at a Geely Automobile dealership in Shanghai June 16, 2009. [Agencies]

SHANGHAI: Geely Group, one of China's main independent automakers, is considering bidding for Ford Motor Co.'s Volvo Cars unit in alliance with an unnamed investment partner, a company spokesman confirmed Wednesday.

Geely, based in the eastern city of Hangzhou, is among several Chinese automakers that reportedly have shown interest in the Swedish automaker, though company officials had earlier denied such reports.

Gui Shengyue, chief executive of Geely Automobile Holdings, the automaker's Hong Kong-listed entity, told reporters Tuesday that Geely may team up with a state-owned Chinese investment company to make a bid for Volvo.

Weng Xiaodong, director of Geely's board of directors office, confirmed the reports in a phone interview.

Speaking at a briefing in Hong Kong on Geely's first-half earnings report, Gui said Geely's parent company, rather than its listed unit, may bid for Volvo.

"Geely is an ambitious company and given current global changes, we really cannot miss out on this move," the financial magazine Caijing quoted Gui as saying.

Since more than 90 percent of Geely's capital is tied up in its listed company, the parent company lacks the wherewithal to manage the acquisition by itself, Gui said. But the company would join with either a government entity or some other institutional investor, Caijing quoted him as saying.

Gui did not say how much Geely might pay for Volvo.

Earlier reports had named state-owned Beijing Automotive Industry Holding as a potential bidder for Volvo.

 

[Omar1984]

European firms want level playing field in China ​

BEIJING: European Union trade commissioner Catherine Ashton said on Thursday that foreign companies operating in China did not expect “red carpet treatment” but wanted a level playing field.

“The perception of European businesses has been that they would not be welcome in tendering for business in China,” Ashton told a news conference.

“European businesses do not expect red carpet treatment in China but we need to make sure they don’t get the rug pulled from under their feet at the same time.”

Ashton said she had been given assurances by senior government officials during her first visit to China that European businesses operating here “would be regarded as Chinese businesses”.

But she said it remained unclear how the government would ensure such treatment at the local level.

“We have to clarify exactly what is being proposed and communicate with businesses on what it actually means and make sure that those who are going to implement it know what it means,” she said.

Ashton’s comments came after a leading European business group last week said China was backtracking on the implementation of reforms aimed at opening up the world’s third largest economy to foreign firms.

The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said in a position paper that conditions for European companies operating here had become increasingly challenging.

“In many sectors there is a slowdown, even a partial reversal, of reforms,” said chamber president Joerg Wuttke.

The group pointed out that foreign companies wishing to operate in China, continued to face major barriers, such as the need for auto companies to create joint ventures with local firms.

Ashton acknowledged the friction between Europe and China, but said “99 per cent of our trade with China works effectively”.

“We have very clear rules in the EU about anti-dumping and my responsibility is to make sure that we stick to those rules and that’s what I do,” Ashton said.

“I would like to avoid needing to use those rules and we need to continue to develop this partnership strategically in order to trade 100 per cent in the right way,” Ashton said.

While Europe and China are major trade partners, friction has been increasing with Europe opening four anti-dumping cases against Chinese industries this year.

Europe has anti-dumping measures in force against 50, or about one per cent, of Chinese imports to Europe, according to the EU website.

 

[BanglaBhoot]

Internationalizing the Yuan

A Hong Kong bond issue is a small but important step.

Beijing's announcement earlier this week that it will sell yuan-denominated government bonds in Hong Kong has caught a lot of attention. The Ministry of Finance bills it as a measure to "promote the yuan in neighboring countries and improve the yuan's international status." The move comes in the context of Beijing's larger goal of transforming the yuan into a global currency. While on its own this is a relative baby step, it is more significant than at first appears.

The bond issue, set for September 28, will consist of six billion yuan ($879 million) in government debt sold to retail and institutional investors in Hong Kong. This is a drop in the bucket compared to Beijing's overall outstanding government debt of 6.3 trillion yuan and especially relative to a world-wide United States Treasury market of nearly $7.5 trillion. But it's a strong signal of Beijing's future plans to internationalize the yuan.

China has taken several steps down this road since late 2008. Beijing in early July established yuan settlement agreements between Hong Kong and the five big cities in China that form the bulk of Hong Kong's trading partners on the mainland. This trial program allows local firms in Hong Kong and China to settle their trade in yuan, insulating them to some extent from risks associated with currency fluctuations. The Chinese central bank also has established bilateral currency swap agreements with the central banks of South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Belarus and Argentina. China reportedly is in talks with other central banks to create additional swap agreements with the goal of being able to conduct most of China's trade with Asia, excluding Japan, in yuan. Longer-term plans even call for the expansion of currency swap agreements in the Middle East and Latin America.

China's motives are straightforward. In the second quarter of 2009 China had accumulated $2.13 trillion of foreign exchange reserves. While the exact breakdown of China's holdings is unclear, most analysts agree that 65%-70% is held in dollars. As the dollar has weakened, Beijing's fears over the value of China's massive dollar holdings have increased. These fears have become especially pronounced since the beginning of 2009 amid aggressive monetary and fiscal easing in the U.S.

For now China is stuck with the dollar since it is not in a position to sell large amounts of its dollar holdings in the open market without driving the value of its holdings down further. Although China has called for the establishment of an international currency based on the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights, Chinese policy makers appear to have decided that the only long-term way out of China's dependency on the dollar is to gradually internationalize the yuan. These efforts should be seen as natural, since China is already the world's third-largest economy and trading power.

Internationalizing the yuan will probably take years, however, and must involve substantial moves to allow the yuan to be used as a viable reserve currency. The biggest obstacle is that capital account convertibility for the yuan is still a long way off. In this respect, the internationalization of the yuan poses certain dilemmas for the Chinese leadership. The Chinese economy in general still lacks a high degree of institutional and legal certainty and predictability. Chinese leaders prefer ambiguity that allows them to intervene with administrative commands when needed. The barrage of Chinese bank lending unleashed in the first half of 2009 in reaction to the financial crisis is an example of how this system has its handy features.

Capital account convertibility for the yuan would subject Beijing's policies to the judgments of individual investors at home and abroad capable of contributing to large capital flows, including highly temporary and speculative gushes. It would put China's economy much more at the mercy of global financial forces.

In view of this, it is unlikely that the Chinese leadership would move quickly toward full capital account convertibility. Rather, the Chinese will try to get the best of all worlds: to reduce China's reliance on the dollar for international payments, strengthen the yuan's role in trade and central bank reserve allocation, and yet keep in place legal and institutional barriers to short-term speculative capital flows.

This can best be accomplished in the short run by creating an offshore market for yuan financial instruments that foreign central banks and investors can trust. China's latest move to create an offshore market in Hong Kong for yuan-denominated Chinese government bonds does just that. While the first step is very small, it might mark the beginning of a scheme to provide opportunities for central banks and investors to store capital in a secure, tradable and liquid form of yuan deposits. In addition, Chinese government bonds issued overseas and perhaps bonds issued by Chinese state firms and banks with quasi-sovereign guarantees could provide the pricing benchmarks, liquidity and security that an internationalized market for yuan needs.

The yuan's role as one of the premier international currencies is still some way off, but Chinese policy makers are moving in the direction of establishing an international alternative to the dollar, yen and euro. They have to start somewhere, and that "somewhere" is with relatively small steps like this week's bond announcement.

Internationalizing the Yuan - WSJ.com

 

[BanglaBhoot]

A Protectionist Wave

Obama makes a big mistake in his first trade decision on Chinese tires

The White House disclosed late Friday evening that the U.S. will impose stiff tariffs on imported Chinese tires used by millions of Americans. Perhaps President Obama thought he could minimize controversy by releasing the news on a weekend, days ahead of the September 17 deadline and two weeks before he will host Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh. But the protectionist signal he has sent in his first major trade-policy decision is unmistakable.

Mr. Obama has applied a previously unused part of the trade law known as Section 421. This allows U.S. industries or unions to seek protection from "surges" of Chinese imports, with a lower burden of proof than normal antidumping or countervailing duty cases. President Bush nixed the four Section 421 petitions that reached his desk, citing the national economic interest.

Domestic lobbies—including unions like the United Steelworkers that supported him during the campaign and filed this case looking for a political favor in return—hoped Mr. Obama would reverse that precedent, and they haven't been disappointed. Such congressional protectionist stalwarts as Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) and Rep. Sander Levin (D., Mich.) endorsed Friday night's move. "Today, the President courageously stood up and enforced fair trade rules that will save jobs and help our communities," crowed Mr. Brown, who had enthusiastically supported the tariff proposal. It hardly matters that the 35% tire tariff is less than the 55% the International Trade Commission recommended. Despite that attempt at political and economic baby-splitting, the door is now open to more such claims.

To see where this may lead, look at the companies that face competition from lower-cost Chinese imports and lobbied hard for tire tariffs because of the precedent they would set. The Committee to Support U.S. Trade Laws, for instance, lobbed a pro-tariff letter into the White House this month. The umbrella group includes the American Furniture Manufacturers Committee for Legal Trade; the California Fresh Garlic Producers Association; the U.S. Beekeepers; the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association; and the Flower Growers of Puget Sound. "This case is being watched closely to see whether Section 421 is an effective law or a dead issue," committee executive director David A. Hartquist wrote to Mr. Obama.

This threat is worth taking seriously. Some of the product categories that have seen import surges include shoes, lawn mowers, television monitors, hearing aids, musical instruments like keyboards and guitars, women's underwear, blouses and t-shirts, according to Greg Rushford, editor of a newsletter on trade policy. Oh, and trousers, women's knit shirts and bras, according to Cass Johnson, president of the National Council of Textile Organizations—another lobby that wanted Mr. Obama to unleash Section 421.

Mr. Obama has signed onto a number of G-20 statements on the importance of resisting protectionism in an economic downturn. But with his tire decision he is ceding American leadership on trade in favor of assuaging his political base at home—as the Chinese Commerce Ministry noted in its condemnation of the tire move. This is a dangerous game, both for American consumers and businesses and for a world economy that needs more trade, not a trade war.

Chinese Tire Tariffs Test President Obama’s Protectionism - WSJ.com

 

[BanglaBhoot]

Ill Trade Winds with Beijing

September 14, 2009
Author: Robert McMahon

The Obama administration's decision to levy tariffs of up to 35 percent on imported Chinese tires and Beijing's threats of reprisal against some U.S. products have raised concerns about a sudden escalation of protectionism between two of the world's largest economies.

Roughly 17 percent of tires now purchased in the United States come from China. U.S. officials said they were obligated to act after a finding by the U.S. International Trade Commission that an improper increase in China's imports caused domestic U.S. tire factories to close. Free trade advocates such as Daniel Ikenson of the Cato Institute say the negative impact of the tariffs outweigh any economic benefits: "Although the lightning rod is China (with all of the negative perceptions that have been cultivated about its trade practices), this case has little to do with China per se, and everything to do with organized labor begrudging U.S. producers for pursuing profit-maximizing strategies in a globalized world."

Eswar Prasad, who teaches trade economics at Cornell University, told the Financial Times the moves by the Obama administration could "easily ratchet up into a full-blown trade war and inflict serious economic damage on both countries." And a former assistant U.S. trade representative for China affairs, Charles Freeman, writes in an Financial Times op-ed that the U.S. decision could serve to both whip up nationalism in China but also "play into a broader trend within China to roll back market-opening reforms." At the same time, other trade experts say the United States is acting within its rights and China can now try to make its case against the tariffs at the World Trade Organization.

A TIME magazine analysis says the timing of the dispute couldn't be worse, ahead of a meeting of the U.S. and Chinese presidents at next week's G-20 summit and at a time when the two countries have been seeking to build partnerships on everything from climate change to repairing the world's financial system. "Most pressing, cooperation between Washington and Beijing is seen as absolutely crucial to nurturing the budding recovery of the global economy," writes TIME's Michal Schuman. "The two sides need to alleviate the giant economic imbalances--excessive debt and deficits in the U.S. paired with excessive savings in China--to restore the world economy to a more sustainable growth path."

The New York Times reports that the White House decision to impose the tariff is a sign that President Barack Obama will follow through on a pledge to labor unions to more strictly enforce trade laws, especially against China. The tire penalties followed a petition filed by the United Steelworkers Union.

Yet a Bloomberg News report suggests a much different reason for the administration's action: Obama could be making a tough opening gesture on trade as a prelude to launching a broader free trade initiative. The report notes that the four previous U.S. presidents each made moves to protect domestic industries at the outset of their administrations before later pursuing free trade agendas.

Ill Trade Winds with Beijing - Council on Foreign Relations

 

[oct605032048]

China's 8% goal difficult but achievable: economist
English_Xinhua 2009-09-19 16:45:06 Print

SHANGHAI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's economy will be able to achieve the 8 percent growth of gross domestic product (GDP) this year set by the central government, although there are still difficulties ahead, a senior economist said Saturday.

Yao Jingyuan, chief economist with the National Bureau of Statistics, made the remarks at a forum in Shanghai, saying the global economic downturn did not change the fundamentals of the country's economic development, buoyed by the ongoing industrialization, urbanization and marketization.

He said the country's economy has taken a turn for the better from the slowdown in the second half of last year, presenting better recovery than in the United States, Japan, Europe and the other members of the BRIC group, which includes Brazil, Russia, India and China.

The country's economy expanded at 7.9 percent from a year ago in the second quarter of this year, faster than the 6.1 percent in the first quarter, which was the worst quarterly growth in 10 years, dampened by a slump in exports.

The recovery was boosted by the active fiscal policy and moderately loose monetary policy the central government put into place in November last year.

However, he warned of "blind optimism" toward what has been achieved, adding the economic recovery is not on a solid footing yet and there are still many uncertainties ahead.

He also downplayed possibilities of inflation in China in short term, at least within this year as demand fell short of supply in the country because of overcapacity. "Less demand will prevent prices from rising," he said.