China Economy - News & Updates

[grey boy 2]

China allocates $104.8 bln for rural development - People's Daily Online 09:21, December 26, 2009

China has earmarked 716.1 billion yuan (104.8 billion U.S. dollars) from the central budget this year for agriculture, rural areas and farmers, the Ministry of Finance said Friday in a statement.

That was 120.59 billion yuan more than that in 2008, which has helped to further stabilize the development of the agriculture and increase farmers' income, according to the statement on the ministry's website.

Farming-related subsidies including subsidies for food, agricultural material, seeds, and agricultural machinery and tools in 2009 stood at 123.08 billion yuan, up 19.4 percent year on year, the statement said.

A total of 264.22 billion yuan were allocated to improve agricultural infrastructure construction, including reinforcing the dilapidated small-sized reservoirs and purifying small-sized contaminated watersheds.

The central government also arranged 269.32 billion yuan to enhance public services in rural areas, according to the statement.

The central government vowed in this year's Central Economic Work Conference, which wrapped up on Dec. 10, to devote more efforts in 2010 to promote agriculture development, strengthen produce supply to the market, and expand rural demand.

Source:Xinhua

 

[Evil Flare]

We must follow on Footsteps of CHINA

 

[PWFI]

yes ,with Mr.10% i am sure will learn to all third worl nations how to become future tiger of asia! Pakistan ka allah hafiz at the moment

 

[SinoIndusFriendship]

We must follow on Footsteps of CHINA

Viet Nam is already doing that, and they are doing quite well! Self-sufficient and decent people.

 

[grey boy 2]

China's electrified railway mileage exceeds 30,000 kilometers - People's Daily Online 09:36, December 27, 2009

China's electrified railway mileage has surpassed 30,000 kilometers, ranking the second in the world, said the China CREC Railway Electrification Bureau Group (CCREBG) on Saturday.

It achieved the goal with the completion of a 1,422.2-kilometer electrified railway line which connects Beijing and Lehua in south China's Jiangxi Province on Saturday, according to the CCREBG.

The project, involving an investment of more than 7.6 billion yuan (or1.112 billion U.S. dollars), will increase the trains' speed from 120 kilometers to 160 kilometers per hour and raise the transportation volume from 3,500 tonnes to 6,000 tonnes by each train.

The operation of this railway links the electrified railways in the country's central and eastern regions, and it would help to ease transportation strains on the Beijing-Kowloon Railway, according to the CCREBG.

Source: Xinhua

 

[grey boy 2]

China predicts 10 bln tonnes of iron ore reserves in Hebei Province - People's Daily Online 10:11, December 27, 2009

Exploration work in the eastern region of north China's Hebei Province shows potential iron ore reserves in this area is estimated to top 10 billion tonnes, the China Metallurgical Geology Bureau (CMGB) said Saturday.

A total of 3.44 billion tonnes of iron ore has been verified in five mines in the province, said Yan Xueyi, director with the CMGB.

The discovery of this deposit would largely ease the shortfall in China's domestic iron ore supplies and contribute to a sound and sustainable development of the country's steel industry, according to Yan.

China imported 443.56 million tonnes of iron ore in 2008, bringing the country's reliance on imported iron ore to around 50 percent.

The country's steel mills suffered an unfavorable position during the annual iron ore pricing talks as overseas miners alliedto ask for a higher price.

Source: Xinhua

 

[grey boy 2]

Wuhan Iron and Steel to expand output by 24% next year - People's Daily Online
12:06, December 26, 2009

Wuhan Iron and Steel Group (Wugang), China's third-largest steel maker, plans to increase production by 24 percent next year as demand recovers amid the reviving economy, China Daily reported Saturday citing the company's statement.

Wugang expected to produce 37.9 million tonnes of crude steel next year, up from a forecasted 30.5 million tonnes this year, and it raised revenue expectation by 11 percent to 150 billion yuan (22 billion U.S. dollars) in 2010, according to the statement.

China's 4-trillion yuan stimulus package has helped domestic steel makers return to profit in May after seven straight months of losses because of the global economic crisis.

Steel consumption might rise by 10 percent next year due to a stronger demand boosted by a 28-percent-increase in assets investment in 2010, Yu Liangui, a senior analyst from Mysteel, was quoted as saying.

"The government's plan to restrict entry for small steel makers gives ample room for large steel mills to expand production," according to Yu.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology earlier this month said it would be mandatory for steel mills to have at least 1 million tonnes of capacity, a move that could squeeze small steel mills out of the market and speed up the pace of industry consolidation.

Source:Xinhua

 

[grey boy 2]

China's first environmental industry fund established - People's Daily Online Dec 29 2009

China's first fund for environmental industry was launched Monday in Beijing, aiming to promote investment in the country's environment-related sectors.

The Environment Industry Fund, run by China General Technology Investment Fund Management Corp., is expected to raise 2 billion yuan (292.8 million U.S. dollars) in the first stage.

The company will also set up a parallel 300-million-U.S. dollar overseas fund.

The money-raising will be finished by the second quarter in 2010 and the money will be invested in water industry, solid waste disposal, renewable energy, energy conservation and emission cuts sectors, said Liu Debing, chairman of the company.

The project came after the Chinese government announced to reduce carbon dioxide emission per unit of gross domestic product by 40 percent to 45 percent by 2020 compared with the level of 2005.

Li Dang, general manager of China General Technology Group (Genertec), major stakeholder of the fund management company, said that the investment conformed to adjustment in China's industrial investment policy and is expected to reap good returns.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told Xinhua in an exclusive interview Sunday that the government would gear more investment to energy conservation and emission cuts sectors in 2010.

The China General Technology Investment Fund Management Corp. was founded jointly Monday by Genertec and investment agencies with a registered capital of 50 million yuan.

Source: Xinhua

 

[grey boy 2]

China becomes world's biggest gold buyer in 2009 - People's Daily Online
15:23, December 29, 2009

World Gold Council (WGC) data reveals that for the first time in 21 years the world's central banks have been net buyers of gold and China has been the biggest buyer this year, adding 454 tones to bring its central bank reserves to 1,054 tones.

Amid growing concern over the weakness of the dollar, about 28 billion U.S. dollars worth of bullion was bought by central banks this year, based on an average price of 978 U.S. dollars an ounce, according to the WGC.

The biggest buyers have been the emerging economies of China, Russia and India, but smaller countries such as the Philippines, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka and Mexico have also been shifting their reserves into gold.

The value of the dollar, the default reserve currency for most countries, has fallen as investors have grown cautious about America's huge debt burden and possible inflationary trends.

Meanwhile, a handful of developed countries have taken advantage of record gold prices to reduce the size of their vaults. The metal hit a peak of more than 1,200 U.S. dollars an ounce this year, according to Goldman Sachs.

However, Dylan Grice, an analyst at Société Générale, believes that the continued weakness of the dollar, concern about inflation and fiscal policy will continue to drive the gold price.

A spate of gold-buying in the 1960s, led by France, resulted in the collapse of the Bretton-Woods system in 1971 when the link between the value of the dollar and gold was abolished.

By People's Daily Online

 

[grey boy 2]

Guangzhou subway Line 5 opens - People's Daily Online 12:26, December 29, 2009

Guangzhou opened its subway Line 5 on December 28. The city currently has a subway network of 5 lines totaling 150 kilometers, ranking third in the entire country. The opening of Line 5 will attract more people to choose the subway as their main transportation means, which will help to relieve the serious problem of traffic congestion in Guangzhou.

From the industrial and regional development point of view, subway Line 5 connects 2 major business districts – the Pearl River New Town which is 1 of the 3 largest central business districts in China and the Huanshidong business district which is considerably large. This connection will inject new vitality to the smooth operation of Guangzhou's modern service industry. In addition, subway Line 5 also allows more convenient travel between Guangzhou's central area and its eastern industrial transfer areas, providing new development opportunities to the eastern industrial belt where advanced manufacturing industries are concentrated. Furthermore, subway Line 5 will provide new urban development prospects for new eastern districts like Yuancun and Huangpu District.

Subway Line 5 is an important channel for Guangzhou to strengthen its sphere of influence to the Pearl River's east and west banks. It allows for further construction of urban rail transit lines connecting it with Foshan, Dongguan and other cities, which will lay a sound transportation foundation for accelerating the construction of Guangzhou into a national central city and realizing the strategies of building Guangzhou and Foshan into one large city, as well as integrating the Pan-Pearl River Delta.

 

[Metallic]

China says billions missing from public funds
CHINA - 29 DECEMBER 2009

SHANGHAI – Over 34.4 billion dollars went missing from public funds in China in the first 11 months of 2009, state media said Tuesday, with national auditors highlighting embezzlement, waste and fraud.

Over 230 people, including 67 government officials, have been handed over to disciplinary or judicial authorities for their roles in the missing funds, the China Daily said, citing the National Audit Office.

The audit covered 99,000 companies, government agencies and public institutions across the nation, Liu Jiayi, China's top auditor, told a national auditing conference.

Of the 234.7 billion yuan (34.4 billion dollars) found missing in the audit, 16.3 billion yuan had already been recovered, it said.

Premier Wen Jiabao told auditors at the conference to step up efforts to tackle corruption, according to the report.

China's state auditor has the power to review government accounts, but its lack of law enforcement powers means that many irregularities do not result in prosecutions.

Beijing vowed to curb corruption in November last year when it launched a four-trillion-yuan stimulus package to prop up economic growth amid a sharp drop in demand for exports due to the global financial crisis.


Source: AFP

 

[grey boy 2]

Chinese Premier asks auditors to keep a close eye on public funds - People's Daily Online

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Monday asked auditors to keep a close eye on public investment projects to help avoid embezzlement and waste of public funds.

Jerry-built projects and vanity projects should be strictly forbidden with the help of closer follow-up scrutiny of public funds, said the premier in a meeting with participants at a national auditing conference.

The National Audit Office (NAO) statistics showed that altogether 234.7 billion yuan (34.51 billion U.S. dollars) of public funds have been misappropriated and 16.3 billion yuan wasted during the first 11 months this year.

Wen urged auditors to strengthen budget enforcement auditing in order to guarantee an open and transparent fiscal budget for governments at all levels.

The premier said that auditing should shoulder the responsibility of safeguarding the country's economic security by detecting possible risks in economic operations. As for now, special attention should be paid to fiscal and financial risks, he said.

He also called for giving full play to the role of auditing in the fight against corruption and severely cracking down on corruption.

China carried out audit among more than 20,000 government officials including provincial level cadres and bosses of large state-owned enterprises this year. Cases involving 67 senior officials and 164 others were handed over to judicial authorities, said the NAO.

Source: Xinhua

 

[Panditji]

Too bad! - embezzled money does not help anyone, including the corrupt. (maybe it keeps some dough away from the defense budget... but that's a long shot!)

Maybe China should double the number of public executions for corruption. That should deter the wrongdoers.

I am also awaiting India to adopt such tough measures against corruption. Only drastic measures will work on this evil, as it is so strongly rooted in the society.

 

[grey boy 2]

Audit unearths huge graft - People's Daily Online 08:31, December 29, 2009

The National Audit Office (NAO) has found over 234 billion yuan ($34.5 billion) of public finances was misused in its annual audits of almost 100,000 government departments and State-owned enter-prises (SOEs), China's chief auditor said Monday.

The NAO transferred the cases of 67 officials and senior managers of SOEs to discipline-inspection and judicial organizations for investigation for their alleged involvement in the massive embezzlement, Liu Jiayi, head of the NAO, said Monday at the annual conference of auditors.

The office did not disclose the amount of public funds its audits covered.

The NAO said it audited over 20,000 officials, including 14 provincial governors and ministerial-level officials, as well as the directors of 12 SOEs across the country from January to November this year.

Liu attributed 10.69 billion yuan of the misused funds to officials and directors, with senior management accounting for 4.5 percent of the total amount embezzled.

Another 164 people were punished according to administrative and disciplinary procedures.

The audit authority provided 863 cases to the justice, discipline-inspection and supervisory organs in 2009. The cases, involving 1,068 people, referred to bank loans, discounted notes, securities transactions, land and mining rights sales, the transfer of state-owned assets and other issues.

Liu said criminals are now more intelligent and covert.

Some are involved with money laundering, transferring large-scale funds to other areas via Internet banking; some are involved in credit fraud, issuing false certificates or notes, and others are involved in illegal profit-making through illegal insider trading, he said.

The need to restrain corruption in the public sector alongside the nation's booming economy has been repeatedly underscored by the authorities, which say corruption erodes the credibility of the ruling party and causes huge economic losses.

In 2008, a total of 10,315 cases of commercial bribery were committed by government workers, involving more than 2.1 billion yuan ($300 million), Cao Jianming, the country's prosecutor-general, said earlier this year.

To secretly allocate an amount of public finance for personal or department use is a common form of misuse of public funds, as the country's anti-graft watchdog found the practice appears to remain rampant.

As of November, 22,884 such cases of illegal allocation of central finances, worth 10.16 billion yuan ($1.49 billion), had been uncovered since June, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China.

A total of 270 officials have received administrative punishment for illegally holding "small coffers" for personal use, and 81 have been prosecuted.

Lei Jiaxiao, a scholar of economic security at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times that the final allocations of funds always show discrepancies with the budgeting, but the problem unearthed by auditing may not necessarily be related to corruption.

"Some local governments, besieged by the money shortage, chose to divert some funds to projects they consider urgent," Lei said.

Through auditing, the central government can gain more accurate information for decision-making, and the misuse of funds by local governments could be prevented, Lei said.

Lei suggested the National People's Congress play a bigger role in government budget planning and implementation.

A report sent to the NPC Standing Committee last week by the State Council stated that the National Audit Office will try to make all the budgets of central departments open to the public in two or three years.

Source: Global Times

 

[FreekiN]

China!, Ask Zardari where the money went! LOL