Chinese Economic News & Discussions

[Brotherhood]

$151 bln CNOOC investment in 2011-15 - People's Daily Online January 06, 2011

China's largest offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC plans to invest 800 billion to 1 trillion yuan ($118.96-148.70 billion) over five years to boost production and expand overseas.

China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), parent of CNOOC Ltd, produced more than 50 million tons of oil equivalent of oil and gas in offshore China last year, according to the China Business News.

CNOOC targeted pumping 50 million tons of oil equivalent from overseas, by 2020, and generating 50 million tons of oil equivalent from deepwater sources and building liquefied natural gas-receiving capacity of 50 million tonnes of oil equivalent in China's coastal areas.

CNOOC has had a traditional stronghold in offshore China, but its ageing fields have sparked concern over production growth, putting more pressure on the company to secure outbound deals.

Last year, CNOOC agreed to a $1.1 billion deal with Chesapeake Energy Corp for a US shale oil and gas field and is pursuing a $5 billion bid with Ghana National Petroleum Corp for major fields.

Source: Global Times

 

[Brotherhood]

Shanghai World Expo took in 7 billion yuan in sponsorships - People's Daily Online January 06, 2011

In the last seven years of market development, enterprises from nearly 50 different industries at home and abroad supplied more than 7 billion yuan of funds, goods and services to the Shanghai World Expo, according to the Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau.

Chen Xianjin, deputy director of the Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau, said that during the seven years, a total of 13 global partners, 13 high-level sponsors and 32 project sponsors worked with the Shanghai World Expo.

In addition, there were also 13 special project corporate sponsors that joined in, including state-owned, private, foreign and other types of enterprises, which showed the strong appeal of the Shanghai World Expo. All businesses were optimistic about the general prospects of China's economic and social development.

Besides providing funds, material objects and services to the Shanghai World Expo, many local and overseas enterprises also directly participated in the Expo preparations and organization. Nine sponsors set up pavilions at the Expo site and became important supporters, participants and presenters.

The Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau also awarded the World Expo Special Contribution Award to sponsors.

By People's Daily Online

 

[Brotherhood]

Dollar assets should be cut: official - People's Daily Online January 06, 2011

China should cut holdings of dollar assets to limit losses on its foreign currency reserves, while letting the yuan move more freely, a former adviser to the People's Bank of China said in comments published Wednesday.

"China should now reduce its holdings of dollar assets as far as possible, rather than increasing holdings," Yu Yongding, a member of the central bank's monetary policy committee until 2006, wrote in an article in the latest edition of Caijing magazine.

"This means the central bank, to avoid further rises in foreign exchange reserves, must reduce its intervention in the foreign exchange market," he said.

"Reducing intervention means the exchange rate will appreciate in line with market supply and demand," Yu Yongding added.

China's foreign exchange reserves, the world's largest, hit a record $2.65 trillion at the end of September, a reflection of heavy-handed intervention to hold down the yuan's value.

The government must let the public know that modest yuan appreciation is in line with China's own interests and is not bowing to US pressure, Yu wrote.

Yu, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, has long championed a more market-driven exchange rate regime.

Yu has also long held a bearish outlook on the US dollar.

Monetary easing to stimulate the flagging US economy may in reality fuel US public debt and inflation, which in turn pointed to persistent dollar weakness, he said.

The real purpose of the policy easing was to accelerate the dollar's depreciation and boost US export competitiveness, he said.

Source: Global Times

 

[truthseeker2010]

China, Taiwan launch new economic committee


TAIPEI, Thursday 6 January 2011 (AFP) - Taiwan said Thursday it has set up a new committee with China to handle economic issues arising from a major trade pact the two sides signed last year.

The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) has been widely characterised as the boldest step yet towards reconciliation between the former rivals, which split after the end of a civil war in 1949.

The new economic cooperation committee will meet every six months "to negotiate and monitor" issues related to implementation of the ECFA, economic minister Shih Yeh-shiang told reporters.

Taiwan's vice economic minister Liang Kuo-hsin and Chinese counterpart Jiang Zengwei will serve as head representatives for the two sides, according to Taiwan's Strait Exchange Foundation.

The island's China-friendly government says the landmark deal will bolster the economy, but the opposition warns that it can undermine Taiwan's de facto independence.

Although Taiwan and China have been governed separately for more than six decades, Beijing considers the island part of its territory and has vowed to get it back, by force if necessary.

The government on Thursday again rejected a proposal to initiate a referendum aimed at overturning the pact in a move criticised by the opposition as "undemocratic."


Source: Mysinchew

 

[Brotherhood]

Besides Mars, China plans deep space tracking - People's Daily Online January 07, 2011

China's space scientists and engineers are aiming high, as they will have a deep space monitoring network in 2016, and launch its first Mars probe in October this year to pave the way for further space explorations.

The 2016 deep space tracking system will consist of two monitoring observations in the northwestern Kashgar, Xinjiang, and northeastern Jiamusi, Heilongjiang Province, and possibly connected with one more tracking station in South America, the Xinhua news agency quoted Qian Weiping, chief designer of the Chang'e-2 mission's tracking and control system, as saying yesterday.

China is also scheduled to launch in October the Mars probe in a joint cooperation mission with Russia after a two-year delay.

The probe, Yinghuo-1, was due to blast off in October 2009 with Russia's "Phobos Explorer" from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan but the launch was postponed. Quoting an unnamed expert at the China Academy of Space Technology, the Xinhua news agency said the blast-off had been pushed back to October this year.

Also, the report said that China planned to launch a Mars probe on its own some time in 2013.

Efforts are being made to upgrade or build deep space monitoring stations in the three locations by equipping them with large-caliber antennas, Qian Weiping was quoted as saying.

He added that the upgrading work in Kashgar and Jiamusi will be completed in 2012 to provide monitoring support for China's lunar orbiters, Chang'e-3 and Chang'e-4, while the monitoring station in South America will be created in 2016 to assist in the lunar orbiters' return to Earth.

According to Chinese media reports, the Mars orbiter is due to probe the Martian space environment with a special focus on what happened to the water that appears to have once been abundant on Mars's surface.

China has already begun probing the moon and this will be the next step in its ambitious space exploration program.

Chinese scientists and engineers have sent the Chang'e 2 orbiting the moon and carrying out various experiments in preparation for the expected 2013 launch of the Chang'e-3, which the scientists hope will be China's first unmanned lunar landing.

By People's Daily Online

 

[Brotherhood]

China, Germany to sign deals worth billions of dollars - People's Daily Online January 08, 2011

China and Germany will ink 8.7 billion U.S. dollars worth of business deals during Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Germany, Chinese Ambassador to Germany Wu Hongbo said on Friday.

Wu said at a press conference that Li was accompanied by some 120 Chinese business leaders on his current visit. The two sides are expected to sign 11 agreements and commercial contracts worth some 8.7 billion dollars, covering such fields as automobile purchase, financial cooperation, energy and machinery.

Earlier on Friday, Li met with German President Christian Wulff and then held talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Li told the German leaders that China is a long-term and responsible player in European financial markets. China has increased its holdings of, and will continue to buy Spanish government bonds.

Li said China viewed Europe as an important partner and would like to see a prosperous Europe.

Li, who started his four-day official visit to Germany on Thursday, is due to meet with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle in the afternoon and attend a signing ceremony of the business deals between the two countries.

Source: Xinhua

 

[Brotherhood]

Volkswagen 2010 sales in China up 37 pct - People's Daily Online January 08, 2011

Europe's largest carmaker, Volkswagen AG, said Friday that it had sold 37 percent more vehicles on the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong in 2010, compared to sales in 2009.

With 1.92 million vehicles delivered to its customers last year, Volkswagen had performed beyond expectation in the past year, said the European automaker Friday in a statement.

The company also planned to invest 10.6 billion euros (about 13.8 billion U.S. dollars) in China through 2015 to expand its production capacity and develop new products, said Karl-Thomas Neumann, president and chief executive of Volkswagen Group China, which operates car ventures with Chinese state auto groups SAIC Motor and FAW Group.

Neumann also said he expected significant sales in the country in the coming years and noted that the first Volkswagen electric cars would hit the roads in China in 2011.

Source: Xinhua

 

[Brotherhood]

Shanghai claims world's busiest container port - People's Daily Online January 09, 2011

Shanghai replaced Singapore as the world's busiest container port in 2010, thanks to the growing Chinese trade and booming business generated by the World Expo held in Shanghai last year, China Daily reported Saturday.

Shanghai's port handled 29.05 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2010, China Daily cited a statement by the municipal government as reporting.

That compared with the 28.4 million TEUs handled by the Port of Singapore in 2010, which was up 9.9 percent from 2009, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

Shanghai's cargo throughput rose to around 650 million tonnes in 2010, maintaining its top global spot, according to the statement.

China's State Council, or cabinet, has set an aim of making Shanghai a leading shipping center by 2020 -- the same year by which the government hopes the city will become a global financial center.

Shanghai's port is operated by Shanghai International Port (Group) Co.

Source: Xinhua

 

[Brotherhood]

China produces more gold in 2010 - People's Daily Online January 09, 2011

China's gold output in the first 11 months of last year reached 308.39 tonnes, up 25.885 tonnes or 9.16 percent year on year, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The MIIT forecast total gold output in China would exceed 340 tonnes in 2010, comparing 313.98 tonnes of gold produced in 2009.

China's gold output has maintained annual increases in recent years as production in 2010 would likely double that in 2000.

China is a major gold consumer around the world. A World Gold Council report released last March showed China's cumulative gold demand totaled more than 14 billion U.S. dollars in 2009, which accounted for about 11 percent of the world's total.

Source: Xinhua

 

[Martian2]

A bridge too far? China unveils world's longest sea bridge which is five miles FURTHER than the Dover-Calais crossing | Mail Online

Longest: The Qingdao Haiwan Bridge was completed on December 27 and is 26.4 miles long - the equivalent of 174 Tower Bridges.

Shortcut: With an overall length of 42.58km, the route between Qingdao and Huangdao will be shortened by 30km, cutting the travel time by about 20 minutes.

China builds world's longest bridge - Telegraph

"China builds world's longest bridge
China's vaulting economic ambition has set a new record with the construction of the world's longest bridge over water.

The sheer scale of the Qingdao Haiwan Bridge reveals the advances made by Chinese engineers in recent years. (Photo: WENN)

World's top ten longest bridges

By David Eimer, Beijing 8:02PM GMT 08 Jan 2011

At 26.4 miles long, the Qingdao Haiwan Bridge would easily cross the English Channel and is almost three miles longer than the previous record-holder, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in the American state of Louisiana.

The vast structure links the centre of the booming port city of Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong Province with the suburb of Huangdao, spanning the wide blue waters of Jiaozhou Bay.

Built in just four years at a cost of £5.5 billion, the sheer scale of the bridge reveals the advances made by Chinese engineers in recent years.

No longer dependant on western expertise for such sophisticated projects, the six-lane road bridge is supported by more than 5,200 columns and was designed by the Shandong Gausu Group. When it opens to traffic later this year, the bridge is expected to carry over 30,000 cars a day and will cut the commute between the city of Qingdao and the sprawling suburb of Huangdao by between 20 and 30 minutes.

At least 10,000 workers toiled in two teams around the clock to build the bridge, which was constructed from opposite ends and connected in the middle in the last few days.

A staggering 450,000 tons of steel was used in its construction – enough for almost 65 Eiffel Towers – and 2.3 million cubic metres of concrete, equivalent to filling 3,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Chinese officials said that the bridge will be strong enough to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake, typhoons or the impact of a 300,000 tonne vessel.

With its economy growing by 16 per cent a year, Qingdao is one of China's fastest-growing and most prosperous cities. The main port of the Chinese navy and home of Tsingtao Beer, China's best-known brew, it hosted the sailing events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Briefly occupied by Germany between 1898 and 1914, Qingdao's mix of early 20th century European-style villas and churches, sandy beaches and reputation for fine seafood has seen it become one of China's most popular domestic tourist destinations in recent years. It is also regarded as a highly desirable place to live. A 2009 Chinese survey named Qingdao as China's most liveable city.

Qingdao's residents have hailed the bridge as a long overdue marvel.

"I'm so happy the bridge is finished. The old road between Qingdao and Huangdao is so crowded and now my journey will be much easier. We are a tourist city with beautiful beaches, so it is important we have good transport links," said one commuter on sina.com, China's biggest internet portal.

But people from other parts of China have denounced the huge cost of the bridge, especially as it only cuts the distance between Qingdao and Huangdao by 19 miles.

"To spend billions to save 20 minutes driving time is a waste of taxpayers money. It's just a show project to make the governor of Shandong look good," complained one commentator from Jilin Province in China's northeast.

China is already home to seven of the world's 10 longest bridges, including the world's lengthiest, the 102 mile Danyang-Kunshan rail bridge, which runs over land and water near Shanghai.

And with Beijing pumping billions into boosting China's infrastructure, the Qingdao Haiwan Bridge will not be the world's longest sea bridge for very long.

In December 2009, work started on a 31 mile bridge that will link Zhuhai in southern Guangdong Province, China's manufacturing heartland, with the financial centre of Hong Kong. The £6.5 billion project is expected to be completed in 2016."

 

[Brotherhood]

China's 2010 tax revenue tops 1 trillion USD, up 22 pct - People's Daily Online January 10, 2011

China's tax revenues rose 22.6 percent to 7.74 trillion yuan (1.17 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2010 compared to one year earlier, the State Administration of Taxation announced on Sunday.

This total included 732.8 billion yuan of tax refunds, but excluded tariffs, tonnage taxes, farmland occupation taxes and deed taxes.

Value-added taxes reported a 14.8 percent increase, as well as increases of 27.5 percent for consumption taxes, 23.8 percent for sales taxes, and 20.4 percent for income taxes.

Also, imported tariffs rose 35.9 percent year on year to 1.05 trillion yuan.

Source: Xinhua

 

[Brotherhood]

China trade hits $2.97 trillion in 2010, rising 34.7% - People's Daily Online January 10, 2011

China’s foreign trade maintained its powerful growth momentum in 2010, as the General Customs Administration reported Monday that the country’s overall trade volume reached US$2.97 trillion, rising 34.7 percent year-on-year.

Of the total trade, exports accounted for US$1.58 trillion, growing 31.3 percent, while imports made up nearly US$1.40 trillion, rising 38.7 percent over 2009.

China's trade surplus last year hit US $183.1 billion, down 6.4% from 2009.

The Customs Administration said on its website Monday that China’s trade surplus is on a continuous decline in the past few years, telling it is moving towards a trend of a gradual balance of trade.

The European Union remains China’s largest trading partner, followed by the United States, Japan, and Asean countries.

By People's Daily Online

 

[Brotherhood]

China's vehicle sales propel 32% to record 18m last year - People's Daily Online January 11, 2011

China's auto sales surged strongly in December to propel sales for the entire 2010 by an annual 32 percent jump to a record 18.06 million units, an industry association said.

Production of automobiles soared 32.4 percent year on year to 18.26 million units in 2010, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said yesterday.

More than 13.75 million units of passenger cars, including sedans, sport utility vehicles and multi-purpose vehicles, were sold in the country last year, up 33.2 percent from a year earlier.

China remained as the world's biggest auto market last year after it overtook the United States in 2009 to become the world's largest after it sold 13.64 million units.

CAAM sees China's auto market to grow 10 to 15 percent in 2011.

In December alone, passenger car sales expanded an annual 18.6 percent to 1.31 million units.

Although December is usually the slack season for car sales, expiry of stimulus measures pushed buyers to take advantage of the tax breaks.

The Ministry of Finance said at the end of December that the preferential purchase tax of 7.5 percent for vehicles with engines under 1.6 liters would be raised to 10 percent from beginning of this year.

Market watchers noted this could trim the sales of mini cars as few people would be willing to buy them without incentive measures. Rao Da, secretary general of China Passenger Car Association estimated that the expiry of a stimulus packages could cut sales by more than 1 million units.

"The rules to curb car purchases (in Beijing) also pushed up sales in the last month of the previous year and although the oil price keeps rising, customers are still eager to buy cars," said Rao.

But the ministry said subsidies for energy-efficient cars and new-energy vehicles will remain this year.

Source: Shanghai Daily

 

[Martian2]

China's revised 2009 GDP is $5.15 trillion. Japan's GDP in 2009 was $5.07 trillion. We now know that China surpassed Japan in GDP at the end of 2009. China's 2009 revision is important because the economic base has now grown bigger. China's 2010 GDP growth of 10 percent will be calculated using the revised GDP figure for 2009.

China's 2009 GDP growth rate revised up to 9.2% - International Business Times

"China's 2009 GDP growth rate revised up to 9.2%
By Amy Wong | January 11, 2011 1:11 PM EST

China on Tuesday revised up its gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in 2009 to 9.2 percent from the previous 9.1 percent.

In a statement on its website, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) gave no explanation for the revision, but a chart breaking down the output figures indicated all the additional gains came from the tertiary, or service, sector.

After the revision, China's GDP at current price was 34.0903 trillion yuan (5.15 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2009, up by 39.6 billion yuan from the previous figure, the NBS said.

After the verification, the value added output of the service sector was 14.8038 trillion yuan, up 39.6 billion yuan from the figure released in July.

This was the second revision of the 2009 GDP growth figure. The Chinese government in July revised its preliminary verified GDP growth in 2009 to 9.1 percent, up from 8.7 percent due to higher contributions from secondary and service industries.

The NBS will release China's GDP growth figures for the fourth quarter and the whole of last year on January 20."

China Overtakes Japan as World's Second-Biggest Economy - Bloomberg

"Japan’s nominal gross domestic product for the second quarter totaled $1.288 trillion, less than China’s $1.337 trillion, the Japanese Cabinet Office said today. Japan remained bigger in the first half of 2010, the government agency said. Japan’s annual [2009] GDP is $5.07 trillion, while China’s [unrevised 2009 GDP] is more than $4.9 trillion."

 

[Brotherhood]

BlueStar buys Norwegian Elkem for nearly US$2b - People's Daily Online January 12, 2011

Norwegian conglomerate Orkla ASA announced yesterday it will sell almost all its Elkem unit to chemical group China National BlueStar Corp for nearly US$2 billion.

The deal, which also covers a major power contract that Orkla bought last year, includes Elkem Silicon Materials, Elkem Foundry Products, Elkem Carbon and Elkem Solar. However, Orkla said it will continue to own Elkem Energi AS.

A silicon and carbon parts maker, Elkem specializes in components for solar panels. It also is involved in energy production in Norway and has 2,500 employees. It reported revenues of US$1.2 billion in 2009.

Orkla CEO Bjoern M. Wiggen said BlueStar will provide Elkem an owner "that has the best attributes to take advantage of the potential of Elkem's technological strength and competence," with solid finances and already well positioned in the metals and renewables sector.

BlueStar Chairman Ren Jianxin said the deal will benefit both groups, with Elkem getting access to Asia and the Chinese market and BlueStar profiting from the Norwegian company's management experience and technology.

"We strongly believe in the huge potential for Elkem's new solar-grade technology with its leading energy efficiency and environmental safety characteristics," he said.

Orkla said the sale will not greatly change Elkem's main structure or the way it operates its existing plants.

The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the first half of this year.

Kenneth Sivertsen, an analyst with Arctic Securities in Norway, said the deal helps the Chinese company acquire technology as well as cheaper energy thanks to the power contract that was included. "I'm pretty sure the jobs will stay in Norway though," he said.

At a news conference, Orkla CEO Wiggen said the divestment is in line with earlier announced plans to trim operations and concentrate on key businesses. "We have become a very broad group and we think it's now the time to focus on fewer areas than what we have had in the past five years," he said.

Source: Shanghai Daily