China Economy Forum

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China sees first quarterly trade deficit in 6 years
English.news.cn 2011-04-10 10:40:10 FeedbackPrintRSS
BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China saw a trade deficit of 1.02 billion U.S. dollars from January to March this year, the first quarterly trade deficit in six years, according to figures released Sunday by the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

In comparison, there was a trade surplus of 13.91 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of last year.

China's exports increased 26.5 percent year on year to 399.64 billion U.S. dollars in the first three months this year, while imports soared 32.6 percent to 400.66 billion dollars from a year earlier, figures from the GAC showed.

 

[below_freezing]

When will they start helping domestic high tech companies instead of selling our country to foreigners?!

 

[Brotherhood]

Shanghai Electric wins 125 units of 2MW wind turbine deal from India - People's Daily Online

Shanghai Electric had signed an agreement with KSK Energy of India to export 125 units of 2MW wind turbines to India, an executive of the Shanghai-based company, who declined to be named, said Sunday.

This indicates that Shanghai Electric is marching into the world wind power market on a large scale, the executive said.

So far, Shanghai Electric, one of China's largest equipment manufacturers, had exported five MW-level wind turbines, with three to Britain and two to Thailand.

Shanghai Electric's priority is to produce thermal and nuclear power generating units, such as 1,000MW-level ultra super-critical thermal power units and 1,000MW-level nuclear power units, the executive said.

To tap the emerging new energy business, Shanghai Electric set up a wind power equipment manufacturing branch in 2006. It is able to produce 1.25MW wind turbines with Germany's Dewind technology, 2MW wind turbines with Germany's Aerodyn technology, and independently designed 3.6MW offshore wind turbines.

India is expected to become a major destination of the company's export strategy, absorbing one half of its exports, including thermal power units and wind turbines.

Source: Xinhua

 

[Brotherhood]

China's trade surplus to narrow to $120 billion in 2011 - People's Daily Online April 11, 2011

China's first quarterly foreign trade deficit in seven years, is temporary and will prove to be short-lived, as the world's second largest economy has the vigor to increase exports, experts said.

The General Administration of Customs reported yesterday that from January to March, China's trade was in the red with a deficit of US$1.02 billion, in contrast to a surplus of US$13.9 billion in the spring quarter last year.

China's Commerce Minister Chen Deming said earlier that he anticipated a smaller trade surplus for the whole year. Experts have predicted a trade gain of US$120-140 billion for 2011.

Rising imports in the first three months caused the deficit. Imports jumped 32.6 percent year-on-year to a record 400.66 billion yuan, while exports rose 26.5 percent to 399.64 billion yuan.

The deficit was widely believed seasonal because China's imports are usually strong early in the year when the Chinese families hoarded more while celebrating the Spring Festival holidays, and Chinese companies tend to buy a lot in spring for their new-ear business.

That will change soon, and especially in the fourth quarter, when goods that are made in China are sold around the world ahead of Western holidays, experts say.

Rapid rise of imported product prices has contributed to the trade deficit. Prices of major imported products, including iron ore, oil, grain and other items - rose nearly 30 percent in the first quarter.

The growing import prices have also led to higher inflation levels in the first quarter. Consumer Price Index, a major gauge of inflation, jumped 4.9 percent in the first two months, and is forecasted to have soared 5.1 percent in March.

To rein in inflation, Beijing is expected to continue to appreciate its value of its currency, the yuan, experts say. The currency reached a 17-year-high of 6.5350 per dollar on Friday.

Trade with the United States climbed 25 percent to US$97.65 billion during the first quarter while that with Japan rose 27.1 percent to US$80.78 billion.

People's Daily Online

 

[Brotherhood]

China now world's third-biggest tourist attraction - People's Daily Online April 11, 2011

China has overtaken Spain on the list of the world's top tourism destinations, becoming the third-largest attraction, a senior tourism official said at the weekend.

Man Hongwei, director of the international coordination department at the China National Tourism Administration, said at a press conference that the number of international arrivals staying at least one night reached 55.66 million last year, up 9.4 percent on 2009.

China's appearance in the top three was its first. It follows France, which had 78.95 million arrivals, and the United States, which had 60.88 million, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

The spending by outbound Chinese tourists ranked fourth-largest worldwide last year. The number of outbound travelers hit 57.39 million in 2010, which was up 20.4 percent year-on-year.

The industry's total revenue maintained an annual average growth of 15 percent during the past five years, he said.


Xu Daoming, general manager of the marketing department at the China Travel Service, said his company saw robust growth in inbound tourism last year.

"The Shanghai Expo and the Asian Games in Guangzhou were major reasons for the increased momentum that moved the flagging inbound travel market out of the shadow of the international financial crisis," Xu said.

Tourists from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao were joined by tourists from countries including Japan, Vietnam and India to drive up growth in 2010, he said. There has also been an obvious increase in the number of tourists arriving from Russia and the US.

Zhao Huanyan, a tourism industry expert at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that the reshuffle of the global tourism industry will benefit China's booming tourism sectors and those who understand the prospering tourism market in Asia.

Zhou said luxury hotels such as those of the Hong Kong-based Shangri-la hotel group are a good example, employing strategies to open hotels in popular destinations on the Chinese mainland to accommodate in-bound visitors and in other countries and regions that are popular with Chinese travelers.

Earlier, the UN World Tourism Organization forecast that China has the potential to pass France as the largest destination by 2015.

But, despite the promise, Shao Qiwei, head of the National Tourism Administration of China, warned that the tourism industry is fragile and can be impacted by natural disasters, epidemic diseases and emergencies.

He said, against such a backdrop, the tourism industry in the Asia Pacific region should strengthen cooperation to maintain the vitality of the region, which is the world's fastest-growing tourism destination as a whole.

Source: China Daily

 

[Brotherhood]

China conducts first manned test of coal mine rescue chamber - People's Daily Online April 11, 2011

Lu'an Group, a large Shanxi-based coal producer, completed China's first manned test of an underground refuge chamber on April 10. A team of 80 miners, rescue workers and researchers stayed in a permanent refuge chamber in the company's Changcun Coal Mine for 48 hours, safe and sound.

Refuge chambers are emergency shelter facilities that can protect trapped miners from toxic and harmful gases during an underground disaster. Miners can find shelter in the nearest chamber in case of emergencies.

The refuge chamber where the test was conducted was located in the North Third District of the Changcun mine. The chamber was built in May 2010 and was designed to sustain 80 to 100 people in case of disaster.

It features explosion protection, an enclosed space, an air monitor, a carbon dioxide absorber, a temperature and humidity controller, supplies of power, oxygen, food, and water and communications equipment. Trapped miners can obtain fresh air, liquid food and electricity from a rescue borehole extending to the ground.

Jin Longzhe, designer of China's first-generation mine rescue chambers and a professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, said that the feasibility and reliability of the permanent refuge chamber's oxygen supply system has been tested, and the data derived from the real-time monitoring of multiple parameters inside the chamber has laid a technical foundation for further improvements to underground shelter facilities.

Lv Haijun, a miner at the Changcun Coal Mine, was one of the participants in the test. He appeared to be a little tired but still smiled as he was walking out of the chamber. He told reporters that the process of the test was smooth and he had no uncomfortable feelings except that the chamber was a bit damp.

Liu Rensheng, general manager of Lu'an Group, said that after miners entered the refuge chamber, they were able to communicate with the ground control center using an indoor communications systems and two-way video conversations in order to provide follow-up rescue work with reliable guarantees.

"Whatever the investments are, they are worthwhile when it comes to the safety of workers," Liu said. This system, jointly developed by Lu'an Group, Beijing University of Science and Technology and Beijing Zhongshengzhou Mining Technology Center, will be applied in more mines in the future.

As China's first manned test of underground refuge chambers, the test can further enhance the technologies and level of underground mining shelters and continue to advance the development of a new type of safety and protection system, the core of which are shelter facilities such as refuge chambers and escape capsules.

By People's Daily Online

 

[Brotherhood]

New energy industries to fuel China's green growth - People's Daily Online April 11, 2011

With China's ambitious plans to cut carbon emissions for a greener economy during the 12th five-year plan period from 2011 to 2015, new energy industries are becoming even more significant than in the past. These industries will be responsible for serving the country's growing appetite for energy to feed its rapid development.

According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), China overtook America as the world's largest energy consumer in 2010.

Demand by China, which has outpaced Japan to become the world's second largest economy, will keep climbing rapidly in years to come, the report said.

But with the world oil supply on a downslide and prices heading skyward due to unrest in the Middle East, China will increasingly feel pressure to meet its energy demands.

To guarantee enough fuel for economic growth, experts point to the new energy sector, namely renewable sources such as wind, solar, nuclear and tidal power, as an answer.

"Traditional energy sources will run out sooner or later. We should take actions to brace for the shortfalls now," said Qin Haiyan, secretary general of the Chinese Wind Energy Association (CWEA).

"Surging oil prices made us all the more determined to develop renewable energies," he said.

China's new energy sector has witnessed significant developments over the past several years as part of the government's efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

According to a report by the Climate Policy Initiative at Tsinghua University, China added 90GW of additional hydropower, 25GW of wind power and 2GW of nuclear power during the period from 2005 to 2008.

"Through developments over the past several years, China's new energy industry has laid a sound foundation. Take wind power, for example. China has finished learning foreign technologies and has formed a relatively complete industrial system," Qin Haiyan told Xinhua.

Huarui Wind Power Technology Company, China's leading wind power company, headquartered in the silicon valley of Zhongguancun, says its work on the most advanced wind turbine with a single unit capacity of 6 MW is progressing smoothly and the first model will come off the line in June of this year.

The company's earnings in 2010 jumped 48.03 percent from the previous year to 20.3 billion yuan ($3.1 billion).

Huarui's robust performance mirrors the sector's boom in the broader market.

China installed 18.9GW wind turbines in 2010, up 37.1 percent from 2009, bringing China's total wind generating capacity to 44.7GW, according to figures released by the CWEA.

Reports by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and the Chinese Renewable Energy Industry Association (CREIA), also show that China has overtaken the US as the largest wind power market globally.

With the market expanding, the country sees no end to the growth in green investment.

A survey by the Pew Charitable Trusts says that China's clean energy investment topped $54.4 billion in 2010, up 39 percent from the previous year.

The study estimates that China now produces nearly half of the world's wind and solar modules.

Apart from supplying alternative fuels to China, the emerging energy sector also plays a significant role in promoting the green growth pattern that the country pledged in its 12th five-year plan.

The new plan calls for non-fossil fuels to be used in 11.4 percent of primary energy consumption by 2015.

It also targets a 15 percent reduction in energy consumption per unit of GDP over the next five years and a 17 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP over the same period.

Analysts say that the new energy sector is the key to achieving these goals, and it is expected to become the new impetus for economic growth.

Qin Haiyan said that China will require a minimum of 160 billion yuan of investment if it plans to install 20GW of wind power each year.

According to a report by the Economic Information Daily, China aims to install 290GW of new energy power by 2020, with a planned investment of 5 trillion yuan.

"The new energy sector will expand to become a huge industry if China aims to boost its share to 20 percent of total energy consumption. In the long run, the sector has huge potential to spur growth and create jobs," said Qin Haiyan.

Source: China Daily

 

[no_name]

China conducts first manned test of coal mine rescue chamber - People's Daily Online

About time. They should make this mandatory for all coal mines.

 

[no_name]

New energy industries to fuel China's green growth - People's Daily Online

Source: China Daily

I feel the significance of news like these are under-appreciated. China being the most important manufacturer of common goods can set the market and commodities trend by virtue of the products it adopts for itself.

 

[TEXAS BATTLESTAR]

Thanks for all the updated economic news BROTHERHOOD! I don't get to read too many good economic news from Asia here in the states. Most of the business magazines are bias towards China.

 

[Brotherhood]

Recycling is rolling forward in 55 cities - People's Daily Online April 12, 2011

A worker processes disused TV sets at a resource recycling industrial park in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province. The park is able to recycle 30,000 tons of discarded electronic appliances every year, including washing machines, refrigerators and air conditioners. (Photo / Xinhua)

Seventy percent of renewable resources in 55 cities are being collected for recycling, up from the 40 percent in 2006.

The increase is due to a national pilot program aimed at promoting a circular economy, said Jiang Zengwei, the vice-minister of commerce.

He added that the program will be extended to an additional 10 cities this year.

Under the project, 1.75 billion yuan ($267 million) has been invested in the establishment of 33,000 community waste recovery sites, 181 sorting centers and 36 large regional terminal markets for the recovery of renewable resources.

Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show that the program has helped China make substantial progress in the recovery of recyclable resources, such as waste paper and glass. About 140 million tons of renewable resources was processed in 2009, which translated into 500 billion yuan in value, double the amount in 2006.

The program has also triggered the development of a large number of waste recovery companies, estimated to total around 100,000, which provide jobs for 18 million people, said Jiang.

"Promoting the recovery and recycling of renewable resources is caused by the needs of our economic development and industrial restructuring as well as the building of an environmentally friendly society," said Jiang.

"As a country with such a large population and so few resources, we have no other way but to save what we have by promoting waste recovery and recycling."

Jiang said the government will develop favorable policies, including tax cuts or even exemption, to encourage industrial development of the sector, which yields comparatively lower profit margins than other industries but serves the public good.

He also said China needs to improve its legal system in the sector in order to support its development.

"We still have a lot to do in the area ... More waste is being produced nowadays with the rising living standards and faster speed of product replenishment. Our recovery networks and services have apparently lagged behind," he said, adding that raising public awareness is also vital to the success of waste recovery and recycling.

Jiang also warned that the central government's financial support for the pilot cities will be revoked if they are found to have failed in their implementation of the program or have embezzled funds designated for it.

He said, by the end of the period of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), a national recovery network for renewable resources will have been set up with 70 percent of such resources recovered nationwide.

Zhang Xinsheng, deputy director of the Shanghai municipal commission of commerce, said the city, which is a national leader in waste recovery and recycling, collected 7.2 million tons of renewable resources in 2010, up by 24 percent on the previous year.

"We've also introduced new means of waste recovery such as online and hotline collection, which means residents can have their requests for waste collection heard with a click of the mouse or just a phone call," he said.

Source: Xinhua

 

[Brotherhood]

China's Bank of Communications expands wholesale business in U.S. - People's Daily Online April 12, 2011

China's Bank of Communications (BOCOM) said on Sunday that the bank will broaden its wholesale services in the United States to include deposit-taking, lending and trade finance.

Hao Xiaohui, general manager of BOCOM's New York Branch, said that the Federal Reserve Board had approved BOCOM's application to establish a branch in San Francisco, California.

"BOCOM will expand its wholesale business in the U.S. and will meet all requirements for a qualifying foreign banking organization under Regulation," said Hao, adding that the proposed San Francisco branch would engage in wholesale deposit-taking, lending, trade finance, and other banking services.

As a limited branch, it would be prohibited from accepting deposits from sources other than those permitted.

BOCOM, with total assets of approximately 599 billion dollars, is the fifth largest bank in China. It engages primarily in corporate and retail banking and treasury operations throughout China, including Hong Kong and Macau.

Outside China, BOCOM operates branches in Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Germany and a representative office in Britain. In the United States, BOCOM operates a federal branch in New York.

Source: Xinhua

 

[Brotherhood]

Xinjiang invests heavily in road construction - People's Daily Online April 13, 2011

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Tuesday began construction on 17 new roads in seven cities rich in both mineral and tourism resources, the local government said.

The new road projects cover Altay, Changji, Ili, Turpan and Kashgar, which boast abundant coal, crude oil, nonferrous metal and other mineral resources.

Among the projects is a 100-km expressway linking to State Highway No. 216, the highway connecting Altay to the regional capital Urumqi, as well as extensions of several provincial highways and an urban expressway in Urumqi, the regional transport bureau said in a press release.

Construction of another six roads is set to begin later this month, it said.

The bureau said the new projects were aimed at improving infrastructure, speeding up economic growth and making big cities more accessible from rural areas.

It said Xinjiang will spend 35 billion yuan (5.35 billion U.S. dollars) to build 7,569 km of road this year.

Meanwhile, the region has earmarked 150 to 200 billion yuan to build 76,000 km of road in the coming five years.

The transport bureau said road construction alone will create 338,000 jobs in Xinjiang this year.

"Meanwhile, these road projects would help increase locals' income by bringing in more tourists," the bureau said in the press release.

Xinjiang's total road mileage will reach 175,000 km by the end of 2015.

Xinjiang, home to about 21 million people, covers one-sixth of China's territory and is the largest Chinese region in terms of landmass.

Source: Xinhua

 

[Brotherhood]

Fast growth of economy fuels rise in wealthiest - People's Daily Online April 13, 2011

China is closing in on having 1 million millionaires.

According to an annual wealth report released on Tuesday, the mainland has 960,000 millionaires with personal wealth of 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) or more.

That is up 9.7 percent year-on-year, said the GroupM Knowledge - Hurun Wealth Report 2011.

Rising property prices and a fast-growing GDP have been the key drivers for the rising number of Chinese millionaires, according to the report.

It found that 55 percent of Chinese millionaires derived their wealth from private businesses, and 20 percent are property speculators who have ridden the fast hike in home prices. About 15 percent are stock gurus, while the remaining 10 percent are high-earning salaried executives.

This is the third year of the report, written by publishing and events institute Hurun Report in cooperation with think tank GroupM Knowledge.

In 2009 there were 825,000 such millionaires while last year the number had grown to 875,000.

Housing prices rose across the country by 13.7 percent in 2010 according to government statistics, with luxury property prices rising even faster.

High-end property prices in China's leading financial metropolis Shanghai, for instance, grew 21 percent last year, according to figures from UK-based Knight Frank, one of the world's largest commercial and residential estate agents.

Despite the Chinese government's efforts to curb property speculation and control rampant housing prices, "the overall confidence of China's millionaires in the property sector and China's overall economy remains very high," said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report.

"The impact (of the tightening measures) may be on excessive new wealth creation, but I don't think it is going to affect very much the (rich's) appetite for luxury products," said Hoogewerf, known in China by his Chinese name Hu Run.

"For most luxury brands, the Chinese luxury consumers are now No 1: either representing the biggest market share or the fastest-growing," he added.

Of the 960,000 millionaires, 60,000 have been identified as China's super rich with 100 million yuan or more in wealth, up 9 percent year-on-year.

Beijing led the way with 10,000 residents boasting 100 million yuan or more, followed by Guangdong province with 9,000 and Shanghai with 7,800.

The three places also led in the number of millionaires with wealth of 10 million yuan or more.

According to the report, Chinese millionaires average 39 years old, a full 15 years younger than their Western counterparts. Thirty percent of the millionaires are female, the same as last year.

The report also put the number of China's billionaires at 4,000, but only a third were on the Hurun China Rich List 2010.

"(It suggests) there is still a great deal of hidden wealth in the Chinese economy," said Hoogewerf.

Source: China Daily

 

[Brotherhood]

Chinese mainland tourists big spenders overseas - People's Daily Online April 13, 2011

More mainland tourists are expected to spend money on overseas travel this year, according to a report released to the national tourism authority on Tuesday.

The Annual Report of China Outbound Tourism Development 2011, released by the China Tourism Academy, estimates that mainland tourists will make 65 million trips to foreign countries as well as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan this year, up from 57.39 million in 2010.

They are expected to spend $55 billion overseas, up from $48 billion a year earlier, the report said.

Since 2009, mainland travelers have been the fourth-biggest spenders among tourists in the world. They follow just behind travelers from Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, said Ma Yiliang, a researcher at the academy's international tourism development institute and a compiler of the report.

"The main reason for this (ranking) is that mainland tourists prefer to shop during their trips," he said.

The academy surveyed more than 2,000 tourists in six big cities last year, and found 26.85 percent of the respondents said they spend more money on shopping than on food, hotel rooms or other expenses.

The survey also showed that 76 percent of the money mainland tourists spent in Hong Kong in 2010 went to shopping. For those who visited Macao, the number for shopping expenditures was 63 percent and it was 50 percent for those who went to Taiwan.

Hong Kong and Macao are the two overseas destinations most popular among mainland tour groups. Japan and South Korea occupied the two next highest places in the ranking.

In one change in the list, Taiwan overtook Vietnam this past year and became the fifth most popular destination for mainland tourists, receiving 1.66 million of them. The number is expected to continue rising, largely because tourism authorities across the Straits plan to let individual tourists from Beijing and Shanghai visit Taiwan without joining tour groups. The change could come as soon as July, insiders say.

The US attracted 1.08 million mainland tourists last year, making it the seventh most popular destination on the list. Russia, meanwhile, managed to occupy the No 10 spot in the ranking by attracting 710,900 mainland tourists in 2010. It and the US are the only two destinations among the top 10 that are not Asian countries.

But despite researchers' optimism for the tourism industry this year, industry insiders see things differently.

Zhong Hui, general manager of Beijing-based China Environment International Travel Service Co Ltd, said 2011 "began with bad luck", alluding to the unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, flooding in Australia and the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, which is still contending with a nuclear emergency.

"My company has suffered big losses, after tour groups to Egypt, Australia and Japan were canceled," he said.

Xu Daoming, general manager of the marketing department of China Travel Service, said: "There will be no tour groups heading to Japan before June or even later."

Fei Fei, from Chongqing municipality, said the company she works for has canceled a plan to take employees to tour Japan this year in response to fears about the ongoing nuclear emergency. She was instead offered a trip to Taiwan island, South Korea or Thailand's Phuket island. Settling on one will be "a difficult choice to make".

Dai Bin, head of the tourism academy, said it may take travelers some time to overcome their radiation fears enough to visit Japan.

But Dai believed that despite the recent disasters, the number of mainland tourists going to places outside the mainland will continue to increase.

The latest official figures show that 16 million mainland tourists visited overseas destinations in the first quarter of this year, up 16 percent from the same period last year.

With 100 million people expected to travel overseas by 2020, China now contains the largest native population of tourists in Asia.

Source: China Daily