China Economy Forum

[cirr]

Ford to Invest $1.8 Billion USD into Innovation in China


Mark Fields, John Lawler and Joseph Liu at 2015 Ford -Innovation for Millions

Ford today announced plans to invest 11.4 billion yuan, or $1.8 billion USD, into researching and developing great vehicle connectivity and new autonomous driving features over the next five years. By focusing specifically on products and consumers in China, Ford hopes to cement its foothold as one of the most popular foreign brands in that market by catering specifically to needs prevalent there.

More Ford Innovation: Check out the Ford Performance lineup, featuring the all-new GT and Shelby GT350R

“At Ford Motor Company, our goal is to make people’s lives better,” said Mark Fields, president and CEO, Ford Motor Company. “As both a product and mobility company, we are driving innovation in every part of our business. The result here in China will be positive change for consumers in the way people move, the way they drive, the cities they live in, and the communities in which we operate.”

During a press event on Monday, Ford announced that it aims at being of more eminent appeal to the nearly 600 million active smartphone users in China. A study found that around 45% of Chinese drivers have used their phones in some capacity whilewaiting in traffic jams, making the implementation of smartphone connectivity crucial for securing new customers.

Ford announced that it will have more than 1 million vehicles on the road in China equipped with SYNC technology, and that number is likely to spike even more as SYNC 3 hits the market in 2016. Ford is also investing in developing autonomous vehicle technology, much of which will be tested at the Nanjing Research and Engineering Center.

Ford also announced the results of its Dida CityRide pilot project, wherein drivers in Ford vehicles offered 170,000 rides across two pilot cities and found that ride-sharing can help cut carbon dioxide emissions by 700 metric tons a year.

 

[Shotgunner51]

Latest China 2015 September trade data just released today, key stats:

• Surplus at RMB 376.159 billion (US$ 60.342 billion)
• Exports US$ 205.6 billion; Imports US$ 145.2 billion
  
• Crude oil import 27.95 million tonnes (204.95 million barrels, average at 6.83 million b/d)
• Other primary commodities imports have recorded further increase, include copper, iron ores, coal.

On trade surplus:

• The 3rd Quarter (July/Aug/Sep) is US$ 163.603 billion.
• The first three quarters combined is US$ 426.873 billion (already exceeded that full year of 2014)

China Balance of Trade | 1983-2015 | Data | Chart | Calendar | Forecast
China trade surplus reaches $137bn (for 2nd Quarter of 2015)

My estimate is that 2015 trade surplus is around US$ 600 billion.

 

[JSCh]

FDI rises 7.1% in Sept.
Xinhua, October 12, 2015

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland rose 7.1 percent year on year to 59.5 billion yuan (9.56 billion U.S. dollars) in September, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Monday.

The growth slowed markedly from a 22-percent jump in August but was still faster than a 5.2-percent increase in July.

The FDI grew steadily as high-tech industries kept drawing foreign investors, said the MOC.

In the first nine months, FDI, which excludes investment in the financial sector, expanded 9 percent from a year earlier to 94.9 billion U.S. dollars.

Among all sectors, high-tech services continued to shine, attracting 6.16 billion U.S. dollars of foreign investment in the first nine months, a 57.6-percent surge year on year.

High-tech manufacturing saw investment inflow accelerate to a 10.4-percent growth during the period, reaching 7 billion U.S. dollars.

FDI in the service sector in general rose 19.2 percent to 58 billion U.S. dollars, while that in manufacturing edged up 0.7 percent to 29.8 billion U.S. dollars, according to the MOC.

More foreign firms invested in China through mergers and acquisitions, which accounted for 16.1 percent of the total FDI in the Jan.-Sept. period, up from 5.8 percent in the same period of last year.

Yuan rises for 7th day in a row, at highest level since August
By Chen Jia (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2015-10-12 11:19
The Chinese yuan appreciated for the seventh consecutive day on Monday to 6.3406 per US dollar, hitting its highest level since Aug 12.

It is also the new high since the currency suddenly depreciated by more than 4 percent against the US dollar in August, as the central bank let the market decide the daily reference exchange rate. Lian Ping, chief economist at the Bank of Communications, said investors' expectation on the yuan's depreciation is weaker, because the central bank's reform is accepted by the market and the US Federal Reserve's decision to hold on the rate hike has released desperation pressure.

"The People's Bank of China's intervention in the foreign exchange market to stabilize the yuan's value also took effect," Lian said.

The seven-day appreciation began on Sept 24, when the PBOC set the reference exchange rate at 6.3791 per US dollar. The reference rate rose to 6.3493 per dollar on Friday. As the Chinese economy is still under the pressure of a slowdown, and capital outflows may remain high in the near future, the yuan is likely to depreciate moderately, economists said. A stronger yuan will help to facilitate the country's reform to internationalize the currency, especially to become one of the world's reserve currencies, they said.

The global transaction service provider SWIFT reported Tuesday that in August the yuan surpassed the Japanese yen to become the world's fourth largest payment currency. Yuan-denominated payments accounted for 2.79 percent of the global market by August, expanded from 1.39 percent in January of 2014, according to the company.

 

[AndrewJin]

The first three quarters combined is US$ 426.873 billion (already exceeded that full year of 2014)

Great news!

 

[Shotgunner51]

Great news!

Yes, and the good trend is that to in order to balance trade (suppress trade surplus) as well as for strategic reserves, China is stockpiling primary commodities.

• Say crude oil, the level of 7 million b/d imports is to be maintained, or further increased. I believe as China is joining OPEC, they have plans.
• Say copper, China consumes over 57% of global supply. Chinese investments in local mines should further facilitate imports from Africa, South America and Afghanistan. Example, China Metallurgical Group Corp will help Aynak copper field (largest undeveloped copper field in the world) in Afghanistan to increase delivery.
• Imports from Africa, South America, Central Asia & Australia will increase, as Chinese investments help build local infra.

As @TaiShang has mentioned, China must not increase a defensively-managed Forex Reserves (latest figure shows US$ 3.77 trillion, Mainland only) further, and instead should expand SPR (Strategic Petroleum Reserves) as well as reserves of other primary commodities of strategic importance (copper, iron ore, uranium, etc), and leave the rest of the monies to aggressive Sovereign Welfare Funds (experiences of Singapore, HKSAR. Oil exporters like Norway, UAE, almost completely managed in SWF not FXR).

 

[zeronet]

Yes, and the good trend is that to in order to balance trade (suppress trade surplus) as well as for strategic reserves, China is stockpiling primary commodities.

Say crude oil, a 7 million b/d imports is to be maintained, or further increased.

As @TaiShang has mentioned, China must not increase a defensively-managed Forex Reserves (latest figure shows US$ 3.77 trillion, Mainland only) further, and instead should expand SPR (Strategic Petroleum Reserves) as well as reserves of other primary commodities of strategic importance (copper, iron ore, uranium, etc), and leave the rest of the monies to aggressive Sovereign Welfare Funds.

oil reserve is costly, u simply don't have enough space to keep those huge oil reserve, unless we can inject billions of tons of crude oil into empty oil wells in the places like Daqing oil field.

other stuff, gold? the only gold traded on market is paper gold that u don't want, so forget about it.

 

[Shotgunner51]

oil reserve is costly, u simply don't have enough space to keep those huge oil reserve. other stuff, gold? the only gold traded on market is paper gold that u don't want, so forget about it.

You could very well be right bro. As stockpiling in is progress, I believe more space will be needed. According to government plan, SPR (Strategic Petroleum Reserves; Government) and MCR (Mandated Commercial Reserves; CNPC, SINOPEC, etc) combined is estimated at around 700 million to 1 billion barrels.

About gold, the situation is far more complicated, if you take into account of imports, and that private investors are also involved. On one hand PBOC's reserves is only around 1,600 tonnes (accounted as part of Forex Reserves) while on the other hand China itself is the world's biggest producer of gold. So where are the gold bullions? My estimation is that some gold reserves are with Department of Homeland & Resources (国土资源部) or institutions related to SGX (Shanghai Gold Exchange), valuation without using US$ or any currency. That would be similar to SPR (and uranium reserves) under Department of Energy (能源部), inventory denominated in say tonnes, not valuated in US$.

China Establishes World's Largest Physical Gold Fund
China remains as the world's largest gold trading market
Shanghai-Hong Kong Gold Connect launched
Away From Dollar: Russia, China to Create Entirely Different Gold Market​

 

[cnleio]

Due to foreign oil & raw materials price becoming cheaper & cheaper ... China trade surplus increase, it's China import cost down.

Truth is China export -1 ~ -2%, import foreign oil & raw materials price > -20%

 

[Shotgunner51]

Due to foreign oil & raw materials price becoming cheaper & cheaper ... China trade surplus increase, it's China import cost down.

Exactly that's what you do, buy low.

If you run a hugely profitable bread factory, maybe it's time to buy out all flour at its low (stockpiling), or buy the farms (capital investment). However flour has shelf life, bad stockpiling example. China Inc. will buy crude oil & uranium, they are always good.

 

[cnleio]

Exactly that's what you do, buy low.

Winter is coming, many foreign nations will die but not China.

 

[JSCh]

China to build 12,000 NEV chargers by 2020
English.news.cn 2015-10-12 22:18:28

NANJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- China will build a network of 12,000 charging stations to meet the power demands of 5 million electric vehicles by 2020, a National Energy Administration official said Monday.

In addition to the 12,000 chargers, 4.8 million power poles, 3,850 charging stations for public buses and 2,500 for taxis will be built in the same period, Tong Guangyi, vice-director of the NEA Power Department, told a meeting in Changzhou city, east China's Jiangsu Province.

China's State Council, the Cabinet, announced a guideline last week on a nationwide charging network.

The move is the latest effort by the government in the new energy vehicle sector, which has grown steadily in the past two years due to subsidies and tax cuts.

According to the guideline, new residential complexes should have charging points or assign space for them, while no less than 10 percent of parking spaces in public parking lots should have charging facilities. There should be at least one public charging station for every 2,000 NEVs, the guideline said.

To finance the project, the government will encourage private investment, allow charger manufacturers to issue corporate bonds, and seek investment from pension funds

China's State Grid is responsible for building a large part of the new charging facilities. Yang Qing, the company's vice president said at the meeting, that more than 6,000 public fast-charge stations and 59,000 chargers to power some 3.68 million electric passenger vehicles will be installed.

The State Grid will make public charging facilities available in 202 cities. In some major cities, including Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai, a charging facility will be found within a circle of less than 1 km.

This year, the company plans to start construction of 1,888 fast-charge stations with the aim of putting them into service by the end of June 2016. Currently, 618 stations and 24,000 chargers are operated by the company, actually serving 49,000 NEVs.

Editor: An​

 

[opruh]

That's a lot of money.

 

[Shotgunner51]

That's a lot of money.

Well that's how existing world order, existing international trade rules (WTO), are working at the moment. Looking ahead, China needs to work with trade partners, e.g. Russia, OPEC, and many others to further improve trade rules. RMB internationalization may help.

 

[cirr]

Hainan No.1 nuclear unit approaches to criticality for the first time

OFweek | Posted: 13 Oct 2015, 15:37

At 3:39 am, 12 Oct., Hainan No.1 nuclear unit invested by China Nuclear Power (CNNP ) approached to criticality for the first time, acting as a sign of official operation at power and establishing a foundation for the following grid-connected generation and commercial operation.

It is said that criticality of nuclear unit reactor is like engine ignition. After criticality, nuclear unit reactor will be come into continuous controllable operation and debug of unit system and equipment is basically completed, thus in hot spare operation condition. In the whole criticality process, the working principle is "safety first, quality first" and all the operations is strictly according to national ordinance and technical regulations to guarantee safe, stable and controllable status. Supervisors from State Bureau of Nuclear Safety southern nuclear and radiation safety supervisory office have witnessed the site to confirm that criticality is successfully accomplished.

Hainan nuclear power project is invested and built by CNNC (China National Nuclear Corporation) and China Huaneng Group. The total investment is over 20 billion yuan and two sets of 650 thousand kilowatt PWR nuclear unit have been built in the first period. NO. 1 unit started construction in April, 2014 and is combined to the grid this year; No. 2 unit has being built since November, 2010 and is planned to be put into commercial operation in 2016.

 

[cirr]

First criticality for two Chinese reactors

12 October 2015

Two new Chinese nuclear power units - Changjiang 1 and Yangjiang 3 - have moved closer to commissioning by achieving a sustained chain reaction for the first time. Both reactors are expected to begin operating later this year.

Workers in Changjiang 1's control room bring the unit to first criticality (Image: CNNC)

Unit 1 of the Changjiang nuclear power plant, under construction on China's southern island province of Hainan, achieved first criticality at 3.39am today, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced.

Initial approval for the Changjiang plant's construction was granted by China's National Developmental and Reform Commission in July 2008. Early site works began in December 2008. Construction of unit 1 began with the pouring of first concrete on 25 April 2010, while that for unit 2 was poured on 21 November 2010.

The loading of the 121 fuel assemblies into the core of Changjiang 1 - a 650 MWe CNP-600 pressurized water reactor - began on 26 August.

Changjiang 1 is scheduled to begin operating by the end of 2015, with unit 2 set to start up next year.

The plant, near Hoi Mei Tong village in China's Hainan province, is being built as a joint venture between CNNC and China Huaneng Group, with shares split 51% and 49%, respectively. The plant will eventually comprise four units, with units 3 and 4 housing either CNP-650 or ACP-600 reactors. Construction of both those units is scheduled to begin by 2018.

Yangjiang 3 criticality

First criticality of Changjiang 1 came just a day after the same milestone at unit 3 of China General Nuclear's (CGN's) Yangjiang plant in Guangdong province.

That unit achieved first criticality at 7.50am on 11 October, plant builder China Nuclear Industry 23 Construction Company Limited announced today.

Six units are planned for the Yangjiang site in China's Guangdong province by CGN. The first four units are 1080 MWe CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors, with units 5 and 6 being ACPR-1000s. Unit 1 entered commercial operation in March, while unit 2 began commercial operation earlier this month.

First concrete for unit 5 was poured in September 2013, with that for unit 6 following three months later.

All six reactors should be in operation by 2019, producing a total of around 6100 MWe.

First criticality for two Chinese reactors