China Economy Forum

[Aramsogo]

Real-life transformers

 

[Martian2]

"According to an official of TSMC, the company already has 90% of the 28nm foundry market."

Survey reveals mainland China's major chip design companies invest in world-leading 28nm... -- SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ --

"Survey reveals mainland China's major chip design companies invest in world-leading 28nm technology

EE Times-China announces results of its 10th yearly survey on China's fabless semiconductor industry; it also awards the mainland's top IC design houses at annual industry event

SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Mainland China's leading IC design businesses have adopted cutting-edge 28nm technology to develop chips, while 9.2 percent of local fabless companies are mass producing digital ICs using advanced 45nm or below process technologies, according to the 10th annual IC Design House Survey conducted by EE Times-China, a design engineering title of Global Sources' (NASDAQ: GSOL) joint venture subsidiary, eMedia Asia Limited.

Results of the Survey were announced today at the "2011 IC Design Industry CEO Forum & China IC Design House Awards", with over 150 senior executives from mainland China's IC design industry attending the event. Awards were presented to the Top 10 China Brands, Top 10 Most Promising IC Design Houses, Top 10 Outstanding Technical Support, as well as 25 Hot Products in five categories.

"In the past decade, we have witnessed the emergence and rapid growth of mainland China's IC design industry. When we first started our Survey in 2002, only 20 percent of local IC design firms used 0.25 micrometre or below process technologies, while over 72 percent of their counterparts in the U.S. used 0.18 micrometre or below technologies. Even five years ago, the industry was at least two generations behind the U.S. in terms of process technology," said Brandon Smith, publisher of EE Times-China.

"But this year's Survey indicates that mainland China's leading chip design companies are investing in advanced technologies such as the 28nm designs in order to reduce time-to-market and compete in the global market," Smith added.

Rising use of Taiwan foundries

Survey findings also show that local IC design companies are increasingly using Taiwan foundries to support their high-voltage, high-reliability and high-integration designs. Of those who employ foundry services, 63 percent use foundries based in Taiwan, as compared with 57 percent in 2010. A total of 33.1 percent find Taiwan-based TSMC to be their most suitable foundry partner (30 percent in 2010), while 18.9 percent and 15.0 percent say mainland-based SMIC and CSMC respectively are their best suited foundries.

Mainland China's IC design industry is on a high-growth path. In a recent IHS iSuppli research, operations by fabless semiconductor companies in mainland China are forecasted to generate $10.7 billion in revenue in 2015, more than doubling from $5.2 billion in 2010.

Dr. Wayne Dai, Chairman & CEO of Shanghai-based IC design firm VeriSilicon, said: "The current global environment is very conducive to the rapid development of mainland China's semiconductor companies. The focus of the world's semiconductor industry is increasingly shifting towards mainland China, which accounts for one-third of the global market. Mainland China's share of the world market is expected to continue to increase, and the government's support should help to further promote the industry's development."

Consumer electronics drives industry development

The Survey shows that 57 percent of mainland China's ICs are used for consumer electronics products such as mobile phones and tablet PCs. This market sector is characterized by rapid innovation and intense competition, which is expected to continue to drive the fast development of the local IC design industry.

Currently, 9.2 percent of respondent companies are mass producing digital ICs using 45nm or below process technologies. In the next few years, more major chip design companies in mainland China are expected to successfully develop ICs using advanced 40nm and 28nm process, although 65nm products are expected to be the mainstream in the digital IC segment, according to EE Times-China analysts.

While 23.2 percent and 27.5 percent of respondent companies are using 0.13 micrometre process technologies to make analog and mixed signal ICs, respectively, these two sectors continue to be dominated by 0.18 micrometre and 0.35 micrometre processes.

Other key findings of the Survey:

• The main difficulties when contracting foundries are still costs (59.8 percent) and cycle time (55.9 percent), while inadequate production capacity is less of a problem this year (19.7 percent, as compared with 35 percent in 2010)

• 35.2 percent of respondents get their IP core license from semiconductor foundries, 26.1 percent from design services companies, and 25.4 percent from ARM

• Key challenges respondent companies face during the design process are cost reduction (69.7 percent), low-power design (54.2 percent) and design cycle time (46.5 percent)

Mainland China's top chip design companies and products recognized

The Survey also reveals the top IC design companies in mainland China, as voted by the mainland's systems design engineers. The winners in each category are (in alphabetical order):

• Top 10 China Brands:
Analogix Semiconductor, Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics, Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics, HiSilicon Technologies, Ingenic Semiconductor, RDA Microelectronics, SG Micro, Shanghai AWINIC Technology, Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics and Spreadtrum Communications.

• Top 10 Most Promising China IC Design Houses:
ChipLink Semiconductor, Dioo Microcircuits, Eshine-ic, KT Micro, Leadcore Technology, Panovasic Technology, SENODIA Technologies, Shanghai InfoTM Microelectronics, Shenzhen Chipsea Technologies and Shenzhen Ruichips Semiconductor.

• Top 10 Outstanding Technical Support:
BCD Semiconductor Manufacturing, China Resources Powtech (Shanghai), Hangzhou infix-IP Microelectronics, KrossPower, Shanghai Huahong Integrated Circuit, SINOWEALTH Electronic, SuperPix Micro Technology, VeriSilicon Holdings, Wuxi Si-power Micro-Electronics and Xian Semipower Electronic Technology

EE Times-China analysts have also selected this year's hottest local IC products in five categories:

• Processors: AMLOGIC (AML8726M), HiSilicon Technologies (Hi3516), Montage Technology (Shanghai) (M88CS2000), NUFRONT (NuSmart 2816) and Shanghai InfoTM Microelectronics (IMAPx210)

• Power ICs: KrossPower (AXP173), On-Bright Electronics (Shanghai) (OB2535), Xian Semipower Electronic Technology (SW2604), Shenzhen Ruichips Semiconductor (RU75N08R) and Wuxi Chipown Microelectronics (AP2952)

• Amplifiers/Data converters: GalaxyCore (GC0309), Shanghai Belling (BL6523A), Shenzhen Chipsea Technologies (CS1232), Shenzhen Nsiway Technology (NS4358) and Wuxi Si-power Micro-Electronics (SP9889)

• Controllers/Driver ICs: BCD Semiconductor Manufacturing (AP1681), Dioo Microcircuits (DIO2564), Maxic Technology Corporation (MT7920), Seaward Electronics (SE9120) and Solomon Systech (International) (SSD2533)

• Wireless ICs: Beken Corporation (BK5822), Nationz Technologies (ZM2162), RDA Microelectronics (RDA6231), Simplight Nanoelectronics (SL1300) and Spreadtrum Communications (SC8800G)"

 

[Martian2]

"Anyone heard of E Ink? If not, it is actually the company behind the amazing displays used in Amazon’s Kindle e-readers on top of other competitors. E Ink announced that it will soon start offering its colored technology."

How E Ink works

Toppan/E Ink electronic-paper color prototype

E Ink reports record high sales in August - CNA ENGLISH NEWS

"E Ink reports record high sales in August
By Pan Chi-I and Frances Huang
2011/09/08 16:25:21

Taipei, Sept. 8 (CNA) Taiwan-based E Ink Holdings Inc., the world's largest electronic paper display supplier, reported record high sales for August Wednesday on the back of rising global demand.

E Ink said it posted NT$2.64 billion (US$91 million) on an unconsolidated basis, the highest level in the company's history and up 132 percent from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, its consolidated sales for the month rose 117 percent year-on-year to NT$3.47 billion, the company's second-highest level.

In the first eight months of this year, E Ink's consolidated sales totaled NT$23.34 billion, up 75 percent from a year earlier.

While uncertainty over the market outlook continues to affect the global high-tech sector, the August sales data of E Ink confirms the company's previous estimate that demand for e-paper displays will continue to grow in the second half of this year.

In the first half of this year, E Ink recorded NT$2.93 billion in net profit, up from NT$1.39 billion registered a year earlier. Its earnings per share during the period stood at NT$2.78, up from NT$1.34 a year ago.

E Ink Chairman Scott Liu said sales in July and August were in line with the company's expectations as its customers launched new models of electronic reading devices, which boosted demand for electronic paper displays.

Liu said his company's production capacity is fully utilized through September, pointing to further growth in sales for this month, and he added that revenue is expected to peak in October.

Market analysts expect E Ink to post about NT$11.2 billion in sales on a consolidated basis for the third quarter, up more than 60 percent from the second quarter, in particular on strong demand from Amazon.com.

E Ink anticipates that e-paper display shipments in the second half of this year will grow more than 50 percent from the first half, saying the total shipments for 2011 will range between 25 million units and 30 million units."

 

[muse]

I have been enthusiastic about the possibility of the Renminbi become an international medium of exchnage, primarily because in opinion, such a development would usher a egalitarian world order, however, such a possibility is increasingly distant, especially as China pursues strategies that may better serve her near term interests:


tember 7, 2011
Why China Wants a G-3 World
By PARAG KHANNA AND MARK LEONARD

LONDON — Of all the formulations deployed in recent years to describe the emerging world order, G-2 is probably the worst and most dangerous.

Americans don’t like the idea of another rival so quickly achieving strategic parity and influence, and the Chinese are uncomfortable with such a high-level responsibility commensurate with their weight.

The U.S.-China relationship can hardly be described as agreeable, progressive, or even productive. And yet people keep coming back to the idea of a G-2 because the alternatives can seem so inefficient.

The G-20 — with its unwieldy membership of irrelevant countries like Argentina and Italy — can barely tackle financial regulation, let alone climate change, failed states and nuclear proliferation. This explains the latest vogue phrasing from the commentator Ian Bremmer: the “G-Zero” world, in which there is no clear leader and no functioning system of global governance.

Yet even our seemingly chaotic world does have fundamental power realities, patterns of interaction, and rules and institutions that can be used to harness collective resources. Particularly since the end of the Cold War, a range of mechanisms has arisen to address gaps in the governance of issues ranging from intervention to climate change.

The driving force behind these global policy innovations has been neither America nor China, but a third power which is increasingly overlooked: Europe.

Europe has been neglected from recent literature on the emerging global order in favor of sexy but nonfunctional categories such as BRICS — the club of emerging powers including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The reason Europe is discounted is because it often fails to speak with one voice; its decision-making is slow. But despite this handicap E.U. countries together still represent the world’s largest trade block, exporter of capital, and source of funds and leadership for multilateral organizations. And in spite of the difficulties of collective decision-making, European resources not only drive peacekeeping operations and development initiatives across the planet, it is Europeans who have done more than anyone else to establish a global legal order and the multilateral economic rules that have allowed globalization to take place since the end of the Cold War.

In fact, we live in a “G-3” world — one that combines U.S. military power and consumption, Chinese capital and labor, and European rules and technology. The United States, the European Union and China are the three largest actors in the world, together representing approximately 60 percent of the world economy — with the E.U. being the largest of the three.

The E.U.’s population of more than 500 million is one-and-a-half times that of the U.S., while only one-third that of China, which has more than four times as many people as America. In terms of military budgets and power, the United States is second to none, but the European Union is still far ahead of China. Equally important to these material factors is the observation that only the United States, the European Union and China actually represent strong governance models that are being exported and emulated around the world. Only these three, therefore — and not yet Brazil or India, and no longer Russia — are so systemically relevant that their individual actions and decisions impact the whole world. They are producers of global governance, while most other states are still receivers.

What is more, the triangular relationship between these three countries is crucial to the world. Everyone knows about the density of economic, security and human links across the Atlantic and the growing importance of the “Chimerican economy.” However, most American analysts have missed the simple fact that the E.U.-China relationship is in many ways as dense as the U.S.-China relationship.

Europe is a major source of high technology to China. It is a larger foreign investor in China, and has a larger trade deficit with China than America. Leverage over Chinese behavior to modify its currency and trade practices will need to come as much from Brussels as from Washington. Despite notable transAtlantic differences on issues such as Iraq, Afghanistan and climate change, the United States is much better off having Europe in a smaller club as a partner than being ganged up on by BRICS in the G-20.

Recent Chinese behavior clearly demonstrates just how strongly China wants a European hedge against the United States, and thus a G-3 world. In an effort to diversify its massive currency reserves away from dollars, China had already stepped up its purchases of euro zone sovereign bonds prior to the financial crisis. And in just the past two months it has vocally sought to display confidence in Europe through the acquisition of new Eurobonds.

As George Soros recently stated: “I certainly would not short the euro because China has an interest in having an alternative to the dollar. You can count on China to back the efforts of the European authorities to maintain the euro.” Additionally, China has stepped up retail foreign investment across Europe from England to Greece, infusing capital into property markets and other sectors, providing a much-needed lifeline.

While China has expressed concern about the euro zone crisis, it has been scathing of America’s need to get its fiscal house in order in the wake of its debt downgrade. Observers know very well that Europe, not America, is China’s role model for its state welfare systems, social democracy, low inequality, infrastructure, and commitment to sustainability. There are far more Chinese students in Europe than in America, and far more delegations of Chinese technocrats visiting European capitals.

This hints at the importance of shifting toward a G-3 discourse and framework. Europe is perhaps the only power that consistently embraces and advances global norms — and devotes considerable resources to them and demonstrates policy innovation. Without European contributions, there will be little global progress on intelligence sharing, counterterrorism and proliferation, promoting democracy and human rights, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or rebuilding failed states.

A G-2 world all but guarantees a repeat of history rather than a break from it. It is a comfortable fiction that is steering us toward a century as unstable as the last. If we seek a 21st century of progressive governance rather than another Cold War, more regularly convening a G-3 would be a good place to start.

Parag Khanna is a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation and non-resident senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.Mark Leonard is director of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

 

[akinkhoo]

Why China Wants a G-3 World

i stop reading there. this is a failure beyond reasoning... China doesn't want ANY control group. because that would be to it's disadvantage. even the G20 is restrictive for China, China would prefer a world whereby there are many powers to which it can deal with each bilaterally: one-on-one, without a control group telling China what to and not to. It is to China's advantage to dilute political power, and the more player there is, the harder it is for US to dominate the discussion. Copenhagen was a good example whereby 100s of countries follow India and China's lead to walk out of the unfair treaty that would see the european have 3 times the quota of other countries. China's goal is not just to loosen the monopoly of power, it is to break it entirely.

 

[muse]

Well we can all understand your point about China not wanting anybody to restrict her -- but it is conceivable that China, as the author points out, can use a G3 to her advantage and ensure that any restriction put on her by one is diffused by the other, and of course it may also be to China's advantage to see to it that it too can place restrictions on others who seek to do it to her, so to speak.

 

[below_freezing]

i stop reading there. this is a failure beyond reasoning... China doesn't want ANY control group. because that would be to it's disadvantage. even the G20 is restrictive for China, China would prefer a world whereby there are many powers to which it can deal with each bilaterally: one-on-one, without a control group telling China what to and not to. It is to China's advantage to dilute political power, and the more player there is, the harder it is for US to dominate the discussion. Copenhagen was a good example whereby 100s of countries follow India and China's lead to walk out of the unfair treaty that would see the european have 3 times the quota of other countries. China's goal is not just to loosen the monopoly of power, it is to break it entirely.

right! China, if we deal with every country bilaterally, can win favorable arrangements against anyone through a smart combination of military, economic and political power.

When we deal in terms of blocs and alliances, we'll be no match for the US because the US has a bigger gang. For all the talk of how great and independent Europe is, 2 core nations, Germany and UK, are occupied by US troops.

 

[PlanetWarrior]

right! China, if we deal with every country bilaterally, can win favorable arrangements against anyone through a smart combination of military, economic and political power.

When we deal in terms of blocs and alliances, we'll be no match for the US because the US has a bigger gang. For all the talk of how great and independent Europe is, 2 core nations, Germany and UK, are occupied by US troops.

What confuses me is China's invitation to South Africa to join the then BRIC (now BRICS). Clearly the South African economy on comparison cannot compare to the consistent growth of the then BRIC members. Rumours are that India and China conspired to bring in South Africa to use that country as their "gateway to Africa". If China is looking at a G3 group then I would say that the suggestion that China is doing so to break the US's monoply on Europe is a sensible one.

 

[marshall]

...the more player there is, the harder it is for US to dominate the discussion. Copenhagen was a good example whereby 100s of countries follow India and China's lead to walk out of the unfair treaty that would see the european have 3 times the quota of other countries. China's goal is not just to loosen the monopoly of power, it is to break it entirely.

right! China, if we deal with every country bilaterally, can win favorable arrangements against anyone through a smart combination of military, economic and political power....

I don't think this is China's purpose. I agree with "akinkhoo" where he explained it was mainly a way to curtail American power, not as China's way to create it's own form of American-style domination. China has displayed a large degree of restraint in its international dealings, specifically in regards to less developed countries that it has the most leverage with. I have always been impressed by this generosity in light of atypical Anglo-American style hegemony vis-a-vis the relatively weak.

 

[marshall]

Well we can all understand your point about China not wanting anybody to restrict her -- but it is conceivable that China, as the author points out, can use a G3 to her advantage and ensure that any restriction put on her by one is diffused by the other, and of course it may also be to China's advantage to see to it that it too can place restrictions on others who seek to do it to her, so to speak.

It is to China's disadvantage to be the minority voice in any grouping of developed countries sharing the same ideologies and interests such as the hypothetical G-3 suggested by those writers. As somebody here wrote, China is not trying to loosen the existing monopoly of power, it is trying to break it entirely. Breaking it entirely means destroying the institutions that allow the perpetuation of that monopoly of power. China's interests mostly align with non-Western countries so it is to its advantage to perpetuate institutions such as the G-20 where the developed countries do not have a commanding voice as they would in a G-2 or G-3.

 

[huzihaidao12]

I don't think this is China's purpose. I agree with "akinkhoo" where he explained it was mainly a way to curtail American power, not as China's way to create it's own form of American-style domination. China has displayed a large degree of restraint in its international dealings, specifically in regards to less developed countries that it has the most leverage with. I have always been impressed by this generosity in light of atypical Anglo-American style hegemony vis-a-vis the relatively weak.

Consent, unless we can have a their own way, otherwise we are no different and the West, but also the reality of this world, so even if we have our own ideals, pragmatic in the first.

 

[CardSharp]

China Resilient on Growing Imports, Exports - Bloomberg

China's imports climbed to a record and exports grew more than expected last month, indicating resilience in the world’s second-biggest economy as the U.S. and European recoveries falter.

Inbound shipments jumped 30.2 percent from a year earlier to $155.6 billion, the customs bureau said on its website yesterday. That pace exceeded the estimates of all 29 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Exports climbed a more-than-expected 24.5 percent, leaving a trade surplus of $17.76 billion.

The data suggest the world’s biggest exporter is weathering Europe’s debt crisis and weakening U.S. consumer sentiment. Group of Seven finance chiefs yesterday vowed to buoy slowing economic growth after global stocks slumped on concern that Greece may default and the risk that Congress may block President Barack Obama’s measures to create jobs.

China’s trade data were “better than expected considering the debt crisis and market turbulence,” Dong Tao, a Hong Kong- based economist with Credit Suisse AG, said after the announcement. “It seems that the real economy is doing better than the financial world.”
The strength in imports provides further evidence that Premier Wen Jiabao’s campaign to cool inflation without choking off growth is taking effect. A government report on Sept. 9 showed consumer-price gains eased in August from a three-year high. Investment in roads, factories and real-estate rose by a quarter in the first eight months of the year, holding above 25 percent for the sixth month.

Higher Lending

New local-currency loans rose in August to 548.5 billion yuan, rebounding from a 2011 low the previous month, and 545.2 billion yuan in the same period last year, People’s Bank of China data released today show. The figure was higher than 22 of the 26 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.

M2, the broadest measure of money supply expanded 13.5 percent last month, the slowest pace in almost seven years, and compared with the 14.2 percent median estimate in a separate poll of 27 analysts.

Economists at Capital Economics and Standard Chartered say growth in the money supply is being distorted as savers shift funds out of deposit accounts into wealth management products that aren’t included in the data. Movements in fiscal deposits by the finance ministry are also affecting the data, they say.

New local-currency deposits totaled 696.2 billion yuan in August, 373.6 billion yuan less than the same period last year and compared with a decline of 668.7 billion yuan in July, central bank data show.

Higher Than Expected

August’s imports grew the most since January and compared with a median estimate of 21 percent in a Bloomberg survey. The gain in exports was higher than 27 out of 29 estimates in a separate poll. The value of outbound shipments was the second- highest on record, just shy of the $175 billion in July, customs data show.

The trade surplus was lower than every estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 28 economists. The median forecast was for $24.6 billion after a gap of $31.5 billion in July that was the highest in more than two years.

The data “suggest the economy is staying on track despite the global slowdown,” said Liu Li-gang, a Hong Kong-based economist with Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. “Accelerating imports indicates domestic demand is maintaining strong momentum and that the risks of a hard landing have decreased significantly.”

Slower Growth

China is the world’s biggest exporter and the largest contributor to global growth. Citigroup Inc. estimates that the nation’s expansion will slow to 8.4 percent in the fourth quarter from 9.6 percent in the first half. The bank forecasts the economy will expand 9 percent for the full year, five times the pace of the U.S. and euro area.

Imports from Japan rose 16.5 percent from a year earlier to $17.5 billion, the highest in five months, customs data showed, as shipments recovered after the earthquake and tsunami in March. Exports to the nation climbed 30 percent from a year earlier, the most since March.

Purchases from the European Union, China’s biggest trading partner, jumped 31.4 percent from a year earlier to $19.4 billion, the most since May, while exports to the bloc climbed 22.3 percent to $34 billion.

Shipments to the U.S., the second-largest export destination, climbed 12.5 percent from a year earlier to $30 billion, the biggest jump since April, while imports rose 16.6 percent to $10 billion. The trade surplus with the U.S. last month narrowed to $20 billion, the first decline in six months, according to Chinese data.

Recession Risks

Imports of crude oil rose in August to a three-month high, copper climbed to the highest since January and iron-ore purchases were the largest since March, customs data show.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development cut its growth forecasts for the U.S. and Japan on Sept. 8, and estimated the German economy will shrink in the fourth quarter, highlighting the risks of a renewed global recession. Four central banks in Asia held off raising interest rates on Sept. 8 as their focus switched to sustaining economic expansion from cooling inflation.

‘With the uncertainties in the global economy and financial markets, we see a rising risk of further slowdowns in both domestic and external demand for China,” Daiwa Capital Markets said in an Aug. 23 note. Daiwa cut an estimate for the nation’s export growth next year to 10 percent from a previous forecast of 15 percent.

In a sign that global demand is waning, commerce on the Asia-to-Europe container-shipping route, the world’s second busiest, rose the least since 2009 in the second quarter, according to Container Trade Statistics Ltd., a company based in Woking, England.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its recommendation on China Merchants Holdings (International) Co., which owns stakes in Chinese ports, to “underweight” from “neutral” on Aug. 30, on the risk that global trade will slow.

--Victoria Ruan, Zheng Lifei. With assistance from Chua Baizhen and Huang Zhe in Beijing, Helen Sun, Jing Jin and Bonnie Cao in Shanghai and Ailing Tan in Singapore. Editors: Nerys Avery, Jim McDonald

To contact Bloomberg News staff on this story: Victoria Ruan in Beijing at +86-10-6649-7570 vruan1@bloomberg.net

 

[aimarraul]

China's role in int'l division of labor changing By Li Yuyang (China Economic Net)16:29, September 23, 2011 Edited and Translated by People's Daily Online

As China accelerates the process of upgrading its industry, the country's manufacturing industry is gaining ground in global competitiveness, and the basic feature of the country's trade relations with developed countries is transforming from a vertical division of labor into a mixture of cooperation and competition.

China quickens steps for economic restructuring

The changes in China's role in the international division of labor are manifested in the upgrading of its industries and the expansion of industrial chains. While promoting the development and competitiveness of emerging industries, China is also expanding its traditional industrial chains by increasing emphasis on high-value-added products and core technologies.

In recent years, China has been accelerating economic restructuring, promoting the transformation of its foreign trade growth pattern, developing internationally competitive brands, and improving the quality and production efficiency of export goods. The overall technological level and bargaining power of Chinese exporters have increased, and the export prices of China's labor-intensive products, such as textiles, garments, plastic products, suitcases and bags, have also risen. China's foreign trade is witnessing coordinated growth in the quantity and price of exports, and its export growth pattern has transformed from a quantity-driven growth pattern into one driven by quality and price.

The average export prices of Chinese textiles and clothing grew nearly 25 percent in July, and their quantity grew nearly 1 percent. Meanwhile, the average export prices of Chinese shoes and hats grew nearly 19 percent, with their quantity growing over 1 percent.

The export prices of the country's labor-intensive products increased partly because the prices of certain raw materials increased and partly because China's economic restructuring and transformation of the economic growth model improved the international competitiveness of domestic companies. Experts believe that the economic reforms will exert even greater positive effects on China's foreign trade in the future.

Rise of high-end industrial products

China's labor-intensive industries still enjoy comparative advantage, and the competitiveness of its new industries is increasingly high. China has continued to expand its coverage in the global industrial chain.

Currently, China is gradually building up new competitive edges in high-tech and high-value-added products and has independently developed a series of products that are characterized by independent intellectual property rights and brands, high technology and high added value. China has also made substantial progress in high-end industrial products, such as automobiles, integrated circuits and medical devices.

The combined annual revenue of the major Chinese enterprises in electronics, information and manufacturing industries was up by 460 percent between 2001 and 2010, and the revenue of enterprises in the software industry was up by 17 times and in telecommunications industry, revenues were up by 760 percent. China's automobile output hit 18 million in 2010, ranking first in the world. Chinese enterprises take three positions among the world's top five fiber-optic network access equipment producers, ranking first, second and fourth, respectively.

China’s exports of high-tech mechanical and electrical products have been on the rapid rise, becoming a major driving force behind the upgrade in China's export product structure. China recorded nearly 1.6 trillion U.S. dollars in the trade value of mechanical and electrical products in 2010, including 933 billion U.S. dollars in exports. The export value of China’s mechanical and electrical products accounted for 60 percent of the country's total.

Recently, the information department of the U.K.-based Economist magazine issued a report on the development prospects of China's export realms in the next 10 years. The report listed 37 areas in which developed countries are still holding dominant positions, but Chinese enterprises are catching up, including the realms of shipbuilding, electrical installation, agricultural machinery and hoisting crane. The report predicted that in the near future China would turn into a heavy construction machinery export country second only to the United States.

"The pace of China's improvements to the composition of its export products is accelerating. A series of high-grade, high-precision, advanced products made in China, including the high-speed railway, large aircraft and manned space flight equipment, has astonished the world. A series of accidents, including the mine disaster rescue of Chile and the nuclear leak crisis of Japan, has also objectively offered rare opportunities for China's technological equipment manufacturers, such as the Sany Group," said Mei Xinyu, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce of China.

Building up a full global industrial chain

The in-depth change of China's status in the international division of labor can also be reflected in the fact that the Chinese market has turned into an important part of the global market.

China has already turned into the second largest import country in the world and an important export market for many countries. The Chinese market is expanding day by day and becoming a source of advantage for China's large-scale industries. China is not only the largest direct investment destination country among developing countries but also changing into one of the most important investor countries in the world

China's role in int'l division of labor changing - People's Daily Online

 

[muse]

China makes Arab trade push on ancient Silk Road

YINCHUAN: As European and US economies falter, China is making a trade push with the Arab world, where businessmen say recent political changes will further open up the region to investment.

A major Sino-Arab trade forum is currently under way in the northern region of Ningxia, where politicians from the Maghreb and Middle East and members of the Gulf’s ruling families have come to mix with hundreds of entrepreneurs. Participants in the forum say recent regime changes in some Arab states have created a favourable environment for business, and many countries in the region are looking to Beijing to help them bridge their development gap.

China’s trade exchanges with Arab countries, while not as extensive as with some other nations, are growing by 30 percent annually, Jia Qinglin, one of the nation’s top nine leaders, said at the opening of the meeting.

Many members of China’s Muslim Hui minority live in Ningxia — located on the ancient Silk Road — which may explain why Beijing chose the isolated region as a platform to promote trade with the predominantly Muslim Arab world.

According to organisers of the forum — which kicked off Wednesday and goes on until Sunday — the 22 countries that make up the Arab League have sent representatives, along with other non-Arab states, particularly from Africa.

Jia — head of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a legislative advisory body — said that over the past five years, trade between China and Arab states has increased from $65 billion to $145 billion.

The exchanges — once centred on hungry Beijing’s need for oil and gas — are diversifying into the food, financial services, textile, tourism, industrial equipment, aviation and maritime transport sectors. And according to several participants in the forum in Yinchuan, Ningxia’s capital, recent political upheavals in several Arab states are expected to trigger more openness, which will work in favour of trade with China.

“We have seen uncertainties in many countries,” said Mohammed Bin Essa Al-Khalifa, head of the Economic Development Board in Bahrain, where Shiite-led democracy protests in March were crushed by the Sunni monarchy.

“At the same time we embrace more opportunities, and we should expect an opening up to commerce... The global economic centre of gravity is moving towards the East.”

Amr El-Adawi, an Egyptian businessman who works in China, said he thought the new situation in his country — where the 30-year reign of Hosni Mubarak ended in February after 18 days of protests — would be conducive to business.

“We have had 30 years without any development in Egypt,” he told AFP.

Tarek Yakhlef from the Tunisian Union for Industry, Commerce and Handicrafts also predicted that the January ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali will create “a favourable environment for exchanges and investment.”

He said he had not expected Yinchuan — with its large, straight avenues bordered by tall buildings — to be as modern, hidden as it is in remote Ningxia.

“We thought that (only) the coastal towns were developed in China, so we’re surprised. Infrastructure (here) is developed, and people are well organised,” said Yakhlef.

Other participants in the forum praised the capability of China’s industrial firms.

“The Europeans, with all due respect, have two main problems — delays and capacity,” said Khaled El-Ruz, a Kuwaiti who works in the oil and gas industry and in shipyards.

“The Chinese are really occupying the market,” he said, adding that they often managed to be 20 percent cheaper on tenders in his sector. afp

 

[Liang1a]

The cost of wind power has been reducing. It is now on a par with coal fire power plants. China should implement a system of renewable energy and electric cars. Such a system will allow China to be energy self-sufficient.