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All posts by RWZ - 237. page

Xinhua: Chinese Cellphone Users Exceeded One Billion

Xinhua recently reported that, based on the Communication Industry’s data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, by the end of February 2012, China had 1.007 billion mobile phone users. The total number of all telephone users was 1.29 billion. It is expected that the total will rise to 1.3 billion by the end of March. Among the 1 billion mobile phone users, 144 million are on the 3G network. According to past statistics, the number of Chinese cellphone users reached 800 million in June 2010 and 900 million in April 2011. Since this new landmark was achieved in February 2012, it seems the Chinese cellphone market is growing at a rate of 100 million every 10 months.

Source: Xinhua, March 31, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/tech/2012-03/31/c_122912215.htm

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Xinhua: COSCO Suffered Massive Loss

Xinhua recently reported that China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) reported a 10.5 billion yuan (〜US$1.67 million) loss in 2011. The company blamed its poor performance on the decline of the global economy and suggested that the entire ocean shipping industry is showing a loss. The second reason identified for the loss was the rising cost of oil. The fourth quarter loss accounted for more than half of the total annual loss. The COSCO CEO, Wei Jiafu, suggested that, based on the signs of recovery in the United States and Europe, it is expected that the global container shipping market will improve during the year 2012. The Chinese government owned COSCO is one of the largest liner shipping companies in the world. COSCO stops at over 1,000 ports around the globe.

Source: Xinhua, March 31, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2012-03/31/c_122913532.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

CRN: Partnering with Russia is the Best Choice for Now

China Review News (CRN) recently published a commentary on the relationship between China and Russia. The commentary expressed the belief that, although China has had previous issues with Russia, China’s best strategic choice for now is to partner with Russia. The author suggested that, as two neighboring major “BRICS” countries, the two countries’ economies complement each other. Also, the distribution of the two countries’ natural resources are in the same situation. At the same time, both countries are against the “unipolar world” model that the United States is trying to build. Instead, the partnership is the best choice to promote a “multipolar” international environment. However, the commentary suggested that China should maintain control of the initiative and ensure that the partnership benefits China’s needs and its future development.

Source: China Review News, March 28, 2012
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1020/5/5/6/102055614.html?coluid=169&kindid=0&docid=102055614&mdate=0328091807

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Ministry of Commerce: China has the Most Trade Conflicts in the World

Beijing News recently reported that Zhong Shan, the Deputy Minister of Commerce, said at a conference that, in each of the last 17 years, China has had more trade conflicts than any other country in the world. China is having more types of conflicts in more industries with more countries. Trade protectionism against China is rapidly growing. Since the beginning of this year, 8 trade complaints have been filed against China and there have been 100 incidents in the past 12 months. Since 2008 there have been a total of 600. Zhong emphasized that China is focusing on responding to major cases and is establishing a conflict resolution mechanism that takes full advantage of the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules for self-protection. China has expressed the hope several times that the U.S. government will keep its promise to be against trade-protectionism.

Source: Beijing News, March 24, 2012
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/finance/2012/03/24/190129.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Beijing Daily: Half of New Housing Projects Had Zero Sales

Beijing Daily recently reported that sales of new housing projects in the city of Beijing have nearly come to a standstill. According to the Beijing Real Estate Trade Management Network, in 10 out of 21 new housing projects that are on the market, zero contracts have been signed since the beginning of this year. Among all new projects, the rate of accumulated contracts signed so far this year is only eight percent. Last year that same number was 50 percent. Most of the projects that have had no sales are high end luxury products and apartments that are maintaining high pricing strategies. Experts suggested that the market does not look like it is about to improve. Buyers are holding off on their spending plans in the hope that prices will drop further. Based on how rapidly inventory is increasing, an average price drop of 15 percent is expected by the end of June, especially for low end housing products.

Source: Beijing Daily, March 24, 2012
http://www.bjd.com.cn/10bjxw/ss/201203/24/t20120324_1570498.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Xinhua: Guangdong Economy Slowing Down

Xinhua recently reported that the economy of Guangdong Province has been slowing down. Guangdong Province is one of the world’s major manufacturing bases. In the past two months, the output of large scale manufacturers has increased only 5% compared to the same period last year. According to the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Statistics, foreign investment based manufacturers represent 60% of the industrial economy of the province. In the past two months, this section has declined by 0.4%. The heart of Guangdong’s economy is the Pearl River Delta region. The exports from the nine cities in this region only increased by 2.7% and Guangdong’s exports have shown a decline of 4% compared to last year. This is the first time in three years that the province has suffered a decline in exports. Eleven cities in the province have reported declines.

Source: Xinhua, March 24, 2012
http://www.gd.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2012-03/24/content_24950679.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

The Economic Observer: Housing Market Still Slipping

The Economic Observer recently reported on the current status of China’s real estate construction market, which has been the primary engine for the economy. The dramatic decline in investment in the housing industry is having a major impact on China’s economic growth. Even the largest company in this industry, Wan Ke, is lowering its sales projection to half of the planned level. According to China Index Research Institute, in November and December of 2011, national land sales declined 47 percent each month. Starting this year, residential new construction growth was 0 percent, and 90 percent of the housing companies downsized or stopped their land purchases. Most of these companies are prepared to lower their prices. However, it is expected that even lowering their prices will not improve their sales volume. No one is optimistic about the near future.

Source: The Economic Observer, March 17, 2012
http://www.eeo.com.cn/2012/0317/223026.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

CRN: U.S. Reshaping Global Strategy Based on Energy Independence

China Review News (CRN) recently published a commentary on the impact of the improved U.S. energy independence. The commentary mentioned that the U.S. energy self-sufficiency rate reached 81% in the first 10 months of 2011. The U.S. has transformed itself from a daily importer of 2.5 million barrels of refined oil to a net exporter of refined oil. Only 17% of U.S. imported oil is from the Middle East. Meanwhile, it is estimated that, in 2013, China will rely on imported oil for nearly 60% of its oil consumption. Today, Iran alone supplies 10% of China’s oil imports. China’s energy suppliers are mostly from the Middle East and Africa. In 2010, China’s share of the world’s energy consumption reached 20.82%. The commentary concluded, based on these numbers, that the highly improved U.S. energy independence offered a great opportunity for the U.S. to reshape its global strategy to focus on the East and to build a U.S.-centered Asia-Pacific order.

Source: China Review News, March 12, 2012
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1020/2/4/7/102024759.html?coluid=148&kindid=7550&docid=102024759&mdate=0312000212

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations