All posts by RWZ - 272. page

The Director of the Chinese National Population and Family Planning Commission recently suggested in a forum that, for a long period of time, the tension among the Chinese population, natural resources and the environment will remain. On one hand, a stable low birth rate ensures a preferred “population environment” for the long run; on the other hand, too high or too low a growth rate will break the balance of a healthy social development. With the current population growth trend, the Chinese population is having an annual net growth of 8 million people. It is projected that the number will peak at 1.5 billion in 2033. The solution to balancing the population and resources is believed to be speeding up the adjustment of the development model.

Source Xinhua, July 16, 2010
http://jjckb.xinhuanet.com/xwjc/2010-07/16/content_238043.htm

Xinhua recently republished an article by Economic Information Daily that discussed the reason that China could not adjust to the right track of an economic development model. The author of the original article is the well-known Chinese economist Wu Jinglian. Wu believes there are four primary obstacles to the reform: (1) various levels of the government still control some important powers over resource allocation; (2) GDP growth is still the primary indicator for measuring of government performance; (3) the financial situation of the government is heavily connected to the growth of material products; (4) market power is very much constrained in terms of resource configurations.

Source: Xinhua, July 16, 2010
http://jjckb.xinhuanet.com/xwjc/2010-07/16/content_238046.htm

Xinhua recently reported on a swift Chinese response to the IEA’s (International Energy Agency) published number regarding Chinese energy consumption in 2009. The Chinese National Energy Administration (NEA) commented that the IEA number is “inaccurate.” IEA believed that China’s energy consumption in 2009 was the equivalent of 2.252 billion tons of oil, which was the highest in the world and was 4% higher than the United States. Chinese NEA official suggested that IEA is a “rich countries’ club,” and its number “cannot be believed.”  According to the number published by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, the figure was 2.132 billion.

Source: Xinhua, July 20, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2010-07/20/c_12354029.htm

China Review News (CRN) recently reviewed an article published by China Securities Journal, discussing how to rebalance the China-US trade relationship. The article recommended four policies: (1) invest directly in the US; (2) diversify export markets; (3) adjust the foreign investment structure; (4) acquire international natural resources. The article also suggested four reforms: (1) reform the structure of the economy; (2) reform the mechanism of growth (to be more consumer-driven); (3) reform pricing of the factors of production, such as land; (4) speed up the urbanization process. In conclusion, the article called for implementation of two financial strategies: (1) establish a multilayer capital market system in order to obtain international pricing power for commodities; (2) speed up the process of RMB internationalization.

Source: China Review News, July 14, 2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1013/8/1/6/101381618.html?coluid=148&kindid=0&docid=101381618&mdate=0715003503