Economy/Resources - 155. page

According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, based on the standard set by United Nations Human Settlements Program, out of 657 cities in China, over 300 cities can be categorized as facing a “severe water shortage.” The Ministry also disclosed that the consumption structure of China shows that agricultural use is at 61 percent, industrial use is at 24 percent, and residential use in the urban regions is at 13 percent. 

Source: Xinhua, May 17, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-05/17/c_1110734884.htm

China Securities reported that, since the beginning of 2014, people have been defaulting on high-end real estate loans or have simply abandoned their property. Some bank staff members have said that they no longer make housing loans. Real estate auction announcements frequently appear on the homepage of major auction websites. It will take a couple of years for banks to auction off their foreclosed properties. Few banks are interested in offering low interest loans; they prefer to keep the interest rate at 10 percent or above. However, some investment professionals indicated that those who are willing to pay 10 percent interest for loans are more likely to default. Typically, they have secured emigrant status and bought properties overseas. They are the high risk groups for defaults on loans. 

Xinhua recently reported that, according to the E-House Real Estate Research Institute’s "Report on Real Estate Enterprises’ Capital in the First Quarter of 2014," China’s real estate companies are tight on money.

For the first quarter, the year-on-year increase in the rate of fully-funded capital was 6.6 percent, a significant drop from last year’s 26.5 percent. On the source of capital, year-on-year foreign investment decreased 33.9 percent, while money from domestic lending and self-raised capital increased by 20.4 percent and 9.6 percent respectively.
The year-on-year increase in the rate of money lent domestically, foreign investment, self-raised money, and other sources of capital also dropped by 12.7 percent, 66.7 percent, 11.7 percent, and 30.8 percent respectively.

Unlike the tight money in real estate, the land market was still hot. Ten typical cities’ land transfer fees totaled 269 billion yuan (US$44 billion), an increase of 83.1 percent from a year ago. The total in land transfer fees from first tier cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen) was 175 billion yuan (US$28.6 billion), which was 35 percent of last year’s annual amount.

As both overseas capital and domestic capital are drying up and as land prices keep increasing, the real estate business faces a severe money challenge. "Mid-level and small companies need to prepare for bad times. Some companies that can only tolerate a low risk may be forced out of the market."

Source: Xinhua, May 13, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/house/bj/2014-05-13/c_1110654420.htm

Beijing News reported that about 20,000 ducks died within a week in six farms. The number is increasing daily. Wang Haijun started raising ducks last year. Since April 29, 2014, many of his 7,200 ducks have suddenly died. Less than 600 have survived. His neighbor Pan Meibing found that his ducks started to die on May 4. As of May 7, 2014, of 4,800 grown-up ducks, over 3,000 had died. Of 4,800 younger ducks, over 500 had died. Every day, large numbers of duck are dying.

Xinhua reported that, according to statistics, in the first quarter of 2014, 41.28 percent of stock funds and blend funds sold off their real estate holdings.