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Economy/Resources - 158. page

China to Build a Second Ship Lock at the Three Gorges Dam

According to a report from 21st Century Business Herald, building a second ship lock at the Three Gorges Dam may become a priority project to break the bottleneck in the Yangtze River’s shipping. If there is a fog or wind, ships will pile up waiting to pass the ship lock. Normally it takes three to five days. In the event the ship lock is under repair, the wait to pass the Three Gorges Dam can be between seven and 10 days, or even longer. 

The Ministry of Transportation recently released a government report showing that, in 2013, the average wait time to pass the Three Gorges Dam was about 10 days. The one way capacity of the first ship lock as designed is about 50 million metric tons per year. In 2013, it was approaching the upper limit set by the design. “The limited capacity to pass the ship lock will become a major issue affecting sustainable development of the region along the Yangtze River.” The Three Gorges Project Construction Committee, under the State Council, has been tasked with preparing a proposal for the construction of the second ship lock. 

Source: 21st Century Business Herald reprinted by Xinhua, April 30, 2014. 
http://jjckb.xinhuanet.com/2014-04/30/content_502706.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Qiushi: The Security of China’s National Resources Is an Important Part of National Security

Qiushi published an article stating that the security of China’s national resources is an important part of national security. The issues facing China include the pressure from rapid economic growth and population growth, as well as limited supplies of fresh water, oil, gas, arable land, and other strategic resources. The scarcity of resources is the main problem in the security of China’s national resources and will be difficult to improve on in the near to medium term. 

The article recommended that China’s national resource security strategy should include the implementation of strategies to survey, protect, stockpile and allocate resources. It should also include strategies to increase the efficiency, substitution, and innovation of national resources as well as cooperation and diplomacy in connection with national resources. 
Source: Qiushi, April 28, 2014. 
http://www.qstheory.cn/st/zyhj/201404/t20140429_344551.htm
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Chinese Currency Exchange Rate Hit a New Low

The well-known Chinese financial web site Netease Financial recently reported that the exchange rate for the RMB has reached RMB 6.2370 for $1 USD, which is the lowest point to which it has fallen in sixteen months. Within this year, the Chinese currency depreciated against the US Dollar by 3.17 percent, making this the fastest depreciation period since 2005. The Chinese central bank suggested that the Chinese authorities are letting the market decide the value of the RMB with less and less government intervention. However, many experts have expressed the belief that the Chinese currency is moving in the direction of continuous depreciation, especially now that the U.S. Federal Reserve is proceeding to exit its quantitative easing policies. As of now, the RMB depreciation has wiped out all the appreciation gained last year, establishing the Chinese currency as the worst performer of all Asian currencies.
Source: Netease Financial, April 24, 2014
http://money.163.com/14/0424/02/9QIHREJK00253B0H.html
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Qiushi: The Chinese Economy Faces Three Major Risks

According to the periodical Qiushi, China’s economy faces three major risks. Therefore, it is important for China to “guard against deflation, the flight of venture capital, and debt default. It must prevent them from resonating together which would amplify their negative impact on the economy.” 

Regarding the risk of deflation, there is pressure on the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index to decline. The growth of the money supply is slowing down. Economic growth is also lower due to a lack of demand, with GDP growth at 7.4 percent in the first quarter of this year. 
The risk of capital flight is increasing as evident from RMB depreciation. The trade deficit and the funds outstanding for foreign exchange are growing. If economic growth continues to slow down, capital flight will accelerate, thus putting more pressure on the RMB to depreciate, which in turn will adversely impact the real estate market, the foreign exchange market, and the financial market. 
Debt default may continue in the construction, real estate, and mining industries. As more caution is exercised in providing loans and credit, market interest rates will move up, leading to a further contraction of the economy. 
Source: Qiushi, April 23, 2014 
http://www.qstheory.cn/jj/xrsd/201404/t20140423_342974.htm
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Qiushi on the Chinese Economy: Have Confidence, Patience and Determination

Qiushi published a commentary on the Chinese economy titled, “Have Confidence, Patience and Determination.” 

“First, [we should] establish confidence and let the public know that the current economy is still running in the normal range, that the trend is still smooth, and that they should not be too worried. This will stabilize everyone’s expectations. Second, [we should have] patience. It takes time to resolve excess capacity, to introduce, implement, and achieve the results of the policy of reform and to cultivate new economic growth. Therefore [we should] not be in a hurry. Being in a hurry can easily lead us to re-taking the old road. Third, [we must] have the determination to  push reform forward unswervingly, to strengthen the propaganda about the effective reforms already made, and to sum up and promote successful reform experience, boost reform morale, and stand in solidarity to make breakthroughs, all in a timely manner.” 
The commentary compares the Chinese economy to "a person who is basically healthy, but with ying and yang out of balance, and with some bad habits and illnesses. The person is now right in the critical period of the treatment and reactions may be severe, but one must bite his teeth and tough it out. After the “treatment” in this stage, the Chinese economy will see healthy growth.” 
Source: Qiushi, April 21, 2014 
http://www.qstheory.cn/wz/shp/201404/t20140421_342012.htm
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Wal-Mart China Complained about the Food Safety Issue

Well-known Chinese news site Sohu recently reported that the top management at Wal-Mart China met recently with officials from the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA). The management called for the scope of government monitoring of food labeling to be extended. Currently the CFDA only regulates retailers on food labeling but not manufacturers. In the past few years, a number of retailers have run into trouble because they were held responsible for the unsafe food that suppliers had provided. The best effort retailers can make for now is to ensure that the government correctly licenses these suppliers. The food quality is largely dependent on the supplier’s honesty. Retailers have been inspecting a certain number of samples of the food that the manufacturers supply, but this by no means covers the full range of the products they offer in stores. It is widely believed that end-to-end food safety control is required, especially on the source side, which includes suppliers. The cost for retailers to do a full-scale food inspection would be too high and unreasonable.

Source: Sohu.com, April 17, 2014
http://business.sohu.com/20140417/n398411268.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

BBC Chinese: One Fifth of China’s Arable Land Is Polluted

BBC Chinese reported that the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection recently released a research report which indicated that 16.1 percent of China’s land and 19.4 percent of China’s arable land are polluted. The scope of the research on which the report was based was sizeable, covering two thirds of all land in Mainland China. The research showed that the three heavy metals of cadmium, nickel, and arsenic are the primary pollutants in China’s soil. The Ministry said in an announcement that it is very hard to remain optimistic about the quality of China’s soil. Both the government and the Chinese people are worried about the irreparable damage brought about by China’s rapid industrialization process. The government is in the process of coming up with more comprehensive environmental protection laws. The research report also concluded that there are three primary heavy industry regions that have suffered the most severe damage from pollution. They are the Yangtze River Delta Area on the east coast, the Zhujiang Delta Area in the south, and the traditional heavy industry base in Northeastern China.

Source: BBC Chinese, April 18, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/science/2014/04/140418_china_soil_contaminated.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

In Spite of Concerns for “Ghost” Towns, Many Chinese Cities Plan for Massive Expansion

Prefecture-level cities are one level below the capital cities in China’s administrative hierarchy. In a government survey of 156 prefecture-level cities in 12 provinces, over 90 percent were planning for the development of new metropolitan districts. Additionally, the 12 provincial capital cities were planning for a total of 55 new districts. One city was found to be planning 13 new districts. At the same time, the planned areas of the new districts continue to increase in size. 
Experts have expressed concern for such a pace of "urbanization." One problem is the blind pursuit of large urban districts. In the same city, many features are being duplicated and the construction is redundant. There are also concerns about over-investment, potential bad debts, and more "ghost" towns.
Source: People’s Daily Online, April 20, 2014
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/0420/c1001-24918782.html
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources