Economy/Resources - 174. page
People’s Daily: 100 Million Chinese Tourists Expected to Travel Overseas in 2014
The China Consumers Association recently published the 2013 Travel and Meal Investigation Report. According to the report, currently, the number of countries and regions that Chinese citizens have selected for traveling overseas has reached 150. In 2012, Chinese tourists spent US$102.1 billion when they travelled overseas. It is expected that the tourist population will exceed 90 million in 2013 and break the 100 million mark in 2014. The report indicated that, when traveling, more and more people favor the self-guided tour.
Source: People’s Daily, December 6, 2013
http://travel.people.com.cn/n/2013/1206/c41570-23763050.html
Trading of Chinese Renminbi Is Increasing Rapidly in Russia
Russian Finam recently released data indicating that, as of November, the trading volume of the RMB at the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) had increased 19 times since April. At the same time, statistics from many Russian banks with RMB-related businesses showed that the Russian public’s recognition and acceptance of the RMB has also risen. Analysts believe that the weakening of the euro and the dollar, the steady growth of Sino-Russian trade, and other factors have been accelerating the process of the internationalization of the RMB.
Non-Performing Loans Continue to Grow
According to the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the total value of non-performing loans has increased for seven consecutive quarters.
Xia Bin: Urbanization Depends on Further Reforms
Xia Bin, Director-General, Financial Research Institute, Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC), People’s Republic of China, wrote that the two key issues affecting urbanization in China are welfare benefits to farmers and urban planning.
Due to Local Debts, Shadow Banking, and Property Bubbles, China’s Economy May Crash at Any Time
On December 3, 2013, the Hexun website, a leading financial and securities information website in China, published an article on three major financial risks that China faces. The three major financial risks in China are local government’s debts, shadow banking, and property bubbles. Once one of these 3 financial risks gets out of control, China’s economy may crash at any time.
China’s local government’s debts have been growing continuously in recent years. Currently, local debts have reached around 20 trillion Chinese yuan, which is 40 percent of its total GDP for 2012. Shadow banking in China poses the 2nd biggest risk for its financial system. As China has never publicized any real estate statistical data, there has been a debate as to whether China has a property bubble. However, according to scholars’ research there are 68 million vacant housing units in China. If that is true, then China’s property bubble is very large. Once the bubble breaks, a destructive domino chain reaction may not only crash China’s economy but also lead to wide scale social unrest in China.
Source: Hexun, December 3, 2013
http://opinion.hexun.com/2013-12-03/160234304.html
CRN: The Emerging Countries Are Good Consumers for China’s Excess Capacity
China Review News (CRN) recently published an article discussing China’s manufacturing overcapacity issue. China’s market demand apparently does not match the volume of current production. China is facing a major problem of excess manufacturing capacity. It is not easy to resolve it without massively increasing the unemployment rate. The author expressed the belief that the Chinese manufacturing structure was not designed for domestic consumption to begin with. Therefore, it is highly possible that emerging economies, whose share of the global market has grown to 29.7 percent (from 15.4 percent), may be a good target market. The article suggested that the Chinese companies take the opportunity of an appreciated Chinese currency and invest in the new markets so that a large percentage of China’s manufacturing capacity can be consumed.
Source: China Review News, November 28, 2013
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1028/9/1/2/102891236.html?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=102891236&mdate=1128074739
Sum of 31 Provincial GDP Stats Was 5.3 Trillion More Than National Stats
Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics announced the country’s 31 provincial GDP data for the first three quarters of this year. The total of the 31 provincial GDP was 43.95 trillion yuan, which exceeded the national statistics of 38.68 trillion by 5.3 trillion.
In fact, this phenomenon has been going on for years. The media have been reporting that, since 1985, when the central government and provincial and local level governments started to compile GDP data independently, the sum of the provincial GDP data has been higher than the national statistics, and the gap has been increasing. For example, the total of the 2009 provincial GDP was above the national figure by 2.68 trillion yuan; the gap increased to 3 trillion yuan in 2010, 4.6 trillion in 2011 and 5.76 in 2012.
According to Liu Yuanchun, the Vice president of Renmin University of China, the main cause is that local governments engage in data manipulation. In order to accomplish the tasks such as energy conservation and performance goals, including GDP growth, local governments modify the data to make it look better. When the reporter interviewed a county government fiscal chief in a city in West China, the official affirmed that such data fraud is almost a routine.
source: Xinhua, November 27, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2013-11/27/c_125766611.htm