Economy/Resources - 208. page

Xinhua quoted Japan Kyodo News and reported that 923,000 Chinese tourists visited Japan in November. The figure represented an increase of 35% compared to last November. November was the first month to show an increase since Japan’s earthquake. The main reason was believed to be that the Japanese government loosened the requirements for visa applications. Another factor was that the boat crash incident at Diaoyu island in November 2010 caused a decline in the number of tourists from China in that month.

Source: Xinhua, December 17, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/overseas/2011-12/17/c_122438951.htm

For the Communist Party, the key word for the Chinese economy in 2012 appears to be “stability.” A Xinhua commentary echoed the theme of stability that was the focus of the recent Central Committee Working Meeting on the Economy. “Stability is the foundation of progress and has four key elements: maintaining the stability of macro-economic policy, the steady development of the economy, the stability of the general price level, and overall social stability.” Specifically, the commentary added, prudent monetary policy is expected and the steady development of the economy will hinge on the expansion of domestic demand, i.e., consumer demand.

Source: Xinhua, December 14, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2011-12/14/c_111244198.htm

The International Herald Leader, a publication under Xinhua News Agency, published an article on December 12, 2011, blaming the Western countries for “draining” China of its real estate properties, stocks, and currency. According to the article, since last year, foreign institutions have been quietly selling their real estate properties. Since September this year, China began to notice the trend of property sales when Blackstone sold all of its properties in Shanghai. In November, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs reduced their shares in the Bank of China. Meanwhile, foreign capital has quietly retreated from the stock market. At the same time, high-end U.S. manufacturers are leaving China. The article speculates that once foreign companies start to sell RMB on a large-scale, the RMB will devalue and China’s economy will suffer from a hard landing. The article gave two suggestions to avoid a hard landing and “fight a financial war of defense”: 1) Sharply reduce the price of real estate properties before foreigners sell their properties in China on a large scale; 2) Depreciate the RMB before foreigners sell RMB on a large scale, thus letting foreigners’ hot money “become rotten in China.”

Source: International Herald Leader, December 12, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2011-12/12/c_131295799.htm

People’s Daily reported on the 10th anniversary of China’s entry into the WTO (World Trade Organization). According to the report, China’s total foreign trade has grown by 21.6% annually since 2001. Standing as the largest exporter and the second largest importer in the world, China’s customs tariffs are now five times the level they were in 2001. Statistics show that, due to the decrease in international demand resulting from a sluggish world economic recovery, the rate of growth of China’s exports has been declining since August of this year. The authorities are fighting the downturn by adjusting the structure of exported goods, as well as by advancing the transformation of export companies. Those provinces that traditionally handle large numbers of exports are still responsible for over 80% of the country’s international trade.

Source: People’s Daily, December 11, 2011

http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2011-12/11/nw.D110000renmrb_20111211_6-01.htm?div=-1

Guangzhou Daily recently published a report complaining that other countries have rapidly increased the technical trade barriers against Chinese exports. Estimates are that the direct financial losses due to these technical trade barriers have grown by 15% per year over the last several years. Last year, the figure was US$58.2 billion. In addition to traditional trade barriers such as tariffs and quotas, ASEAN (The Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries have adopted more and more technical trade barriers against China. China’s three largest trade partners (Europe, the U.S. and Japan) have recently imposed more and more complicated technical requirements on Chinese products. For example, Chinese rice exported to Japan faces 579 technical inspection items.

Source: Guangzhou Daily, December 11, 2011
http://gzdaily.dayoo.com/html/2011-12/11/content_1554950.htm

Business Daily recently published a report on China’s currency policy changes after figures on the global manufacturing sector demonstrated it was clearly declining. The report first referred to the latest major decline of China’s PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) to 49. This was the first time since February 2009 that it fell below 50. When the PMI is below 50 it is generally considered to be an indication of recession. Meanwhile, the Euro Area PMI dropped to 46.4 and the British PMI reached 47.6. Global PMI was 49.6 in November. The United States was the only exception with the PMI being 52.7, which the report called “puzzling.” The Chinese central bank responded with an immediate decrease in the Bank Deposit Reserve Ratio. Two to three more decreases in this ratio are highly likely in the first half of 2012. The market is expecting more currency related policy shifts towards loosening up the restrictions on loans. However the concern over inflation is still keeping the government from taking more dramatic actions. The report expressed the belief that the interest rate will not go down.

Source: Business Daily, December 4, 2011
http://www.nbd.com.cn/articles/2011-12-04/620989.html

Beijing Times reported that on November 27, 2011, the China Energy Research Society published the “2011 China Energy Report.” The report indicated that due to a predicted economic growth rate of 9 percent per annum over the next five years, even though the rate of growth of energy consumption will decrease in the next five years, and even though China has a stable domestic oil supply, China’s oil imports will continue to increase. According to the 2010 China Energy Report, China imported 54.8 percent of its oil in 2010. The 2011 report expects the figure will increase to 60% by 2015.  The rate of growth in oil consumption over the next five years is expected to be 4 percent, down from 5.15 percent from 1978 to 2010.

Source: People’s Daily, November 28, 2011
http://energy.people.com.cn/GB/16408967.html

A forum was held in Guangzhou on November 28, 2011, on safeguarding the rights of China’s enterprises. At the forum, Professor Li Jianwei from the China University of Political Science and Law revealed that private enterprises in China have an average lifespan of only 2.9 years. Li said that the reason for private enterprises’ short lifespan is that these enterprises face various legal risks. Compared to national enterprises, private enterprises are in an inferior position.

Source: Guangzhou Daily, November 28, 2011
http://www.ce.cn/xwzx/gnsz/gdxw/201111/28/t20111128_22871174.shtml