Economy/Resources - 210. page

Wuhan Evening News recently reported that over 30 billion tons of polluted water has flown through the Yangtze River since 2006. Zang Xiaoping, the Deputy Chief of the Yangtze River Water Resources Protection Bureau, commented in an interview that – although pollution indeed is intensifying – the rate of increase in water pollution is slowing down. Zang said the Yangtze River discharges a total of 1 trillion tons of water into the sea annually and 30 billion tons of polluted water is only a small percentage. He said that the pollution level will not result in “fundamental” health threats. Large cities along the river are enhancing their pollution control, but Zang is “worried” about the pollution caused by the development pace of small cities, which are, currently, the primary contributors to water pollution.

Source: Wuhan Evening News, November 13, 2011
http://cjmp.cnhan.com/whwb/html/2011-11/13/content_4919640.htm

Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently reported that the news is spreading widely in the Chinese media that the prices of agricultural products have been dropping. As an example, key Chinese cabbage producers saw a sharp drop in prices – 90% compared to last year. Even if they sold out their entire inventory of products, the farmers could hardly recover their basic costs. Famous Chinese economist Hu Xingdou suggested that this pattern of the price dropping every other year resulted mainly from unbalanced information between the farmers and the market. The lack of a futures market for agricultural products and the lack of organized farmer’s associations have contributed to farmers’ inability to manage market risks. Nor has the government lent a helping hand to the farmers. The recent adjustments in the macro economy had a negative impact on the capital market for investment in agricultural products.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 10, 2011
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/s-11102011095715.html

People’s Daily recently republished an article on the latest development in the collapse of the Ministry of Railway’s problematic construction plans. The report stated that over 10,000 kilometers of construction work had to be suspended nationwide. Together with the 13,000 kilometers currently under construction, the gap in funding is around RMB 1 trillion. For the time being the Ministry of Railways has collected RMB 200 billion to fill the gap. The State Council is coordinating a “blood transfusion” campaign to save the troubled Ministry of Railways. Tax adjustments and government bonds are also being considered.

Source: People’s Daily, November 6, 2011
http://auto.people.com.cn/GB/16147703.html

On October 29, 2011, Radio Free Asia published an article based on China’s official media reports regarding the rapidly declining rural population in China. From 2005 to 2009, China lost over 7000 rural village committees each year. An average of 20 administrative villages disappeared each day. Due to the large numbers of the rural laborers migrating to cities, the problem of abandoned arable farmland is very serious, affecting the stability and security of the country’s agriculture and food supply.

China’s farmers do not own the land they work on. On behalf of the state, local authorities can take away their farmland legally or illegally, at any time. According China’s Ministry of Land and Resources, in the first three quarters of this year alone, local authorities across China took away 37,000 farms for other illegal uses, an increase of more than 4% compared to the same period last year, .

As the authorities grab more and more farmland, farmers have lost interest in farming. They simply do not know when developers will confiscate their land in order to sell it. Besides, Chinese farmers cannot make much money or even lose money from farming due to the fact that the prices for seeds, pesticides, and utilities are increasing so rapidly.

Source: Radio Free Asia, October 29, 2011
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jz-10292011003613.html

On October 28, 2011, Xinhua republished an article originally from Xinmin Evening News titled “China Has the Most Elderly People in the World; 30 Million Men Will Have to Remain Single Due to the Gender Ratio Imbalance.”

According to last year’s national census data, 70% of China’s population is between 15 years old and 59 years old. Meanwhile, children under 14 years of age account for only 16% of the total population. Over the next 10 years, the proportion of young people in China will significantly decrease. In the 21st century, China will always have more elderly people than any other country in the world.

In addition to an aging population, another major challenge facing China is the gender imbalance at birth. At present, there are 15 million more males than females in China. The imbalance in the sex ratio will continue to rise over the next 10 years. As a result, nearly 30 million men will not be able to get married.

Source: Xinhua, October 28, 2011
http://pdf.news365.com.cn/xmpdf/20111028/XM111028A106.pdf
http://news.xinhuanet.com/society/2011-10/28/c_111131402.htm

Yang Cheng Evening News reported that three high-speed railways in Guangdong Province stopped or postponed construction work and entered the “winter sleep” phase in advance due to an interruption in the chain of financing. It has been reported that China’s Ministry of Railways owed 130 billion yuan (over US$20 billion) to the construction company. Some peasant workers have not received their wages for more than half a year. 　

Source: Yang Cheng Evening News, October, 27, 2011
http://www.ycwb.com/epaper/ycwb/html/2011-10/27/content_1241444.htm

Xinhua reported that recently some real estate developers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou have reduced their housing prices in order to promote sales. For example, the “Beijing Business International City” apartment complex is selling at 15,000 yuan per sq. meter (U.S. $256 per sq. ft), down from its peak of 25,000 yuan. “Long Hu Li Cheng” in Shanghai gave the buyers a 280,000 yuan (U.S. $43,000) discount, or 20 to 30% off the list price. This has attracted a lot of buyers, but has also greatly agitated the earlier buyers who purchased properties at a higher price. The earlier buyers are demanding refunds of the “lost value” or even that they be able to return the properties to the developers.

The article listed three groups of developers who are considering the decision of whether to reduce the price of property. The first group conducts quick sales in a short period to recover their capital investment. It tends to include limited developers with only spotty action and does not impact the overall market price. The second group is the small to mid-sized developers who might be forced to lower prices because of pressure to repay loans. There was a burst in real estate trusts after 2009 with an interest rate of 15% or more. The trusts must be paid back between September of this year and the end of next year. The third group is the big companies that have sufficient capital. They face a pricing dilemma. If they don’t lower their prices, the properties won’t sell; but if they do lower their prices, there might be complicated disputes with owners who paid higher prices earlier.

According to statistics, of 70 large or mid-size cities, the housing prices in 17 of those cities were lower in September than a year ago; 29 kept the price the same; and for the cities with an increased price, the increases were all below 0.3%.

Wen Jiabao recently expressed that it is critical to control the real estate market and maintain a healthy growth of the market (Ed: not to have a dramatic drop in prices). Officials from Shanghai and Beijing all expressed their determination to “unswervingly control the real estate market and ensure that housing prices remain ‘flat or with only a slight decrease.’”

Source: Xinhua, Oct 26, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2011-10/26/c_111125641.htm

According to Worker’s Daily, by October 17, 2011, ten major production accidents had occurred across China, making October of 2011 the highest work accident occurrence month this year. Work safety in China is now in a grave situation.

On October 21, 2011,  Luo Lin, head of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), said at the National Safety Production Video Conference that more major accidents had occurred in the beginning of the fourth quarter than in the same period for the last 3 years. In October of 2010, there were 6 major production accidents across China. This October, by October 17, 2011, 10 major production accidents occurred in China with 151 casualties and missing people. The accidents involved several industries, with the most being in coal mining.

Source: Worker’s Daily, October 22, 2011
http://news.workercn.cn/c/2011/10/22/111022041037643367619.html