Economy/Resources - 223. page

On December 18, 2010, Xinhua News Agency held an opening ceremony to launch its financial information exchange. It is the first exchange that offers financial information worldwide. It plans to work with other global institutes to provide services on the trading of financial information, cultural innovation products, media news information, advertising, patent transfers, and business information.

Li Congjun, President of Xinhua, said, “Xinhua Financial Information Exchange … eventually will be the most influential financial information and cultural industry service center in the world.” Xu Feng, General Manager of the exchange, said its position is one of “exchanges of exchanges (including stock, commodities, and more).” “When the time is right, Xinhua will call for a World Exchange Conference.”

Sources: Xinhua, December 18, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-12/18/c_12894394.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-12/18/c_13654860.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2010-12/18/c_12893815.htm

On December 16, 2010, China Review News discussed a report from Radio France Internationale (RFI) titled “China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation Expands Its Empire around the World.”

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp), the biggest oil company in Asia, has purchased the American-owned Argentine subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation for $2.45 billion U.S. So far this year, China has spent $38.8 billion U.S. on mergers and acquisitions in the petrochemical energy business around the world, more than it has ever spent before on M & A in its history. “With the undisguised ambition of conquering the world, Sinopec Corp, together with two other Chinese oil companies, will form a golden triangle to establish a new network for the world’s oil distribution.”

Source: China Review News, December 16, 2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1015/3/9/4/101539497.html?coluid=59&kindid=0&docid=101539497&mdate=1216095427

On December 15, 2010, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) issued its blue book on society. The book pointed out that, while China’s economy is developing rapidly, it also faces challenges and social issues. The problems are particularly striking in the areas of income distribution, labor relations, and prices for goods and housing. The book summarized the five major issues and challenges for China’s social development in 2010. They were: 1) The economy is entering a new phase; the development model needs to be transformed. 2) Conflicts in labor relations have become evident; a new generation of farm workers has become the focus of attention. 3) Reform in the distribution of income has met heavy resistance; be aware of the “trap of middle-income nations.” 4) “Land urbanization” has become hot again; be aware of damaging farmers’ interests. 5) The semi-urbanization problem is very serious; villages are shrinking in some areas.

Source: China News Agency, December 16, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/2010/12-16/2724961.shtml

Xinhua quoted several government researchers, stating that China would not increase interest rates to counter inflationary pressure, since doing so would most likely attract international “hot money” to China and hurt China’s economy. Instead, China will rely on lending controls, such as increasing the ratio of lenders’ cash reserve requirements. On December 10, the Bank of China increased the reserve requirement ratio by another 50 basis points, which is the third increase in one month and the sixth in 2010.

In November, China’s CPI increased 5.1% over the same month in 2009. The CPI for food increased 11.7% over the same period last year. Since the global financial crisis began, China has added 17 trillion yuan (U.S. $2.6 trillion) in new loans and the supply of renminbi has reached 70 trillion yuan (U.S. $10.6 trillion).

Source: Xinhua, December 14, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2010-12/14/c_12879617_3.htm

On December 10, 2010. People’s Daily published an article discussing the development of the culture industry in China. The article stated that the government’s planning for the culture industry and its policies has played an important role in the rapid development of the culture industry. During the 11th Five Year economic development cycle, provinces invested 2.5 billion yuan (US $400 million) in developing the culture industry. The government also worked with several top universities, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Beijing University, and Tsinghua University, to establish culture industry research centers. A major tenet on the theory side was that the state-owned culture business and the market-based culture industry should co-exist and be the “two wheels” that propel cultural development.

Source: People’s Daily Online, December 10, 2010
http://culture.people.com.cn/GB/13443697.html

China News Service (CNS) reported that Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Dejiang, who is also a member of the Politburo of the CCP Central Committee, recently spoke at the opening ceremony of the World High Speed Railway Conference, saying that China considers the high speed railway industry a strategic emerging industry. The government is giving this industry a high priority. In his speech, Zhang positioned safety as the top focus. He also emphasized “independent innovation” and developing China-owned intellectual property. Zhang called for action on the “Go Out” strategy in this industry as well. This is the first time that the three-day World High Speed Railway Conference was held outside of Europe. The Conference was hosted jointly by the Chinese Ministry of Railways and the International Union of Railways (UIC, Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer).

Source: China News Service, December 8, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/cj/2010/12-08/2706780.shtml

China News Service (CNS) reported that Xu Shaoshi, China’s Minister of Land and Resources, commented that there is a 50% shortage in the supply of land used annually for construction. Xu expected the situation to worsen over the next five years. He suggested that, although China is a large country, only 20% of the land resources are livable. Land suitable for agriculture is very limited as well. This requires the farmland protection system to be very restrictive. Industrialization and urbanization are the primary driving forces behind the ever increasing demand for the land used in construction. Meanwhile effective utilization of land is minimal. Xu believes that establishing more restrictive land-use standards and belt-tightening on the use of land for construction are a must for the future.

Source: China News Service, December 7, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/estate/2010/12-07/2706715.shtml

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released its 2011 “Economic Blue Book.” The Blue Book discusses real estate in 2010 and 2011. It reports that over 85% of households cannot afford to buy their own home. The market price of housing is growing much faster than personal income. An urban family would have to save their entire income for over eight years in order to buy a house. The Blue Book observed that another feature of China’s real estate is the government monopoly of the supply. Such a monopoly is an important force that drives up the price of real estate.

Source: Xinhua, December 8, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/house/2009-12/08/content_12608338.htm