Economy/Resources - 232. page

"People’s Forum" Magazine, which is under People’s Daily, published an article on June 1, 2010, titled “High Apartment Prices Make the Middle-class Fall – China may have become an “M-Type” society." Here is a partial translation from the article:

1. "Recently, ‘the ant race’ has become one of the most frequently used terms on the Internet and in society. “The ant race” refers to the college graduates who have no jobs or low-income jobs after graduation and have to live together in a crowded place at the outskirts of a big city, near the countryside. These people were born in the 1980s. The growth of the “ant race” is primarily caused by high apartment prices."
2. "China’s social structure may have turned into an ‘M-type’ differentiation one due to the growth of the ‘ant race.’"

Source: "People’s Forum" Magazine, June 1, 2010
http://house.people.com.cn/GB/11753145.html

A report by the Chinese Alumni Association website showed that 30% of the Chinese whose assets are 100 million Yuan ($17 million) or more are involved in the real estate industry. The report analyzed China’s magnates based on Hurun’s China’s top 100 richest people and Forbes’s China’s billionaire club from 1999 to 2009. The report also showed that over 50% of these richest people concentrated in three industries: real estate, energy, and IT. The number of elite without overseas experiences is significantly more than those with overseas experiences.

Source: Xinhua, May 26, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2010-05/26/c_12144157.htm

In a very rare meeting attended by all of the nine members of Standing Committee of the Politburo, Hu Jintao gave a lengthy speech about the importance of talent to the country. The National Talent Working Conference held in Beijing on May 25 and 26 was also televised to Party and government agencies at the provincial level. While stating that talent is the “paramount resource,” and “the talent issue is the key issue that matters for the development of the cause of the Party and the country,” Hu emphasized to “adhere to the principle that the Party controls the talent.” 

In December 2008, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCCCP) issued the Suggestions on the Implementation of Introducing High-Level Overseas Talent. A “1000-Talent Project,” implemented by the Organization Department of the CCCCP has since been underway to bring experts from other countries into China. At present, as many as 662 high-level overseas experts have been recruited. Among them, there are 448 overseas Chinese that already acquired foreign citizenship and 20 non Chinese. The 662 experts include 293 full professors, 9 associate professors, 72 research fellows in top research institutes such as Harvard, MIT, and Bell Lab; 75 high-level research personnel, and 43 senior management staff from multinational corporations, such as Boeing, GM, and Morgan Stanley.

Shanghai Securities News recently reported on the guidelines by the State Council on private investments in the petro energy field. The report focused on three primary obstacles: (1) Zones and blocks available for prospecting have all been registered, leaving nothing for private investment; (2) state-owned companies have little interest in cooperation with private partners because they do not lack either technology or funds; (3) Even in the business of oil storage and transportation, private companies do not have any pricing power. They have no control over the products that they have to purchase from the state-owned monopolies, while the governement determines the end consumer price.

Source: Shanghai Securities News, May 14, 2010
http://www.cnstock.com/paper_new/html/2010-05/14/content_20726.htm

On May 22, 2010, China Review News published a commentary giving ideas on how China can overcome its shortage of energy resources. It suggests China spend part of its huge foreign exchange reserves on investing in energy resources in foreign countries.   

“China must expand the development and reserves of energy resources in foreign countries. It must be involved in the production chains of the international energy resources from beginning to the end through shares, investment, acquisition, M & A and other methods so as to integrate one with the other and so they cannot survive without one another.”  

Source: China Review News, May 22, 2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1013/1/0/8/101310849.html?coluid=1&kindid=0&docid=101310849&mdate=0522002541

Since late April, repeated heavy rainfall has caused flooding in southern provinces including Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Hubei, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Anhui, and Yunnan. So far 15.179 million people have been affected and 101 have died, with direct economic losses of over 8 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion). 

According to the Business Blue Book issued by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on May 19, China has a luxury consumption of US$ 9.4 billion. With 27.5% of the world’s total in this market, China has surpassed the U.S. to become the largest luxury goods consumer second to Japan. Within five years, it will top the world luxury goods market with US$ 14.6 billion spent on luxury goods.