Economy/Resources - 255. page

The biggest challenge that Chinese export businesses face next to currency is compliance with the “technical barriers to trade,” the international product standards issued by the WTO. According to the National Bureau of Quality Inspection, 36.1 percent of export businesses failed to comply with the WTO’s “Technical Barriers to Trade.” In 2008, they suffered financial losses of US$50.5 billion.

Research data suggests that the top five countries or regions that affect China’s export businesses are the EU, U.S., Japan, Russia and Latin American countries. The top five businesses that suffered the most are electric parameters, agricultural production, textiles/garments/shoes/hats, and wood/paper/non-metasl and chemicals/minerals/metals. 

Source: Xinhua, June 25, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2009-06/25/content_11602642.htm

Reports yet to be released by the Academy of Social Sciences suggest that 40 percent of small to mid size businesses were hit by the financial crisis and went bankrupt, while 40 percent of the remainins businesses are struggling for survival. Most of them lack the assets to secure business loans.

 Small to Mid size businesses account for 99 percent of the total businesses in China, contributing 60 percent of the GDP and 50 percent of the national tax income. They provide over 75 percent of the job opportunities for local regions.

Source: Huan Qiu, June 28, 2009
http://china.huanqiu.com/roll/2009-06/499644.html

For the first few months of 2009, China’s culture industry experienced double digit growth of 17 percent, while its book sales grew 20 percent and movie ticket sales were up 40 percent compared to the same period last year. In order to capitalize on this growth, China has instituted a series of plans to include the culture industry in its national “Eleventh Five Year Plan” and make it a new area to stimulate domestic demand.

Ministry of Cultural is speeding up formation of guidelines, organizing national conventions, and encouraging non-public enterprises to enter the culture industry. Below are a few examples:

• On April 24, the Ministry of Culture signed a cooperative agreement with the Bank of China to establish a long term strategic partnership to secure financial funding for new culture enterprises and projects.
• On May 18, during the 5th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzheng, 3.5 million visitors were at the expo, 830,000 more than the previous time.
• On June 15, the Shanghai Cultural Equity Exchange, a platform for the trading of property rights, creditor’s rights and equity rights of culture products was formed. There were 500 active projects being traded including 50 from foreign countries.

Source: Xinhua, June 18, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/society/2009-06/18/content_11563116.htm

Wei Houkai, Deputy Director of the Urban Development and Environment Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, stated that the traditional urban development model in China has come to its end and China needs to transition to a new era. Wei listed the following concerns in China’s development model:
1. High growth.
2. High resource consumption – production is generated based on large scale consumption of energy, land, and raw materials.
3. High discharge – the energy cost per unit and waste discharge rate is the highest in the world.
4. Over-development and lack of planning.
5. Disaccord – the gap between the coast area and inland area, and the huge (4 to 6 times) income gap between the urban and the rural areas.

Source: China News Agency, June 15, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/cj/cj-gncj/news/2009/06-15/1734339.shtml

The Chinese Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation announced that, effective June 1, 2009 export tax rebates will be raised for processed farm products, machinery, shoes, glassware, iron and steel products, covering more than 2,600 items. It is the seventh time since August 2008 that China has raised export tax rebates to shore up its exports.

Source: The Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China, June 8, 2009
http://big5.gov.cn/gate/big5/www.gov.cn/jrzg/2009-06/08/content_1334929.htm

Nanfang Daily reported that China has made policy changes to smooth the process for domestic enterprises to buy properties overseas. There are three check points for such purchases: National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) – checks on whether the investment is in line with national interests; Ministry of Commerce – checks on trade balance, anti-trust, WTO suit, etc; and State Administration of Foreign Exchange – approves use of foreign currencies. The Ministry of Commerce has relaxed their control.

In 2009, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange published “Foreign Currency Management Regulations on Domestic Enterprises’ Overseas Investments (Draft of Soliciting Opinions),” which changed the funds source verification process from approving before the investment to recording after the investment.

The Ministry of Commerce published “Measures for Overseas Investment Management” in March. The regulations have the following changes: 1. Ministry of Commerce will only review and approve a limited number of large overseas investments. 2. The process is simplified so that most companies only need to submit a form and receive an investment certificate in three working days. 3. The financial viability and feasibility of the investment is left to the company to decide.

Source: Nanfang Daily, June 2, 2009
http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/epaper/nfrb/content/20090602/ArticelB03002FM.htm

The International Herald Leader published an article on the collapse of Rio Tinto’s controversial deal with China’s state-owned aluminum company, Chinalco. The Chinalco’s deal, valued at $24.3 billion, would have been China’s largest investment in a foreign company. Rio recently announced to would combine its large iron ore operations with BHP Billiton instead. 

China News, a state owned and internationally oriented Chinese news agency, recently reported on the idea of having Chinese oil futures. The Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Deputy Mayor of Shanghai delivered speeches that indicated the State Council intended to introduce crude oil, gasoline, diesel and asphalt futures at the Shanghai Futures Exchange. The Exchange has been pushing the oil futures for quite some time and the system is ready. However, the Chinese oil industry is highly centralized and the related oil companies are not willing to give up the pricing monopoly. Another major barrier is foreign exchange control, which prevents international players from participating in the commodity trade.

Source: China News, June 2, 2009.
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/cj/cj-gncj/news/2009/06-04/1719401.shtml