Economy/Resources - 262. page

2009 will likely be the most difficult year for Chinese agriculture in the 21st century, according to No. 1 Notice of the Chinese Communist Party and State Council on February 1, 2009. “At present, the international financial crisis continues to spread and the world economy is slowing down significantly. The negative impact on our Mainland China’s agriculture and countryside development has constantly emerging, said the document issued through Xinhua.

Source: China Ministry of Finance, February 2, 2009
http://www.ccgp.gov.cn/gysh/qtlb/nysb/815546.shtml

China must increase its expenditures from 4,000 billion to 10,000 billion Yuan to avoid negative growth, said Study Times, the publication of the Party School of CPC, on December 29, 2008. The current cycle of investment has run its course. It is clear next year’s investment will be around –10%, a reduction of 1,000 billion to 1,500 billion yuan. The previously announced 4,000 billion yuan government expenditure for 2009 and 2010 will not offset the decrease of the market demand. Moreover, exports in 2000 will likely see a growth of -10 to -20%.

Source: Study Times, December 29, 2008
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=0&id=2365&bid=4

Nanfang Weekend published an article on sluggish domestic demand in the Chinese economy. According to the article, if one produces the value of 100 yuan, 45.4 yuan would go to one’s own pocket, while 23.1 would be State’s fiscal revenue and 31.5 would go to capital and inventory of companies. In the past 30 years, per capita income has been increasing. But the GDP growth rate exceeds that of the per capita income, leading to weak domestic demand, concluded the article. 

Source: Nanfang Weekend, December 18, 2008
http://www.infzm.com/content/21337

Agricultural authorities have killed 377,000 chickens after an outbreak of bird flu in two areas of Jiangsu province, said the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry said it received information about H5N1 infection among hens in Dongtai and Haian on Monday December 15, 2008.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, December 16, 2008
http://www.agri.gov.cn/xxlb/t20081216_1191038.htm 

Real estate was down significantly from January to November according to November monthly release of the National Bureau of Statistics on December 12, 2008. While investment by developers went up by 22.22% comparing to same period last year, house sales were down by 20.6% and new mortgages down by 25.6%.

Source: Xinhua, December 12, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/house/2008-12/12/content_10492305.htm

Deputy General Manager of the Russian Natural Gas and Oil Industrial Company said the company is planning to export 1.2 million tons of oil to China while he was interviewed by Siberia Oil magazine. He said that the company will increase oil exports to China in the future through Kazakhstan, and the Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline.

Source: people.com.cn, November 25, 2008
http://world.people.com.cn/GB/57507/8402100.html

A three-year government expedition survey shows soil erosion of 3,569,200 square kilometers. This includes water erosion of 1,612,200 square kilometers and wind erosion of 1,957,000 square kilometers. The ramifications of soil erosion on China’s economic and social development are “far-reaching and even irreversible.” The three-year survey was the largest since 1949 with over 800 participants traveling 140,000 kilometers (315 counties) and analyzing nearly 200,000 questionnaires.

Source: Xinhua, November 20, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-11/20/content_10389295.htm

As China’s central bank’s Nov. 18 monetary policy report reveals, the third quarter housing market continues to plunge. The year-over-year decline of housing sales in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou are 55.8%, 41.1%, 46.2% and 25.9%, respectively. The nationwide commodity housing sales over the first three quarters this year is 0.4 billion sq meters, 14.9% lower than the same period last year. Total sales revenue is 1.6 trillion yuan (234 billion dollars), only 85% of the same period last year.

The report states the main reason for the drop of real estate transactions as the fast climbing the housing price in the period before. With the economic prospect turning volatile and tumbling stock market, buyers have changed their expectation of future income and trend of housing price. The real estate is a pillar industry of the economy as a major engine for steel, construction materials, and household appliance manufactures.

Source: Beijing Evening News, November 18, 2008
http://www.ben.com.cn/fzcq/fcqc/200811/t20081118_491621.htm