Economy/Resources - 76. page

On January 22, holding $700 billion (US$109 billion) in debt, the largest in Chinese history, the HNA Group filed for bankruptcy. The High People’s Court of Hainan Province is currently conducting a legal review of the HNA Group.

The HNA Group was formed in 1993 in the airline business. It gradually diversified into real estate, banking, and the Hotel industry. Between 2015 and 2017 alone, it had 40 international mergers and acquisitions having a total value of US$40 billion. At the end of 2017, the HNA Group was in a debt crisis due to excessive expansion. In July 2018, Wang Jian, then chairman of HNA Group, died in an accident in France. Chen Feng, who was a retired HNA board member at the time, took over HNA. In 2018, HNA reported its first loss of 4.9 billion yuan (US$0.76 billion). In the first half of 2019, the HNA Group lost 3.52 billion yuan (US$0.55 billion) with 706.726 billion yuan (US$110 billion) in outstanding debt. In 2019, HNA hired a risk mitigation group that tried to get it out of the liquidity crisis. Since then it has been selling the non-core businesses. On February 29, 2020, Hainan Provincial People’s Government sent a task force team to conduct a financial review and analysis of the HNA Group and its 2,000 subsidiaries. In the past year, HNA has also gone through a number of personnel changes. On January 22, after sorting through the company’s capital, management and debt structure, the task force team announced the bankruptcy decision and stated that HNA will have to go through a restructuring process.

Sources:
1. China.com, January 22, 2021
http://finance.china.com.cn/industry/company/20210122/5482913.shtml
2. Central News Agency, January 29, 2021
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202101290258.aspx
3. Radio Free Asia, January 29, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/wul0129c-01292021043521.html

Wu Jiemin, a researcher at the Institute of Sociology, Taiwan Academia Sinica, won the “Humanities and Society Academic Award” issued by the Academia Sinica for his book Rent-Seeking Developmental State in China: Taiwan businessmen, Guangdong Model and Global Capitalism. The book discusses in great detail the connections between China and global capitalism.

In an interview with Voice of America, Wu Jiemin said that China is trying to bypass the global value chain system controlled by Western countries to build a value chain system that Chinese capital can control on its own. The U.S.-China confrontation situation cannot be changed in the short-term. If China wants to succeed in the challenge, it must make a big breakthrough in science and technology. However, scientific and technological development is closely related to academic and free speech and China is currently under a highly authoritarian rule. Without freedom of thinking and speech, Wu doubts such “overtaking on a curve” would be successful.

According to Wu, one of the key features in China is a massive systematic and collective rent seeking undertaking. The so-called rent-seeking is a term in economics. The country is not directly engaged in production activities but intervenes in the industrial chain to extract a certain amount of interest. This interest is called economic rent or political rent.

Wu said that China has a special system design for extracting benefits, including value-added fees, management fees, approval fees for leased land, and social security fees. Further, local governments play an important and unique role. Rent-seeking activities in China are rampant.

“The local government acts like an intermediary or broker, which is to integrate the resources needed in various production processes to a certain extent. … In this process, the local government also obtains a lot of tax benefits from the manufacturers, including economic rents obtained from foreign capital and local manufacturers. This revenue becomes an additional income for the local government outside of its budget. Part of it goes to the hidden coffers for the officials, some goes to the personal pocket of the official and the rest becomes tax revenue to fund construction.” On the other hand, foreign investors in China are disgusted by the rent-seeking behavior of local officials, but they have to deal with them and seek their protection.

Wu believes that in the past 10 years, the Guangdong model transformation and the Chinese model transformation have focused on bypassing global value chain hegemony and trying to build a value chain system that Chinese capital can control by itself.

In Wu’s opinion, one side of China’s development model is its biggest gain in foreign exchanges and fiscal revenues that it has spent on the military, economic modernization, and urbanization. China’s subways, high-speed rails, and highways are examples. However, Wu said that the other side of China’s development model is high exploitation of labor, low welfare, and lack of human rights.

Source: Voice of America, January 20, 2021

https://www.voachinese.com/a/China-successfully-challenge-US-passing-global-value-chain-hegemony-build-his-own-self-capital-value-chain-20210120/5744700.html

According to China’s state news agency Xinhua, the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that Shanghai has successively started vaccinations against the New Coronavirus (covid-19 virus), using vaccines of the inactivated whole virus.
　　
It is reported that this emergency vaccination in Shanghai mainly involves personnel in key positions with a higher risk of contracting the new coronary pneumonia. Specifically, the front-line customs inspection and quarantine personnel at the port involved in imported cold chain items, port loading and unloading, handling, transportation and other related personnel; international and domestic transportation personnel; personnel to work and study overseas; border port staff who are facing a higher risk from overseas epidemics; medical and health personnel; workers at government agencies and departments of public security, armed police, fire fighters, those in community service; water, electricity, gas and other related personnel; personnel at transportation, logistics, elderly care facilities, sanitation, funeral, communications and other related areas.
　　
In due course, Shanghai will launch the new coronavirus vaccination for people going abroad for private purposes.

Source: Xinhua, December 26, 2020
http://www.xinhuanet.com/local/2020-12/26/c_1126910999.htm

A report to Congress, drafted by the Departments of Commerce (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and State, addresses the issue of human trafficking in the seafood supply chain. The Report lists 29 countries that are most at risk for human trafficking in the seafood sector –documenting the quantity and value of seafood imports from each listed country, and discusses seafood traceability programs in each listed country.

“The fishing sector has an inherently high risk for human trafficking. The work is considered hazardous and often relies heavily on a low-skilled, migrant, easily replaced workforce, vulnerable to trafficking. Fishing is also inherently isolating, with vessels sometimes spending months to years at sea, which impedes individuals’ escape from or reporting of abuse. Emotional and physical abuse, sometimes resulting in death; excessive overtime; poor living conditions; deceptive or coercive recruiting practices; and lack or underpayment of wages are examples of the abuses sustained by human trafficking victims in the fishing sector. Countries with weak legal protections for civil liberties and workers’ rights; high levels of corruption, crime, violence, political instability, poverty; and immigration policies that limit employment options or movement are at an increased risk for human trafficking. Illicit recruiters, unscrupulous vessel captains, and human traffickers exploit such conditions to perpetrate fraud, deception, and violence.”

The report points out that the PRC (People’s Republic of China) is a significant offender in the use of forced labor in its fishing sector, with numerous reports known on Chinese-flagged and -owned vessels throughout the world. “China has the largest fishing fleet in the world and contains a wide variety of vessels that operate on the high seas and in foreign countries’ EEZs (Exclusive Economic Zone) throughout the world. The majority of the crews on board are migrant workers from Indonesia and the Philippines but have also been noted to be from Africa and other Asian countries. According to the media, governmental and non-governmental reports, there have been numerous incidents of forced labor reported on Chinese fishing vessels. Workers report excessive working hours, poor living conditions, isolation at sea for months to years, verbal and physical abuse, nonpayment of wages, document, and debt bondage. Deaths have occurred as the result of abuse on these vessels. Workers are sometimes recruited by agencies that use deceptive tactics regarding their wages and contracts, and they are often required to pay recruitment fees and sign debt contracts. The Chinese fishing fleet is a major player in global IUU (illegal, unreported, and unregulated) fishing; crew members forced to engage in IUU activities on board these vessels are also at high risk of undue penalization. Fishing observers report insufficient oversight of the PRC’s fishing industry, which leaves fishermen at increased risk of forced labor.”

The Report also discusses current U.S. government efforts to combat human trafficking in the seafood industry, including enforcement mechanisms and provides ten recommendations for legislative and administrative action to combat human trafficking in this sector. Recommendations include outreach to listed countries, promoting global traceability efforts and international initiatives to address human trafficking, and strengthening collaboration with the industry to address human trafficking in the seafood supply chain.

Source: State Department, December 23, 2020
https://www.state.gov/report-to-congress-human-trafficking-in-the-seafood-supply-chain/

Moutai (aka Maotai) Liquor, one of China’s most famous baijiu, a 100 proof distilled spirit made of wheat and sorghum, often appears on the gift list of wealthy individuals, and sometimes of corrupt officials.

This year, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Guizhou province, a government body responsible for managing state owned enterprises and also a 100 percent owner of the parent company of Kweichow Moutai, ordered the liquor producer to present a pricey holiday gift to the government of its home province — 4 percent of Moutai’s outstanding stock, or 50.24 million shares worth 91.95 billion yuan ($14.08 billion) at Thursday’s closing price of 1,830.34 yuan. The recipient is Guizhou Province State-owned Asset Operation, which undertakes large government investments and infrastructure projects.

After the event, the stake held by the parent company of the sorghum-based baijiu hard liquor producer declined to 54 percent, while Guizhou Province State-owned Asset Operation, together with its parent company Guizhou Financial Holding Group, held up to 4.9 percent of Moutai’s shares.

When interviewed by Nikkei Asia, Andrew Collier, managing director at Orient Capital Research in Hong Kong said, “China is increasingly asking its firms that are the most successful financially to contribute to state coffers.”  “Moutai has been wildly successful and has probably drawn some attention for its success, particularly as its home province is one of the poorest in China.”

One year ago, the parent of Kweichow Moutai also granted an equal number of shares to the same investment vehicle of the Guizhou government. The body kept hold of those shares until Moutai issued its annual dividend in June but has since sold more than 80 percent of the grant. Between the share sales and the dividend, the agency pocketed around 72 billion yuan ($11 billion).

Kweichow Moutai has been one of the best performers on the Chinese stock market. Its market value stands around 2.3 trillion yuan ($400 billion), with a net profit of 44 billion yuan ($6.7 billion) at the end of 2019.

Source: Nikkei Asia, December 24, 2020
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Food-Beverage/Chinese-province-gets-14bn-holiday-gift-of-Kweichow-Moutai-shares