Shanghai Securities News recently reported that the Chinese government’s “dual energy consumption control” policy has been implemented across the country. In many provinces, the government has introduced intense restrictions on the consumption of electrical power and on manufacturing production; high energy consumption companies have received production restriction notices. These companies and related industrial chains have all been affected. On the upstream side, the prices of raw materials such as steel, cement, aluminum, and yellow phosphorus have risen due to limited production which stimulates short supply. The prices of some products have been setting record highs. On the downstream side, in addition to the ripple effects of price increases raising production costs, the supply cycle has begun to lengthen and the pressure on order delivery has increased. This round of electricity and production restrictions may force many high-energy small-and-medium-sized companies either to withdraw from the market or to transform and upgrade. The New Energy industry chain, including many photovoltaic industrial manufacturers as well as the vehicle battery industry, have also been affected by the power curtailment. Tens of the publicly traded companies issued announcements on the impact of the new government policies; some have had to pause production.

Source: Shanghai Securities News, September 24, 2021
https://paper.cnstock.com/html/2021-09/24/content_1522765.htm

Since Beijing introduced policies to curb the overheated housing market, land sale activities have also been slowing down. This is happening in Hangzhou, Shenyang, and Hefei where, last week, there was a significant drop in transactions involving the sale of land. According to statistics, in June and July of this year, nearly 500 parcels of land that were for sale in small to mid-sized cities, had no buyers. If this trend continues, local governments, which have been relying on land sales as part of their fiscal income, will face financial constraints.

Since the 1990s, China has embarked on large-scale construction in urban areas. Most of the land resources have come from rural areas. Local governments have benefited the most from it. In 2020, local governments received 8.4 trillion yuan (US$1.3 trillion) from selling land, up 16 percent from a year earlier. However, in June, all local governments were required to transfer the power for collecting land sales revenue to the tax authorities under the State Taxation Administration (STA). This has allowed the central government to take control over local finance.

Source: Radio Free Asia, September 20, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jingmao/ql1-09202021051803.html