Chinascope – Page 794

China’s Housing Prices Have Quietly Started to Slump; Banks Prepare for the Worst

On February 16, 2014, dahe.cn published an article titled, “China’s Housing Prices Have Quietly Started to Slump; in Some Cities the Sales Volume Has Decreased 50 Percent.” China is facing an economic slowdown, overcapacity, local debt problems, and over-printed currency on the market (leading to inflation and soaring prices). In the next two to three years, the excess housing supply will be the biggest problem. Property sales have decreased in 9 out of 10 cities; some cities’ property sales volume has dropped to half the volume of the previous year. Many banks are preparing for the worst as they predict a drop in housing prices is just around the corner.

Source: Dahe.cn, February 16, 2014
http://news.dahe.cn/2014/02-16/102636587.html

Briefings | | February 19, 2014 | Economy/Resources

Xinhua: Shortage of Workers May Be a Problem

Xinhua recently reported that, for the past several years, the shortage of workers in China’s developed regions has been troublesome and may become a big problem after the Chinese New Year. Workers from inland typically go home for the New Year’s celebration. Many of them choose not to go back to their previous work largely due to the fact that they have found more and more opportunities in many under developed regions. The increase in the cost of living in those large cities has made it hard to justify the return unless a significant pay increase is offered. Based on the independent research of several companies, it is not unusual for a 20 percent base salary increase to be required to retain workers. The small towns in Mid-West China are becoming more and more attractive to workers. Many workers also decided to work near their homes in rural villages in order to stay closer to their family members, especially the kids. Another important factor in the worker shortage issue is the lack of experienced workers. The new generation workforce is getting younger and the quality of education they receive has been, on average, fairly low. Meanwhile, the new workers expect a much higher pay level than their parents. The report concluded that all these factors have added to the cost of labor in China’s manufacturing industry.

Source: Xinhua, February 15, 2014

http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2014-02/15/c_126138836.htm

Briefings | | February 18, 2014 | Economy/Resources

CRN: The Missing Piece before China Becomes the Top Trading Country

China Review News (CRN) recently published a commentary on China’s import and export structure. In 2013, the value of China’s total imports and exports reached $4.16 trillion. It is becoming a sure thing that China’s physical goods trade volume will surpass the United States. However, the commentary expressed the belief that China is still far behind the U.S. in terms of trade services. The commentator suggested that the focus of global economic competition has shifted to trade services. China has to become a strong service provider in order to achieve its goals. Based on official statistics, the Chinese trade volume for services was $520 billion in 2013, which translates into an eleven percent increase over the previous year. However, compared to the leading countries, China’s trade volume for services was small and, in general, suffered from low quality. The author found that the global services market is getting deeper and deeper into knowledge, technology, and capital investments. Meanwhile the key fields China is currently playing in are still transportation and tourism. The commentary concluded that, unless China adjusts its services export structure, it will ultimately suffer an overall trade decline.

Source: China Review News, February 14, 2014

http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1030/2/2/0/103022053.html?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=103022053&mdate=0214085447

Briefings | | February 18, 2014 | Economy/Resources

Xinhua: How Will Kerry’s Visit to China Be a Worthwhile Trip?

Xinhua published an article commenting on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s second visit to China in 10 months on February 14 to 15. The article is contributed by Jia Xiudong, Research Fellow at the China Institute of International Affairs.

The article predicts that Kerry’s visit will focus on strategic issues, not adhere to a specific problem. It listed the expansion of economy and trade cooperation, improving military relations, international affairs such as North Korea nuclear issues, Syria problem and Iran nuclear issues being among the major topics in the discussion. The East China Sea and South China Sea issues are very hot recently, but will not be the focus.

The article also pointed out that there are still some problems in the relations between the two countries. The key problem is that the United States is sometimes inconsistent between words and deeds, or contradictory. The article says that to maintain presence in the Asia Pacific region and strengthen the relationship with its alliances, U.S. should not do so at the expense of the interests of China. To implement the "Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy," U.S. should not treat it as a "zero-sum" game and treat China as an imaginary enemy. When involving disputes of territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, it will only complicate the issue and increase regional tensions if the United States deviates from the neutral position.

The complexity of Sino-U.S. relations tells that building new Sino-U.S. relations among major powers will be a long and tortuous process, cannot expect to achieve overnight. As two big powers with different social systems and value, it has never been easy for China and the U.S. to get along, competition and cooperation are the norm.

Source: Xinhua, February 14, 2014

http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2014-02/14/c_126134463.htm

Briefings | | February 14, 2014 | US-China Relations

Xinhua: How Will Kerry’s Visit to China Be Worthwhile?

Xinhua published an article commenting on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to China on February 14 to 15. It will be his second in 10 months. Jia Xiudong, a Research Fellow at the China Institute of International Affairs was the author.

The article predicted that Kerry’s visit will focus on strategic issues, rather than on specific problems. It listed several major topics expected to be in the discussion: the expansion of the economy and trade cooperation, improving military relations, international affairs such as the North Korea nuclear issue, the Syria problem, and Iran’s nuclear issues. The East China Sea and South China Sea issues have been very hot recently, but will not be the focus.

The article also pointed out that there are still some problems in the relations between the two countries. The key problem is that the United States sometimes exhibits an inconsistency between its words and deeds, or is even contradictory. The article stated that, when maintaining a presence in the Asia Pacific region and when strengthening its relationship with its allies, the U.S. should not do so at the expense of China’s interests. In implementing its "Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy," the U.S. should not treat it as a "zero-sum" game and treat China as an imaginary enemy. If the United States deviates from a neutral position and gets involved in disputes of territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, it will only complicate the issues and increase regional tensions.

The complexity of Sino-U.S. relations tells us that building new Sino-U.S. relations among major powers requires a long and tortuous process. It cannot be achieved overnight. As two big powers with different social systems and values, it has never been easy for China and the U.S. to get along. Competition and cooperation are the norm.

Source: Xinhua, February 14, 2014

http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2014-02/14/c_126134463.htm

Briefings | | February 14, 2014 | US-China Relations

New study: Beijing Not Fit for Human Habitation Due to Severe Pollution

The Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences released a new study of 40 major cities around the world, ranking them according to their environment. The study ranked Beijing as the second worst, stating that Beijing’s pollution has made the city nearly “uninhabitable for human beings.”

The ecological factors in the survey included habitability, environment, and pollution. Beijing was rated the second worst, according to the study, because “Beijing’s habitability is far below average and the city is considered not habitable; its environment is about half way below the average, meaning it is far from meeting the [safety] standards; pollution is extremely severe, and is much worse than the average. It has even reached the extent that it is not fit for human habitation.”

According to the official release of the Beijing authorities early this year, in 2013 the city had 176 days of good weather and 58 days of severe pollution.

Source: Finance, February 12, 2014

http://finance.jrj.com.cn/2014/02/12114516651875.shtml

Briefings | | February 14, 2014 | Economy/Resources

Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”