On August 31, 2012, China Secutimes published an article titled, “The Largest U.S. Real Estate Firm Is Fleeing China’s Real Estate Market; What Signal It Discloses.” Tishman Speyer, a U.S. real estate developer, is trying to sell its properties in China. The two plots of land that Tishman Speyer currently has for sale are in New Jiangwan in Shanghai. One plot is worth 1.6 billion yuan (US$252 million) and the other one is worth 3.2 billion yuan (US$505 million).

Tishman Speyer started developing real estate in China in 2005. Over the last 7 years, it has expanded its real estate projects in several cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, and Chengdu. However, Tishman Speyer has begun the process of withdrawing from China. According to China Secutimes, “In 2012, foreign capital invested in China’s real estate market will probably decrease by 50 percent,” bringing foreign capital invested in China’s property market to the lowest amount in the last seven years.

Source: China Secutimes, August 31, 2012
http://news.stcn.com/content/2012-08/31/content_6797642.htm

On August 30, 2012, China Reviews published an article titled “China’s Enterprises Have Left the Era of High Profits Far Behind.” From January to July 2012, the accumulated profits of state-owned enterprises (excluding state-owned financial enterprises) fell by 13.2 percent compared to the same period last year. Of these state-owned enterprises, the total accumulated profits of the central state-owned enterprises declined 10.7%, while the total accumulated profits of local state-owned enterprises declined 18.3%. The profits made by China’ state-owned enterprises have decreased in each of the past seven consecutive months.

“At present, an average of nearly 28 percent of China’s manufacturing industry’s capacity remains idle; 35.5 percent of manufacturing enterprises’ capacity utilization is at 75% or less.”

Source: China Reviews, August 30, 2012
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1022/1/7/0/102217016.html?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=102217016&mdate=0830043155

According to China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company’s semi-annual report, COSCO lost 4.872 billion yuan in net profit (US$767.3 million) in the first half of 2012, a decline of 79.72 percent compared to last year. COSCO’s loss even exceeds China Aluminum’s huge loss of 3.2 billion yuan. Expecting to lose more money this year, Wei Jiafu, COSCO’s Chairman and CEO, has applied for financial support from the relevant departments in China.

Source: http://www.nbd.com.cn/, August 31, 2012
http://www.nbd.com.cn/articles/2012-08-31/678379.html

On August 27, 2012, the National Bureau of Statistics of China released statistics for China’s industries. According to the statistics, the profit for China’s national enterprises dropped 2.7% for the period of January through July, as compared to the same period in 2011. In July alone, the number dropped by 5.4 percent. This was the sixth consecutive month of cumulative negative growth. Falling iron and steel prices have led to losses for many listed companies that have published their interim reports for the first half of 2012. Maanshan Iron and Steel lost 1.9 billion yuan, Shandong Iron and Steel lost 996 million, and the Hangzhou Iron & Steel Group Company lost 107 million. Others, including the Shagang Group, saw their profits cut in half. The same occurred in coal and electricity companies where their profits went down between 10 and 14 percent in the second quarter of 2012.

Source: Caijing.com, August 29, 2012
http://comments.caijing.com.cn/2012-08-29/112089425.html