China Economy recently reported that the Ministry of Commerce released a first quarter foreign trade review showing the market’s movement in six key areas: (1) The import and export growth rates significantly slowed down, which was a continuation of the direction established in the last quarter of 2011. (2) Chinese exports to Europe suffered a decline, while trade with emerging markets showed rapid growth. (3) Labor-intensive products (such as shoes) recorded very slow growth, while mechanical and electrical products exhibited healthy growth. (4) Coastal provinces reported much slower growth than the Middle West provinces. (5) Private companies were responsible for more than half of the growth in foreign trade. (6) Import growth significantly slowed. Some commodities were produced in much larger quantities, with lower prices.

Source: China Economy, April 27, 2012
http://www.ce.cn/xwzx/gnsz/gdxw/201204/27/t20120427_23280625.shtml

A recent National Bureau of Statistics report show that, in 2011, the population of Chinese farm workers, farmers who left their land and chose to work in cities, reached 252 million, up by 4.4 percent from 2010. Of these workers, there were 158 million migrant workers who travel outside their local region to find jobs, 3.4 percent more than 2010. The report showed that 65.4 percent of farm workers were concentrated in the eastern region, down 1.5 percent from 2010; 17.6 percent were in the central region, up by 0.7 percent; 16.7 percent were in the western region, up by 0.8 percent; and the balance of 0.3 percent worked in Hong Kong, Macau, or outside of China.

The survey also reported that there were fewer farm workers who worked outside of their residential province. The jobs that the farm workers held remained in the manufacturing, construction, and service industries. The average monthly income for the migrant workers in 2011 was 2,049 yuan (US$350), up by 21.2 percent from 2010. The middle and central regions had a greater increase than the Eastern region. There has been improvement in delayed wages and extended working hours. The level of participation in social insurance has improved but still remains low.

The term "migrant worker" refers to the farm workers who work outside of their residential village or town for more than 6 months. The sample survey was conducted among 200,000 farm workers from 7,500 villages and 899 counties in 31 provinces.

Source: Xinhua, April 28, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2012-04/28/c_123050775.htm

According to Beijing News, the People’s Bank of China (China’s central bank) ranks No. 1 in assets in the world and last year printed money equal in value to half of the total currency printed in the world. The latest statistics released by the central bank show that, as of February 2012, its assets reached 28,330 billion RMB (about $4,500 billion), surpassing the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank and the European Central Bank. In the past five years, its assets increased by 119% and M2 by 146%. Due to the exchange control and the fact that the RMB is not an international currency, the increased RMB circulated only inside China. Thus those in China bore the full inflationary impact. “China is way behind the United States in terms of total GDP, economic power, personal income, and the overall wealth of the country. In 2011, the ratio of China’s M2 to GDP reached 189% while the ratio of M2 to GDP in the U.S. was about 64%. This showed the power of the RMB to boost inflation.”

Source: The Beijing News reprinted by Xinhua, April 24, 2012
http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-04/24/c_123025821.htm

In Stockholm recently, Wen Jiabao met with local Chinese companies, overseas Chinese and representatives of Chinese students. In his discussion he raised the question of China’s future. He also pointed out a number of issues related to China’s economic development. He stated, “In a nutshell, our economic development is neither balanced nor coordinated; nor is it sustainable. (The problems) relate mainly to the widening income gaps between rural and urban areas and between different regions, to expanding inequality in income distribution, to over-consumption of resources, to  energy, and to severe environmental pollution. These problems lead us to think about what we will leave to future generations.” Wen stated that sustained growth “relies not only on economic development, but also on progress in society, on the quality of our people, and on the power of morality. No one would be able to beat such a country (that had those qualities).

Source: China News Service, April 25, 2012
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2012/04-25/3843708.shtml