A sampling survey released on Tuesday revealed about 85.6 percent of Chinese minors between nine and 16 were Internet users.
Released by China Youth Social Service Center , the survey found about 90 percent of minors living in cities had used the Internet, while the proportion in urban areas was 70 percent.
CYSSC, China Youth University for Political Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences jointly conducted the survey of 7,700 minors, as well as their parents and some teachers, in 10 major cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing from August to December 2007.
The survey was conducted amid reports that more and more Chinese minors were alleged Internet addicts which worried their parents and brought much problems to themselves.
According the survey, 82.6 percent of minors had their own blogs and more than 80 percent had taken Internet courses. More than half enjoyed online chatting and 71.9 percent used the Internet as a method to acquire news.
About 58 percent regarded entertainment as the main purpose to use the Internet and only 6 percent specified using the Web for communication and making new friends.
In addition, the survey found the minors had different favorite places to use the Internet.
For minors in rural areas, 35 percent chose Internet bars as the main place to get connected. For those living in cities, 76 percent preferred home and 10 percent Internet bars.
Source: Xinhua
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Two killed in Shanghai crane collapse
Two operators were killed when a tower crane collapsed on Tuesday at a power plant in Shanghai, local work safety officials said.
The accident took place at 3:50 p.m. in the Shidongkou power plant, one of three key electricity bases for the financial hub, when the crane was being checked upon delivery.
On Monday, a bridge crane collapsed at a Shanghai dock and crashed down on two freighters below, seriously injuring the crane operator and causing damage to the vessels.
The work safety bureau of Baoshan District of Shanghai is investigating into the cause of Tuesday's accident.
Source: Xinhua
The accident took place at 3:50 p.m. in the Shidongkou power plant, one of three key electricity bases for the financial hub, when the crane was being checked upon delivery.
On Monday, a bridge crane collapsed at a Shanghai dock and crashed down on two freighters below, seriously injuring the crane operator and causing damage to the vessels.
The work safety bureau of Baoshan District of Shanghai is investigating into the cause of Tuesday's accident.
Source: Xinhua
Chinese shares open sharply higher
Chinese share prices opened 3.16 percent higher on Tuesday to 2,139.07 points following rises in overseas markets sparked by global efforts to stem the financial crisis.
The Shanghai Composite Index opened at 2,139.07 points, up 3.16percent from the previous closing. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index opened at 6,772.38 points, up 3.06 percent.
Finance and mining sectors led the gains.
Share prices in other Asian markets also surged on Tuesday's opening.
Singapore shares were 5.04 percent higher in early trade on Tuesday. Philippine share prices opened 7.34 percent higher and Hong Kong share prices 5.1 percent higher. Share prices in the Republic of Korea opened 5.14 percent higher.
Chinese shares ended a weeklong decline and rebounded on Monday, as regional markets rallied after central banks around the world made bold moves to cope with the global financial crisis.
Following the announcements of European countries' cash infusion plans worth nearly 2 trillion U.S. dollars, the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average soared 936 points, or more than 11 percent, in its biggest one-day gain, on Monday.
Source:Xinhua
The Shanghai Composite Index opened at 2,139.07 points, up 3.16percent from the previous closing. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index opened at 6,772.38 points, up 3.06 percent.
Finance and mining sectors led the gains.
Share prices in other Asian markets also surged on Tuesday's opening.
Singapore shares were 5.04 percent higher in early trade on Tuesday. Philippine share prices opened 7.34 percent higher and Hong Kong share prices 5.1 percent higher. Share prices in the Republic of Korea opened 5.14 percent higher.
Chinese shares ended a weeklong decline and rebounded on Monday, as regional markets rallied after central banks around the world made bold moves to cope with the global financial crisis.
Following the announcements of European countries' cash infusion plans worth nearly 2 trillion U.S. dollars, the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average soared 936 points, or more than 11 percent, in its biggest one-day gain, on Monday.
Source:Xinhua
Chinese shares up 1.21% in morning session
Chinese shares ended 1.21 percent higher in the morning session on Tuesday following rises in overseas markets.
The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 2,098.66 points, up 25.09 points or 1.21 percent from the previous close.
The smaller Shenzhen Component Index ended at 6,684.34 points, up 112.76 points or 1.72 percent..
The property sector led the gains. Vanke rose 6.44 percent to 6.78 yuan. Poly Real Estate Group Co. was up 4.19 percent to 14.92yuan.
Dairy companies Yili and Bright soared by the daily limit of 10percent after making clarifications on losses over melamine-tainted products.
Banks and insurers maintained strong momentum at the opening but the price increases soon shrank. By noon, Bank of Communications went up 3.93 percent to 5.56 yuan. China Life rose 2.94 percent to 22.44 yuan and China Pacific Insurance Co. dropped slightly by 0.14 percent to 14.38 yuan.
The two major index opened more than 3 percent higher on Tuesday following rebounds in other major markets sparked by global efforts to stem the financial crisis.
Share prices in other Asian markets also surged on Tuesday.
Singapore shares were 5.04 percent higher in early trade on Tuesday. Philippine share prices opened 7.34 percent higher and Hong Kong share prices 5.1 percent higher. Share prices in the Republic of Korea opened 5.14 percent higher.
Chinese shares ended a weeklong decline and rebounded on Monday, as regional markets rallied after central banks around the world made bold moves to cope with the global financial crisis.
Following the announcements of European countries' cash infusion plans worth nearly 2 trillion U.S. dollars, the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average soared 936 points, or more than 11 percent, in its biggest one-day gain, on Monday.
Source:Xinhua
The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 2,098.66 points, up 25.09 points or 1.21 percent from the previous close.
The smaller Shenzhen Component Index ended at 6,684.34 points, up 112.76 points or 1.72 percent..
The property sector led the gains. Vanke rose 6.44 percent to 6.78 yuan. Poly Real Estate Group Co. was up 4.19 percent to 14.92yuan.
Dairy companies Yili and Bright soared by the daily limit of 10percent after making clarifications on losses over melamine-tainted products.
Banks and insurers maintained strong momentum at the opening but the price increases soon shrank. By noon, Bank of Communications went up 3.93 percent to 5.56 yuan. China Life rose 2.94 percent to 22.44 yuan and China Pacific Insurance Co. dropped slightly by 0.14 percent to 14.38 yuan.
The two major index opened more than 3 percent higher on Tuesday following rebounds in other major markets sparked by global efforts to stem the financial crisis.
Share prices in other Asian markets also surged on Tuesday.
Singapore shares were 5.04 percent higher in early trade on Tuesday. Philippine share prices opened 7.34 percent higher and Hong Kong share prices 5.1 percent higher. Share prices in the Republic of Korea opened 5.14 percent higher.
Chinese shares ended a weeklong decline and rebounded on Monday, as regional markets rallied after central banks around the world made bold moves to cope with the global financial crisis.
Following the announcements of European countries' cash infusion plans worth nearly 2 trillion U.S. dollars, the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average soared 936 points, or more than 11 percent, in its biggest one-day gain, on Monday.
Source:Xinhua
Internationally coherent actions urged as financial crisis threatens global economy
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank concluded their annual meetings in Washington Monday, calling for internationally coherent and decisive actions to restore confidence in the global financial system and bolster economic growth.
WORLD ECONOMY TO SLOW SHARPLY
The world economy will slow down sharply this year and next, with the United States and some other advanced economies likely in recession already, reflecting mounting damages from the most dangerous shock in mature financial markets since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
According to the IMF's latest projections, the global economy, which grew by 5 percent last year, will lose a considerable speed, slowing to 3.9 percent in 2008 and weakening even more to just 3 percent, the worst showing since 2002, next year.
In the United States, the epicenter of the financial meltdown, the economy is projected to moderate from last year's 2 percent to just 0.1 percent in 2009, the worst showing since 1991.
The U.S. economy is now slowing fast and "is likely to contract in the current quarter and into early 2009," said the IMF in its semi-annual World Economic Outlook report. Contraction in two straight quarters meets a classic definition of recession.
The IMF also forecast a "significant slowdown" in activity across western Europe and that growth in Japan will cool to 0.7 percent this year from 2.1 percent in 2007.
"The major advanced economies are already in or close to recession," said the IMF.
Meanwhile, growth in emerging and developing economies is expected to decelerate, falling somewhat below trend during the second half of 2008 and early 2009.
"With a recession now looking increasingly likely, the key questions are, how deep will the downturn be, when will a recovery get under way and how strong will it be," the IMF noted.
INTERNATIONALLY COHERENT ACTIONS URGED AND BEING TAKEN
While the crisis, sparked by the U.S. subprime home loan collapse, is affecting the main advanced economies most acutely, emerging and developing countries are not immune from the global financial stress.
And with the credit markets frozen, the financial crisis is now spreading into the wider economy.
This extraordinary situation was a focus of attention at the annual meetings of the two international financial institutions.
Realizing from experiences in the past months that individual or unilateral actions alone can not stem the crisis from deteriorating, top financial officials from both developed and developing world put international cooperation top priority to restore financial and economic stability.
"The international community should make correct judgment on the situation and strengthen cooperation to jointly maintain world economic stability," said Li Yong, Chinese vice finance minister.
At same time, actions are being taken.
Leaders of the 15 eurozone nations agreed in Paris Sunday on a joint strategy to bolster market confidence by underwriting inter-bank loans and safeguarding financial institutions from collapse.
Last Friday, the Group of Seven major rich countries announced a plan of action to jointly fight the crisis, pledging "to continue working together to stabilize financial markets and restore the flow of credit, to support global economic growth."
In a rare coordinated move, the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and four other major central banks from around the world slashed interest rates last Wednesday in an attempt to prevent the financial crisis from becoming a global economic meltdown.
AVOIDING HUMAN CRISIS WHILE BATTLING FINANCIAL CRISIS
As the financial crisis threatens to undo economic progress made by developing countries, the international community has been urged not to forget problems faced by developing countries, the poorest ones in particular, while rich nations focus on their own problems.
At the meetings, officials from developing countries pointed out that the plight of poor countries has been "largely forgotten" even though their recent development gains are at risk as the crisis bites.
"The developing countries will suffer for no fault of theirs. They did not cause the contagion. Many are not well-equipped to face the consequences," Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told the Development Committee of the IMF and the World Bank.
"The large surge in food and energy prices, and an associated rise in inflation, present major policy challenges for most countries, further compounded by the uncertain global conditions as the financial crisis unfolds," an update for the Development Committee also said.
In this regard, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned last Saturday that it would be a mistake to forget the other crisis of soaring food prices and aid cutbacks faced by developing countries.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick also called for more attention to be paid to vulnerable countries in the world.
"Some 28 countries are already fiscally highly vulnerable from the twin shocks of food and fuel," he said last Thursday. "Currently, these countries, on average, are set to receive no increase in project and program aid."
Some 44 million additional people will suffer from malnutrition this year as a result of high food prices, the World Bank estimated. Zoellick urged major advanced countries to increase their aid, fulfilling the commitments they have made.
"We cannot let a financial crisis become a human crisis," the president stressed.
Source:Xinhua
WORLD ECONOMY TO SLOW SHARPLY
The world economy will slow down sharply this year and next, with the United States and some other advanced economies likely in recession already, reflecting mounting damages from the most dangerous shock in mature financial markets since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
According to the IMF's latest projections, the global economy, which grew by 5 percent last year, will lose a considerable speed, slowing to 3.9 percent in 2008 and weakening even more to just 3 percent, the worst showing since 2002, next year.
In the United States, the epicenter of the financial meltdown, the economy is projected to moderate from last year's 2 percent to just 0.1 percent in 2009, the worst showing since 1991.
The U.S. economy is now slowing fast and "is likely to contract in the current quarter and into early 2009," said the IMF in its semi-annual World Economic Outlook report. Contraction in two straight quarters meets a classic definition of recession.
The IMF also forecast a "significant slowdown" in activity across western Europe and that growth in Japan will cool to 0.7 percent this year from 2.1 percent in 2007.
"The major advanced economies are already in or close to recession," said the IMF.
Meanwhile, growth in emerging and developing economies is expected to decelerate, falling somewhat below trend during the second half of 2008 and early 2009.
"With a recession now looking increasingly likely, the key questions are, how deep will the downturn be, when will a recovery get under way and how strong will it be," the IMF noted.
INTERNATIONALLY COHERENT ACTIONS URGED AND BEING TAKEN
While the crisis, sparked by the U.S. subprime home loan collapse, is affecting the main advanced economies most acutely, emerging and developing countries are not immune from the global financial stress.
And with the credit markets frozen, the financial crisis is now spreading into the wider economy.
This extraordinary situation was a focus of attention at the annual meetings of the two international financial institutions.
Realizing from experiences in the past months that individual or unilateral actions alone can not stem the crisis from deteriorating, top financial officials from both developed and developing world put international cooperation top priority to restore financial and economic stability.
"The international community should make correct judgment on the situation and strengthen cooperation to jointly maintain world economic stability," said Li Yong, Chinese vice finance minister.
At same time, actions are being taken.
Leaders of the 15 eurozone nations agreed in Paris Sunday on a joint strategy to bolster market confidence by underwriting inter-bank loans and safeguarding financial institutions from collapse.
Last Friday, the Group of Seven major rich countries announced a plan of action to jointly fight the crisis, pledging "to continue working together to stabilize financial markets and restore the flow of credit, to support global economic growth."
In a rare coordinated move, the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and four other major central banks from around the world slashed interest rates last Wednesday in an attempt to prevent the financial crisis from becoming a global economic meltdown.
AVOIDING HUMAN CRISIS WHILE BATTLING FINANCIAL CRISIS
As the financial crisis threatens to undo economic progress made by developing countries, the international community has been urged not to forget problems faced by developing countries, the poorest ones in particular, while rich nations focus on their own problems.
At the meetings, officials from developing countries pointed out that the plight of poor countries has been "largely forgotten" even though their recent development gains are at risk as the crisis bites.
"The developing countries will suffer for no fault of theirs. They did not cause the contagion. Many are not well-equipped to face the consequences," Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told the Development Committee of the IMF and the World Bank.
"The large surge in food and energy prices, and an associated rise in inflation, present major policy challenges for most countries, further compounded by the uncertain global conditions as the financial crisis unfolds," an update for the Development Committee also said.
In this regard, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned last Saturday that it would be a mistake to forget the other crisis of soaring food prices and aid cutbacks faced by developing countries.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick also called for more attention to be paid to vulnerable countries in the world.
"Some 28 countries are already fiscally highly vulnerable from the twin shocks of food and fuel," he said last Thursday. "Currently, these countries, on average, are set to receive no increase in project and program aid."
Some 44 million additional people will suffer from malnutrition this year as a result of high food prices, the World Bank estimated. Zoellick urged major advanced countries to increase their aid, fulfilling the commitments they have made.
"We cannot let a financial crisis become a human crisis," the president stressed.
Source:Xinhua
Shanghai Pudong Bank forecasts 150% profit growth in first 3 quarters
Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, partly owned by Citigroup Inc., forecast unaudited net profit will surge about 150 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2008.
In a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Tuesday, the mid-sized bank attributed profits to larger capital, wider interest rate margins, greater fee income and lower corporate income tax.
Net income in the first nine months last year was 3.923 billion yuan , or 0.90 yuan per share.
The bank is slated to report third quarter results on Oct. 30.
Shanghai Pudong Development Bank rose 3.92 percent to 14.06 yuan on Tuesday morning in Shanghai after the earnings forecast.
Source:Xinhua
In a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Tuesday, the mid-sized bank attributed profits to larger capital, wider interest rate margins, greater fee income and lower corporate income tax.
Net income in the first nine months last year was 3.923 billion yuan , or 0.90 yuan per share.
The bank is slated to report third quarter results on Oct. 30.
Shanghai Pudong Development Bank rose 3.92 percent to 14.06 yuan on Tuesday morning in Shanghai after the earnings forecast.
Source:Xinhua
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
BOC-RBS partnership to maintain
The Bank of China announced Monday Oct. 13 that it would continue its strategic partnership with the Royal Bank of Scotland which is hit hard by the financial crisis and will be partly nationalized.
Holding 8.25 percent of BOC shares, RBS is the largest foreign shareholder of Bank of China. Wang Zhaowen, spokesperson of BOC, said that Bank of China had noticed the British government's initiative of injecting 37 billion pounds into the three biggest banks. RBS will get 20 billion and the remaining 17 billion will go to HBOS and Lloyds TSB.
Wang said the cooperation between BOC and RBS had achieved good results since 2005 when RBS became the strategic partner of BOC. The spokesperson added that BOC would like to work with RBS to push the strategic partnership forward.
By People's Daily Online
Holding 8.25 percent of BOC shares, RBS is the largest foreign shareholder of Bank of China. Wang Zhaowen, spokesperson of BOC, said that Bank of China had noticed the British government's initiative of injecting 37 billion pounds into the three biggest banks. RBS will get 20 billion and the remaining 17 billion will go to HBOS and Lloyds TSB.
Wang said the cooperation between BOC and RBS had achieved good results since 2005 when RBS became the strategic partner of BOC. The spokesperson added that BOC would like to work with RBS to push the strategic partnership forward.
By People's Daily Online
Imports, prices of primary products go up sharply
The latest foreign trade figures from the Customs on Oct. 13 show that China's imports of primary products sped up quickly and prices of those imports were high over the first nine months of the year.
China imported 294.2 billion USD of primary products from January to September, representing a sharp increase of 69.5 percent over the same period of last year. The imports of iron ore reached 350 million tons at an average price of 141.3 USD per ton, rising 22 percent and 77 percent respectively. Crude oil imports grew by 8.8 percent to 140 million tons. The average price was 779 USD a ton, up by 70.5 percent. Refined oil imports stood at 31.28 million tons, rising 16.5 percent. The price roared by 88.8 percent to 840.8 USD per ton. The price of soy bean imports surged by 79.4 percent to 609 USD a ton. An increase of 32.3 percent was seen in soy bean imports which registered 28.7 million tons.
Exports of clothing, shoes and furniture in which China has long enjoyed comparative advantages on the world market slowed down over the first nine months of the year. The 1.8 percent growth of clothing exports which valued 87.08 billion USD is 21.2 percentage points lower than that in the same period of last year. The 15.1 percent rise of shoe exports which were 22.08 billion USD is also 1.7 percentage points slower than the same period of last year.
China's accumulated trade surplus reached 180.9 billion USD in the first nine months, down slightly by 2.6 percent year-on-year.
By People's Daily Online
China imported 294.2 billion USD of primary products from January to September, representing a sharp increase of 69.5 percent over the same period of last year. The imports of iron ore reached 350 million tons at an average price of 141.3 USD per ton, rising 22 percent and 77 percent respectively. Crude oil imports grew by 8.8 percent to 140 million tons. The average price was 779 USD a ton, up by 70.5 percent. Refined oil imports stood at 31.28 million tons, rising 16.5 percent. The price roared by 88.8 percent to 840.8 USD per ton. The price of soy bean imports surged by 79.4 percent to 609 USD a ton. An increase of 32.3 percent was seen in soy bean imports which registered 28.7 million tons.
Exports of clothing, shoes and furniture in which China has long enjoyed comparative advantages on the world market slowed down over the first nine months of the year. The 1.8 percent growth of clothing exports which valued 87.08 billion USD is 21.2 percentage points lower than that in the same period of last year. The 15.1 percent rise of shoe exports which were 22.08 billion USD is also 1.7 percentage points slower than the same period of last year.
China's accumulated trade surplus reached 180.9 billion USD in the first nine months, down slightly by 2.6 percent year-on-year.
By People's Daily Online
Half of China's toy exporters out of business
The rising yuan along with escalating production costs, drove half of China's toy exporters out of the market in the first seven months of this year, the General Administration of Customs said in a report Monday.
A total of 3,631 toy exporters or 52.7 percent of the industry's businesses shut down in 2008.They were mainly small-sized toy producers with an export value of less than 100,000 U.S. dollars.
Customs data showed 3,507 toy exporters still in business.
China, the world's largest toy exporter, saw a remarkable business slowdown as a result of rapid appreciation of the yuan, rising human capital and production costs and falling export rebates.
From Jan.to Aug. the country exported 35.29 billion yuan worth of toys. That's up 1.3 percent from the same time period in 2007. However, the growth rate is actually 21.80 percent slower than that of last year.
According to the customs report, the U.S. credit crisis is part of the reason exports to the United States dropped 5.2 percent to 1.62 billion U.S. dollars in the first seven months of the year.
The General Administration of Customs also blamed small-sized toy producers for not adapting to policy and export environment changes.
Growing international trade protectionism is another reason the toy industry was hit hard, the report said.
"Last year was the most difficult time in decades for the Chinese toy industry," said the vice chairman of the China Toy Association, Liang Mei.
Western countries raised quality standards and issued several recalls on Chinese toys in 2007.
Liang said those standards forced domestic exporters to jack up production costs, thus driving many small-sized companies out of the market.
To repair the image of toys made in China, the country conducted special campaigns to improve quality and banned many unqualified companies from exporting toys.
Licenses of 600 Chinese toy exporters were revoked at the beginning of this year, according to figures provided by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
Source:Xinhua
A total of 3,631 toy exporters or 52.7 percent of the industry's businesses shut down in 2008.They were mainly small-sized toy producers with an export value of less than 100,000 U.S. dollars.
Customs data showed 3,507 toy exporters still in business.
China, the world's largest toy exporter, saw a remarkable business slowdown as a result of rapid appreciation of the yuan, rising human capital and production costs and falling export rebates.
From Jan.to Aug. the country exported 35.29 billion yuan worth of toys. That's up 1.3 percent from the same time period in 2007. However, the growth rate is actually 21.80 percent slower than that of last year.
According to the customs report, the U.S. credit crisis is part of the reason exports to the United States dropped 5.2 percent to 1.62 billion U.S. dollars in the first seven months of the year.
The General Administration of Customs also blamed small-sized toy producers for not adapting to policy and export environment changes.
Growing international trade protectionism is another reason the toy industry was hit hard, the report said.
"Last year was the most difficult time in decades for the Chinese toy industry," said the vice chairman of the China Toy Association, Liang Mei.
Western countries raised quality standards and issued several recalls on Chinese toys in 2007.
Liang said those standards forced domestic exporters to jack up production costs, thus driving many small-sized companies out of the market.
To repair the image of toys made in China, the country conducted special campaigns to improve quality and banned many unqualified companies from exporting toys.
Licenses of 600 Chinese toy exporters were revoked at the beginning of this year, according to figures provided by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
Source:Xinhua
China stocks drop 2.71% on weakening heavyweights
Chinese shares plunged 2.71 percent on Tuesday despite early rise in the morning, as heavyweight shares weakened after previous rebounds.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 56.25 points to end at 2,017.32 points. The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 6,473.12 points, down 1.5 percent.
Aggregate turnover edged up to 76.8 billion yuan from previous day's 57.6 billion yuan.
Source:Xinhua
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 56.25 points to end at 2,017.32 points. The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 6,473.12 points, down 1.5 percent.
Aggregate turnover edged up to 76.8 billion yuan from previous day's 57.6 billion yuan.
Source:Xinhua
Chinese iron, steel maker's furnaces to be auctioned off
Shougang Group, a Chinese iron and steel maker, announced Monday it would auction off most of its blast furnaces in western Beijing.
The No. 5 furnace, the first large facility ever constructed for iron making by Shougang, will be the first to be sold, said a source of the group.
With a capacity of 1,036 cubic meters, this furnace stopped production in July 2005. That's when Shougang was ordered to relocate to Caofeidian, an islet in the Bohai Sea, in order to reduce pollution before the Olympic Games.
Altogether 30 million tons of iron had been produced through this furnace.
Yanhuang Auction Co. Ltd., a Beijing-based firm that will be responsible for the auction, confirmed the plan.
"Each bidder is required to go through registration procedures with the auction company," said a Yanhuang spokesman.
Potential bidders can look at Shougang's assets listed for auction, which include the No. 5 furnace and other equipment such as refrigerating machinery and cranes from the Beijing coking plant, Tuesday through 9 a.m. Friday.
The auction firm declined to disclose financial terms for the auction and an exact date has not been set.
Founded in 1919, Shougang is widely considered the flagship of China's heavy industry. With its production based just 17 km west of Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing, it has five iron blast furnaces and one coking oven at its Shijingshan plants.
Shougang Group began relocating its facilities to Hebei Province in 2005 due to the government's efforts to reduce air-pollution in Beijing. The company promised its new facility would use advanced technologies to reduce environmental impact.
Through June, it had extinguished fires at two of its blast furnaces and one coking oven.The remaining furnaces will close by 2010.
"Only one or two of them will be kept as a reminder of industrial relics, the remainder will all be auctioned off like the No. 5 furnace", said a high-ranking official of the Shougang Group who declined to be identified.
After relocation, Shougang said the old factory site in western Beijing will be developed into a complex for tourism, entertainment, business, and residential housing.
Source:Xinhua
The No. 5 furnace, the first large facility ever constructed for iron making by Shougang, will be the first to be sold, said a source of the group.
With a capacity of 1,036 cubic meters, this furnace stopped production in July 2005. That's when Shougang was ordered to relocate to Caofeidian, an islet in the Bohai Sea, in order to reduce pollution before the Olympic Games.
Altogether 30 million tons of iron had been produced through this furnace.
Yanhuang Auction Co. Ltd., a Beijing-based firm that will be responsible for the auction, confirmed the plan.
"Each bidder is required to go through registration procedures with the auction company," said a Yanhuang spokesman.
Potential bidders can look at Shougang's assets listed for auction, which include the No. 5 furnace and other equipment such as refrigerating machinery and cranes from the Beijing coking plant, Tuesday through 9 a.m. Friday.
The auction firm declined to disclose financial terms for the auction and an exact date has not been set.
Founded in 1919, Shougang is widely considered the flagship of China's heavy industry. With its production based just 17 km west of Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing, it has five iron blast furnaces and one coking oven at its Shijingshan plants.
Shougang Group began relocating its facilities to Hebei Province in 2005 due to the government's efforts to reduce air-pollution in Beijing. The company promised its new facility would use advanced technologies to reduce environmental impact.
Through June, it had extinguished fires at two of its blast furnaces and one coking oven.The remaining furnaces will close by 2010.
"Only one or two of them will be kept as a reminder of industrial relics, the remainder will all be auctioned off like the No. 5 furnace", said a high-ranking official of the Shougang Group who declined to be identified.
After relocation, Shougang said the old factory site in western Beijing will be developed into a complex for tourism, entertainment, business, and residential housing.
Source:Xinhua
China's SOEs told to be fiscally prudent in '09 budgets
China's government says state-owned enterprises should exercise prudence when investing in 2009 to prevent financial crisis as the global economy teeters on the brink of collapse.
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission made the request in a circular issued late Monday. It's the first time SOEs have been asked to be cautious about investment budgets in stock markets and futures markets.
Shanghai Securities Journal believed the statement was a signal that SOEs would cut back on investment specifically in securities markets.
Li Feng, a senior analyst with China Galaxy Securities, said SOEs invested hundreds of billions yuan in securities markets, which is less than 10 percent of the overall volume.
Feng said, fewer SOE investments would not have much impact on the securities market.
According to the circular, SOEs should also seek long-term balance between funds used for operation and investment.
Guaranteeing stable capital supply and preventing financial risks are among the government's top concerns for the coming year.
Turbulence in domestic and international economic environments has led to rising uncertainties for SOEs. Enterprises don't know how much to budget for things like energy, raw materials and labor.
Meanwhile, financing is more difficult for businesses due to a tight monetary policy.
In the first half of 2008, SOE profits were down 10.3 percent year on year to 425.6 billion yuan despite a double-digit growth of sales revenue.
In the circular, SASAC ordered 147 SOEs, under its supervision, to map out fiscal budget reports for 2009.
"Centrally-administered SOEs should strive to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Try every means to cut budgets in cost and expenditures," said the notice.
SOEs with shrinking profits were prohibited from a budget increase.
The SASAC demanded SOEs submit budget reports before Jan. 31, 2009. Those reports should cover operations of all in-house units, subsidiaries both at home and abroad, institutions and construction projects under SOEs' administration.
Source: Xinhua
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission made the request in a circular issued late Monday. It's the first time SOEs have been asked to be cautious about investment budgets in stock markets and futures markets.
Shanghai Securities Journal believed the statement was a signal that SOEs would cut back on investment specifically in securities markets.
Li Feng, a senior analyst with China Galaxy Securities, said SOEs invested hundreds of billions yuan in securities markets, which is less than 10 percent of the overall volume.
Feng said, fewer SOE investments would not have much impact on the securities market.
According to the circular, SOEs should also seek long-term balance between funds used for operation and investment.
Guaranteeing stable capital supply and preventing financial risks are among the government's top concerns for the coming year.
Turbulence in domestic and international economic environments has led to rising uncertainties for SOEs. Enterprises don't know how much to budget for things like energy, raw materials and labor.
Meanwhile, financing is more difficult for businesses due to a tight monetary policy.
In the first half of 2008, SOE profits were down 10.3 percent year on year to 425.6 billion yuan despite a double-digit growth of sales revenue.
In the circular, SASAC ordered 147 SOEs, under its supervision, to map out fiscal budget reports for 2009.
"Centrally-administered SOEs should strive to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Try every means to cut budgets in cost and expenditures," said the notice.
SOEs with shrinking profits were prohibited from a budget increase.
The SASAC demanded SOEs submit budget reports before Jan. 31, 2009. Those reports should cover operations of all in-house units, subsidiaries both at home and abroad, institutions and construction projects under SOEs' administration.
Source: Xinhua
China takes measures to stabilize cotton price
China will take multiple steps to combat the falling price of cotton, according to National Development and Reform Committee , the country's top economy planner.
Market statistics showed that the purchase price of standard cotton averaged 12,553 yuan per tonne on Tuesday. That is 68 yuan lower than the previous trading day.
The figure was down 677 yuan or 5.1 percent from the same trading period last year.
"Both short-term and long-term measures are needed to stabilize the price of cotton, so as to protect the nation's cotton production as well as the interests of farmers," said NDRC's tradeand commerce official Ma Zhanping at a cotton forum on Monday.
According to Ma, the country will encourage commercial banks and rural credit institutions to provide more loans to fund cotton purchases.
China is also expected to purchase more cotton and put it in a state reserve in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in hopes of slowing down falling cotton prices.
Xinjiang is China's largest cotton producer. Its output accounts for 36 percent of the country's total cotton in 2007.
As of August 2008, state departments had purchased 65,800 tonnes of cotton.
Ma said the country was also working on a plan to strengthen financial support for farmers, which could include subsidies.
"The textile industry has been suffering from shrinking global market demand. By giving subsidies to farmers, we could support the cotton industry while avoiding putting more pressures on textile and garment manufacturers," said Ma.
Source: Xinhua
Market statistics showed that the purchase price of standard cotton averaged 12,553 yuan per tonne on Tuesday. That is 68 yuan lower than the previous trading day.
The figure was down 677 yuan or 5.1 percent from the same trading period last year.
"Both short-term and long-term measures are needed to stabilize the price of cotton, so as to protect the nation's cotton production as well as the interests of farmers," said NDRC's tradeand commerce official Ma Zhanping at a cotton forum on Monday.
According to Ma, the country will encourage commercial banks and rural credit institutions to provide more loans to fund cotton purchases.
China is also expected to purchase more cotton and put it in a state reserve in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in hopes of slowing down falling cotton prices.
Xinjiang is China's largest cotton producer. Its output accounts for 36 percent of the country's total cotton in 2007.
As of August 2008, state departments had purchased 65,800 tonnes of cotton.
Ma said the country was also working on a plan to strengthen financial support for farmers, which could include subsidies.
"The textile industry has been suffering from shrinking global market demand. By giving subsidies to farmers, we could support the cotton industry while avoiding putting more pressures on textile and garment manufacturers," said Ma.
Source: Xinhua
India's Reliance Money buys 15% stake in HKMEx
India's Reliance Money has acquired 15 percent stake in Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange ,a top company official said on Tuesday.
Reliance Money is a subsidiary of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's Reliance Capital Ltd. Anil Ambani is a successful Indian businessman. As of October 6th 2007, he has a net-worth of 42 billion U.S. dollars, making him the 6th richest person in the world.
With this holding, Reliance Money has become the first Indian firm to buy stake in an international exchange, according to the Indo-Asian News Service.
"Asia has emerged as a key market for global commodities but the region does not have a strong commodity exchange," Reliance Money director and chief executive Sudip Bandyopadhyay said.
The deal will make Reliance Money the second-largest shareholder in the HKMEx.
Earlier this month, Reliance Money received approval from the Indian Ministry of Consumer Affairs for acquiring 10 percent stake in the National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India. The company has said it may acquire up to 26 percent in NMCE.
"We plan to build synergies between both the exchanges thereby leveraging on the growth potential of commodity trading in India, China and the rest of Asia," Bandyopadhyay added.
Source: Xinhua
Reliance Money is a subsidiary of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's Reliance Capital Ltd. Anil Ambani is a successful Indian businessman. As of October 6th 2007, he has a net-worth of 42 billion U.S. dollars, making him the 6th richest person in the world.
With this holding, Reliance Money has become the first Indian firm to buy stake in an international exchange, according to the Indo-Asian News Service.
"Asia has emerged as a key market for global commodities but the region does not have a strong commodity exchange," Reliance Money director and chief executive Sudip Bandyopadhyay said.
The deal will make Reliance Money the second-largest shareholder in the HKMEx.
Earlier this month, Reliance Money received approval from the Indian Ministry of Consumer Affairs for acquiring 10 percent stake in the National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India. The company has said it may acquire up to 26 percent in NMCE.
"We plan to build synergies between both the exchanges thereby leveraging on the growth potential of commodity trading in India, China and the rest of Asia," Bandyopadhyay added.
Source: Xinhua
Cambodian PM: China could help deal with global finical crisis
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday that China was not affected severely by the global financial crisis and could help deal with it.
"I hope China could help deal with the global financial crisis because China still has a large amount of foreign-exchange reserves and potential of economic growth," Hun Sen said at the two-day Fourth Asia Economic Forum held here.
China will get a little bit impact from the global financial crisis, he added.
Hun Sen said that the global financial crisis now is not strange for Asian countries because they had a financial crisis in1997, in which a few countries in Asia got impact and were saved by economic super powers.
"When we had the Asian financial crisis in 1997, China became the helper for the countries which got impact from the crisis," he said, adding that the EU and the U.S. also intervened with the crisis.
The global financial crisis will be discussed at the Asia Europe Summit in Beijing on Oct. 24-25, which will help to solve matters of the global financial crisis, Hun Sen said.
Source: Xinhua
"I hope China could help deal with the global financial crisis because China still has a large amount of foreign-exchange reserves and potential of economic growth," Hun Sen said at the two-day Fourth Asia Economic Forum held here.
China will get a little bit impact from the global financial crisis, he added.
Hun Sen said that the global financial crisis now is not strange for Asian countries because they had a financial crisis in1997, in which a few countries in Asia got impact and were saved by economic super powers.
"When we had the Asian financial crisis in 1997, China became the helper for the countries which got impact from the crisis," he said, adding that the EU and the U.S. also intervened with the crisis.
The global financial crisis will be discussed at the Asia Europe Summit in Beijing on Oct. 24-25, which will help to solve matters of the global financial crisis, Hun Sen said.
Source: Xinhua
Hong Kong announces full guarantee for all bank deposits
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government announced on Tuesday that it will use the exchange fund to guarantee the repayment of all bank deposits in the special administrative region until 2010.
The measure, announced along with the establishment of a contingent system for local banks to access capital, will remain in force until 2010, when the measures are subject to reassessment, said Henry Tsang, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR government.
The two measures to safeguard banking stability, announced at a press conference with immediate effect, "are precautionary and pre-emptive in nature," and "there was no serious issues in the banking sector," he said.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Joseph Yam, who also appeared at the press conference, said he believed the expanded deposit guarantee scheme will give local residents " infinite confidence" in the safety of their bank deposits.
The new deposit protection scheme will cover all the deposits in local authorized institutions with full repayment, compared with the previous scheme's cap of 100,000 HK dollars .
Local broadcaster RTHK said the bank deposits in authorized institutions currently totaled around 6 trillion HK dollars .
The contingent capital system will make additional capital available to locally incorporated licensed banks on request and subject to supervisory scrutiny, Tsang said.
There are currently 23 incorporated licensed banks in Hong Kong.
The HKSAR government decided on the unusual measure of expanding the deposit protection scheme because it was an unusual period of time, given the current financial turmoil, said Yam, who had also weathered the Asian financial storm a decade ago.
Yam emphasized that he believed that the HKSAR government will not need to use even "a cent of the exchange fund" to repay the bank deposits before the end of 2010.
Bank of East Asia had experienced a bank run recently following rumors questioning the bank's financial stability. The dust settled shortly after when the bank disclosed its financial conditions and the HKSAR government pledged help to dispel the rumor.
Local residents welcomed the full deposit protection scheme and some members of the Legislative Council said the measures, like similar moves by other economies, could help boost the confidence of local residents in the safety of their deposits.
One of the academicians, however, said the measures could mean risks for the HKSAR government and that authorities need to strengthen the regulation and supervision.
Tsang said he was aware of the different views on the deposit protection and the concerns about possible moral hazards.
"I have set a time limit for these measures in order to allay such concerns. Moreover, the measures are not just about protecting banks, they are also about protecting the people in our community," he said.
Source: Xinhua
The measure, announced along with the establishment of a contingent system for local banks to access capital, will remain in force until 2010, when the measures are subject to reassessment, said Henry Tsang, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR government.
The two measures to safeguard banking stability, announced at a press conference with immediate effect, "are precautionary and pre-emptive in nature," and "there was no serious issues in the banking sector," he said.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Joseph Yam, who also appeared at the press conference, said he believed the expanded deposit guarantee scheme will give local residents " infinite confidence" in the safety of their bank deposits.
The new deposit protection scheme will cover all the deposits in local authorized institutions with full repayment, compared with the previous scheme's cap of 100,000 HK dollars .
Local broadcaster RTHK said the bank deposits in authorized institutions currently totaled around 6 trillion HK dollars .
The contingent capital system will make additional capital available to locally incorporated licensed banks on request and subject to supervisory scrutiny, Tsang said.
There are currently 23 incorporated licensed banks in Hong Kong.
The HKSAR government decided on the unusual measure of expanding the deposit protection scheme because it was an unusual period of time, given the current financial turmoil, said Yam, who had also weathered the Asian financial storm a decade ago.
Yam emphasized that he believed that the HKSAR government will not need to use even "a cent of the exchange fund" to repay the bank deposits before the end of 2010.
Bank of East Asia had experienced a bank run recently following rumors questioning the bank's financial stability. The dust settled shortly after when the bank disclosed its financial conditions and the HKSAR government pledged help to dispel the rumor.
Local residents welcomed the full deposit protection scheme and some members of the Legislative Council said the measures, like similar moves by other economies, could help boost the confidence of local residents in the safety of their deposits.
One of the academicians, however, said the measures could mean risks for the HKSAR government and that authorities need to strengthen the regulation and supervision.
Tsang said he was aware of the different views on the deposit protection and the concerns about possible moral hazards.
"I have set a time limit for these measures in order to allay such concerns. Moreover, the measures are not just about protecting banks, they are also about protecting the people in our community," he said.
Source: Xinhua
Is "Made in China" still advantageous?
The output of China-made products has topped the world's list over a long period of time. But with relatively low added-value, particularly the low proportion in terms of intellectual property rights, the comparative advantage of "Made in China" can only be found in the aspect of low cost. However the factors such as the continuous increase of cost in China's manufacturing industry and the appreciation of RMB have led "Made in China" into an era of high cost. Does "Made in China" still have advantage in that case? And if so where does the advantage lie ?
Maintaining the comparative advantage
The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation estimated that a total of 172 kinds of Chinese manufacturing products were high on the world lists in 2007. Specifically, 70 percent of toy, 50 percent of telephone, over one third of coloured TV as well as suitcases and bags were made in China. The added-value of China's manufacturing industry accounted for 11.44 percent of world's total.
Zhu Hongren , director of Monitoring and Coordination Bureau under Ministry of Industry and Information Technology noted that China's manufacturing industry didn't lose the comparative advantage and would maintain the status quo for the years to come in spite of the soaring cost.
"First, China is competitive in terms of comprehensive ability to provide the auxiliary items. After years of development, China's manufacturing industry has formed a system which is complete in range and great in ability to coordinate between upstream and downstream industries, and could meet the market demand of various levels both from home and abroad. Manufacturing in China is still strong in consideration to the comprehensive cost. Additionally, the space of gradient transfer for home manufacturing industry is huge. Some manufacturers in coastal regions have enjoyed low cost through industrial transfer into the mid and west regions. Meanwhile, China is rich in labour, which shows the sign of growth in recent years, but it is still rather poor if compared with that in the developed countries," Zhu said.
Taking measures against the rising cost
Chinese government is actively pushing forward the drive of restructuring and optimising its industrial system in light of hiking cost. At the same time, China is also promoting the integration of manufacturing and information, manufacturing and service, accelerating self innovation as well as heightening the international competitiveness of "Made in China".
MIIT will take a four-step measure to facilitate the transition from "Made in China" to "Created in China": namely, improve and implement the policies for fostering self innovation, bring into the full play the technical innovation of the enterprises, and encourage enterprises to invest more for research and development; give more favourite policies to the self-innovation products through government purchase; initiate the brand strategy and create the advantage of differentiation competition in order to develop more well-known brands with own intellectual property rights; help the technical innovation of small-and-medium-sized enterprises and improve the construction of a soft environment for enterprise incubation and service system.
Helping reduce the level of global inflation
Zhu noted that there are many reasons behind the price hike of global primary products and the increase of global inflation rate. However, the integration of "Made in China" into the global economy helps reduced the level of global inflation.
China has greatly undertaken the global industrial shift since the 1990s, and has been the favourite choice in foreign investment among all the developing countries. In recent years, Chinese government has put more effort on industrial restructuring, explored the alternative mode for development, curbed the high growth of energy-intensive and high-emission enterprise, put an end to the backwardness of some industries and address more on energy saving and emission reduction as well as sustainable development.
A considerate amount of Chinese exports are manufactured in foreign-funded companies and resell to China. Such trade mode currently accounts for some 50 percent of China's two-way trade, which is believed to be a result of global industrial division.
"The developed countries imported huge amount of high-quality and cheap products, which on one hand improved the welfare for their people, on the other hand, curbed the global inflation," noted Zhu.
By People's Daily Online
Maintaining the comparative advantage
The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation estimated that a total of 172 kinds of Chinese manufacturing products were high on the world lists in 2007. Specifically, 70 percent of toy, 50 percent of telephone, over one third of coloured TV as well as suitcases and bags were made in China. The added-value of China's manufacturing industry accounted for 11.44 percent of world's total.
Zhu Hongren , director of Monitoring and Coordination Bureau under Ministry of Industry and Information Technology noted that China's manufacturing industry didn't lose the comparative advantage and would maintain the status quo for the years to come in spite of the soaring cost.
"First, China is competitive in terms of comprehensive ability to provide the auxiliary items. After years of development, China's manufacturing industry has formed a system which is complete in range and great in ability to coordinate between upstream and downstream industries, and could meet the market demand of various levels both from home and abroad. Manufacturing in China is still strong in consideration to the comprehensive cost. Additionally, the space of gradient transfer for home manufacturing industry is huge. Some manufacturers in coastal regions have enjoyed low cost through industrial transfer into the mid and west regions. Meanwhile, China is rich in labour, which shows the sign of growth in recent years, but it is still rather poor if compared with that in the developed countries," Zhu said.
Taking measures against the rising cost
Chinese government is actively pushing forward the drive of restructuring and optimising its industrial system in light of hiking cost. At the same time, China is also promoting the integration of manufacturing and information, manufacturing and service, accelerating self innovation as well as heightening the international competitiveness of "Made in China".
MIIT will take a four-step measure to facilitate the transition from "Made in China" to "Created in China": namely, improve and implement the policies for fostering self innovation, bring into the full play the technical innovation of the enterprises, and encourage enterprises to invest more for research and development; give more favourite policies to the self-innovation products through government purchase; initiate the brand strategy and create the advantage of differentiation competition in order to develop more well-known brands with own intellectual property rights; help the technical innovation of small-and-medium-sized enterprises and improve the construction of a soft environment for enterprise incubation and service system.
Helping reduce the level of global inflation
Zhu noted that there are many reasons behind the price hike of global primary products and the increase of global inflation rate. However, the integration of "Made in China" into the global economy helps reduced the level of global inflation.
China has greatly undertaken the global industrial shift since the 1990s, and has been the favourite choice in foreign investment among all the developing countries. In recent years, Chinese government has put more effort on industrial restructuring, explored the alternative mode for development, curbed the high growth of energy-intensive and high-emission enterprise, put an end to the backwardness of some industries and address more on energy saving and emission reduction as well as sustainable development.
A considerate amount of Chinese exports are manufactured in foreign-funded companies and resell to China. Such trade mode currently accounts for some 50 percent of China's two-way trade, which is believed to be a result of global industrial division.
"The developed countries imported huge amount of high-quality and cheap products, which on one hand improved the welfare for their people, on the other hand, curbed the global inflation," noted Zhu.
By People's Daily Online
Lin Yifu: global crisis must be avoided
Restoring the international financial stability to avoid a global crisis will be on the top agenda of the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, said Lin Yifu, Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist of the World Bank in a recent interview with People's Daily.
He also stressed the importance of addressing problems in developing economies in a timely way. He believes that China is in the best position among the developing countries of dealing with the impact of the downturn of developed economies. With its massive forex reserves, healthy fiscal portfolio, large current account surplus and small share of foreign investment in the whole economy, China can secure a strong growth by boosting its domestic economy and demand.
Lin is concerned over the current slump of the global economic growth and the possibility of a recession in developed economies including the US. Developing countries may see their economic growth slow down by at least 3 percentage points from the average speed of 7.8 percent last year but will still stand at 4 percent.
Historical experience shows that every one percentage point of economic slowdown gives rise to 20 million of new poverty population. More than 100 million people have lived below the poverty line again since the food and oil prices soared early this year.
Lin attributes the rising food and energy prices and the US financial crisis to the global economic slow down. Although those crisis are caused by different reasons and affect different groups, the fact that they took place in the same year adds to the difficulty of decision making in many countries.
The US government's unprecedented bailout scheme shows its resolution on solving the problem. People hope that the plan would restore the market confidence and stabilize the financial situation. Confidence matters most in finance.
Globalization means countries are interwoven in terms of capital and finance. When developed countries are grappling with tight liquidity in their financial crisis, developing countries will also feel the similar strain of less international capital flow or even face the possibility of similar crisis.
“The imminent task is to stabilize the international financial order to avoid a global crisis. International cooperation is necessary to achieve that,” said Lin.
He believes that developing countries relying on investment and export will be affected much once there is a turbulence in the developed countries which are their most important source of capital and export market.
The most important lessons that developing countries should learn from the US financial crisis, said Lin, is that for any financial innovation, effective regulatory efforts must be in place and the substance and risks of the innovation are fully understood.
By People's Daily Online
He also stressed the importance of addressing problems in developing economies in a timely way. He believes that China is in the best position among the developing countries of dealing with the impact of the downturn of developed economies. With its massive forex reserves, healthy fiscal portfolio, large current account surplus and small share of foreign investment in the whole economy, China can secure a strong growth by boosting its domestic economy and demand.
Lin is concerned over the current slump of the global economic growth and the possibility of a recession in developed economies including the US. Developing countries may see their economic growth slow down by at least 3 percentage points from the average speed of 7.8 percent last year but will still stand at 4 percent.
Historical experience shows that every one percentage point of economic slowdown gives rise to 20 million of new poverty population. More than 100 million people have lived below the poverty line again since the food and oil prices soared early this year.
Lin attributes the rising food and energy prices and the US financial crisis to the global economic slow down. Although those crisis are caused by different reasons and affect different groups, the fact that they took place in the same year adds to the difficulty of decision making in many countries.
The US government's unprecedented bailout scheme shows its resolution on solving the problem. People hope that the plan would restore the market confidence and stabilize the financial situation. Confidence matters most in finance.
Globalization means countries are interwoven in terms of capital and finance. When developed countries are grappling with tight liquidity in their financial crisis, developing countries will also feel the similar strain of less international capital flow or even face the possibility of similar crisis.
“The imminent task is to stabilize the international financial order to avoid a global crisis. International cooperation is necessary to achieve that,” said Lin.
He believes that developing countries relying on investment and export will be affected much once there is a turbulence in the developed countries which are their most important source of capital and export market.
The most important lessons that developing countries should learn from the US financial crisis, said Lin, is that for any financial innovation, effective regulatory efforts must be in place and the substance and risks of the innovation are fully understood.
By People's Daily Online
Pakistan-China friendship time-tested
Pakistan enjoys time-tested, all-weather ad multi-dimensional ties with China, said President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also Pakistan People's Party co-chairman, during an interview at his presidential mansion with Chinese resident reporters in Pakistan on Monday, October 14th. Meanwhile, he also voiced the hope to continue to enhance and deepen Pakistan's multi-dimensional cooperation and all-weather friendship with China.
Speaking of Pakistan's all-weather friendship and multi-dimensional cooperation with China, President Zardari said, the two Asian nations are close, friendly neighbors linked by common mountains and rivers, as well as all-weather strategic partners, and their multi-dimensional cooperation is built on the basis of mutual understanding, mutual trust and mutual support. In spite of changes that occurred in the regional and international environment, the friendship between Pakistan and China is time-tested and has turned increasingly firmer and much more solid as time goes by and is deep-rooted in the hearts and ethos of people of the two nations.
With good relationships having maintained in all spheres, Pakistan and China share identical or similar views on global or regional issues, and their friendship and cooperation have a broad basis imbued with wide-ranging connotations. The future of bilateral relationships is focusing on cooperation in economic, trade and financial spheres, with emphasis to be laid on exchanges and intercourse between their enterprises and personnel.
Regarding the party-to-party cooperative ties, said Zardari, PPP has forged an indissoluble bond with China and its ruling Communist Party from the era of late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the 1970s. All generations of our leadership have kept the Pakistan-China traditional friendship firmly in mind and will carry bilateral friendship forward from generation to generation.
Zardari spoke highly of great achievements China has scored during its reform and opening-up in the last three decades. During his first trip to China, he said he would learn its advanced experience in economic construction, acknowledging that its economy was maintaining a high-speed, stable growth and the Chinese people's living standards had been on steady rise.
Bilateral economic and trade ties are close, and the Pakistan side has set great store by and highly evaluates its economic ties with China, Zardari said. Pakistan and China are fairly complementary in their industrial structure and trade mix, with a huge potential for cooperation such fields as energy, metallurgy, telecommunications, agriculture, electric power, environmental protection and infrastructure development.
The two countries signed the Framework Agreement on Expanding and Deepening Bilateral Economic and Trade Cooperation in February 2006. Chinese companies or enterprises are welcome to invest and go in for business or commerce in Pakistan, which is in turn planning to provide special, preferable policies and a good environment for Chinese firms for a win-win outcome. During his current China visit, he will confer with personages from the Bank of China and the country's banking sector, and urge banks and financial institutions in China to open up their branches or affiliates in Pakistan,
On the issue of fighting terrorism, Zardari said, terrorism today poses a serious threat to Pakistan, South Asia region and the entire international community as a whole. Noting that terrorism should be eradicated, he said Pakistan is the victim of terrorism and that thousands of lives have been lost in numerous suicide attacks.
"The threat of terrorism cannot be fought by military means alone, and requires political will, popular mobilization and a socio-economic strategy that win the hearts and minds of nations afflicted by it," the president said. Pakistan has worked out a whole set of policies to fight against terrorism and extremism.
Modern technology needs to be used in the war on terror, and heightened security measures China had taken during Beijing's Olympic Games were very successful, and high-tech security equipment put to use was really admiring, he said, and Pakistan shall learn from China its advanced experience and technology in this regard.
By People's Daily Online, and its author is PD resident reporter in Pakistan Meng Xianglin
Speaking of Pakistan's all-weather friendship and multi-dimensional cooperation with China, President Zardari said, the two Asian nations are close, friendly neighbors linked by common mountains and rivers, as well as all-weather strategic partners, and their multi-dimensional cooperation is built on the basis of mutual understanding, mutual trust and mutual support. In spite of changes that occurred in the regional and international environment, the friendship between Pakistan and China is time-tested and has turned increasingly firmer and much more solid as time goes by and is deep-rooted in the hearts and ethos of people of the two nations.
With good relationships having maintained in all spheres, Pakistan and China share identical or similar views on global or regional issues, and their friendship and cooperation have a broad basis imbued with wide-ranging connotations. The future of bilateral relationships is focusing on cooperation in economic, trade and financial spheres, with emphasis to be laid on exchanges and intercourse between their enterprises and personnel.
Regarding the party-to-party cooperative ties, said Zardari, PPP has forged an indissoluble bond with China and its ruling Communist Party from the era of late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the 1970s. All generations of our leadership have kept the Pakistan-China traditional friendship firmly in mind and will carry bilateral friendship forward from generation to generation.
Zardari spoke highly of great achievements China has scored during its reform and opening-up in the last three decades. During his first trip to China, he said he would learn its advanced experience in economic construction, acknowledging that its economy was maintaining a high-speed, stable growth and the Chinese people's living standards had been on steady rise.
Bilateral economic and trade ties are close, and the Pakistan side has set great store by and highly evaluates its economic ties with China, Zardari said. Pakistan and China are fairly complementary in their industrial structure and trade mix, with a huge potential for cooperation such fields as energy, metallurgy, telecommunications, agriculture, electric power, environmental protection and infrastructure development.
The two countries signed the Framework Agreement on Expanding and Deepening Bilateral Economic and Trade Cooperation in February 2006. Chinese companies or enterprises are welcome to invest and go in for business or commerce in Pakistan, which is in turn planning to provide special, preferable policies and a good environment for Chinese firms for a win-win outcome. During his current China visit, he will confer with personages from the Bank of China and the country's banking sector, and urge banks and financial institutions in China to open up their branches or affiliates in Pakistan,
On the issue of fighting terrorism, Zardari said, terrorism today poses a serious threat to Pakistan, South Asia region and the entire international community as a whole. Noting that terrorism should be eradicated, he said Pakistan is the victim of terrorism and that thousands of lives have been lost in numerous suicide attacks.
"The threat of terrorism cannot be fought by military means alone, and requires political will, popular mobilization and a socio-economic strategy that win the hearts and minds of nations afflicted by it," the president said. Pakistan has worked out a whole set of policies to fight against terrorism and extremism.
Modern technology needs to be used in the war on terror, and heightened security measures China had taken during Beijing's Olympic Games were very successful, and high-tech security equipment put to use was really admiring, he said, and Pakistan shall learn from China its advanced experience and technology in this regard.
By People's Daily Online, and its author is PD resident reporter in Pakistan Meng Xianglin
CPC Plenum wins forefront attention of foreign media
The just concluded 3rd plenary session of the 17th Communist Party of China Central Committee has again pushed China into the limelight, as much of the rest of the world is struggling with a crippling financial crisis and the fear of a protracted recession. The deliberations on quickening rural development and raising farmers' incomes are considered momentous, capturing the world attention to the country with a vast territory of countryside and feeding the world's largest population of farmers.
Evening Post, an Italian newspaper with the country's largest circulation, released a report on Oct.13, stating that this is the first time in 30 years that the CPC has come up with a truly comprehensive approach to rural progress in which we see a good chance of success. The paper said that the decision the CPC has made to push ahead with rural reforms is aimed at raising farmers' incomes and impelling the rural productivity, in a bid to transform the rural economic scenario, narrow the rural-urban gap, and stimulate the domestic demands.
The paper also pointed that the breakthroughs China has made since 1980s in the contract-based household management system, and rural finance, are revolutionary moves in their own right. The notable Italian news agency, Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, or ANSA also echoed the statements citing that with the specific goal of doubling farmers' 2008 per capita income by 2020, the picture of the ‘new countryside' on the CPC' drawing board looks more appealing than ever, as the achievement of the goal will benefit the Chinese farmers, or more than half of the country's population.
The British newspaper, Financial Times, published an editorial the same day hailing the meeting, saying that the meeting will provide the popular legal support to some reforms and steps which have taken place in the past decades. It added the meeting marks a decisive step towards a new era of China's vast countryside.
Guardian, another British newspaper, also published an article following the CPC meeting, entitled ‘Bold reforms will free Chinese farmers,' in which it cited some experts as saying, ‘the newly issued land reform policies allow the Chinese farmers to enjoy more rights for free choice in the land management, which will help enhance the rural productivity and increase farmers' incomes'
Japanese Kyodo News Agency released a brief report Oct 12 on the sidelines of the session, mentioning not only the newly staged economic policies aimed to stimulate consumption and the rural policies to double farmers' incomes, but also the meeting's specific goals in terms of breaking down the dual rural-urban structure and streamlining the land management. The report deemed that the CPC placing rural issues on its top agendas is due to the fact that the rise in farmers' incomes will contribute to the economic growth and social stability.
The Japanese Economy News newspaper turned out an editorial citing China's economic goals, saying to stimulate its domestic consumption, China will have to benefit its farmers, who take up more than half of the country's population, by raising their incomes and developing rural economy. It added that to anticipate China's unfolding economic shift from being dominated by foreign demands to mainly resorting to domestic demands, we have to admit that the CPC moves in the direction of rural reforms deserve much more attention.
NHK, or the Japanese Broadcasting corporation, covered the meeting on Oct12, pointing that China is intending to take positive measures like expanding the domestic demands and stabilizing finance in face of the global financial turmoil, and it is an essential step for China to double farmers' per capita income by 2020 and generally escalate farmers' consumption level, in an effort to stabilize China's economy.
By People's Daily Online
Evening Post, an Italian newspaper with the country's largest circulation, released a report on Oct.13, stating that this is the first time in 30 years that the CPC has come up with a truly comprehensive approach to rural progress in which we see a good chance of success. The paper said that the decision the CPC has made to push ahead with rural reforms is aimed at raising farmers' incomes and impelling the rural productivity, in a bid to transform the rural economic scenario, narrow the rural-urban gap, and stimulate the domestic demands.
The paper also pointed that the breakthroughs China has made since 1980s in the contract-based household management system, and rural finance, are revolutionary moves in their own right. The notable Italian news agency, Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, or ANSA also echoed the statements citing that with the specific goal of doubling farmers' 2008 per capita income by 2020, the picture of the ‘new countryside' on the CPC' drawing board looks more appealing than ever, as the achievement of the goal will benefit the Chinese farmers, or more than half of the country's population.
The British newspaper, Financial Times, published an editorial the same day hailing the meeting, saying that the meeting will provide the popular legal support to some reforms and steps which have taken place in the past decades. It added the meeting marks a decisive step towards a new era of China's vast countryside.
Guardian, another British newspaper, also published an article following the CPC meeting, entitled ‘Bold reforms will free Chinese farmers,' in which it cited some experts as saying, ‘the newly issued land reform policies allow the Chinese farmers to enjoy more rights for free choice in the land management, which will help enhance the rural productivity and increase farmers' incomes'
Japanese Kyodo News Agency released a brief report Oct 12 on the sidelines of the session, mentioning not only the newly staged economic policies aimed to stimulate consumption and the rural policies to double farmers' incomes, but also the meeting's specific goals in terms of breaking down the dual rural-urban structure and streamlining the land management. The report deemed that the CPC placing rural issues on its top agendas is due to the fact that the rise in farmers' incomes will contribute to the economic growth and social stability.
The Japanese Economy News newspaper turned out an editorial citing China's economic goals, saying to stimulate its domestic consumption, China will have to benefit its farmers, who take up more than half of the country's population, by raising their incomes and developing rural economy. It added that to anticipate China's unfolding economic shift from being dominated by foreign demands to mainly resorting to domestic demands, we have to admit that the CPC moves in the direction of rural reforms deserve much more attention.
NHK, or the Japanese Broadcasting corporation, covered the meeting on Oct12, pointing that China is intending to take positive measures like expanding the domestic demands and stabilizing finance in face of the global financial turmoil, and it is an essential step for China to double farmers' per capita income by 2020 and generally escalate farmers' consumption level, in an effort to stabilize China's economy.
By People's Daily Online
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