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US Chamber China Trade & Investment News
August 28, 2008
Trade
August 28: Hong Kong's exports in July 2008 probably rose 4.6 percent by value from
2007, rebounding from June 2008, but weak European demand is likely to drag on already
slow shipments to the United States. Exports from Hong Kong to the US, the territory's
biggest market after mainland China, have been declining for most of 2008. The territory's
total exports, amounting to $28.6 billion, unexpectedly fell in June from 2007 as shipments
to the rest of Asia dropped 3.1 percent.
http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/08/27/afx5365783.html
August 28: China's Vice Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said that the country is likely
to maintain the same growth rate for exports in the second half as in the first half, contrary
to widespread concerns over a possible slowdown in exports. Import growth is likely to
remain high in the second half. China's exports rose 21.8 percent to $666.3 billion in JanJun 2008, while imports rose 30.6 percent to $567.6 billion. Trade with developing
countries is making up a greater part of China's external trade, including both exports and
imports.
http://www.easybourse.com/bourse-actualite/marches/china-officiallikely-to-maintain-1sthalf-export-growth-511381
August 28: China has consolidated its second place position, increasing its lead over
Argentina in the list of Brazil’s main trade partners. In the 12 months ended in July 2008,
bilateral trade between China and Brazil totaled $31.9 billion. For the same period, Brazil
imported goods worth $17 billion from China. After posting considerable trade surpluses
with China in the past, Brazil now posts deficits, and the deficit in the last 12 months
totaled $2.6 billion.
http://www.macauhub.com.mo/en/news.php?ID=5986
Political and International News
August 28: Russia's efforts to redraw the map of the Caucasus received a frosty reception
from China, a further sign of how Moscow's conflict with Georgia is scrambling diplomatic
alignments in place since the end of the Cold War. China, which has often sided with the
Kremlin in international diplomacy, broke a silence on the conflict to voice unease about
Russia's recognition of two separatist regions of Georgia as independent states. The
Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed "concern" about the development.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121981321219475969search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month
August 28: China and Iraq have signed a $3 billion deal revising an earlier agreement for
China's biggest oil company to help develop the Ahdab oil field. The deal, restoring a
project canceled after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, was signed by Chinese officials
and Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani. The revised terms of the deal increase the
anticipated output from the billion-barrel field to 110,000 barrels per day from the originally
planned 90,000 barrels per day.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121990403465579209search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2008/08/28/AR2008082800073.html
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/704f7c62-7459-11dd-bc91-0000779fd18c,dwp_uuid=9c33700c4c86-11da-89df-0000779e2340.html
August 28: Chinese President Hu Jintao's upcoming visit to Turkmenistan is seen as a
latest effort to boost the friendly and cooperative relations between China and
Turkmenistan. Hu is scheduled to pay a state visit to Turkmenistan on August 28-30 2008
after visiting South Korea and Tajikistan, and after attending the annual summit of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6488753.html
August 28: The European Union proposed a "triangular partnership with China and Africa"
to foster peace, stability and development in Africa. Louis Michel, European Commissioner
for Development and Humanitarian Aid, described such a partnership as "the opportunity"
to address global challenges such as soaring food and oil prices, climate change, and
security.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6488751.html
August 28: China and Tajikistan agreed to continue cooperation in combating terrorism
and drug-related crime, the two sides said in a joint statement following a meeting
between the presidents of both countries. In the statement, both sides agreed that
cracking down on the East Turkistan terrorists is a significant part of the international
struggle against terrorism. China and Tajikistan have signed the multilateral Shanghai
Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism, and a convention on
bilateral cooperation in combating the three forces.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6488159.html
August 28: The Southeast Asian bloc and China announced that they made substantive
progress in the negotiations on the bilateral investment pact, which is expected to be
signed at the Bangkok Summit in December 2008. On the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers' Meeting, ministers from 10 member states held
consultations with their dialogue partner China's Vice Commerce Minister Chen Jian,
discussing bilateral economic and trade cooperation.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6488156.html
National People's Congress
August 28: Law firm lays out provisions of Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law.
http://www.chinatradeextra.com/
Economy
August 28: Slowing global growth will create headwinds for China but public infrastructure
spending is counted upon to provide an important offset. The timing of such a fiscal boost
may be intentionally delayed slightly, however, as policymakers wait for more concrete
signs of a meaningful slowdown in exports and private investment. The resilience of
China’s domestic consumers has continued to stand out, with support from income growth
and government-encouraged growth rotation.
http://www.rgemonitor.com/26/China
August 28: The impact of China's economic reforms in the last three decades has been
as awe-inspiring, if not more, than the country's growth rate during the period. As a result
of the Industrial Revolution, at the current growth rate in China, living standards rise 100fold, or 10,000 percent. Between 1978 and 2007, China's real GDP grew annually at an
average of 9.8 percent, increasing more than 13 times in real terms, while per capita GDP
rose from $55.7 to $2,336.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90884/6488275.html
August 28: Authorities are looking to attract 560,000 workers from rural areas of
Guangdong over the next five years in a bid to counter rising labor costs. Shenzhen's
ambitious plan is part of the province's double transfer strategy. The aim of the strategy is
to attract workers to the manufacturing centers of the Pearl River Delta, as well as
relocating some production bases to areas with large workforces in a bid to reduce soaring
labor costs.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/6488294.html
August 28: The National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) said
China has rolled out a new program for the development of four functional population
zones. Its purpose is rational demographic distribution and migration. Li Bin, minister of
the NPFPC said, "This is the first time China has drawn up a system of crucial measures
to comprehensively address the nation's population issue.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/6488204.html
August 27: The Chinese government will stick to an economic policy that focuses on
curbing inflation for the rest of 2008, as slowing output and rising prices loom over the
post-Games economy. Economic planners would exert themselves to increase supplies of
necessities, closely track key prices and make price controls more effective.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/27/content_9724563.htm
Foreign Investments
August 28: One Network, an American supply chain management software provider, has
announced its formal entry into the Chinese market. As in its US headquarters, One
Network will set up an organization with complete functions such as research, sales,
marketing and local data center in China.
http://www.chinatechnews.com/2008/08/28/7369-one-network-enters-the-chinese-market/
August 28: Standard Chartered Plc, a London-based international bank with significant
operations in Asia, has opened its second sub-branch in Chengdu, to further tap the
financial market in western China. The new sub-branch offers local and foreign currency
banking services.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?type=1&id=17134
August 28: China's Bank of Communications, the fifth largest commercial lender in the
country, plans to set up a mainland credit card joint venture with HSBC Holdings Plc.
Chairman of BoComm, Jiang Chaoliang, said that it hoped to gain approval from the
regulators in 2008. HSBC will hold no more than 20 percent in the joint venture according
to the Chinese law.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?type=1&id=17145
August 28: Caterpillar Incorporation expects weakness in rich-country economies to
persist into 2009 but its sales in China will remain strong. Caterpillar plans to invest an
initial $20 million in a research and development centre in the southeastern city of Wuxi to
support China and the Asia Pacific region. The company expects sales in China to double
to $4 billion by 2010 from around $2 billion this year.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2008/08/27/AR2008082704256.html
August 28: China Development Bank is able to successfully bid for all or part of Dresdner
Bank; it would mark a reversal of fortune for the scandal-plagued Chinese group as it
attempts to reinvent itself as a bank with global reach. CDB would have to convince
skeptical senior leaders in Beijing that it is getting a good price and could do a good job of
managing a sophisticated European Dresdner Bank, in spite of a series of recent
controversies and the poor performance of its earlier investment in Barclays.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0de03684-747c-11dd-bc910000779fd18c,dwp_uuid=9c33700c-4c86-11da-89df-0000779e2340.html
Energy & Environment
August 28: CNOOC, China's dominant offshore oil and gas producer, unveiled a plan to
start pumping natural gas from deepwater areas of the South China Sea from 2013, as it
posted a better than expected 89.3 percent jump in first-half profit. The plan included
drawing supply from a massive field, the country's first deepwater offshore gas reserve
discovered by Canada's Husky Energy in June 2006.
http://www.scmp.com/
August 28: Underground water levels in Beijing are rising in 2008, reversing a nearly
decade long decline, in part because of conservation efforts tied to the Olympics. Aquifer
levels in the Chinese capital have risen about half a meter in 2008, after having fallen
about one meter each year since 1999 due to drought. The shortage had forced the city to
dig ever-deeper wells, which provide the bulk of its municipal water.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121986665108677159search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month
August 27: The China Consumers' Association (CCA), called for the promotion of
appropriate packaging in commercial goods in effort to curb wastage of resources.
Producers, retailers and consumers were all encouraged to fight excessive packaging.
The promotion of proper packaging and the usage of environmental friendly packaging
materials were also supported by other organizations in the China General Chamber of
Commerce, China Packaging Technology Association and the China Health Care
Association.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6488122.html
Insurance & Finance
August 28: China will ban uncertified brokers from attracting clients for securities firms, a
decision likely to expel thousands of employees from the industry. The China Securities
Regulatory Commission has drafted a rule for the brokerage industry, under which
individual dealers have to register with one securities firm after they pass the regulator's
tests. That will outlaw a common practice by many brokerages to hire part-time dealers to
scout for clients.
http://www.scmp.com/
August 28: Life insurance companies in China, both domestic and foreign-funded,
collected $70.55 billion in premiums in Jan-Jul of 2008, up 66.7 percent year-on-year. The
growth rate was 2.3 percentage points higher than in the first half alone.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/28/content_9728047.htm
August 28: China issued guidelines tightening controls on loans for property development
and land purchases, as it sought to curb real-estate speculation and prevent defaults in
property loans. The People's Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory
Commission issued a joint statement saying the government is banning banks from
lending to property developers for land purchases. Banks also aren't allowed to lend
money for commercial-property developments on rural land. Developers that have
deferred construction on their land for more than two years cannot be granted loans.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121986570115977105search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month
http://www.scmp.com/
August 28: PetroChina would buy its parent company's 51.89 percent stake in listed
CNPC (Hong Kong) for $972 million posting a 34.5 per cent year-on-year drop in first-half
net profit. The nation's largest oil and gas producer aimed to use CNPC as a financing
platform to develop its downstream natural gas distribution business, leveraging its strong
position as the country's biggest gas producer.
http://www.scmp.com/
August 28: China Communications Bank reports 81 percent rise in profit in first half 2008.
http://www.chinatradeextra.com/
August 28: Lingo Media has received $5 million in financing from Orascom Telecom to be
used for ongoing development, maintenance and operation of Lingo Media's Speak2Me
web portal and for general working capital purposes in China. The financing will consist of
the issuance of 2,857,143 special warrants at a price of $1.75 per special warrant for
gross proceeds of $5 million.
http://www.chinatechnews.com/2008/08/28/7371-orascom-telecom-funds-english-learningwebsite-in-china/
August 28: Datang International Power Generation Company Limited announced to set
up a joint venture with Tangsha Investment to construct power generation units in Hebei
province. Datang Power will hold 84 percent of the joint venture, while Tangsha
Investment holds the remainder. The power projects will involve a total investment of
$379.7 million with two 300-megawatt critical coal-fired heat supply and power generation
units in Tangshan city.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?type=1&id=17133
August 28: Hong Kong-listed China Grand Forestry Resources Group Limited, an
ecological forestry operator in the country, is planning to repurchase 4.102 million shares.
The forestry operator is expecting to buy back the 4.102 million shares, involving
approximately total investment of $266,792.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?type=1&id=17152
August 28: China Life Insurance Company Limited is looking for opportunities to invest in
domestic infrastructure projects and financial services sector in the second half of 2008.
The insurer expects China's A-share market to decline further as the US subprime crisis
may continue for a long time.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?type=1&id=17143
August 28: China's National Social Security Fund (NSSF) is in talks with CITIC Capital, an
investment arm of China's largest financial conglomerate CITIC Group, to launch a RMBdenominated private equity fund. The sources said each party is expected to invest at
least at least $146 million in the new fund.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?type=1&id=17135
August 28: China Citic Group, a major mainland conglomerate, has bowed to shareholder
pressure and raised the price it will pay to privatize Citic International Financial Holdings.
Citic Group would raise the cash offer of $0.27 a share for each CIFH share by $0.089.
The offer of one share in Hong Kong-listed China Citic Bank Corporation, its mainland unit,
for one CIFH share remained unchanged.
http://www.scmp.com/
August 28: Bank of China, the nation's largest foreign exchange lender, is planning a
$439 million bond offering in Hong Kong, following on the heels of a sale by China
Construction Bank Corporation. BOC told banks that the Yuan-denominated bond would
have two tranches, with maturities of two and three years.
http://www.scmp.com/
August 28: Vanke, China's largest listed property developer was approved to issue up to
$861.69 million in corporate bonds by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. As
much as $219.53 million of the proceeds from the bond issuance will be invested to
improve the company's debt structure and optimize its debt ratio, and the remainder will
supplement its capital flow.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90884/6488290.html
Science & Technology
August 28: China Mobile will launch 3G mobile services in 38 cities across the mainland
by June 2009, pitting its problem-plagued, homegrown technology against a proven
offering from rival China Unicom. The nation's biggest mobile company unveiled the plan,
after smaller competitor Unicom boasted it would launch 3G in 50 first-tier cities within two
years.
http://www.scmp.com/
Media
August 28: The State Administration of Radio Film and Television of China has released
the second round certification results of China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting terminals
and CMMB terminals produced by six companies finally gained their certificates.
http://www.chinatechnews.com/2008/08/28/7377-six-cmmb-terminals-gain-certificatesfrom-sarft/#more-7377
General News
August 28: China has been experimenting in looking to solve its low cost housing market,
aimed at getting low-income families on the steps of the property ladder, by piloting an
Housing Development Board-style scheme in Changsha.
http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/28/china-experimenting-with-singaporeanstyle-hdb-housing-schemes.html
August 28: Mazda Motor Corporation, a third owned by Ford Motor Company, is cutting
production in its China plants after inventories rose because of slower-than-expected sales
of its compact cars in the world's second biggest car market. Mazda is reducing output of
its Mazda3/Axela and Mazda2/Demio models by a combined 5,000 units during the two
months through September in its Chongqing and Nanjing plants.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=arvn5Rn_UiMA
August 27: According to the report by the National Audit Office to the country's legislature
China discovered misuse or embezzling of $661 million in 2007. The audit office named
violators including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Commerce and the State
Administration of Taxation after investigating 53 departments and 368 lower-level units.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aiUmJ2_P9wxc
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2b2f1a00-74ba-11dd-bc91-0000779fd18c,dwp_uuid=9c33700c-
4c86-11da-89df-0000779e2340.html
August 27: The number of phone users in China had exceeded 960 million as of July,
including over 600 million mobile phone users, the Ministry of Industry and Information
Technology. More than 290 million mobile users were in the more developed east. The
first seven months saw a net increase of mobile phone users of more than 61 million,
averaging a monthly 8.7 million increase, the highest growth yet.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/27/content_9723122.htm
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