Trade
Congressional Issue
IPR
Political and International
News
National People's Congress
Economy
Foreign Investments
Energy & Environment
Insurance & Finance
Science & Technology
Internet
Cross - Straits
General News
US Chamber China Trade & Investment News
July 03, 2008
Trade
July 03: The Ministry of Commerce was strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to a
recent US final ruling on the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probe into laminated woven
sacks imported from China. The US Department of Commerce ruled on June 16 2008 that
Chinese companies that produce such bags receive government countervailing subsidies
ranging from 29.54 percent to 352.82 percent.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/6440887.html
July 03: Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej signed contracts with China worth $400
million in Guangzhou, capital of southern China's Guangdong province. They included
deals for two Chinese enterprises to import $280 million worth of rubber and $140 million
worth of fruit from Thailand.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6440958.html
July 03: China must make a stand against the opponents of reform and allow market
forces to play a greater role in setting prices, including the Yuan's exchange rate. Alan
Holmer, the U.S. Treasury's special envoy to China, welcomed the recent accelerated
pace of Yuan appreciation and said it needed to continue because exchange rate flexibility
is the key to allowing monetary policy to focus on curbing inflation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2008/07/03/AR2008070300294.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-china-usaeconomy.html?scp=2&sq=china&st=nyt
July 02: Trading volume in commodities futures market rose steeply to $5.1 trillion in the
first half of 2008, up 142 percent year-on-year. 577 million contracts were traded in JanJun 2008, up 148 percent over the first half of 2007. In the Shanghai Futures Exchange,
where metals such as gold, copper, aluminum and oil are traded, volumes surged 36
percent to hit $2.043 trillion, accounting for 40 percent of the total, with number of
contracts climbing 23 percent to $98.54 million.
http://www.marketavenue.cn/upload/NEWS_41299.htm
July 02: Chinese exporters, currently plagued by paper-thin profits, are threatened by
another emerging problem of defaulted payments from foreign clients. To date, the
aggregate overdue international accounts of export companies totaled $14.6 billion. The
figure, while tiny compared with the country's $545.05 billion of exports in Jan-May 2008,
was squeezed by the profit margins of exporters.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/02/content_8478193.htm
July 02: China's trade in electronic and information products expanded in Jan-May of
2008, but the growth rate of both exports and imports eased. Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology reported exports of electronic and information products stood at
about $201.95 billion from Jan-May 2008, up 24.1 percent year-on-year.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/02/content_8478003.htm
Congressional Issue
July 03: The Chairman and Ranking Members of the Senate Finance and Banking
committees signaled they have not dropped their plans to develop legislation to address
imbalances in international exchange rates despite progress that China has made to
increase the value of the renminbi (RMB).
http://www.chinatradeextra.com/
July 03: Senior senators of both parties reported, the Bush administration's policies aimed
at pushing China's government to increase the value of the Yuan is "inadequate and in
need of reform." China has come under persistent criticism over its unwillingness to allow
the Yuan to increase in value.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20080702-711636search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=autowire/6month
IPR
July 03: Beijing Secondary People's Court has sentenced four Chinese companies,
including Beijing Shiji Yuehua Technology Development Center, to pay $167802 in
compensation to Nippon Electric Company Limit for making and selling fake keyboards
with the latter's brand.
http://www.chinatechnews.com/2008/07/03/6955-four-chinese-companies-punished-forselling-fake-nec-keyboards/
July 03: China may require foreign companies to register patents for locally invented
products in the nation first or risk losing legal protection for their intellectual property. The
proposed regulation, which could take effect in 2008, would also make it harder to get
Chinese patents for inventions already being used overseas.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=azUyR78FyR.k
Political and International News
July 03: President Hu Jintao uttered during a meeting with Ban Ki-moon that China will
continue to strengthen its cooperation with the United Nations and support the work of its
secretary-general. China will always abide by and safeguard the goals and principles of
the UN Charter, actively take part in all aspects of UN affairs, seriously implement its
responsibilities and keep close communication with the world body on major international
and regional issues.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/6441087.html
July 03: Senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) He Guoqiang said, China
would, as always, attach great importance to Sino-Brazilian relations from a strategic
perspective, in Brasilia. He, made the remarks at a meeting with President Garibaldi Alves
Filho of the Federal Senate of Brazil. The Chinese side will work with the Brazilian side to
continue to push forward the development of bilateral strategic partnership.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6440966.html
July 03: South Korea and China will resume talks on the vague demarcation of their
maritime border, Seoul's Foreign Ministry announced on June 26 2008, as Beijing and
Tokyo have agreed to the joint exploitation of gas fields in the East China Sea. The one-
day working-level talks, the 13th of their kind, will be held on July 04 2008 in the Chinese
city of Qingdao, aimed at drawing a line between the neighboring nations' exclusive
economic zones (EEZs).
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20080703-702632search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=autowire/6month
July 03: China was eager to discuss "long-term goals" on fighting climate change at the
G8 summit but stuck to its position that rich nations must lead on reducing greenhouse gas
emissions.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20080703-701953search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=autowire/6month
National People's Congress
July 03: China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology was, formally launched
on June 29 2008 to replace the old Ministry of Information Industry. The new agency's
internal organization structure, which reportedly has been approved, will be published in
the near future.
http://www.chinatechnews.com/2008/07/03/6954-china-formally-launches-new-miit/
Economy
July 03: Premier Wen Jiabao reported, China's grain supply and demand are basically
balanced now, but supply will be slightly tight in the long term. Constraints on China's grain
production, such as urbanization and climate change, are growing, but demand is rising,
making it a grave challenge to ensure the nation's grain security.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20080702-705111search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=autowire/6month
July 02: The Sichuan earthquake is likely to hurt small livestock farms in rural China, with
medium-sized to large livestock farms emerging as new trends. China’s modernization of
the farm sector will affect the key agricultural provinces of Hunan, Hubei , Shanxi, Jiangxi
and Anhui. Beijing views large-scale agribusiness as a possible solution to helping the
interior of the county catch up to the run-away economies of China’s eastern coast.
http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/07/02/chinese-govt-policies-to-help-large-scaleagribusiness.html#more-1224
July 03: China's purchasing manager's index, an important indicator of the health of the
country's manufacturing industry, fell to a near three-year low of 52 in June, a drop of 1.3
points from 53.3 in May. In June, the barometer of future demand for industrial raw
materials and other inputs fell for a third straight month to 52.6, compared with 55.4 in May
and 65.0 in April.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?id=16253&cat=GNR
July 02: China will likely escape the fate of other Olympic host countries almost all of
which experienced GDP acceleration in the year before the games and a deceleration in
growth and especially investment the year after. Beijing represents only 1.1 percent of
China's population and less than 3 percent of its GDP, the lowest of any Olympics host city
meaning that Olympic related growth and investment will have a lower effect than in other
countries.
http://www.rgemonitor.com/26/China
July 02: China's Cabinet approved a plan to ensure the country would be 95 percent self-
sufficient in grain over the next 12 years after hearing how farmers faced tremendous
challenges in increasing output. The State Council agreed the plan to ensure grain output
exceeds 500 billion kilograms until 2010, and reaches 540 billion kilograms by 2020.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/02/content_8478487.htm
July 02: The municipal government of east China's financial hub, Shanghai, announced a
plan to raise subsidies to offset higher energy costs. From July 2008, the government will
subsidize public transport, including buses, ferries and taxis, to cover the extra costs
arising from gasoline and diesel price hikes.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/02/content_8478299.htm
Foreign Investments
July 03: Jiuquan Iron & Steel Group announced International Mineral Resources BV of the
Netherlands has agreed to pay $1.5 billion cash for a 49 percent stake in a proposed joint
venture in China. Jiuquan will transfer all its steel production facilities and iron ore mines,
as well as its entire shareholdings in the Shanghai-listed unit Gansu Jiu Steel Group
Hongxing Iron & Steel Company Limited, and another arm Yuzhong Iron and Steel
Company Limited, to the JV as consideration for the remaining 51 percent stake.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?type=1&id=16252
July 03: The People's Bank of China has had to issue new Yuan to purchase the surplus
foreign exchange in 2008. In 2007, the central bank issued more than $569 billion to
accommodate the economy's foreign exchange surplus. During the same period, the
central bank was able to sterilize only about $68.59 billion through its open market
operations. In Jan-Apr of 2008, the central bank issued $262.65 billion and sterilized
$125.5 billion.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121503329669924121search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month
July 03: Middle Eastern investors, mostly sovereign-wealth funds, are actively pursuing
investment opportunities in China's real-estate market, with deals likely to materialize in
the next six to 12 months. Flushed with cash from surging crude oil prices, investors from
oil-producing countries are increasingly turning to Asia for long-term investment targets.
Around a dozen Middle Eastern investors from Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi have been in
contact with the real-estate service firm recently seeking investment advice for China.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20080703-702913search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=autowire/6month
July 03: Chrysler LLC has signed a memorandum of understanding with China's Great
Wall Motor Company to explore long-term business ties in various areas including
distribution, components and technology. The move is part of Chrysler's drive for greater
involvement in China's auto industry.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-chryslergreatwall.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=china&st=nyt&oref=slogin
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2008/07/03/AR2008070300195.html
July 03: China is toughening the enforcement of its capital controls, announcing a new
system for monitoring funds brought into the country by exporters. The State
Administration of Foreign Exchange said that exporters would have to park their revenue
from overseas sales in a special bank account for auditing before they exchange it into
local currency. The new system, will take effect from July 14 2008.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121505717399025879-
search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=adrzebp1o7Q4
July 03: China's Huawei Technologies Company short-listed five private-equity bidders for
its mobile-devices division, which is valued at more than $4 billion based on the offers.
Huawei is offering private-equity firms a rare chance to deploy a large chunk of capital in a
single deal. Among the five bidders on the shortlist, are Bain Capital Partners LLC;
Goldman Sachs Group Incorporation's private-equity arm; Kohlberg Kravis Roberts &
Company.; and Silver Lake.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121500088608222699search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month
July 03: Elizabeth Arden is seeking partners to manufacture products in China in a bid to
become one of the top five cosmetics brands in the country within the next two or three
years. The US-based cosmetics maker aims to be among the top five cosmetics brands in
China by 2010.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90884/6441501.html
July 03: Central Retail Corporation Company, Thailand's largest retail chain, will invest
$599 million in China's 15 top cities over the next two years, in a bid to expand operations
to have a presence in the booming Chinese economy. The company will set up branch
offices in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province and Shenyang, Liaoning Province, in a
bid to choose potential sites to locate department stores.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?id=16251&cat=CMP
July 02: Kellogg Company, one of the world's leading cereal and convenience foods
producers, has announced acquisition of a substantial part of assets of Chinese cookies
and crackers maker Zhenghang Food Company (Navigable Foods) through one of its
subsidiaries. Kellogg is taking over Navigable Foods' two biscuits manufacturing facilities,
in Yishui county of Shandong province.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?type=1&id=16237\
July 02: China's State Administration for Foreign Exchange, which manages China's $1.7
trillion in reserves, receives much more assets to manage than the China Investment
Corporation (CIC), China's SWF. China's reserves grew by well over $240 billion in JanMay 2008. CIC received initial capital in fall 2007 and made purchases in Blackstone,
Morgan Stanley, China Railway and Visa.
http://www.rgemonitor.com/26/China
July 02: Hot money inflows are actually much lower and more manageable than some
estimates suggest. Income and remittance payments as well as valuation effects and the
transfers within Chinese financial institutions must be netted out of any estimates of shortterm capital flows. While short-term capital flows could reverse, full-scale capital flight is
unlikely and China is actually trying to encourage outflows.
http://www.rgemonitor.com/26/China
July 02: Carrier, the world's largest provider of heating and air-conditioning solutions,
signed a joint venture with Midea, China's biggest home appliances exporter, to produce
air conditioners in the southern Guangdong Province. Carrier Asia, a unit of Carrier, holds
a 40 percent stake in the new venture with a registered capital of about $28 million.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/02/content_8478032.htm
Energy & Environment
July 03: China Coal Energy, produced 49.8 million tons of coal in the first half of 2008,
representing a growth of 13.7 percent from 2007. Coke production soared 38 percent yearon-year, to hit 2.17 million tons, during the period. It sold 38.06 million tons of coal and
coke in domestic markets, up 25 percent from 2007, and exported 9.04 million tons.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?type=1&id=16244
July 03: China Electricity Council says coal supplies remain tight.
http://www.chinatradeextra.com/
July 02: China plans to cut value-added tax on dimethyl ether, a coal-based low emission
fuel, to encourage development of alternative energy amid soaring global energy prices.
VAT on DME, which can be used in diesel and petrol engines, has been cut by 4.0
percentage points to 13 percent, effective July 01 2008.
http://www.marketavenue.cn/upload/NEWS_41301.htm
July 02: Lehman Brothers Holdings Incorporation signed a deal to buy Certified Emissions
Reductions from state-owned China Guodian Corporation. The deal will help cut a total of
4.2 million tons of carbon dioxide. The deal is valued at around $83.14 million in total.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20080702-703167search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=autowire/6month
Insurance & Finance
July 03: Everbright Securities Company Limited, one of China's top 10 securities broker,
has received approval for its planned IPO from the China Securities Regulatory
Commission (CSRC). Everbright Securities plans to issue 520 million A-shares, accounting
for 15.21 percent of its enlarged equity.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?type=1&id=16245
July 03: Guangzhou Shipyard International Company plans to acquire equity worth a
maximum of $452.3 million in Guangzhou Wenchong Shipbuilding from China State
Shipbuilding Corporation, in a bid to double its production capacity and expand in smaller
container vessels.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?id=16254&cat=CMP
July 03: Chinese Firm To Buy 5 Percent Stake In U.S. Pork Producer Smithfield
http://www.chinatradeextra.com/
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/02/content_8478501.htm
July 02: Net value of assets held by 408 Mainland mutual funds dropped 37.5 percent or
175 billion in the first half of 2008, owing to a 48 percent slump in the stock market. Value
of combined assets of mainland mutual funds declined to about $291 billion as of end June
2008, compared with $467 billion in 2007.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?type=1&id=16241
July 02: China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corporation Limited, has received
approval for its planned IPO. South Locomotive hopes to list its shares on domestic
exchanges first by selling 3 billion A-shares and then float 2 billion H-shares on the Hong
Kong Stock Exchange, which account for 25 percent and 16.67 percent of the enlarged
capital respectively.
http://www.marketavenue.cn/upload/NEWS_41293.htm
July 02: China's central bank drained a net $2.41 billion from the money market through
its open market operations. The People's Bank of China $3.35 billion worth of three-month
bills at 3.3978 percent. The yield was unchanged from the rate on the three-month bills it
sold. The PBOC also sold $1.89 billion worth of 28-day repurchase agreements at 3.20
percent.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20080702-715934search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=autowire/6month
July 02: According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, Chinese companies will likely raise a total
of $36.5 billion through initial public offerings on the domestic markets 2008, down sharply
from $69.6 billion in 2007. IPOs on China's Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges raised
$13.1 billion in the first half of 2008.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20080702-703504search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=autowire/6month
July 02: With official channels shut through lending curbs Chinese companies turn to
unofficial channels, especially in rural areas. Informal banking tends to be shorter term and
have higher interest costs than the formal sector, posing vulnerability for the Chinese
financial and corporate sector, which could exacerbate any downturn or credit contraction.
Informal lenders so called curb finance charge much higher interest rates, particularly if
lenders have bad credit - 20 percent annual interest rate is not unprecedented.
http://www.rgemonitor.com/26/China
Science & Technology
July 03: China has made a breakthrough in developing its next generation of spacelaunch vehicle Long March V, which is scheduled for operation by 2014. Significant
progress has been made on the rocket engine and the building of a production plant. Li
Hong, president of the launch vehicle academy, said the Long March V would meet the
requirement of large-payload low Earth orbit (LEO) and geosynchronous transfer orbit
(GEO) missions for the next two to three decades.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/03/content_8482569.htm
Internet
July 03: The Beijing municipal government would require all individuals or vendors doing
online businesses to register and pay taxes on their transactions. The Beijing
Administration for Industry and Commerce (BAIC) announced that all corporate entities or
individuals who do online businesses have to register with the administration starting
August 01 2008, something which makes profit from their online businesses taxable.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90884/6441507.html
Cross - Straits
July 03: The Taiwan government will relax restrictions on mutual funds' investments in
China-related stocks, to help in its ambition of developing the island into a regional assetmanagement hub. The move, announced is part of a package of measures unveiled by the
Taiwan government since new President Ma Ying-jeou took office in May designed to
further liberalize trade and investment ties with longtime rival China.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121506594285826041search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month
General News
July 03: Dell Inc, the world's second largest PC maker, is in talks with China's largest IT
chain store Hisap High Technology Corporation on further cooperation. Discussions
covered deeper cooperation in the future, in areas such as customized products, special
orders, joint establishment of an experiencing center, marketing development and
authorized maintenance stations, etc.
http://www.chinaknowledge.com/News/news-detail.aspx?id=16247&cat=CMP
July 03: Sportswear giant Adidas AG thinks bigger is better, when it comes to China. The
new store, in Sanlitun, the capital's main entertainment district, also serves to promote
Adidas's role as the official sportswear provider for the Beijing Games, a privilege that cost
an estimated $80 million to $100 million in cash and kind. Chief Executive Herbert Hainer
has said that Adidas's China sales will surpass $1.58 billion by 2010.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121502808513023827search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month
July 03: China's aviation experts have started to discuss the feasibility of the country's
large airplane manufacturing program, something that indicated it had entered an
advanced stage of researching and manufacturing the large aircraft. The feasibility
demonstration of the program includes the overall technology plan, types of airplanes,
customer service and production scale.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/03/content_8481518.htm
July 02: Jiangxi Copper Company, China's largest producer of the metal, is gearing up to
expand production capacity at its Dexing Copper Mine, to secure self-sufficiency in raw
materials supplies. The Shanghai-listed company will boost the mine's capacity to 130,000
metric tons each day by 2011, up 30 percent from the current level of 100,000 tons of ore
per day.
http://www.marketavenue.cn/upload/NEWS_41295.htm
July 02: China aims to add more base stations for its homegrown third-generation service
to improve voice quality during the Olympic Games, Li Yizhong, minister of Industry and
Information Technology. It will also make an effort to trial mobile television services using
its own 3G standard during the games. China has pledged to offer 3G cellular services
during the Olympics based on its homegrown standard, Time Division Synchronous Code
Division Multiple Access, or TD-SCDMA.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20080702-715410search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=autowire/6month
July 02: China raised rail-freight fares effective to help railway operators cope with last
month's fuel-price hikes. The hike in rail-freight fares shows how the higher fuel prices
have added to inflation pressures. China raised domestic gasoline and diesel prices by 17
percent-18 percent in mid-June 2008, the first increase since November 2007, and retail
electricity prices rose by 4.7 percent.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20080702-703829search.html?KEYWORDS=China&COLLECTION=autowire/6month
July 02: According to the Ministry of Public Security, warnings against drug use,
prostitution and gambling must be posted at entertainment venues starting October 01
2008. The MPS issued stricter rules regarding the administration of entertainment venues.
The rules cover employee dress codes, interior decoration and security facilities.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/02/content_8477995.htm
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