Archive for September, 2008

Where will next wave of economic growth occur?

The 2008 Summer Davos forum concluded on Sunday afternoon in Tianjin,China.
The two-day global economic gala attracted some 1,400 entrepreneurs, officials and scholars from nearly 90 nations and regions.
Many participants agreed that first of all the United States has to recover from ongoing Wall Street woes. Only when the United States improves could other nations follow suit and economic growth occur.
It is estimated that the strong driving force for the next wave of growth will probably come from traditional economic powers.
According to a report released by the forum, such first-tier cities as New York, London and Paris remain the favorite targets for investors. Tokyo, however, accommodated the most headquarters of leading global companies.

Shanghai is most attractive to global investors over next three years

According to a survey on Friday during the sessions of the Summer Davos,The global investors put Shanghai on top of most attractive global cities the next three years, and they showed high confidence in the future of emerging cities.

Regulators seek banks’ foreign investment details

Financial regulators have asked China’s financial institutions to submit detailed records of their investments in the U. S. and European financial assets to ascertain the full extent of their exposure to the U.S. financial crisis.
There are at least six Chinese commercial banks which have reportedly disclosed their holdings of bonds issued by U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has announced it holds 151 million U.S. dollars in bonds issued by or linked to Lehman.
China Merchants Bank said to the Shanghai stock exchange it holds 70 million dollars worth of Lehman bonds.
Bank of China said it holds Lehman bonds worth 75.62 million dollars, and has lent out 53.2 million dollars to Lehman and its subsidiaries.
China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, and Industrial Bank Co. have reportedly invested in Lehman-related assets.
Ping An has a 4.18 percent stake in Fortis, one of the largest European insurance conglomerates.

China abolishes regulation on inspection exemptions for food

China’s State Council, or the cabinet, on Thursday announced the abolishment of regulations on inspection exemptions for food.
The cabinet announced that it had decided to abolish the regulations relating to quality inspection exemptions for food document issued on Dec. 5, 1999.
It urged the ministries and governments to step up supervision, perform their duties strictly and carry out food quality inspections in line with relevant laws to ensure food safety.
The contaminated baby milk powder scandal made people have the deeper thinking about Chinese food safety.

ICBC holds $152 mln of Lehman Brothers-related bonds

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China announce both its mainland and overseas branches held a total of 151.8 million U.S. dollars in bonds of or related to the bankrupt U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.
ICBC shares dropped by the daily limit of 10 percent to 3.42 yuan (50 U.S. cents) on Wednesday in the domestic stock market.
Bank of China slid 6.31 percent to 2.97 yuan.It is reported to have extended 50 million U.S. dollars in credit to Lehman.

China plans to boost service industry in Yangtze delta

The government plans to make the service sector a leading part of the delta area by 2020 according to the public document by the State Council.
Many manufacturers are moving out of the region to make ends meet.The strategy will deal with rising labor and environmental costs and so on.
The Yangtze River Delta have the advantageous geographical position and a large amount of labour.

ICBC New York branch will start operation in October

The New York branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC) was officially granted business license on Tuesday.This is the world’s largest bank by market capitalization,
In accordance with the business license, ICBC New York branch will engage in wholesale deposits, trade finance, U.S. dollar clearing, loans, treasury and other banking businesses.
ICBC’s New York branch will will contribute to the Sino-U.S. commercial and financial exchanges.

China’s central bank reduces credit interest rate and reserve requirement ratio

China’s central bank announce on Monday it would reduce the benchmark loan interest rate and the reserve requirement ratio in order to ensure commercial banks to have a steady and rapid economic growth.
The benchmark interest rate for one year yuan denominated loans will be adjusted down 0.27 percentage points from Tuesday, it is also first downward movement since October 2004.
In addition, the People’s Bank of China announced the ratio of deposit lenders are required to set aside will be down 1 percentage point from Sept. 25.
The effect of the adjustment would show in the next two to three months, how the economy reacted would decide further actions , said.

China’s Top 500 Enterprises in 2008

The China Enterprise Confederation announced the 2008 Top 500 Chinese enterprises list on Saturday.
They report that the total revenue of the top 500 Chinese enterprises reached 2.99 trillion U.S. dollars,profits 188.4 billion U.S. dollars and assets 8.17 trillion U.S. dollars.
Analysts said the growing profits indicated that Chinese enterprises had become more competitive.
The private enterprises accounted for about a fifth of the country’s top 500 enterprises,they have grasped more and more technology and management and grow stronger.
But another confederation deputy president Wang Jiming said Chinese companies still fell behind in many field,for example,innovation, investment in research and development, and the ability to operate internationally It would take a long time to catch up.

China will become top Asian consumer markets in 2009

Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said China  will become the largest consumer market in Asia By 2009
Chen believe that  China is the world’s fastest growing consumer markets in many field,for example,in mobile phone sales, domestic tourism, and broadband network .
China is also the second largest automobiles’ trade in the world.
Now China is the second largest consumer market in Asia and be likely to become the world’s second largest consumer market according to the report of the Boston Consulting Group.