China's Economy - News and Projects III

[big-dog]

Originally Posted by Gaeus

OK, don't get me banned or something but this doesn't make any sense at all. We know that the recovery of this global recession will not last until the end of 2010 (unless if Obama can do some miracle and I do believe he can do it!). However, I will not be surprise if the first one that will recover is China. Their GDP is still over 6.8% anyways while the rest of the developed countries GDP are under 2% or even in negative territory.

good point. why would you get banned?

[Gaeus]

Originally Posted by big-dog

good point. why would you get banned?

Oh my! I remember both of you as an average user. Now you are all Mods! I am just trying to be honest or something. I am not sure if the Chinese Government is saying something wrong or not. However, with the on-going global recession with no foreseeable future, we really don't know if China can recover quickly.

In case China starts recovering early it wont be due to the global situation but domestic factors (consumption and investment). Also, you should notice that China's stimulus plans have started to boost the economy even before most Western countries have managed to approve their own plans.

I'm getting really worried about the bureaucratic nightmare in our (Euro) countries. Govs are needed to play fast in times of crisis, but it seems like they will discuss for ages before doing anything big to help the economy while unemployment keeps booming. Enjoy "pluralism"

Anyway, it is not only that China's stimulus plans have been set up the earliest. China's 'recession" cycle started earlier either as the economy has been slowing since mid 2007. It should be the first major economy to start recovering for this reason too, and it is likely to do so in mid 2009 unless the global situation goes too crazy so that it takes a bit longer.

Those highlighted items are the one I am truly worried about. I am worried about chaos and rising poverty. It may cause problems to the government. The government still got a lot of money though. I am pretty sure the forecast GDP growth will never go down under 5%.

[big-dog]

Analysts: China may have surpassed U.S. in Jan. auto sales

BEIJING, Feb. 6 -- China may have surpassed the United States to become the world's largest auto market based on monthly sales in January, according to analysts and forecasts.

General Motors, the leading U.S. automaker, estimates that China sold about 790,000 vehicles last month.

While car sales in China have slowed lately, they haven't plummeted like in the U.S., where January sales tumbled 37 percent from a year ago to 656,976 vehicles - a 26-year low.

"This is the first time in history that China has passed the United States in monthly sales," Mike DiGiovanni, General Motors' executive director of global markets and industry analysis, said in a conference call late Tuesday.

DiGiovanni projects that Chinese auto sales could hit 10.7 million vehicles this year, nearly a million units more than his estimate of 9.8 million unit sales in the U.S. for the same period.

The official Chinese car sales figures are yet to be published, but analysts say the GM estimate is close to de facto sales.

"Although it is too early to conclude based on the monthly figure that China has become the world's largest auto market, it is definitely the world's only major auto market with strong potential," said Yale Zhang, a Shanghai-based auto analyst.

China outpaced Japan to become the world's No 2 vehicle market in 2006. Although auto sales have slowed in recent months, analysts say China has great growth potential in the long term given strong domestic demand and recent government policies.

The government passed a stimulus package for the auto sector last month, reducing the purchase tax on vehicles with engine capacity of less than 1.6 liters by half to 5 percent.

It is also spending 5 billion yuan (730 million U.S. dollars) on subsidies to farmers replacing three-wheeled vehicles or outdated trucks with small, 1.3-liter or less, vehicles.

The push is to promote more energy efficient vehicles while improving the competitiveness of the country's highly fragmented auto industry. About 10 billion yuan is going into upgrading automakers' technology and developing alternative energy vehicles.

"The purchase tax cut is the most effective tool the Chinese government has adopted for market recovery," said Ricon Xia, auto analyst at Daiwa Securities. The tax adjustment is expected to boost auto sales in China this year by 3-6 percent, he said.

(Source: China Daily)

[snow is red]

China to improve social welfare for seniors

2009-02-06

BEIJING -- Chinese government is working to improve social welfare for the elderly, as the country starts to feel the pressure from its huge elderly population, according to Vice Premier Hui Liangyu.

Hui told a national conference Thursday the government would expand the basic old-age pension in urban areas and improve the pension system in rural areas.

Efforts will also be made to improve welfare for the aged, including basic health care insurance and minimum living allowances, said Hui, also head of the China National Committee on Aging (CNCA).

China had 159.89 million people aged 60 or above by the end of 2008, accounting for 12 percent of its population, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS). The aging population is rising rapidly.

Hui said the international financial crisis raised difficulties and challenges in coping with the aging population. But there are also opportunities brought about by the government's huge economic stimulus package, which aimed to maintain stable economic growth, improve living standards and expand domestic consumption, and policies supporting the undertakings relating to senior citizens.

He asked government departments and local authorities to pay attention to the difficulties of aged people, especially those in rural areas, and increase financial support to welfare projects for them.

By the end of last year, 219 million people in urban areas were covered by endowment insurance, while 51.71 million people have taken part in the insurance in rural areas.

The government announced last November a 4-trillion-yuan (US$586 billion) stimulus package to boost domestic demand in both infrastructure investment and consumption.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...nt_7453011.htm

[snow is red]

BOC extends US$8.78B credit line for aircraft firm

2009-02-06

BEIJING -- The Bank of China (BOC) will extend a 60 billion yuan (US$8.78 billion) credit line to Aviation Industry Corp. of China (AICC), the country's major state-owned aircraft builder, the lender said here.

Under the agreement signed Friday, BOC pledged to build a "long-term, comprehensive" strategic partnership with AICC and help the group expand overseas.

The move followed China's latest stimulus measure, announced Thursday, to bolster the machinery manufacturing industry.

AICC sealed strategic cooperation agreements with 10 Chinese commercial banks Thursday, which gave it access to 176 billion yuan in credit lines.

AICC, a conglomerate under the direct administration of the central government, was formed on November 8 by the merger of two other companies.

It has 200 subsidiaries, more than 20 listed companies, total assets of more than 290 billion yuan and about 400,000 employees.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...nt_7453000.htm

[snow is red]

Chongqing to pilot land and financial reform

2009-02-06

The State Council, or the Cabinet, said it will try to help speed up the integration between the urban and rural districts in Chongqing.

To achieve that goal, the central government has proposed the establishment of a unified real estate market mechanism in which the sales and leasing of rural land can be orderly processed.

The central government has also proposed the development of commodity futures settlement warehouses and a live pig forward market to help growers better plan their planting cycles.

In addition, the central government has recommended that Chongqing be considered as a part for the establishment of the proposed over-the-counter market to provide an additional source of capital to local enterprises.

The central government is also planning to set up a pilot scheme in Chongqing to allow insurance companies to invest in the municipality's infrastructure development.

Chongqing could also be selected as the city for the pilot program of reform of the foreign exchange management system, a center for electronic bills transaction and for micro-credit companies.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchin...nt_7452024.htm

[snow is red]

China's foreign trade tops $2.56 trillion but slows in 2008

2009-02-06

China's foreign trade topped $2.56 trillion in value in 2008, but the year-on-year growth rate dropped below 20 percent for the first time in seven years, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The total value was up 17.8 percent compared with 2007, but the growth rate was down 5.7 percentage points.

Exports were up 17.2 percent to $1.43 trillion and imports up 18.5 percent to $1.13 trillion, but the annual export growth rate slowed by 8.5 and imports by 2.3 percentage points.

The trade surplus stood at $295.47 billion, up 12.5 percent, according to the administration.

The European Union remained China's biggest trade partner with bilateral trade totaling $425.58 billion, up 19.5 percent, and 9 percentage points higher than trade between China and its second main trade partner, the United States.

Sino-US bilateral trade totaled $333.74 billion, the smallest increase since China joined the World Trade Organization seven years ago, customs figures show.

Japan remained the third largest trade partner of China and the bilateral trade volume rose 13 percent year on year to hit $266.78 billion last year.

Trade between China and India, the 10th largest trade partner of China, was up 34 percent at $51.78 billion, but 21.5 percentage points down from a year ago.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchin...nt_7452850.htm

[snow is red]

Originally Posted by big-dog

Analysts: China may have surpassed U.S. in Jan. auto sales



(Source: China Daily)

Small car sales boom in Jan on tax cut

2009-02-06

Auto makers in China reported a substantial sales increase in January following the governmental decision to halve the car purchase tax, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said on Thursday.

On Jan 14, the country announced its plan to lower the purchase tax on cars with engines under 1.6-liter from 10 percent to 5 percent from Jan 20 to Dec 31 in a bid to spur domestic auto industry.

The tax cut, taking effect before the national Lunar New Year holiday, a major sales season in China, fueled car buyers' enthusiasm for low-emission vehicles with engines under 1.6-liter.

Major domestic brands featured by models under 1.6 liters, including Chery, Geely and BYD, all had recorded high sales in January.

Monthly sales of Chery exceeded 35,000, the highest since the company was founded in 1997. Daily sales topped 2,000 for five straight days from the launch of the tax cut -- up 50 percent compared with the previous average.

Geely sold 28,502 cars in January, up 14.5 percent year-on-year. BYD reported a historical high in combined monthly sales of its two low-emission models with engines of 1.5-liter and 1-liter, which neared 20,000 by number.

Foreign brands also made a good showing. Daily sales of models under 1.6-liter by Shanghai GM, namely Excelle, Chevrolet Aveo and Lova, increased from about 1,100 units to more than 1,300 after the tax policy took effect.

Low-emission models took up two thirds of the total 35,000-odd cars sold by Sino-Korean joint Hyundai in January.

"Auto sales in January were encouraging," Zhu Yiping, associate secretary in general with CAAM, told Xinhua, adding that more statistics are expected as some auto makers haven't reported their sales number yet.


http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchin...nt_7452036.htm

[Hidden Dragon]

This trend may not continue in February since people buy cars due to spring festival and tax cut.

[big-dog]

Efforts to prevent accidents pay off last year

Updated: 2009-02-02

BEIJING - China urged work safety supervisors nationwide to continue accident prevention this year as efforts to stress safety paid off last year, with declining number of accidents and deaths, according to the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS).

The number of accidents through last year fell 18.3 percent to 413,752 from 2007, while death toll was 91,172, down 10.2 percent compared with 2007.

It was the first time since 1995 that accident death toll fell below 100,000, the work safety regulator said.

The death rate of per 100 million yuan GDP fell 24.5 percent from 2007 to 0.312 last year.

Zhao Tiechui, senior SAWS official in charge of coal mine supervision, said coal mine safety was improved in 2008. He attributed the improvements to government efforts in closing illegal mines and work safety enforcement.

Last year saw a drop of 19.3 percent and 15.1 percent in the number of coal mine accidents and fatalities at the backdrop of a 7.5 percent increase in coal output to 2.72 billion tonnes.

In 2007, coal mine accidents claimed 3,770 lives in China.

The death rate in coal mine accidents, per million tonnes of coal produced, dropped 20.4 percent year-on-year to 1.182.

The administration chief Luo Lin urged a 1.4 percent decline in the number of all accidents and a 2 percent drop in coal accidents this year.

He added the regulator's focus of this year would be to crack down on illegal production and operation and shut down more than 1,000 small coal mines to reduce the total number to below 10,000 by 2010.

Poor working conditions in small coal mines are likely to pose threats to work safety. China closed 1,054 small coal mines in 2008, and government figures show almost 80 percent of the country's 16,000 mines fall within this category.

(Xinhua)

[snow is red]

Hefty payout deals draw public anger

2009-02-07

While America's "Gilded Age" is ending with US President Barack Obama's announcement of compensation caps on financial companies being bailed out by public funds, some Chinese State-owned financial firms are still testing public tolerance with astronomical executive packages.

The main target of a public outcry is Guotai Jun'an Securities Co, one of the largest brokerages in China, which is reportedly ready to give its executives hefty pay rises for 2008, when the financial services industry suffered major losses and the company itself saw a 24.24 percent decline in net profit, according to the Securities Association of China.

Guotai Jun'an announced it would earmark 3.2 billion yuan ($470 million) for "compensation and welfare expenses" for the past year, 57 percent higher than its compensation budget at the beginning of the year.

The decision, pending approval from its board of directors, was immediately chastised by the Chinese media as a move State broadcaster China Central Television described as "causing harmful social influence".

Guotai Jun'an employs a staff of 3,200 and is one of the largest firms in the country in both regular brokerage services and an investor in other companies.

If the earmarked amount is spent entirely as compensation and welfare expenses, the company's employees would each receive 1 million yuan, or 88 times an average urban worker's annual income in 2007.

According to a survey by Shanghai Securities News, 44 brokerage and financial companies spent roughly 20.9 billion yuan in compensation last year and some firms paid their staff 400,000 yuan each on average.

However, it is common for top executives in financial firms to earn in multiples of what regular staff are paid. The highest pay package in the industry in 2007 was as much as 66 million yuan for Ma Mingzhe, chairman of Ping An Insurance (Group) Co, which drew great ire on Internet forums.

This time, amid even more widespread public anger, an online survey conducted by Sina.com showed that about 90 percent of netizens said Guotai Jun'an's move was "outrageous" and "disgraceful".

When stock investors incurred losses of 200,000 yuan each on average in 2008, Guotai Jun'an's pay package is tantamount to robbery and is immoral, commented the Chinese-language newspaper Legal Daily.

"The compensation policy in State-owned companies should not be handled at will," said Professor Li Shuguang with China University of Political Science and Law.

Among Guotai Jun'an's shareholders, the largest two are in the State sector: Shanghai State-owned Assets Management Co and Central Huijin Investment Co. They hold more than half of the company's stock.

On Friday, the Ministry of Finance announced it would soon release new standards for evaluating performances of State-sector financial institutions and link them to compensation schemes.

On Jan 13, the ministry issued a circular suspending State-sector financial companies' stock option incentives and employee stock ownership plans; and told them to act "reasonably" to avoid widening income gaps.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...nt_7453543.htm

[snow is red]

Pension fund to draw in more workers

2009-02-07

Millions of rural and urban migrant workers will be better protected under new pension fund regulations, the government has said.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security released two documents for public feedback on Thursday, covering rural migrant workers in the pension system and fund transfer between provinces for urban migrant workers.

One proposal is to lower pension contributions from rural migrant workers and their employers, from 8 percent and 20 percent of the employee's income to 4 percent and 12 percent.

If rural migrant workers contribute regularly for 15 years or above, they receive a monthly pension after retirement, the ministry said.

"Rural migrant workers will enjoy the same rights as their urban counterparts if they pay their contributions in time," the ministry said.

The other proposal will eliminate barriers on transferring the pension fund between provinces to help the workforce move more freely in the country.

"The two policies are very important in the development of the pension insurance system and useful amendments to the current social security system," Zheng Gongcheng, the country's leading social security scholar and senior lawmaker, told China Daily yesterday.

"The difficulties in transferring the pension fund have severely damaged the interests of migrant workers," he said.

To incorporate more views, the public is encouraged to offer its opinion on the two draft documents before Feb 20.

According to the ministry's report, there are about 230 million farmers-turned-workers in China, of whom 130 million work in cities far away from their hometowns. In addition, thanks to the fast growing economy, the urban workforce flow among provinces has been increasing in recent years.

But migrant workers face many difficulties paying to, and transferring, the pension fund because of the high contributions and inability to transfer the fund between regions.

At the end of 2008, only 17 percent of rural migrant workers were eligible for a pension in cities.

"The central government is now working on the overall structure of the pension fund at the provincial level," the ministry said.

It said the government would also establish a national social security information system and every citizen will have their identity card numbers as the social security number to check on pension fund information. The project will first reach out to rural migrant workers.

The economic slowdown has squeezed 20 million migrant workers out of jobs, Chen Xiwen, director of rural work leading group, a central government advisory body, said last week.

They accounted for 15.3 percent of China's 130 million migrant workers, he said.

Thousands of small factories downed shutters as the financial crisis took a heavy toll on the nation's exports since September.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...nt_7453726.htm

[big-dog]

China shares soar on better indicators

By Zhou Yan
Updated: 2009-02-07

SHANGHAI: After a slight correction on Thursday, China's top share index resumed its uptrend on Friday and jumped 3.97 percent.
Sufficient liquidity and hopes of early recovery in economic fundaments sent the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 83.22 points to 2181.24, its highest level in five months.



An investor in Wuhan smiles when the stock benchmark index rose nearly 4 percent, February 6, 2009. [China Daily]



Heavyweights led the rally and only one stock ended up lower at the end of the day.

The smaller Shenzhen Component Index went up 4.84 percent to 7771.9 points. Following active trading the day before, the combined turnover on the two bourses reached 189.2 billion yuan yesterday.

The Shanghai index has gained 9.57 percent over the first week after the Chinese New Year break.

"The absence of negative economic figures in February and high expectations on pickup of residential consumption data during the past holiday lifted investors' hopes that China will recover earlier than other economies," said Zhang Fan, an analyst with Tebon Securities.

He forecasted two rounds of interest rate cuts in the first half of this year, 27 basis points each time.

China International Capital Corporation estimated the newly added loans in the bank system reached 1.4 trillion to 1.6 trillion yuan in January, up almost 20 percent from the first month in 2008, indicating an abundant supply of capital.

Recent speculations that China Securities Regulatory Commission will resume initial public offerings in the short-term, which caused panic short-selling on Thursday, was clarified by the securities regulator, backing up market liquidity, said analysts.

The non-ferrous metals and property sectors were at the forefront of yesterday's rally.

Non-ferrous metal shares rose 7.37 percent. Western Mining, the second-largest lead miner in China, climbed 8.02 percent to 9.07 yuan, while Zhongjin Gold Corp, the biggest producer of precious metals, jumped 7.84 percent to 42.91 yuan.

"Chinese base metal industries show signs of strengthening after being squeezed by slumping demand and aggressive de-stocking for several months," said Jing Ulrich, managing director, China Equities, J.P. Morgan.

The property sector finally revived after a long slide, on hopes the central government will announce plans to stimulate the realty industry.

Vanke, China's largest listed property developer, gained 7.71 percent to close at 7.82 yuan.

(China Daily)

[big-dog]

Rising unemployment a key challenge for China

By Wang Xu
Updated: 2009-02-07

Rising unemployment rather than economic slowdown appears to be the biggest challenge for the Chinese economy this year, according to economists.

According to a report by China Economic Monitoring and Analysis Center, over 90 percent of the 100 economists surveyed expressed the view that the growing number of jobless is the top challenge for the economy, followed by economic slowdown and social instability.

The survey, conducted in December, also revealed that economists' confidence in the economy has dropped to its lowest since 2004, when it was first introduced.

"The survey results show that government policies should be directed at addressing unemployment," said Lin Yixiang, chairman and CEO of TX Investment Consulting Co, which helped to conduct the survey.

The rising concern over unemployment also underscores the gloomy prospects of the nation's job market. Over the past few months, more than 20 million migrant workers, or a sixth of the total, have lost their jobs due to the economic slowdown.

Policymakers also forecast the registered urban unemployment rate, which excludes migrant workers, will hit 4.6 percent in 2009, up from 4.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

China's economic growth dropped to 9 percent in 2008, compared with 13 percent of 2007. The International Monetary Fund has predicted that the nation's growth would further decline to 6.7 percent this year, far below the long-time 8 percent target of the Chinese government.

As a response to the economic slowdown, the government announced a 4 trillion yuan stimulus package last November to prop up the weakening economy. Meanwhile, it's also drafting a plan to bolster the development of 10 key industries. Policymakers later said in January that they plan to spend 850 billion yuan by 2011 to provide accessible and affordable healthcare to the country's 1.3 billion people.

A total of 86 percent of the economists said the government's fiscal policy should focus on social spending, including education, medical care and improving the social security system. Economists also want the government to reduce direct investment in infrastructure projects, due to concerns about misallocation of resources and corruption.

More than 70 percent of the economists surveyed believed that the Chinese economy would continue to lose steam this year with the lowest point likely to occur in the second quarter. Three-fifths of the economists said the global economy would only start to recover in 2010.

(China Daily)

[big-dog]

Dairy products export down in '08 on Sanlu scandal

Updated: 2009-02-07

Export of China's dairy products dropped 10.4 percent year on year to 121,000 tonnes in 2008 in the wake of the tainted baby milk powder scandal, said China's Customs on Saturday.

The General Administration of Customs said the decline was due to shrinking demand from overseas after the Sanlu milk powder scandal that broke last September.

"Lots of foreign countries stopped importing dairy products from China, and the country's milk industry suffered severely," said the report.

Sanlu baby milk powder was found to be contaminated with melamine, killing six children nationwide, and sickening 296,000 infants, according to the Ministry of Health.

Dairy products export was valued at US$300 million in 2008 amid a worldwide price rise, representing an increase of 24.5 percent year on year. Average export price was US$2,501 per tonne, up 39 percent year on year.

Export of milk powder in 2008 rose 2.9 percent to 64,000 tonnes, accounting for 52.9 percent of the total dairy products export.

The report also said import of dairy products surged as some customers tended to buy foreign products instead of domestic ones as a result of declining confidence in domestic brands.

The country imported 351,000 tonnes of dairy products at a cost of US$860 million last year, up 17.4 percent and 15.8 percent year on year, respectively.

The report shows, Hong Kong, Venezuela and the East Union were the main export destinations, while most of the imports were from the US, European Union and New Zealand.

(Xinhua)

[big-dog]

China begins construction of 2nd gas pipeline

Updated: 2009-02-07

Shenzhen -- China started construction of the eastern segment of the country's second West-East gas pipeline in Southern Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province on Saturday.

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang attended the ceremony and announced the start of the construction.

The pipeline, the second after the first West-East natural gas transfer project, will cross 14 provinces and carry 30 million cubic meters of natural gas every year from Turkmenistan to eastern and western areas, including Zhejiang, Shanghai and Guangdong.

The 9,102 km pipeline will be made up of one trunk line and eight sub-lines. Construction in west segment of the pipeline was started in 2008 and will be put into use by the end of 2011.

After completion of the second pipeline, China is expected to save 11.06 million tonnes of coal every year.

The first West-East gas pipeline was finished in 2004. In the past five years, it provided 42 billion cubic meters of gas to nearly 200 million population.

(Xinhua)

[big-dog]

Rare drought to continue, threatens summer harvest

Updated: 2009-02-07

The worst drought in half a century in northern China will continue until next month, according to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) on Friday.


Two children look for shells on a dried riverbed in Zhengzhou, Henan province, February 5, 2009. Accounting for a quarter of China's wheat output, the province is plagued by the most severe drought since 1951. [China Daily]

The administration predicted that drought in some of the hard-stricken regions would be eased slightly by light rainfall over the next ten days.

In March, rainfall in most parts of the wheat-growing areas in northern China is expected to be slightly less or close to normal.

However, the wheat crops in Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Henan and Anhui will continue to suffer, said Xiao Ziniu, director of the National Climate Center (NCC) under the CMA said at a video conference.

China has raised its drought emergency alert level Thursday from orange to red, the highest level, for the first time in response to the rare drought which began in November.

The dry spell has affected about 161 million mu (10.73 million hectares) of crops, with 4.37 million people and 2.1 million heads of livestock facing water shortage by February 6, according to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have ordered all-out efforts to combat the drought in the country's vast wheat-growing area to ensure a good summer harvest.

The central government has added 300 million yuan ($44 million) to 100 million yuan of emergency funding to help ease the drought. Since December, more than 5.26 million people have participated in drought-relief work.

About half of the total, or five million hectares of the affected crop fields have been irrigated in the nation's eight wheat-growing provinces as of February 5, according to data released by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) on Friday.

The ministry said it would offer farmers subsidies on irrigation equipment purchase to aid the relief work. Prices of the facilities should not be higher than the market price for last year.

However, meteorological agencies warned farmers to irrigate their fields in a "scientific way" to prevent their wheat freezing in the early spring.

As the drought will not be relieved in the short-run, more seedlings are likely to be killed as spring approaches, which could threatened the summer harvest.

MOA data showed more than 2.3 million mu of wheat seedlings in Henan, Anhui and Shandong provinces had perished.

This year's summer harvest became more unpredictable as Puccinia striiformis, or stripe rust, one of the most damaging wheat disease began to show signs of spreading across the nation, MOA warned.

The dangerous disease, which could cause losses up to 40 percent, has affected more than 11.3 million mu (753,000 hectares) of wheat in seven provinces, 4.6 million mu more than the same period last year. The northwestern Gansu and Ningxia saw the worst outbreak in 19 years.

(Xinhua/China Daily)

[big-dog]

China steel imports hit 7-yr low in Dec

Updated: 2009-02-08

BEIJING -- China imported less than one million tonnes of steel products in December 2008, the lowest monthly figure in seven years as economic downturn sapped demands, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Saturday.

The imports have posted drastic slump since mid-2008 as the global financial crisis began to hurt the real economy. Only 929,000 tonnes were imported in December, sharply down from the 1.44 million tonnes in July and 30.4 percent less from a year ago, customs data showed.

A total of 15.43 million tonnes of steel products were imported last year, down 8.6 percent year on year. The imports value grew 14 percent to $23.43 billion.

(Xinhua)

[big-dog]

Meteorologist: More rain expected in drought-hit N. China

Updated: 2009-02-08

BEIJING -- After some parts of the drought-stricken north China embraced the long-awaited rain on Saturday, more rainfall was expected to come on Sunday, said National Meteorological Center (NMC) on Saturday.


Photo taken on February 7, 2008, shows raindrops on wheat seedlings in Zhongmou County, Henan Province, central China. [Agencies]
More Photos:No end in sight to dry weather

Rain or snow is forecast for Sunday and next Monday in parts of the northwest and southwest China. They will also spread to the country's north and central regions, according to the NMC.

The provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Hubei and Anhui, the country's major wheat-growing areas which are hard-hit by the rare drought will brace rain or snow from Saturday night to Sunday. The rainfall will be less than 10 millimeters, but will help relieve the grim drought moderately.

Rainfall Expected in Henan over next 3 Weeks

Zhao Guoqiang, vice-deputy director of the Meteorological Administration of Henan, said on Thursday that four to five periods of rain are expected in central China's drought-stricken Henan Province over the next three weeks.

"According to our current information, there will be four to five episodes of rainfall this month. They will occur between Feb. 7-8, 12-14, 17-18, 20-23, and 27-28."

The deputy director also says the province's precipitation in February will continue below the normal level.

The drought is the worst for almost fifty years in Henan province, one of China's key crop regions.

Its average rainfall has dropped by 90 percent since Nov 2008 compared with the same period last year. This is the lowest since 1961.

About 2.8 million hectares of wheat fields in the province have been hit by the drought, including 470,000 which are severely damaged.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Henan.

(Xinhua)

[big-dog]

China pulls through first post-festival travel peak

Updated: 2009-02-08

BEIJING -- China's railways and roads underwent the first travel peak after the Lunar New Year festival, with larger passenger flows than the same period last year.

The railways carried more than 5 million travelers each day from January 31 to Friday, a record high in both duration and passenger number, said the Ministry of Railways (MOR) spokesman Wang Yongping on Saturday.



An urban-bound rural migrant worker arrives at Fuyang Railway Station in east China's Anhui province to board a train February 7, 2009 as he prepares to return to the city after celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year in his rural hometown. [Xinhua/Li Jian]

Altogether 5.02 million took trains on Friday, increasing 170,000 year-on-year, MOR figures show.

Wang predicted lighter traffic on Saturday and Sunday and a second peak after Monday, when the Lantern Festival falls and wraps up the Chinese New Year celebration.

About 55.8 million hit the road on Saturday, up 4 percent from a year earlier, said the Ministry of Transport spokesman He Jianzhong.

The number was down from previous days as most people had returned from family visits, but there were more college students and migrant workers making trips back to study or city work, said He.

He said 800,000 traveled by water on Saturday, 6 percent more than the same period last year.

China's Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival, fell on January 26 this year. It's the country's most important traditional festival, resulting in the world's largest human migration in a year.

(Xinhua)