The Nation Newspaper

Tag: china

  • China manufacturing misses forecasts

    China’s manufacturing activity missed expectations in August, indicating that the country’s economy may be losing momentum and require more stimulus.

    The official purchasing managers index (PMI) fell to 51.1 for the first time in seven months from 51.7 in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

    The PMI is a key gauge of the sector’s health and any reading above 50 indicates expansion.

    The data measures activity in China’s bigger factories, many of which are government-backed businesses.

    The weaker-than-expected numbers may pressure the Chinese government into increasing easing measures in order to meet its annual growth target of 7.5 per cent.

    Julian Evans-Pritchard, China Economist at Capital Economics, said the data shows “economic conditions have softened” and that a gradual slowdown is expected in the coming months.

    “Broadly speaking, today’s PMI reading suggests that downwards pressure on the economy, as a result of slowing investment in sectors with overcapacity, particularly property, is no longer being fully offset by policy support measures.”

    Meanwhile, a closely-watched private survey by banking group HSBC also showed a fall in factory activity.

    Its final PMI reading for August slipped to 50.2 from 51.7 in July, marking its lowest level in three months.

  • South Korea Peace Advocte Lee honoured in China

    South Korea Peace Advocte Lee honoured in China

    The Peace advocate of South Korea, Mr. Man Hee Lee, has been granted the ‘Peace Advocate of World Peace’ award at the Great Hall of the People of Beijing.

    Lee who is the representative of Heavenly Culture World Peace Restoration of Light (“HWPL”) was granted the award by Zhang Meiying, the Vice President of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (“CPPCC”) of China after a recent meeting on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.

    The award for Lee, a Korean War veteran was inspired by his promise to work peace and call on leaders of every country to sign a peace agreement that will bring the cessation of war and world peace..

    He also met with other groups during which he echoed his call for peace.

    Last January, Mr. Lee brought peace to the war-torn region of Mindanao, Philippines, where religious conflicts between Catholics and Muslims caused over 10,000 casualties.

    Before visiting China, the representative of HWPL hosted a Peace Walk with about 12,000 participants at Zamboanga, Philippines and showed the world that world peace is possible.

    Lee’s visit to China was part of his 13th Peace World Tour to spread the message of peace. Territorial disputes in Asia and denuclearization on the Korean peninsula were the two topics discussed during the Peace Forum.

  • River in China mysteriously turns bloody red overnight

    River in China mysteriously turns bloody red overnight

    A WATERWAY in eastern China has mysteriously turned a blood red colour.

    Residents in Zhejiang province said the river looked normal at 5 a.m. Beijing time on Thursday morning. Within an hour, the entire river turned crimson. Residents also said a strange smell wafted through the air.

    “The really weird thing is that we have been able to catch fish because the water is normally so clear,” one local villager commented on China’s microblogging site Weibo.

  • HSBC raises China’s GDP

    Banking giant HSBC has upgraded its forecast for China’s yearly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to 7.5 per cent from 7.4 per cent, saying recovery has been stronger than expected.

    The Chinese economy expanded 7.5 per cent year on year and 2 percent quarter to quarter (seasonally adjusted) in the second quarter. In the first half of the year, China’s economy expanded 7.4 per cent from a year earlier.

    GDP growth in the second quarter “surprised on the upside relative to our forecast” owing to stronger-than-expected government support measures, HSBC Chief China Economist Qu Hongbin said in a report on Monday.

    Activity data suggests that most of the improvement came in June, with monthly fixed asset investment and industrial production growing 17.9 per cent and 9.2 per cent, respectively, compared with 16.9 percent and 8.8 per cent in May.

    Policy support has been instrumental in helping China’s economy recover more quickly and strongly than expected. Bank lending picked up greatly in June, and fiscal spending accelerated in May and last month. As a result, infrastructure investment and related manufacturing investment accelerated.

    Government policies, particularly fiscal policy, will likely be even more supportive in the second half as it is traditionally the spending season, Qu said. “We expect the cumulative impact of easing measures to continue filtering through and policymakers to maintain their accommodative stance.”

    Despite revision of the 2014 GDP forecast, Qu said HSBC’s broad outlook on the Chinese economy remains unchanged.

    In the near term, infrastructure investment will remain the policy of choice when it comes to supporting growth. Continued reform measures to expand the municipal bond market, regulate shadow bank lending and restructure state-owned enterprises will help reduce funding risks. Both monetary and fiscal policy will remain accommodative to consolidate the recovery, according to the report.

    The main downside risk to HSBC’s forecast for China remains the property sector. Although the contraction in sales eased in June, funding and investment growth remained depressed.

    However, Chinese policymakers can offset the negative impact given that they have a broad range of policy tools at their disposal, Qu said.

  • Gone shopping

    Gone shopping

    A vehicle shot off the end of a raised car park and smashed into some shops below after the driver mistakenly hit the accelerator rather than the brake in Chongqing Municipality, southwest China. The driver compensated the shop owners with around 3,000 Yuan (£280) before calling a crane to recover his vehicle.

  • Breaking and Entering

    Breaking and Entering

    On any given day the police will prosecute you for the crime of breaking and entering. But a few days ago, the tables were turned as this dramatic shot shows.  A Chinese police officer in Weihai City in Shandong Province, in the east of China, escaped disciplinary action after losing control of a van and leaving it suspended three storeys above a street. The police clearly interpreted this as a mere accident.

  • Nigeria, China trade volume hits $210b

    The Nigerian, Chinese bilateral cooperation has boosted trade between the two countries leading to remarkable increase in volume of transactions last year, the Consul-General of the Peoples Republic of China to Nigeria, Mr. Liu Khan, has said.

    Khan who spoke yesterday at the ongoing three-day Energy, Environment and Investment Forum in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on “Sustainable Energy, the Key to Africa’s World Integration” in Port Harcourt, organised by the Rivers State Government, said   exports and import trade volume of the two countries stood at $210 billion last year, which represents about 5.9 per cent.

    He said the bilateral relationship between the two countries has resulted in foreign direct investments (FDIs) in various sectors of the  economy by Chinese adding that he would encourage more Chinese enterprises to expand investment in  the manufacturing sector.

    He also pledged to encourage Chinese entrepreneurs to transfer technologies and train  personnel to increase local job opportunities.

    He said: “Both countries have entered into mutually beneficial trade agreements, which have created rapid development of the Nigerian economy. `There are currently more than 40 Chinese companies that have been playing positive roles in the satisfaction of demand and creation of jobs in Nigeria.

    “We have been actively involved in the manufacturing, retail and agricultural sectors of the economy.”

    Khan commended the Federal Government for creating enabling environment for foreign businesses to thrive, and called for the protection of Chinese entrepreneurs’ safety in the country.

    He said:“Chinese enterprises invest in Nigeria’s seed cultivation and have become the Nigerian government’s seed providers, which helps boost local self-support in grain.

    “Chinese and Nigerian enterprises have joined hands in operating satellite networks, with digital television signals covering 84 per cent of the African country, which promoted cultural exchanges of both countries.’’

    He said Nigeria  has become China’s seventh largest export market adding that Chinese enterprises have repaired a total of 4,500 km of railway  since 1995, and are currently building modern railways and metropolitan light rails too.

    “Chinese enterprises and Nigerian telecommunication operators have cooperated closely to raise Nigeria’s mobile phone subscription rate to 91 per cent in 2013 from less than one percent in 2001.

    “Chinese enterprises have also actively embarked on cooperation in the construction of power plants, highways, and airport terminals, among others, in Nigeria.” he added.

  • China rejects shipping alliance

    China has rejected a shipping alliance initiative aimed at saving the industry money, despite approval from the US and the EU.

    The “P3 Network” was intended to operate in a similar way to code-sharing deals between airlines.

    The idea was to allow the world’s top three container-shipping operators by volume to cut costs by sharing ships and port facilities.

    A successful alliance would have seen about 250 ships participating in P3.

    The idea, announced last year, came from a proposed collaboration among three shipping groups: Maersk from Denmark, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) from Switzerland and CMA CGM from France.

    The network was supposed to begin operating in the second quarter of this year, subject to approvals from various authorities including China, US and the EU.

    The US Federal Maritime Commission approved the alliance in March, while EU competition authorities said earlier this month they would not raise any anti-trust issues in connection with the deal.

    However, China’s Ministry of Commerce has now rejected the tie-up.

    Maersk said in a statement: “The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) of the People’s Republic of China announced that they have not approved the P3 Network. The MOFCOM’s decision follows a review under China’s merger control rules.”

    China’s state-owned news agency Xinhua said the commerce ministry rejected the alliance “due to monopoly concerns”.

    According to various publications, the P3 Network would have positioned the three partners to control up to 40 per cent of all cargo capacity along three trade routes: Asia to Europe, trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic.

    The shippers had agreed to deploy about 250 ships between the three of them and share capacity of 2.6 million containers along the busiest sea routes.

  • PBOC’s Zhou: China’ll enjoy steady growth

    People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said he was confident China would enjoy steady growth and financial stability that would ensure market confidence in its currency.

    According to Reuters, Zhou said that China was in the process of liberalising its capital markets, and that markets would determine the extent of the use of the yuan as an international currency, which is also known as the renminbi (RMB).

    “Although we are faced with many challenges … we have full confidence that we will maintain steady economic growth and financial stability,” he said.

    “We will provide a very solid foundation, a very good macro environment for RMB,” he said.

    Zhou was speaking in London at a conference to promote financial links between Britain and China.

  • Railways, nuclear power on agenda of Li’s European visit

    Railways, nuclear power on agenda of Li’s European visit

    China will likely explore business opportunities in the high-speed railway, nuclear power and shipbuilding industries during Premier Li Keqiang’s upcoming visit to the United Kingdom and Greece, experts said.

    Li was scheduled to begin a six-day visit to the two countries on Monday – his third European trip since taking office last year– according to the Foreign Ministry.

    He is slated to meet British Prime Minister David Cameron at his London residence on a “reciprocal visit” following the British leader’s trip to China last year. Li will also meet Queen Elizabeth II. It will be the first visit to the UK by a Chinese premier in three years.

    Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Chao said talks with Cameron will cover trade, investment, energy and cultural exchanges.

    Ma Zhengang, former Chinese ambassador to the UK, said the visit is an indication that Sino-British relations are getting back on track after signs of recovery in ties last December when Cameron visited Beijing.

    Bilateral relations nosedived in 2012 when Cameron met the Dalai Lama, prompting China to cancel scheduled meetings with the UK.

    Tian Dewen, a researcher of European studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said he expects the visit will focus on economic cooperation.

    He identified the high-speed railway and nuclear power industries as two fields with high potential for cooperation.

    Ma said the UK’s relatively aging infrastructure presents great opportunities for Chinese investors and exporters.

    Bilateral trade exceeded $70 billion in 2013, a rise of 11 per cent year-on-year. That percentage far exceeds the 2.1-percent growth for overall trade between China and Europe.

    Zhao Junjie, an expert of European studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China and Greece will likely discuss the port, aviation, tourism and trade industries.

    He said China’s advantages in the shipbuilding industry dovetail with Greece’s need to revive its traditional strength in sea transportation.

    Li and his Greek counterpart Antonis Samaras are expected to visit Piraeus port near Athens, part of which is operated by China’s State-owned shipping giant China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co under a 35-year-lease signed in 2009.

    It was the first time that a Chinese firm had been granted operating rights to an overseas port.