CHINA US Focus » China News

HK’s CPI up 4 pct in April

English.news.cn — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:30:54 +0000

Hong Kong’s overall consumer prices rose by 4 percent in April over the same month in 2012, larger than the corresponding increase of 3.6 percent in March, the city’s Census and Statistics Department announced on Tuesday.

Netting out the effects of all government’s one-off relief measures, the year-on-year rate of increase in the Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI), the underlying inflation rate in April was 3.9 percent, larger than the March level of 3.7 percent, mainly attributable to the increases in the prices of fresh vegetables.

Read Full Article HERE

China, India in talks on trade strategy: Li

Ding Qingfen — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:28:47 +0000

China and India are discussing boosting an equal and fair environment to promote two-way trade and investment, Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday in Mumbai.

“There are solutions to helping the two countries maintain rapid growth in bilateral trade and investment,” Li said during an evening banquet at the China-India Commercial Summit.

China has great potential to add investment in India, Li said, and is committed to addressing the trade imbalance with India.

Read Full Article HERE

City highlights problems in elevator maintenance

Hu Min — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:23:58 +0000

NEGLIGENCE, lack of funds and an unclear role about responsibility were identified as the major causes for residential elevator scare in Shanghai, and authorities were tackling the issue head-on after several recent reports of elevator accidents in the city, a senior official said yesterday.

Authorities are drafting safety regulations to clarify the responsibility of elevator safety management and strengthen the oversight of elevators in service for 10 years or more, said Huang Xiaolu, director of the Shanghai Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau.

A standard on the replacement of escalator components will also be issued in the second half of the year, Huang said.

Read Full Article HERE

Goldman Sachs Sells Last ICBC Shares

Wang Duan — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:20:01 +0000

Investment bank Goldman Sachs has cashed out on its remaining H-share holdings in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), amid analysts’ concerns about loan quality and the economy.

It sold the stock for US$ 1.1 billion on May 20 for HK$ 5.47 to HK$5.5 per share. This represented a 2.5 to 3 percent discount on the closing price that day. The volume of shares accounted for 1.8 percent of ICBC’s stock issuance in Hong Kong.

This is the sixth time Goldman Sachs has sold ICBC’s stock. It acquired 7 percent of the Chinese bank for US$ 2.58 billion in 2006. Profits from selling those shares total US$ 6.5 billion, calculations by Securities Times after the latest sale show.

Read Full Article HERE

Alibaba Intending to Dig Deep for E-commerce Gold

Wang Shanshan — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:17:34 +0000

Alibaba Group executives frequently tell their employees that the company is sitting on a gold mine, a reference to the huge potential of the large amount of data that the company’s e-commerce operations are gathering.

The country’s largest e-commerce company, which operates the consumer-to consumer Taobao.com and business-to-consumer Tmall.com, has for years emphasized the potential of data mining. Indeed, every year Taobao.com hosts more than 100 million consumers and handles nearly 10 trillion yuan worth of transactions.

In the autumn of 2012, Jack Ma, the founder and chairman of Alibaba, said that in the future the company would have three business pillars: e-commerce, financing and data mining.

Read Full Article HERE

Some industries still competitive

English.news.cn — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:35:40 +0000

The competitiveness of China’s traditional industries is weakening, while its growing competitiveness in new and emerging sectors still lacks sufficient capacity, according to a report published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Commenting on the findings, Jin Bei, director of the Institute of Industrial Economics at the CASS, which produced the report, said China’s competitiveness in some low- and high-end industries remains strong, but is much less competitive in some medium-end industries, providing an unusual U-shaped curve in industrial performance.

Read Full Article HERE

Experts call for urgent measures to tackle debt

Wu Yiyao — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:32:26 +0000

China’s growing level of local government and corporate debt has become a major issue for the nation’s financial system, and requires the authorities to work on solutions to reduce the risk of a hard landing, according to experts.

The banking system can only handle possible external impacts if debt restructuring is immediately pushed forward, said Liu Yuhui, an economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

China lacks institutions and the mechanism to deal with the impact of investment decisions, which has led to the current financial risks, Liu wrote in the China Securities Journal on Monday.

Read Full Article HERE

China, India in pledge to resolve border dispute

Shanghai Daily.com — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:29:32 +0000

THE Chinese and Indian premiers yesterday pledged to resolve a border dispute that has soured ties for decades, saying good relations between the two Asian giants were key to world peace.

China and India will study new ways to ease tensions on their border, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in New Delhi.

The Chinese premier offered India a “handshake across the Himalayas” and said the world’s most populous nations could become a new engine for the global economy if they could avoid friction on the border.

Read Full Article HERE

Four Local Gov’ts Eye Greater Borrowing This Year

Xing Yun — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:27:45 +0000

The amount of bonds the Ministry of Finance plans to issue for four local governments this year rose from last year, data from the local governments shows.

The four are the government of Chongqing and the governments of Jiangsu, Hainan and the Xinjiang region. A breakdown of intended uses for the funds showed priority shifting from building government-subsidized housing to infrastructure construction, such as transport facilities.

The ministry has said it would issue 350 billion yuan worth of bonds for all local governments. That is a 40 percent increase over the amount in 2012. Local governments’ issuances are expected to grow as a result.

Read Full Article HERE

President Xi to visit Latin America, meet Obama

China Daily — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:48:24 +0000

Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay state visits to Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico from May 31 to June 6, and meet with US President Barack Obama in the United States on June 7-8, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang announced here Tuesday.

According to Qin, Xi’s visits are at the invitation of President of Trinidad and Tobago Anthony Carmona, President of Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Obama.

Qin said Xi’s visits to Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico have important significance for the all-round and in-depth development of China’s ties with the three nations, expressing his belief that the visits will inject new vitality to China’s relations with the Latin American and Caribbean regions.

Read Full Article HERE