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ידיעון מס. 116 (ינואר 2009)In this Issue: Coming Events
The Israeli Trade Mission to China will organize a delegation of Israeli IT/Telecom Companies to Beijing , Chongqing and Chengdu , exploring "Second Tire" which have rapidly developed in the last few years and now offer verity of worthwhile business opportunities for both large and medium-scale companies. The delegation will enable Israeli Telecom companies to better understand the current drastic changes in the It/ Telecom sectors. Companies interested participating in the delegation may contact Ms. Luo Xia at luo.xia@israeltrade.gov.il or Tel: 86-10-85320664.
China surpassed Germany to become the world's third largest economy after it raised its economic growth estimate for 2007 Wednesday. The revised growth estimate for 2007 - from 11.9 percent to 13 percent, the fastest rate since 1994 - raised the country's GDP to 25.7 trillion yuan, ($3.5 trillion) at 2007 exchange rates, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Germany 's 2007 GDP was 2.4 trillion euros ($3.3 trillion) at an exchange rate based on the average rates on the 15th of each month during that year. (Jan 15, ChinaDaily)
China December exports, imports fall again amid weak demand China's exports and imports declined for the second consecutive month in December, reflecting weakening external and domestic demand amid the financial crisis, customs officials said Tuesday. Exports fell 2.8 percent year-on-year to 111.16 billion U.S. dollars, while imports fell 21.3 percent to 72.18 billion U.S. dollars, the General Administration of Customs said. (Jan 13, Xinhua)
Only weeks before the reporting season begins, many Chinese publicly traded companies have issued earnings alerts not only of lower profits than earlier projections, but also of worsening expectations for 2009. To be sure, there are bright spots, like the pharmaceutical sector, in the corporate gloom. But companies in most other sectors are sounding the alarm. Among the more than 500 listed companies that had posted their preliminary earnings reports, 200 are projecting profit declines or losses in 2008. Around this time last year, only 45 companies delivered such bad news. (Jan 13, China Daily) Soybean import grows 25.6% in 1st 10 months China imported 30.82 million tons of soybeans in the first 10 months of this year, a growth of 25.6 percent on the same period last year, the General Administration of Customs said on Sunday. The arrivals were valued at $18.73 billion, up 120 percent. The dramatic increase is due to higher soybean prices. (Dec 29, Xinhua) China to ease price control on fertilizer China is planning to speed up reform of its fertilizer pricing mechanism by letting market forces determine prices at an appropriate time, while scrapping temporary price controls imposed on fertilizers, the State Council, or China 's Cabinet, announced at a meeting on Dec 24. But the government will still retain a "certain" degree of price controls on potash, of which China is a major importer, the State Council said. The government will allow all types of investors to invest in the fertilizer circulation sector and will also strengthen the export management system and fertilizer reserve mechanism. (Dec 27, ChinaDaily)
China, the world's largest grain grower, may issue fewer corn export licenses in 2009 than expected and won't provide trade incentives as it seeks to control prices and ensure domestic supply, according to two traders who declined to be identified. The government may also decide to delay issuing the licenses, they said. Chinese corn prices have risen from a two-year low after the government said it would increase buying of domestic corn to boost farm incomes, Bloomberg News said. (Dec 26, Shanghai Daily)
After living in the shadow of archrival Gome for years, Suning , China 's second largest consumer electronics retailer, now sees its best chance yet to capture the No 1 spot. With founder and chairman Huang Guangyu detained by police in an investigation of alleged wrongful share dealing, Gome is in no position to object. (Jan 14, ChinaDaily)
Taobao.com To Invest $200 Million To Build Taobao City In Hangzhou According to information from Taobao.com, the Chinese online shopping website has started the construction of its Taobao City development in Yuhang District of Hangzhou at an approximate cost of CNY1.36 billion. Taobao City is planned as the new office building of Taobao.com. The construction of the Taobao City is reportedly to be divided into two phases, which will be both completed in the next five years. When it is completed, all 1,700 employees of Taobao.com will all move to Taobao City . In addition, an enterprise zone will be specially created in the project, providing a place for Taobao.com to nurture more medium and small-sized e-commerce vendors in the future. (Jan 12, ChinaRetailNews)
Eight conservation and control projects will be started by 2011 along China 's longest river, the Yangtze, to improve water use and protect the ecology. Cai Qihua, director of the Yangtze Water Resources Commission, announced the projects during the commission's annual work meeting. The initiatives include strengthening embankments on the middle and lower reaches, building flood control projects at major tributaries and lakes, and controlling minor rivers and mountain torrents that pose threats to life. Other planned projects include reservoir and flood-control facilities, hydropower plants, soil erosion prevention schemes, water-quality monitoring networks and environmental protection facilities. (2009-1-14 Xinhua News Agency) China BlueStar, Toray to launch membrane JV project in Beijing China National BlueStar (Group) Co Ltd, a specialized subsidiary of state-owned ChinaChem Group, signed a contract with Japan-based Toray Industries Inc to launch a reverse osmosis membrane project in Beijing . The project, the largest of its kind in China is scheduled to put on production in April 2010 with an annual output of 130,000 membranes. The total investment will be RMB 530 million. The new projects will cut down cost in domestic water purifying plants with the main products of reverse osmosis membrane among sewage treatment and sea-water filtering. (2008-12-30 China Knowledge) Yangtze River water to supply Beijing in 2014 The Yangtze River in South China is expected to provide 1 billion cubic meters of water every year to Beijing starting 2014, according to the municipal water authority. The River water supplied by the South-to-North Water Diversion Project will help tackle the city's water shortage problem. The shortage in Beijing is set to reach a crisis point in 2010, when the population is expected to top 17 million, or 3 million more than its resources can support. (2009-1-14 Xinhua News Agency) Ranhill incorporates unit for water project in China Ranhill Bhd (RB) has incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary Ranhill (Yingkou) Wastewater Treatment Co Ltd in China with a registered share capital of RM46 million (US$13.4 million) to undertake a wastewater and reclaim water treatment project in China. Ranhill Yingkou would be the special purpose company to undertake the 110 million litres per day project in Yingkou Economic & Technology Development Zone, Yingkou City , Liaoning Province for a 30-year concession. (2009-1-15 The Edge Daily) Growth of China's energy imports slows in 2008 but value soars China imported 240 million tones of major energy commodities (oil, refined products, natural gas and coal) in the first 11 months of 2008, up 3.7 percent year-on-year, according to a report released by the General Administration of Customs. These imports were valued at 158.6 billion U.S. dollars, up 74 percent, and they accounted for 14.9 percent of total imports for the 11months. (2009-1-5 Xinhuanet) Shanghai to give subsidy for clean sewage facilities
China Unicom to Start WCDMA Bidding Invitation China Unicom is to kick off WCDMA commerce bidding invitation, a well-informed person disclosed on January 8, 2009. Direct investment in 3G will amount to CNY 280 billion or so in 2009-2010, said Li Yizhong, head for China 's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). China Unicom brews to inject about CNY 100 billion into the WCDMA network construction project, which covers more than 200 cities and encompasses nearly 70,000 base stations. The telecoms operator started to invite bidding for the WCDMA equipment procurement in October 2008. Six equipment manufacturers, including Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, Shanghai Bell, Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corporation, and Guangzhou New Postcom Equipment Co., Ltd. offered their biddings. (Jan 12, 163.com) China Issues Long-awaited 3G Licenses China's telecommunications supervisor on Wednesday issued long-awaited third-generation (3G) mobile phone licenses to three mobile operators, a move that is expected to lead to billions of dollars being invested in building new networks. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said China 's biggest mobile operator, China Mobile, was awarded a license for TD-SCDMA, the domestically-developed 3G standard. The other two main carriers, China Telecom and China Unicom, received licenses for the U.S.-developed CDMA2000 and Europe 's WCDMA, respectively. The MIIT also issued 23 regulations on the requirements of 3G network operation, covering such aspects as market competition, consumer rights, user information security, telecommunication charges management and facility building. The news would also benefit the 3G network equipment and cell phone manufacturers, including ZTE Corp., Wuhan Fingu Electronic Technology Co. and Ningbo Bird Co. Ltd. The 3G cell phone sales would top 300 billion yuan (44 billion U.S. dollars) during the 2009-2011 period, Sinolink Securities analyst Chen Yunhong forecast. (Jan 7, Xinhua) Beijing subscribers account for half of all 3G users in China 3G subscribers in Beijing have already reached 200,000, accounting for half of the nation's total users, said He Ning, general manager of China Mobile Beijing. (Jan 13, People’s Daily Online)
China's mobile Internet population surged a whopping 113 percent in 2008 and could see explosive growth in the coming years, said a report issued by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) on Tuesday. The nation's move to deploy third-generation (3G) services will benefit from the rising popularity of a mobile Internet, as more than 117 million subscribers have gone online with their cell phones. CNNIC said 39.5 percent of Chinese Internet users adopt cell phones to surf the Web. (Jan 14, ChinaDaily) China Q3 WAP Market Dropped 29.63% China's official wireless application protocol (WAP) market size had CNY 1.152 billion in total during the third quarter of 2008, with a 29.63% drop quarter on quarter, Analysys International, an Internet-based provider of business information about technology, media, and telecommunications in China , said in a data report on January 12. The nation's decreased SP profitability was attributed to the Chinese government and China Mobile's strict examinations over WAP content during the Beijing Olympic Games in August 2008. (Jan 14, c114) Handset users receive 300b spam messages in '08 Every mobile phone subscriber in China was receiving 10 spam text messages each week on average as of the end of 2008, despite the government and operators' continuing anti-spam efforts, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The figure in 2007 was 13. As China has roughly 624 million cell phone users, it can be estimated that more than 300 billion spam messages were produced in 2008. Fraudulent messages designed to get people to give out their financial information or remit money have been a popular tool to cheat mobile phone users in China . According to the ministry, most of the spam messages involve selling promotion for real estate, retailing, traffic and tourism industries. They often lure users by giving them electronic coupons or claiming they have won a prize. (Jan 8, Xinhua) More than 633 million mobile subscribers in China China, the world’s largest mobile market, continues its expansion and it will soon have more mobile users than Europe ’s total population. According to China ’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), in November 2008, there were 633.84 million Chinese mobile subscribers, served by only three carriers: China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. Another interesting fact is that, during the same month of 2008 (November), Chinese mobile users sent no less than 56.87 billion short messages (SMS). (Jan 7, DigiTimes) China's Handset Industry Growth Slowed in Second Half of 2008 Carriers China Mobile to Spend $8.6 Billion in 3G Network Construction China Mobile to subsidize TD-SCDMA handset manufacturers China Mobile will provide subsidies totaling over RMB 10 billion ($1.46 billion) to domestic and foreign TD-SCDMA handset manufacturers in 2009. Only TD-SCDMA handsets that have secured network access licenses from China 's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) will be included in the funding plan. (Jan 13, Sohu.com) China Unicom Aims to Offer 3G Services in 55 Cities By July China Unicom says that it aniticpates launching its WCDMA network in 55 Chinese cities by the middle of this year - and expand coverage to 280 cities by the end of the year. This compares with China Telecom's plans to cover 100 cities with its CDMA 3G network within three months, and China Mobile's plans to cover 238 cities by the end of this year. The company expects that its capital expenditure with reach CNY 60 billion (US$8.8 billion) during 2009, with a further US$5.8 billion to be spent in 2010. China Mobile recently said that it plans to spend US$8.6 billion on its own network during 2009. Unicom Chairman, Chang Xiaobing said the 3G business was expected to become profitable next year, but warned that profit margins could be hit by increasing competition. (Jan 15, Cellular News)
According to China Telecom's Beijing branch, the company will launch the new 3G business at the end of February 2009. A representative from China Telecom Beijing reveals that by the end of February, the speed of China Telecom's CDMA wireless access will be increased from the current 153.6 kilobytes to 3.1 megabytes for downlink rate and 1.8 megabytes for the uplink rate. At that time, the CDMA2000 handsets will be able to support special 3G services like video calls and high-speed Internet surfing. China Telecom Beijing explains that to provide more convenience to China Telecom's 3G users, the company will implement a "Three Nos" plan, including no change of mobile phone numbers, no change of SIM cards, and no registrations. (Jan 13, ChinaTechNews) Equipment Manufacturers Microsoft Does IPTV Deal In China Microsoft and Guangzhou Digital Media Group have formally launched Zhujiang Digital, a connected TV service powered by the Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV platform. "With the launch of Zhujiang Digital Interactive TV service, the Guangzhou Digital Media Group is delivering a personalized and connected alternative to existing TV services," said Guan Zhijian, director-general of Guangzhou TV Station and chairman of Guangzhou Digital Media Group. "Powered by the Microsoft Mediaroom platform, the new service will allow residents in Guangzhou to enjoy their TV when they want it, without missing a thing as well as rich interactivity." (Jan 13, ChinaTechNews) SMIC Signs Cooperative Agreement With Datang Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, the Shanghai-headquartered integrated circuit foundry, has announced that the company has signed a two-year strategic cooperative agreement with the Chinese telecommunications manufacturer Datang Holdings. With the signing of this agreement, SMIC, whose core businesses covers IP design, will provide its research and development equipment and employees to assist Datang Holdings in developing advanced communication logic process technologies and an IP database, while Datang Holdings will provide the pilot verification products for the development of these technologies and the IP database. (Jan 12, ChinaTechNews) Huawei contract sales surge 46% to $23.3 billion Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies said its contract sales increased 46 percent year-on-year in 2008. Sun Yafang, chairwoman of Huawei Technologies, said in an email to employees dated Jan 2 that the company's contract sales amounted to $23.3 billion in 2008, with 75 percent coming from overseas markets. (Jan 7, ChinaDaily) China Potevio to Merge into Datang China Potevio Co., Ltd. is to merge into China Datang Corporation, a large power generation company in China , said sources. Details about the deal were not disclosed. China Potevio is a domestic leading IT equipment manufacturer and service provider directly under the administration of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), the nation's top state-owned assets regulator. Its main businesses span the manufacture of telecommunications products, the application of telecom products, and the informatization of broadcasting and TV. Datang is a leader and promoter of the TD-SCDMA technology, one of the world's 3G technology standards. China plans to further boost the R&D of the TD-SCDMA technology in the future. Therefore, it is very likely that China Potevio would merger into Datang, some experts guessed. (Jan 6, SinoCast) Amoi's Production Halted Due to Loss Software Kingsoft Earmarks Nearly $150 Million To Build Headquarters In Zhuhai Chinese software provider Kingsoft plans to invest CNY1 billion to build a 96,000-square-meter headquarters and research center in Zhuhai , Guangdong province. Li Mei, an administrator at Kingsoft, says that the company's current office site is not able to support the development of the company. Lei Jun, vice chairman of Kingsoft, says the revenue of Kingsoft is expected to reach over CNY1 billion in the next three years and the number of its employees will increase to 5,000. Kingsoft currently has more than 2,000 employees. According to Kingsoft, the new software park, which will mainly focus on software development, overseas business expansion, training and customer service, will be completed in three to five years. In addition, the online game and anime center planned in the new software park will become a development center, technology development platform and manufacturing and processing factory for online game and anime products. (Jan 14, ChinaTechNews) Chinese Game Industry Predicts Nearly $8 Billion Revenue In 2008 Internet China's Internet Users Increased To 298 Million In 2008 China Internet Network Information Center has published the latest report on China 's Internet development, which states by the end of 2008, the number of Internet users in China had reached 298 million, a year-on-year increase of 41.9%. The report says that China 's Internet popularity rate reached 22.6%, which exceeded the world's average rate of 21.9% for the first time. In addition, the number of broadband Internet users in China was 270 million. Compared with the rapid growth of the Internet, China 's wireless Internet also grew at a surprising speed. The CNNIC says that as the operators put more attention on the wireless Internet and the costs of mobile phone hardware was decreasing, the number of mobile phone netizens doubled in 2008 compared with that of 2007, reaching 117 million. With the issuance of China 's 3G licenses, the wireless Internet is expected to gain a explosive growth in China in the next few years. (Jan 14, ChinaTechNews) China's SNS Market to See Newcomers in 09, Analysts Say Plenty of companies in China are expected to dip toe in the fast-growing social networking service (SNS) market in 2009, predicted an analyst on January 12. Online game operators are likely to set up social community sites in flocks, because such interactive platforms will help online game operators strengthen user loyalty and lure new users, said the analyst. More and more Internet giants, including Sina, Sohu and Tencent, are turning to the SNS business as netizens' enthusiasm for blog cools. (Jan 14, SinoCast) Online Game Incubation Program Aims To Encourage Chinese Entertainment Development Chinese online game developer Giant Interactive Group has created a program today to incubate developers in China who are focused on creating marketable games. Liu Wei, Giant's president, commented, "We will not only focus on the intellectual ideas generated by our own internal R&D teams, but we are also interested to hear from any team or individual with new product ideas and potential. We have established an infrastructure, a system in evaluating the entrepreneurs' ideas and progress, a sound incubator incentive plan, and a pool of experienced business professionals ready to assist such promising and talented individuals." (Jan 13, ChinaTechNews)
There were more than 50 million bloggers in China by the end of November 2008, a growth of some 6.38 percent from the end of November 2007, said Gao Lulin, deputy head of the Internet Society of China. The number of bloggers, or blog authors, which are personal online journals intended for public consumption, was 47 million at the end of November 2007. The increasing number of bloggers was because more and more Chinese want to express their own views about local and international events through the Internet. (Jan 6, Xinhua) Online games see revenue up by 50% China's online games market revenue has exceeded 20 billion yuan (US$2.94 billion) this year for the first time, a growth of 50 percent year-on-year, according to a local Internet research firm. The domestic games market, however, will see its growth rate down to about 20 percent in the next three years, as the market is close to saturation point, iResearch Inc said. (Dec 25, Shanghai Daily) Other Digital publishing revenue to reach $7.8 Billion in 2008
China's Ministry of Health said the government had allocated roughly 10 billion yuan (1.46 billion U.S. dollars) to two projects on infectious disease control and new drugs research and development. The ministry planned 1,161 research topics in the two primary fields to be carried out by the year 2010. The ministry's mid-term R&D outline encourages Chinese medical researchers to develop new drugs and improve the prevention and cure of infectious diseases, such as AIDS and hepatitis, by the year 2020. (12 Jan Xinhua) China unveils detailed public hospital reform measures Responding to growing public criticism of soaring medical fees, lack of access to medical services, poor doctor-patient relations, Chinese government will launch a pilot program to reform its public hospitals. Under the reform plan, the government will be responsible for giving subsidies to build public hospitals' infrastructure. Money will also be spent on purchasing big medical apparatus, key academic research, doctor training and covering health care costs for retirees. The government will also give special subsidies to hospitals providing public health services such as disease prevention, inoculation and health education. (9 Jan Xinhua) Fujifilm Enters China’s Medical IT System Market Fujifilm Corp. has acquired shares of medical IT system company Tianjian Medi Tech Company, Ltd., in preparation for a full-scale entry into China ’s rapidly growing medical IT systems market. Tianjian Medi Tech offers development, marketing, sales, and maintenance services for a wide range of medical IT systems. (January 2009 www.cmdm.com) British drug company opens new facility in China A British company at the leading edge of drug testing and discovery is to open a new facility in China with the support of British government organization Trade & Investment's collaborative research and development (R&D) program. The new registered office facility of e-Therapeutics in China 's southeastern city of Nanjing will allow the company to collaborate closely with Chinese biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to develop new medicines for the Chinese market. The firm has developed breakthrough software technology that can speedily discover and test the suitability of drugs to treat conditions such as asthma, heart disease and cancer before testing them on people. (11 Jan 2009 BioNews.com.cn) Infinity I-China Expands Its Life Science Presence in China Infinity I-China announced that it has joined with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers China, the China Spring Fund and JAIC in a Series B Financing round of Chiral Quest Corporation. Infinity, has participated in the total $13M round. Chiral Quest, headquartered in New Jersey with operations in Jiashan , China , is a technology-based company creating chiral solutions for the pharmaceutical industry, assisting pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to develop processes for the manufacture of their candidate drugs. The capital will be used to help build Chiral Quest Corps’ new pilot plant and process R&D center in the BioBay, located in Suzhou . It will also be used to expand its production capabilities. (13 Jan 2009 BUSINESS WIRE) China Plans to Boost Public Health Care The Chinese Health Ministry announced that China plans to boost public spending on hospitals and shift away from a "profit-driven model" in the health service. The ministry said that the government will support the construction of about 2,000 county-level hospitals over the next three years, with work scheduled to start this year. The goal is to ensure that each county has at least one hospital operating at national standards. Health Minister Chen Zhu said that the government will also invest heavily in public hospital infrastructure, medical equipment, academic research, training for doctors and subsidies to cover the health costs for retirees. (11 Jan 2009 BioNews.com.cn).
Exports from China 's southern Shenzhen city stood at 179.72 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 6.6 percent from 2007 and leading the list of major Chinese cities for the 16th straight year, Shenzhen Customs said Tuesday. Shenzhen, which led China 's reform and opening up 30 years ago as the first special economic region, accounts for one seventh of the country's total exports. (Jan 14, Xinhua) Shanghai to open new areas to overseas investors Shanghai will open more areas to overseas investors and improve government services to maintain the inflow of overseas funds this year, said Sha Hailin, chief of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce. The city opened an online network for overseas investment on January 4 at http://wz.investment.gov.cn/SFI. The site allows investors to track their applications for new ventures or modifications to existing businesses. (Jan 13, Xinhua) Average GDP per capita exceeds US $8,000 in Beijing Year 2008 had a special significance in the development history of Beijing , the capital of China . Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games have been successfully held, and the slogan "New Beijing, Great Olympics" has also been implemented. Meanwhile, economy and society maintained a sound and rapid development. It is estimated that Beijing 's GDP last year surpassed one trillion yuan, up by 9% from the previous year, with its average GDP per capita exceeding US $8,000. (Jan 13, People’s Daily Online) Rush to travel back home begins in earnest The largest movement of people in the world started in earnest over the weekend with big groups returning home for Spring Festival, which falls on Jan 26. This Chinese Lunar New Year about 2.32 billion trips will be made in 40 days, or 3.5 percent more than in 2008, and put the public transport system to test till Feb 19, the National Development and Reform Commission said. A record 188 million people are likely to travel by trains, the main choice for long-distance journeys, the Ministry of Railways said on Saturday. That would be 8 percent more than last year. (Jan 12, China Daily) Disney Park lands in Shanghai, expected to cost $3.6 billion Shanghai Securities News reported that Disney has been discussing about the feasibility of building a theme park in Shanghai , according to the "Los Angeles Times". The American company and the Shanghai Municipal Government recently drew up a joint application report which will be submitted to the Chinese Central Government for approval. The Disney headquarters and the Shanghai Municipal Government signed the document to draw the legal and financial framework for the construction of a theme park in Shanghai . According to the agreement signed, Disney will hold 43 percent of the stock shares, while the Shanghai municipal government-owned joint venture will hold 57 percent. The theme park project is expected to cost 24.48 billion yuan and to cover an area of about 1.5 square kilometers. It is going to be open to visitors at least in 2014. (Jan 12, People’s Daily Online) China's Countryside Holds Key for Boosting Demand China's rural areas have the biggest potential in boosting domestic demand, said Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan during visits to the countryside. China should "especially place priority on tapping the rural market and developing the countryside" when spreading global financial crisis blunted the country's economic growth, said Wang. More chain stores should be set up in the countryside to facilitate rural consumption, Wang said. He also urged local officials to well implement policies to subsidize farmers' purchase of home appliances. Financial institutions should develop more services targeting the need of farmers and rural enterprises, he said. In its latest effort to boost rural consumption, China has decided to roll out a 13-percent subsidy nationwide for farmers who buy home appliances, starting from Feb. 1. (Jan 7, Xinhua) China All Alone in Asian M&A Growth Stimulus Plans against Economic Crisis China unveils support package to auto, steel industries China's State Council unveiled a long-awaited support package for the auto and steel sectors Wednesday to boost the two "pillar industries". Under the plan, the government will lower the purchase tax on cars under 1.6 liters from 10 percent to 5 percent from Jan. 20 to Dec. 31 in a bid to stimulate sales. (Jan 14, Xinhua) China expands rural home appliance subsidies China will expand subsidies for farmers' purchase of home appliances nationwide from Feb 1 to boost consumption, said the General Office of the State Council. At present, subsidies only apply to rural residents in 12 provinces, or less than half of the total. Also, farmers who buy motorcycles, computers, water heaters and air conditioners will get the subsidies, said the Office in a statement on improving the circulation network to boost consumption. China will grant a 13 percent subsidy to farmers who buy color TVs, refrigerators, mobile phones, washing machines and freezers. A pilot program began in December 2007. (Jan 1, Xinhua) |
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