מקור: Shanghai Daily

מידע אודות עדכונים רגולטיביים בנושא המרות מטבע: Dezan Shira & Associates

China Economic Headlines

In this Issue:

Coming Events

General News on Chinese Economy

Consumer Goods

Environment & Energy

Telecom & IT

Medical & Healthcare

Other Sectors

Coming Events

Mid-Jan 2009: Chinese Minister of Commerce to visit Israel
Chinese Minister of Commerce will pay a formal visit to Israel in the middle of January to hold official disscusion with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry, Trade & Labor, Mr. Eliyahu Yishai, on issues of both concerns. A business delegation of representatives from leading Chinese firms from various sectors, such as IT & Telecom, Water & Energy, Medical and Pharmaceutical and so on, will be accompanying his visit.

March 2009: Israeli IT/Telecom business delegation to Chengdu and Chongqing.
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.

General news on Chinese economy

China property stimulus plan targets low-income housing, ownership 
The State Council, or Cabinet, on Wednesday announced a new real-estate stimulus package emphasizing low-income housing and home ownership. It was unveiled at an executive meeting of the Council, presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao. The government said the package will benefit 7.5 million low-income urban families and 2.4 million households in shantytowns in the next three years. Rural homes in dangerous condition will also be renovated. (Dec 17, Xinhua)

China to focus investment on five major sectors in 2009
China will put the bulk of its investment on the development of agriculture, low-cost housing project, infrastructure, energy conservation and social welfare next year, People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China, reports on Sunday. Explaining the use of the central government investment, Zhang Ping, minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the country will pump more investment into construction of key water control projects, repair of reservoirs in danger and building of more water-saving facilities at major irrigation areas. (Dec 15, PeopleDailyOnline)

China's industrial output growth hits record low
China's industrial growth slowed more sharply than expected in November on declining orders and investment stagnancy both at home and abroad, with some sectors like electricity and auto slipping into the red further. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Monday said industrial growth last month rose 5.4 percent year-on-year, plunging 11.9 percentage points from a year earlier. The November figure is the country's weakest in the last ten years. The shrinking figures have also caused concern for the central government as industry accounts for nearly half of China's economy. Zhang Ping, minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, said over the weekend: "The too rapid and broad slide of industry has posed a threat to the stable development of China's economy." (Dec 15, ChinaDaily)

China money supply growth slows on economic slowdown
China's money supply grew at a slower-than-average pace in November as the economy continued to weaken, the central bank said. The M2, the broad measure of money supply covering cash in circulation plus all deposits, rose 14.8 percent to 45.86 trillion yuan ($6.72 trillion) by the end of November. The growth rate was down 0.22 percentage points from a month ago.
(Dec 15, Xinhua)

Central SOEs see profits drop by 26% in first 11 months
China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) directly under the central government reported a sharp profit decline of 26 percent in the first 11 months this year, figures released Monday showed.
According to the top state asset watchdog, most of the loss came from petroleum and electricity industries, which suffered from government, capped pricing system. (Dec 15, Xinhua)

China November Consumer Inflation Eases to 2.4 Pct
China's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, rose at a slower annual rate of 2.4 percent in November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in Beijing on Thursday.  Rises in the consumer price index (CPI) slowed for seven straight months because of the sharp fall in commodity prices on the world market and sluggish global demand amid the financial crisis. (Dec 11, Xinhua)
 
China Nov. exports down 2.2% in first fall since June 2001 
China's exports totaled 115 billion U.S. dollars last month, down 2.2 percent year-on-year in the first monthly decline since June 2001, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said on Wednesday. The previous decline, a much smaller 0.6 percent, reflected slumping U.S. demand after the tech bubble burst. November's exports also fell 10.4 percent month-on-month. In October, exports were up 19.2 percent year-on-year. Sharp declines were recorded on the import front last month. (Dec 10, Xinhua)

Consumer Goods

China's retail sales of consumer goods exceed 10 trl yuan
China's total retail sales of consumer goods in early November exceeded the entire total for last year, and by mid-December, it had exceeded the 10-trillion yuan mark for the first time, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC). (Dec 18, People’s Daily)

Yum To Open 500 New Restaurants In China In 2009
According to a report from Reuters, the restaurant giant Yum is still optimistic about the prospects for China's catering industry and the group plans to open 500 new restaurants in China in 2009 with profit growth targets of 15% to 20%, despite the global slowdown. (Dec 17, ChinaRetailNews)

Best Buy Opens Lifestyle Store In Shanghai
The international electronics retailer Best Buy has announced the opening of a lifestyle store in the Laya Plaza in the Pudong district of Shanghai. As Best Buy's first small store, the new Laya Plaza store only covers a business area of 77 square meters. Unlike other Best Buy stores that sell a variety of products including appliances, computers, mobile phones, office supplies, video products, and software with a philosophy or offering a large and comprehensive range, the smaller store will focus on just over 100 kinds of digital products. (Dec 16, ChinaRetailNews)

Wal-Mart Cut Price in China
Following the precept of Sir Jack Cohen, the founder of British retail colossus Tesco, Wal-Mart has announced massive price cuts for essential items in more than 100 of its retailing stores across China. The price cuts are said to be the deepest ones ever made by Wal-Mart since its entry into the country. Most of the goods prices are reduced by up to 20% and a few items have their prices cut by over 40%. These price cuts will last until the end of the Chinese Spring Festival. The price cuts involve over one hundred categories of goods, including food, clothing and household items. (Dec 16, ChinaRetailNews)

Chinese Ministries Crack Down On Abuse Of Food Additives
China has initiated a nationwide campaign on the illegal use of non-edible substances and food additives. The campaign, which is jointly launched by nine Chinese ministries, will last four months during which the food industry will initially be self-regulating, a complete reorganization will then be carried out and a long term mechanism will be put in place. This campaign is to learn lessons from the Sanlu milk powder incident and take stringent action on the illegal use of non-edible substances and the abuse of food additives. In September, a number of Chinese dairy companies were found to have added melamine to their dairy products following the discovery of contaminated products from Sanlu. This has caused urinary system problems for over 290,0000 children throughout the country. (Dec 15, ChinaRetailNews)

ParknShop To Close Outlet In Shanghai
After being open for two-years ParknShop's Shanghai Guohe store will be closed at the end of 2008 for financial reasons. The ParknShop Guohe store is the first large comprehensive supermarket to close in Shanghai since the start of the global financial crisis. (Dec 10, ChinaRetailNews)

KKR To Invest USD300 Million In China's Milk Industry
According to reports in local media, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., a private equity firm, has announced plans to invest about USD300 million in China's milk industry. The report said the investment would be realized through USD100 million equity capital and USD200 million debt financing from Chinese banks. So far, KKR has not revealed that which Chinese milk company will become its partner and the transaction will be formally announced later this month.  (Dec 5, ChinaRetailNews)

Environment (water & renewable energy)

China, U.S. agree to further cooperate on energy, environment
Mr. Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice minister in charge of NDRC said that China and the US have reached consensus in five major areas to step up energy and environmental protection cooperation during the on-going fifth round of the Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED).  The SED completed preparations to start cooperation in five areas: electricity, clean water, clean transportation, clean air and the conservation of forest and wetland ecosystems, mapping out plans and roadmaps. China and the US signed a 10-year energy and environmental protection cooperation framework in June during the fourth SED held in Washington, with these five areas as initial goals. Both sides agreed that energy efficiency would be the sixth initial goal. (2008-12-4Xinhua)

NDRC: 350b yuan to pour into environmental industry
Among the country's 4-trillion-yuan financial stimulus plan, 350 billion yuan will be spent on improving the ecological environment and treating pollution, Zhang Ping, Minister of NDRC, told a press conference in Beijing. The four-trillion-yuan investment will not be spent in the energy and resource-intensive industries or high-pollution industries. Minister of environmental protection, said earlier that the main targets of environment investment will go to beef up rural environmental efforts. China's fledgling green industries, such as those involved in the development of renewable energies and pollution treatment, will also benefit from the investment plan.
(2008-11-28 China Daily)

$41b flows into county sewage facilities
Some 280 billion yuan ($41 billion) will be spent on sewage treatment in 90 percent of counties nationwide as part of the central government's 4-trillion-yuan economic stimulus package. About 2,600 counties will benefit from the building or upgrading of facilities, Qiu Baoxing, vice-minister of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, told a forum recently. This is the first time that there is a nationwide sewage treatment program. The completion of the program is planned for three years.  (2008-11-18 China Daily)

GE Water expands it Chinese manufacturing operations
GE Water & Process Technologies has unveiled its newly expanded water filtration manufacturing facility in Wuxi New Zone, China. The company invested $US9m (around $A13.9m) into the 10,000 square metre facility to enhance its ability to provide Chinese industries and municipalities with advanced water technologies. The plant will be able to assemble reverse osmosis filtration systems and ultra-filtration equipment for water purification, utilities optimisation and wastewater treatment applications.  According to the manufacturer, the factory will partner with GE’s China Technology Centre in Shanghai to create products like the rapidly-deployed packaged wastewater membrane bioreactor system and the ultra-low energy reverse osmosis system. (2008-12-5 Fluidhandling.com)

ITT Completes First Rural Drinking Water Safety Project in China
ITT and China’s Ministry of Water Resources announced the completion of two new rural water treatment plants, part of a pilot project to tackle rural drinking water issues in China. The two plants, which utilize leading water treatment technology, will supply more than 10,000 local residents with purified water that meets or surpasses the national standards. Both plants were designed and donated by ITT-- a global leader in systems and solutions for the movement and treatment of water --under an agreement with the Center for Rural Drinking Water Safety of China's Ministry of Water Resources.  The ITT project was conceived in 2005, with company and the China Ministry of Water Resources signing a cooperation agreement in April 2008.
(2008-12-3 MarketWatch)

 Reuters: China to accelerate south-north water project
China will accelerate construction of the south-to-north water diversion project next year, the Xinhua news agency quoted the head of the project office, Zhang Jiyao.  The project, criticized by some environmentalists for encouraging the wasteful use of water, will divert water from the Yangtze River in western and central China to arid northern regions through three channels: eastern, middle and western. A number of projects along the eastern and middle routes would start next year, drawing on investment of up to 254.6 billion yuan ($37.20 billion) authorized by the State Council. About one billion cubic meters of water could be diverted to Beijing annually, when that part of the project is completed in 2010. (2008-12-16Reuters)

Toray in 2010 China water-filter JV
Toray Industries Inc., which controls the third-largest share of the global market for water treatment membranes, will start producing water-filtering membranes in China in April 2010 with China National BlueStar (Group) Co. and may open a ￥7.5 billion factory there, the company said. The factory will be capable of producing membranes that can treat 3.5 million cu. meters of water a day, which should be enough to meet the needs of 14 million people.
(2008-12-1 Japan Times)

Telecom & IT

Telecom

China to issue 3G licenses at year end or early next year
Li Yizhong, minister of industry and information technology, said at the press conference recently held by the State Council Information Office that China will issue third generation mobile telecommunication licenses at the end of this year or early next year. The license of the home-grown 3G mobile telecommunications standard, TD-SCDMA, will be granted to China Mobile, while the newly-established China Unicom will get the WCDMA license and China Telecom will be granted the CDMA2000 license. (Dec 15, People's Daily Online)

Chinese 3G Investment to Top $29 Billion
The Chinese government expects that the country's three mobile phone networks will spend at least 200 billion yuan (US$29 billion) on its 3G networks as soon as the licenses are formally awarded - although this is lower than had been expected by some analysts. "Once the licences are issued, it is estimated the three companies, with strong financial resources, will invest at least 200 billion yuan in 3G-related investments," the minister of industry and information technology, Li Yizhong told a press conference in Beijing. "The indicated capital expenditure of 200 billion yuan is smaller than the rumoured 300 billion, which may have some negative impact on equipment vendors like ZTE, which may have less orders than expected." Marvin Lo, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research told the South China Morning Post. (Dec 15, scmp)

Carriers

China Mobile speeds up TD plan
At the "China Mobile TD-SCDMA Industrial Chain Conference" held recently, Wang Jianzhou, president of China Mobile, announced its TD-SCDMA nationwide networking outline: by 2011, the TD network will cover the commercial hot areas of 95% of prefecture-level cities, with 145,000 planned base stations. Wang revealed the results of the TD-SCDMA trial run over the past eight months. By December 3, China Mobile had already put 17,672 base stations in operation, creating a network that covers 9.5 million users. (Dec 17, People’s Daily)

China Mobile ratings maintained at 'A+' - Fitch
Fitch Ratings said it maintained the long-term foreign currency issuer default rating of China Mobile at 'A+', with an 'A+' local currency issue default rating. It said that the ratings reflect China Mobile's leading market position. The company's subscriber base increased by 24.7 pct in the first three quarters of the year, with 50 pct of new subscribers coming from China's rural areas. (Dec 10, c114)

Local Branch of China Mobile Launches Medical Information Service
Chengde Mobile in Hebei province has held an opening ceremony for Hebei Mobile's Model Healthcare Information Industry base and the launch of a new medical information service. For the service, Chengde Mobile has signed agreements with 15 organizations and has integrated hospital information systems (HIS) with pharmacy sale systems and the vaccination system of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC). The service will make use of mobile networks to provide a medical information communication platform that links medical facilities to each other and to patients. (Dec 10, c114)

China Telecom Expected to Target Mid-to-High End 3G Subscribers
Fitch Ratings has affirmed China Telecom's Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'A-'. The Outlook is Stable. The ratings reflect China Telecom's evolution into a full-service operator able to diversify its revenue sources following recent government-initiated industry restructuring. The company started offering CDMA mobile services in Q408, and accordingly CT is now able to provide triple bundled service offerings of fixed-line, broadband and mobile which should help the company secure current subscribers and attract new ones. CT has been suffering from revenue declines in its voice business, owing to subscriber loss, lower pricing and volume declines, all of which have been driven by the ongoing strong substitution to mobile services in China. (Dec 16, c114)

China Unicom Budgets RMB 80 Bln for WCDMA in 2009
A source at China Unicom familiar with the situation says the operator has already passed a budget of RMB 80 bln for WCDMA network construction next year, and asked province-level executives for their 2009 WCDMA investment plans in a phone conference. Earlier reports in August estimated that Unicom would spend RMB 100 bln on its 3G expansion in 2009 and 2010. (Dec 9, c114)

Manufacturers

Chinese telecom equipment suppliers to outdo overseas companies in 3G era
Chinese telecom equipment suppliers, who lagged behind their foreign rivals in the 2G era, are set to dominate China's 3G market, industry analysts told Interfax recently. "The take-off of 3G is bringing domestic telecom equipment suppliers, in particular system and network coverage equipment suppliers, more opportunities to beat their foreign rivals and capture more market share," Shi Hong, an industry analyst with Industrial Securities, said. (Dec 17, Interfax)

Huawei Holds 30.5% Share in Global DSL Market
Huawei Technologies' DSL shipment hit 6.6 million lines in the third quarter of 2008, ranking the first place in the global digital subscriber line market with a 30.5% share, according to a report by industry consulting firm Broadband trends. The Chinese networking and telecommunications equipment supplier also kept a leading position in the IP DSL and MSAP segmented markets, stanching market shares of 28.5% and 34.5%. (Dec 12, c114)

Software

Dalian Opens Software Park In Tokyo
Established by Dalian Municipal Government, Dalian Software Park Japan has been opened in Tokyo, marking the birth of China's first overseas software park. More than 300 Chinese and Japanese guests attended the opening ceremony and over 40 companies have officially entered the software park. In 2008, Dalian expects to make revenue of over CNY30 billion from the software and software outsourcing industries while its exports will be over USD1 billion. The opening of the Dalian Software Park Japan is an important measure of Dalian to assist small and medium enterprises in seeking new developments in the new economic situation. (Dec 8, ChinaTechNews)

Internet

China's netizens total 290 mln by November
The number of netizens in China totaled 290 million by the end of November, up 14.6 percent from the figure for the end of June, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). More than 80 percent of the netizens surf the Internet by broadband, of which about half use ADSL. (Dec 18, NewsGD)

Alibaba To Invest CNY300 Million In Yahoo Koubei
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has announced plans to invest CNY300 million in the newly merged Yahoo (YAHOO) Koubei Company in 2009 to develop the lifestyle services business of the company. A representative from Alibaba told local media that Yahoo Koubei's development strategy is to further focus on the e-commerce areas of lifestyle services to provide Chinese consumers with a platform with the lifestyle service market as its core and Yahoo's social networking site website Yahoo Relations as its support. (Dec 12, ChinaTechNews)

Beijing's Wireless Network To Cover All Areas Within Three Years
Zhang Yuhang, vice director for the Application Promotion Department of the Municipal Informatization Office of Beijing, said during the Wireless City Summit 2008 held in Beijing that the capital city's wireless city construction will cover all of Beijing's urban and suburban areas before the end of 2011. (Dec 10, ChinaTechNews)

NetDragon And Disney Will Launch MMORPG In China
Chinese game developer NetDragon Websoft announced that it is working with The Walt Disney Company's Interactive Media Group to launch the massively multiplayer online role playing game "Disney Fantasy Online" in spring 2009. (Dec 4, ChinaTechNews)

Other

Telematics Company Focuses On China Expansion
Airbiquity plans to offer its full suite of telematics and connectivity solutions to the Chinese telematics market through its newly-formed mainland company Ai Bi Ke Communications Technology Company. With its new office in Beijing, and a recently established a satellite office in Chengdu, the company plans to offer full support to its Chinese customers and partners. "China is the next frontier for the connected services and telematics markets. We believe that the country is well positioned for continued long-term growth," said Kamyar Moinzadeh, president and CEO of Airbiquity. (Dec 15, ChinaTechNews)

Medical & Healthcare

CCB to Build Medical, Healthcare Investment Fund
Sources said that state-owned commercial lender China Construction Bank (CCB) intended to build China's first medical and healthcare investment fund through its investment arm CCB International (Holdings) Co., Ltd. After raising CNY 5 billion or USD 730 million from December 18, 2008, CCB International will operate this fund together with an American firm. In the near future, the new fund will serve the domestic pharmaceuticals and medical equipment producers as well as medical service suppliers, and its annual return on investment (ROI) is predicted to top 20%. (14 Dec 2008 BioNews.com.cn)

Syneron Medical sets up Chinese joint venture
Israel-based Skin treatment device maker Syneron Medical Ltd. said on Wednesday it inked a joint venture deal with partner EverCare Medical Group to expand its footprint in China. EverCare, which owns a chain of aesthetic hospitals, has been Syneron's distributor in China for two years. The companies formed Syneron China.  (24 Nov 2008 BioNews.com.cn)

U.S. opening food inspection office in Beijing
The United States on Wednesday opened a Beijing office of the Food and Drug Administration. The office is the first FDA inspection agency outside the United States, and similar FDA operations in Shanghai and Guangzhou are scheduled to begin soon. All three will work with Chinese counterpart agencies to inspect products bound for the United States. They also will certify third-party inspectors who can approve the quality and safety of exports to the US.
(23 Nov 2008 BioNews.com.cn)

German Bayer Schering to help China build 40 haemophilia treatment centers
German pharmaceutical company Bayer Schering on Thursday pledged 13 million yuan (1.9 million U.S. dollars) to help China build 40 haemophilia treatment centers in the next five years. Bayer Schering Pharma. plans to set up the centers in 30 major cities and provide medical equipment and supplies, and educational materials for patients.  Ruan Changgeng, President of the Chinese Society of Hematology (CSH), said the project would make professional haemophilia treatment accessible in provincial cities and help Chinese patients receive more timely medical care. The program included upgrading another seven treatment centers and training sessions for patients, doctors and nurses. China has around 100,000 hemophiliacs, approximately a quarter of the world's total, CSH statistics show. (17 Nov 2008 BioNews.com.cn)

China to Be No. 5 Pharmaceutical Market in 2012
Chinese pharmaceutical market is expected to reach USD 50 billion in 2012, ranking No. 5 worldwide, thanks to its healthcare system reform and huge economic stimulus plan, said Ray Hill from IMS Health Incorporated. China will still be a major contributor to the growth of global pharmaceutical industry in the foreseeable future. And many global pharmaceutical giants expect their Chinese business would grow strongly to fuel their global development, which would be impacted by the global economic downturn.  (01 Dec 2008 BioNews.com.cn)

Other Sectors

BYD zooms past Toyota, GM in electric car race
Chinese automaker BYD Co yesterday launched the first commercial dual-mode electric car in the world, giving it an edge in the green car race over other rivals like Toyota Motors and General Motors Corp. The new car, known as the F3DM equipped with both pure and hybrid electric driving systems, is priced at 149,800 yuan. Toyota and GM, the two other global competitors in the electric car market, had planned to launch similar models in 2010 and 2011 respectively. (Dec 16, ChinaDaily)

Beijing's office market faces growing pressure
Beijing's office market will witness sustained pressure from the discrepancy between immense new supply and the slow-down of market demand for 2009, a report from the CB Richard Ellis said. Due to the worsening global economy, plans for moving and expansion were postponed on request from corporate headquarters, while companies from industries severely influenced by the crisis began to cut their office budgets. (Dec 12, ChinaDaily)

Mainland's Tallest Tower Cuts Rental Price by Half
Shanghai World Financial Center, the tallest office tower on the Chinese mainland, has slashed its rental price by half in an effort to retain its tenants amid the global financial crisis and gloomy property market. Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported that the present transaction price of the office space at Shanghai World Financial Center is as low as 10 yuan per square meter a day, half the price in August. (Dec 10, CRI)

Property Slows Further
Growth in China's property prices continued to slow in November. Prices in 70 major cities grew just 0.2 percent year on year, 1.4 percent lower than in October and the lowest since July 2005. In 56 cities prices actually declined in November. Compared with October, new home prices dropped 2.4 percent, 2.2 percent and 2.9 percent in Shenzhen, Nanjing and Xiamen respectively. (Dec 10, Caijing Magazine)

China urges domestic airlines to cancel, delay plane purchases for next year 
China's civil aviation authority urged state-owned airlines to cancel or delay orders for new aircraft next year in an effort to keep carriers out of financial trouble during the current global economic crisis. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) also encouraged airlines to return rented aircraft from overseas firms and ground or sell some planes to cope with weaker demand. The administration said it would also be very cautious of approving new orders for aircraft next year. Also on its website, it said no new airlines would be approved for operation before 2012 and airlines have been instructed to retire large numbers of old aircraft. (Dec 10, Xinhua)

מקור: Xinhua ; MOFCOM

מקור: HKTDC

מקור: China Daily

קריאה נוספת:
C114: China Confirms 3G License Awards
C114: 3G Era Offers Big Opportunities

מקור: Xinhua

מקור: Xinhua

מקור: C114

קריאה נוספת: Xinhua

מקור: China Daily

China Economic Headlines

We are pleased to send you the 114th issue of the China Economic Headlines Newsletter.
This periodical newsletter is a service of Israel's Trade Mission to China, part of Israel's Foreign Trade Arm of the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Labor.
We hope it will help you keep up-to-date with recent developments and trends in the rapidly evolving Chinese economy. 
 
This new and improved version of our newsletter will help you benefit from up-to-date information on our website, sector briefings and business opportunities contained therein.
In order to better view this email in the future; please add us to your "safe sender" list.

Best Regards,
 
Oded Arbel
Trade Representatives to China.

In this Issue

Coming Events

General News on Chinese Economy

Consumer Goods

Environment & Energy

Telecom & IT

Medical & Healthcare

Other Sectors

Coming Events

Mid-Jan 2009: Chinese Minister of Commerce to visit Israel
Chinese Minister of Commerce will pay a formal visit to Israel in the middle of January to hold official disscusion with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry, Trade & Labor, Mr. Eliyahu Yishai, on issues of both concerns. A business delegation of representatives from leading Chinese firms from various sectors, such as IT & Telecom, Water & Energy, Medical and Pharmaceutical and so on, will be accompanying his visit.

General news on Chinese economy

China's social investment to total 18 trln yuan in 2009
China's total social investment is predicted to reach 18 trillion yuan (2.64 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2009, the National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC), the country's top economic planner, announced here on Thursday. "China's total social investment exceeded 13 trillion yuan in 2007 and is expected to top 16 trillion yuan this year," said NDRC head Zhang Ping. "The 4 trillion stimulus package is only part of the whole picture." Zhang said the central stimulus package was roughly divided into seven parts, with 1.8 trillion yuan going towards large-scale infrastructure projects such as railways, roads, airports and the national grid. (Nov 27, Xinhua)

Think tank wants RMB devaluation
China needs to depreciate the renminbi against the US dollar to cushion the greenback's sharp appreciation versus other major currencies over the past months as part of the macro-control measures, Pei Changhong, director of the Institute of Finance and Trade Economics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said at a press conference held in Beijing. Pei's comments came on the heels of the renminbi's largest one-day fall against the dollar on Monday.     Some analysts say the fall is a sign that the government may have decided to use depreciation to bolster the struggling export sector and alleviate unemployment. (Dec 3, ChinaDaily)

Renminbi exchange rate drops by the maximum limit for two consecutive days
A trend has emerged where for two consecutive days the exchange rate of the renminbi against the dollar has dropped by the maximum amount permitted. Experts in the industry believe that the renminbi depreciation is a normal event, and although there was recently speculation that the renminbi would devalue, there is still no evidence that the renminbi has already made a u-turn onto the path to devaluation. (Dec 3, People’sDailyOnline)
 
China's economy expands at 9.8% in 2008 
China's top think tank, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences(CASS), says that the countr's economy is expected to slow down to 9.8% in 2008 and further decline to 9.3% in 2009.     In its annual Blue Paper on China's economy, which was released on Tuesday, CASS noted the Chinese economic downturn is mostly attributed to the global financial crisis. The Blue Paper also notes that housing prices will fall dramatically in a short period of time, and subsequently enter a rather long adjustment period in 2009. (Dec 2, CRI)

China Industrial Output Growth 'Slid to 13-year Low in November'
Growth in China's industrial production is likely to have slowed to a 13-year-low of 6 percent in November, China International Capital Corp. (CICC) said in a research note on Monday. The slowdown reflects weak domestic and external demand, which led more companies to cut production, said the domestic investment bank. (Dec 2, Xinhua)

China announces $586 billion 'Radical' Stimulus Package
China's massive stimulus package is its "biggest contribution to the world," Premier Wen Jiabao said Monday, as hopes rose that heavy spending on construction and other projects would help support global growth by fueling demand for imported machinery and raw materials. With Sunday's announcement of the 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) package, China staked out a bold position as President Hu Jintao prepared for next weekend's Washington meeting of leaders of 20 major economies to discuss a response to the global financial crisis. (Nov 10, AP)

Industrial growth slows to a crawl
China's industrial growth saw a pronounced slowdown last month as the global credit squeeze and declining orders began to bite. The index of overall industrial growth - which covers value-added production from all enterprises earning at least 5 million yuan ($733,000) last year - rose 8.2 percent year on year in October, plunging 9.7 percentage points from a year earlier. It was also down 3.2 percentage points from September, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). (Nov 14, China Daily)

October fiscal revenue drops as slowdown bites
China's fiscal revenue fell 0.3 percent in October from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday, a sharp decline from earlier in the year as a slowing economy weighs on the government's tax intake. It was the first such decline in fiscal revenue for a non-holiday month since 1996, according to economists at investment bank China International Capital Corp. The drop also marked an abrupt reversal from last year, when the government's earnings surged by 32.4 percent. As recently as July, fiscal revenues were up 16.5 percent on a year earlier. (Nov 13, ChinaDaily)

China to Launch Tax Reform to Boost Growth in 2009
China's government on Monday announced it would extend its VAT reform to all industries nationwide from Jan. 1, 2009, to reduce the tax burden on companies by more than 120 billion yuan (17.6 billion U.S. dollars) next year. As part of a stimulus package of 4 trillion yuan to be spent by the end of 2010, the reform was aimed at a shift from the existing production-based to a consumption-based VAT regime, which would enable companies to get tax deductions on spending on fixed assets.  (Nov 10, Xinhua)

$14.7 bln Additional Loans As Exports Growth Slows
The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, said in Beijing Tuesday it would guide policy banks to make additional 100 billion yuan (14.7 billion U.S. dollars) of loans by the end of 2008. The money would go to the construction of key projects and the purchase of agricultural products, the central bank said, without elaborating. It also encouraged commercial banks to provide supporting loans for projects covered by the central government's investment of 100 billion yuan before the year end. (Nov 12, CRI)

China Reports $ 35.2 bln Trade Surplus in Oct.
China's General Administration of Customs announced a record monthly trade surplus of 35.2 billion U.S. dollars in October. It was the fourth consecutive monthly rise since July. Though exports growth further slowed to 19.2 percent from 21.5 percent in September, which might have led to smaller trade surplus, the trade gap continued to widen on sharply declining imports. China's exports reached 128.3 billion U.S. dollars, while its imports registered 93.1 billion U.S. dollars in October. (Nov 11, Xinhua)

 
Consumer Goods

Grain production set for new high
China's grain yield this year will "definitely" hit a record high despite shortages in the world, a senior agricultural official said. It will be the fifth consecutive year of high grain yield. The output this year is likely to break the record of 512 million tons established in 1998. Last year, the yield was 501.5 million tons. (Nov 25, CCTV)

China to Overhaul Dairy Industry
Chinese government on Wednesday launched a major campaign to reform its dairy industry in an attempt to restore consumer confidence. The State Council wants to upgrade the entire industry from cow breeding to final sales. The tainted milk powder scandal was a major food security incident. It not only damaged the health of babies and children, but also hurt China's national image, said an official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). (Nov 20, Xinhua)

Environment & Energy

Funds for energy and pollution control
China’s central government has earmarked 2.5 billion yuan (US$363 million) in energy conservation and pollution control projects as part of a national plan to stimulate economic growth. The funds will be spent in projects such as upgrading coal-fired boilers, water conservation and industrial waste management. (Dec 4, Shanghai Daily)

China promotes new energy vehicles
China aims to boost the number of new energy vehicles owned to 60,000 by 2012 with the nation's policy support, said Wan Gang, minister of science and technology, during the inauguration ceremony for the nation's large-scale application project to promote energy saving and new energy vehicles held in Chongqing on November 27. Chongqing Municipality will become China's first large city to launch this project. (Nov 28, People’s Daily)

Nuclear and Wind Power Get Energy Subsidy
The central government has decided to allocate 800 million yuan (US$11.76 million) by the end of this year to subsidize China's top nuclear and wind power providers. The improvement is part of the government's 100 billion yuan additional fiscal package, which should be spent by the end of this quarter, to prevent an excessive economic slowdown. The subsidy is mainly targeted at key technology for national nuclear power and wind turbine producers. (Nov 26, CRI)

China, US to Collaborate on Solar Energy Technology
China and the United States have agreed to work together on research into advanced solar energy technologies. The Institute of Electrical Engineering (IEE) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which is affiliated with the Department of Energy, signed a memorandum of understanding over the weekend. Under the pact, they'll share research on photovoltaic (PV) power generation technologies. (Nov 18, Xinhua)

Telecom & IT

Telecom

Telecom Investment to Soar upon 3G Licenses
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology yesterday required telecom carriers to issue 3G licenses to TD, WCDMA, and CDMA 2000 telecom networks operators within this year.
China's telecom industry has slipped into recession as a result of the global financial crisis. The ministry originally planned to issue three 3G licenses to China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom in this September, but it put it off later to the first half of 2009. As the Chinese government lately came up with a big economic stimulus plan, the ministry just hoped to issue the 3G licenses in advance to spur telecom infrastructure construction. (Nov 21, SinoCast)

MIIT: Revenue Of China's Telecom Industry Up 8.1% In First Ten Months Of 2008
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has published a report on China's telecom industry for the first ten months of 2008, which says from January to October 2008, China's telecom industry realized revenue of CNY679.79 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8.1%. Revenue from the mobile phone sector saw a year-on-year increase of 15.7% and the revenue accounted for 54.8% of the total revenue of China's telecom industry; revenue from the data traffic business enjoyed a year-on-year increase of 38% and the revenue accounted for 9.7% of the total income; revenue from the fixed-line business saw a year-on-year decrease of 7.9% and the revenue accounted for 21.1% of the total. (Dec 3, ChinaTechNews)

3G Struggle Approaches in China
China has dangled a carrot in front of telecom-equipment makers for years: billions of dollars for third-generation mobile networks. With the rollout finally on the horizon, though, foreign competitors could miss the lion's share just as revenues flatten out elsewhere. Beijing could hand out 3G licenses to telecom operators as soon as mid-December. They in turn plan to spend at least $44 billion over three years upgrading to the new technology. Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens Networks have all worked hard to build relationships in China. But Chinese firms reportedly took the biggest share of a recent tender by China Mobile for 3G equipment. Ericsson, which had hoped for 10%, took just a 5% share. (Dec 3, DowJones)

China poised to take FTTx lead
China is on par to become the world's leading nation in terms of fiber subscribers by as early as 2009, attracting up to 18 million new subscribers in 2009 alone, and outpacing current leaders Japan and South Korea. According to Ovum analyst Lynn Hutcheson there will be around 6 million FTTH/FTTB subscribers by the end of the year, with China Telecom capturing 80% of the market and China Unicom the remaining 20% - but that figure will more than double next year. (Nov 25, TelecomAsia)

Carriers

China Mobile pursues its own cellphone software platform
China Mobile, the largest cellco in the country, has been vocal in complaining about being stuck with the homegrown 3G standard, TD-SCDMA, and is in a rush to migrate to LTE to make up for its shortcomings. But the operator is now looking to increase its influence over the handset business by creating its own semi-proprietary cellphone software platform. This will be based on Google Android, say insiders, but will feature significant enhancements that China Mobile hopes will, in the first phase, give it tight control over the development agendas of its handset suppliers; and in the second phase, enable it to influence global mobile internet standards. (Dec 3, c114)

China Mobile Researches New 2G/3G Exchange Technology
China Mobile has revealed that the company is currently cooperating with chip and terminal manufacturers to research and develop new interoperable 2G and 3G technology, and is now conducting tests of the technology. No problems currently arise when TD-SCDMA mobile phones transfer to the GSM network, however when GSM mobile phones transfer to the TD-SCDMA network, phones must be restarted before they can operate correctly. China Mobile has stated that, once developed, the new technology will allow for smooth transitioning between the GSM and TD-SCDMA networks. Once the new technology is launched, current interoperable software will also need to be upgraded. (Nov 24, SOHU IT)

China Mobile Plans 3rd round Deployment Of TD-SCDMA
Although the final result for its second-round TD-SCDMA tender has not come out yet, China Mobile has now started its planning for the third-round TD-SCDMA deployment and the company will reportedly set up TD-SCDMA networks in 162 Chinese cities. According to local media reports, China Mobile has already handed in its third-round TD-SCDMA construction report to the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The report says that China Mobile will construct TD-SCDMA networks in 162 Chinese cities before the end of 2009. The company may invest approximately CNY55.8 billion to construct 57,421 base stations. Of those funds, about CNY39 billion will be used in wireless network construction, including CNY20.2 billion in wireless equipment purchases, and CNY18.8 billion in other expenditures. (Nov 13, ChinaTechNews)

China Telecom Selects Alcatel-Lucent for USD 230 Million Upgrade for CDMA Mobile Network
Alcatel-Lucent today announced that it has been selected by China Telecom, China's leading telecom operator, to provide end-to-end communication solution for China Telecom and increase the capacity and coverage of its mobile voice and data network throughout the country. The contract was secured through Alcatel Shanghai Bell, Alcatel-Lucent's Chinese flagship company. With this USD 230 million contract, Alcatel Shanghai Bell will provide its unparalleled end-to-end CDMA wireless networking solutions for China Telecom in 56 cities of 9 provinces in China. (Dec 3, c114)

China Telecom, China Unicom Sign First Resource Sharing Agreement
China Telecom Qinghai branch and China Unicom Qinghai branch have formally signed a Framework Agreement on Joint Construction and Sharing of Telecom Infrastructure Resources, marking the birth of China's first telecom sharing agreement since the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of China's State Council issued a notice to promote infrastructure sharing in the Chinese telecom industry. On September 28, 2008, MIIT and the SASAC jointly published a notice to limit the redundant network constructions of Chinese telecommunications operators and to avoid the waste of resources caused by the redundant systems. (Nov 14, ChinaTechNews)

China Unicom to Launch 1st WCDMA Trial Network on Dec 31
China Unicom is scheduled to launch its first WCDMA trail network on December 31, 2008 and users in Wuxi now can apply to participate in the experiment by sending shortage messages.
Chinese regulators are likely to issue 3G licenses at 2008-end. China Unicom, which expects to obtain the WCDMA license, has kicked off works on WCDMA trail networks. The mobile carrier plans to initially build WCDMA trail networks in seven Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Shenzhen, Foshan, Liuzhou, Zhengzhou, Baoding, and Wuxi. (Nov 26, c114)

Manufacturers

Datang To Invest CNY10 Million To Build Branch In Tianjin
The board of directors at Chinese telecom equipment maker Datang has approved the proposal for building a Tianjin communications terminal manufacturing plant, in which Datang Telecom will invest CNY10 million. According to the decision of the twenty-fourth meeting of the fourth board meeting of Datang, the company will invest cash capital of CNY10 million to register a wholly-owned subsidiary named Datang Telecom Tianjin Communications Terminal Manufacturing Company in Tianjin Airport Industrial Park. The new communications terminal manufacturing plant will be committed to terminal and access businesses. The company has already been approved by the Tianjin Administration for Industry and Commerce. (Nov 21, ChinaTechNews)

Huawei to build 40G WDM transport network for China Unicom
Huawei announced that it has been selected to build a 40Gb/s (40G) optical transport network for China Unicom across five major cities in Northern China, centred on Beijing. The company said that the 40G wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transport solution will substantially increase China Unicom's network capacity and enable it to meet the increasing demand for high-bandwidth broadband from China's business and residential customers using new multimedia services. Huawei also said that its 40G WDM solution can achieve ultra-long haul transport without electrical regeneration, reducing investment costs and enabling efficient and scalable deployments in countries like China where dense urban centres are often separated by vast distances. (Dec 3, TelecomWorldWire)

Ericsson to Invest more in China
Ericsson has got ready for the 3G era and will not scale back investment in China due to the global financial crisis. Instead it is likely to bet more in this fast growing economy in the coming years, according to vice president of Ericsson China. Johan Bergendah, chief executive officer of Ericsson, says that so far the impact posed by the financial turmoil on the telecom industry is still unpredictable. But one thing is for sure: everybody is shifting their focus from the West to Asia Pacific, especially toward China and India. (Nov 29, c114)

Electronics
 
SMIC to gain TD-SCDMA orders on partnership with Datang
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is expected to receive a positive sales contribution from its strategic partnership with Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Holdings for the first quarter of 2009, according to sources in the China semiconductor market. The sources believed that Datang will likely beat out other major telecom equipment suppliers to win orders for a government project for TD-SCDMA wireless network equipment, and SMIC is likely to be a direct beneficiary. (Dec 3, DITITimes)

Microsoft spending $1b to boost R&D in China
Software giant Microsoft said it will spend $1 billion on R&D in China over the next three years, reiterating its long-term investment after the company's recent anti-piracy effort angered many users in the country. Zhang Yaqin, chairman of China Research and Development for Microsoft, said the spending is mainly targeted at staffing and resources for R&D. He said the investment does not include the $300 million the firm is spending on its new research center in Beijing. The investment plan came along with Microsoft's appointment of Simon Leung, a former executive at Motorola Inc, as the new chairman and chief executive of the firm's China operations. (Nov 14, China Daily)

Other

Baidu CEO Tops 2008 Hurun China IT Rich List
According to the 2008 Hurun China IT Rich List published on November 26, 2008 in Hangzhou, Li Yanhong "Robin", CEO of the Chinese Internet search engine Baidu.com (BIDU), topped the list with net worth of CNY13 billion, followed by founder of Tencent Ma Huateng and founder and CEO of NetEase (NTES) Ding Lei with CNY12.5 billion and CNY9.8 billion, respectively. (Nov 28, ChinaTechNews)

China sees mounting number of IPR cases in first ten months
China's courts had handled more than 20,000 cases related to intellectual property rights (IPR) in the first ten months of 2008, a year-on-year rise of nearly 40 percent. It was revealed by a senior court official on Friday at a national seminar on IPR trials held in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. (Nov 29, Xinhua)

Medical & Healthcare

Rural Clinics to Get New Investment for Better Equipment
Clinics and hospitals in China's rural areas and state farms will get 4.8 billion yuan (US$702 million) this year to improve infrastructures, a Ministry of Health spokesman said on Sunday. The money is part of a 21.7-billion-yuan investment plan announced by the government in 2006 with aims to overhaul the nation's rural health care network by 2010. The investment will be spent on new buildings and medical equipment in more than 13,000 clinics and hospitals in villages, townships, and state farms and forestry farms. (Nov 23, Xinhua)

Other Sectors

Vacancy rate up for Grade A offices
The vacancy rate at Shanghai's Grade A office buildings has more than doubled from a year earlier amid unprecedented supply and slackened demand. The latest report from Savills, the UK property services company, concluded that the Grade A vacancy rate had risen from less than 5 percent at the beginning of 2008 to the current 11 percent. The imbalance between supply and demand has dampened the momentum for rental growth, leaving the figure almost unchanged as compared to the previous quarter, a rare scenario in the city over the past few years, according to industry insiders. (Dec 4, Shanghai Daily)

Products Not Meeting Energy Efficiency Standard Must Not Be Produced Or Sold
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China (AQSIQ) disclosed that from March 1, 2009, six categories of products must be affixed with an energy efficiency logo and those that do not meet the relevant energy efficiency standard must not be produced, sold or imported into China. According to the fourth issue of the "Catalog of Products Applying Energy Efficiency Logo" jointly released by AQSIQ, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China, the catalog contains six kinds of products such as variable speed air conditioners, multi-connected air conditioning units, electrical water heaters, household electromagnetic cookers, computer monitors and photocopiers. (Nov 17, ChinaTechNews)

$730b Infrastructure Plan on Table
The transport ministry is considering a plan to spend 5 trillion yuan ($730 billion) on road and port infrastructure projects over the next three to five years, in a bid to stimulate domestic demand, the Shanghai-based China Business News reported on Wednesday. An anonymous source with the ministry was quoted as saying that the massive spending was being considered as "such investment can produce an immediate effect (on domestic demand)". The 5 trillion yuan figure includes funds the government had already earmarked for highway construction projects, the report said. (Nov 6, China Daily)

Shandong Feels Pinch of Global Financial Meltdown
Shandong Province, China's leading economic powerhouse on the east seaboard, announced on Sunday both its number of enterprise employees and of those actually employed were on the wane. A source from the Shandong Provincial Federation of Trade Unions said employees with enterprises and institutions in urban areas totaled 9.14 million by late September, a year-on-year decrease of 38,000 workers. Shandong is the second largest economic province in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) in China, just after Guangdong. (Nov 25, ChinaDaily)

Cotton Imports down as Textiles Demand Slows
China, the world's largest cotton consumer, reduced imports by 30 percent in October from a year earlier as demand for clothing and textiles slowed, according to China Cotton Association estimates. Textile mills made purchases in a "hand-to-mouth fashion" as exports of textiles and apparel slowed for a third straight month and domestic demand remained weak, said the association, which is made up of farmers, ginners, mills and industry researchers. Sales of raw cotton were "almost stagnant" in October, as farmers were dissatisfied with prices and ginners were careful with purchases. (Nov 24, CEI)
 
IPO dreams dashed amid global turmoil
Chinese IT companies' hopes of hitting the IPO jackpot have evaporated amid hefty falls in global stock markets in the past few months. Last month, global stock markets suffered a 20 percent loss, a record monthly fall that saw domestic entrepreneurs becoming more cautious in taking their companies public both at home and overseas. Gone with the IPO dream are the hundreds of millions of new capital that venture capitalists and private equity funds once bet on IT companies promising to become cash cows. (Nov 13, China Daily)

GM seeks to raise stake in China vehicle JV
General Motors is seeking to raise its stake in its commercial vehicle venture with SAIC Motor, China's biggest automaker, China Business News said on Wednesday. GM wants to increase its 34 percent stake in SAIC-GM-Wuling, a three way tie-up between the US automaker, SAIC and Liuzhou Wuling Automobile, the newspaper said, citing SAIC chairman Hu Maoyuan. Hu, addressing an industry forum, did not elaborate on the additional stake GM was asking for. Foreign holdings of Chinese auto joint manufactures is capped at 50 percent. (Nov 12, ChinaDaily)

למידע נוסף אודות הסכמי סחר בילטראליים אנא פנו בקרו בדף הרלוונטי באתרנו.

In this Issue:

Coming Events

General News on Chinese Economy

Consumer Goods

Environment & Energy

Telecom & IT

Other Sectors

Coming Events

November 10-13: Water Expo China
Water Expo China will be held 10-13 November 2008 at the National Agricultural Exhibition Centre, Beijing.  The Israel Trade Mission to China and IEICI is organizing leading Israelis companies to participate in this event, to demonstrate the latest water technologies from Israel at the national pavilion and attend professional activities to explore opportunities in the local market. 

Dec 1 - 3: IT/Telecom Delegation to Shandong
Israel's Trade Mission to China is now planning an IT/Telecom business delegation to China in the first week of December. The visit shall include Beijing and East China's Shandong Province (including two major cities there: Jinan and Qingdao). The tentative plan shall include meetings with local telecom carriers (both mobile & fixed lines) and matchmaking event with local companies (agents, distributors, manufacturers, R&D institutions, system integrators).

General news on Chinese economy

China's GDP to Slow to 9.4 Pct in 2008: Report
China's GDP growth is expected to slow to 9.4 percent in 2008 from last year's 11.4 percent as the shrinking exports will cool the world's fourth largest economy. The fundamentals of the economy are sound, but falling export orders would take a toll on the national economy in the short term, and domestic consumption needed time to play a bigger role, said the report released by the China Chengxin International Credit Rating Co. (CCXI), a joint venture of China's first rating agency China Chengxin Credit Management Co. Ltd. and U.S.-based Moody's Corporation. The changing external economic environment and the burst of domestic asset bubbles would exacerbate the slowing economy, said the report. (Nov 2, Xinhua)

China cuts rates for third time in 6 weeks
China yesterday announced its third interest rate cut in six weeks. The move was seen as part of a widely expected new round of global rate cuts. China will lower both one-year benchmark lending and deposit rates by 0.27 percentage points starting today, the People's Bank of China said yesterday on its Website. The cut means the one-year deposit rate drops to 3.6 percent while the one-year lending rate decreases to 6.66 percent. The public housing fund rates were untouched. (Oct 30, Shanghai Daily)

China's housing prices expected to fall 10% on average in next two years
China's housing prices are expected to fall 10% on average in the coming two years with the highest drop reaching 30%, according to a recently-released research report by the Institute of International Finance of the Bank of China (BOC). The report indicates that the domestic real estate market will shift from the current state of stagflation to a downturn as a result of cyclical factors. By 2010, the real estate market will re-enter the upturn stage. (Oct 31, People's Daily Online)

Chinese SMEs warned of hard times ahead 
China Association of Small and Medium Enterprises president Li Zibin has called for greater government assistance in a warning to members that tough economic circumstances will begin to bite this month. "The global financial crisis is set to affect the real world economy, including the Chinese economy, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will bear the brunt," he said. (Oct 28, Xinhua)

Chinese Shares Break 1800-point Mark
Chinese stocks broke the 1800-point mark to 1795.54 points and hit the two year low three minutes after the opening at 9:30 local time on Monday. The Shanghai Composite Index opened at 1809.22 points, down 30.4 points or 1.65 percent from the previous closing. The index then continued to fall and hit 1795.54 points, the lowest level since Oct. 24 of 2006 when the index closed at 1805.18. Monday's fall came one day after the country scrapped the tax levied on the interest income of individual stock account balance. The Ministry of Finance said on Sunday the decision, effective Oct. 9, aimed at maintaining a stable and healthy development of the capital market. (Oct 27, Xinhua)

China Accounts for 6 Pct of World's GDP by 2007: NBS
China's share of the world's combined gross output rose to 6 percent at the end of 2007, compared with just 1.8 percent in 1978 when its reform and opening-up began, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Monday. Fast economic growth over the last 30 years had lifted China's GDP ranking in the world from 10th in 1978 to fourth after the United States, Japan and Germany. It stood at 3.28 trillion U.S. dollars in 2007, about 23.7 percent of that of the U.S., 74.9 percent of Japan's and 99.5 percent of Germany's. (Oct 27, Xinhua)

China ranks 2nd with 8.8% of world's exports by 2007
China's share in world's exports reached 8.8 percent by 2007, making it the world's 2nd largest exporter, only after Germany, said the National Statistics Bureau (NBS) on Tuesday. According to a statement released on NBS website, China's foreign trade has been growing at an average annual rate of 17.4 pct to 2,173.7 billion U.S. dollars from 20.6 billion U.S. dollars since 1978 when its reform and opening-up began.  (Oct 28, Xinhua)

Economist: China's economic growth rate may reach 8-9% next year
China's economic growth rate is expected to be 8-9% next year. The contribution of China's rapid economic growth will be the greatest to the world, which is suffering from the current financial crisis, said Lin Yifu, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President. Lin added, strong consumer expenditure and investments in fixed assets will continue to be the force driving the Chinese economy forward into 2009. "When compared with the double-digit growth during the past several years, there will be an adjustment of 2-3%. But as for the whole world, China is still a country with fast economic growth." (Oct 27, People’s Daily Online)
 

Consumer Goods

Chinese commodities distribution center in Europe completes construction
The Chinese Commodities Distribution Center in Europe has completed construction and held a ceremony to mark the occasion in Hague. The distribution center, which began construction five years ago, lies in the business area on the outskirts of the Hague, and is only 25 km away from Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe. The center's convenient location makes it easy to transport Chinese shipping goods to major European markets using the developed Dutch roads and railways. (Oct 29, Xinhua)

Melamine scandal costs major Chinese dairy maker millions
The Bright Dairy & Food Co., Ltd, traded in Shanghai, reported its losses and added costs by the end of Sept. amounted to 344.59 million yuan (about 50 million U.S. dollars), in sales, refunds and recalls in the melamine contamination scandal. "The melamine incident threw the whole dairy industry into a difficult situation and has caused rather big impacts on the company," said Bright Dairy. (Oct 30, Xinhua)

Nestle sets up second R&D center
Despite the global economic slow-down and the impact of the recent tainted milk crisis, China will remain one of the fastest-growing markets with the biggest growth potential for Swiss food and beverage giant Nestle. The European food giant established a research and development (R&D) center in Zhongguancun Environmental Protection Park, a hi-tech industrial park in Beijing. With approximately 70 million yuan of investment, the Beijing R&D Center will be a new branch of the company's global R&D network, which includes 24 centers. The Beijing center was the second one in China, after its Shanghai R&D center which was built in 2001. Nestle China is expected to see double-digit growth in its sales revenue this year. (Nov 1, Xinhua)

Environment & Energy

Intel buys into cleantech company
Intel Capital, the chip giant's venture capital arm, yesterday made its first foray into the nation's clean technology sector, purchasing a $20 million stake in local solar energy firm Trony Solar Holdings Co Ltd. "China's renewable energy industry is experiencing rapid development," said Cadol Cheung, managing director of Intel Capital Asia Pacific. "We believe these investments will be a catalyst to drive local clean tech innovation." Trony Solar, established in 1993, is one of China's biggest manufacturers of thin-film solar energy equipment, with sales in more than 20 nations. The Shenzhen-based company will use the investment to ramp up its production capacity as well as strengthen its R&D capabilities. (Oct 29, ChinaDaily)

Telecom & IT

Telecom

SARFT fines China Telecom for operating IPTV illegally
A local bureau of China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has fined China Telecom's Yichang City branch in Hubei Province for illegal IPTV operations, according to the report by SARFT.net, a SARFT-supported Web site. Under Chinese laws and regulations, companies are required to obtain four licenses before starting IPTV operations. The most important license is the IPTV license, which covers program publication via the Internet and other information networks, such as television. The other three licenses are the Internet content provider license and mobile value-added service provider license, both granted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), and the Internet culture business license, granted by the Ministry of Culture. In addition, local telecom operators like China Telecom's Yichang City branch are only allowed to offer IPTV in cooperation with national IPTV license holders. (Oct 28, INTERFAX-CHINA)

China's satellite application industry to be worth 300 billion yuan
With the development of the Compass Navigation Satellite System, the total output of China's satellite application industry will be 300 billion yuan by 2015, demonstrating the massive potential of the market, according to Cao Chong, the director of Compass Civil Application Market and Industrialization Expert Commission, at the recent 2008 China (Hefei) Forum on Compass Navigation Technology and Industrial Development. The Compass System is a satellite navigation system independently developed by China. It boasts navigation, positioning and timing functions. The Compass System, US's GPS, Russia's GLONASS and the EU's GALILEO are regarded as the four major global navigation satellite systems. (Oct 30, People's Daily Online)

Carriers

China Unicom to Appoint New Executive Team
The new China Unicom has fixed a new executive team recently, disclosed people briefed on the matter on October 29, 2008. In detail, the new team is made up of four previous vice presidents for China Unicom and seven previous vice presidents for China Netcom, according to the people. In addition, of all the appointed 28 departmental chiefs at Unicom Group, 15 are from China Unicom and the rest 13 from China Netcom. 13 previous Netcom Group executives and 18 prior Unicom Group executives will take the posts at the 31 China Unicom provincial branches, according to the people. (Nov 3, Sinocast)

China Unicom and China Telecom to challenge China Mobile with Internet and FMC
The new China Unicom and China Telecom will focus their businesses on broadband Internet and fixed mobile convergence (FMC) to take on China Mobile, an industry official told Interfax on Oct. 30. "With the construction of FTTx (Fiber to the x) networks and the development of integrated fixed-line and mobile services, the new China Unicom and China Telecom will be competitive among other operators," Tang Xiongyan, a top engineer from former China Netcom Group Broadband Service Applications Co. Ltd., said. (Nov 3, INTERFAX-CHINA)

China Mobile Starts TD-SCDMA Antenna Bidding
Results for China Mobile's second round of TD-SCDMA bidding are set to be released in the near future, and the company has begun seeking bids on related products from equipment manufacturers. A source from a manufacturer that participated in the bidding revealed that on October 24 China Mobile announced that it would begin soliciting bids on antennae for its TD-SCDMA base stations. Between 5-8 manufacturers are believed to be participating in the bidding. China Mobile requires that all products participating in the bidding first receive the recommendation of a provincial-level China Mobile company. (Oct 30, C114)

New Unicom Announces Company Structure
Sources have revealed that the organizational structure of the new China Unicom has been released. The design calls for 28 departments under the main headquarters, plus an additional vertically managed company. Former department managers at China Unicom and China Netcom will assume positions as general managers for the 28 new departments. (Oct 29, c114)

China Telecom to Expand CDMA Capacity to 70M
At a China Telecom press meeting held recently, deputy director for network development, Xu Sui, revealed that construction on CDMA networks in 342 cities throughout the country will be completed by the end of this year, after which China Telecom's CDMA network capacity will reach 70 mln users. A major area of focus in China Telecom's development plans is to satisfy the wireless Internet needs of 82 'developed' cities. Hou Chunyu, director of China Telecom's technology department revealed that China Telecom plans to merge and connect its CDMA450 network with its newly obtained 800 MHz CDMA network. Afterwards, China Telecom will introduce dual-frequency CDMA handsets, however at the moment it is still waiting for dual-frequency mobile chips. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has stipulated that CDMA450 may only be used in rural connectivity projects in developing rural areas, and may not be used to develop mobile services. (Oct 29, China Business News)

Manufacturers

China's Datang to win major share of China Mobile TD-SCDMA orders
Datang Mobile is expected to win the largest share of China Mobile's contracts to build TD-SCDMA networks in 28 cities, the China Business news reported. ZTE Corp and Huawei Technologies are also expected to win significant contracts. China Mobile announced the tender to help expand commercial trials for its TD-SCDMA 3G service to 38 cities on the mainland, from the current 10. (Oct 30, XFN-ASIA)

Huawei launches professional service centre in Jordan
Huawei Technologies, provider of next generation telecommunication solutions to operators, has officially announced the launch of the new Professional Services Competence Centre (PSCC) in Jordan. This centre will extend Huawei services to the operators across the Middle East region. Jordan PSCC complements the recent openings of Egypt Global Technical Assistance Centre GTAC and Bahrain Regional Global Technical Service (GTS). Huawei established a Middle East Centre for Engineering and Deployment Services in Saudi Arabia in 2008. Inauguration of the new PSCC in Jordan took place on 19 October. (Nov 5, Digitalmediaasia)

Huawei, ZTE Won Most Base Station Contracts
Chinese telecom equipment makers Huawei Technologies and ZTE won 43% and 25% of the 67 base station contracts signed and unveiled in the third quarter of 2008 globally, according to latest report released by market research firm EJL Wireless Research. The number of base station contracts unveiled in the second quarter was 68. Plus the 48 contracts that had not been unveiled officially, the total number of contracts clinched in the third quarter was 115, 58 of which were gained by Nokia Siemens. Huawei Technologies was ranking the second place. EJL Wireless Research says in the report that demand for base stations was mainly coming from Asia-Pacific and Africa during the period. And 90% of the CDMA 2000 contracts were seized by Chinese telecom equipment makers. (Oct 29, Sinocast)

Huawei Overtakes Cisco
The global financial crisis has brought a good opportunity for Chinese telecom equipment supplier Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. to overtake international telecom giant. Recently, Analysys Mason, the world's premier adviser in telecom, IT and media, released a report, saying that Huawei had jumped to the fourth largest network management software supplier, while Cisco Systems Inc. fallen to the fifth. Analysys Mason Analyst Roz Roseboro reveals that Huawei has gained rapid growth in the past five years, and is heading toward the world's top three suppliers. Currently, telecom carriers are looking forward to next-generation services, which is likely to boost their revenue growth. Equipment suppliers play an important role in deploying the services efficiently. (Oct 29, Sinocast)

ZTE To Build LTE, 4G Team
Chinese telecom equipment provider ZTE plans to build a research and development team for LTE and 4G projects with over 2,000 employees, reports Sohu. The company has partnered with 4G research including those housed at Tsinghua University, Southeast University and Beijing Jiaotong University, said Hu Jian, chief of ZTE's Communications Standard Department. (Nov 5, Pacificepoch)
Electronics

 
Software

IT Outsourcing Giant to Set up New Center
US software outsourcing company CSC, one of the world's largest IT outsourcing firms, said Tuesday it will launch a new delivery center in China as the global financial crisis may force more Western companies to outsource their business to the country. CSC's new delivery center, located in Tianjin, will open next spring. It will serve both CSC's domestic and multinational clients in China and will have 500 employees within the next three years. (Oct 29, China Daily)

 
Internet

40 million online game players spend 400 yuan each on average
China has had about 40 million people who frequently play online games through major portals, with an average annual spending of each player at 400 yuan (58.8 U.S. dollars). Chinese online game players are continuing increasing in years to come and their average expenditure on online games and related service will also be swelling. (Nov 1, Xinhua)

Other Sectors

China allocates one bln yuan to support enterprise financing
China has allocated one billion yuan (146.41 million U.S. dollars) in credit guarantee for small and mid-sized enterprises, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF). This move aimed to ease financing tension of such kind of enterprises, and support their development. The money will be used to compensate potential losses and risks of financial institutions that provide credit to these enterprises. (Oct 30, Xinhua)

Profits of China's SOEs fall in first 3 quarters amid slowing economy 
Profits of China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs), excluding financial institutions, dropped in the first three quarters amid the economic slowdown, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Finance. SOE profits in the first nine months were 1.11 trillion yuan (162.63 billion U.S. dollars), down 2.9 percent year on year. The January-August profits were 1.3 percent less from a year ago, the ministry has said in a report.  (Nov 2, Xinhua)

Listed companies' reports show big gains
Chinese listed companies which have so far completed their periodic reports have shown a rising trend in the first three quarters of this year, with a growth rate of 30 percent, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Monday. Among companies that have reported, 557 gained and 375 performed better than the previous year, accounting for 86.36 percent and 58.14 percent respectively of the total. Though maintaining a year-on-year growth trend, these companies' quarter-on-quarter growth rates declined in the third quarter. (Oct 27, ChinaDaily)

Financial Crisis Cuts Number of Foreign Tourists
As the world economy continues to be overshadowed by the global financial crisis; the tourism industry in China is also being adversely affected. Many Chinese travel agencies remain disappointed as they traditionally welcome a boost in tourism around this time of year. Most visitors have to cut down on their expenses. The number of foreign tourists arriving in China has continued to fall during the past month. Statistics show the number of foreign visitors in China has decreased 0.3 percent in the last three quarters of this year, and fell 6 percent in September, compared with the same period last year.  (Oct 27, CRI)

Trade Volume down Five Percent at Yiwu Int'l Commodities Fair
Trade volume at the Yiwu International Commodities Fair, one of China's major foreign trade platforms, dropped by 4.9 percent year on year, with total trade volume reaching 10.4 billion yuan (1.5 billion U.S. dollars). More than 105,000 traders attended the fair, among whom were 16,107 overseas buyers, 5.3 percent lower than last year. The bestseller included appliances, stationeries, electronics and hardware, according to statistics from the fair organizers. The fair has been held for 14 successive years. Yiwu, 300 kilometers away from Shanghai, has the world's largest wholesale market for small commodities. (Oct 26, Xinhua)