China - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Oct 08)

[winston]

China Stocks Rise on Report Share Sales to Slow;
By Zhang Shidong

July 21 (Bloomberg) -- China's stocks rose to a one-week high after the China Securities Journal reported that regulators may slow approvals for stock sales as part of measures to ensure ``stable and healthy'' markets.

``The market received a lift from the market talk about the regulator, which triggered some buying,'' said Zheng Tuo, who manages the equivalent of $790 million at Bank of Communications Schroders Fund Management Co. in Shanghai. ``But the effect of that will fade. It's still the fundamentals that determine the market's direction.''

The CSI 300 Index, which tracks yuan-denominated A shares listed on China's two exchanges, rose 95.59, or 3.4 percent, to 2,911.05 at the close, the highest since July 14. All of the measure's 10 industry groups advanced.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China's stock exchanges, rose 3 percent to 2,861.42. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 3.4 percent to 852.77.

[winston]

Good to see check & balances...

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST:

- In an unusual outbreak of recriminations, mainland financial regulators are openly criticising each other, with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange accusing the securities watchdog of excessive market intervention and the banking regulator levelling the same charge against the central bank, according to Caijing magazine.

[winston]

China earmarks US$5.86b to help Guangzhou factories

HONG KONG : China has earmarked 5.86 billion dollars to help struggling factories in the Pearl River Delta fight soaring production costs, a report said Wednesday.

The money will be used to encourage small and medium-sized factories to move their operations to remote parts of Guangdong, the province's Communist Party Secretary Wang Yang reportedly said Tuesday.

"We have been thinking of ways to minimize the burden on factories such as reducing government levies," Wang was quoted as saying in a report by Hong Kong's The Standard newspaper.

"But we are also introducing measures to help factories move to eastern, western, northern and central parts of the province," he said.

Other measures included concessions on electricity, water charges and government fees for factories relocating to the inland parts of the province, Wang said.

The Party Secretary said about 35,000 factories had cancelled their registration in Guangdong between January and May this year, up 35.7 percent year-on-year, according to the report

But he added that about 40,000 new enterprises had registered with the city over the same period.

Rising production costs and the rise in China's currency have forced many labour-intensive operations in the Pearl River Delta -- the country's manufacturing hub - to shut down or move to inner provinces such as Henan and Sichuan in recent months.

- AFP /ls

[winston]

From UOB-Kay Hian:-

Strategy

Economic woes elevated to political level

Summary. China’s policy markers have stepped up vigilance against too rapid deceleration in the economy. In a rare move a week after the government’s annual economic meeting last week, the Politburo – the highest decision-making body in the land - has called a special meeting to address
the economic woes facing the country in what we see as a prelude to a subtle shift in economic policy.

Ensuring stable growth to protect jobs has now emerged as a concern on par with inflation-busting. We believe Beijing will time the official announcement of policy changes to trigger an August Olympics rally.

Thus, investors might want to buy stocks such Ping An Insurance (2328.HK) and China Mobile (941.HK), which have fallen sharply from their highs, as well as companies likely to announce in-line or stronger results, such as Jiangxi Copper (358.HK), Yanzhou Coal, and Zijin Mining (2899.HK).

We are inclined to sell into strength during the Olympics and short shipping stocks as iron ore imports from China are unlikely to retain at 1H08 pace.

[winston]

Beijing vows to punish officials who fuel protests

China has vowed to punish officials who cause mass unrest by mishandling public complaints, according to new rules on handling petitions and riots that implicitly acknowledge problems with official misconduct.

Late Thursday the government issued rules threatening to punish officials who mishandle, ignore or exacerbate conflicts.

The rules on handling petitions from aggrieved citizens threaten demerit, demotion or dismissal for officials who "gravely harm the public's interests, sparking major problems in petitioning or mass incidents.'' Mass incidents is an official Chinese euphemism for protests and riots. Nationwide, petition visits grew from 4.8 million in 1995 to 12.7 million in 2005.

REUTERS

[winston]

Vice minister pledges to help exporters

Beijing is aware of the difficulties exporters are facing and will implement policies to assist them if the environment gets too difficult, Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng said on a visit to Hong Kong.

The Commerce Ministry, and related departments, are aware that slowing exports, increasing raw material and salary costs, together with appreciation of the yuan, has made things difficult, he said.

Gao did not elaborate on the assistance measures.

The vice minister is on a visit to promote the Canton Fair, which opens in October in Guangzhou.

[winston]

China regulator tells fund managers to keep quiet
By George Chen

SHANGHAI, July 25 (Reuters) - China's securities regulator has ordered fund managers to refrain from making public comments about the benchmark index's .SSEC loss of more than half its value from its October peak, according to a notice distributed to fund houses.

China Securities Regulatory Commission, China's securities industry watchdog, issued the notice dated July 24 to the country's fund houses, including joint ventures with foreign banks such as HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (0005.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and JPMorgan (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), to order fund managers to be careful when making public comments.

"We want to remind all the fund companies to strengthen your management of external comments to produce and maintain the good image of the fund industry," the CSRC said in the notice obtained by Reuters on Friday.

"To those who disobey the rules or have (negative) social impact, those companies should take responsibility for the results," the CSRC warned.

The notice didn't indicate whether the rules to control fund managers' comments would be permanent or temporary, but two senior executives at major fund houses told Reuters that they believed the rules were intended for the period of the Beijing Olympics, from Aug. 8-24.

"Stability is the top priority to the regulator and everything that the regulator does is just for the sake of a harmonious and successful Olympic games," said one of the two fund executives.

"It's China and the Olympics, so we very much understand the regulator's decision," he added.

The two fund executives declined to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the notice.

The regulator also ordered fund houses to obey the following rules, according to the notice:

-- Not to give public comment on the trend of stock indexes and specific industries and stocks.

-- Not to comment on the investment portfolios and operation of fund investments.

-- Not to comment on non-public information.

-- Not to express opinions that may affect the image of China's fund industry.

-- Not to give comments that may do harm to the development of China's fund industry.

BE CAREFUL OF MEDIA

The regulator also warned that it had discovered some fund companies and their staff lacked "considerate thoughts" and were not "very careful of the words and phrases" when they commented in recent interviews with media, although the CSRC did not cite any specifics.

As a result, the CSRC said fund houses should pay special attention to press releases and media events, which it said the relevant government agenies will review periodically.

Most stock-focused mutual funds made huge losses in the first half due mainly to sharp declines of domestic stock markets amid growing concerns about the U.S. credit crunch and yuan appreciation, which could slow China's economic growth.

Some individual investors have raised questions about the abilities of some Chinese fund managers, most of whom have less than 10 years of industry experience but who are sometimes responsible for more than 10 billion yuan ($1.47 billion) of assets.

Many fund managers often blame the poor global economic environment, high oil prices and a lack of regulatory efficiency for any sharp declines in domestic stocks.

"The market is not short of money but investors' confidence," said the second fund executive.

"Obviously, the regulator is now trying very hard to boost investors' confidence on the hope that the market can rebound if everyone feels confident of the future," he added.

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsN ... dChannel=0

[kennynah]

wana do business there....follow the rules of the game....at least in china, they have backbone to do and say what is right and good for their people and country.....singapore ?...phhffft !!!!!

[winston]

How super rich live in China
By Wang Qian (China Daily)

Being rich in China does not mean all are living like aristocrats, a recent 2008 Hurun Report of New Aristocracy, said.

"Being rich and living the life of an aristocrat are not the same thing," Rupert Hoogewerf, author of the report, said. He is better known by his Chinese name Hu Run.

An aristocrat in China generally spends about 4.57 million yuan ($672,000) a year, and much of it on a premium standard of living.

Hoogewerf said the report was compiled after analyzing the lifestyles of more than 100 super rich people in China and not all spend lavishly.

Related readings:
China's rich are giving it away
Mainland's richest person is 26-year old woman
To live the life of an aristocrat, those super rich people must have spent at least 83 million yuan.

The report describes the life of a typical aristocrat.

He is someone in his 40s, lives in Shanghai with his wife and has a son about 17 years old studying in Britain.

He owns a villa in the city and an apartment in Beijing, has four cars in his garage including a Rolls-Royce Phantom for himself and a Mercedes-Benz ML500 for his wife.

He enjoys playing golf and has paid more than 3.5 million yuan to join golf clubs in Shanghai and Beijing.

Sometimes, he and his friends will charter a plane to play golf in Hainan province.

He has four watches including a Vacheron Constantin and an Oyster Perpetual Datejust, and his wedding ring, very likely from Tiffany Legacy.

He has recently developed a liking for wines. Chateau Lafite Rothschild, costing 226,656 yuan per crate, can be found in his cellar.

He smokes Davidoff Classic No 2.

He is now more involved in charitable causes compared to last year.

Hoogewerf said that within a week of the May 12 earthquake, the top 100 richest people in the country had donated $120 million, about 10 percent of the total donations received by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

"More and more people are curious about the lifestyles of the rich in China. We want to give them an insight," he said.

Hoogewerf estimates that currently there are only 50,000 people in the country who can maintain such a lifestyle.

Last year 150,000 people could be considered having led an aristocrat life at a cost of 38 million yuan.

However, some entrepreneurs do not want to pursue the lifestyles of their peers.

Yu Minhong, CEO of the New Oriental Group, ranking 134 in 2007 Hurun China Rich List said: "I do not know where I can spend so much money. Maybe one day, I will buy a villa costing millions of yuan, but not now,"

"Every one has his or her own lifestyle."

Liu Mingming, 24, an office worker said: "It is their life. They can indulge in whatever they want, so long as it makes them happy.

"What surprise me is that I had no idea China has so many rich men."

[winston]

China Politburo Targets Growth, Inflation, CCTV Says (Update1)
By Li Yanping and Zhao Yidi

July 25 (Bloomberg) -- China's Politburo, the Communist Party's top decision-making body, said maintaining growth and fighting inflation were the top priorities for the world's fastest-growing major economy in the second half of 2008.

The Politburo statement, reported by the state-run China Central Television, didn't refer to a ``tight'' monetary policy, a term used in government statements.

The government ``will strengthen and improve fiscal and financial controls'' and efforts to contain inflation will be ``prominent,'' CCTV reported.

Weakening export demand because of the U.S. housing slump and an international credit squeeze has stoked concern that growth may slump, costing jobs and leading to bad loans and sinking profits. Government options to stimulate the economy and protect exporters include loosening bank lending quotas and restraining gains by the yuan.

China wants to maintain ``steady and relatively fast'' economic growth, the Politburo said after a meeting chaired by President Hu Jintao, CCTV reported. That goal has been made more difficult because of challenges including global uncertainties and instabilities, it said.

China's economy grew 10.1 percent in the second quarter, the slowest pace since 2005.

The ``continuity and stability'' of economic policies should be maintained and their flexibility increased, the Politburo said.

Fastest Pace Since 1996

Consumer prices have climbed this year at the fastest pace since 1996. Inflation eased to 7.1 percent in June from 7.7 percent in May as food-price gains slowed. The pace compares with the central bank's 4.8 percent target for the year.

``Inflation remains the economy's greatest risk,'' Ben Simpfendorfer, an economist with Royal Bank of Scotland Plc in Hong Kong, said in a report this month. ``Tightening supply of labor and raw materials will ensure that inflation pressures persist and consumer-price inflation is expected to start rising again in late 2009.''

The People's Bank of China has kept benchmark interest rates unchanged in 2008 on concern that higher rates may attract more capital to a financial system already flooded with cash. The key one-year lending rate is 7.47 percent and the deposit rate is 4.14 percent after six increases last year. Both rates are at decade highs.