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

[winston]

China loans more to small businesses to boost employment

China's central bank has more than doubled the amount entrepreneurs and small businesses can borrow as part of efforts to boost employment, officials said.

The maximum amount that can be loaned to individuals for business purposes was raised to 50,000 yuan (7,300 dollars) from 20,000 yuan, the People's Bank of China said in a statement posted on its website late Monday.

The limit on loans to labour-intensive small businesses was doubled to two million yuan from one million yuan, according to the notice distributed to local authorities and banks earlier this month.

"(We) need to enhance the policy support for labour-intensive small enterprises, prompt them to hire more jobless people," the central bank said.

Some small businesses in China have been forced to shut down after being hit by slowing export growth and the government's tighter credit conditions aimed at fighting inflation.

The large number of small businesses going bankrupt -- many of them focused on labour-intensive products for export like textile and toys -- has raised unemployment and concerns about possible social instability.

Beijing has long said the official unemployment rate remains below five percent.

[winston]

China stocks soar 7pc on stimulus package rumor
KatherineNg

Mainland shares soared more than 7 percent yesterday on hopes the government will deliver a long-awaited stimulus package to boost the economy and capital market.

The package rumors also drove up the Hang Seng Index 446 points, or 2 percent, to close at 20,931. The Shanghai Composite Index surged 178 points, or 7.6 percent.

However, analysts warned investors to be cautious as there was likely to be only a short-term technical rebound. "The volume was still thin with about HK$62.33 billion in Hong Kong and 59 billion yuan in Shanghai, showing the rebound was a rumor-driven one," said Andrew Wong at Glory Sky Capital.

The rise was driven by a JPMorgan research report that said Beijing is considering a stimulus package of up to 400 billion yuan (HK$456 billion) to help stabilize the domestic capital market and support the property market.

A comment by Vice Premier Li Keqiang about the need to boost domestic demand also helped sentiment. "It is as urgent as tackling changes in the international economic situation," Xinhua quoted him as saying during a visit to Tianjin.

Lehman Brothers listed more than 10 measures that could be taken by the China government. "Given the widespread belief that the Chinese economy and capital markets will experience post-Olympic slumps, we judge that the government has been storing up a slew of stimulating policies," said Lehman Brothers economist Sun Mingchun.

Credit Suisse chief economist Dong Tao believes China's economy has slowed so much that there could be a threat to social stabilitiy, spurring a need for action.

However, Stephen Green at Standard Chartered said: "It is too early for a fiscal stimulus package."

And Ha Jiming, at the China International and Capital Corporation, said that with GDP maintaining 10 percent growth and PPI at a high 10 percent, "no boosting is needed at this time.

[millionairemind]

基金经理异口同声：市场还未“见底” [日期：2008年08月21日 09:31]

来源：东方早报 作者： 字体：[ 繁體 大 中 小]

　　相对于散户的欣喜，基金经理对于昨天的上涨表示谨慎

　　众多传闻共振下，A股昨天突然放量爆发式上涨。对于昨天的上涨，基金经理们集体表示谨慎，认为市场仍未见底，而对于各种传闻则表示淡然，认为可信度并不高。
　　基金经理不信上涨传闻

　　昨天，上证综合指数强势反弹，日涨幅达7.69%。按照申万行业分类来看，有色金属、房地产及金融行业名列涨幅前三甲，分别上涨8.82%，8.86%和9.09%，其中房地产板块和有色金属板块自年初以来累计跌幅均超过50%。雅虎统计

　　对于昨天突然放量上涨的原因，一位基金公司投资总监昨天告诉早报记者："大摩出报告说政府下半年要放松货币政策，加大直接投资，建议政府成立平准基金。"

　　另有基金经理告诉早报记者，几个传闻共同促成了市场大幅上涨。在机构中流传的各种传闻包括：中信证券 （600030）计划动用50亿元增持二级市场股票，方案已经于昨天上午报证监会；国家计划2000亿元～4000亿元的经济振兴计划；中投从美国部分撤资，加入国内经济振兴计划之中；融资融券在奥运会后启动。

　　昨天，早报也曾发表知名国际投行摩根大通发给早报的一份报告(详见早报B12版《摩根大通：中国政府正考虑出台千亿级经济刺激方案》)。报告称,中国政府决策层正在审慎考虑一项总金额约为2000亿元～4000亿元的经济刺激方案，包括减税、稳定国内资本市场和支持国内房地产市场的健康发展等措施。

　　对于这些传闻，基金经理们都一笑了之，表示不足为信。不少基金业人士昨天表示，现在通胀还很高，经济回落就是目前宏观调控想要得到的结果，中国经济不需要"振兴"，而是"转型"。

　　"不想让经济回落，那要宏观调控干什么？现在的局面就是管理层想要看到的。"一位基金业高管甚至这样表示。

　　"见底只是一厢情愿"

　　对于反弹还是反转的疑问，基金经理们私下都表示"见底只是一厢情愿"。

　　"应该不会有那么快反转，根本的问题都还没解决。"一位基金公司投资总监昨天说。

　　对于不少基金经理而言，本轮暴跌不是由资本市场造成，而是来自基本面的担忧。他们认为，目前海外经济环境仍在恶化，而国内经济下滑已经较为明显，企业盈利也不容乐观。

　　"对于机构投资者而言，更关注经济何时见底，目前还看不到这个迹象，即便政府真的出台经济刺激方案，效果也未必如此快显现，还需要观察。"一位基金经理私下表示。

　　"不可能见底的。"另一基金公司主管投资的副总经理还指出了另一个因素，"大小非猛于虎。"

　　不过，在未见底的判断下，也让一些坚持看多做多的基金感到兴奋。正在唱多的摩根大通的"家人"--上投摩根基金公司昨天表示，多重因素呈现出叠加效应，市场人气恢复明显。

　　上投摩根昨天对市场上涨给出了几个乐观的因素，包括以国际原油为首的大宗商品价格持续下跌，使国内通胀预期开始回落，并降低了公众对于未来通胀上升的担忧；国家主要领导人在各地进行调研时，在不同场合发出了关注经济增长的声音，提高了市场投资人对于中国经济平稳转型的信心。

　　此外，另外几个"利好"消息也被上投摩根一一列举：中报披露过半之后，银行、钢铁等主要行业的业绩增长基本符合预期，并有不少上市公司业绩超预期，而在市场连续下跌之后，市场整体估值层面的优势已具备能力来打破趋势方面的惯性；前期市场过度下跌也使得投资人信心低迷到极点，而此时一份外资行报告中提到中国正在审慎考虑数千亿元的经济刺激方案，成为投资者信心恢复的导火索。

　　从上投摩根基金公司的二季报看，该公司旗下偏股型基金保持高仓位。而在一些券商近期的仓位测算中，上投摩根基金公司旗下基金股票仓位目前仍不低。

　　在对市场表达相对乐观的看法的同时，对市场是否已见底，上投摩根的投研团队昨天并未给出"答案"。

　　活跃私募上周已加仓

　　对于宏观经济面上的变化，一些基金开始关注，但不少基金业人士表示，"唱多不做多"可能是大多数基金的选择，尤其是昨天的暴涨行情，基金追涨买入的可能性不大。

　　根据Topview的统计，截至8月18日，基金最近5个交易日净买入106.73亿元，而在8月18日市场暴跌的当天，基金净买入37.04亿元。

　　有基金分析师认为，在暴跌时基金出现净买入不足为奇，由于目前不少基金的低"仓位"是踩着60%底线运行，在市场暴跌时可能出现仓位被动降低，为"补足"仓位，在暴跌时这些基金被迫"做多"。

　　与公募基金的"被迫做多"不同，知情人士告诉早报记者，上周一些江浙私募机构已经开始大幅加仓"做多"。一位市场人士称："私募的嗅觉比较灵，加上换股调仓灵活，上周加仓也很正常。"

　　而上海一位知名私募的仓位已至五六成，对于仓位的加高，其解释是最近的行情波动大，加仓、减仓动作比较快。

　　始料未及的周一市场暴跌，让不少加仓的私募感受痛苦，昨天的上涨行情，则正好"弥补"了前一日市场暴跌的损失。(肖莉)

[ishak]

China’s stockmarket: In the bird’s-nest soup: Chinese shares enjoy a brief moment of respite
Aug 21st 2008 | HONG KONG, From The Economist print edition

INVESTORS had long ago seen their hopes dashed of a pre-Olympic boom in China’s stockmarket. Indeed, among the shares hardest hit this summer were those that unscrupulous brokers had touted as sure-fire winners from the games: restaurants selling Peking duck, hotels, and the like. But after a sudden 8% gain on August 20th, an even more tantalising idea emerged: could they benefit from a post-Olympic bounce?

A number of foreign fund managers have begun poking around the market, impressed by the valuations. Even after this week’s rally, stocks were trading at 14 times 2008 earnings—not a steal, but still far cheaper than the 40 times earnings at which they traded at their 2007 peak.

The catalyst for this week’s rally was a pervasive rumour that often crops up when sentiment becomes too jaded: government intervention, either to prop up the market or the economy. One of the cheerleaders, Frank Gong, JPMorgan’s chief economist in Asia, said China’s top officials were “carefully considering” an economic-stimulus package of 200-400 billion yuan ($29 billion-58 billion), or about 1-1.5% of GDP. There was also talk of repatriating some Chinese money that had been tied up in American dollar assets, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the troubled mortgage agencies; of reinstating rebates for exporters; and of rolling back appreciation of the yuan. Among the stocks that rose strongly were Baosteel, China Railway, and some beleaguered property stocks. All are potential beneficiaries of strong growth.

But for all the excitement, there were plenty who wanted to throw cold water on the party—indeed, the market fell back on April 21st. Those included people bullish on China’s economic outlook, who reason that with reported GDP still growing above 10% and inflation high, the government has no intention of intervening in the economy. Indeed, they argue, such stimulus could be inflationary.

Meanwhile, those more pessimistic on China’s prospects said such measures would do no good anyway. Trade is the main vulnerability. They note that container traffic to Europe has stalled after double-digit growth earlier this year, and that it has been contracting to America since 2007. The outlook for trade with Japan is none too bright, either.

Meanwhile, estimates for the growth of company earnings, though still high, are coming down, too. In January profits were expected to rise by 22% this year; now growth looks more like 14% and dropping, says Markus Rosgen, Asia strategist for Citibank. The only silver lining to all this, he adds wryly, is that a bottom, even if not in sight yet, is a lot closer than it was.

[ishak]

Worrisome if China economy falters: Paulson
Beijing moving in right direction on currency reform, he says after China trip
Business Times - 21 Aug 2008

(WASHINGTON) US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Tuesday that China's economic growth should not be seen as threatening and said it would be more worrisome if its economy falters.

'The real concern should be that China stumbles, has problems along the way and that this hurts the global economy and our economy,' Mr Paulson said in a teleconference arranged by Foreign Affairs magazine, for which he wrote an article.

He said the United States was continuing to push Beijing to open up its economy, adopt currency and other reforms, and said that so far the appreciation of its yuan currency was 'inadequate' though headed in the right direction.

Mr Paulson refused to answer repeated questions about the condition of troubled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which Barron's magazine speculated over the weekend may eventually need a bailout by the Treasury.

Mr Paulson just returned from China late last week, after attending the Olympics on a private visit.

While there, he confirmed he had undertaken some talks with Chinese economic officials.

Much of his 45-minute discussion with reporters covered familiar ground on issues like currency reform, which Mr Paulson has pursued through the so-called 'Strategic Economic Dialogue' (SED) that he initiated with Beijing after taking over Treasury in mid-2006.

He said China was 'moving in the right direction' on currency reform by letting its yuan rise in value against the dollar, which tends to make Chinese- made goods more expensive for Americans to buy.

Mr Paulson said Congress can see the yuan is appreciating, which should help meet US criticisms that Chinese goods are unfairly low-priced, and it will help make China less dependent on exports and more reliant on growth from domestic demand.

'I think that Congress has been satisfied that we're making progress,' Mr Paulson said, but later modified his remark to say that he was not personally satisfied that China's yuan has yet risen as much as it needs to.

'I think Congress believes and can see a change because the rate of appreciation has increased,' he said, adding that Treasury is encouraging the International Monetary Fund to step up its role in overseeing currency practices of key countries.

Mr Paulson said China needs a market-determined currency eventually, even if it is not ready for it yet, and won't be successful in the long term unless its currency's value is able to move in relation to underlying economic fundamentals.

The final round of the twice-a-year strategic talks is set to take place in Beijing in December, after US presidential elections in November.

Mr Paulson said they will focus on energy and environmental protection issues and on a bid to get a bilateral investment treaty that will protect American investors in China and encourage more Chinese investment in the US.

The US Treasury chief has made no secret that he hopes SED talks will continue in the next administration but refused to say whether he had discussed it with either the Republican prospective nominee Senator John McCain or with the anticipated Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama.

Any talks he held with the senators were private, Mr Paulson said.

if China economy falters, China will not buy so much dollars, then US will be in trouble.

[ishak]

China a net food importer in cash terms now
23 August 2008

(Reuters) China became a net food importer in cash terms in the first half of this year, as soaring food prices ate into its traditional surplus in agricultural goods.

The swing into deficit largely reflects the surge in prices of commodity staples such as grain and soyabeans.

But it also sheds an interesting light on China's stance in last month's abortive global trade talks when Beijing, increasingly concerned about food security, sided with India and against the United States in pushing for a safeguard to protect developing-country farmers from a surge in imports.

According to data from Global Trade Information Services Inc, Geneva, (GTIS), China had a deficit of US$5.78 billion on its trade in agricultural products in the first half of this year, against a surplus of US$2.45 billion a year earlier, as the value of imports rose 72 per cent while exports rose 12 per cent.

GTIS supplies and analyses international merchandise data.

The figures show trade in categories 1-24 of the harmonised system (HS) used internationally to classify products, covering animal products, vegetable products and foodstuffs, and including products for animal feeds as well as food for people.

In that period, imports from the United States, China's biggest farm supplier, almost doubled.

They rose 95 per cent from Brazil and 132 per cent from Argentina, the next biggest suppliers. But exports to Japan, China's biggest food customer, fell 12 per cent, while rising 13 per cent to the United States.

World Trade Organization (WTO) data, measuring trade in food on a slightly different basis, show that China was a net food exporter every year from 2000 to 2007, except for 2004 when it ran a small deficit of US$0.2 billion.

Its surplus in food peaked at US$6.4 billion in 2002, and was only US$0.9 billion in 2007, as food prices started to climb.

The sheer size of China's food trade meant that in 2006, when it still ran a surplus of US$5 billion, it was both the world's fourth biggest exporter, behind the European Union, United States and Brazil, and fourth biggest importer, behind the European Union, United States and Japan, WTO data show.

Since then, it has suffered a classic deterioration in its terms of trade, with the price of its food imports rising much faster than the price of its food exports.

In terms of value, China's main agricultural imports are grains and cereals, soyabeans, and edible oils, while its major exports include fish and fish products, vegetables, grains including rice, and fruit and fruit juice.

The value of imports of soyabeans in the first seven months of this year rose 118.6 per cent to US$12.3 billion, but in volume terms, the rise was only 22.8 per cent, to 20.7 million tonnes, according to Chinese Customs Statistics.

The value of fish exports rose only 9.5 per cent to US$2.88 billion, but they fell 4 per cent in volume terms to one million tonnes, the data show.

The rising food bill will have put pressure on Beijing to adopt a more protectionist stance in farm trade, even though it has benefited from the free-trade system umpired by the WTO, which China joined in 2001.

China is now the world's second biggest overall exporter, after Germany.

In last month's WTO talks, India and other developing countries insisted on a safeguard that would allow poor nations to raise tariffs temporarily above current levels to withstand a flood of imports threatening subsistence farmers' livelihoods.

The proposal was of particular interest to China, which cut its tariffs sharply as the price of admission to the WTO.

'On those important issues which affect millions of poor farmers, that is an area we can't really make further concessions,' China's WTO ambassador Sun Zhenyu told WTO members after the collapse of the talks.

[winston]

China's tax revenue growth slows in July
By Wang Xu (China Daily)

China's tax revenue growth slowed last month, but still offers the government substantial opportunities for tax cuts and other stimulus measures, experts have said.

Tax revenue in July grew 13.8 percent year-on-year to 532.33 billion yuan ($77.85 billion). The growth rate is 19.3 percentage points lower than last July and 19.7 percentage points lower than the first half, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

The government's fiscal revenue grew 33.3 percent year-on-year to 3.48 trillion yuan in the first half, much faster than the government's projected increase of 14 percent for the whole year. But some analysts are worried that the economic slowdown may weaken the government's fiscal muscle.

"Even if tax revenue growth remains at its current level, it won't be difficult for the government to achieve its aim," Zhuang said. "And the policymakers still have room for stimulus measures."

Top policymakers have said they will strive to maintain stable economic growth in the face of weakening overseas demand. Vice-Premier Li Keqiang said the government will boost domestic demand to buffer the nation from impact of a global economic slowdown.

In the first half, China's economic growth slowed to 10.5 percent, compared with 11.9 percent for the whole of last year. In the meantime, the profits of large-scale industrial enterprises expanded 20 percent year-on-year. Although growth still appears robust, it is only about half of the rate compared with the same period last year.

Meanwhile, rising costs are eating into the profits of smaller firms. According to officials from the National Development and Reform Commission, more than 67,000 small and medium-sized enterprises with a sales revenue of over 5 million yuan went into bankruptcy in the first half of the year.

The weaker economy has already had an impact on corporate profits and personal incomes, as indicated by the tax growth figures.

In the first half, corporate income tax revenue declined 4.2 percent year-on-year to 149.64 billon yuan, while individual income tax revenue rose only 8.2 percent to 28.09 billion yuan, compared with 30.5 percent in the same period a year ago.

[millionairemind]

China’s stockmarket
In the bird’s-nest soup
Aug 21st 2008 | HONG KONG
From The Economist print edition

Chinese shares enjoy a brief moment of respite

INVESTORS had long ago seen their hopes dashed of a pre-Olympic boom in China’s stockmarket. Indeed, among the shares hardest hit this summer were those that unscrupulous brokers had touted as sure-fire winners from the games: restaurants selling Peking duck, hotels, and the like. But after a sudden 8% gain on August 20th, an even more tantalising idea emerged: could they benefit from a post-Olympic bounce?

A number of foreign fund managers have begun poking around the market, impressed by the valuations. Even after this week’s rally, stocks were trading at 14 times 2008 earnings—not a steal, but still far cheaper than the 40 times earnings at which they traded at their 2007 peak.

The catalyst for this week’s rally was a pervasive rumour that often crops up when sentiment becomes too jaded: government intervention, either to prop up the market or the economy. One of the cheerleaders, Frank Gong, JPMorgan’s chief economist in Asia, said China’s top officials were “carefully considering” an economic-stimulus package of 200-400 billion yuan ($29 billion-58 billion), or about 1-1.5% of GDP. There was also talk of repatriating some Chinese money that had been tied up in American dollar assets, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the troubled mortgage agencies; of reinstating rebates for exporters; and of rolling back appreciation of the yuan. Among the stocks that rose strongly were Baosteel, China Railway, and some beleaguered property stocks. All are potential beneficiaries of strong growth.

But for all the excitement, there were plenty who wanted to throw cold water on the party—indeed, the market fell back on August 21st. Those included people bullish on China’s economic outlook, who reason that with reported GDP still growing above 10% and inflation high, the government has no intention of intervening in the economy. Indeed, they argue, such stimulus could be inflationary.

Meanwhile, those more pessimistic on China’s prospects said such measures would do no good anyway. Trade is the main vulnerability. They note that container traffic to Europe has stalled after double-digit growth earlier this year, and that it has been contracting to America since 2007. The outlook for trade with Japan is none too bright, either.

Meanwhile, estimates for the growth of company earnings, though still high, are coming down, too. In January profits were expected to rise by 22% this year; now growth looks more like 14% and dropping, says Markus Rosgen, Asia strategist for Citibank. The only silver lining to all this, he adds wryly, is that a bottom, even if not in sight yet, is a lot closer than it was.

[millionairemind]

Beijing swells dollar reserves through stealth
Last Updated: 12:31am BST 26/08/2008

Rule changes for commercial banks are acting as cover for exchange rate intervention, writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

China has resorted to stealth intervention in the currency markets to amass US dollars, using indirect means to hold down the yuan and ease the pain for its struggling exporters as the global slowdown engulfs the economy.

A study by HSBC's currency team in Asia has concluded that China's central bank is in effect forcing commercial banks to build up large dollar reserves, using them as arms-length proxies in a renewed campaign of exchange rate intervention.

Beijing has raised the reserve requirement for banks five times since March, quickening the pace with two half-point rises in late June.

This is having major spill-over effects into the currency markets because banks in China have been required over the last year to hold extra reserves in dollars rather than yuan. The latest moves have lifted the mandatory deposit from 15pc to 17.5pc of total lending since March.

"China has used the pretext of reserve requirement hikes to help slow yuan appreciation. We estimate that the PBOC [central bank] intervened by about $49.6bn in June," said Daniel Hui, the bank's Asia strategist.

Beijing has also slashed the amount of foreign debt banks operating in China can hold. The effect is to oblige the banks to become net buyers of dollars, halting the flow of foreign "hot money".

Given the sheer scale of China's foreign reserves - now $1,800bn (£970bn) - any shift in its exchange policy now ripples around the globe. The covert buying may help to explain at least part of the explosive dollar rebound over recent weeks.

There is little doubt that the key driver behind the wild currency ructions this summer has been the blizzard of dire data from Britain, Europe, Japan and Australasia. The mounting danger of a full-fledged recession across the club of rich OECD nations appears to have caught the markets off guard.

The closely watched Dollar Index reached an all-time low in March. It crept up gradually in the early summer before smashing through resistance in July.

The world's currency system is swivelling on its axis. Central banks in Asia and Europe have stopped raising rates, and some have begun to cut aggressively. The Federal Reserve is no longer nakedly exposed. Indeed, investors are already starting to look ahead to the next round of Fed tightening.

The 18pc slide in oil prices from a peak of $147 a barrel in July has added juice to the dollar rally. Russia and the Middle East petro-powers tend to recycle a high proportion of their vast earnings from oil into the eurozone, either by purchasing European bonds or expensive imports.

A Bundesbank study found 40 cents of every dollar spent by eurozone countries on oil imports comes back again one way or another. The figure for the US is just 10 cents. This trade bias has given oil a new character as a sort of anti-dollar driving the currency markets.

Even so, the China effect is a key ingredient in the dollar comeback. Beijing's Politburo is clearly disturbed by the sudden downward turn in the economy as export markets freeze, and surging wage inflation in the country's manufacturing hubs eats away at profit margins.

"They are now more worried about growth than overheating, and you are seeing that play out in the currency markets. There has been a remarkable change of view," said Simon Derrick, exchange rate chief at the Bank of New York Mellon.

China's PMI purchasing managers index fell below 50 for the first time in July, signalling an outright contraction in manufacturing output. Hong Kong's economy contracted 1.4pc in the second quarter. The Politburo has rushed through special rebates for textile producers now caught in a ferocious downturn.

Much of the clothing, footwear and furniture industry has been hit, leading to mass plant closures in the Pearl River Delta.

"During the first half of this year, about 67,000 small and medium-sized companies went bankrupt throughout China, leaving more than 20m people out of work," said the National Development and Reform Commission. "Bankruptcies of textile and spinning companies have numbered more than 10,000. Two thirds are on the brink of bankruptcy."

Last week's rebound on the Shanghai stock market stalled on fading hopes of a fiscal stimulus package. "It is unrealistic to expect the government to rescue the market," said Li Ka-shing, chairman of Hutchison. "Speculators should be very cautious now. The worst is not over in the global credit crisis."

Lehman Brothers warns of a risk that a housing slump and the 55pc equity crash since October could combine with a global downturn to set off a "vicious cycle". House prices have already fallen 18pc in Guangzhou and 9pc in Beijing. Prices are now falling in cities that make up over half China's population.

[winston]

Reissue: Three Chinese Cos Understate Profits by Over US$1 BLN

BEIJING, Aug 29 Asia Pulse - Three Chinese state-owned companies under the direct administration of the central government, have been found to have understated their profits by 7 billion yuan (US$1.025 billion), said Liu Jiayi, China's top auditor in a report delivered to the fourth session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China Huadian Corporation and Harbin Power Plant Equipment Co. Ltd. (HEPC) are found to misstate their profits by 7.865 billion yuan, among which 837 million yuan are overstated and 7.028 billion yuan are understated.

Of the 93 decisions of the companies investigated by the National Audit Office (CANO), 20 involved irregularities and mismanagement, leading to losses or potential losses valued at 1.663 billion yuan.

Losses or potential losses incurred by overseas investment amounted to 424 million yuan.

Losses of state-owned assets totaled 572 million yuan, due to irregular or illegal operations, such as misappropriating of money under the name of trust finance and swindling bank loans for stock speculation.

(XIC)