America's North Shore Journal » China’s Economy
China Loans Russian Dollars for Oil
That trade surplus with the U.S.? China is using part of it to buy oil from the Russians. After the infrastructure is built, maybe the Chinese will just step in and take it. BBC Russia and China have signed a $25bn (£17.54bn) deal that will see Beijing supplied with oil from Siberian fields in exchange for loans to Russian firms. China Development Bank will lend $15bn to Russian state oil firm Rosneft, and $10bn to pipeline firm Transneft. In return Russia will supply 15 million tons – 300,000 barrels a day – of oil annually for 20 years. China is the world’s second biggest oil importer, and has looked to diversify its imports away from the Middle East. … Read entire article »
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China’s Exports Drop
China’s exports fell more than expected in January, down 17.5% from a year earlier, marking the biggest drop in more than 10 years, figures have shown. Imports were down 43.1% in the month compared with a year ago, as China’s economy continued to be hit by the global economic slowdown. Analysts say the slowdown could prompt more factory closures and job losses. China’s global trade surplus widened to $39.1bn last month, after recording a surplus of $39bn in December. BBC The Ponzi scheme that is the Chinese economy is gravely threatened. Exports cannot fall for any length of time or the cash flow necessary to keep the economy super stimulated dies. Commodity prices must remain low and supply high. And the tens of millions of rural Chinese who work in the “new” economy must … Read entire article »
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China Drought Worst in 50 Years
Parts of China are experiencing their worst drought in half a century, threatening the water supply of millions of people and putting the winter harvest at risk, state media reported. The dry spell has spread rapidly across seven key agricultural provinces, triggering calls from President Hu Jintao and other top leaders to step up support for the affected areas. ”The duration, scope and impact of the drought are rare,” said China Meteorological Administration chief Zheng Guoguang. At least 3.7 million people and 1.9 million head of livestock are affected. About 9.5 million hectares of farmland, representing 43 percent of the country’s winter wheat supplies, are also affected. No rain has been forecast for the next 10 days. The Standard Newspaper … Read entire article »
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More Chinese Job Losses
China says 20 million migrant workers have lost their jobs during the economic downturn – three times greater than had been suggested previously. A survey carried out in 15 provinces suggests around 15% of the total migrant labour pool is now unemployed. Each year between five and seven million new workers from rural areas come to China’s biggest cities looking for work. They join a migrant worker labour pool estimated at around 130 million. There are fears that large numbers of unemployed workers could lead to social unrest. BBC … Read entire article »
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China’s Money Pipeline Going Dry
China has used its trade surplus with the US to fund its military expansion and to pay for the 10% plus growth it claims for its economy. What happens when the money dries up? China’s exports have dropped into their biggest decline in a decade. Exports in December were down 2.8% from the same time last year, a bigger decline than November’s 2.2% drop, the China Daily said. The numbers provided fresh evidence of a serious trade slump that has caused a wave of factory closures and staff layoffs, analysts said. The communist leadership has expressed fears of social unrest as economic problems worsen. BBC … Read entire article »
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China Boosting Taiwan Ties
The mainland said on Wednesday [January 7 2009] that it will continue pushing forward dialogue and consultation with Taiwan in the new year by “firmly holding the main theme of peaceful development of the cross-Straits relations”. Yang Yi, spokesman of the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remark at a press conference here. Yang spoke highly of the recent speech of Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, at a December 31 workshop to mark the 30th anniversary of the mainland’s “Message to Compatriots in Taiwan”. Hu’s speech summed up 30 years’ experience in developing cross-Straits relations in a comprehensive way, and he made a series of new proposals to develop the relationship, according to the official. “This important speech is of great significance for us to accomplish … Read entire article »
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Chinese Oil Company Begins Work in Iraq
The Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC) started work on a $3 billion oil project in Iraq on Friday, the first foreign firm to begin such work since dictator Saddam Hussein nationalised the industry decades ago. A CNPC delegation formally opened the al-Ahdab oi field project in Iraq’s eastern province of Wasit, officials there said. “It’s a significant event which signals the first contribution of a foreign company in developing Iraq’s oil fields for three decades,” Wasit governor Latif al-Tarfa told Reuters by telephone. “The Chinese engineers have located the spot where they will construct a field work site, and all the company’s equipment will reach the southern port of Basra soon.” Reuters More at the link … Read entire article »
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China Preparing for Internal Turmoil
Organised crime is on the rise in China, and courts across the country saw a 160% annual increase in gang-related crime in 2007. “Gang-related crimes have become a threat to our social stability and the economy,” one un-named official from the Public Security Bureau told the China Daily. “Murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping, assault… they dare do anything,” the official said. He said the construction, transport and mining sectors were all areas that attracted gang crime, but warned that other industries were also increasingly being affected. With the economic downturn, Chinese authorities are worried that the problem will get even worse, and the new campaign aims to make sure this does not happen. The official said the authorities would “keep a close eye” on crime resulting from the slowing economy. Migrant workers are the backbone of China’s … Read entire article »
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Chinese Job Losses Mount
The numbers are huge, but in China they are still a small percentage of the overall workforce. That is, if the reports are accurate and not understated. The potential for a civil backlash is growing. Nearly 5 million migrant workers had returned home by the end of November, accounting for 5.4 percent of rural migrant workers, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said. Many of them had lost their jobs as the global financial crisis took its toll across the country. The 4.85 million migrant workers were mainly from 10 provinces including Sichuan, Hebei, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan. Meanwhile, employers in the provinces of Guangdong, Jiangsu, Fujian and Shandong, as well as Shanghai, have sacked 2.45 million people, accounting for 5.2 percent of the workforce in these areas, the ministry said. Shanghai … Read entire article »
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