Posts tagged ‘China’s leaders’

  |  
05/11/2014

As China Urbanizes, Fears Grow That Cropland Is Vanishing – Businessweek

As China’s leaders continue to pursue sweeping urbanization plans, concerns are growing about the fate of the country’s cropland. The latest sign: a joint ministerial announcement that officials must protect agricultural plots on city outskirts from runaway development.

Farming in Gangzhong, China

Prime arable land bordering municipalities and towns and located near traffic routes will be formally categorized as “permanent basic farmland” and preserved for cultivation, announced the Ministry of Land and Resources and Ministry of Agriculture in a notice issued on Monday. Fourteen cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, will be first to carry out the policy, which is to be rolled out nationwide by the end of 2016.

“During rapid urbanization, high-yield farmland has been gradually ‘eaten’ by steel and cement,” said Land and Resources Minister Jiang Daming, reported the official Xinhua News Agency on Nov. 3. “It is a pressing problem that the expansion of cities is encroaching on prime farmland,” said the notice.

via As China Urbanizes, Fears Grow That Cropland Is Vanishing – Businessweek.

Related articles

Posted in agriculture, China alert, Economics, urban development | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , ,
24/06/2014

China’s Government Admits Chinese Patents Are Pretty Bad – Businessweek

For years, China’s leaders have exhorted the country’s businesses to become innovative. After all, a glorious country like China that is reasserting its role as a global superpower should be known for more than just its copycat and me-too companies. So while Chinese presidents come and go, the message is the same: Whether it’s Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, or the current boss, Xi Jinping, the country’s leaders have consistently talked about the importance of local innovation. Paraphrasing Xi’s remarks at a speech earlier this month at the Chinese Academy of Science and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Xinhua news agency reported that the government’s goal is to “push forward the fusion of science and [the] economy, so that science and technology strength can be transformed into industrial and economic power.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Chinese Academy of Science and the Chinese Academy of Engineering in Beijing on June 9

By China’s own scorekeeping, though, the country’s innovators still have a way to go before they can meet the Communist Party’s expectations. While the number of patent applications inside China is “booming,” according to a report today by Xinhua, “the quality of patents is still poor.” Writing about a report to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp legislature, Xinhua added, “China owns very few patents featuring originality and high or core technology.” Fewer than 1,000 Chinese patents have won recognition from counterparts in the U.S., Europe, or Japan, added Xinhua.

China is making progress. The gold standard in international patents remains the U.S., and Chinese from the People’s Republic applied for almost 6,600 patents in the U.S. last year, according to data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).  That’s just ahead of France and more than double the number from India. China had the sixth-largest number of patents granted by USPTO. Still, China’s innovators are hardly leaders in the U.S. The Chinese total of 6,597 U.S. patents puts it far behind Japan’s 54,170 applications. Even more embarrassing, Taiwan, the island that Beijing considers a province of China, had 12,118 patent applications granted.

via China’s Government Admits Chinese Patents Are Pretty Bad – Businessweek.

Posted in China alert, Economics, innovation, patents, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
07/04/2014

Why China Needs Such Rapid GDP Growth: More Jobs – Businessweek

As China frets about meeting its target of about 7.5 percent growth in 2014, it’s time for more stimulus. The State Council, China’s cabinet, announced plans this week to further expand railways across the country, renovate dilapidated urban housing, and provide new tax breaks for small businesses. Many analysts are expecting a return to looser credit policies this year as well.

But what China considers unacceptable levels of gross domestic product growth would be the envy of most other countries. So why do China’s leaders demand such rapid rates of economic expansion?

A clue to that is found in Premier Li Keqiang’s recent work report, China’s version of a state of the union speech. Creating enough jobs—mentioned 11 times in the document released on March 5—is what drives Chinese officials’ obsession with fast-rising GDP.

China needs high levels of growth—at least 7 percent, says Li—to ensure enough jobs for 7.2 million college grads and 10 million people flooding cities from the countryside every year. China’s leaders have set a target of producing at least 10 million jobs this year, and a record-high 13.1 million urban jobs were added last year. “Employment is the basis of people’s well-being,” Li said in the work report. “We will steadfastly implement the strategy of giving top priority to employment.”

The trouble is, new stimulus mainly means more investment-driven expansion, which already accounts for about half of the economy. That’s problematic given industrial overcapacity and soaring debt levels held by local governments and companies. And while it indeed boosts the headline GDP number, it doesn’t always create lots of jobs. Heavy industries such as steel, aluminum, and real estate construction, which have rapidly expanded particularly in the years following China’s 2009 stimulus, tend to be capital-intensive rather than labor-intensive.

The country has struggled in recent years to substantially boost the portion of its economy driven by consumption and the job-creating service sector. The plan to cut taxes may provide some support toward that goal. Unfortunately, more train tracks and urban housing may instead set China back.

via Why China Needs Such Rapid GDP Growth: More Jobs – Businessweek.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Posted in China alert, Economics, GDP | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
  |  
CCChang

Law of Unintended Consequences

continuously updated blog about China & India

ChiaHou's Book Reviews

continuously updated blog about China & India

What's wrong with the world; and its economy

continuously updated blog about China & India