Posts tagged ‘United Kingdom’

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09/06/2015

China Headlines: How is the Chinese Dream changing the world? – Xinhua | English.news.cn

On the way toward the renaissance of its ancient glory, China is inspiring its people and the world with a new concept: the Chinese Dream.

Put forward by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, in November 2012, the Chinese Dream of Great Renewal has not only struck a chord with the Chinese people, but been, believe it or not, changing the world.

PROFOUND CHANGES IN CHINA, WORLD

The ancient Chinese civilization had a broad influence on the world. Now China is “coming back” as it is reemerging as a great power.

For this reason, many people began to read “Xi Jinping: The Governance of China”, a book that outlines the full political ideas of the top Chinese leadership.

Xi’s book has sold 4.5 million copies worldwide, with an overseas circulation of some 400,000, a record for any Chinese leader’s publication in nearly four decades.

It is becoming increasingly easy to pin down a definition of the Chinese Dream. On cabs and billboards, the Chinese Dream is described as “a prosperous country, a revitalized nation and a happy people”.

The Dream is also elaborated on as “two centenary goals” — to double the 2010GDPand per capita income of urban and rural residents and complete the building of a moderately prosperous society by 2020; and to build a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious by the middle of this century.

If the development plan comes true, it will be one of the most earth-shaking developments since the First Opium War (1840-1842), not only for China but also for global history.

In a report published last year, London-based advertising company WPP said the Chinese Dream “enjoys a much higher level of awareness than the American Dream or British Dream.”

DREAMS OF 1.3 BILLION PEOPLE

China’s population outnumbers that of theUnited States, theEuropean UnionandJapancombined, accounting for about one fifth of the world’s total.

It is unprecedented in the history of human civilization for a country of such a scale to rejuvenate.

The Chinese Dream is the dream for every Chinese individual. In the Three Gorges reservoir region in central China’s Hubei Province, 35-year-old farmer Zhou Xingliang’s dream is quite ordinary: he wants his son to grow up healthy and go to a good college, and for he and his wife to be able to take good care of their parents.

Several hundred kilometers away, in Danjiangkou City, chicken farmer Tan Yong has different aspirations. Dreaming of inventing, the 44-year-old man made a two-tonne submarine with a red star painted on the cabin door. The sub can dive 10 meters below the water surface.

For the entrepreneurial Cantonese Zhang Qinwei, his dream of a “gold rush” in Dubai came true. In 12 years, Zhang expanded his business from a four-square meter shop to a wholesale mall of Chinese products.

As president of the Guangdong Chamber of Commerce in the United Arab Emirates, Zhang now dreams of helping more Chinese companies do businesses there.

via China Headlines: How is the Chinese Dream changing the world? – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

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17/05/2015

The wrong direction | The Economist

THE total value of support given by the Chinese government to farmers exceeds that of any other country. In 2012, the most recent year for which comparative data exist, China paid out $165 billion in direct and indirect agricultural subsidies. The next highest totals were those of Japan at $65 billion and America at just over $30 billion, according to research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

On a relative basis, however, China’s support is more in line with global norms. Subsidies as a share of farm income are about 17%, rapidly catching up with the average for the OECD, a group of wealthier countries. The most lavish spenders include Japan, South Korea and Switzerland, where subsidies account for more than half of farm income.

More troubling is the trajectory (see chart). Among major emerging markets tracked by the OECD, China is second only to Indonesia in the rate of its subsidy growth. China’s farm support rose from 1.4% of GDP in 1995-97 to 2.3% in 2010-12. It is moving in the opposite direction from developed countries, which are gradually reducing such support. Average spending on it in the OECD countries fell from 1.6% of GDP in 1995-97 to 0.9% in 2010-12.

There are also concerns about the kind of support provided by China. Even those who advocate less intervention in farming by governments acknowledge that it can play a useful role in mitigating boom-bust cycles. The challenge is to design support that minimises distortions. Schemes that lead to more investment in yield enhancements or that provide flat subsidies, regardless of production levels, are best. Those that encourage farmers to plant crops even if real demand is weak are harmful.

The OECD calculates that nearly 70% of Chinese subsidies are of the most distorting sort. For example, the government guarantees minimum purchase-prices, currently well above global levels, to grain growers. Other Asian countries are worse offenders. In Indonesia, the most problematic forms of subsidies account for nearly all of the government’s agricultural spending. But given China’s size, its interventions and the mismanagement of its food reserves are likely to have more far-reaching consequences for global markets.

via The wrong direction | The Economist.

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13/03/2015

Infrastructure: Aerotropolitan ambitions | The Economist

POLITICIANS in London who have been debating for years over whether to approve the building of a third runway at Heathrow Airport might find a visit to Zhengzhou—an inland provincial capital little known outside China—an eye-opening experience. Some 20,000 workers are labouring around the clock to build a second terminal and runway for the city’s airport. They are due to begin test operations by December, just three years after ground was broken. By 2030, officials expect, the two terminals and, by then, five runways will handle 70m passengers yearly—about the same as Heathrow now—and 5m tonnes of cargo, more than three times as much as Heathrow last year.

But the ambitions of Zhengzhou airport (pictured) are far bigger than these numbers suggest. It aspires to be the centre of an “aerotropolis”, a city nearly seven times the size of Manhattan with the airport not a noisy intrusion on its edge but built into its very heart. Its perimeter will encompass logistics facilities, R&D centres, exhibition halls and factories that will link central China to the rest of the global economy. It will include homes and amenities for 2.6m people by 2025, about half as many as live in Zhengzhou’s main urban area today. Heathrow struggles to expand because of Londoners’ qualms, but China’s urban planners are not bothered by grumbling; big building projects rarely involve much consulting of the public.

via Infrastructure: Aerotropolitan ambitions | The Economist.

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11/03/2015

India’s Millionaires Have Been Leaving the Country in Droves – India Real Time – WSJ

India may have been minting millionaires at an unprecedented rate over the past decade, but it has also seen many of its seven-figured-citizens escape to other countries.

The latest Knight Frank’s annual Wealth Report–which looks at the spending habits of the rich, the superrich and the “I have my own Boeing but forgot where I parked it,” rich—estimates that more than 43,000 Indian millionaires left the country to settle elsewhere in the past 10 years. That is second only to China, which saw a private-plane drain of more than 76,000 people, according to estimates from property company Knight Frank and immigration consultancy Fragomen.

While Indians tended to take their railway cars full of rupees to other English-speaking countries, government restrictions have slowed the flow of Indian millionaire money in recent years, said Liam Bailey, global head of research at Knight Frank

“High net-worth Indians are a big part of the prime market in places like London and that has been slightly undermined in the last two years by the tightening of capital controls (in India) making it much more difficult to export capital,” he said.

China lost the most rich migrants as 76,200 of its millionaires left to settle in places like Hong Kong, Singapore, the U.S. and Australia. After the two billion-person emerging markets, the biggest losers in terms of millionaire migrants were France, Italy, Russia, Switzerland and Indonesia. You wouldn’t think the rich and famous would be so anxious to leave Europe but apparently high taxes on the high earners encouraged many to leave.

In terms of the countries that attracted the most millionaire migrants, the United Kingdom was the leader by a huge margin. Around 114,000 rich folks from elsewhere settled in the quaint island nation during the 10 years through 2014. It was followed by Singapore, which attracted more than 45,000 new, rich citizens, the U.S., which welcomed 42,000 elite expats and Australia, which became home to 22,000 rich newcomers. Finishing up the list of the seven most-popular countries for millionaires to escape to, were Hong Kong, Canada and United Arab Emirates.

Despite the exodus, many of the people Knight Frank has dubbed “ultra-high-net-worth individuals” remained in India.

Last year, Mumbai was home to the most, with 619 UHNWIs, who Knight Frank describes as people worth at least $30 million. Delhi was a distant second with only 157 as wealthy, followed by Bangalore with 75, Chennai with 49, Hyderabad with 39 and Ahmedabad with 20. Kolkata was not mentioned in the report.

via India’s Millionaires Have Been Leaving the Country in Droves – India Real Time – WSJ.

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04/03/2015

Harrods Hopes Prince William Hoopla in China Will Bring a Boost – China Real Time Report – WSJ

For every five pounds spent by a Chinese tourist in the United Kingdom, just over one quid is spent at upscale department store Harrods.

No wonder, then, that company managing director Michael Ward is in Shanghai this week, hoping the hoopla around Britain’s Prince William’s four-day visit to China will bring even more Chinese shoppers through Harrods’ doors.

“It’s a hugely important part of our business,” Mr. Ward told China Real Time Tuesday. He said such tourists would become increasingly important as outbound tourism from China takes off.

Hong Kong brokerage firm CLSA expects the total number of Chinese outbound travelers to hit 200 million annually in 2020—that’s around double last year’s figures.

Mr. Ward declined to share specific figures for Chinese tourists, but he said by nationality, they top the league of store visitors in terms of spending.

By contrast, Americans barely scraped into the top ten—far behind shoppers from countries such as Nigeria and Thailand, he said.

While Chinese tourists may top the list of spenders at high-end Harrods, a report issued last year by British bank Barclays saBCS -2.61%id Chinese tourists ranked tenth in terms of tourist spending in the U.K, spending around £550 million in 2013 (around $850 million),. Barclay’s forecasted that by 2017, Chinese tourists would have moved up to fifth place with annual total spending in the U.K. in excess of £1 billion.

Still, the chilling effects of China’s current economic woes are being felt in faraway Harrods of London. “This year we’ve seen a much slower takeup,” said Mr. Ward.

via Harrods Hopes Prince William Hoopla in China Will Bring a Boost – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

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28/02/2015

China to spend 26 billion yuan to register rights ahead of rural reforms | South China Morning Post

China will spend about 26 billion yuan (HK$33 billion) to help identify and register the contractual rights over the nation’s arable land to pave the way for rural reforms.

Uygur farmers prepare potato beds in Xinjiang province. Photo: Reuters

More than 200 million rural households around the nation will be interviewed to help prepare the accurate record of farming rights.

Calling the task a “massive systematic project”, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Friday that clarifying land tenure and issuing certificates to farmers would form the basis of a series of expected reforms which aimed to help free up the rural land market.

Nearly 200,000 villages around the country – or one third of the total – have begun with the task, by aerial photography or site measurement, said MOA officials in a press conference.

Zhao Kun, a deputy inspector of the ministry’s rural economic system department, said local governments had appropriated a total of 8 billion yuan to carry out the job.

The central government has promised to provide 10 yuan for each mu of arable land – the Chinese unit of land area, which measures 666 square metres – a total of 18 billion yuan according to official data that states the mainland had 1.82 billion mu of farmland up to the end of 2011.

The Land Administration Law states that the ownership of rural land belongs to village collectives, with farmers given contractual rights to the land they farm for 30 years.

The central authorities decided to increase the security of land tenure in 2008. A directive issued that year said that contractual land management rights for farmers should “remain unchanged for a very long time”.

However, unlike urban home owners, rural residents do not yet hold any certification to prove their legal rights to their homes and farmland.

This makes it hard for them to transfer the land, which is forbidden by existing regulations but now being reformed in order to encourage larger scale farming and improve utilization efficiency of rural land.

Zhang Hongyu, head of the rural economic system department, said when farmers were given contractual rights of farmland in the first round of rural reform a few of decades ago, there were only rough estimates made about the size of their land plots owing to limitations over measuring methods at the time.

“Any related document the farmers previously had – either a contract or some other sort of certificate – showed different figures from what we are now finding,” he said.

Zhao said the project was not only a technical issue of measurement.

“It also involves interviews with each of the more than 200 million rural households [around the nation], which are really important for farmers as they need to know how big their plots are and where they’re located,” he said.

via China to spend 26 billion yuan to register rights ahead of rural reforms | South China Morning Post.

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29/01/2015

China eyes mass innovation, entrepreneurship as new engine – Xinhua | English.news.cn

China’s State Council pledged to take various steps to create an amicable environment for innovation and entrepreneurship in order to power growth and generate jobs.

China should embrace the trend of mass entrepreneurship and innovation in the Internet age, a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council presided over by Premier Li Keqiang said.

The statement said China will foster a platform offering low-cost services in a variety of areas to micro businesses and individual start-ups that show innovation.

The government will also step up policy support, such as simplifying registration procedures and giving subsidies, to innovative businesses. They will improve financing systems to give special support to start-up companies, according to the statement.

Although China’s broader economy is slowing, China’s young entrepreneurs are driving a wave of startups that has become a bright spot for the economic landscape and an important engine for future growth.

The number of newly founded companies in China surged almost 46 percent year on year to 3.65 million in 2014, the latest data showed.

via China eyes mass innovation, entrepreneurship as new engine – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

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21/01/2015

China’s “new normal” of investment brings new opportunity for win-win – Xinhua | English.news.cn

For the first time in its history, China has become a net capital exporter with outbound direct investment outnumbering foreign direct investment in 2014, presenting new opportunities for win-win cooperation with the rest of the world.

China's "new normal" of investment brings new opportunity for win-win

At the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) scheduled for Jan. 21-24 in Davos, Switzerland, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will expound on the Chinese economy‘s “new normal.”

Chinese investors channeled capital into 6,128 overseas firms in 156 countries and regions in 2014, with outbound investment reaching 102.89 billion U.S. dollars, up 14.1 percent from a year earlier, according to a press conference by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Wednesday.

Growth was much faster than the 1.7 percent gain recorded in foreign direct investment, which was 119.6 billion dollars. This is the first time the two-way nominal capital flows have been near a balance.

“If the Chinese firms’ investment through third parties were included, the total ODI volume would reach about 140 billion dollars, which means China is already a net outbound investor,” said Shen Danyang, spokesman with MOC.

Chinese investors are investing in real estate, businesses and other assets overseas while growth at home is slowing. The country registered the slowest expansion pace in 2014 in 24 years, according to the GDP data released Tuesday.

The slowdown comes at a vulnerable time for the world economy — the eurozone is still at risk of another recession, the Abenomics has failed to drag Japan out of the mire, and investors are pulling out of emerging market funds.

Policymakers and investors were not prepared for a reality that after more than three decades on steroids, the world’s second-largest economy has been transitioned to a “new normal” of slower growth.

The market, crazy about speed and figures, seems to have missed the reality that the Chinese economy is healthier under the “new normal” featuring positive trends of stable growth, an optimized structure, enhanced quality and improved social welfare.

China’s sound economic fundamentals have not changed and the government will maintain macro-policies appropriate, Premier Li said during a meeting with Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the WEF on Tuesday.

The improvement of the quality and efficiency of the Chinese economy and its upgrading will make important contributions to maintaining the stability and healthy development of the world economy and finance, Li said.

The Chinese economy, shifting focus to consumption and investment from polluting heavy industry and manufacturing via complex reforms, will continue to function as a vital ballast for the world economy.

Besides, Beijing aims to create an open capital market by pushing ahead with a broad range of financial reforms to allow more foreign investment and encourage Chinese players to invest abroad. The more transparent and efficient allocation of the Chinese capital will have a positive effect on the global market.

In the process, China has proposed or promoted a host of initiatives and plans, such as the initiatives on the Silk Road Economic Zone, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the BRICS Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

It is fair to say that China’s capital export is creating life blood for the global economy to avoid the risk of declining.

In light of financial difficulty faced by Asia in realizing inter-connectivity and mutual access, China has pledged to contribute 40 billion U.S. dollars to setting up a Silk Road Fund to provide financial support for infrastructure construction, resources exploration and industrial cooperation for countries along the “One Belt and One Road.”

It is estimated that in the next decade, China’s outbound investment will total 1,250 billion dollars, giving more impetus to the worlds’ economic growth.

via Spotlight: China’s “new normal” of investment brings new opportunity for win-win – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

Posted in capital outflow, China alert, Economics, FDI, outbound investment | Leave a Comment »

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31/12/2014

Chinese diplomacy 2014

China made or re-established relationships or alliances in 2014 with 167 nations (a few multiple relationships); in:

  • January: Cambodia; Ghana; Bulgaria; Peru; Mongolia; Gulf States; Belarus; France; Taiwan; India; France; Germany; Viet Nam = 13
  • February: Fiji; Greece; Afghanistan; South Korea; Sri Lanka; Hungary; USA; Pakistan; Senegal; Afghanistan; Iraq; Vietnam = 13
  • March: Saudi Arabia; UK; Poland; Cambodia; South Korea; Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium and EU; Kazakhstan; USA = 12
  • April: Israel; Namibia; Timor L’este; Myanmar; Laos: Australia; Brazil; Germany; Hungary; Syrian opposition leader; Malaysia; Cuba; Britain; Ghana; South Africa; Denmark; Brunei = 17
  • May: Ethiopia, Nigeria, Angola, and Kenya; Taiwan; Iran; Turkmenistan; Bulgaria; Portugal; France; Myanmar; Kyrgyzstan; Russia; Kazakhstan; Switzerland; Azerbaijan; Turkey; Pakistan = 18
  • June: Congo; Ukraine; Angola; India; Egypt; Denmark, Finland, Ireland ; Portugal; Russia; Afghanistan; Somalia= 12
  • July: Sudan; France; Azerbaijan; Switzerland; South Korea; Germany; USA; Brazil; Argentina; Venezuela; Cuba; Bulgaria; Portugal; Indonesia; Myanmar; Laos; Canada = 17
  • August: Egypt; Mauritania; at AEAN Summit (Vietnam; Korea; Myanmar; Malaysia; Thai, India); Hungary; Burundi; Uzbekistan; Mongolia ; Vietnam; Zimbabwe; Egypt; Czech; Turkmenistan; Turkey; Antigua & Barbuda; Croatia; Madagascar; Djibouti; Singapore; Croatia = 18
  • September: Russia; Romania; Poland; Malaysia; Cuba; Tajikistan; France;  Mongolia; Pakistan; Maldives; Sri Lanka; Zimbabwe; France; India; Indonesia = 15
  • October: Italy, Jordan, Kenya; France; Zambia; Afghanistan = 6
  • November: Indonesia; Pakistan; Iraq; Cambodia, Bahrain; Jordan; Australia; Finland; New Zealand; Nepal; Fiji; Slovenia; Columbia = 14
  • December: Uzbekistan; Australia; Pakistan; Maldives; South Africa; Ireland; Tonga; Cuba; Kazakhstan; Serbia; Republic of Korea; Cambodia = 12

Posted in China alert, Diplomacy, Economics, GeoPolitics, Politics | 1 Comment »

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28/11/2014

Women still outnumbered in top jobs – China – Chinadaily.com.cn

Despite China having one of the highest rates of female employment in the world, only a small percentage of women work in senior positions, said a research report released in Shanghai on Thursday.

Women hold less than 10 percent of executive level jobs in China and have only a 1 in 15 chance of reaching the chief executive suite, the report based on a study by Bain & Co said.

Only about 6 percent of CEOs and 8 percent of board directors are women, and only 27 percent of senior managers are female, according to the report.

The study in May surveyed 850 women who hold a variety of positions in more than 25 industries and 50 cities across China.

Disruption from family commitments is the top obstacle to women advancing in China.

“I wish to excel in my career and take good care of my family at the same time. Sometimes I feel that I might have been expecting too much,” said Meng Xiaoqing, a 25-year-old clerk who has been working for three years for a furniture maker in Shanghai.

Meng said she once aspired to become head of her department, but she dropped the plan because she “might not be able to handle more responsibilities and a household at the same time”.

China has introduced a series of gender parity policies and has promoted equal opportunities for women, but accepted norms and behaviors are somehow disconnected from these policies, said Jennifer Zeng, co-author of the study.

About 73 percent of working-age women in China are employed, compared with 67 percent in the UK, 66 percent in Australia and 62 percent in the United States.

Women tend to be as qualified as men when they enter the workforce, comprising 47 percent of university graduates in China, and they initially progress in equal numbers, holding 46 percent of professional positions, the report said.

“My observation is that enterprises have been investing heavily in improving gender parity, and female employees are better informed than ever about how to protect themselves when gender discrimination occurs,” said Liu Wei, a lawyer at Shanghai Shenda Law Firm.

The real challenge is for companies themselves to counter the prevailing stereotypes, differences in women’s and men’s leadership styles, as well as gender and organizational biases, Zeng said.

Neither men nor women seem to like female bosses, who are perceived as being detail-oriented to the point of micromanaging. As women move up in seniority, they are also more likely to be labeled “aggressive” and “less feminine”, and such stereotypes and labels can undercut women’s confidence levels and make it more difficult for them to work effectively with others.

via Women still outnumbered in top jobs – China – Chinadaily.com.cn.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Gender issues, Social & cultural | Leave a Comment »

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