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| The Pearl River Delta’s
economy is being hampered by a labor shortages. |
Labor Shortage Deteriorates in the Pearl River Delta
A recent labor fair in Fuzhou, capital of China’s coastal
Fujian Province received few applications for the 60,000 jobs
on offer for rual workers, indicating a worsening labor shortage
in that area. In the neighboring Quanzhou City, the labor shortfall
has hit 160,000, causing many factories to suspend their operations,
while the number for the entire Pearl River Delta has surpassed
one million. Behind the growing manpower crisis, experts believe,
are exacerbated labor-capital conflicts and supply/demand imbalances.
The experts note that the situation may undermine China’s
long-held advantage of low labor cost.
Law for Futures Trading to be Created
Deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China Wu Xiaoling
recently announced that the National People’s Congress has
commenced procedures to create a law governing futures trading,
covering both futures commodities and financial derivatives. Ms
Wu said this at the China Center for Insurance and Social Security
Research (CCISSR) forum held in Peking University in mid April.
She hoped that the financial derivatives would be less restricted
in deals outside the stock exchange. Wu also called upon Chinese
businesses to ensure their adaptability to a flexible exchange
rate, a goal that China is working towards. She said simplifying
the interest rate structure on deposit accounts is another of
China’s long-term goals. The benchmark interest rate for
a one-year bank deposit is to serve as a reference for long-term
deposit rates. Benchmark interest rates for deposits of other
terms may be abolished, while the central bank will no longer
be empowered to set all rates according to the term of deposit.
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| Wu Yi, vice premier of China, and Carlos M. Gutierrez, secretary
of the U.S Department of Commerce, signed an agreement for China
to buy US $16 billion worth of American goods. |
China Splashes Out in the U.S.A.
After a shopping spree that spanned 13 American states, the Chinese
Trade and Economic Delegation came home with contracts to buy
some US $16.21 billion worth of American goods, in the largest
ever deal of its kind between the two economic powerhouses. While
machinery, software and agricultural products dominate the order
form, the Chinese delegation also signed contracts to buy 87 Boeing
airplanes at US $4.6 billion, as well as US $500 million worth
of Motorola products.
China to Hold Agricultural New & High Tech Expo in Yangling
The 13th China Agricultural New & High Tech Exposition, Yangling,
will be held in the Yangling Agricultural Hi-tech Demonstration
Zone in Xi’an from November 5 to 9 this year. The expo will
have floor area of 40,000 square meters, divided into sections
displaying new and hi-tech agricultural products, applied agricultural
technology and products, agricultural machinery and fine-bred
livestock. Theme exhibitions will also be arranged, including
those on agricultural cooperation between China and Canada and
China’s dairy products and equipments. Inaugurated in 1994,
the exposition received about 1,000 companies, 30,000 merchants
from more than 20 countries and regions around the world and 500,000
visitors for each of its recent sessions.
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| A forum to stimulate trade and investment in western China.
|
Investment & Trade Cooperation Forum Between East and West
China
The 10th Investment & Trade Cooperation Forum Between East
and West China came to a successful conclusion on April 9, 2006
in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. Encompassing 60 meetings and
investment promotion activities, some 100,000 businesspeople from
home and abroad participated in the forum. They signed 142 foreign
investment contracts worth a total of US $2.432 billion and 1,155
pacts for domestic cooperation with an investment of US $15.5
billion. The next round of the forum will be held in the city
in early April next year.
ADB: Economic Growth to Slow in China
According to the Asian Development Outlook 2006, a forecast by
the Asian Development Bank, East Asia’s economy is expected
to grow by 7.7 percent this year. Meanwhile China’s economy
will grow by 9.5 percent in the same period, slowing to 8.8 percent
in 2007. The economic prospects of the developing countries in
Asia will hinge on the performances of China, India and South
Korea, which account for 66 percent of the region’s total.
ADB chief economist Ifzal Ali predicts that the Chinese economy
will however remain in the fast lane, as the Chinese government
works on problems in the economic structure triggered by speedy
growth.
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| Countries vie for the Chinese
tourist trade. |
More Chinese Abroad
Spurred on by rapidly rising incomes, many Chinese travelers
are these days heading for exotic overseas destinations, and they
are proving to be big spending tourists. According to the organizer
of the China International Travel Fair, Chinese tourists spend
an average US $175 a day, making them the world’s second
most extravagant bunch of travelers. A survey carried out in Australia
shows that per capita spending among Chinese tourists in that
country is four times that of Japanese tourists. To date, China
has granted Approved Destination Status (ADS) to 118 nations,
of which 76 have received Chinese tourists. Many of them, including
Austrilia, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, France, Italy,
Germany and Switzerland, are poised to step up tourism promotion
in China.
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