11/17/2009 Source: People’s Daily

Chinese mainland and Taiwan signed a memorandum on banking supervision and management on Monday.

According to the memorandum, banking regulatory institutions of both sides will cooperate to swap and share information, establish institutions, and deal with emergency, to ensure stable development of the banking sectors both in the mainland and Taiwan.

Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), was the representative of the mainland to sign the memorandum.

The CBRC signed memorandum or cooperative contracts with banking regulatory institutions in 36 countries and regions worldwide up until now.

11/17/2009 Source: Xinhua

China and the United States singed a joint statement in Beijing Tuesday after talks between Chinese President Hu Jintao and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, agreeing that “the transition to a green and low-carbon economy is essential.”

Both China and the United States believed the clean energy industry will provide vast opportunities for citizens of both countries in the years ahead, said the statement signed during Obama’ s first visit to China since taking office in January.

According to the statement, the two sides welcomed significant steps forward to advance policy dialogue and practical cooperation on climate change, energy and the environment, building on the China-U.S. Memorandum of Understanding to Enhance Cooperation on Climate Change, Energy and Environment announced at the first round of China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogues in July and formally signed during Obama’ s visit.

The statement said both sides recognized the importance of the Ten Year Framework on Energy and Environment Cooperation (TYF) and are committed to strengthening cooperation in promoting clean air, water, transportation, electricity, and resources conservation.

Through a new China-U.S. Energy Efficiency Action Plan under the TYF, both countries “will work together to achieve cost-effective energy efficiency improvement in industry, buildings and consumer products through technical cooperation, demonstration and policy exchanges,” said the statement.

Noting both countries’ significant investment in energy efficiency, the two Presidents underscored the enormous opportunities to create jobs and enhance economic growth brought by energy savings.

The two countries welcomed the signing of the Protocol Between the Ministry of Science and Technology, National Energy Administration of the People’s Republic of China and the Department of Energy of the United States of America on a Clean Energy Research Center, according to the document.

The Center will facilitate joint research and development on clean energy by scientists and engineers from both countries. It will have one headquarters in each country, with public and private funding of at least 150 million U.S. dollars over five years split evenly between the two countries. Priority topics to be addressed will include energy efficiency in buildings, clean coal (including carbon capture and sequestration), and clean vehicles.

The two sides welcomed the launch of China-U.S. Electric Vehicles Initiative designed to put millions of electric vehicles on the roads of both countries in the years ahead, the statement said.

Building on significant investments in electric vehicles in both the United States and China, the two governments announced a program of joint demonstration projects in more than a dozen cities, along with work to develop common technical standards to facilitate rapid scale-up of the industry, the statement said, adding that the two sides agreed that their countries share a strong common interest in the rapid deployment of clean vehicles.

About 21st century coal technologies, the two countries agreed to promote cooperation on large-scale carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) demonstrations projects and begin work immediately on the development, deployment, diffusion and transfer of CCS technology. The two sides welcomed recent agreements between Chinese and U.S. companies, universities and research institutions to cooperate on CCS and more efficient coal technologies.

With regard to joint efforts on tackling the climate change, the two sides welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the National Development and Reform Commission of China and Environmental Protection Agency of the United States to Build Capacity to Address Climate Change.

The statement said the two sides welcomed the launch of a China-U.S. Renewable Energy Partnership, through which the two countries will chart a pathway to wide-scale deployment of wind, solar, advanced bio-fuels and a modern electric power grid in both countries and cooperate in designing and implementing the policy and technical tools necessary to make that vision possible.

Shared confidence on the bilateral cooperation in this field was expressed by the statement, which said that given the combined market size of the two countries, accelerated deployment of renewable energy in China and the United States can significantly reduce the cost of these technologies globally.

On the promotion of the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the two sides agreed to consult with one another in order to explore such approaches–including assurance of fuel supply and cradle-to-grave nuclear fuel management so that countries can access peaceful nuclear power while minimizing the risks of proliferation.

11/13/2009 Source: Xinhua

China would not let the yuan gain against the U.S. dollar in the short term, experts said Thursday when commenting on the latest quarterly report of China’s central bank.

People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, said Wednesday in its quarterly report of monetary policy, for the first time, that the bank would improve the mechanism of the exchange rate determination “based on international capital flows and movements in major currencies”.

“The new wording showed that China would reduce speculation and strengthen risk control in the future, but it did not necessarily suggest a change in the yuan’s exchange rate policy,” said Tan Yaling, an expert with the China Institute for Financial Derivatives at Peking University.

“The future mechanism would reflect China’s own concerns and status,” she said.

China’s foreign exchange reserves surged to a record 2.27 trillion U.S. dollars as of the third quarter of 2009, up 19.26 percent year on year, PBOC reported in September.
According to Yin Jianfeng, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), a government think tank, it is natural for the central bank to pay more attention to increasing international capital inflows.

“Excessive liquidities are pouring into China as the country is witnessing rapid recovery while the economic condition is still weak in the western world,” he said.
Zuo Xiaolei, chief economist with Galaxy Securities, said the central bank’s report indicated the government had raised concerns that such inflows would put China under huge external pressure for yuan appreciation.

Zuo predicted that as the U.S. dollar depreciates further, excessive liquidity will be a global issue in future, which would in turn pull up China’s foreign reserve to a new level.

China has been facing calls to let its own currency gain against the dollar since it recovered quickly from the financial crisis, especially after it reported the positive economic data of last month, however, experts had expressed different opinions.

“Sudden upward movement in the yuan would slow China’s economic growth when the country’s exports just showed signs of recovery, “Tan said, “All in all, the exchange rate policy should not be subjected to other countries but serve our own economy.”

Also, the pace of yuan’s appreciation should be determined not only by the foreign trade surplus, according to Zuo Xiaolei.

The balance of China’s internal development should also be taken into consideration, including the massive stimulus package and the accumulated liabilities of local governments, she said.

China’s exports slid 13.8 percent year on year to 110.76 billion U.S. dollars in October, said the National Bureau of Statistics Wednesday. The decline rate was 1.4 percentage points lower than that of September.

11/13/2009 source: www.lawinfochina. com

The United States requested the World Trade Organization (WTO) to establish a dispute settlement panel to rule on China’s export restraints on raw materials. But Chinese officials insist that they are consistent with WTO rules.

The materials at issue are: bauxite, coke, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon metal, silicon carbide, yellow phosphorus, and zinc, key inputs for numerous downstream products in the steel, aluminum, and chemical sectors across the globe.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement that the raw materials are “critical to US manufacturers and workers.”

The USTR also said that the European Union and Mexico are joining the United States in requesting the establishment of a WTO dispute settlement panel regarding this matter.

The US and the European Union requested formal consultations with China at the WTO on June 23, 2009, and Mexico filed its consultations request on August 21, 2009.

“We believe the restraints at issue in this dispute significantly distort the international market and provide preferential conditions for Chinese industries that use these raw materials,” said Debbie Mesloh, a USTR spokeswoman.

“Working together with the European Union and Mexico, we tried to resolve this issue through consultations, but did not succeed. At this point, therefore, we need to move forward with the next step in the WTO dispute settlement process,” Mesloh stated. “We remain open to working with China to find a mutually agreeable solution to our concerns.”

But the Chinese Ministry of Commerce defended China’s export policies, saying they are consistent with WTO rules.

The chief aim of China’s export policies is to protect the environment and conserve natural resources, said an official with the Ministry of Commerce in June.

China has been keeping communication and contact with the US and the EU over China’s policy on raw material exports, the official said, adding that China will properly deal with the consultation request in accordance with WTO dispute settlement procedures.

According to the procedures, China, the US, the EU and Mexico have 60 days to try to resolve their dispute through consultations. If consultations fail, the US, the EU and Mexico could ask for a WTO panel to investigate and rule on this dispute.

11/10/2009 Source: www.chinaview.cn

The series of high-profile organized crime trials in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality have proved just the tip of the iceberg in a nationwide battle against crime gangs.

On Monday, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, published 10 e-mail addresses for the public to report gang-related crimes on the website of its public security department.

Guizhou police dealt with at least seven gang crime cases within 20 days in an intensive crackdown last month.

Police in Hunan Province, in central China, was also reported to have broken up three major criminal gangs in its Xiangxi prefecture this year.

Across Hunan, 73 officials were found to have shielded or been directly engaged in gang-related crimes.

Other provinces such as Gansu and Anhui were also intensifying the fight against organized crime gangs.

China’s police launched a long-term campaign against criminal gangs in 2006. As of September, more than 1,200 cases of gang crimes have been dealt with across the country, with more than 13,000 criminal gangs broken up and at least 89,000 people arrested.

The revelations of police officials in collusion with criminals in Chongqing Municipality that started in June have heightened coverage of the campaign.

Chongqing Mayor Wang Hongju revealed on Sunday that at least 200 local judicatory officials had been found to be involved in organized crimes.

Wen Qiang, former deputy director of Chongqing’s public security department, was found to have shielded criminal gangs and committed other crimes while holding his post.

Wen will be prosecuted later this month in connection with the offences of rape, money laundering, disguising or concealing the proceeds of crime, illegally holding firearms, offering loans at high interest, forging official and corporate seals, introducing women to prostitution and taking bribes.

Wen’s sister-in-law, organized crime boss Xie Caiping, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after a first-instance trial last week.

Xie, labeled the “godmother of the underworld” in Chongqing, was convicted of organizing and leading a criminal organization, running gambling dens, illegal imprisonment, harboring people taking illegal narcotics and giving bribes to officials.

Another 21 people in Xie’s case, including officials who offered protection to gang members, were given jail terms ranging from one to 13 years in sentences handed down at the Chongqing No.5 Intermediate People’s Court.

Chongqing’s procuratorate has issued arrest warrants for more than 800 suspects in the municipality’s crackdown on gang-related crimes, and more than 320 people have been prosecuted so far.

At least 52 local officials have been investigated or punished for shielding criminal gangs in Chongqing.

Zhou Yongkang, member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Political Bureau, pledged in late October that the campaign would continue until criminal gangs were eradicated.

Zhou urged a relentless investigation of any official providing a “protective umbrella” for organized crime.

11/10/2009 Source: People’s Daily

Liu Xiaodong, deputy general manager of Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), said at the 8th China Financial Markets Conference that the formulation of rules for foreign companies’ domestic listing was still in progress, and that the international board would be realized after pilot programs.

Liu said that listing mechanism for foreign companies would take some time to complete. Some renowned international companies are probable candidates. According to his introduction, the SSE had already conducted a survey, many foreign companies wanted to be listed in the domestic market, but the international board will certainly start with pilot programs, which currently has no time table or list of the companies to be included.

The launch date of the international board depends on the market environment. Many companies that were once profitable are not running well nowadays. Due to fluctuations in the international market, profits of foreign enterprises were also not stable. So foreign companies’ listing in China would rely on market circumstances, said Liu.

He also denied the rumor that hundreds of foreign companies are in line with the listing requirements of the international board.

10/16/2009 Source: Xinhua

The U.S. government said on Thursday that China did not manipulate its currency against the U.S. dollar during the first half of 2009.

In its Semi-Annual Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies, the Department of Treasury said that “no major trading partner of the United States” met the standards identified by a U.S. act of manipulating their rates of exchange against the U.S. dollar to gain unfair competitive advantage in international trade.

Based on a 1988 law, the Treasury is required to submit to Congress twice a year the report to identify whether its major trade partners manipulate their currencies to boost their exports to the United States or make U.S. products more expensive in overseas markets.

If China had been designated as a currency manipulator, it would trigger negotiations between the two countries and could lead to economic sanctions if the U.S. side took a case before the World Trade Organization.

The Treasury said that “China’s overall policies played an important role in anchoring the global economy in 2009 and promoting a reduction in its current account surplus.”

But it also alleged that the Chinese currency renminbi’s exchange rate showed a “lack of flexibility” in recent period.

The Treasury also claimed that it “remains of the view that the renminbi is undervalued.”

It said that the U.S. government will continue to work with China both in the Group of 20 (G20) and the bilateral Strategic and Economic Dialogue to pursue policies that permit greater flexibility of the exchange rate and lead to more sustainable and balanced trade and growth.