China Watch Blog

China Watch Blog has learnt that China has bucked international trends in both outbound and inward investment, and now ranks as the fifth largest global investor in outbound direct investment (ODI) with a total volume of $56.5 billion, compared to a ranking of 12th in 2008, the Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday.

On top of this, foreign direct investment (FDI) this year was set to “surpass $100 billion”, compared to $90 billion last year, ministry officials predicted.

Globally, foreign investment decreased by almost 40 percent last year amid the financial downturn and is expected to show only marginal growth this year, according to a China Daily report.

The growth in both outbound investment from, and inbound investment to, China reflects the nation’s rising economic power and attractiveness as an investment destination.

The ministry made the announcements during a press conference held in Xiamen on the upcoming United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World Investment Forum and the 14th China International Fair for Investment and Trade. Both forums will start on Tuesday.

Presenting a Nostalgic view of Hong Kong & China

An exhibition of antiquarian and vintage maps, photographs, books and ephemera of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Peking from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Opening & Cocktail Reception tonight
Thursday 2nd September 6pm to 9pm

at The Gallery, 13th Floor, Nine Queen’s Road Central

The Exhibition continues until Saturday 25th September 2010

China Watch Blog picked up this news that a survey was carried out to judge the international image of Chinese cities, and guess what? Shanghai scored the highest among 30 cities that were assessed.

The survey, co-conducted by Gallup Consulting, a global consultancy, was launched in April via an online questionnaire circulated among foreigners living in the Chinese mainland and abroad. A total of 7,980 foreigners took part in the survey.

Every city needs to be judged by more than 200 foreigners on average to make the sample valid for scientific research, according to Wu Tao, chief consultant of Gallup Consulting China.

Thirty Chinese cities were rated in 12 criteria – attractiveness, culture, environment, citizen qualities, security, traffic, individuality, integrity, government efficiency, investment value, development potential and internationalization level.

Shanghai and Beijing came out with flying colors in terms of the general impression among foreigners. Chengdu ranked third on the list, with its citizen qualities scoring the highest among all 30 cities.

“People often refer to Paris as the home of fashion and Vienna as the home of music,” said Wang Changyuan, deputy general secretary of China Association of Mayors. “Similarly, promoting a city’s image will help make it much better known, hence attracting more talents and investments.”

Shanghai, which is the most well known Chinese city, ranked the top in most of the criteria, including integrity, government efficiency, investment value, development potential and internationalization level.

But when it came to social security, it sunk down to the 9th position, while Xi’an, capital of Northwest China’s Shaanxi province, emerged at the top, according to a China Daily report.

China Watch Blog has learnt that as of July 31 this year, 547 Chinese mainland companies were listed on the Hong Kong bourse.

According to Stephen Lam Sui-lung, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, said the companies had raised a total of HK$2.7 trillion (US$349.8 billion) through their listings until the end of July.

Lam made statements at the ongoing sixth Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) Regional Cooperation and Development Forum in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China’s Fujian Province, which runs from Aug 27 to 31.

The forum, started in 2004, aims to stimulate the economy in the region, which covers the provinces of Hainan, Yunnan, Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian, Sichuan, Guizhou, as well as Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions are also included.

A total of 152 enterprises from the Pan-Pearl River Delta region were listed on the Hong Kong bourse at the end of July this year, up from 71 companies in 2004 when the first forum opened, he said.

Hong Kong’s uselfulness to Mainland China for fund raising cannot be dismissed, judging from the large number of mainland firms listing on the Hong Kong bourse.

China Watch Blog has picked up this news that China has begun efforts to build the largest regional cooperation platform, covering a geographical area that produces around one-third of the country’s GDP.

As key to this effort, on August 27, 2010, the 6th Pan Pearl River Delta (PPRD) Regional Cooperation and Development Forum opened in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China’s Fujian Province and is scheduled to be held to  Aug.  31. The Forum themed “deepening cooperation and seeking common development” has attracted over 10,000 participants, including officials, entrepreneurs and celebrities from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, as well as Taiwan.

The forum, begun in 2004, seeks to stimulate the economy within the pan-Pearl River Delta region, which covers Hainan, Yunnan, Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi, as well as Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

This move would help enhance regional cooperation, encourage labor mobility and accelerate the relocation of industry from China’s well-off coastal region to the comparatively underdeveloped western region, said Xu Shangwu, secretary general of the Organizing Committee of the forum.

This would improve the comprehensive economic strength and global competitiveness of the entire region, he said.

During the previous five PPRD forums, more than 14,000 cooperative projects have been agreed, with their total investments exceeding 1.8 trillion yuan (264.71 billion U.S. dollars), according to government statistics.

The GDP of the nine provincial regions in the Chinese mainland totaled 10.5 trillion yuan last year, up 11.8 percent from one year earlier. The growth rate was higher than the national GDP increase.

In addition to boosting the growth and cooperation in the pan-Pearl River Delta, China is also accelerating regional development in the northeastern region, Yangtze River Delta region, Bohai rim region, as well as the pan-Beibu Gulf Economic Zone.

China Watch Blog says that the Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum, a regular forum between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) Party, opened today (July 10, 2010) in the southern city of Guangzhou.

The forum, the sixth of its kind since it was first held in 2006, will focus on cross-Strait cooperation in green energy, energy conservation and environmental protection, the People’s Daily reported.

Wang Yi, director of the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee, said the forum was held as the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties achieved new progress.

The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), reached between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan in late June, signaled that cross-Strait economic ties had entered a new stage of mutual benefits, he said while addressing the opening ceremony.

More than 400 people from Taiwan and the mainland are expected to attend the forum on Saturday and Sunday in Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong Province.

A cultural and educational symposium will also be held at the weekend to review the implementation of joint proposals put forward by delegations from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan during the previous forum.

Yours truly is in Shanghai to attend the Transport Logistic China, and believe me, the machinery that makes the things go around for the event is really grinding.

Gritting teeth, pulling out hair, biting finger nails and toe nails, among others,  are some of the usual activities of PR companies which are trying to get responses for the media from their clients overseas.

Hey, we are just days away from the event that takes place next week on June 8-10, but executives in other parts of the world are taking things for granted, or are simply too laid back about providing support for their counterparts in the field in this part of the world.

What logistics are we talking about here? Really dreadful to see this sort of response from logistic and supply chain management companies. What a shame we cannot name them, or else we would.

Some of them are not really as efficient and productive as they make out to be, be warned.

China Watch Blog came across this interesting news item that police in Shanghai are investigating the first fake Expo 2010 Shanghai ticket discovered on Wednesday (May26), causing Expo organizers to remind the public to purchase tickets only from authorized dealers.

According to the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, the first bogus Expo ticket was found on May 26, while the practice of collecting used tickets and reselling them has been reported since the fair’s opening on May 1.

The police have vowed to combat the counterfeiting. Meanwhile, the public is advised to get their tickets from authorized dealers including designated agencies, selected tourism agencies and on-site box offices at the Expo Garden.

The public can identify the fake passes from feeling the surface and comparing the colors on the bottom edges.

Visitors could also get help from inspection machines at certain selling points if they question the authenticity of their tickets. Also, group tickets are sold only via designated tourism agencies and can only be used at Expo entrances for group visitors.

Organizers also alerted the public that buyers should be careful about peddlers who try to resell used tickets, which always have a press mark of EXPO2010 or have been hole-punched.

China Watch Blog has received news that the China Transport Logistic 2010 event is going to be well attended. Executives are trying to kill two birds with one stone by taking part in the China Transport Logistic 2010 event as well as attending the China World Expo.

China All-Day Economy Watch Blog has reported that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s attempts to encourage struggling exporters to seal supply deals with local retailers as a way of offsetting a slump in overseas shipments do not appear to be working, according to a Business Post report. The difficulties of selling products to local stores, intellectual property theft, unattractive payments terms and the small orders involved make the domestic market unattractive even for companies still riding out the economic slump. Exporters signed deals worth US$34.4b with overseas buyers during the spring session of the Canton Fair, which closed on May 5, 2010, up 12.6% from the trade fair’s previous sessions six months ago. The volume of deals was reportedly 10.3% behind the pre-financial crisis level in early 2008, the Ministry of Commerce said. But it did not disclose figures on how much business the manufacturers had secured from domestic buyers. That was despite an announcement that 8,000 large and medium-sized supermarket chains will be purchasing from manufacturers at the twice-a-year event. It had said 70% of the exhibitors were interested in the trade-matching.