China Watch Blog

China Watch Blog has learnt that there may be more than one way to skin a cat, and for engineers in Fujian province there is more than one way to build a bridge across the Taiwan Straits.

While experts from both sides have provided three viable ways to create a land link between the island and the mainland, engineer Lin Yuanpei with the Chinese Academy of Engineering on Tuesday revealed an updated design for a northern route.

The bridge would stretch about 100 km, connecting Pingtan Island in Fujian and Hsinchu in northwestern Taiwan.

The new design features an enclosed bridge deck to allow the bridge to remain open in all weather conditions, including the heavy fog and strong gales that are common in the Straits.

“It’s like a tunnel hanging in the air,” said Lin, who also designed the 32.5-km Donghai Bridge in Shanghai, which was the longest cross-sea bridge in the world until the 36-km Hangzhou Bay Bridge opened in 2008.

“The cost will increase for adding the walls and roofs, but the traffic capacity will skyrocket,” said Lin, who did not provide any specifics about the cost.

He suggested a suspension bridge style be adopted where the water is deeper than 40 meters but the suspension sections would not be longer than 3.5 km.

Li Dejin, director of the Fujian Provincial Department of Transport, said engineering experts have been discussing the bridge project for 14 years.

“I hope all the scientists and industry associations can work together and promote the implementation of the project,” Li said at the 12th annual meeting of the China Association for Science and Technology held in Fuzhou.

Engineers on the mainland are expected to complete a plan for building a bridge across the Straits in the coming five years, Li said on Tuesday.

There has been no response yet from Beijing on the latest proposal and the bridge project has not received official approval.

In 2005, the Ministry of Transport unveiled an expressway plan to link Beijing with Taipei before 2030.

China Watch Blog has learnt that China’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) has urged Chinese exporters to boost product upgrade as the United States shifts its focus from labor-intensive goods to investigate imports of high-end products from China.

Since the US Commerce Department announced a probe last month into China’s clean energy sector over so-called government subsidies, it is clear that the US is increasingly looking critically at China’s high-end products as part of its trade weaponry, Sun Zhenyu, China’s top envoy to the WTO, said.

“China has become the major target of global trade protectionism and the US is a major user of trade remedy measures against China,” Sun said.

“While China’s labor-intensive goods remain a major target, recent evidence shows that the US has shifted to the value-added (high-end) goods. Chinese industry should keep a close eye on the new trend,” he said.

Last year, the US initiated 23 cases worth $7.6 billion against China, while the cases worldwide targeting China during the same period were worth $13 billion. According to WTO statistics, more than half of US cases were directed against China in 2009.

“In recent years, not only has the number of US cases (against China) grown substantially, but also the range of categories has expanded. This has aroused our strong concern,” Sun said.

China Watch Blog has learnt that a year-on-year drop in the value of China’s newly signed overseas contracts in the first three quarters of 2010 was partly due to Chinese companies seeking to avoid risks caused by the appreciation of the currency, the yuan or reminbi.

China Daily quoted a senior official as saying that Some Chinese companies have been anticipating the appreciation of the renminbi since the beginning of the year. When the value of the yuan rises, their earnings would drop as contracted projects overseas are settled in US dollars, said Chen Lin, commercial counselor of the Department of Overseas Investment and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce.

“Currently, companies take yuan appreciation into full account when signing contracts overseas,” Chen said.

During the first nine months of the year, China’s turnover of contracted projects overseas reached $59.32 billion, up 16.6 percent from one year earlier. However, the value of newly signed contracts fell 6.5 percent to $81.98 billion.

Additionally, the fluctuation in the value of new contracts was normal and the growth momentum of China’s overseas contract business remains generally good, Chen added.

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China Watch Blog reports that the value of total retail sales in September was provisionally estimated at $25.1 billion, a 17.2% year-on-year increase.

The Census & Statistics Department said after netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales rose 15.8% in September, compared to the same month last year.

During the first nine months of the year, total retail sales grew by 17.9% in value and 15% in volume over the same period a year earlier.

The sales volume of miscellaneous consumer durable goods increased the most, by 89.6%, followed by electrical goods and photographic equipment (29.9%), jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts (25.4%), footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (24%), apparel (20.6%), furniture and fixtures (12.8%), miscellaneous consumer goods (11%), commodities in department stores (11%), commodities in supermarkets (6.1%), motor vehicles and parts (4.6%), fuels (3.9%), as well as food, alcohol and tobacco (2.7%).

Based on the seasonally adjusted series, the volume of total retail sales rose 5.5% in the third quarter over the second quarter.

The department says growth in sales of consumer durables, clothing, and jewellery was strong in particular, reflecting the sanguine consumer sentiment amid the improving job and income prospects, and also the sustained strong growth in inbound tourism.

The near-term prospect of retail business should continue to be supported by better labour market conditions and vibrant inbound tourism.

The revised estimate of the value of total retail sales in August was $26.6 billion, a 17.1% increase over August 2009, while the volume of total retail sales rose 14.9%.