China Economy: News & Discussion

[cir]

Smartphone Xiaomi signs deal with CNTV:cool2:

Updated: 2013-01-30 21:57

By SHEN JINGTING ( chinadaily.com.cn)

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp reached an agreement with China Network Television, or CNTV, on Monday, in a bid to revive its set-top streaming device business.

CNTV is the online branch of China's dominant television broadcaster, the State-run China Central Television.

Customers will be able to use the Xiaomi set-top box to access CNTV's online content, a Xiaomi official told China Daily.

If Chinese regulators approve the deal, Xiaomi will start its Xiaomi Box sales and offer services in three Chinese cities: Shanghai, Hangzhou and Changsha.

Xiaomi launched the Xiaomi Box on Nov 14, 2012. The gadget aims to provide customers with aggregated video streaming services. However, Xiaomi halted the service a week after its debut, after media reported that the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said that the company did not have an Internet TV license to offer the service.

 

[cir]

Smartphones：

Lenovo、Huawei、ZTE、Oppo、Coolpad、Meizu、Xiaomi、Gionee，etc。，etc。。。the lot。

 

[Armand2REP]

I don't even know where I can buy a Huawei smartphone.

 

[satish007]

I don't even know where I can buy a Huawei smartphone.

First post nothing but true and then give me your address, I will mail one to you.
but I have no idea if it support French.
it has very big 4.7 inch IPS screen quad core.
It support 4 sim cards and all kinds of networks, so that you can give your Chinese/Indian/Franch girl friends different numbers and keep them in touch at same time.

 

[amoy]

First post nothing but true and then give me your address, I will mail one to you.
but I have no idea if it support French.
it has very big 4.7 inch IPS screen quad core.
It support 4 sim cards and all kinds of networks, so that you can give your Chinese/Indian/Franch girl friends different numbers and keep them in touch at same time.

Mail one to me pls, for free, by SF express

Armanda has Alcatel (or has it been broken?)

 

[huaxia rox]

China beats out Britain as Canada's No. 2 trade partner

China beats out Britain as Canada's No. 2 trade partner - The Globe and Mail

China has surpassed Britain as Canada's No. 2 export destination, a milestone in the inevitable shift from the stagnant Old World to faster-growing emerging markets.

Canadian goods exports to China surged 15 per cent last year to $19.3-billion, paced by a near-doubling of canola seed and canola oil shipments, according to newly tabulated government trade figures.

......

 

[huaxia rox]

China to pass US as top luxury car market | The Australian

CHINA is reportedly set to overtake the United States as the world's biggest luxury car market, as rising incomes and desire for status boost premium brands.

Global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company said on Monday China was already the second biggest market for "premium" cars after the US, with sales of 1.25 million vehicles last year.

Its sales could reach 2.25 million in 2016 and 3 million by 2020, it added in a report.

McKinsey defined the "premium" segment in China as cars costing from 200,000 yuan to 1.2 million yuan ($A31,500 to $A187,000), excluding "ultra-luxury" cars commanding even higher prices.

...

 

[arunpat]

60 Minutes' China's Ghost Cities - Business Insider

This '60 Minutes' Video Of China's Ghost Cities Is More Surreal Than Anything We've Ever Seen

We have written about China's ghost towns — neighborhoods with massive new buildings not inhabited by any people. Many see this as the clear evidence of overbuilding and a housing bubble.
Some economists, like Yale's Stephen Roach has said, however, that China's modernization is "the greatest urbanization story the world has ever seen," and that these ghost cities will soon become "thriving metropolitan areas."
But analysts say most Chinese people can't afford the types of homes being built in the ghost cities.
China has been trying to get a grip on its property market for some times now and some say officials are in control and have been deflating the housing bubble.
However, the risks of the housing bubble evolving into a financial crisis appear to be high.
There is a new report from "60 Minutes" titled "China's real estate bubble." We've seen photos of China's ghost towns, but they are nothing compared to new video footage from "60 Minutes." Here are some screenshots of Zhengzhou from the segment.
Wang Shi, CEO of Vanke told "60 Minutes" that developers are deep in debt. Many have abandoned projects midway through because the money dried up. He warned that if the bubble really did burst, China could see its version of the Arab Spring

 

[huaxia rox]

60 Minutes' China's Ghost Cities - Business Insider

This '60 Minutes' Video Of China's Ghost Cities Is More Surreal Than Anything We've Ever Seen

We have written about China's ghost towns — neighborhoods with massive new buildings not inhabited by any people. Many see this as the clear evidence of overbuilding and a housing bubble.
Some economists, like Yale's Stephen Roach has said, however, that China's modernization is "the greatest urbanization story the world has ever seen," and that these ghost cities will soon become "thriving metropolitan areas."
But analysts say most Chinese people can't afford the types of homes being built in the ghost cities.
China has been trying to get a grip on its property market for some times now and some say officials are in control and have been deflating the housing bubble.
However, the risks of the housing bubble evolving into a financial crisis appear to be high.
There is a new report from "60 Minutes" titled "China's real estate bubble." We've seen photos of China's ghost towns, but they are nothing compared to new video footage from "60 Minutes." Here are some screenshots of Zhengzhou from the segment.
Wang Shi, CEO of Vanke told "60 Minutes" that developers are deep in debt. Many have abandoned projects midway through because the money dried up. He warned that if the bubble really did burst, China could see its version of the Arab Spring

so basically some screenshots have apprently made zhengzhou a city with more than 10 million people a ghost town??? what a major discovery with the smoking gun found?????............or just a story more terrific than WMD in iraq??because zhengzhou is not a coastal city that no one out side prc has heard of before so you can get your way???

so what if we see some other images here?(by other i mean merely not those purposely picked up probably just on sunday morning from areas that should get stuffed by either people or cars to simply suit the ghost town story....)

maybe in the world....diffrent peoples got different definition of what should be called ghost town or who can be called middle class but anyway in prc.....zhengzhou would never be called ghost town.............

 

[huaxia rox]

actually i can make guangzhou a ghost city in this way.....which reads........Biggest ghost town in china: the empty Guangzhou

no people no cars.....lights on for propaganda purposese....

only 2 ghosts can be found in guangzhou ghost town.....

conclusion: the economy of prc is collapsing as predicted precisly......

 

[asianobserve]

This is what happens if the Chinese government pulls the plug out of its subsidies to its inflated companies...

Top solar panel maker goes bankrupt - CNN.com

 

[huaxia rox]

US Concern on China Currency Fades as Yuan Grinds Higher

After years of grabbing the spotlight in U.S.-China economic relations, U.S. concerns over the value of Beijing's currency appear to be fading, giving ground to newer issues like cyber-security and trade secret theft.

Some lawmakers continue to argue a weak Chinese yuan is robbing jobs from the United States. But action to force a change is unlikely and the issue will probably remain on the back burner as long as the U.S. economy continues to improve.

An increase in the value of the yuan, a big drop in China's global trade surplus and a rise in labor costs that has made Chinese products less competitive have conspired with a pickup in U.S. job growth to take the wind out of Washington's sails.

On top of that, the United States has faced fury from other countries for an aggressive easing of monetary policy that critics contend seeks to drive down the dollar, a charge that puts Washington in a tough spot to criticize China.

"China's currency regime has ceased to be a flash-point in U.S.-China economic relations," said Eswar Prasad, senior professor of trade policy at Cornell University and a former International Monetary Fund official.

Prasad says the U.S. administration has shifted its attention to issues such as increased market access for U.S. manufacturing firms and financial institutions that want to do business in China, and better protection of intellectual property rights.

U.S. President Barack Obama, attacked during the presidential campaign by challenger Mitt Romney for failing to label China a currency manipulator, did not even address the issue in his recent State of the Union speech.

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[huaxia rox]

Tata Motors slumps on fears of China's fuel norms | Reuters

(Reuters) - Shares in Tata Motors(TAMO.NS) end down 4.22 percent after falling as much as 5.6 percent on worries that China's new stringent fuel economy standard would adversely impact the auto maker's Jaguar Land Rover Ltd (JLR) unit.

The rules announced on Wednesday would cut passenger cars' average fuel consumption to 6.9 litres per 100 kilometres by 2015 and to 5.0 litres by 2020 in China.

A spokesman for Jaguar Land Rover could not immediately comment when reached by Reuters.

China contributes about 20 percent of JLR's revenues and nearly 40 percent of its operating profit, analysts estimate, raising worries that the company may have to invest more to comply with the new norms.

News that BMW (BMWG.DE) budgeting for more discounts in 2013 was also seen affecting the stock.

 

[huaxia rox]

China confirmed as world's largest film market outside US | Film | guardian.co.uk

China's influence on Hollywood film-making has been underscored by statistics just released by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which confirm that the country has overtaken Japan to become the world's second-largest box office territory, and the biggest outside the US.

The MPAA's Theatrical Market Statistics 2012 show China's cinema audience is worth $2.7bn (£1.7bn), up from $2bn in 2011, taking it past Japan, whose total increased only slightly from $2.3bn to $2.4bn. The US was still the biggest by some distance, with a value of $10.8bn in 2012, a 6% rise on 2011.

"China is building 10 screens a day," MPAA chief Chris Dodd told Deadline. "There's a voracious appetite for product and [US] films have done well."

The results underline the gains that Hollywood stands to make by tailoring its product for the Chinese market. A report last year by Ernst & Young suggested that at the current rate of expansion, the Chinese box office was set to pass the US in seven years.

Pressure from the highest levels of government saw China begin to relax its strict quotas the release of foreign-made films earlier this year, after a visit to the US by China's president Xi Jinping.

 

[huaxia rox]

Chinese celebrate India’s Holi | beyondbrics

On Wednesday, the streets of India will be filled with men and women, boys and girls, flinging multi-coloured powder and water over one another as they celebrate the beginning of spring. The festival of Holi will end with stained carpets and hot baths, as people return home to spend time with loved ones – and probably drink bhang, a traditional brew brimming with cannabis.

It is a distinctively Indian sort of mayhem. Doesn't sound like something the straight-laced Chinese could get involved with, does it? It is, though.

Holi is a big business in India. The market for coloured powders and accessories, such as water guns and balloons, is expected to be worth Rs150bn ($2.8bn) this year, up from Rs120bn in 2012. But it is Chinese rather than Indian businesses that are benefitting.

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[huaxia rox]

Sky News: China manufacturing index hits high

Manufacturing activity in China expanded at its fastest pace in almost a year last month, official data shows, indicating conditions in the world's No 2 economy are continuing to improve.

The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) hit 50.9 in March, the highest since April 2012 when the figure stood at 53.3, according to the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).

PMI is a widely watched barometer of the health of China's economy, with a reading above 50 indicating expansion while anything below points to contraction.

The March reading improved from 50.1 in February and signalled the sixth consecutive month of expanding manufacturing activity in the country.

The rebound in PMI last month was led by increasing new orders as demand improved, driven by exports and investment, said Zhang Liqun, a government analyst, in a CFLP statement.

'The current data showed the economy generally remained stable. But we have to keep a close eye on changes that may take place in the coming months,' Zhang said on Monday.

British bank HSBC - whose survey focuses more on smaller enterprises - said its final PMI for March stood at 51.6 in March, up from 50.4 in February, when the reading dipped to its lowest since October.

'China's recovery continues, mainly driven by the gradually improving domestic demand conditions,' said Qu Hongbin, a Hong Kong-based economist with the bank, in a statement.

Declining input prices and 'lingering external headwinds' - an apparent reference to the eurozone's woes and the sluggish US recovery - indicated that inflationary pressures were easing, he said.

China's economy expanded 7.8 per cent in 2012, its slowest pace for 13 years, in the face of weakness at home and in key overseas markets.

But growth accelerated in the final three months of last year to 7.9 per cent, snapping seven straight quarters of weakening expansion.

However, government figures pointed to a slowdown in retail sales growth last month, suggesting the budding recovery may be fragile.

China's inflation hit a 10-month high of 3.2 per cent in February, up from January's 2.0 per cent, as holiday season spending and rapid credit growth accelerated price rises.

 

[huaxia rox]

Home demand boosts China's manufacturing as US hits hurdle | World | BDlive

NEW YORK — Strong demand at home boosted activity at Chinese factories last month, but US manufacturing hit an unexpected speed bump after expanding rapidly in February, data showed on Monday.

Other surveys released on Monday showed Brazil's manufacturing sector faced sharply slower output and rapidly rising prices.

Most European markets were closed on Monday for Easter.

For the US and China, last month was largely a story of domestic demand. The US Institute for Supply Management's factory purchasing managers index showed new orders slowed sharply in March, a month after rising demand boosted the index to its highest since mid-2011.

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[huaxia rox]

Strong PBOC midpoint pushes yuan to record high - The Economic Times

SHANGHAI: China's yuan hit a record high versus the dollar for the second straight day in early trade on Tuesday as the central bank set an unexpectedly strong midpoint in a move traders said indicated the government's tolerance of measured yuan appreciation.

Spot yuan touched 6.2004 per dollar in early trade, its highest since the China Foreign Exchange Trade System was established in 1994. It was trading at 6.2014 near midday, still up 0.11 percent from Monday's close of 6.2080.

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[huaxia rox]

India gloomier than China; Tata Motors will be reborn: Slym - CNBC-TV18

"The current economic environment in India is as bad if not worse than it was in 2008 . The additional import duties will stress sales of JLR in India which is more worrying than China," says Tata Motors MD Karl Slym.

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[huaxia rox]

China's forex reserves reach $3.4tn - FT.com


China is once again facing heavy capital inflows after its foreign exchange reserves posted their biggest quarterly increase since the second quarter of 2011.

Reserves jumped $130bn to $3.44tn – roughly equivalent to the size of the German economy – in the first quarter, helping to fuel a surge in credit growth amid concerns about the level of debt in the economy. China's foreign exchange reserves are the largest in the world.

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