Siam News Network

The commerce minister is confident that the new flood defense plan, which will be drafted by the end of this month, will be able to help boost foreign investor confidence and get them to continue to use Thailand as their production base. Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Kittirat Na Ranong said, after giving a speech on the role of sufficiency economy in the global economy and the government’s policies, that he is confident large foreign-owned factories will still want Thailand as their production base.

More here:
New Flood Defense Plan Seen to Help Boost Foreign Investor Confidence

For 2009 as a whole, nonetheless, real GDP fell 2.3 percent despite a pick-up in consumption in the fourth quarter, external demand will be the main contributor to growth in the near term.
However, the upside is limited due to political and regulatory uncertainty, including from possible political violence and the Map Ta Phut court case. The government investment plan is proceeding at a slow pace, but public investment should contribute to growth.

‘‘The bigger Thai companies going on international road shows still stop in the US, Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore. But a few are also beginning to go to China and the Middle East as well,’’ Mr Wood said.
‘‘Institutional investors want to have the ability to get in or out of a stock without significantly influencing the share price.
Introduction The modern Thai Capital Market traces its origins back to the early 1960s. In 1961 Thailand implemented its first five-year National Economic and Social Development Plan to support the promotion of economic growth and stability as well as to develop the Kingdom’s standard of living. Following upon this, the Second National Economic and Social Development Plan (1967-1971) then proposed for the first time that an orderly securities market be established in order to mobilize additional capital for national economic development.

The creation of Thailand’s first officially sanctioned and regulated securities market was initially proposed as part of the Second National Economic and Social Development Plan (1967-1971). In outlining its proposal for the creation of a supervised securities market, the Second National Development Plan stressed that the market’s most important role would be to mobilize funds to support Thailand’s industrialization and economic development.

It’s too soon to know what caused July’s deadly high-speed rail accident in Wenzhou, but not too late to try making money from the conclusions. The government says its investigation of the collision of two bullet trains that killed 40 and injured 191 has concluded—though details about what happened aren’t yet ready for public consumption. Even so, train ridership is up, bullet trains are back on track after inspections and funding for the sector is flowing anew.

Now, two Citigroup Inc. analysts say it is time for investors to have a fresh look at one of the companies that equipped the trains – but wasn’t implicated – that collided in July. Shares of Hollysys Automation Technologies Ltd. are a “buy,” with more than 50% upside potential, says the new 52-page report focused on the company.

Analysts Paul Gong and Jenny N. Zhen said positives for Beijing-based Hollysys include its “secular growth potential in industrial automation amid rising labor costs,” “market-share gain opportunities from foreign players” and “a relatively good position in the railway market.”

Hollysys published its own conclusion two days after the accident, saying its signaling equipment on board both trains functioned well.

Its Nasdaq-listed stock nevertheless suffered, along with others in the rail sector that have been hit hard since the railway minister was fired in February.

Now, the Citigroup analysts say Hollysys shares could rise as far as $13.60 each, a 50%-plus gain from the $8.98 level the stock stood before the report’s publication early this week.

The Citigroup report may help explain a roller coaster for the stock in recent days. The investor advisory follows stock upgrades by Piper Jaffray and J.P. Morgan & Co. analysts, purchases of Hollysys shares by company executives and waning enthusiasm of investors who try to profit from a share-price fall.

After the train crash, Hollysys was subject of a Wall Street Journal investigation that explained how China’s use of foreign technology in its bullet-train signal systems highlighted deep international distrust over the country’s industrial model, including weak intellectual-property protections, which can complicate efforts to acquire state-of-the-art technology.

The story quoted people familiar with the situation as saying Hollysys obtained some signaling components from Japan’s Hitachi Ltd. Executives from Hitachi were quoted as saying they designed some systems sold to Hollysys with “black box” designs to prevent copying. A senior Hitachi executive said: “It’s still generally a mystery how a company like Hollysys could integrate our equipment into a broader safety-signaling system without intimate knowledge of our know-how.”

Hollysys declined to comment then. A spokeswoman couldn’t be reached on Wednesday. During a conference call with investors last month, Hollysys Chairman Wang Changli and another executive suggested that rail signaling business will take a back seat to the company’s other businesses. Their comments suggested the focus has shifted toward the company’s traditional but lower-profile, lower profit-margin factory automation business, where executives said projects happen more quickly than in rail and there are more potential clients.

In fact, factories – not trains – underscore Citigroup’s bullishness on Hollysys.

“From an investor point of view, the more fundamental value comes more from the factory automation business than its rail business,” said Citigroup’s Mr. Gong. He said railway news has driven the stock price this year but its underlying business has been overlooked by investors.

Mr. Wang said in the Hollysys conference call China’s high-speed rail signaling business had “substantially slowed down,” noting that he looked forward to the government’s final report on Wenzhou, “so we can gain some visibility” about the sector.

“We are cautiously optimistic on continuous revenue generation from China’s high-speed rail segment for the next few years,” Mr. Wang said. He also said the company intends to export its rail equipment and become “one of the leading international signal players.”

Even so, it may become more difficult for investors to gauge how Hollysys does in high-speed rail because the company also said that effective with its fiscal first quarter of July, August and September, it had re-categorized how it books revenue in high-speed rail.

High-speed rail will be lumped together its subway-related business. Mr. Gong estimated its main high-speed signaling product represents about 10% of Hollysys revenue.

–James T. Areddy. Follow him on Twitter @jamestareddy

China’s economy during the past 30 years has changed from a centrally planned system that was largely closed to international trade to a more market-oriented economy that has a rapidly growing private sector and is a major player in the global economy.

In 2009, China announced that by 2020 it would reduce carbon intensity 40% from 2005 levels.

China is the world’s fastest-growing major economy, with an average growth rate of 10% for the past 30 years.

Some economists believe that Chinese economic growth has been in fact understated during much of the 1990s and early 2000s, failing to fully factor in the growth driven by the private sector and that the extent at which China is dependent on exports is exaggerated.

The country is one of the world’s largest producers of a number of industrial and mineral products, including cotton cloth, tungsten, and antimony, and is an important producer of cotton yarn, coal, crude oil, and a number of other products.

China has acquired some highly sophisticated production facilities through trade and also has built a number of advanced engineering plants capable of manufacturing an increasing range of sophisticated equipment, including nuclear weapons and satellites, but most of its industrial output still comes from relatively ill-equipped factories.

China’s ongoing economic transformation has had a profound impact not only on China but on the world.

China 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.

From January to June, the ODI in financial sectors was up by 44 percent to $17.9 billion, and in July alone, the ODI recorded $8.91 billion, the highest this year.

It also aims to sell more than 15 million of the most fuel-efficient vehicles in the world each year by then.

In large part as a result of economic liberalization policies, the GDP quadrupled between 1978 and 1998, and foreign investment soared during the 1990s.

Even with these improvements, agriculture accounts for only 20% of the nation’s gross national product.

China is the world’s largest producer of rice and wheat and a major producer of sweet potatoes, sorghum, millet, barley, peanuts, corn, soybeans, and potatoes.

Horses, donkeys, and mules are work animals in the north, while oxen and water buffalo are used for plowing chiefly in the south.

Growing domestic demand beginning in the mid-1990s, however, has forced the nation to import increasing quantities of petroleum.

There are large deposits of uranium in the northwest, especially in Xinjiang; there are also mines in Jiangxi and Guangdong provs.

Hydroelectric projects exist in provinces served by major rivers where near-surface coal is not abundant.

Before 1945, heavy industry was concentrated in the northeast (Manchuria), but important centers were subsequently established in other parts of the country, notably in Shanghai and Wuhan.

See original here:
Time to Step Aboard China’s Rail Investments

The Dalai Lama spoke Saturday at Penguin Books India’s annual lecture in New Delhi, but with ground rules: No political questions.

His Holiness says he no longer sees himself as a political figure and, while speaking at New Delhi’s India Habitat Centre, kept to spiritual matters rather than get embroiled in discussions about China’s displeasure at his presence here.

Read more on India Real Time.

In recent years, China has re-invigorated its support for leading state-owned enterprises in sectors it considers important to “economic security,” explicitly looking to foster globally competitive national champions.

The Chinese government seeks to add energy production capacity from sources other than coal and oil, and is focusing on nuclear and other alternative energy development.

China is the world’s fastest-growing major economy, with an average growth rate of 10% for the past 30 years.

Nevertheless, key bottlenecks continue to constrain growth.

The two sectors have differed in many respects.

The technological level and quality standards of its industry as a whole are still fairly low, notwithstanding a marked change since 2000, spurred in part by foreign investment.

The market-oriented reforms China has implemented over the past two decades have unleashed individual initiative and entrepreneurship, whilst retaining state domination of the economy.

China 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.

From January to June, the ODI in financial sectors was up by 44 percent to $17.9 billion, and in July alone, the ODI recorded $8.91 billion, the highest this year.

China reiterated the nation’s goals for the next decade – increasing market share of pure-electric and plug-in electric autos, building world-competitive auto makers and parts manufacturers in the energy-efficient auto sector as well as raising fuel-efficiency to world levels.

China’s challenge in the early 21st century will be to balance its highly centralized political system with an increasingly decentralized economic system.

Even with these improvements, agriculture accounts for only 20% of the nation’s gross national product.

China is the world’s largest producer of rice and wheat and a major producer of sweet potatoes, sorghum, millet, barley, peanuts, corn, soybeans, and potatoes.

Due to improved technology, the fishing industry has grown considerably since the late 1970s.

Oil fields discovered in the 1960s and after made China a net exporter, and by the early 1990s, China was the world’s fifth-ranked oil producer.

There are also deposits of vanadium, magnetite, copper, fluorite, nickel, asbestos, phosphate rock, pyrite, and sulfur.

China also has extensive hydroelectric energy potential, notably in Yunnan, W Sichuan, and E Tibet, although hydroelectric power accounts for only 5% of the country’s total energy production.

Although a British crown colony until its return to Chinese control in 1997, Hong Kong has long been a major maritime outlet of S China.
Rivers and canals (notably the Grand Canal, which connects the Huang He and the Chang rivers) remain important transportation arteries.

Here is the original post:
Elephant in Room for Dalai Lama: China

A list of what The Wall Street Journal’s reporters in China are reading and watching online. (NOTE: WSJ has not verified items in the ‘News’ section and doesn’t vouch for their accuracy.)

News:

* Sina Corp. dropped 5.4% in U.S. trading following rumors that short-seller Muddy Waters LLC would target it. Muddy Waters denied them. Observers said they stemmed from an opinion piece on Chinese Internet companies on the WSJ’s Chinese-language website, though it didn’t say Muddy Waters planned to target Sina. Shares of Sina have already been under pressure amid increasing investor skepticism of Chinese Internet stocks. (CWSJ/Business Insider/Forbes)

* Chinese police question Ai Weiwei’s wife (Guardian)

* The ordination of a Vatican-approved bishop could be in question due to the expected presence of an ex-communicated bishop. (Shanghaiist)

* China’s first aircraft carrier makes its second run. (China.org.cn)

Commentary:

* America is back in the Pacific and will uphold the rules – Tom Donilon (Financial Times)

* Is it China’s turn to pivot? How China needs to make nice with its neighbors. (The Diplomat)

Just Because:

* Bad passwords with Chinese characteristics (Penn Olson)

* Why “metal underwear” was a popular search term on Tuesday. (Baidu Beat)

China’s economy during the past 30 years has changed from a centrally planned system that was largely closed to international trade to a more market-oriented economy that has a rapidly growing private sector and is a major player in the global economy.

In 2009, the global economic downturn reduced foreign demand for Chinese exports for the first time in many years.

The government has also focused on foreign trade as a major vehicle for economic growth.

Nevertheless, key bottlenecks continue to constrain growth.

The two sectors have differed in many respects.

China has acquired some highly sophisticated production facilities through trade and also has built a number of advanced engineering plants capable of manufacturing an increasing range of sophisticated equipment, including nuclear weapons and satellites, but most of its industrial output still comes from relatively ill-equipped factories.

Over the years, large subsidies were built into the price structure, and these subsidies grew substantially in the late 1970s and 1980s.

China 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.

“The growth rate (for ODI) in the next few years will be much higher than previous years,” Shen said, without elaborating.

China is expected to have 200 million cars on the road by 2020, increasing pressure on energy security and the environment, government officials said yesterday.

Although China is still a developing country with a relatively low per capita income, it has experienced tremendous economic growth since the late 1970s.

Despite initial gains in farmers’ incomes in the early 1980s, taxes and fees have increasingly made farming an unprofitable occupation, and because the state owns all land farmers have at times been easily evicted when croplands are sought by developers.

In terms of cash crops, China ranks first in cotton and tobacco and is an important producer of oilseeds, silk, tea, ramie, jute, hemp, sugarcane, and sugar beets.

Horses, donkeys, and mules are work animals in the north, while oxen and water buffalo are used for plowing chiefly in the south.

Offshore exploration has become important to meeting domestic needs; massive deposits off the coasts are believed to exceed all the world’s known oil reserves.

There are large deposits of uranium in the northwest, especially in Xinjiang; there are also mines in Jiangxi and Guangdong provs.

China also has extensive hydroelectric energy potential, notably in Yunnan, W Sichuan, and E Tibet, although hydroelectric power accounts for only 5% of the country’s total energy production.

Since the 1980s China has undertaken a major highway construction program.

See original here:
China Watch: Sina’s Sharp Drop, Ai’s Wife Questioned

U.S. Undersecretary of State Robert Hormats has been causing a stir in China by arguing that what he calls the principle of  “competitive neutrality,” should govern relations between privately held firms from the U.S.  and state-owned firms in China and elsewhere

That has been taken by some in China as the U.S. trying to reign in the “Chinese model” of commerce.

In a recent article in  People’s Daily, translated by the U.S. embassy, Zhang Yuyan from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences took issue with Mr. Hormats, saying most Chinese state-owned enterprises have been listed on the market, and thus the market has already set power restrictions to them. Mr. Zhang also argued that the U.S. tries to gain its own advantages through such “setting up frameworks in competition.”

In an email exchange with the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Hormats further explained his thinking:

“What I am saying quite simply is that the U.S. is not passing judgment on whether or not China chooses to have state owned enterprises. Our concern is that to the extent they do, those SOEs should not receive benefits (e.g., preferred financing, exemption from anti-monopoly laws, generous export credits, etc) that put them at an artificial competitive advantage vis a vis private enterprises — of the U.S. or indeed any other country.

“And I did not make the term ‘competitive neutrality’ up. This broad theme is incorporated in the (proposed trade deal called the) Trans Pacific Partnership and more specifically in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development work.

“My point is not to challenge the Chinese SOE model, it is to say that SOEs should operate within a system of global rules and norms, and that Chinese government support measures should not distort competition within that system.

“Indeed, the Chinese have a big stake in making that system work because they are major beneficiaries of its openness, so they also have a large stake in ensuring that its rules are adhered to and because they do they should play by them as well.”

– Bob Davis

China’s economy during the past 30 years has changed from a centrally planned system that was largely closed to international trade to a more market-oriented economy that has a rapidly growing private sector and is a major player in the global economy.

Deterioration in the environment – notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table, especially in the north – is another long-term problem.

The government has also focused on foreign trade as a major vehicle for economic growth.

Nevertheless, key bottlenecks continue to constrain growth.

Technology, labor productivity, and incomes have advanced much more rapidly in industry than in agriculture.

A report by UBS in 2009 concluded that China has experienced total factor productivity growth of 4 per cent per year since 1990, one of the fastest improvements in world economic history.

China’s increasing integration with the international economy and its growing efforts to use market forces to govern the domestic allocation of goods have exacerbated this problem.

China 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.

Last year was the eighth consecutive year that the nation’s ODI had grown.

It also aims to sell more than 15 million of the most fuel-efficient vehicles in the world each year by then.

China’s challenge in the early 21st century will be to balance its highly centralized political system with an increasingly decentralized economic system.

Even with these improvements, agriculture accounts for only 20% of the nation’s gross national product.

Except for the oasis farming in Xinjiang and Qinghai, some irrigated areas in Inner Mongolia and Gansu, and sheltered valleys in Tibet, agricultural production is restricted to the east.

Due to improved technology, the fishing industry has grown considerably since the late 1970s.

Oil fields discovered in the 1960s and after made China a net exporter, and by the early 1990s, China was the world’s fifth-ranked oil producer.

Alumina is found in many parts of the country; China is one of world’s largest producers of aluminum.

In the 1990s a program of share-holding and greater market orientation went into effect; however, state enterprises continue to dominate many key industries in China’s socialist market economy.

Brick, tile, cement, and food-processing plants are found in almost every province.

Excerpt from:
Hormats Challenges ‘Distorted’ Advantages for China’s State Firms

Food price inflation in India slipped back below double-digits in November, much to the relief of consumers as well as policymakers.

According to the figures released on Thursday by the Commerce ministry, food price inflation dropped to 9.01 per cent in the week to November 12, from 10.63 per cent in the previous week. It stood at 11.38 per cent in the corresponding period of last year.

read more

The first step to fixing a problem is admitting one exists. But in the face of growing public concern over a recent stretch of air pollution in the Chinese capital, local officials this week did little to ease the outcry.

In the midst of an especially smoggy stretch of days this past week, local officials and state-run media did little to suggest Beijing was prepared to tackle its air pollution levels, among the worst of the world’s major cities. The state-run Global Times newspaper early this week reported a dense “fog” had descended over the capital. The local government was reporting “slight” pollution levels even as readings by the U.S. Embassy described pollution as “hazardous.”

And in an interview published Friday in the Beijing Times newspaper, Du Shaozhong, a spokesman for the municipal environmental bureau, questioned the embassy’s independent readings, which have long been a point of contention between Beijing and Washington. “I’m not clear about their monitoring tools and methods, and how they ensure accuracy” Mr. Du said.

The interview appeared to be a response to a wave of criticism he and the city’s environmental bureau have come under in recent days, particularly on Sina Weibo, the popular microblogging site owned by Sina Corp. Mr. Du has 79,000 followers on the site, and hundreds of them were demanding more information from the city on current air pollution levels.

In particular, many wanted to know when the city would begin releasing measurements of PM2.5 pollution particles – that is, those particles 2.5 micrometers or smaller in diameter. The city currently releases measurements only for coarser PM10 particles. Experts say fine PM2.5 particles are especially dangerous and can easily penetrate a person’s lungs and bloodstream.

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing publishes independent hourly PM2.5 readings as well as an air-quality index on an official embassy Twitter feed, much to Beijing’s chagrin. Leaked WikiLeaks cables this summer revealed a tense meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials in 2009 over the independent U.S. readings, which Beijing argued might confuse the Chinese public because the U.S. data conflicted with official Chinese data.  The U.S. index regularly surpasses a level of 300, which the U.S. government classifies as hazardous pollution. On more than one occasion this year, the index has topped its ceiling of 500.

Adding insult to insult to injury, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, citing an air-purification equipment firm, reported Friday that top Communist Party officials had amassed fleet of air purifiers for buildings inside Zhongnanhai, the leadership’s heavily guarded residential compound. The SCMP said Broad Group, a Hunan-based air conditioner maker, had touted the Zhongnanhai air purifiers on its website.

“They are everywhere in Zhongnanhai, from living rooms and meeting rooms to swimming pools and gyms,” the SCMP quoted Broad Group’s website as saying. “It is a blessing for the people that our purifiers have created a healthy and clean environment for state leaders.” The company’s claims couldn’t be independently confirmed.

The state-run Global Times newspaper weighed in Wednesday with an editorial on the pollution. The gist: Be patient, people.

“The public sees world standards, and they expect China to adopt the most advanced ones,” the editorial read. “But we must accept that the national can’t reach these standards quickly.”

On Friday afternoon in Beijing, the U.S. Embassy’s air-quality index hovered around 170, or a mere “unhealthy” rating. That’s several steps below the “hazardous” levels of earlier this week. It’s a relative breath of fresh air for smog-weary Beijingers.

–Brian Spegele. Follow him on Twitter @bspegele.

Reforms started in the late 1970s with the phasing out of collectivized agriculture, and expanded to include the gradual liberalization of prices, fiscal decentralization, increased autonomy for state enterprises, the foundation of a diversified banking system, the development of stock markets, the rapid growth of the non-state sector, and the opening to foreign trade and investment.

The Chinese government seeks to add energy production capacity from sources other than coal and oil, and is focusing on nuclear and other alternative energy development.

China is also the second largest trading nation in the world and the largest exporter and second largest importer of goods.
The PRC government’s decision to permit China to be used by multinational corporations as an export platform has made the country a major competitor to other Asian export-led economies, such as South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Nevertheless, key bottlenecks continue to constrain growth.

The two sectors have differed in many respects.

The technological level and quality standards of its industry as a whole are still fairly low, notwithstanding a marked change since 2000, spurred in part by foreign investment.

The market-oriented reforms China has implemented over the past two decades have unleashed individual initiative and entrepreneurship, whilst retaining state domination of the economy.

China 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.

” Although the figure is already “quite amazing,” the volume is “not large enough” considering China’s economic growth and local companies’ expanding demand for international opportunities, Shen said.

It also aims to sell more than 15 million of the most fuel-efficient vehicles in the world each year by then.

Although China is still a developing country with a relatively low per capita income, it has experienced tremendous economic growth since the late 1970s.

Agriculture is by far the leading occupation, involving over 50% of the population, although extensive rough, high terrain and large arid areas – especially in the west and north – limit cultivation to only about 10% of the land surface.

Except for the oasis farming in Xinjiang and Qinghai, some irrigated areas in Inner Mongolia and Gansu, and sheltered valleys in Tibet, agricultural production is restricted to the east.

China ranks first in world production of red meat (including beef, veal, mutton, lamb, and pork).

Oil fields discovered in the 1960s and after made China a net exporter, and by the early 1990s, China was the world’s fifth-ranked oil producer.

China’s leading export minerals are tungsten, antimony, tin, magnesium, molybdenum, mercury, manganese, barite, and salt.

Coal is the single most important energy source in China; coal-fired thermal electric generators provide over 70% of the country’s electric power.

There are railroads to North Korea, Russia, Mongolia, and Vietnam, and road connections to Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Myanmar.

Read more:
Smog, Bureaucratic Waffling Add to Beijing’s Murk

Akon is scheduled to perform in China this week. Hopefully for his fans, the show will go on.

The hip-hop artist is booked for three arena shows, stopping in Beijing on Friday before moving on to Shanghai and Guangzhou, but it’s not the first time he’s tried to tour China. A similar tour in 2009 was canceled because of swine-flu fears.

Akon fans have been out of luck for years. In 2010, Sri Lanka denied him a visa a month before he was due to perform because of a video that offended the country’s Buddhists. He was supposed to perform in Singapore in January 2011, but the promoter canceled the show, citing “unexpected circumstances.”

More on this from Scene Asia

The restructuring of the economy and resulting efficiency gains have contributed to a more than tenfold increase in GDP since 1978.

The Chinese government seeks to add energy production capacity from sources other than coal and oil, and is focusing on nuclear and other alternative energy development.

The government has also focused on foreign trade as a major vehicle for economic growth.

Some economists believe that Chinese economic growth has been in fact understated during much of the 1990s and early 2000s, failing to fully factor in the growth driven by the private sector and that the extent at which China is dependent on exports is exaggerated.

The two sectors have differed in many respects.

China has acquired some highly sophisticated production facilities through trade and also has built a number of advanced engineering plants capable of manufacturing an increasing range of sophisticated equipment, including nuclear weapons and satellites, but most of its industrial output still comes from relatively ill-equipped factories.

China’s ongoing economic transformation has had a profound impact not only on China but on the world.

China 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.

“The growth rate (for ODI) in the next few years will be much higher than previous years,” Shen said, without elaborating.

China is expected to have 200 million cars on the road by 2020, increasing pressure on energy security and the environment, government officials said yesterday.

Although China is still a developing country with a relatively low per capita income, it has experienced tremendous economic growth since the late 1970s.

Despite initial gains in farmers’ incomes in the early 1980s, taxes and fees have increasingly made farming an unprofitable occupation, and because the state owns all land farmers have at times been easily evicted when croplands are sought by developers.

China is the world’s largest producer of rice and wheat and a major producer of sweet potatoes, sorghum, millet, barley, peanuts, corn, soybeans, and potatoes.

Sheep, cattle, and goats are the most common types of livestock.

Oil fields discovered in the 1960s and after made China a net exporter, and by the early 1990s, China was the world’s fifth-ranked oil producer.

Alumina is found in many parts of the country; China is one of world’s largest producers of aluminum.

Hydroelectric projects exist in provinces served by major rivers where near-surface coal is not abundant.

Before 1945, heavy industry was concentrated in the northeast (Manchuria), but important centers were subsequently established in other parts of the country, notably in Shanghai and Wuhan.

See original here:
Hip-hop Artist Akon Heads to China