China :: Business & Economy

More Chinese investment in Pakistan, especially in the energy, infrastructure, agriculture and technology sectors, will help lift the nation's economy to a new high, Pakistan's leader said. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called it a "win-win scenario". Gilani, who began a four-day state visit to China on Tuesday, made the remarks at the Pakistan-China Entrepreneurs Forum held on Thursday. Pakistani officials said their country could export more non-traditional goods such as "marble, leather, food and minerals" to China under the framework of China-Pakistan free-trade agreements (FTA), to realize the target of almost doubling bilateral trade to $15 billion by 2015. In the past, Pakistan exported mostly textile goods. "As China diversifies its economy, with special emphasis on the development of its western regions, and shifts to high technology, the economic transition makes it attractive for Chinese companies to relocate and establish...

China's State Council yesterday issued a national guideline that aims to promote sustainable and healthy development of the country's rare earth industry. China will take effective measures to strengthen the management over the sector and accelerate transformation of the industry's development in order to protect and properly use rare earth resources, the guideline stated. The guideline, posted on the central government's website, lists a slew of problems that severely affect the sector's healthy development, including illegal mining, excessively expanding smelting and extracting capacities as well as environmental damage. Under the guideline the government will strictly regulate industrial access, improve management over output plans, and beef up regulations concerning exports. The government will also expedite the creation and revision of relevant laws and regulations pertaining to the sector's management. Special campaigns will be launched to crack down on il...

CHINA has to take global conditions into consideration in its interest rate policy making process, a Chinese central bank official said yesterday in Shanghai. "Previously, we only look at demand and supply within China, but now we have to pay attention to the international situation," Wang Xiaoya, vice research head of the People's Bank of China, told the Lujiazui Forum. "So, when the United States is implementing a zero interest rate policy, we have to think about that in deciding how to use our own interest rate policy tools," she added. China has raised interest rates twice so far this year, but some economists said higher interest rates may lure new hot money inflows to worsen domestic inflation.

CREDIT card defaults in China increased in the first quarter on rising popularity of the plastic, the central bank said today. The value of outstanding defaults of more than six months rose 6.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010 to 8.2 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) in the first quarter of this year, the People's Bank of China said on its Website. Defaults accounted for 1.7 percent of the total outstanding loans on credit cards, the central bank said. Though rising, the default risk is still within control, said a market watcher who declined to be named. In general, a default rate of 4.5 percent is acceptable in the United States, the birthplace of credit cards. In the worst time of the global financial crisis, default rate in the US has increased to about 10 percent. China is encouraging the use of bank cards to drive up domestic consumption with a safer payment vehicle. Lenders are expanding credit card business as a new cash cow. Smaller banks including China Merchants Bank ...

SHANGHAI'S stock index fell for the first time in three days as shares of construction material, power producing and real estate firms plunged over inflation concerns. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.46 percent to 2,859.57 yuan. Cement makers and developers were the biggest draggers today after China yesterday reported that home prices in most cities were still rising in April, raising expectations that the defiance over previous tightening may invite more curbing measures. Xinjiang Qingsong Building Materials and Chemicals Group was down 3.7 percent to 23.40 yuan. Shanghai Shimao Co shed 2.66 percent to 14.63 yuan. Han Qicheng, an analyst with Guotai Junan Securities Co, said prices of cement makers may fall to the lowest in July under a combined influence of inflation concerns and China's power shortage. However, a rebound can be expected after July when inflation falls from the yearly peak while demands for the construction material start to rise thanks to a massive cons...

An automobile navigation device using the Compass Navigation Satellite System is shown at the second China Satellite Navigation Conference in Shanghai on May 18. (Photo / China Daily) The application of the Compass Navigation Satellite System, a Chinese global navigation system, will create a market as big as 400 billion yuan ($61.54 billion) by the end of 2020, the head of China's navigation management office said. Compass, also known as the Beidou system, has a similar function to the US-developed Global Positioning System (GPS), the European Union's Galileo and Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System. It provides positioning, navigational and measurement services for military and civilian use. Ran Chengqi, director of the China Satellite Navigation Management Office, said the office recently hired a third party to evaluate the country's navigation market. According to its report, the market is growing by 30 to 50 percent annually and the industri...

WIDESPREAD gains in commodity prices lifted energy and materials companies as part of a broad stock market rally yesterday after three days of declines. Stocks built on morning gains after the Federal Reserve released minutes that showed that officials agreed that the economy is improving, which could lead to higher demand for raw materials like steel and fertilizer. The Fed's bond-buying program has kept interest rates low and sent commodities and stock prices higher overall since late August. The U.S. stock market has gained nearly 25 percent since the central bank signaled that it would begin the asset-purchase plan. Commodity prices had fallen over the last two weeks after months of gains on concerns about the impact of high energy prices on the economy. Oil gained nearly 4 percent to move back above US$100 a barrel, due in part to a Dept. of Energy report that inventories of crude oil did not rise last week as expected. Energy stocks like Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. ro...