China stimulus package for electronics, logistics, steel and auto industries

From China government’s website, we can find detailed stimulus package for electronics, logistics, steel and auto industries.

This provides a good read about the industries on status quo/current environment, principles/goals for the stimulus package, actions and policies etc..

English version of China government’s website is also available.
However, I can’t find similar English version of industry stimulus package.

Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) (博鳌亚洲论坛) : World Economic Forum (WEF) for Asian

The Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2009 will be held on April 17-19, 2009 in Boao. The theme of this year's event is Asia: Managing Beyond Crisis.

We can get news (even videos) on BFA 2009 from this website (in Chinese).

Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) is modelled after World Economic Forum (WEF) but is for Asian countries. We can get some insights on Asian views (government, business and academia) from this Forum.

Texts from "Profile" on the website:
As a non-government, non-profit international organization, Boao Forum For Asia (BFA) is the most prestigious and premier forum for leaders in government, business and academia in Asia and other continents to share visions on the most pressing issues in this dynamic region and the world at large. The Forum is committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries even closer to their development goals.

Initiated in 1998 by Fidel V. Ramos, former President of the Philippines, Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister of Australia, and Morihiro Hosokawa, former Prime Minister of Japan, Boao Forum for Asia was formally inaugurated in February 2001.

China’s 家电下乡 subsidised purchase of electronic goods for rural areas

China government’s 家电下乡 "subsidised purchase of electronic goods for rural areas" is one of China’s policies to boost internal consumptions.

家电下乡信息管理系统(Information Management System)
The website has information on announcements, laws & regulation, provincial activities, industrial activities etc regarding 家电下乡.

Q&A on the policy:

Questions & answers by China’s Ministry of Finance
Q&A on other website

Some compilations on 家电下乡on websites:
website 1
website 2

The policy is of good intention, subsidising rural folks on purchase of modern electronic goods for improvement of living standard, while providing much needed orders for electronic goods manufacturers to prevent further spread of bankruptcies and unemployment in the industry.

Its effectiveness depends on real needs of rural folks and actual executions of the program.
The devils are in the details.

Examples of concerns voiced (some are already happening), seen from various websites:
1. Unfair competitive pressure and crowding out effect on small and medium companies that models are not selected for the program.

2. Poor rural folks cannot afford to buy even with subsidy.

3. Even if it is affordable, it may not be usable, for example TV in areas with poor reception of TV programs.

4. Even if it is affordable and usable, cost of ownership may be too high, for example electricity bills, maintenance/repair/parts costs, subscription cost (for example TVs) etc..

5. Perception of the models being selected : lower quality goods, obsolete models ?

6. Ease and hidden costs of getting subsidies

7. Fraudulent goods that made to imitate selected models

8. Incentives for rural distributors to promote selected models will not be there if profits are squeezed too thin compared to other not-selected models

You may see that even if a policy is of good intention, its financial outcome depend greatly on the interaction of its different participants and transaction cost/information cost of participants.

Report by China - Britain Busines Council - Opportunities for UK Businesses in China’s Regional Cities

China – Britain Business Council (website) has a research report on "Opportunities for UK Businesses in China’s Regional Cities".
about the report
Registration is needed for the report.
However, the report is available on internet on other site :-)

Report : Opportunities for UK Businesses in China’s Regional Cities
report link

Out of 274 municipalities, 35 regional cities are chosen based on:

• Local sales
• Production to supply domestic markets
• Production to supply export markets
• Research and development activity

Some highlights:

1. Map & Cities (page 8),

2. city attractiveness by business activity (page 11)

3. Sector specific opportunities (page 15) :

• Advanced Engineering
• Energy
• Environment and Climate Change
• Financial and Professional Services
• Infrastructure
• Information Communication Technology
• Life Sciences

4. Key issues and suggested responses (page 21):
Its suggested responses give insights.

Types of key issues: (with many sub – key issues)

• central and local government challenges
• market challenges
• operational challenges
  

Some government campaigns on regional cities development :
2000 Go West Campaign (西部大开发)
2003 Northeast Regeneration Campaign (东北振兴)
2006 Go Inland Campaign (中部崛起)

There are also Case Studies in the report.

Publication date of the report is 26 Sep 2008.
However, the report still provides insights on potentials of the regional cities.

China 2008 additional investment plan

We can get a glimpse of which industry the investment will flow to from government’s stimulus package. If the amount is very big, it will give some breathing spaces or even a boost for the industry’s participants.

Wonder whether there is an online compilations of various countries’ stimulus packages in details.

Below is China 2008 additional investment plan:
今年新增1000亿元中央投资计划
link to China 2008 additional investment plan

Excerpts:
一是廉租住房建设、棚户区改造等保障性住房建设100亿元。

二是农村沼气、饮水、通路、通电、通邮工程、重大水利工程等农村民生工程和农村基础设施建设340亿元。

三是铁路、公路和机场等重大基础设施建设250亿元。

四是基层卫生、计划生育服务体系、中西部农村初中校舍改造等医疗卫生、教育、文化社会事业发展130亿元。

五是城镇污水、垃圾处理设施建设、重点流域水污染防治等节能减排和生态建设工程120亿元。

六是自主创新和产业结构调整项目60亿元。

summary:
low cost housing: 100亿元
village infrastructure: 340亿元
railways, roads, airports: 250亿元
health, education, culture: 130亿元
cities sewerage, waste treatment, pollution prevention, conservation project etc. : 120亿元
innovation, industry structural change: 60亿元
Total: 1000亿元

China’s document regarding ideas of using finance to boost economic growth (1)

国务院办公厅关于当前金融促进经济发展的若干意见

On 13 December 2008, China government releases a document "国务院办公厅关于当前金融促进经济发展的若干意见"(the document is dated 8 December 2008).
document

a 9-sections; total 30-points document.

On my previous post on China's fiscal stimulus, some lingering questions are on how will it be implemented, where will the fund comes from and flow to.
This document probably answers some of those questions. It covers monetary policy, credit, capital, insurance, company’s fund, foreign funds management, financial services, taxation, risk management etc..

Its 9-sections are:
一、落实适度宽松的货币政策，促进货币信贷稳定增长

二、加强和改进信贷服务，满足合理资金需求

三、加快建设多层次资本市场体系，发挥市场的资源配置功能

四、发挥保险保障和融资功能，促进经济社会稳定运行

五、创新融资方式，拓宽企业融资渠道

六、改进外汇管理，大力推动贸易投资便利化

七、加快金融服务现代化建设，全面提高金融服务水平

八、加大财税政策支持力度，增强金融业促进经济发展能力

九、深化金融改革，加强风险管理，切实维护金融安全稳定

This is interesting.. Wish to explore and learn on these..

Sina.com special section on China’s 改革开放三十年

Sina.com’s financial section recently has a special section on China’s 改革开放三十年.
It is a good read. Lots of information on China’s industries’, policy changes and development.
The special section is still ongoing.

link to 龙跃于渊 新浪财经改革开放三十年特别策划

Until today, it has 3 parts.
1. On agricultural industry
link

2. On heavy industry
link

3. On securities industry
link

10-point plan by Ministry of Industry & IT (MIIT) of PRC China to boost internal needs

On previous post, we see that to boost internal needs, China has a 10-point plan to boost internal needs, mostly through different types of infrastructure building and policy on agriculture, taxation, credits.

Came across this complementary 10-point plan by "Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China" (MIIT) (工业和信息化部) to boost China’s internal needs.
Link on MIIT

A good read. We can see which are the industries or industries’ aspects that the China government is going to promote/encourage. This one will be more on the industries.

Related aspects/industries (refer to website for details) in summary:
1. On factor of productions like energy, transport, commodity; also on import-export, pricing, taxation, credits
2. Some projects are mentioned: 钢铁基地、百万吨乙烯、百万吨钾肥、磷复肥基地
Wow.. million tonne !
3. Equipment industry
4. Communication, Integrated System industry
5. on SME funding, credit, risk
6. IT + Industrial integration; emphasis on 汽车电子、机床电子、医疗电子
7. TD-SCDMA, IMT-Advanced
8. Agriculture
9. Fashion/apparel industry
10. Quality of corporate internal management

How will it be implemented ? Will it be effective in boosting internal needs ?

Changes on China export tax/rebate on goods

Taxes/rebates play an important part in whether sales or exports of goods are profitable and profit by how much. It can promote and break an industry/company especially if it is in its infant stage. This type of government policy changes make valuation more difficult and fair price less predictable.

China is going to change its export tax rebate on goods (again).

国务院关税税则委员会关于调整出口关税的通知:
website
Attached in the website are 2 PDF files showing details of the change, effective on 1 December, 2008.
Excerpt: (Refer to above 2 PDF files for details)
…
一、取消部分产品的出口关税或特别出口关税，主要包括冷热轧板材、带材、钢丝、大型型钢、合金钢材、焊管等钢材产品；硝酸铵、硫酸铵等化工产品；玉米、杂粮及其制粉等粮食产品，共计102项产品。
　　二、降低部分产品的出口关税，主要包括部分化肥及其原料、部分铝材以及小麦、大米及其制粉等，共计23项产品。降低氮肥、磷肥等及其部分原料的特别出口关税，共计31项产品。
　　三、调整尿素、磷酸一铵、磷酸二铵等化肥产品的淡季出口关税征收方式。调整粉末状天然石墨等3项产品的应税产品范围。
　　四、提高磷灰石和硅等5项产品的出口关税。
　　五、新增对部分产品征收出口关税，主要包括天然硫酸钡、非纯氧化镁、滑石、棕刚玉、四氧化三钴以及氟化物等，共计15项产品。
　　对出口至香港、澳门和台湾地区自用的原粮及其制粉，继续不征收出口关税。对我国对外无偿援助的粮食，免征出口关税。

website
Excerpt:
通知明确了3770项提高退税率的商品的具体范围，主要内容如下：将轮胎等部分橡胶制品、主体或全部以人工速生材为原料的部分林产品的退税率由5%提高到9%；将金属挤压用模等部分模具、玻璃器皿的退税率由5%提高到11%；将冻对虾仁、冻蟹等部分水产品的退税率由5%提高到13%；将箱包、鞋、帽、伞、家具、寝具、灯具、钟表等商品的退税率由11%提高到13%；将牙膏等部分化工产品、石材、铝板带等有色金属加工材等商品的退税率分别由5%、9%提高到11%、13%；将农用泵、摩托车、自行车、家用电器等部分机电产品的退税率分别由9%提高到11%，11%提高到13%，13%提高到14%。

Wow..3770 types of goods !

Fiscal stimulus packages (1) - China

As there is a great possibility of recession spreads globally, many countries are having their own fiscal stimulus packages to encourage internal needs (since export will be harder) and promote economy growth.

I hope government will take this opportunity to really improve infrastructure (for examples utilities, transport, medical, education etc. ), especially for rural areas and set the stage to reduce poverty.

We can get useful information from the stimulus packages. Hopefully, we will have a glimpse of how government spending will trickle down and on what "pathway".

China’s 10-point fiscal stimulus package:
中国出台扩大内需促进经济增长十项措施
website

How big is the stimulus package ?
Excerpt:
到2010年底约需投资4万亿元。
今年四季度先增加安排中央投资1000亿元，
明年灾后重建基金提前安排200亿元，带动地方和社会投资，总规模达到4000亿元.

National Bureau of Statistics of China

National Bureau of Statistics of China
website

Statistical data is available monthly.
data

The Chinese version website has more information compared to English version.

Found this 改革开放30年经济社会发展成就系列报告 in Chinese version only.
report
A great read.

Quite a lot of information on 统 计 分 析:
For examples:
企业景气报告
link
农 产 品 价 格
link
工 业 品 价 格
link

Though the information may still lag the real situation, there are still good reads.