CSG news update -- 2006-09-16

[China Study Group <chinastudygroup@gmail.com>]

China Study Group news update

 Vacant property surges in China
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2006-09/15/content_689907.htm
Xinhua | 2006-09-15
The vacancy rate in China's commercial property sector surged 13.1 percent year on year to reach 121.69 million square meters of floor space by the end of August, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday.  The vacancy rate for residential property increased by 11 percent in the same perio...

Party periodical to print Premier Wen's article on rural reform
http://en.ce.cn/National/Politics/200609/15/t20060915_8580507.shtml
Xinhua | 2006-09-15
The Qiushi Periodical published by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China will print the full text of Premier Wen Jiabao's article on the country's rural reform in its 18th issue on Saturday.  The article entitled "Seize the opportunity to advance comprehensive rural reforms...

Researcher: foreign financial firms' entry into China brings risks
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/15/content_5096879.htm
Xinhua | 2006-09-15
The entry of foreign financial firms into China will bring huge risks to the country's financial market, said Deputy Director Zheng Xinli of the Policy Research Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.      Speaking at an ongoing international financial symposium in Beijing, Z...

EU replaces U.S. as biggest trading partner of China
http://en.ce.cn/Business/Macro-economic/200609/15/t20060915_8572420.shtml
China Economic Net | 2006-09-15
The EU replaced the United States as China's biggest trading partner last year, said Xu Kuangding, Chairman of the China Federation of Industrial Economics (CFIE) on Thursday.  As one of the keynote speakers at the opening of a Sino-European economic summit, Xu said Sino-European trade, with a...

EU sues China at WTO in car parts row
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2006-09-15T132049Z_01_BRS000098_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-TRADE-AUTOS-CHINA-DC.XML&from=business
Reuters | 2006-09-15
The European Commission said it will launch the first ever litigation against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) by seeking a settlement panel for an auto parts dispute on Friday.  The EU's executive Commission said it expected the United States and Canada to request the establishment...

China's state-owned firms expected to pay dividends to govt from next year
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2006/09/15/afx3019597.html
XFN | 2006-09-15
China's state-owned enterprises are expected to begin paying dividends to the government from 2007, Caijing magazine cited Li Rongrong, director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration as saying.  'The SASAC and the Ministry of Finance are jointly developing detailed regul...

China Defends New Curbs on the Sale of Wire News
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/world/asia/15china.html
New York Times | 2006-09-15
Joseph Kahn
Chinese officials on Thursday promised that new rules restricting the sale of foreign wire service news would not affect press freedoms. But they also strongly defended efforts to control the distribution of financial and economic news inside the country.  The New China News Agency, China's ma...

Typhoon Toll Much Higher Than China's Leaders Let On
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/world/asia/14china.html
New York Times | 2006-09-14
Howard W. French
Where as many as 10,000 fishing boats once docked, now only a few bob in a long, serpentine harbor flecked with wrecks. All along the shoreline here, families that only recently made a rich living from the sea stare glumly at reminders of their loss.  Clearly, this fishing village and others near ...

Zimbabwe obtains $490m loan
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=284056&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__business/
SAPA | 2006-09-14
The Zimbabwean government has secured desperately needed loans of close to half a billion United States dollars to help boost agricultural production, it was reported on Thursday.  Nearly half the $490-million in loans secured was provided by key ally China in the form of a $200-million agricultur...

Mao Is Their Canvas
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-fg-mao14sep14,1,6806716.story
LA Times | 2006-09-14
Ching-Ching Ni
It happens every year, under cover of darkness, in the waning days of September. The giant portrait of Chairman Mao in Tiananmen Square — he of the Mona Lisa gaze, flushed cheeks and trademark gray suit — is spirited away and replaced by a new Mao. He looks just like the old Mao.  So l...

Urban fixed asset investment grows 29.1% in 1st 8 months
http://en.ce.cn/Business/Macro-economic/200609/14/t20060914_8563721.shtml
China Economic Net | 2006-09-14
China's fixed asset investment growth in urban areas reached 5.26 trillion yuan (657 billion U.S.dollars) in the first eight months of the year, up 29.1 percent over the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday.  Investment in real estate, a sector the ce...

Battle over Xinhua's plan to control rival agencies
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/8e6a0238-441a-11db-8965-0000779e2340.html
Financial Times | 2006-09-14
Mure Dickie
For Yuan Xiaoping, China's call for foreign news agencies to stop dealing directly with local clients and start censoring their services is a simple matter of respect.  "I believe the most important form of respect is respect for the laws and regulations of the country you are in," says Mr Yua...

China accuses agencies of tax abuse
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/32999f2e-4418-11db-8965-0000779e2340.html
Financial Times | 2006-09-14
Mure Dickie
A senior official of China's Xinhua News Agency has cited "numerous violations" of tax and other laws by foreign counterparts as justification for rules banning them from dealing directly with local clients.  The rules, which also give Xinhua the power to censor news and information distribute...

Firms trade £400m of carbon credit with China
http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,1870357,00.html
The Guardian | 2006-09-12
Terry Macalister
Leading private sector companies claimed yesterday to have joined the battle against climate change with a groundbreaking deal worth up to £400m to buy 29.5m tonnes of carbon credits from China.  The deal will allow a Chinese chemical company to construct a special system for eliminating super gr...

China symbolizes hope for Africa
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200609/12/eng20060912_302040.html
People's Daily | 2006-09-12
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Sino-African diplomatic relations. No matter how the international situation has changed, Sino-African friendly relations have stood the test of time and seen steady development in political, economic, cultural and many other fields. As Ethiopian Ambassado...