The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to investigate a claim that more than 20 Chinese children were fed illegal genetically modified (GM) rice during an experiment conducted by both Chinese and American researchers back in 2008, reported the China Daily on Wednesday.
“Where is Xi Jinping?” – that was the question on most Chinese lips and China observers on Monday after the nation’s Vice-President, and presumed leader-in-waiting, failed to show up for yet another scheduled meeting with a foreign dignitary – making it his fourth no-show since his last public appearance in Beijng on September 1.
China’s Finance Ministry will provide up to 14 billion yuan ($2.2 billion) in subsidies to buyers who purchase energy-saving products, including computers and air-conditioners, said a report by Xinhua on Monday, in its latest effort to save energy and raise market share of energy-saving products to more than 40 percent.
China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the nation’s top economic planning agency, has approved the construction of 25 new railway projects that will cost more than $126 billion over the next eight years and, more importantly, boost infrastructure investments to stabilise economic growth, reported the China Daily on Thursday.
What is the biggest fear hanging over China? Slowing external demand? Could it be the imbalances in its domestic economy? Or the country’s real estate bubble? While these threats are real and challenging nonetheless, debt is China’s most worrying, not to mention understated, problem. As we saw very clearly in the last two years in Europe, debt crises are often downplayed and sneak up on us when we least expect it.
Rising pork prices, coupled with a declining domestic supply, could trigger high inflationary rates across China over the next year, claimed a report by Reuters on Tuesday, with the nation’s top economic planning agency now ordering producers to stockpile its frozen pork supply ahead of a possible supply squeeze.
The China Africa Development Fund and the China Development Bank could invest close to a billion dollars to further develop the spread of digital TVs across Africa, reported the China Daily on Monday, with over 1.4 million families in 13 African countries now said to be enjoying the benefits of digital TV after the project was first implemented in 2007.
The Chinese government has set aside up to 2.37 trillion yuan ($373 billion) for investment into energy conservation and anti-pollution projects over the next three-and-a-half years, claimed a report by Reuters on Wednesday, with $155 billion of the money already earmarked for energy efficient projects that could reduce the nation’s reliance on coal.
Recent economic data has shown that China is slowing down. The question is: Should we attempt to revive growth in the world’s second largest economy? Perhaps not. As it is, China bulls have been late in recognising the unhealthy implications of China’s imbalances and, more often than not, have failed to understand that rebalancing cannot occur unless accompanied by a rise in real interest rates and a subsequent fall in investment and growth levels.
Residents in China’s Huaxi village, located in the east of Jiangsu province, will now be able to enjoy free helicopter rides around their region, reported the China Daily on Tuesday, after Huaxi village officials set up the nation’s first ever village-owned aviation company, with an initial investment of 100 million yuan ($15.7 million).
