Market news
China Benchmark Stock Index Falls as Economic Growth Slows
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601089&sid=awj5Km_CXN6g
hina’s benchmark stock index dropped the most in a month as banks and industrial companies fell after government data showed consumer price growth accelerated and economic expansion slowed. Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. tumbled the most since its July debut. An index tracking bank shares snapped an 11-day winning streak as the fastest inflation in 23 months fueled concern policy makers will add to this week’s interest-rate increase. Sany Heavy Industry Co. and China Railway Erju Co. slumped more than 2 percent after the economy grew 9.6 percent in the third quarter, the smallest gain in a year.
China’s Economy Slows
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304011604575564001925040186.html
China’s gross domestic product rose 9.6% from a year earlier in the third quarter, slowing from 10.3% growth in the second quarter, official data issued Thursday show, as the government withdrew stimulus and took measures to cool sectors such as the property market. The moderation in economic growth was in line with economists’ expectations. Given the central bank’s surprise decision to raise benchmark interest rates earlier this week, the data likely indicate the authorities are comfortable with the current slowdown and are more concerned about rising inflation and property prices.
China 9.6% Growth Adds Weight to Calls for Yuan Gains
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601089&sid=aXFisq5p1EA8
China’s economy grew 9.6 percent in the third quarter and inflation accelerated to the fastest pace in almost two years, adding weight to calls for the engine of the global recovery to let its currency appreciate more rapidly. Growth exceeded the 9.5 percent median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Consumer prices jumped 3.6 percent in September from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said in Beijing today. That matched the median forecast.
China’s September CPI rises 3.6%
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2010-10/21/content_11439301.htm
China’s consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge to measure inflation, rose by a 23-month high of 3.6 percent in September from one year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.
The growth rate was 0.1 percentage point higher compared with that in August, the NBS said. On a month-on-month basis, China’s CPI grew 0.6 percent in September from August. In the first three quarters China’s CPI grew by 2.9 percent, the NBS said.
China’s Sept PPI up 4.3%
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2010-10/21/content_11439544.htm
China’s producer price index (PPI), a major measure of inflation at the wholesale level, increased by 4.3 percent year-on-year in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Thursday.
On a month-on-month basis, China’s PPI grew 0.6 percent in September from August, the NBS said.
China’s Jan-Sept fixed asset investment grows slower
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2010-10/21/content_11441741.htm
The growth of China’s fixed assets investment during the first nine months shows signs of slowing, according to figures released by China’s statistics authority Thursday. The country’s total fixed assets investment rose 24 percent for the January-September period year on year to 19.22 trillion yuan ($2.89 trillion), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement published on its website.
Urban household income grows to 15,756 yuan in Jan-Sept
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2010-10/21/content_11439640.htm
In the first nine months of this year, the per capita income of urban households totaled 15,756 yuan ($2,369) and of which, the disposable income was 14,334 yuan, up 10.5 percent year-on-year. The real growth is 7.5 percent after deducting price factors, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Thursday.
Zhou Wrestles With BRIC Capital Inflow Dilemma: China Credit
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601089&sid=aFy9TfMXrECs
China’s surprise decision to raise interest rates this week highlights the challenges facing the world’s developing nations as they struggle to keep capital inflows from destabilizing their economies. The increase in borrowing costs, the first since 2007, comes after policy makers ordered the largest banks last week to set aside more funds as reserves for the fourth time this year and allowed the fastest pace of yuan gains since 2005 in September. Government data today showed economic growth slowed in the third quarter as inflation accelerated to a 23-month high.
Beijing, Fighting Traffic, Considers Car Limits
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/10/21/china-fighting-traffic-considers-car-limits/
Beijing officials are mulling limiting the number of cars on city roads in order to ease worsening traffic congestion, according to state media (report in Chinese). At a forum on urban development, Liu Yumin, deputy director for the Beijing Planning Commission, said, “Traffic problems will not be resolved by gains made in other areas.
Industry news
Chinese home buyers heading overseas
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2010-10/21/content_11438599.htm
Individual Chinese investors are quickening their expansion into the overseas property market as tightening measures on the sector at home continue to restrict their opportunities. So far, 13 local governments have rolled out policies to restrict the number of homes that a family can purchase. The further increase in down payments for both first and second homes has also raised the cost of investment.
Rare-Earth Prices Soar as China Quotas Hit Manufacturers Abroad
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601089&sid=aAEXcbYs4CCg
Rare-earth prices have jumped as Chinese export quotas crimped worldwide supplies for the elements used in the manufacture of disk drives, wind turbines and smart bombs. Prices have climbed sevenfold in the last six months for cerium oxide, which is used for polishing semiconductors, and other elements have more than doubled, according to Metal-Pages Ltd. in London, which tracks rare-earth prices.
Company news
Sinohydro Group boosts African stakes
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2010-10/21/content_11438559.htm
Sinohydro Group, a leading State-owned group in hydropower construction, will increase its investments in Africa, said a senior company official. “We are conducting a series of projects in some African countries, including a copper and cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and two hydropower stations, one in Mozambique, and the other in Zambia. We are also looking closely at investment opportunities in Liberia,” said Ding Zhengguo, assistant president in charge of overseas projects for Sinohydro Group, on Tuesday.
Shenzhen Zhongjin Shuts Zinc Smelter on Toxic Leak
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Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan Nonfemet Co., China’s third-largest zinc producer, suspended output at its Shaoguan smelter after authorities found that excessive levels of thallium were discharged by the plant into a river. Operations at the smelter were halted from today with the stoppage estimated to reduce the company’s net earnings by about 27 million yuan ($4.1 million) a month, according to a company statement to the Shenzhen stock exchange. The effects of the toxic spill into the Beijiang River have been controlled and measures have been taken to ensure the safety of drinking water, the company said.
Facebook Game Makers Kabam, Zynga Turn to China for Development
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Facebook Inc. game developers Kabam and Zynga Game Network Inc. said they will increasingly turn to Chinese software designers to make games for the website, tapping engineering talent in the Internet’s largest market. Kabam, maker of the Facebook game “Kingdoms of Camelot,” set up a Beijing studio in May that has two unannounced titles under development, as many as are in progress at the company’s U.S. studios, Andy Lee, Asia managing director for Redwood City, California-based Kabam, said in an interview yesterday. Zynga, maker of the “FarmVille” and “Mafia Wars” games on Facebook, said it wants to harness China’s faster pace of innovation.
