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We’d like to wish all our readers and China Works customers a very happy Xmas and New Year! We hope you’ve enjoyed reading our blog in 2009, and hope you’ll continue to follow us in 2010!
Kind regards,
The China Works team
Adam, PO, Alex, Xiaoxi, Laoli, Yanhanbin, Rachel, Vincent, Fred, Gary and Steve
A television ad produced by a New York agency and being broadcast globally on CNN is aiming to refashion the global image of products manufactured in China. The “Made in China. Made with the world” ad campaign promotes the involvement of international companies and technologies in China’s manufacturing industries.
Among the goods promoted in the ad are an MP3 player, which is tag-lined: “Made in China with software from Silicon Valley,” a sexy dress that is branded: “Made in China with French designers,” while a refrigerator is marked ”Made in China with European styling”.
According to official government figures, more than half of China’s manufacturing exports “were made by foreign funded enterprises, and for high-tech products and electronic products the proportions were 83 per cent and 75 per cent respectively.” Chinese manufacturing output currently accounts for around 15 per cent of total global output.
The 30-second ad, which features only non-Chinese actors, was financed by four Chinese trade associations and China’s Ministry of Commerce.
Sceptics may argue that this was carefully timed ahead of the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, others may argue that it shows the way forward for state-sponsored investment in green technologies – but clean-tech seems to be the buzz industry at present, not least because China’s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp (CIC), is splashing out HKD5.5 billion to buy a 20 per cent stake in GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd, a Hong Kong-based power plant company.
Under the deal, CIC and GCL-Poly will set up a new joint venture company to “invest and develop photovoltaic or other solar energy projects with an initial capital of USD500 million,” according to Chinese state media. Founded in 2006 and listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2007, GCL-Poly, is described as the country’s largest polysilicon producer.
The move follows US President Barack Obama’s November visit to China, during which the US and China signed a joint statement to enhance cooperation on climate change, energy and the environment. Among the green manufacturing initiatives announced was the launch of the China-U.S. Electric Vehicles project, which has targeted putting “millions of electric vehicles on the roads of both countries in the years ahead.”
Is The Chinese RMB Set For Revaluation?
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009Importers and exporters should keep a close eye on the value of the Chinese currency, the RMB, in the coming weeks. Having being effectively pegged at around RMB6.8285 to the US dollar for the duration of the global recession – in order to assist its export economy – China appears to be preparing the ground for a reassessment of the RMB’s exchange value.
State media this week reported comments from Zhang Zhijun, China’s Vice-Foreign Minister, that “the RMB rate’s flexibility may widen.” This follows a similar hint from the People’s Bank of China earlier in the month, and the publication of figures that showed October’s fall in China’s export growth occurred at its slowest year-on-year pace this year, dropping 13.8 per cent – following a 15.2 per cent decline in September.
Although it has faced down strong global pressure to revalue its currency, which many analysts believe is considerably undervalued, China seems likely to make some minor exchange rate tinkering. Adding intrigue to the equation is the fact that the 12th China-European Union Summit in Nanjing at the end of November will feature discussions between top officials from both the European and Chinese Central Banks.
Tags: china, revaluation, RMB
Posted in In the news, News commentary | 2 Comments »