China Insight

Beijing – China’s newly-appointed railway minister has said the country will continue to develop its high-speed rail network as planned even after its former minister was ousted. Sheng Guangzu, who took office on Feb 25 to replace former railway minister Liu Zhijun, made the remarks on Saturday when responding to questions whether China’s policy of [...]

“In the case of China, there is a lack of balance, co-ordination and sustainability in economic development.” Who would dare to make such a downbeat assessment of the world’s most dynamic economy before a gathering of infliential foreigners in the heart of China itself?  The answer is Premier Wen Jiabao at the recent “summer Davos” [...]

Japan’s largest carmakers made more cars in China last fiscal year than ever before, as surging demand in the booming Asian nation continued to drive a global recovery in car manufacturing. Due in part to the global financial crisis, China has passed Japan and the US to become the world’s No 1 car market. Carmakers [...]

While China’s National People’s Congress in a rubberstamp legislature, its annual plenary session – which kicks off Friday – offers a good window into the thinking of the nontransparent Chinese Communist Party elite. This year’s theme is the economy.  That in itself isn’t news, but the economic focus is shifting.  While the 2009 NPC harped [...]

Chinese automobile dealer Zhongsheng Group Holdings Ltd has shelved its planned US$1 billion Hong Kong initial public offering due to volatile market conditions, a person familiar with the situation said Tuesday. The switch is the latest blow to the Hong Kong market, which has seen a number of weak IPOs in recent weeks due to [...]

China will target a higher budget deficit this year of more than one trillion yuan (S$205 billion), a senior lawmaker said yesterday. Yin Zhongqinq, deputy head of the financial and economic committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s largely ceremonial parliament, also said that Beijing would again permit provincail governments to issue their own bonds [...]

King Stone Energy Group, a chemical and optical products maker diversifying into coal mining, plans to grow its coal output capacity fivefold by developing existing mines and through acquisitions. The company aims to spend 452.9 million yuan (US$ 66.4 million) to raise the capacity of its first mine near Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, to [...]

More than 2,000 assembly line workers in Dongguan staged a three-day strike after state newspapers reported that authorities were considering raising the manufacturing heartland’s minimum wage amid a labour shortage. Workers at Lacquer Craft Manufacturing in Daling Mountain town complained their Taiwanese employer had refused to pay them a reasonable wage even though nearby factories [...]

Premier Wen Jiabao should be more upbeat than a year ago when he delivers China’s version of the state of the union address at the opening of the legislature’s annual session on Friday and then faces the media at its close. Wen’s annual report to the nearly 3,000 national People’s Congress deputies will spell out [...]

A joint editorial in 13 mainland newspapers has called on the nation’s top legislative body to abolish the hukou system – strict population controls that have split the country into rural and urban areas for decades. The editorial appeared in metropolitan newspapers from 11 provinces and areas yesterday on the eve of the annual meetings [...]