Chinese Economics Thread

AssassinsMace

Lieutenant General
I read that story when it came out and it just shows how manipulative the media is. Why is that a story? Is it something about how the Chinese military can takeover civilian transportation for its own personal use? During the first Gulf War the US military under law took control of civilian aircraft and cruise ships to send all those troops to the Middle East.
 

Equation

Lieutenant General
LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) - China's banks are strengthening their position as the best capitalised and biggest profit makers in the world, a study showed on Monday.

Chinese banks filled the top four spots for profits across the industry in 2014 after making more than $180 billion between them, according to The Banker magazine's annual rankings of profits and capital strength. Chinese lenders collectively earned almost double the amount of their U.S. rivals, the data showed.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's (ICBC) $59.1 billion profit last year topped the rankings, ahead of China Construction Bank, Agricultral Bank of China (Agbank) and Bank of China.

U.S. bank Wells Fargo ranked fifth with a $33.8 billion profit, followed by JPMorgan and HSBC.

ICBC also topped The Bankers' ranking of the strongest banks in the world for the third year, which is based on the amount of capital held, in amount rather than as a ratio of assets. The magazine says that method best reflects banks' ability to lend on a large scale and endure shocks.

China had four names in the top six strongest banks. There were four U.S. banks in the top 10 - JPMorgan was third and Bank of America was fifth - and one British and one Japanese bank.


China's big state-backed banks are growing in size and importance, fueled by their dominance of a huge domestic market. They are growing internationally, but still have relatively modest overseas assets.

In constrast, some of the most international U.S. and European banks are slipping down the rankings as they close businesses and shed assets to try to improve profitability.

HSBC slipped to ninth at the end of last year (from fifth in 2013) and Citigroup was seventh (from sixth). HSBC, Citi and Royal Bank of Scotland were the top three banks in terms of capital just before the financial crisis in 2008.

The Banker said in most regions banks increased their profits last year from 2013.

The best returns on capital were made by banks in South America at an average of 26 percent, followed by 24 percent for African banks, 19 percent in Asia and 15.5 percent in North America. Returns in Britain averaged 7.3 percent and lagged at 4.6 percent in the Eurozone, The Banker said.

Italian and Greek banks made the biggest losses last year, with Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena the worst performer with a $9.3 billion loss.
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
 

Equation

Lieutenant General
Countries from five continents formally signed up to the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank at a ceremony on Monday, officials said, as Beijing steps up its global diplomatic and economic role.

Australia was the first country to sign the articles of association creating the AIIB's legal framework in the Great Hall of the People, an AFP journalist saw, followed by 49 other founding members.

Seven more are expected to do so by the end of the year.

The bank will have a share capital of $100 billion, with $20 billion paid in initially, the document showed.

The bank "will provide new opportunities for our businesses and also promote sustainable growth in Asia", said Singapore's senior minister for finance and transport Josephine Teo, who represented the city-state.

The AIIB has been viewed by some as a rival to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, and the United States and Japan -- the world's largest and third-largest economies, respectively -- have notably declined to join.

Beijing will be by far the largest shareholder at about 30 percent, the articles of association posted on the website of China's finance ministry showed. India is the second biggest at 8.4 percent with Russia third on 6.5 percent.

The voting structure gives smaller members a slightly disproportionately larger voice, and a statement accompanying the articles said China will have 26 percent of the votes.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Supporters of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank say fears over undue Chinese influence are ov …
The share is not enough to give Beijing a formal veto over the bank's decision-making, but it will still have an outsized say.

Among non-Asian participants, Germany is the largest shareholder with 4.5 percent, followed by France with 3.4 percent and Brazil on 3.2 percent.

The AIIB is expected to go into operation later this year and its headquarters will be in Beijing, despite calls from Indonesia that it be based in Jakarta, further cementing China's prominence in the institution.

But all financial terms in the agreement are in US dollars, rather than China's currency, the renminbi, and the bank's working language will be English.

- Transparency concerns -

Only 50 of the 57 countries that have applied for founding membership signed up in Beijing on Monday, and the finance ministry said the remainder -- Denmark, Kuwait, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, South Africa and Thailand -- have yet to ratify the necessary agreements.

Washington sought to dissuade its allies from taking part but European countries including Britain, France and Germany have rushed to sign up as they seek to bolster ties with the world's second-largest economy.

There are some concerns over transparency of the lender, which will fund infrastructure in Asia, as well as worries that Beijing will use it to push its own geopolitical and economic interests as a rising power.

The articles of association promise the bank will "be guided by sound banking principles in its operations" and "ensure that each of its operations complies with the Bank’s operational and financial policies, including without limitation, policies addressing environmental and social impacts".

But equally vague statements in the past have done little to soothe critics.

Supporters say fears over undue Chinese influence are overblown, and that the participation by more than 50 countries will dilute Beijing's power.

The articles of association specify that the bank's president must come from the Asian region and will serve a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms.

In Tokyo, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said: "We hope the AIIB will play a role as a financial institution that contributes to Asia's development while meeting standards of international institutions, including for its governance.

"We'd like to watch it closely, including its actual operations."
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
 

Franklin

Captain
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
The reasons why this is happening.

First is the growing income of the people. This makes the country as a whole more prosperous and wealthier as a result people deposit more money into the banks.

Second the Chinese banks have to set aside 18% of their capital as per the RRR requirement.

Third most of the loans in China has gone into industry and infrastructure and that combined with the rising income means big profit for the banks as the loans are paid back with interest.

But there are also problems. Some of the investments are not profitable and the loans cannot be paid back. Also there are a lot of SOE out there that are losing money but has been kept a float by bank loans they get because of their political connections. I'm also worried about the fact that the Chinese government is loosening the grip on monetary policies as the economy slows. Rather its the interest rate cuts or the lowering of the down payment people have to make on their mortgages from 40 to 30% to now 20% or that the banks are allowed to use more and more categories of their on balance sheet money for loans. This increase the risk of financial bubble's and malinvestments. The government is doing all of this because of a decrease in loan demand in the economy.

This is one example of the propaganda.:mad: The people writing this on CNBC either don't know or don't care that the reason why stock prices are falling in China is because of the government crackdown on margin debt.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
 

Equation

Lieutenant General
The reasons why this is happening.

First is the growing income of the people. This makes the country as a whole more prosperous and wealthier as a result people deposit more money into the banks.

Second the Chinese banks have to set aside 18% of their capital as per the RRR requirement.

Third most of the loans in China has gone into industry and infrastructure and that combined with the rising income means big profit for the banks as the loans are paid back with interest.

But there are also problems. Some of the investments are not profitable and the loans cannot be paid back. Also there are a lot of SOE out there that are losing money but has been kept a float by bank loans they get because of their political connections. I'm also worried about the fact that the Chinese government is loosening the grip on monetary policies as the economy slows. Rather its the interest rate cuts or the lowering of the down payment people have to make on their mortgages from 40 to 30% to now 20% or that the banks are allowed to use more and more categories of their on balance sheet money for loans. This increase the risk of financial bubble's and malinvestments. The government is doing all of this because of a decrease in loan demand in the economy.

This is one example of the propaganda.:mad: The people writing this on CNBC either don't know or don't care that the reason why stock prices are falling in China is because of the government crackdown on margin debt.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Yeah but how many "too big to fail" banks did China had like back in 2008 that required tax payers money to bail them out in the Trillions of dollars? China have far more savers than debtors to creditors. The government does a good job of keep an eye on the economy and banking situation than Fannie Mae, Freddie Mack, or Lehman Brothers could do.
 

broadsword

Brigadier
China-designed train will replace older, foreign models

0023ae9885da16fd694306.jpg


The bullet train, with an operational speed of 350 km/h, will undergo a wide range of tests in Beijing over the next two months. [Photo/Xinhua]
Tests of the first Chinese-standard bullet train began in Beijing on Tuesday as the country moves toward replacing all foreign-standard models with the domestically developed version, a senior official said.

"The new bullet train has been developed based on our own standards and technologies and is designed to be better adapted to China's environment and rail transport patterns," said He Huawu, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chief engineer of China Railway Corp.

"We will gradually replace all in-service bullet trains with this new type. The move will greatly reduce our production, operational and maintenance costs."
The trains currently running on the country's high-speed rail network have been designed and built in accordance with various foreign standards.

This forces China Railway Corp to run a number of different support and maintenance programs for trains made to different specifications, keeping operating costs high. The lack of a Chinese-standard bullet train has hampered the nation's efforts to export its rail technology and products.
The former railway ministry, China Railway Corp's predecessor, launched a program to develop Chinese-standard bullet trains in 2012 with engineers from 30 institutes and companies.
They were told to design trains that would be suitable for the many different types of terrain found in China while maintaining the highest quality standards.

"The new train, with our full intellectual property rights, will facilitate our efforts to export China's railway products and technologies," said He. "Compared with other models, it is safer, more comfortable and economically competitive."

Two prototypes with an operational speed of 350 km/h and a top speed of 400 km/h will undergo a wide range of tests at the China Academy of Railway Sciences in the capital over the next two months.

The trains will then cover 600,000 kilometers in trial runs on the Taiyuan-Yuanping section of the Datong-Xi'an high-speed line, said He.
 

Blackstone

Brigadier
There are more than 90 million individual stock investors in China now, more than people in the CCP. Quite an achievement. But to put it in context, a Gallup poll showed in 2011, about 54% of Americans investment in stocks or mutual funds, so there's a lot of room to grow for Chinese investors.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

tock investors of the world unite! For the first time in modern China, you outnumber the Communists.

The nation’s $8.1 trillion equity market now has more than 90 million individual investors,
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. That compares with 87.8 million Communist Party members at the end of last year, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported June 29, two days before the 94th anniversary of the party’s founding.

It’s safe to assume this is not what Mao Zedong envisioned when he led the Communists to power in 1949, and it presents tricky challenges for President Xi Jinping. A record number of Chinese citizens flocked to the stock market over the past year as the Shanghai Composite Index doubled. Now, that boom is at risk of turning into a bust after the benchmark tumbled more than 20 percent from its June 12 peak through Monday, leaving many retail investors bruised and undercutting the nation’s already sluggish economy.

“As more people get burned, the government feels more pressure,” said Ronald Wan, chief executive officer of Partners Capital International in Hong Kong. “A disorderly decline will affect stability in the Chinese economy.”

The Shanghai Composite has been on a roller coaster, taking the new class of stock novices along for the ride. It jumped 5.5 percent Tuesday after earlier falling as much as 5.1 percent in the most volatile trading since 1992 on speculation the government would take steps to stop the rout. About $1.9 trillion in market valuation evaporated over the last two weeks amid concern that a year-long rally accompanied by record borrowing and surging valuations can’t be sustained.

State Support
The Shanghai measure dropped 0.4 percent at the midday break on Wednesday.

Policy makers have urged investors to react to the fluctuations with calm while at the same time moving to appease them. On Saturday, following the stock plunge, the People’s Bank of China cut the benchmark interest rate to a record low. The Economic Observer reported that the government is considering a reduction in the stamp tax. Meanwhile, the finance ministry said it will allow pension funds to invest in shares.

Xi’s government is counting on a robust stock market to wean companies off borrowing. Individual investors may need some weaning, too. They’ve borrowed 2.08 trillion yuan ($335 billion) from brokerages to buy stocks in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Systemic Collapse
“The authorities are always sensitive to moves in the market because they fear a systemic collapse,” said Anthony Neoh, a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore and a member of the Chinese securities regulator’s international advisory body. “A healthy stock market has to be a priority question for the administration, if only because it assures social stability.”

China added more than 7 million individual equity traders in June through the 26th, according to the Chinese clearinghouse, which started compiling the number of investors in May, replacing the original data set on stock accounts after regulators allowed investors to open multiple accounts. More than 40 million accounts were added in the 12 months through May.

By comparison, 1.1 million people joined the Communist Party last year, down from an increase of 1.6 million in 2013, according to
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. Membership growth has slowed as Xi presses ahead with the widest crackdown on corruption in the party’s history, snaring about 100,000 officials in the past two years.

Stock Frenzy
Stock ownership in China still has plenty of room to grow. Equities account for 20 percent of financial assets in Chinese households, compared with 45 percent in cash and bank deposits, according to a Charles Schwab Corp. survey released in January.

Still, the past year’s stock frenzy has been extreme, leaving many investors vulnerable to “nasty, nasty reversals,” according to Fraser Howie, the co-author of “Red Capitalism: The Fragile Financial Foundation of China’s Extraordinary Rise.”

“There’s nothing wrong with greater stock market investment and there’s nothing wrong with diversification from simply savings,” Howie, a former managing director at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, said in a phone interview from Singapore. “But the difficulty in China is that none of what’s been happening in the past few months can be called investment. It’s all speculation.”
 
Top