Apec condemns 'murderous' attack
Apec leaders issued an unprecedented statement condemning the "murderous deeds" committed against the United States on September 11 - but fell short of backing US strikes on Afghanistan. For the first time in its 12-year history, the Apec summit strayed from its economic agenda to "unequivocally condemn in the strongest possible terms" the attacks. (SCMP, 22 October)

China to lift ban on deals by blacklisted CSFB
According to Jin Liqun, China's vice-minister of finance, Credit Suisse First Boston in no longer barred from future deals in China. "We also hope that CSFB will continue to contribute to the peaceful unification of the motherland," he said. The move comes days after CSFB's chief executive travelled to Beijing in an attempt to persuade officials to lift the ban on the investment bank that has been in place in China since it organised meetings between Taiwan's finance ministry and investors in Europe earlier this year. Until its outburst at CSFB in late August and September, Beijing had rarely moved to punish foreign companies for their involvement in Taiwan. Although Beijing appears to have been successful in warning other investment banks through its treatment of CSFB, it may also have set back its efforts to be regarded as an increasingly modern economy on the brink of joining the World Trade Organisation. (Financial Times, 19 October)

Export Commodities Fair started in Guangzhou
The 90th China Export Commodities Fair started in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province. The biannual fair has been China's largest and highest-level exports event since the first was held in 1957. The 12-day fair features 8'153 exhibition booths. (People's Daily, 15 October)

China's foreign trade growth slows down
China's export and import volume reached USD 376.4 billion in the first three quarters, up 9% from the same period last year. Of which export was USD 195, up 7%; import was USD 181.4 billion, up 11.2%. China's trade surplus was down USD 5.6 billion from the same period last year. The growth of foreign direct investment was recovering, with an actual investment of USD 32.2 billion, up 20.7%. (People's Daily, 16 October)

China's fixed asset investment sees momentum in growth
China's investment in fixed assets in the first three quarters stood at RMB 2.1221 trillion, up 15.8% from the same period last year. Investment in the central and western areas of the country increased 3.8 and 7.2 percentage points higher than coastal areas. (People's Daily, 16 October)

China's forex deposits continue to grow
China's foreign exchange deposit continued to grow in the third quarter, with the outstanding amount reaching USD 134.79 billion. In the first nine months, China's foreign exchange deposits increased by USD 6.03 billion. Corporate deposits of the total foreign exchange deposits were USD 46.71 billion, up 7.3%; residents' foreign exchange savings deposits were USD 79.4 billion, up 16.2%. (Xinhua, 16 October)

Going west on target
Zhang Guobao, vice-chairman of the State Development Planning Commission, said at the ongoing APEC 2001 meetings in Shanghai that China's western development strategy is being implemented smoothly and has achieved significant progress. The nation has so far invested RMB 686 million in the 1'143-kilometre Qinghai-Tibet railway. Among the projects transmitting electricity from west to east, seven key projects, started simultaneously at the end of last year and are progressing smoothly. The pipeline project sending gas from west to east is also making progress. The project diverting water from south to north is undergoing a feasibility study. China launched the western development strategy after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, so as to expand domestic consumption and maintain its economic growth. Active financial policies have been adopted to reach that goal In the past four years, a total of RMB 510 billion in treasury bonds have been issued, mostly for infrastructure construction. (China Daily, 16 October)

Overseas contracts at stake
The US-led strikes in Afghanistan are expected to bring more Western engineering firms to Central Asia, challenging the strong presence of their Chinese counterparts there. Since the US and Britain launched air raids on Afghanistan, almost all Chinese construction companies have suspended their projects in neighbouring Pakistan. Overseas contract engineering has been a major source for China's foreign currency reserve. Between January and August, Chinese firms completed overseas projects valued at USD 6.58 billion, and obtained contracts worth USD 9.2 billion. (Business Weekly, 16 October)

China's national economy keeps steady growth in first three quarters
China's GDP reached RMB 6.7227 trillion (USD 807 million) in the first three quarters, up 7.6% from the same period last year. (Xinhua, 17 October)

Shanghai plans to be shopping paradise in five years
Shanghai is planning to turn itself into an international shoppers' paradise as well as a logistical network and digitized modern business mecca, according to the municipal's Tenth Five-Year (2001-2005) Plan for business development. A regulation accompanying the plan rearranges the city's business centers into seven areas such as downtown centers, district centers and community centers. (People's Daily, 17 October)

Acceleration in September's industrial growth
China's industrial output picked up in September, rising a year-on-year 9.5% to RMB 235.2 billion. The growth rate was 1.4 percentage points higher than in August and July. Over all, industrial output rose a year-on-year 10.3% in the first nine months of this year. The value of delivered industrial exports rose 5.7% year on year in September to RMB 137.4 billion. (SCMP, 17 October)

Central bank keeps tap on for growth
The central bank has reaffirmed its policy of boosting money supply to help spur economic growth, which has slowed due to the global downturn. The broad M2 money supply, as at the end of September, rose 13.6% from a year earlier to RMB 15.2 trillion. M1, was up 12.3% at RMB 5.7 trillion. M0, or currency in circulation, rose 8.4% to RMB 1.5 trillion. The growth rates of M2 and M1 were higher than the mainland's economic growth plus consumer price inflation in the first nine months. Outstanding deposits at mainland financial institutions, including banks, were RMB 13.9 trillion as at the end of September, up 15.9% from a year earlier. Corporate deposits were up a year-on-year 14.9% to RMB 4.9 trillion while personal savings were up 12.7% to RMB 7.1 trillion. Outstanding loans at China's financial institutions were up 12.3% year on year to RMB 10.9 trillion. (SCMP, 17 October) The country's M1 includes M0 and institutional demand deposits, while the broader M2 includes M1, personal deposits, institutional time deposits and other types of deposits.

Tax cut for rural credit cooperatives
China has cut the business tax rate for rural credit cooperatives to 5%. The tax cut is aimed at helping resolve the difficulties faced by such cooperatives. China's 40'000 rural credit cooperatives hold about RMB 1.6 trillion in deposits. But they are plagued by a high ratio of non-performing loans, many of which were driven by political pressure to support rural enterprises. (AWSJ, 18 October)

Zhu urges greater push on exports
Premier Zhu Rongji has called for greater efforts to accelerate export growth to keep strong economic expansion on track. He reiterated the need for better co-ordination between China's customs bureaus, quality inspection bureaus, foreign exchange administration, banks and tax bureaus to support the country's exports. China's exports for the first nine months rose 7% year on year, far below last year's 27.8%. Also, third-quarter exports decelerated to 3.9% year on year compared with the 8.8% growth in the first half. (SCMP, 19 October)

Markets end at 20-month lows on fears of fund outflow
The already weak stock markets have suffered another blow on news that China-listed companies may withdraw as much as RMB 12 billion before the year ends. This has led to fears that there will be an increased outflow of institutional funds from China's stock market for the rest of the year, dealing another blow to market sentiment. (SCMP, 19 October)

Investors see China as bright spot
China's robust economic confidence on display at the summit in Shanghai was boosted by a stream of new investment commitments by foreign business leaders attending the meeting. The heads of Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, General Motors and Applied Materials all timed announcements entrenching their presence on the mainland to coincide with their presence in Shanghai. (Financial Times, 20 October)

Phoenix TV receives Guangdong rights
Phoenix Satellite Television has received approval to send its signal into China through cable networks, making it the first foreign firm to gain legal broadcasting rights in the country. Shares of Phoenix TV, which is 38.25% owned by Star Group, a unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, climbed 15% following the sanction given by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, China's broadcasting regulatory body. (SCMP, 20 October)

Fortis claims China-wide insurance license
Belgium-Dutch financial services provider Fortis bought a 24.9% interest in the Tai Ping Life, which has a license for life insurance for the whole of China and is part of the China Insurance Group. Meanwhile, its foreign competitors are limited to certain regions, mostly Shanghai and Guangzhou. The transaction still has to be approved by the relevant Chinese authorities. (www.cbiz.cn, 20 October)

FEER introduces China Briefing
See below the link to the first two issues of a new weekly section introduced by the Far Eastern Economic Review.
http://www.feer.com/

Weekly Market update		19 October 2001	12 October 2001
Shanghai A		1640.40	1764.98
Shanghai B		146.25	155.03
Shenzhen A		476.45	514.28
Shenzhen B		235.11	252.55
Hong Kong Red Chip		1117.50	1245.66
Hong Kong H		1684.46	1691.18
Source: South China Morning Post