9th October 08

The Australian

Chinese iron ore demand is slowing

FEARS heightened yesterday that China's demand for iron ore was slowing. Mount Gibson Iron announced that its customers in the economic powerhouse wanted to delay shipments. In a note to the Australian Stock Exchange, managing director Luke Tonkin said customer and iron ore sector analysis indicated a slowdown in demand for iron ore in China as a result of economic uncertainty and tightening credit facilities. He said this had led to reductions in steel production and the significant build-up of iron ore stockpiles at Chinese ports.

Sydney Morning Herald

China's rate cut reflects change in global role

IT MAY go down as the day the economic balance of power shifted in Asia. In a move weighted with symbolism, China reduced its official interest rate within minutes of cuts by the US Federal Reserve and five other major central banks late on Wednesday night, while Japan, the world's second-biggest economy, stayed on the sidelines

Asia Times Online
Beijing restrains buying urge
By Antoaneta Bezlova

BEIJING - The Wall Street fire-sale has prompted economic pundits in China and elsewhere to call on Beijing to snap up stakes in United States financial institutions and further China's influence on global financial power. But China's response to expectations at home and abroad has been unassuming. Although fortified with great liquidity and large reserves, Chinese banks and government investors have preferred to sit on their hands rather than go on a shopping spree of tumbling Wall Street firms.

China's farmers can bank on land
By Verna Yu

HONG KONG - Thirty years after the launch of economic reforms in China, the government will to all intents and purposes privatize farmland, making a last departure from the state monopoly of socialism. The 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) begins its four-day third plenary session today to endorse new policy principles about rural reforms with a focus on allowing the country's 800 to 900 million farmers to freely transfer their land-use rights - effectively letting them freely trade their farmland.

Milk scandal sours China's 'soft power'
By Willy Lam

More significantly, China's export of tainted milk products - which has come on the heels of contaminated cosmetics and pet food as well as dangerous toys and furniture - has severely damaged the goodwill and "soft power" that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has tried to gain through multi-billion dollar "prestige-engineering projects" such as the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

China lost in SE Asian space
By Peter J Brown

While much has been made of the bold new steps taken by China's space program, the country has still failed to transform these accomplishments into meaningful and profitable private sector applications. This failure is most evident in its inability to crack the Southeast Asian satellite communications market.