In the latest preliminary figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics, covering November 2009, the seventh consecutive month of accelerating economic performance was recorded.

Key figures for November include:

Year on year growth in production was 22% for heavy industry and 12% for light industry.

Uurban investment in fixed assets reached 16,863.4 billion yuan in the year up to and including November rose  up by 32.1 percent year-on-year, or 5.3 percentage points higher than that in the same period of last year.

For foreign companies looking at China, however, the a promising figure is the rises in imports:  26.7% higher in November from a year earlier. China’s trade surplus narrowed to $19.9bn in November form $24bn in October.

For the details form NBS, see

http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/newsandcomingevents/t20091211_402606768.htm

A new survey by Omnicom Media Group has revealed some positive findings.  The online research conducted among more than 3,500 consumers (age 18-65) across seven Asia-Pacific markets (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand) last month, found that most consumers agree the economy has improved over the last 6 months and continues to do so.

Most of the consumers questioned said they plan to continue their disciplined spending behaviour.  However, a significant minority – around 45% in China and 39% in India – is now ready to increase their expenditure.  This compares to 26% in Malaysia, 24% in Hong Kong, 18% in both Thailand and Singapore, and just 8% in Australia.  Although China and India have suffered some slowing of their respective economies, the overall impact of the global recession has been less severe than in many of the other Asian economies.

In Singapore, 20% of consumers have put off the purchase of computers or computer accessories, with one in five also delaying buying a mobile phone handset.

Meanwhile in Malaysia, 35% have postponed automotive purchases, 31% have put off buying computer accessories, and 30% have delayed travel plans.

As well as delaying purchases seen as non-essential, further strategies employed by consumers to deal with the recession have included switching to cheaper brands and using less of a product/purchasing it less frequently.

China’s national stimulus package has benefited energy conservation and emission controls, with energy used to generate growth dropping further in the first quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.  Energy intensity, or the amount of energy needed to generate a unit of GDP, dropped 2.9% year on year from the first quarter of this year.  Overall energy consumption grew only 3% in the first quarter from a year earlier, while the economy expanded 6.1%, the bureau said.

Sources: CBBC, Xinhua, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, FCO Country Updates and other news sources.

Better than expected economic data from China are likely to raise hopes that the world’s largest emerging economy could help to pull the rest of the world out of recession.  The National Bureau of Statistics announced an 8.9% jump in industrial output in May, compared with a 7.3% rise in April.

Sources: CBBC, Xinhua, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, FCO Country Updates and other news sources.

In an article for the latest issue of China-Britain Business Review, Lord Davies of Abersoch, Minister of State for Trade and Investment, acknowledges that the global downturn has served to highlight the importance of emerging economies, insisting that their continuing development will prevent the world economy from entering a deeper recession this year.

There is no doubt in his mind – nor in that of many experts – that China will be a key driving force in helping the global economy to recover.  China is already the world’s third largest economy, ranks among the fastest growing, and still has massive potential for growth.  China has not and will not be completely immune to the effects of the recession, but in contrast to most countries, whose economies are expected to contract this year, even the most pessimistic projections suggest that China’s growth for 2009 will be over 6%.

From a UK perspective, China is the United Kingdom’s fastest growing major trading partner, with UK-China trade having grown at double-digit rates for the last decade.  In addition, British businesses are now the biggest European investors in China.

Britain and China have already developed excellent trade relations, and both countries and their respective economies will only benefit further from increased ties.

Market research specialists such as B2B International can conduct market entry and market assessment studies across both the UK and China – and indeed the rest of the world – which are tailored specifically to your company’s needs.  A number of organisations – UK Trade & Investment and China-Britain Business Council to name but a few – are also on hand to offer further general advice and information.

For any businesses interested in investing or expanding into China, or simply wishing to get some idea of the potential this vast country has to offer, why not contact one of our offices?

China: +86 (0)10 6515 6642, beijing@b2binternational.com 

UK: +44 (0)161 440 6000, info@b2binternational.com 

USA: +1 914 761 1909, newyork@b2binternational.com 

PetroChina, the Shanghai-listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), and mainland China’s biggest producer of oil, recently became the largest company in the world.

Following a stock-price rise of 3%, taking its total market value to some $336 billion, PetroChina is now the most valuable company in the world.  It is worth approximately $100 million more than fellow Oil & Gas giant, United States-based Exxon Mobil.  Industrial Bank of China (Banking), China Mobile (Telecommunications) and China Petroleum (Oil & Gas) are three further Chinese companies which rank among the biggest in the world.

China’s overall economy became the third largest in the world earlier this year, now resting behind just the U.S. and Japan.  Many economists expect China to overtake Japan within the next few years to gain second spot.

It seems that wherever you look articles and opinion on the world financial crisis abound, ranging from the position that we have note even seen the worst yet to “the green shoots ” view first expounded by Norman Lamont in the UK during the last major downturn to hit western economies. Being based in Beijing, the prevailing view of that we come across tends towards the optimistic. For example a recent China Daily article pointed to a survey of senior marketing managers suggesting that three quarters believed that China’s economy will recover faster than those in the west, and that a full turnaround was due within a year. Nothing particularly striking here, although it is definitely worth looking into what is being said in more local publications, and to look at what factors are causing this apparent relative optimism.

According to the People’s Daily earlier this week (see the following link in Chinese http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2009-04/28/content_241737.htm企业业绩在回升（企稳回暖看亮点）《 人民日报 》2009年4月28日09版) there is evidence at a general level that many of China’s listed companies expect to see growth or increased profitability in their performance by the middle of this year. This improved performance is expected to be “concentrated” in construction, biomedicine, transportation, electrical, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery industries. It is almost certainly no coincidence that these industries are focused on domestic demand rather than exports and are also subject to promotional policies and the stimulus plans. These sectors are predominantly the preserve of domestic companies, including State Owned Enterprises, what then of markets with major foreign participation? Are there any reports backing some of the optimism we have heard about?

Let’s take the automotive industry, a business that by any standards is undergoing a tough time globally. The 2009 Shanghai International Auto Show that was held in April for example, featured debuts of 13 new types of car from international auto brands, a record over previous show. China’s “International Finance News” (http://finance.people.com.cn/GB/71364/9168265.html从上海车展看跨国车企“中国信心”–《国际金融报》 2009-04-21 第08版) commented that this indicates the continued strength of the Chinese auto market, currently the world’s largest.  Again, government policy received some of the credit for this dynamism, as “many senior managers have repeatedly emphasized the confidence in the Chinese market from the sound development of China’s macro-economic and macro-economic policies” as Shenyang Daily reports “我们对中国市场充满信心”《沈阳日报》2009年03月30日. Similar sentiments are found in other industries, for example Haitian, a leading plastics manufacture quoted on the specialist plastic chemicals website plaschem99 report that domestic demand has passed its trough, again stimulated by government measures. They do however point out that as around 40% of their sales are exports, the future there is hard to predict. (http://plas.chem99.com/news/545575.html –海天08年业绩衰退 但对中国市场信心满满 卓创资讯 2009-4-14 9:10:59). 

Last year, an increase in demand for whisky from China and India – two of the world’s biggest and fastest growing economies – was largely responsible for strong growth and expansion among Scotch whisky makers.  This year, Chinese demand in this specialist beverage market is said to be causing a global whisky shortage!

In 2007, total global sales of all whiskies amounted to 495 million liters.  In 2008, malt whiskies demonstrated a 5% increase in worldwide sales, with even higher sales growth in China.

According to the Scotch Whisky Association, $1 billion has been invested across the Scotch whisky industry for 2008-2009, much of which is expected to be used to expand production capacity.

90% of all Scotch whisky produced is exported; exports rose 4% to a record $5 billion in 2006. At this time, whisky sales accounted for 25% of Britain’s total food and drink exports.

Sales in China have been soaring – rocketing from $2 million in 2001 to $1.1 billion in 2006 (helped by a 65 to 10% drop in tariffs in 2001).

However, the sheer size and the preferences of the Chinese market are now causing a global shortage at the top end of the market (for 12-year-old and older malts).  Reports claim that so much whisky is being exported that distilling companies in Scotland have been forced to ration supplies.

To find out more about the work we do in the Food & Beverage Industry, call +86 (0)10 6515 6642 or visit: http://www.b2binternational.com/China/b2bsectors/food.php

The Chinese government has, this week, increased its estimate of how much its economy grew during 2007.

With GDP growth being revised from 11.9% to 13% - equating to 25.7 trillion yuan ($3.5 trillion) – China’s economy in 2007 overtook Germany’s to become the world’s third largest.

For a country whose economy has grown tenfold in the past three decades, this latest statistic only serves to reinforce China’s position as an economic superpower.

Merrill Lynch economist Ting Lu predicts that China will overtake Japan as the world’s second largest economy in “only three or four years”.  The United States, at $13.8 trillion in 2007, remains the world’s largest economy by a considerable distance.