Industry Reports

China’s Provincial Retail Statistics for 2011

By Julia Gu

Also included: Figures on Chinese tourists’ retail spending abroad

Feb. 9 – According to preliminary data released from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, retail sales of consumer goods totaled RMB18.12 trillion (US$2.88 trillion) nationwide last year, up 17.1 percent year-on-year. While growth was 2.2 percentage points lower than the increase in 2010, China’s retail industry is expected to remain relatively strong in the near future amid declining export demand and a cooling real estate market – aided largely by the country’s expanding middle class population. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, FDI and Foreign Trade, Retail | Tagged China Consumption, China Provinces, China Retail, Luxury Goods | Leave a comment

China Grants Tax Incentives to Logistics Industry

Feb. 6 – In a move to further boost its logistics industry, China is now allowing logistics enterprises to pay less urban land use tax (ULUT) on lands occupied by their commodity warehouses.

According to the “Circular on the ULUT Policy Concerning the Lands Occupied by Logistics Enterprises’ Commodity Warehousing Facilities (caishui [2012] No. 13)” co-issued by the Chinese Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation, between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014, land occupied by a logistics enterprise’s self-owned commodity warehousing facilities (for both self-use and renting out) are subject to 50 percent of the ULUT those enterprises were originally supposed to pay based on related regulations. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Finance, Tax and Accounting, Legal and Regulatory, Regulatory Update, Shipping & Logistics | Tagged China Logistics, China Logistics Industry, China Shipping, China Urban Land Use Tax, China Warehousing Facilities | Leave a comment

Twitter – When Freedom of Speech Collides with Business Interests

By Vivian Ni

Feb. 3 – Twitter, the U.S.-based micro-blogging service provider, has recently found itself at the receiving end of criticism due to its new policy that will allow content censorship on a country-by-country basis. The policy adjustment may have revealed Twitter’s interest in returning to the cash-flowing Chinese market, where the government implements strict internet censorship regulations and blocks an array of Western social media web sites.

In a blog post last Thursday, Twitter said that it had refined its technology and gained “the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country – while keeping it available in the rest of the world.” Previously, when the company took down a post at the request of a country’s government, the “tweet” invariably disappeared across the worldwide web. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, FDI and Foreign Trade, Technology | Tagged China Freedom of Speech, China Internet Censorship, China Online Information Filtering, China Social Media, Facebook, Social Media, Twitter, Twitter Censorship Policy, Weibo | Leave a comment

Relax. South China Exports and Manufacturers are Doing Just Fine

Op/Ed Commentary: Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Feb. 1 – With some media spotlighting potential problems in South China – and one blog even going so far as to suggest smart Chinese businessmen are queuing up to attract orders, only to deliberately declare bankruptcy – it’s time to look again at the realities of the situation. The actual business environment in South China is something we are qualified to discuss with some knowledge – our firm, Dezan Shira & Associates, has four regional offices there (Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Zhongshan) and has conducted business in the region for 20 years, while our Regional Partner Alberto Vettoretti is an adviser to the Shenzhen Government. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, FDI and Foreign Trade, Manufacturing, South China | Tagged China Exports, China Manufacturing, Chris Devonshire-Ellis, Dezan Shira & Associates, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, South China, Zhongshan | 9 Comments

WTO Orders China to Remove Export Restrictions on Industrial Minerals

Will rare earths be next?

By Vivian Ni

Feb. 1 – Following two years of investigation, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) Appellate Body ruled on Monday that China’s use of export duties and quotas on nine types of industrial materials has breached free trade rules. The ruling could affect the organization’s judging of other similar cases where export restrictions are used to hoard domestic natural resources.

The case, filed in 2009 by the United States, the European Union (EU) and Mexico, accused China of imposing trade barriers to the exports of nine minerals: bauxite, zinc, yellow phosphorus, coke, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon carbide and silicon metal, all of which are widely applied in industrial production. Continue reading →

Posted in Chemical & Pharmaceutical, FDI and Foreign Trade | Tagged China Export, China Rare Earths, China Raw Materials, China US Trade Disputes, China WTO | Leave a comment

American Express Extends Reach to China’s e-Payment Market

By Vivian Ni

Jan. 30 – Although China has made it more difficult for foreign investors to enter its e-payment sector over the last year, the potential profits offered by the country’s massive consumer population are proving too attractive to miss. Recently, American Express – the U.S. financial service provider that has long considered China as its critical strategic market – established a new partnership with a growing Chinese payment service company, Lianlian Group, by means of equity investment and technology authorization.

AmEx said on January 18 that it will license its digital wallet Serve – a next-generation commerce technology developed to target lower-end consumers – to the Zhejiang-based Lianlian Group. The Chinese company will be allowed to apply the technology in its payment services, but will not necessarily use the Serve brand. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, East China, Markets, Technology | Tagged American Express, China Online Payment Lisence, China Online Payment Market, China Third-party Payment Market, Lianlian Group, People's Bank of China, Tencent TenPay | Leave a comment

International Sanctions on Iran Put Pressure on Chinese Diplomacy

Jan. 24 – Recent sanctions placed on Iran by the United States and European Union, aimed at pressuring the Iranian government into halting its nuclear weapons program with a trade embargo, have caused a serious diplomatic dilemma for China – a major importer of Iranian oil.

The United States has introduced new legislation which will allow for punitive sanctions on foreign banks and businesses facilitating the Iranian oil trade. In a move that demonstrates the conviction of the U.S. authorities for upholding the new law, oil firm Zhuhai Zhenrong has been the first Chinese business placed under sanctions for selling petroleum products to Iran. Continue reading →

Posted in Economy and Politics, Oil & Petroleum | Leave a comment

Transfers of Natural Resource Use Rights Subject to Business Tax

Jan. 23 – China’s State Administration of Taxation (SAT) recently clarified the tax treatment towards transfers of natural resource use rights.

According to the “Circular on Business Tax (BT) Policies on Natural Resource Use Right Transfers (caishui [2012] No.6)” issued on January 6, 2012, transfers of natural resource use rights – namely transfers of the rights to explore, exploit and employ natural resources – will be regarded as one type of intangible asset transfers. Continue reading →