China's economic growth speeds up (again)

The world's second-biggest economy grew 7.8% from a year earlier, up from 7.5% expansion in the previous quarter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24576773

Is China's economy in trouble?

3min radio article - Data from China shows that the world's second biggest economy has experienced its slowest growth for three years. Miranda Carr, China expert and head of research at NSBO, told the Today programme that the Chinese economy is being hit in two ways.

Firstly the European slowdown is affecting the exports market, and secondly property investment in China is slowing down. She told Simon Jack that in order to keep things stable China are "moving into stimulus mode" and investing in infrastructure, such as airports and railways, and housing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9723000/9723876.stm

China's factory activity weakest this year

Activity in China's biggest and mainly state-owned factories has hit the lowest point this year due to weak domestic demand.

China's purchasing managers index (PMI), which measures activity in factories, fell to 50.4 in May, official data showed.

It is the weakest reading this year. Analysts had forecast a reading of between 51.5 to 52.2.

Analysts said China may now stimulate the world's second-biggest economy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18291873

Economist - Special report: China's economy

SIMON COX, our Asia economics editor, discusses China's economy, its powerful state-owned enterprises and its scope for future growth.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2012/05/special-report-chinas-economy

Domestic consumption - http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2012/05/chinese-spending-public-and-private

Inequality in China: Rural poverty persists as urban wealth balloons

The rapid growth of China's economy over the past three decades has been greeted with largely unquestioned assumptions that increasing affluence would lead to a happier, wealthier and more equitable society.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13945072

Will China grow old before it can grow rich?

Shanghai is one of the fastest ageing places on Earth.

By the year 2050, a third of Chinese people, 450 million, will be aged over 60 and with fewer workers and people to support the elderly, there are concerns the country's future prosperity could be at risk.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18102872

More text detail - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18091107

China trade ministry increases rare earth export quota

China has allowed more companies to export rare earths, increasing the quotas set by the government, after they met environment standards.

It has increased rare earth export quotas by 10,680 tonnes, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday. The announcement brings the total quotas issued so far this year to 21,226 tonnes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18112986

China's property price fall sparks growth worries

Chinese property prices have continued to fall during April after the government kept policies in place to curb speculation.

Newly built home prices fell in 46 of 70 mainland cities in April from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18113398

Lies, damned lies...what about statistics in China?

Chinese commodities data has a reputation for being skewed. One economist shows Reuters how he tries to sort fact from fiction by prowling the country’s ports and warehouses.

http://uk.reuters.com/video/2012/05/10/lies-damned-lieswhat-about-statistics-in?videoId=235214214&videoChannel=2603

China looks to rebalance growth as it faces slowdown

Drip by drip, the financial data coming out of China is leading some to ask serious questions about which way this economy is heading.

Purchasing managers are reporting falling factory activity, banks are reporting rising bad debts, and the property market is cooling dramatically.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17580962

Signs of trouble in China's soaring skyline?

China's strong consumer base has kept the country stable in times of global economic uncertainty. But alternative economic indicators may now be pointing to tougher financial times for the world's second-biggest economy. The country's towering skyline, made up of plenty of new but vacant buildings, is a sure indicator for many that it is heading for trouble. Half of all the world's skyscrapers currently under construction are in China. And like New York in the run-up to the Wall Street crash of 1929, or Dubai before the 2008 financial collapse, analysts point to the link between building for pride and an impending economic fall. Al Jazeera's Rob McBride reports from Hong Kong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6QZFWzmKPA

Gok Wan - made in China

China is a manufacturing colossus. Britons are surrounded by products sporting the legend 'Made in China'. Gok Wan returns to his ancestral home to explore the largely unseen world of Chinese mass production, meeting the people working in the factories that supply the West.
He visits the village his father grew up in for the first time as part of a journey of discovery round a country that now produces one in every four man-made objects on the planet.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/gok-wan-made-in-china/4od

China grows older before it grows rich

The number of old people in China is soaring – and there will soon be fewer young workers to support them. China's economic miracle was fuelled by young people. So how can a country that is still developing cope with what some call a demographic timebomb?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/mar/21/china-grows-older-rich-video

US imposes solar duties on China because of subsidies

The US has imposed duties on Chinese solar panel manufacturers after it said that they received unfair subsidies.

Chinese exporters into the US - including Suntech - will now face customs tariffs of between 2.9% and 4.73%, the Commerce Department said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17450718 

China raises fuel prices for second time in a month

China has raised the price of petrol by about 6% and diesel about 7% for the second time in 2012, as it struggles with the rising cost of crude oil.

Global oil prices have been high because of tensions with key supplier Iran.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17441176 

What's driving China's pursuit of financial success?

Inside, workers use elbow grease and polish to bring out the best shine on Ferraris, Bentleys and Porsches, all lined up in neat rows.


A few decades ago, when China was still trying to build a communist paradise, these symbols of wealth would not have been welcome on Beijing's streets.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13670982

Lagarde says China must reform economy and yuan

Courtesy of Mikhail - International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Christine Lagarde has said that China must stop its economy being too dependent on exports and investment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17425356

Might China's economy stumble?

China, along with other emerging countries, is the great hope for global economic growth. 

The developed economies, bruised and aching, are pulling themselves slowly back to their feet after the Great Recession.

As Western consumers and governments struggle to get on top of their debts, they are not going to be the source of booming demand for goods and services they were in the last decade.

China by contrast slowed down a bit in the recession and then rapidly got back to something like full speed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13802453 

Rare earths mining: China's 21st Century gold rush

Rare earth metals have become some of the world's most valued resources.

They are found in almost every car, gadget and household.

After the US stopped the excavation of rare earth materials China now has a monopoly on its production.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13777439

China has said it will cut exports of rare earth minerals by 10% in 2011.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12088195 

China's super-rich

Shanghai-based entrepreneur Dai Zhikang has global ambitions.

The 47-year-old property developer, with a personal net worth of $1.2bn, says it is time for China to tread a global stage.

Dai is one of the most sophisticated business operators in China. His spiritual approach makes him unusual amongst China's property developers, and motivates the way he blends architecture, interior design and psychology.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13926120 

The super-rich - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13802453 

How China spends it's wealth - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13284481

China's thirst for luxury is a boom for yacht builders - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13320620