Yangtze upper reaches growing in importance:

According to the Yangtze Waterway Bureau, the 882km section between Yichang and Luzhou has been upgraded to accommodate vessels of 1,000 dwt and barge fleets of 3,000 dwt. As a result, the Yangtze has become the main transport artery for companies in Sichuan and Chongqing.
Total freight volumes via the waterway from Chongqing, Luzhou and Yibing are reported to be greater than via rail. Last year, 68 per cent of the freight volumes to and from these major port cities carried via the Yangtze.

Seminar held on industrial transfer to the interior:

The State Development and Reform Commission invited experts and scholars from the State Council Development Research Centre, China Academy of Social Sciences and State Macro Economy Research Institute to a seminar on 28 April on the transfer of industries from the coast to the interior.
Representatives from these influential national think-tanks discussed the importance and challenges of such large-scale industrial transfer and measures that the government should take to facilitate the transfer. The seminar concluded that a planned industrial transfer would further open up the interior and also give space for the coastal region to upgrade its industries and improve its competitiveness, thereby rationalising the country’s industrial landscape.
Foreign trade in the interior region in the first quarter declined by 20.8 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2009 to US$17.4bn, 4.1 percentage points worse than the national average. Out of this total, exports slid by 16.2 per cent to US$10.3bn while imports declined 26.6 per cent to US$7.1bn.
The downturn was due primarily to the extremely low prices being fetched for primary products in world markets. Some companies exporting raw materials have either suspended production or completely shut down. Gansu province, for example, a major exporter of raw materials, recorded a decrease of nearly 52 per cent in foreign trade, the country’s biggest decline in the first quarter.
However, the interior region recorded a 46.2 per cent increase in fixed assets investment in the first quarter to Rmb504bn, 18.1 percentage points higher than the national average, largely due to the central government’s stimulus package that favours the interior.

Grade 2 highway toll stations are being abolished:

According to a press conference at the Ministry of Transport on 5 May, 1,263 toll stations on Grade 2 highways have so far been abolished, covering 70,800 km of road and amounting to 65 per cent of the national total. Toll stations in Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Fujian and Jiangxi provinces were among the first to be dismantled. During the recent May Day holiday, other toll stations in Heilongjiang, Jiling, Liaoning, Hebei, Henan, Hubei and Hunan were abolished.
The tolls were collected to pay back local government loans for building Grade 2 highways.
By 2012, all these toll stations will be abolished. In future, according to officials from the State Development and Reform Commission, Rmb26bn from the fuel consumption tax will be set aside each year to help pay back local government loans and maintain the roads.

Taxi firm prepares for Shanghai Expo:

Shanghai Dazhong Taxi, one of the best known taxi companies in Shanghai, launched its Shanghai Expo service on 5 May by presenting 100 new taxis whose drivers have been trained to speak foreign languages. By 2010, the company claims it will be able to supply 1,000 foreign language-speaking drivers. Shanghai Expo will be held between May and October 2010.
In another development, 46 taxi drivers in Shanghai have recently been suspended, fined or struck off for refusing customers on short journeys, tampering with their meter or deliberately taking detours to charge higher fares.

New sleeper service between Wuhan and Shenzhen:

Wuhan started a direct express rail service to Shenzhen, Guangdong province on 6 May. The Z23 service starts from the city’s Wuchang station at 19:49 and calls only at Guangzhou before reaching Shenzhen the following morning at 7:21. Three categories of beds, hard, soft and super soft, are available for a price ranging from Rmb263 to Rmb933.
Wuhan’s daily direct service to Guangzhou and Shenzhen now stands at nine in total. Another special service to Guangzhou will be added by the end of the year. Wuhan also operates direct rail services to Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Ningbo.
Elsewhere on the national network, a direct service linking two of China’s most popular scenic spots, Nanchang and Kunming, opened just before the May Day Holiday with occupancy rates hitting more than 80 per cent every day. The 1235/1236 service on the 1,902km line stops at 21 stations in Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces. The price for a hard seat is Rmb107 and for a hard bed Rmb230.

Nanjing shows sign of recovery in property market:

Within three days of the May Day holiday, a total of 980 new flats exchanged hands in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province. Three major property developers in Jiangsu, Xincheng Real Estate, Xixia Construction and Suning Global were said to have done so well over the past four months that their shares have soared. Shares in Suning Global alone rose by more than 20 per cent over a six-day period in late April/early May.
As property sales rise, the three companies have restarted expansion strategies, by buying new land, raising sale prices and starting new building projects.

Nantong imports record copper ore volumes:

According to Nantong Inspection Bureau, a total of 200,040 tons of copper ore concentrates came through the port of Nantong in April, a record volume for a single month. The April imports, worth US$171m, accounted for 41.3 per cent of the total in the first four months of the year. The copper ore concentrates was sourced from Chile, Peru and Australia.
In February, the central government reinstated its policy to exempt import duty on copper ore concentrates. This boosted importers’ demand for the commodity and led to the surge in April imports. Demand for copper declined sharply last year due to the worldwide economic downturn and refineries cut back on imports of copper ore concentrates, which subsequently led to low stock levels. Now, with some companies in danger of running out of stock, Nantong expects a further rise in imports of copper ore concentrates in coming months.
The inspectors are also warning of cargo shortfalls. According to official statistics, between January and April, inspectors found that five loads out of 36 of copper ore concentrates had a total shortfall of 578.4 tons, worth a compensation figure of nearly Rmb4m. In January, the vessel Thia Matina from Peru had a shortfall of 165.34 tons, or 1.5 per cent of the load claimed on the official documentation. Inspectors believe that the shortage of that vessel alone amount to Rmb1.31m in compensation.

State spending lifts Yangtze delta region:

Major cities in the Yangtze River Delta reported slower GDP growth in the first quarter of 2009 as the global downturn intensified, reported the Wuxi statistical bureau. Their aggregate GDP of Rmb1,200bn was up 7.9 per cent from a year earlier but 5.2 percentage points less than the same period in 2008.
Exports fell 22 per cent to US$91.6bn and industrial output of major companies in the cities declined 3.7 per cent. However, these contractions were more than offset by high levels of state spending and robust consumer confidence: fixed-asset investment rose 14.9 per cent to Rmb539.2bn and retail sales increased 14.6 per cent to Rmb491.3bn.
The cities studied in the analysis included Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Nantong, Yangzhou, Taizhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Shaoxing and Zhoushan.

Airlines return to profit:

China’s major airlines made a combined profit of Rmb1.3bn in the first quarter of 2009 after posting a loss of nearly Rmb30bn last year.
Air China’s profits stood at Rmb981m in the first three months of this year, down just 5.7 per cent from a year ago, while China Southern Airlines posted a net profit of Rmb222m and China Eastern Airlines made Rmb40m.
Passenger numbers for all airlines increased by 14.6 per cent in the first three months, and average seat utilisation per kilometre was 75.9 per cent, up 0.5 per cent from a year earlier, according to Yang Guoqing, Deputy Director-General of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. A cut in jet fuel prices of Rmb460 per tonne since March has also helped.
In a separate development, Air China was reported to be looking to expand its market share in Wuhan having set up a branch in the city. It currently has a 5 per cent share compared with 25 per cent for China Eastern and China Southern’s 45 per cent. In future, there will be more intense competition in the local aviation market, according to a senior executive of Wuhan Tianhe International Airport.
Air China also announced that it would start to fly express routes from Beijing to Chengdu and Chongqing.

Flu checks extend airport waiting times:

Air passengers entering China are now subject to tightened quarantine procedures against A(H1N1) influenza, which at Beijing Capital International Airport have extended average waiting times by 30 minutes.
Wang Yang, an officer at the airport’s inspection and quarantine bureau, told China Daily that it normally takes five minutes for 300 passengers to pass border quarantine, but now it takes at least 30 seconds per passenger.
Starting on 2 May, all passengers entering the mainland need to complete a health declaration form and hand it for checking to quarantine officers.The information is deemed necessary if the authorities need to trace anyone.
Passengers’ body temperatures are also checked by infrared machines. If the temperature is higher than 37 C, officers question passengers to ascertain whether they should be sent to an isolation room. There, a doctor conducts checks to determine if the passenger needs to be transferred to a designated hospital.
Ten passengers were sent to the hospital from the airport on 3 May for suspected symptoms.

Barge capsizes in Yangtze:

A barge hit rocks and capsized in the Yangtze River near Longmentan in Chongqing municipality on 27 April, dumping 900 tons of coal into the water. The five crew members were rescued uninjured. The river accident management department dispatched a patrol to clear the shipping route and temporarily anchor the wreck to prevent it drifting. Salvage efforts were started immediately and were expected to take approximately one week.
River management officials said that the coal spill would have little impact on water quality.

Shanghai investigates tunnel expansion projects:

Shanghai has launched feasibility studies into two new tunnels under the Huangpu River and an expansion project to increase capacity of the existing Xiangyin Road Tunnel. All three would link northern Pudong with northern Puxi districts including Yangpu and Hongkou.
The tunnels would help support the city’s port operations in nearby Baoshan district, where there are many container and freight terminals. Cross-river traffic in the city’s north relies largely on the Xiangyin Road Tunnel, which is heavily congested and would benefit from expansion. Traffic in the tunnel has soared from the nearly 6,000 vehicles a day in January 2006 when it opened to 80,600 at present.
When the Yangtze River Tunnel Bridge opens to traffic next year, Pudong will be connected by a fast motorway to the city’s Changxing and Chongming islands, which also house container terminals and port machinery plants.
Shanghai currently has five Huangpu River vehicle tunnels in service and a further eight are under construction.

Rail freight increases 2.4% in March:

China’s railways carried 382.1m passengers in the first quarter of 2009, up 3.8 per cent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Railways.
Some 766.24m tons of freight was transported by train in first three months, with 265.21m tons transported in March alone, up 2.4 per cent over the previous month.

Profit boost for China Railway Group:

China Railway Group, the country’s largest railway and highway builder, said first its quarter profit jumped 87 per cent year-on-year to Rmb982m. The upturn was attributed largely to China’s Rmb4,000bn economic stimulus package that includes a major focus on transportation infrastructure. Sales rose 71 per cent to Rmb60bn.
Construction equipment manufacturers are also benefiting from the infrastructure boom. During the first three months of the year, excavator sales in China totalled 24,024 units, down 10.6 per cent from the year earlier period. However the trend is improving, with more excavators were sold in March than were sold in the first two months of the year combined – 13,314 units in March versus 10,710 in January and February.

Wusteel invests in Australia iron ore project:

Wuhan Iron and Steel Group, China’s third largest steel producer, has agreed to buy a 50 per cent stake in Western Plains Resources’ Hawks Nest project in South Australia.
The two companies will set up a 50-50 joint venture to develop the site, which has estimated iron ore deposits of 5.7m tons. The Chinese company will initially invest AU$25m in a feasibility study and then a further AU$20m for future operations, Western Plains said, adding that the stake will be capped at 50 per cent.
The transaction is subject to approval of government authorities in both countries.
China, the world’s top steel producer and consumer, is seeking to secure more long-term iron ore supplies overseas via acquisitions or by taking project stakes.

Chongqing expansion for Wal-Mart:

Wal-Mart is speeding up its expansion plans in Chongqing, according to a municipal government website. In addition to a new store that opened at the start of this year, the world’s largest retailer will invest US$16.9bn to open a further four large stores, each covering an area of more than 10,000 sq metres.
Wal-Mart currently has five stores in Chongqing, and the number will expand to nine by the end of 2009. This will make Chongqing the company’s second largest market in China, after Shenzhen in Guangdong province.

Domestic cargo throughput returns to growth:

Cargo throughput at China’s main ports totalled some 500m tons in April 2009, down 1.9 per cent from a year earlier, according to an estimate by the Ministry of Transport. However, daily throughput was expected to be 3.2 percentage points higher than in March.
Cargo throughput for domestic trade was put at 340m tons in April, up 0.1 per cent compared with the same period last year. This would be the first year-on-year growth in 2009, according to the ministry. The upturn was largely attributed to the government’s Rmb4,000bn stimulus package and support plans for key industries.
By contrast, cargo throughput for foreign trade was expected to fall nearly 6 per cent year-on-year in April to 160m tons due to falling international demand.