Business in Brief

Updated petroleum prospecting technology used in the DaqingOil Field in recent years has allayed fears stemming from gloomypredictions in the 1990s that its reserves would dwindle and its futurewas uncertain.In the past 3 years,184.52 million tons of petroleumand 8.381 billion cubic meters of natural gas have been prospectedin Daqing.According to the president of PetroChina CompanyLimited,with rational exploration Daqing Oil Field reserves will lastanother 100 years.     

The Pig Breeding Industry Benefits Anhui Farmers

DEVELOPING a modem stockbreeding industry is quickly becoming a sure path to prosperity for thousands of Chinese farmers in Anhui Province. Located in the hinterlands of east China, Anhui specializes in raising livestock, especially pigs. In 2007, Anhui had 13.34 million live pigs on hand and sold 23.6 million pigs on the market, r＇orK output was 2.025 million tons, accounting for 62.5 percent of the province＇s total meat production, making pig breeding the province＇s leading sector of its animal husbandry industry. As prices have risen and supplies contracted over the past two years,     

Integrated Vision

<正>Coordinated development of the Beijing--Tianjin--Hebei region brings benefits and convenience Every morning,Feng Weili,a 35-yearold banana dealer in Xinfadi Agricultural Products Logistics Park in Gaobeidian,Hebei Province,needs to prepare more than 340 tons of fruit for vendors from neighboring regions.Covering an area of 138 hectares and with an investment of 5.4 billion yuan($849 million),the market boasts 1.4 million square meters of     

Investments Stream into Ningbo

THE past decade has witnessed notable improvement in the economicperformance of the Ningbo Economic and Technological DevelopmentZone. The gross industrial output value rose to 17.5 billion yuan lastyear from 250 million yuan in 1990, and export value increased 12folds. By March 2000, 14 of the top 500 international companies,including Exxon Corporation and Abbott Laboratories from the UnitedStates, Mitsui Co. Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corporation from Japan, hadinvested in the zone, and inv…     

Society

正Self-sufficient Food Supply China’s recently released Food and Nutrition Development Outline 2014-2020 set the goal of securing the country’s annual grain output at above 550 million tons by 2020.According to Zhang Hui,an official from the Ministry of Agriculture,China has long adhered to the principle of self-dependence in food sup-     

Facts and Figures in Tibet 2007

Total retail sales figures for consumer goods reached RMB 11 .2 blllton （US S1.59 billion） in 2007, up 24.9 percent year-on-year over the previous year. The output growth of Tibet＇s industrial sector hit RMB 2.6 billion （US S368.8 million）, increasing by 17.7 percent from the previous year.     

Energy Transformation on a Roll

ACCORDING to the National Statistics Bureau, China＇s gross energy consumption in 2009 mounted to 3.1 billion tons of standard coal, confirming China＇s image as a real powerhouse of global energy consumption. Although its per capita consumption is still low - the equivalent of 2.33 tons of standard coal in 2009 as compared to 10.37 tons in the United States, unfortunately China＇s energy composition is dominated by coal, whose utilization is currently inefficient. Then there are its other drawbacks - the scars and stresses sustained by environments during mining and burning. Hence,     

Moving on Up

Around 200 km away from Beijing, Caofeidian used to be a sandy island 8 km long and less than 600 meters wide. In 2003, a highway that would run through the island in the Bohai Sea began construc-tion. Following its completion, a blowing land reclamation project was begun, creating a 210-square-km piece of artificial island from the sea area. The site is where Shougang Jingtang Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. sits, making it the very first iron and steel company with an annual output of over 1 million tons located by a port.     

A Growing Economic Development Zone

In 2007, Yangpu surpassed Haikou for the first time in terms of the growth of industrial added value. Within five years, the development zone alms to achieve a total fixed asset investment of RMB 50 billion, an annual industrial output value of RMB 100 billion, a local GDP of RMB 30 billion, a total tax income of RMB 12 billion, a local revenue of RMB 2 billion and an annual port throughput capacity of 70 million tons.     

Focus

Rural Population to Drop by More Than Half in 30 Years
Hart Jun, chief of the Rural Economy Section of the Development Research Center of the State Council, told the media recently that China＇s rural population will fall from the present 900 million to 400 million in three decades. The latest census shows that the nation has a farming population of 720 million, with an additional 17 to 18 million who work in cities but are still registered as farmers in their residential documents.     

Photo News

January 6,2014
Workers crush 6.2 tons of confiscated ivory and ivory sculptures in Dongguan, Guangdong Province in the first such public destruction of the country＇s stockpile so demonstrating China＇s resolve to stamp out the smuggling of wildlife products.     

Realities and Opportunities——Chinese Private Enterprises in Africa

正IN recent years,growing numbers of Chinese enterprises have initiated investment in Africa.From2009 to 2012,China’s direct investment in Africa increased from US$1.44 billion to US$2.52 billion,with an annual growth of 20.5 percent.Over the same period,China’s cumulative direct investment in Africa rose from US$9.33 billion to US$21.23billion.Currently,over 2,000 Chinese     

Sci-Tech Progress Will Propel China’s Agriculture——An Interview with Chen Xiwen, Deputy Director of the Central Rural Work Leading Group and Director of Its General Office

CHINA’s grain output hit 571 million tons in 2011 - 24.7 billion kilograms more than the previous year,so achieving eight consecutive years of sustained grain production growth. The country has also set a new record by maintaining more than 500 million tons of annual grain production over the past five years.There is,however,an old Chinese saying,"If people are to eat every day,crops must be plantedevery year." Both natural and human factors have created uncertainties in China’s grain production.Maintaining grain security is a constant topic in a country with such a large population.Under the challenges of abnormal climate,rising costs and farmers’ waning enthusiasm for growing crops,what does the future hold for China’s agriculture? To find out,China Today interviewed Chen Xiwen,deputy director of the Central Rural Work Leading Group and director of its general office.     

China Steps Up Anti-poverty Effort in Arid Western Areas

China＇s State Council, or the cabinet, has decided to further extend a program that involves special funds for infrastructure and other projects in three particularly add and poor areas in the country＇s remote northwest. While extending the program from 2009 to 2015, the government also decided to raise the annual total funding from 200 million yuan （29.2 million U.S. dollars） to 300 million yuan.     

Housing Market Challenges

<正>According to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS),the number of unsold homes in China has kept growing since 2011,with the total area of unsold homes rising from 272 million square meters at the end of 2011 to 686 million square meters by October 2015.These NBS figures are particularly striking considering that they only take into account unsold homes that have sales permits.Meanwhile,the number of unsold homes without the permits is much larger.     

China and Africa ;ooperate in Petroleum Industry

AFRICA is rich in oil resources. In 2014, Africa＇s proven reserves were estimated at 132.1 billion barrels, more than North America and the Asia-Pacific combined. The three most oil-abundant countries on the continent are Libya （46.4 billion barrels, 3.4 percent of world total）, Nigeria （37.2 billion barrels, 2.7 percent of world total） and Angola （13.5 billion barrels, one percent of world total）. Africa＇s oil output is rising due to new technology and exploration. It is estimated that proven oil reserves will grow by 15 billion barrels in the next five years, eventually accounting for one quarter of all oil outside the Gulf area.     

Economic Transition in Daqing Oilfield

LOCATED in Northeast China, Daqing Oilfield is the largest in the country. It is witness to all the trials and tribulations that China's petroleum industry has experienced in the course of its development. Between 1959 and 2004, more than 1.8 billion tons of crude oil was pumped out of Daqing Oilfield, and it maintained annual crude pro-duction levels of over 50 million tons for 27 consecutive years. During that time, Daqing Oilfield earned a total of RMB1 trillion for the national trea…     

Seeking a New Trade Pattern

Last year, China's trade surplus totaled $101.9 billion, more than triple that of 2004, arousing great concern among its trade partners. According to statistics recently released by the General Administration of Customs, China's monthly trade surplus in January this year rose 46.7 percent from a year ago to $9.49 billion, while its total trade volume rose 26.8 percent year on year to $120.5 billion. Exports from China grew to $64.9 billion in January, a 28.1 percent rise over the same period last year, and imports hit     

Housing:Erstwhile Welfare,Current Commodity

BACK in 1980, the per capita housing space of Chinese urbanites averaged less than five square meters; in Beijing and Shanghai it was less than three square meters. By late 2005, however, this unit of space had increased to more than 26 sq m, despite a leap in the urban population from 190 million in the early 1980s to its current 540 million. Chen Huai, director of the Policy     

Torts Extend the Long Arm of the Law

THE Tort Law of the People＇s Republic of China will be formally implemented on July 1,2010. For the aspirations of the judiciary, the law proves particularly timely. Statistics show that the number of cases relating to ownership or rights infringement is increasing year by year, from over 980,000 in 2007 to 1.03 million in 2008.