US Dollar Exchange Rates of 15th July. 2009
China Yuan 6.8317
Report from China
Chinese economy shows slight rebound
According to an article recently posted on China’s
National Bureau of Statistics website, China’s economy
has turned around after a period of decline. The article
indicates that due to a series of macro economic regulation
and control policies adopted by the governments, the
performance of Chinese economy has shown an upward
growth trend since the fourth quarter of last year.
In terms of GDP trends, based on major economic
indicators from April to May of this year, it is forecasted
that the growth rate of GDP in the second quarter would
reach to nearly 8%. In terms of industrial production, it
also rose since March, climbing 8.3%, 7.3% and 8.9% in
March, April and May respectively. Electric energy
production continued to rise since March and was close to
10 billion kilowatts per hour.
The article anticipates that the Chinese economy has
overcome the recent difficulty and will gradually recover.
However, it warns that since the world economy is still in
a deep recession, some long standing contradictions in the
domestic economy such as waning foreign demand,
surplus productive capacity and possible inflation would
continue to emerge.
China explores possibility of rural furniture markets
As one of the important measures to expand domestic
demand, the Chinese Furniture Association is starting a
movement called ‘furniture rustication’ to assist farmers in
rural areas of China. ‘Furniture rustication’ involves
furniture associations, in cooperation with relevant sectors,
such as finance, industry and commerce, selling furniture
in rural areas applying incentives so farmers can buy
furniture at lower prices. It has been reported that the four
largest furniture markets in the south, north, east and west
of China will participate in this activity. These four
markets are located in medium and small cities, serving
both urban and rural areas.
Furniture exports slow through Jiangsu ports
According to statistics from Nanjing Customs, the value of
furniture exports through Jiangsu ports were USD 91.75
million from January to May 2009, up 15.8% over last
year’s value, but the export growth rate fell by 18.8
percentage points. The furniture exports through Jiangsu
ports in the first five months showed the following trends:
- The monthly growth rate of the first three months
remained over 15%, of which, the growth rate in March
2009 reached a peak of 39%. However, the growth rate in
April fell 1.5%, which was the first negative growth rate
since 2008. Exports in May rose 0.2% over the same
period of last year and up 0.5% over last month of 2009.
- From January to May, furniture exports were valued at
USD51.84 million, down 16.6% and accounting for 56.6%
of total export value.
- Furniture exports to the US, Japan and EU through
Jiangsu ports from January to May 2009 were valued at
USD37.59 million, USD21.99 million and USD21.23
million, rising 10.3%, 72.7% and 3.5% respectively. The
export value to these three markets accounted for 88% of
total exports through Jiangsu ports.
- From January to May 2009, furniture exports from
foreign enterprises and private enterprises were valued at
USD52.88 million and USD32.18 million, up 21% and
22%, respectively, amounting to 92.7% of total exports
through these ports.
According to experts, the slow growth rate of furniture
exports through Jiangsu ports resulted from slow trade and
reduced demand in the international market.
Bamboo successfully used in housing construction
Mr. Zhang Qisheng of Nanjing Forestry University and
Mr. Lu Zhitao of Dongnan University have worked
together to develop a new type of anti-seismic house built
with bamboo-based material and is expected to be used
widely across rural areas of northern Jiangsu Province.
The roof, external wall and corridor of the two-storey
building are made from bamboo materials as are indoor
materials such as flooring, chairs and decks, stairs and the
ceiling. Built with reorganized bamboo material which is
light weighted and of high strength and durability, this
new type of house has the advantage of cool in summer
and warm in winter. The house has also the advantage of
being low cost, with a 220 m² house including indoor
decoration and labor costing an average RMB500,000
yuan.
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