Archives August 2017

Chinese banks should seek clients to profit

Banks in China should focus on clients to pursue higher profit and reduce reliance on capital expansion as part of reforms in the industry, McKinsey said in a report yesterday.

Banks will usually spend between 5 and 15 years on reforms in order to improve asset quality, said John Qu, senior partner of McKinsey & Company.

“Reforms in China’s banking industry is an all-out battle that involves retail, corporate, asset management, organization, information technology, and risk management risks,” said Qu. “Banks need to focus on all these six sectors to ensure success.”

Profit growth of Chinese banks hit a brake in the past five years amid interest rate liberalisation, slower economic growth, and tighter regulation against leverage.

The overall profit growth in the banking industry slowed from 13.1 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2013 to 4.6 percent in the first three months of this year, data from the China Banking Regulatory Commission showed.

McKinsey said Chinese banks will have to prioritize improving client experience across retail, corporate, and asset management units as part of their reform process, said McKinsey’s quarterly Chinese banking industry CEO report.

GE to close part of New York facility, move work to China

General Electric (GE) announced late Tuesday that it will close its manufacturing facility in Rochester, New York and move the work to China.

GE told Xinhua on Wednesday that “the assembly of the electronic boards at this facility is not core to GE’s manufacturing capabilities,” and the company has already contracted 80 percent of these products to external partner suppliers.

The company said it will close the site by June 2018 and about 90 employees will be affected by the decision.

The work will be moved to China, where it will be done by GE’s partner supplier, a U.S. manufacturing services company called Jabil, GE said.

Xiongan New Area sets up company to fund construction


Photo taken on April 21, 2017 shows the scenery of the county seat of Rongcheng, north China’s Hebei Province.

The management committee of Xiongan New Area has announced that a special company has been established to fund construction of the area.

With registered capital of 10 billion yuan (about 1.47 billion U.S. dollars), China Xiongan Construction & Investment Group is a state-owned company.

The Hebei provincial government approved its founding in July.

The company will raise fund to build houses and apartments, develop the Baiyangdian water area, and to build transport links, energy infrastructure and public facilities in Xiongan.

China announced plans in April to establish the Xiongan New Area, a new economic zone about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing. It covers Hebei’s Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin counties.

Foxconn announces increased investment in China, US

Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou has announced the company plans to increase investment in both China and the United States, according to a report released by the Securities Times on Monday.

“We are doing business. Foxconn has ambition. Market and technology are both directions we are chasing for,” Gou said in a recent interview with the newspaper.

“In terms of technology, Foxconn will have big development in China and the United States, with large investments on both sides. However, investing in one market does not mean other market’s investment will reduce.”

Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics contractor, announced on July 27 the company will invest $10 billion to build a liquid-crystal display panel manufacturing facility in Wisconsin, United States, in the next four years.

The investment will be the largest new greenfield investment made by a foreign company in the history of the US, and will create a total of 3,000 new jobs and an additional 10,000 more in the future, Foxconn revealed in a statement.

On Aug 2, media also reported Foxconn planned to spend $30 billion on the project, which would be three times the amount of money the company has previously pledged.

“We are not sure if the investment figure will reach $30 billion in the United States,” Gou said.

“Besides Wisconsin, Foxconn is also in talks with other states. We will cooperate with Michigan on next generation auto technology, such as Internet of Vehicle (IOV) and self-driving cars.”

“The Michigan investment will be unveiled soon, yet the transaction amount cannot be released,” Gou said.

Gou refused to comment on whether an Apple supply chain will partly transfer to US, but added the most important thing is to complement each other’s strengths.

Taiwan-based Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, is a major supplier to Apple Inc for its iPhones.

Rising incomes fuel ‘sense of gain’ among Chinese

Despite rising housing prices, Han Jianhua, an assistant director of a furniture company in east China’s Fuzhou City, felt confident about buying a home in the near future.

“A bicycle was all I owned when I started working five years ago. Now I drive my own car to work. My next plan is to buy an apartment and settle in the city,” he said.

Han’s monthly pay was about 3,000 yuan (440 U.S. dollars) when he started as an ordinary employee. Thanks to multiple promotions, his income has doubled.

“Including my wife’s salary, we believe it will not be a problem to buy a home after some time,” he said.

The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012 proposed to increase people’s income and boost their “sense of gain.” A series of measures have been implemented over the past five years, making sure the country’s “centenary goal” of building a “moderately prosperous society in all respects” will be realized by 2020.

In addition to continuous job creation in both urban and rural areas, the central government has worked with local authorities to raise standards for pensions, minimum wages and social welfare in recent years.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the per capita disposable income of the country was 23,821 yuan in 2016, up 44.3 percent compared with the 2012 figure, and an actual increase of 33.3 percent after adjusting for inflation.

In the meantime, the income gap between urban and rural residents is also narrowing. Statistics show that the per capita disposable income of rural residents was 12,363 yuan last year, an actual increase of 36.3 percent over 2012.

Zhang Yan, in Taiping Town in Changchun, provincial capital of Jilin, never thought he could step away from farm work and spend weeks traveling around the country each year.

“I make tens of thousands of yuan from farming and machinery rentals each year,” he said. “We no longer need to worry about food. We now want to see more of the world.”

Higher incomes have changed consumption in China.

Han Haoxuan, a native of Nanchang in east China’s Jiangxi Province, enjoys going to see movies and theater in his spare time.

“The performance market has boomed in recent years, so we have more opportunities to go to the theater and enjoy the shows,” he said.

China’s box office reached 45.7 billion yuan (6.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, attracting 1.3 billion movie-goers, data from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television showed.

Meanwhile, per capita consumption in the country was 17,111 yuan in 2016, up 33.1 percent from 2012. Average per capita consumption in cultural, educational and entertainment activities registered an annual increase of 9.1 percent between 2012 and 2016.

Spending on meat, egg, dairy and sea food products in rural areas grew as people sought better living standards, as did purchases of electric appliances and private cars.

In 2012, rural residents owned only six vehicles per 100 people. Last year, it was 17.

“The change in consumption habits leads to transformation in supply and demand, and in the end promotes the growth of relevant industries and economic development,” said Jin Xiaotong, professor at the business school of Jilin University.

Since the 18th CPC national congress, poverty eradication has been a priority for officials at all levels. Targeted poverty alleviation has transformed the lives of tens of millions of Chinese people below the poverty line.

According to official data, there were 98.99 million impoverished rural people in 2012. By the end of 2016, the figure was reduced to 43.35 million. About 14 million people shook off poverty each year on average.

Rural residents in far west Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have become paid workers at workshops in their villages thanks to assistance programs that pair companies and provincial governments from China’s developed eastern and southern regions with poor areas in Xinjiang.

Kiwi fruit, peppers, peaches and tobacco produced in the remote mountains of central China’s Hunan Province, home to one of the poorest regions in the country, have become hot sellers, thanks to better transportation and preferential agricultural policies.

The 18th CPC national congress set a goal for rural and urban residents’ per capita incomes to double by 2020 compared with 2010. Official data showed that by 2016, the per capita disposable income of the country registered an actual increase of 62.6 percent over the 2010 level.

A promising employment situation and economic development have provided powerful support for the rapid growth of incomes in China, said Gao Wenshu, a researcher at the Institute of Population and Labor Economics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

“Looking at the current situation, the ‘income doubling’ goal is likely to be realized before 2020,” he said.

Salary and potential trump city size among job hunters: survey

After graduating from the Communication University of China in Beijing, Chen Xiao left the capital to work for an education institution in Southwest China’s Chongqing municipality.

“I don’t have a sense of belonging in Beijing. It is hard for me to get used to the climate and life style,” Chen said.

“Rent, traffic expenditure, and meals take a large bite out of our salaries,” Chen said. “And if I stay in Beijing, it’s likely that most of my time will be occupied by work.” Life is not only for working, she added.

“I know it is very hard to live there. Many people work in Beijing for some years and then return to their hometowns, saying their work experience can help them gain better jobs. But I think it is better to return after university,” she said.

Chen is one of a growing number of graduates who choose to leave first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and work in second-tier cities such as Wuhan, Changsha and Chengdu.

Although small and less developed, these cities have favorable conditions, including entrepreneurial incentives, housing subsidies, registered residence permits, or Hukou, and settlement policies, to encourage talent to live and work here.

Instead of swarming to first-tier cities, more students said salary and development space were more important factors than city size when they came to decide in which cities to start their career, a recently survey found.

The survey, which was conducted by a research center under China Youth Daily, canvassed 2,002 college students and graduates, and found 64.3 percent said salary was the first thing they considered when choosing which city to base themselves in, followed by the potential for career development, at 59.3 percent, and city size, 43.9 percent.

Around 59.9 percent said they hoped second-tier cities could provide a more relaxing environment for employees and entrepreneurs, while 49.7 percent said the cities’ preferential terms were attractive.

Compared with first-tier cities, second-tier equivalents needed to improve public service systems, according to 63.7 percent of respondents, with 58.3 percent saying they hoped these cities could expand their economic volume and create more jobs. About 33 percent of respondents said promoting cities’ soft power was crucial.

This year, the number of college graduates in China is expected to reach 7.95 million, an increase of 300,000 over last year, according to the Ministry of Education.

Some second-tier cities have offered various preferential policies to attract talents during graduation season. The most alluring policies for graduates are incentives for employment or starting up businesses (65.9 percent), favorable housing policies (64 percent) and easier Hukou policies (51 percent), the survey shows.

Jian Xinhua, a professor with Wuhan University, said high-quality labor was an important factor that could drive city development. Higher living costs and cut-throat competition in megacities was daunting. With favorable employment terms, second-tier cities would become more attractive to college graduates, it was added.

Live-streaming host becomes most in-demand job for Chinese college students

Live-streaming host is a most sought-after job for more and more Chinese college students.

Though the new profession is not well accepted by society, especially by parents, nowadays it is not rare to see college students hosting online broadcasts.

A junior student from Tsinghua University has earned at least 10,000 yuan (close to $1,500) since she started teaching high school students on a major live-streaming platform a month ago. In fact, this is a common story for a great number of Chinese college students.

Huajiao is the first Chinese live-streaming platform that offers a “college channel.” According to the site, more than a million college students from 98.7% of the country’s universities are using the platform to host shows. More than 10,000 of them are students from elite universities, 1,000 of whom are studying at Tsinghua University and Peking University, China’s top two schools.

College students have improved people’s impression on the profession. Rather than low-quality and vulgar performances, they are providing shows with more intelligence and talents.

Flexible working hours and high income are the major reasons for students to choose the emerging profession. Statistics show that the average monthly salary of college broadcasters on the platform of Huajiao is 16,000 yuan. Some earn as much as 1.9 million yuan a month, 275 times of the 2016 average monthly salary of white collar workers in Beijing.

A survey conducted by Communication University of China found that a quarter of China’s college students have hosted shows on live-streaming sites.

With further development of the industry, there will be more and more college students taking up the profession.