CX Daily: China’s 10-Year Struggle for Ecological ‘Red Lines’

Ecology /

In Depth: China’s 10-year struggle for ecological ‘red lines’

A winding rural road leads to an area of green and dense forests where the Donghe River flows down from the mountains. Located on the river banks are villages where ethnic Miao people have lived for generations.

Soon, the area containing several nature reserves and the Xiangxi UNESCO Global Geopark will be home to the Daxingzhai reservoir, the largest water conservancy project in the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture of Central China’s Hunan province.

The reservoir is a national- and provincial-level infrastructure project deemed key to the local economic development. The problem is, it will occupy about 200 hectares (494 acres) of land that is deemed to be part of an artificially defined ecological conservation red line (ECRL).

Evergrande crisis /

State firms join new Evergrande risk management committee

China Evergrande Group (03333.HK) said it set up a risk management committee as the possibility of a formal default loomed amid the developer’s ongoing debt crisis.

The announcement came as a 30-day grace period for $82.4 million in coupon payments on two bonds came to an end Monday with no word from the company.

The committee of seven will be headed by Chairman Hui Ka Yan and includes executives from state-owned enterprises.

Indebted developer Kaisa sells HK office for debt repayment

FINANCE & ECONOMY

Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo: VCG

Economy /

Roundup: Closely watched Politburo meeting signals focus on stability

China’s top leadership made stability its top economic priority for next year, indicating it will redouble efforts to support the economy as growth slows, analysts say.

At a Monday meeting led by President Xi Jinping, China’s Politburo vowed to expand domestic demand, promote the healthy development of the property industry and strengthen technological development, according to (link in Chinese) the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The Politburo, the Communist Party’s top decision-making body, also stressed that macro policies should be prudent and effective, as it vowed to keep implementing proactive fiscal policy and stable monetary policy next year.

U.K. /

U.K. businesses in China say in a Covid world, staffing is their most pressing concern

U.K. businesses in China have yet to fully recover from the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic as hiring and retaining foreign employees as become their most pressing concern, despite an uptick in optimism, a survey published Tuesday suggests.

The survey, conducted by the British Chamber of Commerce in China, reflects the perceived costs of China’s “zero-tolerance” Covid-19 strategy on foreign companies as they continue to operate in the world’s second-largest economy.

Personnel /

Securities regulatory veteran picked to head Shenzhen bourse

Chen Huaping, a senior official at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), has been named Communist Party committee chief of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the CSRC and the Shenzhen bourse said Monday.

Following a nomination process, Chen is expected to become chairman of the bourse, sources with knowledge told Caixin. He may be tasked with further developing the Nasdaq-style ChiNext board to compete with the similarly positioned STAR Market in Shanghai, industry insiders said.

Shandong financial regulatory agency appoints new director

Quick hits /

China’s exports and imports hit new records on strong demand

Wang Tao: PBOC’s reserve requirement cut is a clear sign of easing

BUSINESS & TECH

The new logistics operator owns 120 railway lines for exclusive use, with routes connecting Asia and Europe.

Logistics /

China creates new state-owned logistics giant

A new logistics behemoth in China combining five state-owned companies was launched Monday in a push by the central government to consolidate state assets.

China Logistics Group, with registered capital of 30 billion yuan ($4.7 billion), was created through a combination of China Railway Materials Group and four subsidiaries of China Chengtong Holdings Group — China National Materials Storage and Transportation Group, CTS International Logistics Corp. Ltd., China Logistics Co. Ltd., and China National Packaging Corp.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), the central government’s state asset regulator, holds 38.9% of the new company, while China Chengtong — a state-owned investment company — owns another 38.9%.

Drugs /

Rare disease patients will have to wait for affordable drugs, experts say

The inclusion of expensive rare disease drugs in China’s updated medical insurance list does not mean more such treatments will be available to patients soon, as it may take a long time before price negotiations can be done for other rare drugs, health experts say.

In interviews with Caixin, scholars and industry insiders noted that the health authorities have not developed a precise mechanism for including rare disease treatments in government-backed insurance plans. Meanwhile, the current requirement capping the drugs’ prices under 300,000 yuan ($47,000) per patient per year makes it difficult to find a sustainable way of making affordable rare disease drugs available to patients in need.

Coal /

China’s coal inventories hit two-year high

China’s coal inventories hit a two-year high in the first week of December, according to power producers surveyed by the China Electricity Council (CEC).

By the week ending Dec. 2, coal stores reached 107.26 million tons, up 3.44% week-on-week, and were enough to supply the surveyed companies’ coal-fired plants for 22.1 days, according to a weekly report (link in Chinese) published Monday. In late October, the figure was at 15.5 days.

Quick hits /

Samsung to replace CEOs, reorganize consumer business

Chinese internet ADR sell-off is ‘overdone,’ Citigroup says

Hong Kong IPOs’ promising December is starting to look rocky

Energy Insider /

Yunnan’s big battery plans

GALLERY

Scenic western Hunan gets high-speed rail link

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