Asia-Business

News from China

India ready to work with China on beneficial ties

6th September 2017

CHINESE President Xi Jinping said yesterday that healthy and stable relations between China and India are in line with the fundamental interests of their people.

China is willing to work with India to improve political trust, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, and push Sino-Indian ties along the right track, he said.

Xi was meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Xiamen after the 9th BRICS Summit.

China and India should see each other as development opportunities rather than threats, Xi said, adding that peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation are the only right choices for the two countries.

India should see China’s development correctly and rationally, he said.

Modi agreed that India and China should not see each other as rivals and should instead make cooperation the focus of bilateral relations.

He said India is ready to work with China to develop stable ties.

Modi said he expects the leaders of the two countries to maintain close communication and play a leading role in developing ties.

Xi said the leaders of China and India had in recent years reached wide consensus on how to advance bilateral ties, agreed on building a closer partnership, and set long-term development goals.

The meeting came after a military stand-off lasting more than two months with more than 270 Indian troops with two bulldozers crossing the boundary in mid-June into the Dong Lang area, which is Chinese territory, to obstruct infrastructure construction.

On August 28, China confirmed that India had withdrawn personnel and equipment from Dong Lang, and said Chinese armed forces would strengthen patrols and defense of the area.

Xi said the two sides should maintain mutual respect, seek common ground while shelving differences, and safeguard peace in border areas.

China and India should also strengthen coordination on global affairs to strive for a fairer and more just world order, he said.

Source: Shanghai Daily, September 6, 2017

Diesel falls as German car sales climb

4th September 2017

SALES of new cars in Germany rose in August, official figures showed yesterday, but uncertainty over the future of diesel saw registrations of vehicles powered by the fuel continue to slide.

The total number of new registrations on German roads rose by 3.5 percent compared with the same month in 2016, the federal transport authority KBA said, reaching almost 254,000 vehicles.

That was faster than growth of 1.5 percent in July.

Registrations of diesel cars fell by almost 14 percent year on year last month.

Prospective buyers in Europe’s largest economy have been spooked by politicians’ response to mass cheating on regulatory emissions tests to conceal excessive levels of nitrogen oxides.

Some cities are mooting bans on heavily polluting vehicles at certain times to tackle the resulting air pollution.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “working to prevent driving bans” as a gathering of mayors of badly affected cities and towns got underway ysterday.

Over the year from January to August, only around 40.9 percent of new cars registered were diesel-powered, the VDA auto industry federation said, down from 46.7 percent over the same period last year.

Looking at the different brands, Volkswagen — at the heart of the diesel scandal — was the largest single carmaker by registrations, with 43,500 or 17.2 percent of the total.

Source: Shanghai Daily, September 5, 2017

China ends 727 steel plants for ‘ditiaogang’

31st August 2017

CHINA has closed 727 steel plants for producing “ditiaogang” — low-quality steel made from scrap metal — since authorities called for eliminating such production at the end of last year.

A list of such plants categorized by provinces was published on csteelnews.com, the China Iron and Steel Industry Association’s website.

A total of 28 provinces have cracked down on local low-quality steel producers following the central government’s command last November.

They have also named the companies, which were integrated by the association’s website into the list.

Liaoning Province tops the list, closing down 66 companies producing the low quaity steel, followed by Jiangsu Province and Sichuan Province, which each closed 63.

Other provinces which have shut down more than 30 such plants include Yunnan, Shandong, Hebei and Fujian.

The low-quality steel problem is nationwide and includes remote regions such as Tibet and Xinjiang. But most illegal plants are along the east coast. Provinces such as Jiangsu and Shandong are among “the most afflicted areas” the National Development and Reform Commission says.

The list does not include the capacity of the plants. But lwo-quality steel production has been reduced by at least 120 million tons in the first half of the year, various media outlets have reported, quoting Industrial Securities.

Authorities have been urging local governments to overhaul steel industry operations in their areas and close such plants.

Source: Shanghai Daily, August 31,2017

Renault-Nissan creates e-car JV with Dongfeng

30th August 2017

RENAULT-NISSAN and China’s Dongfeng Motor Group said yesterday they will set up a new joint venture to develop electric vehicles in China.

The Hubei-based joint venture, eGT New Energy Automotive Co Ltd, will focus on developing and selling electric vehicles in the China market. The electric vehicles will be made at Dongfeng plant, which has a production capacity of 120,000 vehicles a year, from 2019.

EGT will tap electric vehicle technologies and car design expertise from Renault-Nissan, and take advantage of competitive manufacturing costs from Dongfeng, according to the statement published by the companies. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.

“This marks a deepened and strengthened strategic cooperation between Dongfeng and Renault-Nissan,” said Zhu Yanfeng, chief executive officer of Dongfeng.

“We expect to meet the transformation trend of the market in China, where cars are becoming light, electric, intelligent, interconnected and shared,” Zhu added.

Under the agreement, Renault will hold 25 percent of eGT, Nissan will own 25 percent and Dongfeng the remaining 50 percent.

Carlos Ghosn, chairman and chief executive officer of Renault-Nissan, said the creation of the new joint venture with Dongfeng will develop competitive electric vehicles for the Chinese market.

Global automakers are investing heavily to develop electric vehicles for China, responding to rising demand and government pressure on the industry to speed up technology development.

Chinese planners see electric cars as a promising industry and a way to clean up smog-choked cities.

They have supported sales with subsidies to buyers, while a proposed quota system will require automakers to meet targets for electric vehicle production or buy credits from competitors that do.

China is the world’s largest market for electric vehicles.

Sales of pure-electric and gasoline-electric hybrids in China rose 50 percent last year over 2015 to 336,000 vehicles, accounting for 40 percent of global demand.

Renault SA and Nissan Motor Corp share technology and production under an alliance.

Source: Shanghai Daily, August 30, 2017,

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