BIZCHINA / Top Biz News
Go west, there are opportunities
By Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-02 09:35
China welcomes foreign inve
BIZCHINA / Top Biz News
Investors buying equity, not assets
By Zhang Yu (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-02 09:22
Facing pressure from new government measures, foreign institutional
investors began to change their means of buying into China's booming real
estate market in the second half of last year.
Related readings:
Equity funds to get new life
Mutual funds net record high yields Investors still keen on property
"Equity investment has become more popular than asset investment, which
dominated previously," said Tian Hui, director of the market research
department of Regal Lloyds International's Beijing office.
Measures adopted last July, which shut the door on property ownership for
foreign investors not registered in China, are believed by experts to be
the biggest reason for the change.
"The shift from asset investment to equity investment means short-term
speculation has been checked and indicates that new foreign capital
hoping to tap into China's real estate market will follow this trend,"
said Tian.
In asset investment, foreign investors can directly purchase mature
properties like offices or villas from local real estate developers and
later sell them to make short-term profits. Equity investment means they
buy stakes in development companies and hope to gain long-term returns.
Of the more than 100 overseas institutional real estate investors now
active in China, a number of them are offshore and have now lost the
right to buy assets directly from local developers.
The popularity of equity investment began last July when the central
government for the first time decided to squeeze speculative foreign
money out of the overheated market.
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stment in its western region development
campaign, a top official said yesterday.
But there's a catch.
"We will not approve any project harmful to the environment," Wang
Xinxiang, deputy director of the National Development and Reform
Commission , said yesterday.
China's major transportation infrastructure projects
Highways: Beijing-Kunming, Baotou-Maoming, Qingdao-Yinchuan,
Shanghai-Xi'an, Shanghai-Chongqing , Guangzhou-Kunming, Shanghai-Kunming,
Guiyang-Guangzhou, Fuzhou-Yinchuan Expressay.
Railways: Taiyuan-Yinchuan, Lanzhou-Chongqing, Guiyang-Guangzhou,
Xi'an-Pingliang, Chongqing-Lichuan and an extension of the Qinghai-Tibet
Railway .
Airports: Chengdu, Xi'an, Xining, Chongqing, Guiyang and Lanzhou.
Inland water transport: the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Xijiang
River and Jialingjiang River.
China's major energy and chemical industry bases
Large hydro-power bases: Jinsha River, Yalong River, Lancang River, the
upper reaches of the Yellow River, Hongshui River and Wujiang River.
Large petroleum and natural gas exploration and processing bases:
Sichuan, Shaanxi and Qinghai provinces and the Inner Mongolia, Guangxi
Zhuang and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions.
Major coal chemical bases: Shannxi and Guizhou provinces and Ningxia Hui
and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions.
Major renewable energy bases: wind and solar energy in Gansu Province and
the Xinjiang Uygur, Ningxia Hui, Tibet and Inner Mongolia autonomous
regions; bio-energy in Yunnan , Sichuan, Chongqing and Guizhou provinces
and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; geothermal energy in the Tibet
Autonomous Region.
State petroleum reserve base: Gansu Province.
China's major mineral resources exploitation and processing bases
Nonferrous metal: Copper in Yunnan Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region; aluminium in Guizhou and Chongqing and the Inner Mongolia and
Guangxi Zhuang autonomous regions; Lead and Zinc in Yunnan Province.
Rare earth: Sichuan and Gansu provinces and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region.
Potash: Qinghai Province and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Iron and Steel: Baotou, Panzhihua, Jiuquan, Liuzhou, Kunming and
Liupanshui.
The commission has released the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) on western
region development. The plan gives priority to projects in infrastructure
construction, environmental protection and education in the western
regions.
Meanwhile, three key economic zones and six key industries have been
given the government's full support.
The three key economic zones are the Chongqing-Chengdu zone, the Central
Shaanxi-Tianshui zone, and the Beibu Bay zone in the Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region.
The six key industries are: energy and chemical, mine exploration,
agriculture, equipment manufacturing, high-tech, and tourism and culture
industries.
"The western region now accounts for only 3 percent of the total foreign
direct investment in China," Wang said.
"In fact, the western region enjoys more favourable policies and has more
fields opened up to foreign investors than the rest of China. Foreign
investors should grasp the opportunities."
According to Cao Yushu, deputy director of the Office of the Leading
Group for Western Region Development of the State Council, there have
been notable achievements in infrastructure construction and
environmental protection.
The road network totals 700,000 kilometers, including 10,000 kilometers
of expressways. And there are plans to build another 200,000 kilometers
of roads and extend the railway network by 2010.
Ecological projects have helped protect the area's environment, Cao said.
(China Daily 03/02/2007 page3)
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