China and Spain have enjoyed the five banks with the best performance. China Construction Bank just followed ICBC earning $17.5 billion. The third, fourth and fifth was Santander ($15.8 billion), Bank of China ($12.6 billion) and BBVA ($9.6 billion) successively, listed The Banker magazine.

Britain’s HSBC ($9.3 billion) and Barclays ($8.9 billion) stood in the sixth and seventh place.

The magazine roughly figured out that global bank profits dropped from $781 billion last year to $115 billion, an 85 percent, and return on equity dived to 2.69 percent from 20 percent.

Last year Royal Bank of Scotland saw the largest loss in the industry.

Of all the banks, RBS’ $59.3 billion loss was on the top, overseeing Citigroup’s $53 billion loss and
Wells Fargo’s $47.8 billion loss.

JPMorgan has moved from a year earlier the fourth place to the lead on The Banker’s annual list of the strongest 1,000 global banks. The rankings, established in 1970, take capital strength, or the amount of Tier 1 capital held as indicators.

In spite of the difficulties in the last three years, Bank of America, Citigroup and RBS respectively occupied the position from second to fourth. JPMorgan benefited from its merger of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual and Bank of America was promoted by its buying of Merrill Lynch.

HSBC stepped back to fifth from the top, but it was the sole one which has not received any bailout funds, and would forward to third if the bailout pitched in, The Banker said. Mitsubishi UFJ was the No.1 within seven Asian banks ahead of China’s ICBC.

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According to Yang, China Insurance Regulatory Commission is expected to permit insurers to invest in infrastructure and real estate soon and is drawing up guidelines concerning it. China Life is waiting for the inaction of these regulations and making preparations for their emergence.

Industry analysts confirmed the promise of more profits through more investment options, not only in capital markets but also in property market. The financial downturn led to a tremendous fall in capital markets, resulting in 61.4% decrease in total return in 2008 and 45.3% drop in net profit. China Life has changed its capital distribution, emphasizing on fixed-income securities and term deposits while reducing its proportion on equities.

Donghai Securities analyst Tao Zheng’ao suggested that the insurers seek long-term investment opportunities to win stable returns, and he showed his preference in the commercial market instead of residential housing market. He also recommended some more fields such as private funds and the soon to-be launched real estate investment trusts. Industry experts advised that learning from international experience, it should be better that the insurers’ property investment consist 5% of their total investment at the most.

Orient Securities analyst Wang Xiaogang says since it is without precedent that Chinese insurers’ would be permitted to invest in the property market, it is necessary to set a lower investment threshold to control risks. He suggests limiting investment in commercial property, equity and infrastructure to no more than 5% of the total.

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During the 2009 Hewitt Best Employers in China session on March 26th, 10 companies said that they have plans for recruitment this year.

The CEO of McDonald’s China, Jeffrey Schwartz said that McDonald’s was ambitious on the Chinese market. Meanwhile, 175 new restaurants will be opened in China, which will create around 10,000 hob opportunities this year.

Xie Wenjian, CEO of Johnson&Johnson Medical China, said that it was good to use talent in this hard time, and he also added that the current situation made them easier to have good staff with an affordable price.

Xie also said that they thought that it was a great chance for those companies to grow in China because of the government’s medical welfare policy. In the first 2 months, Johnson&Johnson Medical has employed about 100 university students and it will continue this plan throughout this year.

US car giant General Motors (GM) claimed that it would expand the staff number in China while it is cutting jobs in the other part of the world now. “Without accurate new job numbers, GE will hire more people in China especially in research sector.” said Kevin E Wale, president, GM China.

In the report Hewitt Associates said that good staff can enhance human resource cultures which can be helpful for the productivity.

The elements for an employee to work harder are regarded as the most important change in the 2009 report. While 2 years age, in 2007, the top three elements were: career development, salary and performance management. But this year, they have been replaced by career ideal, salary and career opportunity.

The deputy managing director of Hewitt, Xu Feng, said that this kind of change reflects that the employees are paying more attention on whether their own values can be fulfilled in the company instead of focusing on the promotion or salary.

Human resource directors at the meeting expressed that cutting costs in non-human capital areas such as travel and other expenses should be advocated rather than cutting salaries.

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In the e-mail replying to China Daily on April 1^st, this US auto parts supplier said its portfolio transformation, asset sale and purchase agreement have already been made.

BeijingWest Industries is owned by a state-owned company Shougang Group, Bao’an Investment and Development Co Ltd and Beijing municipal government, all of which hold 51%, 24% and 25% respectively.

The last thing to do of this sale is waiting for court approval and other details. Delphi expects that the sale can be finished at the end of this year.

However, no further details are exposed by both groups.

US local newspaper Detroit Free Press reported that the amount of this sale will be $100 million in cash, which is badly needed for Delphi to maintain its core business.

“This is a prompt deal at this special time,” said by Rodney O’Neal, Delphi’s CEO and president.

In accordance with the agreement, BeijingWest Industries will take over its machinery and equipment, intellectual property and certain customer and supplier contracts.

Delphi, the former parts subsidiary of GM, said that they will successfully finish this transition of the business, in coordination with its customers, employees, unions and other stakeholders.

Chinese auto analysts express that it’s a wise idea for Chinese investors to acquire international automobile parts assets and brands instead of vehicle producers for the former is of low risk.

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After hitting the peak point of 14.15 yuan last Friday, SIPI shares ended with 13.21 yuan a share.

Approved by the shareholders of SIPI, the 1.06 billion yuan’s sale between its subsidiary and Brillance will be helpful for its core pharmaceutical business. It is said that SIPI’s subsidiary has owned 21.17% stake in Hong Kong-listed Lianhua.

In the statement, SIPI is expecting a 548 million yuan pre-tax profit from the asset sale.

Analysts said SIPI is going to invest the drug production and marketing because from which it can gain a higher profit margin than supermarket operations.

Hong Lu, an analyst with Essences Securities, said that SIPI will be able to develop faster and have more income from the sale of Lianhua.

However, the company’s developing speed will be slowed down because of the loss of income from Lianhua, which took up over half of its whole income of 13.9 billion yuan in 2007.

Jiang Weina, an analyst with Industrial Securities, thought the company can’t afford the loss. While some analysts said the loss can be evened up by its concentration on drug business.

This move is considered to be a reconstruction effort of SIPI, despite Lianhua made major profit of the company, said Li Jinlei, an analyst with Guojin Securities.

Analysts are confident that SIPI will have a good performance in its core business this year.

Meanwhile an analyst named Xu Jun from Orient Securities estimates that SIPI would earn 0.45 and 0.54 yuan per share in 2008 and 2009 separately without asset injection plan.

Xu said in a report that this long-awaited asset will make sure a great performance this year.

The company was supposed to inject assets of the Hangzhou-based Chiatai Qingchunbao into their list. However, it was paused because the approval procedures were not finished in time last September.

SIPI holds about 55% stake in Chiatai Qingchunbao, which is regarded as the 3rd largest producer of pharmaceuticals, and is famous for anti-aging tablets.

The development, production and the sale of medicines and medicine-related business make up of SIPI’s core operations. And the last one takes up 82% of its revenue.

SIPI includes 3 major pharmaceutical companies, which are Changzhou pharmaceutical, Changzhou Techpool Bio-Pharma Co and Shanghai Medical Instrument Co.

In accordance with the investment consulting firm Investoday, Changzhou Pharma, specializing in producing chemicals, raw material for Chinese medicines and formulated products, is expected to make a 20% growth in net profit for 2008, compared with 73.75 million yuan in 2007.

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In February 10, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said that China sold totally 735,500 units of vehicles in January, 14.5 percent less year-on-year because of the falling demand, and, compared with December, it drops slightly 0.83 percent. However, it is still well over that in the US. Statistics shows that automobile’s monthly sales in the US dropped 37 percent from the last January to about 656,693 vehicles, which was the lowest point since 1963.

Associate Secretary General of CAAM Zhu Yiping said that the encouraging sales figures in January showed how effectively the new government policies work in the promotion of vehicle sales.

Since the January sales of 2008forecast doom prosperity of the market, the high stock of domestic ran down as the producers of automobile reduced the production while the demand for the product increased without expectation.

According to the association, automobile inventories declined more than 80,000 units and down to the new low in the recent 13 months.

There was an output of 658,800 units of vehicles last month in China, 20.22 percent less than that in a year earlier, but 5.07 percent more than that in December.

A stimulus package was passed last month, according to which tax on vehicles with engine capacity of less than 1.6 liters will be cut by 50 percent and 5 million yuan on subsidies will be spent for farmer to replace three-wheeled vehicles and outdated trucks with small, 1.3-liter or less, vehicles. The action is taken in the purpose of getting automobile sales in rural regions forward and put spurs to more energy efficient vehicles. Therefore, the only kind of automobile with rising sales in the auto section in January would be the small passenger cars, with engine capacity of less than 1.6 liters.

In the expectation of Ricon Xia, auto analyst at Daiwa Securities, the tax adjusted would increase the automobile sales by 3 – 6 percent this year.

Yale Zhang, director, Greater China Vehicle Forecasts for US consultancy CSM Worldwide Corp. believed that the measures adopted was to make enormous progress in the sales, and the automobile market in China is to be refreshed in the later part of this year. However, he added that no conclusion could be obtained just on the base of a monthly figure that China had become the leading automobile market in the world.

And, Jia Xinguang, an auto analyst based in Beijing, stated that it made little sense to be the one-month-sales winner as it was groundless of comparing China’s auto industry with the US’ just with a monthly figure, and China should attach greater importance to implement a minute restructured scheme in the long run.

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An MIIT official said they are discussing the report but no conclusion has appeared. His team is waiting for industry figures from last year and will decide whether to propose the stimulus plan a few weeks after that.

It was reported by the Shanghai Securities News, the China Electrical Equipment Industrial Association is trying to persuade the government to cut taxes on lead-acid battery exports.

It is said that global economic recession has forced one third of Chinese battery exporters in Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces to stop production. About half of Chinese battery exporters are said to be considering a move to foreign markets such as India and Vietnam where will cost less. The imminent move will probably lead to 200,000 layoffs.

However, the MIIT official said China’s battery industry is better than the reports. The export figures show that from September to November last year, China’s battery industry did not drop so much as the estimation.

Lead-acid batteries are mainly used in autos and motorcycles, the products of which have been cut down significantly by the global financial crisis.

MIIT figures show China’s battery exports increased 17.6 percent in the first 11 months of 2008. But the growth was 4 percentage points lower than that of the first 10 months.

Wang Zhengjie, general manager of Neata Battery Manufacture, a lead-acid battery company in Zhongshan, Guangdong province, said he has cut about 120 of his 350 employees this year to tackle with the shrinking demand. He expects the unfavorable market situation could help him surmount smaller competitors rather than the government providing any help.

China, the world’s largest battery producer, cancelled 15% export refund on tax in 2006 to damp down the country’s overheating passion on high energy-consuming enterprises investment. But experts forecast that the move, as well as RMB appreciation and increasing raw material prices, has forced Chinese battery manufacturers to suffer half more costs than their foreign competitors.

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The first two quarters will be the most difficult time for the industry. And from the end of the second quarter, the power demand, a barometer of the country’s economy may start increasing, in north, east China and southern coastal regions, compared with last year. After that, the demand in the central and western regions will also be driven up in the fourth quarter, said China Electricity Council (CEC).

Senior CEC executive Xue Jing said that the main reason behind the declining demand for power is the sharp decline in power consumption from high electricity consuming industries.

In the fourth quarter of last year, power consumption from the chemicals, building materials and metals sectors all experienced negative growth, he added.

The high growth of power demand in the first half of 2008 makes the growth rate in 2009 difficult to be outstanding, Xue said. The CEC forecast the China’s power consumption will increase 5% in 2009, which can supply the need for 8% growth in GDP, said Wang Yonggan, CEC’s secretary general.

A slowdown in industrial activities nationwide was indicated by China’s power generation falling for three consecutive months since last October compared with the corresponding period in the previous year.

China’s power generation has been a barometer of the economy in the past years because of so much of the country’s growth relying on power-intensive industries such as steel, aluminum and chemicals.

“The manufacturing industry has seen some recovery, that will ensure the power demand to increase in the second quarter,” said Dong Xian’an, macroeconomic analyst of China Southwest Securities.

Based on the figures of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) of China’s manufacturing sector rose to 45.3% in January, from 41.2% in December and a record low of 38.8 percent in November.

The improved data makes the economic situation brighter. It is believed that economic decline may be bottoming out soon.

Some experts hold the opinion that China’s GDP growth will experience a surprising jump in 2009, with the bottom having appeared in the fourth quarter last year.

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Even car sales in China have slowed recently, but they seem to have better situation than the US, where January sales decreased 37%—a 26-year low.

It is the first time that China monthly sales have surpassed USA, said Mike DiGiovanni, General Motors’ executive director of global markets and industry analysis. He plans to make Chinese yearly sales hit 10.7 million, almost a million units more than his estimate in the US for the same period.

Although the figures of official Chinese car sales have not been published, analysts say the GM estimate is close to the real ones.

Chinese auto market professors make sure that China will be the strong, largest and most potential country in the market, although it is early to make this conclusion only based on monthly figure.

China became the world’s No. 2 auto market in 2006. Analysts say China has significant growth potential in the future, because of the government policies and the strong domestic demand. The government passed a stimulus package for the auto market, cutting the purchase tax on cars with engine capacity of less than 1.6 liters by half to 5%.

The government also spends 5 billion yuan on subsidies to farmers to realize small, 1.3-liter or less vehicles replacing three-wheeled vehicles or outdated small trucks.

This move is to enhance more energy efficient vehicles while improving the competitiveness of country’s car market. Upgrading automakers technology and developing alternative energy vehicles will cost about 10 billion yuan.

The most effective way to recover the car market is the purchase tax cut. And one auto analyst said the tax adjustment is expected to improve auto sales by 3-6 percent in China.

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Currently Guangdong province only owns 0.45 mu of arable land per capita, less than a third of the national average, and less than a 10th of the world average.

Since industrial development will occupy more land, authorities in Guangdong are going to reclaim 2.5 million mu (165,000 hectares) arable lands from the sea and hillsides over the next five year, according to a government official last month.

Zhao Yufang, director of the provincial land and resources department, said at a press conference that the government will spend 4 billion yuan ($584 million) to the project.

Guangdong province needs to increase the figure of arable land to make sure they have sufficient land for agricultural development.

Because of the rapid industrialization, arable land banks in the province have been decreased significantly in recent decades. Now Guangdong has to learn how to efficiently use every inch of its land.

Zhao said at the same time, the lands that have been leased but as yet undeveloped will also be reclaimed over the next five years.

The provincial government has urged all city authorities to protect arable land and strictly control the rate of expansion of land for industrial development.

Projects that will help boost the local economy a lot will be supported by newly leased land, said Zhao.

Based on the opinion of Li Qingqing, an associate professor of economics with South China Normal University, Guangdong province should boost its industries which require less land than manufacturing, such as hi-tech and tertiary industries.

The proposal suits the Pearl River Delta region, where the manufacturing industry has boomed over the past 30 years, Li added, reclaiming land from the sea is a good idea.

The province Guangdong has a long coastline of 3,000 km, which can provide plenty of land to be reclaimed.

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