TO THE POINT: Nuclear power projects under construction in China in 2009 were the most numerous in the world in terms of installed capacity. Chinese telecom operators geared up for 3G competition as the market is expected to grow with an improved network and wider consumer acceptance. Chinese tourists to France overtook Russians to become the biggest spenders in duty-free stores. Mainland travelers to Hong Kong are expected to contribute 30 percent to the region's Spring Festival consumption. This year's Boao Forum for Asia, an Asian version of the World Economic Forum, will focus on environmental efforts and the green economy. Insurers reaped a bumper harvest in 2009 as reflected in their surging profits.

By LIU YUNYUN

Powering the Future

China had the most nuclear power facilities under construction among world powers in 2009. Nuclear power, as well as other alternative energies, is developing rapidly in China due to the country's commitment to a low-carbon economy.

According to a Xinhua News Agency report, China increased construction of its nuclear power stations in 2009. By the end of last year, 20 nuclear power generating sets had started construction with an aggregate capacity of 21,920 megawatts, the largest new capacity in the world. The projects required 260 billion yuan ($38 billion) in direct investment.

Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Bureau, said at the national energy work conference held last December that the nuclear power installation capacity would reach 75,000 megawatts in 2020 from the current level of less than 10,000 megawatts. By 2020, nuclear power will generate 5 percent of all electricity. Nuclear power currently generates 2 percent of China's electricity needs.

Before the Chinese delegation headed to the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December 2009, Premier Wen Jiabao vowed to cut carbon dioxide emissions per GDP unit by 40-45 percent in 2020 from 2005 levels. "To achieve this goal, we have reached a consensus to accelerate the construction of nuclear power stations," said Yu Jianfeng, Vice President of China National Nuclear Corp.

3G Rush

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (MIIT) published a report on the communications industry in 2009. The report shows by the end of last year, 3G network users reached 13.25 million. The three 3G operators—China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom—invested 160.9 billion yuan ($23.5 billion) to build the network, which indirectly contributed 589 billion yuan ($709 billion) to the economy and drove 36.4 billion yuan ($5.33 billion) worth of consumption.

MIIT issued 3G licenses to the three operators in early 2009. Each operator was responsible for developing a separate 3G network. China Mobile was given responsibility for the Chinese standard TD-SCDMA; China Unicom developed the internationally accepted WCDMA; and China Telecom adopted the CDMA200-EVDO standard.

The independently developed 3G network—China Mobile's TD-SCDMA—attracted 5.51 million users. The number of new China Telecom users grew by 100.97 percent, the fastest in 2009. MIIT estimated that China Telecom's CDMA200-EVDO standard also attracted about 5 million users last year. The number of China Unicom's WCDMA users was 2.74 million.

3G businesses have already grabbed a large piece of the pie in the largely 2G dominated market, but have not significantly driven economic development. Analysts said 3G will take effect this year along with the perfection of the networks and people's acceptance of the new service.

Wang Jianzhou, President of China Mobile, said his company is striving to multiply and enrich the content for terminal users of not just mobile phones but also netbooks, electronic reading devices and home gateway systems.

Big Spending in France

Along with the domestic consumption boom, deep-pocketed Chinese tourists have also dramatically increased their spending in foreign countries.

Chinese tourists to France overtook Russians to become the biggest consumers among foreign tourists to France, spending 158 million euros ($222 million) on duty-free luxury goods in 2009. The increase was a growth of 47 percent from that of 2008, according to AFP quoting Global Refund, a company specializing in tax-free shopping for tourists.

On average, Chinese tourists spent 1,071 euros ($1,496) in tax-free goods in 2009 per tourist, while Russians shelled out 1,055 euros ($1,474).

Chinese tourists' consumption in France has increased in recent years. The year-on-year growth of consumption value was 39 percent in 2007, 23.3 percent in 2008 and a staggering 47 percent in 2009, according to previous Global Refund reports.

But profligate Chinese consumers are not only interested in French products. Global Refund's report also shows from January to October 2009, Chinese consumption in Italy grew 34 percent year on year and 32 percent in Sweden.

Many department stores in France have Chinese language interpreters and store maps in Chinese. Chinese tourists are mostly intrigued by fashion products, such as cosmetics, perfume, luxury couture, and red wine. The tax-free goods are usually 10-50 percent lower than their prices in China.

HK's Retail Boom

According to a preliminary estimate of the Census and Statistics Department under the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong's retail sales revenue for December 2009 was calculated to have reached HK$29.4 billion ($3.79 billion), up 16 percent from the same month in 2008.

Jewelry, watches and clocks, and luxury gift sales increased by 30.4 percent, followed by motor vehicles and parts, up 29.8 percent; electrical goods and photographic equipment, 23 percent; apparel, 9.6 percent; and commodities in department stores, up by 9.3 percent.

Christmas and the Chinese lunar New Year sales have always been two of the most important shopping seasons.

Although mainland travelers to Hong Kong consume only 4-5 percent of all goods sold in this region, many local retail giants have realized the potentially big purchasing power of travelers from the mainland and are engaged in organizing tourist groups for shopping excursions.

According to Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po Daily, retail sales revenue will grow 20-30 percent during the Spring Festival period (which falls on February 13-18 this year), with a large proportion contributed by tourists from inland cities.

Premium Growth

Lead insurance provider Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China said its life and non-life insurance premium income grew 31 percent and 44 percent, respectively, in 2009 thanks to a more supportive platform and innovative services.

The premium income of the insurer's non-life insurance, Ping An Property and Casualty Insurance Co., hit 38.5 billion yuan ($5.64 billion) at the end of 2009, much higher than the industry average.

After reaping large revenues, Ping An's management pledged to streamline the payment of claims from the average three-day process to one day solution.

The profits of other major insurers also surged in 2009. In the last week of January, China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co. Ltd. and China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. issued their preliminary annual reports, with profits growing 400 percent and 50 percent in 2009 year on year to 6.69 billion yuan ($979 million) and 15.1 billion yuan ($2.21 billion), respectively.

Asian Economic Forum

Over 1,000 global thought leaders, including government, business and academic leaders will gather in Boao of Hainan on April 9-11 for the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2010. In its ninth year, the BFA annual conference has become a preeminent international economic forum in Asia.

The theme of this year's conference is Green Recovery: Asia's Realistic Choice for Sustainable Growth.

Over the course of the three-day event, participants will debate the opportunities presented to Asian economies as they move toward low-carbon energy, as well as broader issues, such as the effect the financial crisis has had on the global business environment, the transformation of Asian economies, and the potential for intra-emerging market cooperation.

"With Asian economies recovering strongly from the global financial crisis, important decisions need to be made to ensure that this period of growth is sustainable. Transferring to a low-carbon economy is one opportunity that could transform the region and drive future development," said Long Yongtu, initiator and Secretary General of the BFA.