PIECING TOGETHER: A steel box girder is fixed onto the Fourth Yangtze River Bridge in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province on December 3. The 29-km-long bridge will be completed by the end of 2012 (XINHUA)

Foreign Trade White Paper

The State Council Information Office on December 7 released a white paper titled China's Foreign Trade, highlighting the country's achievements in boosting foreign trade and contributing to the world economy.

The white paper says that China will refocus the development model of foreign trade because low-cost advantages for export-oriented industries have been "greatly" weakened as the costs of labor, resources, energy and other production factors spiral upward.

Intellectual property protection and product quality are among two other pressing issues the government will seek to address in its pursuit of sustainable growth.

Shougang's New Base

China's state-owned steel maker Shougang Group launched a project on December 5 to build a 1.8 billion ringgit ($574.25 million) integrated steel mill in Malaysia through a joint venture with Hiap Teck Venture Berhad, one of Malaysia's largest steel pipe makers.

The steel slab plant would be built on 1,200 acres in Kemaman, an industrial city in the country's east coast economic development region that has moderate iron ore reserves.

The project, called "Eastern Steel," is the largest Chinese foreign direct investment in Malaysia. The steel plant is estimated to produce 1.5 million tons of steel slabs annually. Operations at the plant are expected to start in mid-2013.

Stable Rating

Dagong Global Credit Rating Co. Ltd., China's domestic rating agency, will maintain the local and foreign currency sovereign credit rating of China at AA+ and AAA with a stable outlook.

The agency said the fundamentals of the Chinese economy have not changed despite domestic inflation and the debt crises in Europe and the United States.

The deficits of the government at all levels are narrowing, said Dagong, adding the Central Government has strong debt-payment capabilities in the local currency.

The country's foreign debt payment capabilities are also strong given China's huge foreign exchange reserves and net assets abroad. Both the Central Government and the private sector have very low levels of foreign debt.

Greener Paper

China's major paper producers aim to lower the energy and resources consumed to turn out a ton of paper by 18 percent at the end of 2015 from the level in 2010.

In a written proposal signed by nearly 100 paper makers released on December 3, they pledged to fulfill their social responsibilities and push for greener industrial development.

During 2011-15, the industry also aims to lower water use by 18 percent. COD of major pollutants will decrease 10 percent.

According to Qian Guijing, Director of the China Paper Association, the paper industry brought down the energy and resources consumption to turn out 1 ton of paper by at least 18 percent during the past five years. Average water consumption was down 17.5 percent and the chemical oxygen demand of major pollutants was down by at least 53 percent.