Industrial Profits

From January to October, the total volume of profits made by all state-owned enterprises as well as non-state enterprises with annual sales revenue exceeding 5 million yuan (industrial enterprises above designated size) stood at 1.47 trillion yuan, surging 30.1 percent compared with the same period last year, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) (see graphs 1 and 2).

During the January-October period, taxes paid by industrial enterprises above designated size totaled 1.09 trillion yuan, growing 23.1 percent year on year. Of the total, state-owned and state-holding enterprises contributed 607.2 billion yuan, up 18.9 percent over a year ago.

In the first 10 months, the sales revenue generated by industrial enterprises above designated size reached 24.7 trillion yuan, up 26.1 percent over the year-earlier period. Among this total, the amount earned by state-owned and state-holding enterprises hit 8.1 trillion yuan, up 20.3 percent from a year ago.

By the end of October, stockpiles of finished products of all state-owned enterprises as well as non-state enterprises with annual sales revenue of more than 5 million yuan were valued at 1.46 trillion yuan, a rise of 17.3 percent compared with the same period last year. Of the total, those of state-owned and state-holding enterprises accounted for 396.5 billion yuan, up 12.9 percent from a year ago. The overdue receivables in industrial enterprises above designated size stood at 3.23 trillion yuan, up 20.1 percent over the year-earlier period. Of this total, state-owned and state-holding enterprises had a share of 802.1 billion yuan, up 9.2 percent year on year.

FDI

In the first 10 months, the Chinese Government approved the establishment of 33,068 foreign-invested enterprises, a decline of 6.32 percent compared with the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). The paid-in capital inched up 0.34 percent to $48.58 billion.

In October alone, 3,047 foreign-invested enterprises were approved for establishment, dropping 0.97 percent year on year. The paid-in capital stood at $5.99 billion, a year-on-year increase of 15.92 percent.

From January to October, the 10 countries and regions that invested the most in China were Hong Kong, the British Virgin Islands, Japan, South Korea, the United States, Singapore, Taiwan, Germany, the Cayman Islands and Samoa. Investment from these countries and regions accounted for 83.96 percent of the total overseas investment that China attracted in the first 10 months.

Accommodation and Catering

From January to October, retail sales of the accommodation and catering industry reached 845.8 billion yuan, an increase of 117.71 billion yuan over the same period last year, said the MOFCOM (see graph 3). The sector's retail sales accounted for 13.6 percent of the nation's total retail sales of consumer goods, contributing 2.2 percentage points to the overall growth of retail sales of consumer goods. The industry's year-on-year sales growth, 16.2 percent, was 2.6 percentage points higher than the overall growth of retail sales of consumer goods.

In October alone, retail sales of the industry were 96.5 billion yuan, up 17.9 percent over a year ago. The year-on-year increase of the industry was 3.6 percentage points higher than the overall growth of the total retail sales of consumer goods during this month.

In the first 10 months, the sector saw the approval of 879 foreign-funded enterprises, a drop of 7.2 percent compared with the year-earlier period. The commitment and paid-in capital stood at $2.29 billion and $620 million, up 10.4 percent and 36.4 percent, respectively, year on year.

Technology Introduction

According to statistics released by the MOFCOM, in total, China signed 8,692 contracts of technology introduction in the first 10 months, with a total value of $18.74 billion, shooting up 37.1 percent year on year. Among this total, technology fees arrived at $12.29 billion, accounting for 65.6 percent of the total contractual value.

From January to October, the transaction value of exclusive technology license contracts was $5.97 billion, up 57.9 percent over the year-earlier period and accounting for 31.8 percent of the total contractual value of technology introduction. The value of technological consultation and services, as well as joint ventures and cooperative production involving technology introduction, stood at $4.24 billion and $3.77 billion respectively, accounting for 22.7 percent and 20.1 percent of the total value of technology introduction contracts.

The European Union (EU) was the biggest source of China's technology imports in the first 10 months. China and the EU signed 2,124 contracts of technology introduction valued at $7.78 billion, 25.4 percent higher than the figure in the same period last year and accounting for 41.5 percent of the total contractual value of technology introduction. Japan and the United States ranked second and third, with respective contractual values with China arriving at $4.57 billion and $3.12 billion and accounting for 24.4 percent and 16.6 percent of China's total technology introduction.

Through January and October, the total value of technology introduction by state-owned enterprises amounted to $8.19 billion, surging 39.6 percent compared with the same period last year and accounting for 43.7 percent of the country's total. At the same time, foreign-invested enterprises introduced $9.2 billion worth of technologies, accounting for 49.1 percent of the total value of technology introduction.

The railway transportation sector saw the biggest increase in technology introduction. In the first 10 months, the sector imported $3.98 billion worth of technology, 3.6 times the figure a year ago. During this period, technology introduction in electronic and telecommunications equipment manufacturing as well as transport equipment manufacturing amounted to $3.7 billion and $1.6 billion respectively, accounting for 19.8 percent and 8.5 percent of the country's total value of technology introduction.

Corn

China's corn exports stood at 2.27 million tons in the first three quarters of this year, down 68.3 percent year on year, while imports hit 60,000 tons, 43 times the figure a year ago, according to statistics from MOFCOM.

Boosted by rising oil prices, many grain enterprises have built processing facilities in China's major corn producing provinces to reduce production costs. The growing processing capability will drive domestic demand even higher and is likely to turn China into a net corn importer in the coming years, industrial insiders said.

"We believe that China will become a net importer of corn in a few years," said an anonymous MOFCOM official. But he did not expect the change to happen in 2007 because China's corn supply still exceeds demand.

Over 25 million tons of corn was used in deep processing last year in China, compared with 13.8 million tons in 2004. The figure jumped to 15.6 million tons in the first half of this year.

China is now the third largest fuel ethanol producer after Brazil and the United States. Production of fuel ethanol and corn alcohol consumed 8.9 million tons of corn in China last year, accounting for 44.5 percent of industrial consumption of corn.