Free Economy

Hong Kong has been ranked as the world's freest economy for the 14th consecutive year by the Heritage Foundation in the foundation's 2008 Index of Economic Freedom study released recently, according to a press release from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Among the 10 individual areas assessed, Hong Kong ranks first in trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom and property rights. Hong Kong also ranks among the top 10 in another four areas-fiscal freedom, government size, monetary freedom and labor freedom.

The report noted that Hong Kong's income and corporate tax rates are very competitive, and overall taxation is relatively small as a percentage of gross domestic product. The report also hailed Hong Kong's simple business regulation, flexible labor market, and lack of restrictions on foreign capital.

Growth of Olympic Proportion

China's aviation industry will soar by double digits due to the country's hosting of the Olympic Games, according to its industry regulator the General Administration of Civil Aviation.

Domestic carriers plan to fly 210 million passengers in 2008, a 14-percent jump from a year earlier, while cargo and mail volume may grow 12 percent to 4.45 million tons, it has been estimated by the administration.

About 5 million overseas visitors and more than 120 million domestic travelers are expected to visit Beijing this year, according to the organizers of the Beijing Olympic Games. Analysts predict that the event will generate revenue of 5 billion yuan ($694 million) for the domestic aviation industry.

Oil Thirsty

China's crude oil imports rose 12.4 percent in 2007 over the previous year to a new record of 163.17 million tons, according to Customs figure. Exports, however, fell 38.7 percent year-on-year to 3.89 million tons last year, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Yet the export of oil products still enjoyed a marked increase, rising by 25.6 percent to 15.51 million tons last year.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce forecast the country's crude oil output for 2007 at 187 million tons, up 1.7 percent year on year. The country's crude oil consumption has been growing at an average annual rate of nearly 7 percent since 2000, far above the production growth rates of the same period.

Forex Reserve Headache

When the People's Bank of China recently announced that China's foreign exchange reserves had reached $1.53 trillion by the end of 2007, up 43.3 percent from 2006, the administrators in China's central bank were anything but happy.

China's foreign reserves have been the world's largest since it surpassed that of Japan in February 2006 and is still growing fast. China's record-high trade surplus in 2007, with 47.7-percent year-on-year growth, is the major factor contributing to the forex reserve boom.

The huge forex reserves are considered the main reason for excess liquidity in China, as the central bank has to spend quantities of basic money to purchase foreign exchange. On the other hand, continuous growth of the forex reserve has in fact increased pressure on appreciation of the Chinese currency, which in turn has exerted greater pressure on value preservation of China's forex reserves.

Unhappy Workers

More than 40 percent of employees in China were unsatisfied with their salaries in 2007 amid rising costs of living, according to an online survey. Voted on by more than 8,000 people of various professions nationwide, the survey was conducted in January by www.zhaopin.com, one of China's leading job-hunting websites.

When the respondents were asked to rate their degrees of satisfaction on salary, 21.5 percent ticked an attitude of "very satisfied and satisfied," 36.4 percent chose "an average degree," with the remaining 42.1 percent opting for strong dissatisfaction.

Only one fifth of employers have taken financial measures to increase employees' income to reduce the effect of price hikes in the past year, the survey registered.

Most respondents said they hoped their salary could be raised this year, with 21 percent hoping for a doubling of their salary. At the same time, more than half of the people surveyed said they were looking to new jobs.