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The China Monitor April 2011 Briefing Round-Up A Round-Up of all the top stories drawn from our Weekly Briefings over the previous month China and Africa to deepen cooperation on intellectual property China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) recently signed a memorandum of cooperation and understanding in Cameroon's capital Yaounde to strengthen the bilateral cooperation in the field of intellectual property. Under the memorandum of cooperation and understanding, the two countries will establish a basic framework for bilateral cooperation and launch joint activities. Sudan secures US$360 million loan to build new dams and airport Cash-strapped Sudan secured a US$360 million loan recently to help finance a new airport in the capital and two dams in the east of the country that will boost power supplies and irrigate farmland. U.S. sanctions, dwindling foreign reserves and a crippling debt burden of around US$38 billion, have hampered Sudan's ability to secure external financing for new projects. Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries totals US$14.96 billion Trade between China an d the eight Portuguese-speaking countries in the first two months of the year totalled US$14.96 billion, which was a year on year rise of 40%, according to figures from China‟s Customs Bureau published in Macau. In the period, China imported goods from the eight Portuguese-speaking countries worth US$10.17 billion (44% more) and exported goods worth US$4.78 billion (31.16%), generating a trade deficit of US$5.39 billion. WTO official: China imports threaten Brazilian industry as bilateral trade grows Brazil‟s growing reliance on imported Chinese manufactured goods is threatening producers in Latin America‟s biggest economy, said James Bacchus, a former U.S. congressman and World Trade Organization official. Chinese demand for Brazilian raw materials such as iron ore and soybeans enabled the Asian nation to overtake the U.S. as Brazil‟s biggest trading partner in 2009. China may double solar goal after Japan nuclear leak China may double its target for photovoltaic power capacity over the next five years in the wake of Japan's nuclear crisis, the official China Securities Journal reported on Wednesday. Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper said the government may be looking at a new target of having installed capacity of 10 gigawatts (GW) of photovoltaic power by 2015, up from its existing target of 5 GW. Zambian study: Chinese investments boost nation's economy Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Zambia has boosted the Zambian economy and helped create more employment for the people, argues a study by the University of Zambia (UNZA). The study by the School of Social Science and Research for 2007 says the investment China has brought into Zambia has done more good than harm as it has helped to develop the mining sector. Chinese bid for uranium shares in Namibia Finance is sought to unearth the large uranium funds discovered in Namibia, with partners said to be preferably Namibian. Nevertheless, shareholders are also engaging in negotiations over a bid by a Chinese company to buy up 43% of Kalahari Minerals in Extract Resources. Kalahari Miner-als is the largest shareholder in the mine, and is favouring the cash offer from China Guangdong Nuclear Uranium Resources Company. Nigeria-China trade hits US$7.76 billion Trade between Nigeria and China has reached a historic new high of US$7.76 billion, the Chi-nese Ambassador to Nigeria, HE Deng Boqing stated. According to him Nigeria has become the fourth largest trade partner and the second largest export market of China in Africa. The envoy spoke during a one day seminar on China-Nigeria Trade Promotion, in Lagos. Rise in fuel prices in China after crude climbs to 30- month high China raised retail fuel prices for the second time this year after oil‟s advance to a 30-month high undermined the government‟s efforts to cap costs and cool inflation in the world‟s second-largest economy. Prices rose by as much as 5.8%, with gasoline increasing by US$ 76 a metric ton and diesel by US$ 61.13, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement re-cently. Ecobank opens 'China desk' to manage Africa loans Pan-African bank Ecobank Transnational Inc will open a © Centre for Chinese Studies, Stellenbosch University; All Rights Reserved 12
The China Monitor April 2011 China desk next week aimed at easing the flow of Chinese loans for African infrastructure projects, a bank official said. The desk will be located in Accra and include two Ecobank employees and two senior staff from the Bank of China. BRICS issue Sanya Declaration The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) released a declaration at the conclusion of their two day summit in Hainan, China, pledging coordination and support on a range of issues including financial reform and an establishment of an international reserve currency system. The summit, chaired by Chinese President Hu Jintao was the third meeting of BRICS leaders and the first for South Africa since it joined the group in December 2010. Dangote, Sinoma in US$ 3.9 billion African cement deal Dangote Group and Chinese firm Sinoma have jointly entered into a US$ 3.9 billion contract set to be executed in six African nations. The contract was signed by the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and President of Sinoma, Mr. Wu Shoufu, and will see Dangote cement‟s output across Africa rise to about 50 million metric tonnes per annum in two and a half years. Dangote said the move is in line with the company‟s overall objective of boosting cement production and supply within the African continent. Chinese manufacturers go local in battle for Kenya’s consumers In a market previously dominated by direct imports, Chinese manufacturers in Kenya are bucking the trend and setting up local production plants in a renewed bid to dominate Kenya‟s consumer markets. The Chinese have established a strong presence in Kenya‟s telecoms infrastructure, automobile, battery, food and beverage markets in the last five years. Chinese firm elates Zambian mine suppliers Luanshya-based mine suppliers have praised the China Non-Ferrous Metal Corporation‟s Luanshya Copper Mine (CLM) for coming up with a policy to give 75% of the contracts involving locally sourced goods to local companies. CLM public relations officer Sydney Chileya confirmed that Luanshya-based mine suppliers were already enjoying the benefits of the policy. other BRICS nations will continue to grow because of rising Chinese domestic demand, but warned that trade among the bloc faces uncertainty also. China's imports from South Africa surged by 172% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2011, while exports grew 24.1%. Huawei reports sharp rise in profit and reveals new details Huawei Technologies, China‟s top telecommunications equipment maker, reported an impressive increase in profits in its annual report which released new details about the privately held company. Huawei, which competes with Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks and Chinese rival ZTE Corporation, reported a 30% rise in last year‟s net profit. Huawei is South African company Telkom‟s only strategic partner for its 21NC integrated access network, providing an access platform integrating voice, internet protocol and video. Chinese Yuan set to be international currency, say analysts China is set to designate one bank in Singapore to take on the role of clearing Yuan trades as it gradually moves to internationalise its currency. It is believed that either the Bank of China or the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China will be the clearing bank, according to analysts. Some analysts see this as a move by China to reduce its reliance on the greenback as a reserve currency. Sourced from: Iol, All Africa.com; BBC, Bloomberg; Engineering News; China Daily; Google; Wall Street Journal, Lusaka Times, Zambia Post; Timeslive; CRI.net; Reuters; Business Week; FT.com; Afrik.com; Xinhuanet For more of the China Briefings we have collected in the last month, please see our Weekly Briefings, which can be accessed via our website: www.sun.ac.za/ccs China's imports from emerging markets surge China's imports from emerging countries, especially South Africa and Brazil, grew dramatically in the first quarter of the year. Analysts predict China's trade with © Centre for Chinese Studies, Stellenbosch University; All Rights Reserved 13
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The China Monitor - The Centre for Chinese Studies

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