Home>News Center>China
       
 

Price drop indicates economy cooling down
By Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-05-11 22:48

Soaring prices of steel products, widely used in China's fast-growing economy, have seen a drop for six consecutive weeks since March, but they are still 30 per cent higher than a year ago.

Still, the reduction was seen by the government as a major achievement of its desperate efforts in the last year to slow down the country's overheated economy.

The National Development and Reform Commission Tuesday said the price of steel products dropped about 17 per cent or roughly 750 yuan (US$91) to around 3,440 yuan (US$419) per ton during the past six weeks. The findings were the result of close watch on steel prices at 22 major fairs nationwide.

"The drop was mainly caused by the government's effort to tighten overheating trends in some sectors," a commission official told China Daily in a phone interview.

The official, who refused to be named, said the price will continue to fall in the short term thanks to increased macro-economic regulations, tightened money supply and administrative intervention.

A stronger US dollar and price drops of raw materials for steel products on domestic and overseas markets are also partly responsible for the decrease, the official said.

According to the information gathered from major steel markets in 22 cities, prices rose by at least 1,000 yuan (US$121) per ton in the 12 months leading up to March.

Xinhua reported that the country's demand for steel products began to fall in the first quarter but output increased by 29.47 per cent, leading to growth in inventories.

By early March, the price of steel products for construction rose at least 50 per cent and rising steel prices have spurred investment in steel plants and prices of raw materials and energy during January and February.

Overall investment in the steel sector stood at 16.9 billion yuan (US$2 billion) in those two months, up 202 per cent year-on-year, according to figures released by the commission.

The prices of iron ore, steel scrap and coke jumped by about 200 per cent, 50 per cent and 40 per cent year-on-year, respectively.

Despite the price drop for steel products, some economists said the overheating trend of China's economy has not changed.

Money is still injected into already overheated sectors like iron and steel, aluminum, cement, real estate and automobile.

China's economy grew by 9.7 per cent in the first quarter of the year, higher than the official target of 7 per cent for 2004.

To curb the trend, the State Council has said it is determined to punish officials who involved in the overheated sectors.

Recently, the State Council decided to send a special group to investigate the construction of an iron project in the cities of Changzhou and Yangzhong.

The project, with an expected production capacity of 8.4 million tons and total investment of 10.6 billion yuan (US$1.27 billion), was initiated by Jiangsu Tieben Iron Co Ltd in 2002. It began construction in June 2003.

An investigation to date showed that the project illegally occupies 436 hectares and began construction without approval from the local environmental protection department.

Wang Jiang, vice-president of the China Institute of Macroeconomic Research said the government can play an important role in macroeconomic management.

"But I don't mean that the government should tighten up the economy in full scale," said Wang. "We need a relatively fast development to create jobs, which many, many Chinese are seeking."

 
  Today's Top News     Top China News
 

Premier: China will consider Taiwan reunification law

 

   
 

Price drop indicates economy cooling down

 

   
 

US$1.5b in contracts signed in London

 

   
 

FM calls for `reasonable expectations'

 

   
 

Olympic venues open to global bids

 

   
 

China's first frozen egg baby born

 

   
  Shanghai docs on the take may get axed
   
  Wen touts all-around exchange
   
  Incompetent officials face tougher scrutiny
   
  FM calls for `reasonable expectations'
   
  Police see latest cop high-tech gear
   
  Food security prime national priority
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Steel price drops 17%
   
US economists fret over China effect
   
China's steel sector still red hot
  News Talk  
  When will china have direct elections?  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: a级国产乱理伦片在线观看| 亚欧在线精品免费观看一区| 老司机福利在线观看| 国产欧美日韩一区二区三区| 99久久99久久精品免费观看 | 久久精品国产四虎| 国产高清在线免费视频| h小视频在线观看| 成人性生交视频免费观看| 久久亚洲日韩看片无码| 最美情侣中文字幕电影| 亚洲国产精品sss在线观看AV| 波多野结衣大战5个黑人| 免费的毛片网站| 美女被免费看视频网站| 国产乱人伦偷精精品视频| 黄色免费网站在线看| 国产精品久久毛片| 78成人精品电影在线播放| 大屁股熟女一区二区三区| xxxx69中国| 岛国片在线播放| 中文字幕avdvd| 斗鱼客服电话24小时人工服务热线| 久久国产乱子免费精品| 日韩大片高清播放器| 五月综合色婷婷在线观看| 欧美一级片手机在线观看| 亚洲日韩中文字幕在线播放 | 国产日韩精品欧美一区喷| 你懂的在线视频网站| 国产精品视频免费一区二区| 97av视频在线播放| 在线观看麻豆精品国产不卡| a资源在线观看| 女人十八进入一及黄特别片| 一区二区手机视频| 娇小xxxxx性开放| 一区二区三区免费在线观看| 美女扒开粉嫩尿口漫画| 欧洲一区二区三区在线观看|