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To: Stephen O who wrote (92015)	12/19/2002 6:54:56 PM
From: lorne	Respond to of 116915

OT. Maybe? China nears financial crisis Budget, job woes threaten stability, says official December 19, 2002 A financial crisis and massive unemployment in rural areas could pose major threats to social stability, a senior Beijing adviser says. The warning was delivered by Cheng Xuebin, head of an investigation bureau with the Urban Survey Team, part of the National Bureau of Statistics, and reported in Banyuetan, a biweekly magazine run by Xinhua. The article was picked up and displayed prominently in tomorrow's editions of the South China Morning Post. Cheng said providing social security and safety are major obstacles undermining China's effort to achieve prosperity by 2020, a target laid down by President Jiang Zemin in his 16th party congress report. Although China had successfully weathered the shock of the 1997 Asian currency crisis, further problems could lie ahead, he wrote. "Although the Chinese government has successfully avoided this crisis, we should remain alert," Cheng wrote. "The bad-debt rates of the four national banks are above 20 percent, and they are pretty high." Cheng, who is in charge of collecting data for policymakers, said there were about 150 million rural jobless, according to the most conservative estimates. "The dependence of our economy on the world's economy is more than we imagined, and foreign trade has contributed to an important share of our economy," he wrote. "Particularly after the entry of the World Trade Organization ... if the world economy is in a state of recession or stagnation, can China's economy maintain a consistent, rapid and healthy growth?" worldnetdaily.com

To: Stephen O who wrote (92015)	12/19/2002 7:32:46 PM
From: Richnorth	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116915

Chinese ditching gold for platinum While more are veering towards Western fashion tastes, gold bullion as a form of investment is still a thriving market BEIJING - Pure gold and jade are out for China's affluent crowd. Instead, they are shopping for platinum, gold and diamond jewellery. Jewellery market worth $21b BEIJING - Jewellery is a billion-yuan business in China. According to a recent survey, 80 per cent of respondents said they bought jewellery to markweddings and birthdays every year. The ''wedding market'' alone is a huge one. Close to 4 million urbanites tie the knot each year and in the major cities, couples spend an average of 5,800 yuan (S$1,200) on wedding rings. Mr Hu Songlin, general manager of Shard Box Store, a Beijing jewellery store, estimated that the average Chinese consumer could afford to spend 7,000 to 8,000 yuan for a ring; white collared workers could easily fork out 15,000 yuan and the sky was the limit for the nouveau riche. Over the past 10 years, the Chinese jewellery sector has seen a fivefold increase from 20 billion yuan in 1991 to over 100 billion yuan this year. Chinese bought 213 tonnes of gold and US$1.1 billion (S$1.9 billion) worth of diamonds last year. It remains the world's biggest consumer of jade. David Hsieh Last year, China imported 40 tonnes of platinum, more than half of the world's supply, for jewellery and other industrial uses, according to industry sources. Traditionally, well-heeled Chinese have preferred bracelets and necklaces made from pure gold and jade. Owing to backward smelting techniques, ornament gold contains small amounts of copper that oxidise to produce an orange hue. Traditional gold jewellery are often also poorly crafted by modern standards and cannot withstand the day-to-day wear and tear. With the rapid opening up of China in the past decade, increasingly sophisticated Chinese consumers have become exposed to beautifully designed and well-crafted jewellery from abroad, that retain their lustre even after many years of use. The Chinese are also attracted to platinum and 14K or 18K gold rings studded with diamonds or other precious and semi-precious stones. A clerk at Guiyou Department Store in east Beijing said: 'Customers buy platinum for the value. They buy 14K and 18K gold jewellery for the design and for fashion. Now, even farmers come in to buy platinum and low-carat gold.' At Guiyou, platinum rings and necklaces cost 198 yuan (S$40) per gram and 14K and 18K jewellery items are priced according to individual pieces. Mr Shi Hongjue, vice-secretary-general of the Gemmological Association of China, said it was the high quality of Western jewellery that appealed to the Chinese. 'The romanticism and artistry reflected in modern Western jewellery appeals to Chinese consumers. 'Traditional Chinese jewellery no longer satisfies the changing taste of these consumers,' he told The Straits Times. Mr Hu Songlin, general manager of Shard Box Store, a jewellery store in Beijing, said buying diamonds was also considered a sound investment. 'Diamonds maintain and increase in value. 'Nowadays, the average Chinese have more money to spend so buying two or three carats is not beyond their reach,' he said. Like gold, the demand for jade - especially feicui or green jade and white jade - has also waned. Low quality and fake jade, which has flooded the market, has deterred consumers from spending huge sums on expensive jade. The problem is aggravated by the lack of authoritative authentication of the quality of jade. Although pure gold in the form of jewellery is losing its popularity in China, it has found a new and potentially huge market - in the form of gold bullion for investment purposes. After a 50-year ban on trading and retail sale, the Shanghai Gold Exchange opened its doors in October this year. More than 10 tonnes of gold bullion, valued at 880 million yuan, have been traded. Last month alone, about six tonnes were traded. Gold ingots ranging from 10 g to 500 g, which went on sale at major department stores nationwide on Wednesday, are selling like hot cakes. At the Guiyou store, the first batch of 200 ingots, priced at 92 yuan per g, were snapped up by noon with the second batch also selling fast. On Wednesday alone, four department stores in Beijing sold a total of more than 200 kg of gold bullion worth 18 million yuan.