Boao: Asia searching for win-win

Boao Forum Asia attracted most attention last week. At the opening session, Chinese President Hu Jintao delivered a speech: China's development is an opportunity for Asia.

He declared China would "take the economic development as top priority". He set the goal for China's development in the first 20 years of the new milenium. He described China's way to modernization as a "long, uphill battle".

He vowed to have closer cooperation and more exchanges with Asian neighbors, accelerate the Asian integration, enhance the good-neighborliness in Asia, and facilitate dialogues on security with other Asian countries.

He concluded China's peaceful rise would be a good opportunity to Asia and the world.

High on the agenda of the forum is the integration of Asia. Leaders stressed the significance of closer cooperation. In this aspect, Asia can draw on experience of EU.

Financial cooperation has long been the core of the economic cooperation in Asia. Countries in the region have learned from the Financial Crisis how important it would be to joint hands to prevent and deal with such crisis. But the process is relatively quite slow in this field compared with the progress in cooperation on other fields.

Anyhow, as Long Yongtu, secretary general of the forum proposed, 'Asian Dollar' is a goal that is worth pursuing.

A re-opened door

After the State Council gave a green light, China Securities Regulatory Committee has approved fuel oil trading at Shanghai Futures Exchange. Transactions will begin at an "appropriate time" after preparations are made.

This is the first real new futures product launched in China since 1998. China's oil futures trading debut as early as 1993. Shanghai Oil Futures Exchange was even the world's third largest oil trading floor following London and New York. But it was closed after 1995 because of the industrial overhaul.

Transactions in China's oil market are sizable. A brisk spot trading market normally promises good prospect for futures market. In this case, risks are looming, especially given the fact that energy has strategic significance for a nation. So the news of resumption of the oil futures in Shanghai is encouraging both for oil businesses and for futures investors.

As the second largest oil consumer and the top oil importer in the world, China has a very weak voice in the pricing of oil in the world market. The opening of the fuel futures market marks the first step for China toward a bigger role in the international oil pricing. As a prominent buyer, having its own market will undoubtedly put the buyer on a less vulnerable and more favorable position.

Fuel oil is a kind of heavy oil refined from crude oil. It is mainly used in power generation, transportation, metallurgy, chemical, and light industries. Consumption of fuel oil in China stands at about 44 million tons and about 23 million tons are imported from other countries and regions.

Developing the futures market in a steady way is highlighted in the guideline on the reform and development of the capital market issued by China's State Council at the end of January this year. It stresses risk control when a futures product is launched.

Agreement amid rows

It was not surprising to see trade rows like anti-dumping cases increasing when the volume of the bilateral trade was so amazing and kept rising, said US Vice President Dick Cheney in his speech at Fudan University in Shanghai. It is true. As the two sides recognize the importance of the other party as a trade partner, China and US are taking actions to address the problems. That's why Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi was in Washington last week.

Before her visit, there were expectations about what would be high on the agenda of the talks during her stay in US. Washington may focus on semiconductor taxes and floating RBM exchange rates while Beijing would be more concerned about the surging anti-dumping cases against Chinese products, the status of market economy and US control on hi-tech export. Although people pinned high hope on this trip, they knew how bumpy the road would be toward any agreement.

Now Wu Yi has wrapped up her visit to US. The 15th Sino-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, which was co-hosted by Wu Yi and US Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans and Trade Representative Robert Zoellick on April 21 in Washington, proved to be "a complete success" as a result of their in-depth and frank exchange of opinions on an array of issues concerning Sino-US trade relations in a friendly atmosphere.

This is the highest level conference for the Commission since the mechanism was in place. The decision of making the platform on a higher grade itself shows how much importance the leaders of the two nations attach to the healthy and steady development of Sino-US economic and trade relations. Both sides expressed at the event their commitment to expand and strengthen the comprehensive economic and trade ties between the two countries.

Specifically, the package of the fruits of the meeting includes six working groups to be established and eight agreements.

The six working groups will be set up within the framework of the Sino-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade. They will address issues of China's status of market economy, trade bail-out in Sino-US trade, inspection and quarantine of agricultural products, textiles trade, intellectual property rights and trade volume statistics.

The eight agreements reached by the two sides involve marine transportation, end user visits for US hi-tech exports to China, safety of drug, food and consumer goods, as well as animal and plant inspection and quarantine, small and mid-sized enterprises cooperation and exhibition.

China also promised to delay the implementation of its wireless application standard.

Power joint venture to power economy

A large scale blackout took place last year in US and Canada. It sparkled concerns about the reliability of the power transmission. China experienced severe power shortage last year. As the problem will still linger for some time before new generators are put into operation, enterprises in Yangtze River Delta and Peal River Delta are worried about the situation this year. Some foreign funded businesses in Shanghai expressed their concern about this to the municipal government.

China is making great efforts to solve this problem. Measures including using more nuclear energy for power generation have been taken. The power market is expecting more reforms to make it more market-oriented. Foreign investors usually have little interest in China's power industry due to the opaque policy on this market. Some of them have withdrawn their capital.

But recently a new player from France has made its presence here in China. AREVA T&D, one of the top three power transmission and distribution companies in the world, has announced a new joint venture in Suzhou, in East China's Jiangsu province.

The new venture will mainly serve the Chinese market. It aims to become the world's major power grid equipment manufacturing base.

By People's Daily Online and courtesy to CCTV-9