Event Summary

On November 4, AmCham Shanghai's Logistics and Transportation (L&T) Committee hosted a luncheon event at the Four Seasons Hotel covering the recent Economist Intelligence Unit's six-month report card on China's stimulus package. Pilar Dieter, Director at Alaris Consulting and Chair of the L&T Committee, opened the event by briefly describing the stimulus package and some of the primary concerns surrounding it, including the question of the actual value of the stimulus, whether it will create overcapacity, and the need for a greater emphasis on boosting domestic demand.  Dieter then introduced Wu Chen, author of the Economist Intelligence Unit's six-month report card on China’s stimulus package.

Wu began by examining the three main areas addressed by the stimulus package: industrial restructuring, support for science and technology, and improvements to the social safety net.  He noted that China's central government only provides a fraction of the stimulus package funds, while the rest is supplied by local governments and banks.  As such, he deemed the "winners" in the stimulus package story to be state-owned enterprises and the infrastructure sector, while the private sector and banking industries would receive fewer benefits from the package. Ultimately, while the Chinese government's stimulus package has kept the country's GDP at its target 8 percent growth rate, major concerns – including government meddling in the banking sector, so-called "white elephant" projects such as the high-speed railway from Beijing to Shanghai, and property value bubble-boosting – still exist, said Wu.

For more information visit the Logistics & Transportation website.

Event Announcement

On November 9, 2008 Beijing launched a RMB 4 trillion stimulus package in response to the global economic crisis. Billions of RMB was targeted on China’s infrastructure and stimulating domestic consumption. Today, as we approach the one year anniversary of the announcement of China’s stimulus package, visible indicators such as the growth of nationwide construction sites and a healthier-than-planned GDP growth rate indicates spending may have been efficient and properly directed, but the benefit realized by private enterprises remains unclear.

On November 4, please join the Logistics and Transportation Committee in hosting Mr. Wu Chen, author of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s six month report card on China’s Stimulus Package, for a discussion on the real impact of China’s stimulus package across a broad spectrum of industries.

About the Speaker:

Mr. Wu Chen is the Senior Editor of EuroFinance based in Shanghai. Prior to that, he was the editor of CFO China, also an Economist Group publication since 2005. In his journalism career, he has worked for BusinessWeek in Hong Kong, Bloomberg News in Singapore, and the international news department of Xinhua (New China) News Agency in Beijing.  Mr. Wu’s story on the problems involved in the process of manufacturing sector transformation in July 2008 won the Society of Asia Publishers Excellence Awards for Business Reporting (2009).

A hard copy of the EIU’s stimulus package report card will be available free for all attendees of the event.

Agenda

11:30 Registration and Networking
12:00 Buffet Lunch
12:30 Presentation and Q&A
13:30 Event ends

RSVP: All AmCham events require confirmation of attendance (RSVP). If you attend an event without prior notification you will be charged a RMB 50 "walk in" fee.

RSVP Cancellation: If you need to cancel your RSVP please notify Ms. Viola Huang T: 6279-7119 x 5658 or email viola.huang@amcham-shanghai.org no less than 12 hours in advance. Failure to cancel your RSVP will require payment of a "no show bill".