Energy News  
China facing increasing inflationary pressures: govt

by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Jul 26, 2006
China is bracing for higher inflation due to the rising costs of oil and other raw materials, with authorities also phasing in price hikes for electricity and water, state press said Wednesday.

"The price rises of raw materials have increased costs for producers and will eventually push up prices of finished products," the China Daily quoted Zhu Hongren, a top official at the National Development and Reform Commission, as saying.

"It's one of the problems China faces besides the spree of fixed assets investment."

Crude oil prices are 40 percent higher than July last year and copper more than double a year ago, Zhu pointed out.

China's consumer price index rose 1.4 percent in the second quarter of the year compared with the same period in 2005, official data released Tuesday last week showed.

The index -- the main gauge of inflation and a key factor in determining the temperature of the economy -- was up 1.5 percent in June alone, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

The consumer price index for the first six months climbed 1.3 percent, when the economy grew by 10.9 percent, according to the bureau.

These rates are low by most standards and some analysts have said they could reflect the pressure of oversupply and overcapacity in the Chinese economy.

However, inflation has been picking up slowly and the rise in prices for oil and many commodities has been so sharp and sustained that many believe it will inevitably lead to sharper price increases to come.

Energy and water prices were set to rise throughout the country due to the general problem of resource shortages, aside from the immediate concern of higher prices, the China Daily said in a separate editorial.

"Increased power and energy prices are inevitable as the Chinese economy increasingly tests its resource and environmental limits," the editorial said.

"To prepare the country for such energy challenges, all businesses must be urged to improve their energy efficiency as much as possible. Higher power prices should serve to encourage them to undertake otherwise painful reforms."

Many areas across the country have already introduced some price hikes as a way to encourage water conservation and ease water shortages, according to various state press reports this week.

From China's western-most Xinjiang region, to Shaanxi province in the north and Guangdong in the south, water prices have risen between 15 to 23 percent recently, the reports said.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
China News from SinoDaily.com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Typhoon hits China, over 500,000 evacuated
Beijing (AFP) Jul 25, 2006
Typhoon Kaemi struck the southeast coast of China on Tuesday, sparking the evacuation of over 500,000 people in an area still reeling from a tropical storm that claimed over 600 lives.







  • Fuel Cells, A Neglected Clean Source Of Energy
  • European retirees creating a boom market for Thai property
  • Exiled Tibetan government warns against increased mining
  • Greenland Begins Sale Of Oil Concessions

  • US-India Nuke Deal Revisited
  • Environmentalists Arrested In Russia After Anti-Nuclear Protest
  • US May Ask Russian Help With Nuke Waste
  • IAEA Chief Cautions Turkey Over Nuclear Energy Plans

  • NASA Experiment Finds Possible Trigger For Radio-Busting Bubbles
  • California's Model Skies
  • ESA Picks SSTL To Develop Atmospheric CO2 Detector
  • Faster Atmospheric Warming In Subtropics Pushes Jet Streams Toward Poles

  • Malaysia And Indonesia Join Forces To Dampen Haze Problem
  • Fires Rage In Indonesian Borneo And Sumatra
  • WWF Warns Over Pulp Giant In Indonesia
  • World Bank Vows To Improve Forestry Program In Cambodia

  • Smog Damage To Crops Costing Billions
  • WWF Reports That Bluefin Tuna Fishery Threatened In East Atlantic
  • Reducing The Global Need For Nitrogen Fertilizers
  • Food-Crop Yields In Future Greenhouse-Gas Conditions Lower Than Expected

  • Toyota To Expand Hybrid Car Range In US
  • Ford First To Offer Clean-Burning Hydrogen Vehicles
  • Smart Cars To Rule The Roads
  • Nano Replacement For Petroleum

  • Boeing Puts Aircraft Market At 2.6 Trillion Dollars
  • Innovative Solutions Make Transportation Systems Safer Secure and Efficient
  • Joint Strike Fighter Is Not Flawed Finds Australian Government
  • Globemaster Airdrops Falcon Small Launch Vehicle

  • Could NASA Get To Pluto Faster? Space Expert Says Yes - By Thinking Nuclear
  • NASA plans to send new robot to Jupiter
  • Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission
  • Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement