Dealing with the Global Economic Crisis - Officials and

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 GUANGZHOU 000218 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE PASS USTR FOR STRATFORD/WINTER/MCCARTIN/LEE STATE PASS FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD FOR JOHNSON/SCHINDLER STATE PASS SAN FRANCISCO FRB FOR CURRAN TREASURY FOR MOGHTADER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN ECON CH SUBJECT: Dealing with the Global Economic Crisis - Officials and Foreign Firms Tell AUSTR Stratford How the Downturn is Affecting South China Ref: A) GUANGZHOU 163, B) GUANGZHOU 42, C) 08 GUANGZHOU 719, D) 08 GUANGZHOU 715 (U) This document is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. Not for release outside U.S. government channels. Not for internet publication. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The global economic downturn got an early start in South China, but most U.S. companies here have been less severely affected and many continue to grow, according to business leaders who met with visiting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for China Timothy Stratford April 2-3. Highlights: -- American Chamber of Commerce-South China representatives pointed out that many firms in the region began to suffer after implementation of new regulations (VAT rebate reductions, the Labor Contract Law),many aimed at labor-intensive export processors, well before the start of the global financial crisis. U.S. firms were generally already compliant with the new rules and were better able to deal with the changes, but they have still suffered some effects from the downturn. -- Procter and Gamble has seen an uneven impact across product categories but is still growing, albeit at a more modest pace than before. -- Wal-Mart officials told Stratford that they have positioned themselves well for the future, but acknowledge there are likely more hard times ahead for manufacturers in Guangdong. -- A representative of a major foreign shipping company highlighted overcapacity in a shipping industry exacerbated by the downturn and the Chinese government efforts to assist local shipping lines. -- Local Guangdong government officials expressed the desire to increase cooperation on trade, investment and intellectual property rights (IPR) issues, but one official (as well as Taiwan investors in Dongguan and academic researchers in Shenzhen) noted that it would take time before China could shift exports to the local market and increase domestic demand to levels comparable to more developed countries. End summary. Local Factors Preceded the Financial Crisis -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Executives from U.S. firms based in South China emphasized that the economic slowdown in the PRD preceded the global financial crisis, due in large part to Chinese regulatory changes. Harley Seyedin, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in South China (Amcham),told AUSTR Stratford at a breakfast meeting that large numbers of factory closures in Guangdong started in late 2007 after the Chinese government reduced value-added tax (VAT) rebates for export goods. The Labor Contract Law, which came into force in January 2008, created further difficulties for many firms. ¶3. (SBU) However, Seyedin explained that U.S. companies were not as affected by the changes and are faring relatively well even through the global financial crisis. The cut in VAT rebates affected export producers; Seyedin pointed out that 72.5% of Amcham companies provide goods and services primarily to the China market. In addition, most U.S firms were already compliant with the stricter standards of the Labor Contract Law. Seyedin noted that no Amcham member had shut down any major operation recently and nearly 96% are profitable or expect to be profitable within two year. The factories that had closed, he said, were those that exploited cheap labor, took advantage of lax environmental regulations and were energy inefficient. ¶4. (SBU) Other Amcham leaders at the breakfast reported a mix of challenges and opportunities emerging from the economic downturn. An AIG executive said that sales of marine insurance had declined 30-35% with the fall in exports, but the firm still sees much potential for growth in Guangdong Province since insurance penetration rates are low. The general manager of a sensor system manufacturer said that sales had fallen 15% in FY09 after years of 15% growth. However, he speculated that the market for his product had already reached the bottom, and sales would start to recover soon. The representative from a major accounting firm told AUSTR Stratford that merger and acquisition work had increased recently with more U.S. companies looking to buy distressed Chinese firms. GUANGZHOU 00000218 002 OF 005 P&G Managing Slower Growth -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Procter and Gamble (P&G) is still growing in China, but is adjusting to a much slower pace of growth during the downturn, P&G Greater China President Daniela Riccardi told Stratford. Whereas the challenge for P&G had previously been managing dramatic expansion each year, the company is now looking at more modest growth. Riccardi explained that sales had gone flat in some product categories and even contracted in others. The battery market, for example, had practically collapsed in October as many wholesale buyers shut down. She said a dramatic slowing in retail expansion in China had had a major effect on P&G because new stores building inventory had been an important source of sales. Riccardi also noted that disposable diaper sales had been strongly and quickly affected by the downturn. Diaper sales are particularly sensitive to overall economic growth because many buyers quickly resort to more traditional child care techniques (split pants in China) when the outlook turns negative. ¶6. (SBU) On IPR protection, Riccardi commented that cooperation with local officials was good overall. She said that P&G had successfully employed a strategy of explaining to local officials that the loss in tax revenues that it would pay on legitimate sales was greater than any potential economic loss from shutting down manufacturers and vendors of counterfeit goods. P&G's cooperation in Guangzhou's Baiyun District, a long-time center for IPR piracy, has been particularly good. Wal-Mart Growing, More Pain Ahead for Factories -------------- -- ¶7. (SBU) Wal-Mart's sourcing in China has grown over the last year, according to executives at the firm's global procurement headquarters in Shenzhen. David Heartquist, the vice president for systems and strategy, explained that the increase in Wal-Mart Global Procurement's sourcing in China was due in part to Wal-Mart's expansion of direct importing. Wal-Mart has been moving away from buying through other importing companies largely because direct importing allows it to maintain more control over its supply chain. (Note: In addition, Wal-Mart has managed to buck the overall decline in U.S. retail sales since the downturn, reporting significant growth in February and March. End note.) Heartquist said that Wal-Mart had seen some upside in its China procurement operations from the economic downturn, strengthening its relationships with Chinese suppliers who have been affected by the bankruptcy of Linens N' Things and other U.S. retailers. ¶8. (SBU) However, Mark Green, another vice president who works closely with Wal-Mart's suppliers, said there was likely more pain to come for many South China manufacturers. Most retailers placed their orders for the holiday 2008 and spring 2009 retail seasons by spring/summer 2008, before it was clear how severe the downturn would be. Orders fell severely in the fall due to declining sales and the need to reduce inventories. Many factories have been able to survive the decline in orders so far - but won't be able to hold out indefinitely, according to Green. He indicated the March-July period would be critical. ¶9. (SBU) The Wal-Mart executives expressed frustration with certain aspects of U.S. product safety and quality requirements. Quality Assurance Vice President Tony Judge emphasized that Wal-Mart worked hard together with its suppliers to meet all safety and quality requirements and had been successful at ensuring compliance. However, he said that variation across states made compliance extremely challenging in some cases. Different standards by state raise costs for Wal-Mart substantially because it insists that all products it sells in the United States meet the standards for every U.S. jurisdiction, according to Judge. He also pointed out that some requirements, especially at the state level, had been implemented quickly without much consultation with industry, and a few were not entirely scientifically justified. In addition, Judge told us that some U.S. regulations needed further clarification, citing new labeling requirements as an example. GUANGZHOU 00000218 003 OF 005 Shipping Industry Facing Overcapacity -------------- ¶10. (SBU) The shipping industry has seen a substantial decline in business out of South China ports so far in 2009 that will exacerbate long-term problems of overcapacity, according to a senior executive with a major foreign shipping company. He said Shenzhen's total port throughput had fallen 21.1% year-on-year in January and February, closely tracking Guangdong's trade performance for the two months. His company has seen some modest improvement in March, but still foresees a 12-15% decline in the monthly sales figures that were not yet available. Many of its customers have indicated that they expect shipping volumes to be "back to normal" in June, but the executive commented that such predictions could be naive. Clients who export furniture and lighting equipment from South China have been the hardest hit. ¶11. (SBU) The downturn is compounding overcapacity that already exists and appears likely to grow as more vessels ordered by shipping companies come online. The industry already has approximately 500 idle vessels anchored near Singapore, according to the shipping executive, because shipping companies are unable to cover the variable costs of operating the vessels. He pointed out that Chinese shipping company COSCO has enough ships on order to double its current capacity and become the fourth largest fleet in the world. ¶12. (SBU) The executive also argued that COSCO and China Shipping benefit from Chinese government support that allows them to offer reduced rates to Chinese exporters. He said there was "no paper trail" to document these efforts to lower logistical costs and enhance the competitiveness of Chinese exports. However, he asserted that COSCO and China Shipping had benefitted from the government's fiscal stimulus efforts; COSCO had just received RMB 740 million (about US$110 million) from the Chinese government to support its low-profit liner business; and the Bank of China had recently raised COSCO's line of credit to RMB 76 billion (about US$11 billion). Help for Exporters, Domestic Market Obstacles -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Dongguan Taiwan Businessmen's Association (DGTBA) Vice Chair Morgan Teng told AUSTR Stratford that the Dongguan municipal government had been very active in its support for Taiwan companies hit by the economic downturn. Echoing comments we've heard before from DGTBA and other investors in Dongguan (refs A, B, C and D), Teng said about 10% of DGTBA members had shut down over the last year, most in the last quarter of 2008. Among the survivors, orders were down by an estimated 20-30%. In response, Dongguan's municipal government had postponed tax payments for some firms, waived certain administrative fees, financed loans, offered subsidies for research and development, and assisted export manufacturers in expanding sales to the local market. Dongguan's vice mayor convinced local customs officials to establish a special tax bonded zone to allow export makers to change the tariff-free status of their goods before selling to the domestic market, instead of having to export the products and then re-import them to China. ¶14. (SBU) However, Teng emphasized that despite these efforts it was still very difficult for Taiwan companies in Dongguan to shift their production from exports to goods for the domestic Chinese market. Taiwan firms lack brands and distribution channels in China, and it would be costly and time consuming to build them. The only companies to find success in this area so far began the transition years ago. Hong Kong investors in Dongguan have recently made similar comments to Congenoffs. They also noted that features and specifications differ for products sold in China. In addition, the average consumer in China cannot afford many of the goods produced by Dongguan's export makers, and recent changes in the economic environment of the PRD make it nearly impossible for factories to cut costs much further, according to Hong Kong executives. ¶15. (SBU) Researchers at the China Development Institute, a GUANGZHOU 00000218 004 OF 005 government-sponsored think-tank in Shenzhen, also identified many of the same obstacles preventing local export makers from easily transitioning to the domestic Chinese market, providing data to elaborate. According to Professor Qu Jian, 50% of exporting companies in Guangdong do not have domestic sale channels; 32% say profit margins in the domestic market are too low and 28% believe that logistical costs for moving goods from the Pearl River Delta to other parts of China are too high. He also pointed out that many exporting enterprises in Guangdong get their financing from sources in Hong Kong which might not be willing to finance domestic expansion. ¶16. (SBU) Nevertheless, Qu and his colleague Professor Feng Subao laid out some of the measures that the provincial and local governments had taken to assist firms in shifting their focus to domestic Chinese consumers. The Shenzhen municipal government has helped local exporters attend regional trade fairs that target the domestic markets. Infrastructure planning in Guangdong has been more focused on improving transportation links that can efficiently and cheaply carry goods to other parts of China. In addition, they emphasized that stimulus measures at the national and local level, such as consumption coupons that the Guangdong provincial government is considering issuing, would help spur domestic consumption. ¶17. (SBU) Qu also commented that there are two schools of thought among academics in Guangdong about what action, if any, should be taken to help export manufacturers. (Comment: Qu did not say so explicitly, but this difference of opinion likely extends to government officials as well. End comment.) Some believe that the province should stick with its export-oriented strategy because U.S. and other foreign markets for China's exports will eventually recover. The other school believes that the economy must restructure to rely more on demand in China and Southeast Asia. Feng also noted that even as the province seeks to assist export manufacturers and stabilize employment, Guangdong is still pursuing the strategy of "emptying the cage for new birds" championed by Provincial Party Secretary Wang Yang. That strategy involves allowing heavy-polluting and labor-intensive export processors to fail or move to less developed parts of China while encouraging the development of more high-tech, high-value-added and service sector industries. Officials Express Support for Cooperation -------------- ¶18. (SBU) Zhong Jianhui, the deputy director general of the Guangdong Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (GD DOFTEC),told AUSTR Stratford that his agency was ready to work with the U.S. government to promote trade and the development of foreign-invested enterprises in Guangdong. AUSTR Stratford underscored the need for both China and the United States to address economic imbalances that have contributed to the global downturn. He expressed the need for other countries, including China, to work on increasing demand to help stimulate recovery. Citing the steel industry as an example, AUSTR Stratford also pointed out that when China takes steps to help domestic industries, the effect should not be the stabilization of China's exports in a shrinking market at the expense of other producers. Zhong said he appreciated AUSTR Stratford's frank remarks but commented that it would take time to increase consumption in China enough to eliminate the difference in demand levels between developed and developing countries. ¶19. (SBU) Guangdong Intellectual Property Office (GD IPO) Director General Tao Kaiyuan outlined for AUSTR Stratford the series of exchanges that had taken place between U.S. officials and GD IPO in recent years. She said the time for the province to take action on strengthening the protection of IP was now. AUSTR Stratford named four areas where the U.S. government would like to enhance cooperation with GD IPO: additional bilateral discussions with visiting USTR officials; participation in an industry-led South China IPR summit sometime in the next year; work with U.S. companies on specific IPR enforcement problems; and more bilateral dialogues, exchanges and technical training programs. 20 (SBU) Tao responded positively to each of the suggestions. She GUANGZHOU 00000218 005 OF 005 said that Guangdong wanted to be open to the outside efforts to understand its IPR enforcement program, including USTR's provincial review process. GD IPO holds a press conference annually to release its IPR white paper toward that end. On the IPR Summit proposal, she said that it was a common goal of the GD IPO and USTR to assist U.S. companies and pointed out that her agency had co-hosted the 2007 Pearl River Forum on IPR. She expressed willingness to work with U.S. companies on specific problems but also the hope that they would be able to resolve most of those problems through China's legal system. In addition, Tao expressed strong support for bilateral exchange programs, especially the State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program. GOLDBERG