Exports to Remain Pillar of Guangdong's Economy

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 000613 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD ECON EIND PGOV CH SUBJECT: Exports to Remain Pillar of Guangdong's Economy Ref A) Guangzhou 528, B) Guangzhou 237, C) Guangzhou 218, D) 08 Guangzhou 406 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: With the global economy showing signs of recovery, Guangdong province is reassessing its export market orientation and attempting to make structural adjustments to expand its domestic market in light of the global economic downturn, according to Guangdong contacts who met with representatives from the Department of Treasury's Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) Office and ConGenoff in late September. However, Guangdong government officials stressed that exports will continue to be an important part of the province's economic development. Several contacts pointed out numerous challenges that lie in the way of repositioning industries in China to serve the domestic market. END SUMMARY. Exports Will Continue to Be a Key Economic Engine -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Although Guangdong must not be too reliant on the export market in light of the economic downturn, the province will continue to maintain its export orientation, according to Deputy Secretary General Xie Pengfei of the Guangdong Center for Development Research (CDR). Xie told U.S. Treasury representatives and ConGenoff that if Guangdong has the ability to take a share of the global export market, it should certainly do so. Xie also said exports will continue to be important to Guangdong because economic globalization is here to stay. After the full benefits of China's economic stimulus plan have been felt, Xie believes China's economic growth will continue in the export sector, even as it turns more attention to expanding domestic demand. In sum, Xie said that China will not give up exports. Eggs Not In One Basket -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Deputy Secretary General Xie said that his province sees the global economic downturn as a result of over expenditure by developed economies that will force economic models to change in both developed and developing economies. The contraction of foreign demand will cause China's export-oriented posture to change, he said. Guangdong's economy will undergo structural changes to diversify its portfolio with the goal of increasing domestic demand and warding off any negative impact from future global economic slumps. Likewise, executives from Lung Cheong International Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong toy manufacturer operating in Dongguan, said in a separate meeting that the industry cannot depend solely on exports, believing that China's domestic market has great potential. C.M. Leung, managing director of Lung Cheong, is pleased to see that the local and provincial governments are taking steps to expand the domestic market. Government Lending a Hand to Expand Local Demand -------------- --- ¶4. (SBU) Deputy Secretary General Xie shared some of Guangdong's plans for new policies to increase domestic demand. Their approach is to analyze the different components of "demand" as it relates to Guangdong, such as technical infrastructure investment, social safety net, education, urbanization, and consumer demand. A full report will be released by the end of October, and a meeting will convene at the end of the year to announce the implementation of a strategy to expand Guangdong's domestic demand. Xie expects that Guangdong, with full support from the central government, will implement such a strategy prior to other provinces. He also anticipates that the central government will push forward a similar policy at the national level after Guangdong executes its strategic plan. ¶5. (SBU) In addition, Guangdong is also taking steps to help local businesses tap the domestic market. The province held its first Foreign Invested Enterprises Commodities Fair in June 2009 in Dongguan. The fair aimed to help foreign-invested companies in Dongguan develop marketing channels with major distributors and retailers in China like Wal-Mart and Alibaba. According to Dongguan Today, a local news website, the amount of purchases resulting from the event reached RMB 31.6 billion (US$ 4.6 billion),including sales in home appliances, consumer electronics, clothing and accessories, toys and gifts, home accessories, and chemical products. Mr. Leung of Lung Cheong felt that the fair enhanced GUANGZHOU 00000613 002 OF 003 business relationships between manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, but he did not provide any tangible examples of sales that resulted from the fair. However, he commented that the toy industry had sent a letter to Guangdong Party Secretary Wang Yang asking that the fair be made an annual event. Structural Adjustments, Easier Said Than Done -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Mr. Leung raised two issues that hindered companies like his from selling domestically. First, the distribution system for goods is complex and not particularly well-formed, making it difficult for companies to establish strong sales and logistics networks. Second, large Chinese department stores often have stringent product requirements, while smaller retailers are lax on quality and protection of intellectual property, allowing for poor products and knock-offs to enter the market. These conditions inevitably create disincentives for established manufacturers to sell domestically, said Leung. Signs of Export Recovery -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Businesses in Guangdong expressed cautious optimism when asked about the outlook for export recovery, which could diminish the emphasis placed on efforts to redirect the economy toward domestic demand. Mr. Leung said that the export-oriented toy industry has slowly stabilized and firms saw some orders return for the 2009 Christmas season. One of the largest foreign-invested shipping companies in the region estimated 2% growth for 2010 after seeing a loss of US$500 million so far in 2009, according to a senior executive. The company has observed some increase in volume in the third quarter, but warned that seasonality should not be mistaken for growth. Though the company does not expect to bounce back in 2010, it does hope to come close to breaking even. ¶8. (SBU) The general manager of a large container terminal operating in Dongguan echoed similar views, noting that his company experienced some volume pick-up in late summer of 2009, but has not yet returned to a growth track. However, he said that the shipping industry has already seen the "trough" of the economic slump, but only time will tell how long the recovery will take. Professor Feng Subao, deputy research director at the China Development Institute (CDI) in Shenzhen, also cited indicators of economic upturn, pointing to electronics manufacturer Foxconn's return to full-scale operations and the recovery of the mobile phone market. Feng explained that Shenzhen's economic cycle is 3-6 months ahead of the nation and 1-2 months ahead of the rest of the Pearl River Delta (PRD),so he sees Shenzhen's recovery as a sign of greater recovery. Guangdong's Double-Transfer Policy Also Faces Obstacles -------------- - ¶9. (SBU) Although CDR's Xie highlighted the success of Guangdong's double-transfer policy, which moves labor-intensive industries out of the PRD to less developed areas while encouraging investment in services and advanced manufacturing industries in their place (ref D),academics at CDI noted the challenges the policy has faced. Xie claimed that the effectiveness of the policy is already obvious, manifested in the quickened pace of industrial development in regions such as northern and eastern Guangdong. Such transfers, he explained, have opened up space in the PRD to develop high-skilled and high-tech industries. However, Xie added that most of the transferred companies are export firms, while the proportion of domestic-oriented companies is low. ¶10. (SBU) However, Professor Feng of CDI explained that despite the intentions of the double-transfer policy, many companies in reality had not moved to areas designated by the government. Due to the lack of infrastructure and conveniences in the designated rural areas, companies often prefer cities outside Guangdong, like those in Hunan (Changsha),Hubei (Wuhan),Guangxi, and Northeast China. Also, actual transfers have been few because many businesses either stopped operations or went bankrupt during this latest economic slowdown. Dr. Hu Zhenyu, also of CDI, identified other challenges including the lack of skilled labor in designated areas or the unwillingness of skilled labor to move with factories and the lack of local government experience to assist new industries in their GUANGZHOU 00000613 003 OF 003 regions. Hu believes that adjustments in industrial structure will ultimately be driven by the market and will take 20 years or more, comparing the transition to China's last 30 years of economic reform. GOLDBECK