China not happy about WTO member complaints

CHINA on Thursday expressed its displeasure at complaints about the World Trade Organization (WTO) by member nations unhappy with how the organization functions.

The comment came after U.S. trade chief said Monday that the WTO is losing its focus on trade negotiations in favor of litigation and was going too easy on wealthier developing countries such as China. “China doesn’t support some WTO members who deny the usefulness of the organization if their appeals are not satisfied,” Gao Feng, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said Thursday. China strongly opposes some developed countries that jointly pressure developing nations over trade issues, Gao said.

Foreign direct investment up 90.7%

FOREIGN direct investment in China surged 90.7 percent from a year earlier in November to 124.9 billion yuan (US$18.9 billion), the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement Thursday.

Foreign direct investment was more than double October’s 60.12 billion yuan, which was 5 percent higher from a year earlier. China attracted 803.6 billion yuan in foreign direct investment in the January-November period, up 9.8 percent from a year earlier.

Daily steel output falls to nine-month low

CHINA’S daily crude steel output slid in November to the lowest in nine months, government data showed Thursday, as State-imposed curbs aimed at battling smog slowed production at mills in the northern part of the country.

Steel output in the world’s biggest producer is expected to fall further with the curbs in place through March, analysts say. That will likely keep steel prices, up nearly 50 percent this year, elevated. Daily average steel output dropped to 2.205 million tons in November from 2.334 million tons in October, according to calculations based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Hon Hai Precision plans to list unit in Shanghai

TAIWAN’S Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, said it planned to list shares of a subsidiary in Shanghai.

The subsidiary, Foxconn Industrial Internet Co., will issue common A shares and has filed for trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, a stock exchange statement late Wednesday showed. No other details, including the date of listing, were available in the statement.