China

With 1.3 billion inhabitants in 2010, the People's Republic of China (PRC) constitutes the largest single market for financial services. The annual income per capita... Show More + has increased considerably over the past 30 years, with urban disposable income in 2010 estimated at RMB 19,109 (US$2,885) and rural net income estimated at RMB 5,919 (US$894) per person. Yet international investors and donors who consider funding financial institutions that seek to serve this large and growing market often seek in vain for information on demand and supply. This paper aims to be a first step in providing a picture of the extent and nature of financial inclusion in the PRC and the size and characteristics of the unbanked and underbanked market. It analyzes the effect of policy changes since 2005 on the inclusiveness of the PRC's formal financial system. The authors hope that it will provide a useful basis for forthcoming research and diagnostics on financial inclusion in the PRC. The report describes the overall landscape, while the annexes provide more detail on a number of key financial retailers. This paper covers a limited number of financial services. The focus is on the three key aspects of financial inclusion that the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) has been promoting since 2005: (1) universal access to basic banking services (i.e., bank accounts, payment services); (2) productive bank credit for rural households; (3) bank credit for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The analysis in this report is largely based on research conducted in 2011, and therefore describes the situation at the end of 2010. It is important to be aware that the PRC Government and financial authorities are issuing new policies and regulations on an almost-monthly basis. At the same time, several types of institutions have been experiencing double digit growth rates in the numbers of their clients. Show Less -

Using data from a national survey of Chinese manufacturing firms conducted in 2009, the authors analyze the impact of implementation of China's 2008 labor contract law... Show More + on the employment of production workers. The authors found that cities with lax prior enforcement of labor regulations experienced a greater increase in enforcement after 2008 and slower employment growth, and that this finding is robust to inclusion of a rich set of city-level controls and the use of alternative measures of enforcement effort. Although firms affected by the global economic crisis did not report less strict enforcement of the new law, there is evidence that their employment adjustment was less sensitive to enforcement of labor regulations than firms not affected by the crisis. Show Less -

This paper outlines the history of social insurance policies and coverage in urban China, and uses administrative data to document evolution in the coverage of pensions,... Show More + medical and unemployment insurance for both local urban residents and migrants. Two general features of social insurance policy and institutions may discourage participation of both workers and their employers. First, in urban China the combined contributions of workers and employers, often referred to as the tax wedge, are among the highest in the world, and given social insurance program design, this wedge is higher for low income workers. Second, institutional fragmentation of the system implies that migrant workers, who are more mobile, may lose the social pooling contributions and thus have less benefit from participating in social insurance programs. The paper then uses two waves of a household-based survey of urban workers, the China urban labor survey, to examine the correlates of social insurance participation before and after implementation of the 2008 labor contract law. The higher tax wedge at lower incomes is associated with lower probability that local employed residents participate in social insurance programs, but is not associated with participation of wage-earning migrants, who are more likely to be dissuaded by fragmentation of the social insurance system. Finally, the paper examines whether a gender gap in earnings is replicated in social insurance coverage. It finds that any existing gap is explained by differences in coverage across industry sectors and firm ownership classes in which men and women work. After controlling for age, education, city of residence, industry and firm ownership, there are no gender differences across gender in social insurance participation. Show Less -

The overall objective of this program is to explore ways in which China's economic and investment policy experiences can inform Africa's efforts to accelerate its economic... Show More + and social progress. This year's program focuses on Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and infrastructure development. While economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced resurgence in recent years, a key challenge/knowledge gap facing many African governments is the formulation and implementation of effective policies and strategies for development of infrastructure, as well as for development of a manufacturing sector which is competitive in international markets. The session will examine why SEZ's were chosen as a vehicle for reform experimentations, and how they became the driving forces for a series of other institutional reforms and for investment in infrastructure, leading to rapid integration with the global market, employment generation and improvement in livelihood. Show Less -

The issue of measuring product variety has received relatively little attention due to its inherent difficulty. In the language of index numbers, an expansion in the... Show More + range of inputs or outputs is a 'new goods' problem: a good that is newly available will have an observed price and quantity, but no corresponding price or quantity the year before. The availability of this new good will yield a welfare gain to consumers, as well as a productivity gain to firms buying the new input. In this paper we show how product variety can be measured in the case of a CES aggregator function. This paper is organized as: after reviewing the literature on the 'new goods' problem in section two, then discuss how to measure export variety in section three. In sections four and five discuss the empirical applications to export variety growth in Mexico and China. Regression results relating trade liberalization to industry export variety are presented in section six, and conclusions are given in section seven. Show Less -

The rich cultural heritage of China is an essential touchstone of its collective identity. The country's archaeological sites, historic architecture, expressive arts,... Show More + cultural landscapes, and ethnic diversity also are treasured around the world. Despite their importance, China's cultural assets are under tremendous pressure due to the country's rapid development, particularly its rapid urbanization. Moreover, rising incomes and mobility have significantly increased domestic tourism, leading to the overdevelopment and deterioration of cultural heritage sites. However, many of China's government officials, conservationists, and community groups have recognized these threats and, over the past several decades, have worked tirelessly to protect their country's cultural heritage. Based on the 12 projects developed under this partnership, this report presents an overview of the project approaches and experiences, takes stock of the challenges, extracts initial lessons learned, and identifies new directions and challenges ahead. The principal audience of the report is national, provincial, and municipal decision-makers engaged in conserving China's cultural heritage. This report also is intended to be of relevance to World Bank staff and those in the international community who wish to gain an overview of the projects conserving cultural heritage in China that have received World Bank financing. Show Less -

In recent years the number of companies releasing sustainability reports has continued to increase on a global level as well as in China specifically. According to Klynveld... Show More + Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG), in 2008, 79 percent of global 250 companies published sustainability reports. In China, the number of sustainability reports reached over 700 in 2010. There is a widely established expectation that companies wanting to obtain a leadership position and become competitive in the global marketplace need to effectively manage their environmental and social performance, disclosing challenges and achievements in a sustainability report. Moreover, corporate product and service innovation should aim to contribute to society's well-being. Studies show that in China, however, most companies release sustainability reports for reasons of reputation and development of government relationships, not fully taking advantage of opportunities for risk management and investor relations. The study included a wide literature review and interviews with a selection of key stakeholders. A general comparison was undertaken of the characteristics of 25 existing international and national frameworks related to corporate disclosure. Show Less -

The People's Republic of China has a long history of international scientific cooperation in agricultural and rural development. Although China formally joined the CGIAR... Show More + in 1984, its cooperation with the international centers predates the founding of the CGIAR in 1971. Today, China is widely recognized as a role model in marshaling science and technology for rapid economic transformation and national development. China is one of the world's oldest civilizations with a strong farming tradition. China is the world's most populous country, and has the fastest growing economy, currently ranked fourth in the world. China has reduced poverty dramatically, faster than any other country in human history: for example, there were 400 million fewer poor people in 2001 than 20 years earlier. China's aggressive agricultural reforms have unleashed rapid economic growth, helping boost per capita gross domestic product from US$1,071 in 1978 to US$4,726 in 2003. China feeds over 20 percent of the world's population using only 9 percent of the world's arable land. China is the world's largest grower of CGIAR mandate crops such as rice, wheat, groundnut, sorghum and millet, and roots and tubers. Indeed for most major farm commodities, China's share of world production exceeds its share of world population. Show Less -

A high-speed rail service can deliver competitive advantage over airlines for journeys of up to about 3 hours or 750 km, particularly between city pairs where airports... Show More + are located far from city centres. One suitable type of corridor is that which connects two large cities 250-500 km apart. But another promising situation is a longer corridor that has very large urban centres located, say, every 150-300 km apart. On these longer corridors, typical of some being built in China, high-speed rail has the ability to serve multiple city-pairs, both direct and overlapping. The overall financial performance of high-speed train services depends on enough people being able to pay a premium to use them. In Japan there is a surcharge for high-speed rail which doubles the fare on conventional services. China high-speed train fares are about three times conventional train fares. But in order to generate the required volume of passengers it will usually be necessary not only to target the most affluent travelers but also to adopt a fare structure that is affordable for the middle income population and, if any spare capacity still exists, to offer discount tickets with restrictions on use and availability that can fill otherwise unused seats. The combination of supportive features that exist on the eastern plains of China including very high population density, rapidly growing disposable incomes, and the prevalence of many large cities in reasonable proximity to one another (creating not just one city-pair but a string of such pairs) are not found in most developing countries. Nor could all countries assemble the focused collective capacity building effort and the economies of scale in construction costs that arise when a government can commit the country, politically and economically, to a decades-long program over a vast land area. Even in China, the sustainability of railway debt arising from the program as it proceeds will need to be closely monitored and payback periods will not be short, as they cannot be for such "lumpy" and long-lived assets. But a combination of those factors that create favorable conditions of both demand and supply comes together in China in a way that is distinctly favorable to delivering a successful high-speed rail system. Show Less -

The Guangzhou Green Trucks Pilot Project in support of Guangzhou's efforts to improve air quality in preparation for the 2010 Asian Games aimed to contribute to addressing... Show More + three problems related to trucks in Guangzhou and the wider Guangdong province simultaneously: (a) fuel costs and security; (b) air pollution and associated health impacts, and (c) GHG emissions and climate change. The scope of the pilot was limited to Guangdong Province, focusing on diesel trucks accessing or passing through the city of Guangzhou and surrounding cities, like Shenzhen. Aside from GHG emissions, the scope includes black carbon and other air pollutants from trucks because of their potential interacting effects and contribution to climate change, and because air pollution is an important local concern. The pilot project consisted of four components, each with its own output (provided separately): First, a Background Analysis Report, which analyzes numbers, growth, operation, fuel use in Guangzhou; relevant institutions and policies in China; and available fuel economy and emissions reduction strategies and technologies. A Guangzhou Truck Sector Survey Report, which summarizes the results of a survey of truck drivers and companies. The survey intended to fill the gaps in information needed for the program design and for determining the potential fuel savings and emission reductions through a wider green freight program in Guangdong. A Smart Drivers for Trucking in China Training Course - this training course, with materials for truck fuel efficiency were developed and tested in the field, can be the basis of a training component under a future green freight program. Finally, a Technology Pilot Report, with results from the technology pilot, it also presents recommendations for future pilots based on this pilot and estimates the potential for fuel and emissions reductions for Guangdong Province using heavy duty trucks as an example. Show Less -