China News: China shipments into dealers shows large gap w/end market retail sales; China Trade Surplus could stroke Criticism

China property monthly - Strong volume growth from late August: Primary home sales in the eight major cities rebounded 33% M/M in Aug-10 despite the re-iteration of strict requirements for third-home mortgages. Since late August, sales have picked up considerably amid more launches.  Prices firming up, which might attract the government’s attention: Contrary to our expectation of a further housing price decline when supply increases, secondary prices in fact showed that prices have stabilized or even returned to a rising trend. -JPM
· China housing – reports that officials plan further tightening measures – some Chinese cities plan on implementing even harsher crackdowns on the real estate market - The prosperous eastern province of Zhejiang intends to order developers to park pre-sale proceeds from their real estate projects in escrow bank accounts – Reuters  http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11590299
· China housing – more tightening measures – an official said Thursday that China will likely expand an existing real-estate tax as part of reform of the country's real-estate tax system. The comment was the first clear signal China will expand an annual tax on commercial property to include residential property to help curb runaway housing prices.  Reuters 
· China’s government will issue more measures to curb property speculation because of policy makers’ determination to reduce housing prices, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. Chief Executive Officer Colin Dyer.  Bloomberg 
· China is quickly ramping up its alt energy industry; however, some trade experts think the government may be violating int’l trade rules due to the large amounts of aid being doled out to the industry (NYT)  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/business/global/09trade.html?_r=1&hp
· China shipments into dealers shows large gap w/end market retail sales – auto passenger car shipments into dealers in Aug rose 18.7% Y/Y while end market sales surged 60%.  The numbers reflect an inventory drawdown.  Reuters 
· China may restructure its SWF - Beijing is considering restructuring China Investment Corp (CIC), its $300 billion sovereign wealth fund, in a bid to boost accountability – Reuters   http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE68801120100909
· China's National Bureau of Statistics will release its monthly suite of economic data on Saturday, Sept. 11, at 0200 GMT, an official at the agency said – Reuters 
· China trade surplus could stoke more US criticism - China may tomorrow say that its trade surplus topped $20 billion for a third month in August. American lawmakers could increase their pressure for protection from Chinese imports on the news. Bloomberg 
China + commodities – commodity prices fell in China on reports that officials were conducting an investigation into the rubber market.  Several analysts are reporting that the China Securities Regulatory Commission was investigating a dealer who built a long position of 60K rubber contracts – the officials forced this dealer to liquidate the position.  Chinese regulators have repeatedly tried to crack down on trading practices that could lift prices for raw materials.  Reuters 
· China power cuts may trim steel, aluminum supply – Power cuts in the world’s largest energy consumer may reduce steel supplies by 9.6% for the remainder of the year in addition to the reduction from the closures of obsolete plants. Bloomberg
· China fund probe talk sparks rout in zinc – Base metals fell sharply on Thursday on talk of a Chinese probe on funds, with some markets down more than 2%, although zinc fell 5% in Shanghai after open interest fell nearly 10%. Reuters