MNCs eyeing Belt, Road benefits
mining and metals, and produce materials essential to human progress that are also needed for the rollout of the Belt and Road Initiative through infrastructure.”
China’s development is closely connected with that of all other countries and its commitment to peaceful development will not change, Premier Li Keqiang said when delivering the Government Work Report at the first session of the 13th National People’s Congress on March 5.
The Belt and Road Initiative, for instance, offers opportunities for cooperation and development for all countries amid a sluggish global economy.
Shane Tedjarati, president of Honeywell Global High Growth Regions, said Honeywell is well-positioned to support the Belt and Road Initiative through its China growth strategy and portfolio.
To support the initiative, the company provides a range of engineering and aerospace systems as well as consumer and commercial products, and has been partnering with leading Chinese companies for years to explore infrastructure development and other opportunities in emerging markets, he said.
Global mining giant BHP believes projects involved with the Belt and Road Initiative are expected to drive up to 150 million metric tons of steel demand and positively affect the global business layout.
Spread over a decade, this amounts to an additional 15 million tons per year, or 3 to 4 percent incremental demand growth for steel in regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, said Arnoud Balhuizen, chief commercial officer of BHP.
“The demand for infrastructure investment in countries and regions participating in the initiative is huge, and such investment will drive significant demand for construction materials and equipment, leading to an increase in direct and indirect demand for steel,” he said.
Analysts believe Chinese companies have made huge technological progress in the past few years. Yet many Western multinationals still lead in various ways, like Honeywell’s pipeline automation technology, and the teaming up will be a win-win for both sides.
The initiative could well be a windfall for MNCs and will benefit Chinese companies as well, said Zhang Jianping, director of international economic cooperation at the National Development and Reform Commission.
No one with an Asian strategy will ignore the Belt and Road Initiative. It is a historical precedent and enables companies from home and abroad to jointly explore overseas markets, as the projects and market potential are just too big to ignore, he said.
Figures from the Mercator Institute for China Studies reveal that economies involved with the initiative account for about 30 percent of the global economy, while figures from China Development Bank show that some $900 billion worth of projects is now either underway or in detailed planning stages.
Hospital scalpers are a disease China has been working to cure for years.
Commonly known as huangniu, or yellow bulls, these crooks book appointments at major public hospitals – preventing genuine patients from doing so – and then illegally sell them on at vastly inflated prices.
Those unwilling to pay up face a lengthy wait, potentially putting their lives at risk.
A registration ticket to see a specialist in Beijing, for example, costs roughly 100 yuan ($15). Yet in October, the city police found dozens of scalpers hawking such appointments for at least 2,000 yuan.
Victims are often those who have traveled far from their hometown to see an experienced doctor at a top facility, according to a vascular surgeon at a prestigious Beijing hospital who did not want to be identified.
“Those from outside Beijing will often pay the scalper’s price rather than wait a few days, as that would cost them even more,” he said.
In addition to snapping up appointments, some scalpers also try to persuade patients to seek treatment at a different hospital, which pays kickbacks to those who bring in “customers”. They often pretend to be sick or familiar with a particular doctor to earn the patients’ trust.
The problem of scalping has slowly grown into a black market industry, yet it has been dealt a heavy blow in recent years as legislators and political advisers — including those now attending the two sessions of the National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference — have tested out various solutions.
Some health institutions have extended the operating hours of their busiest departments, while many hospitals have also introduced a “real name” registration system that requires patients to provide an identity card when making an appointment. Doctors are instructed to recheck the information before a checkup and to raise the alarm if it doesn’t match.