China, the world’s largest energy user, raised solar energy subsidies this year to help expand its domestic installation market, a government official said.
The country allocated 3 billion yuan (US$451 million) this year, a 50 percent increase from last year, to subsidize solar demonstration projects under its Golden Sun program, Zheng Fangneng (鄭方能), director of the energy and transport division of the high-tech department in China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, said yesterday at a conference in Beijing.
China is offering subsidies to solar power projects under the program that began last year to boost development of renewable energy by lowering costs and to ensure electricity supplies pass through areas where there is limited access.
The country approved 201 megawatts of “Golden-Sun” projects last year, Zheng said, adding: “Not all of the projects were and will be implemented.”
He didn’t disclose the reasons for the failed implementation.
The Ministry of Finance said last month that China had selected 272 megawatts of solar projects eligible for subsidies this year.
Those projects must be completed within a year, the ministry said. Provinces that have 70 percent of uncompleted projects will not be able to apply for future subsidies for new initiatives.
The 70 percent completion target is intended to push local governments to strengthen coordination in carrying out projects, Zheng said.
SEE STORIES ON PAGE 9
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
RSS