China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinochem) is planning to build a refinery with an annual processing capacity of 32 million tons and an initial investment of more than CNY100 billion in the Xuwei New Area of Lianyungang, Jiangsu province. The mega-complex is composed of two phases, with the first having an annual refining capacity of 12 million tons and annual production capacity of 1 million tons of p-xylene. The project is expected to gain approval from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), with construction slated to begin in 2013 and the plant becoming operational in 2016. Sinopec President Wang Tianpu said that the company intends to invite major foreign petrochemical firms to join the project. Sinopec operates 13 of China’s 20 mega-refineries with more than 10 million tons of refining capacity. “We expect the fuel oil demand to surge about 55% by the end of 2020 from last year’s level. Sinopec’s new refineries, therefore, are designed to make up the foreseeable demand gap within 10 years, even though supply outstrips demand currently,” said He Wei, Senior Analyst at BOCOM International Holding Co. He added that the majority of crude oil for Sinopec’s planned refining complex will come from overseas. “That’s why it selected a coastal city as the location for the refineries.”

Royal Dutch Shell and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) agreed to set up a venture to drill onshore gas wells more efficiently. China’s shale gas deposits may hold 12 times more fuel than its conventional fields, the U.S. Department of Energy estimated in April. In March, China completed its first horizontal shale gas well after 11 months of drilling, according to CNPC. Chuanqing Drilling Engineering Co, a unit of CNPC, drilled the well. Shell and CNPC have four main joint activities at present: the development of coal-bed methane resources in Australia, production in Syria, exploration in Qatar and unconventional gas drilling in China. They are considering investing in a heavy oil venture in Canada.

The proportion of Chinese buyers in Vancouver’s property market increased to 29% of all homebuyers at the end of the first quarter, according to real estate service provider Colliers International. In the past six months, Chinese spent CNY1.3 billion through Colliers’ international’s property department, with Canada, the UK and Australia topping the buying list. Due to buyers from China, the average price of a home in Greater Vancouver rose 12% in 2010 and is expected to rise another 3% this year, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

“Consumption hasn’t taken off,” said Patrick Chovanec, Associate Professor at Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management. “What has happened is a shift from exports to investment as a driver of growth.” Analysts at Capital Economics estimate that private consumption may have fallen to 34% of gross domestic product (GDP) last year, the lowest level since Beijing began opening the economy to market mechanisms more than three decades ago. Just 10 years ago, the share was 46%. “Just at a time when the government in China and a lot of people elsewhere are hoping to see Chinese consumers step up to the plate, actually they’ve been staying away from shops,” said Mark Williams, Economist in London with Capital Economics and a former Adviser on China to the UK Treasury. “The trend over the past couple of years has been relentlessly downward.” Chinese leaders have vowed to boost consumption’s share of GDP since at least 2006, so far to no avail. The ratio is half that of the U.S., and 60% of Europe and Japan, according to Credit Agricole CIB. Growth driven by exports leaves China vulnerable to external slowdowns, while expansion driven by investment is less likely to improve living standards, said Li Wei, Economist with Standard Chartered in Shanghai. Rising wages may yet spur a pickup in consumer spending. The pay of migrant workers jumped 40% in 2010 and will climb 20% to 30% annually in the next three years as Beijing endorses income gains to strengthen demand, according to Credit Suisse. Consumption would have to grow three percentage points faster than GDP to reach 40% of the economy within five years, according to Michael Pettis, Finance Professor at Peking University.

Gome Electrical Appliances Holding has filed a lawsuit in Beijing against former Chairman Chen Xiao for breaching an agreement to protect the company’s reputation, by giving “untrue and misleading” comments about Gome to the business newspaper 21st Century Business Herald, leading to economic losses. Chen quit as Chairman in March amid a boardroom battle with Gome’s jailed founder Huang Guangyu over control of the company. In the article, Chen said he was planning to sell his Gome shares because the stock has “no prospects” as many institutional investors had pulled out. He said his remarks were taken out of context and published without his consent. The newspaper has since deleted the article from its website. Meanwhile, Gome said it plans to expand online sales to more than 10% of total revenue in two to three years.