29th July 2010

The Lion Awakes 

News at a Glance

今天的中国新闻

A compilation of Headlines + Brief Summary from Chinese & International Publications relating to China.

Just 5 Minutes each day to be up-to-date on the News of China

Combined with Kaixin’s boutique SITE SEARCH ENGINE, it is a unique source of knowledge about China"

China News Archive

From 2008

China Daily

China conducts 2 military drills: Reports

Beijing - The Chinese military conducted two exercises near the Yellow Sea, while the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) engaged in a joint military drill that concluded on Wednesday, State media said.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, an army unit based at an inland province in the Jinan Military Command ferried combat forces and arms to "a coastal city" in Shandong province on Tuesday

Time not ripe to restart US military exchanges

BEIJING - The time is not ripe for China and the United States to resume their military talks despite Washington's will to do so, Chinese experts say. But they believe future talks will occur.

Their comments came after the US renewed its call to restart stalled military exchanges with China

'Softened' IMF tone eases yuan pressure

Beijing - The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) softened tone toward China's exchange rate regime will ease pressure on the appreciation of the yuan, when the world's third-largest economy faces increasing risks of a slowdown, Chinese economists have said.

In a summary of comments by the IMF's 24-member executive board on Chinese policy released on Tuesday, the Washington-based lender welcomed China's recent decision to return to a managed floating exchange rate system but contended that the yuan was still "undervalued".

Yuan and absurdity of US demand

The conventional wisdom is that once the value of the yuan is increased, the US trade deficit with China would start falling. This rationale has prompted many Americans to push for further, faster revaluation of the yuan even after China changed its currency policy.

For those who endorse such logic, the yuan's value is a paramount factor behind China's - and their countries' - trade balances. But for John Ross, former deputy mayor of London in charge of economic and business policy, the trade gap between a country and China would widen instead of narrowing down, at least in the short term, if the yuan's values go up.

China and Russia sign power-grid agreement

Companies to cooperate on 500 kV cross-border project in Amur region

BEIJING - The State Grid Corp of China has signed a framework agreement with the Russian national grid operator to extend their collaboration on grid technology, cooperation and management, the company said on Wednesday.

The cooperation will cover "technology and experience exchange, power grid construction and management, equipment supply, and technology consulting", State Grid said on its website.

Foreign seeds cause worries over food safety

Companies need to move up the technology ladder, say experts

BEIJING - The aggressive expansion tactics adopted by foreign seed companies in China have increased concerns over the nation's food safety especially at a time when agricultural yields have been falling.

Though the situation is far from alarming, domestic seed companies need to wake up to the threat and build necessary safeguards to retain their market share, agricultural economists said on Wednesday

SW China province raises minimum wages by up to 44%

CHENGDU - Southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan will raise its minimum wages by as much as 44.4 percent starting August, local authorities said Wednesday.

Wages to be pegged to CPI in new regulation

Beijing - China is expected to approve a wage regulation by the end of this year in a major effort to improve workers' lives and narrow the income gap.

Yin Chengji, spokesman of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said the regulation has been drafted since 2008 and will soon be submitted to the State Council, China's cabinet, for approval, the China Business News reported on Wednesday.

Dialogue set for CPC, US parties

Beijing - The Communist Party of China (CPC) is scheduled to hold a high-level dialogue with the Democratic Party and Republican Party in the United States by the end of this year, a senior CPC official has said.

A US bipartisan delegation has extended an invitation for the CPC to attend the event, said Li Jun, spokesman for the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC).

IMF hails China's policy response to financial crisis

WASHINGTON - Chinese authorities "quick, determined and effective" policy response has helped mitigate the impact on the economy and ensured that China has led the global recovery, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday.

Kaixin - OK, sometimes the IMF gets it right

Steel prices set to firm up

Profit outlook for July still remains bleak despite sporadic rebounds

BEIJING - Falling steel prices will continue to cloud the profit outlook for domestic steel mills in July, but there are indications that the tide will change over the next few months, a top official from the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) said on Tuesday.

China gets top ranking in survey of world's emerging economies

BEIJING - China ranks No 1 among 27 emerging economies due to its huge consumer market and rapid economic growth, according to the Emerging Markets Opportunity Index released by US accounting firm Grant Thornton.

The index takes account of key factors such as the size of the economy, wealth, involvement in world trade, growth potential and levels of human development.

China scores 454 points, double the India's score (222 points) in second place and almost triple that of Russia (163 points) in third place.

Struggle to contain fresh flooding

BEIJING - Due to fresh torrential downpours, the Three Gorges Dam is expected to endure its second flood peak on Wednesday morning, according to local authorities.

China's sovereign wealth fund to absorb new int'l talent

BEIJING - The China Investment Corporation (CIC), the nation's sovereign wealth fund, announced Tuesday it would start a new round of global hiring for "business development" reasons.

Global Times

Western support for Xinjiang terrorist groups courts disaster

Over the years, some Western countries have regarded separatists in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as a purely Chinese  problem, directly or indirectly providing support and assistance to "East Turkistan" forces and using them in domestic political struggles and as a tool for containing China.

News for Today

China     Business     Culture     Science & Technology     Travel

Kaixin's

International News Sources

Caixin Online

Dark Secrets of Death in China's Mine Shafts

Illegal coal mines near Beijing used to provide the perfect cover for murder-extortion plots, before the truth came to light

Zhang Xihua left most of her relatives in the dark when she suddenly and secretly married Han Junhong, an apartment security guard eight years her younger, and convinced him to quit his job.

Equally mysterious was Zhang's sudden decision to divorce the father of her two children before running off with Han.

The Wall Street Journal   China RealTime Report

HTC China Push Could Threaten iPhone

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has risen as a strong contender to Apple’s iPhone and other smartphones from Samsung Electronics and Nokia, the world’s two biggest handset makers. Now, the company is officially in the race to win over China’s increasing number of smartphone users.

Kaixin - Link to HTC Corp

Kaixin has opined before that Chinese companies will now look to develop international brands.

Shanghai’s Peace Hotel Reopens

Restoration of Shanghai’s parade of landmark buildings – the Bund – passes a key milestone this week as the famed Peace Hotel throws open its doors.

Photo Courtey of The Wall Street Journal

China Rallies on Growth Hope

Investors Bid Up Stocks (and Commodities) in Bet on Beijing's Policy Restraint

BEIJING—China's stock market, one of the world's worst performers in the first half of the year, has rebounded as investors bet that the government's aggressive efforts to tighten the reins on the economy have peaked.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index is up 11% from its 2010 low on July 5, including a 2.3% gain on Wednesday to 2633.66, its highest close in two months.

The climb is in line with other major global markets, but is notable because it contrasts sharply with the Chinese index's performance over the first six months of this year. Then, it fell about 27%, descending ...

Top Price for Hong Kong Site

HONG KONG—A rare luxury residential site in Hong Kong's upmarket Peak district was sold at a government auction Wednesday for 10.4 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$1.34 billion), in line with market expectations, the latest sign the city's robust property market remains buoyant.

The site at 103 Mount Nicholson Road was sold to Nan Fung Group, which isn't publicly traded, and the blue-chip Wharf Holdings Ltd. The price was the third-highest ever in a government land auction, indicating demand remains resilient for Hong Kong luxury projects, which are favored by developers because of their lucrative returns.

The government sold the site ...

China Defends High-Speed Rail Plan

Beijing Dismisses Worries About Technology Transfers, as World Bank Praises Its Expansion Goals and Warns of Costs

BEIJING—China's powerful Ministry of Railways dismissed foreign concerns about the transfer of technology from foreign companies participating in its enormous high-speed rail building binge, saying the country doesn't force such transfers and that it is developing its own technology.

Kaixin – The story that Kaixin has heard is that China approached Europe around 5+ years ago wanting to commission a high-speed rail network. Europe laughed, patted China on the head and said to go away and grow up first.

China shrugged and said it would develop its own technology.

The result is obvious.

IMF Report Shows Discord on Yuan

BEIJING—The International Monetary Fund urged China to phase out stimulus measures that boosted the global economy during the recent downturn, in a long-delayed review of the country's economic policies that revealed internal dissension among IMF executive directors on the value of China's currency.

The IMF's staff analysis of the Chinese economy concluded that China's currency is "substantially undervalued." China's currency "remains substantially below the level that's consistent with current fundamentals," said IMF China Mission Chief Nigel Chalk in a conference call on Wednesday.

Earlier, the IMF released a summary of the views of the IMF's 24-member board about China's economy. ...

Kaixin – IMF (International Monetary Fund) is a misnomer. It should be the USMF (United States Monetary Fund). After all it has always served US economic and geo-political interests. It is doing so once more.

Accidents Put Focus on Chinese Workplace Safety

SHANGHAI—A deadly gas explosion and a chemical leak on Wednesday are the latest in a string of accidents to demonstrate China's problems with industrial safety.

The New York Times

A Scholar’s Insight Into China’s Budding Legal System

NEW YORK — It was the early 1970s, and Jerome A. Cohen, at the time a specialist on China at Harvard Law School, was having dinner with Prime Minister Zhou Enlai in Beijing.

Mr. Cohen essentially created the U.S. study of law in the People’s Republic of China, has been following developments in Chinese law for roughly half a century, lately as professor of law at New York University and as a frequent commentator on various legal and human rights cases in China.

Kaixin - An interesting read

Jerome A. Cohen’s Blog

Public Outreach, Jones Day China Lecture Series
Jerome A. Cohen Holds Court: Reflecting on the Last Five Decades of Chinese Legal Development

Google Seach Page for Jerome Cohen

Asia Times Online

Ground-zero of Imperial Japan's germ war
By Peter J Brown

Japan plans to excavate what is believed to be a mass grave in Tokyo thought to contain victims of biological warfare tests carried out by the Imperial Army's Unit 731. The gruesome discovery has re-awakened talk of a US cover up of war crimes after World War II, and the timing of the dig is being linked to Tokyo's desire to move closer to China, and away from the US.

Kaixin – Unit 731 is notorious in China. Japan unleashed untold barbarity onto the Chinese people through Unit 731. It is a smear on Japan. It is also a smear on America if it has covered up anything to do with Unit 731. Where are the bleating human rights activists now?

Wiki - UNIT 731

US goes fishing for trouble
By Peter Lee

China's ambiguous expression of the South China Sea as a "core interest" adds to evidence that it has been unable to summon the fortitude to pursue a reasonable resolution of conflicting claims. Once more into the diplomatic breach steps the United States

    
SINOGRAPH
US toe-dipping muddies South China Sea
By Francesco Sisci

With its announcement last week that disputes over the highly sensitive South China Sea are a "leading diplomatic priority", Washington muddied already complex waters for Beijing. Yet a US presence is desirable for China as it could act as a neutral referee to ease territorial claims that have the potential to unravel the region's economic development.

Kaixin – ‘Neutral Referee’, ‘Neutral Referee’ …….. Ha!! It was hard to write this bit of OpEd, I was rolling about on the floor laughing. ‘Neutral Referee”……. chuckle

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