China Looks Down Under

With China’s appetite for natural resources and foodstuffs ever growing, regional trading partners Australia and New Zealand are attracting fresh attention. New Zealand made news April 7 by becoming the first developed country to sign a free trade agreement with China (NZ Herald). The same week, Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd departed for his first tour of China, with rapidly expanding bilateral economic relations high on the agenda. Experts say burgeoning relations between China and its neighbors down under promise economic dividends, particularly for Australia’s mining industry and New Zealand’s farmers. They also raise political concerns, however, and threaten to bring a rise in protectionist sentiment that could undermine regional trade liberalization.

China’s new interest in Australia and New Zealand stems primarily from its need for commodities, a trend that has already brought gains to Latin America and Africa, as noted in a 2006 report from Deutsche Bank (PDF). The Economist writes that China’s hunger has been “manna from heaven” for Australia, the leading global exporter of iron ore, which is running mines at full tilt and still can’t meet heady Chinese demand. Not only has China been willing to buy up all the ore the Aussies can produce, its huge demand has spiked the price of the commodity—sending the price of fines, the most heavily traded form of iron ore, from $31.40 in 2003 to $132.20 in 2008. The prices of lump ore and iron pellets, two other commonly traded forms, have also jumped. Australian miners have reaped the benefits as the world’s leading steel manufacturers have rushed to gain access to Australia’s iron.

Full Article

On April 7, New Zealand became the first developed country to sign a trade agreement with China. China also needs to make trade agreements with Australia because of its need for iron ore from Australia. These trade agreements can help Australia's miners and New Zealand's farmers, but they do raise political concerns.

(grade this post)

Olympics to 'rebound from crisis'

Jacques Rogge told a meeting of national Olympic committees in Beijing that the Games would succeed.
But Mr Rogge urged China to respect its "moral engagement" to improve human rights ahead of the Games.
China said it hoped the IOC would steer clear of what it called "irrelevant political factors".
"I hope IOC officials can eliminate all kinds of disturbance and continue to adhere to principles of the Olympic charter," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

Click Here

There have been many protests going on in China and the government is classifying these anti-China protests as a 'crisis'. They are hoping that the games in Bejing will rebound.

China Upholds Use of Death Penalty

China says it has no plans to stop putting criminals to death. The Chinese position came in response to an Amnesty International report that places China at the top of a list of countries with the most executions. VOA's Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing.

The Amnesty International report on worldwide executions says China put to death more people than any other country in 2007, with at least 470 executions.

Last year, China reformed the way capital cases are handled, which has led to a substantial reduction in executions. Amnesty says the number of executions it could confirm fell by more than half, from more than 1,000 in 2006 to about 477 last year.

Full Article

China plans to continue using the death penalty to punish criminals. The Amnesty International report says that in 2007, China executed at least 470 people, which was more than any other country that year. The number might be higher than this however; the death penalty figures are treated as a state secret in China.

(grade this post)

China 'now top carbon polluter'

China has already overtaken the US as the world's "biggest polluter", a report to be published next month says.
The research suggests the country's greenhouse gas emissions have been underestimated, and probably passed those of the US in 2006-2007.
The University of California team will report their work in the Journal of Environment Economics and Management.
They warn that unchecked future growth will dwarf any emissions cuts made by rich nations under the Kyoto Protocol.
The team admit there is some uncertainty over the date when China may have become the biggest emitter of CO2, as their analysis is based on 2004 data.

Click Here

China has become the counrty that produces the most polution. Their industy is grwoing and they need to change their energy policies. The carbon emmision could cause many other problems in China other that pollution.

China takes stake in BP

China has accumulated a stake of just less than 1 percent in BP, the British oil company, the company confirmed Tuesday, a move that raises fresh questions about Beijing's strategy for investing its huge foreign currency reserves.

BP said it was aware of the Chinese stake, which is worth about $2 billion, and that it welcomed all shareholders.

The British company declined to identity of the specific investor, but China operates the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, an arm of the central bank that manages the country's $1.68 trillion in currency reserves, which is known as SAFE. China also controls the China Investment Corp., a $200 billion sovereign wealth fund that Beijing set up last September to increase the returns on its reserves by taking greater risks.

Full Article

China now owns about one percent of the British oil company BP, which is worth about $2 billion. This ownership raises questions about Beijing's foreign currency reserve investments.

(grade this post)

China 'gold medal' for executions

Amnesty said the hidden extent of executions in China, where figures are secret, might mean the Olympic host was behind the bulk of them worldwide.
But China's foreign ministry defended the death penalty, saying China limited it to a small number of criminals.
At least 1,252 people are known to have been executed in 24 countries in 2007.

Click Here

Last year Chinese authorities put to death 470 people. It is believed that many more have been killed by Chinese authorities but that the government is trying to hide it. Last year China killed more people than any other counrty and there are 60 crimes that result in the death penalty.

Assessment Complete

US apologises to China over Taiwan fuse shipment

The US president, George W Bush, has told his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao the Pentagon made a "mistake" sending Taiwan four nuclear warhead fuses in 2006.

Nose cone assemblies containing the fuses were shipped to Taiwan as helicopter batteries.

The erroneous shipment of the fuses, which can be used to trigger warheads on ballistic missiles, was only discovered last week and has since been recovered.


Full Article


George W. Bush has apologised to Hu Jintao for sending nuclear warhead fuses to Taiwan in 2006. China demanded that the shipment be investigated and that the U.S. would stop sending military weapons to Taiwan.

(grade this post)

China may join Iran-Pakistan pipeline

China is ready to join the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline if India drops out of the $7.4 billion project, Dawn newspaper reported Tuesday quoting Pakistani sources.

The report said Pakistan had urged Iran earlier this month to make the project final by next month because of its growing demand for natural gas.

Iran informed Pakistan if India remained reluctant to join the project under pressure from the United States, Iran would then invite China to do so, the report said.

Full Article

If India drops out of the $7.4 billion gas pipeline project with Iran and Pakistan, then China will be invited to join. China is ready to do this, but it is not yet clear how the agreement will change once it is involved.

(grade this post)

China sends more divers to find missing Ukrainian sailors

China sent another 22 divers to the South China Sea on Tuesday to try and locate the 18 sailors missing after their Ukrainian ship sank Saturday.

The Ukrainian tug, Naftogaz-67, sank after colliding with a Chinese vessel near Hong Kong off the southern coast of China. Out of the 25 sailors on board, only seven have been rescued.

A total of 44 Chinese divers will now be involved in the operation to find the missing sailors.

Full Article

18 Ukranian sailors went missing after their ship, the Naftogaz-67, sank. The ship collided with a Chinese ship before sinking, and now a total of 44 Chinese sailors will be working on rescuing the missing Ukranians.

(grade this post)

Town silent amid Chinese build-up

Soldiers clutching assault rifles stand guard on approach roads. Official checkpoints have sprung up all around. After several days of protests by Tibetans, the army has taken control of Hezuo.
Demonstrations in Hezuo and the surrounding towns and villages began last Saturday - part of wider protests that started in Lhasa, the Tibetan provincial capital.
Many Tibetans appear fed up with their lives under Chinese rule.
Protesters have been tearing down Chinese flags and replacing them with the flag of the Tibetan government in exile, based in Dharamsala, India.

Click Here

Tibetan citizens are not happy with their lives under Chinese rule. They are tearing down Chinese flags and starting many protests.

China slams jail door on Olympic dissent

BEIJING–In the darkest of ironies, as the Olympic torch was lit in Athens yesterday, a court in China sentenced a man to five years in prison after he dared to say the principle of human rights is more important than the Olympic Games.

Unemployed former factory worker, Yang Chunlin, 54, gathered more than 10,000 signatures on a petition last year, appealing against illegal seizures of land from poor farmers by powerful local officials in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.

The petition letter began: "We want human rights, not the Olympics."

Full Article

The Olympic torch was lit in Athens yesterday, but at the same time, a court in China sentenced Yang Chunlin to five years in jail. The irony of the situation is that Chunlin was charged after he said that human rights were more important than the Olympics.

(grade post)

China raps Olympic torch protest

China has condemned a protest over Tibet at the Olympic torch lighting ceremony in Greece on Monday.
In the first reaction from Beijing, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said any attempt to disrupt the torch relay for the Olympic Games was shameful.
During the ceremony, campaigners broke through police lines and unfurled a Tibetan flag before being dragged away.
Meanwhile there are reports of more violence in and around Tibet, and the police are continuing to make arrests.

Click Here

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said any attempt to disrupt the torch relay for the Olympic Games was shameful. During the ceremony campeigners got past security and unrolled a Tibetan flag before being taken out. There have been 13 arrests made in Lhasa for protests that took place before anti-chinese rioting began.

You have permission to think freely

IT MAY seem an odd time for China's risk-averse officials to be talking about political change. Yet at the opening of the country's annual session of parliament on March 5th the prime minister, Wen Jiabao, echoed recent calls in the state-owned media to “liberate our thinking”, even as he gave warning of a difficult year ahead, with threats from inflation and from America's subprime mortgage mess.
This year's session of the National People's Congress, as the legislature in known, comes at a critical time. It marks the start of a new five-year term of government (it will elect Mr Wen to serve until 2013). China is also hosting the Olympic games in August and celebrating 30 years of “reform and opening” in December.

Click Here

Chinese officials have influenced media to "liberate their thinking." This seems like an odd time for China to have political change, because of the growing threat of inflation. This meeting of the Nationals People Congress marks the begining of a new five-year term.

'Severe' jobless problem in China

China is facing a very severe unemployment problem, says Labour Minister Tian Chengping.
He said 20 million new workers entered the labour market each year, chasing only 12 million jobs.
He said employers were complaining about a lack of skilled workers and China had to provide more training.
Speaking on the sidelines of the annual National People's Congress in Beijing, Mr Tian said the aim was to keep urban unemployment at or below 4.5%.

Click Here

There is a major unemployment rate in China. 2 million new workers show up each year for jobs and only 12 million get them leaving 8 million jobless. This problem is trying to be fixed by creating 10 million new jobs this year.

China's dilemma over Darfur

China has worked hard over the past few months to show it is doing all it can to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.
It has appointed a special envoy, sent peacekeeping troops to the region and embarked on a publicity campaign to persuade others it is being responsible.
This was done in part to prevent anyone linking China's close relationship with Sudan to the Olympics Games.
But for Steven Spielberg it was still not enough.
His decision to withdraw as artistic adviser to the Games' opening and closing ceremonies will be seen as a huge blow.

Click Here

China is trying to show the world that they are working hard to eliminate humiliation in Sudan. They have been doing this for the past few months and since China imports two thirds of Sudans oil, they are a said to be Sudan's biggest arns supplier.

China says militant plots foiled

The authorities in China say they have foiled two plots - one to crash an airliner, and another targeting the Beijing Olympic Games.
Officials said a plane crew prevented an attempt to crash a flight from Xinjiang province to Beijing on Friday. Two passengers are being questioned.
Another official said a raid that saw two people killed in Xinjiang in January foiled a plot on the Games.
Uighur separatists in Xinjiang have waged an insurgency for many years.
The Chinese authorities accuse them of having links to international terror networks.

Click Here

Airline officials prevented a plane, coming from Xingjaing, from crashing into the Olympics game sight in Bejing China. Two men are being questioned for more information on this crime. This could help the security in Xingjiang be more monitered.

Air pollution forces star to pull out of Olympic marathon

One of the world's top long distance runners has said he will not compete in the marathon at the Beijing Olympics because China's air pollution would pose an unacceptable risk to his health and future career.

In a major blow for the Chinese authorities, who have spent vast sums of money trying to tackle Beijing's pollution problem, the world record holder, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, said he still intended to participate in the 10,000 metres but could not run in the 26-mile, 385-yard (42.2km) marathon.

Full Article

Thirty-four year old Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia has said that he cannot compete 26 mile marathon of the Beijing olympics because of the pollution in the city. Gebrselassie suffers from asthma and believes that it would be too great a risk to participate in the marathon, but he still plans to run in the 10,000 meter race.

(grade this post)

China One-Child Policy to Stay in Place

BEIJING (AP) — China will not consider changing its one-child policy for at least a decade for fear that a population surge could spark social and economic instability, the nation's top family planning official said in an interview published Monday.

Zhang Weiqing of the State Population and Family Planning Commission told the official China Daily newspaper that the one-child rule should be maintained for now.

"Given such a large population base, there would be major fluctuations in population growth if we abandoned the one-child rule now," he was quoted as saying. "It would cause serious problems and add extra pressure on social and economic development."


Full Article


It has been officially stated that the one child policy will remain in China for at least ten years, which is the end of the nations "birth-peak." The policy which was launched in the seventies has prevented 400 million births, but it only applies to a portion of the population.


(grade this post)

China's Curious Olympic Terror Threat

The dramatic news came in the midst of China's staid and boring annual legislature: a terrorist hijacking plot, perhaps meant to mar the coming Olympic Games, had been stopped. Security forces had thwarted a plot to "create an air disaster," Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, told reporters at the ongoing session of the National People's Congress (NPC). Apparently, on Mar. 7, a hijacking attempt by separatists from the Muslim-majority province of Xinjiang had been foiled. Initial reports stated that China Southern flight CZ6901 had made an emergency landing in the northwestern city of Lanzhou at about 12:40 p.m. after an apparent attempt to blow up the aircraft. The plane was en route from the Xinjiang capital Urumqi for Beijing.

The news however has been met with considerable skepticism outside China, particularly since details of the incident remain confusingly murky. According to the English-language China Daily, Bekri declined to give more details, only saying that the authorities are investigating "who the attackers are, where they are from and what their background is... But we can be sure that this was a case intending to create an air crash." Some details began to emerge later of between two and four hijackers, possibly carrying gasoline. But concrete information remained elusive.

Full Article

Steven Tsang, a China specialist at St. Anthony's College, Oxford University, notes that it seems very strange that the plane was allowed to continue to Beijing after it made its landing in Lanzhou. He also recognized that "it [is] particularly easy to blame a shadowy Islamic separatists movement in the build-up to the Beijing Olympics, possibly as a deterrent to those or any other groups who might want to disrupt the Games."

(grade this post)

Assessment Complete

China one-child rule 'to remain'

Family planning chief Zhang Weiqing said there would be no change in the rule limiting families in cities to one child and those in rural areas to two.
His comments come a week after another family planning official said a policy change was under discussion.
The rule has been blamed for creating a gender imbalance, with families eager to have boys rather than a girls.

Click Here

The policy of limiting one child to each family and two for those living in rural areas is starting an issue with the gender balance. Most families would rather have a boy than a girl. The suggestion to make changes to this policy has been considered in the past but have not taken action due to the fear of a major population growth that China doesn't want to handle.

Losing patients

STARTLING economic growth in China has not been matched by similar improvements in health care. The cost of treatment is becoming ever more prohibitive for the poor. Government spending is meagre. But nearly three years after declaring the system a failure, officials are at last getting ready to unveil a plan to fix it.

Some Chinese press reports say the long-awaited and much-debated reform plan is likely to be revealed at the annual session of China's parliament, which opens on March 5th. The outline is already clear: a stronger role for government, including more money from the central budget, and a drive towards universal health insurance. Changes are already in train.
The reforms reverse the market-driven policies of much of the past two decades. The outbreak in 2003 of SARS, an often fatal respiratory disease, made the government realise what a mess the health-care system had become. Government hospitals and clinics, starved of funding, had turned to raising money (and boosting ill-paid doctors' salaries) by prescribing ever more expensive treatment and diagnostic procedures. With the collapse and privatisation of state-owned enterprises, the vast majority of citizens had been left with no insurance. Many began avoiding even desperately needed treatment.

Click Here

The price for health care is becoming harder to afford, especially for the poor. Officials have been working on a plan for the past three years to fix this problem

Future of China's one-child policy is unclear

First they said they might do it, then they said they wouldn't. Now it seems more of a definite maybe.

At issue is the sensitive question of how best to control the growth of the largest population on Earth.

Over the weekend, an official said China was considering making changes to its one-child policy, but didn't offer any specifics. The statement by Wu Jianmin, a spokesman for the advisory body to the Chinese parliament, appeared to echo comments made last week by a senior family planning official.


Full Article


China has stated that it might change its one-child policy, which has been in place for three decades. Victor Yuan states, "I think maybe in 10 years' time we will see a turning point, where people's behavior will have changed sufficiently that there is no need to force them to have fewer children," but critics say they don't want to wait that long.

(grade this post)

China's largest bank buys stake in South African lender

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the nation's largest lender, said Tuesday it completed the acquisition of a 20 percent stake in South Africa's Standard Bank for 5.5 billion dollars.

The Chinese lender said the deal, the largest ever Chinese acquisition in the financial field, had been approved by Chinese and South African regulators, according to a statement with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The cash settlement and issue of new shares for the planned purchase, originally announced in October, was finished on Monday, it said.


Full Article


The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is helping to boost Standard Bank's expansion. This merger will allow Standard Bank to access capital which will allow it to grow into South Africa, Africa, and other places around the world.

(grade this post)

In a fix

ACROSS Asia inflation is rising, largely because of higher food and energy prices. China's inflation rate surged to an 11-year high of 7.1% in January and looks set to climb further this month, after some severe snow storms. India, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore all have inflation rates above 4%.
Central banks are reluctant to raise interest rates by much at the same time as America's Federal Reserve is slashing its rates, for fear this would attract foreign capital and push their currencies sharply higher. Stronger currencies would in fact help to reduce the price of imported food and energy. But instead, many governments are resorting to price controls and government subsides to curb inflation. India has long imposed price ceilings on a wide range of goods. Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines are considering new price controls or subsidies. In January the Chinese government froze the prices of energy, transport and water, and announced that producers of essential food items, such as meat, grain, eggs and cooking oil must seek approval before raising prices.

Click Here

Inflation has become a huge problem forcing the chinese government to "monitor" food because most of inflation is being drivin by food and not by aggregate demand. The inflation rate is supposed to keep climbing with all the bad weather expected in the future.

China's basketball giant Yao has successful foot surgery

China's giant centre Yao Ming underwent successful foot surgery at a Texas hospital on Monday, the Houston Rockets announced.

Yao, who will miss the rest of the National Basketball Association season, had to have the procedure to repair a stress fracture in his left foot.

"I am very relieved that everything went well with my surgery today," said Yao. "I am looking forward to getting better and starting my physical rehab as soon as the doctors say I can."

Full Article

Tom Clanton, the Rockets team doctor, performed the surgery at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. The 7' 6" Yao seems to be recovering well, but he will miss the rest of the basketball season.

(grade this post)

China's Yellow Dust Storms Begin, Data Called a "State Secret"

China's Yellow Dust Storms Begin, Data Called a "State Secret"

East Asia's yellow dust season is underway, with clouds of sand spotted last
week in northwest China now closing schools, disabling factories and
depositing toxic loads in Korea and Japan.

The dust storms last from March to May of each year, with sands pulled by
wind from deserts in Mongolia and China, picking up pollution in China's
industrial regions and finally arriving in the east.

Damage estimates are hazy, but conservative figures put manufacturing losses
in the billions, especially among makers of high-tech goods -- and the human
costs are greater, as the pollutants trigger lung and immune diseases.

For the Full Article Click Here

This time of year is going to be difficult for China to prosper economically after dealing with the worst snow storms they have seen in years. This will be a test of China's ability to deal with hardship.

Grade This Post

Assessment Complete

China's Biggest Plastic-Bag Maker Closes Down

Suiping Huaqiang Plastic Co. Ltd., China's biggest maker of plastic bags, closed down after new laws banned the use of most of its products, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing a local government official.

The company could make 250,000 tons of bags worth 2.2 billion yuan ($307 million) annually, Xinhua said, citing Liu Henglie, director of the commerce bureau in Suiping County in the northern province of Henan. Its parent is Nanqiang Plastic Industrial Co. in Guangzhou in southern China, Xinhua said.

The 20,000-worker company stopped production last month because more than 90 percent of its products are banned under new environmental rules, Xinhua said. The State Council, China's cabinet, on Jan. 9 ordered a stop to the production, sale and use of plastic bags thinner than 0.025 millimeters starting on June 1, Xinhua said.

Full Article

After environmental laws banned the use of more than 90 percent of Suiping Huaqiang Plastic Co. Ltd.'s products, the company shut down. The company made 250,000 tons of plastic bags each year, which was worth about $307 million annually.

(grade this post)

China's thriving Confucian schools

As soon as they walk into the tiny school, a converted apartment in a tower block, the children are bundled into grey cotton wraparound robes, fastened at the back with modern Velcro.
Flowing sleeves flap round their wrists, square black hats wedged on to their heads - some, too big, slip down over the eyes.
The children, from three to six years old, have come to special weekend classes to learn the teachings of China's ancient sage, Confucius.
The teacher shows the children how to put their hands together and bow to him before the start of each lesson.
In some classes, they sing and play chasing games. In others, the teacher holds up complex Chinese characters on white cards and the children recite the sayings of the great teacher.
"In a group of three people, one of them will become my teacher," they chant in high voices.
Many of the sayings extol the virtues of harmony, humility and courtesy to others.

Click Here

This school of Confucious is expected to emphisezi childrens kindness and self disciplin at an early age. Children ages 3-6 enroll and learn traditions that are said to forgotten. Many schools that teach confucious shut down soon after it is opened. But the rehibilitation Chinese culture is now expected to grow through confucious.

China Willing to Resume Human Rights Talks With U.S.

China's government said it's willing to resume a dialogue with the U.S. on improving human rights after a five-year halt, taking a step to prevent rights advocates from boycotting Beijing's Olympic Games in August.

``The Chinese side is willing to keep contact with the U.S. in all areas,'' Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said today at the end of a Beijing press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, neither elaborating nor giving her the chance to respond. ``We're ready to resume the dialogue.''

Chinese President Hu Jintao wants to prevent the world's largest sporting event from becoming a pressure point on issues from political freedom to China's role in Sudan and Myanmar. Director Steven Spielberg on Feb. 12 quit as an artistic adviser for the games' opening and closing ceremonies, citing his concern over China's failure to help end Sudan's ethnic conflict.

Full Article

China has said that it is willing to re-start communication with the US about human rights. China has not participated in this communication for five years, but is willing to do so to prevent boycott of the Olympics for political reasons.

(grade this post)

Hamster prices triple in China

Pet shop owners say stocks are running low - and prices high - as children clamour for a furry friend.
According to the Chinese media, prices have tripled to about 30 yuan ($4.20, £2.10) per hamster across the country.

Click Here

Hamsters have become the must have pet in China. The prices for these gentle rodents have doubled since the year of the rat began February 7.

China finishes canal to ensure water for Olympics: report

BEIJING: Beijing has completed a water diversion canal that will provide emergency supplies to the August Olympics, state press said on Tuesday, despite ongoing shortages crippling much of northern China.

"In order to amply safeguard the security and the quality of the Games, the construction of the north-south water diversion project has been completed without glitches," the Beijing Evening News quoted city water bureau chief Jiao Zhizhong as saying.

"We have established the basis for diverting water to Beijing," he said at a Tuesday meeting on addressing the capital's water shortage.

Full Article

China has built a 210 kilometer canal from Shijiazhuang city in Hebei province to Beijing. The canal will begin operating by April, which will help the 30 percent water demand increase which is expected during the Olympic season.

(grade this post)

China warns against share issues

The announcement was carried on the front page of many newspapers and came a day after share prices dropped to a seven-month low.
Regulators fear the market may fall further, as a potential slew of new shares could overwhelm investor demand.
Following the warning, insurer Ping An said it might scale back or postpone a massive $17bn share issue.

Click Here

China's stockmarket warns companies about making a big deal about making big issues about new shares to faise funds. Authorities have approved at least five new mutual funds to boost demands for shares.

Assessment Complete

China inflation hits 11-year high

Soaring food prices were largely blamed for pushing consumer inflation up to 7.1% last month, from 6.5% in December.
Inflation in China continues to rise despite higher interest rates and other measures by Beijing to keep the economy from overheating.
The worst winter for decades hit food supplies, sending food costs up 18%.
Massive snowfalls wrecked crops and killed millions of livestock.
But analysts cautioned that the severe weather was not the only factor behind rising food costs, and warned that prices could still increase further.

Click Here

Chinese inflation hit and 11 year high in January of 2008. Alot of this was caused by the major cold weather problems that they have been experiencing. The last all time high was in 1996 at 7.1%. The inflation rate is now 7.4%.

This land is my land

“LAND to the tiller” has been a slogan of Chinese revolutionaries since Sun Yat-sen used it in 1924. Mao Zedong came to power in 1949 with just such a promise. Now some of China's peasants want his party to make good on the pledge. Late last year groups in different parts of China began simply claiming land as their own individual private plots.
China's constitution decrees that rural land is owned by “collectives”. But it does not make clear who represents these collectives. This vagueness has been one of the biggest causes of rural unrest in recent years. Rural officials, eager to make money for themselves as well as their localities, often appropriate land from farmers to sell to developers. They say they are acting on behalf of the collective. The farmers disagree. If they receive any compensation at all, it is only a fraction of the market value.

Isolated groups of peasants elsewhere followed suit, including some in Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Sichuan and Tianjin. Villagers have likened themselves to the group of peasants in 1978 in a village in central Anhui, who broke up the land into plots farmed by individual households. At the time, they seemed to be taking a big risk. But the party itself soon decided that the Mao-era communal farms had failed and households should be allocated plots of land. The Anhui villagers became famous and the new “household-responsibility system” pushed up yields and incomes. Land ownership remained unchanged.

Click Here

In the past, rural officials have taken land from farmers and peasants to sell to developers in order to make money. These people fell that they have been violated and are starting to take a stand against this act.

From Mao to the mall

Amid all the global gloom, the good news is that China is turning into a nation of spenders, as well as sellers
THE past year has seen a lively debate among economists about China's rapid economic growth. Some, such as Brad Setser from the Council on Foreign Relations, believe that exports have been the main generator; others, like UBS's Jonathan Anderson and The Economist, think that domestic demand—spending on roads and railways, cars and clothes, and the like—has been the driving force. Just now, a lot turns on this argument: both how badly China's economy could be hurt by an American recession and also the extent to which Chinese spending could help to prop up the rest of the world economy. Some new figures suggest Chinese demand is rising strongly enough to help offset the increasing weakness in China's export markets. That could be good news for the world at large.
It is certainly true that China's current-account surplus rose to a record 10% of its GDP last year, which means that it produced a lot more than it consumed and so relied on foreigners to buy the excess. But it is the change in a country's trade surplus, not its absolute size, which matters for GDP growth. The increase in net exports (exports minus imports) has never been the main source of China's growth. It contributed two to three percentage points to annual GDP growth between 2005 and 2007, whereas domestic demand (consumption and investment) added eight to nine percentage points. But the latest figures show that exports have become even less important as a driver of growth. The World Bank's latest China Quarterly Update suggests that net exports contributed only 0.4 percentage points to GDP growth in the year to the fourth quarter of 2007 (see left-hand chart). Overall GDP growth slowed only modestly (to 11.2%) because of faster growth in domestic demand, which contributed an impressive 10.8 percentage points.

Click Here

China's economic growth is increasing rapidly. It is believed to be caused by the money being spent on roads, railways, cars and clothes. It is also believed that this could hurt the Chinese economy, or that this change could be good and help to prop up the rest of the world's economy.

China to open hole in Great Firewall during Olympics

SHANGHAI -- It looks like China will have no problem living up to its promise to give the world's media free and uncensored access to the Internet during next summer's Olympic Games.

But, it will do it without loosening its grip on what its own citizens can see and hear on the web.

In an article in the March edition of The Atlantic magazine, correspondent James Fallows reveals that the Chinese Internet censorship system -- often called the Great Firewall of China -- is now sophisticated enough so that it can pinpoint specific locations in Beijing and make sure anyone who goes online from them has free and clear access to the web.

Full Article

Web sites are continually blocked in China due to media censorship. The internet censorship system, also called "The Great Firewall of China," is now sophisticated enough that specific areas can be pinpointed. This will allow foreign visitors to access the internet during their stay in Beijing for the Olympics.

(grade this post)

Is China Unfairly Blamed for Global Inflation?

With inflation on the march around the globe, the links between prices of
goods in different countries are now getting lots of attention. Low-priced
products from China have been given some of the credit for low global inflation
in years past, but higher costs for labor and materials in China are also
getting some of the blame for the current rise in prices.

Imports constitute around 15% of U.S. GDP and around 13% of that comes from
China,” the authors write in an article in the latest issue of China & World
Economy, an English-language journal published by the Chinese Academy for
Social Sciences. On their back-of-the-envelope calculation, that means a 1
percentage point increase in China’s inflation rate should lead to an increase
in U.S. inflation of 0.02 to 0.03 percentage points.

“It is estimated that something like half of total imports would need to
come from China for a 1% Chinese price increase to translate into a very
moderate 0.1% price increase in Japanese and U.S. prices,” the authors write.
“For any noticeable effect on inflation, China would need to dominate
international trade on a large scale.”

For The Full Article Click Here.

This Article Takes up for China in regards to China being blamed for large scale global inflation problems.

Grade This Post

Plant In China Under Scrutiny

CHANGZHOU, CHINA -- The maker of a blood thinner suspected in four U.S.
deaths and allergic reactions in 350 people said Tuesday that its investigation
was focusing more closely on whether something went awry during the processing
of ingredients in China.

Baxter Healthcare Corp. spokeswoman Erin Gardiner said testing had detected
irregularities in samples of the drug, heparin, that were processed in China
from raw material extracted in China. No such irregularities were detected in
heparin made from raw materials from China but processed at a supplier's plant
in Wisconsin

Baxter has said that a Chinese plant here, Changzhou SPL, was the source of
much of the active ingredient in its heparin. The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration said it never inspected the factory because the agency mixed up
the company with another one that has a similar name. Changzhou SPL apparently
wasn't examined by Chinese drug regulators either, because it isn't licensed as
a pharmaceutical manufacturer with the Chinese government.

For the Full Article Click Here.

This is a very troubling article regarding the Chinese regulations regarding healthcare exports. Mistakes like these are unacceptable. China may not be ready to handle the responsibility of being a world super power.

Grade This Post

China reports bird flu outbreak in Tibet, human death

BEIJING (AFP) — Chinese authorities on Tuesday reported a fresh bird flu outbreak among poultry in Tibet, a day after confirming a 22-year-old man in central China had died of the deadly virus.

The agriculture ministry said 132 poultry had died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in a village outside the regional capital Lhasa and about 7,700 birds had been slaughtered to bring the outbreak under control.

It was the second outbreak of bird flu in the Himalayan region this year.

In January, about 1,000 birds died and 13,000 were slaughtered during an earlier outbreak in Gongga county, which lies about 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Lhasa.

Full Article

The latest outbreak of bird flu in China was announced shortly after authorities confirmed the eighteenth human bird flu fatality. It was declared late on Monday that a 22-year-old man from Hunan province died from the H5N1 strain. Scientists' main concern is that the flu will change into a form which can be transferred more easily by humans, and cause a global outbreak of the disease.

(grade this post)

Fear that China will push up world inflation after prices rise 7%

Fears that China may export inflation to the rest of the world were heightened yesterday when Beijing announced the sharpest rise in the cost of living in 11 years.

With food prices rising rapidly following severe new year storms, the annual inflation rate in the fast-growing developing economy reached 7.1% last month.

Food prices were up 18% on January 2007 as blizzards took 7m hectares of agricultural land out of production and paralysed distribution systems across China.

Full Article

There are major concerns that the price rises in food in China will spread to the rest of the economy, which will be a problem for countries that import chinese goods. This will create pressure for the exchange rate of it's currency, the yuan, to rise even more.

(grade this article)

Assessment Complete

China steps up efforts to fight pollution

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will aim this year to reduce its emissions of sulphur dioxide by 6 percent from their 2005 levels as it steps up efforts to fight pollution, its top environmental official said in remarks published on Tuesday.
The official Xinhua news agency cited Zhou Shengxian, head of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), as saying that the government would close many small coal-fired power plants, as well as steel mills and cement plants, to cut emissions of the acid rain-causing pollutant.
Zhou also said the government aimed to reduce COD, or chemical oxygen demand, a measure of water pollution, by 5 percent from its 2005 level this year.

Click Here

China prepares to fix the pollution problem that has been an issue since 2005. SEPA is closing many coal fired plants along with other businesses that produce lots of pollution. These actions are expected to lower the pollution rate.

The ecumenism of commerce

Their sense of solidarity is deepened by the loneliness of being in a foreign country. Some of them have been based here as long as eight years. But most of Yiwu's Middle Easterners have only a rudimentary grasp of Mandarin. “It's hard learning a new language at my age,” sighs one Iraqi. Commerce forms their chief bond with Yiwu, China's largest small-commodities market. The Middle Easterners come on long-term business visas; after buying cheap clothes and hardware in bulk, most jet to Dubai, Baghdad or Tehran before returning for another six months of trade. Some work as consultants or visa agents. For the entrepreneurially inclined, Yiwu offers a wealth of opportunity.

The Middle Eastern presence has served as a magnet for Chinese Muslims. Although Arab merchants called here in centuries past, Yiwu had virtually no Muslims till about 2000, when Middle Eastern traders were drawn to its burgeoning market. Hui (members of China's indigenous Muslim minority) from as far as Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai in the west followed. Yiwu is cosmopolitan and friendlier to Islam than parts of China's west. Many of the Hui who come speak Arabic, allowing them to find lucrative jobs with Middle Eastern businessmen. At its peak, says a local imam, the city's Muslim population (foreign and Chinese) now reaches 20,000.

Click Here

Men eating at a resteraunt in Yiwu, China, discussed publicly their opinions on China's "athiest" religion. These Iraquis were muslim and felt that their beliefs would benifit China's economy.

China steps up efforts to fight pollution

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will aim this year to reduce its emissions of sulphur dioxide by 6 percent from their 2005 levels as it steps up efforts to fight pollution, its top environmental official said in remarks published on Tuesday.

The official Xinhua news agency cited Zhou Shengxian, head of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), as saying that the government would close many small coal-fired power plants, as well as steel mills and cement plants, to cut emissions of the acid rain-causing pollutant.

Zhou also said the government aimed to reduce COD, or chemical oxygen demand, a measure of water pollution, by 5 percent from its 2005 level this year.


Full Article


Bejing, this year's olymic host city, along with many other cities in China, suffers from choking smog. This has been a major concern of the organizers of the Games because of its possible effects on the atheletes. China plans to cut the two pollution measures, Sulphur dioxide and COD, by 10 percent between 2006 and 2010.


(grade this article)

New species of prehistoric flying reptile found in China: study

CHICAGO (AFP) — Paleontologists have discovered the fossil of a new species of tiny prehistoric flying reptile in northeastern China, a study released Monday said.

The miniature reptile lived about 120 million years ago and was about the size of a sparrow, with a wingspan less than a foot across.

It was toothless and had some unique anatomical features, notably curved claws that appeared to be designed to clutch tree limbs.

Full Article

The discovery of this flying reptile's fossils will help scientists better understand the evolution of the pterosaurs group of reptiles. The species has been named Nemicolopterus crypticus, which means "hidden flying forest dweller" in Greek.

(grade this post)

Our friends in the north

MOST locals, who are lucky if they enjoy two hours of electricity an evening, are unaware of their region's bounty: South-East Asia's biggest proven gas reserve lies in the Shwe field, just off the coast of Ramree Island. This year work will begin on a pipeline to carry these riches to China. From perhaps as early as late 2009, a parallel pipe will carry Middle Eastern and African oil from a new deep-water harbour at Kyaukphyu, bypassing the Strait of Malacca and fuelling the economy of China's south-west.
The site of the harbour, like the former fishing grounds where the gas lies, is now strictly out of bounds to locals. Despite a small poster campaign by underground activists, few people here know much about it. Those who do are worried. According to one, farmers fear losing their land. They have good reason for concern, judging from the mass dispossessions and human-rights abuses that surrounded the construction of earlier pipelines from the south to Thailand. Residents of nearby Baday Island have already been told that they must leave.

Click Here

Pipelines are being put in to transport oil to China. Citizens living near these areas of instilation feel that their rights are being violated. Families living near Baday Island have already been asked to leave.

US arrests four 'Chinese spies'

A 72-year-old former Boeing engineer is accused of giving China details about the space shuttle and other aerospace programmes.

In a separate case, two men and a woman are accused of handing over US defence department documents about Taiwan.

A US justice department spokesman said the cases represented serious breaches of national security.

Full Article

Four people have been arrested in the United States for passing secret defense information to China. 72 year-old Dongfan "Greg" Chung "faces charges including eight counts of economic espionage, conspiracy, and making false statements to FBI investigators." He is a naturalized US citizen who worked in the aerospace industry for about thirty years.

(grade this article)

Assessment Complete

China frees Hong Kong journalist

A Hong Kong journalist who was jailed in mainland China on spying charges has been released after serving less than half a five-year sentence.

Ching Cheong was detained in 2005 and sentenced to five years in jail in a case that angered human rights groups.

Chinese officials accused him of buying information and passing it to Taiwan - charges his family and his employer, Singapore's Straits Times, rejected.

He has now returned to Hong Kong to spend Lunar New Year with his family.

Full Article

The Chinese government has granted Ching Cheong, a Hong Kong journalist, parole. Ching was arrested in April 2005 in Guangzhou, China. He was arrested after traveling to China to collect documents about Zhao Ziyang, a former chinese leader, and he will now return to Hong Kong to spend the new year with his family.

(grade this post)

Dumplings poisoned 'on purpose'

The frozen dumplings were contaminated with a highly toxic organophoshate pesticide methamidophos.
"Judging from the circumstantial evidence, we'd have to think that it's highly likely to be a crime," Yoichi Masuzoe told reporters.
The issue has triggered intensive media coverage and public alarm in Japan.
Japanese police say they want to work with their Chinese counterparts to investigate how the dumplings, known as gyoza in Japan, were poisoned.

Click Here

Dumplings that were sold to Chinese citizens were found to be poisoned. It is believed, by Japan's heath minister, that this poison was not an accident. Japan is trying to keep out the idea that it was poisoned in Japan before they were transported to China. The product was recalled but Japanese police are working with their Chinese counterparts to investigate how the dumplings were poisoned.

Chinese party unveils new leaders

China's Communist Party has unveiled the leadership line-up that will steer the country for the next five years.

President Hu Jintao won a second term as party and army chief, while four new faces joined the party's top body, the Politburo Standing Committee.

They included two men seen as potential successors to Mr Hu in 2012 - Shanghai party chief Xi Jinping and the head of Liaoning province, Li Keqiang.

Full Article

The leaders chosen will rule China for the next five years. They were announced at the five-yearly congress which sets the political agenda for the future. Mr. Hu was pleased with the party's decision to give him more power for economic reform.

(grade this post)

Alternative reality

ONE of the more striking end-of-year statistics pumped out recently by the Chinese government was an update on the number of internet users in the country, which had reached 210m. It is a staggering figure, up by more than 50% on the previous year and more than three times the number for India, the emerging Asian giant with which China is most often compared. Within a few months, according to Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, China will have more internet users than America, the current leader. And because the proportion of the population using the internet is so low, at just 16%, rapid growth is likely to continue for some time.

The Chinese way
Yet it is all these limitations, paradoxically, that make the internet so popular in China. In the West online activities have transformed existing businesses and created new ones; in China, by contrast, the internet fills gaps and provides what is unavailable elsewhere, particularly for young people. More than 70% of Chinese internet users are under 30, precisely the opposite of America, and there is enormous pent-up demand for entertainment, amusement and social interaction, says Richard Ji, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. Rich rewards await those entrepreneurial internet companies able to meet that demand and establish themselves in the market: operating margins for leading internet firms are 28% in China, compared with 15% in America. And internet companies' share prices have shot up, with their collective market capitalisation nearly doubling every year since 2003 to reach over $50 billion today.

Click Here

China will soon have the most internet users in the world. The number of users have doubled since last year and these rates are expected to keep rising. The most popular users are those under the age of 30. This statistic is the opposite in the US. Chinese internet is used as television, movies, and other things. It is their leading search engine.