February | 2015 | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

18/02/2015

Chinese insurer Anbang extends M&A drive with $1 billion South Korea buy | Reuters

China’s Anbang Insurance Group is paying $1 billion to buy a controlling stake in South Korea’s Tong Yang Life Insurance, extending a global acquisitions drive that has already seen it spend $10 billion in under four months.

Anbang agreed to buy a combined 63 percent stake in South Korea’s eighth-largest life insurer from three separate shareholders for 1.13 trillion won ($998 million), or 16,700 won per share, Tong Yang said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

This follows once-obscure Anbang’s deal announced just a day earlier to buy an insurance arm of Dutch bank and insurer SNS Reaal for at least 1.4 billion euros ($1.6 billion).

The privately-held insurer and asset manager, which according to a media report is considering an initial public offering this year, recently sealed a $1.95 billion purchase of New York’s landmark Waldorf Astoria hotel. It also bought the Belgian banking operations of Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd NV, for 219 million euros.

The flurry of deals shows Anbang’s global ambitions and comes as China’s financial firms are increasingly targeting assets outside of home for growth.

via Chinese insurer Anbang extends M&A drive with $1 billion South Korea buy | Reuters.

Posted in acquisition, China alert, Economics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: American Society of Composers, Anbang Insurance Group, Authors and Publishers, China, Chinese language, Hilton Worldwide, Hotel, Insurance, New York City, San Francisco, South Korea, Tong Yang, Tong Yang Life Insurance, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

18/02/2015

China orders compensation to acquitted death row prisoner | Reuters

A court in China’s southern city of Fuzhou ordered compensation of 1.14 million yuan ($182,000) to a former death row prisoner who was acquitted on charges of poisoning two children, state media said on Tuesday.

The rare acquittal of Nian Bin, a former food stall owner who was freed in August after a court in Fujian province found there was insufficient evidence, prompted renewed calls for the abolition of the death penalty in China.

Nian, 39, was accused of poisoning his neighbors with rat poison, leading to the death of two children and injuries to four others in July 2006.

But he said he was tortured into confessing during police interrogations and had pursued his appeals for years, an effort closely watched by human rights lawyers in China and global rights groups.

He was convicted several times and spent 8 years in prison before being acquitted.

The intermediate court made the ruling on Sunday, and on Tuesday announced that Nian “should be paid 589,000 yuan for loss of personal freedom and another 550,000 yuan for mental suffering,” the official Xinhua news agency reported.

China’s ruling Communist Party has said it aims to prevent “extorting confessions by torture” and halt miscarriages of justice with a “timely correction mechanism”, after a series of corruption investigations involving torture outraged the public.

via China orders compensation to acquitted death row prisoner | Reuters.

Posted in China alert, Justice, law enforcement, Politics, Rule of law | Leave a Comment »

Tags: abolition of the death penalty, Avian influenza, China, compensation, death row prisoner, Detention (imprisonment), Fujian, intermediate court, Jiangxi, List of cities in the People's Republic of China, People's Liberation Army, Police, Shanghai

16/02/2015

Li gives residents keys to ‘new life’|Politics|chinadaily.com.cn

The set of keys that Xiao Wenmei received from Premier Li Keqiang opens up not only her new apartment but her future.

Li visited the newly finished Yu’an community in Guiyang, Guizhou province, and helped distribute keys to the new apartments on Saturday.

“Have you seen your new apartment?” Li asked as he handed keys to Xiao. “It is not only the key to your home but also to your new life.”

He then posted a fu character, a traditional Chinese paper cutting for Spring Festival, at the community’s main office.

“A new community is not only about building new houses but also about people’s new lives, so they can live in a comfortable and safe environment,” he said.

Xiao, 32, was still excited as she recalled the moment she received the keys from the premier. She said her family is busy preparing to move into the new apartment before Chinese New Year’s Eve “as a good start of the year”.

She has lived with her husband and kids in a nearby village, where houses leaked and roads became muddy during rainstorms. The local government invested 3 billion yuan ($481 million) in 2009 to build 8,500 apartments for 5,000 households in Xiao’s community.

Xiao’s family was allotted two apartments, about 300 square meters, as were some other families.

“We’ll move into one apartment and rent the other out,” she said. “A new house is like a big dream for my family.”

The Chinese government has counted heavily on the rebuilding of urban shantytowns to drive domestic demand and improve people’s living conditions.

via Li gives residents keys to ‘new life’|Politics|chinadaily.com.cn.

Posted in China alert, Economics, housing | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Alibaba, Big data, China, chinese new year, Goat (zodiac), Guiyang, Guizhou, keys, Li Keqiang, Lunisolar calendar, Renminbi, Southwest China, Xiao Wenmei

16/02/2015

China to prosecute former top parliament body official for graft | Reuters

China will prosecute a former vice-chairman of China’s top parliamentary advisory body for graft, including taking bribes and selling “ranks and titles”, the government said on Monday, the latest senior figure to fall in a deepening anti-corruption campaign.

Su Rong attends a group discussion during the National People's Congress in Beijing March 6, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer

Su Rong had been one of the 23 vice-chairmen of the largely ceremonial but high-profile Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference until authorities began an investigation last year.

Su abused his power over personnel appointments and the operation of unidentified companies and took “an enormous amount of bribes”, said the ruling Communist Party’s graft-fighting Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

He “abused his power and caused great losses to state assets”, it said in a statement, without providing details.

“As a senior party official, Su Rong disregarded the party’s political rules … wantonly sold ranks and titles, led the official ranks astray and damaged the atmosphere in society,” the statement said.

His influence was “abominable” and he had been officially stripped of his title and expelled from the party, it said.

Details of Su’s case have been handed to judicial authorities, it said, and he will face prosecution in court.

Su previously served as Communist Party boss for the poor inland provinces of Jiangxi and Gansu.

Chinese media ha

via China to prosecute former top parliament body official for graft | Reuters.

Posted in China alert, corruption, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: advisory body, Barack Obama, Beijing, China, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Communist Party, communist party of china, Hong Kong, Hu Jintao, Ling Jihua, Su Rong, United Front Work Department, Xi JinPing

16/02/2015

India seals nuclear energy pact with Sri Lanka, hopes to push back Chinese influence | Reuters

India sealed a nuclear energy agreement with Sri Lanka on Monday, its first breakthrough with the new government of the tiny Indian Ocean island where China has been building ports and highways in a diplomatic push in recent years.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) gestures to Sri Lanka's President Mithripala Sirisena's wife Jayanthi Sirisena (2nd L) as India's President Pranab Mukherjee (L) looks on during Sirisena's ceremonial reception at the forecourt of India's Rashtrapati Bhavan presidential palace in New Delhi February 16, 2015. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Under the deal, India will help Sri Lanka build its nuclear energy infrastructure, including training of personnel, the Indian foreign ministry said.

Later, India could also sell light small-scale nuclear reactors to Sri Lanka which wants to establish 600 MW of nuclear capacity by 2030, a Sri Lankan official and an Indian analyst said.

The deal came as Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena began a visit to India, his first trip abroad since he swept to power in January, which has provided New Delhi with an opening to repair ties that had become tense under his predecessor.

“The bilateral agreement on civil nuclear cooperation is yet another demonstration of our mutual trust,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a statement.

India had grown increasingly wary of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa‘s pursuit of closer ties with China, which became a key supporter of the island’s economy after its 26-year-civil war ended in 2009.

China has built a seaport in the south of the country and signed a deal to develop a $1.5 billion port next to the commercial port in Colombo, raising fears Beijing is seeking influence in the island state with which New Delhi has had historical ties.

Ties worsened further after the Rajapaksa government allowed Chinese submarines to dock last year.

Modi said the two countries also agreed to expand defense cooperation, but gave no details. “This is my first visit and it has given very fruitful results,” Sirisena said.

Since coming to power last year, Modi has reached out to neighbors, offering to build power stations and ports, in a bid to push back against China.

Next month he plans to travel to Sri Lanka and the Maldives where too Beijing is seen to be expanding its diplomacy as part of a strategy to build a network of ports in the Indian Ocean through which much of its trade and energy supplies transit.

Sirisena has pledged to pursue a more global foreign policy.

via India seals nuclear energy pact with Sri Lanka, hopes to push back Chinese influence | Reuters.

Posted in India alert | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Barack Obama, China, Colombo, India, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maithripala Sirisena, Narendra Modi, New Delhi, nuclear energy, prime minister of india, South Asia, Sri Lanka

15/02/2015

Modi calls for innovation in renewable energy – The Hindu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for innovation and research to develop renewable energy to provide affordable electricity to every household.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet meet in Delhi on Sunday. Photo: Ramesh Sharma

Inaugurating the first Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet (RE-Invest), Mr. Modi called for collaboration between the 50 nations with abundant solar power to develop technological solutions.

Stating that the role of energy in development was very important, he said, “We want to increase speed and at the same time scale new heights of development and one of the sectors is energy.”

“We are focussing on renewable energy not for laurels but to lighten homes of the poor and bring a change in their lives,” he said. “We have ponds, can we think of solar panels on top of these ponds? We need to think of innovative ideas.”

He said the cost of electricity from solar photovoltaic cells has come down from Rs. 20 per unit to Rs. 7.50 and research and innovation can help bring it down further.

Hybrid power generation involving solar and wind energy should be encouraged as it will help save on transmission and power evacuation infrastructure cost, he said.

Mr. Modi also called for developing domestic manufacturing of renewable energy equipment to create jobs.

Conserving energy, he said, is the need of the hour.

via Modi calls for innovation in renewable energy – The Hindu.

Posted in Economics, Electricity, energy, hydroelectric, India alert, renewable energy, solar power | 1 Comment »

Tags: Barack Obama, Canadian Solar, Conserving energy, India, Mahindra Group, Narendra Modi, Renewable energy, Solar panel, Solar power, SunEdison, Watt, wind energy

14/02/2015

Modi’s ‘Make in India’ gets GE boost – The Hindu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated American multinational General Electric’s (GE) first manufacturing plant in India that will manufacture a range of diversified products for sectors such as energy, aviation, oil & gas transportation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at the inauguration of General Electric's multi-modal manufacturing facility at Chakan, Pune on Saturday.

This multi-modal facility will support GE’s global operations as well as cater to the growing demand from the Indian market.

To support Mr. Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, GE Vice-Chairman John Rice announced the second phase expansion of this unit by saying that it was a testimony of GE’s commitment for the Indian market.

Mr. Modi assured global investors that the government’s reforms push will continue and one can expect predictability in government policies.

Thanking GE for committing additional investment in India, Mr. Modi said: “This will give a boost to the ‘Make in India’ initiative. I welcome all global investors to invest in India and I am assuring you that your products manufactured here will be globally competitive.”

He also urged GE to participate in the defence production programmes of the government as well as that of modernisation of Indian railway.

via Modi’s ‘Make in India’ gets GE boost – The Hindu.

Posted in Economics, India alert, Manufacturing | 1 Comment »

Tags: Aam Aadmi Party, Aero India, Air show, Arvind Kejriwal, Asia, Australia, Delhi, diversified products, General Electric, India, Narendra Modi

14/02/2015

China surpasses affordable houses targets – Xinhua | English.news.cn

China completed the building of 5.11 million affordable houses in urban areas in 2014, with 2.29 million such projects under way, surpassing the goals set at the beginning of the year, the State Council announced at a press briefing on Friday.



http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/123395759

The central government granted 198 billion yuan (32.35 billion U.S. dollars) to fund urban affordable housing projects in 2014, an increase of 25.1 billion yuan from the previous year, according to Qi Ji, deputy head of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development.

Throughout the past four years, more than 20 million affordable houses were completed, with 12 million under construction, and the assistance fund for building the houses has reached 710 billion yuan, according to Qi.

China has set goals to construct 36 million affordable houses, also called state-subsidized housing, public housing, or social housing, between the start of 2011 and the end of 2015.

“This year is the final year of the Twelfth Five-Year plan (2011-2015), and the government will accelerate the affordable housing project with a focus on transforming the shanty towns,” Qi said.

The Chinese government has been rolling out an affordable housing scheme since 2007, in an effort to provide homes to people unable to buy them at market prices. The efforts are also aimed at helping counter the slowdown in the property market in recent years.

via China surpasses affordable houses targets – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

Posted in China alert, Economics, housing | Leave a Comment »

Tags: affordable housing, affordable housing project, Automobile, Automotive industry, Automotive News, Central government, Chevy Volt, China, Elon Musk, General Motors, List of cities in the People's Republic of China, Nissan Motor Company, Qi Ji, State Council, Tesla Motors

14/02/2015

Military corruption: Rank and vile | The Economist

SO EXTENSIVE was the stash of jade, gold and cash found in the basement of General Xu Caihou’s mansion in Beijing that at least ten lorries were needed to haul it away, according to the Chinese press last October. Given General Xu’s recent retirement as the highest ranking uniformed officer in the armed forces, this was astonishing news. General Xu, the media said, had accepted “extremely large” bribes, for which he now faces trial. It will be the first of such an exalted military figure since the Communist Party came to power in 1949.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA)—as the Chinese army, navy and air force are collectively known—has not fought a war for 35 years. But the world’s largest fighting force is now engaged in a fierce battle at home against corrosion within its ranks.

Xi Jinping, China’s president (pictured, pointing), has taken his sweeping anti-corruption campaign into the heart of the PLA, seemingly unafraid to show that a hallowed institution is also deeply flawed. In January the PLA took the unprecedented step of revealing that 15 generals and another senior officer were under investigation or awaiting trial. It said it would launch a stringent review of recruitment, promotions, procurements and all of its financial dealings in order to root out corruption.

One reason Mr Xi is keen to clean up the army is to ensure that it remains a bulwark of party rule. The PLA is the party’s armed wing—its soldiers swear allegiance to it rather than the people or the country. All officers are party members and each company is commanded jointly by an officer in charge of military affairs and another whose job it is to ensure troops toe the party line. Mr Xi has repeatedly stressed the party’s “absolute leadership” over the PLA. His definition of a “strong army” puts “obedience to the party’s commands” before “capability of winning wars”.

via Military corruption: Rank and vile | The Economist.

Posted in China alert, corruption, Military, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: 1972 Nixon visit to China, Barack Obama, Beijing, China, Chinese language, Communist Party, General Xu, President of the People's Republic of China, State visit, The People’s Liberation Army, United States, White House, Xi JinPing

14/02/2015

China a Top Source of Ocean Trash: Report – China Real Time Report – WSJ

Marine biologists and ocean activists have grown alarmed about the seaborne plastic that fouls shorelines and clogs currents from the Arctic to the South Pacific. But the actual amount and source of it hasn’t been known because consumer habits and pollution-control practices vary so widely world-wide.



Embed from Getty Images

In a new accounting of global garbage, researchers in the U.S. and Australia led by Jenna Jambeck, an environmental engineer at the University of Georgia, calculated the share that each of 192 countries could have contributed to plastic waste in the oceans. Their study is based on consumer data and waste-management information covering coastal populations around the world. The U.S. ranked 20th by the researchers’ estimates, deemed responsible for just under 1% of the mismanaged plastic waste.

Unchecked, the amount of plastic waste fouling the seas may double by 2025, reaching levels “equal to 10 bags full of plastic per foot of coastline,” Dr. Jambeck said.

According to the researchers, the coastal population of China generated 8.82 million metric tons of mismanaged plastic waste in 2010, about 27.7% of the world total. Of that, between 1.32 million and 3.53 million metric tons ended up as marine debris.

via China a Top Source of Ocean Trash: Report – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

Tags: American Chemistry Council, Atlantic Ocean, Bay of Bengal, China, Copenhagen Business School, Jenna Jambeck, Marine debris, Ocean, Ocean Conservancy, Pacific Ocean, plastic waste, PLOS ONE, population of China, United States, University of Georgia

CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

Categories

Blogs I Follow

Archive for February, 2015

Chinese insurer Anbang extends M&A drive with $1 billion South Korea buy | Reuters

Li gives residents keys to ‘new life’|Politics|chinadaily.com.cn

China to prosecute former top parliament body official for graft | Reuters

India seals nuclear energy pact with Sri Lanka, hopes to push back Chinese influence | Reuters

Modi calls for innovation in renewable energy – The Hindu

Modi’s ‘Make in India’ gets GE boost – The Hindu

Military corruption: Rank and vile | The Economist

China a Top Source of Ocean Trash: Report – China Real Time Report – WSJ

Tags

Creative Commons

Archives

Meta

Blog Stats

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

Categories

Blogs I Follow

Archive for February, 2015

Related articles

Related articles

Related articles

Related articles

Related articles

Related articles

Tags

Creative Commons

Archives

Meta

Blog Stats