Archive for March, 2020

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11/03/2020

Oil price war between Saudi Arabia, Russia set to offer China’s coronavirus-hit economy welcome relief

  • China imported 72 per cent of its oil in 2019, with Saudi Arabia and Russia, who are now locked in a price war, its largest suppliers
  • Oil prices again fell on Wednesday, with Brent crude down to US$36 a barrel as Saudi Arabia moved to boost output capacity in an escalation of its price war with Russia
China imported 506 million tonnes (3.7 billion barrels) of oil in 2019, an increase of 9.5 per cent from 2018, marking the 17th consecutive year of increased imports. Photo: AP
China imported 506 million tonnes (3.7 billion barrels) of oil in 2019, an increase of 9.5 per cent from 2018, marking the 17th consecutive year of increased imports. Photo: AP

China’s coronavirus-hit industrial enterprises could receive a welcome boost from plunging oil prices, with the world’s largest importer and consumer set for significant cost savings, analysts said.

A total of 72 per cent of the oil consumed in China was imported in 2019, an average of 10 million barrels per day, meaning any sharp drop in costs as a result of the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia will help firms reduce costs as they struggle to resume production.

“China benefits a lot from the price war as it is the world’s biggest crude importer,” said Bai Jun, an economic committee member at the China Petroleum Society, an association of Chinese energy researchers.

China imported 506 million tonnes (3.7 billion barrels) of oil in 2019, an increase of 9.5 per cent from 2018, marking the 17th consecutive year of increased imports.

Lower oil prices should raise output by 0.3 per cent above what it would have been with higher oil prices. This will provide some relief, but is a small offset to the many other drags facing the economy Julian Evans-Pritchard

Saudi Arabia and Russia topped a list, also including Angola, Iraq and Oman, that accounted for about 55 per cent of China’s total crude imports in 2018, according to China’s customs data.

Profits for China’s industrial firms could increase by 2 per cent this year as a result of lower oil prices, according to Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics.

“Lower oil prices should raise output by 0.3 per cent above what it would have been with higher oil prices. This will provide some relief, but is a small offset to the many other drags facing the economy, including the slump in global demand that has contributed to the fall in oil prices,” he said.

“For example, a 2 percentage point decline in export growth would fully wipe out the gains we foresee from lower oil prices. We expect a slowdown in

exports this year

of at least three times that magnitude.”

Global stock markets plummet amid coronavirus panic and falling oil prices

On the other hand, a crash in international oil prices could potentially lead to an increasingly monopolised supply structure as small suppliers could be priced out in the market. This would fly in the face of Beijing’s long-term strategy of securing multiple sources of supply, Wang Yongzhong, who leads the global energy research at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank, said.

Beijing “is concerned more about the energy security, or how to find multiple sources of stable supply [than a gain from lowers prices],” according to Wang.

The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell back to US$36 a barrel on Wednesday, reversing gains made earlier in the day, after plunging more than 30 per cent on Friday after Saudi Arabia moved to boost output capacity in the opening of a price war with Russia. In 2019, according to customs data, China’s average import price per barrel was around US$65.

China is also a big oil producer with 190 million tonnes (1.4 billion barrels) of output last year and the average cost is higher than US$40 per barrel – a fall in oil prices can push them into lossesBai Jun

But the drop is oil prices is not an unmitigated positive for the Chinese economy, as it will adversely impact domestic oil producers and overseas oilfield investments.

“China is also a big oil producer with 190 million tonnes (1.4 billion barrels) of output last year and the average cost is higher than US$40 per barrel – a fall in oil prices can push them into losses,” added Bai from the China Petroleum Society.

Dong Xiucheng, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, agreed that a lower oil price could help Chinese consumers and facilitate

growth,

but that it would also create a “cold winter” for China’s oil producers, especially state-owned enterprises who still have to maintain production levels.

“The coming days for them will be very hard,” Dong said. “State-owned players need to consider production targets and social stability. Workers can’t lose their jobs.”

As oil prices are falling, these projects could translate into big burden for Chinese investors as there’s now a big question mark over whether these projects can make any money Zhu Kunfeng

China National Offshore Oil (CNOOC), one of China’s three state-owned oil companies, has seen its share price in Hong Kong plummet over 20 per cent this week, closing down almost 6 per cent on Wednesday alone.

Zhu Kunfeng, a Beijing-based expert with consultancy firm IHS Markit, said the plunge in international crude prices could dampen China’s domestic output and force it to rely more on overseas supplies.

The collapse in oil prices could also question the financial viability of many Chinese-invested oil projects overseas.

“Chinese companies had been aggressive in buying overseas oil assets in the early 2010s … in the name of improving China’s energy security”, Zhu said.

“As oil prices are falling, these projects could translate into big burden for Chinese investors as there’s now a big question mark over whether these projects can make any money.”

Source: SCMP

Posted in Capital Economics, China National Offshore Oil (CNOOC), China Petroleum Society, China’s, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, coronavirus-hit, economy, Hong Kong, Oil price war, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Uncategorized, welcome relief | Leave a Comment »

10/03/2020

China issues contingency plan against locust threat

BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) — China on Monday unveiled its contingency plan to monitor and control the spread of locusts from home and abroad, in a bid to secure grain production and ecological safety.

Regional governance and scientific prevention and control should be given priority, said the plan jointly issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the General Administration of Customs and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The plan clarified the goal of locust control, which is to ensure that desert locusts from abroad will not cause harm and domestic locust outbreaks will not turn into a plague, with no more than 5 percent of crops affected.

Local authorities are urged to prevent the invasion of desert locusts from abroad. The plan requires that monitoring stations be set up in Tibet, Yunnan and Xinjiang on the potential migration routes of the destructive pests.

To control locusts in domestic agricultural areas, chemical control methods will be adopted for areas with a high density of the pests, while medium- or low-density areas will use biological and ecological control methods, the plan noted.

The plan also requires an investigation into the hidden dangers of grasshoppers in major grasslands in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Sichuan, and the strengthening of prevention and control at key points on the border between China and Kazakhstan, and that between China and Mongolia.

The rare desert locust outbreak in East Africa and Southwest Asia has posed a severe threat to local grain and agricultural production, which led to the desert locust plague warning issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Although experts believe it is highly unlikely that desert locusts will invade China, it is still necessary to take precautions, said the plan.

Source: Xinhua

Posted in against, China, contingency plan, desert locust plague, destructive pests, Food and Agriculture Organization, grain and agricultural production, Inner Mongolia, issues, Kazakhstan, locust threat, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Mongolia, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, potential migration routes, sichuan province, Southwest Asia, the General Administration of Customs, Tibet, Uncategorized, United Nations, Xinjiang, Yunnan | Leave a Comment »

10/03/2020

China launches new BeiDou navigation satellite

(EyesonSci)CHINA-XICHANG-SATELLITE-LAUNCH (CN)

China launches a new satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, March 9, 2020, only one step away from completing the whole global system. The satellite, the 54th of the BeiDou family, was sent into a geostationary orbit as planned by a Long March-3B carrier rocket. The newly launched satellite is the second geostationary earth orbit satellite of the BDS-3 system, and the last one is expected to be launched in May. (Photo by Guo Wenbin/Xinhua)

XICHANG, March 9 (Xinhua) — China launched a new satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province at 7:55 p.m. Monday (Beijing Time), only one step away from completing the whole global system.

The satellite, the 54th of the BeiDou family, was sent into a geostationary orbit as planned by a Long March-3B carrier rocket.

China began to construct its navigation system, named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper constellation, in the 1990s and started serving the Asia-Pacific Region in 2012. At present, all the first generation BDS-1 satellites have ended operations, and a total of 54 BDS-2 and BDS-3 satellites have been sent into space.

Compared with other navigation systems in the world, the design of the BDS constellation is unique, including medium earth orbit, inclined geosynchronous earth orbit and geostationary earth orbit satellites.

The BDS-3 system will consist of a total of 30 satellites, including 24 medium earth orbit satellites, three geostationary earth orbit satellites and three inclined geosynchronous earth orbit satellites.

The newly launched satellite is the second geostationary earth orbit satellite of the BDS-3 system, and the last one is expected to be launched in May.

The satellite and the carrier rocket were developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, respectively.

Space engineers have overcome difficulties during the novel coronavirus epidemic to ensure the success of the mission.

Monday’s launch was the 327th mission of the Long March rocket series.

The new satellite has the most functions and signals, the largest size and the longest designed life span among all the BDS-3 satellites, said Chen Zhonggui, chief designer of BDS-3 satellites from CAST.

The satellite is based on the Dongfanghong-3B platform, currently one of the largest satellite platforms being used in China, and can carry more fuels to ensure its long life, said Chen.

The satellite has integrated the functions of navigation and communication. The accuracy of dynamic positioning can reach the decimeter level, according to Liu Tianxiong, deputy chief designer of BDS-3 satellites.

It can provide services for the driverless vehicles, accurate berthing of ships, as well as takeoff and landing of airplanes. It will be widely used in the fields of communication, electric power, finance, mapping, transportation, fishery, agriculture and forestry.

The ability of short message communication has been improved 10 times on this satellite. Users can send a message of over 1,000 Chinese characters at one time as well as pictures via the satellite, quite useful in emergencies.

The satellite’s ability to receive signals has also been greatly improved, which could help miniaturize users’ terminals, said Pan Yuqian, one of the satellite’s designers.

China aims to complete the construction of the BDS constellation in May and provide high-precision, reliable positioning, navigation and timing services anywhere in the world.

Source: Xinhua

Posted in accurate berthing of ships, agriculture, Big Dipper constellation, China, China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), communication, Dongfanghong-3B platform, driverless vehicles, electric power, Finance, fishery, forestry, geostationary orbit, launches, Long March rocket series, mapping, new, novel coronavirus epidemic, sichuan province, Space engineers, takeoff and landing of airplanes, transportation, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

10/03/2020

A cough, a coronavirus check and why a passenger had to be subdued on a plane in China

  • Woman becomes angry over long delay on tarmac waiting for health assessments
  • Customs official says that Shanghai is stepping up medical checks as precaution against imported infection but that travellers need only wait one or two hours
Video taken on board a Thai Airways flight at Shanghai on Friday purports to show flight attendants trying to control a passenger who coughed on one of their colleagues. Photo: Handout
Video taken on board a Thai Airways flight at Shanghai on Friday purports to show flight attendants trying to control a passenger who coughed on one of their colleagues. Photo: Handout
Thai Airways staff had to restrain a Chinese woman after she coughed at a flight attendant while passengers waited for hours to get a coronavirus check upon landing in Shanghai from Bangkok.
The carrier said the woman coughed deliberately at the attendant because she was angered about the long wait for a check on Friday. It said the passengers had to wait seven hours to be screened at Shanghai Pudong International Airport Thai Airways said that after the passenger coughed at the woman attendant, some of her colleagues approached the passenger to stop her “inappropriate” behaviour. They then explained the situation to her and asked her to cooperate and calm down, the airline said.
The woman had to be subdued and no further action was taken, the airline said in a statement.

In footage posted online, the woman is subdued by at least one male attendant, who presses her into her seat by her neck as two more male attendants stand nearby, saying “sit down” to her in English.

The woman then yells “What have I done?” in Chinese.

Thai Airways said that every passenger arriving in Shanghai or flying through the airport from countries with a high incidence of coronavirus cases such as Italy, South Korea, Japan and Iran must be examined by medical staff on the aircraft. Planes that were not checked were not permitted to open their doors to let passengers off.

The airline said the length of wait depended upon the number of passengers coming from those “key areas”.

An official from Shanghai Customs said that passengers on the flight had to be checked because some had transferred from Iran, where more than 7,000 cases and 230 fatalities have been reported.

The Thai Airways flight was on the ground at Shanghai for seven hours pending medical checks on passengers and crew. Photo: EPA
The Thai Airways flight was on the ground at Shanghai for seven hours pending medical checks on passengers and crew. Photo: EPA
The woman’s behaviour divided opinion on social media.

“Shame on her!” a user of Weibo, China’s Twitter-like service, wrote. “It’s so shameful for her to act like that in front of foreigners.”

“I think the flight attendants were fairly gentlemanly,” another user wrote. “She should have been taken away.”

Coronavirus update: Xi Jinping makes first visit to Wuhan since outbreak began

10 Mar 2020

A Weibo user who claimed to be on the plane at that time said it was not right for “three men” to subdue the woman.

“I don’t want to see my compatriot be bullied,” she wrote. “The attendants only stopped their action after two Chinese passengers stood up to intervene.”

Shanghai’s two airports have tightened medical checks on travellers from overseas, leading to complaints about long waiting times.

Health workers check passengers’ temperatures, screen their health disclaimer cards and check their travel histories.

Music video about Covid-19 safety released by rail operator in Thai capital Bangkok

Each passenger arriving from “key areas”, where there are a lot of infections, have to have their temperature checked twice after they get off the plane. Some may have to undergo simple physical checks.

Passengers who travelled to those key areas in the past 14 days, no matter their nationality, would be sent to designated places for 14 days of medical observation, authorities said.

The Shanghai Customs official said passengers were disembarked in batches to avoid crowding, making the examination process longer.

Egypt reports first coronavirus death; Iran toll jumps by nearly 50

9 Mar 2020

She said that after the authorities allocated more than 300 customs staff to support monitoring at border ports at the end of last week, the examination process now took one to two hours.

“Many people blamed us for low speed and low efficiency, but didn’t ask why,” she said, adding that people’s messy handwriting on their health disclaimer cards and poor memory of where they had been in the past 14 days also complicated the clearance process.

“As a citizen, shouldn’t they cooperate in this critical moment?” she said.

Source: SCMP

Posted in check, China, coronavirus, cough, COVID-19, Egypt, health workers, iran, Italy, Japan, medical observation, passenger, plane, Shanghai, Shanghai Customs, Shanghai Pudong International Airport, South Korea, subdued, Thai Airways, Twitter, Uncategorized, Weibo | Leave a Comment »

10/03/2020

China’s President Xi visits Wuhan as number of new coronavirus cases tumbles

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, on Tuesday, the first time he has done so since the epidemic began and a sign that Beijing believes its efforts to control the virus are working.

His arrival in the city, where the virus is believed to have first taken hold late last year, comes after its spread in mainland China has sharply slowed in the past week and as attention has turned to preventing imported infections from overseas hot spots such as Iran, Italy and South Korea.

News of the visit gave a lift to Chinese stocks, with the blue-chip index .CSI300 climbing back into positive territory after falling as much as 1% in morning trade.

“It is obvious that Xi could not have visited Wuhan earlier because the risk of him contracting the virus there was initially too high,” Zhang Ming, a professor at Renmin University in Beijing, told Reuters.

“He is there now to reap the harvest. His being there means the CCP (Communist Party of China) may declare victory against the virus soon,” Zhang said.

China came in for criticism at home and globally over its early response to the outbreak, suppressing information and downplaying its risks, but its draconian efforts at control, including the lock-down of Wuhan and Hubei province where it is originated, have been effective at curbing the spread.

Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, said on Tuesday it would implement a “health code” system to allow people in areas at a medium or low risk of contracting the coronavirus to start travelling.

During his trip to Wuhan, Xi will “visit and express regards to medical workers, military officers and soldiers, community workers, police officers, officials and volunteers who have been fighting the epidemic on the front line, as well as patients and residents during the inspection,” state news agency Xinhua said.

Separately, Taiwan’s government said on Tuesday a second round of evacuations of its citizens who had been stranded in Wuhan had begun, after weeks of arguments between the Chinese-claimed island and Beijing over the arrangements.

NEW CASES FALL

Mainland China had 19 new coronavirus infections on Monday, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday, down from 40 a day earlier. It also marked the third straight day of no new locally transmitted coronavirus cases outside of Hubei.

Of the new cases, 17 were in Wuhan, while one was in Beijing and one other in Guangdong due to people arriving from abroad, according to the health authority.

That brings the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China so far to 80,754.

However, Chinese authorities have ramped up warnings about the risks from foreigners and Chinese nationals travelling to China from viral hot spots abroad such as Iran and Italy.

The one case in Beijing on Monday was due to a traveller from Britain, and the one in Guangdong was an imported case from Spain. As of Monday, there have been 69 imported cases.

More than 114,300 people have been infected by the coronavirus globally and over 4,000 have died, according to a Reuters tally of government announcements.

Outside China, Italy, South Korea and Iran have reported the most cases and deaths.

Since the outbreak, 59,897 patients have been discharged from hospitals in China. Recently discharged patients need to go into quarantine for 14 days.

In Wuhan, 12 of the 14 temporary hospitals dedicated to treating coronavirus patients have closed, with the remaining two due to shut on Tuesday.

On Saturday, a small hotel used to quarantine people under observation in southern Fujian province collapsed, killing 20, while 10 had yet to be rescued.

Of the 71 people inside the hotel in Quanzhou city at the time of the collapse, 58 were in under quarantine, the Quanzhou city government said.

As of the end of Monday, the overall death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in China reached 3,136, up by 17 from the previous day.

Hubei reported 17 new deaths, all of which were in Wuhan.

Xi, who was mostly absent from Chinese state media coverage of the crisis in its early days, has become for more visible in recent weeks.

The Global Times, a nationalist tabloid published by the official People’s Daily, on Tuesday detailed the various instructions and actions Xi had given and taken between Jan. 7 and March 2 to combat the epidemic.

“Xi personally commands the people’s war against the epidemic. He has been paying constant attention to the epidemic prevention and control work and made oral or written instructions every day,” the newspaper said.

Source: Reuters

Posted in Beijing, Britain, CCP (Communist Party of China), Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chinese-claimed island, community workers, coronavirus outbreak, epicentre, epidemic, fighting, front line, Government, Guangdong, hubei province, iran, Italy, Mainland China, medical workers, military officers, National Health Commission, nationalist tabloid, officials, People’s Daily, police officers, Quanzhou, quarantine, Reuters tally, soldiers, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan’s, The Global Times, Uncategorized, visited, volunteers, Wuhan, Xinhua | Leave a Comment »

09/03/2020

Majority of over 50,000 recovered COVID-19 patients in China receive TCM treatment: official

BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) — Most of the more than 50,000 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in China who have recovered and been discharged from hospital received traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment, a health official said Monday.

Yu Yanhong, deputy head of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, told a press conference that the combination of TCM and Western medicine in COVID-19 treatment has been proved effective by the huge number of recovered patients.

TCM has been involved in the treatment of 74,603 confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide, accounting for 92.5 percent of the total, according to official data.

Compared with those only treated with TCM or Western medicine, an expert team confirmed that the integrated treatment of TCM and Western medicine can more quickly improve the symptoms such as fever, cough and fatigue, as well as effectively reduce the chances of mild and regular symptoms developing into severe or critical ones, so as to improve the recovery rate and reduce the mortality rate.

TCM treatment focuses on improving the body’s natural defenses against an epidemic and its own ability to repair itself while maintaining the overall balance, Yu said.

TCM clinical treatment is personalized and targeted based on the differences in geography, climate and a patient’s physical condition, said Zeng Yixin, deputy director of the National Health Commission.

A circular issued by the commission also encouraged the promotion of effective TCM treatment plans at the community-level epidemic prevention and control, giving full play to the unique role of TCM.

Source: Xinhua

Posted in China, COVID-19, COVID-19 patients, majority, National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, National Health Commission, natural defenses, TCM treatment, treatment, Uncategorized, Western medicine | Leave a Comment »

09/03/2020

British Steel: Takeover set to be completed

British Steel steelworker in ScunthorpeImage copyright GETTY IMAGES

A Chinese firm is set to complete its takeover of British Steel on Monday.

Jingye Group previously said that it would save more than 3,000 jobs in Scunthorpe and Teesside and modernise the towns’ steelworks.

The firm reportedly offered £50m to buy the company after it collapsed and was placed under the control of the UK Insolvency Service last year.

Unions have said that nearly 500 workers could still face losing their jobs.

British Steel employed about 5,000 people at the time of its collapse, and is the second-largest steelmaker in the country.

Jingye Group, which also makes steel, has also promised to invest about £1.2bn over the next 10 years on upgrading its plants and machinery.

Jingye’s chief executive has described the deal as a “new chapter in British steelmaking”.

Uncertainty for workers

Confirmation of the takeover will follow months of uncertainty for workers. The government has kept British Steel running since last May as it looked for a buyer for the business.Jingye signed an agreement to purchase British Steel in November after talks between the Official Receiver, which handled the insolvency process, and a Turkish bidder fell apart.

Steelworker at British Steel plant in ScunthorpeImage copyright GETTY IMAGES
Image caption Unions have said that nearly 500 British Steel workers could still face losing their jobs

In January, the French government said it might veto the deal because it considered British Steel’s plant in Hayange a strategic national asset.

Located in north-east France, the plant is seen as important because it supplies track for the country’s railways.

Jingye’s boss said earlier this year that he remained “interested” in purchasing the plant, but has pressed on with purchasing assets in the UK and the Netherlands.

British Steel was formed in 2016 after being sold by India’s Tata for £1 to the private equity firm Greybull Capital.

It entered insolvency less than three years later. It had sought financial support from the government before it was placed in liquidation.

Presentational grey line

Analysis: Sarah Corker, BBC business correspondent

They’ve been making iron and steel in Scunthorpe for more than 150 years. This is very much a one industry town and when the steelworks struggles the whole community feels it.

The plant directly employs almost 3,000 people but supports another 20,000 jobs in the wider supply chain. From hairdressers to market traders, businesses say they’ve noticed people reining in their spending amid the ongoing uncertainty.

British Steel Scunthorpe siteImage copyright REUTERS
Image caption The bulk of British Steel’s staff work at the Scunthorpe plant

The loss-making steel plant has had a string of owners over the decades from Corus to Tata Steel to Greybull Capital – all tried and failed to turn the business around. A fourth-generation steelworker told me back in May that it felt as though they were “staring over the edge of the abyss” as the plant was on the brink of closure with mass redundancies ahead. But – again – Scunthorpe steelworks has been rescued by a new owner at the eleventh hour promising huge investment.

There is some scepticism about how much influence China will soon have in the UK steel industry. While steelworkers are deeply relieved that the takeover is going ahead, they are asking what Jingye can and will do differently amid tough global trading conditions where many before have struggled

Source: The BBC

Posted in completed, Corus, French government, India's Tata, Takeover, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

09/03/2020

Chinese parents reunited with teenage son kidnapped as a baby in ‘Aunt Mei’ case

  • Shen Cong, taken from the family home in Guangzhou 15 years ago, was found in a nearby city last week
  • He was one of nine children abducted by a gang, but police say there is no evidence of a woman alleged to be the go-between
Shen Cong’s parents had been searching for him since he was abducted in 2005. Photo: Handout
Shen Cong’s parents had been searching for him since he was abducted in 2005. Photo: Handout

A teenage boy was reunited with his parents in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Saturday after being kidnapped from their home as an infant, ending a 15-year search by his family.

The boy was taken in 2005 – one of nine children abducted by a gang in Guangdong province around that time. In recent years the case has drawn attention on Chinese social media, particularly the alleged involvement of a shadowy go-between known as “Aunt Mei”, but Guangzhou police stressed there was no evidence such a person existed.

Police said 16-year-old Shen Cong had been found on Wednesday in Meizhou, a city about 400km (250 miles) away. DNA testing confirmed he was the missing child and police arranged the reunion with his parents, Shen Junliang and his wife, who was identified as Yu in the statement.

Police did not say what had led to the discovery of the boy, but they said his foster parents had been taken in for questioning.

His biological father Shen Junliang on Sunday said they were overjoyed to have their son back home, adding that he was healthy and a tall boy who loved sports.

“Before I met my son I’d been imagining what it would be like to talk to him. I didn’t think he would be this mature – he seems more mature than his peers and he has good manners,” the father wrote on Weibo, China’s Twitter. “We’ve spent the entire time together, from Saturday night until now. We’re getting along and he’s happy too.”

Shen Junliang said they were overjoyed to have their son back home at last. Photo: Handout
Shen Junliang said they were overjoyed to have their son back home at last. Photo: Handout
The parents are now getting to know their son, having not seen him since he was abducted from their rented flat in Zengcheng district on January 4, 2005.

That day, the child had been at home with his mother while his father was at work. Shen Junliang has alleged that two of their neighbours led two strangers into the flat at about 10.40am, and the two strangers drugged and tied up Yu before kidnapping the one-year-old boy.

His mum revealed she was abandoned as a kid. A film was born

21 Dec 2019

Shen Junliang had been searching for his boy ever since. He gave up his job and has travelled all over Guangdong province looking for him. He had more than 1 million posters printed with photos and a description of his son, offering a reward of 100,000 yuan (US$14,400) for any information on the case.

One of them read: “Shen Cong has birthmarks on the toe of his left foot, his right buttock and his right thigh. Anyone who has any leads … please contact me or Guangzhou police.”

Kidnapped: the Chinese parents desperately searching for missing children

He started posting about the case on Weibo in 2016, sharing every piece of news related to the kidnap and appealing for anyone with information to come forward.

In March that year, there was a development, with police arresting five suspects in the case.

Police said the lead suspect, Zhang Weiping, had confessed to selling Shen Cong to a couple in Heyuan, another city in Guangdong, for 13,000 yuan on January 6, 2005.

Zhang told police that an intermediary nicknamed Aunt Mei had been involved in that deal and the sale of eight other boys in the province from 2003 to 2005.

Zhang Weiping, who was sentenced to death for kidnapping children, alleged an intermediary known as Aunt Mei was involved in the case. Photo: Handout
Zhang Weiping, who was sentenced to death for kidnapping children, alleged an intermediary known as Aunt Mei was involved in the case. Photo: Handout
Zhang and another gang member were sentenced to death for kidnapping children in 2018, two others were jailed for life, and a fifth person was jailed for 10 years.

Two of the other boys who had been abducted were found by police last year.

But Guangzhou police said they had not found any information leading them to the mysterious woman – apparently in her 60s and a Cantonese and Hakka speaker – Zhang alleged was the go-between.

“Police have checked all the details, all the people and places related to Zhang’s confession,” the statement said. “We’ve also received reports from people all over China since 2017 about Aunt Mei, but so far none of these tips have proved to be true.”

Source: SCMP

Posted in ‘Aunt Mei’, baby, Cantonese, case, Chinese, DNA testing, guangdong province, Guangzhou, Hakka speaker, kidnapped, parents, Police, reunited, son, teenage, Twitter, Uncategorized, Weibo, Zengcheng district | Leave a Comment »

09/03/2020

China issues new policies to fight against poverty

BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhua) — China has rolled out a slew of measures to strengthen social assistance for people most in need and fight against poverty, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Sunday.

A census targeting poor people will be launched to ensure those eligible are covered by the social security system and have access to supportive policies, the ministry said at a teleconference on poverty relief.

Efforts will be intensified to support disadvantaged groups, including the elderly, the disabled and minors who are incapable of working, have no source of income, and have no others to rely on for support, it said.

The ministry also stressed encouraging social organizations to participate in poverty relief and accelerating the implementation of charity projects to combat poverty.

Targeted assistance will be provided for areas of extreme poverty, said the ministry, calling for more relief projects, financial support and personnel training for these regions.

Source: Xinhua

Posted in against, Census, China, fight, issues, Ministry of Civil Affairs, new, policies, poverty, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

09/03/2020

“Wuhan Livingroom” makeshift hospital officially closes

CHINA-HUBEI-WUHAN-MAKESHIFT HOSPITAL-CLOSE (CN)

Staff members clean up a makeshift hospital in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, March 8, 2020. The makeshift hospital converted from a sports venue was officially closed on Sunday after its last batch of cured COVID-19 patients were discharged. A full disinfection to the hospital will follow. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

Source: Xinhua

Posted in "Wuhan Livingroom", closes, COVID-19, hubei province, officially, patients, Uncategorized, Wuhan | Leave a Comment »

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