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

26/06/2014

Chinese Vice President hands over new equipment to Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority – Xinhua | English.news.cn

Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao on Wednesday toured the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) in Tanzania and handed new equipment supplied under loan terms of the 15th Protocol of Economic and Technical Cooperation between China, Tanzania and Zambia.

Li handed over the equipment, including six forklifts and four mobile cranes, to Tanzanian Minister of Transport Harrison Mwakyembe on behalf of TAZARA.

The Chinese Vice President, who took a short ride on a TAZARA train to Yombo on the outskirts of the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, commended the authority and its workers for upkeeping the infrastructure which was built four decades ago.

Li, who is on a six-day official visit to Tanzania, promised to hold further discussions with his colleagues when he goes back to China to find more ways to help TAZARA.

Mwakyembe said that the assistance was part of the pledge made by the Chinese government to help improve TAZARA infrastructure and his country would continue to value the assistance rendered by the People’s Republic of China since early 1970s.

“The saying that – a friend in need is a friend indeed – was truly reflected in the assistance provided by China 40 years ago, building the TAZARA railway when Tanzania and Zambia fought to liberate other southern African countries,” said the Tanzanian minister.

Mwakyembe said TAZARA was the largest single foreign aid project undertaken by China and the track was built with the highest standards, as evidenced by the infrastructure which remained in good shape after 40 years.

The 15th Protocol of Economic and Technical Cooperation was signed by the three governments of China, Tanzania and Zambia on March 26, 2012 in the Zambian capital Lusaka, with a value of 270 million yuan (about 40 million U.S. dollars) worth of projects to be undertaken in support of TAZARA.

The protocol, which is an interest-free loan, covers the procurement and supply of 18 passenger coaches and accompanying consumables, four new main line locomotives, two shunting locomotives, two rescue cranes and various lifting equipment.

via Chinese Vice President hands over new equipment to Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

Posted in China alert, Foreign aid, foreign policy, GeoPolitics, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao, Dar es Salaam, Li Yuanchao, Lusaka, Protocol of Economic and Technical Cooperation, Tanzania, Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority, TAZARA, TAZARA Railway, Transport Harrison Mwakyembe, Zambia

26/06/2014

Building Golf Courses in China: An Illegal and Booming Industry – Businessweek

Like the U.S., China has an extensive national park system. Still, its designated parklands aren’t always protected from economic development. On Tuesday, Beijing Youth Daily published an investigation into how 20,000 acres of protected land in southern China’s Guizhou Forest Park were converted into golf courses, padding the pockets of local developers.

Clearing the way for a golf course in China's southern Hainan province early in 2103

A telling note: Since 2004, construction of new golf courses has been illegal in China, following a directive of the State Council. The poorly enforced regulation hasn’t stopped the number of golf courses from multiplying from 170 in 2004 to more than 1,000 today—a more than fivefold increase in a decade, according to the paper.

The quixotic rise of golf in China—where Mao Zedong once lambasted putting as a bourgeois pastime—is the subject of a new book by the Asia Society’s Dan Washburn. In The Forbidden Game: Golf and the Chinese Dream, a charming and accessible work, Washburn follows the lives of three men whose careers are shaped by the sport: an American golf course designer who finds work in China, a budding Chinese tournament golfer, and a farmer whose land is converted into fairways.

via Building Golf Courses in China: An Illegal and Booming Industry – Businessweek.

Posted in China alert, Economics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Asia Society, Beijing, China, Dan Washburn, Golf course, golf courses, Golf in China, Mao Zedong, southern China, United States

24/06/2014

China’s Government Admits Chinese Patents Are Pretty Bad – Businessweek

For years, China’s leaders have exhorted the country’s businesses to become innovative. After all, a glorious country like China that is reasserting its role as a global superpower should be known for more than just its copycat and me-too companies. So while Chinese presidents come and go, the message is the same: Whether it’s Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, or the current boss, Xi Jinping, the country’s leaders have consistently talked about the importance of local innovation. Paraphrasing Xi’s remarks at a speech earlier this month at the Chinese Academy of Science and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Xinhua news agency reported that the government’s goal is to “push forward the fusion of science and [the] economy, so that science and technology strength can be transformed into industrial and economic power.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Chinese Academy of Science and the Chinese Academy of Engineering in Beijing on June 9

By China’s own scorekeeping, though, the country’s innovators still have a way to go before they can meet the Communist Party’s expectations. While the number of patent applications inside China is “booming,” according to a report today by Xinhua, “the quality of patents is still poor.” Writing about a report to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp legislature, Xinhua added, “China owns very few patents featuring originality and high or core technology.” Fewer than 1,000 Chinese patents have won recognition from counterparts in the U.S., Europe, or Japan, added Xinhua.

China is making progress. The gold standard in international patents remains the U.S., and Chinese from the People’s Republic applied for almost 6,600 patents in the U.S. last year, according to data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). That’s just ahead of France and more than double the number from India. China had the sixth-largest number of patents granted by USPTO. Still, China’s innovators are hardly leaders in the U.S. The Chinese total of 6,597 U.S. patents puts it far behind Japan’s 54,170 applications. Even more embarrassing, Taiwan, the island that Beijing considers a province of China, had 12,118 patent applications granted.

via China’s Government Admits Chinese Patents Are Pretty Bad – Businessweek.

Posted in China alert, Economics, innovation, patents, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, China’s leaders, Chinese Academy of Engineering, Chinese Academy of Science, Hu Jintao, Jiang Zemin, United States Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO, Xi JinPing

24/06/2014

A Neglected Problem in China’s Education System – China Real Time Report – WSJ

China’s top two leaders recently presided over a rare discussion on vocational education where they pushed for major changes to the country’s retrograde technical schools.

Political leaders everywhere are known to pay lip service to the need for improvements in education, but concern over China’s vocational schools is likely more than that just political bluster. That’s because the quality of the country’s lower-level technical schools could have a major impact on the country’s future economic growth.

As China looks to climb into the ranks of developed nations, one of its main goals is to evolve beyond serving as the world’s factory floor. One barrier to achieving that goal, analysts and education officials say, is the country’s lack of highly-skilled workers.

Premier Li Keqiang emphasized that point at Monday’s meeting, saying a “massive skilled labor force” was needed to upgrade the “made in China” label, “from ‘adequate’ to ‘high-quality’ and ‘premium’” (in Chinese).

Mr. Li was talking at an unusual national-level work conference on vocational education – only the 3rd such conference to be held in China since 1978. China’s President Xi Jinping gave the opening remarks, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency, signifying the level of importance China’s leadership places on the topic.

The attention is warranted: China’s vocational programs — which teach practical skills ranging from carpentry to forestry and encompass more than 29 million students, according to Xinhua — have been badly neglected when compared with the country’s rapidly multiplying universities. Often criticized for being poorly equipped, they are also poorly managed and have trouble finding qualified teachers, experts say.

“In the vast majority of vocational education schools in China, kids are not learning anything, especially in rural areas,” said Scott Rozelle, director of Stanford University’s Rural Education Action Program, which studies China’s vocational schools. “In studies in central and northwest China, we found dropout rates of 50% in the first two years of these programs.”

Mr. Rozelle said that China’s vocational schools are the only segment of China’s educational system that lacks an evaluation system, so it is difficult to tell which schools are good and which subpar.

China is currently home to 13,600 vocation schools and colleges, which provide a large chunk of the country’s workers in labor-intensive industries. According to government estimates, they are expected to attract more than 38 million students by 2020.

The government is now pushing a number of changes to the vocational school system, including requiring local government to allocate a standard budget for vocational schools as they do for regular colleges, according to Xinhua. Private investors and non-governmental organizations are also encouraged to sponsor vocational schools, and private vocational schools will enjoy preferential loans from banks.

The state-run China Daily newspaper called the government’s recent attention to vocational schools “unprecedented”. But the devil is in the details. It won’t be clear until later how much money local governments will actually budget to upgrading the vocational school system and what kind of incentives there will be to improve.

via A Neglected Problem in China’s Education System – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, Economics, education, employment, graduate, higher education, job shortage, labour shortage, Social & cultural | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Education, Li Keqiang, Vocational education, Vocational school, vocational schools, Xi JinPing

23/06/2014

Shenzhen to pump one billion yuan into building new Xinjiang university | South China Morning Post

Shenzhen will pump one billion yuan (HK$1.26 billion) into a new university to be built in Xinjiang’s southern Kashgar city, on top of the region’s own one billion yuan of investment.

Shenzhen was contributing to the university in support of education in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the Xinjiang Daily reported on Monday.

“Building Kashi University will provide strong human resources to the industrial restructuring in southern Xinjiang and improve the local livelihood,” said Kenjiang Tulahong, a member of the region’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee.

Plans to build the university were announced by the State Council after a Xinjiang working group meeting in May. It was an important strategic approach, the newspaper said.

Xinjiang, in the northwest and home to the Uygur ethnic minority who are mostly Muslims, has been the focus of a security crackdown after recent violent attacks in the region and elsewhere on the mainland that the central government has blamed on terrorists and separatists who want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan.

President Xi Jinping, who chaired the second Central Work Conference on Xinjiang on May 19, stressed the importance of ethnic unity, education and economic development. Officials at the conference pledged to promote bilingual education and interaction between ethnic groups in the region.

On Monday, Xinjiang party chief Zhang Chunxian, speaking at the region’s party committee meeting, vowed to safeguard social stability and the Central Committee’s authority and political discipline on major issues opposing separatism.

The same day, Korla Evening News reported that police in Korla city, western Xinjiang, had busted an underground group that was teaching the Koran to children. Two men were arrested on suspicion of abusing two children and forcing them to study the Koran, on top of running illegal religious activities. The two pupils were then sent to local kindergartens and assigned guardians, the newspaper reported.

Kashi University, when completed, would give Uygur students more opportunities for higher levels of academic training in future, Kashgar officials said.

“Kashi University will have comprehensive departments and disciplined teachers to train a wider range of talents,” Kashgar Normal College dean Aierken Wumaier said.

The university plans to provide curriculums in the liberal arts, science, art, engineering, management, economics and medicine, among others, he said. The institute aimed to recruit 13,000 students by 2015, he added.

via Shenzhen to pump one billion yuan into building new Xinjiang university | South China Morning Post.

Posted in China alert, Economics, education, Ethnic clash, Good news, Politics, Religious clash, Social & cultural | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Kashgar, Kashi University, Korla, Shenzhen, Xi JinPing, Xinjiang, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Zhang Chunxian

19/06/2014

China, ASEAN to have South China Sea talks – Xinhua | English.news.cn

China is willing to work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to promote a code of conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday.

Map of the South China Sea (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hua’s comment came ahead of the 11th joint working group meeting between China and ASEAN on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct (DoC) of Parties in the South China Sea. The meeting will be held from next Tuesday to Wednesday in Bali, Indonesia. “China is ready to work with the ASEAN for comprehensive and effective implementation of the declaration and steadily push forward consultations on a CoC,” Hua said. Maritime cooperation on navigation security and joint search and rescue will be discussed during the meeting, Hua said. She called for favorable conditions for the implementation of the DoC and formulation of a CoC to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea. China and ASEAN officials met in March in Singapore for the 10th joint working group meeting on the implementation of the DoC. via China, ASEAN to have South China Sea talks – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

Posted in China alert, GeoPolitics, Good news, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute | Leave a Comment »

Tags: ASEAN, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Bali, China, Code of conduct, Singapore, South China, South China Sea

18/06/2014

At the World Cup, It’s Made in China, Sold in Brazil – China Real Time Report – WSJ

From the official Adidas ball to armadillo figurines, China may not have made the World Cup this year, but its factories are keeping soccer fans supplied. As Chao Deng and Jenny W. Hsu report:

Made in China, sold in Brazil. So it goes for many a product going to fans across the world.

The country is manufacturing a long list of World Cup memorabilia—from figurines of the armadillo that serves as the games’ official mascot to wigs, flags and caps. And who could forget the (Chinese-made) vuvuzelas that cropped up when South Africa hosted the last cup? This year, the country is stocking fans with an alternative instrument, the percussive Brazilian caxirolas.

While there is no official tally of how much of the sales profits China will keep, margins could be thinning given the rise in domestic labor costs. Many global sportswear brands outsourced their production to Taiwan in the late 1980s, before the Chinese labor market opened up in 1990s, says Mr. Poon. But now, as wages rise in both China and in neighboring Southeast Asian countries, competition between factories is “not only about who’s the cheapest but who’s most efficient” in production.

“The term ‘Made in China’ is slowly becoming the definition of high-quality, even though it wasn’t the case in the past,” said Simon Lee, president of Wagon Group, the Taiwanese-owned Chinese company that is responsible for 80% of the officially licensed souvenirs for this year’s World Cup.

via At the World Cup, It’s Made in China, Sold in Brazil – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, Economics | 1 Comment »

Tags: 2014 FIFA World Cup, Adidas, Brazil, China, FIFA World Cup, South Africa, Taiwan, World Cup

17/06/2014

China battles to be first ecological civilisation – environment – 13 June 2014 – New Scientist

SO YOU want to live in a country that is guided by a philosophy of “ecological civilisation”, run by people with the vision to implement policies that will benefit their children even if it costs more in the short term? Move to China.

Easing off coal

Not convinced? Last week, news circulated that China is considering limiting its greenhouse gas emissions so that they peak in 2030, followed by an orchestrated fall.

It was one man’s view, expressed at a Beijing conference, not an official announcement. But He Jiankun is chairman of China’s Advisory Committee on Climate Change, and his words are in line with actions China is now taking to address global warming.

“China is already doing a lot,” says Fergus Green of the London School of Economics. “They are probably making the most progress of any country, given that they are starting from a position that is far more challenging.”

“Things are changing very, very fast,” says Changhua Wu of The Climate Group think tank in Beijing.

To be clear, China is still the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. Cities like Beijing are plagued by smog, and efforts to clean them up may just move the pollution elsewhere. But there is a huge push for change.

Water scarcity and awareness that China will suffer from global warming are factors, but it is health concerns that loom large. The air in many cities is dangerous to breathe, the water is toxic and there are often food health scares. “People are fed up,” says Wu.

Premier Li Keqiang has declared a “war on pollution”. His leadership has drawn up a philosophical framework called ecological civilisation. It aims to “bring everything back to the relationship between man and nature”, says Wu, and is driving major changes.

Prompted by the idea that used resources must be paid for, China has launched carbon trading schemes in six areas. There, companies must pay to pollute, and abide by a cap on overall emissions. A seventh scheme should start within weeks. They will form the world’s second largest carbon trading scheme, after Europe’s. A national programme should begin this decade.

China has set targets to make more wealth using less energy and it is on course to meet them. It contributes one-fifth of global investment in renewables, more than any other nation, has more installed wind power than anywhere else and in 2013 doubled its solar capacity.

The smog is turning people off dirty power. Construction of coal-fired power stations peaked in 2007 (see graph), and smaller power stations are being switched off. According to the London-based think tank Carbon Tracker, 10 out of 30 provinces have cut their coal use, and wind capacity is growing twice as fast as coal. “The coal-fired power plants that China is building are some of the most high-tech and efficient available,” says Carbon Tracker’s Luke Sussams. There are also schemes in place to make people who pollute water pay those who suffer as a result.

Environmentalists have pushed policies like these for years. But while Western nations debate them, China is testing them and rolling out those that work.

via China battles to be first ecological civilisation – environment – 13 June 2014 – New Scientist.

Posted in carbon emission, China alert, Climate change, Ecology, Economics, Electricity, energy, Environment, Green, greenhouse gas, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, Carbon Trading, China, Climate Group, Committee on Climate Change, London, London School of Economics, Yenisei Kirghiz

17/06/2014

China’s Gray-Haired Set Could Boost Digital Shopping – China Real Time Report – WSJ

Online shopping in China isn’t just for the young, according to a new survey. That could be good news for an already quickly growing e-commerce industry that largely caters to the young.

While the bulk of online shoppers are still in their 20s and 30s, a survey published Tuesday by data provider Nielsen said the number of online consumers aged 55 or older grew 72% between 2012 and 2013. It cited data from Taobao, one of China’s largest shopping websites, which is owned by Alibaba Group, though it didn’t release the underlying figures.

“China could become the world’s most aged society by 2030,” said Tao Libao, a Nielsen official with responsibility for e-commerce, in a prepared statement. “The elderly online consumers deserve more attention from both current online retailers and brick-and-mortar retailers who are going to venture online.” People aged over 60 could be 30% of China’s population by 2030, Mr. Tao said.

They survey said they tend to be more careful shoppers, attracted by easy price comparisons and special discounts given that they often have less income than younger people.

“It’s cheaper to buy online,” said Zhang Jinnian, a Beijing shopper in her fifties who has been using the internet to shop for the past year. In that time she has bought clothes, shoes and a bicycle online. “It’s always more expensive in a store,” said Ms. Zhang, who declined to give her exact age.

via China’s Gray-Haired Set Could Boost Digital Shopping – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Glance: China’s Alibaba has deep tentacles in China’s retail and Internet giants

Posted in aging population, China alert, Consumer, eCommerce, Economics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Alibaba, Alibaba Group, Beijing, China, E-commerce, EBAY, Online shopping, Online shopping in China, Tao Libao, Taobao, Zhang Jinnian

17/06/2014

Top China diplomat to visit Vietnam in possible thaw over oil rig | Reuters

China’s top diplomat will visit Vietnam on Wednesday in a sign the two countries want to ease tensions over China’s deployment of an oil rig in the disputed South China Sea, but experts said there were many obstacles to healing the ruptured relationship.

Map of the South China Sea (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The visit by State Councilor Yang Jiechi, who outranks the foreign minister, will be the highest level direct contact between Beijing and Hanoi since a Chinese state oil company parked the rig in waters claimed by both countries on May 2. Yang would attend an annual meeting on bilateral cooperation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing. Vietnamese officials said Yang would meet Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung as well as the head of the country’s ruling communist party. “We hope that Vietnam keeps its eye on the broader picture, meets China halfway and appropriately resolves the present situation,” Hua said, without directly mentioning the rig. Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said the rig would be discussed. Ties between the two neighbours have been largely frozen since early May, with both sides constantly accusing the other of inflaming the situation. Dozens of Vietnamese and Chinese coastguard and fishing vessels have repeatedly squared off around the rig, resulting in a number of collisions. via Top China diplomat to visit Vietnam in possible thaw over oil rig | Reuters.

Posted in China alert, Diplomacy, Economics, Foreign invasion, foreign policy, GeoPolitics, Good news, History, Military, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, Hanoi, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Nguyen Tan Dung, Paracel Island, South China Sea, Vietnam

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

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

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Chinese Vice President hands over new equipment to Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority – Xinhua | English.news.cn

Building Golf Courses in China: An Illegal and Booming Industry – Businessweek

China’s Government Admits Chinese Patents Are Pretty Bad – Businessweek

China, ASEAN to have South China Sea talks – Xinhua | English.news.cn

At the World Cup, It’s Made in China, Sold in Brazil – China Real Time Report – WSJ

China battles to be first ecological civilisation – environment – 13 June 2014 – New Scientist

China’s Gray-Haired Set Could Boost Digital Shopping – China Real Time Report – WSJ

Top China diplomat to visit Vietnam in possible thaw over oil rig | Reuters

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