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

11/02/2014

China’s power capacity up 94 mln kw in 2013 – Xinhua | English.news.cn

China’s installed power capacity increased by 94 million kilowatts (kw) in 2013, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said on Monday.

Thermal power accounted for the bulk of the capacity growth, topping 36.5 million kw, followed by 29.93 million kw from hydropower, 14.06 million kw from on-grid wind power, 11.3 million kw from on-grid solar power and 2.21 million kw from nuclear power.

The country’s total installed power capacity topped 1.25 billion kw at the end of 2013, up 9.3 percent year on year.

Thermal power accounted for the bulk of the total capacity at the end of 2013, reaching more than 860 million kw, up 5.7 percent year on year.

On-grid solar energy capacity increased by 340 percent from a year earlier.

China’s electricity consumption, a key indicator of economic activity, rose 7.5 percent year on year to 5.32 trillion kilowatt hours in 2013, according to the NEA.

The growth rate exceeded the 5.5-percent rise registered in 2012, but was lower than the 11.7-percent rise registered in 2011.

via China’s power capacity up 94 mln kw in 2013 – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

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

Tags: China, energy, kw, National Development and Reform Commission, National Energy Administration, NEA, Nuclear Energy Agency, power capacity, Solar power, Watt, Wind power

11/02/2014

China says gets tough on polluters, nixes projects worth $19.5 billion | Reuters

China’s environmental watchdog vetoed as many as 32 projects with a total investment of 118.4 billion yuan ($19.5 billion) last year as it stepped up efforts to get tough on industrial polluters, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Buildings are pictured amid the heavy haze at night in Beijing's central business district, January 30, 2014. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Zhai Qing, the vice-environment minister, told reporters his ministry was working to improve its environmental assessment capabilities and strengthen its powers to monitor and punish polluters.

“I think our ability to enforce and monitor is extremely important… and since last year, we have been constantly trying to strengthen our abilities,” he added.

Beijing is under intense pressure to clean up its heavily polluted air, water and soil in the face of mounting public anger, but enforcement has been identified as one its biggest challenges, with the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) struggling to find the clout to take on powerful industrial interests and growth-obsessed local authorities.

Officials have acknowledged that the ministry’s punitive powers are limited. Fines are far lower than the cost of compliance and many big companies are willing to pay up and continue breaking the law.

The ministry is now hoping to extend its authority as China’s new leadership promises to abandon the crude pursuit of economic growth. A new environmental law is likely to raise the fines imposed on polluters, and sources say the ministry’s powers could be expanded further in a government shake-up expected to take place in March.

via China says gets tough on polluters, nixes projects worth $19.5 billion | Reuters.

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

Tags: Beijing, China, Environmental law, industrial polluters, Member of the European Parliament, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China, pollution

11/02/2014

BBC News – China and Taiwan in first government talks

China and Taiwan have held their first high-level talks since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

Wang Yu-chi and Zhang Zhijun, the top cross-strait officials from each side, attended the four-day talks in Nanjing.

No official agenda was released for the talks, which are widely seen as a confidence-building exercise.

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory. In the past, all talks have gone via quasi-official organisations.

The fact that talks are taking place in Nanjing is a nod to history – the city, at times, served as the capital when the Nationalists were in power more than 60 years ago.

Neither side is talking of any breakthrough during this week’s talks – their differences remain stark.

Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory, insisting that it must be reunited with the mainland – by force, if necessary.

But since the election of Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou in 2008, relations between the sides have warmed considerably.

For Taiwan, there is no ignoring China – the world’s second largest economy.

And China perhaps sees these talks as a useful opportunity to forge closer ties with Taiwan while a relatively pro-Beijing president remains in power on the island.

Mr Zhang, head of mainland China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said: “It’s impossible to imagine in the past that we could sit here and meet.”

“We must have some imagination if [we want to] resolve some difficulties, not just for such a meeting, we should also have a bigger imagination for cross-strait future development,” he added.

Mr Wang, head of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, described the meeting as “a new chapter for cross-strait relations”.

“For us to simply sit at the same table, sit down to discuss issues, is already not an easy thing.”

via BBC News – China and Taiwan in first government talks.

Posted in China alert, Economics, GeoPolitics, Good news, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, Ma Ying-jeou, Mainland Affairs Council, Nanjing, Taiwan, Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Zhijun

11/02/2014

Spanish judge issues arrest warrants for China’s former President, PM – CNN.com

A Spanish judge issued international arrest warrants Monday for China’s former President Jiang Zemin and former Prime Minister Li Peng for alleged genocide against the people of Tibet, Spain’s National Court in Madrid said.

[File photo] Former President of China Jiang Zemin (left) and former PM Li Peng in Beijing on 17 March (year unknown).

The warrants against them and three other senior Chinese officials are the latest chapter in a long-running lawsuit by pro-Tibetan groups and a dual Tibetan-Spanish citizen who seek international legal action against some Chinese officials.

Judge Ismael Moreno issued the arrest warrants for alleged “genocide, torture and crimes against humanity,” and ordered them to be sent to Interpol, the international police agency, according to a copy of the order viewed by CNN.

The former officials will surely not be arrested in China, but there’s a “medium chance” of them being arrested if they go abroad, “depending on the country and its ethics,” said Alan Cantos, president of the Barcelona-based Tibet Support Committee.

Cantos expressed satisfaction with the judge’s order, which his group has been pushing with its co-plaintiffs: the House of Tibet Foundation and Thubten Wangchen Sherpa Sherpa, a Tibetan who has lived in Spain for about 20 years and has Spanish citizenship.

“It shows that justice after all works, against all odds. If you let justice work, victims can have retribution,” Cantos said.

via Spanish judge issues arrest warrants for China’s former President, PM – CNN.com.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2013/10/23/spain-probes-hu-jintao-genocide-in-tibet-court-case-bbc-news/

Posted in China alert, Dissident, Ethnic clash, GeoPolitics, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: arrest warrants, China, Chinese officials, Interpol, Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, president jiang zemin, Prime Minister Li Peng, Spain, Spain's National Court, Spanish nationality law, Tibet

10/02/2014

THE WORLD’S TOP 10 MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES IN CHINA

From: http://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2014/industry/china

THERE’S A STUBBORN MEME THAT CLAIMS CHINA HAS NO CULTURE OF INNOVATION. IN ACTUALITY, IT’S SHAPING GLOBAL BUSINESS TRENDS, MOST NOTABLY IN SOCIAL MEDIA. MAMMOTH NETWORKS SUCH AS TENCENT‘S WECHAT, FOR EXAMPLE, ARE NOT SIMPLY FACEBOOK COPYCATS–THEY’VE SPARKED THE MESSAGING WARS OCCURRING ON AMERICAN SOIL AMONG APPS LIKE SNAPCHAT AND KIK, AND CONTRIBUTE BILLIONS TO THE WORLD’S RICHEST COUNTRY.

BY FAST COMPANY STAFF

1. XIAOMI

For launching low-cost, high-quality smart TVs and -phones to steal market share from industry stalwarts.

2. BEIJING GENOMICS INSTITUTE

For making DNA sequencing mass-market.

3. CHINA’S LUXURY BRANDS

For greeting its booming middle and upper classes with distinctly native offerings.

4. HAIER

For letting its 80,000 employees self-organize and oust ineffective leaders—a bold approach to innovating the fridge and microwave business.

5. TENCENT

For pummeling the Chinese social-networking competition and sending chills through Silicon Valley with a 10-terabyte storage offer.

6. GEAK

For making wearable tech closer to vogue with a ring that syncs to phones and shares contacts via fist bump.

7. PHANTOM

For clearing the air in Beijing homes with the app-controlled EcoTower. .

8. BAIDU

For moving from search to smart cameras, giving users their own Internet-enabled monitoring devices.

9. YY

For letting anyone become a star in the world’s most-crowded country.

10. COOTEK

For tapping into user demand for faster typing.

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

Tags: Beijing, China, GLOBAL BUSINESS TRENDS, HAIER, Silicon Valley, Social media, TENCENT, Tencent Holdings, WeChat, Xiaomi Tech

10/02/2014

China leads int’l wildlife crime bust – China – Chinadaily.com.cn

Tonnes of illegal animal products have been seized and over 400 suspects arrested in an China-led sting against international wildlife crime, authorities said on Monday.

China leads int'l wildlife crime bust

The operation cleaned up over 350 cases, capturing more than 3 tonnes of ivory and its products, over 1,000 hides, 36 rhino horns and a large number of other wildlife products, said the China Endangered Species Import and Export Management Office.

The operation, codenamed Cobra II, was co-organized by China, the United States, South Africa, the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network, and the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network.

The global crackdown was supported by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the World Customs Organization, and Interpol. A total of 28 countries participated between December 30, 2013 and January 26, 2014.

China’s authorities, including forestry, customs, police, judiciary and quarantine departments, put more than 100,000 staff on the operation, and uncovered over 200 cases involving more than 250 suspects.

China sent enforcement staff to Kenya for the first time, to arrest an ivory trafficking suspect and host lectures on wildlife protection.

via China leads int’l wildlife crime bust – China – Chinadaily.com.cn.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Good news, wild life | Leave a Comment »

Tags: ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network, China, CITES, Cobra II, Import and Export, international wildlife crime, Kenya, Lusaka Agreement Task Force, United States, wildlife crime, wildlife products, World Customs Organization

10/02/2014

Chinese Startup Oppo Ropes In Bollywood Stars for India Launch – India Real Time – WSJ

As competition intensifies in the global smartphone market, major players including Samsung Electronics and Apple have been spending heavily to market their latest devices through ads and celebrity endorsements. Now, even some startups in China are getting in on the action.

After enlisting famous Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio to star in television commercials to promote its smartphones in China, Oppo is trying to expand in India by using a similar tactic. It is featuring Bollywood actors Hrithik Roshan and Sonam Kapoor in its latest TV commercial as it tries to expand in the fast-growing country.

Oppo started as a manufacturer of MP3 players, Blu-Ray players and feature phones in Dongguan, southern China in 2005. It released its first smartphone in 2011, selling mainly in China, but it is now trying to expand in emerging markets such as India, Indonesia and Vietnam that have a young population and rising purchasing power.

via Chinese Startup Oppo Ropes In Bollywood Stars for India Launch – India Real Time – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Economics, India alert, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Bollywood, China, Dongguan, Hrithik Roshan, India, latest devices, Leonardo DiCaprio, Oppo, Samsung Electronics, Sonam Kapoor

10/02/2014

China considers new powers for pollution watchdog as part of government shakeup | Reuters

China could grant its undersized environment ministry new powers over resources, possibly allowing it to veto future projects, and more muscle to punish polluters as part of a government shake-up to tackle decades of unchecked growth.

Sources with ties to the leadership told Reuters that the government was considering a sweeping reorganization of cabinet ministries next month that will dissolve the Ministry of Land and Resources and transfer some powers to the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), long regarded as too weak to punish law-breaking polluters.

Amendments to China’s 1989 environmental law, likely to be rubber-stamped at the annual session of the country’s legislature next month, are expected to also give the environment ministry the powers to impose unlimited penalties on firms that fail to rectify problems and allow regulators to suspend or shut down persistent offenders.

A nationwide monitoring system will be established to force industries to disclose exactly how much pollution they cause, and it will become a criminal offence to misuse or switch off pollution control technology and misreport emission levels.

via China considers new powers for pollution watchdog as part of government shakeup | Reuters.

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

Tags: China, environment ministry, Environmental law, Government, List of environmental ministries, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Land and Resources of the People's Republic of China, pollution, powers, the Ministry of Land and Resources

10/02/2014

East China Sea: What Do China and Japan Really Want?

Very worrying. China and Japan seem to be sleep-walking into military conflict, with the US not awake at all!

Posted in China alert, GeoPolitics, History, Military, Neighbour conflict, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Asia, China, East China Sea, Japan, Philippines, South China Sea, United States, War

09/02/2014

The party and the media: Learning to spin | The Economist

T WAS not a typical government press conference. A journalist had asked a mayor some pointed questions about the safety of a paraxylene chemical factory planned for her city—the same type of plant that has prompted environmental protests around China. The mayor dodged the question in standard government-speak when the reporter, a portly man in a checked shirt and blue jeans, rudely interrupted her: “Please answer my question directly.” The room erupted with laughter.

This was, it turns out, a class at the China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong (CELAP) in Shanghai—one of five national schools for training Communist Party members. The “mayor” and the “journalist” were both low-level officials from Zhengzhou, an inland city, simulating a real-life situation in a class teaching functionaries how to cope with today’s media.

The party still exerts firm control when it comes to anything sensitive. But outside politics the media landscape has changed completely. Consumer programmes, investigative reporters and a noisy mix of microbloggers and middle-class NIMBYs are holding the party more to account. The classes at CELAP demonstrate that the leadership has understood what is at stake, even if it is still learning how to deal with it. Some of the party’s biggest recent problems have come from mishandling the newly probing media.

The message of the classes is clear: officials must be more responsive to the press and the public even as they toe the party line. Environmental protests, angry villagers talking to global media and spokesmen stumbling in news conferences have become teaching opportunities.

via The party and the media: Learning to spin | The Economist.

Posted in China alert, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: CELAP, China, China Executive Leadership Academy in Pudong, China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong, pointed questions, politics, Shanghai, typical government press conference, Zhengzhou

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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China’s power capacity up 94 mln kw in 2013 – Xinhua | English.news.cn

China says gets tough on polluters, nixes projects worth $19.5 billion | Reuters

BBC News – China and Taiwan in first government talks

Spanish judge issues arrest warrants for China’s former President, PM – CNN.com

China leads int’l wildlife crime bust – China – Chinadaily.com.cn

Chinese Startup Oppo Ropes In Bollywood Stars for India Launch – India Real Time – WSJ

East China Sea: What Do China and Japan Really Want?

The party and the media: Learning to spin | The Economist

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