Archive for ‘China alert’

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03/09/2012

* China’s steel traders expose banks’ bad debts

Reuters: “China’s banks are coming after the country’s steel traders, hauling executives into court to chase down loans that some traders said they didn’t initially need and can’t now repay.

An employee checks on a steel product at a steel production factory in Wuhan, Hubei province in this August 2, 2012 file photo. China's banks are coming after the country's steel traders, hauling executives into court to chase down loans that some traders said they didn't initially need and can't now repay. The heavy push to recover the loans is another sign of strain on China's financial system at a time when the country's leaders are contemplating another round of stimulus to boost the economy, and when banks are worried about bad debts piling up. REUTERS-Stringer-Files

The heavy push to recover the loans is another sign of strain on China’s financial system at a time when the country’s leaders are contemplating another round of stimulus to boost the economy, and when banks are worried about bad debts piling up.

The battle between the banks and steel traders also exposes flaws in the 4 trillion ($629 billion) stimulus round in 2008, and offers a warning to those calling for pumping more money into the system. At that time, Chinese banks threw money at the steel trade – a crucial cog in supplying the country’s massive construction and infrastructure growth.

But those steel loans, after offering a quick fix, became excessive, poorly managed, or a combination of the two. Government officials insisted more money was needed to prop up the industry. Steel executives said the money flow was too heavy, and they had to put the money to work in real estate and the stock market.

“After the financial crisis, when the government released its stimulus, banks begged us to borrow money we didn’t need,” Li Huanhan, the owner of Shanghai Shunze Steel Trading, told a judge at a recent hearing. “We had nothing to do with the money, so we turned to other investments, like real estate.””

via Insight: China’s steel traders expose banks’ bad debts | Reuters.

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03/09/2012

* China probes ‘gutter oil in medicine’ claims

BBC News: “Chinese officials have told pharmaceutical firms to check their suppliers after claims that some have used “gutter oil” to make antibiotics, state-run media report.

File photo: Police inspecting illegal cooking oil seized in 2010

Officials are looking into firms that reportedly use the cheaper gutter oil rather than the more expensive soy bean oil in the production process.

Gutter oil is reprocessed kitchen waste dredged from restaurant drains.

It has been part of a series of recent food safety scandals in China.

The government said it would release its findings soon, without giving further details.

It is not clear whether these antibiotics pose a risk to public health, but the incident highlights how some firms cut corners to pursue profits, says the BBC’s Martin Patience in Beijing.

Scandals over contaminated food – most recently gutter oil – have caused considerable public alarm in China in recent years.

In April, state-run media reported on how officials cracked down on underground workshops that used decomposing animal fat and organs to produce gutter oil.

Police said that most of the oil was sold to oil manufacturers for food production and making hotpot soup in restaurants.

In September last year, police arrested 32 people in an operation to prevent the sale of gutter oil as cooking oil.”

via BBC News – China probes ‘gutter oil in medicine’ claims.

There seem to be no limits to the unethical behaviour of some Chinese business people. Central government is trying to do its best, in pharmaceuticals,and  food production, but the miscreants carry on.

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02/09/2012

* Chinese Military Official Shamed After Attack on Flight Attendant

WSJ: “Even close ties to the military can’t shield boorish Chinese officials from being called out for behaving badly in the age of social media.

China’s state-run Xinhua news agency on Saturday issued a report largely confirming the account, originally published on Sina Corp.’s Weibo microblogging service, of an Air China flight attendant who said she was bullied by a Chinese official and his wife in a conflict over carry-on luggage during a flight on Aug. 29.

The official is identified in the Xinhua report as Fang Daguo, a member of the Communist Party Standing Committee in the Yuexiu district of the southern metropolis of Guangzhou. Mr. Fang is also political commissar for the Yuexiu Armed Forces Department.

Internet users had earlier helped identify Mr. Fang after the flight attendant, whose own identity remains unclear, posted an account of the attack on the microblogging service that quickly went viral.”

via Chinese Military Official Shamed After Attack on Flight Attendant – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Yet another example of the increasing power of the Chinese people due to the Internet. See also:

 

Posted in China alert, Citizens's rights, Good news, social media | 1 Comment »

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02/09/2012

* Asian giants seek better ties; China defence minister in India

The Times of India: “A rare visit to India by China’s defence minister should help avoid flare-ups along the border between the nuclear-armed Asian giants at a time when Beijing is grappling with a change of leadership and friction in the South China Sea.

Chinese Minister of National Defense General Liang Guanglie stands on a balcony overlooking the campus of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, May 10, 2012. REUTERS/Mike Segar

But General Liang Guanglie‘s trip — the first by a Chinese defence minister in eight years — also highlights growing competition between the two emerging powers as they jostle for influence and resources across Asia.

Liang is due to arrive in Mumbai on Sunday afternoon after stopping in Sri Lanka, the island nation off the south coast of India that sits on vital ocean trade routes.

There he sought to play down Indian fears that China is threading a “string of pearls” — or encircling it by financing infrastructure and military strength in neighbours stretching from Pakistan to the Maldives.

“China attaches great importance to its relations with the South Asian nations, and commits itself to forging harmonious co-existence and mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation with them,” he said in speech to Sri Lankan soldiers.

“The PLA’s (People’s Liberation Army) efforts in conducting friendly exchanges and cooperation with its counterparts in the South Asian nations are intended for maintaining regional security and stability and not targeted at any third party.”

As neighbours and emerging superpowers, India and China have a complex relationship. Trade has grown at a dizzying rate but Beijing is wary of India’s close ties to Washington and memories of a border war with China half a century ago are still fresh in New Delhi.

Despite 15 rounds of high level talks to resolve the dispute about where their Himalayan border lies, neither side is close to giving up any territory. Liang is not expected to broach the territorial issue on his trip.

Analysts say Liang’s India tour will demonstrate that Beijing is managing the often twitchy relations with its neighour just ahead of its once-in-a-decade leadership transition.”

via Asian giants seek better ties; China defence minister in India – The Times of India.

See also: 

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Foreign invasion, GeoPolitics, India alert, Military, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute | Leave a Comment »

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31/08/2012

* Beleaguered official faces netizens online

China Daily: “A senior work safety official’s grin at the site of a deadly traffic accident in Shaanxi province has become a nightmare haunting him.

Yang Dacai, 55, head of the Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of Work Safety, was seen to be grinning in a photo taken after he arrived at the scene of a deadly traffic accident on Sunday in Yan’an, Shaanxi. Thirty-six people were killed when a sleeper bus rammed into a truck carrying a tank of methanol and caught fire.

The photo triggered an online wave of criticism among netizens.

The criticism grew louder when photos of Yang wearing five different watches, including Rolex, Mont Blanc and Radar, were posted online.

Many bloggers questioned how he could afford the costly timepieces and called for a corruption investigation.

On Wednesday night, Yang went online and apologized for the “relaxed” grin, saying that he was just trying to cheer people up after a long trudge to the accident site.

And he defended his innocence regarding the watches, saying he had “used legal income” to buy them over the past 10 years and he had reported the situation to the Party’s disciplinary organization.

Despite this, the Party Discipline Inspection Commission of Shaanxi has started an investigation on Yang, who would be punished if he is found to have violated disciplines or committed corruption, cnwest.com, an online news portal of Shaanxi, reported on Thursday.”

via Beleaguered official faces netizens online |Society |chinadaily.com.cn.

The Internet is continuing to ‘liberate’ Chinese citizens and cede power from (minor) officials.

See also: * How China’s 300m microbloggers are shaking the system (chindia-alert.org)

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31/08/2012

* Insurance to cover serious illnesses

China Daily: “China on Thursday announced a decision to expand the coverage of the country’s healthcare insurance system to include the treatment of critical illnesses, aiming to prevent patients from being reduced to poverty by necessary healthcare costs.

The new arrangement will further increase the level of protection that China’s healthcare insurance system can offer, according to a document co-issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and five other central government departments.

Sun Zhigang, head of the health reform office under the State Council, said it aims to ensure that each patient’s total medical expenditure is no more than the “household expenditure for healthcare,” which is set at the level of the regional annual per capita disposable or net income.

In an interview with Xinhua News Agency, Sun said when patients’ medical bills for necessary treatments under the existing basic healthcare insurance system exceed that level, they will be reimbursed by the newly launched critical illness insurance project.

Though around 1.3 billion people, or more than 95 percent of China’s population, were covered by the healthcare insurance system by the end of last year, medical expenditure burdens incurred by patients with severe medical conditions remain heavy, Sun said.

“The new move targets the widely recognized problem of ‘people falling into poverty because of illnesses’, and aims to ensure that most people won’t become impoverished because of diseases,” Sun said.”

via Insurance to cover serious illnesses |Politics |chinadaily.com.cn.

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31/08/2012

* Shandong Heavy seeks stake in Germany’s Kion

China Daily: “Shandong Heavy Industry Group Co Ltd, the Chinese construction machinery producer, is seeking a 25 percent stake in German fork-lift manufacturer Kion Group GmbH, according to a report in German newspaper Handelsblatt, citing sources with knowledge of the negotiations.

Wiesbaden-based Kion belonged to industry group Linde AG until 2006 and now is owned by finance houses Goldman Sachs Group Inc and KKR & Co LP.

With an expected price of around 700 million euro ($879m), the transaction would be the biggest investment yet by a Chinese company in Germany, Handelsblatt said.”

via Shandong Heavy seeks stake in Germany’s Kion |Companies |chinadaily.com.cn.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/02/13/pattern-of-chinese-overseas-investments/

Posted in China alert, Economics, Foreign acquisition, Investment in tangibles, Manufacturing | Leave a Comment »

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31/08/2012

* China’s Hu seeks clean power handover with ally’s promotion

Reuters: “China’s outgoing President Hu Jintao is angling to promote one of his closest allies to the military’s decision-making body, sources said, in a move that would allow him to maintain an influence over Beijing’s most potent instrument of power.

China's President Hu Jintao smiles during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing August 30, 2012. REUTERS/Diego Azubel/Pool

Three sources with ties to the top leadership said Hu hopes to cut all of his direct links to the top echelons of power by early 2013, on the understanding that his protégé, Vice Premier Li Keqiang, is made a vice chairman of the military commission at the party’s five-yearly congress later this year.

Hu wants a clean handover of the party leadership, the presidency and the top military post to his anointed successor, Xi Jinping, over the next seven months, to avoid a repeat of the past internal rancor when a transition of power took place, sources say.

They point to the example of his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, who clung onto the top job at the Communist Party’s Central Military Commission for two years after stepping down as party chief and president, a move seen as unpopular with party cadres and the public.

Hu, as president, is the current military commission chairman and, like Jiang, could choose to stay on as its chief for another couple of years beyond his handover of the presidency to Xi in March 2013.

In what is seen as the ultimate bulwark of power, the commission oversees the 2.3-million strong People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as well as the People’s Armed Police which enforces domestic security.

Hu has not made public his plans for retirement but, unlike in the West where former presidents and prime ministers tend to fade from the public eye, Chinese leaders seek to maintain influence to avoid possible adverse political repercussions down the road.

The government generally does not comment on elite politics and personnel changes before the official announcement.

As a senior member of the commission, Li, who is also set to be named as the next premier in March 2013, would be expected to help protect Hu’s legacy in the area of military affairs, which has included a more moderate approach towards Taiwan and to territorial disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea.

“Hu hopes to go down in history as the first leader (since 1949) to step down when his term ends instead of being reluctant to go,” a businessman with leadership ties said.

As well as helping to preserve Hu’s legacy, analysts say Li’s promotion will ensure there is no political retribution against Hu or his family by rivals who remain in power once he is gone.

But bargaining over the next leadership line-up is not over, and there is still room for change and surprises.”

via Exclusive: China’s Hu seeks clean power handover with ally’s promotion – sources | Reuters.

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31/08/2012

* Does China’s next leader have a soft spot for Tibet?

Reuters: “For decades, Beijing has maintained that the Dalai Lama is a separatist, but Tibet‘s exiled spiritual leader once had a special relationship with the father of Xi Jinping, the man in line to become China’s next president.

China's Vice President Xi Jinping speaks with Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi (not pictured) during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing August 29, 2012. REUTERS/How Hwee Young/Pool

Few people know what Xi, whose ascent to the leadership is likely to be approved at a Communist Party congress later this year, thinks of Tibet or the Dalai Lama.

But his late father, Xi Zhongxun, a liberal-minded former vice premier, had a close bond with the Tibetan leader who once gave the elder Xi an expensive watch in the 1950s, a gift that the senior party official was still wearing decades later.

The Dalai Lama, 77, recalls the elder Xi as “very friendly, comparatively more open-minded, very nice” and says he only gave watches back then to those Chinese officials he felt close to.

“We Tibetans, we get these different varieties of watch easily from India. So we take advantage of that, and brought some watches to some people when we feel some sort of close feeling, as a gift like that,” the Dalai Lama said in an interview in the Indian town of Dharamsala, a capital for Tibetan exiles in the foothills of the Himalayas.

The Dalai Lama gave the watch to the elder Xi in 1954 during an extended visit to Beijing. Xi was one of the officials who spent time with the young Dalai Lama in the capital where he spent five to six months studying Chinese and Marxism.

The Dalai Lama fled to India five years later, after a failed uprising against Communist rule, but as late as 1979, Xi senior was still wearing the watch, the make and style of which the Dalai Lama can no longer remember.

Xi senior was a dove in the party, championing the rights of Tibetans, Uighurs and other ethnic minorities. He also opposed the army crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen student protests and was alone in criticizing the sacking of liberal party chief Hu Yaobang by the Old Guard in 1987. Xi senior died in 2002.

The Dalai Lama has never met Xi junior but his fondness for the father is, for some, a sign that China’s next leader may adopt a more reformist approach to Tibet once he formally succeeds President Hu Jintao next March. Some expect him to be more tolerant of Muslim Uighurs in the western region of Xinjiang, and also of Taiwan, the independently ruled island that China has vowed to take back, by force if necessary.

“To understand what kind of leader Xi Jinping will be, one must study his father’s (policies),” said Bao Tong, one-time top aide to purged party chief Zhao Ziyang. Bao was jailed for seven years for sympathizing with student-led demonstrations for democracy centered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.

“No (Chinese) Communist will betray his father,” he added.”

via Insight: Does China’s next leader have a soft spot for Tibet? | Reuters.

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30/08/2012

* Miners killed and trapped in China colliery blast

BBC News: “A gas explosion at a coal mine in south-west China has killed 19 people and left 28 trapped underground, state media say.

Rescue workers carry survivor out of Qianqiu colliery in Henan province - 5 November 2011

Efforts are underway to rescue the remaining miners at the Xiaojiawan mine in Panzhihua city in Sichuan province.

The blast happened on Wednesday evening when about 150 miners were underground, city officials said.

By Thursday morning, more than 100 people had been rescued and taken to hospital, reports said.

Chinese state television said rescue teams had retrieved the bodies of 16 miners who died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Another three people died in hospital.

The mine is owned by Zhengjin Industry and Trade Co Ltd. Its officials are assisting in a police investigation, the city government said in a statement on its official microblogging site.

Accidents are frequent in China’s mining industry, which is criticised for poor safety standards.

Official figures show that 1,973 people died in coal mining accidents in the country last year.

While this represented a 19% drop compared to the year before, some have suggested that actual numbers could be higher as not all incidents may have been reported.

China’s central government has introduced measures aimed at improving standards but these directives are often ignored at local level.”

via BBC News – Miners killed and trapped in China colliery blast.

Another week, another disaster. China has a very poor record of mine safety, though central government is trying its best to set standards. But road, bridge and rail safety are also issues. Though, thankfully, there have been no recent air disasters.

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