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11/04/2013

* British shops ration baby milk as Chinese demand surges

Reuters: “British shops are rationing sales of baby milk after Chinese visitors and bulk buyers cleared their shelves to send it to China, where many parents fear the local versions are dangerous.

Shoppers browse the aisles in the Canary Wharf store of Waitrose in London January 23, 2013. REUTERS/Neil Hall

The British Retail Consortium (BRC), whose members account for 80 percent of the sector, said many stores had imposed a two-box limit on each customer to deter the “unofficial exports” to China.

Demand for foreign milk powder has been high in China since at least six infants died and 300,000 fell ill in 2008 after they drank milk laced with the industrial chemical melamine.

The scandal sapped consumer confidence in Chinese-made food and led to shortages of powdered milk in Hong Kong and Australia as people bought boxes to export to China.

The rise of the middle-class Chinese working mother has greatly increased sales of baby milk in the world’s most populous country. Fast-growing markets like China support a global baby food market worth an estimated $30 billion a year.”

via British shops ration baby milk as Chinese demand surges | Reuters.

Posted in Affluence, China alert, Economics, food safety | Leave a Comment »

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11/04/2013

The Masters: Teenager Guan provides taste of China’s golfing ambition

CNN: “The legendary Jack Nicklaus may have won the most titles, a 21-year-old Tiger Woods may have been the youngest champion and Gary Player may have made the most appearances, but a little-known Chinese golfer will be added to the illustrious list of Masters record-holders on Thursday.

Guan Tianlang, now 14, qualified for this week's Masters when -- as the youngest player in the field, then rated 490th in the world amateur rankings -- he beat a host of senior golfers to win the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Thailand.

For when Guan Tianlang steps onto the first tee, the Chinese teenager will become the youngest competitor — at the age of 14 years and five months — in the 80 years of the prestigious Augusta event, beating the previous record held by then 16-year-old Matteo Manassero.

The boy who has been taking time out of school in his home city Guangzhou earned his place at golf’s top table when, as the youngest player in the field, he beat a host of senior players to win last year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Thailand.

He is just the latest of a small but expanding list of teenage — and, remarkably, even pre-teen — golfers to be impacting upon the highest echelons of golf, despite being drawn from a playing pool estimated to be no more than 600 teenage boys and girls.”

via The Masters: Teenager Guan provides taste of China’s golfing ambition – CNN.com.

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10/04/2013

* Lloyd’s building sold to Ping An

Insurance Times: “The Lloyd’s building will be sold to Chinese insurance firm Ping An for about £260m.

Lloyd's building

There is no sign that the Lloyd’s market would need to leave the building.

Commerz Real was the firm appointed to selll the building, helped by CBRE and Savills, according to The Times.”

via Lloyd’s building sold to Ping An | Latest News | Insurance Times.

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

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

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10/04/2013

* Fitch Lowers Rating on China Local-Currency Debt

WSJ: “Fitch Ratings Inc. lowered one of its key ratings on China’s government debt, in one of the most prominent warnings to date over a credit buildup in the world’s second-largest economy.

[image]

The downgrade applies only to China’s yuan-denominated debt, which is primarily traded domestically—not the foreign-currency debt that it issues in international financial markets, so it is unlikely to have a big impact on global financial markets.

Nevertheless, it is the first outright downgrade in years of debt that is widely seen as buffered by China’s vast foreign-exchange reserves, highlighting a growing perception that massive lending by China’s banks, as well as shadowy nonbank lenders that operate under little regulation, could seriously disrupt China’s economic recovery.

Much of China’s debt came from a surge of lending in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, which helped Chinese growth rebound in part with the help of massive infrastructure projects but weighed down local governments and banks with loans. Analysts at Fitch have been part of a chorus of analysts and market players consistently sounding alarms about the run-up in China’s debt.

Saying that “risks over China’s financial stability have grown,” the credit-ratings firm lowered China’s long-term local-currency rating to single-A-plus from double-A-minus, with a stable outlook. It was its first downgrade of Chinese debt since at least 1997. It kept China’s foreign-currency debt rating unchanged at single-A-plus, saying it is well supported by China’s foreign-exchange reserves, worth $3.387 trillion at the end of 2012.

Bank credit extended to the private sector was equivalent to 135.7% of China’s gross domestic product at the end of 2012, the highest level of any emerging-market economy rated by Fitch, it said.”

via Fitch Lowers Rating on China Local-Currency Debt – WSJ.com.

Posted in Banking, China alert, Economics, loans | 1 Comment »

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10/04/2013

* Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Mourns U.N. Peacekeepers Killed in South Sudan

WSJ: “Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh paid tribute to the five “brave soldiers” who died Tuesday morning in the deadliest attack on the United Nations in South Sudan since the country’s secession in July 2011.

The five Indian soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, were part of a group escorting a convoy of U.N. civilian staff and contractors. They came under attack near the settlement of Gumuruk in Jonglei state, South Sudan. Around 200 armed men attacked the convoy. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, in which two U.N. staff and five civilian contractors were also killed.

The dead Indian troops have been named as Lieutenant Colonel Mahipal Singh, Shiv Kumar Pal, Hira Lal, Bharat Singh and Nand Kishore.

Nine others, including four Indian soldiers, were injured in the attack, according to reports.

via Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Mourns U.N. Peacekeepers Killed in South Sudan – India Real Time – WSJ.

Posted in GeoPolitics, India alert, Military, non-military intervention, peace keeping, Politics | Leave a Comment »

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10/04/2013

* Delhi is not safe, Mamata says after attack by Left activists

Times of India: “An upset West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday cancelled her scheduled meeting with finance minister P Chidambaram to leave for Kolkata, a day after she was gheraoed and her minister Amit Mitra manhandled by Left protesters here.

English: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Baner...

English: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee attends a news conference in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata September 7, 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Speaking to the media, Mamata said, “After 35 years, I have been able to stop a bloodbath in Bengal. Our cadres are peaceful, and all the ruckus is created by CPM cadre,” she said of the protests happening across Bengal.

Mamata also said that PM Mammohan Singh had called her up and apologized for the incident.

“Delhi is not safe. I was manhandled. When I tried to get down at the Planning Commission, the police did not cooperate at all,” Mamata said.

She said she was unwell and had been advised rest.”

via Delhi is not safe, Mamata says after attack by Left activists – The Times of India.

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10/04/2013

* Antony warns Army against threats from China, Pakistan

Times of India: “India’s deep unease over China’s growing military might and assertiveness as well as intransigence about the boundary dispute resonated at a military brass conclave on Monday, with defence minister AK Antony also underlining the threat posed by the expansive nexus forged between Beijing and Islamabad.

Português: Nova Délhi (Índia) - Desfile do Dia...

Português: Nova Délhi (Índia) – Desfile do Dia da República, na Rajpath. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

China’s approach to India on the long-standing boundary dispute and other issues, even after the recent leadership change in Beijing, “is not likely to change” in the foreseeable future. Consequently, the Indian armed forces need to “constantly develop” their capabilities to achieve “minimum credible deterrence” against China, said Antony.

The minister, addressing the closed-door Army commanders’ conference, did point out the government was trying to resolve issues with China in a “peaceful” manner, and also cited the new bilateral boundary management mechanism as “a positive development”.

But Antony also stressed it was crucial to modernize the armed forces to counter China’s “military assertiveness”, including its massive development of military infrastructure along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) as well as in other neighbouring countries, like the Gilgit-Baltistan areas of Pakistan, said MoD sources.

India has belatedly taken some steps to strategically counter China but much more needs to be done at a rapid clip. While IAF is now progressively basing Sukhoi-30MKI fighters in the north-east and the Navy is bolstering force-levels on the eastern seaboard, the Army’s Rs 81,000-crore plan to raise a new mountain strike corps with associated structures is yet to take off.”

via Antony warns Army against threats from China, Pakistan – The Times of India.

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10/04/2013

* China’s Dalian Wanda Makes a Play for European Movie Theaters

WSJ: “Just months after grabbing a chunk of the U.S. movie-theater market, China’s Dalian Wanda Group Corp. is moving toward becoming a global power in film exhibition, holding talks to purchase a European chain.

The talks follow Wanda’s $2.6 billion purchase last year of the second-largest U.S. chain, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., which has nearly 5,000 screens at 344 locations in the U.S. and Canada.

A Wanda spokesman said the conglomerate has held talks to buy a European chain but declined to provide further details.

People familiar with the situation said the conglomerate has shown interest in at least two of the Continent’s largest chains, Odeon & UCI Cinemas Holdings Ltd. and Vue Entertainment Ltd., both based in the U.K. and with thousands of screens in multiple countries. There are other European chains that Wanda could target as well.

In addition to AMC, Wanda operates 1,000 screens in China, the world’s second-largest movie market, and is aiming to expand to 2,000 by 2015, Chairman Wang Jianlin said last year.

Acquiring a big chain in Europe could make Wanda a major player in both ends of the film business; Mr. Wang has said he wants to invest in making movies in China and elsewhere. Wanda representatives have had talks with Hollywood studios about co-financing a slate of U.S. productions, people close to the discussions said.

Owning European theaters also could give the Chinese company significant leverage when negotiating the terms under which it splits box-office revenue with Hollywood studios.”

via China’s Dalian Wanda Makes a Play for European Movie Theaters – WSJ.com.

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10/04/2013

Surging Wages Threaten Chinese Competitiveness

Despite the wage increase, it will be some time before China’s wages make producing medium-priced goods non-competitive. China’s policy is to drive its manufacturers up the value chain, away from cheap products.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/08/27/135-12-the-pay-gap-the-west-cant-bridge/

Posted in China alert | 2 Comments »

07/04/2013

* China deplores Korea tension, warns against regional turmoil

My belief is that the world has got it wrong.  

I believe that North Korea is trying to reprise the plot of the film “The Mouse That Roared“ which is a 1955 Cold War satirical novel by Irish-American writer Leonard Wibberley, which launched a series of satirical books about an imaginary country in Europe called the Duchy of Grand Fenwick. Wibberley went beyond the merely comic, using the premise to make still-quoted commentaries about modern politics and world situations, including the nuclear arms race, nuclear weapons in general, and the politics of the United States.  

The Plot: The tiny (three miles by five miles) European Duchy of Grand Fenwick, supposedly located in the Alps between Switzerland and France, proudly retains a pre-industrial economy, dependent almost entirely on making Pinot Grand Fenwick wine. However, an American winery makes a knockoff version, “Pinot Grand Enwick”, putting the country on the verge of bankruptcy.

The prime minister decides that their only course of action is to declare war on the United States. Expecting a quick and total defeat (since their standing army is tiny and equipped with bows and arrows), the country confidently expects to rebuild itself through the generous largesse that the United States bestows on all its vanquished enemies (as it did for Germany through the Marshall Plan at the end of World War II and for Japan through the McArthur Plan).

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mouse_That_Roared. 

Nothing else makes sense.

Reuters: “China deplored tension on the Korean peninsula on Sunday and in an apparent reference to North Korea, said no country should be allowed to plunge the region into chaos after the United States postponed a missile test to ease talk of war.

North Korean soldiers take part in a shooting drill in an unknown location in this picture taken on April 6, 2013 and released by North Korea's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang on April 7, 2013. REUTERS-KCNA

The North, led by 30-year-old Kim Jong-un, has been issuing threats of war against the United States and U.S.-backed South Korea since the United Nations imposed sanctions after its third nuclear weapon test in February.”

via China deplores Korea tension, warns against regional turmoil | Reuters.

 

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