08/05/2012
Xinhua: “The first deep-water drilling rig developed in China will be put into service in
the South China Sea on Wednesday, the countrys largest offshore oil producer said Monday.
The sixth-generation semi-submersible CNOOC 981 will begin operations in a sea area 320 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong at a water depth of 1,500 meters, China National Offshore Oil Corp. It will be the first independent deep-water oil drilling by a Chinese company, marking “a substantial step” made by the country’s deep-sea oil industry, CNOOC said. About 70 percent of oil and gas reserves in the resource-rich South China Sea is contained in 1.54 million square km of deep-water regions, or sea areas with depths of over 300 meters. However, most of China’s current offshore oil exploration is conducted less than 300 meters below the surface.
The South China Sea is estimated to have 23 billion to 30 billion tonnes of oil and 16 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, accounting for one-third of Chinas total oil and gas resources.”
via Chinas first deep-water rig to drill in South China Sea – Xinhua | English.news.cn.
Another instance of China continuing to reduce reliance on Western hi-tech.
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Posted in China alert, Economics, Natural resources, self-sufficiency |
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08/05/2012
Xinhua: “A new regulation, made public Monday, provides employed Chinese women with better welfare policies, including extended maternity leave and higher workplace protection.
A pregnant woman (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
According to the regulation adopted by the State Council in April, maternity leave has been extended from 90 days to 98 days, which is in line with the 14-week minimum standard set by the International Labour Organization. The regulation more clearly specifies leave granted to women who have miscarriages. According to it, a female employee will get 15 days of leave if their miscarriage occurs within the first four months of pregnancy and 42 days of leave if it happens later. Under the regulation, female employees should be paid either by the maternity insurance programs they have joined or by employers during their maternity leave.
The regulation also expands the categories of jobs that pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers are banned from working for, while removing restrictions on what jobs married women at the childbearing age should take.It also imposes clear penalties on the offenders, ranging from 1,000 to 300,000 yuan 159 to 47,619 U.S. dollars. And it stipulates that those employers who seriously violate the rules should be suspended from operation.
According to the government, China is estimated to currently have 102 million women in full-time employment.”
via China issues policies to raise wellbeing of working women – Xinhua | English.news.cn.
Posted in China alert, Good news, Health, Reform, Women's rights |
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07/05/2012
WSJ: “Personal-computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. said Monday that it plans to spend about $800 million on a new base to house the development, production and sale of mobile products as the Chinese company tries to expand beyond its core PC business.
Lenovo Ideapad U8 MID example (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Lenovo, the world’s second-largest PC maker, said in a written statement on Monday that the five-billion-yuan facility, in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, will have several thousand employees, mainly focused on smartphones, tablet computers and other mobile devices for China and global markets. The company estimates total revenue from the base will reach 10 billion yuan $1.59 billion by 2014, and increase to 50 billion yuan within the next five years. The facility is expected to begin operations in October 2013.
Now, the company is making a mobile-devices push. The investment represents the company’s latest effort to break into new product categories as PC sales lag behind demand for mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. Lenovo created a business unit last year called the Mobile Internet Digital Home group to focus on developing smartphones, tablets and Internet-connected smart television sets that can communicate with the mobile devices.”
via Lenovo Reaches Beyond PC Business – WSJ.com.
See also: Chinese innovation
Posted in Chindia Alert, Consumer, Economics, Manufacturing, Technology |
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07/05/2012
Xinhua: “China and five Central Asian nations held a cooperation forum on Monday in Tongxiang of east China’s Zhejiang province. The forum, themed around mutual trust, cooperation and harmonious development, focused on pragmatic, social and cultural cooperation between China and Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
It also saw the signing of a declaration on further promoting their cooperation. Bai Lichen, vice chairman of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, Chinas top advisory body, attended the opening ceremony and met with representatives from the five Central Asian countries.”
via China, Central Asian countries hold cooperation forum – Xinhua | English.news.cn.
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https://chindia-alert.org/political-factors/geopolitics-chinese/
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07/05/2012
China Daily: “Germany looking more to China than Europe for overseas investment
Germany has always been the cornerstone of the European economy but Europe is not as important to Germany as it used to be.
For the first time China has become German companies top foreign investment destination, totaling $1.36 billion by the end of last year, according to a survey by the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce. The amount was more than the combined German investment in France, Spain and Italy.
The profound shift is visible in the case of Knauf Gips KG, a German-headquartered plasterboard manufacturer.When asked what helped turn the family-owned workshop into the world’s second-largest gypsum board maker, Mark Norris, the company’s China chief executive officer, said one particular factor stands out – China. After its entry into the Chinese market in the 1990s, Knauf built three plants in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The initial investment soon gave Knauf a solid foothold in the country’s dry-wall market. Norris said he was quite bullish about the future and remained committed to continuing investment, despite decelerating economic growth in China, compounded by the European crisis and stagnation in the United States. “In relative terms, China remains a dynamic growth engine compared with places like Spain and Greece, where there is absolutely no growth,” he said. “And people seem to forget that the market is so big, the demand for good quality is there.” As we noticed over the past five years, a mid-to-upper class has emerged and the quality of life is increasing. People are prepared to pay for green building materials. Even though its not comparable to the European or US standard, it is catching up quick.””
via Foreign firms bullish about economy[1]|chinadaily.com.cn.
Posted in Affluence, China alert, Consumer, Economics, Green, Manufacturing |
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07/05/2012
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee September 7, 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Hindu: “The U.S. has agreed to treat West Bengal as a partner state for investment in the changed political situation, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in Kolkata on Monday.
“As per partner state, they will invest in West Bengal which was not taking place due to the political situation in the past,” Ms. Banerjee told reporters after a 52-minute meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She also said that the issue of FDI in retail did not come up during the meeting. She said that the areas identified for U.S. investment were IT, software sector, manufacturing, deep sea port, tourism, health care and education. “They will give full support for economic and business development,” Mr. Banerjee said, adding that Chief Secretary Samar Ghosh and U.S. Ambassador Nancy Powell would coordinate and monitor the progress.”
via The Hindu : News / National : U.S. agrees to treat West Bengal as partner for investment: Mamata.
Posted in Economics, GeoPolitics, India alert, Investment in tangibles, Manufacturing, Technology |
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07/05/2012
Countries of Modern Indian subcontinent (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
New York Times: ““The economic slowdown in India is one of the world’s biggest economic stories,” even though it has not commanded much attention in the United States, Tyler Cowen writes in The New York Times.
“What is disturbing is that much of the decline in the growth rate is distributed unevenly, with the greatest burden falling on the poor,” he writes. “If the slower rate continues or worsens, many millions of Indians, for another generation, will fail to rise above extreme penury and want. The problems of the euro zone are a pittance by comparison.”
China commands more attention, but Scott B. Sumner, the Bentley College economist, has pointed out it is India that is likely to end up as the world’s largest economy by the next century. China’s population is likely to peak relatively soon while India’s will continue to grow, so under even modestly optimistic projections the Indian economy will be No. 1 in terms of total size. India also is a potential force for energizing the economies of Bangladesh, Nepal and, perhaps someday, Pakistan and Myanmar. The losses from a poorer India go far beyond the country’s borders; furthermore, the wealthier India becomes, the stronger the allure of democracy in the region.”
via Never Mind Europe. Worry About India. – NYTimes.com.
Posted in Economics, India alert |
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04/05/2012
Xinhua: “The State Council, or China’s Cabinet, announced on Thursday a slew of measures to enhance the fiscal, financial and taxation support for small and micro-sized enterprises in a bid to ensure their sound development.
China’s small and micro-sized firms are facing increasing operational pressures and rising production costs amid a complicated and uncertain economic situation, and financing difficulties and heavy taxation are adding more pains. Therefore, the State Council issued a document to boost the healthy development of small and micro-sized firms as they play an irreplaceable role in creating jobs and promoting the real economy. The document, including 29 measures in eight aspects, required local authorities to enhance fiscal and tax support for the small and micro-sized firms, relieve their financing difficulties and create a favorable environment for their development.”
via China pledges more support for small, micro-sized firms – Xinhua | English.news.cn.
Posted in China alert, Economics |
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03/05/2012
Reuters: “China’s Bright Food will take control of breakfast cereal maker Weetabix, beloved by generations of British children, in the biggest foreign acquisition by a Chinese food group.
State-owned Bright Food has agreed to buy a 60 percent stake in a deal which puts a value of 1.2 billion pounds $1.94 billion, including debt, on the private-equity owned company that coined the slogan “Have you had your Weetabix today?”
The Shanghai-based group has been on the acquisition trail, seeking to raise its profile and cater for its rapidly growing home market. Weetabix is its second foreign purchase in a year and its first in Europe after other deals fell through. Eighty-year-old Weetabix is Britain’s second biggest maker of breakfast cereals and cereal bars after Kellogg. Its brands include Alpen muesli and Ready Break as well as Weetabix, which lays claim to being Britain’s No. 1 breakfast cereal for under-5s and is made from wheat grown within 50 miles 80 km of its base in southern England.
“As China’s leading food group, we are pleased to become the controlling shareholder of Weetabix,” Bright Food chairman Wang Zhongnan said in a statement on Thursday. “Weetabix has an excellent product portfolio, including leading British cereal brand Weetabix and other category-leading brands. “Private equity owners Lion Capital and Weetabix management will keep a 40 percent stake. The quintessentially British breakfast cereal group was founded in 1932 by the secretive George family and soon producing its iconic bricks of wheat. It was bought by a private equity firm in 2004.
Bright Food now sees a big opportunity for Weetabix in China, where breakfast is a very important meal and there is a trend towards healthy eating.The group, which makes “White Rabbit” candy, bought majority stakes in Australias Manassen Foods and New Zealands Synlait Milk over the past two years.”
via UPDATE 2-Chinas Bright Food buys Weetabix | Reuters.
Related post: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/02/13/pattern-of-chinese-overseas-investments/
Posted in Affluence, China alert, Consumer, Health, Investment in tangibles |
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03/05/2012
Xinhua: “A shipyard operated by Sinotrans & CSC Holdings Co., Ltd. has signed a memorandum of understanding with Australian billionaire Clive Palmer to build a replica of the Titanic, the shipyard confirmed Wednesday.
Titanic II (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“The agreement to build the Titanic II was signed on April 20, but details about its budget and design have yet to be decided. A construction contract has not been signed, either,” said Li Wenbao, an official with the state-owned Jinling shipyard. The news was first announced by Palmer on Monday. It has been reported that the ships maiden voyage is scheduled for late 2016, taking the ship from England to New York in accordance with the original ship’s planned route. More than 1,500 people perished after the Titanic went down on April 15, 1912 after striking an iceberg on its first voyage, from Southampton to New York.
Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province, has about 3,000 employees and has built ships for clients in the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, Japan and Singapore.”
via MOU signed for building Titanic replica: Chinese shipmaker – Xinhua | English.news.cn.
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