03/03/2020
- Plunges in official and private sector purchasing managers’ indices amid the coronavirus outbreak prompted sharp revisions of economic forecasts
- Analysts expect China to enact additional fiscal and monetary stimulus but stop short of massive support enacted after the global financial crisis in 2008
Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the once unthinkable scenario in which China’s economy posts a zero growth rate or even an absolute contraction compared to the previous quarter is now seen as a real possibility. Photo: AP
The odds are rising that China will report a sharp deceleration in growth – or even a contraction in the first quarter as a result of the impact of the coronavirus epidemic.
The outbreak has paralysed the country’s manufacturing and service sectors, putting Beijing in the difficult position of either forgoing its economic growth goal for 2020 or returning to its old playbook of massive debt-fuelled economic
stimulus to support growth.The larger-than-expected deterioration in the official and private sector purchasing managers’ indices for both the manufacturing and services sectors to all-time lows in February – the first available economic indicators showing the extent of the economic damage done by the epidemic – has prompted economists to slash their Chinese growth forecasts.
Several are even expecting the once unthinkable scenario in which China’s economy posts a zero growth rate or even an absolute contraction compared to the previous quarter, even though the weakness is likely to be only short-lived.
A contraction in first quarter growth would be the first since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976.
A report published by the East Asian Institute at the National University Singapore noted that China could report a contraction of 6.3 per cent in the first quarter from the first quarter of 2019, while the
growth rate for 2020 is set to fall well short of the 5.6 per cent needed by Beijing to meet its economic goal.
If China still wants to achieve an average 5.6 per cent growth for 2020, it would have to engineer a growth rate of as high as 12.7 per cent in the second half of the year, according to the report by Bert Hofman, Sarah Tong and Li Yao.
“The question is whether this is feasible and whether the consequences in terms of increased debt and potentially less productive investment are worth the price,” according to the report.
What is gross domestic product (GDP)?
China’s headline year-over-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate has hovering in a narrow range between 6 per cent and 7 per cent for 18 consecutive quarters until the end of 2019, but a sharp dip in the otherwise steady growth trajectory in the world’s second largest economy would send fresh warning signs about the risks of relying excessively on China as a production base and consumption market, particularly for large multinationals from Hyundai to Apple.
An official recognition of an economic contraction, even a brief one, would break a long tradition of China reporting consistent growth to prove the Communist Party’s ability to manage the economy and to rally the whole country to achieve one historical milestone after another.
insisted last week that China would realise the vision of building up a “comprehensively well-off” society by 2020, an inheritance from China’s former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping and a major gauge of progress to realise Xi’s grand “Chinese dream” by the middle of the century.
One key but loosely defined parameter for achieving a “comprehensively well-off” society is that the size of the economy at the end of this year will be
double that of 2010.To achieve that, economists calculate that China must achieve a 5.6 per cent growth this year, although Beijing has been vague about the specific target, although this now seems out of reach barring massive stimulus or a redefinition of the goal.
Louis Kuijs, head of Asia economics at Oxford Economics, said his group has cut its forecast for the year-on-year growth rate to 2.3 per cent for the first quarter and 4.8 per cent for 2020 overall, adding that it would be next to impossible for China to make up the lost ground during the reminder of the year given the impact of the
coronavirus
on the rest of the world, particularly
South Korea, Japan and Italy, who are all major trading partners.
It will be extremely difficult, to say the least, to meet the annual growth targets for 2020 set previously. It would require massive, unreasonable amounts of stimulus, if it is at all possible, given the headwinds Louis Kuijs
“It will be extremely difficult, to say the least, to meet the annual growth targets for 2020 set previously. It would require massive, unreasonable amounts of stimulus, if it is at all possible, given the headwinds,” Kuijs said.
Instead, it would “make much more sense” for the Chinese leadership to play down the need to literally meet the previously set economic target,” he added.
Beijing’s social and economic development targets for this year have not yet been made public, even though Xi has pledged that the government would still achieve them despite the challenge posed by the virus outbreak.
The full-year targets covering growth, employment and inflation are usually released at the National People’s Congress, the ceremonial gathering of China’s legislature in early March, but this key annual event has been postponed due to the threat of the coronavirus, which has infected over 80,000 people and killed more than 2,900 in the country as of Tuesday.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics is due to publish first quarter GDP growth data in mid-April, with combined industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment data for January and February due next week.
They will offer a clearer picture of how much the coronavirus epidemic has damaged China’s growth in the first two months of this quarter, although the damage it has caused in China and the rest of the world is hard to measure because the epidemic is still evolving.
Production among manufacturing companies across China, except in the virus epicentre of Wuhan, Hubei province, have been gradually returned to normal, with firms that have close ties to local governments and access to financial resources resuming production faster than the much larger number of small businesses.
Chinese diaspora fights coronavirus discrimination in the US
The latest data from China’s industry ministry showed that only 32.8 per cent of
had restarted production as of the middle of last week, an increase of just 3.2 percentage points from three days earlier. But even among the larger enterprises the government is trying to help, many are not running at full capacity due to disrupted logistics that have impeded the delivery of raw materials to factories and finished products to customers.
A shortage of workers due to travel barriers erected to stem the spread of the virus, or local regulations that prevent factories from resuming full operations until they have implemented sufficient health safeguards, are also hampering efforts.
Foxconn, which assembles most of Apple’s iPhones in China, said normal production is not expected to resume until the end of March.
China, though, has limited its economic aide policies to “targeted” fiscal and monetary moves, avoiding the massive stimulus it undertook in 2008 in response to the global financial crisis that led to the negative side-effects of high debt and unproductive investments.
[China] will be cautious about the scale of any intervention. The size of the stimulus will likely depend on how quickly economic activity recovers on its own Andy Rothman
Andy Rothman, a San Francisco-based strategist for investment fund Matthews Asia and a long-time watcher of the Chinese economy, said China will report a sharp fall in economic activity in the first quarter and that it “is prepared to implement a stimulus”.
“But [China] will be cautious about the scale of any intervention. The size of the stimulus
will likely depend on how quickly economic activity recovers on its own,” Rothman said.
China’s ruling Communist Party has never reported a contraction in
economic growth since the country started the reform and opening up movement in 1978.
Even in 1990, when China was hit by Western sanctions following the crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy movement, the country still reported an annual growth of 3.8 per cent.
The larger-than-expected fiscal and monetary policy stimulus will help make meeting the targets for 2020 less challengingLiu Li-Gang
In the history of quarterly GDP growth rates – China started to report such data in 1994 going back to 1992 – the lowest growth rate on record of 6.0 per cent was in the third and fourth quarters of 2019.
The most recent year that China admitted to an economic contraction was 1976, the final year of the Culture Revolution and the year when chairman Mao Zedong died.
Liu Li-Gang, the chief China economist for Citigroup Global Markets Asia in Hong Kong, said Beijing has the policy reserves to keep economic growth on track, including increasing the fiscal deficit and loosening monetary policy.
“The lower GDP growth [in the first quarter] means that larger fiscal and monetary policy easing will be needed,” Liu said. “The larger-than-expected fiscal and monetary policy stimulus will help make meeting the targets for 2020 less challenging.”
Source: SCMP
Posted in 1976, Apple, Asia economics, Beijing, chairman Mao Zedong, China’s economy, Citigroup Global Markets Asia, coronavirus, Cultural Revolution, Culture Revolution, Deng Xiaoping, East Asian Institute, first time, Foxconn, Hong Kong, Hyundai, iPhones, Italy, Japan, Manufacturing, manufacturing companies, national bureau of statistics, National People’s Congress, National University Singapore, President Xi Jinping, purchasing managers’ indices, rest of the world, services sectors, shrink, since, South Korea, trading partners, Uncategorized |
Leave a Comment »
02/03/2020
BEIJING (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of ethnic Uighurs were moved to work in conditions suggestive of “forced labor” in factories across China supplying 83 global brands, and Australian think tank said in a report released on Sunday.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) report, which cited government documents and local media reports, identified a network of at least 27 factories in nine Chinese provinces where more than 80,000 Uighurs from the western region of Xinjiang have been transferred.
“Under conditions that strongly suggest forced labor, Uighurs are working in factories that are in the supply chains of at least 83 well-known global brands in the technology, clothing and automotive sectors, including Apple, BMW, Gap, Huawei, Nike, Samsung, Sony and Volkswagen,” the think-tank said in the introduction to its report.
The ASPI report said the transfers of labor were part of a state-sponsored program.
It says the workers “lead a harsh, segregated life,” are forbidden to practice religion, and are required to participate in mandarin language classes.
It also says the Uighurs are tracked electronically and restricted from returning to Xinjiang.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Monday said reports the government had violated the Uighurs’ rights were untrue.
“This report is just following along with the U.S. anti-China forces that try to smear China’s anti-terrorism measures in Xinjiang,” spokesman Zhao Lijian at a regular press briefing on Monday.
The United Nations estimates over a million Muslim Uighurs have been detained in camps in Xinjiang over recent years as part of a wide-reaching campaign by Chinese officials to stamp out terrorism.
The mass detentions have provoked a backlash from rights groups and foreign governments, which say the arbitrary nature of the detentions violates human rights.
China has denied the camps violate the rights of Uighurs and say they are designed to stamp out terrorism and provide vocational skills.
“Those studying in vocational centers have all graduated and are employed with the help of our government,” said the Foreign Ministry’s Zhao, “They now live a happy life.”
The 83 global brands mentioned in ASPI’s report either work directly with the factories or source materials from the factories, it said, citing public supplier lists and the factories’ own information.
One of the factories, O-Film Technology Co Ltd, which has manufactured cameras for Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) iPhones, received 700 Uighur laborers as part of the program in 2017, a local media article cited by the report said.
Apple referred Reuters to an earlier statement that said “Apple is dedicated to ensuring that everyone in our supply chain is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. We have not seen this report but we work closely with all our suppliers to ensure our high standards are upheld.”
The other companies mentioned in the introduction to ASPI’s report – BMW (BMWG.DE), Gap Inc (GPS.N) , Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Nike Inc (NKE.N), Samsung and Sony Corp (6758.T) did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
O-Film Technology did not respond to a request for a comment either.
Volkswagen told Reuters in a statement that none of the listed companies is a direct supplier. It said the company holds “direct authority” in all parts of its business and “respects minorities, employee representation and social and labor standards.”
The report said a small number of the brands, including Abercrombie & Fitch Co [ANF.N], advised vendors to terminate their relationships with these companies in 2020, and others denied direct contractual relationships with the suppliers.
ASPI describes itself as an independent think-tank whose core aim is to provide insight for the Australian government on matters of defense, security and strategic policy.
Source: Reuters
Posted in Abercrombie & Fitch Co [ANF.N], Apple, Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O), Australian government, Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), automotive, BMW, BMW (BMWG.DE), China, China’s Foreign Ministry, clothing, gap, Gap Inc (GPS.N), global brands, Huawei, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, iPhones, Labor, Nike, Nike Inc (NKE.N), O-Film Technology Co Ltd, Reuters, Samsung, Sony, Sony Corp (6758.T), Technology, Uighur, Uncategorized, United Nations, Volkswagen, Xinjiang |
Leave a Comment »
28/02/2020
- Tennessee academic Hu was arrested on Thursday and charged with three counts of wire fraud and three counts of making false statements
- The Justice Department said Hu hid his link to the Peking University while taking funding from the US space agency
Peking University in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua
US authorities on Thursday charged a professor at a university in Tennessee with fraud and false statements, saying he hid his link to a Chinese institution while taking funding from Nasa.
In the latest case related to US efforts to halt alleged unauthorised technology transfers to China, the Justice Department said Anming Hu hid his ties to Peking University of Technology while he taught and did research at University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
The indictment said that from 2016, Hu “engaged in a scheme to defraud the National Aeronautics and Space Administration” (Nasa) by hiding his affiliation with the Peking University.
“Federal law prohibits Nasa from using appropriated funds on projects in collaboration with China or Chinese universities,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
Hu was arrested on Thursday and charged with three counts of wire fraud and three counts of making false statements.
The wire fraud charges bring up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 each; the false statement counts each bring a maximum five years in prison.
Chinese man pleads guilty to photographing US Navy base
The case was brought by the national security division of the Justice Department, which has taken aim over the past year at a number of Chinese nationals for allegedly stealing industrial and other secrets to boost China’s economy and defence sectors.
“This is just the latest case involving professors or researchers concealing their affiliations with China from their American employers and the US government. We will not tolerate it,” said John Demers, the assistant attorney general for national security.
US charges Harvard chemistry chair with lying about China ties
Washington says Beijing both pressures and incentivises its nationals to bring back proprietary technology from the US.
Among those arrested for allegedly supporting Beijing’s illicit technology acquisition efforts is the chairman of Harvard University’s chemistry and chemical biology department.
Charles Lieber allegedly hid from Harvard and US authorities payments of $50,000 a month for his personal needs and $1.5 million in lab funding from a Chinese university.
Source: SCMP
Posted in academic, acquisition, Anming Hu, Beijing’s, charged, China, Harvard, hiding, illicit, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration” (Nasa), Peking University, Technology, Tennessee, ties, Uncategorized, US professor, US space agency |
Leave a Comment »
28/02/2020
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The German economy may miss growth forecasts this year as the coronavirus epidemic hits demand as well as supply in China, the country’s central bank governor, Jens Weidmann, said on Friday.
Weidmann joined a number of European Central Bank policymakers in saying it was too early to gauge the economic fallout of coronavirus, but he acknowledged the Bundesbank’s prediction of a 0.6% GDP expansion this year, which had already been halved from the previous forecast, may be out of date.
“All in all, economic growth this year could come in slightly lower than our experts estimated in December,” Weidmann said.
China is Germany’s top source of imports and its third-largest export market.
Investors were ramping up expectations for an ECB rate cut as soon as June on fears that coronavirus, now spreading to a number of European countries, could tip the world economy into recession.
Speaking in Brussels, Lithuania’s central bank governor, Vitas Vasiliauskas, said he did not expect ECB policymakers to take any action when they met on March 12, but that they could call an emergency meeting if needed.
Weidmann merely acknowledged that the latest events were lengthening the odds on a rate increase, previously expected for 2022. But he said the ECB should “not lose sight of the exit” from its ultra-easy policy of massive bond purchases and negative rates.
“The Governing Council must not lose sight of the exit from loose monetary policy,” he said. “For the very loose monetary policy is also associated with risks and side effects.”
He also criticised the notion of raising the ECB’s inflation target, saying its current formulation as a rate of price growth “below but close to 2%” was “understandable, forward-looking and realistic”.
Source: Reuters
Posted in Brussels, Bundesbank, China, coronavirus, economy, European Central Bank, forecasts, German, growth, miss, Uncategorized |
Leave a Comment »
26/02/2020
- Around two thirds of the total number of flights scheduled every day in February were cancelled, placing huge financial pressure on airlines and airports
- China’s aviation industry has also been affected by a series of restrictions by other countries and airlines, with British Airways extending its suspension until mid-April
The cancellation of around 10,000 flights a day, or around two thirds of the total number of flights scheduled every day in February, has placed huge financial pressure on airlines and airports. Photo: Kyodo
A one-way air ticket from the coastal economic hub of Shanghai to the inland municipality of Chongqing, a journey of over 1,400km (870 miles), now costs less than a cup of coffee, with Chinese airlines slashing prices in a bid to boost weak domestic demand amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The cancellation of around 10,000 flights a day, or around two thirds of the total number of flights scheduled every day in February, has placed huge financial pressure on airlines and airports.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China said in a notice on Tuesday that flights should resume gradually as part of the country’s efforts to return economic and social life back to normal, but passengers are still reluctant to fly with the deadly outbreak still not fully under control.
The one-way flight from Shanghai to Chongqing is being offered for just 29 yuan (US$4.10) by China’s biggest low-cost carrier, Spring Airlines, as a special offer for its frequent flyer club members, while a tall caffe latte at Starbucks in China costs 32 yuan (US$4.5).
Many Chinese carriers do receive subsidies for operating key domestic routes, so this also skews the economics as well Luya You
A one-way ticket from Shanghai to Harbin, the capital of the northern Heilongjiang province, a distance of over 1,600km (994 miles), costs just 69 yuan (US$9.80).
Shenzhen Airlines, a division of state-owned carrier Air China, is also running special offers to Chongqing, with a one-way ticket for the 1000km (621 miles) journey from Shenzhen costing just 100 yuan (US$14), around 5 per cent of the standard price of 1,940 yuan (US$276).
Chengdu Airlines, a unit of Sichuan Airlines, which counts China Southern Airlines as a shareholder, is also offering cheap one-way flights from Shenzhen to Chengdu, a distance of over 1,300km (808 miles), for just 100 yuan.
“Considering lower average costs of operating in mainland China, carriers could potentially offer deeper discounts while making slim profits or just breaking even,” said Luya You, an aviation analyst with Bank of Communication International. “As outbreak numbers stabilise or even decline, carriers will likely adjust their fares as well, so these low fares will not last if the situation quickly turns for the better.
“Many Chinese carriers do receive subsidies for operating key domestic routes, so this also skews the economics as well. If it is a key route, for example, the carrier may choose to continue operating regardless of fares or loads as the route constitutes a major link in the domestic network infrastructure.”
China’s aviation authority confirmed earlier this month that between January 25 and February 14, which included the Lunar New Year holiday, the average daily passenger traffic in China was just 470,000, representing a 75 per cent drop from the same period last year.
China’s aviation industry has also been affected by a series of restrictions by other countries and airlines, with British Airways last week extending its suspension of flights to China until after the Easter holiday in mid-April following travel advice from the British government.
The
novel coronavirus, which causes the disease officially named Covid-19, has infected more than 78,000 people and killed 2,700 in China. In recent days, South Korea, Italy and Iran have all reported a surge in new cases, raising fears over the spread of the coronavirus.
“The flight suspensions will track the outbreaks, but not likely lead them. If there are more outbreaks, expect more flight suspensions,” said Andrew Charlton, managing director of Aviation Advocacy.
Source: SCMP
Posted in Air China, airlines, airports, amid, Aviation Advocacy, aviation authority, aviation industry, Bank of Communication International, British Airways, caffe latte, Chengdu, Chengdu Airlines, China, China Southern Airlines, China’s airlines, Chongqing, coronavirus, COVID-19, Easter holiday, frequent flyer club members, Harbin, Heilongjiang province, industry, iran, Italy, Lunar New Year holiday, Mainland China, novel coronavirus, offer, outbreak, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Shenzhen Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, South Korea, Spring Airlines, starbucks, struggles, Uncategorized, US$4 |
Leave a Comment »
24/02/2020
- State-owned carrier’s chief says it wouldn’t be ‘morally acceptable’ to stop flying to the country, and it will stand with its ‘Chinese brothers and sisters’
- Dozens of airlines have cancelled or reduced services to the nation amid the virus outbreak, including two East African rivals
Ethiopian Airlines says it will continue flying to China. The routes are among its most profitable. Photo: Shutterstock
Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest and most profitable carrier, will continue flying to China despite growing pressure for it to suspend services to the country as
.
Dozens of airlines around the globe have cancelled or reduced their services to cities in the world’s second-largest economy amid fears over the outbreak. Its East African rivals Kenya Airways and RwandAir have both suspended flights to China until the outbreak is contained.
But Ethiopian Airlines chief executive Tewolde GebreMariam said the carrier would not abandon the routes, which are among its most profitable.
Tewolde told media over the weekend that the airline had been flying to China since 1973 and it would not be ethical to suspend flights to the country.
“It will not be morally acceptable to stop flying to China today because they have a temporary problem,” he said, adding that the airline would stand with its “Chinese brothers and sisters”.
His remarks came days after Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta put pressure on the Ethiopian government – which wholly owns Ethiopian Airlines – to halt flights to China, citing the need to curb the spread of the virus into the East African region.
Global coronavirus deaths equal Sars, while new infections drop
The airline has bucked a trend that has seen major airlines – from the United States to Europe and Asia – staying away from Chinese airspace as governments around the world move to keep the deadly virus from their borders. The pneumonia-like illness has so far
in mainland China since the outbreak began in Wuhan in December, with cases reported in more than 20 other countries worldwide.
Speaking during a visit to Washington last week, Kenyatta – who is keen to court both China and the US – insisted that Kenya’s decision to suspend flights from Guangzhou to Nairobi was not political.
He said most African countries had weak health systems that would make it harder to handle the outbreak, so preventing its spread – even if through extreme measures such as grounding flights – was the only option.
“Our worry as a country is not that China cannot manage the disease. Our biggest worry is diseases coming into areas with weaker health systems like ours,” Kenyatta said while addressing members of US think tank the Atlantic Council.
Vaccine for new coronavirus unlikely to be ready before outbreak is over, says Sars expert
But Ethiopian Airlines said it would continue flying to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Hong Kong and was taking measures to protect staff and passengers. Ethiopia receives about 1,500 visitors from mainland China every day.
According to Tewolde, if the airline halted its Chinese services, China and Africa would be completely disconnected.
“No one in Ethiopian Airlines would like to see this,” he said. “We have to take maximum precautions, but stopping flights is not one of them.”
He added: “Even if we stop flying, people will continue to come to Ethiopia through Singapore, Malaysia, Europe. The transmission of the disease will be dangerously hidden … British Airways stopped flying to China for its economic reasons. But Chinese carriers are flying to the UK.”
Chinese cities keen to get back to work but coronavirus concerns grow as workers return
In a separate statement, the carrier said China was “one of the strongest and one of the oldest markets for Ethiopian Airlines”.
“We have been connecting the great Chinese nation with the entire continent of African for almost half a century and it is our growth strategy,” the airline said, adding that it would continue operating in the five cities in compliance with international aviation and health guidelines.
Aside from seeking to shore up revenues, analysts noted that the airline was under tight state control, and Ethiopia would be reluctant to do anything that might harm its strong bilateral ties with China.
Ethiopia is among the nations on the continent with the highest number of Chinese immigrants. Most of them are workers involved in the construction of infrastructure projects including ports, railways, dams, bridges and malls. Those projects have been financed with billions of dollars in loans from China – Ethiopia is reportedly among the biggest recipients of Chinese lending in Africa.
Last year, China was forced to restructure Ethiopia’s debt after the latter edged closer to defaulting on a loan from Beijing for its standard gauge railway.
Chinese hotel workers arrested in Kenya after caning video prompts demands for action
Ethiopia, Algeria, Angola, Nigeria and Zambia together accounted for nearly 60 per cent of all Chinese workers on the continent at the end of 2017, according to a study by Johns Hopkins University.
Ethiopia is also a major recipient of direct foreign investment from China.
Source: SCMP
Posted in africa, Algeria, Angola, Asia, Atlantic Council, Beijing, bow, British Airways, Chengdu, China, coronavirus, direct foreign investment, East African, Ethiopian Airlines, Europe, Guangzhou, halt flights, Hong Kong, Kenya Airways, Kenyan president, Mainland China, Malaysia, Nigeria, pressure, refuses, rivals, SARs, Shanghai, Singapore, Uhuru Kenyatta, Uncategorized, United States, Zambia |
Leave a Comment »
24/02/2020
- An insect-killing fungus has been turned into a mass-produced biopesticide that will face its biggest challenge in East Africa
- Current swarm has put 13m people at risk of famine and this will be the first large-scale test of its effectiveness
Young locusts in Somalia, where the fungus will be used to try to kill them. Photo: AP
Chinese factories are producing thousands of tonnes of a “green zombie fungus” to help fight the swarms of locusts in East Africa.
Metarhizium is a genus of fungi with nearly 50 species – some genetically modified – that is used as a biological insecticide because its roots drill through the insects’ hard exoskeleton and gradually poisons them.
In China it was named lu jiang jun, which means green zombie fungus, because it gradually turns its victims in a green mossy lump.
There are now dozens of factories across the country dedicated to producing its spores and despite the curbs introduced to stop the spread of Covid-19, many of them have resumed operations and are shipping thousands of tonnes to Africa.
Plague fears as massive East Africa locust outbreak spreads
These factories are set up in a similar way to breweries, growing the spores on rice which is kept in carefully controlled conditions to ensure the correct temperature and humidity.
Each plant can produce thousands of tonnes of fungi powder per year, each gram of which contains tens of billions of spores.
“I am sending off a truckload right now. Our stock is running out,” said the marketing manager of a production plant in Jiangxi province. “Some customers need it urgently. They need it to kill the locusts.”
The need is particularly pressing in East Africa at the moment, where abnormally high levels of rainfall during the dry season allowed hundreds of billions of locusts to hatch in recent months.
So far the swarms have devastated crops in countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda and are moving on to neighbouring countries.
Up to 13 million people face the risk of famine in East Africa. Photo: AFP
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned the situation could be the “worst in decades” and the resulting famine may affect 13 million people and cause international food prices to soar.
Last week, Science magazine reported that the Somalian government, working with the FAO, was preparing to a metarhizium species that only kills locusts and grasshoppers in what it described as the largest ever use of biopesticides against the insects.
Scientists do not believe that the fungus will be enough to solve the problem – monitoring the outbreak and targeting their breeding grounds will be more important in the long-run – but if it proves effective it could be an important weapon to target future outbreaks.
It will take time to gauge the effectiveness, partly because each fungus will take several days to take effect and partly because of the sheer scale of the challenge; a single swarm in Kenya was estimated to contain between 100 billion and 200 billion locusts.
By fair means or fowl: how Chinese herdsmen are planning to stop a locust invasion
The locusts have also swept eastward into the Middle East, travelling up to 150km (90 miles) a day, and are moving closer to China now that they have now reached some of its neighbours, including India and Pakistan.
At present China’s agriculture ministry believes some locusts may follow the monsoon into the country but “the chances of them causing damage is very small”.
Most scientists agree the swarms will not have lasting effect on food production but say developing countries can tap into China’s cutting-edge anti-locust technology.
Radar stations have been set up all the way along China’s western and southern borders to detect possible clouds of locusts, while unmanned devices lure the insects into traps to collect data about their species population and size.
A locust being eaten inside out by the metarhizium fungi. Photo: Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Maryland
The data is streamed to the ministry’s programme command, which is responsible for the planning and coordination of the national efforts to prevent an outbreak.
The scientists also said that planes loaded with biological and chemical sprays were standing by.
Today, most locust outbreaks happen in developing countries that do not have advanced monitoring networks and some of them are unable to produce pesticides on a mass scale, according to Li Hu, an associate professor with the China Agricultural University in Beijing.
The Chinese locust treatment technologies were highly advanced, and usually cheaper than competing solutions from the West, he said.
Chinese researchers are now working with colleagues in other countries to help them solve the problem.
One disadvantage of the Chinese research is that it is mostly focused on local species, or the East Asia migratory locust. The desert locusts currently swarming East Africa have different genes and behaviour, and Li warned that some methods that work in China might not work elsewhere.
A giant indoor farm in China is breeding 6 billion cockroaches a year. Here’s why
There were some sightings of the species reported in Yunnan and Tibet in the past, but they did not build up to large colonies, Professor Kang Le, lead scientist of the locust research programme with the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, told China Science Daily last week.
The vast west China region of Xinjiang, which shares a border with eight countries, is currently too cold for a locust migration, but once temperatures start to rise in the spring it could see locusts swarming across the border with Afghanistan.
Shi Wangpeng, a senior government locust expert, told China Business Network on Sunday that China should be on high alert because many Afghan farms had already been affected.
“These areas share a long border with us, there are almost no barriers,” he was quoted as saying by the Shanghai-based magazine.
China has a long and bitter history of locust swarms, with more than 840 being recorded in the official records over the past 2,700 years.
One famine, in the year 628 was so devastating that even the Tang dynasty emperor Taizong was reported to have run short of food and resorted to eating the insects to survive.
China has a long and bitter history of locust swarms. Photo: AFP
This, in turn, means that China’s rulers have long been looking for innovative ways to solve the problem
In the past farmers tried remedies such as building huge fires, burying the insects in ditches or trying to kill them with sticks.
In one campaign organised by prime minister Yao Chong in 715, the farms collected 9 million sacks of dead locusts and managed to save a significant proportion of their crops, according to historic text.
In more recent times more sophisticated technologies have been deployed to tackle the menace.
Some researchers have spent decades chasing locust colonies and studying their individual and collective behaviour everywhere from coastal areas to inland deserts, and in 2014 Chinese scientists released the world’s most comprehensive genetic map of locusts.
Researchers have also developed chemical agents that can disorient swarms of locusts and disperse them.
Chinese scientists first became interested in the green zombie’s potential in the 1980s after discovering that South Pacific islanders had been using them to kill insects on coconut trees.
Research by US scientists confirmed its effectiveness in the 1990s and the Chinese started importing the fungus from the United States and Britain.
Their experiments led to the development of newer and deadlier strains and mass production started in the past decade.
Other fungi or bacteria can be used to fight locusts, and some laboratories are working with agricultural technology companies to modify their genes to turn them into more deadly or precise killers.
One genetically engineered species of microsporidia, another type of insect-killing fungus, for instance, can generate three times as many as the spores to those produced by nature species, according to a document from the China Association of Agricultural Science Societies last year.
While it remains to be seen whether the current swarms will reach China, these treatments have been effective in the past and there has not been a locust outbreak in China for a decade.
Source: SCMP
Posted in Afghan farms, Afghanistan, Agriculture ministry, Beijing, Britain, China Agricultural University, China Association of Agricultural Science Societies, China Business Network, China Science Daily, China’s, Chinese Academy of Sciences, cockroaches, coconut trees, desert locusts, different genes and behaviour, East Africa’s, East Asia migratory locust, Ethiopia, famine, fighting, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), green zombie fungus, hold ke, hold key, India, insect-killing fungus, Institute of Zoology, Jiangxi Province, Kenya, locust treatment technologies, locusts, mass-produced biopesticide, microsporidia, Middle East, monsoon, Pakistan, Plague fears, Radar stations, Science, Somalia, South Pacific islanders, swarms, Taizong, Tang dynasty emperor, Tibet, Uganda, Uncategorized, United States, Xinjiang, Yunnan |
Leave a Comment »
24/02/2020
- Power-sharing agreement between rebel leader Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir gives hope to ending the conflict
- Beijing has invested tens of millions of dollars in the country’s oilfields and sent more than 1,000 peacekeeping troops there
Rebel leader Riek Machar (left) and President Salva Kiir greet each other after the swearing-in ceremony at the State House in Juba on Saturday. Photo: AP
Beijing has welcomed “encouraging developments” in the South Sudan peace process after rebel leader Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir agreed to form a transitional coalition government.
Machar, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO) leader, was among four vice-presidents sworn in on Saturday in the capital, Juba, in a power-sharing deal that gives hope to ending the more than six years of conflict which has killed some 400,000 people and displaced millions more.
“The Chinese side commends and welcomes these encouraging developments, especially the crucial consensus reached between President Kiir and Machar,” the Chinese embassy in Juba said in a statement.
Stability in South Sudan is important for China, which has invested tens of millions of dollars in the country’s oilfields as it seeks to meet energy needs at home. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) owns a 41 per cent stake in South Sudan’s largest oil consortium, Dar Petroleum Operating Company, while Sinopec, another Chinese state-owned firm, holds a 6 per cent stake.
Stability in South Sudan is important for China, which has major investments in the country’s oilfields. Photo: Reuters
China has also sent more than 1,000 troops to the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, and has not followed the United States and other Western nations in imposing sanctions on leading political and military figures.
“We trust that the relevant parties of South Sudan will resolve the remaining issues in the spirit of mutual trust and understanding, and start a new chapter in the history of South Sudan,” the embassy statement added.
China has offered to help rebuild the country, promising to supply a unified security force that is supposed to be formed from the rival factions as part of the peace process. It has also helped to set up military camps to accommodate both government troops and members of the armed opposition.
Since the peace deal was signed between Kiir and rebel factions in September 2018, China said it had provided diplomatic and other support to military camps and training centres including 1,500 tonnes of rice, 2,500 tents, 50,000 blankets and 1,440 boxes of medicine.
Riek Machar (right) is sworn in as the first vice-president of South Sudan. Photo: AFP
Machar was sworn in as the first vice-president alongside three others – James Wani Igga, Taban Deng Gai and Rebecca Nyandeng. Gai, a former ally of Machar who switched to the government side, was recently sanctioned by the US over serious human rights abuses. Nyandeng is the widow of John Garang, who led a long struggle for independence from Sudan before he died in a helicopter crash in 2005.
“I have forgiven my brother Riek Machar. I also ask for his forgiveness and I also forgive all those who still are holding out on this peace agreement,” Kiir said at a ceremony at the State House attended by regional leaders and diplomats.
After the swearing-in, Machar vowed to work together to end the suffering of South Sudanese.
“I reiterate my commitment to work closely with President Kiir to implement the agreement in letter and spirit,” Machar said.
From Angola to Zambia, China’s African partners brace for coronavirus blow to trade
The South Sudanese have seen more war than peace since the East African nation – whose oilfields contribute about 98 per cent of the government’s revenue – seceded from the Republic of Sudan in 2011. Kiir and Machar formed the independent government but disagreements followed, leading to Machar’s sacking, sparking a bloody war along ethnic lines.
They again agreed to work together in 2015, but the deal fell apart a year later following renewed fighting. After international pressure and peace talks, a new deal was signed in September 2018, but Kiir and Machar have had to push back two deadlines to form the coalition government as they could not agree on issues such as having a unified army and the number of states – highly contentious since it affects the control of oil-rich regions. Machar also wanted his security assured.
On Thursday, Kiir said he had agreed to abolish the 32 states he created in 2015 and revert to the original 10 states.
According to a report released last week on China’s approach to UN peacekeeping in the region, Beijing had used its “economic leverage” in South Sudan.
“China has used its leverage to encourage the government and the opposition parties to negotiate, to come to an agreement, and to implement the ceasefire agreements,” said the report by the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. “It has reportedly used its economic leverage by signalling that it would be unable to renew and expand its support to the South Sudanese government and the economy as long as the fighting was ongoing.”
Africa is a test lab for how China approaches international security and peacekeeping
South Sudan had also provided an opportunity for Chinese soldiers to put their skills to the test on overseas missions and during armed conflict.
“South Sudan became a real-world laboratory [for China] to test the boundaries of its non-interference principle,” the report said.
Obert Hodzi, an international relations lecturer at the University of Liverpool in England, also said earlier that it was a way for China’s military to get the combat experience it needed.
“South Sudan provides ample opportunities for different segments of the Chinese army to practise, test their equipment and ability to conduct successful missions abroad,” Hodzi said.
Source: SCMP
Posted in africa, Angola, ‘encouraging developments’, Beijing, China, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Dar Petroleum Operating Company, England, form, oilfields, peacekeeping troops, Republic of Sudan, rivals, Sinopec, Uncategorized, United Nations’ peacekeeping mission, unity governmen, University of Liverpool, welcomes, Zambia |
Leave a Comment »
24/02/2020
AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) – Donald Trump was cheered by more than 100,000 Indians at the opening of the world’s largest cricket stadium on Monday, promising “an incredible trade deal” and “the most feared military equipment on the planet” at his biggest rally abroad.
Indians wore cardboard Trump masks and “Namaste Trump” hats to welcome the U.S. president at the huge new Motera stadium in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s own political homeland, the western city of Ahmedabad.
Modi, a nationalist who won re-election last year and has shifted his country firmly to the right with policies that his critics decry as authoritarian and ethnically divisive, touts his relationship with Trump as proof of his own global standing.
U.S. officials have described Trump’s visit as a way to counter China’s rise as a superpower.
“You have done a great honour to our country. We will remember you forever, from this day onwards India will always hold a special place in our hearts,” Trump said to thunderous applause.
India is one of the few big countries in world where Trump’s personal approval rating is above 50%. It has built up ties with the United States in recent years as Washington’s relationship has become strained with India’s foe Pakistan.
“As we continue to build our defence cooperation, the United States looks forward to providing India with some of the best and most feared military equipment on the planet,” Trump said.
Trump said the two countries will sign deals on Tuesday to sell military helicopters worth $3 billion and that the United States must become the premier defence partner of India, which relied on Russian equipment during the Cold War. Reuters reported earlier that India has cleared the purchase of 24 helicopters from Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) worth $2.6 billion.
But in a sign of the underlying political tensions in India, violent protests broke out in Delhi – where Trump is due on Tuesday – over a new citizenship law that critics say discriminates against Muslims and is a further attempt to undermine the secular foundations of India’s democracy.
Vehicles were set on fire in the eastern part of Delhi, metal barricades torn down, and thick smoke billowed through the air as thousands of those who are supporting the new law clashed with those opposing it.
In his speech Trump extolled India’s rise as a stable and prosperous democracy as one of the achievements of the century. “You have done it as a tolerant country. And you have done it as a great, free country,” he said.
Trump planned to raise the issue of religious freedoms in India with Modi, an administration official said last week.
VERY BIG DEALS
In Ahmedabad, Modi embraced Trump as he stepped off Air Force One, along with his wife, Melania.
Folk dancers carrying colourful umbrellas danced alongside the red carpet as drummers, trumpeters and other musicians performed at the airport to welcome Trump and the U.S. delegation. Crowds lined the route along his cavalcade, many taking pictures on their phones.
The two sides did not manage to hammer out a trade deal ahead of the visit, with differences remaining over agriculture, medical devices, digital trade and proposed new tariffs. Trump said he was going to discuss economic ties with Modi, describing him as a tough negotiator.
“We will be making very, very major, among the biggest ever made, trade deals. We are in the early stages of discussion for an incredible trade agreement to reduce barriers of investment between the United States and India,” he said.
“And I am optimistic that working together, the prime minister and I can reach a fantastic deal that’s good and even great for both of our countries – except that he is a very tough negotiator.”
Modi, who has built a personal rapport with Trump, is pulling out the stops for the president although prospects for even a limited trade deal during the visit are seen as slim.
“There is so much that we share, shared values and ideals … shared opportunities and challenges, shared hopes and aspirations,” said Modi at the rally.
Trump, who faces his own re-election campaign this year, has frequently praised Modi for his crowd-pulling power.
Last year, Trump held a “Howdy Modi” rally with Modi in Houston, drawing 50,000 people, mainly Indian Americans. At the time, Trump likened Modi to Elvis Presley as a draw for crowds.
Later, Trump and his entourage which includes daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner flew to Agra to see the Taj Mahal at sunset. Children lined the route cheering and waving flags as his convoy drove past.
Trump and Melania posed for pictures at the Taj, the 17th century monument to love. “It’s incredible,” he told reporters.
Source: Reuters
Posted in 'Namaste Trump', 17th century, Agra, agriculture, Ahmedabad, Air Force One, “Howdy Modi”, digital trade, Donald Trump, Elvis Presley, India, Indian Americans, Indians, Ivanka, Jared Kushner, medical devices, Melania, monument to love, Motera stadium, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s, religious freedoms, Taj Mahal, tariffs, Uncategorized, United States, world’s largest cricket stadium |
Leave a Comment »
23/02/2020
- An extended Lunar New Year holiday provides people from the self-ruled island with the opportunity to rethink their careers as the death toll from the deadly infection continues to rise
- Online poll finds 63 per cent of Taiwanese unwilling to return to mainland China over health concerns
Many Taiwanese are opting not to return to their jobs in mainland China because of the coronavirus epidemic. Photo: EPA-EFE
Taiwanese account manager Douglas Liu values his life more than his job, which is why he will be staying at home on Monday rather than going back to work in the mainland China city of Suzhou.
Liu returned to his home in Taipei on January 10 for an extended Lunar New Year
holiday – and to vote in the island’s presidential election – and planned to go back to work on February 1. But as the
coronavirus epidemic worsened, the 45-year-old changed his plans.
“Last week, my company told me I should resume work on February 24, but after I argued in vain over the risk of returning to Suzhou, I tendered my resignation,” he said. “After all, my life is more important.”
Liu works for a firm that manufactures chest freezers for the mainland Chinese market.
“With more than 80 coronavirus infections in Suzhou and little sign of it subsiding, who knows what could happen to me if I return,” he said.
More than 78,700 people have contracted the virus since it was first detected in Wuhan, the capital of central China’s Hubei province, at the end of last year, and close to 2,500 have lost their lives to it.
As of Saturday, about 98 per cent of the infections and 99 per cent of the fatalities were in mainland China, two figures that have prompted many Taiwanese to rethink their employment plans.
According to a survey conducted last week by online recruitment agency 104 Job Bank, 63 per cent of Taiwanese with jobs on the mainland said they would not be returning to work after the extended Lunar New holiday. Before Wuhan was placed under lockdown on January 23 in a bid to contain the coronavirus outbreak, the figure was just 50 per cent.
“The intensification of the outbreak has created panic and insecurity for Taiwanese who work in mainland China and the lockdown of many cities has further discouraged them from returning to their jobs,” said Jason Chin, a senior vice-president at the recruitment agency.
Wuhan has been on lockdown since January 23. Photo: Reuters
Dozens of cities across China have introduced some form of restriction on the movement of residents, and several remain under total lockdown.
Chin said that the containment efforts had made it impossible for many companies to resume normal operations and provided a catalyst for Taiwanese workers to seek employment elsewhere.
“Taiwanese often to change jobs after the Lunar New Year, so the mainland government’s policy of delaying the resumption of regular business activities has given them more time to look for work outside mainland China,” he said.
Shannon Chiu is another Taiwanese who decided to call time on the mainland because of the coronavirus outbreak.
After two years working for an agricultural technology company in Zhengzhou, the capital of central China’s Henan province, she said she already had concerns about the standards of health care there.
“Being sick in Zhengzhou is a nightmare for Taiwanese because of the poor organisation and registration procedures,” she said.
“You either have to wait hours to see a doctor or go hospital-hopping in the hope of getting an appointment somewhere else.”
Chiu said she was still working in Zhengzhou after the outbreak had been reported in Wuhan – about 500km (310 miles) to the south – but no one in the city was wearing a face mask.
“I was lucky because I came back to Taiwan a week before the lockdown and my company allowed me to continue working from Taipei,” she said.
“Although I no longer enjoy the expatriate benefits, I feel a lot safer here because I don’t think I would survive if I was put in a mainland hospital because of Covid-19.”
Source: SCMP
Posted in agricultural technology company, call time, chest freezers, coronavirus, COVID-19, Fears, Henan province, Lunar New Year holiday, Mainland China, Mainland Chinese, manufactures, market, Suzhou, Taiwanese, Uncategorized, workers, Wuhan, Zhengzhou |
Leave a Comment »
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 