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

13/12/2013

Beijing to buy new buses to clear city smog: media | Reuters

China\’s capital Beijing, regularly shrouded in hazardous air pollution, plans to replace its oil-burning buses with greener models by 2017 to help clear the smog, state news agency Xinhua said.

Residents wearing masks ride their electric bicycles on a street amid heavy haze in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province December 5, 2013. REUTERS/China Daily

Nearly 14,000 new buses powered by electricity or natural gas will be bought to replace two-thirds of Beijing\’s bus fleet and halve carbon emissions, Xinhua said on Thursday, citing the city\’s environment and transportation authorities.

Air pollution in Beijing hit unprecedented levels in January when an index measuring particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) shot up to a staggering 755 – 38 times the level recommended by the World Health Organisation.

China\’s worsening air quality is a result of it chasing economic growth at all cost in the past 30 years, a pursuit that turned it into the world\’s second-biggest economy, but which also poisoned much of its air, water and soil.

Rising public concern over the health dangers of China\’s air pollution has worried its stability-obsessed leaders, who fear the issue may become a rallying point for wider dissatisfaction.

China has adopted an emergency response program to try to reduce the pollution, including alternating days for cars with odd and even license plates to be on the road and closing schools when the smog is particularly heavy.

via Beijing to buy new buses to clear city smog: media | Reuters.

Posted in Affluence, carbon emission, China alert, Climate change, Ecology, Economics, Environment, Green, greenhouse gas, Pollution, Transport | Leave a Comment »

Tags: air pollution, Beijing, China, Particulates, pollution, World Health Organization

13/12/2013

Nanjing Massacre memorials to be held |Society |chinadaily.com.cn

A man is pictured in front of a wall at the memorial hall of the victims in Nanjing massacre by Japanese invaders in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Dec 12, 2013. Nanjing Massacre memorials to be held

NANJING – A series of memorials will be held on Thursday and Friday in the city of Nanjing to mark the 76th anniversary of a massacre that claimed the lives of 300,000 Chinese civilians and disarmed soldiers.

Nanjing witnessed mass murder, genocide and war rape following the Japanese capture of the city in December 13, 1937, during World War II.

Memorial events will include a candlelight vigil, a prayer assembly for peace, as well as press conferences and seminars, according to Zhu Chengshan, curator of the Nanjing Massacre Hall.

As part of this year\’s event, a report on protection of survivors\’ oral histories of the atrocity will be presented and a Sino-U.S. collaborative project on oral history studies will be announced, Zhu announced.

\”This is about expressing sorrow for those perished, and more importantly reminding people to remember history and to cherish peace,\” he said.

Meanwhile, two survivors, 82-year-old Wang Jin and 89-year-old Cen Honggui, will leave for Japan to attend Nanjing Massacre testimony gatherings on invitation from Japanese non-governmental organizations.

Held every year since August, 1994, this activity has seen a total of 47 Chine

via Nanjing Massacre memorials to be held |Society |chinadaily.com.cn.

Posted in China alert, Defence, Foreign invasion, History, Justice, Military, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Japan, Jiangsu, Nanjing, Nanjing Massacre, Nanking Massacre, World War II

13/12/2013

Apple’s Deals With Top Carriers in Japan, China May Spur iPhone Sales – Businessweek

As Apple (AAPL) and Samsung (005930:KS) rumble for leadership in the global smartphone market, the Korean electronics giant has enjoyed a big advantage. In China and Japan, Asia’s two biggest economies, Samsung had deals with the No. 1 mobile operators to sell its handsets—and Apple didn’t. Despite years of trying, the maker of the iPhone couldn’t win over China Mobile (941:HK) or Japan’s NTT Docomo (9437:JP). The two carriers have 821 million customers combined.

An Apple Store in Beijing

Apple’s Asia handicap may soon be a thing of the past. In Japan, Docomo began offering the iPhone in September. Meanwhile, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook’s shuttle diplomacy may be about to bear fruit in China. Although iPhones don’t work on China Mobile’s homegrown 3G standard, they do on the LTE technology the operator plans to use for its 4G service, which it will likely roll out by early 2014.

The timing of Apple’s breakthroughs in Japan and China is no coincidence. Because of their longtime dominance in their home markets, neither China Mobile nor Docomo felt the need to make concessions to offer the iPhone. Yet smaller rivals, such as China Unicom and SoftBank (9984:JP), that have inked deals with Apple are capitalizing on the iPhone’s popularity to woo customers.

via Apple’s Deals With Top Carriers in Japan, China May Spur iPhone Sales – Businessweek.

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

Tags: Apple, Asia, China, China and Japan, China Mobile, IPhone, Japan, LTE, Samsung

13/12/2013

How Do You Say ‘Gym Rat’ in Chinese? – Businessweek

Yang Lei’s tight black T-shirt shows off his admirably bulging biceps. The chiseled 29-year-old is the head personal trainer at the Beijing Hujialou branch of Impulse Fitness, one of China’s top three fitness chains. A floor of weight machines and a lap pool—the latter surrounded by white marble columns—occupy the basement level of an upscale new residential complex. In recent years, as Chinese fitness chains have sought ways to transform working out from a niche interest to a mainstream pursuit in the world’s most populous country, it’s become increasingly common for gym franchises to strike deals with residential developers. “More people are starting to put health on their list of top priorities,” says Yang.

Personal trainer assisting and correcting a client during a fitball stretching exercise Category:Fitness Category:Fitness_training Category:Personal_training (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When Yang was born in 1984, commercial gyms were all but unheard of in China. The first domestic and international fitness chains began to make slow inroads in the 1990s. By the time Yang graduated from high school in the early 2000s, it seemed a logical choice to enroll at Tianjin Physical Education University to study for a new profession in China: becoming a full-time personal trainer. In wealthy cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, it’s now a fairly lucrative gig. Trainers typically charge between $35 and $200 an hour—fees that they split with club management. Of course, hustling also is part of the job. As Yang puts it, “A coach is not only a coach, but a salesperson.”

Finding clients has become much easier in China’s leading metropolises as more young professionals hit the gym. Lawrence Fang, a 31-year-old journalist in Beijing, goes to the gym three times a week, alternating yoga and weightlifting, and says his aims are “health and trying to look good.” He Ping, a 35-year-old engineer, works out with a personal trainer in Beijing for 250 renminbi ($40) an hour because “a good instructor will help me form good habits.” And a petite 32-year-old reporter, who declined to give her name, says she started hitting the gym regularly a few years ago after her foreign boyfriend teased her for “only getting exercise in bed.” All three said the most important factor in choosing a gym was convenience—ideally a location next to their home or office.

via How Do You Say ‘Gym Rat’ in Chinese? – Businessweek.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Health, Social & cultural | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, Fitness, Gym, health, Personal trainer, Physical fitness, Shanghai

13/12/2013

Guess What? The U.S. and China Don’t Trust Each Other Much – Businessweek

And the Chinese trust Americans even less. That’s the conclusion of the U.S.-China Security Perceptions Survey (PDF) released on Dec. 11 by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Beijing-based research organization China Strategic Culture Promotion Association (CSCPA). “There is a low level of strategic trust between the United States and China, which could make bilateral relations more turbulent,” warns the survey.

A tourist wearing a face mask visits Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Nov. 23

Working with the Pew Research Center and the Research Center for Contemporary China at Peking University, as well as the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Carnegie-CSCPA survey canvassed the general public and elites in government, business, academia, the military, and the media last year. In the U.S., it surveyed 1,004 adults among the general public and 305 elites. In China, it canvassed 2,597 adults in urban areas and 358 elites.

The tendency among the general public to label the other country an outright enemy was encouragingly low; only 15 percent of Americans and 12 percent of Chinese believe that. Notable, however, was the comparative lack of trust shown by Chinese elites, with 27 percent viewing the U.S. as a foe, compared with just 2 percent of American elites saying that about China.

via Guess What? The U.S. and China Don’t Trust Each Other Much – Businessweek.

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

Tags: Beijing, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, China, China Strategic Culture Promotion Association, Chinese elites, CSCPA, Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, Peking University, Pew Research Center, Security Perceptions Survey, the United States and China, United States, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

13/12/2013

Could a Shanghai Exodus Be in the Air? – China Real Time Report – WSJ

China’s effort to turn Shanghai into a global financial center came under a cloud this month—or, rather, under a choking blanket of smog that has affluent residents talking about bolting.

English: Shanghai Smog (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As Wei Gu writes in this week’s The People’s Money column:

China’s pollution problem is spreading and growing worse, a fact on stark display last week in Shanghai, the country’s financial center. A stretch of filthy-air days in that coastal city so thoroughly shocked residents—who had largely escaped the smog that has long plagued the likes of Beijing and Harbin—that it inspired fresh talk about getting away from China.

Over the past century, migration has almost always been driven by a desire to get ahead. But today more affluent Chinese are talking about accepting a climb-down on the career ladder and a less-exciting lifestyle in exchange for cleaner air, safer food and a different education system.

via Could a Shanghai Exodus Be in the Air? – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Posted in Affluence, carbon emission, China alert, Ecology, Economics, emigration, Environment, greenhouse gas, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, Chinese language, financial center, global financial center, Harbin, Renminbi, Shanghai, Shanghai Smog, Smog

13/12/2013

China Says Pilot Should Be Able to Land in Low Visibility, Battling High Traffic and Pollution – China Real Time Report – WSJ

If you want to fly in China, you need to be able to land in the smog.

China’s civil aviation regulator has set new rules mandating senior airline pilots operating on major routes into Beijing’s airport be certified to land aircraft under very low visibility, a move to help ease the nation’s worsening air traffic bottlenecks amid often heavy pollution.

China’s major airlines say they have been giving pilots additional training to comply with the new rules, which take effect Jan. 1, according to the carriers and state media.

The decision comes amid worsening pollution across China cities that at times is affecting commercial airline traffic. Last week, thick smog enveloped Shanghai and parts of eastern China, cutting visibility in the city of Nanjing to less than 50 meters and resulting in many flight delays and cancellations.

Thick smog impacting visibility has also caused cancellations and delays at Beijing Capital International Airport, the nation’s busiest and worst in terms of on-time performance, with only 45% of flights departing on time in November, according to travel industry monitor FlightStats.

Depending on weather conditions and runway infrastructure, modern jetliners have sophisticated instruments to help them land in little or no visibility, such as foggy conditions. Pilots, though, need additional certification to perform such approaches, which usually don’t compromise safety. Airlines have varying rules on minimum visibility levels acceptable for landing, though low-visibility landings are frequently done by major airlines in the West.

The special certification for pilots to make low-visibility landings, a common international requirement, applies to situations where visibility drops to 350 meters or less.

via China Says Pilot Should Be Able to Land in Low Visibility, Battling High Traffic and Pollution – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, Ecology, Economics, Environment, greenhouse gas, Pollution, Weather forecast | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Airline, airline pilots, Beijing, Beijing Capital International Airport, China, Civil Aviation Administration of China, Eastern China, FlightStats, major airlines, minimum visibility, Nanjing, Shanghai

13/12/2013

China Takes Aim at Officials’ Housing Perks – China Real Time Report – WSJ

The Chinese Communist Party’s latest reform effort begins at home.

On Wednesday, the Central Committee for Discipline Inspection announced a new set of regulations, outlining a reform of the residence system through which high-ranking officials were taking further advantage of special perks they already enjoyed as a benefit of their positions.

A Chinese national flag flutters at a construction site for a new residence complex in Beijing. Reuters

The People’s Daily paraded out the same admonitions–along with some others about the public conduct of cadres generally–on its front page the following day, lending even more authority to the initiative.

Historically, Chinese officials have been granted access to government residences and offices while serving, and some have enjoyed the same benefits even after they have retired. As the policy-making bureaucracy has grown over the years, many officials have been housed outside of government compounds, and their workspaces put in special, secured areas. In some instances, local governments have bought up prime real estate to build residential complexes for officials to work and live in the same location. Others who worked in the bureaucracy were granted permission to reside in apartments underwritten by government funds.

But there have been problems.

For example, it is widely known in party circles that some officials were renting their government-financed residences to private tenants and then pocketing the proceeds. These “remote officials” were not only supplementing their salaries by such practices, but also often residing in housing provided by local businessmen, who then sought political favors in exchange for that high-end lodging.

The new rules call for an end to such practices, especially where senior cadres are concerned.

via China Takes Aim at Officials’ Housing Perks – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, corruption, Social & cultural | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, Central Committee for Discipline Inspection, China, chinese communist party, Chinese national flag, Chinese officials, communist party of china, Flag of China, high-ranking officials

11/12/2013

India and China Move Ahead in the Asian Space Race – Businessweek

It’s been a rough year for the government of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Economic growth has cratered and the currency has wobbled. The Hindu nationalist party just clobbered Singh’s Congress Party in state-level elections and opposition leader Narendra Modi is the favorite to replace Singh in nationwide elections in the first half of 2014.

Engineers working on the Mars orbiter at the Indian Space Research Organization in Bangalore

Amid all the gloom, Singh and the rest of India just received some much-needed good news. The country has an ambitious program to explore space, and today the government-run mission control announced that India’s first mission to Mars had cleared a major obstacle on its way to the Red Planet. The Mars Orbiter, informally dubbed the Mangalyaan, successfully carried out its first Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM), the Indian Space Research Organization said on its official website. That keeps the Mangalyaan on track to reach Mars by September next year.

India’s Mars probe (PDF) is the country’s entry in an Asian space race; for those of you keeping score, the Indians win points for aiming farthest. Japan in September launched the Epsilon rocket, designed to be an inexpensive way to put satellites into earth orbit. China is shooting for the moon, having launched its first lunar rover mission on Dec. 2. South Korea in January launched its first space rocket and last month unveiled plans for a lunar mission (albeit one that won’t launch until 2020).

via India and China Move Ahead in the Asian Space Race – Businessweek.

Posted in Aerospace, China alert, Chindia Alert, Economics, GeoPolitics, India alert, Politics, Technology | 1 Comment »

Tags: China, Comparison of Asian national space programs, congress party, Hindu nationalist party, India, India’s, indian prime minister manmohan singh, Indian Space Research Organisation, Indian Space Research Organization, Mangalyaan, manmohan singh, Mars, mission to Mars, Narendra Modi

11/12/2013

China Explores Smoking Ban in Effort to Reduce Tobacco-Related Deaths – China Real Time Report – WSJ

Chinese officials are exploring ways to curb smoking as deaths mount and medical costs rise, an effort that has generated one proposal to take apart the nation’s vast and politically connected government-run tobacco monopoly.

Within the next year, China’s legislators will accelerate efforts to enact a national regulation banning smoking in public places in China, said Yang Jie, deputy director of Tobacco Control Office for the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, at a news briefing on tobacco-related health problems in China. Mr. Yang said China’s State Council, the country’s cabinet, is currently planning the regulation and it is expected to be enacted next year.

“We can see what is happening in the rest of the world,” said Mr. Yang, suggesting that China is due to follow the smoking cessation trends of other countries.

The statement follows the release of a book by China’s Central Party School, an elite Chinese Communist Party think tank, in recent months urging officials to shake up China’s tobacco monopoly, which is responsible for tobacco production and sales and has the freedom to donate to schools and sell cigarette cartons without pictures of black lungs for warnings. Its authors call for higher tobacco taxes, halting government financing to tobacco companies and encouraging them to find alternative business models.

China’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration wasn’t immediately available for comment. The tobacco industry pulled in 865 billion yuan ($142.5 billion) from taxes and profit in 2012, up 16% from a year earlier, according to the State Tobacco administration.

A farmer smokes in a cabbage field in Huaiyuan county, eastern Anhui province. Associated Press

China is the world’s largest consumer and producer of tobacco, home to more than 300 million smokers and 43% of the world’s cigarette production, according to the American Cancer Society and the World Lung Foundation. Tobacco is also a leading cause of death in China, causing 1.2 million deaths annually and expected to cause 3.5 million deaths annually by 2030, the groups said.

Nearly nine out of 10 Chinese children aged 5 and 6 are able to identify at least one cigarette brand, according to a recent study by Johns Hopkins University on the effects of tobacco marketing on children in low- and middle-income countries. “Rather than thinking ‘I’m going to be Superman,’ young boys are aspiring to smoke,” said Bernhard Schwartländer, the World Health Organization’s representative in China.

via China Explores Smoking Ban in Effort to Reduce Tobacco-Related Deaths – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Good news, Social & cultural | 1 Comment »

Tags: American Cancer Society, Central Party School of the Communist Party of China, China, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Tobacco, World Health Organization, World Lung Foundation

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

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

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Beijing to buy new buses to clear city smog: media | Reuters

Nanjing Massacre memorials to be held |Society |chinadaily.com.cn

Apple’s Deals With Top Carriers in Japan, China May Spur iPhone Sales – Businessweek

Guess What? The U.S. and China Don’t Trust Each Other Much – Businessweek

Could a Shanghai Exodus Be in the Air? – China Real Time Report – WSJ

China Says Pilot Should Be Able to Land in Low Visibility, Battling High Traffic and Pollution – China Real Time Report – WSJ

India and China Move Ahead in the Asian Space Race – Businessweek

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