Another indication of China’s industry going up-stream.
02/03/2013
* China targets 15 pc of satellite launch market
SCMP: “China is looking to increase its share of the global commercial satellite launching business, targeting a 15 per cent share by 2020.
China has just 3 per cent of the market now, but the goal laid out on Saturday by a leading space programme official points to its ambitions to be a major player in space.
The deputy head of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, Liang Xiaohong, told the official Xinhua News Agency that China hopes to accomplish that by establishing strategic alliances with major launch services providers and satellite manufacturers, along with developing its own technology.
China’s main competition in the launch market comes from Europe and the US
Liang said China’s first solid-fuel rocket that could be launched on short notice would make its first flight by 2016.”
via China targets 15 pc of satellite launch market | South China Morning Post.
01/03/2013
* China’s billionaires on rise
China Daily: “China has had more billionaires created by its stock markets this year than in the United States – 212 compared with 211 – a new survey revealed on Thursday.
According to the latest Hurun Global Rich List 2013, there were 1,453 people in the world with personal wealth of $1 billion or more at the end of January.
Another significant sign of more wealth being created in the East came with figures showing Asia was home to the highest number of billionaires, with 608, followed by 440 from North America and 324 from Europe, said Hurun researchers.
Among individual countries, the US and the Greater China area dominated with 408 and 357 respectively, followed by Russia, Germany and India.
Between them, the US and China now have half of all billionaires on the planet.
Moscow, with 76 billionaires, is the billionaire capital of the world, followed by New York, Hong Kong, Beijing and London, according to the report.
Mexican telecom czar Carlos Slim, 73, was ranked as the “Richest Man on the Planet” with a personal fortune of $66 billion, followed by US investor Warren Buffett with $58 billion in wealth.
Founder of fashion brand Zara, Amancio Ortega of Spain, shoots into the top three with $55 billion in wealth.
Real estate, telecommunications, media, technology and retail were the most common sources of wealth, the report added.”
via China’s billionaires on rise |Economy |chinadaily.com.cn.
01/03/2013
* Hurun rich list stirs Chinese zodiac discussion
English: The carvings with Chinese Zodiac on the ceiling of the gate to Kushida Shrine in Fukuoka ) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
SCMP: “The publication of the Hurun Global Rich List 2013, which revealed the top 10 wealthiest Chinese billionaires, on Thursday has triggered discussion among Chinese netizens about the Chinese zodiac signs of the rich.
The dragon is the most common zodiac sign among the billionaires, followed by the horse, said a post by China’s Global Times.
Commenting on the list of billionaires, one netizen wrote, “Chinese officials must be laughing at this so-called ‘rich list’.”
Others chimed in with comments on Chinese zodiac signs. “Dragons are born with a kind of self-confidence. They are destined to play a strong role,” one said.
Another claimed, “I will give birth to a ‘dragon baby’ and a ‘horse baby’!”
A third wrote, “Global Times, mind your own business.”
The report, compiled by the Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute, showed that Hong Kong entrepreneurs make up the majority of the list, followed by those from Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
The top industry sector favoured by the Chinese billionaires on the list is real estate, followed by manufacturing, finance and investment, and information technology.”
via Hurun rich list stirs Chinese zodiac discussion | South China Morning Post.
Related articles
- Chinese Zodiac (katherinegoh.com)
01/03/2013
* Returning overseas students on the rise
China Daily: “China has seen a surge in the number of students returning to the country after studying overseas, the Ministry of Education said on Thursday.
English: Zhang Yesui(Chinese Ambassador to the United States), his wife and Chinese overseas student in America 中文: 张业遂（中国驻美大使）夫妇与中国留学生 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
More than 272,000 people returned last year, 86,700 more than in 2011, a 46 percent increase, according to the authority.
At the same time, 399,600 students went abroad, up 17.65 percent.
The country is actively encouraging students to return home after studying overseas, Zhang Xiuqin, director of the Ministry of Education’s department of international cooperation and exchanges, said at a news conference on Thursday.
“The ministry holds entrepreneur competitions and encourages enterprises to hire talent from overseas,” she said. “The ultimate goal is to attract more and avoid a brain drain, which is a global problem.”
According to the ministry, of the 2.64 million students who have gone abroad since 1978, 1.09 million — about two-fifths — have returned.
However, Zhang said the number of returnees has risen year-on-year.
The latest annual report on the development of Chinese studying abroad, which was compiled by the Center for China and Globalization and Mycos, an independent consulting firm, said that in 2011 the return rate reached 36.5 percent.
The report found that more overseas students are willing to return. The top two reasons are more economic opportunities and career development.”
via Returning overseas students on the rise |Society |chinadaily.com.cn.
Related articles
- Fewer Chinese overseas students staying abroad (wantchinatimes.com)
01/03/2013
* China plans bond overhaul to fund $6 trillion urbanization
Reuters: “China plans major bond market reform to raise the money the ruling Communist Party needs for a 40 trillion yuan ($6.4 trillion) urbanization program to buoy economic growth and close a chasm between the country’s urban rich and rural poor.
The Party aims to bring 400 million people to cities over the next decade as the new leadership of president-in-waiting Xi Jinping and premier-designate Li Keqiang seek to turn China into a wealthy world power with economic growth generated by an affluent consumer class.
The urban development would be funded by a major expansion of bond markets, sources with leadership ties, and a senior executive at one of China’s “Big Four” state banks, who was formerly at the central bank, told Reuters.
“The urbanization drive will push the domestic capital market liberalization agenda,” the senior bank executive said on condition of anonymity. “Urbanization is Li Keqiang’s big project. He has to get it right and he is willing to pursue innovation to make it a success.”
Set to be confirmed as premier at the end of the annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, which opens next week, Li must find ways to pay for the urban development that he has made a policy priority.
Central and local governments, as well as bank loans, will fund the costs, the sources said. But, sweeping reforms to create a fully-functioning municipal bond market, boost corporate and high-yield bond issuance and actively steer foreign capital into the sector, are crucial to raising the sums of money China will need, they added.
Despite its ranking as the second-largest economy globally after three decades of stellar growth, China remains an aspiring middle-income country riven with inequality and dependent on state-backed investment.
“If we continue to walk down the path of government spending, it’ll be like wearing new shoes, but walking the old road,” a source with leadership ties said, requesting anonymity to avoid repercussions for speaking to foreign media without authorization.”
via Exclusive: China plans bond overhaul to fund $6 trillion urbanization – sources | Reuters.
28/02/2013
* A Silicon Valley Campus with Chinese Characteristics
Reuters: “Like most of China’s high-tech manufacturers, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. is located in an outsized and relatively isolated technology park.
But unlike the bulk of China’s electronics manufacturers, which set up cramped dormitories and massive dining facilities to manage legions of workers who come to do basic assembly, SMIC’s campus is actually pleasant.
Located within walking distance of its production facilities, apartment buildings in SMIC’s residential zone are brightly painted and framed by well-manicured trees. A short stroll across a canal leads to an area populated by villas that seem more suited to an American Sun Belt suburb than a technology park in Shanghai’s Pudong district.”
via A Silicon Valley Campus with Chinese Characteristics – China Real Time Report – WSJ.
Related articles
- Asia, Give Up On The Dream Of Being Silicon Valley (techinasia.com)
28/02/2013
* China nears approval of $16 billion domestic jet-engine plan
Xinhua: “China’s cabinet may soon approve an aircraft engine development program that will require investment of at least 100 billion yuan ($16 billion), state-run Xinhua news agency quoted unidentified industry sources as saying.
China is determined to reduce its dependency on foreign companies like Boeing Co (BA.N), EADS-owned Airbus (EAD.PA), General Electric Co (GE.N) and Rolls Royce Plc (RR.L) for the country’s soaring demand for planes and engines.
So far the domestic aerospace industry has failed to build a reliable, high-performance jet engine to end its dependence on Russian and Western makers for equipping its military and commercial aircraft.
Xinhua on Thursday quoted an unidentified professor at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) with knowledge of the project as saying the investment would be used mainly for research on technology, designs and materials related to aircraft engine manufacturing.
The project was going through approval procedures in the State Council and may be approved shortly, the professor was quoted as saying.
Participants in the project include Shenyang Liming Aero-Engine Group Corp, AVIC Xi’an Aero-Engine (Group) Ltd (600893.SS) and research institutes including the BUAA, Xinhua reported.
Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the country’s dominant military and commercial aviation contractor, had lobbied the government to back a multi-billion dollar plan to build a high-performance jet engine.”
via China nears approval of $16 billion domestic jet-engine plan: Xinhua | Reuters.
Related articles
- * China’s jumbo air freighter test flight a success (chindia-alert.org)
28/02/2013
* New top diplomats in China signal focus on U.S., Japan, North Korea
Reuters: “China is signaling that it is keen to get on top of troubled ties with the United States, Japan and North Korea with the likely appointment of two officials with deep experience of these countries to its top diplomatic posts.
Current Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, ambassador to Washington from 2001-2005 and a polished English speaker, is tipped to be promoted to state councilor with responsibility for foreign policy, three independent sources said. China has only five such councilors and the post is senior to that of foreign minister.
Yang, 62, will likely be replaced as foreign minister by Wang Yi, China’s ambassador to Japan from 2004 to 2007 and a one-time pointman on North Korea. Both will be appointed during March’s annual full session of parliament, the sources said.
“Yang Jiechi will be in the driving seat, he knows a lot about Sino-U.S. relations,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a China expert at Hong Kong Baptist University.
“China-Japan is high on the list (too) … With Shinzo Abe and the LDP back in the saddle in Tokyo, I’m sure they’re a bit concerned about the right wing twists of domestic politics and Japanese foreign policy as well.””
via New top diplomats in China signal focus on U.S., Japan, North Korea | Reuters.
27/02/2013
* Chinese Intellectuals Urge Ratification of Rights Treaty
NYT: “More than 100 Chinese scholars, journalists, lawyers and writers urged their national legislature on Tuesday to ratify a major human rights treaty, in the latest challenge from intellectuals seeking to curtail arbitrary Communist Party power.
Flag of the Chinese Communist Party (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The petition calling on the party-controlled National People’s Congress to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights came a week before the congress holds its annual full session, which is to install Xi Jinping as China’s president, succeeding Hu Jintao.
Copies of the document appeared on Chinese blogging Web sites and Internet forums, but were often often removed and quickly reappeared. It was unclear whether government censors demanded the removals.
The proposal “was originally intended for a Thursday release through a prominent Chinese newspaper,” David Bandurski, a researcher at the China Media Project of Hong Kong University, wrote in a comment on a translation of the petition. “Authorities, however, learned of the letter by late Monday and the authors had no choice but to release it to the public” on Tuesday, Mr. Bandurski wrote, citing unnamed sources.
Ratification of the treaty would “promote and realize the principles of a country based on human rights and a China governed by its Constitution,” the petition said. “We fear that due to the lack of nurturing of human rights and absence of fundamental reverence and assurances for individuals’ freedom, rights and dignity, if a full-scale crisis breaks out, the whole society will collapse into hatred and brutality.”
The call, also circulated by e-mail, carried the names of 121 backers, including several who said they lived in Hong Kong or Macau.
The petition was the latest display of the demands for political change confronting China’s new leadership. Several people who signed it said they hoped to press Mr. Xi and his colleagues to live up to vows of greater respect for the rule of law and citizens’ rights that Mr. Xi and other officials have made since he became Communist Party leader in November, when Mr. Hu retired from that post.”
via Chinese Intellectuals Urge Ratification of Rights Treaty – NYTimes.com.
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 