Posts tagged ‘New Zealand’

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09/06/2015

China Headlines: How is the Chinese Dream changing the world? – Xinhua | English.news.cn

On the way toward the renaissance of its ancient glory, China is inspiring its people and the world with a new concept: the Chinese Dream.

Put forward by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, in November 2012, the Chinese Dream of Great Renewal has not only struck a chord with the Chinese people, but been, believe it or not, changing the world.

PROFOUND CHANGES IN CHINA, WORLD

The ancient Chinese civilization had a broad influence on the world. Now China is “coming back” as it is reemerging as a great power.

For this reason, many people began to read “Xi Jinping: The Governance of China”, a book that outlines the full political ideas of the top Chinese leadership.

Xi’s book has sold 4.5 million copies worldwide, with an overseas circulation of some 400,000, a record for any Chinese leader’s publication in nearly four decades.

It is becoming increasingly easy to pin down a definition of the Chinese Dream. On cabs and billboards, the Chinese Dream is described as “a prosperous country, a revitalized nation and a happy people”.

The Dream is also elaborated on as “two centenary goals” — to double the 2010GDPand per capita income of urban and rural residents and complete the building of a moderately prosperous society by 2020; and to build a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious by the middle of this century.

If the development plan comes true, it will be one of the most earth-shaking developments since the First Opium War (1840-1842), not only for China but also for global history.

In a report published last year, London-based advertising company WPP said the Chinese Dream “enjoys a much higher level of awareness than the American Dream or British Dream.”

DREAMS OF 1.3 BILLION PEOPLE

China’s population outnumbers that of theUnited States, theEuropean UnionandJapancombined, accounting for about one fifth of the world’s total.

It is unprecedented in the history of human civilization for a country of such a scale to rejuvenate.

The Chinese Dream is the dream for every Chinese individual. In the Three Gorges reservoir region in central China’s Hubei Province, 35-year-old farmer Zhou Xingliang’s dream is quite ordinary: he wants his son to grow up healthy and go to a good college, and for he and his wife to be able to take good care of their parents.

Several hundred kilometers away, in Danjiangkou City, chicken farmer Tan Yong has different aspirations. Dreaming of inventing, the 44-year-old man made a two-tonne submarine with a red star painted on the cabin door. The sub can dive 10 meters below the water surface.

For the entrepreneurial Cantonese Zhang Qinwei, his dream of a “gold rush” in Dubai came true. In 12 years, Zhang expanded his business from a four-square meter shop to a wholesale mall of Chinese products.

As president of the Guangdong Chamber of Commerce in the United Arab Emirates, Zhang now dreams of helping more Chinese companies do businesses there.

via China Headlines: How is the Chinese Dream changing the world? – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

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02/04/2015

India says will shake up trade tariffs to compete globally | Reuters

India plans to pull its tariff regime closer in line with global norms to prepare for new regional trade pacts being negotiated by advanced economies, the government said on Wednesday.

A man walks past steel rims and parked cars at a dock yard at Mumbai Port Trust in Mumbai November 17, 2014. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade/Files

India has not been invited to join pacts such as the U.S.-led 12 country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and is “not in a position to join,” partly because its tariffs are not competitive, a top official said at the unveiling of a new five year trade policy.

“If the country is to stand up to these agreements, it’s important that we start to address these issues,” Trade Secretary Rajeev Kher said, adding that India’s access to markets was likely to erode when such pacts take effect.

Kher said India needed lower tariffs for intermediate goods to help it further integrate with global supply chains, and that these industries would have to come more competitive. He did not give more details.

Regional trade pacts are being promoted by advanced economies after years of failure to negotiate a global agreement under the World Trade Organisation.

via India says will shake up trade tariffs to compete globally | Reuters.

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08/06/2014

China Wants America’s Milk, and U.S. Dairy Exports Benefit – Businessweek

Increased demand for dairy products around the world, particularly in China, is doing for U.S. farmers what decades of farm policy could not: sell off all the milk their cows can produce at record-high prices.

Hunter Haven Dairy Farm in Pearl City, Ill.

The good fortune of U.S. dairy farmers is due to exploding demand from an emerging global middle class, but also to misfortunes elsewhere. In China, domestic dairy has been hampered by production problems and lingering distrust among consumers about safety. In New Zealand, the global leader in dairy exports, a 2013 drought reduced the country’s ability to meet foreign customers’ needs. In the first quarter of 2014, the value of U.S. dairy exports grew 39 percent.

“China buying has been through the roof,” says Alan Levitt, spokesman for the U.S. Dairy Export Council. “We shifted from a period of structural oversupply to structural undersupply.” Exports have been rising steadily during the past decade, but they surged in the past year—evidence that the U.S. can be a viable player in the global dairy market.

via China Wants America’s Milk, and U.S. Dairy Exports Benefit – Businessweek.

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22/05/2014

China’s Bright Food to buy control of Israel’s largest food company | Reuters

China’s Bright Food Group Co Ltd SHMNGA.UL said on Thursday it has signed a preliminary agreement to buy 56 percent of Israel’s largest food company Tnuva from private equity firm ApaxAPAX.UL, extending a string of overseas acquisitions.

bright foods

bright foods (Photo credit: Runs With Scissors)

A spokesman for Bright Food did not disclose how much it has agreed to pay, but Israeli news websites reported late on Wednesday the deal valued all of Tnuva, a specialist dairy produce supplier, at 8.6 billion shekels ($2.5 billion).

When Apax and Israeli investment company Mivtach Shamir Holdings Ltd (MISH.TA) acquired control of Tnuva in 2008, the company was valued at $989 million in total.

“Israel is a country with highly developed agriculture and animal husbandry techniques. Tnuva, as Israel’s largest food company, has a long history and various products and large market share,” the Bright Food spokesman said in a text message sent to Reuters.

Shanghai-based Bright Food has not yet reached an agreement with Israeli investment company Mivtach Shamir Holdings Ltd (MISH.TA), which owns 21 percent of Tnuva, the Calcalist website said. A group of kibbutzim, or cooperative farms, own the rest of Tnuva.

In January Bright Food bought Australian dairy company Mundella Foods. It previously bought Australia’s Manassen Foods, which supplies food brands to Australian retailers, and New Zealand’s Synlait Milk Ltd (SML.NZ).

via China’s Bright Food to buy control of Israel’s largest food company | Reuters.

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Posted in acquisition, China alert, Economics, food shortage, Foreign acquisition | 3 Comments »

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11/05/2014

Study: Happiness, Money Matter Most to Indians – India Real Time – WSJ

Happiness matters most to the average Indian. At the same time, the average Indian care more about their pay than most do in South Asia. In fact, Indians care more about their paycheck than people in the U.S. or Europe.

Those findings, recently released by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, was based on a survey of more than 60,000 people about their quality of life. Respondents were asked to rank 11 categories – from income and job satisfaction to personal health and safety – in order of what mattered most to them.

Life satisfaction, or happiness, OECD found, was most important to people world-over. More than 75% of those surveyed reported more positive experiences in a day over negative experiences. Respondents from Iceland, Japan and New Zealand felt the most positive, while those in Greece and Turkey showed the lowest levels of happiness.

Personal health was second-most important concern. China, Canada, France and Australia were among countries that ranked personal health as most important to them, even over happiness, safety and a stable income.

World-over, civic engagement, or greater participation in public policies, occupied a lowly position in rankings. Fewer than two-fifths of those surveyed said they trusted their national governments — but also said fixing the state of affairs in their country wasn’t a priority.

The world’s biggest-ever election is underway in India, for instance, yet the nearly 600 Indians OCED surveyed, ranked civic engagement, or greater participation in public policies, as least-important to them.

India’s South Asian neighbors — China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – were no different. Civic engagement was least-important to people across the four countries. Respondents in each of these countries differed about what mattered most to them.

While Indians and Chinese picked happiness and health care, respectively, respondents from Pakistan named safety as their top concern. Education mattered the most to people in Sri Lanka.

via Study: Happiness, Money Matter Most to Indians – India Real Time – WSJ.

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24/04/2014

Chinese Travelers Breathe New Life Into Australian Tourism – China Real Time Report – WSJ

Chinese investors, done splurging on Australia’s once-booming mining industry, are sniffing around the country’s tourism market in search of bargains.

As Ross Kelly and Rebecca Thurlow report:

Their arrival promises to give a new lease of life to dilapidated resorts and properties stretching from Queensland state on the eastern coast to rural Western Australia.

Many investors are betting on an explosion in tourism Down Under, particularly from China—where people from the country’s expanding middle class are increasingly choosing to spend their holidays in countries that are considered exotic. Although Australia remains a relatively expensive destination, more Chinese are attracted each year to the country’s sunny beaches and unusual wildlife.

Sensing an opportunity, Chinese investors have begun snapping up hotels across the country at an unprecedented rate. They’re also weighing into casinos, a popular hangout for Chinese travelers, as well as experimenting with more offbeat attractions such as a China-themed amusement park.

…

Tourist arrivals in Australia surged by 10% in the 12 months through February, helped in part by a sudden pullback in the Australian dollar last year from historic highs. The number of Chinese traveling to Australia touched a record 748,000 people in the same period—up 16% from a year earlier, according to government figures.

If the current pace of growth in tourism continues, China may soon surpass neighbor New Zealand as Australia’s primary source of visitors, brokerage Commonwealth Securities predicts. Chinese visitors are already spending more in Australia than travelers from any other country, government data show.

via Chinese Travelers Breathe New Life Into Australian Tourism – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

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06/12/2013

Afghanistan, North Korea, and Somalia Are the World’s Most Corrupt Countries, With China in the Middle – Businessweek

So which countries are the most graft-ridden? According to Berlin-based Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index for 2013, Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia are tied for that dubious distinction.

The global corruption-fighting organization notes that more than two-thirds of the 177 countries surveyed scored below 50. That’s on a scale from zero, or perceived to be highly corrupt, to 100, or perceived to be very clean. (The three worst countries all got an 8, and Ukraine, now racked by protests, got a measly 25). “The abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world,” says Transparency’s Dec. 3 press release for the index.

Denmark and New Zealand tied for first place, each with a squeaky clean rating of 91. Both countries topped of the rankings last year, too, each with 90; Finland, which last year also got a 90, slipped by one point, tying with Sweden for a close second place this year.

via Afghanistan, North Korea, and Somalia Are the World’s Most Corrupt Countries, With China in the Middle – Businessweek.

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