Posts tagged ‘Shanghai’

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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 cl...

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 »

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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

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 »

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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.

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06/12/2013

China cheats on international education rankings.

The release of the 2012 scores from the Program of International Student Assessment, an exam given every three years that tests students around the world, on reading math and science, is going to provoke a lot of hand-wringing in the United States, and for good reason. U.S. students are sliding down the rankings in all three categories and perform lower than the OECD average in math.

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The second wave of coverage is going to be about how East Asian countries are now dominating the rankings. There’s some truth to this narrative too, but also some problems with it.

The three “countries” at the top of the PISA rankings are in fact cities—Shanghai, Singapore, and Hong Kong—as is No. 6, Macau. These are all big cities with great schools by any standards, but comparing them against large, geographically dispersed countries is a little misleading.

Shanghai’s No. 1 spot on the rankings is particularly problematic. Singapore is an independent country, obviously, and Hong Kong and Macau are autonomous regions, but why just Shanghai and not the rest of China?

As Tom Loveless for the Brookings Institution wrote earlier this year, “China has an unusual arrangement with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the organization responsible for PISA.  Other provinces took the 2009 PISA test, but the Chinese government only allowed the release of Shanghai’s scores.”

As you might imagine, conditions in a global financial capital are somewhat different from the rest of China, a country where 66 percent of children still live in rural areas

via China cheats on international education rankings..

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03/12/2013

BBC News – Pisa tests: UK stagnates as Shanghai tops league table

Far be it for me to defend the UK‘s scholastic standards.  But comparing a country’s average against three single cities is a bit unfair!

“The UK is falling behind global rivals in international tests taken by 15-year-olds, failing to make the top 20 in maths, reading and science.

Maths scores

England\’s Education Secretary Michael Gove said since the 1990s, test performances had been \”at best stagnant, at worst declining\”.

Shanghai in China is the top education system in the OECD\’s Pisa tests.

Within the UK, Scotland outperformed England at maths and reading, but Wales is below average in all subjects.

Mr Gove told MPs that his reforms, such as changing the curriculum, school autonomy and directing financial support towards poorer pupils, were designed to prevent schools in England from \”falling further behind\”.

He highlighted the rapid improvements that had been made in countries such as Poland, Germany and Vietnam.

Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt called on Mr Gove to take some responsibility for the lack of progress and said the results showed that collaboration between schools and teachers was more effective than market forces.”

via BBC News – Pisa tests: UK stagnates as Shanghai tops league table.

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01/12/2013

China Poised to Surpass India in Gold Purchases – Businessweek

Yang Cuiyan, a 41-year-old housekeeper from Anhui province, is one reason China is poised to topple India as the world’s top consumer of gold. Standing outside Beijing’s busiest jewelry store, wearing a thick coat against the autumn chill, she clasps a gold necklace that cost her 10,000 yuan ($1,640), or five months’ wages. “I can put it on when I go back home to show everyone that I’m doing well.”

Yang is one of the legions of middle-aged Chinese women, respectfully referred to as aunties, who bought coins and jewelry this year. Gold purchases in the world’s second-largest economy will surge 29 percent in 2013, to a record 1,000 metric tons, according to the median of 13 estimates from analysts, traders, and gold producers in China surveyed by Bloomberg News. China’s purchases of gold climbed 30 percent, to 996.3 tons, in the 12 months through September, while sales in India rose 24 percent, to 977.6 tons, according to the London-based World Gold Council. India was No. 1 in 2012. Each country buys more gold than the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East combined.

Gold’s burnished appeal in China stems in part from a lack of alternative investments. While the MSCI All-Country World Index of equities rose 18 percent this year through Nov. 22, the Shanghai Composite Index slumped 3.2 percent. Policymakers clamped down on property investments in March to cool the housing market, ordering the central bank to raise down-payment requirements for second mortgages in cities with excessive price gains. “In China, you look around and see very few places to put your money,” says Duan Shihua, a partner at Shanghai Leading Investment Management. “With the share market down and the government nudging people away from real estate, gold will remain a favored choice.”

via China Poised to Surpass India in Gold Purchases – Businessweek.

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25/11/2013

China to launch two new carbon trading exchanges | Reuters

China will launch two new pilot carbon trading schemes this week in Beijing and Shanghai as it strives to cut soaring rates of greenhouse gas, reduce choking smog and determine the best system for a nationwide roll-out.

China, the world\’s biggest source of climate-changing carbon emissions, is under domestic pressure from its population to counter air pollution and has pledged to cut the 2005 rate of CO2 emissions per unit of GDP growth by 40-45 percent by 2020.

As U.N.-led climate talks stumbled in Warsaw last week, the country\’s chief negotiator Xie Zhenhua was keen to push the country\’s CO2 cutting credentials, challenging developed nations to match the efforts being made by China to tackle global warming.

The new platforms, which will force industrial firms to buy credits to cover any CO2 they emit above allocated quotas, also underscore Beijing\’s commitment to \”market mechanisms\” to slow emissions growth, in line with an ambitious raft of reforms outlined earlier this month.

\”It is definitely a move in the right direction, but there are concerns about activity — these are pilot schemes and are used as a learning experience, and local governments might not be particularly concerned by volumes,\” said Shawn He, a climate lawyer with the Hualian legal practice in Beijing.

Trading is likely to start slowly as the government treads cautiously and tries to learn lessons from Europe, where an excess of credits has left carbon prices in the doldrums.

Hualian\’s He said there were concerns how effective the pilot schemes would be, as no binding carbon caps would be imposed on enterprises and there were no legal means of forcing them to participate.

via China to launch two new carbon trading exchanges | Reuters.

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

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23/11/2013

Property in China: Haunted housing | The Economist

IN CHINA, property prices can keep going up forever. At least, that is what optimists seem to think. They point out that the country is undergoing the largest urbanisation in history. The throngs of migrants from the countryside all need homes, the argument runs. China’s swelling middle classes, many of whom live in shoddy 1980s housing, are also eagerly moving to fancier flats or McMansions. The result has been a spectacular property boom over the past decade.

At first glance, it seems the good times are still rolling (see chart). During the first three quarters of this year residential sales shot up by 35% versus the same period a year ago. Prices for new homes rose year-on-year in September in 69 of the 70 biggest cities. In Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing prices jumped by more than 20%; in slightly smaller cities, such as Nanjing and Xiamen, they rose by around 15%.

Despite these signs of rude health, even some of China’s biggest property moguls appear to be growing uneasy. Wang Shi, the chairman of China Vanke, the country’s largest residential-property firm by volume, has called the market a bubble. Wang Jianlin, the country’s richest man and the chairman of Dalian Wanda, a property giant turned entertainment firm, acknowledges that parts of the country may be experiencing a property bubble, though he thinks it “controllable”. Li Ka-Shing, a Hong Kong tycoon who has long been bullish on China, has started to sell his mainland holdings.

The problem is not the wealthiest cities with the most vertiginous valuations. Indeed, in those markets prices may yet go higher. People from all over China buy trophy apartments in Shanghai and Beijing, making their markets as resilient as those of Manhattan and central London. In fact, policies aimed at squelching speculation may be artificially suppressing demand in those places.

Shanghai and Shenzhen recently followed Beijing’s lead by requiring that buyers of second homes put up 70% of the purchase price as a deposit. In Beijing, the sale of a second home incurs a 20% capital-gains tax. (This is supposedly a nationwide policy, but is not always enforced in other cities.) Couples with two homes are reportedly divorcing to avoid the tax, since once officially single they can each own a primary residence, and thus sell either one without penalty.

Demand does not look so robust, however, in places like Yingkou Coastal Industrial Base, in north-eastern China. This development was promoted by the local government as a future hub of economic activity, but the future has not yet arrived. There are rows of empty buildings and few people on the streets. Property salesmen claim that big companies ranging from Coca-Cola to PetroChina are building factories nearby. But even Xinhua, an official media outlet, is sceptical: except for street lamps and the occasional passing vehicle, it reported recently, “at night the base was completely dark.”

Many property developments outside the big cities appear to be ghost towns of this sort. Moody’s, a credit-rating agency, laments that a large and rising share of new supply has gone to smaller cities. People’s Daily, another official organ, recently fulminated against the “huge waste of resources” such construction represents. Nonetheless, by the government’s count, 144 cities in 12 provinces are planning 200 new towns.

via Property in China: Haunted housing | The Economist.

Posted in China alert, Construction, debt, Economics, Housing, housing, local government debt, Politics, real estate | Leave a Comment »

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27/09/2013

Big reform plans for China’s newest trade zone set high expectations

Reuters: “China has formally announced detailed plans for a new free-trade zone (FTZ) in Shanghai, touted as the country’s biggest potential economic reform since Deng Xiaoping used a similar zone in Shenzhen to pry open a closed economy to trade in 1978.

The sunrise rises over the skyline of Lujiazui financial district of Pudong in Shanghai September 27, 2013. REUTERS/Aly Song

In an announcement on Friday from the State Council, or cabinet, China said it will open up its largely sheltered services sector to foreign competition in the zone and use it as a testbed for bold financial reforms, including a convertible yuan and liberalized interest rates. Economists consider both areas key levers for restructuring the world’s second-largest economy and putting it on a more sustainable growth path.

No specific timeline was given for implementing any of the reforms, though these should be carried out within 2-3 years, it said, adding financial liberalization may depend on adequate risk controls. Chinese state media have cautioned that dramatic financial reforms are unlikely this year.

An executive at a foreign multinational in Shanghai said his firm was waiting for more clarity. “Is this Shenzen 2.0 heralding the beginning of a new era in trade, or a flash in the pan to simply boost economic confidence?””

via Big reform plans for China’s newest trade zone set high expectations | Reuters.

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23/09/2013

Wealthy Chinese seek US surrogates for second child or green card

SCMP: “Wealthy Chinese are hiring American women to serve as surrogates for their children, creating a small but growing business in $120,000 “designer” American babies for China’s elite.

surrogate.jpg

Surrogacy agencies in China and the United States are catering to wealthy Chinese who want a baby outside the country’s restrictive family planning policies, who are unable to conceive themselves, or who are seeking US citizenship for their children.

Emigration as a family is another draw – US citizens may apply for Green Cards for their parents when they turn 21.

While there is no data on the total number of Chinese who have sought or used US surrogates, agencies in both countries say demand has risen rapidly in the last two years.

Tony Jiang and his three children at his house in Shanghai. Photo: Reuters

US fertility clinics and surrogacy agencies are creating Chinese-language websites and hiring Mandarin speakers.

Boston-based Circle Surrogacy has handled half a dozen Chinese surrogacy cases over the last five years, said president John Weltman.

“I would be surprised if you called me back in four months and that number hadn’t doubled,” he said. “That’s the level of interest we’ve seen this year from China and the very serious conversations we’ve had with people who I think will be joining us in the next three or four months.”

The agency, which handles about 140 surrogacy cases a year, 65 per cent of them for clients outside the United States, is opening an office in California to better serve clients from Asia which has easier flight connections with the West Coast. Weltman said he hopes to hire a representative in Shanghai next year.

The increased interest from Chinese parents has created some cultural tensions.

US agency staff who ask that surrogates and intended parents develop a personal relationship have been surprised by potential Chinese clients who treat surrogacy as a strictly commercial transaction.

In China, where surrogacy is illegal, some clients keep the fact that their baby was born to a surrogate a secret, going so far as to fake a pregnancy, agents say.

Chinese interest in obtaining US citizenship is not new. The 14th Amendment to the US constitution gives anyone born in the United States the right to citizenship.

You can basically make a designer baby nowadays JENNIFER GARCIA

A growing number of pregnant Chinese women travel to America to obtain US citizenship for their children by delivering there, often staying in special homes designed to cater to their needs.

While the numbers are unclear, giving birth in America is now so commonplace that it was the subject of a hit romantic comedy movie, Finding Mr Right, released in China in March.

Overall, the number of Chinese visitors to the United States nearly doubled in recent years, from 1 million in 2010 to 1.8 million last year, US immigration statistics show.

Weltman said that prospective Chinese clients almost always want to choose US citizenship for their babies, while other agencies pointed to a desire to have children educated in the United States.

Some wealthy Chinese say they want a bolt-hole overseas because they fear they will the targets of public or government anger if there were more social unrest in China. There is also a perception that their wealth will be better protected in countries with a stronger rule of law.

At least one Chinese agent promotes surrogacy as a cheaper alternative to America’s EB-5 visa, which requires a minimum investment in a job creating business of $500,000.

While the basic surrogacy package Chinese agencies offer costs between $120,000 and $200,000, “if you add in plane tickets and other expenses, for only $300,000, you get two children and the entire family can emigrate to the US,” said a Shanghai-based agent.

That cost still means the surrogacy alternative is available only to the wealthiest Chinese.”

via Wealthy Chinese seek US surrogates for second child or green card | South China Morning Post.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/11/28/china-considers-easing-family-planning-rules/

Posted in China alert, Economics, One-child policy | Leave a Comment »

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