Clashes in southern China town

Clashes in southern China town
Chinese manned submersible starts 5th dive in Mariana Trench
China in $10bn Latin America loan
Bird flu `epidemic' sparks chicken cull
Scores hurt in Guangdong riots
Scores were injured when police in Guangdong broke up clashes between migrant workers and locals in the latest unrest to hit the nation, a rights group claimed.
Hu hails trio for space first
VIDEO: How much can you fit in 32m sq?
This is what happens to illicit drugs ...
Plan to reduce minimum stay for foreign workers
7 officials punished over forced abortion
South China Sea areas to be open for oil exploration
Diaoyu Islands request
Gang had parts of 43 bears
Endangered bears slain for their paws, bile
Women took celebrities for 55m yuan, court says
Music fest in debt woes
L’Oreal gives makeup a makeover in China
Angry Birds sweet-talk copycats in booming China market
China’s Officials Forced to Sell Luxury Cars

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:08 PM PDT

Clashes erupt between hundreds of local people and migrant workers in a town in the Chinese province of Guangdong, police and reports say.

Chinese manned submersible starts 5th dive in Mariana Trench

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 06:42 PM PDT

CHINA'S manned submersible, Jiaolong, began its 5th dive in the Mariana Trench today morning, targeting a depth between 7,000 to 7,100 meters below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
The Jiaolong set a new national dive record on Sunday after reaching 7,020 meters below sea level during its fourth dive into the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the world's oceans.
Since arriving at the area earlier this month, the Jiaolong had succeeded in reaching depths of 6,671, 6,965 and 6,963 meters in its first three dives from June 15 to 22, easily surpassing the previous national record of 5,188 meters it set last July.
The Jiaolong enabled China to join the ranks of deep-sea faring countries. The United States, Japan, France and Russia currently lead the world in the development of deep-sea exploration technology, each possessing their own submersibles and support bases.

China in $10bn Latin America loan

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 07:57 PM PDT

China offers to set up a $10bn (£6.4bn) credit line for Latin America countries to support infrastructure projects in the region.

Bird flu `epidemic' sparks chicken cull

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 06:59 PM PDT

Scores hurt in Guangdong riots

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 06:59 PM PDT

Scores were injured when police in Guangdong broke up clashes between migrant workers and locals in the latest unrest to hit the nation, a rights group claimed.

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 06:59 PM PDT

Hu hails trio for space first

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 06:59 PM PDT

VIDEO: How much can you fit in 32m sq?

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 12:16 PM PDT

Hong Kong architect Gary Change has redesigned his the 32m sq apartment he grew up in, to make the most of his limited space and include all mod cons, and luxuries.

This is what happens to illicit drugs ...

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 10:36 AM PDT

A soldier shovels drugs onto a fire in Dehong in southwest China's Yunnan Province to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking yesterday with nearly 18,000 kilograms of drugs destroyed. Yunnan, which borders the notorious "Golden Triangle" of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, is at the forefront of China's anti-drug efforts. A total of 117 people in China were sentenced for drug trafficking across the country yesterday, including 15 who received death sentences.

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Plan to reduce minimum stay for foreign workers

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 10:33 AM PDT

China is planning a new law that will shorten the minimum stay for foreigners who come to China to work to 90 days while the period of validity for a residence permit will range from 180 days to five years.

The draft law is being discussed by the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the country's top legislature.

It stipulates that foreigners should obtain valid identity documents when they are working in China, and any unit or personnel should not employ foreigners without valid certificates.

For foreigners holding visas with a maximum stay of 180 days, the holders should hand in documents to government departments above county-level to apply for a longer stay.

The draft law also allows local governments of bordering regions to promulgate exit and entry regulations in line with agreements signed between China and neighboring countries.

The draft law was designed with the aim of curbing the illegal entry, stay and employment of foreigners and stipulating harsher punishments for people who enter or exit the country illegally.

Since foreigners need to go through screening again when they want their residency permits renewed, the new rule will raise the frequency of checks, legislators said.

Foreigners need a work permit to be legally hired, and certain groups, such as those entering on an L or F visa - referring, respectively, to students staying for less than six months for cultural-exchange programs and tourists - are not allowed to be employed in China. Foreign students are also not allowed to work here.

As of the end of last year, there were about 220,000 foreigners legally working on China's mainland, about 37 percent of the legal foreign residents. The number of foreign visitors to the country has been increasing by 10 percent each year since 2000.

The Ministry of Public Security said they seized more than 20,000 foreigners across the country last year who were illegally staying or working.

They were fined or deported depending on the seriousness of the offense.

Many of the illegal foreign workers were found in the language training, domestic housekeeping and showbiz sectors, the ministry said.

Illegal workers usually entered on a student or short-visit visa, it said.

The capital city of Beijing is currently cracking down on foreigners working illegally in China or staying in violation of visa rules.

Police say the number of illegal foreign workers in the country has been growing substantially over the past few years.

7 officials punished over forced abortion

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 10:33 AM PDT

SEVEN government officials in a northwest China county have been punished for forcing a woman to terminate her pregnancy seven months into the term, authorities said last night.

Feng Jianmei was forced to take an induced abortion early this month in the medical center of Zhenping County, Shaanxi Province.

Details of the case, including photos showing the remains of the fetus lying next to the mother on her hospital bed, caused shock and anger nationwide after they were posted online.

Yu Yanmei, deputy director of Zhenping who is in charge of population, was given a serious administrative demerit, the government of Ankang, which administers Zhenping, said.

Jiang Nenghai, the director of the county's family planning commission, and Chen Pingyin, as director of Zengjia Town, where Feng lives, have been sacked, it said.

Yuan Changqin, the township's top legislator, and Long Chunlai, Zengjia's deputy Party chief, both received a serious warning from the Party.

Zhang Xuesong, a township government worker, and Pan Yishan, president of the Zhenping People's Hospital, were given serious demerits.

The county government has been ordered to "pay subsidies to Feng to help with her domestic difficulties," without specifying the amount of cash.

Zhenping family planning officials grossly violated the law, damaged the image of family planning and brought about a serious negative impact, the Shaanxi Provincial Population and Family Planning Bureau said earlier.

Township authorities had claimed that Feng agreed to terminate her pregnancy after she was told she did not qualify to have a second baby under China's one-child policy.

Feng, from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, had married a villager in Zhenping in 2006 and gave birth to a girl the following year.

On June 2, Feng was forced by officials to undergo an induced delivery at the Zhenping People's Hospital.

On June 4, Deng Jimei, Feng's sister-in-law, brought the dead fetus into the ward from the delivery room when hospital workers were distracted and took pictures of it, Ankang government investigators said. Then a family member uploaded the pictures online, sparking nationwide anger and an official investigation.

South China Sea areas to be open for oil exploration

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 10:32 AM PDT

NINE offshore areas in the South China Sea are to be made available for exploration in cooperation with foreign companies, according to the China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

The nine areas collectively total more than 160,000 square kilometers, CNOOC said yesterday on its website.

Asked at a regular news briefing in Beijing if the decision would create tensions with Vietnam, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the tender project was a "normal business activity" in compliance with relevant Chinese laws and international practices.

He said China repeated its call for Vietnam to respect bilateral agreements regarding maritime disputes and to halt its gas exploitation program.

"China and Vietnam have reached many agreements regarding the settlement of maritime disputes.

"We hope Vietnam will respect these agreements and avoid taking any action that may complicate the matter," Hong said.

"China's position on disputes regarding the South China Sea remains unchanged. We are committed to properly settling disputes through negotiations and joint exploitation," he added.

Vietnam's National Assembly last Thursday passed the "Vietnamese Law of the Sea," which describes China's Xisha Islands and Nansha Islands in the South China Sea as being within Vietnam's sovereignty and jurisdiction.

Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun subsequently summoned Vietnamese Ambassador to China Nguyen Van Tho to lodge a complaint over the matter. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress, China's top legislature, has also sent a letter to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Vietnamese National Assembly to voice its opposition to the law.

Meanwhile, four China Marine Surveillance ships sailed from the coastal city of Sanya to the South China Sea yesterday to conduct regular patrols.

According to an unnamed CMS official, the team is expected to travel more than 2,400 nautical miles (4,500 kilometers) during the patrols, adding that formation drills will be conducted "if maritime conditions permit."

The official said regular patrols began in 2006 as part of China's efforts to protect its marine interests.

The CMS, a group under the State Oceanic Administration, is responsible for preventing the illegal use of sea areas and harm to the marine environment and resources, and for maintaining maritime order.

Diaoyu Islands request

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 10:32 AM PDT

CHINA has again requested Japan to stop causing problems over the Diaoyu Islands and to safeguard bilateral ties.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the comment in response to a visit by Japanese lawmakers to the islands believed to be related to a Tokyo plan to purchase them.

Gang had parts of 43 bears

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:15 AM PDT

Police in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have busted a gang trafficking endangered animals, seizing hundreds of bear paws, bear meat and animal carcasses during a raid of one of the ring's warehouses, local officials said yesterday. Authorities think at least 43 black bears were slaughtered for their paws. The animals and their body parts are believed to be worth 20 million yuan (US$3.15 million).

Endangered bears slain for their paws, bile

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:15 AM PDT

AUTHORITIES in the area of Changbai Mountain in northeast China's Jilin Province were sent yesterday to the mountain forests to investigate the online allegation that five among 33 wild bears remaining were slain.

A writer who covers wildlife, Hu Donglin, said on the Internet that five bears, including moon bears and brown bears, were brutally killed earlier this year. Under the state wildlife protection laws, hunting the bears for games are strictly forbidden.

Illegal hunters cut off bear paws, took out bear bile, peeled off the fur and removed the meat. Partial bear bodies lay every six or seven meters on the northern part of Changbai Mountain, Hu said.

Online pictures showed only bones and large amounts of fur remaining.

Bear killers might have lured hungry bears with toxic bait when they woke and left the caves in April to seek food after six months of hibernation, Hu said.

The bile, an expensive ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, can fetch up to 150,000 yuan (US$23,565) a kilogram in a black market near Changbai Mountain while the paws, considered a delicacy, are priced at 2,400 yuan each.

A bear carcass can earn an illegal hunter more than 20,000 yuan.

Hu said only 30 moon bears and three brown bears had been found remaining in the mountain forests, and more killing would eliminate them all.

Changbai Mountain, on the border of China and North Korea, a known habitat for many wild animals, has seen an increase in illegal hunters.

Hu's posts soon got wide notice, and Internet users took up the call for "no trading, no massacre."

"Forests of the Changbai Mountain have been exploited in a savage way for more than 30 years. Our nation severely lacks wildlife animal protection rules, but issues more polices to allow bear bile farms to open," said one Internet post.

Women took celebrities for 55m yuan, court says

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:14 AM PDT

TWO women were put on trial yesterday for swindling nearly 55 million yuan (US$8.64 million) and HK$2.28 million (US$293,892) from 27 Chinese celebrities, including several Olympic champions.

Wang Ti and Zhu Shuangshuang falsely claimed they could purchase luxurious houses and cars at prices below normal, but could neither deliver the properties nor return the money, officials said.

Those deceived included Yang Wei and Zou Kai, Chinese gymnasts who won gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Luo Xuejuan, a swimming gold medalist at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

The duo caused losses of up to 34 million yuan and HK$2 million, the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court said.

Wang said 10 to 12 million yuan was lent to Xiao Qin, who was crowned men's pommel horse gold medalist at the Beijing Olympics. "Xiao borrowed the money in an attempt to be a car dealer," she said, adding that he disappeared after getting the money. Xiao hasn't made any comment, the Legal Evening News reported.

Prosecutors said the two people fabricated identities and rented several apartments in Beijing starting in 2007. They told celebrities that a developer was willing to sell the apartments cheaply.

Wang, 31, said she squandered nearly 8 million yuan and wanted to commit suicide. She claimed Zhu introduced her to all the buyers, but Zhu blamed Wang.

"Wang told me her parents were senior government officials. I even sold my house and lent 1.4 million yuan to her," Zhu said. She said she didn't know Wang's apartments were rented until she moved there.

Music fest in debt woes

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:14 AM PDT

CHENGDU BigLove Music Festival ended on Sunday amid accusations that the organizer cheated money out of performers and crew members.

Chen Shu, the organizer, admitted that he hadn't paid all wages and claimed a loss of more than 50 million yuan (US$7.85 million).

The festival, held in Chengdu between June 21 and 24, was promoted as the largest in China in scale and cost. The four-day event gathered 100 groups of performers including big names like China's rock legend Cui Jian and British band Suede.

A sound technician told Shanghai Daily that many performers and crew members couldn't leave the hotel on Monday because the organizer didn't pay and couldn't be contacted. He added that many "fled" from the hotel, without paying, and paid their own airfare out of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.

"We took the emergency exit and were lucky to get in the bus with some other performers and staff members," he added. He sought anonymity because he "hasn't been fully paid and I still owe money to my friend from whom I rented the equipment."

Chen spoke to West China Metropolis Daily, based in Chengdu, and said he would not leave the city without settling all debts.

It was reported that the festival gathered more than 30,000 fans on one day, but ticket sales were as low as 200 on some days since many entered without paying. Fans said a one-day ticket, at 298 yuan, was far more expensive than other festivals.

Chen said the total cost for the festival was 60 million yuan and he was hoping to pay wages with ticket sales, which totaled only 3 million.

L’Oreal gives makeup a makeover in China

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:01 AM PDT

Source: By Li Fangfang (China Daily)

Beauty products firm conducts ongoing research to meet demand

As the world's largest cosmetics group, L'Oreal knows that most people have a desire to pursue beauty. The company also believes in the power and significance of beauty in everyday life.

"Beauty has been part of the civilization of mankind," said Alexis Perakis-Valat, chief executive officer of L'Oreal China. "It boosts personal charisma and confidence and gives added meaning to the personal and professional life of women and men all over the world."

L'Oreal says it has always valued and understood customer demand in various markets and this is the source of its creativity and inspiration.

"We attach great importance to and have long been committed to China. To provide Chinese consumers with superior, efficient products and services, we have always kept a sharp eye on Chinese consumers' demand and desire and continuously improved our local research and production capabilities in China," said Perakis-Valat.

Human beings have always pursued beauty. Makeup plays an increasingly important role in Chinese women's lives and also has a deep significance.

To gain a better knowledge of modern Chinese women's perception of makeup and better grasp of how to help them understand and use makeup in a more scientific way, L'Oreal China and its cosmetics brands have conducted long-term, ongoing consumer research in various forms.

According to Perakis-Valat, the company carefully considers makeup for modern Chinese women from the various perspectives of culture, science, psychology and art in order to further improve awareness of it and an appreciation of beauty.

Recently, L'Oreal cooperated with consulting firm Ipsos to launch an online makeup survey for customers in eight major and medium-sized cities across China – Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Changsha, Shenyang and Xi'an – in an attempt to gain a deep understanding into people's makeup behavior, explore both men's and women's attitudes and thoughts about makeup and explore customers' understanding and usage of it.

The survey sampled 988 women and 966 men aged between 18 and 45. It showed makeup is viewed as one of the two most important elements used to create a fashionable image, the other being clothing.

Up to 93 percent of respondents said that makeup helps boost personal charisma, while 83 percent believe makeup enhances self-confidence. About 79 percent of male respondents say makeup can increase attraction from the opposite sex.

The findings of this survey also suggest that most women are already aware of the role and importance of makeup. The evidence is that 80 percent of female respondents say they use makeup in their daily life and 37 percent of them put on makeup three to four times each week.

On average, Chinese women start using makeup at 21 years old, with lipstick being the first makeup product for 60 percent of women.

"China is a fast-developing country with huge consumption potential and currently L'Oreal Group's third largest market in the world," said Perakis-Valat. "With improvement in the standard of living and changes in lifestyle, Chinese women have a continuously growing demand for makeup. As the makeup market has huge potential in the future, it is one of L'Oreal's strategic focus areas. It is also the world's leading cosmetic company's mission to vigorously foster and develop the makeup sector in China."

As such, L'Oreal announced at the end of last year an investment of 200 million yuan ($31.47 million) to upgrade its Tianmei plant in Yichang, Hubei province, making it the largest makeup production base in Asia.

Coupled with the L'Oreal Research and Innovation Center in Shanghai, L'Oreal will develop and make superior makeup products for Chinese consumers.

L'Oreal, together with seven beauty brands under its umbrella – Helena Rubinstein, Lancome, Giorgio Armani, Shu Uemura, Yue-Sai, L'Oreal Paris and Maybelline – is also finding ways to demonstrate the correct method of using makeup and, in combination with unique brand positioning, creating different themed makeup looks suitable for different occasions.

The aim is to help Chinese women further master and improve their makeup skills and allow them to be more beautiful and outstanding at all times, making their life more colorful, said Perakis-Valat.

Angry Birds sweet-talk copycats in booming China market

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:06 AM PDT

Source: Reuters By John Ruwitch and Jane Lanhee Lee

(Reuters) – When Peter Vesterbacka visited China last spring, the marketing chief for Rovio, the Finnish firm behind the video game Angry Birds, saw fake Angry Birds products everywhere – and he was happy about it.

"I realized that China was already happening in a big way for us," Vesterbacka said in an interview.

"When you see all these knockoffs, you know that there is a lot of demand."

That rosy view of an intellectual property problem that has vexed global brands for decades – and sparked friction in China's relations with the United States and others – underpins Rovio's novel approach to the world's fastest growing consumer market.

While many companies go on the offensive against counterfeiters with legions of lawyers, Rovio is taking a mixed approach: waving a legal stick at some pirates, but seeking ways to cooperate with, and appropriate ideas from, others.

"It is definitely not a traditional approach," said Kenny Wong, a partner at the law firm Mayer Brown in Hong Kong.

While skeptics may see spin behind Rovio's enthusiasm for Chinese fakes, there are also benefits to accepting the reality that China is the world's top source of intellectual property rip-offs and its courts can't always help.

ONE BILLION DOWNLOADS

Rovio boasts a billion downloads of its video game, launched in late 2009, in which cartoon birds are hurled from a slingshot at pigs that stole their eggs. China, with 140 million downloads, is the second largest Angry Birds market behind the United States.

The firm is planning to unleash a blitz of retail stores and Angry Birds "activity parks" in China starting next month.

Paul Chen, Rovio's General Manager China, says the company is concerned about infringement on its intellectual property and does go after some pirates, especially those found to produce harmful goods.

But, he adds: "We tend to want to collaborate."

Rovio says it is recruiting some IP infringers to be partners, and even offering some of them free ad space on the Angry Birds app.

It also now sells officially licensed Angry Birds balloons after Vesterbacka saw a pirated one for sale in Beijing earlier this year and liked the idea. He calls it "pirating the pirates".

"This actually can be a successful model," said Xiang Wang, an IP lawyer with the firm Orrick. Makers of shoes, integrated circuit chips and laminated flooring are among those that have successfully co-opted counterfeiters in China, he said.

The alternative – attacking pirates in court – can be a morass.

"You can win on paper, but paper means nothing. When you go to enforce it, local companies pay the judges, they pay the local government officials, so enforcement will take years," Wang said.

INITIAL STRATEGY

Mayer Brown's Wong likens Rovio's enthusiasm about knockoffs to the way new stars court media attention: Early on, there is no such thing as bad press, but that eventually changes.

"Once you reach a certain level you don't want the paparazzi to be around all the time," he said.

"I think probably it's an initial strategy."

Eventually, Rovio may have to change tack, because companies can only license so many counterfeiters, Orrick's Wang said. But the counterfeiters-turned-licensees could at least be enlisted to help take on the remaining pirates, he said.

Rovio's retail strategy – going from zero to about 100 stores in the next year or so, starting in Shanghai next month – is another element of its strategy against fakes.

The shops will sell unique goods, and purchases of official gear will unlock "digital rewards" in the game, Chen said.

But the challenge goes beyond hoodies and key chains.

Last year, reports emerged that an entirely fake Angry Birds theme park had opened in the southern Chinese city of Changsha, in Hunan province, replete with a giant slingshot.

Could this eventually become a real Angry Birds park?

"It's not out of the question," said Vesterbacka.

China’s Officials Forced to Sell Luxury Cars

Posted: 26 Jun 2012 09:09 AM PDT

Source: Financial Times By: Simon Rabinovitch

Cash-strapped local governments in China have begun auctioning off fleets of officials' luxury cars as part of efforts to bolster revenues hit by the country's slowdown.

Wenzhou, a south-eastern coastal city hit hard by the cooling economy, sold 215 cars at the weekend, fetching Rmb10.6 million ($1.7 million). It plans to sell 1,300 vehicles – 80 percent of the municipal fleet – by the end of the year.

Government revenues from tax and land sales in Wenzhou have been declining after years of heady growth. With the city's risk-taking businesses struggling to pay back debts, the burden has fallen on the local government to turn things around. State media noted the auctions would directly boost the city's coffers.

Wenzhou is not alone. Across the country, from Kunming in the south to Datong in the north, officials have been tightening their belts, paring back on banquets, curtailing travel and trimming the fleets of tinted-window luxury cars that have long been standard issue – even in the middle ranks of government.

"It is a sign of the difficulties facing city finances," said Tao Ran, a local government expert at People's University in Beijing.

While government car auctions have been held before in China, such sales have increased in recent months and state media have urged more officials to follow suit. Cities have been told to keep police cars and ambulances, but to sell the chauffeured sedans that do not comply with government policy.

About one in every five Audis in China – the German car's biggest market – is owned by the government, according to industry estimates. More egregious examples – of police driving Porsches, and even a Maserati with military plates – have also prompted Chinese citizens angry about official corruption to post pictures of the cars online.

In publicizing the auctions, the government is aiming to head off that anger – all the more important in a year when China embarks on a once-in-a-decade leadership transition.

Local officials, who have shown little sign of responding to past criticism of their car-buying habits, appear to be motivated mainly by the downturn.

The cooling property market has deprived them of land sales, which is traditionally a key source of cash, and fiscal revenue growth is nearly 20 percentage points lower than last year.

Official cars cost China about Rmb100 billion annually, and auctioning off the luxury fleets is one easy, if temporary, way to try to plug the gap in local finances.

Yulin, a city in Shaanxi province that until recently boomed from its coal mines, raised Rmb5.6 million on one day in June by selling 19 cars – an average of Rmb292,600 per vehicle, according to the Communist party newspaper People's Daily. Up for grabs were black Audis, the car of choice for Chinese officialdom, though the hottest item was a Toyota Land Cruiser, much coveted on mining roads.

Other cities, including Changzhou and Nanchang, said they started auctioning cars last year. The trend is also spreading to poorer villages, with Yuan'an, a farming county in central China, boasting on its official website about a June 18 auction that netted Rmb220,000.

The municipalities say the auctions are their way of implementing a central government policy to root out misuse and illegal purchases of official cars. But despite policy being in place since 1994, the number of government cars has mushroomed.

"It's not only about reform," said Prof Tao. "Many are short of money."