News » Society » Chief of J-15 jet program dies of heart attack

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• Chief of J-15 jet program dies of heart attack
• J-15 program supervisor died of heart attack after milestone exercise
• Fighter jets cleared for take-off and landing in carrier success
• Meet the 'tutor kings and queens'
• Passports spark fresh isles row
• New electronic passports issued by Beijing bear a map that includes its claim to almost all of the South China Sea, sparking protests from the Philippines and Vietnam.
• Whistleblower says scandal videos feature more officials
• Fighter jets cleared for take-offand landing in carrier success
• Limits eased on migrants' college exams
• Taking bribes of 500,000 yuan to be major offense
• 'Most polluted' city will start publishing PM2.5
• Testing time for 1.12m seeking stability
• Wrigley to build world’s largest gum factory in Guangzhou
• Cosmetics giants brush off any talk of slump in China
• China’s Wenzhou unveils reform plans as bad loans climb
• China lands fighter jet on new carrier in show of force
• Have You Heard…
• VIDEO: China lands jet on first carrier
• About 1.2 mln sit national public servant exam
• China successfully launches remote sensing satellite

Chief of J-15 jet program dies of heart attack Posted: 25 Nov 2012 08:05 PM PST THE man who was in charge of China's J-15 fighter-bomber development program died of a heart attack yesterday morning after two J-15 jets successfully completed a take-off and landing exercise on China's first aircraft carrier, China Central Television reported today. CCTV said Luo Yang was rushed to a hospital immediately after the aircraft carrier, Liaoning 16, returned to its home port in Dalian in northeast Liaoning Province, but emergency rescue failed to save his life. Luo died at 11am yesterday. Two J-15 fighter jets have successfully carried out the take-off and landing maneuver on the aircraft carrier, setting a milestone in the vessel's path to full combat ability, the Ministry of National Defense announced yesterday. The exercise also marked the debut of the J-15, also known as Flying Shark, which is developed by China's Shenyang Aircraft Industry Group based on Russia's Sukhoi Su-33. The exercise was held two months after the carrier entered service. As the chairman and general manager of Shenyang Aircraft Industry Group, Luo was the chief supervisor of the J-15 development program.

J-15 program supervisor died of heart attack after milestone exercise Posted: 25 Nov 2012 05:38 PM PST The person in charge of China's J-15 carrier-based fighter-bomber development program died of heart attack yesterday morning after two J-15 jets had successfully completed a take-off and landing exercise, China Central Television Reported. The report said Luo Yang, was rushed to hospital from China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, after the heart attack but an emergency rescue failed to save him. He died at 11am yesterday. Luo reportedly had the heart attack on the carrier after it returned to its home port in Dalian in northeast Liaoning Province following the jet exercise. Two J-15 fighter jets had successfully landed and taken off from the Liaoning carrier on this weekend and this represented a milestone on the vessel's path to full combat ability. The exercise also marked the debut of the J-15, also known as the Flying Shark, which is developed by China from Russia's Sukhoi Su-33. The exercise was carried out two months after the carrier entered service. As chairman and general manager of the Shenyang Aircraft Industry Group, which develops the J-15 aircraft, Luo is the general supervisor of the development program.

Fighter jets cleared for take-off and landing in carrier success Posted: 25 Nov 2012 08:20 AM PST Two J-15 fighter jets have successfully landed and taken off from China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, the Ministry of National Defense announced yesterday. It said the exercise, carried out two months after the carrier entered service, represented a milestone on the vessel's path to full combat ability. The carrier returned to its home port of Dalian in northeast Liaoning Province yesterday where it docked at No. 3 berth of the Dalian shipyard. The landing and take-off exercises marked the debut of the J-15, also known as the Flying Shark, a carrier-based fighter-bomber developed by China from Russia's Sukhoi Su-33. According to Xinhua news agency, the J-15 is able to carry anti-ship, air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles and precision-guided bombs. The defense ministry's website carried photos of the jets, numbered 552 and 553, which took off and landed several times using a total of five pilots. "Capabilities of the carrier platform and the J-15 have been tested, meeting all requirements and achieving good compatibility," the People's Liberation Army Navy said yesterday. Since the Liaoning formally entered service on September 25, crew members have completed more than 100 training and test programs, Xinhua said. A video carried by China Central Television yesterday showed a tail hook on the rear of one of the J-15s catching hold of a cable on the deck of the aircraft carrier as the jet landed and slowed to a halt within 30 meters. The plane then folded its wings and was moved to another area where engineers inspected the aircraft. It returned to the runway shortly after take-off. "The success of the landing is an important sign that the aircraft carrier gains combat ability, and has also marked China's Navy forces reaching a new height," said Zhang Junshe, deputy director of the Naval Military Academic Research Institute. Combat ability The twin-engined Chinese fighter has comprehensive capabilities comparable to those of the US F-18, according to military experts. Zhang said that the carrier would continue to conduct landing and take-off trials with other aircraft including early warning and anti-submarine planes. "It will take another two years for the Liaoning to fully get combat ability. Before that, it will mainly be used for both military training and scientific experiments," he said. Military experts say the carrier will be capable of landing about 30 J-15 fighters and helicopters and have a crew of around 2,000. During the recent exercise, around 100 soldiers in seven different colored jackets were involved. About 60 were seen in the video walking in two lines across the carrier's deck making sure the landing area was clear. Several soldiers operated as guides, using various gestures to guide the fighter pilot to adjust into the best position for landing. Before the fighters took off, another two guides crouched beside them and threw their arms into the air to communicate to the pilots when to accelerate and take-off. "The guides have more than 30 different gestures with various meanings, because it is too noisy during take-off and landing," said Li Xiaoyong, a military official on the Liaoning. He said the different colors of jackets were for different tasks and positions. For example, red uniforms were for safety officers, purple was worn by refuellers, green was for the maintenance crew and medical staff wore white. Landing on the carrier is extremely difficult and dangerous, Li said, because the runway was so small. Though the deck is over 300 meters long, the landing section is just 100 meters. Meanwhile, the ship would rock and sway with the movement of the sea, increasing the difficulty for pilots. "Pilot recruitment for the aircraft carrier required even more severe standards than astronaut selection," said Zhang Hongtao, an official in charge of recruitment for the Liaoning. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Meet the 'tutor kings and queens' Posted: 25 Nov 2012 04:12 PM PST They're rich, they're famous... they're teaching maths

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Whistleblower says scandal videos feature more officials Posted: 25 Nov 2012 08:21 AM PST THE whistleblower who uploaded a video that led to the sacking of a district Party secretary in southwestern Chongqing City says he has videos featuring five more senior government officials. Beibei District's Party Secretary Lei Zhengfu was sacked last Friday after he was identified as the person having sex with a young woman in a video which was widely spread on the Internet. But the whistleblower, Zhu Ruifeng, told Beijing News yesterday that Lei was only one of six senior Chongqing officials who had been recorded in different sex videos he received from a police insider. "With Lei being removed from post and another one sacked in the scandal of Chongqing's former Party chief Bo Xilai scandal, four of the six senior officials are still sitting on their chairs in the city government," the newspaper quoted Zhu as saying. Zhu told the Oriental Morning Post that the insider who gave him the videos was a police officer working at the Chongqing Public Security Bureau. But he refused to identify the other five officials said to be involved in the videos. Lei was seen in a 36-second clip having sex with an 18-year-old woman in a hotel room. It was part of an 80-minute video, Zhu said. He said the police insider told him the woman, surnamed Zhao, who changed her name to Zhou Xiaolan, was actually a "gift" sent to Lei by a businessman in the construction industry. He said the video was secretly filmed by the businessman during Spring Festival in 2007 as a means to blackmail Lei to secure contracts from the official. Awarded contracts When Lei was Party chief in the city's Dianjiang County between 2002 and 2006, he is alleged to have awarded construction contracts for projects such as renovating roads and building schools to his relatives and not to the businessman. Because he was earning huge sums of money from this "family business," Zhu said, "Lei started to prefer attractive women to money." People who wanted to bribe him hired young and attractive women aged 16 to 20 and sent them to him as mistresses, Zhu alleged. The businessman who hired Zhao to take part in the sex video with Lei was said to have practiced the filming several times to ensure clear images of Lei could be captured. But when Lei was told about the video he went to another senior Chongqing official for help. Zhao and the businessman were then thrown into jail by a police team established by Wang Lijun, former vice mayor and police chief of Chongqing. Wang received a 15-year sentence in September for covering up the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood. In separate cases, Zhao was detained by police for 30 days while the businessman was jailed for one year for "making fake official seals," Zhu said. The disciplinary watchdog in Chongqing said it was still investigating whether Lei was involved in the awarding of contracts to his relatives, the Oriental Morning Post reported yesterday.

Fighter jets cleared for take-offand landing in carrier success Posted: 25 Nov 2012 08:20 AM PST TWO J-15 fighter jets have successfully landed and taken off from China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, the Ministry of National Defense announced yesterday. It said the exercise, carried out two months after the carrier entered service, represented a milestone on the vessel's path to full combat ability. The carrier returned to its home port of Dalian in northeast Liaoning Province yesterday where it docked at No. 3 berth of the Dalian shipyard. The landing and take-off exercises marked the debut of the J-15, also known as the Flying Shark, a carrier-based fighter-bomber developed by China from Russia's Sukhoi Su-33. According to Xinhua news agency, the J-15 is able to carry anti-ship, air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles and precision-guided bombs. The defense ministry's website carried photos of the jets, numbered 552 and 553, which took off and landed several times using a total of five pilots. "Capabilities of the carrier platform and the J-15 have been tested, meeting all requirements and achieving good compatibility," the People's Liberation Army Navy said yesterday. Since the Liaoning formally entered service on September 25, crew members have completed more than 100 training and test programs, Xinhua said. A video carried by China Central Television yesterday showed a tail hook on the rear of one of the J-15s catching hold of a cable on the deck of the aircraft carrier as the jet landed and slowed to a halt within 30 meters. The plane then folded its wings and was moved to another area where engineers inspected the aircraft. It returned to the runway shortly after take-off. "The success of the landing is an important sign that the aircraft carrier gains combat ability, and has also marked China's Navy forces reaching a new height," said Zhang Junshe, deputy director of the Naval Military Academic Research Institute. Combat ability The twin-engined Chinese fighter has comprehensive capabilities comparable to those of the US F-18, according to military experts. Zhang said that the carrier would continue to conduct landing and take-off trials with other aircraft including early warning and anti-submarine planes. "It will take another two years for the Liaoning to fully get combat ability. Before that, it will mainly be used for both military training and scientific experiments," he said. Military experts say the carrier will be capable of landing about 30 J-15 fighters and helicopters and have a crew of around 2,000. During the recent exercise, around 100 soldiers in seven different colored jackets were involved. About 60 were seen in the video walking in two lines across the carrier's deck making sure the landing area was clear. Several soldiers operated as guides, using various gestures to guide the fighter pilot to adjust into the best position for landing. Before the fighters took off, another two guides crouched beside them and threw their arms into the air to communicate to the pilots when to accelerate and take-off. "The guides have more than 30 different gestures with various meanings, because it is too noisy during take-off and landing," said Li Xiaoyong, a military official on the Liaoning. He said the different colors of jackets were for different tasks and positions. For example, red uniforms were for safety officers, purple was worn by refuellers, green was for the maintenance crew and medical staff wore white. Landing on the carrier is extremely difficult and dangerous, Li said, because the runway was so small. Though the deck is over 300 meters long, the landing section is just 100 meters. Meanwhile, the ship would rock and sway with the movement of the sea, increasing the difficulty for pilots. "Pilot recruitment for the aircraft carrier required even more severe standards than astronaut selection," said Zhang Hongtao, an official in charge of recruitment for the Liaoning. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Limits eased on migrants' college exams Posted: 25 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST WHILE migrants' children in most cases will be allowed to sit for college entrance exams in Chinese cities where their parents work, some restrictions are still anticipated, especially in large cities such as Shanghai. Provinces will begin to lift a ban that does not allow the children to sit for the exams if their parents don't have their household registration in the place where they live. Northeast China's Heilongjiang and eastern Anhui and Jiangsu provinces will lift the ban next year, officials said. Children of migrant workers working in Anhui will be able to take national college entrance exams, or gaokao, there without having to return to the place of their household registration. But they will have equal rights as local exam students only if they have attended high schools in the province for three consecutive years. About 2,000 migrant students attend high schools in Anhui, and 300 of them are expected to take the gaokao exams in the province, according to local government statistics. East China's Shandong, Fujian and Jiangxi provinces will follow suit in 2014, the Beijing News reported last Friday. Although China's household registration system no longer ties migrant children's compulsory education to their birth places, migrant students can't take college entrance exams outside their native homes. Currently, China has nearly 20 million rural children aged under 14 who have followed their migrant-worker parents to cities, according to the China Children and Teenagers' Fund. The Chinese mainland's 32 provincial-level authorities were required in August to submit plans on migrants attending the gaokao before the end of the year, according to the Ministry of Education. Changes also are expected in megacities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, where most Chinese migrant workers live. "Governments of big cities will likely set stricter terms and conditions for migrants attending gaokao," said Xiong Bingqi, deputy head of the 21st Century Education Research Institute. Local parents in megacities are upset and expect fierce competition as more students will be vying for scarce educational resources and the competitive college entrance quota. Shanghai has not set a date for the plan, but the local government will implement a points-based system. Children of migrants with enough points will qualify for Shanghai's gaokao. Points depend on such factors as property and the number of years working and paying into social security.

Taking bribes of 500,000 yuan to be major offense Posted: 25 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST TAKING bribes of half a million yuan (US$80,200) or more will constitute a major offense, according to an updated set of criminal procedural rules for procuratorates. The rules released by the Supreme People's Procuratorate were modified to fit the demands of the amended Criminal Procedure Law, which will come into effect on January 1. In the case of a major bribery offense, lawyers have to ask for permission to meet with their clients in custody during the investigation, according to the amended Criminal Procedure Law. The regulations define major bribery as those involving half a million yuan, featuring vile criminal circumstances, or having major social impacts, or undermining significant national interests. Chen Weidong, professor at the Law School of China's Renmin University, said the new specifications on major bribery crimes were made in line with China's fast economic development. The rules are seen as a key judicial explanatory document to guide prosecuting organs' work in criminal cases. As many as 240 new articles were added with detailed stipulations on defense attorneys, evidence, case reception, special procedures and case management, the SPP said. China amended its Criminal Procedural Law in March, protecting suspects and defendants from "illegal restriction, detention and arrest." The phrase "respecting and protecting human rights" was included in its first chapter on basic principles. The rules are expected to provide all-around standards for prosecutors' roles in criminal lawsuits while ensuring that suspects and defendants enjoy their full rights.

'Most polluted' city will start publishing PM2.5 Posted: 25 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST READINGS of airborne particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers - known as PM2.5 -in the city of Lanzhou, one of China's most polluted, will be available for public scrutiny next month, according to officials. The capital city of Gansu Province will start PM2.5 monitoring according to new environmental air quality standards on Saturday. Lanzhou is among the first of 74 Chinese cities required by the Ministry of Environmental Protection to publish daily reports on PM2.5 by the end of the year. The PM2.5 index is considered stricter than the PM10 standard previously adopted in China. The tiny particles are more hazardous to people's health. The data will be updated on government websites and via television and radio before the end of the year, the head of Lanzhou Environmental Protection Bureau, Pan En, said. The move was hailed by local residents who have complained of air pollution in the northwestern city. "What matters is not the reading itself, but that its publication can at least put pressure on officials to do something to alleviate the pollution," said Pan Jiang, a local citizen. Shanghai began using the new standard this month. Experts said terrain and climate factors, and Lanzhou's reliance on petrochemical industries and its winter heating, have worsened pollution. A World Health Organization survey in 2011 named it China's worst for air pollution.

Testing time for 1.12m seeking stability Posted: 25 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST More than a million hopefuls packed out schools and universities across China yesterday to take part in the National Public Servant Exam, with a record number registering in search of a stable government job. More than 1.5 million people applied to sit the exam this year, more than 30 times the number a decade ago and an increase of 150,000 from last year. On the day, about 1.12 million turned up to sit the exam to compete for around 21,000 government jobs to be filled next year. One out of 53 exam takers will be successful in gaining a government post, according to the civil service administration, Xinhua news agency reported. The rapid expansion in applications in recent years has been boosted by the perception that government jobs offer added stability and status, test-takers said. Outside the Hujiaolou middle school in Beijing, one of dozens of test sites in the capital, Liu Ting, a 24-year-old student, stood clutching a red revision book containing lists of "hot" political jargon to be used during the test. "I'm taking the exam because government jobs are more stable," Liu told AFP. "There's basically no chance of losing a government job once you have one." Most candidates are university graduates, part of a massive expansion of higher education in China. On Saturday, the Ministry of Education said the employment market for college graduates would be tougher next year. The number of college graduates will reach 6.99 million in 2013, 190,000 more than that in 2012. A 31-year-old woman surnamed Liu said she hoped to swap her private-sector job as a quality inspector for a government post because "the benefits are better, and you don't need to worry about pensions or health insurance." Cindy Liu, a 27-year-old flight attendant, expressed more exalted motives, saying she had been "reading the works of Chairman Mao" (founder of the New China) and hoped to "serve the people." Those who pass the exam will also have to succeed in a tough interview process before they can gain a government job. The public servant exam includes an aptitude test and a written policy essay. Those who pass the written exam will make it to the interview round. Authorities this year are on the lookout for cheaters, with anyone caught breaking exam rules barred from sitting again for five years, the Beijing Times reported. The hundreds of thousands sitting the exam have created a thriving training industry, with representatives from several coaching schools crowded outside the Hujiaolou school yesterday to greet the test-takers. "We hope the students who do badly will come and train with our school next year," said one employee surnamed Qiu, sporting a yellow vest emblazoned with the words "I can pass the civil service exam." "After all, only one in 1,000 students can pass," she said, shivering in Beijing's cold November wind. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Wrigley to build world’s largest gum factory in Guangzhou Posted: 25 Nov 2012 09:31 AM PST Source: Want China Times Chewing gum maker Wrigley Company is building in China its largest factory as it foresees the vast potential of the country's domestic market. The Chicago-based company has spent upwards of one billion yuan (US$160 million) on the first phase of the project underway in the Yonghe economic development zone of China's industrial powerhouse city, Guangzhou. The production capacity of the factory is expected to grow by 60% once it is completed in 2016, says Want Daily, our Chinese-language sister paper. The confectionery market in China is currently growing around 8% to 12% annually and has now become the second largest, globally, after the United States. Wrigley, banking on the potential of the Chinese market, has launched nine gum and confectionary product lines in the country. So far 13 production lines have been completed with a total production capacity of up to 100 million pieces of chewing gum annually. Wrigley has become the largest confectionary maker in China with an investment of US$280 million in the country. It is also the top taxpayer in among firms in the industry, contributing 1.09 billion yuan (US$174 million) to the Guangzhou treasury last year, according to Want Daily. Martin Radvan, company president responsible for global strategy and operation, said the factory in Guangzhou plays an important part in the firm's China strategy, where the firm has over 848 million potential consumers. The factory in Guangzhou is expected to help Wrigley to at once maintain its leading position in China's market and ensure stable supply for the wider Asia-Pacific, said president of Wrigley Asia-Pacific, Sun Zhuliang, according to the paper.

Cosmetics giants brush off any talk of slump in China Posted: 25 Nov 2012 09:35 AM PST Source: By Yao Jing (China Daily) You don't need a crystal ball or an industry analyst to tell you that the 13-percent drop in imports of cosmetics into China for the first half of this year was probably a blip. True, the volume of cosmetics imports dropped heavily compared with the same period last year, according to the China Luxury Report 2012. But retail sales of cosmetics in China rose 16.5 percent in the first 10 months of the year, totaling 107.7 billion yuan ($17.3 billion), compared with the same period last year, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics. "The market is still growing, but just at a slower pace than in previous years," said Wang Jiajun, an analyst with China Market Research Group of Shanghai. But the strongest evidence that China's cosmetics industry is coasting, comes from the massive expansion plans being made by some of the industry's biggest international companies – such as Estee Lauder Companies Inc and Mary Kay Inc of the United States and Shiseido Group of Japan. Industry figures show there are more than 5,000 cosmetics companies in China, 90 percent of which are small or medium-size domestic brands. However, international brands have a market share of more than 80 percent, according to Global Entrepreneur, a leading business magazine in China. A recently published report, Beauty and Personal Care in China 2012, by Euromonitor International Ltd, highlights how multinationals offer more brands and products across a range of categories and prices. Estee Lauder, which sells 12 of its 28 cosmetic brands in China, is arguably making the biggest splash among those multinationals, by doing what many companies rarely attempt – introducing an entirely new brand. Known for its Estee Lauder, Clinique and Bobby Brown brands, the company has introduced a new line called Osiao, which specifically caters to Chinese consumers. Osiao was launched in Hong Kong in November and is expected to be launched in the mainland in early 2014. "China has become the company's third-largest market following the United States and Britain with a turnover of $500 million in the 2012 fiscal year that ended June 30," said Fabrice Weber, president of Estee Lauder's Asia-Pacific division, in an interview with 21st Century Business Herald. Apart from major cities such as Beijing, the company is focusing on high-end consumers in second- and third-tier cities. Since 2002, when the company established a Shanghai office, Estee Lauder products have been sold in around 60 Chinese cities. This year China surpassed Japan as the company's hottest sales region in Asia, with 28-percent growth in sales, the company said. "European and US brands are very strong in the higher-end market as they are viewed as having superior technology, such as anti-aging creams, and quality," Wang said. "Consumers trust these brands a lot more and are willing to pay high premiums for them." Another of the mainland's cosmetics mainstays, Shiseido, which has been operating in China for 31 years, is aiming to take its domestic sales revenue above 100 billion yuan by early next year. The first overseas cosmetics maker to enter the mainland market, it sells a wide variety of products ranging in price from dozens of yuan to nearly 5,000 yuan. Late last year, Shiseido began to sell its Pure&Mild brand products online, and early this year it began selling its products on Tmall.com. Estee Lauder, its biggest competitor, grew its online sales by 40 percent in China in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012, and is already reaching online consumers in nearly 350 Chinese cities. "Even though the online channel only accounts for a small percentage of sales, it is growing the fastest of all," Wang added. "Brands need to have a strong online store, either self-operated or through e-retailers such as Tmall and 360buy." In keeping up with market trends, Shiseido has maintained annual double-digit sales growth in China since 2004. Sales reached 89.1 billion yuan for the year ending March 31. "China now accounts for 11 percent of our global business," said Yang Yan, general manager of public relations at Shiseido China Co Ltd. Shiseido's beginnings in the mainland go back to 1981 when it first sold about 60 imported products at large retail outlets and hotels in Beijing. It launched Aupres, a brand exclusively for department stores in China, in 1994. The 140-year-old company established Shiseido China Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary, in Shanghai in 2003, after starting production at its own factory and opening Shiseido China Research Center Co Ltd, both in Beijing. "We have more understanding about local consumers and have also gone ahead in creating special products for Chinese consumers," said Yang, explaining Shiseido's advantages on its competitors. Shiseido has also recently expanded its sales channels into specialty cosmetics stores that are more popular in lower-tier Chinese cities, selling mostly its Urara and Pure&Mild brands. It now has contracts with more than 5,900 stores. "It gives us a convenient way to have contact with consumers, especially in smaller cities," Yang added. "I think one very important concept that can explain the success of a brand regardless of its origin, is its sales channel strategy. "Currently, the bulk of our sales are still being made in department stores or retail outlets such as Sephora. "Asian brands are more focused on all-natural products that enhance appearance, for example, with hydrating lotions or skin-whitening creams, which are very attractive to younger consumers in the 15-30 age group who are less focused on maintaining their youthful appearance." But Mary Kay, the direct cosmetics seller, takes a different approach to building sales in China. It emphasizes customer service instead of simply expanding sales channels. "We are arriving in homes to provide a service for each customer," said Paul Mak, president of Mary Kay in China. "Faced with the burgeoning online retail market, we are competing with other companies on the one-to-one, face-to-face basis." Mary Kay established its first overseas factory in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in 1995. It is now working on the second phase of its manufacturing center in the city, believing that China will surpass the US to become its biggest market next year. Mak said that China has become Mary Kay's largest overseas market, adding that its sales force is crucial to its direct sales. The company's sales volume in China increased 55-fold between 1999 and 2011 and its workforce tripled. Though it is sticking to its direct sales channel and developing the strengths of its salespeople, it is also introducing innovative products to the market. "Targeting big cities, we launched the higher-end product line TimeWise Plus in July, as we realized that consumers in Beijing and Shanghai are paying more attention to premium goods as they trade up and enjoy higher incomes," Mak said. In smaller cities, Mary Kay's marketing strategy sees it sending out distinctive fleets of pink buses to introduce its product lines to consumers, which allow them to try out the products onboard. Wang Jiajun from China Market Research Group said customer service remains crucial to the cosmetics industry, He added that a big part of that involves staff training, and that cosmetics giants need to train their salespeople, or beauty assistants, in how to recommend products, and push sales. "Many purchases are still impulse purchases, and many consumers want to learn more about products," he added. "They will simply walk away if staff cannot inform them."

China’s Wenzhou unveils reform plans as bad loans climb Posted: 25 Nov 2012 09:38 AM PST Source: Reuters (Reuters) – China's entrepreneurial hub of Wenzhou has unveiled measures to turn grey-market lending into formal credit to support cash- starved small firms while reducing financial risks, state media reported on Saturday. Under the plans announced by the municipal government, the wealthy coastal city of Wenzhou, aims to channel private money into local businesses through formal institutions – mainly small credit firms, the official Securities Times said, citing officials. These credit firms will be allowed to issue bonds via private placements while qualified credit firms could be turned into rural banks, the newspaper quoted Zhang Zhenyu, head of the municipal government's finance office, as saying. Wenzhou, in eastern Zhejiang province, is known throughout China as a Mecca for private entrepreneurship and grey-market lending. A string of bankruptcies last year – which spawned suicides and disappearances by entrepreneurs unable to repay high-interest loans – prompted a visit by Premier Wen Jiabao and a decision to bring underground financing out of the shadows. In March, China's cabinet approved the launch of a financial reform pilot project in the city, which it hoped to replicate across the country later to tame the underground lending market where interest rates can reach 100 percent. Several Wenzhou-based companies have submitted applications to national regulators to set up rural banks, trusts as well as insurance and securities firms, the Securities Times said. The city will also develop specialized asset management companies and provide support for major projects through asset securitization and bill issuance. "(But) regulator departments will be very strict in approving new financial institutions. The financial reform won't be done overnight," the newspaper quoted Zhang as saying. The city will publish an index to track changes in local borrowing costs as early as this month, Zhang said. Some 30 small loan firms have already registered with the government since March, with total registered capital of more than 8 billion yuan ($1.28 billion), according to state media. A surge in bad loans in Wenzhou has highlighted difficulties facing the free wheeling city, as private firms cannot get enough loans from state-owned banks while exporters are struggling to cope with weak demand and soaring wages. The average non-performing loan ratio at banks in Wenzhou reached 3 percent by the end of August – the highest level in at least a decade, according to local media. Wenzhou is awaiting cabinet approval to allow the city's residents to make direct overseas investments in yuan, the newspaper quoted Wu Guolian, head of the local branch of the People's Bank of China, as saying. Such a move would be a big step towards liberalizing capital account transactions. China's premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang said this week that the country must embrace market-based reforms to help sustain economic growth. ($1 = 6.2285 Chinese yuan)

China lands fighter jet on new carrier in show of force Posted: 25 Nov 2012 09:41 AM PST Source: Reuters (Reuters) – China has carried out its first successful landing of a fighter jet on its first aircraft carrier, state media said on Sunday, a symbolically significant development as Asian neighbors fret about the world's most populous country's military ambitions. The home-built J-15 fighter jet took off from and landed on the Liaoning, a reconditioned Soviet-era vessel from Ukraine which only came into service in September this year. China ushered in a new generation of leaders this month at the 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing, with outgoing President Hu Jintao making a pointed reference to strengthening China's naval forces, protecting maritime interests and the need to "win local war". China is embroiled in disputes with the Philippines and Vietnam over South China Sea islands believed to be surrounded by waters rich in natural gas. It has a similar dispute with Japan over islands in the East China Sea. It has also warned the United States, with President Barack Obama's "pivot" to Asia, not to get involved. "We should make active planning for the use of military forces in peacetime, expand and intensify military preparedness, and enhance the capability to accomplish a wide range of military tasks, the most important of which is to win local war in an information age," Hu said. China has advertised its long-term military ambitions with shows of new hardware, including its first test flight of a stealth fighter jet in early 2011, an elite helicopter unit and the launch of the aircraft carrier. China is boosting military spending by 11.2 percent this year, bringing official outlays on the People's Liberation Army to 670.3 billion yuan ($100 billion) for 2012, after a 12.7 percent increase last year and a near-unbroken string of double-digit rises across two decades. Beijing's public budget is widely thought by foreign experts to undercount its real spending on military modernization, which has drawn repeated calls from the United States for China to share more about its intentions. China's state-run Xinhua news portal said the J-15 – which can carry multi-type anti-ship, air-to-air, and air-to-ground missiles – is comparable to the Russian Su-33 jet and the U.S. F-18. It did not say when the landing on the carrier took place.

Have You Heard… Posted: 25 Nov 2012 09:29 AM PST Have You Heard…

VIDEO: China lands jet on first carrier Posted: 25 Nov 2012 06:25 AM PST China has successfully landed a fighter jet on its first aircraft carrier, the country's official news agency has confirmed.

About 1.2 mln sit national public servant exam Posted: 25 Nov 2012 12:21 AM PST ABOUT 1.12 million candidates sat the National Public Servant Exam today, an increase of 150,000 from last year, according to a State Administration of Civil Service official. One out of 53 exam takers will be successful in gaining a government post, according to the administration. The annual National Public Servant Exam includes an aptitude test and a written policy essay, and those who pass the written exam will make it to the interview round. The popularity of the exam has been attributed to mounting pressures in finding employment, fairness of the test, and an attractive civil servant job which is stable and respected. This year, a record 1.5 million candidates submitted online applications for about 21,000 government jobs to be filled next year. Enthusiasm towards the exam has triggered concerns of students' power worship, and brain drain from other economically productive social sectors.

China successfully launches remote sensing satellite Posted: 24 Nov 2012 11:38 PM PST THE Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center confirmed that China successfully launched the Yaogan XVI remote-sensing satellite into space at 12:06am today. The satellite, launched from the center in northwest China's Gansu Province, was boosted by a Long March-4C carrier rocket and sent into a predetermined orbit. The Yaogan XVI remote-sensing satellite was developed by an affiliate research institute of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. It has been designed for a variety of uses, including technological experimentation, land resource surveying, agricultural yield estimation and disaster prevention and reduction. The launch marked the 172th of the Long March series carrier rockets.

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