News » Society » China and Brazil in currency deal

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• China and Brazil in currency deal
• China's Iran oil imports rebound
• VIDEO: Ultrasound scan for pregnant pandas
• Vietnam warned over isles claim
• Hermes says bags from official outlets genuine
• Safety scandals give foreign dairies a boost in China
• China Lowers Entry Barrier for Overseas Investors
• China tests troubled waters with $1 billion rig for South China Sea
• China says Vietnam claim to islands "null and void"
• Have You Heard… China says Vietnam claim to islands “null and
• Bird flu `epidemic' sparks chicken cull
• Hard line on Bo case man
• Foreign ministry officials in Paris have warned their counterparts in Phnom Penh not to take any action without a solid basis after a French architect with ties to disgraced politician Bo Xilai was arrested in Cambodia this week.
• Cops bar Ai from tax court hearing
• China raises administrative status of South China Sea islands
• A boat race where the great poet died
• Store employee plays porn video on outdoor LED screen
• Two Tibetans in self-immolation
• China seeks easier investor rules
• China media: Rare earth warning

China and Brazil in currency deal Posted: 21 Jun 2012 08:42 PM PDT China and Brazil agree a currency swap deal in a bid to safeguard against any global financial crisis and strengthen trade ties.

China's Iran oil imports rebound Posted: 21 Jun 2012 07:23 PM PDT China's imports of crude oil from Iran rebounded in May after the two countries resolved a payment dispute.

VIDEO: Ultrasound scan for pregnant pandas Posted: 21 Jun 2012 01:05 PM PDT Yuan Yuan is one of more than ten pregnant pandas in the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Centre having a pregnancy check.

Vietnam warned over isles claim Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:39 AM PDT China summoned Vietnam's ambassador yesterday to protest a new law designating a pair of South China Sea island groups as Vietnamese territory. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun told Ambassador Nguyen Van Tho that China had sole jurisdiction over the Nansha and Xisha islands and Vietnam's inclusion of them under its maritime law was illegal and invalid, reporters were told. "China expresses its resolute and vehement opposition," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei quoted Zhang as saying. Zhang also said: "China demands that Vietnam cease and correct its erroneous actions and do nothing to harm China-Vietnam relations and the peace and stability of the South China Sea." The law approved by Vietnam's National Assembly yesterday says that all foreign naval ships passing through the waters must notify Vietnamese authorities. Meanwhile, China is consolidating administration over the Xisha, Nansha and Zhongsha islands in the South China Sea. The government has approved a new entity, Hainan Province's Sansha City administration, to replace three separate management offices, giving a boost to development in the area and "better protecting Hainan's marine environment," a spokesman for the Civil Affairs Ministry said yesterday. The State Council, or China's Cabinet, has approved the establishment of the prefectural-level city of Sansha to administer the three island groups and their surrounding waters. The government seat will be stationed on Yongxing Island, part of the Xisha Islands, according to a ministry statement. The spokesman said the setting up of Sansha City will help to improve China's "administrative management on Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands and their future development." He added: "It is also conducive to protecting the oceanic environment of the South China Sea." China was first to discover and name the reefs, islets and the surrounding waters of island groups, and has exercised sovereignty control continuously over the area, he said. Authorities in China's southernmost Hainan Province have taken a series of steps to bring tourists to the Xisha islands. Elsewhere in the South China Sea, government ships from the Philippines and China have now been engaged in a standoff for more than two months at Huangyan Island. Last weekend, the Philippines withdrew its remaining two ships because of bad weather, and China said it would pull out its fishing boats - sparking hopes of an end to the standoff. However, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said on Wednesday he would send ships back after the weather cleared if the Chinese ships had not left by then. Hong said yesterday the two sides were working to ease tensions and called on Aquino not to make provocative statements. Hong said the Philippine warships' harassment of Chinese fishermen in early April caused the Huangyan Island incident.

Hermes says bags from official outlets genuine Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:29 AM PDT ALL Hermes bags purchased from official outlets are genuine, Hermes China said in a statement yesterday. It was responding to customer concerns after a fake production ring in which company employees were said to have been involved was busted in France. It is thought that many of the counterfeits were sold to Chinese customers. Helen Lu, a Hermes China spokeswoman, told Shanghai Daily that Hermes could assure customers that all bags purchased from official outlets were genuine, including those in the three Shanghai stores listed on the company's website. But customers who had bought their bags online or abroad would not be able to check their authenticity, she said. "According to our company's regulation, we don't offer authenticity checks in China. And we don't offer checks for bags customers have bought through other channels either," Lu said yesterday An employee at the Hermes store at Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport was reported to have said customers could go to France to check if their bags were genuine. Hermes China said the employee's answer was not put in a proper way, and that it was investigating the incident. Last Thurday, French police said they had dismantled a "sophisticated counterfeit Hermes handbag syndicate," seizing fake products worth US$22.7 million and arresting 12 people in Paris and Lyon. The ring produced counterfeits of several of its bags in undercover workshops and sold them through a distribution network in Europe, the US and Asia, Hermes said. "The operation concludes a one-year investigation following a Hermes complaint based on clues and abnormal behavior identified through the house's internal monitoring systems," it said. Hermes added: "Two former Hermes employees, who had been dismissed, are suspected to have organized this network in which a few current Hermes employees could also be involved."

Safety scandals give foreign dairies a boost in China Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:45 AM PDT Source: Reuters  By Lucy Hornby and Jane Lanhee Lee (Reuters) – Global food and dairy companies are making another round of big bets on China's fast growing dairy sector, seeking to position themselves as safe alternatives after a lethal baby formula scandal burned the industry four years ago. They are lured by projections of 10 percent annual growth for the sector and by Chinese consumers' willingness to pay a premium for foreign brands as they remain wary of local brands' safety records. Just last week, China's top-selling dairy firm Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co recalled six months' worth of one brand of infant formula after government tests found it was tainted with mercury, a heavy metal that can cause neural damage if ingested. The news has sent Yili's stock sliding 14 percent over the last two days to trade at 20.8 yuan a share. The latest foreign bet comes from Danish-Swedish dairy group Arla, which said on Friday it would buy what amounts to a 6 percent stake in Yili's main competitor, China Mengniu Dairy Co, from private equity fund Hopu for 1.7 billion Danish crowns ($289 million). The deal lifted Mengniu shares by 7 percent on Monday. "If you have an international brand, then there's a premium in the market, because food safety is a concern," said Kevin Bellamy, dairy analyst at Rabobank in the Netherlands. For some global milk producers, finding new markets is also crucial as they consolidate and expand production faster than their traditional, and mature, milk markets can grow. Milk and formula safety became a deep concern for Chinese parents after a 2008 scandal in which at least six babies died and 300,000 were sickened from drinking milk formula contaminated with melamine, a chemical used in fertilizer and plastic. But investing in China can mean reputational risk for international dairy firms. In 2008 Arla, which already has a formula joint venture with Mengniu, had to reassure its international customers that it did not sell Chinese-produced products elsewhere, after production at the Chinese plant was temporarily suspended due to the melamine scandal. In addition, Mengniu last year destroyed milk tainted with aflatoxin, a carcinogenic mould found in corn grown in humid climates. "To be a minority shareholder in a food company in China, regardless of the quality of your partner, you're still exposed to the supply chain," said dairy consultant David Mahon, head of Mahon China Investment Management, referring to the Arla/Mengnui deal. "The lesson from melamine would not have been learned, and that would be a pity." PRIVATE EQUITY China is the world's largest formula market and is expected to overtake the United States as the largest dairy market by 2020. Private equity firms Hopu, KKR & Co L.P. and Carlyle Group all took stakes in China dairy companies between 2008 and 2009. Hopu is winding down its fund, and exited as the lockup on its investment expired, but KKR and Carlyle have invested in technology and production systems to bring Western style milk production to China dairy firms, including importing cows. Private equity funds typically exit their investments after three to five years, and Carlyle and KKR will hope to attract Western strategic buyers for their respective stakes. KKR has 24 percent of China Modern Dairy valued at about $266 million, while Carlyle has 24 percent of Yashili worth around $130 million. China Modern Dairy provides milk for the Shanghai market while Yashili supplies the wealthy Pearl River Delta. Among more recent private equity investments in the sector, Olympus Capital led a consortium to buy a significant minority stake in Huaxia Dairy Farm Ltd in mid-2011 for $45 million, providing expansion capital and bringing in a European strategic investor, Mueller Milch, for one of China's largest single dairy farms. SUPPLY CHAINS To keep up with growth, multinational dairy firms are looking to expand their production in China, but are taking pains to guard against quality problems, particularly the need to control the supply chain for raw milk. Nestle's sales in China are about to expand significantly, pending approval by the commerce ministry to incorporate the China operations of Pfizer Inc, which would boost its market share in infant formula to 12 percent. The Swiss food giant agreed in April to buy Pfizer's infant formula division for $11.9 billion. Greater China accounted for only 3 percent of Nestle's global sales in 2011, but sales in the region grew by 23 percent last year. Nestle buys milk directly from thousands of small dairy farmers in the flat green fields of northeast China. But it has already cut its small suppliers from nearly 30,000 to under 12,000, and plans to rehouse the rest in big dairy bases. This month it broke ground on a $377 million project with U.S. dairy and feed cooperative Land O'Lakes and other partners. It will house a training center and two huge modern dairy farms, one with 2,400 cows, the other with 8,000. "The farmers are moving into the cities, the system is getting consolidated, so we are moving towards more middle-to large-sized farms," Nestle's China chief executive Roland Decorvet told Reuters at the ground-breaking in Shuangcheng, near the northeastern city of Harbin. New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra, which sells $2 billion a year of imported milk products in China, is also building large dairy bases near Beijing, the milk from which it sells at a premium to other dairies. In 2008, Fonterra lost almost all its $150 million investment in Sanlu Group, the state-owned Chinese dairy at the heart of the melamine scandal. COMING FLOOD Another driving force for foreign firms to ramp up their presence in China is a coming surplus of milk in Europe. The expiration in 2015 of national production caps in the European Union is expected to lead to a 6 percent jump in European milk production, bringing an additional 9 billion liters a year onto the market, said Bellamy of Rabobank. "They could supply more to European cheese, but that's pretty saturated. The Asian and Chinese markets are very attractive because of the percentage of growth we are seeing," he said. With its latest investment, Arla estimates its turnover in China will grow five-fold by 2016, from $119 million in 2011. "It will contribute positively to our cooperative owners' milk price from day one, as we are able to add more value to milk that we otherwise would have to sell on the global bulk trading market, where the profit is lower historically," Arla Foods CEO Peder Tuborgh said in a statement. ($1 = 6.3651 Chinese yuan) ($1 = 5.8865 Danish crowns)

China Lowers Entry Barrier for Overseas Investors Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:48 AM PDT Source: Bloomberg News China plans to lower the entry barrier for foreign institutional investors looking to buy publicly traded securities in mainland exchanges, as part of reforms to add depth to the country's capital markets. The government will cut the minimum requirement on assets under management to $500 million from $5 billion for companies seeking a license under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor program, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement on its website yesterday. The regulator also said it will allow them to invest in the country's interbank bond market. The changes are "very positive," Mark McCombe, Asia- Pacific chairman of BlackRock Inc., the world's largest asset manager, said in Hong Kong. "I think the underlying objective is to get more investment into China." CSRC Chairman Guo Shuqing, who took over last year, wants to restore confidence in the stock market by encouraging entries of more institutional investors and cracking down on over- pricing of initial public offering shares and insider trading. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) slumped a combined 33 percent in 2010 and 2011. Introducing more long-term funds from abroad will help improve market confidence, promote stable growth in China's capital markets and provide "robust" investment returns to domestic investors, the CSRC said on May 18. QFII, introduced in 2002, allows approved foreign investors to buy and sell yuan- denominated securities. Stocks Decline Foreign investors will be required to have at least two years of operational experience under the new rules, compared with the current minimum requirement of five years, according to yesterday's statement. Qualified investors will also be allowed to hold a combined maximum 30 percent stake in any single yuan- denominated stock, compared with 20 percent previously, the CSRC said. "The government wants to attract more investors and liquidity into the market," said Chen Liqiu, a strategist at Jianghai Securities Co. in Shanghai. The Shanghai Composite has dropped 6.8 percent from this year's high set on March 2 on concerns about the country's slowing economic growth. China's manufacturing may shrink for an eighth month in June, according to a report today from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics. Valuation Gap The Shanghai gauge has erased nearly two thirds of its value since its peak in October 2007. China's 50 million individual investors lost an average of 40,000 yuan last year, according to a May 9 People's Daily report. The Shanghai index slid 1 percent to 2,271.04 as of 10:32 a.m. local time, heading for its lowest close since March 30. Chen said the move to lower the entry threshold for overseas investors may have limited effects on the market because valuations of yuan-denominated shares are not attractive as Chinese equities in other overseas markets. Stocks in the Shanghai measure are valued at 9.89 times estimated earnings, compared with the multiple of 7.65 times for the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Hong Kong-listed Chinese companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. "Foreign investors may find more appeal with H-shares as their valuations are lower," Chen said. Chinese insurers and brokerages will benefit most from the regulator's plan to expand overseas investors because of potential capital inflows, Hui Miao, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG, wrote in a note dated yesterday. CSRC Reforms CSRC's Guo has increased the amount of stocks foreign investors can buy in the otherwise-closed market, urged listed companies to pay more cash dividends to shareholders and made changes in how initial public offerings are priced. The CSRC and the country's two exchanges, in Shanghai and Shenzhen, have also announced plans to cut transaction costs for stock purchases and sales, and tightened accounting scrutiny on companies that are facing delisting. The regulator has awarded 172 licenses to foreign investors under the QFII program so far, among which 145 have been given a quota, according to yesterday's statement. Public feedback is being sought for the revisions, it said. "I think what's happening in the regulatory environment is very positive," McCombe said.

China tests troubled waters with $1 billion rig for South China Sea Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:52 AM PDT Source: Reuters By Charlie Zhu (Reuters) – China has spent nearly $1 billion on an ultra-deepwater rig that appears intended to explore disputed areas of the South China Sea, one of Asia's most volatile hotspots and where the United States is strengthening ties with Beijing's rival claimants. For now, the locally built Haiyang Shiyou (Offshore Oil) 981 rig owned by China's state-run CNOOC oil company is drilling south of Hong Kong in an area within Beijing's ambit. But Chinese energy experts say Beijing will eventually move its first ultra-deepwater rig to explore in deeper and more oil-rich waters further south in the South China Sea, where China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping territorial claims. "With Chinese offshore drilling technology improving, it is just a matter of time for them to enter the central and southern part of the South China Sea," said Liu Feng, senior researcher at the state-backed National Institute for South China Sea Studies. Asked whether CNOOC would move the rig to disputed waters, Lin Boqiang, professor and director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, said: "I feel they will … If CNOOC does not do it, other countries will do it. So why (should) CNOOC not do it?" The deepwater area of the South China Sea remains untapped, largely because tensions between rival claimants have made oil companies and private rig-builders reluctant to explore contentious acreage well away from sovereign coastlines. CNOOC, or the China National Offshore Oil Corp, is an $89 billion company with oil and gas assets in Indonesia, Iraq, Australia, Africa, North and South America, as well as China. It declined comment on whether it would move the 981 rig into disputed waters, although the company described the vessel as "mobile national territory" when it began drilling 320 km (200 miles) south of Hong Kong last month. That sparked concerns that China's quest for oil and gas to feed its economy would push Beijing into the disputed zone of the South China Sea and potentially a confrontation with other claimants. "Large deepwater drilling rigs are our mobile national territory and strategic weapon for promoting the development of the country's offshore oil industry," the official Xinhua news agency quoted CNOOC Chairman Wang Yilin as saying. In response, Vietnam called for mutual respect of international law governing exploration in the South China Sea, which it calls the East Sea. "Activities in the East Sea by countries must abide by international laws … and must not infringe upon sovereignty, sovereign rights and national jurisdiction of other countries," said Luong Thanh Nghi, spokesman for Vietnam's foreign ministry. Vietnam and the Philippines have been the most vocal opponents of China. Last week, both China and the Philippines pulled back vessels from a group of rocks in the sea called the Scarborough Shoal, ending a two-month stand-off. Both cited bad weather as the reason. The United States has a long-standing relationship with the Philippines and is also strengthening ties with Vietnam. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was in Vietnam this month and during a tour of the deep water port of Cam Ranh Bay, a key U.S. base during the Vietnam War, he said the use of the harbor would be important to the Pentagon as it moved more ships to Asia. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also due to visit Hanoi next month. RICHES BELOW THE SEA Rich hydrocarbon resources are believed to lie below the centre and south of the South China Sea, which is in the disputed zone. Estimates for proven and undiscovered oil reserves in the entire sea range from 28 billion to as high as 213 billion barrels of oil, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a March 2008 report. That would be equivalent to more than 60 years of current Chinese demand, under the most optimistic outlook, and surpass every country's proven oil reserves except Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, according to the BP Statistical Review. Chinese state media have called the South China Sea "the second Persian Gulf". In a report last month, Xinhua news agency said about 70 percent of the oil and gas resources in the South China Sea were believed to exist in deep water. Geologists have said most oil and gas resources likely lie in areas where the sea floor is between several hundred meters and 3,000 meters deep, although parts are up to 4,700 meters deep. Using the 981 rig, China is capable of drilling for oil in waters as deep as 3,000 meters for the first time. The rig is now drilling at a depth of only 1,500 meters, another reason experts say it is likely to be moved further south. China had to wait for its own ultra-deepwater rig as private rigs were unavailable for hire because of a global exploration boom. Utilization rates of deepwater rigs, including semi-submersibles and drill ships, have been in the range of 90-100 percent. The equipment shortage has also deterred foreign companies from exploring the deep water of the South China Sea, in addition to their reluctance to venture into disputed territory. "If you can drill in West Africa and the Gulf of Mexcio, Brazil and North Sea, why come to the South China Sea?" said Gordon Kwan, head of Energy Research at Mirae Asset Securities. LOOKING SOUTH China, the world's largest energy user, is already relying on imports for over half of its oil needs. It has long hoped to expand deepwater exploration in the South China Sea as onshore production growth sags. So far, the offshore exploration of CNOOC and the other two Chinese state oil giants PetroChina and Sinopec Corp has been largely limited to waters along or close to China's continental shelf. Foreign firms like Husky and Eni hold offshore deepwater production sharing contracts with CNOOC. But deployment of the CNOOC rig and suggestions China has developed the expertise needed to build complex ancillary equipment, including pipe-laying ships, signals the exploration could move south. CNOOC, which derives nearly all its domestic output from shallow waters, has vowed to build deepwater capacity of one million barrels of oil equivalents per day by 2020, more than doubling the company's total production. "Is CNOOC doing this because they desperately need to deliver production growth? Absolutely," said Simon Powell, head of Asian Oil and Gas Research at CLSA. "Are they also doing it at the government request to plant the national flag so to speak? I have no idea." Any decision to push into disputed waters will be taken by policymakers in Beijing, not CNOOC. Some industry observers say any exploration is unlikely in the area while tensions remain high. MORE THAN GEOPOLITICAL RISK Still, CNOOC, which has struggled to deliver production growth, may want to exploit nationalistic sentiment to drum up state support for its deepwater exploration agenda, analysts said. "Chinese state media seemed to be excited by the rig, the technology," said Li Mingjiang, an assistant professor and a China expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. "By playing up nationalism, it could help CNOOC gain more state policy support, more investment." The big risk for CNOOC is that no one knows how hydrocarbon deposits are spread across the sea-bed. Discoveries near the coasts of Southeast Asian countries in recent years were mostly natural gas, reinforcing the belief among geologists and explorers there should be more gas than oil in the South China Sea. Natural gas yields much lower returns than oil because gas is generally cheaper but costs much more to produce, store and transport. "Aside from geopolitical risk, the bigger question is if 981 finds anything, is it more likely to be gas than oil?" CLSA's Powell said. "If they find natural gas in 1 or 2 km (deep) waters, then it could very likely be stranded gas. In other words, it is uneconomic."

China says Vietnam claim to islands "null and void" Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:55 AM PDT Source: Reuters (Reuters) – China on Thursday "vehemently opposed" a Vietnamese law asserting sovereignty over islands in disputed waters, the latest escalation in tensions over the resource-rich South China Sea. The row comes days after an easing in a months-long stand-off between China and the Philippines, but shows the persistent cycle of territorial frictions triggered by what some see as Beijing's growing assertiveness in the area. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun summoned Ambassador Nguyen Van Tho and told him that Hanoi's new law claiming the contested Paracel and Spratly Islands was a "serious violation" and called for an "immediate correction". "Vietnam's Maritime Law, declaring sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, is a serious violation of China's territorial sovereignty. China expresses its resolute and vehement opposition," Zhang said, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. The law was null and void, Zhang said, adding that China would "resolutely defend" its sovereignty. "China demands the Vietnamese side … not do anything to harm relations or the peace and stability of the South China Sea." Vietnam's National Assembly approved the law on Thursday. It says all foreign naval ships passing through the waters must notify Vietnamese authorities. China has conflicting claims with the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan across the South China Sea, key shipping lanes thought to contain rich energy reserves. Vietnam and the Philippines have been the most vocal opponents of China's claims. In the past few days, both Beijing and the Manila cited bad weather after pulling back vessels from a two-month stand-off near the Scarborough Shoal, a contested group of rocks in the sea. But China has spent nearly $1 billion on an ultra-deepwater rig that appears intended to explore disputed waters. The South China Sea is potentially the biggest flashpoint for confrontation in Asia, and tensions have risen since the United States adopted a policy last year to reinforce its influence in the region. Chinese Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo told Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily website on Thursday that China was well able to fight back in case of any provocation. "Our navy has the absolute ability and the absolute confidence to use arms to defend our country's sovereignty, territorial integrity and maritime rights … We're just waiting for the order," he said.

Have You Heard… China says Vietnam claim to islands “null and Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:57 AM PDT Have You Heard… China says Vietnam claim to islands "null and void" China tests troubled waters with $1 billion rig for South China Sea China Lowers Entry Barrier for Overseas Investors Safety scandals give foreign dairies a boost in China

Bird flu `epidemic' sparks chicken cull Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:15 AM PDT

Hard line on Bo case man Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:15 AM PDT

Foreign ministry officials in Paris have warned their counterparts in Phnom Penh not to take any action without a solid basis after a French architect with ties to disgraced politician Bo Xilai was arrested in Cambodia this week. Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:15 AM PDT

Cops bar Ai from tax court hearing Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:15 AM PDT

China raises administrative status of South China Sea islands Posted: 21 Jun 2012 02:11 AM PDT THE Chinese government has raised the administrative status of the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha Islands in the South China Sea from county-level to prefectural-level, according to today's statement. The State Council, or China's cabinet, has approved the establishment of the city of Sansha to administer the three island groups and their surrounding waters, while the government seat will be stationed on Yongxing Island, part of the Xisha Islands, according to a statement from the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The council has abolished the county-level Administration Office for the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha Islands, which was also stationed on Yongxing Island, the statement said.

A boat race where the great poet died Posted: 21 Jun 2012 12:53 AM PDT Rowing teams compete in a dragon boat race today in Zigui County, Hubei Province where Qu Yuan (340-278 BC), a beloved poet and statesman in the state of Chu, committed suicide upon hearing that his country had suffered a defeat. Villagers rushed to his rescue in small boats, and hence the custom of the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on June 23 this year. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Store employee plays porn video on outdoor LED screen Posted: 20 Jun 2012 11:13 PM PDT A man was detained for playing a Japanese adult movie for nearly 20 minutes on an outdoor LED screen on the wall of a shopping mall in downtown Pingdingshan City in Henan Province, local media reported today. The man, surnamed Li, was the employee of a furniture store in the mall that owns the advertising screen. Police said Li inserted a DVD starring Japanese porn actress Aoi Sora into a computer that was connected to the outdoor screen on Tuesday and played it for nearly 20 minutes, Zhengzhou Evening News reported. Passers-by were shocked to see the adult video on the screen that overlooks a busy shopping street. Some took photos or videos of this bizarre scenario and posted them on their microblogs. Local residents condemned the incident, saying it smeared the image of their city, and urged police to investigate and punish the offender. Police said Li has been held for a 15-day administrative detention starting yesterday for disseminating pornographic content.

Two Tibetans in self-immolation Posted: 20 Jun 2012 09:29 PM PDT Two Tibetans set themselves on fire on Wednesday in Qinghai province, activist groups and Chinese state media say.

China seeks easier investor rules Posted: 20 Jun 2012 10:06 PM PDT China's securities regulator proposes to ease rules for foreign investors, the latest step in its bid to open up the financial market.

China media: Rare earth warning Posted: 20 Jun 2012 09:19 PM PDT Morning newspaper round-up: Beijing's warning on the depletion of its rare earth resources receives extensive coverage.

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