News » Society » HK maid in court

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• HK maid in court
• Deepest dive set
• US$71m prize claimed in lottery
• Foreigner held in armed heists
• Bird flu `epidemic' sparks chicken cull
• Fiery protest claims youth
• One young Tibetan died after he and a fellow demonstrator in a remote area of Qinghai province set themeselves alight, in the latest such protest against Beijing rule.
• Stab death call
• Suzhou has new website in English
• Girl who shielded mom in city hospital
• Astronauts get ready for major space challenge
• Cambodia says Frenchman linked to Bo Xilai scandal won’t be extradited
• A Tycoon Rises and Falls With a Chinese Leader
• China Said to Propose Limits on Local Government Loans
• Brazil in trade pact with China, sees aviation gains
• Have You Heard… Brazil in trade pact with China, sees
• Deep sea submersible brings back biology samples
• China adds more trains for holiday travel rush
• Biggest-ever lottery win claimed
• Manual space docking set for weekend

HK maid in court Posted: 22 Jun 2012 09:40 AM PDT A FILIPINO domestic helper won permission yesterday to take her fight for permanent residency in Hong Kong to its top court, hoping for a landmark ruling that would let thousands of other foreign maids settle in the city. The judges said the Court of Final Appeal would have to decide whether immigration law is inconsistent with Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law. The case has split the city. Some argue barring maids from settling permanently amounts to ethnic discrimination. Others fear letting them stay would result in an influx of their relatives, straining city resources.

Deepest dive set Posted: 22 Jun 2012 09:40 AM PDT CHINA'S manned deep-sea submersible Jiaolong aims to dive to a depth of 7,000 meters in the Mariana Trench on Monday after already surpassing the record for the nation's deepest descent. The Jiaolong reached depths of 6,671; 6,965 and 6,963 meters in its three dives from June 15 to Friday, well surpassing the previous record of 5,188 meters last July. Problems remain with its adjustable ballast system, however, and must be corrected before the fourth dive, officials said. The Xiangyanghong 09, the vessel's mother ship, arrived at the designated dive zone on June 11.

US$71m prize claimed in lottery Posted: 22 Jun 2012 09:40 AM PDT THE biggest-ever Chinese lottery jackpot was claimed in Beijing yesterday, reported media in the capital. Winnings total 456,012,832 yuan (US$71,639,616), after a tax deduction of 114,003,208 yuan. The winner, said to be a middle-aged man, bought 110 tickets choosing the same number combination in the "Dual-Colored Balls" lottery from a kiosk in Beijing's Sanlitun area. The previous record in China's lottery was held by a Zhejiang Province resident who scooped 565 million yuan, before tax.

Foreigner held in armed heists Posted: 22 Jun 2012 09:38 AM PDT POLICE have arrested a foreigner accused of robbing taxi drivers at knifepoint in the southern Chinese city of Foshan, local officials said yesterday. Six robberies against taxi drivers were reported in Foshan from June 12-17. The suspects were said to be two "dark-skinned foreigners," police said, citing victims' accounts. The pair, tall and masculine compared to local Chinese, attacked taxi drivers at night, using knives to rob them of cash and mobile phones, police said, adding that the reported loss was around 11,000 yuan (US$1,732). Police did not reveal the nationality of the apprehended suspect, but local media said he was a 33-year-old Nigerian. A knife and meat cleaver were confiscated from him during the arrest. Foshan is south China's Guangdong Province, the country's manufacturing belt, which hosts a larger proportion of foreigners than most Chinese regions. Earlier this week, the death of a Nigerian man in a police station in the provincial capital Guangzhou sparked a rally of about 100 Africans. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei on Thursday said the government will investigate and help the Nigerian side appropriately handle the case.

Bird flu `epidemic' sparks chicken cull Posted: 22 Jun 2012 10:58 AM PDT

Fiery protest claims youth Posted: 22 Jun 2012 10:58 AM PDT

One young Tibetan died after he and a fellow demonstrator in a remote area of Qinghai province set themeselves alight, in the latest such protest against Beijing rule. Posted: 22 Jun 2012 10:58 AM PDT

Stab death call Posted: 22 Jun 2012 10:58 AM PDT

Suzhou has new website in English Posted: 22 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT SUZHOU'S first English-language lifestyle website, www.livingsu.com, was officially launched yesterday. The one-stop information portal, funded by the Suzhou Municipal Information Office and run by Shanghai Daily, has a friendly design for English speakers and authoritative and comprehensive information on life, sightseeing and investment in Suzhou, a city featuring famous ancient gardens in Jiangsu Province. Representatives of five consulates in Shanghai, about 10 foreign organizations and officials of Jiangsu Province and Shanghai Daily attended the inauguration. "With this website, we hope expatriates can appreciate the inspiring charm and great convenience of Suzhou," said Zhang Ciyun, editor-in-chief of Shanghai Daily. Susan Blauvelt, an English teacher from the United States who has been living and working in Suzhou for two years, said the website is like a key to the city of Suzhou for expatriates. "I and others had wished for an English website with accurate and updated information and finally it is a reality," she said. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Girl who shielded mom in city hospital Posted: 22 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT A seven-year-old girl is being treated at a Shanghai hospital for a serious brain injury she received while trying to shield her mother from a steel shovel wielded by a mentally ill man in a small village in Anhui Province in April. Wang Yan's mother died at the scene of the attack, while the girl suffered a broken skull and injury to her brain stem. She was rushed to a hospital, but Anhui doctors told the family she would not emerge from the coma she was in and that it would be pointless to spend money on her treatment. After the girl was at the hospital for more than a month, Wang Yan's father and brother sold out everything they had in order to take the girl for treatment in Shanghai. The family was able to bring only 8,000 yuan (US$1,270) to Shanghai since the family was almost broke from paying for her father's cancer treatment. Wang was admitted to Shanghai Blue Cross Brain Hospital in early June after her brother contacted the hospital. Dr Pan Renlong, director of Shanghai Blue Cross's neurosurgery department, told Shanghai Daily yesterday that Wang Yan is capable of surviving the injury, but she may need one to two years of rehabilitation. "She was in deep coma upon arriving at our hospital," Pan said. After consulting with experts, Pan operated on Wang on Wednesday to drain fluid from brain. "She can open her eyes from time to time now, but the movements are unconscious, which means she is under a shallow coma." Pan said. The next treatment, Pan said, is to awaken the girl. Doctors hope she can live on her own after long-term treatment. "I am not sure whether she can recover so well, but I will try my best since I was deeply moved by the little girl's behavior," he said. "How brave is a girl who covers her mother from a crazy adult during that moment."

Astronauts get ready for major space challenge Posted: 22 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT CHINESE astronauts are scheduled to perform Shenzhou-9 spacecraft's first manual docking with the Tiangong-1 space lab module tomorrow, which would be a major step toward China building a permanent space station around 2020. Shenzhou-9 is currently connected to Tiangong-1 following an automatic docking on Monday. China Central Television yesterday showed footage of Liu Wang, 43, one of the three Chinese astronauts aboard Tiangong-1, running through drills for the manual docking, while Liu Yang, 33, the country's first female taikonaut, was recording the process. The astronauts will return to the spacecraft again and separate the module for the manual docking to be performed by Liu Wang. "A manual docking, if successful, will demonstrate the country's grasp of essential space rendezvous and docking techniques," said Zhou Jianping, chief engineer of China's manned space program. When building a space station, components will be sent into space separately before being assembled using a variety of docking procedures. The three astronauts entered the cabin of the Tiangong-1 on Monday afternoon, becoming the first group of Chinese to enter an orbiter in space. The environment inside the orbiter has been comfortable, with the temperature at 22 to 23 degrees Celsius and the humidity at 40 percent, said Deng Yibing, chief engineer of the astronaut training center. Although they experience 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours as the orbiter circles Earth every 90 minutes, astronauts wake up and rest on Earth time. "They get up at 6am Beijing time every day and go to bed in the evening," Deng said. Meals for the astronauts include rice, two dishes, soup and fruit, which are packed separately in aluminum bags, said Chen Bin, an expert with the China Aerospace Medicine Research Center. The astronauts insert the bags into a heater that looks like toaster before eating. "We try to make them feel they can eat the same food in space as on the ground," Chen said. One breakfast included fried rice, mushrooms and shredded pork with salted cabbage. A lunch had curried fried rice, mushrooms and chicken, peas, chocolate, lemon tea and spicy sauce. The dinner had different dishes of beef filet with black pepper and lotus root. Nutritionists customized the menu for each astronaut after talking with them. "I like sour and spicy food, so they prepared vinegar and chili sauce for me," said Jing Haipeng, 45, the flight leader. The astronauts called their family via a video phone yesterday. Liu Wang played the harmonica during the video conversation with his wife to celebrate her birthday.

Cambodia says Frenchman linked to Bo Xilai scandal won’t be extradited Posted: 22 Jun 2012 08:17 AM PDT Source: Reuters By Martin Petty and Prak Chan Thul | Photo: WSJ (Reuters) – The French architect linked to China's biggest political scandal in two decades and detained in Cambodia will not be extradited to any country, a minister said, adding another twist to a high-profile case already shrouded in mystery. Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong gave no details on what grounds China had requested the arrest of Patrick Henri Devillers, whose whereabouts is unknown, but said he would remain in custody pending further investigation. Devillers, 52, has lived in Cambodia for at least five years, according to friends. He had close business ties with the family of deposed Chinese politician Bo Xilai, but China's reason for seeking his arrest has not been made public. "The Royal Government of Cambodia has already made decision to keep this French national in Cambodia, the decision was already made. Neither sending to France or China," Hor Namhong told reporters. Asked why Devillers was detained, he said: "We don't know the reason, we are waiting for further investigation." A spokeswoman for the French embassy in Phnom Penh declined to say whether France was seeking his extradition, or give any details on the status of Devillers. Cambodia has kept an unusually tight lid on all information about his detention in a case that has highlighted the tight diplomatic relationship with China. China is Cambodia's biggest political and economic ally and Beijing has boosted its influence in the impoverished country in recent years, pumping in hundreds of millions of dollars of aid, loans and investment. Devillers is known to have been close to Bo's glamorous wife, Gu Kailai, who has been named as a suspect in last November's murder of British businessman Neil Heywood. The police case against Gu has not been made public. Last week, the head of the discipline apparatus of China's Communist Party, He Guoqiang, visited Cambodia for three days. His position makes him one of the senior officials overseeing Bo's case. Apart from the foreign minister, Cambodian officials, police and a government spokesman have refused comment or provided no details on Devillers since his arrest was confirmed on Tuesday. Several have referred journalists to other ministries and agencies, which have each denied responsibility for the case. "HE LOOKED VERY SAD" Cambodia has an extradition treaty with China and police said on Wednesday that arrangement permitted the authorities to detain the Frenchman for up to 60 days while China gathered evidence to support its request for him to be handed over. The status of the Frenchman is shrouded in mystery. The French embassy and several friends of Devillers have given no comment in the past two days and Cambodian authorities have not said where Devillers was being held. Police had initially said he was being kept at an immigration detention facility, but officials there told Reuters no foreigners were being held. Reuters reporters also visited an Interior Ministry detention facility, where officials also denied holding him. The events leading up to his arrest are also unclear. A friend of Devillers, Pierre Yves Clais, told Reuters on Wednesday that he was told by a friend that the Frenchman had gone for lunch on June 13 with two Chinese-speaking Cambodians, which he described as a "set-up". However, Clais on Friday denied making the comment and said it was a misunderstanding. Two security guards working close to Devillers in Phnom Penh witnessed his arrest, which they said took place about two weeks ago. A police van and a private car carrying two European men pulled up outside his house before taking him away. "I saw five policemen arrest him. He was cooperative, but he looked very sad," Rith Makara, a security guard at the furniture store opposite the Frenchman's home, said on Thursday. He and a next-door neighbor said Devillers lived alone and had not been seen since. Sources familiar with Devillers when he lived in China last month said he entered Bo's inner circle while living in Dalian in the 1990s and the Frenchman received help from then-mayor Bo in chasing up an unpaid debt for architectural work. Devillers and Gu gave the same residential address when they set up a British company in 2000 in the resort town of Bournemouth and an investment firm registered by Devillers in 2006 in Luxembourg listed the Beijing address of the Ang Dao Law Firm – a firm affiliated with Gu.

A Tycoon Rises and Falls With a Chinese Leader Posted: 22 Jun 2012 08:24 AM PDT Source: Wall Street Journal By Jeremy Page and Brian Spegele From her penthouse apartment in the English seaside resort of Bournemouth, Gu Kailai, wife of the now-fallen Chinese leader Bo Xilai, looked out at a hot-air balloon that gave tourists a panoramic view. She decided that Dalian, the Chinese city then run by her husband, needed a similar attraction. Ms. Gu approached the balloon's owners and asked how to get one. Then she put them in touch with Xu Ming, a businessman back in Dalian. Mr. Xu forked over the money to buy a balloon in early 2000, and later that year was photographed taking a ride in the one in Bournemouth with Ms. Gu. Indulging the whims of the first family of Dalian appears to have paid off handsomely for Mr. Xu, who built a fortune in the city while Mr. Bo was mayor there from 1993 to 2001. Mr. Xu, as chairman of a company called Dalian Shide Group, was ranked a few years later as China's eighth-richest man. Now he is in trouble. Mr. Xu has been missing since late March, when he was detained soon after Chinese authorities sacked Mr. Bo as Communist Party chief in Chongqing city, according to people familiar with the matter. The people said it is their understanding investigators are scrutinizing Mr. Xu's links to the Bo family, especially his business ties to Ms. Gu and his role in helping arrange the overseas education of her son, Bo Guagua. Ms. Gu herself is in detention as a suspect in the death of a British businessman found dead in Chongqing last fall. She, her husband and Mr. Xu are all unreachable, their whereabouts unknown. Mr. Xu's detention underscores a broader dynamic at the heart of the Bo scandal: the intersection of money and power under China's system of state capitalism. Many business leaders in China rely on close relationships with party officials, who have sweeping powers to set policy, allocate government contracts, distribute credit from state banks and control the police, media and courts. The business leaders often nurture these relationships with various gifts and favors. Such relationships rarely are exposed, under a system in which the party forbids public scrutiny of its affairs. Business ties are often hidden through shell companies and offshore vehicles. The close relationship of a businessman with a political leader "was not anything unique to Bo Xilai," said Victor Shih, an expert on Chinese politics at Northwestern University. "It happens at every level of government. Find me a Chinese mayor who doesn't have these special relationships." The risk the entrepreneurs run is that when the party does periodically make an example of someone, as it has now with Mr. Bo, the person's associates and relatives are compromised as well. This week, Cambodian police said that China had asked for the extradition of a French architect, Patrick Henri Devillers, who became close to the Bo family when he was living in Dalian in the 1990s. British public records show Mr. Devillers and Ms. Gu used the same address in Bournemouth. He, along with Mr. Xu, was photographed with Ms. Gu in the hot air balloon over the city. Although separated by 20 years in age, Messrs. Bo and Xu were a natural fit. When Mr. Bo became mayor of the northeastern port city of Dalian in 1993, Mr. Xu was about 22 and had just founded a small business exporting shrimp and doing landfill work. Mr. Bo, evidently eager to impress party chieftains, launched a campaign to build the city into a shipping, fashion and information-technology hub with a series of massive infrastructure developments. Around the same time, Mr. Xu enlisted the help of a Taiwanese-American businessman to secure an introduction to Mr. Bo and his wife, according to a person familiar with the matter. "Xu Ming was so smart," the person said. Over the following eight years, Mr. Xu's company grew into a major national conglomerate spanning plastics, finance and property, due in large part to local government policies and contracts linked to Mr. Bo's program to revamp Dalian. In its early years, Dalian Shide won landfill contracts for more than 30 large government construction projects, including the Victory Plaza in central Dalian, the Golden Pebble Beach golf course and the waterfront Xinghai Square, according to the company's website. But Mr. Xu was soon looking beyond landfills. In 1995, Dalian Shide joined with a German company to make PVC door and window frames. The deal, as a joint venture with a foreign company, would have required approval of the city's government chief, Mr. Bo. The following year, Mr. Bo ordered that buildings along many of Dalian's thoroughfares and in some residential districts install PVC windows and doors, according to state media reports. And Dalian's government provided subsidies to hasten installation, according to a report in a magazine controlled by the central government. Benefits flowed both ways. Dalian Shide became the co-owner of a company called Horas Consultancy, public records show. Mr. Bo's wife, Ms. Gu, has in the past worked with that firm on advising companies investing in China. Mr. Xu also accompanied Ms. Gu and her son, Guagua, on a school-hunting trip to Britain 14 years ago, according to a person with knowledge of the trip. It included a skiing holiday in Austria and Germany, said this person, who added that Mr. Xu paid for everything, from airfare to computer games and other presents for the boy. The whole trip cost more than $100,000, the person familiar with it said, adding that Mr. Xu paid for things from a store of cash divided among his companions, which at times drew suspicion from immigration officials. In Britain, they visited three schools Guagua later attended, Papplewick, Harrow and the University of Oxford, the person said. Helping arrange a meeting with at least one school, the person added, was Neil Heywood, the British businessman in whose death Ms. Gu is now a suspect in China. Mr. Xu traveled to Britain again in 2000 to visit Ms. Gu after she had moved to Bournemouth with her son, then studying English there before starting at Papplewick. It was during the 2000 trip that Mr. Xu was photographed with Ms. Gu in the hot-air balloon she had admired from her roof garden. "She thought there should be one in Dalian, too, and Mr. Xu seemed to trust her judgment," said a person who was involved in the balloon deal and who took the photo. The balloon venture back in Dalian, which cost several hundred thousand dollars, proved ill-fated: There were cost overruns, and the balloon was destroyed in a fireworks accident. But Mr. Xu's business continued to flourish. The same year he bought the balloon, Mr. Xu's company acquired Dalian's soccer team, then one of China's best. He rarely attended games but saw the club as a way to promote his company's brand, according to sports journalists and a company official. Mr. Bo, for his part, took an interest in the club as a way to enhance the city's profile. "Dalian football is really the embodiment of the spirit of Dalian," he said on a visit with Mr. Xu to see the balloon the tycoon had imported from Britain, according to a report on Dalian Shide's website. In 2004, Mr. Bo moved to Beijing as China's commerce minister. Shortly afterward, Mr. Xu's Dalian Shide was among a handful of private companies the ministry licensed to import crude and refined oil. In 2005, Forbes magazine ranked Mr. Xu as China's eighth-richest man and, at 34, one of its two youngest billionaires. He became a regular guest at international business conferences. By 2009, Dalian Shide had taken an interest in real estate in Mr. Bo's new city, Chongqing, where he had become Communist Party chief. Company executives set up a business there called Tian Shi An De Real Estate Development Co. Ltd., according to public records in Chongqing and Hong Kong. It is unclear what that company did in Chongqing. Calls to its headquarters went unanswered. Several state media reports have said it invested in Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area, a project championed by Mr. Bo. At Dalian Shide's annual meeting this January, Mr. Xu focused on real estate, saying an investment of 20 billion yuan in that sector should generate 100 billion yuan in five to six years, said a company executive who attended. Like Mr. Bo, Mr. Xu wasn't afraid to flaunt the fruits of his success. He recently bought a Bombardier Challenger private jet and sent his own son to Harrow, according to people familiar with the matter. He was media-shy, but when he did speak, Mr. Xu, like Mr. Bo, made no secret of his ambitions. "Who doesn't think of becoming president when you've just graduated from university?" Mr. Xu said in an interview posted on his company's website. "Think what you like about me," he added. "I am me. I do what I want." In the past year, while Mr. Bo was campaigning for promotion to the Communist Party's top leadership group, Mr. Xu spoke privately about his plans to build Dalian Shide into a major international brand. "He was very ebullient, very bullish," said Rupert Hoogewerf, who compiles the Hurun Rich List of China's wealthiest people and who met Mr. Xu about a year ago in a private club in Shanghai. "His message was: Watch this space—in 10 years' time, it's going to be huge." What happened to Mr. Xu remains a mystery. Chinese authorities announced on April 10 that Ms. Gu was in custody as a suspect in Mr. Heywood's death. They also said Mr. Bo had been relieved of his remaining posts and put under investigation for unspecified "disciplinary violations." On Mr. Xu's fate, however, the government has been silent, with police and other agencies all either declining to comment or saying they didn't know he had vanished. Mr. Xu's company declined to comment beyond a statement posted on its website April 21: "We have the confidence and the ability to resolve all types of problems currently being faced." People close to Mr. Xu and the company say they believe he has been detained by the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, which is handling the investigation of Mr. Bo. "It's entirely political—they're investigating everything about his relationship with Bo Xilai," said one Dalian Shide executive. The executive said that Dalian Shide officials informed the staff of Mr. Xu's disappearance in the last week of April. Because of it, they said, state banks that had lent the company 20 billion yuan ($3.15 billion) to invest in real estate were demanding early repayment. Then in mid-May, the executive said, the company officials called another meeting to announce they had received a letter from Xu Ming saying he was stepping down as chairman and appointing his older brother, Xu Bin, in his place. "After that, the banks agreed to give us more time," said the executive. He added that Xu Bin said he had received a call from his brother. "Xu Ming told him he was under investigation but was OK," said the Dalian Shide executive. "That was the last we heard."

China Said to Propose Limits on Local Government Loans Posted: 22 Jun 2012 08:28 AM PDT Source: Bloomberg News China's banking regulator proposed keeping a cap on local government loans to curtail defaults while encouraging funding for railways, roads and affordable homes, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. The China Banking Regulatory Commission suggested limiting loans to local government financing vehicles to levels reached at the end of 2011, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named because the proposal is confidential. The watchdog made the recommendation in a report sent to the cabinet after Premier Wen Jiabao's call last month for the government to focus on growth, the person said. China is introducing stimulus measures to arrest a slowdown in the world's second-biggest economy while enforcing risk controls. Bad debts rose for a second straight quarter for the first time since 2005 and banks' earnings growth slowed in the three months to March 31, as steps to curb inflation pushed up funding costs and drove down property prices. The CBRC's proposal, which includes about 10 points and was submitted to the State Council, China's cabinet, at the end of May, encourages banks to boost lending for "key" construction projects, toll roads, agriculture, export financing, consumer credit and small businesses, the person said. The regulator didn't specify targets, the person said. A Beijing-based press officer for the CBRC declined to immediately comment. Faltering Economy China's economy expanded 8.1 percent in the first quarter, the slowest pace in almost three years, as Europe's debt crisis crimped exports and policy makers' measures to cool consumer and property prices damped domestic demand. That led the central bank to cut interest rates on June 7 for the first time since 2008, and the government delayed more stringent bank capital rules for one year to help bolster credit growth. Premier Wen on May 20 called for "putting stabilizing growth in a more important position." The change of rhetoric spurred speculation about a government stimulus similar to the 4 trillion-yuan ($628 billion) program unleashed during the 2008 credit crunch, which prompted a surge in local government borrowing and spurred concern that defaults would rise. China's new lending in May exceeded analysts' estimates, aiding Wen's efforts to reverse a slowdown in the country's economic growth. Local-currency loans were 793.2 billion yuan, the People's Bank of China said on its website on June 11. That compared with the 700 billion yuan median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 29 economists and 681.8 billion yuan in April. Local Borrowing The local governments, prohibited from directly taking bank loans, had set up more than 6,000 financing companies to raise funds for projects such as stadiums, roads and bridges, the National Audit Office said in a report last year. Their bank borrowings totaled 9 trillion yuan as of Dec. 31, with about one-third coming due in the next three years, a person with knowledge of the matter said in March, citing CBRC data. China's top economic planning agency ordered local governments to examine the ability of companies to repay bonds maturing in 2012 and 2013, two people with direct knowledge of the matter had said earlier this week, asking not to be identified as they weren't authorized to speak to media. Cash Flows While CBRC's new rules would cap total lending levels, banks would be allowed to refinance loans to the local government financing vehicles for completed projects that aren't generating income if estimated future cash flows can cover payments, the person said. The amount for such refinancing may not exceed the value of the original loan, the person said. "This is a prudent risk-management measure," Stanley Li, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Mirae Asset Securities (HK) Ltd., said by phone today. "LGFV loans can still be risky. People still remember the side effects of the previous stimulus package. CBRC will continue to request banks to be disciplined in lending unless the economy turns really bad." Banks may also be allowed to revise repayment arrangements for the financing vehicles if the loans mature before the projects are completed, the person said. Last year, the CBRC hadn't yet formulated refinancing rules and was urging banks to not roll over any such loans, the person said. Banks can exceed a debt-concentration rule in lending to railway projects this year if their risk controls permit, the person said, without elaborating. Under Chinese rules, a bank's total credit to its biggest customer can't exceed 15 percent of the lender's net capital, a requirement they should "firmly" abide by, then-Chairman Liu Mingkang said in an April 2011 statement on the regulator's website. The most recent proposal also aims to encourage lenders to prioritize mortgages for buyers of affordable housing and smaller, lower-priced homes, the person said. Home values fell in a record 54 of 70 cities in May as developers cut prices to boost sales, the statistics bureau said this month.

Brazil in trade pact with China, sees aviation gains Posted: 22 Jun 2012 08:37 AM PDT Source: Reuters By Rodrigo Viga Gaier | Photo: Xinhua (Reuters) – Brazil and China on Thursday signed a handful of trade agreements aimed at boosting investment and trade flows for the coming decade, at a time when economic growth in both emerging market powerhouses is losing momentum abruptly. China, the world's second largest economy, is Brazil's biggest export market, and Brazil officials hailed the accord as critical to the South American country's growth. Under the agreements signed by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, relations between the nations will rise to the status of a "global strategic partnership," highlighting their growing influence in the global economy. Rousseff and Jiabao, who is in Brazil to attend the U.N. Rio+20 sustainable development summit, also agreed upon a common agenda of investments in the mining, industrial, aviation and infrastructure sectors that should encourage commerce flows between the two nations. Speaking at the summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said the accords should provide a boost to manufacturing and sales by Brazilian airplane maker Embraer in China. Embraer (EMBR3.SA), the world's largest maker of regional planes, for years was barred from producing jets in China, the world's fastest-growing market for commercial and executive aviation. "The relation with China is greatly relevant for us because it is our most important trading partner," Mantega said. "In spite of a potential slowdown, China will keep being the place where to do business, a dynamic economy." The accords follow recent trade tensions between the two countries. Since Rousseff took office early in 2011, Brazilian officials have complained of barriers facing its manufactured exports in China. They have also blamed the Chinese with flooding Brazilian markets with cheap imports that hurt local factories. In one of the most heated commercial disputes, China closed its ports to the so-called Valemaxes, massive dry hulk carriers that Brazilian iron-ore miner Vale (VALE5.SA) planned to use to cut shipping costs to the Asian nation. China has complained that Brazil raised taxes on Chinese-made cars to protect a local car assembly industry dominated by U.S., European and Japanese automakers. Chinese officials said Brazil is also erecting barriers on products ranging from shoes to toys and men's suits. The deals come as Rousseff, a results-oriented pragmatist, is pressing China to buy more products from Brazilian manufacturers as part of a broader push aimed at reducing the South American nation's dependence on sales of raw materials such as iron ore, oil and soybeans. MORE GLOBAL CLOUT Both countries, which are members of the BRICS group that also include Russia, India and South Africa, are racing to bolster their economies that have slowed sharply in part due to Europe's debt crisis. Facing dwindling liquidity abroad, both countries signed a deal on Thursday to set up local currency swaps of up to 60 billion reais ($29.46 billion). "As international credit remains scarce we will have enough credit for our transactions," Mantega said. The swap is a deal between two countries to give out loans in their local currencies. Mantega said the move was part of an effort by emerging-market economies to shield their economies from the crisis now engulfing rich nations. He said the BRICS are demanding more influence in multilateral institutions like the International Monetary Fund to reflect their growing clout in the global economy. A commodity-hungry China overtook the United States as Brazil's single largest trading partner in 2009, however, falling raw materials prices are starting to hurt trade flows, recent government data showed. Brazilian policymakers said they want to tap China's growing local market by boosting manufactured goods exports and creating joint ventures in the Asian giant. Mantega said Chinese companies are very interested in investing in the South American nation's vast oil and gas sectors. Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) and other oil majors are racing to develop some of the world's biggest oil reserves off the South American nation's coast. GREEN LIGHT FOR EMBRAER In April last year, the Chinese government allowed Embraer to start assembling executive jets in China, giving the company a lifeline in a massive market where its future was in doubt. For years Embraer tried to produce regional aircraft in China. That approval never came, in part because China is developing a rival regional plane, prompting Embraer to focus on China's business jet market instead. Embraer's China joint venture, Harbin Aircraft Ltd, would deliver its first plane in late 2013, Embraer said in a statement that reiterated a deal to make Legacy 600/650 jets in China. The agreement is seen as key for Embraer to cut down on the cost and inconvenience of selling planes that require import licenses. The planemaker's Chinese venture also inked a contract with ICBC Financial Leasing Co. to sell 10 Legacy 650 jets, Embraer said in statement. Five are firm orders and five are optional, with delivery planned for the end of 2013. ($1 = 2.0364 Brazilian reais)

Have You Heard… Brazil in trade pact with China, sees Posted: 22 Jun 2012 08:40 AM PDT Have You Heard… Brazil in trade pact with China, sees aviation gains China Said to Propose Limits on Local Government Loans A Tycoon Rises and Falls With a Chinese Leader Cambodia says Frenchman linked to Bo Xilai scandal won't be extradited

Deep sea submersible brings back biology samples Posted: 22 Jun 2012 02:45 AM PDT The Jiaolong, China's manned deep-sea submersible, today made its third dive into the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the world's oceans. "The mission of the sea dive test is to find problems and solve them before the submersible is to put into practical use," said Liu Xincheng, the on-scene party chief. The vessel set a new national record by reaching the depth of 6,965 meters under the sea in the second dive on Tuesday, surpassing the previous 6,671-meter record in the first dive last Friday. "The adjustable ballast system was unable to drain away water normally in the second dive, which hindered the submersible from cruising, working on fixed-point and hovering," Liu Feng, the on-scene commander, told Xinhua. "We will recheck the adjustable ballast system of the vessel and continue to verify its more than 200 indices and functions," he said. The dive, started at 7am local time (2100 GMT yesterday), is expected to reach as deep as 6,960 meters. The submersible plans to make six dives, aiming to reach the depth of 7,000 meters. The Xiangyanghong 09, the vessel's oceanographic mother ship, arrived at the designated dive zone in the Mariana Trench, located in the western Pacific Ocean, on June 11. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

China adds more trains for holiday travel rush Posted: 22 Jun 2012 02:24 AM PDT CHINA'S Ministry of Railways said today it has put more trains on to ease transportation pressure during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday from June 22-24. The ministry added 196 provisional passenger trains for the travel rush yesterday, one day ahead of the holiday, 70 more than the eve of last year's holiday, it said in a statement. China's railways are expected to carry 6.75 million passengers today, the travel peak of this holiday, up 4.7 percent from the holiday travel peak last year, the ministry has said. It estimated a daily average passenger flow of 6.1 million from June 21 to 24, up 5 percent from that during last year's holiday travel rush. The Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duanwu Festival, is traditionally celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar. The festival commemorates the famous ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan. Chinese people prepare and eat zongzi, or leaf-packed glutinous rice dumplings, drink wine and race dragon boats on the day. The festival falls on June 23 this year.

Biggest-ever lottery win claimed Posted: 22 Jun 2012 02:05 AM PDT THE biggest-ever Chinese lottery jackpot was claimed in Beijing yesterday, reported media in the capital. Winnings total 456,012,832 yuan (US$71,639,616), after a tax deduction of 114,003,208 yuan. The winner, said to be a middle-aged man, bought 110 tickets choosing the same number combination in the "Dual-Colored Balls" lottery from a kiosk in Beijing's Sanlitun area. According to the winner, he always buys a large number of tickets using the same number combination. The winning numbers were drawn on Tuesday night by the China Welfare Lottery Issuing and Management Center. The previous record in China's lottery was held by a Zhejiang Province resident who scooped 565 million yuan, before tax.

Manual space docking set for weekend Posted: 22 Jun 2012 01:42 AM PDT CHINA'S Shenzhou-9 spacecraft is to perform its first manual docking with the Tiangong-1 space lab module over the weekend, which would be a major step toward China building a permanent space station around 2020. Shenzhou-9 is currently connected to Tiangong-1 following an automatic docking on Monday. China Central Television yesterday showed footage of Liu Wang, 43, one of the three Chinese astronauts aboard Tiangong, running through drills for the manual docking, while Liu Yang, 33, the country's first female astronaut was recording the process. The astronauts will return to the spacecraft again and separate the module for the manual docking. "A manual docking, if successful, will demonstrate the country's grasp of essential space rendezvous and docking techniques," said Zhou Jianping, chief engineer of China's manned space program. The three astronauts entered the cabin of the Tiangong-1 on Monday afternoon, becoming the first group of Chinese to enter an orbiter in space.