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News » Society » Cold front extends into central China, snowfalls in northeast |
- Cold front extends into central China, snowfalls in northeast
- What kind of superpower could China be?
- China history quiz: Mandarins and murderers
- Calm call on raid death
- South Korea has called for a calm and cool- headed resolution after the death of a mainland fisherman during a raid, urging that the incident not raise bilateral tensions.
- SJM signs land deal for Macau casino
- Snow traps 7
- At least 2 dead in 30-vehicle pile-up
- HK seizes US$3.4m of ivory tusks and products
- Chinese government mulls policies to support solar power industry
- Hong Kong Defends Currency Peg for First Time Since 2009
- China power brokers agree on preferred leadership – sources
- Have You Heard…
- At least two dead in N China vehicle pile-up
- At least two dead in N China vehicle pile-up
- 30-vehicle pileup triggers fires in north China; casualties unknown
- Cold front to drop temperatures in north China
| Cold front extends into central China, snowfalls in northeast Posted: 20 Oct 2012 08:28 PM PDT THE cold front sweeping north China will extend into the central and eastern China while causing snowfall in the northeast regions, China's meteorological authorities said today. |
| What kind of superpower could China be? Posted: 19 Oct 2012 10:13 AM PDT What kind of superpower could China be? |
| China history quiz: Mandarins and murderers Posted: 20 Oct 2012 04:31 PM PDT What did Emperor Qin Shi Huang do to 460 scholars? |
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| SJM signs land deal for Macau casino Posted: 20 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT CASINO operator SJM Holdings says it has signed a deal to buy land for a new casino in Macau, the world's biggest gambling market, giving it a chance to catch up with rivals' rapid expansion. The company founded by billionaire Stanley Ho said late Friday that it has accepted a contract to buy a plot of land in Cotai, the district earmarked for all future casino expansion in the former Portuguese colony. SJM is paying nearly US$270 million for the land, on which it plans to build a 2,000-room hotel and casino with about 700 gambling tables and 1,000 slot machines. It said construction would take up to three years but did not say how much the project would cost. After ending Ho's 40-year casino monopoly about a decade ago, Macau's casino revenues have surged due to an influx of high-rolling Chinese gamblers. The special administrative region, which is the only place in China where casinos are legal, raked in US$33.5 billion last year in gambling revenue, more than five times the amount earned on the Las Vegas Strip. The deal means SJM will be able to catch up with rival operators that have invested billions in new megaresorts in Cotai, an area of reclaimed land. The company operates 20 casinos already in Macau but most are small. Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International's Macau unit also announced this past week that it received land in Cotai for a planned US$2.5 billion casino resort. Earlier this year, US casino magnate Steve Wynn received approval for his first resort on Cotai. The Macau arm of billionaire Sheldon Adelson's casino company, Las Vegas Sands Corp, already operates three resorts on Cotai and is planning a fourth.
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| Posted: 20 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT HEAVY snow in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has halted traffic and trapped seven people in the mountains, authorities said on Friday. The seven were stranded in Guozigou Valley in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. Rescue services have been sent to the scene. |
| At least 2 dead in 30-vehicle pile-up Posted: 20 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT AT least two people died in an expressway pile-up involving 30 vehicles in north China's Hebei Province yesterday morning, local authorities said. Vehicles caught fire after the accident at around 7 am on the Tangshan-Tianjin Expressway near Tangshan, a municipal government spokesman said. Rescue work continued last night. The spokesman said it was foggy at the time. |
| HK seizes US$3.4m of ivory tusks and products Posted: 20 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT HONG Kong customs officers have confiscated nearly 4 tons of ivory worth US$3.4 million in their biggest ever seizure of endangered species products, authorities said yesterday. Acting on a tip from customs officials in neighboring Guangdong Province on China's mainland, Hong Kong officials found the ivory tusks and ornaments in two containers shipped from Tanzania and Kenya. In the first seizure, on Tuesday, officers found nearly 1,000 pieces of ivory tusks weighing more than 1,900 kilograms as well as 1.4 kilograms of ivory ornaments in a container from Tanzania. The ivory was hidden in bags of plastic scrap. A day later, officers found 237 pieces of tusks weighing about 1,900 kilograms in a shipment from Kenya. Authorities in China have arrested seven people, including one from Hong Kong. The ivory seizure tops one in 2011 worth US$2.2 million. "This is the biggest haul of ivory in Hong Kong customs enforcement history in a single operation," said Lam Tak-fai, head of Hong Kong's Ports and Maritime Command. Wildlife activists blame China's growing presence in Africa for a surge in poaching elephants for their tusks, most of which are believed to be smuggled to China and Thailand to make ornaments. |
| Chinese government mulls policies to support solar power industry Posted: 20 Oct 2012 09:06 AM PDT  Source: Reuters (Reuters) – China is working on policies, including subsidies and easier access to the grid, to help its ailing solar power producers expand in the domestic market, the China Daily reported on Saturday, citing industry officials and government sources. At a meeting earlier this week, the State Grid also agreed in principle to waive charges associated with connecting to the grid, which usually costs millions of yuan, Meng said, adding that a plan to develop the country's solar industry has been handed to the central government and is awaiting approval. "The obstacles companies face in order to be connected to the national grid are the biggest problem for the solar power industry," Meng was quoted as saying. The National Energy Administration is also working on a plan to offer subsidies ranging from about 0.40 yuan ($0.06) to 0.60 yuan for each kilowatt-hour of distributed solar power. The amount includes subsidies from both the central and local governments, the China Daily said, citing a senior official from the administration. China's export-focused solar panel industry has been hit hard by excess manufacturing capacity and waning foreign demand as European nations cut back subsidies for green power. Companies have slashed prices 30 percent this year as stockpiles grow, virtually erasing the industry's profits. Chinese producers, including Suntech Power Holdings and Trina Solar, are increasingly turning to their home market, which has become one of the world's biggest, for solar energy development. Overseas, they battle not only a weak market environment but also anti-dumping tariffs in the United States. Europe also could impose import duties.   |
| Hong Kong Defends Currency Peg for First Time Since 2009 Posted: 20 Oct 2012 09:04 AM PDT  Source: Bloomberg News By Fion Li Hong Kong's de facto central bank stepped in for the first time since 2009 to prevent the city's currency from rising against the U.S. dollar after it touched the upper limit of a range that triggers an intervention. "Funds continue to flow into Hong Kong given the monetary easing in the U.S. and Europe," Kenix Lai, a currency analyst at Bank of East Asia Ltd. in Hong Kong, said by telephone today. "That's evident by the rising stock market and property prices. I expect HKMA will still have to intervene in the near term as capital inflows continue." Policy makers from around the world bemoaned the economic threat of stronger exchange rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary easing during International Monetary Fund meetings in Tokyo last week. Brazil's Finance Minister Guido Mantega vowed to shield his country from the "selfish" monetary policies of some developed nations while Philippine central bank Governor Amando Tetangco said the Fed was causing "challenges to monetary policy in emerging markets." The Fed initiated a third phase of so-called quantitative easing on Sept. 13, purchasing $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities per month, and said this will continue until the outlook for jobs improves "substantially." Currency Demand The European Central Bank and Bank of Japan have also added to stimulus. The ECB last month pledged to buy the bonds of governments that agree to austerity conditions while the BOJ boosted its asset-purchase fund by 10 trillion yen ($126 billion) and abandoned a minimum yield for the bonds it purchases. "The recent increase in demand for the local currency is related to a less strained European market, weakness in the U.S. dollar and declining U.S. interest rates, which have prompted capital inflows into currency and equity markets in the region," the HKMA said in today's statement. "Upward pressures have similarly been observed in other Asian currencies," it said. The HKMA last intervened in December 2009. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index (HSI) of stocks has risen 7.5 percent since the Fed's announcement and gained about 19 percent from this year's low on June 4. Home prices have surpassed their October 1997 peak, according to Centaline Property Agency Ltd. Capital Inflows Emerging-market equity funds tracked by EPFR Global Research recorded their sixth straight week of inflows for the week ending Oct. 17, bringing inflows to more than $21 billion so far this year, according to a statement from the company. Commitments to China equity funds reached a seven-week high with flows attributable to domestically-domiciled funds at the highest level in more than four months, it said. The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which tracks the region's most-active currencies, rose 0.1 percent this week and touched 117.87 on Oct. 18, the highest level since February. The won completed its best week of the month and the yuan had an 11th week of gains, the longest winning streak since March 2008. The rally in the Chinese currency, which touched a 19-year high of 6.2446 per dollar on Oct. 18, has spurred demand for the Hong Kong dollar as investors bet the city's economy and stock market will benefit from a growth rebound in China. Shifting Sentiment The Hong Kong dollar gained 0.02 percent this week to close at HK$7.7503 per U.S. dollar. The currency gains "reflect the shifting investment sentiment toward the Chinese economy," Andy Ji, a Singapore- based foreign-exchange strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in e-mailed comments today. Data from the People's Bank of China yesterday indicate capital inflows into the nation resumed last month after outflows in the previous two months. China's financial institutions bought a net 130.7 billion yuan ($21 billion) of foreign currency in September, according to the central bank's report on yuan positions accumulated from foreign-exchange purchases. That was the second-biggest monthly net purchase this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. More Intervention "Given the proximity of Hong Kong to the mainland," the recent strength in the onshore spot yuan rate has supported the Hong Kong dollar, Ji said. Pressure on the city's currency will probably remain, triggering more intervention, he said. China's economy expanded 7.4 percent from a year earlier in the third quarter, the government said on Oct. 18. While that was the weakest pace in more than three years, industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment all accelerated in September, signaling growth may be recovering after a seven-quarter slowdown. "As the Chinese economy is likely to have bottomed, investors want to position for the rebound and Chinese stock market valuations are cheap," said Chris Leung, a Hong Kong- based senior economist at DBS Bank Ltd. "Funds from Europe and the U.S. are flowing into Hong Kong as well as for buying China- related stocks." China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) of stocks rose 1.1 percent this week, the third week of gains and the longest winning stretch since April. The HKMA will "remain closely vigilant of the market developments," the authority said in today's statement. Today's move means the banking system's aggregate balance will expand to HK$153.3 billion ($19.8 billion) on Oct. 24, it said. Capital Outflows Hong Kong linked its exchange rate to the U.S. dollar in 1983 when negotiations between China and the U.K. over the city's return to Chinese rule spurred capital outflows. In 2005, policy makers committed to limiting the currency's decline to HK$7.85 per dollar and capping gains at HK$7.75. When the Hong Kong dollar reaches the so-called strong end of the permitted trading range, the HKMA offers to buy U.S. dollars to prevent further appreciation under its currency board system. Joseph Yam, the former Hong Kong monetary chief who helped introduce the peg and defended it against speculators during the Asian financial crisis, said in June the city should review its currency policy. Hong Kong officials have reiterated there are no plans to adjust the peg and HKMA Deputy Chief Executive Arthur Yuen told reporters yesterday the authority sees no need to change the arrangement. |
| China power brokers agree on preferred leadership – sources Posted: 20 Oct 2012 09:09 AM PDT  Source: Reuters By Benjamin Kang Lim and Ben Blanchard (Reuters) – China's three most powerful men have come up with preferred candidates to head up the nation's new leadership, sources said, in a group that includes financial reformers but leaves a question mark over its commitment to political reform. They said former President Jiang Zemin, current President Hu Jintao and Hu's likely successor, Xi Jinping, have forged a consensus on candidates for the top decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee – a move that could pave the way for a smooth selection process after months of political tumult. Their list – still subject to opposition and change by other party elders – envisages a Standing Committee cut to seven from nine and headed by Xi and Premier-designate Li Keqiang, 57, who is considered the only other certainty to make the top team. A smaller committee would make it easier for Xi, 59, to establish his authority and push through badly needed reforms, the sources said. They noted that the preferred list would include Vice Premier Wang Qishan, 64, a darling of foreign investors who currently runs the finance portfolio. However, the ticket omits one of the party's most outspoken political reformers, Wang Yang, 57, party boss of southern Guangdong province. A contender, he is viewed by many in the West as a beacon of political reform due to his relative tolerance of freer speech and grassroots civil rights. Instead, the ticket includes Liu Yunshan, 65, the party's propaganda minister, who has kept domestic media on a tight leash and sought to control China's increasingly unruly Internet which has more than 500 million users. "Hu Jintao would like Wang Yang off the Standing Committee, because he's too reformist, too much risk of significant change," said David Zweig, a political scientist at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. However, he said the list was well balanced with candidates conscious of the need for reform, though likely to move slower on political than economic reforms. "I'm a believer that this group is going to move fairly quickly for change," Zweig added. The other preferred candidates on the list stand out more for their internal party alliances than any declared reformist credentials: Li Yuanchao, 61, who heads the party's powerful organization department; Zhang Dejiang, 65, who took over as party boss of southwestern Chongqing from deposed one-time contender Bo Xilai; and Zhang Gaoli, 65, party chief of Tianjin. Judging the appetite of individuals for political reform is difficult. It could be dangerous for candidates to openly declare their stance at this stage, though Zhang Gaoli along with Wang Qishan are financial reformers by nature and Li has shaken up his own department with meritocratic-style reforms. Most of the preferred candidates are seen as close to both Jiang, who at 86 still commands an influential party power base, and Hu, 69, said the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It was a collective decision by Hu, Xi and Jiang, but party elders have the right of veto," one source said. PRESSURE FOR FASTER REFORM A list with the overall backing of such powerful figures could reduce internal tensions over the selection process, though the preferred candidates still face possible veto by other party elders, such as former premier and parliament chief Li Peng. They also need to survive some ruthless backroom politicking, where allegations of sleaze or corruption can suddenly end a candidate's run at the 11th hour. The new committee is likely to be finalized by the outgoing Central Committee at its seventh and last plenum which convenes on November 1, a week before the start of the congress on November 8. Xi's new administration is under pressure to accelerate the pace of economic and political reform to answer calls for more economic equality, a less dominant state sector, more developed capital markets, better living standards for migrant workers, freer speech and a crackdown on endemic corruption. Critics of outgoing President Hu's decade in office say failure to pick up the pace of reform could lead to social unrest and pose a longer-term threat to one-party rule. The make-up of the Standing Committee is critically important to overall policy direction because it runs by consensus, unlike executive government in many other nations where final decisions are made by the top leader. Forging consensus could be all the more challenging given the party has been rocked this year by its biggest political scandal in three decades – the murder of a British businessman by the wife of ambitious politician Bo Xilai, who drew support from leftists critical of aspects of China's market-based reform agenda. Bo's ouster has exposed deep rifts in the party between his leftist backers, who are nostalgic for the revolutionary era of Mao Zedong, and those who advocate faster market reforms. The allocation of portfolio responsibilities among Standing Committee members will not be unveiled until March, when they formally take up the reins of government. Other candidates not on the preferred list but still seen as a possibility include Guangdong's Wang Yang and Liu Yandong, 66, a state councilor with responsibility for health, education and sport, who would become the committee's first woman since 1949. Shanghai party boss Yu Zhengsheng, 67, is also a candidate despite his age. His impeccable communist pedigree made him a rising star until his brother, an intelligence official, defected to the United States in the mid-1980s.   |
| Posted: 20 Oct 2012 08:59 AM PDT Have You Heard…   |
| At least two dead in N China vehicle pile-up Posted: 19 Oct 2012 11:39 PM PDT AT least two people died in an expressway pile-up involving 30 vehicles in north China's Hebei Province this morning, local authorities said. Many vehicles caught fire after the accident occurred at around 7 am on the Tangshan-Tianjin Expressway near Tangshan, a municipal government spokesman said. Rescue work is still underway. The spokesman said it was foggy at the time of the accident, and an investigation into the cause is ongoing. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| At least two dead in N China vehicle pile-up Posted: 19 Oct 2012 11:39 PM PDT AT least two people died in an expressway pile-up involving 30 vehicles in north China's Hebei Province this morning, local authorities said. Many vehicles caught fire after the accident occurred at around 7 am on the Tangshan-Tianjin Expressway near Tangshan, a municipal government spokesman said. Rescue work is still underway. The spokesman said it was foggy at the time of the accident, and an investigation into the cause is ongoing. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 30-vehicle pileup triggers fires in north China; casualties unknown Posted: 19 Oct 2012 08:21 PM PDT About 30 vehicles piled up one upon another due to heavy fog on an expressway in north China's Hebei Province this morning, triggering fires among many of them, local authorities said. But casualties are not immediately known. The accident happened around 7 am at the Tangshan-Tianjin Expressway near Tangshan City, a municipal government spokesman said. A rescue operation has been launched, the spokesman said. The accident also triggered serious traffic jams on the expressway and a nearby highway, he added. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Cold front to drop temperatures in north China Posted: 19 Oct 2012 07:41 PM PDT CHINA'S meteorological authorities today forecast strong winds and temperature drops in most regions in the north due to a sweeping cold front. Today and tomorrow, some areas in southern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, north China as well as regions along the Yellow and Huai rivers will experience temperature drops of 6 to 8 degrees Celsius, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said on its website. Certain parts in Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia and Shaanxi will see temperature slump by as much as 10 degrees Celsius, the NMC said, adding most above-mentioned regions will be hit by winds scaling at level 4 to 6. The NMC also forecast increasing rainfalls and snows in east and central China. Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Jilin and Heilongjiang are likely to receive heavy snows or blizzards over the coming three days, the NMC added. |
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