News » Society » Second bird flu death in China
News » Society » Second bird flu death in China |
- Second bird flu death in China
- Have You Heard…
- China to expand short selling pilot scheme on February 28: report
- China Poised to Extend Central-Bank Chief
- Abe: Japan acting calmly in island dispute with China
- Central Committee plenum date
- Hillside railway station hits green heights
- 8 die as early hours blaze sweeps through houses
- Cities aim to create '4th economic powerhouse'
- Foxconn denies iPhone effect
- Taiwan technology giant Foxconn has slowed new hiring at its vast mainland factories.
- Warmer weather on the way for China
| Second bird flu death in China Posted: 23 Feb 2013 09:36 AM PST  Source: The New Zealand Herald The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed a 31-year-old man, the second fatality reported in southwest China. The man was the second of two people to have died in Guiyang after contracting bird flu early this month. The first fatality was a 21-year-old woman. The official Xinhua News Agency says both patients had close contacts with birds. Xinhua says 110 people who had contact with the patients have been released from quarantine. Most bird flu cases in humans come from close contact with infected poultry. Epidemiologists fear the virus might eventually mutate into a form that is highly contagious among people. |
| Posted: 23 Feb 2013 09:34 AM PST Have You Heard…   |
| China to expand short selling pilot scheme on February 28: report Posted: 23 Feb 2013 09:39 AM PST  Source: Reuters (Reuters) – China will allow a handful of brokerages to borrow shares from institutional investors for use in short selling from February 28, the official China Securities Journal reported on Saturday, as regulators move cautiously to develop domestic derivatives markets. The 90 stocks available for borrowing represent 9.3 trillion yuan ($1.49 trillion) in tradable capitalization, nearly 50 percent of China's A-share market. The pilot project was originally launched in August 2012 during a sustained collapse in mainland equity indexes, but its first phase was limited to allowing brokerages to borrow money, not shares, from institutional investors. Allowing brokerages to borrow shares directly will allow them, in theory, to tap into the massive pool of shares held passively by Chinese state-owned enterprises. Regulators will closely manage the program, the report said, quoting unnamed experts who predicted the impact of the initiative will be market neutral. The report said the initial amount of stocks to be borrowed is likely to total around 510 million yuan, a tiny fraction of China's stock market capitalization. Regulations also dictate the interest rates lenders can charge and the period for which loans can be borrowed. Qualified brokerages will be able to borrow shares for fixed periods ranging between three days to 182 days, with lending rates fixed from 1.5 percent for the three-day tenor up to 3.5 percent for the 182-day tenor, the report said. A foreign short seller who spoke on condition of anonymity said that by excluding small cap companies from short selling, Chinese regulations limit the beneficial impact short selling can exert on markets, specifically their ability to expose corporate governance problems at young companies. The brokerages the article said were participating in the program included CITIC Securities Co Ltd (600030.SS), Everbright Securities Co Ltd (601788.SS), GF Securities Co Ltd (000776.SZ), Guotai Junan Securities Co Ltd, Haitong Securities Co Ltd (600837.SS), Huatai Securities Co Ltd (601688.SS), Shengyin Wanguo Securities Co Ltd, China Merchants Securities Co Ltd (600999.SS), Galaxy Securities Co Ltd and China Securities Co Ltd.   |
| China Poised to Extend Central-Bank Chief Posted: 23 Feb 2013 09:45 AM PST  Source: Wall Street Journal By Lingling Wei and Bob Davis BEIJING—Rather than switching out the country's widely respected central banker, China's leaders are poised to keep Zhou Xiaochuan in his job for an extended period beyond the usual retirement age, according to several party and banking officials. Mr. Zhou turned 65 in January, and there had been some expectations that he would step down at a meeting of the National People's Congress in March as part of a wider once-a-decade leadership transition. However, the officials with knowledge of the matter say that he could now stay on for as long as a year or two. They cautioned that the arrangement is subject to last-minute changes. At the same time, the leadership is planning to name Xiao Gang, chairman of Bank of China Ltd., as the central bank's Communist Party chief, putting him in line to succeed Mr. Zhou as governor of the People's Bank of China, according to the officials. During his decade as central banker, Mr. Zhou has been pushing financial reforms at a steady pace, including making the yuan a freer currency and establishing a more market-based interest-rate system. Mr. Zhou has helped convince China's leaders that they need to make such changes as a way to remake the economy so it relies more on domestic demand and less on exports and investment in capital-intensive industries at home. Several Chinese economists said the leaders have grown comfortable with him at the helm of such sensitive changes that affect the stability of China's financial system. PBOC and Bank of China officials declined to comment. Messrs. Zhou and Xiao couldn't be reached for comment. Reuters reported on Wednesday the possibility that Mr. Zhou would stay in his job next month when the nation's leaders are expected to make decisions about top economic slots, including the head of the central bank. A party official with knowledge of the matter said the move to retain Mr. Zhou received support behind the scenes from former Communist Party chief Jiang Zemin. Mr. Jiang, now 86 years old, is viewed as the most powerful kingmaker in Chinese politics. Mr. Zhou had worked with him for years on banking and reform issues before Mr. Zhou became PBOC governor. Early in his career, Mr. Jiang worked for Mr. Zhou's father, who was a senior Chinese official. Banking and party officials say that appointing Mr. Xiao as PBOC party secretary would give him time to learn the job and get coaching from Mr. Zhou, particularly on international financial matters. "Governor Zhou is extremely well respected among central bankers and not easy to replace," said Harvard University economist Kenneth Rogoff. The two don't always see eye to eye on important issues. In a China Daily article last fall, Mr. Xiao called for tighter regulation of China's informal lending system, under which ordinary Chinese can get much higher rates on their money, likening it to a Ponzi scheme. But Mr. Zhou has defended the system, which some economists argue is a way for China to weaken the government's strict control on interest rates-a goal of many economists who think China's financial system should operate by market principles. "Shadow banking is inevitable when banks are developing their business," Mr. Zhou said at a November news conference, after the Xiao article was published.  Having Messrs. Zhou and Xiao work together could give them time to align on policy, an especially important goal in a political culture that values consensus. This could be "a very wise and intelligent arrangement," said Lu Feng, deputy director of Peking University's National School of Development. "If Zhou stays awhile, he could help the potential successor design and formulate reform policy." Until the last few weeks, it appeared that Mr. Zhou was on his way out. In addition to being retirement age, he wasn't reappointed in November to the Communist Party's 205-member Central Committee, one of the party's chief policy-making groups. Central Committee status is usually required for a central-bank head. Now, say banking and party officials, China's leaders are trying to cobble together an additional posting for Mr. Zhou in the Communist party hierarchy, probably as vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory body, as a way of giving him "national" standing in the party and getting around the retirement rules. Some economists have said that mishandled interest-rate liberalization helped trigger financial crisis in a number of countries, including the U.S. Allowing banks the discretion to decide for themselves how much to pay for deposits could set off frenzied competition to attract savers, which, in turn, could cause lending standards to be weakened as banks' funding costs rise. Mr. Zhou is among China's most recognized and respected economic officials internationally, mixing easily with central bankers in Europe, the U.S. and Japan who look to him for reading on the Chinese economy. While the PBOC lacks the independence of the central banks in U.S., Japan and Europe, Mr. Zhou has proven to be an effective advocate in the top decision making bodies of China's government and party, which set overall monetary policy Under his watch, China has moved to loosen some controls over its currency in the hopes that it may some day challenge the dollar as a global currency. Chinese leaders have set a goal of opening up the country's cross-border capital flows in the next few years. In some of his recent public remarks, Mr. Zhou indicated an intention to move at a measured pace with the currency and capital-account reforms, saying that China will keep controls on capital flows even as it moves toward a more convertible yuan. "We shouldn't interpret capital-account convertibility as a free currency, with cross-border asset transfers without control and zero financial supervision," he said in December. Bank of China's Mr. Xiao, 54, was selected to the party's Central Committee in November, which paved the way for him to get a senior ministerial-level slot such as head of the central bank. In addition to him, other contenders for the PBOC governor job included Shang Fulin, China's top banking regulator, and Guo Shuqing, the top securities regulator. Had either of the other two contenders gotten the PBOC job, Mr. Xiao was expected to fill that regulatory vacancy. Under Mr. Xiao, Bank of China has transformed from a bank known within China mostly for its international business into one that increasingly focuses on the domestic market. Mr. Xiao, known within the bank as a low-key and hard-working executive, has also been politically savvy. Although Bank of China was the least profitable of China's top four state-owned banks in the first nine months of last year, it was the most aggressive of the so-called Big Four in ramping up lending in 2009 when the party requested that to fight the global financial downturn. Mr. Xiao also has experience with the PBOC, serving as a personal assistant to Lu Peijiang, the PBOC governor in the early 1980s, and later serving as a deputy governor of the central bank. A leading contender to take Mr. Xiao's job is Hu Xiaolian, currently a PBOC deputy governor, according to several banking and party officials. One of Mr. Xiao's banking peers, Jiang Jianqing, chairman of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., was passed over for promotion to the Central Committee. Some party and banking officials have said ICBC didn't ramp up lending sufficiently in 2009, contributing to Mr. Jiang's lack of political advancement.   |
| Abe: Japan acting calmly in island dispute with China Posted: 23 Feb 2013 09:49 AM PST  Source: Reuters By Jeff Mason (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday said he told President Barack Obama in a meeting that Japan would act calmly in its row with China over tiny islands in the East China Sea claimed by both Asian countries. "We will continue to do so and we have always done so," he said. Tension has raised fears of an unintended military incident near the islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. Washington says the islets fall under a U.S.-Japan security pact, but it is eager to avoid a clash in the region. Abe said the existence of the Japan-U.S. alliance was a stabilizing factor in the area. "We agreed that we would stay in close coordination with each other in dealing with such issues and other issues," he said. Obama, in his remarks to reporters, said Japan was one of the United States' closest allies. He said the two men would discuss trade and other economic issues and agreed that their top priority was economic growth. Obama declined to answer a reporter's question on whether they would discuss the Japanese yen. Expectations for Abe's economic programs, especially monetary easing, have cut some 10 percent off the yen's value against the U.S. dollar since Abe took office, raising concern that Japan is weakening its currency to export its way out of recession. Obama and Abe also discussed North Korea and agreed to cooperate at the United Nations over the issue. Abe said the two men also talked about additional sanctions against North Korea, which tested a nuclear bomb last week in defiance of U.N. resolutions.   |
| Posted: 23 Feb 2013 08:22 AM PST THE Second Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will be held in Beijing from February 26 to February 28, according to a decision by members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee yesterday. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting. A draft on institutional restructuring and function transformation of the State Council was discussed during the meeting. It was agreed that efforts will be made to achieve simpler and decentralized administration as well as push forward institutional reform. Participants also discussed the work report the State Council will present to the upcoming NPC meeting. They said that since the first meeting of the 11th NPC in 2008, the Chinese people, under the CPC's leadership, have effectively coped with the international financial crisis, enhanced the country's strength and made remarkable progress in its modernization.
|
| Hillside railway station hits green heights Posted: 23 Feb 2013 08:00 AM PST LIJIANG City in southwest China's Yunnan Province has what it takes to be a tourist attraction - picturesque scenery and a rich cultural heritage. Now, its new railway station, built on a hillside, is adding to Lijiang's fame. A stark departure from downtown stations, the plan was controversial. However, it has since been praised as a model for efficient and innovative use of land. It also highlights the country's critical need to protect farmland, the arena of a tug-of-war between urbanization and agricultural use. Flat land, usually best suited to farming, accounts for only 4.2 percent of Lijiang's area. Some 37 percent of its arable flat land had been converted for construction use, said He Jiafeng, chief engineer of Lijiang's city planning authority. "A scarcity of farmland forced us to put the station on the hillside. We had no other choice," said He. And indeed, many observers believe that China as a whole has no other choice. Figures from the Ministry of Land and Resources show that China has registered a per capita arable land of 1.35 mu (900 square meters), less than half the world's average. From 1997 to 2011, the country lost 124 million mu of farmland, while some 70 percent of the remaining 1.82 billion mu is medium and low-yield land, according to the ministry. Chinese people consumed 520 million tonnes of grain in 2012, 2.7 percent of which was imported. "Farmland has been squeezed by urbanization and rural projects, which has made it more difficult to protect," said land and resources minister Xu Shaoshi in a report to the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee in December. The minister also noted the dire need to prevent soil from being polluted. Xu pledged to continue a rigorous basic farmland protection system and more efforts to curb worsening soil pollution. But lawmakers predict a continuing decline in farmland, due to pressures of urbanization and economic development. Standing Committee memberHao Yidong suggested adopting Lijiang's practices nationwide. Lijiang hillside station has helped conserve fertile land, according to local authorities. There is great potential of developing hilly areas for building, according to figures from Yunnan's provincial land and resources bureau. These show that highland areas with an incline between eight and 25 degrees account for more than 47 percent of the total area.
|
| 8 die as early hours blaze sweeps through houses Posted: 23 Feb 2013 08:00 AM PST EIGHT people died in a fire that broke out early yesterday morning in Wenling City, in east China's Zhejiang Province. Among the dead were two children. Five of the six adults who died were migrant workers. The city's fire department said the blaze, which broke out at just before 3am, burned over an area of 129 square meters in three houses in Zeguo Township. The fire was contained by 4am, said officials. Firefighters rescued 17 people from the flames. One was seriously injured, while the others sustained minor injuries. Investigators found that the three houses, owned by a local named Li Faming, were being leased. Li has been detained as part of the investigation. The cause of the fire is not yet known.
|
| Cities aim to create '4th economic powerhouse' Posted: 23 Feb 2013 08:00 AM PST MAYORS of four provincial capital cities in central China yesterday signed a strategic partnership agreement vowing a coordinated effort in building the Central China Economic Belt. Under the Wuhan Consensus, Changsha, Hefei, Nanchang and Wuhan will be committed to seeking a regional development strategy, and push for industrial cooperation and infrastructure construction that can meet the common interests. The four cities, all located along the middle reaches of China's longest river the Yangtze, will take part in regular meetings in order to carry out regional cooperation. Shared resources Agreements were also signed by representatives from 11 government departments ranging from transport, technology, commerce to health, from the four cities for sharing resources and boosting personnel exchanges and cross-province medical bill settlements. "With the Concensus, the four cities, each with its distinct competitive industries, are expected to take a lead in boosting the overall economic growth in the central China economic circle," said Fan Hengshan, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, at the signing ceremony in Wuhan. The belt is dubbed the country's "fourth economic powerhouse." The three other economic circles are the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta and the Bohai Bay area encircling Beijing and Tianjin municipalities and Hebei Province. The new economic belt covers an area of 440,000 square km encompassing Hunan, Anhui, Jiangxi and Hubei provinces, with 40 cities and a population of 160 million. Tang Liangzhi, mayor of Wuhan, said the Central China Economic Belt has strong industrial development potential. Each of the four provincial capitals saw their GDP growth rate exceed the national average of 7.8 percent last year. Wuhan is known as one of China's iron and steel production bases and has booming machinery manufacturing and photoelectron industries. Changsha is famous for its culture and engineering machinery sector. Hefei has aimed at building itself into China's leading electric appliance production base. Nanchang is China's traditional aircraft production base.
|
| Posted: 23 Feb 2013 04:18 AM PST Ad: Easyvideosuite - The #1 Video Marketing Platform For Marketers - The #1 Video Marketing Software.. Skyrocket Lists & Sales! Record, Convert, Publish, Market & Track! Up To 7%+ Up To $197+ Per Sale! Recurring Commissions For Life! Pro Written Sales Video, High Converting Oto! (60%+!) Approx 2% Refund Rate! |
| Taiwan technology giant Foxconn has slowed new hiring at its vast mainland factories. Posted: 23 Feb 2013 04:18 AM PST Ad: Work From No Home - Quality Product Taking The CB Marketplace By Storm From Peng Joon And John Chow. Insane Sales Video Conversion With Epcs Of $1.15 To $3.82. Get Your Swipes And Banners Over At Http://www.workfromnohome.com/affiliatetools |
| Warmer weather on the way for China Posted: 22 Feb 2013 11:49 PM PST CHINA will experience higher temperatures across the country over the next few days, the Central Meteorological Center said today. Temperatures will be 1 to 3 degrees Celsius higher than last year in most regions except some areas in northeast China from Saturday to Tuesday, the center said. But a strong cold front will bring sharp temperature drops to central and eastern regions starting Thursday, the center said. On Saturday and Sunday, moderate and heavy snow will fall in southwestern parts of Tibetan Autonomous Region, with its borders expecting snowstorms, it said. The center forecast rainfall in regions along Yangtze and Huaihe rivers, as well as some northern regions, including Xinjiang Uygur and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions, over the coming ten days. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Update » News » Society To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
Comments