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Briefings - 1193. page

Ministry of Health: Over 10,000 Children Remain Hospitalized

Following the criticism from the World Health Organization on lack of updates on hospitalized children caused by tainted milk powder, China’s Ministry of Health released a set of data on October 8, first time since the last update on September 22. The data from October 8 disclosed that hospitalized children were 10,666, with 8 in serious condition and 36,144 being dismissed. On October 8 alone, hospitalized children were 539 and 2067 were dismissed.

Source: BBC, October 8, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/simp/hi/newsid_7660000/newsid_7660200/7660231.stm

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

More Chinese Made Melamine Contaminated Food Found in Japan

Japan reported two more types of China made food products containing Melamine.  It reported on October 8 that they have found Melamine in the frozen Takoyaki or Frozen Poulp Squid imported from Long Wei Seafood Company in Fuqing of Fujian Province. Skim milk power was used as the raw material which contained up to 1.1 ppm of Melamine.

In addition to tainted Takoyaki and tainted dumplings which caused over 170 people ill in February of this year in Japan, on October 2, Japan also reported Melamine found in Egg Custard Tart imported from China which contains 1.4 ppm of Melamine.

Source:
The Epoch Times, October 8, 2008
http://epochtimes.com/gb/8/10/8/n2289592.htm
Now News, October 2, 2008
http://www.nownews.com/2008/10/02/334-2344183.htm

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Home Electric Appliances Industry Facing Critical Challenges

China’s home electric appliances industry is facing critical challenges as it sees large drop in production, sales, and export volume, Xinhua quoted Huo Dufang, President of China Household Electrical Appliances Association. “Some electric appliances such as Refrigerator, Air Conditioning, and Microwave had negative growth in the last two to three months” Huo said.

Due to the negative impact by world’s economy and currency factor, for the month of July, refrigerator production was 4.36 million units, down 14.3 percent from prior year; Freezer was 880,000 units and down 12.8 percent; Microwave down 6.55 percent. Total industry output was 408.3 billion yuan in the first seven months, down 10 points in growth rate compared with last year. Industry’s export volume was also hit hard by appreciation in yuan and weakened US dollars. A number of products including electric fan, electric heater, and microwave had negative growth of 21 percent, 11.9 percent, 2.1 percent in export volume respectively.

Source: Xinhua, October 7, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-10/07/content_10159790.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China’s Ambitious Supercomputer Plan in 2010

On September 16, China’s first high performance supercomputer Shuguang 5000A came off the assembly line in Tianjin. Shuguang 5000A made China the world’s No. 2 country after U.S. to have independently designed and produced supercomputer with computing speed over 100 trillion times per second.

Tianjin based Dawning Information Industry Co., Ltd, Shuguang 5000A’s manufacturer is planning to develop supercomputer with computing speed over 1000 trillion times per second by 2010, according to Xinhua. The company was set up in 1995, with the R&D supports from Chinese Academy of Science and National Research Center for Intelligence Computing System (国家智能计算机研究开发中心).

Source: Xinhua, October 7, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-10/07/content_10159871.htm

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Africans in Beijing for Developing Confucius Institutes

On Tuesday October 7, a group of officials and educators from China and African countries were in Beijing to attend the Conference on African Confucius Institutes Development. Zhou Ji, the Education Minister, told the conference that, "We have given full support to the African side in establishing the institutes and improving teaching."

The Chinese government had allocated more than 3 million U.S. dollars to help establish institutes in Africa. They employed more than 20 language teachers and had about 30,000 textbooks, publications, audio and video programs. Ten of the 21 planned Confucius Institutes in 13 African countries have already opened. They are jointly run by African and Chinese colleges with support from the Chinese government.

China began to set up Confucius Institutes abroad in 2004. To date, 271 Confucius Institutes have been founded in 77 countries and regions.

Source: Xinhua, October 7, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-10/07/content_10159634.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Milk Scandal: Beijing’s Olympic Food Supplier on List

Beijing Sanyuan Foods Company, Ltd. (北京三元食品股份有限公司), a listed dairy producer in China, was chosen by Beijing Olympic Committee as the sole supplier of food and beverage for both the Summer Olympic and the Paralympic. For weeks, Sanyuan was the only listed diary producer that has avoided being associated with China’s milk contamination scandal.

On October 7, melamine was reportedly found in Sanyuan’s product by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said the Guangdong based newspaper Yangcheng Evening News. The content of the toxic chemical was found to be as high as 10.58 mg/kg in the milk powders manufactured on August 7 by Sanyuan’s subsidiary in Qianan, Hebei Province.

Source: Yangcheng Evening News, October 7, 2008
http://www.ycwb.com/misc/2008-10/07/content_1985419.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Xinhua Accuses U.S. to Infiltrate Other Countries under the Cover of Non-Government Organizations

Xinhua published a long article accusing U.S. government to conduct subversive activities in other countries under the cover of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The article specifically named U.S. National Endowment for Democracy (NED) as a U.S. political role player funded by the U.S. government. The article listed Venezuela, Ukraine, Iran, and Burma as examples in the respective areas that was influenced by its subversive activities or promoted “color revolutions.” It also accuses NED to directly interfere with China’s internal affairs by frequently funding “anti-China force” groups such as “Democracy Movement,” “Tibetan Independence,” and “Eastern Turkistan.”

Source: Xinhua, October 6, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2008-10/06/content_10156377.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China’s Investment Created over 10,000 Job Opportunities for Zambia

Xinhua quoted a report by Zambia Time on October 6 claiming that Chinese companies has invested in more than 140 programs in Zambia and created 11,000 jobs for the local residents. China has become the biggest source of foreign investment for the country. China’s investment in Zambia covers a broad area, mostly on agriculture, machinery, mining, and tourism.

Source: Xinhua, October 6, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2008-10/06/content_10156158.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend