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Economy/Resources - 213. page

China Exports Trains to Developed EU Country

Xinhua recently reported that, for the first time, China is exporting cargo railway trains to a developed European country. Jinan Railway Vehicles Equipment Co. Ltd., under the wings of China Northern Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Group (CNR), signed a contract with the France’s Atir-Rail upon the provision of 20 ammonia gas tankers and 20 liquefied gas tankers for the French company. According to CNR, entering the EU and the US market has been a long-time strategic consideration. The state-owned CNR is one of the largest rail transportation equipment manufacturers in China and currently holds half of the Chinese domestic market. It is exporting products to more than 50 countries.

Source: Xinhua, June 13, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2011-06/13/c_121529875.htm

Beijing to Spend Money on Monitoring Environment Emergencies

According to Xinhua, the Ministry of the Treasury is to allocate a budget as high as 190 million yuan for building facilities to monitor environmental related emergencies in key regions in provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities.

Source: Xinhua, June 13, 2011.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-06/13/c_121528376.htm

PBOC: Newly Added Loans Drop in May

According to People’s Bank of China’s latest statistics, 551.6 billion yuan of newly added loans were issued in the month of May, which is 100.5 billion less than the same period last year. Market experts believe the drop is due to the Bank’s strict control of credit. The total outstanding loans at the end of May amounted to 50.77 trillion yuan, a 17.1% year-over-year increase, 4.4% lower than the last May’s growth. As inflation remains the top economic headache, the tightened monetary policy is expected to continue.

Source: China News Service, June 13, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/fortune/2011/06-13/3106973.shtml

Global Fund Freezes Health Fund Payment to China

China’s Ministry of Health (MOH), the Geneva based Global Fund’s freeze on funds will significantly impact disease prevention against Malaria, Tuberculosis, and AIDS in China. MOH hopes “the Global Fund Secretariat solves the problem and restores the funding as soon as possible in a transparent, fair, positive, and cooperative manner.” 

According to the Associated Press, the funding that was frozen is worth hundreds of millions of dollars to China; it was “over concerns about misuse of the money and the government’s reluctance to involve community groups.” The fund spokesperson said that China “breached an agreement that a third of all grant money go to grass-roots groups and that local governments were not providing a full accounting of the spending.”

Sources:
China National Radio, June 10, 2011
http://www.cnr.cn/china/gdgg/201106/t20110610_508085015.html

AP, June 10, 2011
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5glHW1yRKDB85XyXM0t03gP-6gC4A?docId=475409ba0fb8442c926a2b134f76fa25

Why Is China’s Organ Donation Rate So Low?

Vice-Minister of Health Huang Jiefu recently said in an interview that China can expect to achieve voluntary organ donation registration through driver license applications. Although it is only in the discussion stage, the issue has stirred up a hot debate. Every year about 1.5 million people are on the waiting list for organ transplants, but in 2010, there were less than 100 organ donations. A survey revealed that the organ donation rate in China is only 0.03:1,000,000, compared to the 34:1,000,000 in Spain. 

According to a recent survey, 78.9 percent of those interviewed would not agree to donate their organs while filling out the drivers license application; 14.1 percent said yes as it would remind them to drive more carefully. Some people worried that their organs might not be used fairly and reasonably due to the absence of transparency in the organ donation and transplant process. An interviewee even worried that in case of an accident, the doctor might not try his best to save him because he is willing to donate organs.

Source: Jiefang Daily, May 20, 2011
http://newspaper.jfdaily.com/jfrb/html/2011-05/20/content_574231.htm

Officials Investigated Due to Economic Data Leaks

Radio France International (RFI) reported that multiple Chinese officials have recently been asked to leave their posts in the National Bureau of Statistics and the central bank. The rankings of those sacked are mostly at the bureau-level, but the nature of their work allows access to sensitive economic data. The central government recently noticed frequent leaks of macroeconomic data just before its public announcement. 

As China is the world’s second largest economy, publicly released economic data has an enormous influence on the global financial market. It thus becomes the pursuit of the media and financial agencies. In recent years, the mainland’s macroeconomic data, such as the consumer price index published by the National Bureau of Statistics, is often accurately “predicted” and foreign media and security brokerage firms release it in advance. The domestic stock markets have also reacted before the official releases. 

The responsibilities of involved stock brokerage firms are still being determined. Criminal investigations are under way.

Source: Radio France International, June 4, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/4xnxxzy

Chinese Lenovo Will Acquire Germany’s Medion

On June 1, 2011, Lenovo Group Limited announced its plan to acquire the German consumer-electronics group Medion AG, a well-known electronics manufacturer and supplier. The report indicated that the acquisition will be completed in the third quarter with a cash payment. The move is viewed as a major step for the Chinese Lenovo to penetrate the European market, particularly the German PC market, which will also promote Lenovo’s mobile Internet business. After the acquisition, Lenovo will become the third largest PC manufacturer in Germany.

[Editor: According to Deutsch Welle, "Under the deal, Lenovo plans to buy a 36.6 percent stake from Medion founder and chief executive Gerd Brachmann, who currently owns more than 55 percent of the company. It then wants to extend the 13-euro-a-share offer to other shareholders to build a controlling stake for a total price of 466 million euros."]

Sources: Xinhua, June 1, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2011-06/01/c_121484398.htm
Deutsch Welle, June 2, 2011
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15124805,00.html

Report Projects 200 û 300 Million Migrants in Coming Decades

A China Urban Development Report released by a mayors’ association predicts that the size of the nation’s mobile population will be 200-300 million in the coming two or three decades. “The complex dynamics of its (migrants) geographic distribution, composition, and quality is posing a severe challenge for national strategic planning, the government’s social management, and public services.” 

A Tsinghua University professor, Mao Qizhi relates the phenomenon to the country’s accelerating urban development. “Many conflicts and confusions need attention, such as high housing prices, traffic congestion, environmental degradation, and imperfect urban infrastructure.” 
The report also indicates that many local governments rely on land transfers as a major source of fiscal income.

Source: Xinhua, May 30 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-05/30/c_13901731.htm