Economy/Resources - 225. page

China Economic Weekly, a magazine under People’s Daily interviewed Chen Hong, a professor at China’s University of Mining and Technology. In the interview, Chen said, "In fact, of all the direct causes of coal mine accidents, human factors account for up to 97.67%. That figure is from an analysis of 1,203 accidents between 1980 and 2000 that involved human death." Chen added, “A study of a large number of coal mine accidents that took place between 2001 and 2010 confirmed the above conclusion. The workers’ illegal operations, management giving directions against regulations, and other unsafe behavior in the coal mines are still the main causes for China’s coal mine accidents." 

For the first time, China hosted the 12th World Conference on Titanium, which took place from June 19 to June 24, 2011. According to Xinhua, “Since 2000, China’s titanium industry has developed rapidly with an average annual growth exceeding 30%. While China’s output of the strategic metal used to be about a 3% share of the world output, in 2008, Chinese titanium alloy output jumped to No. 1, accounting for 30% of the world output. Presently, China is the largest producer and consumer of titanium, with production having reached 54,661 metric tons.”

“However, the industry now shows an imbalance between supply and demand, and investment in titanium alloy is over-heated. Industry analysts indicate that, at present, China has the capacity to produce an annual output of 100,000 metric tons, exceeding the output of all other countries combined, and far exceeding Chinese domestic demand.”

Source: Xinhua, June 21, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-06/21/c_121562534.htm

International Finance News, a daily newspaper under the Chinese state media’s People’s Daily, recently published a commentary on the current process of reshuffling the leadership team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The article focuses on the possibility of China taking a Deputy Managing Director (DMD) seat, assuming there is no chance China can actually win the Managing Director (MD) position. Zhu Min, former deputy managing director of China’s central bank, is currently the IMF’s Special Assistant to the Managing Director. The author of the commentary argued that Zhu has a good chance of becoming the First Deputy Managing Director, given the background of Chinese power and support from the emerging developing countries, such as Brazil. The author believes the leading candidate for the MD position, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, may support this idea in exchange for Chinese support of her MD candidacy.

Source: International Finance News, June 16, 2011
http://paper.people.com.cn/gjjrb/html/2011-06/16/content_847227.htm

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

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.

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.

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.” 

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.