PRC Economy and Industry: News and Discussions

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Avinash R
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

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U.S. claims win in WTO piracy case versus China
Thu Oct 9, 2008 6:16pm EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/domestic ... 09?sp=true

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has won two out of its three claims in a landmark case against China's copyright and trademark protection regime, a U.S. trade official said on Thursday, contradicting other trade sources who said China won the bulk of the ruling.

"In response to published press reports, we can confirm that the panel agreed with the United States on two out of three U.S. claims," said the U.S. trade official, who asked not to be identified because the World Trade Organization panel draft interim report has not been made public.

"We are, of course, still reviewing the report, but so far are very pleased that the panel has found that China has violated its WTO obligations," the trade official said.

The case, one of several dogging relations between the two economic superpowers, involves Chinese protection of intellectual property such as films and software.

Washington launched the dispute last year out of frustration at rip-offs of films, branded goods and other trademarked property openly available in Chinese cities -- as in many other parts of Asia.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance, a coalition of U.S. music, movie, book and software industry groups, conservatively estimates that piracy in China cost them more than $3.7 billion in lost sales in 2007.

The United States argued that China violated WTO rules by barring copyright protection for movies, music and books that have not been approved by state censors for legitimate sale in the Chinese market.

This "allows copyright infringers to profit at the expense of the legitimate rightholder, without fear of being subjected to enforcement procedures and remedies for copyright infringement," the U.S. Trade Representative's office said in one of its documents filed in the case.

Trade sources said the United States won on that issue.

But the panel ruled Washington did not prove a second claim that China's "thresholds" for bringing criminal prosecutions against pirates are so high they effectively permit commercial scale pirating and counterfeiting, the sources said.

However, shortly after the United States filed its case last year, China dropped its threshold for bringing a criminal prosecution to 500 copies of pirated material down from 1,000 previously, said Justin Hughes, professor of law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York.

Washington's third main complaint focused on the disposal of counterfeit goods, such as fake designer bags, seized by Chinese customs authorities.

One trade source said the panel ruled China violated the WTO agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) by allowing counterfeit goods to be auctioned after the infringing trademark is removed.

A second trade source said the panel found that on some points TRIPS did not apply and on other points Washington had not established that the Chinese rules infringed TRIPS.

WTO dispute panels rarely change their decision between interim and final rulings. The panel said in July it expected to issue a final report by November.

"You'd have to say it was a split decision," Hughes said. But "this is really just the beginning of a long process of figuring what the enforcement standards are under the TRIPS agreement."

The United States has filed a second case challenging China's market access barriers to legitimate film, music and books, which Washington argues allows the Chinese market for pirated goods to flourish.
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Drug-resistant HIV strains emerge in China
11 Oct 2008, 0000 hrs IST,REUTERS
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Heal ... 582009.cms

HONG KONG: Drug-resistant HIV strains are turning up in parts of China as the virus stretches beyond high-risk groups and gains a stronger foothold in the general population, a leading Chinese AIDS researcher said.

Chen Zhiwei, director of the AIDS Institute in Hong Kong, described the trends as "alarming" and warned that Chinese AIDS patients could get in trouble because there were very few HIV drugs available in China.

"All these drug-resistant mutations are in China now, they are emerging in Chinese patients. The major worry is whether the drug-resistant virus (strains) will spread," Chen said. "We are studying whether that is happening, but that will be the case if you don't provide proper treatment," he said.

"If drug resistant virus (strains) spread in China, we don't have enough selection of (drugs) that are made available," Chen said, adding that researchers had urged China to import more varieties of HIV drugs.

China has only seven of the more than 20 different HIV drugs available, which means patients end up with limited options once they develop resistance to certain drugs.
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More arsenic-poisoning cases reported in China : AP

October 11, 2008

Beijing: The number of people sickened by contaminated water in Southern China has risen to 450, more than double the previously reported figure, state media said on Saturday.

The residents of two villages in southern Guangxi province began showing symptoms of arsenic poisoning last week, including swelling in the face and eyes, and blurred eyesight, the official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

Earlier this week, local officials had said 200 people became ill after drinking water contaminated by industrial waste from Jinhai Metallurgy Chemical, a branch of the state-owned Liuzhou China Tin Company Limited.

Authorities in the nearby city of Hechi said torrential rains from a recent typhoon caused wastewater from the company to overflow into nearby ponds and wells.
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China Grapples With Response to Global Crisis
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1223842 ... lenews_wsj

By JASON LEOW and J.R. WU
OCTOBER 13, 2008

BEIJING -- China's top leaders, facing global financial upheaval, said the nation's main goal is to keep its economic house in order and pushed for "healthy and rapid" growth despite troubles elsewhere.

After a four-day meeting that ended Sunday, the leaders said in a statement carried by the official Xinhua news agency that "the most important thing is to handle our country's own affairs well." The statement said China needs to keep its economy, financial system and capital markets stable.

The routine meeting of more than 300 leading military and civilian officials originally intended to focus on rural development, but attention shifted to broader macroeconomic issues as global markets continued to be battered by the credit crisis.

Prior to the meeting, observers had expected the session to address land-use rights for the country's 730 million farmers, possibly with some legal changes to enable farmers to trade and mortgage their land as a way to help boost their income and food production.

The statement disseminated by Xinhua didn't offer specific details on those matters, instead noting the importance of improving "productivity of the land, resource-use and labor production" and "strengthening the ability of agriculture to withstand risk, compete globally and develop sustainably."

One goal of the party, according to the statement, is to double the per capita income of rural residents by 2020, based on this year's income level, which wasn't specified. In 2007, the country's rural per capita income was about $606.

Xinhua, quoting the statement, said party leaders decided to boost consumption by rural residents "by a big margin" and "basically eliminate poverty in rural areas by 2020." The news agency said 15 million rural residents were "mired in poverty" last year, compared with 250 million in 1978. It didn't define "poverty."
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More Candy Taken Off Shelves in China
By Feng Riyao
Oct 12, 2008
http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/china/new-b ... -5497.html

On October 10, San Kuan pulled its hard milk candies off the shelves in China. At present, over thirty countries have either banned or limited diary product imports from China. The Public Security Bureau has arrested the principal suspect as the source of melamine contamination.

On Friday, a Chinese representative criticized countries that are still banning Chinese milk and other dairy products since the discovery of melamine contamination during the WTO meeting in Geneva. Chinese officials said that the milk powder was accidentally contaminated and that China is already devoted to dealing with the issue.

The Chinese officials said that no melamine contamination has been found since September 20. They urged the 153 members of the WTO to base import restrictions on scientific risk assessments and to use the global trade body’s official notification mechanism if they impose a ban.

Another Candy Brand Questioned

Despite China’s protest against the import bans, on that same day San Kuan pulled its Ahersi brand milk candy off the shelves due to unclear test results. The flavors of the milk candy included strawberry, coffee and chocolate. This is the second brand of milk candies suspected of melamine content.

The manufacturer issued a statement that it entrusted an independent laboratory to examine their products. The test results show that the candies produced in Shanghai and Shenzhen are safe, but more test results are pending. In the meantime, the company has decided to discontinue sales.
Suspect Arrested

The Handan Hebei Province police have arrested suspect Zhang Yujun for the melamine contamination. Media in mainland China quoted investigators, saying that from September 2007 to August 2008, Zhang had produced over 600 tons of melamine tainted protein powder and made a profit of over 500,000 yuan.

Courts Slow to Process Melamine Case Filings

There are still many cases of melamine poisoning reports against San Lu being filed in the courts. One parent of a young boy in Henan Province filed a case last month, but the court has yet to issue a notice. Their lawyer, Ji Cheng, is currently following up on the case.

Ms. Ling, whose son had been drinking San Lu milk since birth, pointed out that many victimized families still have not heard from the court after filing their cases. Ms. Ling criticized the courts for neglecting their duties. She said, “If [the courts] haven’t been pressured by the authorities, why haven’t they filed the cases yet?”

On Friday, Guanghua Hospital in Hong Kong reported that a ten year-old boy developed kidney stones after drinking melamine contaminated milk. The boy had drunk three to four 250 ml boxes daily of Eli high-calcium, low-fat milk for the past six years. Family members took him to the hospital when he developed hyperuria. Upon examination, he was discovered to have two kidney stones in the right kidney.

On Friday, the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety announced that the 99 dairy product samples they examined all passed quality tests.
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by vsudhir »

PRC hasn't announced any revision to its growth rate projections since the wallst crisi hit the fan, IIRC. What gives? Not that I trust their numbers anyway but still, some impact would be felt, IMO. Also, like the Rupee, is the Yuan also declining w.r.t. the USD?
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by Singha »

Yuan is not floating wrt dollar. the PRC govt sets a fixed rate and thats it.

various US trade envoys, Rice madam and Bush on half dozen trips have
urged them to revalue or partially float the yuan but they want to keep
exports cheap and have held out so far.
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by Sanjay M »

The Chinese modified their policy not too long ago, to allow the yuan to shift gradually within a certain band, wrt USD. This was partly done to avoid the buildup of economic pressures on the Chinese economy, and also to avoid US Congressional action.
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China posts another record trade surplus despite global slowdown
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081013/bs ... 1013095313

by Robert J. Saiget Mon Oct 13, 5:53 AM ET

BEIJING (AFP) - China said Monday its trade surplus hit a monthly all-time high of 29.3 billion dollars in September despite slowing global demand brought on by the financial crisis.
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Exports in September reached 136.4 billion dollars, up 21.5 percent over the same month last year, while imports during the period were 107.1 billion dollars, up by 21.3 percent, the General Administration of Customs said.

The previous monthly surplus record was 28.7 billion dollars in August.

China's trade surplus for the first nine months of the year reached 180.9 billion dollars, down 2.6 percent year-on-year, the administration said on its website.

Despite the unexpectedly high trade surplus for September, China's exporters would not be able to avoid the global economic downtown that has been exacerbated by the crisis embroiling financial markets, analysts said.

"September's new record high surplus was mainly a reason of slowing import growth, due to the pullback of international raw materials prices," Ma Qing, Beijing-based economist with CEB Monitor Group, told AFP.

"We are holding a cautious attitude to the outlook of China's import and exports. We expect both to fall further in the future because Sino-US trade will definitely go down with the slowing US economy, while Europe is expected to experience economic meltdown."

Ma said he did not expect China's peaking export performance to greatly bolster China's GDP growth in the first three quarters of 2008, which is scheduled to be announced next week.

Ma said he expected GDP growth in the second half of 2008 to weigh in at 8.8 percent, down from 11.9 percent growth last year and 10.1 percent in the second quarter of 2008.

Stephen Green, chief China economist at Standard Charter, called China's export growth in September "extraordinary," but added that it would not be long before the global economic turn down caught up with the export juggernaut.

"There will be impacts. It's just a matter of time before Chinese exporters get hit over the head again," Green told AFP.

"There are lags with Europe in recession now, the US in recession, the effects are filtering out to the rest of the world."

According to the customs administration, China's exports for the first three quarters of the year hit 1.074 trillion dollars, up 22.3 percent over the same period in 2007.

Imports during the period increased by 29 percent to 893.1 billion dollars.

Meanwhile, China's crude oil imports in the first nine months of the year rose 8.8 percent year-on-year to 140 million metric tonnes, or an average of about 3.75 million barrels a day, the customs administration said.

The data indicated China's crude oil imports for September set a monthly record, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Previous figures from the customs bureau showed China imported 119.98 million tons of crude in the first eight months of this year.

This means China's crude oil imports in September totalled around 20 million tons, equivalent to 4.89 million barrels per day, Dow Jones said.

In the first nine months of the year, automobile imports rose 40.3 percent year-on-year to 310,000 units, the customs bureau added.
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China cries over poisoned milk
By Daniel Inman | 14 October 2008

The contaminated milk scandal may force China's food and beverage sector to clean up its act and could become a trigger for M&A activity.

Little over a month ago, melamine was known as the material used to make unbreakable plates and as an industrial additive. But since then it has gained considerable fame as a chemical which, when added to milk, boosts its protein level at the cost of damaging the consumer’s kidneys. China's dairy farmers, eager to boost their milk sales, have been watering down their milk and then lacing it with melamine so that tests show the same protein content as unwatered milk.

Products laced with the chemical are directly responsible for the death of four babies and for putting more than 10,000 in hospital, at last count. And the impact is mushrooming – not only have more and more companies been found guilty of selling contaminated milk, but it has now spread beyond milk to other products that include dairy, such as chocolate. And the ramifications seem set to shake the foundations of China's food and beverage sector.

One potential outcome, observers say, is a renewed consolidation in the food and beverage sector that will benefit the larger producers. And having watched the damage done to its reputation by the latest scare, the Chinese government may also become less averse to the involvement of foreign investment in the industry.

According to a recent J.P. Morgan research report, melamine-contaminated milk has been present in China's dairy industry for the past three to four years and has contributed to the rapid development of the market. It estimates that the production of liquid milk grew at a compound annual growth rate of 45% from 2000 through 2006, while production volumes of raw milk increased by a CAGR of only 20% in the same period. "When fake raw milk is eliminated from the system, the decline in raw materials itself should reduce production volume by at least 50% in the sector, in our view," the report says.

The companies directly involved have already been hit hard. Hebei-based Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group, the company at the centre of the scandal, is facing bankruptcy, and it could be taken over by Sanyuan Foods Company, a dairy company based in nearby Beijing. It was originally thought that the Sanlu brand would die away, and Sanyuan would cherry pick from the company's facilities. But now there seems to be some competition as reports yesterday revealed that soft drink producer, Wahaha, is also interested in a piece of the company.

The other companies that have been implicated in the scandal is a roll call of some of China's biggest dairy companies: China Mengniu Dairy, Shanxi Yashili Dairy and Inner Mongolia Yili, and it should come as no surprise that as consumer confidence in dairy products has tanked, so have the related stocks. Since the news broke in early September, Hong Kong-listed Mengniu is down 65% and Shanghai-listed Yili has lost 51%. And while stockmarkets have tumbled overall due to the financial crisis, dairy stocks have underperformed.

One factor that has added to the severity of the sell-off is that many of China's big food companies are heavily reliant on one product, unlike many international food companies which have a diversified portfolio of products that help manage the risks.

This newfound cheapness in share prices should not be viewed as attractive, argues Citi in a separate report. The bank says investors should not be worried about missing the opportunity to go bottom-fishing for dairy plays in the near term. "We see earnings and [return on equity] downside risks for the Chinese powdered milk sector and would wait for tangible signs of recovery, such as industry consolidation, stricter quality control, and better regulation."

However, Yang Fan, senior research analyst for packaged food at Euromonitor's Shanghai office, notes that Chinese consumers are used to this kind of scandal and predicts that consumer confidence will come back relatively soon – in two or three months for liquid milk products, and around six months for infant milk. "A minority of consumers are highly sensitive to food safety, the majority however are just trying to make a living and are very price sensitive," he says.

On the other hand, the fact that the scandal has been so large and has harmed mostly babies, has made the Chinese public more vocal about their anger.

And while Chinese consumers might start buying milk again, that doesn't mean dairy companies are going to see good times for awhile. Last week for example, Mengniu announced that it had invested approximately Rmb80 million ($11.7 million) in melamine testing equipment, and given 8,000 employees, over 25% of the company's staff, the duty of monitoring milk. Putting in place its so called "three-tier" monitoring regime will definitely bump up costs.

"The only way that you can sort out the food problem in China is by consolidation so that the little companies are forced out of the market," says Matthew Crabbe, managing director of market intelligence company Access Asia, who suggests that the larger companies will benefit from better management as well as greater efficiency. "The problem is that this needs to be happening more quickly."

Crabbe predicts that consolidation will be driven by both Chinese and foreign firms buying up food companies. He expects that a lot of foreign companies could be doing this over the next year. "I think that the Chinese government is going to welcome it," Crabbe says.

He thinks the current review of Coca-Cola's takeover of Huiyuan Juice under the new monopoly law will be the turning point. "If that deal goes through, it will give the signal that it’s good to go."

The outcome of the milk scandal, combined with the ongoing attempt to purchase Huiyuan by Coca-Cola, could therefore be a flurry of mergers and acquisitions in the food and beverage sector.

In the dairy industry itself, this could be a good opportunity for foreign companies to get back into the sector. Most have abandoned earlier joint ventures – for example, Danone's yoghurt joint venture with Mengniu was terminated last year when it failed to acquire government approval; and Danone also sold its 20% stake in Bright Dairy to Shanghai Industrial. Nestle is one of the few foreign companies that still offers a full range of dairy products in China.

A mergers and acquisition strategy would allow foreign companies to avoid the troublesome joint venture structure and take control of dairy companies completely, using their size to enforce higher standards in upstream raw milk production.

If larger, more efficient food conglomerates take over China's food and drink landscape, then the Chinese consumer may well benefit in the long run – but it will have been at the cost of an immense, avoidable tragedy.
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China lawmaker quits beauty contest after outcry

16 hours ago

BEIJING (AP) — An ambitious young Chinese politician has withdrawn from a Hong Kong beauty pageant following withering criticism from commentators online, state media reported Monday.

Yuan Jing, a member of Jiangsu province's rubber-stamp parliament, had been accused of conduct unbecoming a lawmaker and of exploiting her official titles in seeking the Miss Chinese International crown, Xinhua reported.

Yuan, who is also an alternate member of the Chinese Communist Youth League's Central Committee, said she was dropping out due to time constraints, Xinhua said.

Yuan, 22, said she had had reservations, but decided to participate anyway because "that's a dream cherished deep in the heart of every girl, I guess."

Chinese have embraced beauty contests with gusto since communist authorities began permitting them over the past decade.

Organized by Hong Kong television station TVB, Miss Chinese International draws contestants with Chinese backgrounds from around the world. Past winners have gone on to successful careers as entertainers and fashion models.

Yuan had been ranked second on the contests online preselection, Xinhua said.

She defended listing her official titles on her online introduction, saying she hoped it would give her an advantage over the competition.

"Contestants naturally would try all means to win votes. Why can't I?" Xinhua quoted her as saying.
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Post by wrdos »

Yes, it is true.
In the year 2005, the policy was modified. At that time 1 dollar =8.27 yuan. Now it is about 6.83 yuan.
Sanjay M wrote:The Chinese modified their policy not too long ago, to allow the yuan to shift gradually within a certain band, wrt USD. This was partly done to avoid the buildup of economic pressures on the Chinese economy, and also to avoid US Congressional action.
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Compared with the end of 2007, the Chinese Yuan has appreciated about 7.09% within this year.
vsudhir wrote:PRC hasn't announced any revision to its growth rate projections since the wallst crisi hit the fan, IIRC. What gives? Not that I trust their numbers anyway but still, some impact would be felt, IMO. Also, like the Rupee, is the Yuan also declining w.r.t. the USD?
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China to Push Ahead With Rail IPOs to Fund Network Expansion

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... 8SGcOtRlVg

By Tian Ying

Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- China, the world's biggest railway operator, will push ahead with plans to sell shares in state- owned train companies even after a 64 percent slump in the mainland stock market this year.

``We will sell shares once conditions are ripe,'' Wang Yongping, a Ministry of Railways spokesman, said in an interview in Beijing yesterday. ``We are facing some difficulties in the market, but I believe we will make it through.'' He declined to provide a timeframe for the initial public offering plans.

China aims to sell rail shares in Hong Kong and on the mainland to help fund a 1.25 trillion yuan ($183 billion) expansion plan designed to ease congestion on the nation's rail system. The country's locomotives haul about one-fourth of global rail traffic on tracks accounting for about 6 percent of the worldwide train network.

``It is very expensive to expand tracks, but the government has to'' in order to support the country's economic growth, said Richard Lee, an analyst with Core Pacific in Hong Kong. ``The capital gap is going to be quiet huge and the government needs to raise funds''

New rail lines will also be paid for with bank loans and funds from the central and local governments, Wang said.

China intends to lay 17,000 kilometers of track in the five years ending 2010. That may ease delays in hauling coal, metals, grain and other commodities throughout the country.

Freight Demand

Train operators can only meet 35 percent of freight transport demand at present, said Wang. That may rise to 90 percent within five years, helped by the construction of more than 20 cargo and passenger railway lines, he added.

Daqin Railway Co., operator of China's biggest coal transport line, raised 15 billion yuan in an initial public offering in 2006. The funds have helped the company expand its total annual capacity to 350 million tons, three times its original designed capacity, Wang said. The figure will rise to 400 million tons as early as next year, Wang added.

Still, the company has dropped 54 percent this year in Shanghai trading, alongside a 64 percent plunge for the CSI 300 Index. Guangshen Railway Co. has lost 41 percent in Hong Kong, compared with a 39 percent slump for the Hang Seng Index. Its Shanghai shares have slumped 59 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tian Ying in Beijing on ytian@bloomberg.net
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China Recalls More Milk Items for Testing
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/world ... l?ref=asia

Published: October 14, 2008

BEIJING — The Chinese government ordered a recall on Tuesday of all milk products produced before Sept. 14 that are still on the shelves so the products can be tested for the toxic chemical melamine.

Melamine, a substance illicitly added to watered-down milk to falsely indicate a higher protein count, has led to the deaths of at least three babies; at least 53,000 other children have fallen ill. Those statistics are weeks old, though, and the government has yet to release updated numbers, which are believed to be much higher.

The government announced limits for allowable traces of melamine last week. If the recalled products meet the new standards, they will be put back on the market, the government said. Dairy products thought to have a real risk of melamine contamination were already recalled weeks ago, right after the milk crisis first emerged. The recall announced Tuesday was an effort by the government to show the public that it was enforcing its new trace melamine limits.

Meanwhile, a lawyer based in Shanghai has filed a lawsuit in the northwestern Gansu Province on behalf of a family whose 6-month-old son, Yi Kaixuan, died in May after drinking tainted baby formula. A handful of lawsuits have been filed on behalf of parents whose children have died or fallen ill from drinking tainted dairy products, but so far no court has accepted a case.

Separately, the Ministry of Health and the State Food and Drug Administration also announced Tuesday that the brand of herbal drug suspected of killing three people recently was “tainted with bacteria,” Xinhua, the state news agency, reported. The drug, Siberian ginseng or ciwujia, was made by Wandashan Pharmaceutical, based in northeastern China.



Vietnam to send back tainted milk to China
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/ ... d-Milk.php

The Associated Press
Published: October 15, 2008

HANOI, Vietnam: Vietnam has imposed a total ban on melamine in food and will send back any imported products found to be tainted with the industrial chemical, state-controlled media reported Wednesday.

The Labor newspaper report came after Beijing ordered the emergency testing of all milk products more than a month old, in the largest blanket withdrawal from store shelves since infant formula laced with the industrial chemical killed four infants and sickened tens of thousands of children in China.

Melamine has been found in 23 Chinese milk products imported into Vietnam, and about 330 tons (300 metric tons) of milk products, mostly imported from China, have been recalled.

Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Industry and Trade officials will help Vietnamese importers to return the tainted products to their Chinese exporters, the Labor report quoted Deputy Health Minister Cao Minh Quang as saying.

The Health Ministry has also banned all products for human consumption that are contaminated with melamine, Quang said.

China on Tuesday ordered all milk products more than a month old pulled from store shelves for emergency testing. All milk powder and liquid milk produced before Sept. 14 must be tested, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing a notice jointly approved by six government ministries and administrations.

Melamine can cause kidney stones as the body tries to eliminate it and, in extreme cases, lead to life-threatening kidney failure. Infants are particularly susceptible.
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Swiss find melamine-contaminated food products from China
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_con ... ?id=763505

Taiwan News, Website Editorial Staff
2008-10-15 11:48 AM

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) - The Swiss government announced for the first time today that certain melamine-contaminuated biscuits imported from Thailand and Sri Lanka were originally made in China, and all these products were immediately withdraw from shelves in the market.

Swiss authorities pointed out that the snacks, which were tested to contain melamine traces were labeled made in China, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, all of which may use China’s melamine-tainted milk powder in their ingredients.

The health authorities in Swill made an announcement yesterday say tests have shown high melamine levels in China's White Rabbit Candies, Thailand’s S&P Milk Cookies, and Sri Lanka's Lemon Puff.

As a result, all of them have been removed immediately. The health authorities also said in a public letter saying that all these melamine-tainted products “have not yet posed any threat on the health of the public,” but the authorities said that China’s unsafe and unhygienic food practices will not be tolerated.
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Credit crisis casts gloom over China's exporters

By JOE McDONALD – 17 hours ago

BEIJING (AP) — As they prepare for China's biggest export fair this week, managers at Shunde Xiongfeng Electric Industrial Co. are anxious.

Sales of electric fans are down this year, and the financial crisis will likely further cut demand from overseas. The 5,000-employee company in the southern city of Shunde, near Hong Kong, sold 6 million electric fans abroad last year.

"We are worried that if our clients are short of capital, they might shut down," said Shunde's export manager, who would only give his surname, Zeng. "That's certainly bad for us."

China has been known as the world's factory for everything from toys to T-shirts, and exports have powered its growth in recent years. But exports are taking a hit from the global financial crisis because of lower demand from overseas and tightening credit from state-owned banks.

A slowdown in Chinese exports would ripple through the world economy as China imports fewer raw materials, half-finished goods for assembly and supplies, such as Australian iron ore or factory equipment from the United States, Europe and Japan. Raw materials used for exports made up half of China's nearly US$1 trillion in imports last year.

China's economy is still expected to expand by at least 9 percent this year, and its banks are flush with cash and hold little risky debt. But its economy has been weakened by a bursting housing bubble and an anemic stock market, and the hope that China's appetite for imports will rescue other countries has been tempered. China accounted for a third of global economic growth in 2007, according to the World Bank.

"We still believe that China's growth will be relatively robust. That is helpful for the world economy," said Louis Kuijs, the World Bank's senior economist in Beijing. "Unfortunately, one economy like China will not be enough to keep world growth going....China just isn't big enough."

The Canton Fair, which opens Wednesday, will offer a measure of demand for Chinese goods, as exporters and customers gather in Guangzhou, the heart of China's export-driven manufacturing industries. Philip Richardson, an American who manufactures high-end stereo speakers in Guangzhou, said orders from the U.S. have dropped over the past two weeks.

"When they see the markets go down, they stop buying," he said.

Customers have canceled meetings with him at a Hong Kong trade show next week. Nine of 12 retailers have backed out of visits to his factory in the past two weeks. And as he stood talking, Richardson received a phone call from the Chinese vendor who makes his stereo cabinets. The vendor said he had lost so many orders that he could not pay his employees, and asked Richardson to pay early on a bill due next month.

The financial crisis is the latest blow in an export situation that was already weakening along with the U.S. and European economies. According to customs figures, the growth rate for China's exports in the first quarter of the year declined for the first time in three years. Exports make up just 5 percent of China's economic output, but account for about 20 percent of growth.

Foreign sales of Chinese-made electric fans fell 21 percent in July from the same month last year, according the Chinese Household Electric Appliance Association. In a survey last month, the central bank said export orders at Chinese factories had fallen to their lowest level since 2005. One of the country's largest garment makers, Zhejiang Jianglong Textile Printing and Dying Co., went bankrupt last week.

"I don't think the economy has troughed," said Tao Wang, a UBS economist in Beijing. "That will affect China's demand for commodities, machinery and so on. In the next six months, I think imports from all these countries will slow."

The Tianjin Excellent Import & Export Co. southeast of Beijing expects this year's sales to drop to half the 2007 level of US$50 million. The company is trying to boost sales to Japan and other markets and might have to fire some of its 100 employees, its manager said.

"We don't have a better strategy yet to maintain the business," said the manager, who would only give his last name, Yang. "If we export US$1 million and need 50 people, then that falls to $10,000, you can do the math."

Exporters are also having a harder time getting credit because China's state-owned banks are trying to cut loans to companies with exposure to foreign risks, said Nan Hanxin, a banking industry analyst for Central China Securities. They now favor monopoly state-owned companies with high credit, Nan said.

The weakening of exports from China is showing up in fewer purchases of raw materials from other countries. China's appliance makers buy so much wire that a fall in export demand has led to a 23 percent drop in global copper prices since July, according to Standard Chartered Bank.

China's imports are also hurt by a slowdown in its domestic market. As both real estate and stock market values have declined, consumers are no longer as able or willing to spend on big-ticket items, auto market research firm J.D. Power and Associates said in a report.

For example, automakers counted on China to drive revenues as sales dropped in North America and Europe. But sales of Ford Motor Co. vehicles in China dropped 28 percent in August from the same month last year, while Volkswagen AG was down 20 percent and General Motors Corp. was off 16 percent, according to J.D. Power.

Slower real estate sales have cut demand for steel. Four major Chinese steel mills are responding by cutting output 20 percent, the government newspaper China Securities Journal said. That in turn erodes demand for iron ore.

Last year, the Canton Fair drew 190,000 buyers from 200 countries. But this year Shi Hong, general manager at a bicycle exporter, plans to skip the fair for a sales trip to Europe.

Shi said orders are down and retailers in Britain and France have put off submitting sales forecasts.

"We've already cut our costs," he said. "We fired three employees, one-fifth of our team."
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Flow of Capital to China Slows Sharply
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1224005 ... lenews_wsj

OCTOBER 15, 2008

BEIJING -- Capital flows into China have slowed sharply and even reversed in recent months, according to official data that reflect how the financial crisis has disheartened investors and disrupted banks in this fast-growing nation.

The inflow shift is part of the dramatic turnaround in China's economic situation in the past few months. Earlier this year, China's currency was surging against the dollar, helping to draw tens of billions of investor dollars into the country. Policy makers fretted about whether the speculative inflows were large enough to destabilize the financial system.

Now, the Chinese currency, the yuan, has barely budged against the dollar for two months, leading many investors to unwind bets on its continued appreciation. The property market and export sector, key drivers of recent growth, seem to be deteriorating rapidly. Investors have noticed.

On Tuesday, China's central bank published figures showing its foreign-exchanges reserves -- the world's largest -- rising to $1.906 trillion at the end of September from $1.809 trillion at the end of June. But the pace of increases has slowed and the new funds seem to trail what trade and corporate investment are bringing into the country.

"I think it's pretty certain that we are seeing an outflow of capital at this stage," said Glenn Maguire, Asia economist for Société Générale in Hong Kong. However, he said, "what we are seeing is an unwinding of the hot money flows that occurred earlier in the year, rather than outright capital flight."

The new figures suggest China saw very limited, if any, inflows of speculative capital -- sometimes called "hot money" -- in July and August. And analysts estimate that anywhere from $10 billion to $25 billion left the country in September, just as the financial crisis intensified.

China's banks remain flush with cash even amid the strains affecting other nations' financial systems. Few signs exist of a credit crunch. China's large trade surpluses -- which hit a monthly record of $29.37 billion in September -- continue to push large quantities of dollars into the financial system.

Officials say they are sanguine. "The impact of this crisis on China is limited and controllable. We are confident we can maintain the stability of China's financial markets." Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Tuesday in a telephone conversation with U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, according to a statement by China's foreign ministry.

Part of the slowdown in reserve accumulation is likely due to the recent rally of the dollar. Since China's reserves are reported in dollars, the value of its nondollar holdings has been shrinking. But currency moves don't explain all of the changes, and there were unusual strains in China's markets in September.

"This outflow likely reflected foreign financial institutions attempting to repatriate capital and hoard dollar liquidity in the midst of the credit crisis," said Logan Wright of Stone & McCarthy Research Associates in Beijing.

Even if it has slowed, the continued increase in China's foreign-exchange reserves is welcome news for the U.S. at the moment. It indicates Chinese demand remains for the Treasury debt that is being used to finance efforts to rescue the financial system. While there has been grumbling within China about the low returns on that investment, many observers don't expect the reserves to be switched away from the U.S. on a large scale.

"China is losing a bit of money investing in U.S. Treasurys, given the dollar is depreciating in a long-term trend," Erh-fei Liu, Merrill Lynch's China chairman, said in Beijing. The alternative is worse, he said: "If China stops buying Treasurys, the U.S. will stop importing from China, and that'll hurt China demand and that'll be a loss-loss situation for both countries."
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China land reform disappears from radar
http://www.latimes.com/news/printeditio ... 5382.story

By Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times
October 15, 2008

BEIJING -- A funny thing happened on the way to the Third Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee, where China's Communist Party leaders were expected to finally enact a bold land reform program allowing farmers eventually to buy, sell or lease their fields.

Coverage of reform issues had been stepped up in the official press. And President Hu Jintao made a high-profile trip to rural Anhui province, where state media said he told farmers that they would be able to transfer their land rights.

Yet by the time the closed-door meeting wrapped up Sunday, the issue had all but disappeared from public view. It wasn't even mentioned in the final communique from the 368-member decision-making body.

That has led some analysts to speculate that hard-liners who benefit from the status quo managed to fight off the reforms. Others say that, given the vague nature of many Chinese official statements, the measures still may be implemented.

At stake is a system of ownership restrictions that hinders China's 740 million farmers trying to improve productivity, often leaving them at the mercy of corrupt local party officials.

"I'm very disappointed," said Hu Xingdou, an economics professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology. "The government and top leaders are so focused on harmony these days that they just give up when they face resistance. They need to try harder."

Land reform efforts have foundered for decades in part because the issue encapsulates many of modern China's fundamental contradictions. In spite of a roaring market economy, leaders of this nominally Communist country maintain a collective land ownership system.

Some Communist hard-liners say enhanced ownership rights would solidify Western capitalism, undercutting the party's grip on power. Others argue that they would prompt the mostly uneducated farmers to sell their land for a song, and eventually drift into the cities, homeless and penniless.

Delay also carries a cost. The system has allowed corrupt local authorities to grab huge swaths of land from farmers at a fraction of its value, spurring indignation, riots and unrest. And farmers have little incentive to upgrade the land.

Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao spent much of their careers in the countryside. They understand the farmers' plight and want to make changes, said a long-standing Communist Party member who asked not to be identified.

But this is an extremely complex social problem, he said, and intent isn't enough. It requires a solid legal framework and the political will to implement such wide-ranging change.

"Deng Xiaoping dared to enact reforms," he said, "but Hu Jintao can't do it at this stage."

In a short statement Sunday, China's state news agency said the Central Committee passed a package of rural policies and discussed the global financial crisis. But it made no mention of land reform. The communique referred vaguely to "raising land yields."

The package also aims to double rural incomes by 2020. Annual per capita disposable income for those living in the countryside was $720 during the first half of 2008, compared with about $3,600 for city dwellers.

Sui Yuyou, a farmer in Shandong province, said he's pleased with the government's focus on rural issues. The four-acre family plot, shared by six adults and two children, gets an $80 wheat subsidy per year, a welcome addition to about $2,400 that crops bring in.

But if rural incomes were higher, Sui and his relatives might not need to spend any time in Beijing, where they can earn as much in a month waiting tables as they can in a year in their village, about 250 miles southeast of the capital.

Sui, wearing cloth shoes and a black jacket, leans against a barrier near the Beijing railway station and reflects on his double life, split between the capital and the family's small plot in Suijiagou village, where he grows peanuts, wheat and soybeans.

Sui said looser policies on buying, selling or offering up his land as bank collateral would make life easier, allowing for bigger farms that could be more productive.

"But I would never sell my land easily," the 56-year-old said. "Land is a farmers' fate. We farmers rely on the land to make a living.

"My village is famous for its beautiful scenery, mountains, hills, rivers and flatlands," he said. "But nearly 80% of the young people head to the cities to make a living. Those left are mostly kids and old people."

Analysts say land reform has even broader economic implications during these times of global crisis.

China, the world's most populous country, has an advantage over many nations in labor-intensive industries such as manufacturing. But services and an improved agricultural sector are important not only to stem unemployment and social tension, but to improve economic productivity, said Stephen Green of Standard Chartered Bank.

"There has obviously been a lot of investment in rural areas, schools and healthcare," he said. "But you can't just subsidize the countryside into modernity. You need land reform."
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China's Economy Grows at Slowest Pace Since 2004, Survey Shows

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... 3ePIGnXZFQ
By Kevin Hamlin
Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- China's economy probably expanded at the slowest pace in almost four years in the third quarter, adding pressure for interest-rate cuts and government spending to prevent a slump.

Gross domestic product grew 9.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the median estimate of 12 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, down from 10.1 percent in the previous three months. The data is due to be released on Oct. 20.

China has cut rates twice in the past month and eased controls on bank lending as a looming global recession threatens to slash demand for exports. Central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said Oct. 15 that policy makers need to do more to boost domestic consumption in the world's fourth-biggest economy.

``We see the U.S. and European Union, which are China's major export markets, going into a pretty deep, synchronized recession,'' said Isaac Meng, a senior economist with BNP Paribas SA in Beijing. ``The risk of a hard landing calls for stronger monetary easing and fiscal support.''

China's manufacturing took a hit in the third quarter from falling export orders and factory shutdowns to limit pollution during the Olympic Games. Industrial production grew at the slowest pace in six years in August.

Slumping stocks and weakness in the property market are also drags on growth. The estimated third-quarter expansion would be the slowest since the fourth quarter of 2004.

`Never Easy'

``It's never easy saying goodbye,'' Ben Simpfendorfer, an economist with Royal Bank of Scotland Plc in Hong Kong, wrote in an Oct. 10 report. ``But China's double-digit GDP growth rates of the past four years are over and the economy has embarked on its first sustained slowdown in a decade.''

An export slowdown and, mainly, weaker domestic consumption will pull growth down to 8 percent next year, Simpfendorfer said. The International Monetary Fund is more optimistic, predicting a 9.3 percent expansion.

China's weaker growth is part of a slowdown across Asia, where Japan's economy shrank in the second quarter and Singapore has tumbled into a recession.

Capital controls, a world record $1.9 trillion of currency reserves and a fiscal surplus help to buffer China against the financial crisis. The nation's growth, the fastest of the world's 20 biggest economies, underpins demand for the exports of its Asian neighbors and commodities from iron ore to soybeans.

Global Growth

``If China continues to have rapid economic growth, that will hold up overall global growth so we won't have a generalized recession,'' Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute in New York, said Oct. 15. ``If China were to tumble downwards, then we'd see a much more massive crisis.''

China's easing inflation -- down to 4.6 percent in September from 4.9 percent in August, according to the survey -- gives policy makers more room for stimulating the economy.

Export orders fell to the lowest since 2005 in the third quarter, according to a central bank index, and slumping retail sales in the U.S. underscore the challenge ahead. More than 3,600 Chinese toy exporters, about half of the total, closed in the first seven months of this year, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

The CSI 300 Index of stocks is down 66 percent this year, while housing prices in Shanghai fell 19.5 percent in the third quarter from the previous three months, according to real estate broker Savills Plc.

The nation's key one-year lending and deposit rates are 6.93 percent and 3.87 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Hamlin in Beijing on khamlin@bloomberg.net;
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US food, drug regulator to open offices in China: official
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hqH ... G7_bOaN-OA
7 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will open its first overseas offices in China this year as part of efforts to regulate imported food to the United States, an official said on Thursday.

Offices will also be opened in India, Europe and Latin America for the first time, said the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt.

The move reflected the increased globalization of the world's food and drug trade, notably from developing to developed nations, he said.

"Increasing our presence overseas will provide greater protections to American consumers at home and benefit our host countries as well," said Leavitt.

"Opening these offices will mark a key milestone in the globalization of our efforts to enhance the safety of imported food and medical products," he said.

Food quality concerns for imported goods are paramount for the FDA after recent high profile cases involving China.

The first office will open by the end of 2008 in Beijing, with additional staff to be posted in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in 2009.

Over the last month countries around the world have issued recalls and bans of Chinese-made dairy products after high levels of the chemical melamine were detected in exported goods.

In total, 46,810 children were hospitalized after drinking milk tainted with melamine, which was added in place of water to increase sales volume.

Figures from China's Ministry of Health said 5,824 children were still receiving hospital treatment for kidney diseases due to the tainted products, according to a report from state news agency Xinhua.


"The globalization of the food supply and medical product manufacturing has demanded that we do things differently," said FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach.

"We won't have to send our experts to another country to work with foreign governments and regulated industry to improve our oversight -- we'll have staff living there and working on the ground 365 days a year."

Last year, the US imported more than two trillion dollars worth of products from around 825,000 inmporters.

HHS and FDA projections indicate the volume of imports will grow as the international trade continues to multiply.
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Japan finds melamine in China-made egg powder
17 October 2008 1024 hrs

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 61/1/.html

TOKYO: A Japanese company said the toxic chemical melamine was found in dried egg powder imported from China as a scandal over tainted milk that has sickened thousands of babies keeps growing.

Japan's leading trading firm Mitsui & Co. said late Thursday that the company has recalled egg powder after detecting a small amount of melamine inside it.

Egg powder is often used to flavour pastries, cooked pasta and confectionery products.

Mitsui imported 20 tonnes of Chinese egg powder in September, most of which was sold to Q.P. Egg Corp., a unit of Japanese mayonnaise maker Q.P. Corp., the company said.

Some 0.4 tonnes of egg powder have already been consumed, it said, but no health problems have been reported.

The finding came after Chinese manufacturer Dalian Hanovo Foods informed Mitsui that melamine was detected in its egg powder products and poultry feed.

Mitsui has "recalled all the egg powder products that have not been used and plans to send them back to China or destroy them," it said in a statement.

Separately, the Japanese health ministry said that melamine was detected in frozen fried chicken imported from China.

The fried chicken has not been distributed in the market, according to the ministry.

China says four babies have died and more than 5,800 more are still receiving hospital care after melamine was found in milk.

It is the biggest incident to tarnish China's reputation as a food producer. Japanese police are also investigating Chinese-made frozen green beans which were found this week to have thousands of times the legal limit of pesticides.
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Melamine found in two more products in Australia
http://news.theage.com.au/national/mela ... -531i.html

October 17, 2008 - 4:12PM

Two more products have been withdrawn from sale in Australia after being found to be contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine.

Tests revealed Dali Yuan brand First Milk vanilla flavour and Orion brand Tiramisu Italian Cake with Cheese Cream - both made in China - contain low levels of the chemical.

"Australian importers and wholesalers have begun withdrawing these products from sale," Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FANZ) spokeswoman Lydia Buchtmann said.

The products should not be consumed and should be disposed of safely out of the reach of children pets, Ms Buchtmann said.

Friday's action follows the withdrawal from sale of four other imported products found to contain melamine.

Australian authorities have so far withdrawn White Rabbit milk-based lollies, Cadbury chocolate eclairs made in China, Lotte Koala Biscuits and Kirin milk tea.

Concerns have also been raised about melamine contamination of fruit and vegetables grown in China and exported to Australia.

Chinese vegetable products imported into Australia include fresh garlic and peas, frozen mixed vegetables, canned mushrooms and tomato paste.

Products contaminated with melamine, which is normally used in plastic products, have killed at least four children and sickened 53,000 in mainland China.
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Killer milk: Nigeria clamps down on raw materials from China
http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/19491/43/

Friday, 17 October 2008

DIRECTOR-GENERAL of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Dora Akunyili, yesterday ordered manufacturing companies in Nigeria to stop the use of bulk milk raw materials from China until NAFDAC certified such raw materials to be free from melamine.

Prof. Akunyili, however, assured Nigerians that the agency was fully prepared to checkmate any attempt by unscrupulous individuals or groups to import the controversial China killer-milk (Melamine milk) into the country, saying “The agency is strictly in control.”

Addressing a press conference on the investigation of Melamine in milk in Lagos, she stated that henceforth, “NAFDAC will continue to keep all bulk milk import on hold until they are certified to be melamine-free.”

Her words: “We wish to assure the general public that we are on top of the melamine situation. We have not been talking because we believe that we only need to talk when we have relevant information to give to the public.

"Talking without fact will be only lead to unnecessary panic. Everybody should please relax and trust that we are doing our best to make sure that no melamine contaminated milk or milk products are circulated in Nigeria. We are also advising importers to be wary of their sources and quality before they place their orders.”

She explained that already, NAFDAC has screened 79 samples of milk products, comprising of baby formula, milk powder and milk products such as Yogurt and milk drinks and candies in Nigeria using Rapid Test Kit.

Akunyili said at the end of the screening, melamine was detected in about 24 percent of the samples analyzed at levels below the presently permitted maximum level of 1.0mg/Kg in baby formula and 2.5mg/Kg in other milk products.

Throwing more light on the screening exercise done by the Agency, she said, “Out of the 18 baby formulas screened, six samples were found to contain melamine at levels between 0.0006 and 0.035mg/Kg which fall within acceptable limits, 16 bulk milk powder from China were screened and half of them had melamine between 0.013 and 0.049 which are also within acceptable limits.”

She further disclosed that the agency has ordered for the various accessories and reagents required for qualitative and quantitative analysis using existing state-of-the-art equipment, High Pressure Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC) and Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrophotometre (GCMS).
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China broadens dairy product recall amid health scandal
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g_Z ... qx_DDuAd7g

1 day ago

BEIJING (AFP) — China on Wednesday pulled all dairy products more than a month old from shops across the country in one of the biggest steps taken by authorities to end a deadly scandal over contaminated milk.

All dairy products made before September 14 will be tested for a chemical blamed for killing four babies and leaving more than 53,000 others sick, according to a notice posted on the product-safety watchdog's website.

"All supermarkets, shops, and all city, town and village-level vendors will urgently remove and seal up all milk powder and liquid milk made before September 14, pending further testing," said the notice.

The announcement by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine gave no reason for the blanket removal of the goods or why the order was not issued when the scandal first broke last month.

The notice, posted this week and publicised in the state press on Wednesday, said only it was part of "inspections to sort out the dairy market".

However, it appeared to indicate fears that contamination of Chinese milk products with the industrial chemical melamine was more widespread than originally thought.

China had said earlier that the products of at least 22 milk companies, or nearly 12 percent of products tested, had been found to contain melamine.

However, it has repeatedly stressed that many other dairy products made before September 14 had been given the all-clear, while all others after that date were safe.

Those recalled products that passed tests by local authorities would be allowed back on shelves with a special label declaring them safe, while those with excess melamine would not, according to the notice.

Indicating the sensitivity of the issue, staff at the product safety agency declined to comment on the mass recall when contacted by AFP, as did two major Chinese supermarket chains.

Normally used to make plastics, melamine has been found in fresh milk, powders, yoghurt and other goods containing Chinese milk.

In perhaps the biggest in a string of Chinese product safety scares in recent years, the melamine was apparently mixed into watered-down milk to give it the impression of having higher protein content.

The babies who died suffered from kidney failure induced by taking in the melamine through contaminated milk powder. Many of the thousands of children who fell ill suffered from kidney stones and vomiting.

Figures from China's Ministry of Health, according to a Xinhua report, said 5,824 children are still receiving hospital treatment for kidney diseases.

The figure was down to almost half that reported a week ago but six of those who remain under the care of medical staff are in serious condition, a ministry statement said, according to Xinhua.

The number of children affected could be much higher than the 53,000 reported by the government, however, as health ministry officials said last week they had updated numbers but refused to make them public.

Countries around the world have issued recalls and bans of Chinese-made dairy products after high melamine levels were detected in exported goods.

In yet another development on Wednesday to raise concerns over the "Made In China" brand, Chinese frozen beans sold in Japan were found to contain 34,500 times the legal level of pesticides.

Officials there said Japan's government had ordered retailers to pull the frozen beans produced by China's Yantai Beihai Foodstuff off shelves after a woman ate them and fell ill.


An official at Yantai Beihai Foodstuff told AFP it was investigating the issue, but did not believe it was to blame.
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Tainted milk found in Italy
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industrie ... milk_N.htm

HOHHOT, China (AP) — Laboratory tests have turned up Italy's first cases of melamine-tainted milk, while authorities in Naples have separately seized tons of illegal Chinese products.

The Health Ministry said Thursday that inspections at import companies and shops that sell Chinese products had resulted in three positive tests.

Officials said the concentration of the toxic substance was not lethal but posed a health threat.

Milk and other dairy products laced with melamine have been blamed for the deaths of four infants and for sickening more than 54,000 in mainland China.

Nearly 6,000 Chinese babies remain hospitalized with kidney problems caused by contaminated milk powder, the Chinese Health Ministry said, while dairy executives tried Thursday to restore confidence in the discredited industry with pledges of higher standards.

Also Thursday, government authorities said it had seized Chinese-made products at ethnic shops and an import-export center in Naples, including a ton of milk believed to be contaminated with melamine.

Officials in the major dairy-producing region of Inner Mongolia said the country's two largest dairies plan in the future to buy raw milk from larger-scale providers to allow better quality control. The companies now purchase from scores of small-scale farmers and milk collection stations that would be merged into larger operations in the future.

The move is the latest attempt to contain the fallout after baby formula contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine was blamed for the deaths of four infants and the sickening of about 54,000 other children in China.

The Health Ministry said Wednesday that 5,800 children were still hospitalized — six of them in serious condition.

Authorities have blamed dairy suppliers for the food safety scandal that began last month, saying they added melamine to watered-down milk to fool quality control tests and make the product appear rich in protein.

The tainted milk scandal has sparked global concern about Chinese food products, with more than 30 countries restricting Chinese dairy products, and in some cases all imports of Chinese-made food.

In the latest case that raises concerns about the extent of the contamination, Malaysian health authorities Thursday banned the import of the baking agent ammonium bicarbonate from China, saying it contained high levels of melamine discovered in locally produced biscuits.

"That means it's not only milk and milk products (that are tainted). The issue is much wider," said Noraini Mohamad Othman, the Health Ministry's food safety director. "We are concerned."

The Health Ministry ordered the manufacturers of the biscuits — Khong Guan Holdings Malaysia Bhd and Khian Guan Biscult Manufacturing Co Sdn Bhd — to withdraw the tainted brands from the market immediately, she said.


The scandal has devastated public trust in Chinese dairies, according to a survey conducted by Beijing-based media research firm All Media Count.

Less than half of respondents who formerly purchased major brands said they would consider buying them again, according the company's survey of 900 consumers across China.

That number sunk to almost nothing when respondents were asked specifically about the brand at the heart of the scandal, Sanlu, whose products have been blamed for the infants' deaths.

The survey was conducted on Sept. 22-26 and had a sampling margin of error of plus or minus 3.33 percentage points.

Seeking to restore that trust, authorities on Thursday took reporters on a tour of dairy facilities in Inner Mongolia, home to China's two largest dairy companies, Mengniu Dairy Group Co. and Yili Industrial Group Co., both of which were implicated in the scandal.

"Provide 100% safety to consumers," read a slogan on a red banner in the spotless processing and packaging hall at Yili's headquarters in Hohhot.

Employees showed reporters a new station for melamine testing where workers wearing lab coats and gloves used new testing equipment they said cost the company 100 million yuan (US$15 million) to import from the United States and Japan.

Melamine, a chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers, can cause kidney stones as the body tries to eliminate it and, in extreme cases, lead to life-threatening kidney failure. Infants are particularly susceptible.

"After this incident, we have increased melamine checks on all raw milk supplies (and) only that which passes the tests goes into the factory," said Yili executive president Zhang Jianqiu. "All of Yili's products on the markets for sale ... meet the standards."

Government officials said the blame did not lie with the companies, but lower down the chain with farmers and milk collection stations.

Ren Yaping, a vice governor of Inner Mongolia, said the government and the dairy industry are considering merging the milk collection stations and farmers into larger cooperatives as a way to improve quality.

"The most important thing at the next stage is to start from the raw milk and improve the inspections right through the production process," Ren said.

Officials said quality checks have intensified in recent weeks, with Mengniu and Yili deploying 3,000 inspectors throughout the region, and the government more than 4,000.

Mengniu and Yili have seen their shares plummet since the scandal broke, and the leading business magazine Caijing reported that the two companies' combined losses were expected to top 3.6 billion yuan (US$526 million) over the next four to five months.
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by Avinash R »

Some Banned Chinese Milk Is Still Being Sold
OCTOBER 16, 2008, 1:06 P.M. ET
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1224171 ... lenews_wsj

BEIJING -- Despite orders from China's central authorities to recall all milk produced before Sept. 14, banned milk from two of China's biggest dairies was still being sold this week at a discount to students in the southern city of Guangzhou through stores and milk dealers.

The incidents call into question whether China's central government can deliver on its promise to clean up the country's dairy industry after contaminated infant formula sickened tens of thousands of children.


On Oct. 11, six government agencies issued an order that all dairy products dated from before Sept. 14 -- regardless of brand -- be pulled from stores for testing, according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency. That recall was made public on Tuesday, Oct. 14, and has been widely publicized on state television and via news agencies.

Guangzhou University students say that since the recall was ordered on Oct. 11, liquid milk from Mengniu Dairy Co. and Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group dated from before Sept. 14 has been sold at a deep discount around the campus of this school of 17,000.

Earlier this week, "I saw some dealers come to our campus to sell the milk. You can buy one, get one free. The [school] administration didn't pay attention to them," said Chen Xuzhao, a student at the university, in a phone interview.

Another student, Cai Xiaowei, said in a phone interview that she bought Mengniu "Student" milk, a line of liquid milk marketed specifically to students, from a dealer in the street for 28 yuan ($4.09) on Tuesday, 32% off the original price. The milk was marked as being produced in July.

It's unusual for dealers to sell milk on campus streets, and it's unclear where they got the milk they were selling.

The sales to college students were reported Thursday by Xinhua, citing the Guangzhou Daily, a newspaper.

After authorities discovered that dairy company Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co., 43% owned by New Zealand's Fonterra Co-operative Group, was selling melamine-laced infant formula, thousands of tons of milk products were pulled from shelves. More than 20 brands of milk formula were found to be contaminated with an industrial chemical, melamine. As of Wednesday, more than 5,000 children remain hospitalized with kidney problems; at least three have died. The scandal sparked discoveries around the world of products using Chinese dairy ingredients that turned out to contain melamine.

Mengniu, Yili and another major brand, Bright Dairy & Food Co., were implicated for having melamine in a wide range of products from liquid milk to yogurt.

Despite the bans, Mengniu's milk has made its way via dealers and distributors to Guangzhou University's campus. A store clerk at Huijia Supermarket on campus confirmed that it was selling milk from before Sept. 14, and that after a sales promotion, all the products had sold out by Monday -- after the ban was issued, but before it was made public. It isn't clear whether the milk is still being sold, contrary to government regulations, on other campuses.

A spokeswoman from Mengniu said she was looking into the matter, and that the company has "required the products [be pulled] off shelves and not sold anymore." Yili could not be reached for comment.

Students who bought the milk say they did so voluntarily, and weren't alarmed about the possibility that the discounted products contained melamine. Xu Ming, a technology student at Guangzhou University, said "We are not worried about the melamine. We didn't have problems when we drank the milk before, so it should be OK now as well."
Singha
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by Singha »

I wonder what kind of food products and additives India imports from China?

one never knows what secondaries are used in packaged food and where it
came from...
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by bart »

Some big MNC brands like Nestle, Pepsi etc import stuff from China. For example the 'Lays Stax' chips which are Pepsi's knock off of Pringles uses to be imported from China. There could be plenty of stuff like that for example chocolates etc that might contain milk.
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by Avinash R »

Anger at China toy firm closure
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7675552.stm

A Chinese toymaker which supplied firms including US giant Mattel has gone out of business with the loss of up to 7,000 jobs.

Rising raw material and labour costs and slowing US demand forced Smart Union to close its doors this week.

Workers have since been protesting outside the firm's factories and a government building in Guangdong province to demand their unpaid wages.

More than half of China's toy exporters have gone bust so far this year.

Hard times in Toytown

The Chinese news agency Xinhua said 52.7% of the country's 3,631 companies making toys for export went out of business in the first seven months of the year.

It blamed rising production costs, the stronger yuan and tightened toy safety standards.

Smart Union's shares were suspended on the Hong Kong exchange on Wednesday and provisional liquidators were appointed by the High Court in Hong Kong on Friday.

The company's financial difficulties were clear from the results it released last month - Smart Union made a pre-tax loss of 201m Hong Kong dollars ($26m; £15m) in the first half of the year. In the same period a year earlier it had lost HK $2.5m.

Pay withheld

Former staff protesting outside one of Smart Union's factories were met with a sign which read, "Because business is bad, we are unable to give you your salaries," the Reuters news agency reported.

"I feel very agitated now," said factory worker Huang Luo Hui.

"We need money to pay for our housing and food. We have been waiting for a few days now. The government said they will solve this problem in three days. Today [Friday] is the third day and we have had no reply from them."
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by Katare »

Avinash,
Thanks for all the news item related to tainted chinese products. Good work! :)
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by sanjaykumar »

The cost of monomaniacal export-led growth.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/world ... china.html
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by Neshant »

Man i had to stop eating Cadbury chocolates because of this.

I'm also terrified of any "made in china" packet noodles.
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by Avinash R »

Chinese toy maker ousts 7,000 workers
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/18/stor ... 390100.htm

BEIJING: Chinese toy maker Smart Union that supplied household U.S. brands such as Mattel and Disney has gone bust due to the financial crisis, leaving up to 7,000 people jobless, the company and local officials said on Friday.
Avinash R
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by Avinash R »

Katare wrote:Avinash,
Thanks for all the news item related to tainted chinese products. Good work! :)
thanks
and the saga of chinese posion milk continues.

Japanese child suffers kidney stones in China
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ ... 019a5.html

Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008
BEIJING (Kyodo) A Japanese toddler residing in China's Shandong Province has developed kidney stones after drinking powdered milk apparently tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, a Japanese Embassy official said Saturday.

The official said the boy, now aged around 2, was fed since birth on milk formula made by a Chinese milk product maker at the center of China's melamine scandal, the Hebei-based Sanlu Group.

After the milk contamination became public knowledge earlier this year, the boy's parents took him to be tested at a free clinic set up by a Chinese medical organization, where he tested positive for kidney stones.

The boy, however, has not been hospitalized and is not in serious condition.

The case is the first in which a Japanese child has been sickened by the melamine-tainted milk scandal.

The scandal involves adding melamine to diluted milk to falsely boost protein readings.

But the tactic backfired after the toxic substance, which can cause kidney stones, sickened more than 50,000 young children. At least four have died.
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by Avinash R »

now it is ginseng.
Chinese drug manufacturer recalls all products after 3 deaths
http://en.rian.ru/world/20081018/117817614.html

18/ 10/ 2008

BEIJING, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - A Chinese drug company has recalled all its injection preparations after a ginseng-containing medicine caused three deaths earlier in October, the country's health authorities said Saturday.

Six patients in the southwestern Yunnan province developed adverse effects after receiving injections of the medicine produced by Wandashan Pharmaceutical. Three of them later died. An investigation showed the drug batch contained dangerous bacteria.

Earlier the authorities only banned the sale and use of the very preparation that had caused the deaths. The drug made from Siberian ginseng had been used to treat liver, kidney and heart diseases, as well as neurotic conditions.

Chinese products have recently been recalled or banned worldwide after another scandal over melamine-tainted milk that killed four children and sickened over 50,000 in China.

Last year, a former head of the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration, who had headed the organization in 1998-2005, was executed for taking bribes to approve untested medical preparations.
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by Avinash R »

Chinese manufacturer recalls deadly herbal medicine
Saturday, 18 October , 2008, 18:10
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14779899

Beijing: The Chinese manufactures of a herbal injectable recalled the entire product from the market after three patients died, the national drug safety watchdog said on Saturday.

The Health Ministry and the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) said in a statement the Wandashan Pharmaceutical Company, in Heilongjiang province in northwest China, made the move "voluntarily" according to the country's drug recall regulations.

The recall came following an instruction by the SFDA to suspend sale and use of the injection.

Six patients experienced adverse reactions after being receiving a ciwujia injection. Their symptoms included vomiting and becoming comatose. Three patients died, according to a report released on October 6. The other three are under observation.

The medicine is extracted from ciwujia plant, a type of Siberian ginseng, and is used to treat thrombosis. It is also believed to be helpful in treating coronary heart disease, nervous exhaustion and menopausal problems.

Testing on ciwujia samples showed the product was tainted with bacteria, SFDA said and added authorities were investigating how the contamination happened.

Recall of Chinese herbal injections widened
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j7ts ... AD93SUDO00
13 hours ago

BEIJING (AP) — The manufacturer of an injectable herbal remedy blamed in three deaths in China's southwest has voluntarily widened its recall, the nation's drug monitoring agency said Saturday.

Wandashan Pharmaceutical Co. based in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang is now recalling all of its injectable products throughout the country, the State Food and Drug Administration said on its Web site.

Previously, only the sale of two batches of an injectable remedy containing the extract of an herb called ciwujia, a type of Siberian ginseng, had been suspended and sent to the SFDA for testing.

The action comes as China is trying to reassure consumers over a widespread tainted milk scandal, the latest to mar its already troubled product safety record.

The SFDA said local food and drug bureaus should monitor the injection recall and make sure the products are pulled off shelves. Any adverse reactions should be immediately reported, it said.

Telephones were not answered Saturday at Wandashan.

The SFDA blames bacteria contamination for causing the Oct. 6 deaths at the No. 4 People's Hospital in Honghe prefecture in Yunnan province.

Three other patients also suffered negative reactions from the injections, which have been used in patients suffering from thrombosis and heart disease.

Investigators were looking into how the contamination occurred, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Wandashan produces more than 100 types of pharmaceuticals, including cough and cold medicines, according to its Web site. Among them are more than 10 kinds of remedies using ciwujia in the form of capsules, injections and herbal tea.

China's pharmaceutical industry is highly lucrative but poorly regulated, resulting in some companies using fake or substandard ingredients. In recent years, a string of fatalities blamed on counterfeit or shoddily made medications has been reported.


China drug firm recalls ginseng injections after deaths
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jcR ... NdLz3R1ddQ

15 hours ago

BEIJING (AFP) — The Chinese manufacturer of a ginseng injection that killed three people has recalled all its injection products, the country's drug safety watchdog said Saturday.

Wandashan Pharmaceutical, based in the northeast province of Heilongjiang, voluntarily recalled all its injection products on Friday, the State Food and Drug Administration said in a statement on its website.

Six hospital patients in southwest China were given the ginseng injection at the beginning of October, and subsequently began to suffer chills, vomiting and sudden drops in blood pressure.

Three of them died, and the other three remain under observation, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The incident comes as China grapples with the health and economic impact of the widespread contamination of the country's milk with an industrial chemical.

Melamine contamination of milk products has killed at least four children in China and sickened 53,000, and has prompted bans or recalls of Chinese goods around the world.

Sales and use of Wandashan's ginseng injection had already been suspended, and China's drug safety watchdog also called for sales and use of all injection products made by the group to be suspended on Friday.

The injection, based on a type of Siberian ginseng, is often used to treat thrombosis caused by a weak liver and kidneys, and is also believed to be helpful in treating coronary heart disease, according to Xinhua.

China has been hit by one product safety scandal after another in recent years, severely tarnishing the image of Chinese-made goods abroad and prompting a government campaign to tighten up safety inspections.
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by Avinash R »

China’s Premier Blames Government in Part for Milk Crisis
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/world ... ?ref=world
October 18, 2008

BEIJING (AP) — In a rare interview with a foreign publication, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China said that the government was partly responsible for the tainted milk scandal that has been blamed in the deaths of at least three babies and has shaken consumer confidence.

The government feels “great sorrow” over the crisis that has sickened 53,000 children, Mr. Wen said in an interview on Sept. 20 that was published in last week’s Science magazine.

“We feel that although problems occurred at the company, the government also has a responsibility,” he said.

A Chinese version of the interview in the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s newspaper, quoted Mr. Wen as saying that the government had been especially lax in “supervision and management.”

“We will handle the incident sincerely and seriously, and draw deep lessons from it,” Mr. Wen said, according to the article.

The authorities have blamed dairy suppliers, saying they added the industrial chemical melamine to watered-down milk to dupe quality-control tests and to make the product appear rich in protein.

Melamine is used in the manufacturing of plastics, fertilizer, paint and adhesives. Health experts say ingesting a small amount poses no danger, but the chemical in larger doses can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable.

China’s products were hammered by quality scandals even before the uproar over milk.

Its manufacturing industry had been under intense scrutiny after melamine and other industrial toxins were found last year in exports including toothpaste and a pet food ingredient.

Since the latest scare, products linked to milk from China have been withdrawn from stores in dozens of countries as governments increase vigilance and step up safety tests.

On Saturday, Taiwan’s health authorities said that the island was banning imports of ammonium bicarbonate, a leavening agent used in baking, from the mainland after it tested positive for melamine.
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Re: PRC Economy News and Discussions-II

Post by wrdos »

China releases the newest official economy data

According to preliminary estimation, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China in the first three quarters of this year was 20,163.1 billion yuan (US$ 2.96 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 9.9 percent.

http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/newsand ... 510731.htm
National Economy: Steady and Fast Growth in the First Three Quarters of 2008
National Bureau of Statistics of China 2008-10-20 10:00:00

Li Xiaochao
Spokesman
National Bureau of Statistics of China
20 October 2008

In the first three quarters of 2008, faced with the sequential severe natural disasters and the negative impacts brought about by the world economic and financial turmoil, the central government took stock of the situation, made decisions resolutely and adopted an array of macro-control policies. As a result, the national economy kept a steady and fast growth with a good overall situation.

According to preliminary estimation, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China in the first three quarters of this year was 20,163.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.9 percent, which was 2.3 percentage points lower than that in the same period last year. The value added of the primary industry was 2,180.0 billion yuan, up by 4.5 percent, or 0.2 percentage point higher; that of the secondary industry was 10,111.7 billion yuan, up by 10.5 percent, or 3.0 percentage points lower; and that of the tertiary industry was 7,871.4 billion yuan, up by 10.3 percent, down by 2.4 percentage points.
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