PRC Economy and Industry: News and Discussions

[wig]

China's crude oil self-sufficiency 45 pct in 2010, NDRC expects - the implication being that chinese industrial output is very sensitive to security situation in the Middle East

China's self-sufficiency in crude oil is expected to be 45 percent in 2010, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the nation's top economic planner, said Tuesday.

The country imported 218 million tonnes of crude oil in the first 11 months, a rise of 19.8 percent from one year earlier, according to a statement from the NDRC.

The figure has surpassed China's full-year import volume of 204 million tonnes in 2009, when the country's self-sufficiency in crude oil was 47 percent.

A 34-percent vehicle sales growth in the first 11 months was attributed as a major reason for the strong oil demand, according to the NDRC.

The NDRC has twice hiked gasoline and diesel prices this year, with the first hike announced on Oct. 25, and the latest on Dec. 21, as oil prices continued to rise in the global market.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/c ... 668027.htm

[wig]

China's Central bank targets inflation

Although there had previously been strong calls for rate increases in the context of the consumer price index (CPI) growth rate continually hitting a new high, Saturday's move was still beyond expectations. All previous messages transmitted by the country's central bank, including its decision on Dec 10 to raise commercial banks' reserve requirement, had suggested new interest rate hikes would be unlikely before the end of the year.

The rate hike was announced on the day when the United States and European countries were enjoying their Christmas holidays and their investment banks were unable to make a timely response.

The unexpected move showcased the central bank's intention of preventing its effects from being discounted because of possible advance market expectations. Giving days for Western countries to digest the possible effects of China's move should also help minimize the repercussions on the international financial markets.

As far as China's domestic market is concerned, the decision to raise interest rates again before the new year will help China stabilize inflation expectations next year. It will also help curb domestic property price bubbles.

The series of policies and measures adopted by the relevant State departments over the past months have curbed the momentum of soaring prices. It is expected that the CPI growth rate in December will fall from the 5.1 percent of November, which was a record high over the past 28 months.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/i ... 667067.htm

this is worth reading in full. IMVHO the chinese govt knows it is facing a unsustainable rise in real estate prices and is clueless on what to do. tinkering with interest rates in a command economy is strange particularly when the Govt itself is the principal mover in the markets.

[wig]

China's anti-corruption still a tough job, says central leadership

Despite the remarkable achievements in promoting clean governance this year, anti-corruption still faces severe challenges and remains an arduous task, the Political Bureau said in the statement released afterward.

Party committees, governments and discipline authorities at all levels must address both the symptoms and the root causes of corruption next year, and employ both punishment and prevention with an emphasis on prevention, it said.

It called for enhanced efforts to educate and supervise Party cadres.

It also called for resolute measures to stop practices that harm public interests and crackdowns on violations of discipline and law.
Further, the Political Bureau stressed the deepening of special campaigns targeting corruption in the construction industry

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/c ... 667854.htm

[anishns]

Theo

The "Great FireWall of China" is very much alive...
I took a proxy server from Beijing and lo and behold BR is blocked whereas other sites such as Google,Yahoo etc are working!

Other open Proxies based out of CN can be accessed here
http://www.xroxy.com/proxylist.php?port ... ity=#table

Added Later:



Even sites like the deaf and dumb forum and the other paki sites are allowed.....
This is hilarious.....why such special treatment for BRF ??? Massive insecurity complex or Sun Tzutiapanti (as Hakimullah would say!)

Explains a lot doesn't it

Instead try to engage in a serious discussion and I'm sure there are a lot of things we can learn from each other.

JMT and all that.

Amit,

BR has been blocked from China for a loooong time. It most definitely was blocked from Wuhan 3 years back. I remember someone running a test to show it was blocked in China 6 months ago. Can anyone who knows how to, check again please.

Any main lander posting on this forum is 'officially' certified to do so. Other wise these guys are NOT from china. In fact there is a good chance that just by posting here the panda machinery will track them for further 'follow up' if they should ever dare to visit panda paradise.

Which is why I've always called them trolls and ignored them.

[Theo_Fidel]

Thanx Anish,

Useful update that nothings changed. Whats with the new swarm of trolls.

[zlin]

China Matches U.S. Space Launches for First Time

Outwardly, it looked like just another big space launch — and those happen about once a week, from spaceports all around the world. But Friday’s blast-off of a rocket, carrying a Chinese GPS-style navigation satellite, from the Xi Chang Satellite Launch Center was different. It set a record for successful Chinese launches in one year: 15.

The launch represented another important milestone. For the first time since the chilliest days of the Cold War, another country has matched the United States in sheer number of rocket launches.

[abhischekcc]

I thought the Russians did one per week.

[Pratyush]

ABC that was during the cold war. In i987 or was it 1988 they launched 118 rockets in one year period.

It will be intresting to see the numbers for the ESA.

[starek]

Instead try to engage in a serious discussion and I'm sure there are a lot of things we can learn from each other.

JMT and all that.

Amit,

BR has been blocked from China for a loooong time. It most definitely was blocked from Wuhan 3 years back. I remember someone running a test to show it was blocked in China 6 months ago. Can anyone who knows how to, check again please.

Any main lander posting on this forum is 'officially' certified to do so. Other wise these guys are NOT from china. In fact there is a good chance that just by posting here the panda machinery will track them for further 'follow up' if they should ever dare to visit panda paradise.

Which is why I've always called them trolls and ignored them.

China did not block BR, but BR blocked ip from China. Good done of "freedom world".

[Rahul M]

plain lying now ?

[vina]

Amazing that a bunch of bored folks blogging on some random site (and that too not a free for all, but a monitored/administered site) could create that much anguish and insecurity for the "Authorities". Maybe I don't take BR and it's rants seriously enough or the Chinese are absolutely paranoid.

[bhavin]

China Squeezes Foreigners for Share of Global Riches From WSJ.

Interesting news about the new approach the MNC's are taking with Chinese companies copying their stuff and using lower cost base to compete internationally. Article below - I am not sure if this is subscriber content or not. Admins please delete the content if required.

BEIJING—Foreign companies have been teaming up with Chinese ones for years to gain access to the giant Chinese market. Now some of the world's biggest companies are taking a risky but potentially rewarding second step—folding pieces of their world-wide operations into partnerships with Chinese companies to do business around the globe.

General Electric Co. is finalizing plans for a 50-50 joint venture with a Chinese military-jet maker to produce avionics, the electronic brains of aircraft. The deal with Aviation Industry Corp. of China would give GE access to a Chinese government project aimed at challenging Boeing Co. and Airbus in the civilian-aircraft market.

General Motors Co. established a joint venture this year with SAIC Motor Corp., its longtime partner in China, to produce and sell their no-frills Wuling-brand microvans in India, and eventually in Southeast Asia and other emerging markets as well.

The two deals show China Inc.'s growing international ambitions, as well as its increasing leverage over foreign partners. To make the GE deal happen, GE Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt made an extraordinary concession, agreeing to fold into the venture all of GE's existing world-wide business in nonmilitary avionics. GM, in its deal, contributed technology, its manufacturing facilities in India and use of its Chevrolet brand name in that market.

Several forces are motivating China's foreign partners to strike global deals that would have been unthinkable a few years back. China's big government-backed companies now have enormous financial resources and growing political clout, making them attractive partners outside China. In addition, the Chinese market has become so important to the success of multinational companies that Beijing has the ability to drive harder bargains.

But such deals also carry risk. Several earlier joint ventures inside China have soured over concerns that Chinese partners, after gaining access to Western technology and know-how, have gone on to become potent new rivals to their partners.

"Foreign partners are seeing they will have to sometimes sacrifice or share the benefits of the global market with the Chinese partner," says Raymond Tsang, a China-based partner at consultancy Bain & Co. "Some of the [multinational corporations] are complaining. But given the changing market conditions, if you don't do it, your competitors will."

Big energy companies, too, have been pursuing international deals with Chinese companies. China has supplanted the U.S. as the world's biggest energy consumer, making access to its market vital for global companies. Foreign firms hope that teaming up with Chinese companies abroad will help on that front. Foreign companies supply technology and experience, and their Chinese partners provide geopolitical clout, low-cost labor, and easy access to credit that China's government-backed companies enjoy.

State-owned China National Petroleum Corp. was one of the first foreign oil companies to sign a major contract in Iraq. BP PLC teamed up with it last year for a $15 billion investment to increase output at the giant Rumaila field. Over the summer, Royal Dutch Shell PLC joined with PetroChina Co., a publicly traded subsidiary of China National Petroleum, on a $3.15 billion acquisition of assets from Australian energy company Arrow Energy Ltd.

China has been gaining clout in some resource-rich parts of the developing world where U.S. companies don't have strong footholds, partly by spending lavishly on infrastructure projects, and it can help broker deals in places like Venezuela and Myanmar, where it has good relations.

In financial services, foreign banks long have coveted access to China's fast-growing securities business. China has allowed a number of companies into the market in recent years through joint ventures, with their stakes capped at about 33%. Chinese regulators also restrict which parts of the securities business they can do.

Crédit Agricole SA already is involved in such a joint venture through its Asian brokerage arm, called CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, but it is a minor player in China. In May, its investment-banking unit announced a preliminary deal with China's government-owned Citic Securities Co. to form a joint venture beyond China's borders. The French company plans to contribute CLSA and other pieces of its international operation. Citic Securities would throw in its small international unit, based in Hong Kong. Crédit Agricole hopes that helping Citic Securities realize its international ambitions will enable the French bank to expand its business in China.

But talks have gone slower than expected. The two companies said this month that they had agreed on certain key terms, but extended a year-end deadline for a final deal to June 30, without explaining the delay.

Some joint ventures in China have stumbled because of spats with local partners or because the partnerships enable Chinese companies to learn enough about industries to become new competitors to their Western partners.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. and Siemens AG, for example, worked with Chinese partners to help build China's high-speed rail network. Now the Chinese companies are bidding against them for international contracts—using products at least partly based on the foreign firms' technology. Last year, France's Groupe Danone SA accepted a cash payment to terminate its joint ventures with China's Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co. after a nasty public feud. The French company had alleged that Wahaha's boss had produced and sold Wahaha-branded beverages supposedly owned by the joint venture through a separate network he owned. Wahaha denied the accusation.

GE's avionics deal with Aviation Industry, or AVIC, also is vulnerable, says Jim Wasson, president of Growth Strategies International LLC, an aerospace and defense consulting firm, and a former GE Aviation executive. The fear is that "once AVIC knows enough about how to do this, they'll kick [GE] out and be on their own," he says.

Access thousands of business sources not available on the free web. Learn More

Lorraine Bolsinger, chief executive of GE Aviation Systems, acknowledges there were concerns within GE about protecting technology. "It was very controversial," she says of the proposed deal. "It was really us knuckle-dragging technology guys that think we had a lot to protect." In the end, she says, "when we and the Chinese together create intellectual property, we are darn right going to protect it."

These days, big Chinese state companies with access to cheap funds and other government support are gunning to dominate some of the same industries that firms like GE have targeted as growth opportunities, from clean technology to turbines.

Even so, GE has such high hopes for China that Mr. Immelt has called it "our second home market." Two years ago, Mr. Immelt said China revenue would double to $10 billion by 2010. But last year it reached just $5.3 billion.

GE saw working with AVIC as a chance to boost its avionics business, which has lagged behind Honeywell International Inc. and Rockwell Collins Inc. The planned venture, to be based in Shanghai, has been chosen to supply China's planned C919 jet, which has the potential to grab a big slice of the Chinese civilian-aviation market. Boeing estimates that market will be worth more than $400 billion over the next 20 years, second only to the U.S.

In negotiations, GE is asking AVIC to match the value of the technology GE is contributing with a cash investment, according to people at GE. If a deal is finalized, all of GE's existing and future civilian avionics contracts will go to the joint venture. Negotiations were supposed to be done by mid-2010, but the parties now hope to finish them by early 2011.

GE executives say the AVIC deal is their closest cooperation ever with a Chinese partner. GE has 45 people in China on the project now, and it is hiring or moving several hundred more people there, even before final terms are hammered out.

AVIC, which makes fighter jets and helicopters in addition to civilian products, has ambitions outside of China. "For the aviation industry, there is no regional market, only the global market," the company said in a statement. "AVIC's strategy is to actively integrate itself into the industrial chain of the world's aviation industry, and to become a truly global company."

Last month, China unveiled the first life-size mock-up of the C919. Other foreign companies have negotiated similar joint ventures to make other parts.

"Our hope and desire is that this joint venture maintains a working-together partnership that benefits both," says Kent Statler, executive vice president at Rockwell Collins, which has a joint venture to supply the C919 with communications systems. "But let's not be naive. We realize that this could turn into a competitor."

For GM, the stakes are especially high: China became the world's largest auto market last year.

Back in 1997, GM decided to plow more than $1 billion into a 50-50 joint venture with SAIC to make Buicks. At the time, it was seen as a risk because car sales had yet to take off in China. This year, GM's China ventures are on track to sell nearly 2.27 million vehicles in the country, compared to 2.18 million sold by GM in the U.S., according to research firm IHS Automotive.

Much of GM's recent growth in China has come through a second joint venture set up in 2002 with SAIC and another Chinese company. The venture, SAIC GM Wuling Automobile Co., makes boxy microvans costing as little as $4,500, which have proven popular in China's smaller cities and towns. Last year Wuling became the first brand in China to sell a million cars in a year. This year, it's expected to account for nearly one-sixth of GM vehicle sales world-wide. Last month, GM reached a deal to buy an additional 10% interest in Wuling for $51 million from the venture's third investor, raising GM's stake to 44%. SAIC owns 50%.

The India joint venture, which began operating in February, is part of GM's effort with SAIC to replicate its China success in other markets. It will produce cars based on its Chinese Wulings, but will sell them under the Chevrolet brand. GM contributed its brand, India factories and dealer network, while SAIC contributed about $300 million to $350 million, a senior GM executive said when the deal was announced.

"We think the business model we have in China with SAIC and the product lineups we have in China are ripe for export to other parts of the world," says Kevin Wale, chief of GM's China operations.

GM and SAIC already have made less ambitious forays abroad together. They export Chevy Sail compacts designed and made in China to Chile and Peru, and are jointly developing more new models to be sold globally, such as the Buick LaCrosse, a sedan designed by teams in Shanghai and Warren, Mich., and sold in China and the U.S.

The India deal takes that cooperation a step beyond shipping jointly produced vehicles overseas. GM and SAIC executives and engineers will be posted in India to design, produce and market cars locally—something SAIC currently has almost no experience with.

One risk to GM is that the venture will better position SAIC to compete abroad on its own—against GM.

Already, SAIC has grown into a powerhouse at home, in part through learning from GM. In 2006, SAIC launched its own solo brand in China, called Roewe. It now competes domestically with the Buicks that SAIC makes with GM. The Roewe brand, which is based it on technology acquired from the now-defunct MG Rover Group Ltd., along with a related nameplate, MG Mingju, sold 146,323 cars in the first 11 months of this year, up 78% from the year-earlier period, according to J.D. Power & Associates. Buick's sales in China, while more than three times as large, grew one-third as fast over the same period.

"Roewe offers comparable products at lower price points and is taking away from GM and others," says Michael Dunne, an auto-industry veteran who heads Hong Kong-based investment advisory firm Dunne & Co.

Last year, GM agreed transfer 1% of its stake in Shanghai GM, its main Chinese joint venture, to SAIC, giving its Chinese partner 51% and effective control. GM said at the time the move would give it better access to credit from Chinese banks, and pave the way for its bigger stake in the Wuling venture.

Last month, GM said the two companies are looking at the possibility of selling SAIC's MG-branded cars through GM's world-wide sales channels. The move could open the door for SAIC's cars to make inroads into Britain, where the MG brand was once based, according to an individual close to GM. Also last month, SAIC paid $500 million for a 1% stake in GM as part of the Detroit auto maker's initial public offering.

SAIC is "very well situated to meet Western [car companies] head on," says Michael Robinet, a U.S.-based senior analyst with consulting firm IHS Automotive. "There's no doubt in my mind, MG and Roewe are going to be both very good launch pads for SAIC to look at new markets beyond China."

[Suraj]

China did not block BR, but BR blocked ip from China. Good done of "freedom world".

BR doesn't block access from domains or countries. Unlike you, I can say that by having access to the underlying administrative settings. The problem is Chinese internet censors. On our part, we'd love to have widespread access for this forum within PRC. We really would like to show them the light

[wlin]

Why you want to use Beijing-based proxy server to access here? The Beijing based proxy is for Chinese outside China to watch Chinese sports program. For example, when I am in US and I want to watch European soccer league games, the only choice is using proxy servers in China to watch CCTV programs.

Since this forum mentioned many times that ids from China must be government officially certified etc. In fact multiple ways to bypass GFW, 1, using proxy servers out side China. The server lists are everywhere. 2, using company VPN. 3, remote login to any machine out side China. I do not like using proxy so I normally use method 3. There are hundreds of millions of internet users in China. Only the people who got certain level of English and willing to access and communicate with the outside world will try to bypass GFW. I think it is impossible for that number to reach 1 percent of total internet population. Among these people, only few came to BR. You may see more and more coming because next generation more familiar with English. In fact all international forums will see this trend and more arguments. 

Theo

The "Great FireWall of China" is very much alive...
I took a proxy server from Beijing and lo and behold BR is blocked whereas other sites such as Google,Yahoo etc are working!

Other open Proxies based out of CN can be accessed here
http://www.xroxy.com/proxylist.php?port ... ity=#table

Added Later:



Even sites like the deaf and dumb forum and the other paki sites are allowed.....
This is hilarious.....why such special treatment for BRF ??? Massive insecurity complex or Sun Tzutiapanti (as Hakimullah would say!)

Explains a lot doesn't it

Amit,

BR has been blocked from China for a loooong time. It most definitely was blocked from Wuhan 3 years back. I remember someone running a test to show it was blocked in China 6 months ago. Can anyone who knows how to, check again please.

Any main lander posting on this forum is 'officially' certified to do so. Other wise these guys are NOT from china. In fact there is a good chance that just by posting here the panda machinery will track them for further 'follow up' if they should ever dare to visit panda paradise.

Which is why I've always called them trolls and ignored them.

[Kukreja]

Starek wrote:

China did not block BR, but BR blocked ip from China. Good done of "freedom world".

Could someone be kind enough to translate this person's incoherent ramblings into proper English as I have no clue what the person is blabbering about.... Thanks.

Most of us will probably be of no help to you. But if you really want to know, DavidD is your best bet in getting this translated. Recall that his english is better than 90% of BRFites. Also recall that the one area in which he excels is idioms, so translating and explaining an idiom such as Good done of "freedom world" should be easy for him

I'm pretty sure my English is better than that of at least 90% of BRFites. Maybe not in grammar, actually, but definitely in idioms and such.

[zlin]

Beijing opens five new subway lines

BEIJING, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Five new subway lines will open Thursday in Beijing, taking the total number of the lines to 14, the city's subway authorities said Wednesday.

The five new subways lines -- Fangshan Line, Changping Line, the first phase of the No. 15 Line, Yizhuang Line and Daxing Line -- will have a combined length of 108 kilometers, bringing the Chinese national capital's total metro length to 336 km.

Passengers can get abroad trains running along the five news lines as of 2 p.m. Thursday, said an official of Beijing Subway Operation Co. Ltd.

The new lines cost nearly 61 billion yuan (about 9.2 billion U.S. dollars).

Beijing's metro network now hauls 5.02 million passengers daily.

[amit]

There seems to be three types of CCP - er I mean Chinese - posters on BRF. The first is like the one above this post who are like bots, methodically posting "bojitive newz" (forgive my inglish, I fall in the 90 per cent category) about China without taking part in any discussion or answering any questions. The second type are the official trolls who come out of the wood work when things get a bit hot for these posters. The third type are the argumentative ones who take on the short dark rice eating and dhoti wearing Yindus in "friendly" discussions.

I bet ya that the three types have different payscales.

[PrasadZ]

The third type are the argumentative ones who take on the short dark rice eating and dhoti wearing Yindus in "friendly" discussions.

One "friendly" discussion came up with this gem

As for the importance of FDI, I don't think the economist is a good source. I was once sucked by their name to believe that they're experts on economic matters as well...but turns out they really just specialize in charts

The article bhavin quoted was interesting

Lorraine Bolsinger, chief executive of GE Aviation Systems, acknowledges there were concerns within GE about protecting technology. "It was very controversial," she says of the proposed deal. "It was really us knuckle-dragging technology guys that think we had a lot to protect." In the end, she says, "when we and the Chinese together create intellectual property, we are darn right going to protect it."

So GE expects to partner Chinese state companies to protect IP But hold on ..

In negotiations, GE is asking AVIC to match the value of the technology GE is contributing with a cash investment, according to people at GE. If a deal is finalized, all of GE's existing and future civilian avionics contracts will go to the joint venture. Negotiations were supposed to be done by mid-2010, but the parties now hope to finish them by early 2011.

So the partnership takes the form of cash investment by China and IP by US

That said, the market size is huge and companies WILL bend over to get in

The planned venture, to be based in Shanghai, has been chosen to supply China's planned C919 jet, which has the potential to grab a big slice of the Chinese civilian-aviation market. Boeing estimates that market will be worth more than $400 billion over the next 20 years, second only to the U.S.

[amit]

Prasad,

That report about GE and AVIC is intriguing. Jef Immelt is nobody's fool, he didn't get where he is by being starry eyed. I really wonder if the Chinese are being sold a lemon by snake oil salesmen. I suspect what AVIC will get is low end tech (or IP) stuff which GE is basically outsourcing to them. The JV will keep the cash counter ringing, especially with accesses to the C919. The really bleeding edge stuff, the kind that goes into, say, Boeing's Dreamliner or the Airbus, will remain with GE despite assurances to the contrary.

GE is one of Amir Khan's crown jewels and aviation is a crown jewel for GE. I'm not too sure that GE is throwing its arms up in the air and bowing to sooper dooper Middle Kingdom.

GM's case is different, they are now a technologically backward company and have been whipped by the Japanese and Europeans. With the China alliance GM is also just ensuring a steady flow of money which could help them to survive long term. Think of the Indian market, even without the Chinni help there's no in in hell that GM can penetrate the market in the way the Koreans have done. So spread the pain with the Chinese.

Another point, GM is not going to share the tech they develop for green cars that's for sure.

All these "deals" seem to me as efforts to make the Chinnis open their purse strings by massaging their egos.

[abhischekcc]

That great firewall of China explains a lot about these Panda pokers who keep trolling BR.

If BR is banned in China, then the only Chinese who can access it are
1. Security personnel, or
2. Chinese outside China (NRCs).

If it is NRCs, then they already know the value of freedom, and would not argue against it - this eliminates the second option.

This means that all the panda pokers we see on this forum are Chinese Security personnel

[amit]

That great firewall of China explains a lot about these Panda pokers who keep trolling BR.

If BR is banned in China, then the only Chinese who can access it are
1. Security personnel, or
2. Chinese outside China (NRCs).

If it is NRCs, then they already know the value of freedom, and would not argue against it - this eliminates the second option.

This means that all the panda pokers we see on this forum are Chinese Security personnel

That iz why I wrote:

I bet ya that the three types have different payscales.

Free-agent NRCs, if they have interest in Mil matters would either go to Chinni phorums or to Gora phorums of the countries they reside in. I don't see what could attract them to a disreputable site run by SDREs in one corner of the Net. Heck, even the overwhelming majority of NRIs don't know of its existence.

And yet we have Engineers studying to become doctors and "long time" residents of the Land of the Rising Sun, spending practically the whole day here. (Don't go by post count, see the tag on users browsing the forum at the bottom of the page). If any folks believe that then I've got a great deal on the Howrah Bridge. All British Steel going for a song. Page me ASAP.

[zlin]

Railway linking major Silk Road towns opens in NW China

URUMQI, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) - A railway linking Kashi and Hotan in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region opened Thursday for cargo transportation, and passenger transport is expected to begin in June, according to a local official.

The railway, with a cost about 5.1 billion yuan (773 million U.S. dollars), covers 488.27 kilometers running through the south part of Xinjiang, an important section of the ancient Silk Road.

The railroad is expected to have an annual freight volume of 15 million tons, and carry ten passenger trains every day, said Tang Shisheng, director of the Urumqi Railway Bureau..

The Kashi-Hotan railway will help promote the development of Xinjiang' s mining industry, tourism and agriculture, said Tang.

Construction of the railway began in December 2008.

The Ministry of Railways and Xinjiang regional government will invest 310 billion yuan to build more than 8,000 kilometers of railway in Xinjiang during the next 10 years.

[zlin]

Milestones for AP1000s
22 December 2010

Construction of AP1000 units in China has seen three milestones this month: on-site, at a new module factory and in fuel fabrication.
Building work on the first of the Westinghouse-designed units at Sanmen moved on with the lifting in of the fourth ring of the reactor's containment vessel. Shandong Nuclear Power Company said the lift went well despite cold weather and took place 14 days ahead of schedule. This major part of the reactor building now stands about 40 metres high.

Meanwhile, in central Hubei province an inauguration ceremony was held for the country's second factory for the modules that make AP1000 major structures. This is owned by Hubei Nuclear Power Equipment Company Ltd, based in Wuhan. The factory will make the large components, such as containment vessel sections, for AP1000s as well as for later Chinese derivatives like the larger CAP-1400.

Main partners in this development are the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation, Shandong Nuclear Power Equipment Manufacturing Company, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, Nuclear Power Investment Co. of Jiangxi, Wuchang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Engineering Co. and Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute.

Also involved and presumably likely to use the modules were the project companies represeting the Xianning and Taohuajiang nuclear power plants, where construction on new AP1000s is expected very soon. These will be among China's first nuclear power plants not sited on the coast. At Xianning, the project lead will be China Guangdong Nuclear Power Company, whereas Taohuajiang is led by China National Nuclear Corporation.

Separately in the USA Westinghouse announced the manufacture of the first four fuel assemblies. They were made in the company's Columbia facility in South Carolina and should go into action at Sanmen 1 when it begins operation in 2013.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News

[zlin]

Hudong building MOL LNG quartet

15 Dec 2010
Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) has been selected to build China’s first LNG carrier export order for a Japanese owner for delivery in the 2014 to 2016 period.

Industry sources say Hudong will construct four 170,000m3 LNG carriers for Japanese shipowner Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) that will serve the ExxonMobil-led PNG LNG project and the energy company’s off-take from Australia’s Gorgon LNG project. A formal announcement had been expected to be made this month but is now planned for early in the new year.

The four-ship order will bring the yard’s LNG-carrier newbuildings up to 10 ships. Hudong-Zhonghua has built and delivered five 147,000m3 LNG carriers to date and currently has a sixth vessel of similar size under construction. All six vessels have been contracted by Cosco/China Merchants joint venture China LNG Shipping (Holdings) Co for 2012 delivery.

[zlin]

Vestas China orders hit high in 2010

COPENHAGEN | Wed Dec 29, 2010 8:51am EST

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish wind turbine maker Vestas said its orders from China this year reached a record high as the country invests more heavily in clean energy, including wind power.

China became the world's biggest wind turbine market in 2009 when energy infrastructure markets in the West were depressed, and Chinese manufacturers have in the past few years climbed into the ranks of the top turbine suppliers, rivaling Vestas, GE and other established players.

Vestas, which has its largest integrated manufacturing plant in Tianjin, China, opened a research and development center in Beijing in October and has said it would reserve its entire Chinese manufacturing capacity to meet China demand this year.

"In 2010, Vestas has announced almost 1,000 MW worth of orders in China alone, which is a record high order intake for Vestas in this competitive market," Vestas Wind Systems A/S said in a statement.

The company had earlier forecast that its global order intake in the full year 2010 would be between 8,000 and 9,000 MW, rebounding from a weak 2009 level of 3,072 MW.

The glimpse of Vestas' 2010 Chinese orders precedes full-year financial results due on February 9 and came with announcements that Vestas got an order for 58 turbines with total capacity of 49.3 megawatts from China and an order for seven turbines with combined capacity of 21 MW from Germany.

[zlin]

Drug Research Gets New Asian Focus

BY SHIRLEY S. WANG AND JONATHAN D. ROCKOFF
BEIJING—Big drug makers from the West are making a new kind of push into fast-growing Asian markets: creating drugs for diseases that are more prevalent there.

Within the past year, Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drug company by sales, began work in China on an anti-inflammatory compound to treat liver disease, a big killer in Asia. Health-products giant Johnson & Johnson announced last month a collaboration with a university in Beijing to research infectious diseases threatening the region. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. also last month announced a partnership with Nanjing-based Simcere Pharmaceutical Group to develop a cancer treatment.

[zlin]

China May Spend $1.7 Trillion in Decade on Power Generation, 21st Reports

By Bloomberg News - Dec 21, 2010 10:46 PM ET

China, the world’s largest energy user, may spend 11.1 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion) in the next 10 years building electricity infrastructure, the 21st Century Business Herald reported today, citing a research report by the China Electricity Council.

China may boost investment in power grids and electricity stations to 5.3 trillion yuan from 2011 to 2015, up 68 percent from spending in 2006 to 2010, the newspaper said, citing Wei Shaofeng, deputy director at the council. Investment may rise to 5.8 trillion yuan from 2016 to 2020, the report said.

Power generation capacity may rise 8.5 percent annually to 1.437 million megawatts by 2015 and to 1.885 million megawatts by 2020, according to the report. Power generation by non-fossil fuels will account for 33 percent of the total by 2015 and 36.3 percent by 2020, it said.

The government may need to raise electricity prices by an average 3.5 percent annually over the next 10 years to ensure power producers get an 8 percent annual return on net assets, the report said.

[abhischekcc]

^^^ Boom boom boom - more news reports on the way.

--------------
BTW, in the coming currency wars between China and US, I will root for China.

[Gus]

he is just copy-pasting from a central repository for these things. does not even care to read other posts in the page....lol. If this is a real person and not a script, then this is one amazingly fulfilling career, I must say.

[amit]

Now, now Gus don't be harsh on this bot Zlin. He gotta quota to fulfill you know. The entire team has been busy the past few days on the Mil Forum revealing to use SDRE's the latest, best and greatest 5 generation plane which the Chinese call fourth generation (that is for the Chinese 5=4 as far as plane generations go).

Zlin bhaiya is just clearing up the backlog before the year ends. Inshanallah, the new year may see him graduate to being either a troll or a discussionist. Then we'll get to see he knows inglish better than 90 per cent of the SDRE's who populate this disreputable Board.

[Ambar]

sighh..is there anything left in China that CCP is yet to block?

(CNN) -- China's anti-***** campaign shut down more than 60,000 ***** websites this year, with police investigating almost 2,200 criminal cases, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Thursday.

Wang Chen, director of the Information Office of the State Council, said at a news conference that some 350 million pieces of ***** and indecent internet content were eliminated, according to the Xinhua report.

The government launched a special campaign a year ago to rid the internet of ***** and vulgar content, Xinhua reported.

Overall, the campaign included 2,197 criminal cases involving 4,965 people who violated Chinese law by disseminating ***** via the internet or mobile phones, the news agency said. Of those, 58 people received prison sentences exceeding five years, the report said.

Wang said the campaign had helped clean up the internet and would continue.

Xinhua reported that Wang's office has received more than 170,000 tip-offs this year, mostly about online or cellphone-based *****, with 534 people getting rewards totaling 544,000 yuan (U.S. $81,964) for providing information.

Wang also said that 450 million people in China used the internet, a 20 percent increase over the previous year, according to Xinhua. That means that almost 34 percent of the Chinese population uses the internet, compared to a world average of 30 percent, Wang said at the news conference.

Banning ***** sites of all things? Boy! This is what happens when Pandas spend too much time with goat lovers..

[abhischekcc]

Prasad,

That report about GE and AVIC is intriguing.
.
.
.
All these "deals" seem to me as efforts to make the Chinnis open their purse strings by massaging their egos.

So, Amricans are doing to China what Russia does to us?

[shynee]

US-Sino Currency Rap Battle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGYAhiMw ... r_embedded

[Vasu]

sighh..is there anything left in China that CCP is yet to block?

(CNN) -- China *****

Wang also said that 450 million people in China used the internet, a 20 percent increase over the previous year, according to Xinhua. That means that almost 34 percent of the Chinese population uses the internet, compared to a world average of 30 percent, Wang said at the news conference.

Not without the typical world beating statistic. How typically typical.

[PrasadZ]

So, Amricans are doing to China what Russia does to us?

Which would lead to the thought that America <> Russia and so, if you are gonna get screwed, may be better to get screwed by the more powerful for, hopefully, better value. Then again, as amit says ..

I really wonder if the Chinese are being sold a lemon by snake oil salesmen. I suspect what AVIC will get is low end tech (or IP) stuff which GE is basically outsourcing to them. The JV will keep the cash counter ringing, especially with accesses to the C919. The really bleeding edge stuff, the kind that goes into, say, Boeing's Dreamliner or the Airbus, will remain with GE despite assurances to the contrary.

In contrast, Indian companies dont need to dress up outsourcing of service chains to India with quotes like these
"Foreign partners are seeing they will have to sometimes sacrifice or share the benefits of the global market with the Chinese partner," says Raymond Tsang, a China-based partner at consultancy Bain & Co. "Some of the [multinational corporations] are complaining. But given the changing market conditions, if you don't do it, your competitors will."

This quote is addressed to the Chinese people and betrays an us vs them attitude even while the discussion is about "partnerships".

[Shankas]

Why you want to use Beijing-based proxy server to access here? The Beijing based proxy is for Chinese outside China to watch Chinese sports program. For example, when I am in US and I want to watch European soccer league games, the only choice is using proxy servers in China to watch CCTV programs.

Since this forum mentioned many times that ids from China must be government officially certified etc. In fact multiple ways to bypass GFW, 1, using proxy servers out side China. The server lists are everywhere. 2, using company VPN. 3, remote login to any machine out side China. I do not like using proxy so I normally use method 3. There are hundreds of millions of internet users in China. Only the people who got certain level of English and willing to access and communicate with the outside world will try to bypass GFW. I think it is impossible for that number to reach 1 percent of total internet population. Among these people, only few came to BR. You may see more and more coming because next generation more familiar with English. In fact all international forums will see this trend and more arguments.

As a layman to me the above explanation sounds like this - I want to pick my nose and I live within the GNW {Great Nose Wall}, I will have reach it thru my rectum.

Sorry for the OT folks, that's the mental picture I am getting.

[zlin]

China's freeways extend 74,000 kilometers
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-12-28 22:30

BEIJING -- China has built 33,000 kilometers of new freeways over the past five years, taking the country's total to 74,000 kilometers, the country's top transportation official said Tuesday.

The total was still short of the 100,000 kilometers of expressways in the United States, the longest in the world, Li Shenglin, China's Minister of Transport said at a national conference on transportation.

Meanwhile, 639,000 kilometers of new roads were built over the past five years, with 527,000 kilometers of them built in rural areas, bringing the country's road length to well over 3.98 million kilometers, Li said.

According to the government's freeway development plan over the next five years, Li forecast China would complete construction of seven new freeways radiating out from the capital city of Beijing, nine expressways running north to south, as well as an extra 18 thruways running east to west.

By the end of the 12th Five-Year-Plan period (2011-2015), Li believed China could overtake the United States in terms of freeway developments and rank the first on earth in this regard.

Updated Historical Development of Expressway Length in China

Year Distance (KM)
01-01-1988 0
01-01-1989 147
01-01-1990 271
01-01-1991 522
01-01-1992 574
01-01-1993 652
01-01-1994 1145
01-01-1995 1603
01-01-1996 2141
01-01-1997 3422
01-01-1998 4771
01-01-1999 8733
01-01-2000 11605
01-01-2001 16314
01-01-2002 19453
01-01-2003 25200
01-01-2004 29800
01-01-2005 34300
01-01-2006 41005
01-01-2007 45339
01-01-2008 53913
01-01-2009 60346
01-01-2010 65065
01-01-2011 74000


9000KM of new expressway contructed in one year is beyond amazing! China's current expressway network (74000 km) is almost as big as the Interstate system of the USA (~75000 km). Of course, the USA also has expressways that are not part of the Interstate system.

[Raghavendra]

'Most Chinese doubt superpower status for China' http://www.zeenews.com/news677811.html

[Theo_Fidel]

Meanwhile, 639,000 kilometers of new roads were built over the past five years, with 527,000 kilometers of them built in rural areas, bringing the country's road length to well over 3.98 million kilometers, Li said..

There is nothing like this level of construction visible on Google Earth. This is from the Earth to the moon and back. Panda land would have been one giant scar of orange. And there definitely isn't anything like the US expressway system visible. Maybe 1/10the the amount with maybe another 1/3 under construction.

The 2/3's of China in the Northwest is completely untouched. 90% of Chinese terrain is non conducive to expressways.

[Pratyush]

Chinese students eat roundworm eggs to look thin

Female students in China have been eating roundworm eggs to lose weight for job interviews - because employment is so hard to come by, a media report said. They hatch in the stomach, allowing those who take them to shed pounds without exercising or dieting in Xiamen, China. But swallowing the worms is extremely dangerous - and definitely not to be recommended for those wanting to shed the pounds in the New Year, reports Daily Mail.

With jobs shortages across the country, women in China are under pressure to appear thin if they are to have any chance of landing a role.

Employment stands at 22 % - and the size of the labour pool has grown by 112 million people over the last decade to more than one billion people.

Other students are staring at pictures for hours on end to suppress their appetite so they can shed excess weight.

A student called Xiaomei said that women are using a 'special soap' that helps them with their diets. Some are having up to 10 showers each day.

The treatments have no scientific basis and are likely to damage health.

In the 1990s Chinese women would take special teas and pills to lose weight. Acupuncture also emerged as a popular choice, the Mail reported.

But many students struggle to find work as the world's most populous nation faces big unemployment problems with only
780 million labourers in jobs.

However, the work problem is largely confined to rural areas. Jobs in cities are being created quickly as China undergoes a rapid urbanisation.

"China is facing huge employment pressures at present and for the foreseeable future," Yi Chengji, spokesman for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said.

"As China's urbanisation quickens, employment pressures from the many surplus rural labourers are getting bigger and bigger.

"Currently there are about 100 million surplus rural workers that need to be transferred (to urban jobs)."

What sort of roles require people to look thin???