PRC Economy and Industry: News and Discussions

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Oct 2008 08:19

folks be very careful about buying stuff like imported bubblegum type stuff for kids.
I found one imported into haryana but made in china yesterday my kid had picked
up. best to avoid all china made food products when we can.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 20 Oct 2008 10:45

Not just food, i always avoid everything that is made in china. Almost everything

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 20 Oct 2008 15:23

a year-on-year increase of 9.9 percent

are these real or fake figures?

i have trouble believing any stats coming out of the communist govt.

wrdos · Post by **wrdos** » 20 Oct 2008 16:13

Hmmm......

I am a Chinese living in Tokyo.
My problem is, I have zero experience with Indian products. In fact I've never encountered anything made in India, no matter in a Chinese or a Japanese store.

I eated 1 or 2 times in some Indian restaurants. That's all.

krishnan wrote:Not just food, i always avoid everything that is made in china. Almost everything

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 20 Oct 2008 16:48

China's economic growth slows amid world turmoil
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008 ... tion=world

October 20, 2008 19:50:00

Growth has slipped to 9.9 per cent, with steel exports down.

The overall rate of economic growth in China has dropped below 10 per cent for the first time in several years, as the country's economy feels the effects of the global economic crisis.

China's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) continues to grow but at a slower rate.

Growth has slipped to 9.9 per cent, with steel exports down, car sales declining for the first time in two years and thousands of workers in the toy industry losing their jobs.

Analysts say that a growth rate of 9 per cent is still very strong by world standards.

Some predict it could fall to 8 per cent next year, but that Chinese growth should hold at that level.

The Chinese stock market reacted to the news immediately, with the benchmark index falling 1.21 per cent in morning trade.

The Government signalled ahead of the release of the data that the need for new measures to boost growth had moved to the top of the policy-making agenda.

"There is the slowing trend in economic growth, the pace in the rise of corporate profits and fiscal revenue are falling, and the capital markets continue to swing and be sluggish," it said in a summary of a cabinet meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.

sampat · Post by **sampat** » 20 Oct 2008 16:53

Wrdos, after so many incidents of toxic products from China people are really cautious. I have never discriminated against any product because of its manufacturing origins. Only quality/Price mattered. However, now i must say that I am very careful and most often avoid products made in China that are to be used by young children in my house. And that has been one difficult task..it is damn difficult to find anything that is not made in China

I think China lost its reputation after toxic toys and now with recent milk incident.

Current recession (or perception of it) + Perception of Cheap chinese product as toxic/poisonous + Perception of made in China product for Big brands doesn't gurantee good quality and have a possibility of containing toxic material. Doesn't hold good for China. Traditionally, Europeans have favoured local companies over imports and now this trend could get stronger behind socialist/protectionist policies in recession times compunded with fear of importing toxic waste.

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 20 Oct 2008 16:54

China factory closure leaves workers asking: now what?
Mon Oct 20, 2008 3:01am EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNew ... 20?sp=true

DONGGUAN, China (Reuters) - Like tens of millions of young Chinese before her, Yu Juan left China's hinterland for factory work near the coast four years ago with the dream of getting rich.

An acquaintance from her hometown of Dazhou in Sichuan province told her about an exporter in Dongguan, an hour-and-a-half north of Hong Kong, that was hiring.

The Hejun Toy Factory was large, Hong Kong-owned and paid well and on time. It also had an imprimatur that Yu and others working there thought was a virtual guarantee of job security: a stock code.

"At that time, we considered this company good because it was listed on a stock exchange," she said.

Last week, however, Hejun's owner, Smart Union Group, closed the factory gates, suspended its shares and said provisional liquidators had been appointed.

Smart Union had tried to beat tough export conditions by committing more as smaller factories closed, local media said. It over-extended even as demand worsened, thanks to the global credit crisis which could drag rich consuming countries in the west into recession. It also suffered a costly flood this summer.

Some workers saw Smart Union's fate as a sign that things in industry had gone from bad to worse.

Exporters in the once-booming southern province of Guangdong and other industrial hubs have suffered in recent years from rising labor and input costs, a stronger Chinese currency, fewer tax breaks and more stringent testing standards.

Now, credit is constricting as the U.S. crisis spreads. Factories across southern China survive on a precarious diet of loans as they compete for foreign orders with wafer-thin margins.

Yu and about 7,000 other workers were told they would not be paid and as hundreds took to the streets to protest, many wondered: If such a seemingly well-founded company could fail, who was safe in this environment?

"It's scary," said engineer Zeng Yangwen, 26, who had worked at the toy maker for three years. "The companies that folded before were small. This is the first big one to go under."

FINANCIAL TSUNAMI

The Federation of Hong Kong Industries sent survey questionnaires to members last week to try to gauge the scope and depth of the trouble.

"Due to the global financial tsunami, local banks in Hong Kong have tightened their credit facilities to Hong Kong companies. Most SMEs are hard hit and have encountered liquidity problems," it said.

Hong Kong businesses have helped underpin Guangdong's robust economy, which in turn has been a key driver of China's double-digit growth. Less credit and lower orders will almost certainly translate into more factory closures and layoffs.

"How many exporters are not in trouble? Very few," said economist Andy Xie.

Another Hong Kong-listed company, home appliance maker BEP International Holdings Limited, said it would shut its factory in Shenzhen on Monday, laying off its 1,500 workers, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.

What the factory closures means for the migrant workers, like Yu, Zeng and their colleagues, who occupy shop floors around the country, it is not immediately clear.

Factory bosses in the Pearl River Delta have complained in recent years that finding and keeping workers, especially those with advanced skills, has been difficult. That suggests that there may be a cushion for the Hejun workers and those from other factories that go belly up who want to keep working in the area.

Some of Yu's colleagues were not overly concerned about finding new jobs, but others said the market was already bad and bound to get worse.

Li Heping, 33, and his wife Gao Xiangrong, 32, said they would take advantage of the new-found freedom of being unemployed to visit their 12-year-old daughter and a nine-year-old son back in their home village in Sichuan province for the first time in two years. Then they would return to Guangdong.

"We will probably come back here before the Lunar New Year to try and get a job. It is going to be tough but we have no other choice," said Li.

Zeng, the engineer, said he would stay in Dongguan if he could find work. If not, he would go home to nearby Jiangxi province.

Another worker, Wu Xiaohong, 34, had a similar plan.

"Average pay, no frills, that's what I want," she said.

How would she try to make sure her next employer didn't implode?

"It's all luck," she said.

Outside Hejun, headhunters from other factories handed out flyers and posted notices seeking employees.

"They benefit, we benefit," said one woman from a nearby electronics factory sticking a want-ad to a wall outside the Hejun facility.

But what assurances could she give prospective employees that the job was secure?

"In this environment, who can guarantee anything?" said the women.

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 20 Oct 2008 16:59

Consumer Alert: Tainted Milk, Chocolates, Canned Goods... What’s Next?
http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php? ... id=32:life

Sunday, 19 October 2008 17:04

IT was so typical of the Philippine government to respond slowly to the China milk scandal. It took the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) and health authorities almost a week to declare that...yup, there must be something wrong with the milk from China, and that perhaps we shouldn’t drink it. Meanwhile our neighbors—Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan—were ordering all milk products from China banned and taken off retail shelves.

It took us sometime to do the same, although no recall was ordered. Retailers were told to stop selling and a few raids were conducted—one suspects this was more for photo ops for front pages—and the importers instructed to stop deliveries.

Still...he, he, he...no recalls because the authorities were still negotiating for refunds. Meanwhile, nothing was said about shipments and deliveries to the provinces where the unmarked, unbranded milk is usually repackaged and sold at cheaper prices than branded products. But who cares? Mga probinsyanos naman ’yan.

Still, the problem doesn’t stop there for us consumers. We forgot to look elsewhere. Even if we don’t intentionally drink unmarked milk—we like our brands, don’t we?—we continue to buy our favorite polvoron, pastillas de leche, cakes, cookies, atbp. Woe to the sweet-toothed, these things are made with milk and most likely the bakers don’t necessarily use first-class, branded milk. They most probably purchase the most inexpensive raw materials, like cheap milk—why not?

Besides... how easily we forget. Last year there was this hullabaloo about pet cats and dogs dying of kidney problems. The reason was, it was discovered, that Chinese manufacturers were putting melamine into pet food, presumably to boost its protein levels. Sounds familiar? Like the 54,000 babies afflicted with critical kidney problems, the cats and dogs fed with the tainted pet food were dying of renal and liver diseases.

So now it seems logical to consider all food products from China suspect of being tainted, contaminated, poisoned, spoiled, etc. Even world-famous Cadbury Chocolates was forced to recall its products made in Asia because they too were tainted with melamine.

The brand has long been are very popular here, and presumably all over Asia, was carried in practically all supermarkets and groceries in the Philippines. Alas, somehow the offensive melamine—an ingredient used to make plastic wares—has gotten into the mixture, like probably other candies and, goodness knows, what other chocolate sweets (remember, no one is looking in that direction, as of now). Personally, I’ve decided to hold back on ALL China-made edibles. This includes canned foods (like your favorite luncheon meat and ham), preserved snacks and chewables. Definitely, I am reading the label on all products, regarding ingredients, expiration dates and places of origin.

There were rumors about two branded-milk products—one for pregnant women and the other for senior citizens, all of whom have a special need for extra calcium. The former was quickly cleared by its multinational mother company. But I still am unsure about the other branded milk for senior consumers like me. There is liquid milk and there is powdered milk. The former is clearly stamped as coming from New Zealand. But the boxes of powdered milk do not indicate at all its place of origin and, in fact, warns “not suitable for children under one year of age.”

Oh and guess what? They allegedly found melamine in a smoothie drink in Austria. Could it be possible it’s also in your favorite sago shake? Yuck! Now that the BFAD found luncheon meat from China also tainted with melamine, we wonder, what’s next?

Early last year, wire stories reported that garlic was found to be contaminated with formaldehyde, and that fish and other seafood from China was generally unsafe due to pollution and contamination. The conditions of the rivers and seas, where the fish is harvested, have been found to be just too filthy and polluted as to make all living things there toxic. Over 3.7 billion tons of sewage are dumped into China’s waterways, lakes and coastal shores, leaving it teeming with pesticides, carcinogens, bacteria and everything downright disgusting. You name it, it’s in the water.

The problem is that China is one giant factory. Everybody around the globe has something made manufactured or produced in China. Labor is cheap and plentiful. There are no human-rights issues to worry about. And who doesn’t want to cut costs where one can and improve the bottomline? Unfortunately for consumers, there is little or no quality control in China. Even the international giants have difficulty keeping a tight watch over their Chinese factories. Apart from a constant battle with bureaucracy and red tape, nobody knows for sure what happens along the assembly line, from the first step to the time the product is shipped to its final destination. Just last year, we had to be extra cautious with the toothpaste, which China was manufacturing for many popular brands. The toothpaste companies had a difficult time assuring their customers that their products subsequently were safe after that major scare with diethylene glycol (known also as diglycol or diglycol stearate).

Then there was the global recall of millions of Mattel toys because of lead paint, among other children’s products and clothes. How about the televised report about siopao being stuffed with cardboard? And did you know that juices made in China were being made with an unsafe colored additive? Goodness knows what goes into their noodles. The list goes on and on and on.

Apparently, the BFAD doesn’t inspect each and every shipment that lands on our shores; they should but they don’t. Not even a random check to ensure that the imports are safe for consumption. Once the importer gets his certificate of approval, he can just keep bringing them in.

I find it ironic that when Singapore announced it had just discovered three more products unsuitable for human consumption, our BFAD cleared 41 dairy products...makes you think, doesn’t it? Perhaps it’s time that the BFAD should start looking for other additives in food imports that shouldn’t be there, aside from melamine.

Well, if you consider life to be precious, get smart. Be an alert consumer. No one is going to look out for you except yourself.

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 20 Oct 2008 17:02

1,500 dogs die from tainted feed in China
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 67283.html
Monday, 20 October 2008

Some 1,500 dogs in northeast China have died after eating animal feed tainted with the same chemical that contaminated dairy products and sickened tens of thousands of babies nationwide, a veterinarian said today.

The raccoon dogs — a breed native to east Asia that is raised for its fur — were fed a product that contained the chemical melamine and developed kidney stones, said Zhang Wenkui, a veterinary professor at Shenyang Agriculture University. All of the dogs died on farms in just one village.

Zhang determined that the animals died of kidney failure after performing a necropsy — an animal autopsy — on about a dozen dogs. He declined to say when the deaths occurred but a today's report in the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper said they had occurred over the past two months.

"First, we found melamine in the dogs' feed, and second, I found that 25 percent of the stones in the dogs' kidneys were made up of melamine," Zhang told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

The Southern Metropolis Daily also blamed the deaths of several hundred dogs on melamine, but it was not immediately clear how the chemical would have entered the raccoon dog feed. In the ongoing milk scandal, melamine was said to be added to watered-down milk to artificially boost nitrogen levels, making products seem higher in protein when tested.

Raccoon dogs take their name from their fur, which resembles that of raccoons, and is used to make clothing, especially coats.

The animal deaths raise questions about the extent of the chemical's presence in the country's food chain.

Melamine has been found in a wide range of Chinese-made dairy products and foods with milk ingredients over the past few months. The government is still trying to win back consumer confidence after those tainted products turned up on store shelves around the world.

Four Chinese babies' deaths have been blamed on infant formula that was laced with melamine. Some 54,000 other children were sickened.

Last year, melamine-tainted wheat gluten, a pet food ingredient made in China, was blamed for the deaths of dozens of dogs and cats in North America.

When ingested by humans, the industrial chemical — used in plastics and fertilizers — can cause kidney stones as the body tries to eliminate it and, in extreme cases, can lead to kidney failure. Infants are particularly susceptible.

Zhang said the company that produces the animal feed is in talks with breeders in Xishan, the village in Liaoning province where the dogs died, about providing compensation and has pressured them not to talk to the media.

Zhang did not give the company's name but the newspaper report said the feed was produced by Harbin Hualong Feed Co. The company refused to comment, saying officials were unavailable because they were in a meeting.

An official surnamed Liu at the Liaoning provincial animal feed and medicine inspection center said the facility tested one sample of animal feed from Xishan and found that it contained about 500 parts per million of melamine. China's Health Ministry recently capped the amount of melamine permissible in milk, milk powder and food products that contain more than 15 percent dairy to 2.5 parts per million.

He said that the center was assisting the Ministry of Agriculture in a nationwide inspection of animal feed for similar contamination but would not give any other details.

The ministry did not respond to a list of faxed questions. Telephone calls to the agricultural department of the Ciyutuo county government, which oversees Xishan, rang unanswered.

China's products have been under intense scrutiny after high levels of industrial toxins were found last year in exports ranging from toothpaste to toys.

The milk scandal has resulted in recalls and the blocking of Chinese imports in numerous countries.

Also today, Australia said it had ordered a recall of a milk drink and cake brand after tests showed they were contaminated with melamine.

Lydia Buchtmann, a spokeswoman for Food Standards Australia New Zealand, said Orion brand Tiramisu Italian Cake with Cheese Cream and Dali Yuan brand First Milk vanilla-flavored drink have been taken off store shelves.

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 20 Oct 2008 17:08

China workers abducted in Sudan
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7678829.stm

Nine Chinese oil workers have been kidnapped in Sudan, a Chinese diplomat in the capital, Khartoum, has said.

The men, and their two Sudanese drivers, were abducted in the southern Kordofan state on Saturday afternoon.

The unidentified kidnappers later released one of the local drivers with a note saying they wanted a share in the region's oil wealth.

It is the third time in the last year that oil workers have been abducted in the energy-rich region.

The men were taken from an oil field, near the district of Abyei, owned by the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, a consortium of four oil companies from China, India, Malaysia and Sudan.

"One driver was released and handed over a note by the captors demanding a settlement through a share of oil production," an unidentified diplomatic source told the Reuters news agency.

"We are doing our best efforts to find them," Chinese Ambassador to Sudan Li Chengwen told the Associated Press news agency.

Ali Yousuf, director of protocol at the Sudanese foreign ministry, told AFP news agency that Sudanese forces were searching the area, but no contact had been made with the kidnappers so far.

The incident occurred near the region of Darfur, where ethnic African rebels are fighting Arab-dominated government forces.

The Darfur rebels, who accuse Beijing of indirectly helping to fund the Sudanese government's military operations in the area through oil revenues, have in the past attacked Chinese oil fields and kidnapped foreign workers.

Diplomats say the abductors were probably from the same tribal group which seized four Indian oil workers in mid-May.

One man was later released and two others managed to escape. The fourth man is believed to have escaped but was never found.

abhischekcc · Post by **abhischekcc** » 20 Oct 2008 18:15

With ref to the report on dying dogs in China - that one food more more food source that the Chinese cannot have. Jingoes, keep an eye out for dog prices to rise in China as demand for premium dog meat rises.

And keep up the good work Avinash

bart · Post by **bart** » 20 Oct 2008 19:14

These 'racoon dogs' aren't typical farm dogs as one would imagine. In fact they aren't dogs at all (they are of the dog family but more like foxes) and a completely different species from regular dogs. They are being farmed in large numbers to be slaughtered for their fur, something that most of the civilized world has outlawed.

I suspect the racoon dogs were pretty lucky to die from melamine poisoning. At least they escaped from this:
http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/raccdog.html

Nayak · Post by **Nayak** » 20 Oct 2008 19:24

We need to have a new thread to capture news snippets from the nation of face-savers (copyright Purushuddin).

I had one chinese mook with a gigantic ego and liliputian dcik arguing me with on how food adulteration is common in US and India.

I asked him, would you say the same thing if you found kidney stones in his kid ?

He immediately shut up!!! These guys are all bravado. For all the bluster and the crummy sayings of Tao/Mao/Confuscious, idiots can't even get their basic infra right. Their hinterlands is pathetic and people are forced to live on barter trade and subsistence farming. The sub-human savage CCCP has reduced the poor population to eat anything which moves/crawls/flies.

I was like the majority of BRF, scared of these mooks, but after being here in spore and watching this ah-tiongs I laugh at the so-called fears expressed by some of these experts.

Ack-thoo....

Nayak · Post by **Nayak** » 20 Oct 2008 19:30

One more thing, I make it a point to be as stereotypical as possible.

I frequently ask my cheeni colleagues -

a] Do you read the lil led book from Mao ?
b] What happened in Tianmen Square ?
c] Do you guys eat everything ?
d] All Chinese look the same, how do you differentiate ?
e] Are you allowed to have kids or do the govt has to certify it is okay (makes the mookettes vely uncomfortable)
f] Can you criticise the CCCP ?
g] Do you have religious freedom ?
h] What happened in Nanjing during world war ?
i] What is this 'loosing face' concept ?

And in the end I grandly announce that after US, India is the best nation on earth for freedom.

I am not very popular you see. But what the heck I am gonna leave this sinkhole soon.

sanjaykumar · Post by **sanjaykumar** » 20 Oct 2008 21:21

All Chinese look the same, how do you differentiate ?

The other points are okay, but this is just silly racism.

Raja · Post by **Raja** » 21 Oct 2008 00:00

Nayak wrote:
I am not very popular you see. But what the heck I am gonna leave this sinkhole soon.

Sinkhole will do just fine without your kind.

Nayak · Post by **Nayak** » 21 Oct 2008 05:17

sanjaykumar wrote:All Chinese look the same, how do you differentiate ?

The other points are okay, but this is just silly racism.

This was exactly the question I was asked by my cheeni colleague: "Why are all Indians black ? I cannot find any difference between two Indians."

I am not racist by the way. They suffer from plain arrogance and mistreat the Indians here a lot.

In my apartment I have seen how horribly some of the Indians who work in the maintenance are treated.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 21 Oct 2008 06:13

I believe it is normal for people used to only one kind of faces to see a few hundred different faces of the other kind before getting trained to differentiate between faces -- I have heard chinese say that about Indians, and americans say that about chinese, etc. -- this is harder to do if one has an attitude of contempt/apathy for people attached to the "other" kind of face, sometimes up to the point where never acquire the ability to differentiate between those faces. Entirely different thing that it would be considered rude/ignorant to actually say that thought out loud. Never helps to stereotype, usually results in poor judgement.

JMT

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 21 Oct 2008 14:32

China's economy feels chill from global crisis
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j1FZ ... AD93UCEL00
By ELAINE KURTENBACH – 15 hours ago

SHANGHAI, China (AP) — The laid-off factory workers and slumping car sales indicated China's booming economy had no immunity from the global meltdown. New figures confirm it: China's economy is still growing, but at the slowest pace in five years.

The National Statistics Bureau said Monday that China's economy expanded by just 9 percent in the third quarter. That marks the slowest rate since the second quarter of 2003, when the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, cooled growth to 6.7 percent.

In comparison, China realized 10.6 percent growth in the first quarter and 10.1 percent in the second quarter.

After years of feeding a voracious global appetite for its exports, China is seeing demand dry up as consumers in the U.S. and Europe cut back on spending in the wake of the mortgage-debt meltdown. The shift is a serious challenge for Beijing leaders as they struggle to keep job-creating growth on an even keel.

Protests by laid-off workers demanding their paychecks have already erupted as thousands of factories fold under the pressure of rising costs and slowing orders. Affluent city dwellers are feeling the pinch of sinking share prices and a weak housing market — sales of passenger cars fell 6.2 percent in August from a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

"The growth rate of the world economy has slowed down noticeably. There are more uncertain and volatile factors in the international economic climate," National Statistics Bureau spokesman Li Xiaochao said in a nationally televised news conference.

"All these factors have started to release their negative impact on China's economy," Li said.

Exports have just begun to slow — the trade surplus hit a monthly record $29.3 billion in September as costs for imports eased thanks to lower prices for crude oil and other commodities.

A weaker China spells trouble for other Asian countries that have thrived on robust sales of raw materials and other manufacturing inputs to their giant neighbor.

"The problem is that China's economic growth is slowing down when it is most needed," said Huainan Zhao, a banking expert at Cass Business School in London.

Growth for the first nine months of the year was 9.9 percent, compared to 11.9 percent for all of 2007. Economists have cut China's forecasts for 2008 to as low as 9 percent.

Before the data's release, government leaders met to map a strategy for countering the slowdown. Monday newspapers carried news of planned measures to spur lending and stabilize China's volatile financial markets.

Leaders pledged to boost export rebates and provide more support for the ailing housing sector. They also vowed to spend more on welfare and construction, such as rebuilding the areas devastated by the May earthquake in central China.

Instead of bouncing back after a lull during the Beijing Olympics, China's industrial boom has slowed further, with output growing 11.4 percent year-on-year in September. That compares with 12.8 percent in August.

"China's manufacturing sector is not immune from the global economic downturn," said Sherman Chan, an analyst for Moody's Economy.com.

Share prices are still down nearly 70 percent from the peak they hit a year ago. On Monday, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index drifted lower but then rebounded in the afternoon, gaining 2.3 percent to 1,974.01 as property developers and banks rallied in anticipation of favorable policy moves.

"As the golden rule goes, the time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy, so prices rebounded on bargain hunting," said Zhai Peng, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities in Shanghai.

Still, there are glimmers of good news.

Inflation slowed in September, the bureau said, to a 15-month low of 4.6 percent.

For Beijing, that means the effort spent on reining in bank lending and keeping inflation in check can now be refocused on keeping growth steady.

"The single important policy goal is growth, and the government will rapidly roll out fiscal, credit and trade policies to achieve this goal," investment bank Merrill Lynch said in a research report released Monday.

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 22 Oct 2008 14:02

Three more HK-linked firms close doors in China-reports
Wed Oct 22, 2008 1:34am EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssCons ... 22?sp=true

HONG KONG, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Three more Hong Kong-linked companies have shut in southern China, newspapers reported on Wednesday, as the global economic crisis worsens the outlook for exporters in the once-booming region.

Hong Kong-funded Chong Yik Toy Co shut its factory in the city of Shenzhen, leaving hundreds of workers unpaid as it joined the queue for emergency support from the local government, the South China Morning Post said, quoting a district labour official.

The company employed some 900 workers in Longgang district and the local government had paid the workers 3.4 million yuan ($497,300) in emergency funds, the newspaper reported.

Kong Sing Electronics, another Hong Kong-funded company, closed its factory in Shenzhen, leaving 900 people jobless, the Apple Daily reported, quoting local government authorities.

It said local officials had decided to pay workers 2 million yuan.

At another factory in Xixiang, also in Shenzhen, more than 600 workers staged a sit-in for the second day on Tuesday at a factory linked to luxury watch retailer Peace Mark (0304.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the South China Morning Post said.

A worker said the company owed 700 staff about 5 million yuan, the newspaper said.

Trading in Peace Mark's shares has been suspended since August and provisional liquidators have been appointed for the Hong Kong-based watch retailer.

The closures come a week after Hong Kong-listed Smart Union (2700.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shut its factory doors in Guangdong province, leaving thousands jobless and sounding a warning for Chinese factories which survive on a precarious diet of loans as they compete for foreign orders with wafer-thin margins.

The government in China's manufacturing heartland of Guangdong may set up a fund to help workers laid off amid the global economic turmoil, state media said on Monday.

A string of bankruptcies in Hong Kong shows the days of easy money are over and more collapses are likely if firms fail to manage their debt loads. Officials and economists have warned that the worst has yet to hit.

Among the victims, garment maker and retailer U-Right International (0627.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Peace Mark (0304.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and swimsuit maker Tack Fat Group (0928.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) have been placed under provisional liquidation.

Home appliance maker BEP International (2326.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said last Friday it had shut down a unit, Bailingda Industrial (Shenzhen) Co Ltd, which may face liquidation.

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 22 Oct 2008 14:03

Wal-Mart sets new rules for China suppliers
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jP0C ... wD93VDK580

By AUDRA ANG – 1 hour ago

BEIJING (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said Wednesday it will set new quality standards for its suppliers amid a scare over toxic milk products that have sickened tens of thousands of babies across China.

Meanwhile, the United Nations released a report that recommends China increase oversight of its food safety system and hold businesses accountable for their products.

Mike Duke, vice chairman of Wal-Mart's international division, said the company is expecting "greater transparency ... from our supplier partners" beginning next month.

They will be required to "tell us the name and location of every factory they use to make the products we sell," according to Duke's prepared remarks delivered at a company conference in Beijing. "Essentially, we expect you to ask the tough questions, to give us the answers and, if there's a problem, to own the solution."

Wal-Mart will apply the new standards to apparel first and eventually use them on all its products, Duke said. No other details were given.

The measures by Wal-Mart, China's largest foreign retailer, come as confidence in Chinese exports has been shaken after a series of product safety scandals.

Last year, high levels of industrial toxins were found in exports ranging from toothpaste to toys.

China is still reeling from the revelation last month that the chemical melamine, which is used to make plastics and fertilizer, was added to infant formula to artificially boost nitrogen levels and make it seem higher in protein when tested. The deaths of four babies have been linked to the practice and some 54,000 children have been sickened.

Contamination has since turned up in powered and liquid milk, yogurt and other products made with milk. Dozens of countries have pulled Chinese-made goods with dairy ingredients off their shelves to test for melamine.

Health experts say ingesting a small amount poses no danger, but in larger doses, the chemical can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.

Wal-Mart sold Chinese-made cribs which were part of a recall this week by New York-based Delta Enterprises. The 600,000 cribs of various models with spring-loaded safety pegs were manufactured in China and sold between January 2000 and January 2007.

Another 985,000 cribs were recalled because of the potential for missing safety pegs. Those products were manufactured in Taiwan and Indonesia and sold between January 1995 and September 2007.

The recall was instituted after the deaths of two babies.

In its report released Wednesday, the United Nations recommended that China tighten oversight focusing on high-risk areas of the food chain, have an all-encompassing food safety law that would cover the whole industry and hold businesses responsible for the products they sell.

"The national system needs urgent review and revision," U.N. Resident Coordinator in China Khalid Malik said.

Additionally, China needs a unified regulatory agency, the report said, and a place consumers can go for reliable information. The task is currently split between different government agencies, creating uneven enforcement that is further complicated by numerous laws.

In the southern Chinese territory of Macau, government officials said late Tuesday that three more children have developed kidney stones, bringing the total number of sick children to seven.

Ultrasounds confirmed the diagnoses in two 6-year-old girls and an 11 year-old boy, Macau government information officer Elena Au said.

The boy is currently hospitalized but the two girls developed small stones and did not require hospital treatment, Au said.

The girls drank milk made by Chinese dairy Yili Industrial Group Co., whose products have been confirmed to contain melamine.

Au said officials are still investigating what brand of milk the boy drank.

Also Wednesday, Malaysia has lifted a blanket ban on the import of a baking agent from China after most shipments were found to be safe for consumption and free of melamine.

Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the three Chinese companies whose ammonium bicarbonate was found to contain excessive amounts of melamine will continue to be prohibited from importing the banking agent.

However, ammonium bicarbonate from all other companies will be allowed into the country after being tested at the border, Liow said.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Oct 2008 09:05

the wafer thin margins at the low end of production (wal mart type stuff) is getting badly
squeezed. will probably have to relocated into philipines, laos, camdobia, india, vietnam,
indonesia in search of lower wages.

we can get our share if we play cards right now.

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 24 Oct 2008 04:42

we dont want walmart type of robber-retailers having a big influence on Indian industrial scene. They foul up the environment without remorse and can also cause a disgruntled labour force(ripe for harvesting by the crazy Left). These buggers will arm twist our industry to re prioritize from what Indians want to what Americans want. I mean why should we screw our rivers with effluents, so that Charlene over in Martin County, KY can buy a cheap tanktop to seduce old Onetooth Tony, at the next squaredance?

If we allow them in, we will look back with nostalgia at those complaints we had about railway track squatting and how it is polluting the landscape. There is no way we can preserve the precarious environmental scene(caused by population density) of India and yet meet the type of demands that walmart manufacturing requires.

Btw, if not for PLA's frequent cleansing pogroms, we would have seen a lot more pics of the Indian railway scene in China too. I remember my mandarin teacher (a crusty old lady from deep Zhongguo) talking about "hole-in-the-ground" potty that she was used to and how they can see worms etc

And then how they used night soil as fertilizer for veggies, which caused a huge epidemic issue during those days. The whole class was gagging, but she went on explaining. Only I was

A lot of goras in my class, who were deeply into "understanding China by going native" ie, shopping exclusively at Chinese supermarkets were looking really green.

I helped out this wigged out gora-lady in our class with a Carrie Bradshaw type rumination monologue "Does our commitment to green salads require a lot of sacrifices? Which is worse? California salmonella or Chinese E. Coli? Or are we better off taking our chances with colorectal cancer, by eating beef?"

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Oct 2008 08:34

actually using human waste as fertilizer is a ancient practice in east asia. US troopers were first
exposed to it during korean war with turds floating in the rice paddies they waded through.

may have something to do with lack of sufficient diary farming there, from which cowdung
is free or just general lack of cows.

Arya Sumantra · Post by **Arya Sumantra** » 24 Oct 2008 09:26

hnair wrote:we dont want walmart type of robber-retailers having a big influence on Indian industrial scene. They foul up the environment without remorse and can also cause a disgruntled labour force(ripe for harvesting by the crazy Left). These buggers will arm twist our industry to re prioritize from what Indians want to what Americans want.

Whenever a Walmart store is opened, four to five businesses in that neighbourhood have to close shop. Politicians try not to brag or welcome when a walmart opens store in their constituency. These are irresponsible groups that turn people to unrealistic commie ideologies. Besides many of their low costs come from transferring their own costs to suppliers and the suppliers because of the sheer volume of sales achieved by walmart are armtwisted into paying Walmart's costs. Apart from just-in-time logistics nothing else in walmart should be emulated. In reality it is Sunil Bharti Mittal who deserves a Mamta for bringing this misfortune upon India and not a nationalistic businessman like Ratan Tata.

Singha wrote:actually using human waste as fertilizer is a ancient practice in east asia.

Saar, even our dehati men go to fields with a lota in the early morning hours and ladies late into night coz of lajja. Personally I have wondered if the input and output could be handled by mechanical or automated means and operators given suitable gear then why human waste be used for large urban bio-gas plants in our cities. Imagine how much methane gas could be created for cooking purpose from a large metro.

vdas · Post by **vdas** » 24 Oct 2008 13:39

During a recent raid on a wholesale centre in Guangzhou C ity , the capital of China 's Guangdong province, a large quantity of fake eggs was seized. Their wholesale price is 0.15 yuan (S$0.03) each - half the price of a real egg.

Consumers have a hard time telling a genuine egg from a fake one. This is good news for unscrupulous entrepreneurs, who are even conducting three-day courses in the production of artificial eggs for less than S$150.
A reporter with Hong Kong-based Chinese magazine EastWeek enrolled in one such course. To create egg white, the instructor - a woman in her 20s - used assorted ingredients such as gelatin, an unknown powder, benzoic acid, coagulating material and even alum, which is normally used for industrial processes.

For egg yolk, some lemon-yellow colouring powder is mixed to a liquid and the concoction stirred. The liquid is then poured into a round-shaped plastic mould and mixed with so-called 'magic water', which contains calcium chloride.

This gives the 'yolk' a thin outer membrane, firming it up. The egg is then shaped with a mould. The shell is not forgotten. Paraffin wax and an unidentified white liquid are poured onto the fake egg, which is then left to dry.

The artificial egg can be fried sunny-side up or steamed. Although bubbles appear on the white of the egg, those who have tasted it say the fake stuff tastes very much like the real thing.

But experts warn of the danger of eating fake eggs. Not only do they not contain any nutrients, a HongKong Chinese University professor warned that long-term consumption of alum could cause dementia or mental disease .

Arya Sumantra · Post by **Arya Sumantra** » 24 Oct 2008 16:20

^^^^^ So much processing and ingredients involved and yet the artificial egg turns out cheaper than real egg!!! Shame on you nature. Chinese have beaten you too on price.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Oct 2008 18:18

the user manual didnt mention what it does to a man's kielbasa. 50% length and girth reduction
has been reported on human 'volunteers' in chinese prisons.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 25 Oct 2008 04:14

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/10/ ... state.html

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 25 Oct 2008 19:20

Cloud over 'Made in China'
New Delhi October 25, 2008, 1:28 IST
http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... ono=338391

China’s regulatory system isn’t working and is increasingly under a scanner, says Anurag Viswanath

The din of euphoria and the self-congratulatory mood following the China’s first ever spacewalk was considerably low-key as China’s mandarins embattled a dubious and incriminating dairy scandal.

The dairy scandal — of infant formula laced with industrial addictive, melamine — claimed three infant lives and rendered an estimated 53,000 infants sick. This has taken some of the shine off China, reveling and basking in post-Olympic laurels. The scandal has raised critical questions regarding the credibility of one-party control and China’s repeated systemic weakness to provide appropriate, adequate regulatory safeguards.

It also brings to the fore the missing role of a free press and opposition. It also puts a spotlight on the manufacturing ethics of the “factory of the world” and on the underside — the human costs of doing business with China.

This scandal is yet another in an unfortunate series of scams occurring with alarming regularity — one which has made ‘Made in China’ suspect.

At home, China has been riddled with scams and scares — ranging from pork scare, to contaminated toothpaste and even life-saving and essential drugs. Last year, almost 200 Chinese cancer patients were found to have been treated with spurious leukaemia drugs.

Recently, pet-food for the US market, made by two Chinese animal feed companies was found contaminated with melamine (an ingredient which fakes protein content) and which in turn triggered off 4,000 pet deaths in US. The adulteration was done to meet prescribed protein requirement to increase profit margins. Other recent cases have been an estimated 100 deaths in Panama after patients took an adulterated cold medicine, manufactured in China. There have also been two recent high profile cases involving a 3 million toy recall as toys made for the Fisher-Price and Thomas & Tank Engine Products label were found tainted with excess level of toxic lead paint.

Ironically, just a year ago, when China was reeling under the spectre of scams and ensuing cover-ups, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao pledged to get at the root of the serial scandals. The government authorised $1.1 billion and sent 300,000 inspectors to examine quality control. Besides, it also took the unprecedented step of issuing a White Paper on “Quality and Safety of Food in China” in August 2007 and another on the “Status Quo of Drug Supervision in China” in July 2008, ostensibly to smoothen and assuage ruffled business feathers.

On paper, China boasts of a stringent licence system, compulsory inspection system, the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) with various other safeguards thrown in. However, China’s specific laws, administrative regulations and specific departmental rules create a virtual maze. While the government claims that integrated food supervision and safety is through departmental cooperation such as between the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), Health Ministry, Agriculture Ministry, Commerce Ministry and the General Administration of Quality, Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, in reality jurisdiction is overlapping and blurred.

Thrown in for good measure, into this milieu are eager local officials (at the provincial level) riding the economic boom and who stop at nothing in the name of growth. Enterprises without adequate safeguards or expertise sprout up ready for business. China’s intensely competitive economic milieu where the buck stops at the cheapest manufacturer has led not only to dismal working conditions but also ingenious cost cutting methods with both eyes on the profit margin. Also in a social culture where guanxi or networking plays an important role, laws, licenses and loopholes have come to be navigated with a few yuans here and there.

The public outrage is palpable given that the dairy scandal comes months after China’s top food quality watchdog SFDA, rated dairy companies as the safest — and gave them a clean chit saying that 99 per cent of them passed safety inspections for infant formula. As the matter stands, almost 22 dairy companies, including export companies such as Yili Industrial Group (a sponsor of the Beijing Olympics) and Mengniu Dairy Co. stand incriminated, tangled in a web of questionable manufacturing practices. Reports suggest that a slew of dairy companies were exempted from mandatory inspections.

Countries such as Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan have recalled dairy products — ranging from cheese, baby formula, non-dairy creamer amidst increasing food scare. The scandal has left a trail all the way across Asian markets to the US which has recalled a few instant coffee and tea drinks containing Chinese made non-dairy creamer. Health experts are speculating whether the contaminated dairy products have seeped into other food products, fanning food fear.

The scandal initially centred on the Sanlu Group, a joint venture with New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, which owns a 43 per cent share. Sanlu headquartered in Hebei province (surrounding the Beijing municipality) was chaired by a Communist Party official, appointed by the provincial party authorities. What also appears to be the case is that the complaints regarding the baby formula began filtering in by December 2007. Sanlu, the worst offender, did not take adequate steps to investigate and inform the public. In fact, the company made a high profile $1.25 million donation of baby food, presumably toxic, to the Sichuan earthquake infants.

China’s public information system is now working on an overdrive by way of censoring the internet and toning down the scam in the official news, as well as assuaging an anxious public that the dubious dairy products are off the shelves. The cabinet, the State Council, has stepped in, vowing to punish lawbreakers. Given the events, President Hu Jintao’s conceded that “some leaders lacked a sense of responsibility and had a loose governance” and called for cadre “self-improvement”.

But the damage has been done. According to the Financial Times, the Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark has said that local officials knew about the contamination, but did not act until her government took it up with Beijing. What has also surfaced is the accusation that China’s leadership, obsessed with a seamless and harmonious Olympics, contributed indirectly towards the accident. The Central Propaganda Department in the run up to the Olympics had issued broad reporting guidelines — intended at filtering out seamy domestic news — which worked as a de-facto clampdown on unsavoury news.

China’s recurring scandals are clearly not stray incidents anymore, but systemic. This is in spite of China professing that it has adequate regulatory safeguards. The lack of transparency and suppression of information is increasingly becoming an issue. China needs to get its act together to improve safety norms, monitoring processes and surveillance. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s call to pay attention to “business ethics and social morality” is welcome. With China’s reputation as a reliable factory of the world at stake, and other competing countries offering quality and catching up with China, there is no guessing as to who the loser would be. This time around, an increasingly wary world is watching China carefully.

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 25 Oct 2008 21:25

Taiwan President condemns China’s businessmen over adulterated goods
Taiwan News
2008-10-25 06:40 PM
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_con ... ?id=772324

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President Ma Ying-jeou responded to the 1025 rally causes of “anti-adulteration, care for Taiwan” yesterday. Ma reprimanded Chinese businessmen for putting melamine in food products.

He said that even though China’s Premier Wen Jiabao had said China could not shirk responsibilities of the toxic milk incident, China should still take actions to reorganize the food safety system.

As for the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yun-lin’s Taiwan visit, Ma said he would meet Chen as “the president of the Republic of China”. The appellation would certainly match reciprocity and dignity.

Ma said he had not realized before he served as president that how deep the Taiwan-US relations had been damaged during the past eight years. He began to improve US-Taiwan and cross-strait relations since his inauguration, which was an act to “care for Taiwan”.

Ma said that direct sea transport and weekend charter flights were issues to be discussed in the upcoming Jiang-Chen talks. The direct flights between Taiwan and Shanghai or Beijing would reduce one to one and a half hours of travel time. The exportation time of Taiwan-made fruit to China would also be cut down to ten hours.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Oct 2008 21:50

I saw one ice cream stand in big bazaar named "Hanya" or "Hongya" today. did not
sound like kwality, joy, baskin robbins or amul to me.

I hope they arent importing ice cream mixes cheaply from the chipanda ... they do
import a lot of kit from east asia.

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 26 Oct 2008 08:37

Singha wrote:I saw one ice cream stand in big bazaar named "Hanya" or "Hongya" today. did not
sound like kwality, joy, baskin robbins or amul to me.

that's an indian company. hangya means come here. i was too surprised by the name of the brand and had asked an local for it's meaning. hangya is either a tulu or konkani word. it was initially marketted as special treat for children. the owner is from coastal areas of karnataka. seen this brand in bhatkal and all across coastal areas of karnataka and is quite popular.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Oct 2008 08:47

thats a relief to know because many kids were enjoying it.

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 26 Oct 2008 09:10

South China: Millions Of Jobs Are At Stake
http://www.bizchina-update.com/content/view/1514/1/
By Peter Bachmann, on Saturday, 25 October 2008

Millions of workers could lose their jobs in South China as thousands of factories will be forced to close down in the months to come, according to new industry estimates.

Some 9,000 of the 45,000 factories in the cities of Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen are expected to close down in the next three months, the Dongguan City Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment estimates.

Those closures would see up to 2.7 million jobs cut as overseas demand for consumer goods and clothes fades. The association says that, by end of January, demand will shrink by 30 per cent. "I am afraid it is not going to look good on the Chinese government if the decline of the export-led industries and the unemployment problem continue to worsen," AFP quotes Eddie Leung, the Association's President.

Many of these factories are financed by Hong Kong residents. Clement Chan, Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, said that about 25 per cent of the 70,000 Hong Kong-owned companies in southern China, "could go to the wall by the end of January".

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 26 Oct 2008 12:29

Lehman Dynamic Spreads Through Chinese Economy: William Pesek

Commentary by William Pesek

Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The Beijing Olympics sure do seem like a lifetime ago.

It's not that television viewers forgot the impressive images from August or even China's first spacewalk in September. It's more about the astonishing news of late, including Wall Street's collapse, outrage over Russia's tussle with Georgia, violence in Bangkok, chatter about Kim Jong Il's health and geopolitical flare-ups.

China's milk scandal also has dominated headlines and delivered the latest blow to the Made-in-China brand. Previous safety scares involved seafood, dumplings, pet food, toothpaste, medicine and toys. A move by Mattel Inc., the biggest toymaker, to recall tens of millions of Chinese-made products was a public- relations debacle.

The brouhaha over tainted milk brought things to another level. That would be less problematic if trends in the global economy weren't weighing on China, as evidenced by the slowest growth since 2003.

What's interesting about China being hurt by Wall Street's meltdown is that its own quality-control woes derive from similar circumstances.

At the heart of the crisis that toppled Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. is an out-of-control system built on debt. At the heart of China's problems is frantic development that also cuts corners to meet overambitious targets. The habits of both have huge implications, but aren't easily changed because they are ingrained. The common dynamic is greed, meeting over-inflated goals, creative accounting and a sense of hubris.

Subprime Crisis

As the U.S. subprime crisis deepened a year ago, pundits said the fallout was containable and overblown. So did Chinese officials more recently as infected milk powder began sending children to the hospital.

Over time, it became clear melamine-laced milk products that killed at least four babies and sickened about 53,000 in China were everywhere. More than 20 countries and markets worldwide banned Chinese milk and foods. It wasn't unlike the process of realizing just how many countries were exposed to hard-to-price collateralized-debt obligations or Lehman bonds.

Just as the credit crisis has shaken Wall Street to its core, safety concerns are a bigger problem for China than many realize. It's one thing to fake DVDs and Prada bags. When a lack of regulation and oversight forces companies such as Unilever, Cadbury Plc and Japan's Kanematsu Corp. to recall goods, China has a true dilemma on its hands.

Crisis Territory

China's economy grew 9 percent in the third quarter, the weakest since the epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, shook Asia five years ago.

If Donald Straszheim is right, things could get worse. The Newport Beach, California-based vice chairman of Roth Capital Partners says Chinese growth will slow to about 8 percent in the fourth quarter and 6.5 percent in 2009. If you are the U.S., Europe or Japan, that kind of growth sounds splendid. For developing China, it would be crisis territory.

When the central bank cut its one-year lending rate by 0.27 percentage point recently, analysts assumed China was being a good global citizen. It's now clear the move reflected recognition of how vulnerable China's export-driven economy is to a deep U.S. recession. It also suggested deflation is a bigger worry than inflation.

Still Overheating?

It's a difficult balancing act. Economists such as Diana Choyleva of Lombard Street Research in London say China ``is still overheating'' even as it considers efforts to boost growth.

That problem may take care of itself as the global outlook darkens. ``Upstream inflationary pressures from commodity and energy prices have softened and will pass on to consumer-goods prices in the months ahead,'' says Jing Ulrich, chairwoman of China equities at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Hong Kong.

All this will contain an element of whiplash for those who believed China would avoid the U.S.'s woes. As the U.S., Japan and perhaps Europe experience a contraction, there's little that China can do to shield itself.

A critical mass of China's 1.3 billion people isn't ready to create a domestic market. Nor can China easily find other export markets to offset Group of Seven economies. China can keep cutting rates, increasing infrastructure spending and tweaking taxes, yet that may not be enough.

Different This Time

That also goes for the Communist Party's aim to double rural incomes to boost domestic consumption. Such steps include extending the tenure of farmers' leases and increasing their ability to trade and borrow against land. Three years ago, that might have helped. Coming in late 2008, as the global credit crisis spreads, the impact may be eclipsed by falling income as exports slow.

Investors in the past tended to lose money betting against China. The country has a remarkable track record of steering its way around crises. It dodged Asia's 1997 meltdown, the technology-stock implosion in the early 2000s and the gloom following the Sept. 11 attacks.

This time, things really are different. Just as Wall Street needs to change its ways, China must diversify its economy. In both cases, it's easier said than done.

The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression won't leave China unscathed. If things get that bad, Chinese officials will have more to cry over than tainted milk.

(William Pesek is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: William Pesek in Tokyo at [email protected]
Last Updated: October 21, 2008 15:01 EDT

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Oct 2008 14:19

CNN - I hope GOI is willing to test anything coming out of PRC for
the bad stuff. a lot of skeletons are rolling out of cupboard now that
people are looking.

HONG KONG, China (AP) -- The discovery of excessive levels of the industrial chemical melamine in Chinese eggs has prompted the Hong Kong authorities to expand health tests to include meat products imported from China, a senior official said Sunday.

The move follows the announcement late Saturday that Hong Kong testers had found 4.7 parts per million of melamine in imported eggs produced by a division of China's Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group. The legal limit for melamine in foodstuffs in Hong Kong is 2.5 ppm.

Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health York Chow said the melamine may have come from feed given to the chickens that laid the eggs. "The preliminary opinion experts have given us is that there is a problem with the (chicken) feed," Chow told reporters Saturday.

The egg results have prompted officials to expand food testing to meat imports from China, Chow told reporters Sunday.

Chow said Hong Kong officials will step up checks of eggs imported from China.

Calls to Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group, based in the northeastern port city Dalian, Sunday went unanswered.

In an earlier egg-related food safety scare in Hong Kong and China the banned cancer-causing industrial dye, Sudan Red, was used to color egg yolks.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 29 Oct 2008 23:13

China May Keep Cutting Rates to Prevent Economic `Hard Landing'
Bloomberg - 54 minutes ago
By Li Yanping and Wang Ying Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- China may keep lowering interest rates after three reductions in two months as the global financial ...

China cuts interest rates; Fed is up next
Los Angeles Times, CA - 45 minutes ago
China today joined the list of countries cutting interest rates to try to boost economic growth. The decision came ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting ...

China cuts interest rates for third time in six weeks
MarketWatch - 4 hours ago
By Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - China's central bank said Wednesday it is cutting its key one-year interest rates by just over a ...

China central bank cuts interest rates, third time in six weeks ...
Forbes, NY - 5 hours ago
BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - The People's Bank of China will cut interest rates for the third time in six weeks as part of the government's multi-pronged strategy ...

China's central bank cuts interests for second time in month
Monsters and Critics.com - 3 hours ago
Beijing - The Chinese central bank, the People's Bank of China, on Wednesday announced a cut in its benchmark interest rates by 0.27 per cent as a spur to ...

China cuts interest rates to spur growth
The Associated Press - 6 hours ago
BEIJING (AP) — China cut key interest rates for the third time in six weeks on Wednesday in a bid to spur economic growth amid fears of a global recession ...

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 02 Nov 2008 22:28

With the idiotic Chinese media attack on Chandrayaan ramping up despite the fact that there 5 non-Indian payloads on the mission as additional witness to events on the spacecraft, it only means one thing. Chang'e is lost in space.

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 03 Nov 2008 23:46

Chinese manufacturing activity slows sharply

Chinese manufacturing activity slows sharply
Monday November 3, 7:02 am ET
By Joe Mcdonald, AP Business Writer
Industry group says China's October manufacturing slowed sharply amid export weakness

BEIJING (AP) -- China's manufacturing activity slowed sharply in October amid weaker export demand despite a flurry of official measures to boost flagging growth in the world's fourth-largest economy, an industry group reported Monday.
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Meanwhile, the government said it was lifting a cap on bank lending in its latest effort to spur growth.

The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said its purchasing managers' index, a broad measure of new orders, exports and other factors, fell to 44.6 in October. It was the lowest level since the survey began in 2005 and a drop from September's 51.2. A number above 50 indicates activity is growing, while a number below 50 shows it is contracting.

October's slowdown was driven by a downturn in export orders and demand for goods such as steel and machinery, the federation said.

"Chinese manufacturers are seeing their order books cut, both at home and abroad, as the world economy falls into recession," said Eric Fishwick, head of economic research for the investment bank CLSA, in a report to clients. "The coming 12 months will be difficult ones for manufacturers, China included."

On Monday, China's main stock market index closed at its lowest level in 26 months due to investor unease about the economic outlook.

Beijing has tried repeatedly to boost growth that has deteriorated more rapidly than expected. Regulators have cut interest rates three times in the past six weeks, promised 1 billion yuan ($130 million) in loans to small businesses and boosted tax rebates to struggling textile exporters.

Economic growth slowed to 9 percent in the third quarter, its lowest level in five years and a sharp decline from last year's 11.9 percent. That is considered dangerously slow for a government that needs to create jobs for millions of new workers who enter the economy every year and to satisfy a public that has come to expect steadily rising incomes.

Exports have been growing at an annual rate of more than 20 percent but analysts expect that to fall as low as zero in coming months as global demand weakens.

In a new move to boost growth, Beijing has lifted a cap on loans by Chinese banks, a central bank spokesman said in comments reported over the weekend by the government's Xinhua News Agency.

Beijing took the step to maintain stable growth amid the global credit crisis, said the spokesman, Li Chao. The caps were imposed earlier in an effort to cool a boom in lending and investment that regulators worried might ignite a debt crisis.

"Currently, the central bank is no longer applying firm limits on lending," Li was quoted as saying.

On the 'Net:

China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing: http://www.chinawuliu.com.cn