Rise of the Red Dragon

National Aquatic Center "The Watercube" Video

2008-04-09T12:04:00.001-05:00

China may scrap one-child policy

2008-03-03T02:12:00.000-06:00

BEIJING (Reuters) - China, worried about an ageing population, is studying scrapping its controversial one-child policy but will not do away with family-planning policies altogether, a senior official said on Thursday.

With the world's biggest population straining scarce land, water and energy resources, China has enforced rules to restrict family size since the 1970s. Rules vary but usually limit families to one child, or two in the countryside.

"We want incrementally to have this change," Vice Minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission Zhao Baige told reporters in Beijing. Full Story...

Pictures: Beijing Olympic Birds Nest & Watercube Almost Complete

2008-01-22T01:05:00.000-06:00

Source: CNS/SINA

Tags: China | Beijing | Olympics

Pictures: Beijing National Aquatic Center "Watercube" at Night

2008-01-20T17:06:00.000-06:00

Source: Sina

Tags: China | Beijing | Olympics

87.5% of toys meet quality requirements on China's domestic market

2008-01-16T09:11:00.000-06:00

BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Of toys on China's domestic market, 87.5 percent meet quality requirements, according to the quality monitoring result released by the State Administration for Commerce and Industry (SACI) on Wednesday.

The quality monitoring, conducted by SACI and involving local administrative bureaus of commerce and industry, covered 120 groups of toys sold by 32 wholesalers and retailers in Chongqing municipality and Jiangxi, Liaoning and Anhui provinces.

China's toy-making industry had experienced an uneasy 2007 amid some toy recall dramas in the U.S. and some European countries, which were major importers of Chinese toys.

The Chinese government responded to this by launching a four-month-long nationwide product quality campaign and offered intensive training courses to domestic toy manufacturers to brush up on their knowledge of international product standards and safety awareness.

This time, testing had been carried out on all the eleven indicators stipulated in national regulation on toys safety, including normal use, reasonable misuse, materials, small parts, edge, pointed ends, intervening space between the moving parts, drives, upper limit of movable elements (antimony, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium) and the toys introduction.

In the testing, 15 groups of toys failed to meet requirements, among which were squirt guns under the brand of "HTTOYS" and plastic toys under the brand of "Hong Jia".

In some cases, small parts were easily pulled off by children, which could hurt them if they are eaten. And in other cases, the introductions were not clear enough, which might mislead the users.

Local administrative bureaux had banned sale of those sub-standard toys and violators would receive punishments according to law, said SACI.

China had thoroughly inspected all 3,000-plus toy makers for export during a product quality campaign that began last August. More than 600 Chinese toy makers have had their export licenses revoked to ensure product quality, the State Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) announced on Monday.

XINGHUANET

Tags: China | Beijing | News

China's first home-made regional jet to roll off production line this week

2007-12-17T15:46:00.001-06:00

BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's first home-made regional jet is expected to roll off the production line on Friday, the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense said here on Monday.

The ARJ21-700 commercial passenger jet was designed and produced by the China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I). It seats between 78 and 90 people.

The jet was expected to make its maiden flight in March and be delivered to the first customers in the third quarter of 2009. AVIC I was scheduled to start mass production of the jet in 2009.

The ARJ21 program, launched in 2000, will help AVIC I grab a share of the world's regional jet market, currently dominated by Canada's Bombardier Inc. and Brazil's Embraer SA.

Tags: China | Beijing | Photos

Photos: Nature China

2006-07-12T11:58:00.000-05:00

Tags: China | Photography | Culture

China's One-Child Problem

2006-07-12T11:44:00.000-05:00

BEIJING — When a self-taught lawyer and activist named Chen Guangcheng went public with reports of forced abortions and other abuses by family-planning officials in China's Shandong province, he became a local hero.

He also became a state threat.

Roughly a year later, despite international pressure, widespread support from lawyers and an acknowledgment from national officials that many of his disclosures were accurate, the 35-year-old Chen remains in custody.

His case stands as a warning that being right is not a sure defense in a system wary of any challenge to its authority.

On Monday, the blind activist's wife was interrogated and one of his supporters beaten, the latest in a series of moves apparently designed to intimidate and punish Chen for exposing forced abortions and sterilization under China's one-child campaign, one of his lawyers said.

Chen, villagers and his lawyers say tens of thousands of women and men were subjected to forced abortions and obligatory sterilization in and around Linyi, a municipal area with about 10 million people, in order to meet stringent quotas under the one-child campaign.

National family-planning officials insist most population programs are not coercive and say the one-child effort has helped elevate millions from poverty by ensuring more resources are available for the nation's vast population, currently more than 1.3 billion.

Despite its name, China's one-child system is a patchwork of rules under the umbrella of a national policy. Minority communities receive automatic exemptions. Urban parents who both come from one-child families can have a second offspring, as can farmers whose first child is a girl. Some pay fines to have more children.

(Article Continued)

Tags: China | Beijing | Culture

China's economy may expand up to 10.4%

2006-07-12T11:40:00.000-05:00

Two government think-tanks yesterday predicted China's economy would expand by 10.2 to 10.4 per cent in 2006, advising further interest rate hikes to prevent overheating.

Gross domestic product (GDP) may grow at 10.5 per cent in the first half of the year and 10.4 per cent for the whole year, according to a report from the State Information Centre.

The consumer price index (CPI), the major inflation barometer in China, may grow by 1.3 per cent in the first half of the year and 1.5 per cent or more in 2006.

But CPI growth should be controlled under 2 per cent this year, despite signs of faster growth in the second half of the year, according to Wang Yuanhong, co-author of the report and a senior researcher with the centre, an influential government think-tank in Beijing.

The economy as a whole will continue to be robust investment and the trade surplus are both expanding rapidly and consumption is strong too, Wang said.

The State Information Centre predicted a 30.6 per cent urban fixed-assets investment growth for the first six months and 29 per cent for the whole year.

The trade surplus is expected to expand to US$133.6 billion in 2006.

These factors may push authorities to take more tightening measures to prevent the economy from overheating, said Wang.

A further interest rate hike in the second half of the year is therefore likely and the central bank may also ask for even higher reserve requirements for commercial banks, he said.

The rates for mid- and long-term loans, in particular, should be increased substantially.

A report by the Academy of Macroeconomic Research under the National Development and Reform Commission also suggested the central bank further raise both lending and deposit rates by 0.25 of a percentage point at an appropriate time to squeeze liquidity of commercial banks and rein in excessive investment growth.

It anticipated a 10.4 per cent GDP growth for the first two quarters and 10.2 per cent for the year. CPI growth was estimated at 1.5 per cent this year, according to the report.

Excessive growth of money supply and overcapacity of some industries have become two major threats to economic stability in both the long and short term.

The central government is faced with the challenge of curbing the investment enthusiasm of local governments, which has led to a rapid increase of new project launches in the first six months of this year, the start of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10).

It should adopt certain measures to cool down the economy and ensure a sustained long-term development, the report said.

Wang Yuanhong, with the State Information Centre, also said the central government should further tighten controls on land supply, in line with the credit curb, to moderate the investment growth.

But instead of a drastic policy adjustment, the macro control measures should be conducted "within a mild range," he said.

The authorities are still waiting to see the effect of the tightening methods already adopted, as there are often lags between monetary policy action and its impact on the economy.

The central bank, cautious of excessive lending growth since late last year, ordered an 0.27 percentage point rise of the benchmark lending-rate on April 28 and a half percentage point rise for the reserve requirements for commercial banks starting from July 5.

China's M2, the broad measurement of money supply that includes cash, savings and corporate deposits, grew by 19.1 per cent by the end of May, 4.4 percentage points higher than the same period a year ago. Outstanding renminbi loans also expanded by 16 per cent by then, 3.6 percentage points higher than a year ago.

Apart from interest rate rises, more specialized central bank bills may be issued to designated commercial banks to freeze liquidity if necessary, said Wang.

Besides investment and lending, other major concerns for the macro economy include a rapid growth of foreign exchange reserves (resulting from the mounting trade surplus and robust external demand), surging asset prices in housing and production materials, high consumption of energy resources and low efficiency in the application of resources, the State Information Centre report said.

It suggested the central government closely monitor investment activities initiated by local government and control the scale of urban construction. Local preferential policies should also be checked.

Source: China Daily

Tags: China | Development | Economy

Photos: Beijing Airport Terminal 3 Update

2006-07-07T12:05:00.000-05:00

The photo shows the construction site of the No. 3 terminal of Beijing Capital International Airport, which is set to begin trial operation in 2008. A driverless train will carry international passengers from T3A (domestic) to T3B (international) in the new No. 3 terminal by then. The rail linking the two areas is 2.5 km long and one ride takes four minutes.

The photo shows the construction site of the No. 3 terminal of Beijing Capital International Airport, which is set to begin trial operation in 2008. A driverless train will carry international passengers from T3A (domestic) to T3B (international) in the new No. 3 terminal by then. The rail linking the two areas is 2.5 km long and one ride takes four minutes.

Click Here for previous update with renderings

Tags: China | Beijing | Construction

Nissan announces new line of world cars to debut in China first

2006-07-07T09:22:00.000-05:00

TOKYO (July 6, 2006) – Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., today announced it would release a new family of global cars over the next two years with sales of the first variant to start in China in 2006. The Livina Geniss, the name of the Chinese variant, will be the first Nissan car ever to be released in China ahead of other global markets.

"This new family of global cars represents a substantial investment for Nissan," said Nissan Executive Vice President Carlos Tavares. "We expect the Livina Geniss and the other variants to become significant contributors to Nissans growth in China and other key global markets," continued Tavares.

The Livina Geniss will make its world premier at the Guangzhou International Motor Show later this month. Based on the concept of a luxurious, yet practical vehicle, the model seats up to seven people and accommodates a wide variety of customer needs. The exterior features a bold, modern design and is complemented by a highly flexible interior that provides multiple seating arrangements and a high standard specification.

Like the other models in this new global family, the Livina Geniss has been designed and engineered at the Nissan Technical Center in Atsugi, Japan and will be built on a Renault-Nissan Alliance common platform.

The Livina Geniss will be powered by a 1.8-liter gasoline engine with C-VTC (Continuous Valve Timing Control) for improved power and torque. The model will be manufactured at Dongfeng Motor Co.'s (DFL) Huadu plant in Guangdong Province. DFL is Nissan's joint venture in China with Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. The other variants will be produced at different facilities around the world.

More Sketches Below (click to enlarge)

Source: Nissan Motors

Tags: China | Automobile | Technology

China to transmit music from lunar-probing satellite

2006-07-07T09:15:00.000-05:00

The Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, which is in charge of the lunar project, is seeking recommendations from the public on which tunes to play, Xinhua news agency reported.

The satellite, which has a budget of 1.4 billion yuan (about 170 million dollars), is part of the country's three-phase lunar project.

It is designed to obtain three-dimensional images of the moon's surface and analyze the content of useful elements and materials.

It will also probe the depth of the lunar soil and the space environment between the earth and the moon.

The satellite will weigh 2,350 kilograms, with 130 kilograms of extra equipment, and will orbit the moon for one year.

In addition to having next year's project, China has already announced it hopes to have a satellite land on the moon by 2012.

By 2017, China hopes to land an unmanned lunar probe on the moon, have it collect samples and return to Earth.

(Source)

Tags: China | Space | Technology

As China Ages, a Shortage of Cheap Labor Looms

2006-07-03T13:01:00.000-05:00

SHANGHAI, June 29 — Shanghai is rightfully known as a fast-moving, hypermodern city — full of youth and vigor. But that obscures a less well-known fact: Shanghai has the oldest population in China, and it is getting older in a hurry.

The courtyard of the Minsheng Nursing Home. Residents pay the equivalent of $100 a month to live there.
Twenty percent of this city's people are at least 60, the common retirement age for men in China, and retirees are easily the fastest growing segment of the population, with 100,000 new seniors added to the rolls each year, according to a study by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. From 2010 to 2020, the number of people 60 or older is projected to grow by 170,000 a year.

By 2020 about a third of Shanghai's population, currently 13.6 million, will consist of people over the age of 59, remaking the city's social fabric and placing huge new strains on its economy and finances.

The changes go far beyond Shanghai, however. Experts say the rapidly graying city is leading one of the greatest demographic changes in history, one with profound implications for the entire country.

The world's most populous nation, which has built its economic strength on seemingly endless supplies of cheap labor, China may soon face manpower shortages. An aging population also poses difficult political issues for the Communist government, which first encouraged a population explosion in the 1950's and then reversed course and introduced the so-called one-child policy a few years after the death of Mao in 1976.

That measure has spared the country an estimated 390 million births but may ultimately prove to be another monumental demographic mistake. With China's breathtaking rise toward affluence, most people live longer and have fewer children, mirroring trends seen around the world.

(Article Continued)

Tags: China | Economy | Culture

Photo: Beijing Olympic Stadium Constuction Update #2

2006-06-30T22:09:00.000-05:00

Source:GettyIMAGES

click to enlarge

Tags: China | Beijing | Olympic

China's trade surplus may hit 130 billion dollars in 2006

2006-06-27T01:21:00.000-05:00

China's trade surplus may hit a new high of between 120 billion and 130 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, Bi Jingquan, the deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has estimated.

Bi was quoted by Monday's China Securities Journal as saying the huge trade surplus is a direct result of the fiscal and tax policies.

China should improve its policies concerning tax rebates for exports and processing trade, Bi said at an international symposium on the reform of China's public fiscal policy held in Beijing at the weekend.

According to figures from the General Administration of Customs, China had a record trade surplus of 101.8 billion dollars in 2005, the twelfth consecutive year in which China posted a trade surplus.

The huge trade surplus has led to increased trade disputes between China and its main trade partners and vociferous calls for the appreciation of the Chinese yuan.

A new surplus high in 2006 will bring even greater challenges to the exchange rate of the yuan, the report said.

Source: Xinhua

Tags: China | Developments | Economy

Shanghai Disneyland Awaits Approval

2006-06-27T00:59:00.000-05:00

Disney theme park awaiting gov't nod

The boss of Disney has confirmed the firm is awaiting approval from the Chinese Government to build a theme park in Shanghai after successful talks with city leaders.
Group Chairman George Mitchell said the company had been in discussions with Shanghai officials for "a long period of time" to build a new Disneyland in the metropolis.

He added talks were now under way between the Shanghai municipal government and the State Council, which has the final say over the project.

"Our discussions have been with Shanghai officials, and now they are engaging with the national officials," said Mitchell.

"We have an interest in proceeding and we hope that satisfactory terms can be worked out and we can proceed."

Mitchell made the comments to China Daily while in Beijing to attend the official opening of a branch of DLA Piper, a global law firm of which he is also the chairman.

Speculation over Disney's plan to open a theme park in Shanghai intensified after the opening of Disneyland Hong Kong last September.

Mitchell insisted there was a market for both attractions, and that a new park in Shanghai would not be detrimental to the long-term success of the Hong Kong site.

"There has been very careful analysis from us and Chinese Government officials," he said.

"There are a very large number of people in the Shanghai area and we don't think that this (a new park) will have any more of a negative effect on Hong Kong than say having a park both in California and Orlando, Florida.

"We are looking forward to a long and what we hope will be a productive relationship in Hong Kong and Shanghai."

While Mitchell said he was "very pleased" with the operation in Hong Kong, he admitted there had been some problems.

During the Chinese New Year holidays in February, the park had to close its gates to hundreds of visitors holding pre-purchased tickets after it reached the maximum accommodation capability soon after opening.

"These kinds of issues always occur at every new park in different contexts, but we try to work them out and we try to be sensitive to what local people want," said Mitchell.

"We always make very careful plans over how we are going to operate, but things can never turn out exactly as you predict.

"There is always a period of adaptation."

As previously reported, it is believed an area of land in Pudong's Chuansha area has already been earmarked for the Shanghai park.

Mitchell said it was impossible to put a timeframe on the project.

"We try to proceed as quickly as possible after the execution of the contract, but until we execute a contract we don't get into when we are going to start," he said.

Source: ChinaDaily

Tags: China | Developments | Shanghai

Solar halo seen in eastern Beijing

2006-06-19T22:37:00.000-05:00

BEIJING, June 19 -- An excellent solar halo appeared covering eastern Beijing's sky at noon on Sunday.

The scene was spectacular with the bright sun surrounded by colorful rings of light. The phenomenon lasted for about 30 minutes.

The solar halo is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that can be seen unexpectedly frequently, for example, when the weather changes for the worse.

(Source: CRIENGLISH.com)

Tags: China | Science | Beijing

Hawking to discuss origin of universe in Beijing

2006-06-19T00:15:00.000-05:00

Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has arrived in Beijing in advance of his lecture at the Great Hall of the People on Monday morning.

Hawking will discuss the origins of the universe at Strings 2006, an international conference on string theory hosted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Theoretical Physics.

In response to public demand from Chinese audience the organizers will arrange a second lecture from Hawking on June 21.

Hawking has spent a lifetime trying to unravel the basic laws which govern the universe.

In 1988, Hawking published his great book, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, which is still considered by the scientific community to be a milestone.

Hawking has visited the Chinese mainland twice. Prior to arriving in Beijing, he spent several days in Hong Kong.

Hawking, who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), communicates with others through a computer synthesizer. He is being cared for by five nurses during his trip to Beijing.

Source: Xinhua

Tags: China | Science | Beijing

Hong Kong's Millionaires add to wealth, get younger

2006-06-18T11:01:00.000-05:00

The wealth of Hong Kong dollar millionaires surged last year, even as their numbers remained stagnant, according to a Citibank survey.

Hong Kong's 274,000 millionaires increased their wealth 17.6 percent on the back of strong economic growth and a bullish stock market, the annual Citibank Hong Kong Consumer Wealth Review found.

On average, each held about HK$4 million in liquid assets last year, up from HK$3.4 million a year earlier.

For the purposes of the survey, to be a considered a millionaire, an individual must have liquid assets of HK$1 million or more. Property assets do not qualify.

The review, conducted every year since 2003, polled by phone more than 3,000 Hong Kongers, with ages ranging from 21 to 79, between November and mid-December for the 2005 edition.

It found the number of millionaires composed 5.3 percent of the adult population within the survey age group - that is, five millionaires in every 100 Hong Kongers.

The age of the group is getting younger, with those under 40 swelling to 26 percent last year from 23 percent in 2004, according to the survey.

"When the investment market and economy perform well, more jobs are available and salaries rise, so Hong Kong's working population gets wealthier," said Weber Lo, chief operating officer and director of retail banking at Citibank.

"That may explain why the age of Hong Kong millionaires is getting younger."

Their numbers and wealth will keep rising this year, given the continuing expansion of the local economy, Lo said.

Citibank estimates the city's economy will grow between 4 and 5 percent this year, slower than the 7.3 percent surge in 2005.

The Hang Seng Index, a benchmark for the Hong Kong stock market, rose 4.5 percent last year. The bullish stock market adds wealth to millionaires since stock investment is their major liquid asset, Lo said.

About 49 percent of respondents said most of their gain in liquid assets came through investment in non- property assets, such as stocks, mutual funds and time deposits, while 25 percent said their gains came mostly from property investment. The estimated 274,000 millionaires had distributed 32 percent of their average HK$4 million liquid assets in stocks, 36 percent in deposits, 16 percent in mutual funds, 8 percent in bonds, and the remaining 8 percent in other investment tools.

The better investment sentiment in 2005 prompted 77 percent of the millionaires to invest in stocks, compared with 73 percent in 2004; while 65 percent placed their liquid assets into time deposits in the face of rising interest rates last year. Saving deposit rates, for example, have increased to about 2.75 percent from almost zero in early 2005.

The survey also verified common knowledge that more wealthy residents are clustered on Hong Kong Island. It found that one in seven Hong Kong Island residents are millionaires, against one in every 35 people in Kowloon and one in 28 in the New Territories and Islands.

Source: HKStandard

Tags: China | Wealth | Hong Kong

World Bank urges China to boost public transport

2006-06-18T10:55:00.000-05:00

BEIJING (Reuters) - China needs to improve public transport to help curb choking traffic jams instead of building more and more highways to make room for private cars, the World Bank said on Wednesday.

Too few Chinese cities had devised coherent urban transport plans while those that had often failed to stick to them, it said.

"A major challenge for the Chinese cities now is how to develop an efficient bus transport system before the critical mass of motorists is formed and shapes an irreversible, auto-dependent land use pattern," it said.

Urban transport problems in China were beginning to affect the productivity of workers and lead to excessive conversion of agricultural land, it said.

Most cities needed to find alternatives to urban rail networks given the high costs involved and the length of time spent on building such systems.

Chinese cities, including even second-tier ones, are already investing billions of dollars in new or expanded subway systems.

By 2010, 35 percent of Shanghai's commuters are expected to use the subway, up from 12 percent in 2005, by which time Shanghai will have 11 subway lines totalling 400 km (240 miles), state media has said.

In Beijing -- where about 1,000 new vehicles take to the road a day -- the average speed during peak hours on the city's arterial roads had dropped by half in the last decade, the report said.

And in the southern boomtown on Shenzhen, across the border from Hong Kong, traffic accidents have been the top killer for the last three years, it added.

Tags: China | Development | Beijing

Shanghai is World's Largest City By Population

2006-06-18T10:52:00.000-05:00

LARGEST CITIES ON THE PLANET!
Numbers shown are the population within the recognized city limits, and do not include people living in the immediate surrounding area outside of the established border of the city. For the largest metropolitan areas refer to the list below this one.

Revised (10/01/04)
Shanghai, China 13.3 million
Mumbai (Bombay), India 12.6 million
Buenos Aires, Argentina 11.92 million
Moscow, Russia 11.3 million
Karachi, Pakistan 10.9 million
Delhi, India 10.4 million
Manila, Philippines 10.3 million
Sao Paulo, Brazil 10.26 million
Seoul, South Korea 10.2 million
Istanbul, Turkey 9.6 million
Jakarta, Indonesia 9.0 million
Mexico City, Mexico 8.7 million
Lagos, Nigeria 8.68 million
Lima, Peru 8.38 million
Tokyo, Japan 8.3 million
New York City, USA 8.09 million
Cairo, Egypt 7.6 million
London, UK 7.59 million
Teheran, Iran 7.3 million
Beijing, China 7.2 million

Source: WorldAtlas

Tags: China | Environment | Shanghai

DNA test to clear up Confucius confusion

2006-06-18T10:46:00.000-05:00

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese claiming Confucius for an ancestor can now use a genetic test to prove a direct blood connection to the grandfather of Chinese social mores, a state newspaper said on Friday.

The fifth-century BC social philosopher's ideas of filial piety and deference to elders influence Chinese society and politics even today.

Now his countrymen can establish a genetic link in a test that will cost more than 1,000 yuan ($125), according to the Shanghai Morning Post.

"We would like to help these unconfirmed claimants to test their DNA and to establish a Confucius-DNA database," it quoted Deng Yajun, a DNA expert from Beijing Institute of Genomics at the Chinese Academy of Science, as saying.

How the scientists had obtained a sample of Confucius's DNA was not explained.

"One of the most difficult things in the project is to confirm the blood connections of these numerous claimants," said Kong Dewei, one of the editors of the new family tree, who has the same Chinese surname of Confucius, "Kong" in Chinese.

Association with Confucianism was fatal during the tumult of the Cultural Revolution, when "old China" and its traditions were condemned as reactionary by fervent Communist Red Guards.

But since the 1990s, Beijing has been encouraging Confucianism as part of celebrating traditional Chinese culture -- and of pushing a message of obedience to those in power.

($1=7.997 Yuan)

(Source)

Tags: China | News | Culture

Air China inks deal for 24 Airbus A320 planes

2006-06-17T19:42:00.000-05:00

Air China inked a deal with Airbus for buying 24 Airbus A320 planes, Shanghai Securities News said on Friday.

Under the 1.744-billion-U.S. dollar deal signed between the two sides on Thursday, the China national carrier will pay Airbus cash in installment.

The planes are expected to be delivered to China between 2007 and 2010.

Air China said the joining of the Airbus A320 airplanes will help upgrade its carrying capacity and cement Beijing's position as a communication hub. It will launch more domestic routes from Beijing, it said.

The report said the deal is part of the nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars agreement signed by China Aviation Supplies Corp and Airbus last December.

The corp has ordered 150 Airbus A320 planes, which will be distributed to Air China, China Eastern Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Shenzhen and Hainan Airlines

The shares of Hong Kong-listed Air China closed at 2.925 Hong Kong dollars on Thursday, up 2.632 percent.

Source: Xinhua

Tags: China | Economy | Development

Fashion designer wants China on the map

2006-06-17T19:38:00.000-05:00

Chinese fashion designer Wang Wei, working out of Shanghai, is determined to break out of the cultural template of conformity.

The Washington Post reported that Wang, 34, is not yet a name on the fashion runways of Paris and Milan, but his artsy, individualist designs give him hope of reaching that status.

Known for his stylish dresses designed mainly for women abroad, Wang plans to create a haute couture collection that will put China on the map of high fashion.

Wang says his trouble with innovation lies with the rest of China in that the country has always had a culture of conformity. Wang says China needs to break out of the habit of anchoring itself to other's inventions to gain prominence in the fashion world and in other industries as well.

Source: UPI

Tags: China | Shanghai | Fashion

Sixteen of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in China

2006-06-17T19:27:00.000-05:00

According to CNN, the World Bank recently examined 20 of the most severely polluted cities in the world. Sixteen of these cities are located in China, and Linfen City, in Shanxi Province, was cited as the world's most polluted city.

Apple Daily reported that factories in Linfen continuously release waste gas and sewage. The whole city smells and is covered in smoke. The trees around the factories are all withered. The polluted water is like thick oil, and the polluted rivers have caused a higher incidence of cancer among citizens living in the area.

One environmental expert said, "If you have a grudge against someone, let this guy become a permanent citizen of Linfen! Why? For punishment!"

The problem of air pollution in China's cities remains serious. In 2005, 39.7 percent of the 522 cities surveyed were either moderately or seriously polluted.

Last year, environmental disputes and large-scale protests increased 30 percent compared to the previous year. Over 50,000 incidents were documented. Among these cases, 50.6 percent were about water pollution, and nearly 40 percent were related to air pollution.

Pan Yue, vice director of the State Environmental Protection Administration of China said, "Environmental problems have become a main factor affecting China's national security and social stability."

Zhang Lijun, another vice director of the Administration, said, "In some areas, corrupted officials protect local polluting industries to gain personal profits. Without clean officials, there will be no clean water."

Source: CNN

Tags: China | Environment | Beijing

What does Confucius look like?

2006-06-17T19:16:00.000-05:00

The Confucius Fund of China releases a standard statue of Confucius.

Tags: China | Culture | Photos

Photo: Beijing Olympic Stadium Constuction Update

2006-06-14T09:01:00.000-05:00

click to enlarge

Tags: China | Beijing | Olympic

China to control weather during 2008 Olympics

2006-06-06T21:51:00.000-05:00

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Beijing will be shooting for the stars in a bid to stave off downpours when it hosts the Olympics Games in 2008.

Using an arsenal of rockets, artillery and aircraft, China will try to blast the clouds out of the sky, a meteorologist from Beijing told a Hong Kong newspaper, through a technique which falls under the umbrella of "cloud seeding."

"We sometimes turn a cloudy day into a dry and sunny one by shooting the clouds less intensively than when we make rain," head meteorologist Mian Donglian for the Beijing municipal weather bureau told The South China Morning Post.

By shooting shells containing chemicals like silver iodide, or dry ice into the sky, scientists say they can create rain. China has gone so far as to set up a weather modification office that is in charge of such an endeavor.

When the guns go off, they scatter crystals that attract water droplets in the cloud, making them grow faster, said climate and weather expert Johnny Chan from the City University of Hong Kong. The crystals become heavy and fall as raindrops, he said.

Planes, too, can be used to drop chemicals onto clouds to manipulate the weather.

In the case of the Olympics, climate experts will pore over satellite images to find ways to dissolve the clouds rather than make it rain.

"Scientists fly an airplane, sampling the cloud ... to see if there is potential for it to work, and if it is likely to work, they will shoot the gun," Chan said.

(article continued)

Tags: China | Beijing | Olympic

Photo: Flying PLA

2006-06-06T21:06:00.000-05:00

Chinese police train at a military base in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province August 30, 2005. China was setting up elite police squads in 36 cities to counter the threat of "terrorist crimes" and to put down riots, Xinhua news agency reported. Beijing has already stepped up security ahead of the 2008 Olympics. CHINA OUT REUTERS/China Newsphoto

Tags: China | Military | Photos

Photos: Plant rice on scenic terraces

2006-06-06T20:57:00.000-05:00

Tags: China | Culture | Photos

Ancient engraved chessboards found on Great Wall

2006-06-06T20:51:00.000-05:00

Archaeologists have found two ancient engraved chessboards probably used by soldiers on the Great Wall more than 700 years ago at Qinhuangdao, North China's Hebei Province.

The two boards, one for Chinese chess and the other for the ancient game "Tiger Eats Sheep", were engraved on a stone in front of a Great Wall beacon tower possibly in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), said officials with the provincial department of cultural relics.

Archaeologists believe that soldiers from all parts of ancient China used to play chess to while away the time on the remote wall.

The chessboards were never mentioned in documents on the Great Wall or in local chronicles, said an official.

However, more work was needed to identify the exact date of the boards, he added.

Archaeologists have also found 17 Chinese characters in five lines engraved on a stone nearby, of which the names of two soldiers are still clear.

China's first emperor, Qinshihuang, founder of Qin Dynasty, had the Wall built as a defense by over one million workers in 12 years against attack by the Xiongnu, an ancient nationality in North China.

Rebuilt many times through the centuries, the wall stretches 6,000kilometers from Jiayuguan Pass in northwestern Gansu Province to end at Shanhaiguan Pass on the shores of Bohai Bay in the east.

Source: Xinhua

Tags: China | News | Culture

Photos: Watermelons can be in various shapes

2006-05-31T22:00:00.000-05:00

Tags: China | Models | Photos

Photos: Chinese model crowned Asian Super Model

2006-05-30T08:56:00.000-05:00

Chinese model Wang Hui (C) is crowned Asian Super Model Chinese model Wang Hui (C) is crowned Asian Super Model in Nanning, capital city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Sunday, May 28, 2006. Chinese model Sun Yuhan became the 1st runner up.

click thumbnails to enlarge

Tags: China | Models | Photos

China promises a "non-smoking" Olympics

2006-05-30T08:51:00.000-05:00

China, with 350 million smokers - about a third of the world's smoking population - has vowed to put on a "non-smoking" Olympic Games.

Zhang Bin, an official with the Ministry of Health (MOH), said on Monday that smoking will be banned at all hospitals that will be used specifically for the Games by the end of 2007.

The ban will extend to public transport and public buildings, with places that offer services to children the main concern, Zhang said.

In his meeting with World Health Organization Director-General Lee Jong-Wook in 2004, Premier Wen Jiabao said a non-smoking Games is on top of the agenda for China's preparations for a green Olympics.

The ministry has learned from the practice and experience of previous Games hosts, Zhang said.

The concept of a "non-smoking" Olympic Games, initiated in 1988, was put into practice in Barcelona in 1992.

Considering the country's large smoking population, Zhang warned that China faces many obstacles to overcome in hosting a non-smoking Olympics.

The largest tobacco producer and consumer in the world, China reports about one million deaths from smoking each year, and the figure is expected to reach three million by 2050.

The spread of smoking results in the heavy burden of providing medical treatment for illnesses like lung cancer, said Yang Gonghuan, deputy director of the China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"It is society who has to foot the cost of medical treatment made by tobacco promotion," she said.

Tobacco control needs the participation of NGOs and people from all walks of life, she said.

She called for a quick implementation of the national action plan on tobacco control with priority placed on teenage education and publicity.

The expert also appealed for promulgating national laws to ban smoking in public places and to beef up early detection and treatment of lung cancer.

"The current consumption of cigarettes will see an increase in deaths from lung cancer in the next 20 to 30 years, apart from other causes like the aging of the population, greater industrialization and deterioration of environment," she continued.

Unfortunately, China is still slow in detecting lung cancer and most patients do not receive the necessary surgery in time, said Qiao Youlin, researcher with the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, who specializes in cancer treatment.

"The high cost of early detection methods of lung cancer prevents early diagnosis, especially in rural areas," he told Xinhua.

The new cooperative rural medicare system promoted by the government in the past few years has only provided farmers with about 50 yuan (6.25 U.S.dollars) for healthcare, but the screening costs about 300 yuan (37.5 U.S. dollars), he said.

"Therefore, China's treatment of lung cancer still lags far behind developed nations," said Qiao, adding that the five-year survival rate of lung cancer patients in developed nations is 15 percent, but less than 10 percent in China.

Source: Xinhua

Tags: China | Olympics | Beijing

Photos: DaFen Oil Painting Village, Shenzhen

2006-05-28T10:35:00.000-05:00

DaFen Village is Located in the suburb of Shenzhen in China with 4 square kilometers; it is China's No.1 oil painting village.

Dafen village is a base of oil painting production and sales.It is now home to more than 100 oil painting companies,700 art galleries and 8,000 skillde painters.

click thumbnails to enlarge

Tags: China | Photos | Shenzhen

China unveils plan for developing defence technologies

2006-05-28T10:04:00.000-05:00

The Chinese government plans to enhance its capability to innovate, develop and rapidly supply new-generation weaponry over the next 15 years under a new national development program.

The outline of the development program of science and technology for national defense for 2006 to 2020 was passed by the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense at a meeting on Thursday in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province.

The outline states that national defense industry will focus on development of:

-- new and high-tech weaponry;

-- high-tech industries for both military and civilian purposes;

-- manufacturing technologies for military industries;

-- basic and frontier technologies for national defense;

-- and guaranteeing technological innovation for national defense.

The outline stresses that the country will develope high and new tech weaponry to reinforce a mechanized and information-based army.

The coming 15 years will also see improvements in new technologies and their industrialization for both military and civilian use.

The program will include new and high-technologies for the space industry, aviation, ship and marine engineering, nuclear energy and fuel, and information technology for both military and civilian purposes.

The outline says that China will upgrade its defense industry with digital technology.

The program will include new and high-technologies for the space industry, aviation, ship and marine engineering, nuclear energy and fuel, and information technology for both military and civilian purposes.

Special projects to be carried out include large aircraft, pressurized water reactor and high-temperature gas-cooled reactor nuclear power stations, manned space missions and lunar probe programs

According to the outline, the program will form a team of world-class experts in the research of key basic and frontier technologies, and a guaranteeing system will be created to support the work.

The outline says that efforts should be exerted to rev up upgrading and application of industrial technologies, improve the system integration of frontier technologies, and effectively smash bottlenecks in basic technologies, which hinder the development and production of new- and high-tech weapondry.

Between 2006 and 2020, overall planning will be conducted for construction of key scientific and technological laboratories, state laboratories and major-discipline laboratories for national defense. Several centers for research and application of industrial technologies will be set up, together with basic experiment bases and large, comprehensive scientific research facilities and bases.

Meanwhile, international cooperation will be intensified on scientific and technological researches for national defense and related resources will be shared by military and civilian institutions and businesses.

Endeavors will be also centered on protection of intellectual property rights and industrialization and commercialization of research results, the outline says.

Over the past five years, China made impressive achievements in scientific and technological development for national defense, with a modern defense technology regime having taken shape.

The defense industry is a strategic sector of the state and the material and technological base for the development and production of weapondry.

China's defence budget stood at 211.7 billion yuan (26.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2004, or 5.77 percent of that of the United States. This year China has set the annual defence budget at 283.8 billion yuan (35.1 billion U.S.dollars), up 14.5 percent over the 2005 level.

Source: Xinhua

Tags: China | Military | Technology

New Nokia Headquarter in China

2006-05-28T09:54:00.000-05:00

Nokia announced its selection of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (BDA) as the location for its Nokia China Campus. The campus will consist of their China headquarters, R&D centers, and mobile phone manufacturing base. The Nokia China Campus will be the new headquarters for Nokia's activities in the Greater China Area. It will create a world class campus that, at its opening in the later part of 2007, will host over 1500 of Nokia's talented staff from R&D, sales and marketing operations, pre-production, logistics, sourcing and manufacturing operations. Eventually, more than 2000 Nokia employees will be based in this new hub.

Tags: China | Nokia | Beijing

China to be biggest economy by 2050: report

2006-05-22T14:17:00.000-05:00

As a major player on everyone's lips, China, the world's fastest-growing economy, is set to overtake the United States as the biggest economy globally by 2050, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report.

Although China's growth is expected to slow from the current high rate, it will surpass the United States based on purchasing power parity by 2050 and lead seven other emerging countries to overtake the Group of Seven, or G7, as the world's biggest economic bloc, the report said.

Purchasing Power Parity, or PPP, is a currency conversion measure that uses a common currency and equalize the purchasing power of different currencies. In other words, the PPP eliminates the differences in price levels between countries in the process of conversion.

The Emerging Seven economies, or E7 as the PwC coined it, will by 2050 be around 25 percent larger than the current G7 when measured in US dollar terms at the market exchange rates or around 75 percent larger in PPP terms.

The E7 includes "BRIC" - Brazil, Russia, India and China - plus Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey.

In contrast, the E7 is currently only around 20 percent the size of the G7 at market exchange rates and around 75 percent of its size in PPP terms.

"China and India are the two important markets to drive up the E7 economies," said John Hawksworth, head of the macroeconomics unit of PricewaterouseCoopers based in London, and the author of the report, in Shanghai.

China, despite its projected slowdown in market growth, is forecast to be around 95 percent the size of the United States at market exchange rates by 2050 or about 40 percent larger in PPP terms.

China's economy expanded 10.2 percent in the first quarter after soaring 9.5 percent last year.

Growing rapidly as a major player, China is also burdened with some problems which may hinder its growth.

The declining working age population, or those between 16 years and 50 years, will be one disadvantage for China while India, a relatively young economy, will gain from its growing working population.

Better education, higher energy efficiency and the development of the country's financial sectors are suggestions offered for a healthy economic expansion.

"China needs to diversify its capital markets besides focusing on the banking sector," he said, adding that the securities and corporate bond sectors are areas where expansion is pending.

Source: Shanghai Daily

Tags: China | Economy | Finance

All Eleven US Notebook Companies Manufacture Exclusively In China

2006-05-22T14:14:00.000-05:00

A US Representative has called for the ban of Chinese-manufactured computers for classified work, but where will he find such machines?

DailyTech previously reported that the US government had planned to spend roughly $13M USD to buy new computer systems from Lenovo. Some government voices were concerned that because the Chinese government owns a portion of Lenovo, the computer systems would pose a security risk to the US.

Republican Representative Frank Wolf then issued a statement to reporters that no government agency doing classified work should use computers manufacturered by a Chinese company or made outside of the US. However, most computer manufacturers are off-shoring manufacturing works to other countries.

Below is a list of the top dozen or so notebook companies in the US with details on where the components are currently manufactured.

(Continued)

Tags: China | Economy | Technology

Jackie Chan, Jet Li to Star in New Film

2006-05-21T10:22:00.000-05:00

Chinese action stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li are set to star together for the first time in a new film, Chan's official website said Wednesday.

Jackie Chan(Top), Jet Li(Bottom)

"For years now, many producers have tried to put the two superstars together in a movie and both Jet and Jackie liked the idea very much," said Chan's manager Willie Chan.

Although both stars have agreed to a project, no date has been set for filming to begin and a script has yet to be finalised, the manager said.

"Let's keep our fingers crossed and who knows? Let's hope there will be a Jet Li/Jackie Chan project as soon as possible," he added.

A report on the Chinese news website Sina.com said the project would be formally announced at the Cannes Film Festival and shooting was expected to begin next year after Chan finishes filming "Rush Hour 3".

The report said that Li, star of "Fearless" and "Hero", has put all other offers on hold and stands to pocket 15 million US dollars from the film.

Source: Chinabroadcast

Tags: China | Movie | Entertainment

Foreign estimates of Three Gorges costs "wrong", official

2006-05-21T09:15:00.000-05:00

Foreign estimates of the construction costs of the Three Gorges Project, which are more than double the official budget, are wrong, said an official in charge of the mammoth hydro-electric project on Friday.

Li Yong'an, general manager of the Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation, outlined how the project would actually come in under budget in response to foreign news agency reports of "Western estimates", which put the cost at between 40 billion and 50 billion U.S. dollars.

Li said the project on the middle reaches of the Yangtze, the largest river in China, would cost no more than 180 billion yuan (22.5 billion U.S. dollars), 20 billion yuan less than the initial budget of 203.9 billion yuan (25.2 billion U.S. dollars).

Li attributed the reduction in the costs to the nation's sound economic development since 1993, when construction began.

Low inflation over the last 12 years had kept cost rises to a minimum, Li said.

"The original budget was made on the presumption that the price hikes would stand at five to 10 percent annually during the construction period, however prices have actually dropped in recent years," he said.

It was estimated that low inflation was responsible for shaving more than 14 billion yuan (1.75 billion U.S. dollars) off the original budget.

Low interest rates and strict financial management also contributed, Li said.

The Three Gorges Project is expected to be completed by 2008, a year ahead of schedule, said Cao Guangjing, deputy general manager of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation.

The Three Gorges Project was begun in 1993, and was scheduled to be completed in 2009.

He said all construction targets had been met ahead of schedule, allowing the entire project to be completed a year ahead of schedule.

Early completion would further reduce costs, said Li.

The Three Gorges Project, including a 2,309-m-long, 185-m-high dam with 26 power generators, is expected to generate 84.7 billion kwh of electricity annually when it is completed.

It is also expected to control flooding on the Yangtze, fuel industrial growth in the area and improve shipping.

By the end of last month, 126 billion yuan (15.75 billion U.S. dollars) had been spent on construction. More than 100 billion kwh of electricity have already been generated, earning 25 billion yuan (3.125 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue.

Source: Xinhua

Tags: China | Economy | Development

Photos: Shanghai Skyline at Night

2006-05-21T09:04:00.000-05:00

Click thumbnails to enlarge

Tags: China | Shanghai | Photos

Photo: Three Gorges Dam Complete

2006-05-21T08:52:00.000-05:00

click thumbnail to enlarge

Tags: China | Environment | Development

China Mobile looks to put Google on its mobile phones

2006-05-18T18:26:00.000-05:00

China Mobile, China's largest cell-phone carrier by subscribers, said Thursday it's in talks with Google to launch an Internet search engine for mobile services in China.

China Mobile is keen to explore mobile data services to offset declining revenue from the traditional voice services.

"I recently met with Google's CEO for the second time. And we both share the same idea: how to turn cell phones into a new kind of Internet search engine," said Wang Jianzhou, chairman and chief executive of China Mobile.

Wang didn't elaborate on the two companies' cooperation on the mobile search engine, but he said it will mean significant progress in China's mobile service. Representatives from Mountain View, Calif.-based Google weren't immediately available for comment.

- - -

High-def video for cell phones: Chipmaker Micron Technology has a thumbnail-sized digital sensor that enables pocket-sized cameras and cell phones to capture bursts of 10 high-quality photos in a single second or even high-definition video. Production of the new 8-megapixel digital image sensor is expected to begin early next year at Micron's fabrication plants in Idaho and Italy.

Devices using the new chip should reach consumers by late 2007 and will feature high-speed, high-megapixel digital photography capabilities normally found in more expensive, single-lens reflex cameras. Micron's new sensor allows users to shoot up to 10 images per second at 8-megapixel resolution or 30 frames per second at a resolution of 2-megapixels.

Analysts say the technology, which is also used in memory chips and microprocessors, will challenge the dominance of traditional light-sensing charge-coupled devices, or CCDs. But Chris Chute, research manager for IDC Digital Imaging Solutions said it may take a while for the new sensor to become commonplace in consumer cameras. Most digital cameras are made in Japan and manufacturers there tend to buy image sensors from Japanese suppliers, who primarily produce CCD chips.

- - -

Japanese mobile phone merger: Japan's Softbank Corporation said on Thursday it would set up a mobile phone handset and content joint venture with Vodafone as it looks to take on NTT DoCoMo and KDDI. Shares in Softbank, a new entrant into Japan's $78 billion mobile phone market, rose on news of the venture, which is expected to help the Internet conglomerate procure phones at lower costs and offer innovative services.

In a move to further stoke competition, KDDI said it has reached an agreement with Google, the world's most popular web search provider, to offer Google's search engine on its mobile phones, sending its shares higher. Google competes with Yahoo and Yahoo Japan, a Softbank subsidiary.

Softbank, which recently bought Vodafone's Japan operations, said the 50-50 joint venture will carry out joint development and procurement of mobile phones. The venture, which will be capitalized at a maximum of $99 million and be set up by this summer, will also procure news and entertainment content for distribution on the two firms' mobile phone networks. Softbank and Vodafone also plan to jointly develop a new internet portal and key software for their handsets in the venture.

Source: wired

Tags: China | Google | Mobile

Microsoft teams up with Chinese handset developer

2006-05-15T22:41:00.000-05:00

Microsoft China will push for wider adoption of Windows Mobile and Windows Media software with mobile handset developer China TechFaith Wireless, the two companies have announced.

The duo signed a memorandum of understanding to create a strategic partnership that will tie their sales teams closer together and deepen technical cooperation, they said in a statement. The deal is mainly focused on the development of smart phones and handsets with entertainment capabilities. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Windows Mobile handsets, particularly smart phones, have grown in popularity in recent years as the software and handset designs improved. Microsoft has relied heavily on support from contract handset designers and manufacturers, such as High Tech Computer in Taiwan and Beijing's TechFaith, to make this happen.

Shipments of Windows Mobile smart phones are expected to account for 11.2 percent of all smart phone sales by 2010, up from 3.8 percent this year, market analyst IDC forecast in February.

The deal with Microsoft expands TechFaith's list of strategic partners, which includes Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Intel, Philips, and NEC.

— Sumner Lemon (IDG News Service)

Tags: China | Economy | Microsoft

Photos: New Beijing Buses

2006-05-15T20:33:00.000-05:00

Credit: Gakei

Tags: China | Economy | Beijing

Yuan Hits Highest Level in 10 Years

2006-05-15T08:44:00.000-05:00

SHANGHAI, China - China's official exchange rate broke through the psychologically important 8 yuan per dollar level Monday, its highest level in more than a decade, in a move traders said might signal Beijing's willingness to allow its currency to appreciate faster.

Analysts said the U.S. government's decision to not formally accuse China of manipulating its currency in a semiannual report last Wednesday may have freed Beijing to let the yuan, also known as the renminbi, or "People's Money," rise further.

The yuan's gain affected currency trading elsewhere, spurring traders to sell dollars for yen due to Japan's proximity to China.

Meanwhile, the surge in China's trade surplus has added to pressure on Beijing to let the yuan's value rise faster.

"The PBC (People's Bank of China) has kept the renminbi stable against the U.S. dollar over the past month for mostly political reasons," Jonathan Anderson, chief Asia economist for the UBS brokerage in Hong Kong, said in a research report issued Monday. He forecast "more aggressive action" on the exchange rate.

The yuan's official, or "parity," rate was set at 7.9982 yuan per dollar Monday morning, breaching 8.0 yuan for the first time. The government announces the official exchange rate each trading day by calculating the weighted average of prices given by 13 market makers excluding highest and lowest offers.

(Continued)

Tags: China | Economy | Beijing

Beijing Olympics construction suspended

2006-05-14T17:38:00.000-05:00

BEIJING, China (AP) - Ancient imperial tombs were unearthed during construction at a competition site for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, prompting work to be suspended, state media said Monday.

The tombs, found in mid-April, are believed to date back more than 500 years to the Ming dynasty and may be those of eunuchs serving at the imperial court, the Beijing Morning Post said.

Beijing has been the site of various Chinese governments for more than 1,000 years, and almost every major building project unearths gravesites or relics. Most are removed or destroyed before experts can examine them.

Archeologists have found coins, ceramics and jade in the tombs at the Olympic shooting range on the Chinese capital's western outskirts, state media said.

A spokeswoman for the Beijing Olympic organizers, Zhu Jing, said she had no information on how the discovery would affect construction. An official of the Beijing Cultural Relics Department, Liu Baoshan, declined to give an age for the tombs.

Olympic organizers broke ground in July 2004 for the shooting range.

The main Olympic facilities are on Beijing's north side, while other facilities are scattered throughout the city.

(Source)

Tags: China | Olympics | Beijing

Learn Chinese (Mandarin) Part 1

2006-05-14T17:12:00.000-05:00

Here are the some basics to get you started...

yi - 1
er -2
san -3
si-4
wu-5
liu-6
qi-7
ba-8
jiu-9
shi-10
mao - cat
gou- dog
dong wu - animals
lao hu - tiger
hou zi - monkey
tu zi - rabbit
ma- horse
she/sheh-snake
bu- no
dui- yes
zao xiang hao- good morning
xia wu hao- good afternoon
wan shang hao- good evening
bu ke qi- your welcome
dui bu qi- sorry
ni de xing ming shi shen me?- what is your name?
da jia hao - hello everyone!
wo kan yi xia- let me see for a second
wo hui deng ni- i will wait for you
ta hao ma? -how is she/he?
ta men hao ma?- how are they?
qing zuo- please sit down

Tags: China | Learn | Mandarin

China to set up special fund for poverty reduction

2006-05-14T16:55:00.000-05:00

TIANJIN, May 14 (Xinhua) -- China is expected to set up a special industrial fund to boost its poverty reduction efforts, according to sources attending a symposium on the sustained development in the country's poverty-stricken areas.

The poverty reduction fund was proposed by the China Association for Poverty Alleviation and Development, but there's no timetable yet as to when it will be launched, said the association's vice president Tian Ruizhang.

Tian said their application has been submitted to the government and is being reviewed.

"China has made great achievements in poverty reduction but the biggest obstacle in this endeavor is lack of fund," he told the ongoing symposium in Tianjin.

Between 2001 and 2005, China's central coffer arranged 57.2 billion yuan (7.15 billion U.S. dollars) of poverty relief fund, with an annual increase of 6.45 percent.

"This is utterly insufficient for the huge poverty-stricken population, which stood at 23.65 million in the rural areas at the end of last year," Tian told Xinhua in an exclusive interview Sunday.

Nor is there enough fund from China's financial institutions, he said. "None of the four big state-owned commercial banks has a branch in the needy areas."

An industrial fund for poverty reduction purposes would therefore be an effective way to raise funds for the benefits of the poverty-stricken population and the investors alike, as it is expected to yield higher returns, said Tian. Enditem

Source: Xinhua

Tags: China | Economy | Poverty

Video: Chinese Military 2005

2006-05-14T16:21:00.000-05:00

Below is a 7 min video of China's military exercise in 2005.

Tags: China | Military | Video

Construction of new China Science &Technology Museum starts

2006-05-11T18:12:00.000-05:00

This is an effect photo of the new China Science and Technology Museum. The foundation-laying ceremony for the museum was held on Tuesday. Located in the National Olympic Park, the new site for the museum possesses an area of 48 thousand square meters and will be partially opened to public during the 2008 Olympic Games.

A worker adjusts the intelligent robot Tongtong during the foundation-laying ceremony for the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing, May 9, 2006. Located in the National Olympic Park, the new site for the museum possesses an area of 48 thousand square meters and will be partially opened to public during the 2008 Olympic Games.

Tags: China | Development | Photos

Top 10 New Archaeological Discoveries of 2005 unveiled

2006-05-11T18:03:00.000-05:00

he Top 10 New Archaeological Discoveries of 2005 were unveiled last night in Beijing and more than half of them from outside the Yellow River Valley, considered the cradle of Chinese civilization.

They may shed light on China's multiple cultural origins, experts said.

The Xiaohuangshan relics in East China's Zhejiang Province, which were excavated early last year, are an example.

The relics, which date back 8,000-10,000 years, could rewrite the country's archaeological history as they are much older than the Hemudu site in the province, which was previously believed to have nurtured the earliest Neolithic culture in China's south about 7,000 years ago.

At the site, researchers found several deep ditches which they believed were storerooms and some signs of barbecuing.

In Southwest China, a large number of pits for sacrifice were found among the relics in Zhongshui, Guizhou Province.

Inside the pits, crockery ranging from the late New Stone Age to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 24) was uncovered, providing strong evidence for future research into the rice-growing culture of Zhongshui area 3,100 years ago.

In East China's Fujian Province, archaeologists discovered six kilns of the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th century BC) in Pucheng, a city in the north of the province.

More than 300 pieces, including pottery, stoneware and bronze implements have been excavated. Researchers are continuing work in the area.

"It was the first time we found such a large kiln group in the country," said archaeologist Xu Pingfang.

The competition has been held for 16 years. This year's top spots were selected from about 400 archaeological discoveries last year.

Top 10 ancient sites

Xiaohuangshan Relics, Zhejiang Province Neolithic culture

Gaomiao Relics, Hunan Province Earliest white pottery

Zhongshui Relics, Guizhou Province Sacrifice pits

Liuzhuang Relics, Henan Province Neolithic culture

Maoershan Relics, Fujian Province Kiln group

Hengshui Relics, Shanxi Province Cemetery decoration

Liangdaicun Relics, Shaanxi Province Graveyard for nobles

Jurong and Jintan Relics, Jiangsu Province Mound graveyards

Huangyangzhuang Relics, Henan Province Courtyards in Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220)

Datong Relics, Shanxi Province Tomb mural

Source: China Daily

Tags: China | History | Culture

Pictures: Zhang Ziyi at Premiere of "Over The Hedge"

2006-05-09T14:08:00.000-05:00

Zhang Ziyi at the Los Angeles Premiere of "Over The Hedge". Mann Village Theatre, Westwood, CA on April 30th.

(CRI photo)

Tags: China Movies Photos

Three Gorges Dam To Finish Early

2006-05-08T23:35:00.000-05:00

Construction of China's Three Gorges Dam is likely to be finished by 20 May, nine months ahead of schedule, according to state media reports.
But several generators will still have to be installed and the dam is expected to become fully operational in 2009.

Once completed the dam, begun in 1993, will become the world's largest hydroelectric power project.

However, the $22bn scheme has been criticised for its high cost and the relocation of thousands of people.

"There are less than 3,000 cubic meters (105,000 cubic feet) of concrete left to be placed before the dam is finally completed," said Cao Guangjing, of China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation.

That would complete the principal part of the dam, which has often been compared to the Great Wall of China, Xinhua news agency reported.

China's government says the 7,600ft-long (2,300m) dam, will generate much needed power, prevent flooding and benefit shipping.

Critics say the dam's capacity to control floods is unproven and have also cited environmental problems.

(Source)

Tags: China | News | Development

Chinese Cars: Arrival Delayed!

2006-05-07T08:57:00.000-05:00

While the arrival of Chinese cars has been delayed, they will still arrive on American shores pending the resolution of three concerns.

Over the past year, much has been written about various Chinese automakers and the pending introduction of their vehicles to the U.S. market. Manufacturers such as Chery and Geely have been mentioned most frequently with a few smaller automakers also receiving some press. Originally, it appeared that both manufacturers would import their vehicles some time around the summer of 2007, but that now appears unlikely as several current models have already failed preliminary U.S. safety tests. Regardless, before 2009 hits, at least two Chinese manufacturers will likely be importing cars to the U.S. and at prices starting as low as $8500!

Yes, all that talk of $6600 cars from China have evaporated. Many auto enthusiasts, including yours truly, had been passing around information about cheaply priced, cheaply built cars coming from China that would retail below $7000, some $3000 cheaper than any model now sold in the U.S. Dire predictions of just what this would do to the auto industry were raised. Now it turns out that those predictions were woefully incorrect.

What went wrong?

Well, nothing…and everything. The price mentioned was correct until U.S. automotive safety specialists got a hold of two or three models and put them through the ropes. Each and every model flunked safety tests and I’m not just talking about bumper failure: on at least one model the damage was so extensive that it was determined that the particular model as it is built now would never be approved for the U.S. market. Instead, an updated model incorporating the latest safety standards was suggested.

Despite the setback, the Chinese automakers are planning a U.S. roll out within the next few years pending:

Approval from the Communist Central Planning Committee – Lest anyone forget, the Chinese government is totalitarian and only upper government officials can approve the export of any vehicles to foreign markets. China is finding a great internal demand for their vehicles and if there is no excess capacity to export, the cars won’t be coming until that capacity has been met. Look for new factories to be built for Geely Automotive Company, Chery Automobiles, Ltd., and Diphthong Motors, the current group of leading Chinese automotive manufacturers.

Development of a U.S. Dealer Network – Geely is far into the process of having a dealer network in place thanks to Malcolm Bricklin who created Subaru’s network in 1968. Yes, Bricklin was behind the car that bore his name during the 1970s as well as the ugly Yugo of the 1980s. Older, yet wiser, Bricklin is carefully amassing a dealer network that will be in place in all fifty states and parts of Canada by 2008, just months before the first of five Geely models arrive.

Passage of Stringent Government Safety Tests – While the current models flunked, that doesn’t mean they won’t be sold in the U.S. Remember the $6600 price tag? Well, it’ll take between $1500 to $2000 per vehicle to ensure that each one passes the current U.S. safety and emissions requirements, thus the higher price tag. Any model that flunks will never be imported; instead, look for one or two acceptable models to enter first followed by updated versions of other models within the following two or three years.

At prices starting at $8500, the Chinese cars pose less of a threat to the market than cars that would have been priced below $7000. Still, the thought of buying fairly well equipped cars for less than $10,000 has many intrigued, something that the importers of the Chinese brands hope isn’t lost on you.

(Source)

Tags: China | News | Automotive

Five of World's 10 Tallest Towers are located in China

2006-05-06T18:36:00.000-05:00

Source: Forbes

Tags: China | Hong Kong | Skyscrappers

China's Chery will be next Toyota, U.S. importer says

2006-05-05T18:59:00.000-05:00

SHANGHAI - It's the last thing the U.S. auto industry needs: another Toyota Motor Corp.

But that's exactly what Malcolm Bricklin, the energetic 66-year-old founder and CEO of Visionary Vehicles, is predicting will become of China's Chery Automobile Co., whose cars he plans to begin selling in the United States in January 2007.

"We're going to make billions from this business," Bricklin said in an interview at Chery's booth at the bustling Shanghai auto show, which opened to the public on Friday.

"Chery is going to be the next Toyota," he told Reuters.

He intends to help the Chinese maker join the ranks of General Motors Corp. Ford Motor Co. and Toyota to sell at least 2 million cars in the world's biggest auto market.

If Bricklin's calculations go to plan, the day when Chery emulates the world's second-largest and most profitable car maker could come as early as in several years.

The man best known for importing the cheap Yugo hatchback into the United States in the 1980s wants to sell 250,000 Chery cars in the first year through 250 dealerships nationwide.

By 2010, the Visionary/Chery partnership would have 18 models including two-door, four-door and sport-utility vehicles, to help sales to 1 million units. The line-up will not include the QQ minicar, which General Motor Corp. claims is a copy of its Chevrolet Spark and for which it is suing Chery.

"The problem is going to be that we're not going to be able to build enough cars to satisfy demand," he said.

Chery, China's eighth-largest car maker, sold 90,000 vehicles last year including 8,000 exports, mostly to Malaysia and Iran.

To hear Bricklin tell it, his business model of "redefining the price of luxury" is fool-proof.

"We're bringing Chinese cars that are beautiful, luxurious, built in state-of-the-art facilities, and we're going to sell them for far less than the competition," he said.

"Our SUV is going to compete with the BMW X3 and sell for less than a Subaru. It will compare to a $35,000 car and we will sell it for $19,000."

PERFECT MATCH

The entrepreneur says he searched all over the world for the right partner, travelling to Romania, Poland, India and England, among other countries, before ending up at Chery, based in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui.

"They are so head-and-shoulders above anybody who ever broke into the car business," he said. "They know what they're doing, they're sophisticated, they're intelligent, they're hard-working and ambitious -- every good quality you'd ever want to have."

Despite having ambitions to broaden its exports, including to Europe, it was Chery that stalled, following Chinese tradition of taking its time to gauge a potential business partner's personal character before signing any deals.

When Chery management insisted they needed to get to know him better before offering a contract on Bricklin's second visit to China, the charismatic entrepreneur volunteered to bare all.

"He took off his shirt down to his skin and said to them, 'This is me! This is who I am!'," his son Jonathan, a filmmaker who is working on a documentary of the partnership, said.

Chery eventually gave Bricklin the deal of his dreams.

It's a prospect that frightens Detroit's heavyweights, both of which are already losing market share to Asian brands, to the point where Ford hinted that trade barriers might be in order.

"How long will the U.S. be an open market for whatever comes in? It won't be forever," said Ford President Jim Padilla.

"Unlimited growth of imports is something that has to be balanced over time," he told reporters in Shanghai.

Balancing imports is exactly what Bricklin intends to do.

After the first million cars sold, Visionary/Chery would build a manufacturing base in the U.S. to avoid any political backlash -- "just like Toyota does", he said.

"What we're saying to the world is, 'Don't worry about us. We're not coming in and taking over everybody.'"

Bricklin warned, however, that other Chinese makers would probably follow in his footsteps, bringing more unwanted competition to a saturated market.

"They'd be crazy not to," he says. "I'd expect two to two-and-a-half million cars a year to be imported from China."

Source: Reuters

Tags: China | Cars | Technology

China Develops First "Personal Robot"

2006-05-05T15:22:00.000-05:00

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has manufactured its first "personal robot" that can provide services at home and, among other skills, log on to the Internet and tell its owners the news and weather, Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

Liangliang, standing at about 80 cm (nearly three feet), is able to walk and navigate obstacles at ease, as well as perform tasks as instructed by humans.

Its developer, the Shenyang-based Xinsong Automation Co., affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the robot cold "provide services of education, entertainment and security" and act as a personal assistant, Xinhua said.

It did not go into details.

"In the presentation debut, a staffer sent a mobile phone short message to the robot inquiring about the situations at home and, in two minutes, Liangliang replied with a message: temperature 22 degrees Celsius and everything normal at home," Xinhua said.

Liangliang, in Chinese, is a duplication of the character for "shining" and "bright".

(Source)

Tags: China | News | Technology

Two earthquakes jolt north China's city of Tangshan

2006-05-04T21:36:00.000-05:00

Two separate small earthquakes hit Tangshan, a northern Chinese city which experienced a strong earthquake 30 years ago that killed 240,000 people.

The two earthquakes occured Wednesday night in this city, some 200 kilometers east of Beijing, according to the official website of the seismological network of China.

The first quake, measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale, jolted Tangshan in Hebei Province at about 9:53 p.m. on Wednesday, with the epicenter being located at 39.7 north latitude and 118.5 east longitude, said a statement of the website.

The quake was followed by another one, measuring 3.8 on the Richter scale at about 10:02 p.m. with the epicenter being located at 39.8 north latitude and 118.4 east longitude, a separate statement said.

No casualties have been reported.

On July 28, 1976, a major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale leveled the entire city of Tangshan, killing 240,000 people and leaving 160,000 others severely injured and more than 4,000 children orphaned.

Source: Xinhua

Tags: China | News | Disaster

Photo: Star of Nanchang (World's Biggest Ferris Wheel)

2006-05-03T20:29:00.000-05:00

Here is a photo of the World's Biggest Ferris Wheel standing 525 foot high. Star of Nanchang opened this week in a riverside park in Jiangxi province.

Tags: China | Photos | Technology

China reports U.S. seeks to develop laser weapon against enemy satellites

2006-05-03T16:35:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government is seeking to develop a powerful ground-based laser weapon that will use beams of concentrated light to destroy enemy satellites in orbit, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The largely secret project, parts of which have been made public through Air Force budget documents submitted to Congress in February, is part of a wide-ranging effort to develop space weapons, both defensive and offensive, according to the report.

The laser research is far more ambitious than a previous effort by the Bill Clinton administration nearly a decade ago to test an anti-satellite laser.

U.S. military officials defended the research as prudent, given the potential need for space arms to defend U.S. satellites against attack in the years ahead.

But some Congressional Democrats and other experts fault the research as potential fuel for an anti-satellite arms race that could ultimately hurt this nation more than others because the United States relies so heavily on military satellites, which aid navigation, reconnaissance and attack warning. Enditem

Source: Xinhua

Tags: China | News | Military

China Claims World's Largest Ferris Wheel

2006-05-02T13:21:00.000-05:00

BEIJING - China is reaching for the stars with the opening of what it says is the world's tallest Ferris wheel in the country's south.

The 525 foot high Star of Nanchang opened this week in a riverside park in Jiangxi province, the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday.

The wheel is a full 82 feet taller than the London Eye on the banks of the River Thames in London which, according to the Guinness World Records, is the current record holder.

A total of 57 million yuan ($7.1 million) was invested in the Chinese project, Xinhua said.

A man who answered the telephone Tuesday at the offices of the Nanchang City Investment and Development Company, which operates the Star, said lines for the wheel have been "very long."

"There are so many people here today," said the man, who refused to give his name. "They all want to see the scenery from the wheel."

He said there are 60 compartments on the wheel which each can carry eight people.

Photos released by Xinhua showed the Star of Nanchang lit up with fluorescent red and blue lights which total about 21,300 feet in length. The agency has said a full rotation of the wheel will take about 30 minutes.

The developer is applying to be a Guinness world record, Xinhua said.

(Source)

Tags: China | News | Technology

China Tests New Levitation Train

2006-05-01T18:04:00.000-05:00

BEIJING - China successfully tested a locally made magnetic levitation train, the first time the country has achieved the feat without using foreign technology, state media reported Monday.

The 20-ton test maglev train ran steadily Sunday on a 1,400-foot experimental line in the provincial capital of Chengdu, the capital of southwestern Sichuan province, the official Xinhua News Agency said Monday.

The test train can hold 60 people and travel up to 100 mph, Xinhua reported, citing Zhang Kunlun, deputy director of the School of Electrical Engineering at the Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu.

The maglev train was developed by a research team at the university, one of China's key engineering schools, Xinhua reported. The technology uses powerful magnets to suspend a train above a track and propel it at high speeds.

The cost of the Chinese maglev train is low, and it is suitable for urban traffic, Zhang said.

"The successful test of the train shows that China has mastered the technology of low-to-medium speed maglev trains," he was quoted as saying.

China is home to the world's first commercially operating maglev train, which links one of Shanghai's airports with the city's financial district.

The rail line was built with German technology. Japan had lobbied China to use its Shinkansen bullet train technology for the line, while France pitched its TGV system.

The Chinese government said earlier that work will begin this year on a second maglev line linking Shanghai and the resort city of Hangzhou, a $4.4-billion, high-speed line that can run trains at up to 280 mph.

The new line, due to launch by 2010, will cut travel time from Shanghai to Hangzhou to a half-hour from the current two hours.

(Source)

Tags: China | News | Technology

China shut down six porn websites

2006-04-30T13:51:00.000-05:00

Beijing: Internet police in China's capital have shut down six pornographic websites to prevent their ‘negative’ influence on society.

The six websites, including ‘www.ysdm.com’ and ‘www.xf13.net’, contained what was determined to be ‘unhealthy content’ and were shut down on Friday, 'Beijing News' reported.

Operators of two other websites were given a deadline to clean up contents on their websites after an investigation, the paper said.

In early April, a proposal to operate ‘civilised’ Internet websites won support from fourteen major websites in the city. Internet authorities have also increased their supervision of websites.

In recent years, the Internet industry in China with over 100 million Internet users witnessed remarkable progress and now has more than 700,000 websites, with over 25,000 being added each year.

In 2004, Chinese government kicked off a massive campaign to weed out pornography from the rapidly-growing Internet and in 2005, 11 people were jailed for up to 12 years for running an obscene website in the country's largest case of Internet pornography.

(Source)

Tags: China | News | Pornography

How Google became a rude word in China

2006-04-29T04:56:00.000-05:00

Gougou, Gugu, Gege, Goule or Guge? A furious online debate has opened up in China over the recent adoption of a Mandarin name by Google - the latest in a series of controversies to hit the American online search company since it launched a Chinese service earlier this year.

Already facing a backlash over its capitulation to Beijing's censorship demands and problems with US regulators, the world's biggest search engine is now under fire for choosing a name many users criticise as awkward, nonsensical or rude.

It is less than a fortnight since Google said it would be known as Guge, represented by the ideograms for valley and song. The name conveyed "the sense of a fruitful and productive search experience in a poetic Chinese way", it said.
But in a poll by news portal Sina.com, 85% of respondents were opposed to Guge. Tens of thousands of others have signed an online petition calling for Google to rethink its Chinese identity.

Soso, one of the leaders of the campaign, said: "When I first heard the name Guge, I couldn't help laughing. It sounded like fool, funny and fart." Soso is the founder of igogo8.com, a site that allows users to superimpose their own name on Google branding. The most popular alternatives listed on a second website, NoGuge.com, are Gougou (dog dog), already used by China's web community, Goule (enough), Gugu (auntie), Gugou (ancient dog) and Gege (elder brother). But in an apparent sideswipe at Google's obedience to Beijing censors, the seventh most popular is Good Gou (good dog).

(Source)

Tags: China | Google | Guge

Photos: Welcome to Beijing

2006-04-29T04:17:00.000-05:00

click on thumbnails to enlarge

Tags: China | Beijing | Pictures

China raises interest rates to cool overheating economy

2006-04-28T14:52:00.000-05:00

China yesterday increased its interest rates for the first time in 18 months in an effort to rein in booming investment and credit growth that have the potential to destabilise what is now the world's fourth largest economy.
The unexpected increase in the People's Bank of China's one-year lending rate, to 5.85% from 5.58%, signals important changes in Beijing's policy priorities as it aims to support sustainable development of the economy against a background of strong growth, say economists.

(article continued)

Tags: China | Economy | Beijing

Construction Pictures of the New Beijing Airport

2006-04-27T13:22:00.000-05:00

Beijing's Terminal 3 to be worlds biggest airport. Construction will be complete in 2007

Renderings

Construction

Tags: China | Beijing | Construction

Exploring Space: New Space Station to Be Built

2006-04-26T22:40:00.000-05:00

China will launch Shenzhou VII with three astronauts in September 2008, after the Beijing Olympic Games, said Song Zhengyu, deputy director-designer of carrier rocket F of March II and research fellow of the first institute of the China Aerospace Science & Technology Corp (CASTC).

The preparation work goes smoothly, with the rocket to be ready at the end of this year. The selection and training of the three astronauts is getting under way.

Different form Shenzhou VI, the astronauts of Shenzhou VII will step out of the module for a space walk, operation, tightening up screws, and installment of equipment, with the aim to get ready for the building of a space station.

After the launch of Shenzhou VII, a space station with 20 tons will be built, Song said, adding that Shenzhou VII will also be launched at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northweat China's Gansu Province.

(Source)

Tags: China | Space | Shenzhou

(Video) Construction of Major Projects in Beijing

2006-04-26T17:58:00.000-05:00

Here is a short video showing the current state of four of Beijing's new mega buildings:

- Rem Koolhaas' new CCTV building
- Paul Andreu's National Theater
- The National Swimming Center or 'Water Cube' designed by PTW
- The Olympic Stadium designed Herzog & de Meuron
Shot and edited by Luke Mines, presented by Jeremy Goldkorn.

Source: Danwei.tv

Tags: China | Beijing | Olympics

Donnie Yen's "Dragon, Tiger Gate" to Debut in North America

2006-04-26T11:54:00.000-05:00

"Dragon, Tiger Gate," a Hong Kong kung fu movie starring Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse, will be released in Chinese in Asia on July 28 and in North America next March.

Based on and sharing the name of Hong Kong cartoonist Tony Wong's cartoon, the movie follows the story of three young Hong Kong kids who open a kung fu school and compete with foreign counterparts and even fight against an overseas criminal gang in the 1970s.

The shooting of the movie, directed by Wilson YIP Wai-Shun and also starring Shawn Yue, Dong Jie and Li Xiaoran, began in Shanghai last September and finished in February.

It was the second film in which Yen, who was also the choreographer for the movie, has cooperated with Wai-Shun, following "Sha Po Lang."

Yen said the action design was a bit different from his previous works.

"It's a little surrealistic and has a sense of cartoon, but I promise each action of mine is real," he said.

The Weinstein Company, created by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded the Miramax Films Corp. in 1979, has been the film's distributor in all the English-speaking areas.

Bey Logan, The Weinstein Co.'s new rep in Asia, said in Beijing that he is proud of buying the film.

"There are a lot movies adapted from cartoons in America. I think this is the best one so far. Yen: great star, great action!" he added.

The 10-million-U.S.-dollar movie was invested by the Hong Kong-based Mandarin Films Distribution Co., Ltd, Beijing Polybona Film Distribution Co., Ltd and the Shanghai Film Group.

(Source)

Tags: China | Film | Kung Fu

Chinese scientists clone mad cow-resistant calf

2006-04-26T11:43:00.000-05:00

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese scientists have succeeded in cloning a cow with gene cells resistant to mad cow disease, the official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

The birth of the 55-kg (121-lb) calf in the eastern province of Shandong comes three years after a team led by now-disgraced South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk cloned cows with a protein structure resistant to bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

"Scientists with the Laiyang Agro-Science Institute in Shandong said they used gene-transplant technology to introduce the genes to the calf cloned from cells of an adult cow," Xinhua said.

The research was led by professors Dong Yajuan and Bo Xuejin -- who succeeded in cloning China's first and second healthy cows in 2001 -- in collaboration with a Japanese university.

State television reported that further tests would be required on the calf as it grows to verify the effectiveness of the transplanted genes.

(Source)

Tags: China | Science | Health

NASA Administrator Agrees to Visit China

2006-04-26T08:42:00.000-05:00

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said Tuesday he has accepted an invitation to visit China for talks on possible cooperation in some areas of space.

He announced this while answering questions raised by lawmakers at the Senate Subcommittee on Science and Space. Agenda of the trip has not yet been fixed, local press reports quoted NASA officials as saying.

China has in recent years made notable achievements in space exploration. It becomes the world's third country to send human into orbit, after the former Soviet Union and United States. The launch of its first manned space mission in 2003 was followed by a longer mission carrying two astronauts in 2005.

"The United States needs good competitors and it needs good partners and sometimes they can be the same," said Griffin, who cited the example of current cooperation between the United States and Russia on the international space station.

Source: Xinhua

Tags: China | NASA | Science

Jingjing and Chacha, China's cartoon censorship cops

2006-04-26T07:56:00.000-05:00

The Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Public Security created two anime-style cartoon Internet police in January. The mascots' names? Jingjing and Chacha.

Each cop has a blog and a chat window. "The main function of Jingjing and Chacha is to intimidate," a Shenzhen official told The Beijing Youth Daily.

The newspaper article said the characters are there "to publicly remind all Netizens to be conscious of safe and healthy use of the Internet, self-regulate their online behavior and maintain harmonious Internet order together."

Credit: Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Public Security

Tags: China | Censorship | Chinese

Hooters bar now open in Shanghai

2006-04-25T20:10:00.000-05:00

China's first Hooters bar has opened in Shanghai.

Bosses said a Chinese Hooters girl should be "easygoing, upbeat, open-minded, and above all, be a cheerleader for the restaurant"

The US chain - famous for its scantily clad waitresses - has had its image slightly tweaked for the relatively straight-laced local clientele.

Vivacious Chinese waitresses sport the same uniform as their US counterparts in the Shanghai restaurant, bearing the well-known "delightfully tacky but unrefined" logo on their tops.

Bosses said a Chinese Hooters girl should be "easy-going, upbeat, open-minded, and above all, be a cheerleader for the restaurant".

Apart from escorting customers to their seats and waiting on them they also dance, sing and even hula-hoop on request.

(Source)

Tags: China | Restaurants | Bar

Three Gorges Dam Now Near Completion

2006-04-25T15:54:00.000-05:00

Source: xinhuanet.com
Total length: 2309m
Height: 181m
Width of bottom: 124m
Width of top: 15m

Tags: China | Construction | Projects

Moon Probe Radio Telescope Complete

2006-04-24T13:55:00.000-05:00

Chinese scientists in early April completed the main part of a high-tech radio telescope which will serve China's ambitious moon-probe project scheduled for launch in 2007. The 45-meter tall telescope weighs 400 tons and measures 40 meters in diameter of the antenna. It's located in southwest China's Yunnan Province and is the country's second largest radio telescope. The largest is being built in Beijing.

According to Li Yan, director of Yunnan Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with two radio telescopes already set up in Shanghai and northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China now has four large radio telescopes which are 2,000 to 3,000 kilometers apart from each other.

The telescopes will form a comprehensive earth-based research and survey network that will be able to detect, track and retrieve data sent back from China's first moon-orbiting satellite, Li said.

Located on top of the 2000-meter-tall Mountain Phoenix in an eastern suburb of Kunming, capital city of Yunnan Province, the newest radio telescope is "superbly well positioned", the scientist said.

The construction of the telescope started in August last year and will be completely installed and tested by June.

(Source)

Tags: China | Space | Science

China's third manned space flight to fly in September 2008

2006-04-23T16:25:00.000-05:00

China's third manned space flight will take place in September 2008 immediately after the Beijing Olympic Games, with astronauts attempting a space walk, state press reported Sunday

"The launch of the Shenzhou VII has been set for after the Beijing Olympics in September 2008 and will carry three astronauts," said Song Zhengyu, a leading official at the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp.

"The selection process for three astronauts is going on now as they train," he was quoted as saying by the Beijing News.

The flight will be launched from China's Jiuquan launch center in the deserts of northwest China's Inner Mongolia, Song said.

China became the third nation to place a man in space after the former Soviet Union and the United States, when Yang Liwei piloted the Shenzhou V on a short mission in October 2003.

Two years later, the Shenzhou VI carried two astronauts into space on a five-day mission.

Although no major technological breakthroughs have been made with China's manned space program, the nation has sought to use the flights as a vehicle to better educate its 1.3 billion citizens to modern science.

(article continued)

Tags: China | Space | Science

China to build 30 new science & tech parks

2006-04-23T09:19:00.000-05:00

BEIJING, April 21 -- China plans to increase the amount of academic research that gets developed into commercial products by building 30 new science and technology parks by 2010.
The move, announced last week by the Ministry of Science and Technology, will bring the total number of such facilities to 80.
The parks act as "incubators" for small and medium-sized high-tech companies, many of which are set up by universities or students.
Xu Luping, a senior official at the Ministry of Science and Technology, says that about 5,000 businesses have been set up in the 50 existing parks.
China started building science parks at universities in the late 1980s, with local governments and the universities usually covering the construction costs.
Thanks to policies China announced in February, the parks will enjoy a range of tax breaks starting this year. Xu told reporters that the amount each company is taxed would fall by 17.5 percent.
He says that China considers science parks to be central to its efforts to build capacity for innovation, because university-based researchers are among the most productive in China.
Universities won more than half of the national science and technology prizes awarded between 2000 and 2005.
This year, 17 universities have submitted applications for science parks, with only nine reaching the second round of competition.
Xu says that a panel of experienced park managers will soon complete its final assessments of the applications. Eight will be chosen for this year's program.

Tags: China | Tech | Science

Chinese $150 Linux mini-PC races OLPC to market

2006-04-22T13:14:00.000-05:00

A Chinese company is touting an inexpensive Linux-based computer as a way to close the "digital divide." YellowSheepRiver's $150 "Municator" appears to be available now, with a three-month leadtime, suggesting it could reach market well ahead of MIT's $100 "One Laptop Per Child" (OLPC) device.

The OLPC project was announced last fall, with laptop manufacturer Quanta Computer of Taiwan stepping forward to offer its manufacturing services shortly afterward. However, no specific delivery commitments appear to have been reached.

Additionally, the performance potential of the OLPC's $100 laptop design has drawn taunts from Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, as well as Intel Chairman Craig Barret, who called the design a "$100 gadget." If the Municator lives up to YellowSheepRiver's promise of Pentium III-like performance, the Chinese device could enjoy a performance edge, in addition to its apparent time-to-market lead.

(article continued)

Tags: China | Tech | Linux

China close to being top spammer

2006-04-21T23:32:00.000-05:00

Statistics from security firm Sophos show that China is fast catching up the US as a source of junk e-mail.

Top Spam Nations
1) United States - 23.1%
2) China (inc. Hong Kong) - 21.9%
3) South Korea - 9.8%
4) France - 4.3%
5) Poland - 3.8%
6) Spain - 3.3%
7) Germany - 3.0%
8) Brazil - 2.9%
9) Japan - 2.0%
10) United Kingdom - 1.9%

Tags: China | News | Internet

Chinese City Profile: Dailian

2006-04-21T18:07:00.000-05:00

Description: One of the most heavily developed industrial areas of China, the Dalian administrative district today consists of Dalian proper and the smaller Lüshunkou, formerly Lüshun city known in western and Russian historic references as Port Arthur
Population: 5,550,000
Area: 13,237 km² (land 12,574)
Pictures:

Tags: Culture | Photography | China

Chinese businesses among the most optimistic in the world: survey

2006-04-21T14:04:00.000-05:00

BEIJING, April 21, 2006 (AFP) - Chinese enterprises are among the most optimistic in the world, saying they are happy with the state of affairs and upbeat about prospects for the future, according to a company survey.

Seventy percent of the nation's middle-market enterprises, companies with annual turnover between 45 million and 1.3 billion dollars, are happy with the current world economy, said the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp (HSBC) survey.

The survey, covering 4,000 businesses in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Americas, also showed 55 percent expected the world economy to be even better by the end of the year.

"We are pleased to see so much optimism for the economy among mainland China businesses," said Neil Tottman, Head of Commercial Banking China at HSBC.

He said middle-market enterprises, along with smaller players, "are the engine of the regional and global economy. Positive outlook will further support their expansion into international trade."

The poll also found that 41 percent of middle-market enterprises in Hong Kong considered the current economy to be "very good" or "fairly good" and 31 percent expected the economy to improve by the end of 2006.

In Taiwan, 24 percent of middle-market enterprises said they considered the current economy to be "good" and 17 percent said they expected it to improve by the end of the year.

But 36 percent said the economy is now "fairly bad" or "very bad" and 23 percent expect conditions to become worse by the end of 2006.

The survey also found that the Asia-Pacific outlook for 2006 was the best of the three regions polled.

Among 1,800 businesses in nine Asia-Pacific countries and territories, HSBC found that 41 percent expected the 2006 economy to improve by the end of the year. In the Americas the figure is 28 percent and in Europe 32 percent.

Tags: China | Business | News

"Nice Suit President Hu"

2006-04-21T01:15:00.000-05:00

Tags: China | Humour

Bush offers China cooperation on space exploration

2006-04-20T20:33:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
President George W. Bush offered Chinese President
Hu Jintao on Thursday greater U.S. cooperation on space exploration and planned to send the head of
NASA to China later this year.

Bush was "trying to deepen the relationship between our two societies and our two cultures," said Dennis Wilder, an Asia specialist at the White House national security council.

"There are some things that the Chinese also have in terms of sensor technologies and information that we are interested in, in terms of global climate and other issues," Wilder said.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin would probably go to China later this year "to begin to consult on the subject of space exploration and where we might have common interests and where we might begin to work together as the two nations on the Earth with the most ambitious space programs in the 21st century," Wilder said.

Tags: China | News | NASA

Chinese not so satisfied with their sex lives?

2006-04-19T23:42:00.000-05:00

According to University of Chicago researchers, here are the top five and bottom five nations on scale of rates of sexual satisfaction

TOP FIVE

1. Austria: 71.4 percent satisfied with their sex lives.
2. Spain: 69 percent.
3. Canada: 66.1 percent.
4. Belgium: 64.6 percent.
5. United States: 64.2 percent.

BOTTOM FIVE

25. Thailand: 35.9 percent.
26. China: 34.8 percent.
27. Indonesia: 33.9 percent.
28. Taiwan: 28.6 percent.
29. Japan: 25.7 percent.

Tags: China | News | Research

Skype bends to Chinese laws

2006-04-19T18:48:00.000-05:00

Skype, the revolutionary online telecoms service, has defended its mainland partner's censorship of text messages in China, saying the company was obeying local laws.

The Ebay-owned company admitted its joint-venture partner on the mainland, Tom.com, had edited messages containing words considered politically sensitive by the Chinese government.

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Tags: China | News | Tech

Beijing 2008 Olympics Construction Pictures

2006-04-19T14:58:00.000-05:00

Renderings of the National Stadium ("Birdnest") and the National Swimming Center ("Watercube")

Construction of National Stadium

Construction of National Swimming Center

As you can see the constructions are going rapidly. Bejing is the only host city asked by the IOC to slow down rather than speed up its building program.

Tags: China | Beijing | Olympics

Microsoft wows Chinese president with "Home of the Future"

2006-04-19T06:53:00.000-05:00

REDMOND, United States (AFP) - The world's software leader Microsoft impressed China's President Hu Jintao with a tour of its most advanced technological innovations, including the "Home of the Future."

Comfortably and tastefully furnished, the facility in Microsoft's Redmond Campus, just outside Seattle, is a model of the type of high-tech home the company envisions will be used in five to 10 years.

Stepping into the livingroom, Hu was shown a screen which displayed digital photos of a typical family. With the movement of a Chinese vase, the photos changed to ones of places where Hu had lived or worked, including Beijing and Tibet as well as his alma mater Tsinghua University.

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Tags: China | News | Microsoft

Zhang Ziyi to Keep Making Chinese Movies

2006-04-19T00:38:00.000-05:00

Source: chinapost.com.tw

Newly named Cannes juror Zhang Ziyi, who has risen from a local Chinese actress to Hollywood star, says she wants to keep making Chinese movies -- as long as the scripts are high quality.

Zhang, who made her name in Hollywood with films like "Rush Hour 2" and "Memoirs of a Geisha," said she may make a Chinese movie this year.

"I've been receiving a lot of scripts from directors recently in Beijing. Many are scripts written by young directors. I really look forward to the chance to work with them," she said, according to a Beijing news conference transcript posted Sunday on Chinese news Web site Sina.com.

"I want to make good movies, movies with artistic value. This has nothing to do with my salary. If I wanted to make money, it's easier to make money in the U.S.," the transcript quoted Zhang as saying.

Zhang is due to appear in the upcoming Chinese ancient court drama "The Banquet," directed by Chinese director Feng Xiaogang.

Friday's news conference was to promote Zhang's new film, whose Chinese title translates into "Jasmine Flowers Blossom" in English.

The movie, an adaptation of a book by Su Tong, also stars Joan Chen from "The Last Emperor," Cannes winner Jiang Wen and Liu Ye from "The Promise."

The film was completed three years ago but is only now being released. At the conference, Zhang and a movie executive were vague about reasons for the delay.

Zhang called the film "a very meaningful piece of work" for her.

The actress, who will head to Cannes on May 16, said the jury position will pose a challenge.

"This is a totally new duty," she said. "For me, it's also very all-rounded training."

This year's jury is headed by famed Hong Kong art-house director Wong Kar-wai, who worked with Zhang on the film "2046."

The 59th Cannes Film Festival is scheduled for May 17-28.

Tags: China | News | Entertainment

Some people against Google's new Chinese name "Guge"

2006-04-18T23:36:00.000-05:00

Postshow points us to a grassroots anti-GuGe campaign being waged by some hardcore Chinese Google fans. As of 10:40 pm Monday evening April 17, 944 had signed an online petition against using the new Chinese language name, GuGe "谷歌". 468 prefer the original English name (indeed, the Chinese version is the first time Google has changed its name to another language); 177 say they'd prefer 狗狗 (dogdog). They'd like the company to rethink the name.

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Tags: China | News | Google

China Using Artificial Rain to Clear Dust

2006-04-18T20:04:00.000-05:00

By JOE McDONALD
Associated Press Writer

BEIJING

Beijing will use artificial rainmaking to clear the air after a choking dust storm coated China's capital and beyond with yellow grit, prompting a health warning to keep children indoors, state media said Tuesday.
The huge storm blew dust far beyond China's borders, blanketing South Korea and reaching Tokyo.

The storm, reportedly the worst in at least five years, hit Beijing overnight Sunday, turning the sky yellow and forcing residents to dust off and hose down cars and buildings.
Hospitals reported a jump in cases of breathing problems, state television said.
The government was preparing to seed clouds to make rain to clear the air, state TV said, citing the Central Meteorological Bureau. It did not elaborate, and the bureau refused to release more information.
Storms carrying chalky dust from the north China plain hit Beijing every spring, but newspapers said this week's was the heaviest since at least 2001. The Beijing Daily Messenger said 300,000 tons of sand and dust were dumped on the city Monday.

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Tags: China | News

China growth hits 10.2% in first quarter

2006-04-18T19:04:00.000-05:00

BEIJING, China (AP) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao said Sunday that China's economy grew 10.2 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, but said the government was concerned about overly rapid growth.

The figure was well above previous growth estimates for this year.
"We do not seek high-speed economic growth," Hu said during a meeting with a former Taiwan opposition leader in Beijing.
"We are concerned about the pace of development and the quality and the effect of our growth. We are also concerned about saving our resources, environmental protection and the improvement of our people's livelihood."
China's economy expanded 9.9 percent in 2005, with overall gross domestic product for the year totaling $2.26 trillion.
The economy has consistently overshot official targets for the past several years.
Government economists earlier offered predictions of between 8.5 percent and 9 percent for this year, a range in line with estimates by the World Bank and many private economists.

Tags: China | Economy | News