2011年12月31日 星期六
How To Get Valve Gift Pack 2011 Achievement – The Steam Great Gift Pile 2011 for Team Fortress 2 http://ping.fm/txTRS
RSS2Email.me Daily Update for Dec31, 2011
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( Back to Top ) 5 Ways to Celebrate New Year's In Style with Your Mac or iOS Device
Fri, Dec 30 @ 10:35 AM
Christmas 2011 is now but a memory and New Year's Eve is imminent -- but are you ready to share the joy with friends, thanks to your Mac or iOS device? Or maybe you've cut the cord on your cable or satellite and aren't sure of where you can watch the ball drop at midnight? Fear not, we've got some ideas for making the most of your New Year's Eve with your Mac, iPhone, iPod touch and/or iPad. Times Square Live, No Television RequiredWith each passing year, many of us cut the cord on expensive cable and satellite bills and catch up with our favorite TV shows using Hulu, Netflix or other methods. That generally works great until live events such as the ball dropping in Times Square on New Year's Eve -- but fear not, even this event can be found online if you know where to look.LiveStream.com just so happens to hold an annual New Year's Eve worldwide webcast, with its 2012 live event kicking off on Saturday, December 31 at 6pm EST. You can tune in right now from your Mac to catch a recap of this year's festivities, but mobile devices users can only access the live stream so you'll have to tune in after the appointed time on Saturday. The only downside is that you won't get Dick Clark, but here's hoping one day soon ABC will choose to livestream the iconic host and his show via their iPad app. A Skypey New YearWe can't always be next to loved ones when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, but thanks to the wonders of modern technology, we can at least see and hear each other when the magic hour arrives. One of the most popular -- and cross-platform -- ways to do this is with Skype, which now extends to Facebook users in a web browser, should you so desire, as well as Mac, iOS, Android and Windows users.For example, maybe your friend or family member is lucky enough to be among the millions swarming into Times Square this weekend but you're stuck back at home. Have them fire up their Skype app on any 3G-equipped iPhone and they can make their own broadcast as midnight approaches and share it with you or even a small group of others via Skype Premium, completely live. Your Own BroadcastIf your New Year's Eve plans are more ambitious than video chatting with a friend or family member, why not set up a live Ustream event from Times Square -- or even right from your living room -- streaming the big event to hundreds, thousands or potentially millions of others who might get a kick out of it?Don't worry about the FCC broadcast rules or even having the funds to buy the necessary gear, because Ustream makes it easy to livestream right from your internet-connected iPhone, iPod touch or iPad 2, and your viewers can text chat and even conduct polls about your little show while it's still going on. You won't be leaving out users with desktop or notebook computers either, since they can join in the fun via Mac or PC from anywhere in the world. Keep Tabs on Loved OnesIf livestreaming the big event isn't your cup of tea, you can at least stay close to your friends and loved ones by using the Find My Friends app which Apple introduced with iOS 5. Find My Friends can come in particularly handy for your iPhone-loving pals when you all get separated during a New Year's Eve party -- just make sure that everyone has been added and accepted prior to splitting up, naturally.However, if the plan is to jump from one party to the next and then get together closer to midnight, free iPhone apps like Loopt can really come to the rescue, automatically sharing your location with friends while you save money at the same time with built-in, location-based Groupon offers. Don't Forget to Share the MemoriesOnce the festivities are underway Saturday night, you'll want to capture the memories using your iPhone and share them with friends across the globe. Facebook and Google+ are obvious candidates for immediate photo sharing -- not to mention status updates as the big night progresses -- but there are plenty of other, more intimate options available such as Path, which lets you share with up to 150 friends but selectively post to Twitter, Foursquare, Tumblr and Facebook at the same time.Last but not least, be sure you keep a backup of those memorable photos by signing up for your free iCloud account (or transitioning an old MobileMe account, if you haven't already). Be sure to set up Photo Stream before you leave the house on Saturday and once you come stumbling back Sunday morning with a hangover, your iPhone will automatically upload all of your photos to iCloud via Wi-Fi, where you'll find them ready to view or edit in iPhoto or Aperture once you sober up. (And don't forget to archive your videos too, since they don't get uploaded to Photo Stream!)Follow this article's author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter(New Year's ball image courtesy Dvice.com)
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2011年12月30日 星期五
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RSS2Email.me Daily Update for Dec27, 2011
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( Back to Top ) How to Keep Track of Your Fitness
Mon, Dec 26 @ 7:39 AM
Whatever your exercise regime, your Mac can help follow your progressWhat You'll Need:>> Running shoes>> rubiTrack ($38.99 for Mac, $14.99 iOS)>> iPhone or other GPS tracker>> 15 MinutesDifficulty: EasyMaybe you're a serious athlete, and already keep track of your workouts in some form or other. But if you're a beginner or a casual runner, you might want to think about doing so, because knowledge is power, and having a good record of what you're already achieving could help you improve your performance. Just seeing your progress can be hugely motivating -- keeping track of where you've already been might help you get out the door again tomorrow morning. As ever, your Mac and iPhone are fine companions as you pull on those trainers and get ready to run.There are a number of online services that can help you to track your workouts, but if you're not interested in social exercising, if you generally prefer not to share your information online, or if you like to keep your data on the desktop, then rubiTrack is a great option. If you enjoy keeping track of the details of your exercise, rubiTrack can be inspiring and instructive. It might even be fun as you compete against your past performance and see if you can beat your previous best time.
Oink Review
Mon, Dec 26 @ 8:42 AM
If you want to share everything you love, Twitter alone just won't cut it. Social microblogging apps are where it's at, but most are tailored to a specific service, and remembering which one to use can be a bit of a pain. Oink is nothing short of a game changer. It does everything you'd expect from a social rating app, but with an Apple-like elegance and a whimsical, anything-goes attitude unsurpassed by its peers.As its name suggests, Oink's most obvious use is for rating restaurants – or rather, the food found within. Say the diner up the street has a BLT to die for. Just tap the cute pig snout and start Oinking: select your location, snap a photo, and write a tiny review. You can love, hate, or ho-hum Oinks, as well as comment, share, and track favorites on a to-do list, all the while gaining precious credibility points.If it stopped there, Oink's polished interface and discovery tools (and squealing alerts) would easily set it apart from the sea of competitors. But what makes Oink really shine is its inclusivity, as anything can be rated: from the North Star to your North Face jacket. As Oink's community grows, its usefulness will skyrocket.I Oinked everywhere I went and couldn't find much wrong, save for a bug that constantly alerted me to Facebook sharing and a bit of multitasking lag. I also found myself a bit constrained by Oink's dependence on location services, as I couldn't find a way to rate dishes from a restaurant outside of my immediate area. But these are minor niggles considering its usefulness and versatility.The bottom line. It was only a matter of time before a near-perfect social microblogging app came along, and it's finally here – and darn adorable, to boot.Review Synopsis Product: Oink 1.1.7 Company: Milk Inc. Contact: oink.com Price: <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=ApuPaiKIpxg&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fus%252Fapp%252Foink%252Fid451160341%253Fmt%253D8%2526uo%253D4%2526partnerId%253D30" target="itunes_store">Free</a> Requirements: iPhone or iPod touch running iOS 4.2 or later Positives: Elegant interface. Boundless social ratings. Sophisticated ratings system. Negatives: Limited location-based place finding. Pressures us to publicize our lives even further. Score: 5 Awesome
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2011年12月26日 星期一
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RSS2Email.me Daily Update for Dec25, 2011
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( Back to Top ) The Massive Bang Idea – Sheldon Speaks Chinese
Sun, Dec 25 @ 8:25 AM
Sheldon (attempts to) communicate chinese Video clip Rating: 4 / 5
On Line Chinese language tutorial
Sun, Dec 25 @ 8:25 AM
Joe, from Sunnyvale California, understanding Chinese from InterLangua's tutor Sunshine, in Shenzhen China utilizing professional conferencing computer software.
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2011年12月24日 星期六
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RSS2Email.me Daily Update for Dec22, 2011
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( Back to Top ) ★ Chinese – Find out Mandarin Chinese Lessons #2! – Like a Infant – TGN
Thu, Dec 22 @ 10:24 AM
See the total demonstrate! ★ Chinese-present.tgn.television ★ TGN Learn Chinese Mandarin lessons with a 2-calendar year-aged woman who would not know Chinese nevertheless. If she can find out it, so can you! Video by Xiaoyu, George and TGN Inform us what you feel in the comments beneath. If you like this video clip, click on [...]
Why We Chinese Cannot Communicate English Properly
Wed, Dec 21 @ 10:23 PM
Sunny talks about two good reasons and presents a particular example to display his details. Video clip Score: 5 / 5
Yixian Zheng: How I Turned a Scientist: In Mandarin
Wed, Dec 21 @ 10:23 PM
Dr. Zheng grew up in China for the duration of the Cultural Revolution and considers herself fortunate to have had a childhood totally free of the rigours of a hugely competitive education technique. Her early amibition was to be a novelist but she examined biology to make sure you her parents. Following transferring to the [...]
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2011年12月21日 星期三
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China’s Got Talent show 2011 12-year-old Mongolian boy singing “Mother in the Dream” http://ping.fm/1QcaT
2011年12月17日 星期六
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China raises rare earth export quota, EU not satisfied (Reuters)
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China eased export curbs for rare earths on Thursday, restoring it to near-2010 levels in a bid to appease its trading partners, but the European Union said the measure did not go far enough to address concerns of stable supplies.
This year's second set of export quotas on the minerals made up for previous cuts and it came just a week after the World Trade Organization ruled against China's curbs on a different mix of raw materials, which some trade partners say could set a precedent.
"This is highly disappointing and the EU continues to encourage the Chinese authorities to revisit their export restrictions policy to ensure there is full, fair, predictable and non-discriminatory access to rare earth supplies as well as other raw materials for EU industries," EU trade spokesman John Clancy said in an emailed statement.
China, which accounts for around 97 percent of the world's rare earth output, has set the second batch of quotas at 15,738 tonnes, bringing the full year total to 30,184 tonnes.
The allocation has almost doubled from last year's second batch of export caps of 7,976 tonnes.
However, it is down a notch from 2010, when China limited exports of the 17 minerals crucial for global electronics production and the defense and renewable energy industries, to 30,258 tonnes.
"A first analysis of China's rare earth quota announced today shows that there is no noticeable change in the annual amount of rare earth China will allow to be exported to the EU," Clancy said.
China's policies on rare earths are closely tracked by companies and policy makers around the world, especially as suspicions have grown that Beijing was using quotas to give unfair advantages to its own producers.
The issue became a flash point late last year after China halted rare earth shipments to Japan during a diplomatic dispute, a move which worried its trade partners and underscored that Beijing was ready to use its monopoly as a political tool.
China slashed rare earth export quotas by 35 percent for the first half of 2011, choking off global supplies and causing prices to soar.
GOOD TIMING?
The announcement of the quotas coincided with China-EU trade talks in Beijing and comes just a week after the WTO ruled against China's export curbs on eight raw materials, such as bauxite, coke and magnesium.
Some have argued that ruling set a precedent on the legality of export curbs and led Europe and the United States to say China should also be forced to increase exports of rare earths.
At a briefing on Thursday, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming did not mention the new quotas but sounded a note of confidence, telling reporters he was not concerned about any possible WTO challenge to Beijing's rare earths restrictions.
"The rare earth issue has not entered the WTO stage," Chen said during a joint briefing in Beijing with the visiting EU trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht.
"I am not worried because we have already had some negotiation (with the EU)," Chen said without elaborating.
At a later briefing, De Gucht said he was confident a negotiated solution could be achieved, but he added that China should publish such quotas further in advance of when they are imposed.
"The level of the quota is very important and also the predictability," he said. "What the industry needs is predictability."
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Following the WTO's earlier ruling, De Gucht had said the EU, the U.S. and Mexico could consider legal action if China failed to cooperate.
"On rare earths, what we have been saying is that we want to see applied to rare earth materials the principles that have guided the WTO panel when making the judgment on the raw materials case. We want the same rules to be applied," De Gucht told reporters after he and Chen read separate statements on the morning's trade negotiations.
China expressed its intention to appeal the WTO raw materials decision, De Gucht said, adding that the rules on trade in raw materials would be clear by year-end.
In its raw materials ruling, the WTO panel said China's domestic policies fell short of demonstrating that its export duties on the materials were to curtail pollution or conserve exhaustible natural resources.
China has taken steps to consolidate and rein in its polluting rare earths industry, which may bolster its case if the raw materials ruling is used as a precedent in a similar challenge.
Beijing has said claims by countries that its export curbs on rare earths threatened their economic and national security were "groundless," and that its quotas fell within WTO regulations.
But De Gucht said China, which produced 118,900 tonnes of rare earths in 2010, cannot use environmental protection as an excuse, especially if it has not putting limits on domestic use.
"It (production) has environmental ramifications. But if that affects the production to go on the exports, it should also go for the internal consumption," he said.
(Additional reporting by Aileen Wang in Beijing, Polly Yam in Hong Kong and Yuko Inoue in Tokyo; Writing by Jason Subler and Fayen Wong; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
Why China's Leaders Are Reviving Mao's Legacy and "Red Culture" (Time.com)
Twelve-year-old Chen Le is a typical Chinese kid. He loves flying paper airplanes, plays Ping-Pong and dreams of becoming a scientist. And he aims one day to join the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) so, as Chen puts it, "I can puff out my chest and say I am a party member." The public school that Chen attends in China's southwestern metropolis of Chongqing was renamed the Red Army School earlier this year to pay tribute to the soldiers who gave their lives to the People's Republic. "I'm very proud of my school's new name because the Red Army soldiers were tough and had a strong spirit," says Chen, a little crimson kerchief tied around his neck. "I want to be as red as they were."
This summer, China is awash in red. As the nation commemorated the 90th anniversary of the CCP on July 1, hundreds of millions of schoolchildren, officials, retirees and even top Internet executives joined voices to sing "red songs" praising the motherland. Cinemas have rolled out the red carpet for a blockbuster propaganda film about the creation of the party. Local governments have sent out text messages with pithy quotes from Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic, whose Little Red Book of sayings has for years been mere flea-market kitsch. (See pictures of China celebrating 90 years of communism.)
A Red Olympics with 200 teams was held with competitions like "Heroes Bombing the Bunkers" and "The Grenade Throw." Then there's the Red Army school program, which uses donations and other funds to instruct 1.15 million kids in academies named after the communist militia. "Our patriotism classes are even more patriotic than those of normal schools because loving our country is very important for our current society," says Fang Qiang, the secretary-general of the National Red Army Construction Project Council. "Our students all have a warm love for Chairman Mao."
Say what? Is this the same country that overtook Japan to become the world's second-largest economy last year, whose love of the free-market system has spawned thousands of books and created a whole industry of Western wide-eyed consultants? Indeed it is. Over the past three decades, the CCP may have replaced its founding revolutionary zeal with a turbocharged commitment to economic development; but the party has not managed to last for nine decades without a keen sense of survival. China's red revival might seem like a throwback, yet it is quite the opposite: a struggle for the future waged by the nation's leaders. As China's populace views its politicians as increasingly out of touch with a society beset by a widening income gap, the crimson tide is aimed at instilling pride in a country where there is no government but the party. "Looking back at China's development and progress over the past 90 years," said President Hu Jintao in his July 1 keynote speech, "we have naturally come to this basic conclusion: success in China hinges on the party." So that's clear. (See a gallery of the Chinese actors impersonating Chairman Mao Zedong.)
Leading the revival of attention to the CCP's history, myths, symbols and beliefs is an unlikely figure: Bo Xilai, party secretary of megalopolis Chongqing and the closest thing to a political rock star in China. In June, under Bo's directive, some 50,000 Chongqing residents flocked to a stadium to belt out red songs. Bo has replaced moneymaking commercials on local TV with red programming, and he has ordered cadres to the countryside to "learn from the peasants" - an echo of Mao's disastrous rural revolution.
All this is somewhat surprising. Bo's father was a famed communist contemporary of Mao, but he was purged during the Cultural Revolution. Bo, now 62, is hardly a revolutionary: he favors luxury cars and suits and sent his son to Harrow and Oxford. Prior to becoming Chongqing's leader, Bo earned praise in Western capitals as China's Commerce Secretary, ready to deal with the outside world. He doesn't seem the obvious type to sign off on scarlet billboards across Chongqing that urge residents to "spread mottoes" and "sing red songs." But sign off on them he did.
The Only Suitable Color
Look at China's political calendar, and a possible answer to the puzzle presents itself. Next year the CCP will begin a carefully composed, once-a-decade leadership transition as Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao ready themselves for retirement. As the jockeying for power gets under way, few want to be seen as anything less than loyal to a party that has ruled for 62 years. Bo has a good chance of being elevated to the hallowed ranks of the Politburo Standing Committee in the coming leadership reshuffle. His red fervor seems designed to help his cause.
See pictures of the largest military parade in China's history.
If politics explains Bo's zeal, he's chosen just the place to demonstrate it. Chongqing is a sprawling municipality of 30 million, and shares with only Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin a special status as a centrally run municipality. During World War II, Chongqing served as both the capital of the Nationalist government run by Chiang Kai-shek and as a base for the communists who were supposedly allied with Chiang in a popular front against the Japanese. (Chongqing's top red tourist attraction commemorates former jails where departing Nationalist agents executed imprisoned communist rebels.) Today, the river port is the investment gateway to China's underdeveloped hinterlands, and it is booming. Chongqing added 63 million sq m of new construction in 2010, 66% more than the year before. But with such growth have come social tensions. "Secretary Bo realized that people wanted more spirituality as Chongqing developed so quickly," says a Chongqing official who declined to be named. "So he gave them red culture in which they can sing songs and feel good."
Given that Chongqing has sold itself as China's reddest city, it's all the more puzzling that another city official I meet does not want to be named either. But I can see why when he begins his rhetorical somersaults. "There is a mistaken impression that red culture is just about the Chinese Communist Party," he begins. "That's not true. It also includes Confucius, democratic culture, Einstein, Shakespeare, even Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream.'" He then goes on to vaguely connect red culture to Michael Jackson. I question the Chongqing government's decision, then, to name its campaign after a color so associated with communism. With a smile, the bureaucrat, in his well-made clothes and expensive-looking watch, answers: "Well, you can't call it 'purple culture,' can you?" he says. "Or 'blue culture'? Other colors are not suitable." (See pictures of the making of modern China.)
Indeed not. But it is not only Chongqing officials who are searching for a guiding ideology - or hue. For all its successes, the CCP may be in the midst of a crisis. One day, China's long economic boom will, at the very least, slow down - planning chiefs are already scaling back expectations to 7% growth this year, after years of 8% or more. The risk for China's leaders is that, someday, they will not be able to depend on continuing increases in prosperity to buy acquiescence in CCP rule. Given that truth, it is little wonder that Bo and others who hope to one day lead China have fixated on a red-tinged spirit to unify the masses in these uncertain times.
And the times are uncertain. Even as Hu presided over a lavish 90th anniversary ceremony for the party in Beijing, he acknowledged serious problems. "The whole party," said Hu, "is confronted with ... lack of drive, incompetence, a divorce from the people, a lack of initiative, and corruption." From the leadership's standpoint, that does not bode well. Last year China saw 180,000 "mass incidents" ranging from labor protests to village riots, according to a sociologist at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University - a significant increase from the 74,000 officially reported in 2004. (See pictures of Hu Jintao's day at the White House.)
For a nostalgic faction in the Chinese leadership, it is the market-oriented economic reforms of Mao's successor Deng Xiaoping - which turned China into the world's factory - that are responsible for having allowed ills such as graft and income inequality to flourish. In national surveys from 2005 onward, Chinese have expressed progressively less satisfaction with their lives, even as their incomes have surged. "We can't stop divisions in society completely, but we can try to lessen the pain," says Fang Ning, director of the Institute of Political Science at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. "The central theme of red culture is to promote unity and equality in society. China has had economic growth. Now we want to pay attention to social growth as well."
The Elite Snickers
In Chongqing, Bo has introduced various social reforms, including a comprehensive public-housing plan and a tree-planting effort that is greening a foggy, gray city. But his red crusade is unabashedly old-style. Under the party secretary's orders, 200,000 government officials are being sent to the villages to listen to farmers' wishes and learn from their struggles, though it is not clear that the program has been a hit. "When government officials came to our area, they just played poker in the field," said one online commenter. Another alleged: "You have to offer the officials good wine, good food and good women."
See "China's Great Swindle: How Public Officials Stole $120 Billion and Fled the Country."
Following central-government policy to concentrate on the rural sector, which risks being left behind as China's coast races toward the future, Bo has vowed to raise Chongqing farmers' incomes by 10,000 yuan ($1,540) within three years. At the city's exhibition center, I am guided through the "Red Culture Resources Exhibition," where one display shows a middle-aged farmer feeding chickens in an orange grove. But we are the only visitors, and the whole scene has been crudely Photoshopped, though my guide assures me it depicts authentic rural happiness. The program may have a hard time convincing those to whom it needs to appeal. I ask Wang Hong, a farmers' son who moved to the city because he couldn't make a living in agriculture, whether he expects his family farmland to reap the dividends promised by the authorities. "No way," he laughs. "I can't see that happening in my area."
Indeed, Bo's red revival is facing something of a backlash. For some Chinese, the color red brings back the bad memories of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, when frenzied Red Guards rampaged nationwide. The resurgent glorification of Mao, who even staunch supporters have grudgingly labeled "70% right and 30% wrong," has alarmed others. As the red-culture campaign reached a crescendo this spring, economist Mao Yushi of Beijing think tank Unirule Institute of Economics wrote an online essay blaming Mao for overseeing the deaths of some 50 million Chinese. The Great Helmsman was "a backstage orchestrator who wrecked the country and brought ruin to the people," the academic wrote. Censors quickly purged his comments. (See why China's economy may defy the doomsayers.)
In an increasingly sophisticated nation, crude propaganda won't cut it. In late June the Chongqing Daily ran the story of a cancer patient who survived chemotherapy thanks to a regimen of red songs. The Chinese Internet howled in derision. The urban elite would have snickered if they had been with me when I was taken by an official guide on a staged visit to Chongqing's Oriental Garden, a comfortable apartment complex not far from a Ferrari and Maserati dealership, and whose community center is adorned with portraits of Marx, Lenin and Mao. As we strolled in, residents crowded around computers open to Web pages on Chongqing's red-culture drive. An elderly man gave a lecture on the hardships endured by China's founding communists.
The East Is Red
It would be a mistake, however, to imagine that none of these sentiments are genuine. For many Chinese of an older generation, "red" signifies an era in which equality and unity prevailed - or at least those virtues were cherished. To them, red culture denotes the blood spilled by communist soldiers and the selflessness of an idealistic generation of laborers and farmers. Wistfulness for this altruistic, can-do spirit infuses even young Chinese - who also recognize that a red affiliation doesn't look bad on a rEsumE. In 2009 the CCP welcomed 3 million new members; nearly half were university students. "We have great material conditions now, and we don't need to die for our country like the Red Army soldiers did," says Wei Zheng, a 22-year-old university student and party member from Hunan, Mao's home province. "So for me, red spirit means that I have to study harder and work harder." (See "China Takes on the World.")
Nor is there anything staged about the fervor of the 60 or so Chongqing residents, mostly middle-aged or older, who gather twice a week under a fig tree to belt out their favorite red songs. "The sun will never set on China," they warble before embarking on a rousing war march: "Enemies, wherever you are fighting from, we will find you and kill you."
The open question facing China is whether this backward-looking mood, with its celebration of the CCP, will resonate among those who have grown up in the 30 years since China has turned its back on Marxist economic planning and embraced the market. "These red songs teach very important values," says Yang Mingying, 60, a former teacher. "We cannot let the new generations forget that their happy lives today resulted from the sacrifices of all those Red Army soldiers." It's a universal sentiment: the old want the young to remember. But will they?
- with reporting by Chengcheng Jiang / Chongqing
See photos of China's transit system.
See pictures of China's extraordinary buildings.
View this article on Time.com
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2011年12月12日 星期一
Ai's firm told it has not paid corporate taxes (AP)
BEIJING – Chinese authorities told representatives of outspoken artist Ai Weiwei's design firm Thursday that the company had not paid corporate taxes for a decade, but did not allow them to keep documents showing the alleged offense.
The representatives, including Ai's wife, were shown the documents at a hearing they had been granted to challenge a $1.85 million tax bill delivered by authorities after the dissident was released from nearly three months' detention.
The prominent government critic was the most high-profile target of a sweeping crackdown on activists this year and his detention sparked international outcry, with some countries saying it was a sign that the human rights situation in China was deteriorating.
Tax officials visited Ai's studio late last month to say his design company Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd. owed $770,000 in back taxes from the last decade and $1.1 million in fines.
Ai's wife, Lu Qing, who is the legal representative of the design company, said that at the hearing at the Beijing Local Taxation Bureau they were shown photocopies of documents officials said disclosed that the company had not paid corporate taxes from 2000 to 2010.
The copies were of papers seized in raids on Ai's home and office, but Ai's lawyer Xia Lin said they were not allowed to keep them.
"The two main concerns remain. It's a closed process, and according to Chinese law the documents they took from us should have been returned after three months, which was on July 8. Those documents still have not been returned," he said.
Lu said he did not know what the next step was, and that at this moment another hearing has not been requested.
Ai's family previously denied he evaded any taxes and activists say the accusations were a false premise for detaining Ai. His supporters say he is being punished for his critical views of the Communist leadership and social problems. Before his own detention, he tracked the detention of other activists.
Ai was detained April 3 and released June 22. He has declined interviews about his detention or the investigation since then, saying the terms of his bail prohibit it.
Ai was not at the hearing.
Chinese authorities have said that although Ai was released, he is technically still under investigation for at least a year and could be brought in for further questioning at any time.
Ai is internationally known and has earned huge sums selling his work at auctions and through galleries. In February, a 220-pound (100-kilogram) pile of handmade porcelain sunflower seeds he commissioned for a show in London sold for more than $550,000 at auction.
Lu also said it was not clear when Ai would be able to take up an offer to be a visiting lecturer at Berlin's University of Arts.
The university first published the offer — in the works since December — following Ai's detention in April.
"It is unclear when he will be able to leave the country because he does not have his passport," she said.
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Follow Chi-Chi Zhang at http://twitter.com/thunderchi
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Associated Press writer Gillian Wong contributed to this story.
2011年12月11日 星期日
China's fresh rare earths export quotas restore cuts (Reuters)
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China on Thursday issued a second batch of quotas for exports of rare earths this year -- virtually making up for previous cuts -- after its commerce minister met with his EU counterpart to discuss this and other thorny issues between the two trading partners.
The announcement of 15,738 tonnes in the second batch of quotas for 2011 adds to the first round of 14,446 tonnes announced late last year. It also comes just a week after the World Trade Organization ruled against China's curbs on a different mix of raw materials but which some trade partners say could set a precedent.
The WTO's ruling last week that China had breached trade law by curbing exports of eight raw materials led Europe and the United States to say that meant China should also be forced to increase exports of 17 rare earths.
"We feel that a total of around 30,000 tonnes this year is a reasonable number given that Beijing probably does not want to cut the quota a lot, as that could bring more criticism from foreign countries," said an analyst at a foreign-invested fund in Beijing.
The latest issue brings China's total export quotas for the year to 30,184 tonnes, down slightly from 30,258 tonnes in 2010.
China, which accounts for some 97 percent of global output of the minerals crucial to global electronics, defense and renewable energy industries, had slashed rare earth export quotas by 35 percent for the first half of 2011, building on previous quota cuts. That move choked off global supplies, boosted prices and angered China's trading partners.
Beijing, which has defended its limits on exports on environmental and other grounds, said following the WTO decision that it would reform its exports of rare earths.
At a briefing on Thursday, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming did not mention the new quotas but sounded a note of confidence, telling reporters he was not concerned about any possible WTO challenge to Beijing's rare earths restrictions.
"The rare earth issue has not entered the WTO stage," Chen said during a joint briefing in Beijing with the visiting EU trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht.
"I am not worried because we have already had some negotiation (with the EU)," Chen said without elaborating.
At a later briefing, De Gucht said he was confident a negotiated solution could be achieved and would review China's new quotas. But he added that China should publish such quotas further in advance of when they are imposed.
"The level of the quota is very important and also the predictability," he said. "What the industry needs is predictability."
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Following the WTO's earlier ruling, De Gucht had said the EU, the United States and Mexico could consider legal action if China failed to cooperate.
"On rare earths, what we have been saying is that we want to see applied to rare earth materials the principles that have guided the WTO panel when making the judgment on the raw materials case. We want the same rules to be applied," De Gucht told reporters after he and Chen read separate statements on the morning's trade negotiations.
China expressed its intention to appeal the WTO raw materials decision, De Gucht said, adding that the rules on trade in raw materials would be clear by year-end.
In its raw materials ruling, the WTO panel said China's domestic policies fell short of demonstrating that its export duties on the materials, such as zinc and bauxite, were to curtail pollution or conserve exhaustible natural resources.
China has taken steps to consolidate and rein in its polluting rare earths industry, which may bolster its case if the raw materials ruling is used as a precedent in a similar challenge.
China has said claims by countries that its export curbs on rare earths threatened their economic and national security were "groundless," and that its quotas fell within WTO regulations.
"China only intends to protect its environment and resources and has set tougher and tougher standards for irresponsible mining, and there is no intent to target any other countries," said Liao Yuling, a metals analyst with Huachuang Securities.
(Additional reporting by Aileen Wang in Beijing and Polly Yam in Hong Kong; Writing by Jason Subler; Editing by Ken Wills)
2011年12月10日 星期六
China almost doubles rare earth export quota (AFP)
BEIJING (AFP) – China on Thursday nearly doubled the export quota of rare earths for the second half of the year to 15,738 tonnes, amid tensions with trade partners over its grip on the shipments of raw materials.
The quota for the next six months of the year is up 97.3 percent from the 7,976 tonnes set for the same period last year, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.
China produces more than 95 percent of the world's rare earths -- 17 elements critical to manufacturing everything from iPods to low-emission cars and missiles.
But Beijing has angered trade partners by restricting overseas shipments of rare earths, in a bid to burnish its green credentials and tighten its grip over the sought-after metals.
In December, it slashed the export quota of the metals for the first half of the year to around 14,450 tonnes, down 35 percent from the same period in 2010, after cutting the maximum by 72 percent for the second half of 2009.
The moves have led to a spike in international prices of the elements and triggered mounting complaints from foreign buyers.
The European Union on Thursday criticised the new quota, saying there was actually "no noticeable change in the annual amount of rare earths China will allow to be exported to the EU."
John Clancy, EU trade spokesman, said the new measure now covered iron alloys containing rare earths, which he said resulted in a "tightening of the quota" in practical terms.
"This is highly disappointing and the EU continues to encourage the Chinese authorities to revisit their export restrictions policy to ensure there is full, fair, predictable and non-discriminatory access to rare earth supplies."
Last week, the World Trade Organization ruled against China's export restrictions on some other raw materials than the metals.
EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht -- who met Chinese commerce minister Chen Deming on Thursday to discuss a range of issues including rare earths -- told reporters that China would appeal the decision.
"The Chinese made it clear they are going to appeal... but if the appellate body were to confirm this decision they would take measures to live up to it," De Gucht said.
If China were to lose the WTO appeal "they realise this will have an effect on (their rare earths policy) and we have very clearly stated that we prefer to come to a negotiated solution."
The WTO upheld complaints by the United States, the European Union and Mexico that Beijing had restricted exports of industrial raw materials such as bauxite, coke, fluorspar, magnesium and manganese to help its own industries against foreign competitors.
The commerce ministry would not confirm the appeal when contacted by AFP.
2011年12月9日 星期五
Chinese doctor sets out to 'cure' bad driving (AP)
HEFEI, China – In China, where someone is killed in traffic every five minutes, one entrepreneurial doctor has an unusual approach for making roads safer: Treat bad driving like a disease you can diagnose before the driver even gets near a car.
Dr. Jin Huiqing has spent nearly three decades trying to figure out why some motorists seem more accident prone than others. He has translated his research into a lucrative business selling his road safety program to Chinese municipalities. At least one city using his methods reports a decline in traffic deaths.
He has studied the records of thousands of Chinese bus, van and cab drivers, put dozens through neurological tests, examined hundreds of blood samples. Since last year, he's even been trying to find gene markers for bad drivers.
"Cars can be fitted with the highest levels of equipment: safety belts, air bags, and so on. Roads can be more regulated. But people, how can you help them become better?" Jin said in an interview in the central city of Hefei, where he is based. "People still need to be controlled, they must face restrictions."
Jin tries to target the root cause of crashes by identifying the physical or psychological traits of poor drivers, such as risk-taking or poor response time under stress, and keeping them off the streets or ensuring they get adequate training.
The cost of traffic casualties is so high that accident-prone people should at least be barred from driving commercially, he said.
Similar studies in the West have sparked debate among researchers, with many dismissing the findings as too uncertain to be of any use. And extreme use of a genetic approach could limit someone's right to drive based on DNA — clearly unfeasible in many countries.
But China is grasping for solutions to its risky roads. Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for Chinese aged 15 to 44, the World Health Organization says, growing apace with an 11-fold jump in the number of motor vehicles between 1990 and 2008.
Despite improved road safety laws, stricter driver training and lower speed limits, crashes remain common, particularly involving overloaded trucks or buses careening along highways at high speeds in wet conditions.
"In China, in general, I think each day there will be over 300 people killed on the roads, which equals to one Boeing 747 aircraft crash each day. So that is pretty serious," said Ann Yuan, the China country director of the Global Road Safety Partnership, a grouping of business, civil society and government organizations.
Jin's company, Anhui Sanlian Group, developed a three-pronged approach to road safety that involves a battery of tests to screen drivers, training with simulators and surveillance cameras to closely monitor roads for problems.
The eastern city of Jinan adopted the system, and police in the provincial capital say traffic deaths have fallen by a third in the past five years.
Bus and taxi drivers in Jinan are put through fully automated physical and psychological tests developed by Jin's company. The tests determine a driver's ability to estimate speed, react to complex stimuli, vision at night, as well as their attitudes toward safety and perception of danger.
Those whose test results indicate they're predisposed to causing crashes are informed of their "shortcomings" and advised on corrective actions, company Vice President Yu Wansheng said. For example, someone who fails the night vision test would be advised not to drive when it is dark. The driver's potential employer also gets the recommendations.
The company also sells products to around 400 other jurisdictions, and at least one other provincial capital is also interested in adopting the full, three-pronged approach, company officials say.
From a small research institute he set up in 1990, Jin now runs a road safety empire that includes a company with 2,000 employees that earns more than $4 million a year, plus a private college with nearly 10,000 students. "It's a sunrise industry," he said.
On a recent drive with Jin through Hefei, China's road safety challenges were on display: Cars cruised down the wrong side of the street, others mounted sidewalks to make illegal turns. Motorcyclists without helmets whizzed by or stopped short and pushed their bikes backward for a missed turn.
Even Jin needed a reminder to wear the seat belt in his shiny, black Hummer. He ignored the vehicle's insistent beeping. He is not alone: Drivers in China rarely wear seat belts even in larger, more policed cities such as Beijing.
"We are determined to see if we can make a contribution toward accident prevention measures and in the process provide some experience for the world," Jin said, taking one hand off the wheel as he punctuated his words by stabbing his index finger in the air.
Among his earlier findings: 6 to 8 percent of Chinese motorists are accident prone, which he defines as having caused three or more crashes in five consecutive years. When compared to safe drivers, accident prone ones score worse on tests of their night vision, depth perception and ability to estimate speed. Personality tests show they tend to be more extroverted and enjoy taking risks.
By testing the DNA samples of about 350 Chinese bus drivers from Hangzhou, he's found that three genes show potential links to accident prone driving. The findings have been submitted to medical journals for review, he said.
Jin's approach has its critics. Researchers in the West have debated "accident proneness" for decades — and largely dismissed it due to inconsistent research results and its lack of practical use, says Guohua Li, a Columbia University epidemiologist specializing in injury prevention, who is familiar with Jin's work.
"The real question is whether that kind of research, that kind of theory, will lead to any meaningful reduction of accidents or improvements of safety, and the answer was proven: no," Li said, adding that researchers in the U.S. now focus on improving the safety environment, which includes roads.
Li said it would be unethical to shape policies on granting license or providing insurance based on a person's genetic information.
"You can't do a thing to change your genotype. If people use your genes or your genotype or genomic data against you, to deny you health insurance, or to deny you access to or the privilege of driving, that's an unjust social policy," Li said.
Others think Chinese researchers like Jin can lead the way in fields of study deemed politically incorrect in the U.S.
"The population is not as sensitive to some of the issues we're sensitized to in the United States," said Bruce Alberts, editor-in-chief of Science magazine, which recently profiled Jin's work. Alberts later accepted Jin's offer to be an honorary president of his private college.
"China can do things there and in other places that are interesting and in which they can become a world leader quite easily."
2011年12月8日 星期四
China urges US to protect investors (AFP)
BEIJING (AFP) – China on Thursday urged Washington to protect the interests of investors, after ratings agency Moody's placed the United States's triple-A debt rating on a downgrade watch.
China is by far the top holder of US debt, with holdings at $1.153 trillion in April according to US data.
"We hope the US government adopts responsible policy and measures to ensure the interests of investors," said foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei.
Moody's Investor Service said Wednesday it had placed the United States' triple-A rating on a downgrade watch because of rising prospects the US debt limit will not be raised in time to avoid default.
The announcement came as US lawmakers try to hammer out a deal that would allow President Barack Obama to raise the country's debt ceiling to allow it to meet its repayment obligations.
Republicans are refusing to lift the country's $14.29 trillion debt ceiling without deep government spending cuts, while they reject Democrats' demand that tax increases must be part of any sweeping deficit reduction plan.
A downgrade could sharply raise US borrowing costs, worsening the country's already dire fiscal position, and send shock waves through the financial world, which has long considered US debt a benchmark among safe-haven investments.
China has in the past raised worries that the massive US stimulus effort launched to revive the economy after the global downturn would lead to mushrooming debt that erodes the value of the dollar and its Treasury holdings.
Beijing had been cutting its holdings of US Treasurys for five months in a row until March. The figure only increased slightly in April from $1.145 trillion in the previous month, US data showed.
The foreign ministry's comments came after Chinese credit ratings agency Dagong said Thursday it had also put US sovereign debt on negative watch for a possible downgrade.
Dagong said the ability of the United States to repay debt was likely to decline given its economic growth was expected to slow and fiscal deficits to remain high in the next couple of years.
2011年12月7日 星期三
China's Catholic church ordains another bishop (AFP)
BEIJING (AFP) – China's state-controlled Catholic church on Thursday ordained another bishop, its vice president said, in a move likely to worsen ties with the Vatican, which did not give its approval.
Liu Bainian, deputy head of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA) -- which controls the church -- told AFP that Huang Bingzhang had been ordained in Shantou city in the southern province of Guangdong.
The Vatican and China have been locked in a bitter struggle in recent months over control of the Catholic Church in China, with the Vatican saying that ordinations being carried out by the state-run church are illegitimate.
China's 5.7 million Catholics are increasingly caught between showing allegiance to the CPCA, or to the Pope as part of an "underground" Church.
Illustrating this, three bishops loyal to the Pope went missing or were detained recently in an apparent attempt to force them to take part in Huang's state-sanctioned ordination, their diocese members told AFP.
The issue has angered the Vatican, which has not had formal diplomatic ties with Beijing since 1951.
Earlier in July, the Rome excommunicated an "illegitimate" Chinese bishop and in May the Pope called on all bishops to "refuse to take the path of separation" in spite of "pressure" from the communist authorities.
But China has ignored these appeals. Last month, it announced that it would try to ordain at least 40 bishops "without delay".
And earlier this week, foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that China ordained bishops "in accordance with the principles of independence, self-reliance and self-governance".
2011年12月6日 星期二
China oil spill six times size of Singapore: govt (AFP)
BEIJING (AFP) – A huge oil spill off the Chinese coast has now contaminated an area around six times the size of Singapore, state media reported Friday, as the government said it may seek compensation for the leak.
The spill from the oil field, which the United States' ConocoPhillips operates with China's state-run oil giant CNOOC, has polluted a total area of almost 4,250 square kilometres (1,650 square miles), government figures showed.
The figures, which were announced on the State Oceanic Administration website earlier this week but only reported on Friday, were almost five times the size of the 840-square-kilometre area previously reported.
The administration says that area remains worst affected by the spill, but that another 3,400 square kilometres have also been contaminated to a lesser degree by the oil.
The spill was kept secret by the authorities for several weeks before being made public this month, sparking suspicions of an official cover-up, and the disaster has triggered a furious public response in China.
State media said the government was considering seeking compensation from ConocoPhillips over the spill.
"We have made an initial plan to claim compensation from ConocoPhillips China," the business daily 21st Century Business Herald quoted an unnamed official from the State Oceanic Administration as saying.
"But whether and how it will be implemented still depends on the status of plugging the leak."
CNOOC said last week the spill was "basically under control" while ConocoPhillips told reporters the leaks had been plugged.
But on Wednesday the oceanic administration said oil was still leaking into the ocean and ordered ConocoPhillips to stop operations at several rigs in the polluted area until the source of the spill was fully plugged.
"There has been oil seeping continuously into the sea for days from platforms B and C in the Penglai 19-3 oilfield and there is still a slick in the surrounding marine areas," it said in a statement.
"Another spill could happen at any time, which has posed a huge threat to the oceanic ecological environment."
CNOOC has been slammed by state media and green groups over the spill, and it emerged on Tuesday that the firm was cleaning up another slick after a breakdown at a rig off the northeast coast.
ConocoPhillips said Thursday the spill was the equivalent of 1,500 barrels of oil.
2011年12月5日 星期一
Growth in foreign investment in China slows (AP)
BEIJING – Growth in China's foreign direct investment slowed further in June as the government tried to cool its overheated economy, data showed Friday.
Foreign investment in factories and other assets rose 2.9 percent over a year ago to $12.8 billion, the Commerce Ministry reported. That was down from May's 13.4 percent growth.
Growth in China's FDI has declined sharply following repeated interest rate hikes and government-imposed investment curbs to tame surging inflation and cool an economy that grew 9.5 percent in the latest quarter.
FDI rose 32.9 percent in March and 15.2 percent in April.
China is a top investment destination and says FDI last year totaled $105.7 billion. FDI does not include investment in stocks and other financial assets.
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Ministry of Commerce (in Chinese): http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_bi_ge/storytext/as_china_foreign_investment/42243370/SIG=10qnrh01j/*http://www.mofcom.gov.cn
China to keep tight controls on property market (AP)
By ELAINE KURTENBACH, AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach, Ap Business Writer – Thu?Jul?14, 6:04?am?ET
SHANGHAI – China's premier says the government will keep controls on property deals in place to help fend off a speculative bubble, reflecting top-level unease over limited progress in cooling the overheated market.
Wen Jiabao urged local governments to abide by efforts to cool the property market and to meet targets for building more affordable public housing. Such housing is meant to accommodate ordinary families unable to afford commercial property due to surging prices.
"Pressure on housing prices in some cities is still strong, and in some places controls have been relaxed," a government statement cited Wen as telling a Cabinet meeting Thursday. "The current real estate market is at a critical period. We must unswervingly stick to controlling the trends," it said.
As of the end of June, construction had begun on more than 5 million units of public housing, more than half the annual target, the statement said.
State media say more than 30 million people are having trouble finding affordable housing, and developers have been lukewarm on investing in the relatively unprofitable part of the market.
Noting uneven progress and low use rates in some areas, Wen called for fair and equitable distribution of such housing and curbs on surging rents.
Investment in property rose by nearly a third over a year earlier in the first half of this year to 2.63 trillion yuan ($404.6 billion), according to data released Wednesday.
Despite 15 months of efforts to cool the housing market, prices remain firm, according to a recent report by Standard Chartered Bank, which surveyed the situation in both large cities and in smaller provincial cities.
The government has raised interest rates and bank reserve requirements, repeatedly. Some cities have also hiked the amount of money needed for downpayments and imposed restrictions on families' purchases of second and third properties. But prices are still rising, though at a slower pace.
China's economic growth slowed to a still-robust 9.5 percent in April-June, giving Beijing room to tighten controls to fight surging inflation, which hit a three-year high of 6.4 percent in June as food prices raced higher.
Such increases worry China's communist leaders as they erode public trust in their ability to continue deliver improving living standards.
2011年12月4日 星期日
China's New Parochialism (Time.com)
On any particularly hot day this month, people around the world will do what they have done for decades: go to an air-conditioned movie theater and watch a summertime blockbuster. The latest, biggest movie is Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which has broken box-office records in the U.S. and in many of the 110 other countries in which it has been released. Except in the world's fastest-growing economy and movie market - China. The Chinese people will not get to see Transformers, nor the eagerly awaited new Harry Potter movie, nor any other Hollywood production. At least not yet. Gao Jun, the deputy general manager of Beijing's New Film Association, explained that no foreign movie would be allowed into China until the Chinese film Beginning of the Great Revival made 800 million yuan, or $124 million, which would be an all-time record for a Chinese movie.
Beginning of the Great Revival is a two-hour tale of the rise of China's Communist Party - released on the occasion of its 90th anniversary - and its heroic leader, Mao Zedong, who is played by a young Chinese heartthrob. The movie features a cast of hundreds of major Chinese actors, including Chow Yun Fat, with impressive sets and design, all at record cost. It has been released in 6,000 theaters across the country. But it doesn't seem to be winning hearts and minds. Despite many mass ticket giveaways, cinema houses are reported to be empty. A barrage of negative reviews on the Internet have been censored. On VeryCD, a pirated-film website, more than 90% of users described the film as "trash." (See a video of TIME's favorite Chinese movies.)
On one level, this is just a crude propaganda effort by a Chinese regime seeking legitimacy. But there is another aspect to this story. China is going through an internal struggle over whether it needs to borrow more ideas from the West or follow its own particular course. The question of how to handle Western films is becoming part of a much larger debate.
China is on course to become the largest movie market in the world. It has more than 6,200 movie theaters and is adding to them at the astonishing pace of three new theaters a day. But the government seems determined to keep Western movies at bay. There is a strict quota of 20 foreign movies imported every year. Those movies are censored and tightly restricted to a limited number of theaters. Hollywood studios receive only 13% of the ticket price, about half what they get everywhere else in the world. The DVDs are pirated within days, and the government makes no effort to stem this criminal activity. The result is that Hollywood, America's largest export industry, makes very little money in China. (See if Hollywood can afford to make films that China doesn't like.)
And Hollywood isn't alone. The CEO of General Electric, Jeff Immelt, told the Financial Times earlier this year that it appeared that China did not want Western companies to succeed in that country anymore; he was voicing the feelings of many foreign CEOs. There is growing evidence in many areas that Beijing is favoring locals over Western companies, even violating the rules of market access and trade. The World Trade Organization ruled recently that China's regulations on foreign movies were a form of illegal protectionism and had to end. So far, Beijing has done nothing to abide by that ruling, though it is likely to expand its quotas to mollify the WTO.
Countries play trade games all the time, but this is different. Over the past few years, a new Chinese parochialism has been gaining strength in the Communist Party. Best symbolized by the senior party leader, Bo Xilai, it includes a romantic revival of Maoism, harking back to a time when the Chinese were more unified and more isolated from the rest of the world. It is a reaction to the rampant marketization and Westernization of China over the past 10 years. Bo, who has organized mass rallies to sing old Maoist songs and routinely quotes Mao aphorisms, might well ascend to the Standing Committee of China's Politburo next year on the strength of this new populism.
After centuries of isolation, China has grown in power and strength because it opened itself to the world, learned from the West and allowed its industries and society to borrow from and compete against the world's best. It allowed for an ongoing modernization of its economic structures and possibly its political institutions as well. Its leaders Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin understood that this openness was key to China's success. A new generation of Chinese leaders might decide they have learned enough and that it is time to turn inward and celebrate China's unique ways. If that happens, the world will confront a very different China over the next few decades.
See why American films are popular in China.
See a photographic history of movie special effects.
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2011年12月3日 星期六
China to sell pork from stockpiles to dampen price (AP)
BEIJING – China's government will sell pork from stockpiles to dampen inflation that pushed up the price of its staple meat by 57 percent last month, the Commerce Ministry said Friday.
Beijing will release both frozen pork and live pigs into the market, said a ministry spokesman, Yao Jian. He gave no details but said some local governments began to sell their own stockpiles last month.
"We will release both central and local reserves into the market in due time," Yao said at a regular ministry briefing.
Economists blame China's inflation spike on higher demand driven by rising incomes that is outstripping food supplies and a flood of bank lending that was part of Beijing's response to the 2008 global economic crisis.
Inflation is politically dangerous for the ruling communists because it undermines the public's economic gains and might fuel unrest.
China is expected to produce about 51.5 million tons of pork this year, up 3 percent from 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Food inflation has been boosted in recent weeks by summer floods that damaged crops in China's south and east.
Yao said the jump in pork prices has been driven by higher grain costs, fewer pigs being raised and higher labor costs.
China's top economic official, Premier Wen Jiabao, ordered local leaders last weekend to take steps to ensure adequate pork supplies and hold down prices, according to a Cabinet statement.
Wen said ensuring stable pork prices is the government's "unavoidable responsibility."
2011年12月2日 星期五
Beijing to review Nestle bid for Chinese sweetmaker (AFP)
BEIJING (AFP) – Beijing said Friday it will review a plan by Swiss food giant Nestle to buy a Chinese sweetmaker, in what could be one of the biggest foreign takeovers of a Chinese company.
Nestle said Monday it had agreed to buy a 60-percent stake in Singapore-listed Hsu Fu Chi for 1.4 billion francs ($1.7 billion) to boost the group's footprint in China.
Commerce ministry spokesman Yao Jian told reporters on Friday the government had received an application from Nestle to acquire the sweetmaker.
"Our anti-monopoly bureau is checking whether the documents are complete ... before carrying out the following procedures, including accepting the application," Yao told reporters.
China's anti-monopoly law requires firms to receive government approval before they can merge if their combined global revenue exceeds 10 billion yuan ($1.55 billion) or if their revenue in China tops two billion yuan.
Authorities also review deals if two or more of the firms have each reported more than 400 million yuan of revenue in China in the previous fiscal year.
In April, Chinese regulators gave US retail giant Wal-Mart the green light to buy the remaining stake of Chinese supermarket chain Trust-Mart, in which it already owned a share, according to Chinese media reports.
But Beijing has also blocked foreign takeover deals.
In 2009, it vetoed a $2.4 billion bid by Coca-Cola to take over beverage maker Huiyuan Juice Group, saying the deal would have led to higher prices and a smaller choice of products.
Hsu Fu Chi's net profit for the quarter ending March 31 reached 206.6 million yuan, with revenues at 1.5 billion yuan, according to its latest financial statement.
Euromonitor analysts noted that Nestle's stake in Hsu Fu Chi would make it the second largest confectionery player in China by retail sales.
2011年12月1日 星期四
China railway ministry vows to fix high-speed woes (AP)
By ELAINE KURTENBACH, AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach, Ap Business Writer – Fri?Jul?15, 1:02?am?ET
SHANGHAI – China's railways ministry has promised to fix problems with power outages and other malfunctions that have plagued the showcase new high-speed line between Beijing and Shanghai since it opened last month.
Railways Ministry spokesman Wang Yongping apologized Thursday in an "online chat" posted on the ministry's website, acknowledging that the 1,318-kilometer (820-mile) line which began commercial operations June 30 has experienced several dozen power outages in the past week.
He appealed for public understanding, saying that summer thunderstorms and winds have caused some of the problems.
The Beijing-Shanghai line was opened to great fanfare on June 30, the eve of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Communist Party. Its problems are awkward given the trophy project's purpose of demonstrating China's prowess in advanced technology.
The top operational speed for the line's trains is 300 kilometers per hour (186 mph). The speed was cut from the originally planned 350 kph (217 mph) after questions were raised about safety.
On Wednesday, a high-speed train headed to Beijing broke down due to a failure of its transformers, dropping the speed to 160 kph (100 mph) and passengers had to change trains because of concern the slow speed would disrupt the entire line's operations, Wang explained.
"These malfunctions did not cause any major safety risks, but they have truly affected the railway's operation," he said.
The railway will do its best to overcome the problems and operate the trains more smoothly, Wang said.
Despite the troubles, the railway carried an average of 165,000 passengers daily from July 1 to 13, with a peak of 197,000 people, he said.
Official plans call for China's bullet train network to expand to 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) of track this year and 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) by 2020.
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