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U.S. Likely to Sell G.M. Stake Before Chrysler
Olympic items to be auctioned off
China to tighten controls on banks' derivatives business
US hi-tech products may flow in
Shipbuilders facing choppy seas
Plenty of jump in basketball diplomacy
China requests WTO panel to probe U.S. poultry import ban
Oil Price Towards $65 per barell
China's gross ocean product tops 1.3 trln yuan in H1
The 8th China International Fair of Consumer Goods Opened in Ningbo
Hong Kong bid for wind farms
Air China launches Beijing-Lhasa direct flight
Chen Deming Meeting with Lee Youn Ho: China will never Adopt Trade Protectionism against Foreign Enterprises and Products
China approves new economic zone in NE coast
Qantas Freight expands into Vietnam
US unemployment rate at 26-year high
Al-Qaida threatens Chinese abroad

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U.S. Likely to Sell G.M. Stake Before Chrysler
From: Times
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The federal government is likely to begin selling its stake in General Motors sooner than its share of Chrysler, the head of President Obama’s auto industry task force said Tuesday.The official,Ron Bloom, said members of the task force thought G.M. could begin selling stock on the public markets in 2010 but that an initial offering for Chrysler probably would occur later than that. “I don’t think Chrysler’s I.P.O. is a 2010 event,” Mr. Bloom told reporters at an automotive conference in northern Michigan. “I think it’s a little further off. But again, that will be the board’s judgment.”Mr. Bloom referred to Mr. Obama’s directive that the government sell its stakes in the carmakers “as soon as is practicable.” He stressed, though, that unloading the 61 percent share of G.M. and 8 percent share of Chrysler would take time so as not to destroy their value. He said the task force would not announce a specific timetable.
“The definition of ‘practicable’ is a bit like ‘pornography,’ though; we’ll know it when we see it,” Mr. Bloom said.“We would be looking to sell sooner rather than later,” he said. “But we’re not going to be foolish. We’re not going to dump the stock tomorrow. There is no practical way to exit an investment of this size in one fell swoop.”
The financial performances of the companies will be a significant factor in determining when the shares will be sold. Executives at G.M. and Chrysler, which went through stints in bankruptcy protection this spring and are borrowing a total of $65 billion from the government, have not said when either company expects to turn a profit.Mr. Bloom declined to reveal when he expected the multiyear string of heavy losses to end, saying only that he was “very hopeful that it is soon.”
“Their return to profitability,” he said, “is absolutely essential to our exit strategy.”
Both companies, despite being privately held, will file quarterly reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission for as long as the government retains some ownership, Mr. Bloom said.
But day-to-day operations will be left in the hands of the companies’ management and the directors. Mr. Bloom dismissed any suggestion that the government would use its G.M. ownership “as an instrument of social policy,” either by encouraging the production of certain vehicles or requiring that G.M. build more vehicles in, and buy parts for them from manufacturers in, the United States.“We think they can make cars in America and make money,” he said, but that, more important, “the key to preserving jobs here is to be competitive.”
Mr. Bloom said the government had “no intention” of providing any more money to G.M. and Chrysler, even if their turnaround plans did not succeed. He said he believed they had been put on a path toward viability, however.He also said the government was not considering more financial aid for parts makers.

Olympic items to be auctioned off
From:(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-08-05 13:31
Olympic souvineers collected from the public will be auctioned off on August 8th, the first anniversary of the 2008 Beijing games, the China Beijing Equity Exchange (CBEX) announced Tuesday, according to the Beijing Youth Daily. Opening bids for many items will start at zero yuan.The items on sale will include an Olympic torch autographed by Juan Antonio Samaranch, a former head of the International Olympic Committee, which could go for as little as 1 yuan ($0.15) if no one offers a higher price than the first bidder, CBEX said.
The starting price for some items will be a little higher, however. For instance, an opening ceremony package, which includes an opening ceremony brochure autographed by the ceremony's director Zhang Yimou will start at 200 yuan. A set of "lucky clouds sofas" which visiting world leaders used during the Olympics will begin at 2,000 yuan, far less than their market price.
An unnamed staffer from CBEX , the state company appointed by Games organizers to dispose of remaining Olympic goods, said the Saturday's auction would be a great opportunity for bidders. Valuable items would be available for unusually cheap prices because not many people would come, the staffer predicted.
"It's normal for people's enthusiasm for the Beijing Olympics to decrease, since the Games happened a year ago", the staffer said.However, other auction experts believe there is plenty of room for the prices to increase, especially when the next Olympics comes.

China to tighten controls on banks' derivatives business
From:(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-06 01:30
China would tighten rules on domestic banks' derivatives operations after financial institutions suffered losses during the global downturn, the country's banking regulator said on Wednesday.
The move would discourage lenders from trading complicated overseas derivatives products and help institutions avoid financial risks, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said.
Banks will not now be allowed to take part in complex derivatives transactions between domestic companies and overseas financial institutions, in a bid to avoid risks from overseas entering the domestic market, it said.The country's banks have been asked to explain or introduce the use of derivatives products to their clients in an "understandable and clear" way, so that they would fully realize potential risks.Banks should also make thorough assessments between derivatives products and the institutions before introducing the products to institutions, so these financial tools would meet exactly the demands of their clients.
Banks should be responsible for providing institutions and companies with timely information about products, and re-assess their value for clients.Chinese companies and financial institutions suffered great loss during the global financial crisis last year, and many of these resulted from derivatives trading activities.In March, China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission urged centrally-administrated state-owned enterprises to strengthen control over derivatives transactions.The CBRC said it would keep a close watch on lenders' activities and strictly monitor derivatives products transactions.

US hi-tech products may flow in
From: China Daily
Updated: 2009-07-30 07:10
WASHINGTON: The US has agreed to loosen restrictions on the export of hi-tech goods to China and speed up its recognition of the nation's market economy, Vice-Premier Wang Qishan said on Tuesday after the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (SAED). "The US pledged to facilitate exports of high-technology products from the US to China," he said, while calling the SAED a "full success".
Sino-US trade has grown massively since China "opened up" 30 years ago. Last year - in spite of a seven-year low in China's rate of growth because of the global financial crisis - the volume of trade between the countries amounted to $333.7 billion. The number was $2.5 billion 30 years ago.However, despite the massive volume of trade, the US suffers from a significant trade deficit with China and has blamed China's "undervalued" yuan for the fact that more goods flow from China into the US than in the other direction.
Analysts have said the reluctance of the US to export hi-tech products is partly to blame and noted that unrestricted sales of hi-tech goods would help balance bilateral trade.Wang said China and the US agreed to "accelerate" the implementation of the Guidelines for China-US High Technology and Strategic Trade Development and formulate the Action Plan on Expansion of China-US High Technology and Strategic Trade Cooperation in Priority Sectors, which analysts say will encourage the export to China of hi-tech goods.The US also recognized the "continued progress" China has made in its pursuit of market reforms and will "earnestly" consider its concerns, and work toward its market economy status being acknowledged in an "expeditious" way, US officials said.Deputy Minister of Commerce Ma Xiuhong said both sides were conscious of the solid progress China had made in transitioning from a planned economy to a market-oriented one in the past 30 years. "We still have some hurdles (to clear) we need (more) in-depth discussions," she said. Calling the US position "positive", Ma said she hoped the issue would be resolved "within a short time". Wang, who co-chaired the Economic Track of the talks with US Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner, said the nations agreed to oppose protectionism and increase the representation of developing countries in the decision-making of major international financial institutions.
China and the US will also hold regular exchanges, to talk about how they are dealing with financial issues and working for a global recovery.At the SAED talks, China and the US reached consensus, or minimized the differences between them, on issues including economic rebalancing, climate change and regional security, laying the foundation for future cooperation.
The nations signed a Memorandum of Understanding on climate change and energy cooperation and issued a joint statement, mapping out their achievements. The dialogue has "lent fresh impetus to the development of a positive, cooperative and comprehensive China-US relationship", Wang said. Analysts praised the talks.
"The relationship with China is one of the most important global relationships for the US now and in the years ahead," said US-China Business Council President John Frisbie. "It is hard to imagine either country succeeding economically or on key issues, such as climate change, without constructive and cooperative ties."Steve Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, said: "I applaud President Obama and President Hu's decision to continue and expand dialogues into the Strategic and Economic Dialogue."

Shipbuilders facing choppy seas
From: Chinadaily
For Chinese shipbuilders, this is probably the worst of times -- and the hardest period has yet to come. Major ship owners, both domestic and foreign, are expected to go slow on new orders during the next one-and-a-half year as they wait for the global economy to recover. Industry insiders and analysts said the Chinese shipbuilding industry, the largest worldwide, would face its real test a few months from now, when a slew of small- and medium-scale ship builders start to stop production or close down factories, and large builders lay off workers and cut salaries.
Ship owners usually order vessels three years before they are put to use. So, the financial crisis, which erupted late last year, actually exerted less of a negative impact on the shipbuilding industry. In fact, the shipping sector was hit more by the slide in foreign trade. Despite a big contraction in new orders and cancellation of earlier orders by international ship owners, Chinese shipbuilders have been working on old orders, and the medium and small players have been limping along due to financial support from the local government. But, as the prospects for the global economy are still looking bleak, shippers are reluctant to book new orders; and shipbuilders are starting to get more and more anxious.
"We haven't signed any new deals since late last year, but this is not the worst part. It's hard to predict when the industry would show any positive sign of recovery," said Hu Keyi, a senior executive and chief engineer at Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard, one of the nation's largest shipbuilders.
Existing orders could help Jiangnan Shipyard limp through to the first half of 2011, but there will be trouble if "we still cannot get any new deals by end of this year", he said. Hu, and his industry counterparts, have been running around seeking new deals. Even though the Chinese economy is poised on the cusp of a recovery, global trade is in the doldrums, and is expected to fall by 10 percent this year, according to the WTO. "The most optimistic thing about the shipping industry now is that it cannot get worse (than this)," said Sun Liping, a shipping analyst from Guotai Jun'an Securities. There is no reason why "shippers or ship owners will massively book orders till the end of 2010" and "they will probably continue to cancel deals as they did in the first half of this year", Sun said. Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, a leading industry player, has not fared any better. "Nobody can understand how we feel at this time; we don't see any glimmer of hope looking into the near future, say, one or two years," said Tao Ying, chief engineer from Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding.
Waigaoqiao has not received any new orders since September 2008, and if the trend continues until early next year, the company would probably start firing workers and chopping salaries, said Tao. This year, China overtook South Korea as the largest shipbuilder, but now the nation is staring at overcapacity as a slew of investors aggressively entered the sector during the past few years to cash in on the rapidly growing global trade. A spokesperson from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said the overcapacity in the shipbuilding industry was acute. Ships that transport commodities, around one-fourths of the capacity, are being left unused, he said. Statistics from Clarkson, the world's largest shipping research institute, showed that new orders into China from January to June were 1.9 million tons, 600,000 tons higher than South Korea's. However, from September 2008 to June this year, new orders only accounted for between 1 and 2 percent of orders during the same period the previous year, it estimated.
Compared with leading industry players, hundreds of smaller shipbuilders are likely to face a bigger blow. "Many private and small-scale companies would have closed down by late 2008 if the provincial governments had not offered them a hand in order to buoy their local economies," said Tao.
But the help cannot last for long, as "they are doomed to die when there are no new orders," he said.
Bigger shipbuilders like Jiangnan and Waigaoqiao are now focusing on improving quality to avoid order cancellations and trying to win over niche markets that are less immune to an economic slowdown.
Jiangnan Shipyard has shifted its focus to value-added ships and ships for special use such as offshore engineering carriers.
This year, a batch of companies turned to building carriers for special use, including liquefied gas carriers and offshore engineering carriers, said industry insiders.

Plenty of jump in basketball diplomacy
WASHINGTON: With basketball in hand, Vice-Premier Wang Qishan found himself the center of attention at the end of the first round of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue on Tuesday.
The basketball, complete with Barack Obama's autograph, was a gift from the US president and was viewed by the Chinese delegation as a symbol of the US government's hospitality and its gratitude to Chinese officials for agreeing to host the next dialogue, in Beijing.
During his closing speech, Dai, who co-hosted the 'Strategic Track,' hailed the "in-depth, broad, candid, and productive" discussions between the nations and expressed the Chinese delegation's appreciation of the work carried out by the US in hosting the dialogue.
He also said the Chinese team will make every effort to ensure Obama's visit to China this year will be a success.
It was not the first time basketball took center stage during the two-day meeting.
During his speech on Monday, Obama, who is a well-known basketball fan, quoted Chinese NBA star Yao Ming.
"As a new president and also as a basketball fan, I have learned from the words of Yao Ming, who said, 'No matter whether you are new or an old team member, you need time to adjust to one another,'" the president said at the time.
"Well, through the constructive meetings that we've already had, and through this dialogue, I'm confident that we will meet Yao's standard," Obama said.
From: China Daily - Xinhua

China requests WTO panel to probe U.S. poultry import ban
Tuesday,July 21,2009 Posted: 05:47 BJT(2147 GMT)
From:xinhua Article type:Redistributed
China on Monday formally requested the World Trade Organization (WTO) to set up an expert panel to investigate and rule whether a U.S. ban on Chinese poultry imports violates WTO regulations. The request was made at a meeting of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body, but it was rejected by the United States according to relevant procedures.
During the meeting, the Chinese delegation reiterated that the U.S. measure is "discriminatory" and "has damaged the lawful rights and interests of China's poultry industry." "While violating various WTO rules, the measure has severely undermined the stable development of Sino-U.S. trade in poultry products," the Chinese delegation said. At the heart of the dispute is the U.S. Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, which contains a section prohibiting any funds being used to facilitate imports of poultry products from China. The act was signed into U.S. law in March, and China filed complaints to the WTO in on April 17.
While Monday's request for the WTO panel was rejected by the United States, China could make a second request at the end of this month. After the second request, the WTO panel will be established automatically.
It usually takes more than half a year for a WTO panel to give its final ruling on a trade dispute. China and the United States banned imports of each other's poultry products in 2004 following outbreaks of bird flu. They agreed to lift the bans at the Sino-U.S. Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade in 2004.
China did lift the ban but has complained that the United States was not following suit. China imported 580,000 tons of chicken products from the United States last year, accounting for about 75 percent of total chicken imports.

Oil Price Towards $65 per barell
Tuesday, 21 July 2009

Oil prices were headed toward $65 a barrel Monday as strong second quarter company results helped boost investor optimism and stock market gains in Asia and Europe helped lift oil prices. A weaker U.S. dollar boosted oil as well. Better than expected earnings last week from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Intel Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. eased some investor doubts about the chances of a U.S. economic recovery this year. Traders will be watching results this week from Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. for further clues about economic growth. According to analysts estimates market’s sentiment has been helped a great deal by the earnings reports so far and If the remaining reports paint an upbeat picture, that could sustain oil." That means that in the coming days crude oil prices may test the level even of $70 per barrel, a price very close to the “official” OPEC’s target of $75 per barrel.
Cartel members are of course very satisfied with how the things are going for the moment. The rise of oil prices and the signs of a sustainable recovery of world recovery make its mission for supporting crude prices more easy. If prices remain at the current levels until September there is no doubt that cartel will not cut its daily production and its members will focus to the main target that it is the higher compliance with current official quotas.
Regarded as a record level of discipline, it was highly successful in boosting prices from last December’s low of $32.40 and many predicted supply and demand would return to balance late this year.
They take a different view now Opec’s output discipline has dropped to roughly 70% and sluggish US demand, even at the height of the summer driving season, has allowed inventories to swell.
Expressed as days of forward demand — a measure closely watched by OPEC — stocks in developed countries totalled 62.5 days at the end of May, the International Energy Agency said last week. That compared with 62 days at the end of April and is around 10 days more than OPEC considers comfortable. Chairman of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Botelho de Vasconcelos said at the weekend that OPEC member countries will continue to comply with the OPEC's decision on oil production cut.
Botelho de Vasconcelos, who is also Angola's minister of Oil Industry, guaranteed that all the OPEC member countries are complying with the oil production cut decision made in May in Austria.
In his capacity as OPEC chairman, he told reporters that the OPEC members whose oil production are being cut by 20 to 22 percent have achieved a desired goal of maintaining acceptable oil prices in the world market. However, he admitted, some elements of the oil market are not yet fully controlled, hence the continuation of oil production cut.
From this perspective, he said, studies and projections are being conducted with some prudence as there is already speculative situation in the market. "It is in this framework that oil raised to 72 dollars, fell to58 dollars and currently it seems to be fixed at 72 dollars, which shows that there exist some fluctuation that does not satisfy exporters, being fundamental to find out a level of equilibrium on the price so that the various economies can develop themselves without constrains," he said.

China's gross ocean product tops 1.3 trln yuan in H1
Tuesday, 21 July 2009

Source: Xinhua

China's gross ocean product (GOP) topped 1.39 trillion yuan (202.96 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half, according to an initial assessment by the State Oceanic Administration (SOA). The figure represented an increase of 6.9 percent over the same period last year, accounting for 9.91 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). "The country's GOP represented a further growth in the first half despite the world financial crisis, and will become one of the new economic engines in the future," SOA deputy director Wang Hong said at the opening of the first China Ocean Forum in Zhuhai , a city in southern Guangdong Province, Sunday.
Initiatives by local governments in coastal areas to develop ocean-related industries were the main contributing factor to the growth in GOP, Wang said.
In many coastal regions, funds and tax breaks were given to enterprises in ocean-related industries. Shandong Province rolled out a plan in May to build China's biggest ocean chemical products base by 2011. Haikou, capital of southern Hainan Province, has allocated 11 million yuan to support the development of fish-farm industry this year. Some coastal governments, including Guangdong and Hainan provinces, have signed agreements with the nation's oil explorers and refiners to develop offshore oil and natural gas facilities. GOP is a component of a nation's GDP, reflecting development of ocean-related industries, including oil and gas production, fisheries, tourism and maritime transport. GOP increased by 11 percent year on year to hit 2.97 trillion yuan in 2008, accounting for 9.87 percent of the country's GDP.

The 8th China International Fair of Consumer Goods Opened in Ningbo
From: China daily
The 8th China International Fair of Consumer Goods, co-sponsored by MOFCOM and Zhejiang Provincial People's Government, opened on June 8 in Ningbo. A total of 4,000 standard booths were set up, and 8 categories of consumer goods, such as textile & garments, household appliances & electronics, crafts & gifts, office equipment, furniture, daily necessities, food, sports and tourist supplies, were on display. Attending the fair were over 1,300 enterprises, 167 of which were from overseas, over 10,000 of business people from more than 80 countries and regions of Europe, USA, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, Japan and South Korea attended the fair.
Deputy Minister of Commerce Mr. Zhong Shan was present at the fair.
Mr, Lv Zushan, Governor of Zhejiang Province, Mr. Bayin Chaolu, Member of Standing Committee of CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee and Secretary of Ningbo Municipal Committee, Mr. Gong Zheng, Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province, and Mr. Mao Guanglie, Mayor of Ningbo Municipality also inspected the exhibition.
The Fair will close on June 12.

Hong Kong bid for wind farms
June 28, 2009
From The Sunday Times
Danny Fortson
ASIA’S richest man could inject £150m into Centrica, the owner of British Gas.
Li Ka-shing, whose empire spans property and shipping to retail and the internet, is considering bidding for a stake in Centrica’s newly-operational wind farm at Lynn and Inner Dowsing, off the Lincolnshire coast. Sam Laidlaw, Centrica chief executive, is seeking new sources of cash for his global buying spree, snapping up gas fields that are relatively cheap after last year’s fall in the oil price. The wind farm, the largest in the world, is one of Centrica’s most bankable assets.
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi has been hired to raise £350m of debt against the project, while Credit Suisse has begun an auction for a 50% equity stake that could fetch up to £150m.
Li Ka-shing’s Hongkong Electric is one of four bidders in the auction. The others are American private equity giant KKR, RREEF, Deutsche Bank’s infrastructure arm, and Datang International Power Generation, a Chinese utility.

Earlier this month, Centrica agreed to pay about $800m (£485m) for a slice of a new gas development in Trinidad. The Takeover Panel, meanwhile, has given the British Gas owner a “put-up or shut-up” deadline of July 13 to bid for Venture Production, in which it has a stake.

Air China launches Beijing-Lhasa direct flight
(Xinhua)
From:Chinadaily
Air China, the nation's biggest carrier, said Wednesday it will launch the nation's first direct flight between Beijing and Lhasa, beginning July 10, to promote tourism.
The three-hour-fifty-minute flight will be operated by the Airbus A330. Previously, travelers had to transfer through Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province. The transfer added two hours to the flight.
CA4122 will leave at 7 am every day from the Beijing Capital International Airport, and arrive at the Lhasa Gonggar Airport at 10:50 am.

Chen Deming Meeting with Lee Youn Ho: China will never Adopt Trade Protectionism against Foreign Enterprises and Products

Tuesday,June 30,2009 Posted: 13:20 BJT(0520 GMT)
From :Ministry of commerce the people’s republic of China　

Chen Deming, China Minister of Commerce, met with Lee Youn Ho, Korea Minister of Knowledge and Economy, on June 26 in Beijing. The two sides had in-depth discussion on further strengthening China
-Korea trade and economic cooperation.According to Chen, China and Korea have close trade and economic relations. Confronting the financial crisis, China would like to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, so as to maintain the steady development of China-Korea trade and economic cooperation. He put forward five suggestions on further strengthening bilateral cooperation: exploring new trade growth point; expanding mutual investment; supporting Chinese and Korean enterprises for the strategic cooperation with the third country; joining forces in opposing trade protectionism; giving to trade and economic promotion activities sponsored by the other party.

When introducing China’s current economic situation to Minister Lee Youn Ho, Chen said, China keeps adopting a package of plans to expand domestic need, and positive changes has been seen in China’s economy. When implementing the policies and measures of addressing the crisis, China always sticks to open, fair and transparent trade and economic policies, encourages import and export trade, develops two-way investment, which has brought huge opportunities to enterprises at home and abroad. Many foreign brands won the tender and benefited from the policy of “Home appliances to rural areas”. In accordance with “The Government Procurement Law”, the Chinese government reiterated the provision that “the government shall procure domestic goods”. This provision is only limited to the government procurement projects using fiscal funds, and the said domestic goods also include products manufactured by lawful foreign-invested enterprises in China. Some media said China will adopt the policy of purchasing domestic goods in economy-stimulating plans. That is not true. China has always been opposing trade protectionism, and won’t adopt the protectionism to discriminate foreign enterprises and products. Chen also said, China had applied to be a signatory to WTO Government Procurement Agreement. He hopes the main members of WTO can adopt a flexible and practical attitude to lower the threshhold, so as to facilitate China’s early accession to the Agreement, which will be favorable to further mutually open up the market of government procurement.

Lee Youn Ho expressed his agreement to suggestions by Chinese side on developing Korea-China trade and economic cooperation. Lee said, it is of great importance for Korea and China’s coping with the financial crisis to develop Korea-China trade and economic relations. Korea would like to deepen the cooperation with China in trade, investment and other fields, and hopes to participate actively in China’s investment projects of infrastructure, energy, etc. The Korea side believes China’s trade policy is fair and transparent, and would like to fight with trade protectionism together with China.

China approves new economic zone in NE coast

Thursday,July 02,2009 Posted: 05:15 BJT(2115 GMT)
From:xinhua Article type:Redistributed

China's State Council, the Cabinet,approved plans Wednesday to develop the coastal economic belt in the northeastern Liaoning Province in effort to rejuvenate the traditional industrial base. The economic belt, covering about 700 square km, will focus on shipbuilding, petroleum refining, advanced equipment manufacturing, raw materials, high-tech industries and agriculture processing, according to the plan. The zone comprises ports of Dalian, Jinzhou, Yingkou, Huludao and Dandong, which opened navigation services to more than 140 countries and regions. "The zone will become an important engine for the rejuvenation of the the northeast industrial base," said Lin Muxi, Economics School dean of Liaoning University. "Since the Chinese government started to develop eastern coastal cities such as Shenzhen and Shanghai, the Pearl River delta and the Yangtze River delta have seen rapid growth," he said. "Now the government is paying closer attention to the underdeveloped regions like Liaoning and Guangxi." Previously, China gave the green light to the coastal areas in east China's Jiangsu Province, the Beibu Bay in Guangxi and the economic zone on the western side of Taiwan strains in Fujian Province.

Qantas Freight expands into Vietnam
June 5, 2009 by Splatty
Filed under Air Cargo
According to a company press release, Qantas Freight has started a new weekly Boeing 747-400 freighter service between Australia, Vietnam, China and the United States.
In regards to the new service, Executive Manager Qantas Freight, Mr Stephen Cleary said:
“Vietnam is one of the few countries in the region that continues to see export growth, and we are very pleased to be able to support initiatives to grow trade between Australia and Vietnam and between Vietnam and the rest of the world,” Mr Cleary said.“Our service will offer Vietnamese exporters one of the shortest transit times to the US and is conveniently timed to connect with our scheduled mainland China trucking services as well as passenger and freighter aircraft operating from Shanghai back into Australia.“Importantly, we also have the option to add a second weekly service once global air freight volumes pick up.”

US unemployment rate at 26-year high
From : China daily
WASHINGTON: Employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, suggesting that the economy's road to recovery will be bumpy.The Labor Department report, released Thursday, showed that even as the recession flashes signs of easing, companies likely will want to keep a lid on costs and be wary of hiring until they feel certain the economy is on a solid ground.
June's payroll reductions were deeper than the 363,000 that economists expected.Job seekers look over the employment bulletin board of the New York State Labor Department's Division of Employment Services in the Brooklyn, June 2009. [Agencies]
However, the rise in the unemployment rate from 9.4 percent in May wasn't as sharp as the expected 9.6 percent. Still, many economists predict the jobless rate will hit 10 percent this year, and keep rising into next year, before falling back.All told, 14.7 million people were unemployed in June.
If laid-off workers who have given up looking for new jobs or have settled for part-time work are included, the unemployment rate would have been 16.5 percent in June, the highest on records dating to 1994.
Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost a net total of 6.5 million jobs.As the downturn bites into sales and profits, companies have turned to layoffs and other cost-cutting measures to survive. Those include holding down workers' hours and freezing or cutting pay.The average work week in June fell to 33 hours, the lowest on records dating to 1964.Layoffs in May turned out to smaller, 322,000, versus the 345,000 first reported. But job cuts in April were a big deeper -- 519,000 versus 504,000, according to government data.Even with higher pace of job cuts in June, the report indicates that the worst of the layoffs have passed. The deepest job cuts of the recession came in January, when 741,000 jobs vanished, the most in any month since 1949.And there was some other encouraging job news Thursday.In a separate report, the department said the number of newly laid-off workers filing applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to 614,000, in line with economists' predictions. The number of people continuing to draw benefits unexpectedly dropped to 6.7 million.
Still, job losses last month were widespread.Professional and business services slashed 118,000 jobs, more than double the 48,000 cut in May. Manufacturers cut 136,000, down from 156,000. Construction companies got rid of 79,000 jobs, up from 48,000 the previous month. Retailers eliminated 21,000, up from 17,600. Financial activities cut 27,000, following 30,000 in May. The government cut 52,000 jobs, up from 10,000 the previous month.
Leisure and hospitality cut 18,000 jobs, erasing a gain of the same size in May.One of the few industries adding jobs: education and health services.With the weakness in the job market, workers didn't see any wage gains in June. Average hourly earnings were flat at $18.53.The worst crises in the housing, credit and financial markets since the 1930s have plunged the country into the longest recession since World War II.Many think the jobless rate could rise as high as 10.7 percent by the second quarter of next year before it starts to make a slow descent. Some think the rate will top out at 11 percent. The post-World War II high was 10.8 percent at the end of 1982, when the country had suffered through a severe recession.Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicts the recession will end this year, with many economists forecasting that the economy will start to grow again as soon as the current July-September quarter.But recoveries after financial crises tend to be slow, which is why economists predict it will take years for the job market to return to normal. Some predict the nation's unemployment rate won't drop to 5 percent until 2013.An elevated unemployment rate could become a political liability for President Barack Obama when congressional elections are held next year. The last time the unemployment rate topped 10 percent, the party of the president -- then Ronald Reagan's GOP -- lost 26 House seats in midterm elections in 1982.So far, many people are saving -- rather than spending -- the extra money in their paychecks from Obama's tax cut, blunting its help in bracing the economy. Much of the economic benefit of Obama's increased government spending on big public works projects won't kick in until 2010, analysts say.
The White House last week said federal money is being shoveled out of Washington quickly, but states aren't steering the cash to counties that need jobs the most.Large job cuts have continued this week. Newspaper publisher Gannett Co. said it plans to cut 1,400 jobs in the next few weeks, about 3 percent of the work force, as it faces a prolonged slump in advertising revenue. Farm machinery company Deere & Co. said 800 salaried employees, or 3 percent of its salaried work force, took a voluntary buyout offer.

Al-Qaida threatens Chinese abroad
By Cui Jia and Cui Xiaohuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-15 07:23
Chinese authorities Tuesday alerted its citizens and organizations abroad about potential terrorist attacks, one day after Al-Qaida threatened to target Chinese interests overseas in retaliation for the deaths of Uygurs in Urumqi.
Al-Qaida's Algerian-based offshoot, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), issued the call for reprisals in the wake of the riot in the capital city of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, according to a report sent to China Daily by the international consultancy firm Stirling Assynt, based in London.
AQIM pledged to avenge the deaths of Muslims in Urumqi by targeting the 50,000 Chinese workers in Algeria as well as Chinese projects and workers across northwest Africa.
The Chinese embassy in Algeria issued a statement on its website last night, urging Chinese organizations and citizens in Algeria to be on alert. The Chinese embassy in Tunisia also told China Daily Tuesday that it was aware of the warning from AQIM and was working on plans to fend off any possible threats.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a press conference Tuesday that China will "take any measure necessary to protect the safety of its overseas institutions and citizens."
It was the first time Al-Qaida had threatened an attack against Chinese interests overseas.
The July 5 riot in Urumqi left 184 people dead: 137 ethnic Han, 46 Uygurs and one ethnic Hui, according to government figures.
"The information we provided is very, very real," Justin Crump, head of Terrorism and Country Risk with Stirling Assynt, told China Daily Tuesday.
"Although AQIM appears to be the first arm of Al-Qaida to officially state they will target Chinese interests, others are likely to follow," the Stirling assessment notes.
The firm also said Al-Qaida operatives in Yemen could target Chinese projects to serve their goal of toppling Beijing-friendly President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Crump said Osama bin Laden's group has not threatened to take action against China and Chinese citizens; it is Al-Qaida's North African wing.
"This threat should be taken seriously," the company said, adding that three weeks ago, the group ambushed a convoy of Algerian security forces protecting Chinese engineers, killing 24 Algerians.
"Measures that the Chinese government take to stop riots do not target any specific ethnic population, but the violent crimes that aim to split China and mar the ethnic relationships. We hope Muslim compatriots will understand the truth," Qin Gang said.
"AQIM has been quite active in extreme activities and recruited young bloods from Algeria and Morocco recently. And the group has confronted the Chinese authorities before," said Yin Gang, a senior expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Yin said it is possible that more terrorist networks may vow to attack Chinese in other regions of the world, but it is unlikely.
"Al-Qaida leader bin Laden himself has said that his target is not China," Yin said.
Zhang Xiaodong, secretary-general of the China Association of Middle East Studies, said although AQIM has issued a threat, there is no proof of pro-separatist groups working with Al-Qaida to stage violence.
"Only a small handful of secessionists has tried to link themselves to Al-Qaida," Zhang said.
Feng Feng contributed to the story


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