SCHWEIZER BOTSCHAFT IN BEIJING
EMBASSY OF SWITZERLAND IN BEIJING
AMBASSADE DE SUISSE EN CHINE

Der wöchentliche Presserückblick der Schweizer Botschaft in der VR China
The Weekly Press Review of the Swiss Embassy in the People's Republic of China
La revue de presse hebdomadaire de l'Ambassade de Suisse en RP de Chine
  7-10.6.2011, No. 374  
Startseite / Homepage   Archiv / Archives
Table of contents

DPRK and South Korea

Mongolia

^ top ^

 

Foreign Policy

Beijing coy on supporting French Minister's IMF bid (SCMP)
2011-06-09
Government officials told visiting French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde that the naming of the International Monetary Fund chief should be an "open" race, without saying whether Beijing will support her bid to lead the organization [...]. The senior officials Lagarde met includedd Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Finance Minister Xie Xuren, People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan and Vice-Premier Wang Qishan. Yang told reporters after meeting with Lagarde that China was giving serious thought to the issue, but did not say if it would support the French minister. "It's an open field now. There are quite a few people campaigning," Yang said in English. "We had a good discussion. She explained to me the purpose of her candidacy." In a meeting with Wang, [...]. Wang said tthe two exchanged views on issues including the Group of 20 summit in Cannes, and the reform of international financial organisations, economic norms and standards, Xinhua reported. One of Lagarde's rivals for the job is Mexican central bank governor Agustin Carstens [...]. The Foreign Miniistry has said the choice of a new IMF head should be based on "openness, transparency and merit, and better represent emerging markets” [...]. Analysts say China is asseessing whether Lagarde's offer is attractive enough to warrant support. Professor Chen Zhimin, who specialises in international politics at Fudan University in Shanghai, said it was unlikely China would block Lagarde if she promised to reform the IMF power structure, including appointing representatives from emerging markets to key posts [...]. There are reports speculating that Zhu Min, the former deputy governor of the People's Bank of China who later advised Strauss-Kahn, will be deputy managing director of the IMF. "It is quite impossible to name the IMF chief from China or other emerging markets. Therefore, China will be pragmatic on the issue by casting support for Lagarde, but raising its demands," said Professor Zhang Liqing of the Central University of Finance and Economics [...]. ^ top ^

China vows to boost security ties with SCO members (China Daily)
2011-06-09
China pledged on Wednesday to enhance security cooperation with other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to deal with regional security threats and the possible resurgence of terrorist attacks. "There are still unstable factors in the world today, which faces the possible danger of the resurgence of terrorism. Central Asia is also threatened by terrorism," Assistant Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping told the Lanting Forum held in the Lanting (Blue Hall) of the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. To tackle this situation, SCO member states should develop effective cooperation from joint warnings to joint law enforcement, and also hold regular joint counter-terrorism exercises, Cheng said. They "should spare no efforts in fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism, drug trafficking and other transnational crimes, and safeguarding global information security", Cheng said [...]. According to Ji Zhiye, deputy dean of China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, enhanced security cooperation between SCO members over the past decade has paid off. SCO member states have signed the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism and a number of other security cooperation documents on non-traditional threats [...]. However, Ji noted that the SCO shouldn't dwell on its achievements, but must further enhance security cooperation. Ji said what will happen in Afghanistan after the United States starts to withdraw its troops in July remains unclear [...]. Leaders attending the 10th anniversary SCO summit to be held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on June 15, will approve an anti-drugs strategy for 2011 to 2016 to tackle this major threat to peace and prosperity in the region [...]. At the Astana summit, President Hu Jintao will discuss with leaders of other SCO member states how to expand economic cooperation, Cheng said, adding that China will provide more financial assistance to other member states [...]. ^ top ^

Sino-Vietnam ties worsen (SCMP)
2011-06-10
Vietnam last night accused a Chinese fishing boat of intentionally ramming and damaging survey cables a Vietnamese oil ship was towing deep in its southern waters - the latest sign of worsening Sino-Vietnamese tensions over the disputed South China Sea. Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga said the case was another "serious violation" of Vietnamese sovereignty and it had been raised with Chinese envoys in Hanoi [...]. The incident comes amid diplomatic exchanges over Chinese maritime surveillance ships cutting cables towed by a Vietnamese ship further north on May 26. Both incidents fall within waters that Vietnam insists are its exclusive economic zone but still fall within China's historic claim to virtually the entire South China Sea. Nga said the second incident occurred within one of Vietnam's southernmost oil exploration areas and on its continental shelf [...]. Three Chinese ships surrounded the Viking 2 for several hours on May 31 when it was conducting surveys for the Japanese oil firm Idemitsu. It was unclear if the ship was still working for Idemitsu. Oil industry officials said that Idemitsu was among the foreign companies, including US giant ExxonMobil and BP, that Chinese officials repeatedly threatened with reprisals unless they pulled out of their deals with Vietnam. Beijing views the deals as a breach of Chinese sovereignty [...]. Speaking about the May 26 incident, Singapore-based mainland scholar Dr Wang Hanling said the situation in the South China Sea remained normal. What had changed, he said, was Vietnam's increasingly public position and aggressive statements and its intensifying survey activities. "I don't believe the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry's various references are helpful to the situation," Wang, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Centre for Oceans Affairs and the Law of the Sea, said. "The Vietnamese side should go back to the negotiating table rather than continue all this publicity.". ^ top ^

Beijing ready for more talks with Libya's rebels (SCMP)
2011-06-10
Beijing said yesterday it was ready to receive envoys from Libya's rebel-led National Transitional Council and to provide humanitarian aid to the war-torn country, further engaging China in the conflict. "We are ready to receive a visit from the council representatives in the near future," Chen Xiaodong, director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' West Asian and North African Affairs Department, told Xinhua. "China would like to stay in touch with Libyan parties, including the NTC, to support African countries' proposals for resolving the Libya issue, and expects both sides of Libya to consider and respond to the proposals" [...]. Chen's announcement came after Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi received Abdul Ati Al-Obidi, special envoy of the Libyan government, on Monday. China's first contact with Libya's opposition group took place on June 2 when the ambassador to Qatar, Zhang Zhiliang, met rebel leader Abdel Jalil in Doha. On Monday, Li Lianhe, minister counsellor of the embassy in Egypt, went to the rebel-held city of Benghazi, where he met Jalil and checked on Chinese companies. Chen said the Chinese, as friends of the Libyans, were concerned with the deteriorating conditions [...]. China has provided US$1 million in cash to Egypt and given Tunisia US$2 million in cash and relief supplies worth 30 million yuan (HK$36 million) to help the countries accommodate Libyan refugees [...]]. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei did not say whether China had shifted its stance to recognise Libyan rebel forces, but stressed that the crisis should be tackled through political means and that the future of the country should be decided by Libyans. Yang told his Libyan counterpart on Monday that a ceasefire in the oil-rich nation was crucial [...]. ^ top ^

Beijing taps into Cuban oilfields (SCMP)
2011-06-10
China looks ready to play a major role in the development of Cuban oil, including the island's soon-to-be explored fields in the Gulf of Mexico, after the signing of energy-related accords during a visit this week by Vice-President Xi Jinping [...].. State-owned China National Petroleum Corp said the accords committed the company to make full use of its oil expertise to help Cuba raise its oil output and "to expand co-operation with [state-owned] Cubapetroleo in exploring and developing new onshore and offshore oil blocks in Cuba". Whether the agreement means CNPC has leased Gulf of Mexico blocks for exploration was not immediately clear. But Jorge Pinon, a visiting fellow at Florida International University and an expert on Cuban oil, said the Cubans previously said they were discussing the leasing of five of their 59 offshore blocks to the Chinese [...]. Xi and Cuban President Raul Castro attended a ceremony on Sunday in Havana [......]. The agreements with China, also a major creditor to Cuba, come as Cuba awaits the arrival of a Chinese-built rig contracted by Spanish oil giant Repsol YPF to conduct the first full-scale exploration in Cuba's part of the Gulf of Mexico [...]. Cuba says it may have 20 billion barrels of reserves, but the US Geological Survey has estimated only five billion [...]. Repsol representatives met US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last week to assure him they have solid safety plans in place should there be a blowout like that at the BP well last year off the Louisiana coast [...]. ^ top ^

 

Domestic Policy

Decreased enrollment has Chinese universities scrambling (Xinhua)
2011-06-07
It might have been hard for Chinese universities, which witnessed a "golden era" in the past decade of fast enrollment expansion and millions of candidates scrapping for college seats via make-or-break exams, to foresee a day when they would have to fight to survive. That day, however, seems to have arrived. About 9.33 million students have registered to take the annual national college entrance exams, or gaokao, on June 7 and 8 this year. This number is 240,000 less than last year's figure and represents the third straight year of decreased registration. Ma Yan, a senior consultant for MyCos, a Beijing-based higher education consulting firm, said "the decline is mainly due to the shrinking number of high school students, which is a result of decreased birth rates caused by China's one-child policy." "The downward trend in enrollment may last until 2018," Ma said. [...] National census figures show that the number of births in 2000 was 13.79 million, about 10 million less than the 23.54 million births recorded in 1990. Growing interest in studying abroad has also had an impact on university enrollment, according to MyCos. More than 72.3 percent of this year's applications will be accepted to the college of their choice, an increase of 4 percentage points over last year. "As the suppliers of higher education, colleges used to play a much more dominant role in selecting their students. Students have more choices now, as competition is not as great," Ma said. A report released earlier this year by China Education Online, an Internet-based educational resource operated by the Ministry of Education, predicted that universities will face financial pressures over the next ten years as enrollment continues to decrease. [...] However, the decreased enrollmment cloud could have a silver lining. Zhang Li, director of the education ministry's education development and research center, said "the challenges arising from decreased enrollment may actually have a positive effect. Lower enrollment numbers will force colleges to improve the quality and structure of their programs and encourage higher education reform in general.". ^ top ^

From drought to flooding in days (SCMP)
2011-06-07
Residents of drought-ravaged central provinces have undoubtedly been relieved to see rain in recent days, but for many, the respite has been short-lived, as continuous rains are triggering widespread flooding in many regions. And those torrential downpours, which have been hammering several provinces since Friday, showed no signs yesterday of abating soon, with national weather officials forecasting them to continue for at least three days. The heaviest rains fell in a swathe running from Guizhou province to just south of the mouth of the Yangtze River, but flooding was also reported in Inner Mongolia and the northeast. In Hunan province - one of the areas worst affected by the drought - some 600,000 residents were affected by flooding over the weekend. Flooding has been reported in 103 of the province's cities since Saturday morning, Xinhua reported yesterday. The state news agency reported that at least 13 people were missing in Wangmo county, Guizhou, yesterday morning after 24 hours of rainfall caused widespread flooding. Water levels of the Wangmo River were three metres higher than the recommended safe level during rainy weather, and local authorities had evacuated 6,000 residents. An estimated 71,200 people had already been affected in the province, and some saw their homes washed away, Xinhua reported. Additionally, power has been out and many roads are flooded, hindering traffic. [...] More than 200mm of rainfall fell in many areas to the south of the Yangtze's lower and middle reaches. The administration last night issued warnings of further heavy and torrential rainstorms in southern Guizhou, northern Guangxi, central Hunan, southeastern Anhui, central and northern Jiangxi, most of Zhejiang and northwestern Fujian province, with the worst rains expected to hit western Zhejiang and northeastern Jiangxi. [...] The rain is due to llessen in intensity by tomorrow, but will likely continue to affect much of the country, particularly in the south. Zheng Guoguang, head of the weather administration, told China National Radio yesterday the rain would continue into the middle of the month, bringing an end to the record drought seen across large areas of the mainland. The rain "will significantly help in alleviating the drought", Zheng said. But authorities would still need to fight the effects of the drought, as water levels were low in major lakes, rivers and reservoirs. ^ top ^

Floods kill 21 as emergency level raised (China Daily)
2011-06-08
Floods killed 21 people and left at least 31 others missing in Guizhou province as authorities upgraded the emergency response to Level 3 from Level 4 on Tuesday. The Ministry of Civil Affairs said it raised the emergency level and dispatched vice-minister Jiang Li to lead a working team on behalf of the State Council, or Cabinet, to gauge the extent of the disaster and oversee relief efforts [...]. Floods had so far hit 11 cities and counties across Guizhou, affecting more than 270,000 people, the provincial civil affairs bureau said [...]. In Hunan province, floods, caused by heavy rain since the start of June, affected about 1.38 million people in five cities and autonomous prefectures. The economic cost was estimated at 587 million yuan, a report released on Tuesday by the provincial drought relief and flood control office said [...]. ^ top ^

CPC implements free religious belief policy to maintain social harmony: newspaper (Global Times)
2011-06-08
Although the Communist Party of China (CPC) is officially an atheist organization, it is implementing a free religious belief policy among the Chinese people, according to an article published on Tuesday in the People's Daily, the CPC's flagship newspaper. The policy is to unite both religious people and non-believers, and the CPC has plenty of reasons to do so [...].. One of these reasons is that the CPC respects the objectivity of laws governing the evolution of nature and society, the article said. Religion, as a widespread and historic human phenomenon, has its own laws to enable itself to exist in socialist society on a long-term basis. Therefore, it requires the CPC and the Chinese government to respect these laws and carry out religious policies and the management of relevant affairs in accordance with those laws [...]. The article said that Chinese culture highlights the concept of harmony, which includes adopting an inclusive attitude towards various cultures and valuing the cultural elements, history and philosophy embodied in various religions. China's policy of free religious belief goes in line with the country's historical and cultural traditions and is also accepted by both religious people and non-believers in China, [...]. People of different religions, as well as those who do not believe in a higher power, are living in harmony in China, despite the fact that conflicts caused by divergences among different cultures and religions can be seen in many parts of the world, according to the article. ^ top ^

College student executed for deadly stabbing (SCMP)
2011-06-08
A 21-year-old college student who hit a young mother with his car and then stabbed her to death to avoid paying compensation was executed yesterday morning in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, amid lingering public anger over the killing. Yao Jiaxin, a well-off undergraduate at the Xi'an Conservatory of Music, was sentenced to death by the Xi'an Intermediate People's Court on April 22 for murdering struggling waitress Zhang Miao, 26, in a hit-and-run accident in October [...]. In a TV interview in November, Yao tried to justify his actions by saying he stabbed the woman because she was trying to write down his car plate number, and he feared "it would be particularly hard to get along with rural people" if he was caught. He also said he feared that the woman would harass his family for compensation. During the trial, Yao's lawyer, Lu Gang, attributed the killing to intense emotion and fear, comments that helped fuel strong public indignation nationwide [...]. In its verdict, the court said, "Yao Jiaxin murdered the woman to prevent divulgence of the hit-and-run accident; it can't be attributed to `intense emotion'... Yao's motive was extremely despicable, the measures extremely cruel and the consequences extremely serious." Medical experts confirmed that the woman suffered a fracture in her left leg and a concussion as a result of the car accident, but she died because of massive bleeding caused by a severed artery near her heart. The incident quickly grabbed national headlines, sparking an outcry against the wealthy younger generation. It also came just four days after a similar reckless-driving incident involving Li Qiming, who infamously tried to play on his police chief father's influential position by declaring, "My father is Li Gang!" Commentators have since urged mainland society to rethink its education of young people, as test scores and careers are stressed, but aspects such as humanity and respect for life are often given less attention. Following Yao's sentencing, some people tried to save the student from execution [...]. In mainland-based chatrooms yesterday, many hailed Yao's execution as a victory for public opinion. ^ top ^

Truck driver gets death penalty for killing Mongol (SCMP)
2011-06-09
A truck driver was sentenced to death after a Mongol herder was fatally dragged under his truck in a case that triggered Inner Mongolia's largest protests in 20 years. Xinhua said the verdict for Li Lindong was read yesterday after a six-hour trial ended in the Intermediate People's Court in the region's Xilingol league. Another driver who was sitting in the cab of Li's truck, Lu Xiangdong, was sentenced to life in jail [...]. Both Li and Lu faced charges of intentional killing, Xinhua reported. The report said about 160 people were present at the trial, including relatives of Mergen and the accused. Mergen was one of about 20 herders who attempted to block Li's truck on May 10. They were protesting against noise and dust pollution caused by mining near his village [...]. Aware that protests could worsen, Beijing vowed to send inspectors to the region to inspect coal mining companies, and to close down excessive polluters […]. ^ top ^

Why people really back death penalty (SCMP)
2011-06-09
The sentencing to death of two young men last month sparked heated discussion among mainlanders. Young driver Yao Jiaxin, who accidentally knocked over a woman before stabbing her to death because he was worried about future compensation claims, was swiftly executed two days ago. Hawker Xia Junfeng, who stabbed two city management officers to death during an interrogation, is awaiting the outcome of a final review by the Supreme People's Court (SPC). While the central government views scrapping of the death penalty as its goal, in line with international trends, it has ruled out abolition in the foreseeable future, claiming that the public is unready. Judicial officials often say the concept of "a life for a life" is still ingrained in society, and China is still at a stage of development where the death penalty is necessary as a deterrent [...]. While emotional, few of the public discussions touched on the merits of the death penalty. Other social factors are driving the public's support for the death penalty, such as anger at corruption and social inequality, and scepticism about judicial independence [...]. In the past few years, mainland authorities have rolled out measures aimed at reducing the use of death sentences, most notably the introduction of the SPC review procedure four years ago and last month's shortening, for the first time, of the long list of crimes punishable by death, from 68 to 55 [...]. In Yao and Xia's cases, the public expressed very different sentiments towards the defendants, suggesting that the public is not fixed on seeking the death penalty whenever the law permits it. In Yao's case, most people called for his execution. While the brutality of the 21-year-old music student's attack on Zhang Miao was blood-curdling, the public appeared most infuriated by his motive - to prevent the peasant woman from causing him future trouble. Yao fit the public's image of the so-called rich second generation: arrogant and spoiled. The public was much more lenient towards 33-year-old Xia, a street sausage vendor and a father. Many saw Xia as fighting against an unreasonable city management system, and believed his claims that he was acting in self-defence. In another recent case, people called for the execution of Xu Maiyong, the former Hangzhou vice-mayor convicted last month of gaining almost 200 million yuan (HK$240 million) from bribes and embezzlement. This reflected a general perception that death is the only suitable punishment for a corrupt official or someone with wealth and power, who would otherwise be let out in a few years after multiple sentence reductions and a medical parole. These cases showed that the public's support for the death penalty is greatly influenced by social concerns such as the unequal distribution of wealth, corruption, the use of violence by those enforcing the law and worries about the mainland's weak judiciary [...]. Enhancing transparency of the death penalty system is another immediate action the authorities could take which would help build public confidence in the judiciary [...]. At present, there is no time frame within which a review must take place, and often family members are only notified of the decision when they are called in to meet the defendant one last time. The review is also done in an internal SPC meeting, instead of an open hearing [...]. ^ top ^

Confusion surrounds non-party candidates (SCMP)
2011-06-10
Confusion surrounds the status of efforts by dozens of "independent" contenders running for seats in grass-roots legislatures, following the authorities' first official response to the election bids. "There are no so-called independent candidates [under mainland law], and there is no legal basis for [the term] independent candidates," a National People's Congress Legislative Affairs Commission official said on state television on Wednesday. The comments were in response to election bids by so-called independent candidates that began emerging in online forums in April and quickly spread to more than a dozen provinces and municipalities. The NPC official's remarks were widely reported but rather than clarifying the issue, they added confusion because they did not explicitly rule the candidates out. Some political analysts described the comments as meaningless and simply part of Beijing's efforts to pour cold water on rising public aspirations for greater democracy following a heightened clampdown on dissent. Candidates Li Chengpeng and Wu Danhong said the authorities rejected the idea of independent candidates largely due to party conservatives' sensitivity about Western-style democracy and competitive elections [...]. Under the law, any mainland citizen who is over 18 can become a tentative, then official, candidate as long as the applicant follows certain procedures and has the support of at least 10 voters. Activist Yao Lifa, who won a seat as an independent in a congress in Qianjiang, Hubei, in 1999, insisted that state media had twisted the NPC official's remarks [...]. Other analysts pointed out that although the NPC official fell short of spelling out Beijing's disdain for public participation in grass-roots elections, mainland authorities had adopted an increasingly hard-line approach against democracy appeals. Professor Zhu Lijia, of the Chinese Academy of Governance, said the clarification was both unnecessary and incorrect, because it was in apparent contradiction to the existing law. "Whether they are called independent candidates or individual candidates, citizens running for local congresses as independents are [exercising] part of their basic rights [...].". ^ top ^

CPC breaks "glass ceiling" for village officials (People's Daily Online)
2011-06-10
After going through a fierce selection process, conducted through written texts and interviews that took nearly half a year to complete, Xiao Jing, 33, has finally made his way from being a village Party head to becoming a senior township official. His promotion is significant. Breaking the "glass ceiling" for village officials marks a breakthrough for the Communist Party of China (CPC) in how it governs at lower levels. As the "terminal nerve" of the CPC's governance system, officials of China's 600,000-plus administrative villages are sometimes called the "foundation of the grassroots level." Rural villages in China enjoy a great deal of autonomy. Villagers' committees, or the bodies that govern affairs of the rural villages, are formed in democratic elections and manage village affairs on a democratic basis. Despite the fact that village officials win their posts in democratic elections, their career prospects have long been undermined by a lack of upward mobility [...]. The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee has issued a series of policies to grant promotions to officials in rural areas who have proven their worth. Accordingly, a large number of outstanding officials from rural areas are now being considered for promotions. "I was surprised and thrilled to see the open selection notice. After being a village official for 14 years, I am confident of my abilities," said Xiao Jing, who has worked as the secretary of the law enforcement committee for Liulong Township for over four months [...]. Huang Jiazhong, an official with the organization department of Guizhou's Bijie Prefectural Committee of the CPC, said Bijie, an ecologically vulnerable region, is trying to attract new village officials by promoting its current village officials to the posts of township officials. According to Huang, working as a village official is difficult because the salary is low and promotion opportunities are few and far between. This problem is further complicated by the fact that many of China's rural areas are still underdeveloped […]. ^ top ^

Wife fears house arrest looms for released activist (SCMP)
2011-06-10
Mainland dissident Huang Qi, who has spent three years in jail for "illegal possession of state secrets" after helping families whose children died during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, is to be released today, although his wife fears that he could be placed under house arrest [...]. Huang's wife, Zeng Li, said yesterday that police had forbidden her from picking him up at the prison today and had told her they would take him back to his home town in Neijiang, Sichuan [...]. Other prominent government critics such as rights lawyer Zheng Enchong and anti-abortion activist Chen Guangcheng have been confined to their homes and held incommunicado straight after their release. Zeng said she was anxious for her husband to get immediate medical treatment because he had suffered from various illnesses [...]. The skin on his hands was raw and ulcerated when she visited him last year. Huang was jailed from 2000 to 2005 for "inciting the subversion of state power" after publishing material critical of the government on his website. Huang, 48, told his wife during a visit that he would like to resume his rights activities after his release, although she doubted he would be able to do so [...]. ^ top ^

Grads leaving big cities for lower living costs (China Daily)
2011-06-10
More than 22 percent of college graduates choose to leave Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou after three years of toiling in those megacities, where the opportunities are becoming scarcer. Of the graduates who move elsewhere, those who make fewer than 2,000 yuan ($309) a month or more than 9,000 yuan a month are the most likely to go, according to the Chinese College Graduates Employment Annual Report (2011), which was released on Thursday in Beijing. The report was based on a survey undertaken by the MyCOS Institute, a consulting company. The survey looked at 227,000 college graduates who took diplomas in 2010, and 109,500 who took diplomas in 2007 [...]. Recent changes in China's economy have made it essential for college graduates to possess more than a good education if they want to successfully compete for jobs. They must also have practical experience and be good at communicating. Many graduates, even though they are paying higher and higher fees every year for schooling, find they do not possess the practical abilities they need to get a job after earning a diploma. The report said the average monthly income earned by college graduates in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in 2007 was 3,272 yuan during their first six months' work. After three years, it increased to 6,781 yuan. But even with that additional amount, many graduates find they cannot afford to pay for lodging in the largest cities [...]. Many college graduates are more willing to work in places where the cost of living is lower. As a result, slightly smaller cities in China have begun to grow at a faster rate [...]. Despite their difficulties with pay, college graduates enjoyed bright employment prospects in 2010, according to the report. That year, 83.5 percent of college graduates were employed, a figure that takes into account both those with full-time jobs and those with part-time jobs. About 1.5 percent of them had established their own businesses. ^ top ^

 

Beijing

Beijing lures innovators to drive growth (SCMP)
2011-06-07
The Beijing municipal government is coming up with more policies and capital in favour of technology companies, [...] while assuring continuing incentives for the workers it needs who have specialised knowledge. With service industries already making up more than 70 per cent of the municipality's gross domestic product, the only way Beijing can sustain economic growth is to seek its niche in innovation, said Zhu Shilong, deputy director-general of the municipal Science and Technology Commission. To do so, Zhu said the capital would have to keep its door open to "high-end talent". And yet, because of faster-than-expected population growth in the past few years, municipal officials decided this year to cut down the quota of household registrations, or hukou, for fresh university graduates. What's more, mainland media reported processes were slowing down for even overseas PhD holders to move their families to Beijing. Zhu denied that, pointing to a number of preferential policies that have recently been established for the Zhongguancun area. [...] A joint programme was launched in March by a dozen or so authorities, [...] aiming to build Zhongguancun, now an area of hi-tech companies, into a "state-level special talent zone" during the 12th five-year plan period (2011-15). Those policies range from providing immediate hukou to highly educated personnel and their family members, or permanent-resident permits or multiple-entry visas for those with foreign citizenship, to the building of 10,000 rental flats for them. [...] Zhongguancun will be Beijing's brand name, Zhu said, for the city's economy and its attempt to attract new talent. [...] ";Beijing has its unique advantages," Zhu said. "Ours is a city where universities have research facilities, information is gathered, ideas are exchanged, scholars meet, and policies and capital mingle." People like sending their children to schools in Beijing, too, he added. [...] This year, the municipal Science and Technology Commission alone has a budget of more than 20 billion yuan [...] devoted to the so-called commercialisation of new technologies - "10 billion yuan for key projects and another 12.3 billion yuan for regular projects", Zhu explained. Also, the increasing complexity of city life, joined by 19 million residents with one-third of them migrants, has been a fertile ground for new technologies to take root in the consumer market. [...] According to a report by Yan Aoshuang, director general of the commission, there were 6,500 government-registered hi-tech companies in Beijing last year, accounting for more than 20 per cent of all such companies in the country. [...] But although Beijing is recruiting by the hundreds, it may still be running a shortage by the thousands. In a report released last week, the municipal Academy of Social Sciences said that while half or more of the jobs in New York, London and Tokyo were from financial, technological and cultural services, those sectors accounted for only 17 per cent of the jobs in Beijing. The capital's workers aged 25 and older have on average received 10 years of education, while those in New York have 16 years, according to the report. ^ top ^

 

Shanghai

Einstein no-show finally explained (Global Times)
2011-06-10
A proposal to merge an exhibition of Chinese philosopher Confucius with a touring Swiss exhibition on Albert Einstein was ditched because the new director of the Swiss museum didn't like the idea, Shanghai Science and Technology Museum announced on Thursday. The Shanghai leg of the Historical Museum Bern's traveling Einstein exhibition was canceled last year without explanation from either side. Talks to bring the Einstein exhibition to Shanghai began in 2008, when the Shanghai institution suggested combining it with a Confucius theme, its press officer Li Jun told the Global Times on Thursday, the first time the museum has made any official comment on the matter. "The then Bern museum director Peter Jezler liked the idea, so we set aside manpower to develop the idea and prepare for the possible exhibition. However, the preparation work was shelved in 2009 following a change in museum director on the Bern side," Li said. An Associated Press report this week called the proposal to link Confucius and Einstein "an odd coupling." Jakob Messerli, director of the Historical Museum Bern, told the Global Times that the exhibition's Shanghai leg was canceled last year because the museum wanted to present the same version of the exhibition at each stop on its tour. "It's not about the Confucius exhibition at all, the Einstein exhibition is a traveling exhibition, it's a finished product. It cannot be changed. If there's another stop of the exhibition, it should be exactly the same," Messerli said on Thursday. But the Einstein exhibition could still come to Shanghai, Messerli said, as the Swiss consulate is still in contact with other museums in the city that could host it [...]. "Albert Einstein (1879-1955)" is financed by Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and was among official events held to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations between China and Switzerland last year. ^ top ^

 

Guangdong

Migrant workers riot outside government building in Guangdong (SCMP)
2011-06-08
More than 200 migrant workers staged a violent protest outside a township government building in Chaozhou Guangdong, authorities have confirmed. Witnesses said the protest on Monday degenerated into a riot that eventually involved thousands of migrant workers and local residents. Chaoan county police released a brief statement yesterday morning saying police dispersed the crowd in front of the Guxiang township government building by about 10.30pm on Monday. Police said protesters smashed at least three cars and another one was burned, and nine people suspected of involvement in the unrest had been arrested. The statement did not say how many people were injured. In a video posted online, angry people can be seen rushing into the street, throwing rocks at cars, mobbing government buildings and smashing police vehicles. Migrant workers also fought local residents. The authorities said the conflict had died down after the crowd was dispersed by police but Witnesses said many shops in Guxiang remain closed and many migrant workers have left the township because they feared revenge attacks from locals. Police said the protest was led by a migrant worker from Sichuan province who is employed by a ceramics workshop. He was wounded in a knife attack after demanding unpaid wages from his boss last Wednesday, June 1they said [...]. However, the man's relatives and witnesses said thousands of migrant workers clashed with villagers and armed police on Monday. However, the Sichuan migrant's relatives said he and his 19-year-old son went to the ceramics workshop to demand 3,000 yuan (HK$3,600) in back pay. The father was beaten and his son's hands and feet were badly chopped by the boss and two other men, all Chaoan natives. The next day, dozens of workers from Sichuan gathered at the government building and called for the three men who attacked the father and son to be arrested. Anger soon spread among Chaoan's migrant workers after several protesters were detained while those responsible for the attack remained free. ''We had never called on those migrant workers for help,'' a relative of the man and his son said. ''They came to protest because we've all been owed back-pay by local bosses for a long time and the local authorities have given us little help” [...]. ^ top ^

Air quality improved in Guangzhou (Guangzhou Daily)
2011-06-09
From 2004 to 2010, Guangzhou economy grew at an average speed of 13.5% per year, with the GDP increased by 140%, the total industry output up by 150%, and the possession of vehicles up by 136%, but the SO2 emission decreased in five successive years. The air quality in Guangzhou has been higher than the Level-2 of the national standard for six successive years. In 2010, the Sulfur dioxide, Nitrogen dioxide and the average concentrations of inhalable particles decreased by 57.1%, 27.4% and 30.3% respectively than in 2004. ^ top ^

 

Tibet

Tibet reports progress in environment protection (Xinhua)
2011-06-07
Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region maintained sound environment last year thanks to a series of protection measures, a report issued by the local environment watchdog said Friday. Tibet's 2010 environment status report said the region reported progress in environment protection, as its water and air quality indicated. Last year, the water quality in Tibet's major rivers and lakes, including the Yarlung Zangbo, Lhasa River and Rongpo River that originates in Mount Qomolangma, met national standards for clean water, the document said. Meanwhile, all Tibetan cities and towns reported good air quality last year. [...] The reporrt attributed the good air and water quality to effect environment protection. "Effective measures were taken to protect the pastureland, forests, wetlands and bio-diversity and curb pollution," the document said. Last year, the regional environment protection administration closed down nine ore concentration plants to curb pollution. Another 26 ore concentration plants and 16 mines were suspended production for overhaul, said Jampel, deputy chief of the regional environment protection administration. He said Tibet had banned ultra-thin plastic bags and lunch boxes and started building three garbage treatment plants in Nagqu, Qamdo and Ngari prefectures. Another 14 garbage treatment plants will be built in 14 counties across the plateau region, he said. To expand the region's forest reserves, an additional 60,000 hectares of trees were planted in Tibet last year and 4,000 hectares of cropland was reclaimed to forests. Last year, Tibet set up three new nature reserves and spent 20.7 million yuan (3.2 million U.S. dollars) to improve rural environment in 26 villages. Meanwhile, the region spent a total of 780 million yuan to preserve its natural forests, wetlands and wildlife, prevent forest fire, plant diseases and insect pests and promote clean energy in nomadic communities. Experts say environment protection on the Tibet Plateau, dubbed the "roof of the world", is essential in fighting glacial melting and climate change. ^ top ^

 

Xinjiang

China's Xinjiang to invest 7.7 bln USD in poverty alleviation in 2011-15 (Xinhua)
2011-06-07
China's far western Xinjiang region will earmark 50 billion yuan (7.7 billion U.S. dollars) for poverty alleviation in the next five years, a local official said Monday. Zhao Guoming, head of the regional poverty relief office, said 60 percent of the fund will be used on supporting distinctive industries and the rest on improving housing conditions in rural areas. A total of 35 billion yuan, or 70 percent of the poverty alleviation fund, will go to the cities of Kashgar and Hotan and autonomous prefecture of Kizilsu Kyrgyz in southern Xinjiang, Zhao said. The regional government aimed to help the per capita annual net income of farmers and herdsmen in poverty-stricken regions to grow at higher than nationwide average rate to 5,000 yuan in 2015, the official said. He added that 10 billion yuan is from the central and regional governments, 30 billion yuan from various aid and 10 billion yuan from farmers and herdsmen themselves. ^ top ^

 

Hongkong

PLA ready to sign up Hong Kong recruits (SCMP)
2011-06-08
PLA Chief of General Staff Chen Bingde has for the first time said that Hong Kong people are welcome to join the army. But legal hurdles, such as how the mainland's military service law can be applied in the special administrative region, have to be cleared before Hongkongers can sign up [...]. It is the first time since the handover in 1997 that a high-ranking PLA officer has given the green light for Hongkongers to join the army. Lieutenant General Qi Jianguo, Chen's assistant, said allowing Hongkongers to join the PLA would be feasible "if the Hong Kong government resolves the legal issues". Some Hong Kong people have a negative impression of the PLA after the crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Beijing in 1989. But others have gradually warmed to the PLA's Hong Kong garrison. A survey by the University of Hong Kong's public opinion programme in April, found that 52 per cent of respondents were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the garrison's performance, compared with 36 per cent in a similar poll in July 1997 [...]. Professor Yao Jianguo, from the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, said one feasible approach to solve the legal obstacles would be for the Hong Kong government to propose to the National People's Congress Standing Committee that the Military Service Law be added to the Basic Law's list of national laws applied in Hong Kong [...]. London-based PLA expert Gary Li said he believed any local recruitment would need special regulations to allow a Hong Kong force to remain within the city - a vast difference to the way young soldiers are recruited and deployed on the mainland. "I struggle to think how Hong Kong people, used to their freedoms and lifestyle would fit in with a local PLA garrison in Inner Mongolia full of young soldiers from the villages," said Li, who monitors security issues for intelligence firm Exclusive Analysis [...]. ^ top ^

 

Taiwan

Mainland, Taiwan urged to set up joint system to ensure food safety (Xinhua)
2011-06-07
Entrepreneurs and industry analysts have called for the establishment of a joint food safety system between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan as the island's tainted beverage scandal continues. The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement signed in 2010 between the mainland and Taiwan will continue to boost cross-Strait trade of agricultural and food products, which makes the joint system necessary, said Yang Jinfa, president of Taiwan Merchant Association of Hangzhou City [...]. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said that starting from June 1, the mainland will suspend imports of beverages, food products and food additives from Taiwan that are produced by companies suspected of using bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), an organic compound that is used by manufacturers to soften plastic. [...] Chen Jing, an analyst of beverage industry with Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultancy Co. Ltd, said because a small amount of Taiwan-produced beverages were imported to the mainland, the impact on the mainland market would be minimum. ^ top ^

 

Economy

China to increase imports from SADC countries, says vice premier (Xinhua)
2011-06-07
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan said Saturday China will increase imports from member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), so to facilitate stronger mutually-beneficial trade ties. Wang made the remarks while addressing the opening ceremony of China-SADC Business Forum in Beijing which was attended by SADC Chairman Hifikepunye Pohamba [...]. Wang said economic and trade cooperation betwween China and SADC nations had resulted in substantial benefits to both sides. Trade volume between China and SADC countries stood at 61 billion U.S. dollars last year, nearly half of the China-Africa trade volume. "China has become an important trading partner and a source of investment in the SADC region," Wang said, adding that further boosting China-SADC trade cooperation is of great importance for economic growth and the global economic recovery. New opportunities for deepening win-win cooperation are emerging as China implements its 12th Five-Year Program, said the vice premier. [...] Wang said the two sides shoulld expand cooperation in trade, investment, finance, energy and infrastructures. [...]. ^ top ^

China to halt wind turbine subsidies (China Daily)
2011-06-08
China's wind power companies expect to see little impact from the recent news that the country will end industry subsidies because of the investigation launched seven months ago following complaints from US manufacturers."It is understandable that the Chinese government is ending subsidies to an industry that is strong enough to compete with international players," said Shi Pengfei, vice-president of the China Wind Energy Association. China established a subsidy of 600 yuan ($92.55) a kilowatt (kW) for domestic wind turbine manufacturers to foster the industry during its infancy. USA Today reported on Monday that China has agreed to stop subsidies to wind power companies that use domestic components instead of imports under its "indigenous innovation" program, citing US Trade Representative Ron Kirk [...]. The outcome is considered "significant" and a "victory" in the US because it helps "ensure fairness for American clean technology companies and workers", the report quoted Kirk. However, Chinese companies said the value of the grants is small when it comes to each maker's portion and the subsidy's end is unlikely to make a big splash. China has more than 80 wind turbine makers whose production has contributed to the country's rapid growth in the wind power sector [...]. China is considered the biggest competitor of the US in energy innovation. Domestic players, such as Sinovel Wind Group Co and Xinjiang Goldwind Science and Technology Co Ltd, said they have a global supply chain and buy from the most suitable suppliers, not just domestic ones [...]. Last year, it established a US unit in Chicago but put off the plan to set up a factory there partly because the US market slowed down in 2010 [...]. ^ top ^

Economy to grow by 9.3% this year: World Bank (China Daily)
2011-06-09
The economy will maintain its high growth levels and the government still has plenty of room to further tighten monetary policy, World Bank economists said on Wednesday. The economy is predicted to grow by 9.3 percent this year, [...], the World Bank forecast in its twice-yearly report, Global Economic Prospects, released on Wednesday. "What we're seeing now is a moderate slowdown," said Ardo Hansson, lead World Bank economist in China [...]. He said the across-the-board slowdown indicates policies the government had adopted are beginning to work. "We see a lot of room for further tightening", and interest rates are still 1 percentage point below the level before the crisis, and if inflation is taken into account there is scope for a further hike, Hansson said [...]. But Hansson said the biggest risk facing the economy is not inflation, but the property market, which has been rising despite the government's cooling policies. Hans Timmer, director of development prospects at the World Bank, said decision-makers should focus more on signs that the economy is hitting its growth limits, and indications of this are apparent not only in the inflation rate, but in the real estate market. The economy "is cooling as we move into the second quarter, in response to policy tightening", Gerard Lyons, chief economist and group head of Global Research at Standard Chartered Bank, said in a research note [...]. The speed with which the recent tightening in monetary policy has fed through into the economy is remarkable, he said [...]. Lu Zhiming, senior economist at the Bank of Communications, said that there is no need for another hike in interest rates this year, given the signs of slowdown. Inflation is expected to fall in the second half of the year, he said. He lowered his forecast for annual economic growth to 9.5 percent from 10 percent. Higher commodity prices could damage global growth prospects, Justin Yifu Lin, the World Bank's chief economist and senior vice-president for development economics, said [...]. ^ top ^

Banks may see revenue drop in China (China Daily)
2011-06-10
China's commercial banks are likely to face revenue declines in the second half of this year, assuming that the central bank further tightens monetary policies to tame soaring inflation. The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, may continue to curb excessive liquidity by raising the reserve requirement ratio for commercial banks in the second half, indicating banks' profit from interest is likely to decrease, according to a report released by Ernst & Young Global Ltd on Wednesday [...]. It showed, on average, about 80 percent of the respondents' net profit came from lending in 2010; for some small and medium-sized banks, the figure was 86 percent. That means the expansion of China's commercial banks greatly relied on asset growth, increasing potential cash-flow risks, the report said. Peng Wensheng, chief economist at China International Capital Corp, said that the PBOC may raise the reserve requirement ratio and the benchmark interest rates again in June, to fight possible higher inflation in the coming months [...]. "More stringent regulatory requirements on capital adequacy will make it more difficult for commercial banks to earn large profits from the interest margin between deposits and loans," said Geoffrey Choi, leader of the banking and capital markets department at Ernst & Young in China. The tight-credit policy will drive commercial banks to increase non-interest income from cash management, credit cards, investment banking and e-banking services, according to Choi. Because small and medium-sized enterprises met financial difficulties as a result of the nation's monetary-tightening policies, the China Banking Regulatory Commission launched a series of measures on Tuesday to encourage specialized financial services for them, including using a lower risk weighting and issuing bonds. With a forecast that the growth of credit assets may ease, providing financial services to small-scale companies will become a new driver of commercial bank's profit in 2011, according to Ernst & Young [...]. According to the Ernst & Young report, the total net profit of the 17 listed banks was 687.3 billion yuan ($106.1 billion) in 2010, a 33 percent increase from 2009. ^ top ^

China's auto sales, output decline for 2nd month in May (Xinhua)
2011-06-10
China's auto sales and output continued to trend downward for a second month in May, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said Thursday. Figures released by the CAAM show auto output in May hit 1.3489 million units, down 4.89 percent year-on-year, while sales fell 3.98 percent to reach 1.3828 million. The declines were larger than those recorded in April, when sales that month decreased 0.25 percent from 2010, the first decline in more than two years. Output also dropped 1.85 percent. Zhu Yiping, CAAM's assistant secretary general, said the continuous decline in May was due to the removal of tax incentives in car purchases this year, rising fuel costs, and the purchase limits in some cities that strive to address traffic congestion [...]. In countering traffic gridlock, Beijing launched a car-quota system on Jan. 1, allowing only 240,000 new cars to be registered in the city this year, compared with the 800,000 new automobiles that took to the streets in 2010. CAAM figures Thursday also showed that both output and sales in May had dropped from April's 1.53 million and 1.55 million, respectively. On a year-on-year basis, auto output in the first five months this year rose 3.19 percent to reach 7.7797 million; sales rose 4.06 percent to 7.9162 million, but the growth rates both fell sharply compared to the double-digit growth in same period last year. China's auto sales surged more than 32 percent year-on-year to hit 18.06 million last year, making the country the world's largest auto market for a second year. Production last year topped 18.26 million, an annual increase of 32.44 percent. Output of passenger vehicles in May reached 1.0409 million, down 10 percent from April; sales hit 1.0429 million, also down by 8.71 percent. Commercial vehicle output in the month reached 308,000, down 18.68 percent from April. Sales hit 339,900, down 17.03 percent, the figures showed. Dong Yang, CAAM vice president, said despite the overall declines in the auto market last month, sales of sedans, SUVs (sport utility vehicles), and MPVs (multi-purpose vehicles) have continued to rise [...]. CAAM also said as of May, the vehicle inventory of car companies totalled 661,200 units, down 145,500 units compared to the end of last year [...]. ^ top ^

 

DPRK and South Korea

North Korea presses ahead on island economic zone with key ally (Global Times)
2011-06-09
China and North Korea broke ground on Wednesday on developing a joint economic zone on a border island, in a sign Pyongyang may undertake Chinese-style reforms in its troubled economy, a report said. The ceremony drew about 1,000 people including Jang Song-thaek, the brother-in-law of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, and Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming, the South's Yonhap news agency said. Pyongyang has drawn up a special law to set up a free trade zone on the island, called Hwanggumpyong in Korean and Huangjinping in Chinese, in the estuary of the Yalu River.The North's economy is beset by serious shortages of electricity and raw materials and is grappling with serious food penury. International sanctions have hurt its economy, restricting the country's access to international credit. Seoul-based Internet newspaper DailyNK said residents in the North's border city of Sinuiju were responding positively as the project could significantly improve their situation [...]. ^ top ^

China, DPRK reach consensus on developing two economic zones in DPRK (Xinhua)
2011-06-10
Officials from China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have reached a consensus to jointly develop two economic zones in the DPRK, according to a press release issued by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Thursday. From Tuesday to Thursday, Chinese and DPRK officials convened in northeast China's Liaoning and Jilin provinces for the second meeting of the Development Cooperation and Joint Steering Committee. Their meeting concerned the development of the Rason Economic and Trade Zone and the Hwanggumphyong and Wihwa Islands Economic Zone. The joint development of the two economic zones in the DPRK will be "government-guided, enterprise-based and market-oriented," according to the press release [...]. China and the DPRK have agreed to build the economic zones into a model of Sino-DPRK economic and trade cooperation and a platform to promote economic and trade cooperation with the rest of the world, the release said. Both sides also held launching ceremonies for several cooperative projects during the meeting, according to the press release. The meeting was jointly presided over by Chen Deming, Chinese Minister of Commerce, and Jang Song Taek, the administrative director of the Korean Workers' Party. The committee held its first meeting in the DPRK's capital of Pyongyang last November […]. ^ top ^

N. Korea says may disclose recording of secret meeting (Global Times)
2011-06-10
North Korea threatened on Thursday to disclose a voice recording of a secret meeting with South Korea, at which it says Seoul "begged" for summit talks. The North last week disclosed the May meeting in Beijing and says the South proposed holding a series of three summits to ease months of high tensions. It rejected the offer. The South admitted holding such a meeting but said its neighbor was misrepresenting its purpose. The North's National Defense Commission (NDC) described the South's account of the Beijing talks as a "sheer lie" and said it would disclose a recording of the entire conversation if Seoul refused to speak the truth. "The (South Korean President) Lee Myung-bak group of traitors would be well-advised to make a clean breast of the contact before it becomes too late," it said. The two Koreas have given different accounts of the Beijing meeting. The North said the South begged for summit talks and even tried to bribe its delegates. The South denied any bribery bid and said the key purpose of the meetings was to get the North to apologize for two deadly border incidents last year and to promise no recurrence [...]. ^ top ^

 

Mongolia

Minister of Energy and Minerals, D.Zorigt, Meets the Chinese to Discuss Petroleum Trade (UB Post)
2011-06-07
A Mongolian delegation headed by Minister of Energy and Minerals D. Zorigt attended the second meeting of the Mongolian-Chinese Intergovernmental Commission for Cooperation in mineral resources and energy. During the meeting, the sides focused their talks mainly on the intensification of cooperation in these two fields. The Mongolian delegation met with Vice-President of the National Oil Corporation of China Xun Longde and discussed issues regarding the possibility of China's supply of petroleum products to Mongolia in the near future and construction of oil refineries. There are on-going talks to purchase 10 thousand tons of fuel per month from China. Currently, the negotiations are underway between the working groups of both sides, to import 3,000 tons of fuel this month. The delegation also met with the head of the Society of Coal Industry Wang Syanzhen and discussed issues relating to the expansion of cooperation in the field of mineral resources. Minister D. Zorigt was familiarized with the operation of some oil refineries operating in Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region of China, as well as representatives from the private sector. Here, the Mongolian side expressed its interest in the ongoing procurement of petroleum products near the Mongolian-Chinese border area, and also the finished products rather than crude oil, according to the Production Sharing Agreement document. ^ top ^

Food security forum to draw 1,500 delegates (news.mn)
2011-06-08
The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry, The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Union of Mongolian Food Producers and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation of Germany are jointly organizing the Food Security of Mongolia... 2011 forum on June 24. Some 1,500 delegates are expected to take part in the forum which will discuss food price increase and its critical impact on households that usually spend between 60% and 80 % of their total income on securing food. It will also illustrate the need for countries to increase their own food production. The UN has been advising Mongolia on issues related to food security such as development of agriculture, streamlining the domestic food supply chain, and increasing food stocks for an emergency. ^ top ^

Prime Minister to visit China (news.mn)
2011-06-08
Prime Minister S.Batbold will be visiting China for two days in the middle of this month, the exact dates to be announced later. Before arriving on the mainland, Batbold will be in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. His talks with Chinese leaders will focus on elevating the present relationship to one of strategic partnership, and on identifying the uses to which a USD500 million soft loan from China will be put. ^ top ^

Agreement signed on last installment of Oyutolgoi advance payment (news.mn)
2011-06-08
An agreement between the Government and Oyutolgoi LLC was signed yesterday on the company paying USD100 million as the third and final installment of the advance payment provided for in the investment agreement. S.Bayartsogt, Minister of Finance, signed for the Government and Cameron McRae, President and CEO, for the company. The present payment follows that of USD100 million in October, 2009, and of USD50 million in April, 2010. This installment carries an interest rate of 1.59 percent. ^ top ^

 

Jean Binder
Embassy of Switzerland
 

The Press review is a random selection of political and social related news gathered from various media and news services located in the PRC, edited or translated by the Embassy of Switzerland in Beijing and distributed among Swiss Government Offices. The Embassy does not accept responsibility for accuracy of quotes or truthfulness of content. Additionally the contents of the selected news mustn't correspond to the opinion of the Embassy.
 
Page created and hosted by SinOptic Back to the top of the page To SinOptic - Services and Studies on the Chinese World's Homepage