USA – 150,000 people get drinking water in drought-hit Jilin

CHINA / Regional

150,000 people get drinking water in drought-hit Jilin

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-06-26 09:36

CHANGCHUN — Northeast China’s Jilin Province, which has been plagued by
drought for nearly a month, has managed to provide drinking water to
about 150,000 thirsty people in the rural areas, but more are crying for
water.

The province has also resumed water supply for 211,200 head of livestock,
said Xie Wanku, deputy head of the Jilin Provincial Flood Control and
Drought Relief Headquarters.

But 288,700 people in the countryside of Jilin and 181,300 head of
livestock are still short of drinking water, Xie said.

Meanwhile, 12 cities have also reported temporary shortage of water, the
official said.

In addition, up to 66.5 percent of the farmland in the province, or about
2.67 million hectares, has been affected by the drought, while 19
reservoirs have dried up.

The province has spent more than 300 million yuan (US$37.5 million) for
disaster relief and dispatched more than 2 million people to combat the
drought.

Latest nationwide statistics show that the number of Chinese without
drinking water has risen by 320,000 in the past several days to 8.68
million as drought tightened its grip on the country’s northeastern
regions.

The drought had affected 11.07 million hectares of arable land –
including 9.2 million hectares of crops — and 7.6 million heads of
livestock, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said
on Monday.

In northeast China’s Liaoning Province, 2.05 million hectares, or 49
percent, of the province’s crops are affected by drought.

In the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, 870,000 people, 1.48
million head of livestock and 460,000 square kilometers of pasture are
suffering water shortages.

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++++++++++ end ++++++++++

Japan – Hong Kong 10 Years

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A better future for Hong Kong
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Leaders attend a ceremony marking the official functioning of the HKSAR
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�� Hong Kong trustees, higher sense of responsibility
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……….

Korea – New paths to reach green goal

CHINA / National

New paths to reach green goal

By Sun Xiaohua (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-06-15 06:49

China’s top science official yesterday sounded an upbeat note about
achieving the country’s green goals – innovatively.

“China is exploring a different way of controlling greenhouse gas (GHS)
emissions. We will not follow the Western countries’ way of high
emissions first and then reduction,” Minister of Science and Technology
Wan Gang said.

China, the world’s second-biggest GHG emitter after the United States,
released 5.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent in 2004,
according to the national climate change program.

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Wan told a news briefing organized by the State Council Information
Office that the government is working to turn energy-saving targets into
goals for CO2 emissions.

“We are studying techniques and methods for converting this (energy
targets) into goals for cutting carbon dioxide emissions,” he said.

Under an ambitious energy-saving blueprint, the country plans to reduce
its energy consumption per unit of gross domestic products (GDP) by 20
percent by 2010 from 2006.

To boost the scientific and technological support for the drive to curb
temperature rise, the ministry yesterday released China’s Scientific and
Technological (S&T) Actions on Climate Change.

The document focuses on energy and the environment as key fields of S&T
studies and gives priority to global climate change and policy-making.

“S&T is one of the basic and fundamental approaches to effectively
address climate change,” Wan said.

China has spent 4.6 billion yuan ($600 million) since 2006 in the first
batch of S&T projects to combat global warming.

Wan said that the technology studies focus on raising energy efficiency,
developing renewable and clean energy, exploring and burning coal in a
clean way, carbon capture and sequestration, absorbing carbons
biologically and cutting GHG emissions through improved farming modes.

The country will cut carbon emissions per unit of GDP, or carbon
intensity, by 40 percent in 2020 from 2000 and 80 percent in 2050 from
2000, according to the National Climate Change Assessment Report released
last year.

According to the national climate change program, hydropower and coal bed
methane utility will make biggest contribution to emission cuts – by 500
million tons and 200 million tons of CO2 by 2010.

(China Daily 06/15/2007 page1)

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++++++++++ end ++++++++++

Today – President Hu makes five-point proposal to boost Sino-Swedish ties

CHINA / Sweden Visit

President Hu makes five-point proposal to boost Sino-Swedish ties

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-06-10 21:50

STOCKHOLM, June 10 — Chinese President Hu Jintao Sunday made a
five-point proposal aiming to boost ties between China and Sweden.

Hu, who is on a state visit to Sweden, and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik
Reinfeldt held official talks Sunday morning.

On political relations, Hu urged China and Sweden, an important nation in
northern Europe and a major member of the European Union, to increase
political dialogue, deepen understanding and enhance mutual trust.

Economically, he suggested that the two countries enhance cooperation in
such fields as telecommunications, environmental protection, energy
saving and bio-pharmacy.

“China welcomes investment by Swedish enterprises in China, in
particular, their participation in China’s drive to develop its vast
western areas and revitalize the old industrial base in northeast China,”
he said.

“We appreciate Sweden for its adherence to a free trade policy and its
readiness to grant China a full market economy status,” he said.

Hu also urged steps to increase bilateral cooperation in culture,
education, tourism and sports and encourage two-way exchanges between
young people, local governments and media.

On international affairs, the two countries should make bilateral
cooperation closer and exchange views on reforms of the United Nations,
sustainable development, poverty eradication, climate change and
promotion of free trade, he said.

He finally urged both sides to “increase understanding, expand consensus,
and narrow down differences for promoting cooperation.”

Hu is the first Chinese head of state to visit Sweden in 57 years since
the two countries established diplomatic relations. “The Swedish side
attaches great importance to the visit,” said Reinfeldt.

He agreed with Hu on his comments on Sino-Swedish ties and believed that
the two countries should strengthen high-level exchanges and
consultations.

On the China-EU relations, Hu said that China hopes the EU will play an
active and constructive role in the international affairs and also
expects Sweden, an EU member, to continue to play its role in advancing
China-EU relations.

Reinfeldt told Hu that Sweden will hold the rotating EU presidency in
2009 and will be willing to contribute to the growth of EU-China
relations.

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++++++++++ end ++++++++++

With my friends – Natural disasters kill 65 Chinese this year

CHINA / National

Natural disasters kill 65 Chinese this year

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-06-06 09:10

BEIJING — Natural disasters had killed 65 Chinese people by June 4 this
year, the Office of the State Flood Control and Draught Relief
Headquarters said on Tuesday.

A total of 10 million people and 514,650 hectares of crops were affected
by the disasters, said Zhang Zhitong, deputy chief of the office, adding
that the country’s major rivers see calm flow at present.

According to the office, frequent rainstorms hit Chongqing city and
provinces of Hubei, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Anhui in May. The branches of
Jinsha River in southwestern Yunnan Province and Ganjiang River in
central Jiangxi Province saw their water level exceed the warning lines.

The rainstorms caused flood and landslides in these regions while the
northern areas suffered severe drought as a result of high temperature
and lack of rainfall, said Zhang.

By May 31, 10.32 million people and 10.26 million livestocks had suffered
temporary drinking water shortage and 10.7 million hectares of arable
land were affected by the drought, according statistics with the office.

Zhang said his office strengthened inspections on flood control work and
other state organs, including ministries of finance, communications,
health and land resources, also organized special inspection teams.

He said by May 30 the central government had allocated 280 million yuan
(US$36.4 million) to subsidize the fight against severe flood and drought.

Top China News

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� Fudan claims genetic milestone

� Natural disasters kill 65 Chinese this year

� Dialogue yields tangible results-Paulson

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Today’s Top News

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� US Missile defense ‘harms stability’

� Central bank mulls monetary policy

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**** ****

1 – Chinese stocks fall amid worries

CHINA / Chinadaily.com.cn Exclusive

Chinese stocks fall amid worries

By Dong Zhixin (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-06-01 15:37

A woman blows a bubble gum at a stock exchange market in Shanghai May 29,
2007. China has raised stamp tax on securities trading has been raised
from 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent beginning Wednesday, May 30, in an effort
to cool the overheated stock market. [Reuters]

Chinese stocks fell Friday amid worries about the government’s potential
further moves to cool the equity market following a stamp tax hike.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.65 percent to close at
4,000.74 points. The Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index fell 3.16 percent to
3,803.95.

Only about 150 out of more than 1,400 stocks in the Shanghai and Shenzhen
stock exchanges posted gains, while more than 600 shares nosedived to
their daily limit of 10 percent.

Special coverage:
Stock Market

Video:
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Sinopec proved an unusual bright spot after rising 2.15 percent to close
at 15.17 yuan, the third straight increase after the duty hike.

Some other blue chip stocks performed well, offsetting part of the
downward pressure on the benchmark index. Chalco, the country’s top
aluminum producer, rose 4.48 percent to 21.92 yuan. China Merchants Bank
gained 1.61 percent to 22.07, while China Life was up 0.22 percent to
37.08 yuan.

Brokerage shares recovered from two days of consecutive sharp losses.
CITIC Securities increased 3.16 percent to 55.79 yuan, as Hong Yuan
Securities edged up 0.36 percent to 31.6 yuan.

The decline was largely attributed to market fears about further
dampening measures. Tuesday night the Ministry of Finance tripled the
stamp tax on stock trading, prompting a 6.5 percent plummet in the
Shanghai Composite Index.

China’s stock market is growing too fast and regulators hope they can
develop it in a more stable way, said central bank vice governor Wu
Xiaoling on Thursday.

“If the stock market can’t operate smoothly, then investors’ confidence
will be hurt and their consumption will be affected, ” Wu said.

The duty hike and Wednesday’s drop do not seem to affect investors’
enthusiasm. More than 420,000 share trading accounts were opened on
Wednesday, including 343,000 ones for yuan-denominated A-shares.

Xia Bin of the Development Research Center under the State Council expect
regulators to come up with more macro control measures.

He suggested regulators focus on the supervision of listed firms and
crack down on insider trading and other illegal manipulating activities,
as well as increase the supply of quality stocks and other financial
products.

Xia also advocated the abolition of tax on interest accrued from deposits
as an effort to discourage the transfer of bank deposits to the equity
market. But a State Administration of Taxation official said Wednesday
China has no plans to abolish the interest tax in the near future.

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Today’s Top News

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……….

3 – Bullet taken from head after 64 yrs

CHINA / Regional

Bullet taken from head after 64 yrs

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-05-28 14:38

NANJING — Doctors have removed a bullet from the head of a Chinese woman
in east China’s Jiangsu Province, 64 years after she was shot by invading
Japanese soldiers during the Second World War.

Jin Guangying, now 77 and a retired farm worker from Suyang County, has
been discharged from hospital after the operation on May 3 and is
reportedly in good condition.

Jin was wounded in September 1943 when she was delivering food to her
father, a guerilla soldier stationed in a village near her home in Xinyi
County (now Xinyi City).

“Just as my father and the other soldiers finished their lunch, Japanese
troops entered the village and a gunfight began,” said Jin.

Jin, a 13-year-old girl at the time, was one of the few survivors,
falling into a coma after she was shot in the head.

“When I woke up, I found I was at home. My mother had taken me back home,
applied herbal medicine to my wound and dressed my head in layers of
bandages,” said Jin.

“My mother was told I was very lucky as the bullet went through the arm
of a guerilla soldier before striking my head, but no one imagined it was
still lodged there,” she said.

Three months later, Jin had recovered. However, six decades of being
haunted by relentless headaches began.

“When she suffered from the headaches, she would sometimes babble words
we could hardly understand, foaming at the mouth, and sometimes she
pounded her head with her fist,” said Wang Zhengping, Jin’s daughter.

But the cash-strapped family could not afford to spend money on a
thorough examination for Jin, opting to send her to a village clinic for
an injection of pain-killers.

In recent years, the headache attacks grew more frequent. “The situation
was getting worse as the headache attacks became more regular and we were
told that my mother might be suffering from a brain tumor,” said Wang.

Jin’s family borrowed money to pay for an X-ray which revealed not a
tumor, but a three-centimeter-long bullet.

Doctors with the Renci Hospital of Suyang County removed the rusty
green-colored bullet after a four-hour operation.

“It’s a miracle. The operation was not that difficult, but it’s
unbelievable that Mrs Jin was able to survive for such a long time with a
bullet in her head,” said Zhou Hong, the head of surgery at the hospital.

“The bullet entered Jin’s head just above her right ear. She is really
lucky – if the bullet had gone any deeper, she might have died 64 years
ago,” said Zhou.

Experts with the military command based in Nanjing confirmed the bullet
could only have been fired by Japan-made 6.5 mm-caliber firearms.

“The bullet might have been fired by a rifle or a scatter-gun, which were
most frequently used by the Japanese during their invasion of China,”
said Tang.

“Actually, if the bullet had passed through Jin’s head, she might have
died immediately, because usually the wound left by a bullet leaving the
human body will be much larger than the one created when it enters,” said
Tang.

The hospital refunded the cost of Jin’s treatment after the bullet was
confirmed to be a “piece of heritage” from the Japanese invasion, said
Wang.

Jin’s family now plans to consult with lawyers on how to seek
compensation from the Japanese government and a public apology.

“The bullet has been taken out, however, the pain and hurt felt by my
mother will never be eliminated,” said Wang.

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To be continued

With my friends – China widens RMB trading range

CHINA / Currency

China widens RMB trading range

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-05-22 11:19

China will widen the floating band of yuan against U.S. dollar for daily
spot trading on the interbank market from 0.3 percent to 0.5 percent as
of May 21, the People’s Bank of China, or the central bank, announced on
Friday.

The central bank said that over the past two years, Chinese enterprises
and residents have got used to controlled foreign exchange rate floating
system. The new move will be helpful for growth of forex market, making
the yuan more flexible, enhancing the anti-risk strength of enterprises
and financial institutions and sharpening their competitive edge.

“The higher flexibility indicated that the fluctuations of yuan will rely
more on market forces. It’s a good step forward in the correct direction,
“said Zuo Xiaolei, an analyst with Galaxy Securities.

The central parity rate of yuan against U.S. dollar has accumulatively
appreciated by 5.54 percent since July 21, 2005, when China scrapped the
yuan-dollar peg amid drastic currency reforms.

“The new move will also be conducive to containing inflow of speculative
money and to mitigating pressure on yuan to appreciate more quickly,”
said Zuo.

Zuo was echoed by Tan Yaling, a researcher with the global financial
market department of the Bank of China. “The widened band makes it
difficult to accurately predict the revaluation of yuan and therefore
reduces speculation in the market,” Tan said.

As a related measure against inflow of hot money, the State
Administration of Foreign Exchange has since April been carrying out a
special campaign to scrutinize inrush of foreign currencies in 10 coastal
provinces and cities. They are Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong,
Fujian, Liaoning, Ningbo, Qingdao, Xiamen and Dalian.

“These regions boast most speculative money flowing from abroad. The
check-up in the areas will be able to improve transparency of capital
inflow,” said Tan.

Sources with the administration said Friday that one of the major tasks
for foreign exchange control at the present time is intensifying
regulation over inflow of hot money.

Observers said the band widening move did not come under pressure from
abroad but came upon increased domestic tolerance toward the controlled
forex rate floating system. They believed it will help expand import and
prompt industrial upgrading for export-oriented enterprises.

Citing the textile sector as an example, Zhao Yumin, an analyst from the
trade and economic cooperation institute with the Ministry of Commerce,
said the new move may bring industrial upgrading as it leaves little room
for domestic companies to profit from low-value-added and labor-intensive
products.

Chinese textile companies reported an average profit margin of only 3.7
percent last year, much lower than the national average of 5.69 percent
for all industrial enterprises, according to the National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC).

“China’s textile exports, pressured by the appreciating yuan and the
reduction in tax rebates, are losing their low-cost cutting edge across
the global market,” said an NDRC report.

In an effort to help textile companies improve their competitiveness and
efficiency, China has set up a special fund using revenues from textile
export tariffs.

The 1.36 billion-yuan-fund (170 million U.S. dollars) will be used to
boost technical innovations in production, develop new fibers and help
make the industry more environmentally friendly and energy efficient.

According to a circular posted Friday on the central bank’s website, in
the interbank foreign exchange market, the daily band of RMB spot rate
against non-U.S. dollar foreign currencies will remain unchanged, as will
the band for posted rates against U.S. dollar for customers.

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……….

China – China pledges yuan flexibility

CHINA / National

China pledges yuan flexibility

(Bloomberg)
Updated: 2007-05-16 14:16

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao delivers opening remarks at the opening
ceremony of the annual meetings of the Boards of Governors of the African
Development Bank Group held in Shanghai, May 16, 2007. [Reuters]

China’s Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to loosen controls on the exchange
rate and take steps to curb a record trade surplus, a week before a
summit in the US to discuss ways to reduce imbalances.

“China will gradually increase the flexibility of its currency regime,”
Wen said Wednesday at the African Development Bank’s annual general
meeting in Shanghai, without being more specific. “We’ll take a number of
measures to strengthen our control of the economy and to boost domestic
consumption.”

The yuan last week climbed the most since a decade-long link to the
dollar was scrapped in July 2005, which may help US Secretary Henry
Paulson argue he’s making progress with China, as some lawmakers call for
sanctions unless they see faster gains. Paulson will meet Chinese Vice
Premier Wu Yi May 22-24 in Washington as part of the Strategic Economic
Dialogue.

China’s currency climbed 0.05 percent to 7.6830 per dollar as of 1:23
p.m. in Shanghai. The yuan has appreciated 1.6 percent this year, beating
the Singapore dollar and the South Korean won.

“The pace of appreciation of the yuan has picked up, so China is aware of
the reception they might get in the U.S,” said Glenn Maguire, chief Asia
economist at Societe Generale SA in Hong Kong. “There’s some window
dressing here by China, as there is a risk of protectionist action in the
US”

The US Commerce Department on March 30 levied duties on imports of coated
paper to compensate for alleged Chinese subsidies to its exporters.

Wen’s comments add to his Jan. 20 statement that China will further
advance the pace of change in the foreign exchange market. China’s
central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan March 5 described yuan flexibility
as “desirable” and said China may “gradually” widen the trading band.

“When Premier Wen says they should increase the flexibility, then it’s
important, as he’s right at the top of the power chain,” said Sean
Callow, senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Singapore.
“Paulson will be reasonably happy if we see 6 percent a year gains.”

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……….

USA – China raises foreign-currency reserve requirement

CHINA / National

China raises foreign-currency reserve requirement

(Bloomberg)
Updated: 2007-05-09 08:49

China’s central bank raised the amount of foreign currencies that lenders
must keep as reserves, seeking to cool the world’s fastest-growing major
economy.

Banks must keep 5 percent of their foreign-currency deposits as reserves
starting May 15, up from 4 percent, according to a People’s Bank of China
circular to lenders. The increase will remove about $1.7 billion from the
economy.

The decision will make less of the $165 billion of foreign- currency
deposits as of March 31 available for lending and investment in the stock
market, which surged to a record Tuesday. It may also ease pressure for
appreciation of the Chinese yuan, which has gained 7.5 percent since
July, 2005.

“The central bank probably wants to curb excess liquidity and indirectly
ease the pressure on the yuan to rise,” said Guo Zhaoyang, a
foreign-exchange analyst at China Everbright Bank in Guangzhou. “Too many
people may have converted their foreign currencies blindly into the yuan.”

China’s currency reserves surged by a record $136 billion in the first
quarter to $1.2 trillion, partly as banks converted proceeds of overseas
initial public offerings into yuan. There was a “rush” to bring home cash
after Chinese companies raised nearly $60 billion from IPOs last year,
twice as much as in 2005, HSBC Holdings Plc wrote in an April 18 report.

Yuan Gains

The People’s Bank of China said it hadn’t issued a public statement
concerning a change in reserve requirements. The circular came after the
central bank on April 29 raised banks’ local currency reserve requirement
ratio for the seventh time in 11 months.

The benchmark CSI 300 Index of yuan-denominated A-shares, which tracks
yuan-denominated A shares listed on China’s two exchanges, rose 3.6
percent to close at a record 3686.03.

The yuan closed above 7.70 for the first time since the end of a fixed
exchange rate to the dollar in July 2005. The currency gained 0.1 percent
to 7.6960 against the dollar at 5:30 p.m., according to the China Foreign
Exchange Trade System.

“The bigger news is what’s going on with the yuan, given they accelerated
the pace of appreciation today,” said Steve Rowles, an analyst with CFC
Seymour Ltd. in Hong Kong. “The story is inflation could be just coming
into the China market and a stronger currency could help tackle that.”

Rowles said the figure may also suggest data due out in coming days will
be stronger than economists expect, pointing to “overheating.” China’s
trade surplus probably rose to $15 billion in April, according the
Bloomberg News survey. That would be up from $10.4 billion in the same
period last year. The government may release the trade figures as early
as this week.

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To be continued