Friday_____________________ July 26

Grain imports will rise in second half of year

China's grain imports will rise in the second half of this year. Even though China's summer grain harvest rose 1.5 percent to 131.89 million tons, the nation still faces the challenge of balancing supply and demand.

"Industrial consumption now far exceeds food demand" for grain, said Ding Shengjun, senior researcher at the Academy of the State Administration of Grain Ding. "More than 72 percent of corn is consumed in the intensive-processing industries of animal feed, ethyl alcohol and starch."

First-half grain imports from such nations as the United States, Canada and Australia stood at 5.48 million tons. (Photo 1)

Car imports decline, driving up inventories

Vehicle imports slumped 10.7 percent in the first half to 526,000 units, as the domestic demand slowdown of the past two years drove up inventories of foreign cars.

The figures "indicate that dealers are making efforts to ease their high inventory pressure, as imported vehicle sales in China are still increasing this year, though growth slowed from years before sharply", said Wang Cun, a senior manager of China Automobile Trading Co Ltd, the country's largest vehicle importer.

According to the company, in the first five months, sales of imported vehicles increased 8 percent from a year earlier to 447,000 units, compared with growth of 76.1 percent in 2010, 29 percent in 2011 and 18.7 percent in 2012.

Monday_____________________ July 29

EU, China reach deal in solar-panel dispute

Six weeks of negotiations have produced a deal between China and the European Union to end their trade dispute over Chinese solar panels that threatened to escalate into a full-blown trade war involving European wines.

The settlement on involves Chinese manufacturers agreeing to sell domestically produced panels at a minimum near spot market prices. The dispute began when the EU decided to impose provisional anti-dumping duties averaging 47.6 percent on imports of Chinese solar panels, cells and wafers, starting in August.

EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht said that he was"satisfied with the offer of a price undertaking submitted by China's solar panel exporters", referring to a minimum price for imports from China.

Developers choosing US for investments

Greenland Holdings Group's acquisition of a downtown Los Angeles site for a $1 billion hotel-office-residential project emphasizes how Chinese investors are putting their money where the market is - and it's not at home. It's in the United States and elsewhere.

"We are extending the China market abroad, and we prioritize our investment to countries where Chinese immigrants, students and tourists like the most," Greenland Chairman Zhang Yuliang said as the real-estate developer announced its acquisition of the 25,600 square-meter site from the California State Teachers' Retirement System. The purchase price was not disclosed.

As China's leadership maintains residential-property curbs aimed at holding down skyrocketing prices, Chinese developers are moving their investments into the US and other overseas markets. Greenland said earlier this month it planned to spend 10 billion yuan on overseas property projects this year.

Tuesday_____________________ July 30

Families of Asian crash victims retain US law firm

The families of three girls killed in the Asiana Airlines jetliner crash in San Francisco on July 6 have retained a US law firm to claim compensation from the airline.

A notice on the website of Kreindler & Kreindler LLP on Monday said the firm has been retained by the families of the three students "and US and foreign passengers who suffered serious personal injuries" in the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214.

Of 307 people onboard including crew at the time of the crash, student Wang Linjia was killed instantly and her schoolmate Ye Mengyuan died after being run over by a rescue vehicle as it raced to the burning plane. A third girl, Liu Yipeng, died six days later from injuries she suffered in the crash. They were all students of Jiangshan Middle School. Another 182 passengers were injured.

Carrying the ashes of the three teenagers, relatives of the deceased girls returned to their hometown of Jiangshan on Monday morning from San Francisco. The ashes were placed in a funeral parlor. Funerals and memorial services are scheduled for a later date, according to the Jiangshan government publicity office. (Photo 3)

$81 billion to be spent on Beijing's shantytowns

Beijing's municipal government plans to spend 500 billion yuan ($81.5 billion) over the next five years to renovate shantytowns inside the city's Fourth Ring Road.

More than 230,000 households will be affected in various ways, ranging from renovations of individual homes to the complete re-ordering of communities, according to the plan.

The project aims to improve quality for life for residents while fueling the economy, according to Chen Gang, deputy mayor of Beijing. (Photo 4)

This photo shows tourists at Tian'anmen Square in Beijing with Manchu-style headwear. The capital city attracted 2.14 million tourists in the first six months of this year, a 14.3 percent decrease from the same period last year, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics. A weak global economy has played a part as has an appreciating currency, said Zhang Hui, a tourism management professor at Beijing Jiaotong University. Provided to China Daily

Wednesday

___________ July 31

Spending surges to reduce carbon emissions

China's investment in renewable energy during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) will reach 1.8 trillion yuan ($294 billion) in addition to 2.3 trillion yuan being spent on energy-saving and reducing harmful emissions to cope with climate change, according to a senior official.

"China has carried out a series of policies to cope with climate change and we have achieved some success after several years of effort," said Xie Zhenhua, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, on Tuesday.

From 2006 to 2012, China's energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product was reduced by 23.6 percent, Xie said.

China has made a commitment to the world that it will reduce its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 from the 2005 level.

'Comfort women' memorial unveiled in California

California has unveiled a public memorial to WWII-era "comfort women" in Glendale City.

The 1,100-pound statue of a woman in Korean dress sitting next to an empty chair stands for the human rights of Asian women who were sexually abused by Japanese soldiers in WWII.

Bok Dong Kim of South Korea, a victim of Japanese military during the war, sat in the empty chair at the official unveiling ceremony.

City officials rejected a request from the Japanese consulate general in Los Angeles to not display the statue in a public park.

(Photo 5)

Thursday_______________ August 1

Report: Pension system needs changes

China's pension system must make major changes in its pension system, including an increase of its work force by easing family-planning restrictions and raising the retirement age for women, to avoid "a drag on economic growth", according to a report.

Written by Robert Pozen, a Harvard Business School lecturer and former member of a Social Security-reform committee established by US President George W. Bush, the report also urges centralizing the pension system by moving pension administration out of local governments, embracing pre-funded pensions and creating more long-term investment vehicles.

The report identifies the challenges as a rapidly aging population, system fragmentation, a lack of funding, and low investment return.

Xiaomi introduces entry-level smartphone

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi Corp. is introducing its "Hongmi" (red rice) smartphone in an attempt to beat rival Apple Inc to the lower-end of the mobile market.

Beijing-based Xiaomi launched the Hongmi, priced at 799 yuan ($130), at a news briefing on Wednesday as rumors circulated that Apple will introduce cheaper iPhones in the second half.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was in Beijing and met with Xi Guohua, China Mobile Ltd's chairman, on Tuesday to discuss cooperation, said Li Jun, spokesman for China Mobile, via a text message. Analysts said Cook might have come to China to discuss Apple's shrinking sales.

The giant rubber duck created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman will be in Beijing in September during Beijing Design Week 2013. The 10-meter high inflatable duck attracted hundreds of thousands of locals and tourists during May when it was in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor. Photo / Agencies

(China Daily USA 08/02/2013 page8)