EU-DIGEST

European Commission urges Hamas, Israel to immediately stop attacks

The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), on Tuesday urged Israel and the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas to immediately halt all military attacks affecting the civilian population. The commission also asked Israel to open up border crossings for humanitarian assistance. "The European Commission is deeply concerned by the situation in Gaza. The lack of access for humanitarian goods and relief workers creates a dramatic situation for thousands of civilians," the Commission said in a statement, adding that it was "extremely concerned" about the plight of civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Editorial Note EU-Digest: Instead of issuing warnings the most effective method would be to force ( not ask) Israel and other Middle Eastern regional powers to meet under the auspices of the UN to discuss all issues at hand, including the nuclear disarmament of Iran and Israel. It should also be made clear to everyone, that negotiating parties who obstruct the UN established guidelines for the meeting will face the possibility of a total boycott and blockade enforced by the US, the EU, China and Russia. To be more precise: belligerent parties who do not agree to the principles of a UN comprehensive peace accord covering the whole Middle Eastern Region will cease to exist as a credible nation. All this will take is for the US, the EU, China and Russia to put aside national political motives in favor of world peace. Anything else is just empty rhetoric.

Labels: China, EU, Hamas, Israel, Russia, US

Econcern partners on €863M Chinese wind farm deal

Netherlands-based Econcern has announced a partnership with subsidiaries of China National Offshore Oil and Sinohydro to invest €863 million ($1.1 billion) to build onshore wind farms in China. The four wind farms are expected to have a capacity of 720 megawatts. Construction is slated to begin in 2009. Econcern is partnering on three wind farms with CNOOC New Energy, a subsidiary of Beijing-based China National Offshore Oil New Energy, one of the largest state-owned oil giants in China.

Labels: Alternative Energy, China, EU, Netherlands, Wind farms

Research and Markets ( http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/e00cbd/analysis_of_china) has announced the addition of the "Analysis of China Wind Power Equipment - Blade" report to their offering.
In terms of the great growth of China's economic development, the shortage of energy supply has been revealed as a major issue and developing new energy sources to become the only way to respond the matter. The wind power is the most matured technology of these new energy power generations, and also has the fundamental conditions of largely development and great outlook for commercial development. According to China's Renewable Energy Society of Professional Committee of wind energy's statistics, by the end of 2007, the total wind power installed capacity of China was 5,906,000 kilowatts, accounting for 0.83% of the total installed capacity of national power, 2008 is expected to reach 10 million kilowatts and will reach 20 million kilowatts by 2010. Over the past three years, China's wind power installed capacity had a double growth. During 2008 to 2010, China's additional installed capacity of wind power is expected to be 5,500,000Kw and 7,200,00KW and 9,300,000 KW respectively, and megawatt-class turbine will be the mainstream product.

Labels: Alternative Energy, China

France blasts China's 'psychodrama'

A French minister has told China that there is no need to turn her president's meeting with the Dalai Lama "into a psychodrama". Rama Yade, the junior minister for human rights, said on RTL radio on Sunday that the French government could meet "whomever it wants" and that it had no plans to change its relations with China.Yade said China and France should be pooling their efforts to tackle the global financial crisis instead of feuding over Tibet. "We need to co-operate, calmly," she said.

Labels: China, EU, France

China Urges U.S. to Counter Crisis, Prepares for ‘Worst Case’ - by Li Yanping and Dune Lawrence

Chinese officials urged the U.S. to do everything possible to restore calm to financial markets and said they are preparing for a “worst-case scenario” as the global crisis deepens. The comments in Beijing today by Vice Premier Wang Qishan and central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan came as U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson praised China’s “responsible role” in combating the crisis. Zhou told U.S. officials that, while China remained confident of maintaining growth in the world’s fourth-biggest economy, it needed to prepare for the worst, central bank official Jin Qi said. “We hope that the U.S. can take all necessary measures to stabilize its financial markets and economy as soon as possible and ensure the safety of China’s assets and investments in the U.S.,” Wang said. “To work together to tackle the financial crisis is the most pressing task that we are facing.” Zhou urged the U.S. to increase savings, after excessive consumption and debt helped to trigger the crisis.

Labels: China, USA, World Economic Order

China pulls out of EU summit to protest Dalai-Sarkozy meet

China has pulled out of a summit with the European Union in Lyon in France next Monday to protest against a planned meeting between
French president Nicolas Sarkozy with the Dalai Lama on December 6. The Chinese leadership decided to forgo a major opportunity to forge an economic partnership with the EU to make its point that no government leader should meet the Tibetan leader. The meeting was expected to resolve trade differences between the two sides and work jointly to counter the global slowdown. China, which regards the Dalai Lama as a separatist politician trying to wreck the nation, had earlier warned world leaders like the German chancellor and Australian prime minister of severe consequences to bilateral relationship if they meet the Tibetan leader. But they went ahead and met the Dalai Lama.

Labels: China, EU

Greece -FM: Hu Jintao's visit highlights friendly ties between China, Greece and Greece - by Liang Yeqian

Chinese President Hu Jintao's ongoing official visit to Greece reflects the excellent bilateral relations between the two countries, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said Monday in an interview with Xinhua. She said current Greek-Chinese relations, strong as they are, could be further strengthened through enhanced cooperation in the fields of commercial shipping, tourism, culture and education, and people-to-people exchanges. Bakoyannis said Greece has particular strength in the merchant shipping sector as it has the busiest ports in southeast Europe and the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Greek ship-owners are currently the biggest and most important customers of Chinese shipyards, and nearly 50 percent of merchandise traveling to and from China are transported by Greek merchant fleets, she went on to say. She said the strategic partnership between Greece and China also includes their cooperation in international affairs, adding that her country supports increased dialogue between China and the European Union.

Note EU-Digest: Chinese President Hu Jintao has promised to expand maritime trade with Greece after finalizing a euro831.2 million (US$1b) container-port concession deal Tuesday. Under the agreement, China's Cosco Pacific Ltd. will receive a 35-year concession to manage two container terminals at Greece's main port of Piraeus.The agreement was signed after Hu met Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis for talks. Karamanlis said Greece will become a key transit point for Chinese goods bound for southeast Europe and the eastern Mediterranean.

Labels: China, EU, Greece, Ports, Shipping

China's President Latin America tour cements Beijing's trade clout

China's president, Hu Jintao, is leading scores of Chinese business people on a sweep through Latin America to reinforce Beijing's growing economic clout in the region. Hu launched free trade talks on a visit to Costa Rica, before flying to a rapturous reception in Cuba. This week he will also be one of the stars at a Pacific rim summit of 21 nations in Peru. By then, Beijing's delegation will have grown to 600 people, including 12 ministers."China's relations with Latin America and the Caribbean have never been so close," Hu told Peru's El Comercio newspaper. In contrast to Russia's politically charged push into the region - which involves selling arms and challenging US influence - Beijing's focus is on agriculture, raw materials and markets for its exports.

Labels: Caribbean, China, Cuba, Latin America, Peru, Trade

Race Heats Up: China, India, Europe push ahead as U.S. program slows to a crawl - by Mark Kaufman

China conducted its first spacewalk last month. The European Space Agency is building a roving robot to land on Mars. India recently launched a record 10 satellites into space on a single rocket.Although the United States remains dominant in most space-related fields -- and owns half the military satellites currently orbiting Earth -- experts say that the nation's superiority is diminishing, and many other nations are expanding their civilian and commercial space capabilities at a far faster pace. "We spent many tens of billions of dollars during the Apollo era to purchase a commanding lead in space over all nations on Earth," said NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin, who said that his agency's budget is down by 20 percent in inflation-adjusted terms since 1992. "We've been living off the fruit of that purchase for 40 years and have not ... chosen to invest at a level that would preserve that commanding lead."

In a recent in-depth study of international space competitiveness, Futron, a technology consulting firm in Bethesda, Md., found that the globalizing of space is unfolding more broadly and quickly than most Americans realize. "Systemic and competitive forces threaten U.S. space leadership," the company president, Joseph Fuller Jr., concluded.

Labels: China, ESA, India, Space Exploration, US

U.S. has plundered world wealth with dollar: China paper

The United States has plundered global wealth by exploiting the dollar's dominance, and the world urgently needs other currencies to take its place, a leading Chinese state newspaper said on Friday.The front-page commentary in the overseas edition of the People's Daily said that Asian and European countries should banish the U.S. dollar from their direct trade relations for a start, relying only on their own currencies.The People's Daily is the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party. The Chinese-language overseas edition is a small circulation offshoot of the main paper. Its pronouncements do not necessarily directly voice leadership views. But the commentary, as well as recent comments, amount to a growing chorus of Chinese disdain for Washington's economic policies and global financial dominance in the wake of the credit crisis. "The grim reality has led people, amidst the panic, to realize that the United States has used the U.S. dollar's hegemony to plunder the world's wealth," said the commentator, Shi Jianxun, a professor at Shanghai's Tongji University."The U.S. dollar is losing people's confidence.

The world, acting democratically and lawfully through a global financial organization, urgently needs to change the international monetary system based on U.S. global economic leadership and U.S. dollar dominance," he wrote. Shi suggested that all trade between Europe and Asia should be settled in euros, pounds, yen and yuan, though he did not explain how the Chinese currency could play such a role since it is not convertible on the capital account.

Labels: China, Dollar, US Economic Meltdown

A New World Order: EU - China - Russia? Why EU and China need Russia - by Nicholas Kimbrell

It is necessary for the EU to go in a different direction, something which is already occurring with the idea of a Kerneuropa, which has its own constellation revolving around it, or the view of the EU as kind of super-market with some responsibilities which are shared and others which are kept rigorously separate. In any case, clarity is needed regarding the direction in which the EU, and not just Russia, is heading.

Note EU-Digest: Author and political analyst Parag Khanna of the New America Foundation set the tone at todays (Friday') opening seminar during a gathering of international scholars, diplomats and political analysts gathered in Beirut,when he said: "After the Uni-Polar Moment," suggesting that "the return to uni-polarity, American hegemony, is literally impossible." Advocating a more rigorous and collective analysis of multi-polarity, particularly in relation to Russia and India, Khanna cited the US, China and the EU as the incumbent and future "centers of gravity." Most of the speakers seemed to challenge the notion of US hegemony without questioning the still-dominant role Washington holds in much of the world. Indeed, featured speakers from rising powers sought to define their policies as distinct from the proactive US unilateralism, particularly in the Middle East. Chu Shulong, deputy director of the Institute of International Strategic and Development Studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing, emphasized China's desire to end its historic isolation and win regional and global "friends" based on economic and diplomatic terms. It seems the EU will soon need to seek more strategic and economically practical alliances than its present Trans-Atlantic Alliance which has mainly made it a cost sharing partner of the US in military adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Labels: Alliance of Civilizations, China, EU, EU Russia, New World Order

Asia, Europe Beijing Conference To Discuss Financial Crisis, Climate Change

The largest gathering of leaders from Asia and Europe descends on the Chinese capital of Beijing today, Thursday for a two-day summit to discuss the unfolding global financial meltdown and the growing problem of climate change. The seventh biannual Asia-Europe Meeting will be attended by leaders from the 27 European countries and 16 Asian nations. Serge Abou, the European ambassador to China said he expects discussion on the financial crisis to be "very tense." And Herve Ladsous, French ambassador to China said the leaders attending the meeting aim to come out with a strong and united messages to encourage confidence back to the global markets. Among the high-profile leaders who confirmed attendance were European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Barroso is expected to hold a press conference Thursday afternoon in Beijing.

China's vice-minister of commerce Yi Xiaozhun said his government has committed to cooperate to bring to an end the slump in the financial markets. Yi said the expanding trade and service industries cooperation between Asia and Europe could help turn the tide and provide key solution to the problem. He said the proposal could stabilize the financial market and at the same time, open fair international trade relations to restore confide and drum up economic activities.

Labels: Asia, China, EU

The Monroe Doctrine Revisited: China’s Increased Role in Latin America - by Eliot Brockner

Situated on the banks of the Paraná River, Rosario is a mid-size city located approximately 300 kilometers north of Buenos Aires. Its strategic location makes it one of Argentina’s main hubs for international and domestic shipping, which has prompted the emergence of hundreds of local businesses to meet the needs of the city’s one million inhabitants. Many of the owners of these businesses commute from the peripheral southern edge of the city to do business in the vibrant center. Unlike their Bolivian, Paraguayan, and Argentine neighbors, they speak Chinese and hold Chinese passports.

The presence of Chinese communities in cities like Rosario is not surprising. Chinese immigration and adaptability is common worldwide. In 2006, reported Chinese remittances from abroad totaled over $22 billion, and the global Chinese Diaspora is estimated to be 40 million strong. What is noteworthy is the symbolism of their success: the ability of the Chinese to seamlessly integrate and flourish in business climates all throughout Latin America is symbolic in a region ever more open to trade with these business owners’ country of origin. US popularity has sunk to all-time lows. The global financial crisis could turn out to be the straw that broke the camel’s back for US-regulated economic policy in Latin America. Mounting tensions and disillusionment with failed policies and a system that still has not benefited most will only be exacerbated by the collapse of what were once considered sound institutions. As a result, Latin American governments, already warming to China because of China’s huge market potential and need for commodities to fuel their industrial boom, may look farther east.

Labels: China, Latin America, US

Airbus begins push for Chinese market - David Gow

Airbus broke out of its European fortress yesterday when it opened a euro520m ($600m) final assembly line for its best-selling A320 aircraft in China and committed to buy $1bn of locally made components by 2020. The plant, the most modern of its kind in the world, is designed to establish a foothold in China's booming aviation market, which is growing at 14.5% a year. Airbus executives said it would see orders for more than 3,000 new planes over the next 20 years as China develops the world's second-largest aviation market after the US.

After an opening ceremony attended by premier Wen Jiabao and more reminiscent of a Communist party congress setting, John Leahy, chief operating officer (sales), said China could account for as much as a fifth of the more than 850 orders the European plane-maker expects this year.

Labels: Airbus, Aircraft Industry, China, EU

Reformation, Renewal and Revival - Greatest Christian Revival in Church History Happening in China - by David W.Virtue

The greatest revival in the history of the Christian Church has been going on for the last 50 years in China, making it perhaps the greatest in the history of Christianity, a Chinese Christian leader told 600 Episcopalians at Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, PA recently. "Under Mao Tse Tung there were 800,000 Christians. Unofficially today there are more than 130 million," Brother Yun, known as "The Heavenly Man" said through an interpreter."A powerful missions movement is growing in China. The Underground Church is growing. We are taking the gospel into the darkness of Asia all the way back to Jerusalem. The movement is called 'Back to Jerusalem'. We are reaching into the strongholds of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, breaking through with the power of the Gospel of Christ." www.backtojerusalem.com

"There are two billion unreached peoples in five countries between China and Israel that has 50 million unevangelized Christians." Yun said that what is happening in China is that one million people a month come into the Kingdom of God. "Americans will not be the majority in heaven. The serious message God has given the church is to pack heaven with people. It is not enough just to sign a fire insurance policy. "There are 8,000 vested missionaries in China. They are preaching the gospel, feeding the hungry, improving the health care system and building new schools. God never intended his church to be a bunker but a lighthouse."

Labels: China, Christianity

China space walk: Astronaut's 'small step' hailed as giant leap for the country - by Richard Spencer

China space walk: Astronaut's 'small step' hailed as giant leap for the country - by Richard Spencer

The Chinese have also been unusually keen to acknowledge the role of the Russians in their space program, a sign of how the two former Communist countries are once again moving closer as they see a chance to loosen the dominance of the world's only superpower. Last month, China expressed its support for the "positive role" Russia was playing in the Caucasus, at a summit of central Asian states.

Labels: China, Space Exploration

The US Economic Meltdown: The American Way to fail: by Robert Peston

The breathtaking rises in the price of bank shares this morning are symptomatic of a stock market that is bereft of reason and is being driven almost purely by hysteria and momentum.

It would be more rational for the Chinese to own the American financial system itself, rather than lend to the US Government (and in that context, it's resonant that Morgan Stanley may well be close to selling almost half of itself to CIC, China's state investment fund). In this game of Wall Street Monopoly, there's no "get-out-of-jail-free" card. Maybe the US is still big enough and powerful enough to persuade the rest of the world to pay for the mistakes of its financial sector - which is broadly what's being proposed by Mr. Paulson. Note EU-Digest : Privatize profits but Socialize losses? It seems crazy.

Labels: China, Stock Market, US Economic Meltdown

Labels: Banking system, China, EU

China seeks Caucasian crisis windfall - by M K Bhadrakumar

A geopolitical convulsion measuring six points on the Richter scale is bound to produce aftershocks. The reverberations of the conflict in the Caucasus are beginning to be felt. We may be unwittingly bidding farewell to the "war on terror". In any case, the international community has lost interest in Osama bin Laden. Rice is sure to try to rally European opinion and to make a strong pitch for Georgia's membership of NATO. But major European powers apprehend Moscow will take NATO's further expansion into the territory of the former Soviet Union as a grave provocation. If Washington succeeds in overcoming their reluctance, US diplomacy registers a signal victory. Moscow seems to estimate Europe may ultimately succumb to US pressure. Its decision to go slow on withdrawing troops from the Georgian hinterland needs to be seen in this perspective.

In real terms, Europe is competing with China for Russian energy supplies. This competition may begin to border on rivalry. According to the US Department of Energy, Europe's demand for gas will rise by more than 50% by 2025. There is simply not enough gas going for Europe to sidestep Russian supplies. (Russia already meets 30% to 50% of Europe's energy needs.)

Labels: China, Energy, EU, Russia

The Olympics as a political arena - by Dallas Darling

When Georgia and Russia came to blows over the long-sought-after reunification of South and North Ossetia, it reminded me of ancient Sparta and Arcadia. In 420 and again in 360 BC, Sparta and Arcadia used the Olympic lull to attack and defeat several neighboring Greek city states. [1] For anyone who believes the Olympic Games brought peace and harmony, they are wrong. The Olympics have instead been used as a political instrument to either further imperialistic values and ambitions, or express international outrage against human rights abuses. In the mythical world that the ancient Greeks dreamed and wrote about, it would be easy to believe sports could be separate from politics and war. In the real world, though, sporting events, such as the Olympic arena, are often symbolic ritual performances of politics and conflicts.

Labels: China, Olympics

China: Editorial: Games controversies provide a view of an unfamiliar world

Halfway through the Olympic Games that pledged to show the world a "New China, New Beijing, New Olympics", the Chinese certainly seem to have their PR work cut out. For many, the abiding image is just as likely to be that of seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who sings like an angel but was adjudged not pretty enough to appear before the eyes of billions at the opening ceremony. She was replaced by a lip-syncing Lin Miaoke who was, in the eyes of ceremony organizers - "flawless in image, internal feelings and expression". The switch was revealed in an interview with the ceremony's music designer, broadcast - apparently unapologetically and certainly unremarked-on - on state-run television, which suggests that Chinese television audiences may not have found it either remarkable or reprehensible. But in some corridor of power, the Western reaction was quickly noted: an immediate and hostile international response prompted the pulling of the interview from the Chinese news website sina.com, where it had been briefly posted.

Labels: China, Olympics

China 'is fueling war in Darfur' - by Hilary Andersson

The BBC has found the first evidence that China is currently helping Sudan's government militarily in Darfur. The Panorama TV program tracked down Chinese army lorries in the Sudanese province that came from a batch exported from China to Sudan in 2005. The BBC was also told that China was training fighter pilots who fly Chinese A5 Fantan fighter jets in Darfur.

Labels: China, Darfur, War

China - Failing the real Olympic test - by David Bandurski

When the Chinese Government last week reneged on its pledge to offer unfettered internet access to foreign journalists in Beijing to cover the Olympic Games, the flashpoint issue of press freedom in China moved once again to centre stage. BOCOG spokesman Sun Weide responded to concerns over the blocking of internet sites: "Our promise was that journalists would be able to use the internet for their work during the Olympic Games. So we have given them sufficient access to do that."Ah, so the slogan of media freedom was really about "sufficient access"? But as we criticise China's Government for its cynical actions, and as we harp incessantly on the Olympics as a test of media freedoms in China, aren't we glossing over our own duplicity? Our promises resound like empty slogans, too. We talk about human rights in China, about its commitment to media freedoms. But we seem to have forgotten how meagre the promise was that we levied on the Chinese in the first place as a condition of playing host to this year's Games.

Labels: China, Olympics

China's Climate Change Playbook is Worth Reading - by Jonathan Lash and Deborah Nelson

The Olympics are an opportunity for the U.S. and China to better understand each other and move forward together on fighting climate change.The Olympics offers an opportunity for the U.S. and China to better understand each other and move forward together on fighting climate change.China and the U.S. are the world’s two biggest producers of greenhouse gases. The U.S. can no longer use China as an excuse for inaction. Contrary to popular belief, China is already implementing a comprehensive energy policy that addresses climate change. While China’s climate-change challenge equals the U.S. in scale, China’s emissions footprint is fundamentally different. In the U.S., one-third of energy use and CO2 emissions come from transportation. In China, transport accounts for just 10 percent of emissions, and industry is the biggest contributor by far.

Labels: China, Olympics, Pollution and the environment, US

Berlusconi ally urges Italian athletes to show dissent in Beijing

A senior member of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's political party has triggered a row by urging Italy's Olympic officials to allow Italian athletes at the Olympics to protest China's human rights policies. Maurizio Gasparri, chief whip in Italy's Senate for Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, also said he would send the athletes in Beijing a video showing 'Communist China's daily repression in Tibet,' according to a statement from his office Tuesday.

Labels: China, EU, Italy, Olympics, Silvio Berlusconi

The European Union has received a written reply from Iran regarding international proposals about its nuclear program. The precise contents of the letter have not been made public. The United States, Russia, China, Great Britain, France and Germany are planning to discuss the letter in a telephone conference tomorrow. Two weeks ago, the six countries offered Iran improved economic and political cooperation in exchange for a freeze of its nuclear activities. Iran was given 14 days in which to reply, something it has now done at the very last moment. An Iranian functionary has said that the letter to the EU does not discuss a freezing of Iran's nuclear program. This would suggest Iran does not agree with the request.

Note EU-Digest: Iran's response to an incentives package aimed at defusing a dispute over its nuclear program is unacceptable, U.S. officials said Tuesday, making the prospect of new sanctions against the country more likely. The Australian notes: "With only 174 days left in office, Bush may not need pressure from Cheney and co, or from the Israelis, to start bombing. He's got another motive. For centuries Roman centurions had no end of trouble with those pesky Persians. So perhaps Nero Claudius Caesar Germanicus W. Bush takes Persia personally."

Labels: China, EU, George Bush, Iran, Nuclear energy, Russia

China's relations with Europe wilt ahead of games - by Crispian Balmer

If China thought hosting the Olympics would win it friends abroad, it probably miscalculated.
Certainly in Europe, the approach of the Beijing Games has exacerbated relations between the two trading partners, with rows about human rights and Tibet overshadowing Chinese pride in their sprouting city skylines and booming economy. But as the trade imbalance ballooned in China's favor so attitudes in Europe have hardened and a wave of negative reports about executions, pollution and corruption ahead of the Games has further eroded the EU view of the eastern giant. "The Games have already backfired on China and if I were Chinese I would feel a bit short changed," said Kerry Brown, a Chinese expert at the Chatham House think-tank in London.

Labels: China, EU

EU's Almunia says euro overvalued against Chinese yuan

EU economic and financial affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia said the euro is overvalued, while some currencies with an official exchange rate, such as the Chinese yuan, are undervalued. In an interview with the daily La Republica, Almunia said that there is also the risk that the dollar could further decline against the euro and called on the governments of the euro-zone to coordinate their stances.

"It is necessary that the euro zone finds a clear consensus and speaks with one voice at the next international meetings," with the G8 and IMF, he said.

Labels: China, euro, yuan

Airbus Set to Conquer Chinese Market - by Kristina Doneck

Hamburg-based aircraft manufacturer Airbus has started transporting the first aircraft segments to their new assembly line in Tianjin, China. This is a milestone for Boeing's rival in the struggle to dominate Asian markets and produce planes in the People's Republic. The manufacturer will start building aeroplanes there in August 2008, and the first locally-assembled Airbuses will be delivered to Chinese airlines in the first half of 2009.

Entering the Chinese market is not only another great step in increasing Airbus' global presence, but will also increase the company´s flexibility in the A320-family production. It is expected to lead to increase the production rate to 40 by 2010.

Labels: Airbus, Aircraft Industry, China

Chinese foreign minister to visit Europe by Sun Yunlong

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi will visit Spain, Slovenia, Italy and the headquarters of the European Union from June 7 to 12, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang announced here Tuesday. Yang will attend a China-Europe foreign ministers' meeting in Slovenia, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, and an international conference aimed at raising funds for Afghanistan in France.During his stay in Spain, Yang will hold talks with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and meet with Spanish King Juan Carlos I and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, said Qin.

Labels: China, EU

Euro Matters - by Arielle Fridson

Several factors underlie the current strength of the euro. One basis for the euro’s appreciation against the dollar is the contrast between Europe’s economic expansion and America’s stagnant growth, persistent budget deficits, and decline in the housing market. The Federal Reserve’s repeated interest rate cuts have also reduced the relative attractiveness of dollar-denominated fixed-income investments. But the euro’s continued strength faces obstacles as well, not least because the euro is freely traded while the exchange rates of several other major currencies are tightly controlled. China prevents the yuan from appreciating by buying tens of billions of dollars. The resulting pressure on the U.S. currency causes Europe to lose competitiveness against America as well as Asia. “The Europeans are fully justified in complaining that this isn’t a fair way of running an international financial system,” said Desmond Lachman of the American Policy Institute in an interview with the HPR. Robert Scott of the Economic Policy Institute also elaborated in an interview with the HPR that the “euro has probably overshot the equilibrium levels.”

Spain and Italy, whose economies have suffered from a housing bust and other domestic issues, will want higher interest rates and a weaker euro, but the European Central Bank is unlikely to respond to such demands. Instead, the ECB remains far more influenced by conditions in larger countries, such as France and Germany, creating tensions among countries in the euro zone. “It’s one of the very big political costs of having a central currency,” Lachman noted. “In the next year we are going to really be seeing [the viability of the euro] tested.”

Labels: China, EU, EU Economy, euro, US Economy

Essence Securities: Insurance net profits may slump in 2009 - by Li Huayu

Insurers' net profits won't see big drops this year, but may experience slumps in 2009, said Essence Securities in its latest monthly report. The report said it will be difficult for insurers to maintain a high return on assets (ROA) next year. According to the report, if the stock market returns to normal in 2009, net profits plunges are highly probable as insurers' floating profits, or unrealized profits, having accumulated in the 2007 bullish market, have been released, except in the case that the market experiences surges again next year. In 2007, the ROA of insurance companies far exceeded that of banks. The ROA of China Life and Ping An Insurance was 3.49 percent and 2.8 percent respectively, while that of banks during the same period was only 1 percent on the average. The huge ROA gap between insurers and banks is ultimately unsustainable, said the report.

Labels: China, Insurance Industry

Airbus: China needs 2,800 aircraft in 20 years

Chinese mainland will need to add more than 2,800 passenger aircraft and freighters in the 20 years through 2026, European plane maker Airbus forecast.The demand, valued $329 billion, represents 11.6 percent of the world total for more than 24,000 new aircraft during the period, it noted. China's demand for passenger aircraft is only second to the United States in the period, said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer for Customers.

Labels: Airbus, Aircraft Industry, China, EU

Olympics "Catastrophic" for Chinese Press Freedom

A Chinese journalist jailed for her reporting told a conference in Paris today (Friday) that press freedom and human rights have worsened in China and that conditions for journalists in the run-up to the Olympics are "considerably more catastrophic" than they were when she was arrested 15 years ago. "Freedom of the press and human rights constitute the most serious problem currently facing China," said Gao Yu, who was arrested in 1993 and sentenced to six years in prison for sending two articles on current affairs to a Hong Kong review. She was charged with "divulging state secrets", a catch-all charge often used by Chinese authorities to stifle independent reporting and dissent.

Labels: China, Freedom of the Press, Olympics, Tibet

Flemish Government Will Not Attend CDhina Olympic Opening Ceremony

No Flemish government member will attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing", Bert Anciaux, the Flemish Minister of Sport, stated at a session of the Commission on Foreign Policy in the Flemish Parliament in Brussels dedicated to the Olympics and the human rights situation in China. The Minister, who had some personal experience with the Chinese regime last year when he was invited to China and saw his visa revoked after he announced he would speak about the situation in Tibet, said he tries to find a balance between his commitment towards sports and respect for human rights.

"The problem is not that the Olympic Games will take place in China, but that the Chinese regime is using the Olympics as a propaganda event at the expense of the fundamental rights of the Chinese people." —Nicolas Schols, representative of the Belgian Falun Dafa Association

Labels: Belgium, China, EU, Olympics

China, Sweden to deepen bilateral cooperation

Premier Wen Jiabao met with visiting Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt on Monday in Beijing. They agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation. Premier Wen said their bilateral trade volume has grown rapidly, especially in recent years.China is Sweden's largest trade partner in Asia. Wen Jiabao said enhancing bilateral cooperation is in the fundamental interests of the two countries and is conducive to promoting the China-EU strategic partnership. Their talks were followed by a signing ceremony for a number of agreements between Sweden and China. The biggest deal was Ericsson's contracts with Chinese mobile operators China Mobile and China Unicom, worth a total of 90 million euro's (1.44 billion US dollars).

Labels: China, EU, Sweden

China at top in executions

China executed more people than any other country in the world last year by putting at least 470 people to death, but the number of executions in the country actually fell compared to the year before, Amnesty International said. In its annual report on worldwide executions, the human rights group said Tuesday that Iran remains the country with the second highest number of executions, and that the number had nearly doubled from the year before. The 377 inmates included a man stoned to death for committing adultery. The United States was fifth in the rankings with 42 executions, reflecting a drop in the number of people put to death during the year. That was the lowest number of executions in the United States in about 15 years, Amnesty officials said. However, lethal injection executions have been on hold nationally while the U.S. Supreme Court considers a challenge in a case from Kentucky.

Labels: China, Human Rights

Boycot China Olympics: Largest crackdown on gays in China ahead of Olympics

AIDS activists and gay rights supporters in China have sounded an alarm following one of the largest crackdowns on gays and lesbians in Beijing, evidently as part of a “clean-up” ahead of the Olympics. Wan Yanhai, China’s best known and most outspoken AIDS activist, has detailed several instances of police raids targeted at LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-sexual communities) in Beijing during March. Several gays and lesbians have been detained or interrogated, and establishments frequented by them have been raided and, in some cases, even shut down. Gays and lesbians otherwise enjoy unfettered freedom to live out their lifestyle in China, where homosexuality has been decriminalised in recent years. Official Chinese policy towards gay issues is, however, characterised by the “three Nos”: no approval, no disapproval and no promotion.

Labels: China, Gay Rights, Olympics