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learn Chinese – China, U.S. to launch strategic security dialogue

blognet2englishorg — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 03:33:51 +0000

China and the United States will launch their first strategic security dialogue in Washington this month, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said in Beijing on Friday.

The strategic security dialogue is scheduled to be kicked off during the third China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which will also be held in Washington, said Cui.

Cui said the dialogue will be co-chaired by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun and U.S. Deputy State Secretary James Steinberg.

Leading officials from diplomatic and military departments of both sides will also attend the dialogue.

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Chinese School – Drought in south China eased after rainfall

blognet2englishorg — Tue, 31 May 2011 03:33:07 +0000

Spring drought that had been plaguing south China was alleviated after a week-long rainfall, government sources said on Thursday.

The affected farmland shrank to 900,000 hectares by Wednesday from 1.33 million hectares a week ago, the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said.

Some 1.19 million people and 400,000 draught livestock are short of water, it said.

South China has experienced 50 percent less rainfall than usual since the start of this year, which has dried up major rivers and reservoirs in the region. The drought has also hampered spring ploughing efforts in south China, where many of the nation’s major grain-producing areas are based.

Because of the rainfall, drought in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces were relieved, but Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu provinces, as well as southern Yunnan Province still face grim conditions due to inadequate precipitation, said Qiu Ruitian, deputy director of the office.

The headquarter asked authorities in different localities hit by drought to work to ensure water supplies for daily life of the people and the spring sowing work.

Chinese language – China seizes more pirated online goods in latest campaign

blognet2englishorg — Mon, 30 May 2011 03:32:19 +0000

China’s customs authority said on Thursday it had seized 13.68 million yuan (about 2.1 million U.S. dollars) worth of pirated goods sold online following a five-month clampdown campaign.

The General Administration of Customs (GAC) said some 1.08 million items hunted down included fake medicine, apparel, watches and cosmetics sold at Internet shops.

Those goods were confiscated as a result of inspections of express deliveries and postal mail.

GAC pledged to intensity the clampdown on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) violations, notably through those violations occurring on the Internet. It will also strengthen cooperation with public security and postal authorities to prevent the sale of pirated goods.

China Travel – Chinese, Swiss FMs meet on bilateral ties

blognet2englishorg — Sun, 29 May 2011 03:30:50 +0000

Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey (L) shakes hands with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Bern, capital of Switzerland on May 5, 2011. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

BERN, May 5 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Thursday held talks here with his Swiss counterpart Micheline Anne-Marie Calmy-Rey on bilateral ties.

During the meeting, Yang spoke highly of the progress China and Switzerland have achieved in their relations since the signing of a memorandum on strengthening bilateral dialogue and cooperation in 2007.

Yang said the Chinese government attaches great importance to developing ties with Switzerland and appreciates the Swiss government’s adherence to the one China policy.

China is ready to work with the Swiss side to continue taking care of each other’s interests and concerns, keeping close communication and coordination, maintaining exchanges at various levels, enhancing dialogue and cooperation in economy, trade, finance and science, and pushing for long-term steady growth of bilateral ties, on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefits, he said.

Calmy-Rey, who is also president of the Swiss Confederation, said Swiss-Chinese ties have grown steadily, with China becoming Switzerland’s largest trading partner in Asia and their investments in each other’s countries rising constantly.

Calmy-Rey said Switzerland is opposed to protectionism, attaches importance to negotiations on free trade with China, and is willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with China in the fields of finance, scientific research, intellectual property rights and consular affairs.

China Business – Hijacked Chinese sailors rescued: report

blognet2englishorg — Sat, 28 May 2011 03:29:49 +0000

The hijacked 24 Chinese sailors on a Panama-registered bulk cargo ship have been rescued, the Ministry of Transport said in a report on its website Friday.

The vessel, Full City, was rescued at 23:25 on Thursday by the U.S. marine and Turkish rescue team, the ministry said, citing the China Sea Rescue Center. The Chinese sailors are safe and in good condition, the report said.

Pirates attacked the vessel Thursday noon some 450 nautical miles off the coast of India’s Mumbai and 750 nautical miles east of the area where the Chinese Navy convoy fleet was assembled, the center said Thursday.

HSK – Greece faces tough times ahead, says Finance Minister

blognet2englishorg — Fri, 27 May 2011 03:28:10 +0000

Greece faces more tough times ahead, but will manage to exit the debt crisis, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said on Monday, amid Greek media reports that EU-IMF auditors give the government negative marks over progress in the implementation of the plan to exit the crisis.

“Our country went through difficult times, faces tough times and will face more in the near future, because it relied on a false development model. We fooled ourselves, but we will exit the crisis,” said Papaconstantinou, addressing a forum held by Transparency International Greece over corruption and tax evasion.

Acknowledging cases of corruption among tax officials due to the complexity and bureaucracy of the tax system, he pledged more measures to address the issue, talking about “a crime which contributed to the current crisis”.

Debt-ridden Greece narrowly escaped default last spring, securing a multi-billion euro aid package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in exchange of harsh austerity and reform policies to exit the crisis by 2014. But after a good start, lags on some targets, fueling scenarios of an eventual restructure of the Greek debt or other options.

The new progress report over the implementation of the Stability and Growth program written by the technical team of EU- IMF auditors who reviewed the latest data over the past week is negative, reported Greek media on Monday.

According to the reports, EU-IMF officials who will meet with Greek officials Tuesday to determine whether the country will receive the fifth tranche of loan funding, were informed of delays in the fiscal adjustment efforts, privatization program and labor market and tax system reform.

Furthermore, the technical experts deemed “unrealistic” some targets in the midterm program for 2012- 2015 to be tabled before a parliamentary vote next week, suggesting more measures to raise funds this year.

According to media reports, they warned that with the current progress Greece will not manage to slash the budget deficit to 7.4 percent of GDP as scheduled, but will reach a 9.5 percent from 10. 4 percent in 2010. The initial aim was to slash the deficit from 15.4 percent of GDP in 2009 to less than three percent in 2013.

Local analysts note that the current economic policy mix is being met with increasing doubts, even by cabinet ministers. Health Minister Andreas Loverdos expressed criticism over some ” unclear points” Monday, fueling again scenarios of snap polls, which were immediately rejected by government spokesman George Petalotis.

learn Chinese online – YouTube expands video rental service

blognet2englishorg — Thu, 26 May 2011 03:26:39 +0000

YouTube on Monday said it is expanding its online video rental service, adding some 3,000 new movies for users in the United States to rent.

The announcement confirmed recent media reports, including The New York Times, that Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures and Warner Brothers had agreed to rent movies on the site.

“You’re spending just 15 minutes a day on YouTube, and spending five hours a day watching TV. As the lines between online and off- line continue to blur, we think that’s going to change,” said Salar Kamangar, head of YouTube, in a company blog post.

In addition to big movie studios, YouTube is also bolstering investment in content providers, mentoring and encouraging them to produce original content for the web and attracting audiences.

YouTube, operating as a subsidiary of Google, recently has been trying to offer professional content in addition to home video clips, accelerating its shift to Hollywood entertainment to compete with on-demand Internet streaming video provider Netflix. The expansion of the movie rental service is expected to provide a new revenue source for the company.

learn Chinese – Google to build new office for hiring spree

blognet2englishorg — Wed, 25 May 2011 03:25:22 +0000

Google plans to build its own office space to make room for its hiring spree, local media reported Monday.

The company has agreed to pay the city of Mountain View 30 million U.S. dollars to lease 9.4 acres near Shoreline Boulevard for 53 years, one of the highest prices ever for land in that section of the city, according to reports from San Jose Mercury News.

A Google spokeswoman told the newspaper that the Internet search giant has hired Ingenhoven Architects, a German firm that specialized in sustainable and green architecture to develop accommodation plan for those “Nooglers” as the company calls its new recruits.

Google did not disclose any details of the plan, but Mountain View city officials said preliminary plans could be filed later this month with construction starting as early as 2012. The lease deal allows Google to develop up to some 55,277 square meters of office, research and development space.

In January, Google announced a plan to add more than 6,000 employees in the year of 2011. In the first quarter, Google hired 1,916 full-time employees, increasing its total working force to 26,316 which is 28 percent higher than it was a year ago.

Google’s corporate headquarters complex, Googleplex, is located within a 26-acre site in Mountain View with core office buildings totaling 47,038 square meters.

Chinese School – Apple overtakes Google as world’s most valuable brand

blognet2englishorg — Tue, 24 May 2011 03:24:14 +0000

Apple Inc. has overtaken Google as the most valuable brand in the world and more top global brands are originating from “BRICS” markets, global media communications services group WPP plc said in a report on Monday.

The Apple brand has increased in value by 84 percent from last year and 859 percent since 2006, with a brand value of 153.3 billion U.S. dollars, said WPP in its sixth annual study of BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands.

“By nurturing its brand and constantly innovating, Apple is able to command a high price premium and weather economic turbulence, providing a global business success story that other brands can learn from,” said Eileen Campbell, CEO of brand research company Millward Brown, a WPP subsidiary.

During the economic recovery last year, the combined value of all the brands in the top 100 has risen by 17 percent and is now worth 2.4 trillion dollars, said the report.

Technology and telecom brands dominate the ranking, making up one-third of the top 100 brands. Apple is followed by Google, with a brand value of 111.5 billion dollars, a decrease of 2 percent from last year. IBM is in third place with a brand value of 100.9 billion dollars.

Facebook ranks No. 35 with the highest increase of 246 percent in brand value on a year-over-year basis, and the brand is now worth 19.1 billion. Online retailer Amazon also edged past Walmart to become the No. 1 retail brand and 14th overall, with a 37- percent rise in brand value to 37.6 billion.

Compared to two in 2006 and 13 in 2010, 19 brands come from ” BRICS” markets in this year’s ranking, highlighting the expanding purchasing power of people in these countries. While many of these brands are buoyed by the size of their local customer base, more brands now have international ambition, like Petrobras in Brazil and China’s largest search engine Baidu, noted the report.

BRICS is a mechanism that groups the world’s five major emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Twelve of the top 100 global brands are from China. China Mobile Ltd. ranks No. 9 with a brand value of 57.33 billion dollars, an increase of 9 percent from last year. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. ranks No. 11 and Baidu has moved up 46 places from last year to No. 29.

The top ten BrandZ most valuable global brands are Apple, Google, IBM, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Coca-cola, at&t, Marlboro, China Mobile, and GE.

Chinese language – Oil bounces above 100 dollars on weaker greenback, Syria unrest

blognet2englishorg — Mon, 23 May 2011 03:18:39 +0000

U.S. crude oil price bounced back above 100 dollars a barrel on Monday after last week’s record double-digit losses as the dollar weakened against a basket of currencies and the unrest in Syria over the weekend aroused concerns among the investors.

Crude oil experienced large-scale sell-off last week, and its record losses since pricing in the dollar attracted bargain hunters to enter the market, boosting the bounce on Monday.

The dollar index, which tracks the dollar’s performance against a basket of currencies, dipped about 0.3 percent. A weaker dollar further encouraged the oil traders.

The unrest in the Middle East country of Syria escalated over the weekend, arousing concerns about oil supply in the region among investors.

The oil prices also got lifted by the gasoline contracts prices rally as the markets feared the Mississippi River flood could hurt gasoline production and the driving season would boost gasoline demand.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery sharply rose 5.37 dollars, or 5.53 percent, to settle at 102.55 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for June delivery rebounded 6.77 dollars, or 6.20 percent, to settle at 115.90 dollars a barrel.