The Foreign Street China Brief

Issue 1: Population issues and the 1.3 billionth baby

1.3 billion ticking clock for Red Dragon.

262 words

7 January 2005

The Statesman

Chen Zhiyong, China Daily/ANN BEIJING, Jan. 6. - The 1.3 billionth Chinese was born in Beijing today. Just two minutes after midnight, a baby boy weighing 3.66 kg was born to Mr Zhang Tong and Ms Lan Hui at the Beijing Hospital of Gynaecology and Obstetrics. Hospital sources said the baby was healthy. Watching his new-born child the proud father said: 'At the moment, I feel I am the happiest person in the world. I believe that my boy will be lucky and have a smooth life.' It has been 10 years since the 1.2 billionth baby was born in China, that is, it has taken a decade for another 100 million people to be born. This, experts say, is a sign that population growth has slowed down. The family planning policy of the past 30 years has effectively controlled the rapid increase in China's population. The country has stayed on the list of countries with low-fertility rates for the past decade.

Statesman Ltd.

3.7kg adds to weight of humankind

185 words

7 January 2005

Daily Telegraph

BEIJING: The 1.3 billionth Chinese person -- a 3.66kg boy -- was

born yesterday.

Nationwide News Pty Ltd

CHINA FACING RAPIDLY GROWING AGEING POPULATION

By Dwight Daniels

668 words

7 January 2005

China Daily

Yang Zhi, a 74-year-old retired civil servant in Beijing, took a two-hour bus ride this week to travel to a special donation centre to give money to a tsunami-relief fund.

Yang, who with his wife, gets by on a monthly pension of 2,000 yuan (US$240). They donated a fourth of their monthly income, or 500 yuan (US$60).

China Daily Information Company

China's 1.3 billionth citizen born into population maze

Benjamin Kang Lim

624 words

7 January 2005

National Post

BEIJING - China named the first baby born at a Beijing hospital yesterday as the 1.3 billionth person of the world's most populous nation, more than two decades after a one-child policy was introduced to keep its numbers in check.

China's population exploded after Mao Tse-Tung as Communist Party chairman exhorted the people to multiply in the 1950s to make the country strong. But China put the brakes on growth with the tough one-child rule and is now worried about finding jobs for the masses and caring for the elderly.

National Post

China moves to tighten up laws against selective abortion

SAI

497 words

7 January 2005

Agence France Presse

BEIJING Jan 7 (AFP) -

With over 40 million more men than women in the general population, China is seeking to beef up laws on prohibiting the use of selective abortion of female fetuses, state press announced Friday.

Agence France Presse

It's a boy as China marks 1.3 billionth person

By Benjamin Kang Lim

606 words

7 January 2005

Reuters Health E-Line

© 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China named the first baby born at a Beijing hospital Thursday as the 1.3 billionth person of the world's most populous nation, more than two decades after a one-child policy was introduced to keep its numbers in check.

China's population exploded after the late Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong exhorted the people to multiply in the 1950s to make the country strong. But China put the brakes on growth with the tough one-child rule and is now worried about finding jobs for the masses and caring for the elderly.

Reuters Ltd.

Celebrity baby boy just one in a billion for China

471 words

7 January 2005

The Courier-Mail

BEIJING: China named the first baby born at a Beijing hospital yesterday as the 1.3 billionth person of the world's most populous nation, more than two decades after a one-child policy was introduced to keep its numbers in check.

China's population exploded after the late Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong exhorted the people to multiply in the 1950s to make the country strong. But it put the brakes on growth with the tough, one-child rule and is now worried about finding jobs for the masses and caring for the elderly.

Nationwide News Pty Ltd

Baby makes three for family and 1.3 billion for People's Republic

Catherine Armitage China correspondent

422 words

7 January 2005

The Australian

WHEN baby Yin -- bed 38, ward 322, Tongzhou Women's and Children's Hospital, Beijing -- announced her arrival with a healthy cry at 4.30am yesterday, she staked her claim to a very big statistic, as China's 1.3billionth citizen.

January 6 was marked by China's number crunchers as the day the nation's population officially hit 1.3billion, though it has long been rounded off to that figure informally.

Nationwide News Pty Ltd

Mothers in big push for China's one in 1.3 billion

Oliver August in Beijing

801 words

7 January 2005

The Times

The clock in the corridor of the maternity ward struck midnight. No fewer than 74 women, seeing national glory within sight, started pushing, whether contractions had set in or not.

One was seen pacing up and down saying: "I don't want to lie down. It will just slow down the baby."

News International Associated Services Ltd

1.3b milestone timely symbol of huge gender gap

Jane Cai

532 words

7 January 2005

South China Morning Post

The selection of a 3.66kg baby born early yesterday as the mainland's 1.3 billionth citizen was symbolic, a family planning official has admitted, but the symbolism goes beyond mere numbers.

The fact that the baby - born to 31-year-old mother Lan Hui , a Shell China employee, and 37-year-old Air China worker Zhang Tong - was a boy underscores the mainland's serious gender disparity.

SCMP.com Limited

Issue 2: Chinese professionals abroad

China Sends Its Bureaucrats Abroad...to study

By Li Yuan

1338 words

7 January 2005

The Asian Wall Street Journal

ALBANY, New York -- The response from economist Edward Cupoli's tutorial on New York State's budget process was more exuberant than one might expect. Students broke into animated discussion of each point and had to be hushed repeatedly so he could continue. To his audience of government officials from China, though, the discourse was revelatory.

The 28 bureaucrats at Mr. Cupoli's October session in Albany, organized by Syracuse University, are among thousands of mid- and high-level officials Beijing sends abroad to study governance each year. By exposing officials in key positions to Western public-policy concepts and policy-making processes, the Chinese government hopes they will become more professional, less corrupt and more accountable to the public -- and in turn help China sustain economic growth, ease social tensions and make its shift to a market economy as incremental and smooth as possible.

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

PLA sends elite officers to study abroad

Goh Sui Noi, China Correspondent

644 words

7 January 2005

Straits Times

China expects them to lead reforms after observing foreign militaries

BEIJING - CHINA has sent more than 100 of its top-notch military officers to Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and South-east Asia as part of its efforts to nurture talent and modernise the military.

SPH AsiaOne Ltd.

US issues 25,000 student visas to Chinese nationals in 2004

249 words

7 January 2005

Xinhua News Agency

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The United States issued 25,647 student visas to Chinese nationals in fiscal 2004, a rise of about 15 percent over the previous year, a senior US official said Thursday.

The number in 2004 represented an increase of nearly 4,000 visas over fiscal 2003, when the United States issued 21,786 student visas to Chinese nationals, said Janice Jacobs, deputy assistant secretary for consular affairs at the State Department, at a news briefing.

Xinhua News Agency

Business & the Economy

China, Canada Near Energy Accord

By Charles Hutzler in Beijing and Tamsin Carlisle in Calgary

616 words

7 January 2005

The Asian Wall Street Journal

China and Canada are nearing a general agreement on Chinese investment in Canadian oil resources, part of an aggressive push by Beijing to secure access to energy supplies.

The framework agreement, which could be signed as early as this month by the two governments, speaks mainly of energy cooperation in still-sketchy terms. But among its few details is potential investment in Canada's so-called oil sands in the province of Alberta, an industry executive who has seen a draft of the pact said Thursday. The agreement mentions China's three major oil companies -- China National Petroleum Corp., China Petrochemical Corp. and China National Offshore Oil Corp. -- each of which has expressed interest in taking stakes in oil-sands projects, the executive said.

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

China close to signing oil-sands pact

232 words

7 January 2005

The Toronto Star

F03

China and Canada are nearing a general agreement on Chinese investment in Canadian oil resources, part of an aggressive push by Beijing to secure access to energy supplies.

The framework agreement, which could be signed as early as this month by the two governments, speaks mainly of energy co-operation in still-sketchy terms. But among its few details is potential investment in the Alberta oil sands, an industry executive who has seen a draft of the pact said yesterday.

Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd.

Ottawa seeks Chinese investors

PATRICK BRETHOUR, STEVEN CHASE

605 words

7 January 2005

The Globe and Mail

CALGARY, OTTAWA

Eager to promote Chinese investment, the federal government is preparing to forge a wide-ranging pact with Beijing that will lay the foundation for investments in the energy sector and other key areas of the Canadian economy.

Bell Globemedia Interactive

CNOOC ambitions 'come as no surprise' OIL.

By DAVID BUCHAN

517 words

7 January 2005

Financial Times

Page 23

Reports that one of Beijing's top oil companies, the China National Offshore Oil Company, is prospecting for a major foreign acquisition, possibly Unocal, come as no surprise given the way the country's thirst for oil is far outstripping domestic resources and its increasing worries about energy insecurity.

China's soaring demand for oil, a major factor in last year's price surge on the oil market, has meant that it has now overtaken Japan as the world's second largest oil consumer after the US and has dramatically increased its dependence on imports. The latter rose, according to the International Energy Agency, from 23 per cent of total Chinese oil consumption in 1998 to 37 per cent in 2003.

The Financial Times Limited

Unocal would make a good offshore fit

By DOUG CAMERON

688 words

7 January 2005

Financial Times

Page 23

CNOOC's potential bid for Unocal represents a step-change in China's pursuit of additional energy resources, but is also viewed by analysts as a good fit with its existing strategy of focusing on offshore upstream development.

Its potential choice of partner also highlights the long-term thirst of the Chinese economy, with Unocal emerging from a period of underperformance and a string of projects nearing fruition.

The Financial Times Limited

Carmakers expect Asia to hit the accelerator

Angela Jameson Industrial Correspondent

561 words

7 January 2005

The Times

Korean and Chinese carmakers will seize a greater share of the global car market in the next five years, a global survey of motor executives has suggested.

Seventy-three per cent of car executives questioned by KPMG, the consultants, forecast that Korea and China would gain market share, ahead of 53 per cent of executives who thought that Japanese brands would.

News International Associated Services Ltd

Enter the Chinese Dragon, Now Bearing Minicars

By CHRIS BUCKLEY

1277 words

7 January 2005

The New York Times

BEIJING, Jan. 6 -- After a year in which dozens of Chinese corporations went global with their plans, the Chery Automobile Company has joined them with an ambitious gamble to become the first Chinese automaker to sell cars in the United States.

The company announced this week that beginning in 2007 it would export 250,000 cars to the United States in partnership with Visionary Vehicles, an auto import and distribution company based in New York. Visionary Vehicles said the Chery cars would be 30 percent cheaper than comparable models sold in the United States and would offer a 10-year warranty.

New York Times Digital (Full Text)

CSCL to spend 3.5b yuan on fleet

Annette Chiu

391 words

7 January 2005

South China Morning Post

China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) will spend 3.5 billion yuan this year to expand capacity as the international cargo transport business remains robust.

General manager Jia Hongxiang said the company would spend 85 per cent of the money on buying new vessels and the remainder on containers.

SCMP.com Limited

Beijing must press on with its banking agenda

By WILLIAM RHODES

735 words

7 January 2005

Financial Times

Page 15

Most participants in China's financial markets are optimistic about the long-term prospects for the country's economy. That optimism is based, however, on the important assumption that China will continue to improve its financial system in coming years.

China needs better financial intermediation, by both banks and capital markets, if capital is to be allocated efficiently and strong economic growth sustained. The reform of China's stock market appears to have slowed and it will take time to develop domestic bond markets. In the foreseeable future, therefore, continued successful reform of the country's banks - which still account for more than 80 per cent of China's financial assets - will be critical for sustaining strong growth and preventing serious dislocations in the economy.

The Financial Times Limited

China Audit Identifies Firms' Illegal Practices

By Owen Brown Dow Jones Newswires

656 words

7 January 2005

The Asian Wall Street Journal

BEIJING -- China's National Audit Office has identified illegal practices at the country's four state-run asset-management companies valued at nearly seven billion yuan, or nearly $846 million, state news media reported Thursday.

The results of the audit come as several foreign investment banks prepare to launch joint ventures with the asset-management companies that will attempt to dispose of a mountain of distressed assets originally transferred from China's four major state-run commercial banks.

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

International Relations

Beijing Backs Seoul's Nuclear Stance

378 words

7 January 2005

Korea Times

South Korean officials attached special significance to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's remark in Jakarta on Wednesday in which he praised Seoul's approach toward the North Korean nuclear issue, saying it has Beijing's ``full support.''

While meeting South Korea's Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan on the eve of the global summit in the Indonesian capital to discuss the aftermath of the South Asian tsunami on Dec. 26, Wen said Seoul's handling of the nuclear issue was ``reasonable.''

Hankook i.com

Old rivalries to the fore at donors' conference

Marian Carroll in Jakartaand Staff Reporter

493 words

7 January 2005

South China Morning Post

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told yesterday's post-tsunami summit that an early-warning system based on the model used for the Pacific Ocean is a priority to ensure the Boxing Day cataclysm does not reoccur.

But Sino-Japanese rivalry quickly surfaced at the meeting, with both countries seeking to establish a leadership role in setting up a system for the Indian Ocean and underlining concerns that donors may be working to more than just humanitarian agendas.

SCMP.com Limited

Fleeing Tibetans get help from Indian embassy

IANS

350 words

7 January 2005

Hindustan Times

Kathmandu -- Tibetans fleeing their homeland to begin a new life abroad are finding their flight getting a little easier thanks to the Indian government. Since February 2002, the Indian mission here has been issuing them special entry permits to travel to India from Nepal. Though relations between Beijing and New Delhi have been improving, India continues to provide travel documents to Tibetan refugees in Nepal on humanitarian grounds. This also helps to regularise and monitor the flow of escapees who would otherwise continue to reach India illegally. Once they reach Nepal, the refugees contact the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that in turn refers them to the Tibetan Refugee Reception Centre in Kathmandu. The centre forwards the refugees' applications to the Indian embassy. Currently, the embassy has been issuing 15 special entry permits a day, on an average.

Hindustan Times Limited

Society & Culture

Culture Clash: The Shanghai Establishment

By Lisa Movius

1119 words

7 January 2005

The Asian Wall Street Journal

THE OPENING GALA of the Shanghai Biennale in late 2004 went off seamlessly -- except for the arrest of a performance artist. Hong Kong artist Ke Weizhen, not a participant in the official show, clomped into the Shanghai Art Museum with iron rice bowls -- the kind still used in Chinese school and work-unit cafeterias -- tied to the soles of his shoes and his face painted white and red.

The assembled crowd of international curators and Chinese officials looked on curiously as Mr. Ke clambered up the museum's staircase, occasionally blowing on a whistle around his neck. Curiosity turned to alarm as museum security guards began to close in on Mr. Ke, who at first held them at bay with staccato blasts on his whistle. Then, four or five guards pushed him to the ground and then hustled him into a back room.

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

East Asian Countries Plan Exhibit of National Treasures

347 words

7 January 2005

Korea Times

An exhibition of 300 national treasures from South Korea, China and Japan for touring around the world within the next three years is being planned, the Cultural Heritage Administration announced Wednesday.

``Considering that Korea's culture is less known overseas than Japan's and China's and its value is generally underestimated, a collective exhibition would be a good chance to raise the international status of Korea's cultural heritage and promote regional cooperation in East Asia in terms of culture as there is growing integration in Europe and the Americas,'' Yoo Hong-jun, the director of the administration, said.

Hankook i.com

Miscellaneous

BEIJING SCHOOLS SLASHED BY A QUARTER

By Liu Weifeng

273 words

7 January 2005

China Daily

An overhaul of primary schools in Beijing will see the total closure of 500 branded "weak" and falling far short of target standards.

It spells a move for thousands of children, but will mean a more balanced quality of education in the capital.

China Daily Information Company

All Charges Are Dismissed In Spy Case Tied to F.B.I.

By JOHN M. BRODER and NICK MADIGAN

739 words

7 January 2005

The New York Times

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 6 -- A federal judge on Thursday dismissed all charges against a Chinese-American woman accused of using a long-running sexual relationship with a senior F.B.I. agent here to obtain national security documents.

The woman, Katrina Leung, a wealthy socialite from San Marino, a suburb of Los Angeles, had faced five criminal counts of unauthorized possession and copying of classified materials. The prosecutors said she removed the files from the briefcase of James J. Smith, a senior F.B.I. agent with whom Ms. Leung had an affair for 20 years.

New York Times Digital (Full Text)

Spy Case Dismissed For Misconduct

Amy Argetsinger

741 words

7 January 2005

The Washington Post

A04

A federal judge dismissed all charges Thursday against a California woman accused of spying for China, saying prosecutors illegally blocked the primary witness in her case -- a federal agent with whom she carried on a decades-long affair -- from talking with her attorneys.

The ruling brought an abrupt end to the case against Katrina M. Leung, a San Marino socialite and Republican fundraiser who was arrested in 2003 along with her lover, former FBI agent James J. Smith. The case was a high-profile embarrassment for the FBI, which had paid Leung for years to provide intelligence on the Chinese government.

Washington Post