The study concluded that long-term exposure to air containing 100 micrograms of total suspended particles (T.S.P.) per cubic meter “is associated with a reduction in life expectancy at birth of about 3.0 years.”
“For the sake of national unity and the development of stability in Tibetan regions, we must take a clear-cut stand and deepen the struggle against the Dalai clique,” the official Xinhua news agency cited Yu Zhengsheng as saying.
What is the reason behind the self-immolations of more than 100 Tibetans since 2011–monks and nuns, farmers and nomads, adults and teenagers? Some hope the they gain the world’s attention, and bring pressure on China to rethink its Tibet policies.
The rapid growth rate in per capita disposable income in China, coupled with a continued migration of hundreds of millions of new consumers to urban areas, has created challenges for the Chinese crop and livestock sectors. Faced with an increase in demand for animal protein, a scarcity of land, and a reduction in the agricultural labor force, China has responded by importing almost all of the soybeans needed to feed its domestic livestock industries. More recently, China has also become a reliable importer of corn and distillers dry grains. The situation is unsustainable for the Chinese government, the country’s agricultural sector, and especially Chinese consumers who are demanding more and competitively priced animal protein in their diet. Indeed, as China’s animal protein requirements continue to rise, the country will have to rely more heavily on global markets to assure supplies, not just import feed. A logical solution to the livestock issue is to import more meat products. Yet the Chinese government has, to date, opposed this move because it does not wish to become reliant on other countries. The government equates “food security” with “self-sufficiency” and fears that the enormous imports that might ensue would be responsible for increasing world prices for key animal products. Savvy investors are in a position to capitalize on the Chinese government’s inevitable recognition of the need for policy change. This report identifies and describes three business opportunities that could emerge as this situation unfolds: long-term production contracts, animal parts arbitrage, and labor intensive exports from China.
A recent report by the central bank about peer-to-peer (P2P) lending websites in China has shed light on some severe problems in the business for which there is, as yet, little regulation.
The original idea for P2P lending websites was that they were only a platform to match people with spare cash and those who need to borrow money. A typical transaction could see someone with cash to spare lend 5,000 yuan to a young couple wanting to decorate their new home.
Officials in southern China shut 112 illegal mines after polluted runoff entered the local water supply, killing fish and making the water unusable for about 30,000 people, China Daily newspaper said.
Ping An Insurance Group Co., China’s second-largest insurer, agreed to buy the Lloyd’s of London building from a Commerz Real AG-managed fund, two people with knowledge of the transaction said.
It is an inescapable truth that China needs coal—and that coal needs water. The coal industry, from mining to power generation and coal-to-chemicals, accounts for one-sixth of China’s water withdrawals. This is not sustainable and in some areas coal mining is already constrained. We believe China can achieve water sustainability in coal by adopting energy efficient growth policies and better technologies. If not, increasing coal-related water withdrawals will further constrain growth.
On their way to Bible camp in America, two Chinese teenagers from Zhejiang Province flew through South Korea and into San Francisco International Airport, where their plane skidded and burst into flames. Both died, the only fatalities in the crash.
A Beijing Beijing sentenced former Chinese minister of railways Li Zhijun to a suspended death sentence after finding him guilty of taking bribes and abusing his powers, state-run media reported.
