"Chengdu chosen as Volvo manufacturing base" from South China Morning Post

"Chengdu is among many mainland cities aspiring to become carmaking hubs and is one of the country's biggest inland markets. While sales of cars are forecast to slow slightly from their torrid growth in recent years, sales in the provinces are surging as increasingly affluent families buy their first cars or trade up."

"Xinhua and China Mobile join search engine fight" from South China Morning Post

"News agency Xinhua and mobile phone company China Mobile yesterday launched a second state-owned internet engine to compete in the mainland market."

"Second day of internet disruptions" from South China Morning Post

"Some internet users were still experiencing difficulties browsing websites yesterday after service disruptions were reported across the mainland on Monday.

Users in Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing, as well as the provinces of Henan, Hunan, Shanxi, Sichuan and Zhejiang, had been unable to surf the Web since Monday afternoon, according to the Shanghai Evening Post. 

"Hot dog" from Financial Times

"I have often described the Hong Kong art fair, which goes into its fourth edition in May, as the potential "Art Basel of Asia". I might have been prescient: Art Basel is in talks with the Hong Kong fair. One of its owners, Tim Etchells, managing director of Single Market Events, confirmed that discussion "have been going on for some time." Buying the Hong Kong fair would certainly be in the interests of Art Basel, as it would give the Swiss organisation access to the Asian market. But Etchells says, "We have had approaches from other people as well and it's definitely not a done deal." Art Basel declined to comment."

"New stars and new bidders" from Wall Street Journal

"In recent years, Asian collectors have gravitated to major Impressionist stars like Edgar Degas, Paul Cezanne and Paul Signac. This week's sales signaled their discovery of Italy's Giorgio Morandi, known for his neat rows of creamy vases. Christie's says a Chinese collector paid $2.2 million for Morandi's 1953 "Still Life," exceeding its $1.5 million high estimate."

"Art market's comeback kids" Wall Street Journal

"This week's major auctions in London are stocked with young or trendy artists who largely disappeared from auctions during the art-market's recession doldrums - when buyers bet safely on Pablo Picasso and Andy Warrhol."

"HSBC mortgage deal helps sale in HK of Tokyo flats" from South China Morning Post

"Japanese developer Mitsui Fudosan Residential has put three Tokyo developments on sale in Hong Kong.
The marketing venture will be a first in Hong Kong for Mitsui Fudosan, which is one of Japan's leading developers. The company's executive manager, Yutaka Saito, said the projects would be pitched at wealthy local and mainland investors."

"Crack found in new dam" from South China Morning Post

"YUNNAN - A government-funded dam built in Luquan county had already started to crack just two months after completion, the City Times reports. Construction of the dam - which created a 600-square-metre reservoir in Tuojing village, which has long been short of water for irrigating crops - was completed in December, but villagers found a crack wide enough to fit a finger. Local authorities said they would send workers to fill the crack with concrete."

"Rail ministry rallies to Hu after chief sacked" from South China Morning Post

"A British railway executive who asked not to be named said one positive aspect of Liu's dismissal was that Beijing may now make the rail sector more market-driven, by further privatising state-owned railway companies and making them more independent of the ministry's control."

"Three die in internet suicide pact" from South China Morning Post

"ANHUI - Three internet users, two men and a woman, killed themselves on Thursday in a suicide pact in a hotel room in Hefei, Zhongan Online reports. Police said the people from three different cities had made the suicide pact online, but gave no further details."

"ZTE to make North American push" from Wall Street Journal

"Chinese mobile-handset maker ZTE Corp. will more than double its device portfolio in the North American market this year, said Lixin Cheng, chief executive of the company's U.S. business, as it tries to gobble up more market share by offering sophisticated devices with the ZTE brand at a low-cost."

"Xinjiang foreign trade soars" from South China Morning Post

"XINJIANG - Foreign trade with the Xingiang Uygur Autonomous Region has increased rapidly in the past five years, Xinhua reports. From 2006 to 2010, foreign trade amounted to US$76 billion, up more than 230 per cent from 2001-2005."

"Province rejects car quota system" from South China Morning Post

"QUANGDONG - Guangdong will not copy Beijing and impose a quota system for car buyers, the Nanfang Daily quoted Guangdong governor Huang Huahua as saying. Huang said many residents associated owning a car with a sense of happiness and the government would not intervene."

"U.N says a drought imperils China wheat" from Wall Stree Journal

"SHAGHAI - A United Nations agency said this year's wheat crop is at risk in at least five Chinese provinces, echoing continuous warnings from China that its major northern wheat growing areas are facing an epic drought."

"Huawei forecast global sales growth for its mobile devices" from South China Morning Post

"Western Europe is our largest market for devices, but we expect very significant growth in China and India, nothing that only 25 per cent of Huawei Device's revenue is generated from the mainland."

"The Sensex index has lost 14 per cent this year and has dropped into an intriguing 200-point support/resistance band. Concerns about slowing growth have been joined by worries over corporate scandals." from Wall Street Journal

"India risks investment backlash in $9bn Cairn crisis" from Financial Times

"Few would question India's commitment to democracy, rough edged and messy as it is. But a clumsy intervention by the oil ministry in a $9.6bn energy deal is raising awkward questions about whether the same remains true of the rule of law."

"Outsourcer reaps benefits of rual India's talent" from Financial Times

" "We were trying to solve two challenges that India has - salary inflation and attrition. The goal was to go where labour is available in plenty at an affordable price," Mr Soni says.

Small cities and towns are already plugged into India's outsourcing boom, providing a steady flow of ambitious youth who come to big cities to write software code, staff call-centres, and handle data entry and processing for global clients."

"China Resources Power to spend on coal mines, transport" from South China Morning Post

"China Resources Power Holdings plans to spend billions of yuan over the next five years to buy coal mines and minority stakes in railway lines, as well as build logistics facilities to lower costs and improve its transport capacity."

"Humbling India's stock investors" from Wall Street Journal

"Egypt was home to the world's worst-performing stock market in January. Any guesses about the second-worst? It was India."

"India gives Posco environmental OK" from Wall Street Journal

"India's environment minister approved plans by South Korea's Posco to build a $12 billion steel factory, in a sign that the government is willing to compromise on large projects to keep economic growth on track."

"Mr.Ramesh's approval came five years after Posco said it planned to set up a plant capable of producing 12 million metric tons a year in the mineral-rich eastern province of Orissa."

"US doubts over India jet fighter partner" from Financial Times

"The US government has expressed doubt about the suitability of corporate partnership with an Indian state aerospace company as Boeing and Lockheed Martin bid to supply New Delhi with 126 strike fighters."

"Cairn India in New Delhi talks" from Financial Times

"India's oil secretary said on Sunday that the government was hopeful of finding a "positive solution" to Cairn Energy's plans to sell a controlling stake in its Indian unit to Vedanta Resources. Cairn India said the meeting between the petroleum ministry and executives involved in the proposed sale of a Rajasthan oilfield by Cairn Energy, the UK oil and gas group, was "constructive," adding that it hoped to complete the deal by April 15. There were doubts about whether the $9.6bn deal would go ahead after New Delhi said it wanted to impose new conditions before allowing Vedanta, the London-listed resources group, to take control of Cairn India."

"India's ruling party ponders leader" from Wall Street Journal

"NEW DELHI - In a nation where government decisions can take years to slink through the bureaucracy, and policy pronouncements often are riddled with jargon and grammatical errors, Palaniappan Chidambaram is an anomaly: He hates delays and he doesn't tolerate typos.

Mr.Chidambaram also is one of the most powerful politicians in India, tapped as home minister- the nation's top domestic- security position- after the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, following a two-decade career in top economic posts, including minister of finance.

In just over two years, he has formed a broad power base while managing a huge portfolio that includes combating Pakistan-based terrorists and home-grown Maoist rebels, tending to unrest in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, and demanding that Research In Motion Ltd. open its BlackBerry corporate email service to wiretapping."

"Warning to ambitious cities" from South China Morning Post

"Economic and urban planning experts have warned that many cities are not thinking their urbanisation plans through properly, mainly focusing on development and increasing a city's size without worrying about services for residents, the People's Daily reports."

"Cathay Pacific world No 1 air cargo carrier" from South China Morning Post

"Cathay Pacific Airway became the world's biggest international air-cargo carrier last year and its Hong Kong home was the busiest freight airport because of surging exports from China's Pearl Delta."

"Guangdong orders another base wage rise" from South China Morning Post

"Guangdong will raise minimum wages by an average 18.6 per cent on March 1, and more increase are set to follow over the next five years."

"ANA gets lift from new Tokyo routes" from Wall Street Journal

"Tokyo - All Nippon Airways Co. swung to a profit in the October-December quarter from a loss a year earlier, as new routes from Tokyo's Haneda Airport contributed to a surge in international-passenger traffic."

"Airport concourse to meet soaring demand" from South China Morning Post

"Hong Kong International has unveiled a HK$7 billion expansion plan that includes the first phase of a midfield concourse that will boost handling capacity by 10 million passengers a year when completed in 2015."

"Shandong reservoirs run dry" from South China Morning Post

"SHANDONG - Almost 400 reservoirs have dried up amid the province's most severe drought in two centuries, Sdnews.com.cn reports. Shandong has recorded an average of 12mm of rainfall since September, leaving 366 rivers and tributaries dry."

"Telecoms firms seek share of mobile payments" from South China Morning Post

"Mobile payments are arguably the next major change in the mobile industry."

"Such mobile payments exist in Japan and South Korea, but have been held back from mass-market adoption by a lack of handsets and confusion around the business model.

In Hong Kong, the Octopus, launched as the world's first contactless smart card in 1997, dominates."

"Jungle banking" from New Scientist

"Until the 1970s ecologists believed that the more complex the ecosystem, the more stable: lose one species and the rest will fill in. Then Robert May, now at the University of Oxford, and others showed that such complex systems have critical points at which a change in one species can have dramatic and non-linear effects on others. Losses can propagate, and even cause collapse. The stronger the connections and fewer differences there are among species, the greater the risk."

"980m text messages in one day" from South China Morning Post

"Text message have become one of the most popular ways for people to express their Lunar New Year greetings, and telecoms operators say more than 980 million text message were sent out by Beijing residents on Wednesday, Lunar New Year's Eve, The Beijing News reports."

"Azerbaijan to increase rates on Georgea's credit for Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway construction." from ABC.AZ

"Car parked at centre of road" from South China Morning Post

"ZHEJIANG - With nowhere to park, some Hangzhou residents have been parking their cars over the double yellow lines painted in the middle of roads to prohibit overtaking, the Today Morning Express reports. It said the problem had been going on for months, with police towing away some of the cars during the day, only for others to return at night and again occupy the middle of the road.

"Maximum maternity leave in Shanghai has been increased to nine months - compared with an average of four months acroos the mainland - according to a circular from municipal heath bureau."

"Man found dead in Net cafe" from South China Morning Post

"ZHEJIANG - A 21-year-old man died at an internet cafe in Hangzhou on Wednesday, Hf365.com reports. The internet cafe owner said the man died of starvation. Police said the man only had his ID card and half a pack of cigarettes. The cause of death is being investigated."

"China Hongqiao cancels offering in Hong Kong" from Wall Street Journal

" "The IPO market is driven by market sentiment," said Ben Kwong, associate director at KGI Asia. "Investors like to adopt a wait-and-see approach when there are uncertainties in the stock market, such as the recent political unrest in Egypt." "

"CIC to open Tronto office" from South China Morning Post

"China Investment Corp, the country's sovereign wealth fund, plans to open an office in Tronto, its second office the mainland, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said."

"Shanghai-listed Sany Heavy eyes US$1b HK float" from South China Morning Post

"Shanghai-listed construction machinery maker Sany Heavy Industry is seeking a Hong Kong flotation of up to US$1 billion, aiming to go public in the second or third quarter of this year, according to two people familiar with the transaction."

"18 held for drug-trafficking" from South China Morning Post

"HAINAN - Provincial police announced on Monday the capture of 18 members of a suspected inter-provincial drug-trafficking ring in Hainan. Police seized 28.2kg of ketamine and 752 Ecstasy pills in raids in five cities across Hainan on January 5, Xinhua reported. The ring members had been transporting drugs from Huizhou, Guangdong, police said."

Old street of China: make some noise

Chinese artists with experience learned the kind of results which best pleased their customers. This oil painting on canvass by Lamqua, of a group of villagers with musical instruments in an ancestral village courtyard, was a typical scene of rural Chinese life often commissioned by Westerners.                                  

お洒落な着こなしのオッサン「あいつ新人か？」お爺ちゃんも気になる様子

譲れない子供

"Intercity rail link start of world-beating network" from South China Morning Post

"Guangdong has completed the first step in its aggressive plan to have one of world's most comprehensive regional rail networks, with the launch last week - after a year's delay - of a railway linking cities along the west bank of the Pearl River Delta to Guangzhou."

"Biggest forests spared the chop" from South China Morning Post

"HEILONGJIANG - China will stop chopping down trees in the Daxinganling and Xiaoxinganling forests, the country's biggest forests, on the borders with Russia and North Korea, for the next 10 years, Xinhua reports. The two forests cover half million square kilometres with nearly 10 million people, many of whom work in the forest industry."

"Water projects the priority after bad year for droughts, floods" from South China Morning Post

"Boosting water infrastructure will be the focal point of this year's first policy document issued jointly by the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the State Council, state media says."

"China to build huge centre near Bangkok" from South China Morning Post

"China plans to build a massive US$1.5 billion commercial complex in Thailand that will enable traders to send "Made In China" goods around the world without paying pricey tariffs often imposed in the West. The China City Complex is expected to house more than 70,000 Chinese traders in a sprawling 500,000 square metre facility to be built outside Bangkok, Vijit Yang, chairman of the Asean-China Economic and Trade Promotion Association, said yesterday."

"Bejing-Wuhan rail line construction on track" from South China Morning Post

"Construction on the high-speed rail line between Beijing and Wuhan, Hubei, will finish and trains will begin running by the end of this year, the Ministry of Railways said in Beijing, the Wuhan Evening News reports. The 1,113-kilometre line will shorten the travel time between the two cities to just four hours, and will connect with the existing Wuhan-Guangzhou line to reduce the total Beijing-to-Guangzhou travel time to eight hours."

"Hopes high that Prada's IPO will set the style for Hong Kong" from Financial Times

"Prada's decision last week to fire the starting gun on an initial public offering in Hong Kong - rather than Milan, London, or New York - has created a buzz among dealmakers in the Chinese city."

"Investors say the minimum requirement for a successful IPO in Hong Kong is that a company must derive a significant and fast-rising proportion of sales - or, better, profits - from the region. "You've got to have a regionally relevant story," says one investor.

"Hong Kong regulator warns investment banks on listings" from Financial Times

"Hong Kong's market regulator has delivered an unusually stern warning to investment banks that help companies sell shares in the city, after discovering "material errors or omissions" in a number of listing applications."

"Chongqing will impose a tax on high-end properties to curb speculation in the real estate market and contain surging prices, according to state media." from South China Morning Post

"Wealthy Chinese feast on HK's luxury goods" from Financial Times

"But Hong Kong's underground financial market is bigger today than that of Dubai's, adds Thomas Chan, head of the China Business Centre at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. "It is capital flight, but it can go back in again," says Prof Chan. "Mainland Chinese are using (Hong Kong's capitalist system) for investment and diversification. Hong Kong is a Casablanca : all kinds of people from different countries are dealing with each other informally here.""

"Richard Gao of the market-beating Matthews China Fund is betting on the consumer." from FORTUNE

"In the early 1990s, just a year or two after former leader Deng Xiaoping implemented stimulus policies, economic growth overheated. Inflation rose to as high as 22% in that time. It took several years for China to implement an austerity program."

"Beijing hails pact with Tajikistan" from South China Morning Post

"China hailed a new border treaty with Tajikistan yesterday, praising the resolution of a dispute dating to the 19th century. Tajik parliament voted on Wednesday to turn over 1,000 sq km of territory in the sparsely populated Pamir Mountains region."

"Railway benefits economy" from South China Morning Post

"TIBET - The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has generated 1.87 billion yuan in economic benefits through reduced transport costs in the past four years, Tibet party secretary Zhang Qingli told China National Radio on Monday. At that rate, the railway will take more than 120 years to justify its construction cost on an economic basis."

"Year the weather blew hot, cold, wet and dry" from South China Morning Post

"China experienced its most volatile weather in more than a decade last year, with everything from severe drought to floods and snow storms."

"Shenyang government on move" from South China Morning Post

"LIAONING - Shenyang's government headquarters will be moved to a southern suburb of the provincial capital, the Liaoshen Evening News reports. Shenyang mayor Chen Haibo told representatives of Hong Kong and Macau investors on Monday that the city headquarters of the Communist Party, the government, People's Congres and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference would all move. He did not give a time frame for the shift.

"Starbucks signs pact with Tata" from South China Morning Post

"Mumbai : Starbucks Corp, the world's largest coffee chain, has signed a pact with India's Tata Coffee to explore the possibility of opening retail stores in India, the two companies said. The agreement also allows Starbucks to source beans from Tata's plant in southern India."

"Chinese equities will stand out, Mobius says" from South China Morning Post

"Apart from China, Mobius saw good investment opportunities in Thailand, India and Vietnam. "We are also in Pakistan. A lot of people think investing there is dangerous, but we don't think so." "

"Kenya and Sri Lanka sign air traffic deal" from Business Daily

"Kenya has opened the way for local airlines to launch direct flights to Colombo, Sri Lanka, after it signed a bilateral air services agreement that allows access to its skies."

"India Aims to Invest $100 Billion in Ports, Shipping" from Wall Street Journal

"India aims to invest 4.52 trillion rupees ($100 billion) by 2020 to build new ports and develop its shipping industry in a bid to boost trade, Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan said."

"Property sale turns chaotic" from South China Morning Post

"ZHEJIANG" - There was chaos on Saturday when thousands of people queued up to buy properties in Hangzhou's suburban Xiaoshan district, the Beijing Times reports. A representative of the developer said they prepared to sell only 468 flats, but more than 2,000 people showed up. People were dissatisfied with the limited supply of housing and accused the developer of hoarding properties or selling some flats to staff."

"Chevron pleased with off-take agreements for LNG projects" from The Australian

"Energy giant Chevron has assured investors that it has enough customers already signed up for its Wheatstone and Gorgon liquefied natural gas projects to be given final approval later this year.

In a conference call for the company's fourth-quarter earnings on Friday night, chairman and chief executive John Watson said the company was "really pleased" with the off-take agreements it had secured for both projects.

"We're at the 80 to 90 per cent level for both projects in terms of agreements that we have in place, and we certainly don't view sales agreements as an impediment to a final investment decision for for Wheatstone, " Mr Watson said. Chevron signed a multi-billion-dollar biding agreement last week to supply liquefied natural gas from Gorgon to Japan's Kyushu Electric, which has also signed a heads of agreement for LNG supply and equity sales from Wheatstone."