EU Solar-Panel Pact With China Backed by European Commission

The European Commission approved trade chief Karel De Gucht’s plan for curbs on Chinese solar panels, allowing import tariffs to be removed next week in Europe’s largest dumping dispute.

The commission, the European Union’s executive arm in Brussels, today endorsed a negotiated settlement with China that sets a minimum price and a volume limit on EU imports of Chinese solar panels until the end of 2015. Chinese manufacturers that take part will be spared EU duties meant to counter below-cost sales, a practice known as dumping.

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Jonathan Stearns, Bloomberg via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/BlpXvj-UWxY/

GIC Says China Slowdown to Affect Outlook for Global Investments

GIC Pte, manager of more than $100 billion of Singapore’s reserves, said China’s slowdown and credit crunch will affect global investments even as the fund plans to maintain its holdings in the nation.

“It’s systemically important,” GIC Chief Economist Leslie Teo said in an interview yesterday, calling the nation a “key driver for global markets. ‘‘It will affect global equities, including private equity. It will also affect emerging-market equities.’’

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Klaus Wille, Bloomberg via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/The8uzkXuSQ/

China Pollution Report: Only Four Cities Make Cut

People who want to live in a Chinese city with acceptable air quality can try the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, the island city of Haikou, the coastal town of Zhoushan or the Pearl River Delta city of Huizhou.

No other major population center in the country makes the cut, according to a report by China’s environment ministry on air pollution in the first half of 2013.

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Brian Spegele, The Wall Street Journal via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/4TAiBjteOII/

Chinese ships patrol Diaoyu Islands

A four-ship fleet of the China Coast Guard (CCG) on Friday patrolled territorial waters surrounding the Diaoyu Islands, according to a statement from the State Oceanic Administration (SOA).

The vessels on duty consisted of the CCG 2350, 2101, 2166 and 2506, the SOA said.

CCG, which merges the maritime law enforcement functions of four agencies responsible for fishery administration, maritime surveillance, customs enforcement and border control, formally unveiled its board in July.

Xinhua News via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/F0wSdcS7kSc/

Imbalance seen in Sino-US talent exchanges

China and the United States are reporting a huge imbalance in attracting talented people from the other side, with an expert calling for more Chinese and American government support to encourage talent mobility between the two countries.

A new round of talent flow will be aroused with the development of globalization, said Wang Huiyao, president of the China Global Talents Society, at a symposium on global talent movement on Thursday.

Wang said that the number of Chinese students in the United States has surged in the past few years, increasing from 67,723 in 2007 to 194,029 in 2012.

In the meantime, an increasing number of Chinese juniors, particularly those middle school students, are studying in the United States, up from 65 in 2005 to 6,725 in 2010, according to the Chinese talents society.

“Although China is seeing soaring numbers of students studying in the United States, the number of US students to China has remained relatively stable in recent years,” Wang added.

The number of US students studying in China rose to 14,596 in 2011 from 11,064 in 2007, an unparallel pace compared with the upsurge of Chinese students in the US.

He suggested the Chinese government strengthen its projects and policy on overseas talents, lower Chinese green card requirements and focus on global entrepreneurs and innovators, so as to attract more foreign talented people.

Xinhua News via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/KHK5u3iKKfw/

Beijing launches platform to debunk online rumors

Six Chinese websites jointly launched a platform on Thursday to refute online rumors, a move that an official has termed Beijing’s latest endeavor to clean up the “Internet environment”.

The platform is a website that collects statements from Twitter-like services, news portals and China’s biggest search engine, Baidu, to refute online rumors and expose the scams of phishing websites.

The platform operates under the instruction of the Beijing Internet Information Office (BIIO) and the Beijing Internet Association, a non-profit social organization.

The popular use of the Internet has expanded Chinese people’s channels of expression, but also facilitated the circulation of rumors and false information, said Chen Hua, director of the Internet information service and management department under the BIIO.

“The platform will be a new try by Beijing’s websites to eradicate online rumors and raise Internet users’ awareness of telling rumors from the truth,” he said.

The platform was jointly launched by websites Qianlong, Sogou, Sohu, Netease, Baidu and Sina Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like microblogging service.

So far, the first phase of the platform has been completed, said Chen.

It has collected about 100,000 brief statements on online rumors and phishing websites and offered Internet users about 30 websites through which they can report online rumors or scams.

Operators of the platform will spend another year finishing the second phase. Once that is complete, more entertaining and interactive programs will be introduced to encourage the public to report online rumors.

Why rumors travel fast

Some Internet users create rumors to attract attention, while others do it to blow off some steam. But rumors fabricated on purpose can be dangerous and incite panic, said Min Dahong, a researcher on Internet usage.

Based on Wu Chenguang’s observations, rumors travel especially fast in times of emergency such as natural disasters and other mass incidents.

Wu is the news center director of Sohu. In June last year, the web portal’s news center launched a program called “Rumor Terminator” and has handled 300 rumors to date.

Soon after downpours hit Beijing on July 21, 2012, Internet users began disseminating photos of severe flooding that had been taken years earlier.

Another example involves rumors about earthquake forecasts. Internet users claim that people had successfully predicted that an earthquake would shake Lushan county, Sichuan province, as early as five years before, but these claims weren’t made until after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Lushan county on April 20, leaving at least 196 dead.

Such rumors had an extremely harmful influence, Wu Chenguang said, adding that the government’s slow pace in releasing information has allowed Internet users to spread their rumors easily.

When explaining why rumors travel fast in China, Min Dahong proposed that it is because rumors touch on issues of common concern.

The Chinese people now care about their surroundings. Rumors travel fast because they cater to public curiosity and concern about environmental protection, food safety and corruption, he said.

Xinhua News via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/53mZkcQw-Ws/

Chinese worry about image abroad

It may be frowned upon by some, but enjoying and playing with a water fountain on a hot summer day is common and acceptable in France.

But a recent photo of Chinese tourists soaking their feet in the fountain outside the Louvre Museum in Paris has sparked heated debate in China on whether the image of Chinese tourists has been deteriorating.

The picture was widely circulated online and was picked up by a number of Chinese news outlets across the country with sensational titles such as “Foreigners astonished as Chinese have foot spa in Louvre fountain”.

To me, it is not so much the Louvre story as the outrage and criticism it has generated that is worth noticing.

As tourism grows increasingly popular, Chinese are becoming particularly sensitive to improper behavior and incidents involving their compatriots abroad that could possibly damage our collective image.

The central government recently held a conference calling on citizens to respect public order, local social customs and religious beliefs, and not litter or spit on the ground.

After a Chinese teenager’s carving graffiti on an ancient Egyptian temple in May generated widespread criticism at home, the Louvre story once again raised the question: Why is it that Chinese people are rich enough to travel around the world but still haven’t received the respect they expect?

China has become the top spending nation in the world’s outbound tourism market. According to the World Tourism Organization of the United Nations, Chinese tourists spent $102 billion overseas last year, compared with the $84 billion that German and American tourists spent.

The media may have made a big fuss over the Louvre story, but we have to admit that China is facing an image crisis abroad. The emotional responses reflected the sensitivity of many Chinese toward the issue and the urge to improve our tarnished image, and to make it match the economic success that the country has managed to achieve.

What is also worth discussing is the role cultural differences play when we consider a certain behavior to be “uncivilized” or not.

Bikini-clad or half-naked sunbathing in public beaches or parks is perfectly OK in many Western countries, while it may raise some eyebrows in China. Similarly, speaking loudly in restaurants or in public is considered rude in the West, while we Chinese often find it normal.

But as the proverb goes: When in Rome do as the Romans do.

No matter what cultural and social norms we follow at home, abiding by local laws, respecting local customs and religious practice should always be considered good manners and a necessity.

By Li Xiang ( China Daily)

China Daily via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/9Ka7Vat4_Xc/