Nouvelles de Chine

The 2008 Guangzhou International Tourism and Culture Festival and Pan-Pearl River Delta Tourism Promotion Convention ended yesterday after dozens of events including the 22nd Guangzhou International Gourmet Festival. Held at Grandview Mall, the biggest shopping center in the city, the gourmet gala had the theme "Taste Healthy Foods, Experience Leisure Life" that attracted a large number of diners. It concludes today. Twenty-four restaurateurs served delicacies for visitors at the front squ ...

Tianjin Binhai New Area, a pilot zone of China's economic reform and a promising growth locomotive for North China, is not backing down amid the economic slowdown. Gou Lijun, director of the Tianjin Binhai New Area administrative committee, said some foreign investors are slowing their pace in funding new projects in Binhai, and the harbor has witnessed decreasing trade transactions. However, the official, at a press conference organized by the State Council Information Office marking the ...

Siemens yesterday said its sales and new orders in China both saw 19 percent growth in fiscal year 2008 despite the economic slowdown. Last year sales and new orders of Siemens China surged to 57 billion yuan and 65.5 billion yuan, respectively. "In face of a global economic downturn the results of our China operations again contribute significantly to our global performance," said Richard Hausmann, CEO of Siemens Northeast Asia and president & CEO of Siemens Ltd China. The company is mapp ...

Suning Appliance, a major electric and white goods retailer in China, said yesterday it will open 200-odd stores and set up five more logistics bases nationwide next year. The aggressive expansion move amid an economic downturn and dwindling domestic demand, is seen as part of Suning's efforts to erode the dominance of its troubled arch-rival Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd, whose Founder and Chairman Huang Guangyu is now under a probe into alleged trading irregularities in the stock m ...

China is likely to impose a retail fuel tax from January as part of its oil pricing reforms, according to a senior official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The official said the State Council has already approved the reform scheme proposed by the Commission. "I personally think January 1 is a good time to introduce the fuel tax," said Zhang Xiaoqiang, deputy director of NDRC, at a China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue meeting in Beijing yesterday. This is the ...

China's first private airline Okay Airways will halt passenger services from Dec 15 due to an internal dispute between its controlling shareholder and the management team. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the industry regulator, has allowed the airline to stop flying due to "flight safety concerns" in light of the internal dispute. Its cargo business will, however, remain unchanged. The Tianjin-based airline's largest shareholder, Juneyao Group, filed an application with ...

Chinese stocks rose to a 3-week high after the government unveiled a new round of financial stimulus moves to boost the economy. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 1.84 percent, or 36.09 points, to close at 2001.5 yesterday. And the turnover on the bourse ballooned to 125.7 billion yuan from Wednesday's 90.7 billion yuan, reaching the highest point since May 9. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index also jumped 1.28 percent, or 89.86 points, to finish at 7130.9. "I will still ...

Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second largest bank, said Thursday it would cut 5,300 jobs, about 11 percent of its global workforce, in order to reduce costs and deal with the challenging market conditions. Most of the job cuts will be in the investment banking sector, and all cuts should be completed by the end of June next year, the bank said. "These actions will better position us to weather the continuing challenging market conditions, capture opportunities that arise amid the ...

Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev stated Thursday that for the first time in its development Bulgaria was entering a real capitalist crisis since 1989, unlike the one in 1997, which was a crisis of the transition period, local press reported. During the forum "Together against the Crisis," the prime minister announced he had ordered all ministries to prepare anti-crisis plans, which would be made public, and were expected to take effect in the first half of 2009. "The fin ...

Over 4,000 jobs have been cut in London's financial sector in the last week while 3,000 more are at risk in the Customs services across Britain, it was revealed on Thursday. As credit crunch bites, the City, which is the financial center of London, is suffering its worst single week for job losses since the financial crisis began 15 months ago, according to the free afternoon London Paper. More than 4,000 jobs have been axed by major finance houses in just a few days, which could ...

Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn said on Thursday the company could further reduce its production in 2009 if the decline of the auto market continues. The leader of the second carmaker of France made the remarks after the announcement of a 26 billion euros (32.81 billion U.S. dollars) stimulus plan by French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier in the day, which includes supports for French auto industry such as a 1 billion euros (1.27 billion U.S. dollars) credit line for car financing. "T ...

A Norwegian company commissioned by Cyprus government will continues its oil exploration in Mediteranean Sea despite an escalating spat between the island state and neighboring Turkey, a Cypriot minister said on Thursday. Cyprus President Demetris Christofias has accused Turkey of harassing oil research vessels operating within its exclusive economic zone, warning this will harm the ongoing reunification talks with Turkish Cypriots. Antonis Paschalides, Commerce, Industry and Tou ...

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia cut further its global handset market forecast for this year's final-quarter and expected the market would decline in the next year due to the world economic slowdown, according to reports reaching here from Helsinki Thursday. Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, estimated that mobile phone market volumes in the fourth quarter would be lower than the previous estimate of approximately 330 million units, which would result in full year 2008 mobil ...

Denmark's central bank Nationalbank announced Thursday that it had decided to decrease its lending rate and the rate of interest on certificates by 0.75 percentage point to 4.25 percent, according to reports reaching here from Copenhagen. The discount rate and the interest rate on the banks' current accounts with the Nationalbank are lowered by 0.5 percent to 3.5 percent. The reduction will have effect as from Dec. 5, 2008, the Nationalbank said in a statement. The interest rate ...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday unveiled a 26-billion-euro (33 billion U.S. dollar) stimulus plan to revive the French economy, focusing on investment in infrastructure rather than directly aiding consumers. Sarkozy announced the plan amid a trip to Douai in northern France, home of French famous car brand Renault's factory. "The crisis we are facing is not a transient crisis but a structural one," said Sarkozy, "It prompts us to act quickly, act strong." "Ou ...

First estimates from the European Union's statistics office Eurostat on Thursday confirmed that the eurozone's economy had entered recession as it contracted again in the third quarter. Eurostat said that economy in the 15-nation euro area contracted 0.2 percent in the third quarter, after another 0.2 percent shrink in the previous quarter. Two quarters of contraction means technical recession. Compared with the third quarter of 2007, seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 0.6 percent i ...

A survey released Thursday showed that almost 80 percent of Austrian people are pessimistic about the economic prospect in 2009. Some 23 percent of the respondents predicted the country's economic situation would continue to worsen in 2009, said the latest survey by Austrian economic research institute Ernst & Young. About 56 percent hoped that the economy will remain moribund in the coming year. The survey also found that about 18 percent have started to worry about thei ...

Turkish Airspace Industries (TUSAS) and European aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, signed a deal worth 500 million U.S. dollars on Thursday for TUSAS to produce airplane parts. Under the agreement, State-owned TUSAS will design and manufacture ailerons for the Airbus A350 model, TUSAS chief executive Atalay Efeer was quoted by the semi-official Anatolia news agency as saying at the signing ceremony here on Thursday. The deal represents the first large-scale production program for TU ...

The Dutch government could pledge more money to help companies and financial institutions to tackle the ongoing economic crisis, Dutch media reported Thursday. Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos told the parliament Wednesday he will provide additional capital for the financial sector if the situation calls for it. Bos said he is keeping an eye on what is going on in the United States where a new round of government help is being extended. "I don't know if that will be nece ...

The European Central Bank (ECB) lowered its benchmark rate Thursday by 0.75 percent in order to revitalize the slumping European economy. The decision was made by the ECB's 21-head council at its regular meeting in Brussels. The cut brought the bank's benchmark refinancing rate to 2.5 percent. It is the third time for the ECB to cut its rate since October and it is also the largest cut since the bank took charge of the eurozone monetary policy in 2002. The ECB has ...

General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC executives are considering accepting a pre-arranged bankruptcy as the last-resort price of getting a multibillion-dollar government bailout, said a person familiar with their internal discussions. Auto executives have warned bankruptcy would lead to liquidation as customers abandoned the companies. Staff for three members of Congress have asked restructuring experts if a pre-arranged bankruptcy - negotiated with workers, creditors and lenders - could ...

Wall Street retreated Thursday on disappointing economic data and downbeat earnings. The U.S. Labor Department said the number of unemployed workers drawing benefits after claiming an initial week of aid jumped to 4.087 million in the week ended Nov. 22, the highest since December 1982, from 3.998 million the prior week. The Commerce Department said factory orders plunged by 5.1 percent in October, the steepest decline in eight years. The first November sales reports show ...

The dollar fell against most major currencies on Thursday amid expectations that the U.S. non-farm payroll data to be released on Friday would be very weak, adding to the case for further rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. The U.S. Labor Department would release its non-farm employment report for November. Analysts said the report would show payrolls drop sharply and unemployment rate rises to highest level in 15 years. U.S. private employers cut 250,000 jobs in November, accord ...

Crude oil slid more than 6 percent to close below 44 U.S. dollars a barrel Thursday as the deepening recession exacerbated demand concerns. Light, sweet crude for January delivery tumbled 3.12 dollars to settle at 43.67 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, which is the lowest level since January 2005. The oil market remains bearish as negative economic reports keep rolling out, adding to the worries over slumping demand. The U.S. Labor Department reported that th ...

Tokyo stocks opened higher Friday due to bargain hunting. In the first 15 minutes of trading, the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 70.88 points, or 0.89 percent, from Thursday to 7,995.12. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 3.62 points, or 0.46 percent, to 792.50. The Second Section also advanced. Garners were led by rubber product, pulp and paper, and chemical issues. Major decliners included banking, min ...

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi urged East Asian countries here on Thursday to act quickly to strengthen its capacity in response to the current global crisis. East Asia must set new goals and take massive collective actions, he said in his keynote address at the 6th East Asian Congress which opened here on Thursday. The ramifications of the global economic crisis were much larger than many economists anticipated and governments in the regions should not be complac ...

The recent depreciation of China's currency against the U.S. dollar was normal and China won't rely on a weaker yuan to boost exports, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said on Thursday. "The recent small fluctuation of the yuan against the dollar was completely normal. I'd call it the dollar strengthening, rather than the yuan depreciating," Chen told reporters at the fifth China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED). China has taken a self-initiated, gradual and controllable appro ...

China has reimposed a ban on chicken and other poultry imports from Thailand, because of fears they may be contaminated with bird flu virus. It comes only shortly after China removed the ban on Oct. 16. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) and the Ministry of Agriculture issued a joint announcement Thursday. It said that China will return or destroy all poultry and related products imported from Thailand after Oct. 27 of this year ...

The Ministry of Land and Resources said in an online report on Thursday that an examination of satellite images shows land misuse in China has been declining. The ministry released its annual survey on subject, which covered 86 cities nationwide from October 2006 to October 2007. It said cases involving illegal land grabs dropped by 37.6 percent to8,718 from the previous survey, with 7,311 cases put under judicial investigation. The area of illegally occupied land fell 47.7 perce ...