Category Archives: Chinese circle

Vice Minister Ren Qiliang visits Sweden

08/16/2015 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

Ren Qiliang, Vice Minister of Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council visits Sweden

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Aug. 16 (Greenpost)– Ren Qiliang, Vice Minister of Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council has led a delegation of five members to visit Sweden during Aug. 13-15.

During his visit in Stockholm, Ren had helped cut the ribbon for the new office building of Swedish Chinese Federation of Industry and Commerce.

Ren said he was happy to attend this opening, he believed that the building would create good conditions for overseas Chinese in Sweden and facilitate them to conduct various activities such as lectures, dancing and singing as well as tourism, Chinese cousin, Kongfu and green-tech.

President of Swedish Chinese Federation of Industry and Commerce, Gongshanglian, Wang Jianrong also briefed the delegation about their plans in the future.

After the grand ceremony, the delegation also visited Swedish Chinese National Federation or Huazong which held a brief lunch meeting with the company of Chinese Embassador Chen Yuming.

During the lunch meeting, Ye Peiqun, Execultive Chairman of Swedish Chinese National Federation said over the past five more years, Chinese in Sweden has made great efforts in protecting Chinese interest and serving as a bridge between Sweden and China.

Ren said he was glad to see the Chinese in Sweden are successful in their work and life.

In the afternoon, Ren and his delegation held a seminar with Chinese in Sweden organized by the Chinese Embassy.

Counselor Guo Yanhang presided over the seminar.

Ren said the main purpose for his visit to Sweden is to greet the Chinese and listen to Chinese voices about their difficulties and needs.

“In the past, over 60 million overseas Chinese have made great contribution to China’s development, now China has developed a lot and China likes to have more cooperation with the overseas Chinese,” Ren said.

Guo Yancai, Chairwoman of the Women’s Committee under the Swedish Chinese Federation or Hualian, said the summer camping in China this summer was very good. She hopes there will be more of this kind of activity.

The Chinese schools masters including Ruijing, Ruiqing, Xinxing and others also mentioned to unite to conduct activities under the leadership of the Overseas Chinese Affairs of the State Council.

They are grateful for the assistance from the State Council and the Chinese Embassy.

Other members of the delegation include, Zhou Hong, Lu Haitian, Liu Hongmei and Zou Chuanbiao.

Ye Kexiong, from Qingtian, Liu Fang from Lianghu, Shuang Yan from European China Cultural Education Center and Chen Xuefei from China-Europe Cultural Association and two scores of other representatives attended the seminar.

Business, China, Chinese circle, Energy, Environment, Exchange, Green-tech, News

Top story: China,Belt & Road partners more cooperation on new energy

08/12/2015 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Greenpost) — The Sixth China (Gansu) International New Energy Expo held in China’s wind power base Jiuquan city of Gansu on August 8-9 drew 36 counties around the world to seek opportunities to cooperate with China on new energy development.

With energy self-sufficiency rate being at only 55 percent, Belarus hopes to bring in Chinese technology and investment to develop wind power, solar power and biomass energy to raise ratio of renewable energy in the energy structure, according to Belarusian First Deputy Energy Minister Leonid Shenets, reported China Securities Journal.

Pakistan is actively developing solar energy and plans to launch 3 GW solar PV power projects in 2016 for which Pakistan hopes to utilize Chinese new energy technology, according to State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali.

Several other countries of Central Asia, West Asia, South Asia, Africa, Oceania, as well as European Union have also expressed intent on cooperation with China on new energy development.

China’s new energy had stepped on fast development since 2005 and has topped the world in terms of wind power installed capacity, according to Liang Zhipeng, deputy director with department of new energy and renewable energy under the National Energy Administration (NEA), noting that China has ranked the second globally in terms of solar PV installed capacity. Chinese-made solar PV panels took up about 67 percent of the world’s total as of the end of 2014, Liang said.

The Belt and Road initiative has brought new cooperation opportunities for China and other countries worldwide on renewable energy development, said Wang Sicheng a researcher with the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), noting that more and more domestic new energy companies such as wind power enterprises will “go out” and explore international opportunities.

China had five wind turbine manufacturers export 189 wind turbines totally 368.75MW overseas in 2014, bringing total export capacity to 1.76125GW by the end of 2014, according to statistics by the Chinese Wind Energy Association. Enditem

Business, China, Chinese circle, Energy, Environment, Green-tech, News

Top story: Consumers prefer plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to BEVs

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BEIJING, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) — Chinese consumers prefer plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) to blade electric vehicles (BEV), according to a report released by the country’s automobile guild and a leading global marketing research firm on Tuesday.

About 14 percent of respondents would prefer to buy a PHEV for its longer run time and lower reliance on charging facilities, while only 8 percent prefer BEVs, despite the fact that sales of BEVs almost doubled those of PHEVs in the first half of 2015, according to a report released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) and Nielsen.

Sales of new energy vehicles in H1 more than doubled those in the first half of last year, and China is likely to become the world’s largest electric vehicle market, according to CAAM.

The report also said short run times, long charging times and too few maintenance stations are major barriers to growth of China’s electric vehicle market and revealed that consumers expect more preferential policies for buying and using new energy cars. Enditem

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Rise of China benefits German export : EU think-tank

08/12/2015 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

BRUSSELS, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) — The emergence of China is one of the leading contributors for the superb export performance of Germany in the 2000s compared to other European countries, a recent report by the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel said.

Germany is Europe’s export superstars, with an increase of 154 percent in exports between 2000 and 2013 compared to 127 percent in Spain, 98 percent in Britain, 79 percent in France and 72 percent in Italy, according to the report.

In addition, Germany is seen as a leading role model of successful adjustment from the “sick man of Europe” in the 2000s to an economic powerhouse today, because of a quick rebound in export growth after the financial crisis in 2009.

According to the European Union (EU) trade monitors, Germany contributes one third of the total trade volume between China and Europe. In the five years after the financial crisis, German exports to China almost doubled, a stronger increase than in any other European country.

To explain Germany’s exceptional export performance relative to other European countries, the Bruegel economists found that Germany has benefited more from the opening up of China compared to other European countries.

First, China has become an important sourcing region lowering the production costs of European exporters, the report said.

According to the indicators of the sourcing pattern of European exporters, the biggest gainers from sourcing in China were Britain and Austria. UK exporters, who offshored to China, almost doubled their export market share to the world, while Austria’s exporters increased their export market share by 70 percent compared to exporters which did not offshore to China.

Germany, as the largest European importer of Chinese goods, its imports accounted for 21 percent of all the 28 members of EU.

However, for the export market share of German exporters, sourcing from China was only marginally important. The most important benefit comes from the rapid modernization of China.

The modernization of China exhibited a growing demand for German products with its comparative advantage in machinery, transport equipment and other manufactured goods, the report said.

China has favored particularly Germany’s exports, the economists said, as Germany is the world’s top exporter of cars, vehicle parts, machinery, and engine parts.

Meanwhile, German products has won a global reputation on quality. About 40 percent of German exporters offer top quality goods relative to the market average, the report said.

The most essential reason for Germany’s exceptional export performance is that German export business model builds on quality.

“The focus on quality may explain why export growth in Germany rebounded quickly after 2009 in spite of rapid rising nominal wages,” the report said.

The economists said high quality comes from the effective management. German exports business operate with a decentralized and less hierarchical organization which empowers workers at lower levels of the firm hierarchy.

“Germany is a world champion in exporting because it is a world champion in organizing,” the report noted. Enditem

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Dutch bank ING upgrades China business

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BEIJING, Aug. 6 (Greenpost) — Dutch bank ING announced Thursday that it has upgraded its Beijing representative office to a branch in order to expand business in China.

The Beijing branch will provide clients with foreign exchange settlement services, including foreign exchange deposits, trade financing, loans, export credit, as well as consulting and advisory services.

In compliance with local regulations, the branch will conduct all forms of foreign exchange businesses over the next few years, including drawing deposits, making loans, and foreign currency transactions, said Aart Jan den Hartog, country manager and head of commercial banking, Greater China.

He said that the Beijing branch will be complementary with its three other branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Taipei. Enditem

Source Xinhua

China, Chinese circle, culture, Indepth, Opinion

What my Chiedish Child Teaches Me Every Day (1)

08/04/2015 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm, Aug4(Greenpost)–My Chiedish(Chinese-Swedish) daughter Annie was born in December, 2007, my Chinese friend said it was a wonderful Christmas present for me. Indeed, she completely changed my life and I got something new every day.

When she was two years old and three months, we sent her to the kindergarten. There she began to learn the Swedish thinking. Before that I was very proud that she stayed most of the time with me and could be able to speak in Chinese and recite Chinese poems.

But after going to the kindergarten, she was like a little mirror to vividly imitate the teacher. For example, she could use her little hand to put on my forehead and said, “Alla barn måste sova nu meaning All the children must sleep now.”

She learnt the rules that man should not use violence and if anybody uses it, the other should not hit back, but say “stop”.

One evening I was tired and lay in bed, my husband also lay in bed reading a book. By accident I threw a book to Jan’s hips and he felt the pain and threw the book to the floor angrily.

Annie cried immediately and said to Dad, “Pappa, du får inte slanga, du kan saja stoppa, (Dad, you shouldn’t throw the book to the floor, if you are not happy, you can say stop)!”

We both felt a little bit embarrassing and felt glad that she learnt a good solution from school. It was really a good lesson for me.

Of course, I feel she has too much freedom. Not long after she went to the kindergarten she began to talk at the table, I decide. She brought all her rules at the kindergarten to our home table. Anyone who wants to speak must raise his or her hand.

This reminds me of my childhood. The only thing I remember is that children should not talk at the dinner table. Only my dad talked a lot loud and sometimes only my mother could criticize him for talking too much and too loud.

We learnt to obey whatever Mom and Dad said. But now Annie began to speak what she thinks. There were a few times she cried so fiercely that she said it was always the parents decide and as a child, she never made any decision. Afterwards we have to give in.

In Stockholm, any child can find a kindergarten within 500 meters. There is a good website where people can see where a school sits and how it is like. The same rules for primary school. In comparison with Beijing, many parents in Beijing wish their children to go to the best school and in that way it needs a lot of sponsorship from parents. But in Stockholm, it is the city that pays for every child. A school is good or bad, depends on how many students it can recruit.

If it has too few students, it will bankrupt. And Annie’s new school came from her own classes and in combination with another bankrupted school.

Annie speaks Swedish with Dad and Chinese with Mom. After years of listening to our conversation in English and watching TV, she can speak English too.

She is proud of being trialingual, but sometimes she feels it is too much to read and write the Chinese characters.

Thus it is still a long way to go to really master the Chinese language, but she has had a good foundation of speaking the language.

Business, China, Chinese circle, News, World News

News Analysis: China’s economy stabilizing against headwinds

08/04/2015 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) — With industrial profits sliding, factory activity retreating and the stock market on wild swings, China’s economic future seems blurry.

However, positive changes in the fundamentals can not be ignored and are helping the economy embark on a path of stabilizing, analysts say.

China’s economy expanded 7 percent in the second quarter of 2015, the same as in the first quarter.

Recent statistics show profits at major Chinese industrial firms dropped in June and an indicator on manufacturing activities fell in July to the lowest level since last April.

Wild ups and downs in the country’s stock market add to uncertainties. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index recorded the sharpest daily drop since Feb. 27, 2007, an 8.48 percent plunge, on Monday. It snapped back with a 3.44 percent rebound on Wednesday.

Despite those unnerving figures, an official with the country’s top economic planner said the fundamentals of China’s economy are stabilizing and improving.

Industrial output has continued to recover, new types of businesses have flourished, and the service sector has become an increasing contributor to the national growth, said Li Yunqing, an official at economic operation department of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Surpassing market anticipation, China’s industrial output climbed by 6.8 percent from a year ago for a third straight month of increases in June.

“If we look at the structure of the economy and the quality of growth, the results are more encouraging,” Li said.

For example, six major energy-intensive industries, such as steel and building materials, slowed down significantly in the first half, actually mitigating some growth of emerging industries, he said.

High-tech industries’ output rose 10.5 percent year on year in the first half, with industrial robots surging 130 percent and railway locomotives jumping 91 percent.

While fixed-asset investment continued to soften, its structure is shifting to consumption-linked and emerging industries.

Six major energy-intensive industries recorded a total investment growth of 7.5 percent year on year in the first half, 2.2 percentage points below the overall investment in manufacturing.

Meanwhile, industries like computer and telecommunications equipment, information and software, transport, postal service, cultural and sports goods all posted an investment growth above 20 percent year on year.

Property investment, the old pillar of investment and growth, is also expected to recover in the second half, with house sales warming up. Fewer cities saw new home prices drop for the fourth consecutive month in June.

The pressure on home prices will continue to ease gradually through 2015, global rating agency Moody’s said in a research note.

RECOVERY EXPECTED, PRESSURE REMAINS

The trend that China’s economy is stabilizing has become more obvious, Jia Kang, a renowned fiscal science researcher at the Ministry of Finance, and his fellow researchers wrote in an article published Wednesday.

As interest rates come down and monetary supply increases, Chinese companies will see the cost of investment brought down effectively and the nation’s fixed-asset investment growth will hopefully rebound in the fourth quarter, according to the article.

Retail growth has basically touched the bottom and will keep stable throughout the year, Jia predicted.

Foreign trade, another growth engine, is likely to return to growth in the second half as global demand improves and de-stocking by companies winds down, he wrote.

China’s economy grew 7 percent year on year in the second quarter of this year, the same as in the first quarter.

Zhu Haibin, chief economist of J.P. Morgan China, attributed growth in the second quarter to the service sector’s performance. Consumption accounted for 60 percent of economic growth in the first half, 5.7 percentage points higher than a year ago and almost double the contribution from investment.

“The economic re-balancing from investment to consumption is really happening,” Zhu said in a research note, predicting the economy will continue to pick up in the third quarter.

However, the degree and duration of recovery is challenged by several factors, including hovering industrial overcapacity, long-standing fiscal restraints, and the latest stock market turmoil, according to Zhu.

Stock price corrections may drag down growth in the financial sector and affect some rapidly expanding industries that have benefited from previous bullish runs, Zhu said. Enditem

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China Focus: China’s growing interest in fitness shapes up industry

08/04/2015 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) — As grannies “cut a rug” square dancing in public parks, young Chinese prefer breaking a sweat in the gym or with online workouts to burn calories.

Zhang Jianming, a 29-year-old research fellow at East China’s Suzhou Industrial Park, is active at the gym. He works out five to six days a week, and focuses on hitting different body parts each day. For him, typical training programs include an hour of lifting or bodyweight exercises, and half an hour of cardio session.` After beginning the workout regimen in September, 2013, Zhang’s body fat percentage dropped to 17 percent from 23 percent. He is noticeably bulkier, and feels more confident.

Fitness fanatics like Zhang have been springing up in China over the past two years. An industry report shows that the total number of gym attendees in 70 major Chinese cities has increased by four to five million each year since 2011.

Behind the exercise trend is growing enthusiasm for fitness and health. As wealth accumulates, the country’s increasingly sophisticated middle class increasingly have the urge to disengage from work, relax and move around.

Jogging has taken off in big cities, despite the notorious smog problem. More urbanites wear fitness tracking bracelets or other wearables as a manifesto for healthier lifestyle. Celebrities also actively jump on the fitness bandwagon. They post gym selfies to show off their abs and more importantly, win fans.

Public awareness of fitness generally begins when a nation’s GDP per capita hits 5,000 U.S. dollars. Should it surpass 8,000 U.S. dollars, the fitness industry will become a pillar in the national economy, said Liu Qing, deputy secretary-general at Chinese Association of Sport Industry.

China’s GDP per capita exceeded 5,000 U.S. dollars in 2011 and reached 7,575 U.S. dollars last year, according to official data.

The fitness fanaticism sweeping the world’s second largest economy coincides with the growth of mobile Internet and the boom of social media. Unlike the older generation of gymrats, younger fitness enthusiasts like Zhang are more apt to explore online resources to work out smarter.

Under his WeChat account, China’s biggest social messaging service, Zhang follows a dozen of fitness blogs. Everyday, he will sift through the news feeds to learn about new workout programs or dietary instructions.

Wang Yin, 30, is one of Zhang’s favorite bloggers. In September, 2013, almost the same time when Zhang begun hitting the gym, Wang, a financial professional-turned-fitness guru, started blogging with his wife on WeChat and microblog Weibo.

“I felt like a new man after finishing a two-month workout regimen,” recalled Wang. He was also startled to find how little those who crave a thinner life know about health and fitness.

“Most of them, especially the girls, will hit the dead end circle of ‘diet, give up, get fat’. They simply don’t know how to chisel away body fat through exercise,” he said.

The Shanghai-native then decided to share health, nutrition and fitness knowledge he has learnt with others. His blogs became an instant success. He has garnered about one million followers on Weibo, and nearly 400,000 on WeChat over the past two years.

As the Chinese government has been looking to entrepreneurship and innovation among the bright spots in a slowing economy, Wang also felt he has found a sweet spot to cash in on the booming demand for keeping fit.

He resigned from his post at a private equity firm to launch a startup company called Fit-start in September, 2014, which happened to coincide with the one year anniversary of his blogs.

“The market has immense potential,” said Wang, with over five years of investment experience.

On June 19 this year, Fit-start introduced apps offering custom online workout and dietary plans on the iOS and Android app stores. Wang said there have already been more than 100,000 downloads by now.

However, Wang’s rivals have also been looming large. RJFitTime, another influential blog operated by two twenty-somethings, has attracted two million followers combined across all social media platforms. RJFitTime launched apps earlier this year, streaming a variety of exercise programs to its subscribers.

An estimated 50 health and fitness apps came online in the first half of this year. Most of them eye the same niche market as Fit-start and RJFitTime – the beginners.

“When we start our business, the fitness industry was still a ‘blue ocean’, where the market space is vastly uncontested,’ Wang said, “but now, it’s fairly crowded.”

For users like Zhang, the swarm of fitness apps allows them to get a lot of services for nothing. Zhang said he will not consider trying paid options of those apps, because he thought the free content is already enough.

That mentality is certainly not pleasing to Wang, who has been working hard to bind users with online paid trainers. But the former investment banker is still optimistic about the future of China’s fitness market.

“After all, this is a budding industry. The market is huge, and there is no dominant player at the moment, which means everything is possible, ” Wang said. Enditem

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China pledges more reform on tourism development

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BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) — China will carry out more reforms to boost investment and consumption in tourism industry, the State Council, or China’s cabinet, decided on Wednesday.

Tourism development is significant in fostering the country’s modern service sector, increasing employment and income, as well as improving people’s livelihoods, according to a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council presided over by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

The meeting urged improving tourism consumption. Construction of regional airports, roads to scenic spots, parking lots and washrooms in destinations, especially in less-developed central and western China, should be supported, the statement said.

Personalized tourism products focusing on rural areas will be supported, the meeting decided. The government will encourage college graduates and migrant workers who have returned to home villages to start their own rural tourism businesses, as a way to alleviate rural poverty, the statement said.

New popular tourism consumption choices should be discovered and well utilized, the cabinet said. Internet-related business mode such as online vacation rentals and transport rentals, should be easier to enter. Various tourism products such as for the elders, and for studying purposes, should be developed. Governments at all levels should further implement the paid-leave system, the cabinet said.

The meeting agreed to promote public-private-partnerships (PPP) in developing tourism projects, with more government investment and individual capital participation. It also urged to widen financing channels for tourism enterprises, and encourage financial institutions to increase credit support for those enterprises.

Better and colorful tourism activities will enrich people’s life, and also boost economic development, the statement said. Enditem

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Congratulations to Beijing for winning the right to hold 2022 Winter Olympics

08/04/2015 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm, Aug. 4(Greenpost)-Chinese people all over the world are happy for Beijing and Zhangjiakou to win the right to host 2022 Winter Olympics.

Vice Premier Liu Yandong, head of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics bidding delegation returned to Beijing on August 2 and welcomed by various circles of the people in Beijing. Photo by Xinhua, Yao Dawei.

The news came out on July 31st. Immediately after that I saw my Wechat friends circle spread out this news.

I sat in front of my computer and watched Swedish SVT finding out that they got an one hour and 22 minutes live broadcasting program to specially live cover the voting site in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

I felt very excited when I heard the news and tears almost came out of my eyes. It was as if I won the world championship or in other words that I could feel the happiness of a winner in sport.

Liu Yandong with delegates in Lausanne for Beijing’s bidding briefing for 2022 Winter Olympics Games.

It was such a short notice type of happiness. I heard the news last month that my former colleague Yang Binyuan who was a project leader during 2008 Oympic Games in Beijing were in Lausanne to participate in the bidding process with Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong, famous TV host Yang Lan, Sport star Yao Ming, Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan and many others.

The tallest in the middle is Yao Ming and the third from left Yang Binyuan. Photo from Yang Binyuan’s facebook.

According to SVT, Sweden also bid for 2022 Winter Olympics, but when it heard China also bid for it, it withdrew hoping for 2026. In fact, many countries withdrew at the news that China wanted to bid.

This time China seemed to prepare for the bidding not that long time ago, however many work has been done long time before thinking of bidding for Olympics. For example the skiing site was built many years ago just for people’s sports recreation so that people around Beijing can enjoy the pleasure similar to that in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces.

But I think this bid has great to do with the support of President Xi Jinping’s idea of cleaning the environment in Beijing, developing the surrounding areas. So he said if Beijing and Zhangjiakou can hold 2022 Olympic Games, it will drive a consumption population of 300 million. That is a great business opportunity.

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/6v6h1NnzgBY/

His words moved many people.

“Beijing is like a vampire absorbing all the talented people and various resources while the surrounding province was deprived of these resources. It is time to help the surrounding city to develop. I believe the 2022 Winter Olympics will help Zhangjiakou to develop for the better, congratulations,” said Huang Nan, an independent English language professor in his Wechat circle.

Professor Wu Wenzhong from Beihang University also congratulated Beijing.

“Talking about Olympics, I was the English judge for 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics judges. I will be 68 years old by 2022, I like to be a volunteer for the 2022 Winter Olympics if possible,” said Professor Wu in his Wechat friends circle.

Swedish Olympic Committee President Stefen Lindberg said in a telephone interview that Beijing’s winning is not unexpected.

“It’s not unexpected. Beijing has the basis from 2008 Olympic Games and Zhangjiakou can be a good place for skiiing. Sweden will be preparing for 2026,” said Lindberg.

In Beijing, Lin Mei sent me a photo saying that she and Swedish Ice Hocky Coach were invited to celebrate the victory of bidding.

Geely Group P.R. chief Michael Ning said Volvo made a good decision to choose Zhangjiakou as one of its production bases. The 2022 Winter Olympics will definitely be beneficial for them.

Of course the greatest benefit for Beijing will be the blue sky. It is a dream for many to have the blue sky and white cloud. Beijing has created Olympics blue and Apec blue. Unfortunately it is very difficult to keep it for the long term.

According to British Stern report, China’s greenhouse gas emission is expected to decrease by 2025. With the efforts to hold 2022 Winter Olympics, the blue sky is expected to be able to continue by then.

中国温室气体排放总量可望2025年出现拐点

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China economy under downward pressure: finance minister

08/04/2015 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

BEIJING, July 29 (Greenpost) — The country’s economy is stabilizing and recovering, but still facing significant downward pressure, Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a national financial work conference, Lou said the ministry will continue to ensure funds to the construction of major projects to offer fiscal support, while cutting tax and administrative fees to lower companies’ costs.

China’s economy posted a better-than-expected growth of 7 percent in the second quarter of the year. The growth, though unchanged from the first quarter, was its lowest level since the global financial crisis.

Lou said the ministry will continue to promote a public-private partnership (PPP) model for investment, regulate local government debt and promote “market-oriented transformation” of local government financing vehicles in order to turn these local government-backed investment bodies into independent entities.

He also urged further advances in the country’s tax reforms, which includes replacing turnover tax with value-added tax and implementing consumption tax and resource tax reforms. Enditem

“The bid alone will boost participation in winter sports across the country,” Zhang said. Enditem

Source Xinhua

Editor Xuefei Chen Axelsson

China, Chinese circle, World News

Beijing to host 2022 winter Olympics

07/31/2015 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

Stockholm, July 31(Greenpost)–Beijing, Zhangjiakou and Yanqing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics, this was announced in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

China welcomes the decision by the Olympic Committee. Many Chinese are happy for Beijing because with such an opportunity, it is hopeful that the air pollution problem will be solved.

The event will improve the infrastructure in Zhangjiakou and Yanqing, to help them develop further.

Beijing became the first city in the world to gain the right to host both summer olympics and winter olympics.

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Xinhua Insight: A wave of startups raises tide of entrepreneurship

07/29/2015 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

Xinhua Insight: A wave of startups raises tide of entrepreneurship

BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) — Guo Xin, 23, an undergraduate at Nankai University, feels no pressure from China’s economic slowdown. Instead, he sees positive changes encouraging startups.

“The economy is facing great downward pressure, but for entrepreneurs, the business environment has never been better,” Guo told Xinhua.

Guo is CEO of a an Internet finance company and has established a start-up each year for the past three years.

Like Guo, hundreds of thousands of young Chinese have started their own companies or projects in the past year or two as a startup frenzy grips the nation. Partly thanks to serious reforms, especially business registration reform, it is easier than ever to start a business.

China is entering a new stage of slower but more resilient growth, which President Xi Jinping has called the “new normal.” The essence of the “new normal” is an improved economic structure that relies on services, consumption and innovation.

STARTUPS SHOOT UP

China’s GDP growth held steady at 7 percent in the first half this year, but another figure — the number of newly registered enterprises — is even more impressive. New registrations jumped 19.4 percent from a year ago to 2.1 million in H1.

“Creative, entrepreneurial spirit has been stoked by business reform,” said Yu Fachang with the state administration for industry and commerce (SAIC).

By the end of June, there were around 74.2 million businesses in China, including agricultural concerns and individual traders, up 7 percent from the end of 2014, SAIC data showed.

The number of new firms registered in the service sector accounted for 80.3 percent of the increase, or 1.6 million during the first six months, 22.6 percent more than in the same period last year.

This, Yu said, reflects a better economic structure, with the service sector playing its prescribed “bigger role” in growth and job creation. The sector has become the biggest driver of growth, expanding 8.4 percent in H1 and accounting for 49.5 percent of GDP.

Wang Bao’an, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, believes that a new wave of mass entrepreneurship and innovation is in the offing, given the huge success of many startups. The drive for mass entrepreneurship and innovation along with repeated cuts to red tape are feeding creativity and market vitality, Wang told the People’s Daily last week.

CONTINUOUS REVOLUTION

Premier Li Keqiang has repeatedly promised that the government will revolutionize itself to promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation.

In streamlining business registration since 2014, China has removed minimum capital requirements, replaced annual company inspections with a reporting system and loosened site requirements for businesses. Last month, the government announced that those wishing to start their own business would only need to apply to one office for the three essential business certificates, rather than the current regime of visits to three different offices. Business licenses, tax registration certificates and organization code certificates will all now be issued by the SAIC.

Guo Xin already feels the better business environment. “Entrepreneurship and innovation are state policies and there are many new government business incubators to assist new firms or projects,” he said, adding that other changes included easier financing, clearer procedures for starting a business, a much larger number of new entrepreneurs and an easier get-out processes for those who fail.

“Encouraging mass entrepreneurship and innovation has activated hundreds of thousands of cells in the market, which helped macroeconomic stabilization,” Premier Li told a conference earlier this month.

THE FOURTH WAVE

Economist Gu Shengzu believes that lowering the threshold for starting businesses, removing restrictions and the rise of the Internet economy may have created a “perfect storm” of entrepreneurship in China.

“Entrepreneurship and innovation are twins. To the Chinese economy, they mean not only a better today, but a better tomorrow and the day after tomorrow,” Gu told Xinhua.

The innovative power of the Chinese people is an important engine for stable growth and a smooth transition to the new normal, he said, calling this “the fourth wave” of mass entrepreneurship in nearly 40 years.

The first wave began in 1978 when reform and opening-up began, with farmers setting up township enterprises and urban dwellers starting small businesses. The second wave swept China after 1992, with about 100,000 public servants resigning from their “jobs for life” to go into business for themselves. The third came when China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.

The past three waves gave rise to numerous top Chinese entrepreneurs who rose from nobodies to tycoons, including Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Tencent’s Pony Ma and smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun.

Gu said the difference between the first three waves and this fourth wave is that the government has actively worked to bring about the arrival of the fourth through aggressive policies.

Wang Bao’an, the statistics chief, wants future reform to focus on four areas: price controls, market entry, R&D and invigorating State-owned firms. He maintains that only more reforms will guarantee future growth. “The policy goals of stabilizing growth, restructuring the economy and achieving innovation-driven growth can be reached only through more reform… The key is to leave the market to allocate resources,” he said. Enditem

China, Chinese circle, culture, Exchange, Green-tech

Video chat with Mama in the countryside

07/28/2015 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm, July 28(Greenpost)–It was such an agony that one cannot see Mama that often, especially when Mama is getting old and difficult to see the numbers in the phone.

My brother bought a phone with audio service. With a preset of numbers and names, when Minsheng calls mama, the phone will speak loudly “Minsheng is calling, Minsheng is calling in Chinese” and it is easy for mama to hear it. But she cannot see Minsheng.

For me in Stockholm it is even more difficult to imagine how it works till one day Chen Gang called.

Chen Gang got a smart phone even though he lived in Dizangsi, the little village in Northeast China. He can give me a video call.

So he goes to my mama’s room and calls me. When I answered with the video, vow! I see my mother, my father, my brother and my sister in law.

With Wechat, Chinese version of skype, or facetime, facebook, I can talk with my mom.

The sound is even better than that when I call Beijing. If I say what I feel with modern technology, that is the equality that brings to everybody as long as you have a smart phone.

Chen Gang, my nephew often filmed a short film about family reunion and send me the short video so I know how they gathered together and celebrate the New Year or Duanwu Festival.

It is amazing that we can talk and see each other.

Business, Chinese circle, culture, News, World News

Stockholm chosen to host Eurovision Song Contest 2016

07/08/2015 北欧绿色邮报网 Leave a comment

Stockholm chosen to host Eurovision Song Contest 2016

Stockholm will be the Host City of Eurovision Song Contest in May 2016. This was decided on Wednesday by Swedish host broadcaster SVT and European Broad Casting Union (EBU). Together with SVT, the City of Stockholm will create a new innovative arena concept, including all four venues – Tele 2 Arena, Ericsson Globe, Hovet and Annexet – in the Stockholm Globe District. This will be a unique concept in Eurovision history.
– It is an honor to be the host city of Eurovision Song Contest. Stockholm is music. Our city is boiling of activities that revolves around music. Creativity is close to our heart and we want this to be visible during the event. Hosting Eurovision is an opportunity for us to strengthen and stimulate the interest that music creates. We are looking forward greeting the world to Stockholm in May, says Karin Wanngård (s) Mayor of Stockholm.

The main events will take place at all four venues in the Stockholm Globe District. The finale will take place in Ericsson Globe on May 10-14th 2016.

– The solution with multiple arenas enables us to produce the Eurovision Song Contest in the Globe, have the press center at the Hovet and the delegations area at the Annex. The Jewel in the Crown is to take Eurovision Song Contest to the next level by incorporating Tele2 Arena during the evening of the finale ,says Martin Österdahl, executive producer of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016

Did you know that three of the competing songs during ESC2015 were written in Stockholm during Song Writing Camp in January. Stockholm is the birthplace of the Swedish music phenomenon, from ABBA to Avicii, and one of the worlds leading music exporters.

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Stockholm Globe Arenas

Tele 2 Arena, Ericsson Globe, Annexet and Hovet at Stockholm Globe Arenas District
Size 7.91 MB File Format .jpg
Image Size 4497 x 2808 pixels
Photographer / Source Stockholm Globe Arenas

Stockholm Globe Arenas

Tele 2 Arena, Ericsson Globe, Hovet and Annexet at Stockholm Globe Arena District
Size 2.01 MB File Format .jpg
Image Size 2913 x 1566 pixels
Photographer / Source Stockholm Globe Arenas

Editor Xuefei Chen Axelsson