China Economy Forum

[cirr]

[October 23, 2014]


Sugon Releases Chinese First Loongson 3B Server


(Sinocast Computers & Electronics Beat (China) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) BEIJING, October 23, SinoCast -- Sugon Information Industry Co., Ltd. on October 22 launched Chinese first server based on Loongson 3B processors.

Sugon Information Industry vice president pointed out that the Chinese server industry has been under influence by foreign companies because of lacking in CPU with independent intellectual property. The Loongson 3B servers adopted homemade processors and are equipped with homemade operating systems, realizing independent information control.

Experts believed that the birth of Loongson 3B servers will offer strong technology support and security protection for military, governmental and financial information construction.

 

[Keel]

Complete assemblying of China's largest offshore oil platform
2014-10-22

此次渤海湾吊装的海洋石油井口平台组块长53.3米、宽45.3米，面积等同于半个足球场，高约25米，相当于8层楼高，重约5300吨，日前由亚洲最大的海洋工程制造场地海油工程青岛场地制造完工。

单臂世界第一的蓝鲸号起重船成功吊装国内最大海洋石油井口平台组块

10月19日，记者从海洋石油工程股份有限公司（简称海油工程）获悉，公司旗下的“蓝鲸”号起重船在渤海油田成功将我国最大的海洋石油井口平台组块吊装就位。作为海洋工程领域的“国家队”，海油工程依托先进的现代化海洋工程施工装备和国际领先的海上安装技术，先后创造了浅水水域6200吨单吊“抓举”纪录和百米级水深3.2万吨“挺举”等四项世界纪录，作业水深达到1500米。我国海洋工程海上安装作业能力实现跨越式发展，跃居亚洲第一，达到世界先进水平，为我国海洋油气开发利用提供了有力的技术支撑。

责任编辑：刘伟

资料图：我国海上石油钻井平台完成吊装　

 

[cirr]

Lots of new trains for numerous new lines that are set to open in the next few months。

Thursday, October 23, 2014

China to equip high-speed trains with CTCS

Written by Keith Barrow



CHINA Railway Investment Corporation (CRIC) has begun procurement for 10 packages to supply onboard Chinese Train Control System (CTCS) equipment for 740 high-speed trains operated by China Railway Corporation (CRC).

Procurement is divided into two lots, one for 250km/h trains and one for 350km/h sets and each lot is split into five packages.

The 250km/h lot covers 204 trains including 40 CRH1 trains, 114 CRH2s, and 50 CRH 5s. These trains will be equipped with CTCS-2, which has a similar architecture to the French TVM300 system with track circuits used for block detection and movement authorities.

The 350km/h lot involves equipping 536 trains including 186 CRH380As, 210 CRH380Bs, and 140 CRH380Ds. These trains will be fitted with CTCS-3, which is equivalent to ETCS Level 2 with a CTCS-2 backup.

Four of the five packages in each lot will be open to competitive tender with the CRH1 and CRH380B lots being single-source procurement.

 

[TaiShang]

China CNR Corporation has won the contract to build 284 ‪#‎subway‬ ‪#‎cars ‬for the city of ‪#‎Boston‬.

The ‪#‎Massachusetts‬ state government approved the sale on Thursday BJT. The new cars will replace those on the city's Orange and Red Line.

 

[Keel]

China CNR Corporation has won the contract to build 284 ‪#‎subway‬ ‪#‎cars ‬for the city of ‪#‎Boston‬.

The ‪#‎Massachusetts‬ state government approved the sale on Thursday BJT. The new cars will replace those on the city's Orange and Red Line.

Carry on with the winning mood here

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s board of directors voted unanimously to approve a contract with CNR MA Corp. to build 284 new subway cars. The new cars are needed to replace the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s 32-year-old Orange Line trains and the 44-year-old Red Line cars that serve the Greater Boston area.

Source: Chinese firm wins $567M contract to build rail cars in Springfield
Chinese firm wins $567M contract to build rail cars in Springfield

 

[cirr]

Foxconn in Talks for China Display Plant

Foxconn and Government of Zhengzhou Discussing Investment That Could Reach Up to $5.7 Billion

Foxconn's headquarters in Tuchung, northern Taiwan. Foxconn is in early talks for investment in a Chinese display-manufacturing plant. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

By LORRAINE LUK

Updated Oct. 23, 2014 8:35 a.m. ET

HONG KONG—Foxconn, the company that assembles the bulk of the world’s iPhones, is in preliminary talks to build a factory in northern（？） China that would make high-end screens for the phones as well, in a sign of the company’s ambition to move up the electronics food chain.

Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. , is discussing a possible investment with the government of Zhengzhou, about 750 kilometers south of Beijing, according to people familiar with the talks. The two sides are discussing terms such as how to divide the investment, which could reach as much as 35 billion yuan ($5.7 billion), the people said.

The two sides haven’t yet formulated a concrete investment proposal, they said. If an agreement is reached, it could be Foxconn’s biggest direct investment to date in high-end parts manufacturing.

It remains unclear whether Apple Inc. —which relies on Foxconn to make the majority of its iPhones—or other investors are being approached to invest in the display plant. Currently, Apple uses screens made by suppliers in South Korea and Japan.

The development highlights Foxconn’s ambition to supply more expensive components to key customers like Apple. While Foxconn, with revenue of $130 billion last year, has been manufacturing some iPhone components already, like metal casings and cables, mobile displays are much more difficult to make and have higher margins.

That is important to Foxconn, whose sales grew only 1% last year on an annual basis, compared with 53% five years ago, while operating profit margin growth slowed to 2.8% in 2013 from 4.4% in 2009.

Foxconn also is looking for more sources of revenue since Apple, whose business comprises nearly half of its sales, is starting to outsource production of some of its iPhones and iPads to rivals including Pegatron Corp. and Wistron Corp.

With $19 billion in cash as of the end of June, Foxconn has the hefty amount of capital needed for an investment in advanced manufacturing facilities.

For Apple, buying displays from Foxconn would help the company diversify its screen suppliers beyond Japan’s Sharp Corp. and Japan Display Inc. and South Korea’s LG Display Co.

“Foxconn hopes to capture the growing demand for high-resolution, energy-efficient displays and supply Apple and other smartphone makers in the next few years,” said a person familiar with the situation.

Apple declined to comment.

 

[Edison Chen]

Highlights from China's legal reform plan - China - Chinadaily.com.cn

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Tuesday published the full text of the decision on comprehensively advancing the rule of law.

The decision was adopted at the fourth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee on Thursday.

The full text of an explanation to the decision, delivered by President Xi Jinping at the session, was also published.

The following are some highlights from the decision:

1, Chinese lawmakers will speed up legislation work for the country's anti-corruption law. Read more

2, China will consider establishing courts and procuratorates with jurisdictions spanning across different administrative regions. Read more

3, China is considering allowing prosecutors to institute public interest litigation. Read more

4, China's Supreme People's Court will set up circuit courts for major administrative, civil and commercial cases involving different administrative regions. Read more

5, China will set a power list for government and ban administrative authorities from any extralegal power. Read more

6, Chinese government officials now pledge allegiance to the country's Constitution before taking office. Read more

7, China will establish a lifelong principal officials accountability system.

China will move on to a systematic anti-corruption campaign! Corruption will not find any fertile ground under such system, not just deterred by the pressure of upper class administrations, which can't be effective in the long term. I bet any official who break the rule will be cracked down automatically under this system.

 

[cirr]

China's new regional jet starts domestic test flights

2014-10-29 16:04

XinhuaWeb Editor: Qin Dexing

A regional airliner built by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC) started domestic test flights on Wednesday, a key step for its expected commercial debut at the end of this year.

A twin-engine ARJ21-700 completed a round trip at 10 a.m. between airports in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, and Guiyang, capital of neighboring Guizhou Province.

Take-off and landing were smooth and stable, according to a Xinhua reporter aboard the plane. It has eight seats for first-class passengers and 70 seats for economy class.

The jet, China's first homegrown commercial regional aircraft, completed a 30,000-km flight test around the world in April.

The jet will complete 300 hours of test flights in 10 domestic airports in the next month to simulate long-distance, medium-distance and short-distance routes, said Zhao Peng, the chief test pilot.

The test flights will test operations in rainy and dark conditions as well as system functions for air conditioning, auto pilot, communications, power, navigation and undercarriage, he said.

The jet, which has a maximum flight range of 3,700 kilometers and maximum altitude of 11,900 meters, is expected to be delivered to Chengdu Airlines by the end of this year after obtaining an operation certificate from authorities.

"We do not expect the ARJ21-700 to be a star," said a staff member who participated in the test flight on condition of anonymity. "We would rather the jet be a plain passenger airplane that is safe, stable and reliable to be the best company for passengers."

COMAC has so far received orders for more than 250 ARJ21-700 jets from customers at home and abroad. But it is facing fierce competition from its foreign rivals, including Brazil-based Embraer's ERJ190 and Canada-based Bombardier's C Series.

So far, four ARJ21-700 jets have completed more than 4,500 hours of tests since a maiden flight in November 2008. COMAC is also working toward gaining certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in order to make the ARJ21 the first Chinese commercial aircraft to receive U.S. approval.

This could help sell the aircraft overseas. The FAA has agreed to launch a shadow certification, which involves ensuring the certification process by the Civil Aviation Administration of China is in line with FAA standards.

 

[Keel]

We were working on 5 planes (ARJ-700-105 to -109) 2 months ago

Near completion of 106 in Chengdu Airline's coating reported early this month

All the best with the certification See you at the coming Zhuhai Airshow

 

[senheiser]

China’s rail giants may form $26bn conglomerate
Published time: October 28, 2014 09:53
Get short URL

The two largest Chinese state-owned train makers CSR Corp and China CNR Corp are reportedly in merger talks that would create a new mega-company to compete in overseas markets with German, Canadian, and Japanese locomotive makers.

Details of the merger remain unclear, but a draft plan is in the works, both Bloomberg and Chinese media report, citing government officials. Together, the two companies have a market value of $26 billion.

A “major” announcement is expected within a week.

The merger would be aimed at reducing overseas competition between the two companies, which in turn should help them win more contracts and fulfill China’s hungry appetite to export transport hardware.

China is home to the world’s largest high-speed rail network, which keeps the growing population and economy connected. The two companies have won contracts worth over $7.2 billion (44.3 billion yuan) for 258 bullet trains within China, Bloomberg News reported.

The two are currently competing for a $68 billion project to supply bullet trains in California in the US. The 1,287 km track will run from Los Angeles to San Francisco and will require 95 trains.

Last week CNR announced it had won a $537 million (3.49 billion yuan) contract to supply 284 cars for Boston’s metro, a first for any Chinese company in the US. CNR proposed the cheapest deal, which was almost half the tender price of Canadian transport giant Bombardier.

Both deals are milestones for the China rail industry, which is for the first time selling its rolling stock abroad and competing with the likes of Germany’s Siemens, Canada’s Bombardier, and Japan’s Kawasaki.

Trading in shares of the two companies was suspended on Monday, spurring speculation that the two state-owned companies will announce the merger, the South China Morning Post reported.

Shares in both companies have jumped nearly 15 percent in Hong Kong in the last two weeks.
There was a similar merger rumor involving the two train makers in September that never came to fruition, which also halted trading. Both companies denied the merger plans in September.

 

[senheiser]

 

[senheiser]

Alibaba Group to Surpass Walmart Sales Volume in Two Years: President

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said the volume of its online sales would exceed the global sales of retail company Walmart in two years

© East News/Imaginechina
14:13 01/11/2014



MOSCOW, November 1 (RIA Novosti) - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said the volume of its online sales would exceed the global sales of retail company Walmart in two years, Business Insider reports.

"Within two years, Alibaba's online retail volume will exceed the sales of Walmart," Xinhua news agency quoted Alibaba’s president Jin Jianhang as saying at a summit in east China's Hangzhou city.

This step will bring the company closer to the target set by its founder Jack Ma a decade ago. He told partners that Alibaba aimed to be among the world’s top 10 e-commerce websites.

"Our market value is very close to being among those of the world's top 10 companies," Jin said.

According to Jin, Alibaba’s business model is plans to cover various aspects of e-commerce, internet financing, smart logistics and big data platforms. The company has completed 20% of the model so far, and it will take 10 more years to finalize the process.

After its record IPO in the US, the e-commerce giant is seeking a multi-faceted expansion. The president said that going global was Alibaba’s primary goal, now reaching some two billion consumers through its online platforms.

In addition, Alibaba plans to invest 10 billion yuan within three to five years to build facilities in rural areas of China to tap rising demand.

"Today, China has 632 million internet users, but 700 million people still have no access. The latter provides a huge market potential for Alibaba to explore," Jin remarked.

In first half of 2014, Alibaba’s total sales volume reached $151 billion. Its trading volume in the second quarter was up 45% year on year.

In 2013, Alibaba reported a gross merchandise volume of $248 billion on its three major platforms that exceeded the combined volume of eBay and Amazon.

 

[TaiShang]

Alibaba Group to Surpass Walmart Sales Volume in Two Years: President
View attachment 141547
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said the volume of its online sales would exceed the global sales of retail company Walmart in two years

© East News/Imaginechina
14:13 01/11/2014



MOSCOW, November 1 (RIA Novosti) - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said the volume of its online sales would exceed the global sales of retail company Walmart in two years, Business Insider reports.

"Within two years, Alibaba's online retail volume will exceed the sales of Walmart," Xinhua news agency quoted Alibaba’s president Jin Jianhang as saying at a summit in east China's Hangzhou city.

This step will bring the company closer to the target set by its founder Jack Ma a decade ago. He told partners that Alibaba aimed to be among the world’s top 10 e-commerce websites.

"Our market value is very close to being among those of the world's top 10 companies," Jin said.

According to Jin, Alibaba’s business model is plans to cover various aspects of e-commerce, internet financing, smart logistics and big data platforms. The company has completed 20% of the model so far, and it will take 10 more years to finalize the process.

After its record IPO in the US, the e-commerce giant is seeking a multi-faceted expansion. The president said that going global was Alibaba’s primary goal, now reaching some two billion consumers through its online platforms.

In addition, Alibaba plans to invest 10 billion yuan within three to five years to build facilities in rural areas of China to tap rising demand.

"Today, China has 632 million internet users, but 700 million people still have no access. The latter provides a huge market potential for Alibaba to explore," Jin remarked.

In first half of 2014, Alibaba’s total sales volume reached $151 billion. Its trading volume in the second quarter was up 45% year on year.

In 2013, Alibaba reported a gross merchandise volume of $248 billion on its three major platforms that exceeded the combined volume of eBay and Amazon.

[The original post by Martin at Chinese Defence Forum]

Alibaba's market cap passes Wal-Mart as shares hit new high | Fortune

"Alibaba's market cap passes Wal-Mart as shares hit new high
by Tom Huddleston, Jr.
October 28, 2014

Photo by Hong Wu—Getty Images

The Chinese e-commerce company’s shares hit a record high on Tuesday following rumors of a marriage with Apple Pay.

Wal-Mart’s status as the world’s largest retailer is on shaky ground today after a bump in Alibaba’s share price drove the Chinese e-commerce giant’s market capitalization to $251 billion, compared with roughly $246 billion for Wal-Mart.

Alibaba’s BABA stock touched a record high in early Tuesday trading, and were lately hovering around the $100 mark, in the wake of CEO Jack Ma’s recent comments about a possible marriage between Apple’s AAPL new mobile payments system, Apple Pay, and his own company’s Alipay. (Ma made the suggestion at a tech conference on Monday and Apple CEO Tim Cook immediately voiced his approval of the idea.)

Shares of Alibaba are up more than 2% this afternoon and they have gained more than 4% since the start of the week, propelling the Chinese company’s total share value past that of Wal-Mart WMT , which reported another quarter of lackluster U.S. sales numbers in August. The U.S. retailer’s own shares, which are down around 0.5% on Tuesday, have lost more than 3% of their value since the start of the year.

Alibaba, meanwhile, is a little more than a month removed from launching its record IPO, which raised about $25 billion on September 18. The company’s shares have gained in value since that point, reaching as high as $100.50 apiece on Tuesday, and its market cap has gained more than $80 billion since the pre-IPO pricing of Alibaba shares valued them at $68."

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Google, Alibaba Largest Internet Firms By Market Capitalization - Investors.com

"Google, Alibaba Are Largest Internets By Market Cap
By BRIAN DEAGON, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 10/29/2014

Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has the largest market capitalization of all Internet companies, followed by China e-commerce giant Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA), as represented on U.S. stock markets.

Market cap is what the market thinks a public company is worth. It's the total value of the company's outstanding common stock, not including preferred shares. The valuation fluctuates depending on stock price.

Google's market cap is near $380 billion, which puts it neck-and-neck with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) for No. 2 among all tech companies. No. 1 in tech, and overall, is Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), near $638 billion.

Alibaba's market cap is near $244 billion.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has the third-largest market cap among Internet companies, near $200 billion. Facebook stock was down 6% Wednesday afternoon, after the company reported Q3 earnings that had some disappointments."

 

[TaiShang]

SunPower to build plant
Source:Agencies

US-based SunPower Corp announced on Friday that it is cooperating with several Chinese companies to develop at least three gigawatts of photovoltaic (PV) power plants in Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The power plants will be developed and owned by a joint venture the company set up with Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor Co, Sichuan Development Holding Co, Leshan Electric Power Co, and Tianjin Tsinlien Investment Holding Co.

The power plants are expected to be built primarily with high-efficiency, low-concentration photovoltaic (LCPV) technology, the company said on its website.

 

[bobsm]

Beijing Hosts Biggest Pool of Non-U.S. Big Software Firms - Bloomberg

Beijing Hosts Biggest Pool of Non-U.S. Big Software Firms
By Lulu Yilun Chen 2014-10-27T07:13:04Z

Beijing is home to the most new software companies created outside the U.S. since 2003 and valued at more than $1 billion, Atomico, a venture capital investor, said on its website.

The Chinese capital is the base for 17 of the companies, including Internet security provider Qihoo 360 Technology Co. (QIHU), said Atomico, led by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom. Northern California’s Silicon Valley area has the largest pool of big software companies, with the region accounting for 39 percent of all large software firms worldwide.

Beijing, including the Zhongguancun district that has been called China’s Silicon Valley, is benefiting from a concentration of software developers that are helping the economy reduce its reliance on manufacturing. The city also hosts the most new software developers to start in the business since 2003, according to Atomic, a sign of the capital’s power as a magnet for the growing global industry.

“Beijing has a large talent pool,” said J.P Gan, a Shanghai-based partner at Qiming Venture Partners, which manages four funds with more than $1.1 billion in assets. “The vibe for startups is also good -- lots of gatherings, meetings, good for brainstorming and very convenient.”

Weibo Corp. (WB), China’s biggest microblog service, JD.com Inc. (JD) and Cheetah Mobile Inc. (CMCM), all of which went public in the U.S. this year, are based in Beijing.

The spread of the Internet, cloud computing and open-source software have removed many of the traditional barriers to competing with Silicon Valley, Atomico said.
Consumer Focus

Silicon Valley had 52 companies valued at $1 billion created since 2003, followed by Beijing, New York, Stockholm and Los Angeles, according to Atomico. The data includes companies providing enterprise software, e-commerce, social communications and gaming.

“Silicon Valley is of course the preeminent single location, with 52 companies. But it is far from being the only game in town,” Atomico said in the report.

Consumer-focused companies accounted for all of the 26 Chinese companies valued at more than $1 billion compared with 52 percent in the U.S. and 82 percent in Europe, Atomico said.

About half of the companies on the list have had a “significant liquidity event,” including 40 that held initial public offerings and 23 were involved in mergers and acquisitions, Atomico.

JD.com raised $1.78 billion in a May IPO, the same month that Cheetah Mobile had its $168 million offering.