rings blogs,rings weblog,rings new

China is considering using more of its $2.3 trillion foreign exchange reserves to buy assets overseas, but it is not likely that the country will diversify away from buying US Treasury bills, experts said.

Jiang Jianqing, chairman of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s largest bank by market value, said Tuesday that China should give a chunk of its bulging foreign currency reserves to its commercial banks so that they have more financing power to support firms going abroad.

“If we could make a small step forward, Chinese companies would take a big step in going abroad,” he told a forum in Beijing organized by a research institution under the central bank.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce said in a press release on its website Tuesday that it will actively support qualified enterprises looking to go abroad next year, keeping a brisk and steady outbound investment pace.

From January to September, aggregate non-financial outbound direct investments (ODI) totaled $32.9 billion, up 0.5 percent over the same period last year, with overseas mergers and acquisitions making up 43.5 percent of the total investments, according to the ministry.

The ministry expects the ODI to reach $42 billion by the end of the year.

China, the largest buyer of US T-bills, kept its holdings in October flat at September’s level of $798.9 billion, and Zhu Min, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, said Thursday that it is getting harder for foreign governments to buy US Treasury bills because of the shrinking supply of US dollars.

However, the country is not likely to use ODI or other methods to replace its investment in American bonds, as ODI is insignificant compared with the accumulated funds in Chinese foreign exchange reserves, said Lu Ting, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

In the first nine months, Chinese foreign exchange reserves increased $326.6 billion to stand at $2.3 trillion in September, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

On an annualized basis, the accumulation is close to the 2007 peak of $461.9 billion.

Yu Yongding, a member at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said selling off the T-bills in a big way is not a realistic option because it would hurt China itself.

Yu said the root cause for the rapid foreign exchange reserve increase is the so-called twin surpluses, which refers to capital account and current account surpluses.

He suggested the country make its foreign exchange rate more in line with market conditions and increase outbound investments so as to reduce the accumulation of foreign exchange rerserves.

Participants at a summit of African cities called on developed countries and international institutions to support Africa’s efforts to minimize the effects of the world economic crisis, local channel reported 2M Sunday.

They stressed the need for industrialized countries and regional and international financial institutions to back up African countries to carry on the development process in an economic situation characterized by recession and difficulties to have access to loans.

The participants made the remarks at a meeting on the margins of the fifth summit of African cities, which began on Wednesday in the third largest Moroccan city of Marrakech.

The participants called on developed countries to adopt new eco-friendly production and consuming methods, and stressed the need for a new partnership between the private and public sectors, and to foster the principle of local governance.

The five-day summit at the west-central Moroccan city brought together the mayors of the major cities and towns in African countries.

Real Madrid looks to close the gap on Spanish Primera Liga leaders FC Barcelona when Zaragoza visits the Santiago Bernabeu stadium for the last game of 2009 on Saturday night.

Barcelona is in Abu Dhabi to contest the World Club Championship and has already played its match day-15 game, beating Xerez 2-0 away from home.

That has given the Catalan side a five point lead at the top of the table, which Real Madrid aims to reduce to just two.

Real Madrid welcomes back Cristiano Ronaldo after his suspension for the 3-2 triumph in Valencia, but Manuel Pellegrini’s side is still without Kaka, who is struggling from a groin problem.

Real also has to start getting used to life without central defender Pepe, who is out for the season after damaging the ligaments in his right knee last weekend,

Ezequiel Garay, who replaced Pepe in Valencia and scored the winning goal in the game, is the favorite to fill the gap in the Madrid defense.

Zaragoza meanwhile is in crisis after slipping into the relegation zone and sacking coach Marcelino after losing at home to Athletic Club Bilbao last weekend.

Reserve team coach Jose Aurelio Gay has taken first team training all week as the club has looked for a replacement coach and Gay will be in the Zaragoza dugout in the Bernabeu.

Should his side spring a surprise, he will have a good chance of being confirmed as first team coach until the end of the current season.

Saturday’s matches kick off in Athletic Club Bilbao’s San Mames Stadium with a derby between Athletic and Osasuna.

Athletic lost its Europa League match against Werder Bremen on Wednesday, but coach Joaquin Caparros rested key players and should be close to full strength.

The Basque side is currently seventh in the standings and a win would be the perfect end to a successful 2009. Osasuna meanwhile is without injured strikers Walter Pandiani and Carlos Aranda.

Sevilla plays at home to Getafe. Sevilla kicks the game off in third place in the table, just four points behind Real Madrid following last weekend’s efficient win away to Sporting Gijon.

Striker Luis Fabiano is still out of action with a muscle injury, but Freddy Kanoute has been in excellent form recently, while Alvaro Negredo is looking for his first goal in seven weeks.

Entrepreneurs from central China’s Henan Province and southeast China’s Taiwan communicate at an economic and trade cooperation and exchange conference, in Taipei of southeast China’s Taiwan, on Dec. 16, 2009.

A team of 12 Chinese food safety officials have just finished a two-week food safety study program in New Zealand, the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) said on Tuesday.

It was the first comprehensive food safety study program looking at the complete system in New Zealand by a Chinese delegation, the NZFSA said in a press release.

The visit followed on from New Zealand Food Safety Minister Kate Wilkinson’s visit to China in October and other ministerial and prime ministerial contacts with China in which cooperation activities have featured.

During their visit, the delegation of 12 Chinese central government officials participated in technical workshops to discuss and further understand New Zealand’s respected food regulatory system. They also visited seafood, meat and dairy businesses and farms to see how food safety standards are applied here.

NZFSA senior deputy director Bill Jolly said the study visit has been a great example of how China and New Zealand have worked closely together on food safety culminating in the provisions on food trade in the free trade agreement signed in 2008.

He said the Chinese delegation has been keen to understand more about New Zealand’s science and risk-based regulatory approach to managing health and food safety.

“They have shown an in-depth base knowledge which indicates the level of commitment China is putting into food safety. They have also posed searching questions in order to fully understand how we manage risks in our food supply and they will share their insights with central government in China,” he added.

Next year, officials from NZFSA and New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) will visit Beijing to conduct seminars on New Zealand’s experiences with the World Trade Organization concept of regionalisation and equivalence and how the appropriate use of these concepts can provide the necessary assurances in a more targeted and efficient way.

NZFSA will also continue to work with the Chinese authorities on their implementation of the NZFSA-developed electronic certification (E-cert) system for managing secure assurances on foods exported by New Zealand to China.

Nobody has ever expected that Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, which was founded 22 years ago, would promote from being a radical Islamic movement, listed among the world’s organizations of terrorism, to become a worldwide popular movement.

Hamas, which is an extension of the worldwide Brotherhood Moslem movement, was launched at Gaza mosques by several dozens of people in the Gaza Strip, then it established its armed wing, better known as al-Qassam Brigade at the beginning of the Palestinian Uprising, or Intifada in 1987.

On Monday, tens of thousands of Hamas supporters in the Gaza Strip, that has been ruled by the movement since June 2007, would join a popular rally to mark 22 years for establishing the movement, which was founded in Gaza by late spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yass in on Dec. 14, 1987.

“Hamas has become a regional and a worldwide movement within a short period of time,” said Abdel Rahman al-Jamal, a Hamas lawmaker, during a preparatory rally held in Central Gaza Strip on Friday, where demonstrators burnt two coffins wrapped with Israeli and U.S. flags.

Several months before the movement was officially founded, its founders and leaders depended on the principles of “al-Da’wa” or religious mission by publishing and spreading the principles of Islam among the population to build up a popular base of support for the movement.

When the movement was founded right after the Palestinian Intifada, or Uprising, erupted against Israel in the West Bank and Gaza, it said that its mission is to resist the Israeli military occupation by all means of arms, and also to challenge any peaceful settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.

“Although Hamas has become so popular and became an important part of the Palestinian political arena, the movement would keep considering (Jihad) holy war and armed resistance as its strategic choice to liberate the occupied land of Palestine,” said Khalil al-Hayah, a senior leading Hamas figure.

Hamas which opposed joining the world’s sponsored peace process and violently opposed Oslo peace accords signed with Israel in 1993, refused to join the first ever legislative elections held in the Palestinian territories in 1996. It armed wing had violently attempted to thwart Oslo peace accords.

“This is absolutely delicious. Where is it from?” the diner asks in a reverential tone.

“It’s Koshihikari, from Uonuma,” the cook replies, barely able to conceal his pleasure.

This exchange, often heard in restaurants around Japan, is not over some haute cuisine, but over a simple bowl of white rice.

Koshihikari is a variety of short-grain Japonica rice - the type preferred by the Japanese - which accounts for nearly 40 percent of all rice consumed in Japan. The best Koshihikari reportedly comes from snowy Uonuma country in Niigata prefecture.

Rice may be the staple food in many Asian countries, but nowhere in Asia are people arguably as particular about their rice as in Japan.

These days, the Japanese can choose from more than 300 branded varieties, many of them with such evocative names as Akita Komachi (Beautiful maiden from Akita), Hitomebore (Love at first sight) and Hoshi no Yume (Starry dream).

Incidentally, Koshihikari means the “light of Echigo” (the old name for Niigata prefecture).

Uonuma’s Koshihikari is among the most costly varieties of rice sold in Japan and retails at more than 4,000 yen ($45) for a 5kg pack.

Costing three to four times more and therefore rarely consumed, it is a variety of rice deemed suitable for presenting to the Imperial Palace, where rice plays an important part in many rituals.

The palace in central Tokyo maintains a rice field within its grounds and the emperor takes part in a ritual planting ceremony each spring.

Additionally, farmers around the country are selected to offer samples of their crop to the imperial household.

This rice is used in a thanksgiving ritual every November that is presided over by the Emperor.

Unlike other Asian societies, the Japanese have over the years transformed the art of cooking rice into an elaborate ritual.

In the finer restaurants, one cook is often assigned to prepare just rice, which is frequently cooked over a wood or gas-fired stove in metal or earthenware pots as the traditional method is still seen as the best.

Each step in the process - from washing the rice grains and lowering the heat at just the right time to scooping the cooked grains into a bowl - is performed with studied precision.

Sometimes, a small piece of charcoal is added to the pot at the start of the cooking process to improve the taste of the final product.

Given the time and attention needed, cooking rice over a stove at home was a time-consuming daily chore.

In 1955, however, Toshiba gave Japan and the world its first electric rice cooker, doing away with all the guesswork with just the push of a button. It became a runaway hit.

Later, improvements to the humble rice-cooker included an indispensable warming function and induction heating to ensure that heat is distributed more evenly.

These days, fancier cookers come with a regular cycle, a slightly longer one for people who want extra perfection, and a quick-cook cycle for people in a hurry.

I learnt recently that if one leaves rice to soak for several hours in water, the quick-cook cycle too yields admirable results.

But despite all the improvements in rice-cooker technology over the years, the Japanese are still striving to come up with even better cookers.

The top-of-the-line models feature extras such as pots made of pure copper and may cost the equivalent of a notebook computer.

Rice is said to have been eaten in Japan for several thousand years. But this is probably the only Asian society where eating it is often regarded as a privilege and not taken for granted.

Despite the onslaught of Western culinary habits in Japan such as eating toast in the morning, the Japanese still love their rice. Onigiri rice balls wrapped in dried seaweed are a must-have item in convenience stores and sell out every day.

But rice consumption has fallen greatly in Japan. The Japanese ate an average of five bowls in 1960 but now, it is just three bowls. Only 20 per cent of the Japanese eat rice at every meal, according to a 2007 survey.

It is not just the Japanese who wax lyrical about the rice they eat. When a colleague from Singapore was in Tokyo in October on business, we had lunch at a not particularly memorable restaurant where, to my surprise, he pronounced the rice to be “excellent”.

We found out later from the staff that the rice came from “newly harvested” stock - an annual early-autumn culinary treat in Japan.

In March this year, when I wrote a blog about rice that “never tasted this good”, I was inundated with inquiries about the brand of cooker I used (which incidentally was a Panasonic).

But no one can match, let alone surpass, the Japanese in their obsession over rice. Only in Japan is plain white rice served at the end of a formal meal, with no embellishments and accompanied by no more than miso soup and pickles.

After one’s taste buds have been stimulated by a multitude of flavors over the course of an evening, the unpretentious taste and pristine hue of white rice never fails to gladden the soul.

Food sector is expected to experience the most serious impact due to the global climate change, Kompas daily quoted an official as saying on Wednesday.

According to the Agriculture Ministry’s Head of Agricultural Land Resources Irsal Las, without anticipation steps, production will decrease because it would be the victim of change in rain pattern and increasing air temperature as well as rising sea level.

“The Agriculture Ministry has composed strategy and make various steps to prevent decreasing food production,” Irsal said on Tuesday.

Irsal said that rain pattern and climate anomaly causes increasing area width of drought on paddy field.

Based on the Central Bureau of Statistic’s data, the area width of rice harvest in 2009 stood at 12.8 million hectares with productivity per hectare of 4.97 tons.

Meanwhile, the ministry’s data showed that of 3.1-7.8 percent of dried-up paddy fields, areas that failed to be harvested increased to 0.04-1.87 percent from 0.004-0.41 percent.

China has started to provide free milk powder treatment to babies from poor families suffering a congenital metabolic disorder that may cause brain damage and mental retardation.

The program, launched Friday, targets 500 babies suffering phenylketonuria (PKU) in the central and western regions of China in the following five years, said Mao Meng, director of China’s Maternal and Child Health surveillance Office.

PKU is a genetic disorder of metabolism that can cause an excessive amount of phenylalanine (Phe) in the body, which can be detected in urine.

If left untreated, it can affect brain development, causing mental retardation, brain damage and seizures. However, the disorder can be treated with a low-Phe diet by lowering the Phe level to a safe range.

Early treatment is vital to prevent brain damage and low-Phe milk powder is the most effective therapy, said Yang Jianping, director of the newborn screening center in Shanxi Province, which the program covers.

“Patients can live a normal life with life-long diet treatment,” Yang said.

Each baby with the disease will receive such milk powder for free for three years, said Guo Zhanying, an official of Shanxi Province’s health department.

A family can save 20,000 yuan (About 3,000 U.S. dollars) a year as a benefit of the program, a significant amount for poor families in the less developed central and western areas, Guo said.

About one in 10,000 newborns is inflicted with the disorder in China, according to statistics of health authorities. Shanxi Province has reported 69 cases of PKU since 2004 and now it has established a mechanism of screening on newborn babies.

U.S.-based milk powder manufacturer Mead Johnson has offered to donate 20 million yuan worth of low-Phe milk powder and a training program on screening newborns for the disorder.

A delegation of financial organizations in Shanghai started a global recruiting tour Friday afternoon, hoping to fill 115 vacancies by the end of the trip.

The 17 organizations will hold three job fairs overseas, or in New York on Dec. 5, Toronto on Dec. 9 and Singapore on Dec. 13, to recruit high level financial talents.

A similar move last year brought 66 financial talents to the city, of whom five are enlisted in a national program on hiring overseas specialists and each enjoys 1 million yuan (146,400 U.S. dollars) in subsidies from the central government.

Ji Wenguan, head of Shanghai Financial Work Commission, told Xinhua that the Shanghai municipal government was planning to provide support of housing, insurance and education for the talents.

Tax cuts would also be provided for them, said Fang Xing, director of Shanghai Finance Office.

Fang said “Talents and innovation are prerequisite to building Shanghai into an international financial center.”

“It is a golden opportunity to do creative work here, work that can really make a difference, as the financial sector is developing rapidly in China,” said Hua Lei, who was recruited last year and is now supervisor of high-end wealth management at Orient Securities.

In addition, the education and medical care level in Shanghai was as good as anywhere else in the world, Hua said.

“Our payment package is competitive and flexible in the global market,” said Yang Qingzhong, human resource manager of Haitong Securities Co., Ltd.

Yang said his company was very satisfied with the performance of the high level talents recruited last year and was offering seven more important posts this time, including manager of assets management division.

Bank of Communications, Shanghai Stock Exchange, Haitong Securities Co., Ltd and other big names in the Chinese financial sector are among the 17 recruiting organizations.