News on China's scientific and technological development.

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A car company's emphasis on safety technology speaks for its social responsibility, and its devotion to R&D determines whether it can grow to be stronger.

"Most of the consumers choose Geely for its outstanding safety performance", said Liu Jinliang, vice president of Geely Holding Group. In the first 11 months of 2011, sales of Emgrand EC7 reached 86,848 units, making it the best seller among all the domestic made A-class sedans. Geely cars' safety performance has been gaining an edge in competition with other brands.

Geely Group started its strategic transformation in 2007, and now it has set "safety first" as its R&D strategy; The automaker inaugurated its Auto Safety Technology Lab in 2011 and now it adopts Geely Total Safety Management (GTSM), making Geely the top performer among self-owned car brands; Geely introduced Blow-out Monitoring and Braking System (BMBS) in 2008 and further developed crash mitigation system. Panda and Emgrand EC7 won five stars in the China-New Car Assessment Program (C-NCAP) test in 2010, and the Emgrand EC7 gained Euro NCAP 4-Star Safety Rating in 2011. Over the years, Geely's mission of "making the safest car" set by its chairman Li Shufu has been achieved gradually through the hard work of the company's R&D teams.

Making the safest car

Success is the sum of small efforts

The C-NCAP test was launched in 2006, and a year later, Geely Free Cruiser got two stars in the test with 28.6 points, a moderate result that became the starting point of Geely's dedication to safety performance.

In 2007, Geely started its strategic transformation and set the company's mission as "making the world's safest, most environment-friendly and most efficient car and letting Geely cars run all over the world". In July 2008, Geely Vision became the first C-NCAP four-star car in the history of Chinese independent brand. In 2009, Geely Panda was titled "the King of Safety" by its prominent score (45.3) in C-NCAP test and became China's first independently-researched minicar achieving five-star performance in crash test. In 2010, Geely Emgrand EC7 got five-star safety rating in C-NCAP.

On November 23, 2011, Euro-NCAP published a new list of vehicle crash report and the Chinese vehicle brand Geely Emgrand EC7 owned 4-star certificate. This is the top best result from Chinese vehicle; it is also the first Chinese vehicle which owned 4-star certificate from Euro-NCAP.

"The result marks a milestone for the Chinese automotive industry, signaling that Chinese carmakers have grown rapidly in R&D and stepped up their investment in vehicle safety performance. Though the standards for a five star vehicle are going to be raised, Chinese cars will soon achieve that,"said Euro NCAP secretary general Michiel van Ratingen.

On December 29, 2011, Geely's Emgrand EC8 was rated five stars with 49.6 scores under C-NCAP, the highest score ever earned by a Chinese brand, and the result ranks the sixth among all 147 car models in the history of C-NCAP.

From two stars to five stars, Geely's achievements have condensed Geely people's efforts. "It's hard to get a 5-star certificate and even harder for independently-researched cars for they have to face the dilemma between cost and safety," said Zhao Fuquan, vice president of Geely Group.

Zhao once worked in Daimler-Chrysler Corporation. "The development cost of Mercedes-Benz is much higher than that of Geely. If Emgrand's market price is 250,000 yuan, it's no big deal for the five stars rating. However, Emgrand is just sold at the price around 90,000 yuan, and that says something for Geely's safety technology," added Zhao.

Geely Auto's breakthroughs in safety technology have gained fame in authoritative organizations, which in turn boost sales of Geely cars. Geely sold out 416,000 cars in 2010, up 30 percent year-on-year. Research from J.D. Power shows Geely is gaining popularity among consumers. All these indicate that Geely has become a trustable brand.

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Construction of China's high-speed railways, halted due to funding shortages, will resume this year, the government says.



With 3,500 kilometers of new high-speed railways expected to be put into use this year, the length of China's high-speed railways will exceed 10,000 kilometers, a senior railway official said.

Insiders said the construction of high-speed railways, which was halted due to funding shortage, will resume this year.

Yang Zhongmin, director of the planning department of the Ministry of Railways, said that all four of the planned North-South rail arteries for China's high-speed rail system will be complete, according to People's Daily on Thursday.

One of the four arteries, the Beijing-Shanghai line, opened in June. The others will connect Beijing and Guangzhou in South China, Beijing and Harbin in Northeast China, and cities on the southeast coast with high-speed railways.

Though a section of rail between Xiamen and Shenzhen will not be finished this year, the four arteries will start operation and significantly cut travel time between major cities, Yang said.

For instance, train travel from Beijing to Shenzhen will take eight hours instead of the current 24 hours, and trips from Beijing to Harbin will take only five hours instead of nine.

China's high-speed rail sector was hampered by a funding shortage last year, when money from the government's 4 trillion yuan ($635 billion) stimulus plan dried up and the government's tightened monetary policy, after which the ministry was unable to get bank loans. More than 10,000 kilometers of high-speed railway projects were halted.

Wang Mengshu, a leading rail tunnel expert, said on Thursday that railway construction is expected to resume this year.

Wang, deputy chief engineer at China Railway Tunnel Group, told China Daily, citing a recent railway working conference, that the work on 6,000 kilometers of halted railway projects will resume this year and funds will be allocated gradually.

"The ministry will also begin nine new railway projects this year, but none of them are high-speed railways," he said.

An article posted on Feb 8 on the website of the Chongqing development and reform commission, a branch of China's top economic planner, supports Wang's statement.

According to the article, Lu Dongfu, deputy minister of railways, said at a meeting on Dec 30 that the ministry plans to spend 406 billion yuan on 249 infrastructure projects this year.The money will be used to complete 63 rail projects, continue work on 177 others and begin nine new ones. Besides, the ministry would like to begin 53 other projects this year.

But Yang Hao, a railway professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, said that the 53 projects would need the approval of the National Development and Reform Commission before ground could be broken on them.

The ministry has stressed that the plan for infrastructure spending is "subject to changes", and experts believe that funding is the crucial factor that could determine whether the full plan is carried out.

Zhao Jian, another railway professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, said it remains unclear how the ministry will pull together 400 billion yuan because it has clear access to only 80 billion yuan from the railway construction fund and other sources. "And even the 80 billion yuan is not enough to pay off the interest generated by the 2 trillion yuan debt the ministry owes," he said.

China has planned to build a railway network of 120,000 kilometers by 2015, including at least 16,000 kilometers of high-speed railways.

Employees protest Putzmeister's takeover by Sany


Sany Heavy Industry announced late January it would pay €324 million (US$426 million) to buy a 90% stake in Putzmeister, Germany's largest concrete-pump maker. However, the acquisition is awaiting regulatory approval from Chinese authorities, the Shanghai-based First Financial Daily reports, citing sources from another Chinese heavy-equipment manufacturer, Zoomlion Industry Science & Technology Development, which claims that it had been given the green light by the regulator to make a move for Putzmeister itself.

The deal has sparked controversy at Putzmeister's headquarters, with protests by the company's German employees being reported a few days ago.

In addition, the First Financial Daily said Putzmeister Machinery Shanghai had suspended its operations a few days ago, with assembly-line workers complaining to their superiors about the company's compensation policy and asking for higher payments.

On Feb. 15, the reporter found that no assembly workers had reported to the company's factory in Shanghai. A staffer on duty said the factory may resume production on Feb. 20.

The decision to suspend operations was taken at an employee meeting on Feb. 14, where a German executive announced several new policies. By this time, the market was already abuzz with rumors that had begun Jan. 28 that Sany was planning to acquire Putzmeister.

A source familiar with the matter said Sany was scheduled to take over Putzmeister Machinery Shanghai on March 1.

After the news was confirmed, employees expressed their concerns over the company's personnel plans after the acquisition. They were dissatisfied with two of the compensation plans proposed by their German employer. The source said most assembly-line workers preferred a third plan, under which they could secure their basic needs in the short term, even if they were made redundant by Sany.

After the deal was reached, Sany president Xiang Wenbo told reporters that no employees would be laid off during the takeover. Putzmeister would also retain its independent brand and its management team.

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China's installed nuclear power capacity is expected to top 80 million kilowatts by 2020, China Securities Journal reported yesterday, citing a report from the National Energy Administration, but experts said that reaching this target would be a challenge.

The figure of 80 million kilowatts is well above market expectations of some 60 to 70 million kilowatts, and it may be a signal that the government will restart the process of approving nuclear projects in China, said the report.

China suspended approval of new nuclear projects in March last year as part of a nationwide safety overhaul following the devastating nuclear crisis at Fukushima in Japan.

Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, said that it would be a tough task for China to realize the target before 2020.

"Site choices will be one problem - sites of nuclear plants require low population concentration and must be close to water sources. But in China, coastal provinces are the most densely populated areas," said Lin. The China Securities Journal report also said that for now the government will not consider approving inland nuclear projects due to safety concerns.

Currently, the total installed capacity of China's nuclear plants, including those under construction, is around 40 million kilowatts, according to China Nuclear Energy Association.

Zhang Weixing, a former official with China Nuclear Geology, told the Global Times that because it is such an effective way of generating power, nuclear power has the greatest development potential among all clean energies.

"With the same installed capacity, nuclear plants could generate much more power than wind turbines and hydropower stations," said Zhang.

The government's decision to restart the development of nuclear power may serve as a boost to nuclear power equipment producers. The domestic market for nuclear equipment is expected to top 1 trillion yuan ($158.75 billion) by 2020, China United Business News reported Tuesday.

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The dispute between Proview and Apple over the iPad trademark heated up on Friday when Proview said it would sue the US tech giant for a violation of their agreement by using the trademark to compete against it.

"If everything goes well, we might file a claim against Apple in the United States a month from now," Yang Long San, founder of the Proview Group, said in a news conference in Beijing.

According to Proview, IP Application Development, which bought the trademark in 2009 from the Taiwan-based Proview Electronics and then sold it to Apple, promised it would not produce anything that competes with Proview's products with the same trademark.

Yang said Proview started producing a device called Internet Personal Access Device in 2000 that looks like a small ordinary PC and uses touch-panel technology. The products were sold in Europe and the US, Yang said.

"According to international trademark law, despite the differences between the appearance and technology of the iPad of Proview and that of Apple, they belong to the same category. So Apple was in breach of the contract," Xie Xianghui, a lawyer representing Proview Technology Shenzhen, told China Daily.

Li Su, a Proview consultant who was also present at the news conference, said he had talked to three lawyers in the US and had been told the claim could go up to $2 billion.

Apple declined to comment on Proview's latest move when China Daily reached it after the news conference.

In a statement on Wednesday, Apple accused Proview Technology of not honoring its agreement to transfer the rights to use the trademark for the product in China.

In response, Proview insisted that the trademark on the Chinese mainland, which is owned by the Shenzhen-based Proview Technology, was not legally integrated in the deal between Proview Electronics and IP Application.

Proview Technology Shenzhen still holds the rights to the trademark it registered in 2001, according to the website of China's trademark authority. It said that Proview Electronics Taiwan and Proview Technology Shenzhen were associated but separate entities.

A local court in Shenzhen backed Proview Shenzhen in December and rejected Apple's claim to the trademark on the Chinese mainland.

The court at Huizhou, Guangdong province, also ruled on Friday in favor of Proview Technology, deciding it was illegal for Sundan, a major electronic appliance store in China, to sell iPads.

Proview also filed suit against Gome, another electronics giant in Shenzhen and against the Apple Store in Shanghai.

Media have reported that some stores in Shijiazhuang and Xuzhou have stopped selling the products.

Xie said they have spoken to authorities in more than 40 cities and two-thirds are conducting investigations.

A few e-mails between Proview and IP Application ahead of the agreement were also posted online on Thursday as the dispute heated. The e-mails showed Huy Yuan, a representative from Proview, was from the Shenzhen-based company.

Just because the e-mails came from Shenzhen does not legalize the transfer of the iPad trademark on the Chinese mainland, said Li, who is also president of the Hejun Vanguard Group.

"Proview has its headquarters in Shenzhen, so it's normal to send the e-mail from Shenzhen," he said.

The current net liabilities of Proview International amount to 2.87 billion yuan ($456 million). All Proview International assets, including the trademark 'iPad', have been seized as collateral by the eight banks.

"Apple sent lawyers to negotiate a commercial solution with the eight banks in 2010, but it doesn't admit it now," Proview said in a statement on Friday.

Yang also denied reports that Proview once asked Apple for 10 billion yuan for the use of the trademark in China.

"We haven't come up with any figure to date. We just have to be responsible for our financial obligations," he said.

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China, U.S. firms sign bio-fuel deal


China's biggest egg producer said Friday it will cooperate with a major U.S. meat supplier to establish a bio-fuel company in the United States with a total investment of 1.8 billion U.S. dollars.

Beijing DQY Agriculture Technology Co., Ltd. (DQY) and Virginia-based Smithfield Foods will set up a joint venture co-run by their subsidiaries, Beijing Helee Bio-Energy (HELEE) and Murphy-Brown, DQY said in a press release.

The joint venture will adopt core technologies from HELEE and launch a pig farm biogas project this year, the company said, citing an agreement it signed with the Smithfield Foods in Des Moines, capital of the U.S. state of Iowa, on Thursday.

According to the agreement, the biogas project will produce 3.5 million cubic meters of methane annually and have a power generating capacity of 1 megawatt, the DQY said.

It noted the project will be able to produce 7 million kwh of electricity each year and cut 42,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

The two companies also plan to utilize wastes at more than 2,600 pig farms of the Smithfield Foods over the next 10 years, which will lead to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 21 million tonnes annually, four times the current yearly emission of Chicago, according to DQY.

Smithfield Foods is the largest U.S. meat supplier with a market share in the country of 22.5 percent, while the DQY accounts for 45 percent of the Chinese egg market and has a biogas power project in Beijing that generates 14 million kwh of electricity per year

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The Year of the Dragon has gotten off to an inauspicious start for the Chinese wind industry and in particular, Sinovel Wind Group Co. (Sinovel), China's leading wind turbine manufacturer. In early February, with the official end to the “Spring Festival” only days away, Sinovel reported decidedly chilly preliminary estimates of its FY2011 performance, confirming that Sinovel and indeed the whole Chinese wind industry had, in the words of one Chinese wind industry insider “entered a winter that would be hard to endure”. Sinovel estimated that its net income for FY2011 declined by more than 50% compared with 2010 profits of 2.856 billion Yuan (~$450 million USD). The decline in profitability of Sinovel in 2011 was attributed to several factors: intense competition in the Chinese wind turbine market, delays in the development of certain wind farm projects and a series of mishaps that adversely affected the grid, which were caused by turbine defects evident during low voltage ride through (LVRT) events (low voltage ride through, is what an electric device, especially wind generator, may be required to be capable of when the voltage in the grid is temporarily reduced due to a fault or load change in the grid).

According to an official with Longyuan Power, the detection of turbine defects, which brought about the low voltage ride through issues has resulted in new rules, which, among other things, require that all wind turbines undergoing upgrades to address this problem obtain the approval of the State Grid Electric Power Research Institute prior to being put back in service. These inspections, being time consuming, have put further pressure on turbine manufacturers. This is an issue that certainly impacts Sinovel because of its large base of installed turbines, and particularly because some of the most prominent incidents occurred at the Gansu Province, Jiuquan wind farm, where Sinovel’s turbines predominate.

In addition to the fiscal and technical challenges Sinovel faces this year, the company also is confronting legal claims of more than $1.2 billion USD and a worldwide public relations blowback as a consequence of the souring of its relationship with American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC); indeed Sinovel has become a poster child for U.S. government complaints about Chinese trade practices in discussions with Xi Jinping, China’s incoming leader, who is visiting the U.S. this week.

As previously reported, AMSC has filed for arbitration and also has filed three civil lawsuits in Chinese courts against Sinovel and companies related to Sinovel, alleging breach of contract and intellectual property theft. And while the initial impression is that the Chinese legal system has settled into its role of protecting Sinovel through delay and favoritism, the existence of the litigation has had a decidedly chilling effect on Sinovel’s ambitions to become a serious player worldwide. This was in evidence in November 2011 when Mainstream Renewable Power put on hold its deal for Sinovel to supply it with up to 1 GW of wind turbines.

Sinovel has ridden the wave of rapid wind energy development in China to become the largest producer of wind turbines in China and as a consequence of China’s rapid growth in wind power production, the world’s second largest turbine manufacturer. In 2010 4386 MW worth of Sinovel turbines were installed; in all, China installed a total of 18,928 MW in 2010, which gave Sinovel a 23% market share. The early estimates are that China’s installed wind capacity in 2011 grew by 20,666 MW, but of that total, Sinovel’s installations decreased to 3700 MW and its market share declined to 18%, leading one to speculate that 2010 may have been Sinovel’s high water mark. (Total installations in 2009 in China were 13,750 MW and Sinovel’s share was 3510 MW or 25.5%; in 2008 wind turbine installations in China totaled 6246 MW and Sinovel’s share was 1403 MW or 22.5%).

Because Sinovel’s rapid growth has been accompanied by a decline in market share amid intense competition, and shares of Sinovel now are selling for 50% of the price they fetched when the dispute with AMSC became public last year, the company enters this year under increased financial pressure; this financial pressure in turn has necessitated Sinovel to return to financial markets to, among other things, supplement its working capital, despite having gone public in a blockbuster IPO in January 2011.

So how does China’s wind industry plan to pass this harsh winter? Of course, simply suffering is a time-honored tradition. One of the most evocative phrases used by the Chinese is “Chi Ku” (to “eat bitterness”) and apparently the Chinese wind industry already is eating a large amount of bitterness. Next there is hope that the Chinese government will step up the pace of wind turbine installations and on this point there was encouraging news this week when the Chinese government announced the start of the second Offshore Wind Power RFP process for an anticipated total of 1500-2000 MW of installed capacity. At the same time, the State Energy Administration announced its goal of supporting the development of a total of 30,000 MW of offshore wind capacity by 2020; to put this ambitious goal into perspective, presently China has just 1380 MW of offshore wind power installed. Some are estimating that the offshore wind market alone will be worth 100 billion Yuan (~$16 billion USD) through 2020.

Because we have seen this movie played out countless times in a wide array of Chinese industries, we know that the central issue for the Chinese wind industry is how to avoid the cutthroat price competition that juices the sector as it debilitates the industry’s players. There has been a remarkable decline in wind turbine prices over the last four to five years: in 2008 the price of a 1.5-MW wind turbine in China was ~$1.48million USD; by late 2011 the price of a 1.5-MW wind turbine had dropped almost in half to ~$762,000 USD!

The Chinese accomplished this feat of halving the price of a MW of wind power, in large part by rapidly developing an indigenous manufacturing industry that has been able to produce turbines and their components at substantially lower prices. If for nothing else, the Chinese are well known for their penchant to incessantly pressure their suppliers to sell at increasingly uneconomic prices. But here is the interesting point: one of the few categories of suppliers to the wind turbine industry that didn’t make price concessions over the past several years were foreign companies with technology that the Chinese needed but hadn’t been able to replicate indigenously. The prime example of this, of course, is the electrical components and control systems produced by AMSC. A simple “back of the envelope” calculation displays in high relief this conundrum: while the price of Chinese wind turbines and most of their components were declining steadily over the past four to five years, the cost of electrical and control systems supplied by AMSC under its 2008 contract with Sinovel remained constant, so that what accounted for (approximately) 9% of the total cost of a Sinovel wind turbine in 2008, grew to be a 12% item by late 2011!

This dynamic clearly gave Sinovel the incentive (as claimed by AMSC) to steal AMSC’s intellectual property or (as claimed by Sinovel) to develop its own indigenous capability in electrical components and control systems so that Sinovel would be able to reduce the cost of its turbines in this hyper-competitive environment in China today and hopefully halt the slide in its market share.

One somewhat perplexing aspect of this tale is that Sinovel’s relationship with its key technology supplier has become rocky just when the technological requirements that may give Sinovel a competitive edge going forward have grown. With an increasing number of 6-MW turbines, the expected rapid growth of offshore wind farms, and myriad grid connection issues, one would expect that Sinovel might be able to claw its way back up the market share ladder with a superior command of technology. And this is what makes the falling apart of the Sinovel/AMSC relationship mystifying. Did Sinovel’s chairman, Han Junliang, just spectacularly miscalculate or did he know or believe that Sinovel could keep up with the growing technological requirements that might set Sinovel apart, with or without AMSC? In the glow of its $1.4 billion USD IPO in early 2011, did Sinovel feel at liberty to make off with AMSC’s crown jewels hoping that it could innovate beyond the AMSC technology platform or perhaps hoping that the cost benefits would be enough to keep Sinovel in the game long enough for it to figure out what to do next? Did Han Junliang underestimate how rising competition would affect Sinovel’s profits or is it precisely because he saw that those profits were rapidly shrinking that he felt compelled to lower Sinovel’s costs at the expense of AMSC?

In any event, it remains to be seen how Sinovel will weather the harsh winter that has now beset China’s wind power equipment manufacturing industry. And it will be fascinating to see whether the much anticipated innovation revolution that many insist is imminent in China will arrive in time to benefit Sinovel. In the interim, the best approach for Sinovel may be to settle with AMSC and allow the partnership to resume based on a new paradigm that fairly compensates foreign technology, which in turn allows for a gradually declining return per unit in recognition of the changing economics of the wind turbine industry.

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China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center (ITER China) on Monday gained the ISO 9001 certification, the internationally recognized standard for quality management, at an accreditation ceremony held in Beijing.

ITER China is the China-based execution body of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a France-based international nuclear fusion research and engineering project aiming at commercial uses of fusion power.

The project is funded and run by China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States.

Established by the Ministry of Science and Technology in Oct. 2008, ITER China is responsible for safeguarding China's interests as an equal partner of the ITER and performing China's commitment to the program.

At the Monday ceremony, Science Minister Wan Gang said ITER China gaining the ISO 9001 accreditation was a milestone, and urged it to well execute the quality management system and explore an organization system for the nation's large science projects.

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The revenue of Shenyang Machine Tool (Group) Co. Ltd in 2011 surpassed 18 billion yuan (2.9 billion U.S. dollars), according to statistics provided by the company.

The company has seen rapid development and growth in sales income, which stood at 800 million yuan in 2002 and exceeded 10 billion yuan in 2007.

A shift in the company's production strategies contributed to the sales growth, as it began to outsource the manufacturing of low-end products to other companies and focus on high-end numerical control machine tools at the end of 2010.

The company also acquired several machine-tool-making companies in both domestic and international markets, including the German company SCHIESS. The acquisition broadened its market and improved its production capacity as well as technologies.

The Shenyang Machine Tool (Group) Co. Ltd, a major machinery manufacturer based in northeast China's Liaoning Province, produced China's first machine tool and is now the research and manufacturing base for numerical control machine tools.

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Since the end of 2011, there has been plenty of news about company closing down, production suspension, and production reduction in the photovoltaic industry, with even first-tier enterprises being affected. In January, 2012, however, the photovoltaic industry showed signs of recovery. The inventory of major module manufacturers is reduced, and the supply schedule of main components suppliers is full again. Does this indicate that the market has reached the bottom and begun to rebound? Has the integration of the photovoltaic manufacturing industry been started for real?

Some numbers may answer these questions directly. In 2011, the demand of the global photovoltaic market is merely 20 GW, but the aggregate production capacity worldwide is as high as 40-50 GW, with China possessing 30 GW of this capacity. The supply greatly exceeds the demand. Over capacity is an important cause of this round of slowdown in the photovoltaic industry. At a time like this, industrial integration is unavoidable. People are generally not very optimistic about the market in this year. The signs of recovery in January are considered as more of a short-term fluctuation of the market than overall recovery of the industry. This winter is still long.

As a matter of fact, the photovoltaic manufacturing industry has experienced an extensive integration 3 years ago. China's photovoltaic enterprises started gradually since the beginning of this century, increasing to hundreds in number from the initial dozens. The 2008 international financial recession reduced the number to around 50 at one point. As China's economy recovered and demands in international market went back up, investment returns in the photovoltaic industry remained high, attracting more new capital into the industry, and the number of photovoltaic industry in China again surging to around 500.

Compared to 2008, the conditions of the integration of the industry this time are different.

Demands in international market today can hardly compared to the good old time. European countries such as Germany and Italy are the main markets of photovoltaic application. After years of popularization, the space for the growth of products demands in these European countries has been reduced. What's worse, the deterioration of the European debt crisis in 2011 caused the growth of demands in international market to slow down gradually. In addition, subsidy policies for photovoltaic power in these countries begin to enter a stage of adjustment. Besides continuous reduction of subsidy, another new trend is also worthy of concerns.

According to Li Ying, CEO of Sinosol AG, who is familiar with overseas markets, Italy promulgated a new policy in 2011, in which a subsidy cap is imposed. Once the cap is reached, the excessive part will not be subsidized. Presently, the German government is also discussing about relevant policy about annual installation cap in 2012. Besides, in summer 2012, Germany will promulgate a policy about decreasing price of grid electricity for the second time in the year. All these new policies indicate that European countries are slowing down the growth of new photovoltaic installation.

On the other hand, the price of photovoltaic modules is poised to go down. The end of the high subsidy era and the reality of over capacity have promoted the gradual dawning of the new era of low-price grid connection, which will directly cause module price to continue to go down. The InterSolar 2011 held in June 2011 in Munich is a watershed. Before the event, module price in international market was approximately 1.15/watt, and the price in China was approximately RMB10 to 11 Yuan/watt. During the event, price began to loosen up and slip. At present, the price in international market is about 0.7/watt, and price in China is about RMB6 to 7 Yuan/watt. Li Ying estimates that market price will continue to go down in 2012.

In 2008, industrial integration is achieved by enterprises consolidating to increase production capacity for the purpose of securing better price to win the competition. In 2012 and the two or three years to come, only photovoltaic enterprises that possess high technology, high efficiency, and low cost can survive. In the view of Li Junfeng, secretary of the Renewable Energy Committee of China Association of Resource Comprehensive Utilization, 10 of China's photovoltaic units enterprises are needed at the most; enterprises that will remain after the integration should: innovate continuously, establish solid upstream and downstream relationship, and diversify operation and risks.

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A visitor photographs Sany Heavy Industry Co Ltd mining equipment at an exhibition in Beijing. Sany would restart its initial public offering process in Hong Kong in the second quarter of 2012.

Sany Heavy Industry, a top Chinese heavy machinery maker, would restart its initial public offering process in Hong Kong in the second quarter of 2012, Hong Kong-based newspaper Wen Wei Po reported Saturday. The move signals the company's overseas expansion, analysts said Sunday.

The company is likely to get listed in April or May to raise about HK$25.74 billion ($3.3 billion), and the price range is expected to be decided in a few weeks, the newspaper reported.

Zhou Na, the company's spokeswoman, declined to comment on the IPO yesterday.

"It's the right time for an IPO in Hong Kong as the market has turned much better than last year," Li Daxiao, research director at Yingda Securities, told the Global Times Sunday.

Li noted that a Hong Kong IPO would be a good financing complement to its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Sany was set to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last October. However, the company delayed its IPO due to a sluggish market in Hong Kong and slowing infrastructure and property sectors in the mainland that have big impact on the heavy machinery business, Li Weidong, research director at consulting firm China Venture, told the Global Times yesterday.

Sany announced on January 30 that it will acquire a 90 percent stake in German concrete pump maker Putzmeister Holding GmbH for 324 million euros ($427.6 million).

The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of March and is awaiting regulatory approvals.

Sany needs a huge amount of capital to finance the Putzmeister deal. An IPO is a better way to raise money compared to bank loans as it avoids paying interests, Hua Yi, a corporate finance expert, told the Global Times yesterday.

And it is believed that the company has more overseas targets for future acquisitions, according to Hua. The IPO also shows that the privately run enterprise is expanding into the overseas markets after making big achievement at home.

After the Putzmeister acquisition, Sany can enjoy greater influence in the industry, higher productivity and bigger market share. It would have larger room for growth as it will be able to expand into the European and African markets, instead of relying only on the Chinese market, noted Li from China Venture, who believed the listing would be successful.

"And a listing in Hong Kong makes it easier for the company to invest overseas as the funds raised in HK dollar are convertible and not subject to complicated foreign exchange approval procedures," said Hua.

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The world has entered the era of the knowledge economy and, as the key strategic resource for national development, talent is playing an increasingly vital role. For example, today, the use of computers to create wealth and value signals a major change in mankind's mode of working. Wealth and value were first created from the soil, then in factories, later in banks and now via the Internet and computers. This marks significant human progress.

Mr. Thomas Friedman said that in the era of the knowledge economy, the world is flat. The most fundamental characteristic of this era is the transnational flow and internationalization of talent. According to statistics from the United Nations, the number of people who currently live and work outside of their native countries exceeds 200 million, and this number is increasing by three percent each year. This global flow of talent offers fresh hope for undertaking key science and technology projects as well as for tackling existing global challenges. The Human Genome Project was an outstanding example of this. The project, hailed as one of the three major scientific undertakings of the 20th century, was jointly completed by scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan and China.

International exchanges and the collaboration between talents from different countries have provided these talents with a new broad arena in which they can work to their full potential. For instance, Mr. John Thornton, former President of Goldman Sachs of the United States, became a guest professor at Tsinghua University in 2003. The global leadership course that he directs has become one of the most popular and influential courses at the university.

The increased flow of international talent and intellectual opening-up and cooperation has become universally accepted in today's world. Chinese President Hu Jintao pointed out that China will pursue a more positive opening-up strategy in order to better promote development, reform and innovation, and to allow more countries and people to benefit from China's development. We will implement a more open policy on the internationalization of talent and will strengthen cooperation and exchanges in this area.

China is characterized by a large population, a big market and abundant opportunities generated by its rapid growth. Since the launch of reform and opening-up in 1978, China has always attached great importance to bringing in outstanding overseas talents. Between 2001 and 2010, China welcomed 300,000 foreign specialists annually. Many of these specialists are world-renowned and came to China for work, exchanges or cooperation. They made important contributions to China's development and won the respect and friendship of the Chinese people. The Chinese government has established the "Friendship Award" to recognize those foreign specialists who make outstanding contributions.

China is now implementing its 12th Five-Year Plan. The realization of the plan's aims hinges on science and technology as well as talent. China currently boasts a considerable reservoir of talents, although it still has a shortfall of high-caliber individuals. In 2008, China began implementing its "Recruitment Program of Global Experts" to bring in high-caliber overseas talents. In the past three years, more than 1,600 high-caliber talents who had studied abroad returned to China to start innovative ventures or businesses. In 2011, China initiated its "Recruitment Program of Foreign Experts", with the aim of attracting more experts from abroad. With our expanded vision, fresh courage and a more open mindset, we will attract more high-caliber overseas talents, including foreign experts, to participate in China's modernization. We will offer these outstanding talents preferential policies and treatment as well as better working and living conditions.

China's robust modernization drive not only provides an unprecedented opportunity, but also creates substantially improved research conditions and business platforms which allow talents to put their skills to good use. China has more than 2,200 universities, 3,700-plus independent scientific research institutions, 18,000 scientific research institutions operated by large and medium-sized enterprises, and more than 330 national key laboratories. In 2010, China's research funding totaled 698 billion yuan ($111 billion), the third in the world up from 2005's sixth-place. Research funding will continue to increase substantially in the future. "For the world's top engineering talents, China will be an optimal stage for them to realize their dreams of changing the world through technology," said Robin Li, Chairman of Baidu, who returned to China from the United States more than 10 years ago to start his business.

An open China holds unlimited opportunities; a growing China is a place of limitless hopes. Now, the world not only has an American dream in the West, but also a Chinese dream in the East. We sincerely welcome foreign experts from all over the world to come to China to work, share in China's development opportunities and realize their life dreams.

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The Hefei official announced on the 17th, the world's first metro quantum communication experiments and demonstrations - Hefei Metro quantum communication test model networks built here.

Quantum communication is based on the basic principles of quantum mechanics based on new communication technologies in the international arena is seen as the ultimate means of known technology to protect the security of information transmission, high-tech core and key technologies in the field of competing research and development in the countries of the world. In particular, the European Union, the United States and Japan have been strongly pursuing the theoretical and experimental studies of quantum communication.

Located here China University of Science and Technology and Anhui quantum communication Technology Co., Ltd. to carry out cutting-edge technology of quantum communication and promote the industrialization of quantum communication aspects, has been walking in the ranks of the leading international USTC Hefei Physical Sciences at Microscale National Laboratory in the quantum information field of research, since 2003, the six selected Chinese academicians named 'China's top ten scientific and technological progress', the four times selected European Physical Society and the American Physical Society selected the year physics major progress 'quantum Anhui Communication Technology Co., Ltd. As China's first quantum communication security solution, system integration, complete sets of quantum communication products supplier.

It is reported that in July 2010, Hefei metro quantum communication experiments and demonstrations network officially started the implementation of the city government as the major projects of the city's independent innovation, and strive to build China's domestic 'first started, the first built, the first to use' scale metro quantum communication networks. According to reports, since the implementation of the project, the China Science and Technology Co., Ltd. of Anhui quantum communication researchers to overcome a series of key scientific problems and engineering problems, has successfully built a 46-node metro quantum communication network As of the end of 2011, has registered a total of 23 patents and software copyright licensing and software products.

Hefei Science and Technology Secretary for Zhu policy, said the project has recently passed the test review of the expert group composed of senior experts in the field of quantum information network communications, scholars, marks the completion of pilot demonstration network, Hefei Metro quantum communication and into the trial run, Hefei, China and the world's first large-scale quantum communication network of the city.

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In 2011, the Container-RFID System independently researched and developed by Bao Qifan, a national model worker with the Shanghai International Port Group became an international standard ultimately.

It was the first international standard in the areas of logistics and the Internet of Things, initiated, drafted and led by a Chinese expert since China started to participate in activities of the International Organization for Standardization.

An official from the Standardization Administration of China said that China's capacity and levels of practically participation in international standardization activities have been improving in recent years.

A total of 237 international standards, like the Container-RFID System, proposed and drafted by China have been approved by international standardization organizations and 109 of them have been officially issued, covering various areas including energy, environment, health, maritime technologies, low-carbon technologies, equipment manufacturing, social administration and culture.

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Xinjiang Goldwind will build a wind farm in Chile in corporation with Mainstream Renewable Power.

Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology, a leading Chinese wind turbine manufacturer, is set to develop a 70-megawatt wind farm in Chile, the company announced Tuesday in Beijing.

According to an agreement signed with global renewable energy developer Mainstream Renewable Power, the two companies will establish a 50/50 joint venture to build the first phase of the Ckani Wind Farm in the Antofagasta region of northern Chile.

Under the terms of the agreement, Chicago-based Goldwind USA, a subsidiary of Goldwind, will supply 47 units of GW87/1.5MW wind turbines.

The Ckani wind farm has a total potential capacity of 240 megawatts and has been in development by Mainstream since 2009. It will be connected to the SING Electrical System and the construction on the first 70-megawatt phase is expected to start by the end of 2012.

"We are delighted to see such tremendous progress in a short period of time," said Wang Haibo, executive vice president of Goldwind and CEO of Goldwind International.

Mainstream CEO Eddie O'Connor also described the wind farm in Chile as "an exciting project" with Goldwind.

In recent years, Chinese wind turbine makers have eyed the world market due to a surplus in domestic production capacity.

The China Wind Energy Association says price quotes for Chinese wind turbines are 20-30% lower than those of their foreign counterparts in the world market.

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China is seeking to improve safety at its nuclear power plants to pave the way for the industry's renewed expansion, as shown by recent statements and decisions by regulators.

The National Energy Administration has embarked on a research and development plan for nuclear safety technology, following months of assessments and inspections in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster.

The administration said in a statement on its website that 13 R&D projects should be completed by 2013, covering such issues as operational safety and the capacity to deal with extreme disasters, including earthquakes and multiple hazards.

The move will greatly increase the safety of China's advanced second-generation technology, allowing it to meet the standards set for third-generation technology.

The statement came just days after an announcement that the NEA would expand its nuclear power division.

The agency established a separate nuclear power division on Feb 14, a sign of the importance that China attaches to the sector, experts said.

China has made great efforts to improve nuclear power safety since Japan's nuclear crisis last year.

China National Nuclear Corp, the nation's largest nuclear operator, said it was developing 25 plans to improve project safety. The first 11 plans were completed in 2011, the company said. Another 13 plans calling for waterproofing, emergency response procedures and other matters will be completed by 2013, it said.

China also strengthened its nuclear supervision system and doubled the staff in the Department of Nuclear Management in the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Safety concerns arose again after a recent report that questioned the choice of location for the Pengze Nuclear Station in Jiangxi province, one of China's first inland nuclear projects, which is in the preliminary stages of construction.

"This is an indication of public resistance to nuclear power development," said Xiao Xinjian, industry expert at the Energy Research Institute, which is affiliated with the National Development and Reform Commission.

Following the nuclear leak in Japan after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the Chinese government suspended approvals for nuclear power stations. It also conducted rigorous safety checks at all nuclear projects, including those under construction. No new project was approved or started last year.

Earlier, an unidentified official with the National Nuclear Safety Administration, which is under the Ministry of Environmental Protection, told China Daily that regulators might be able to resume approving new nuclear projects during the first half of 2012.

The government might reduce the number of new reactors that can be approved each year from eight to six, industry insiders have said.

Before the Japanese quake, China had planned to increase its nuclear-generation capacity by about 10 gigawatts annually, building eight reactors each year.

Japan's former prime minister Naoto Kan acknowledged recently that the crippled Fukushima plant should not have been built so close to the ocean on a tsunami-prone coast.

The disaster disclosed even bigger man-made vulnerabilities in Japan's nuclear industry, from inadequate safety guidelines to crisis management, all of which he said need to be overhauled.

China had six new projects approved before the Japanese disaster, and construction on all of them was suspended over safety concerns. China has 11.3 gW of nuclear capacity and plans to increase that to 80 gW by 2020, exceeding an earlier target of 60 to 70 gW.

Thanks Escobar for all your daily economic news on China. Sometimes my days at work are so busy that I don't have time to research or read the latest news on them.

Equation said:

Thanks Escobar for all your daily economic news on China. Sometimes my days at work are so busy that I don't have time to research or read the latest news on them.

Click to expand...

you're welcome.
I have lots of free time these days. so enjoy it.

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China's spending in research and development (R&D) last year surged 21.9 percent year-on-year to 861 billion yuan (139.7 billion U.S. dollars), the country's statistical authority said Wednesday. The R&D spending represents 1.83 percent of China's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011, which grew 9.2 percent year-on-year to 47.16 trillion yuan, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in the country's 2011 statistics report.

Xie Hongguang, NBS deputy chief, said the central government continued to reinforce its support for scientific research institutions dedicated to public service last year, and it deepened reform in the management system for research institutions.

"China has supported the implementation of significant scientific projects and promoted the construction of regional innovation systems with their own characteristics," Xie said.

Last year, China spent 39.6 billion yuan on basic scientific research projects, and the country constructed 130 national engineering research centers and 119 national engineering laboratories, according to the report.

The country's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) has made it clear that China will strive to enhance its scientific innovation capability during the five year period.

China will take strong measures to improve its scientific capability, including promoting significant breakthroughs in science and technology, reinforcing the construction of scientific infrastructure, and strengthening policy support for scientific and technological innovation, according to the plan.

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Beijing shrouded in heavy fog

Beijing has begun building a new protocol to monitor the effects air pollutants have on human health, particularly the PM2.5 particles, according to a senior disease control official.
The surveillance system will look at medical and mortality records and compare them to levels of fog and haze to enable targeted intervention, said Xu Dongqun, deputy director of the institute of environmental health and related product safety at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

PM 2.5 refers to particulate matter in haze and fog measuring 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, which generally comes from activities that burn fossil fuels, such as traffic, smelting, and metal processing.

Xu said by studying the links, environmental monitors will be able to assess the exact health risks posed by the fine particulates and, if needed, issue timely alerts.

The system will be first implemented on a trial basis in Beijing and then expanded to five other regions before being introduced nationwide.

It will also establish the possible sources of any fog and haze as well as the exact nature of the pollutants and give residents warning of possible areas to avoid, she said.

"Knowing clearly the types and sources of pollutants can also help the government to come up with more efficient measures to control air pollution in general," Xu said.

The World Health Organization said in a 2005 report that it was possible to derive a quantitative relationship between pollution levels and specific health complaints.

But previously, China had no nationwide surveillance network for that, Xu said.

Last month, Beijing started to issue its PM 2.5 readings.

Pollutants can cause a range of health problems, but they are primarily responsible for decreased lung capacity, shortness of breath, coughing and eye and nose irritation.

Monitoring and legislation can be of immense benefit in efforts to ensure good air quality.