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☆ China raises emergency response level for floods in northeast
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHANGHAI, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Authorities in northeastern China raised their emergency response level on Sunday as tributaries of the Songhua, a major river, rose to dangerous levels after days of heavy rain caused by Typhoon Doksuri. China's Ministry of Water Resources said it raised the response for flooding to Level III at 10 a.m. (0200 GMT) in Inner Mongolia, Jilin and Heilongjiang. China uses a four-tier emergency response system, with Level I the most urgent. China on Sunday allocated an additional 350 million yuan ($48.8 million) to support rescues and house repairs in the flood-hit regions including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Heilongjiang and Jilin, according to a government statement. The government had previously allocated 170 million yuan for rescue and recovery work.

Persons: Doksuri, William Mallard, Tom Hogue Organizations: China's Ministry of Water Resources, Shanghai, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, China, China's, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei

☆ China's northeast inundated in Doksuri's wake
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

People ride a boat through a flooded road after the rains and floods brought by remnants of Typhoon Doksuri, in Zhuozhou, Hebei province, China August 3, 2023. Bridges have collapsed and roads were damaged across the city, state media reported. Rainfall this past week broke many records in Beijing and northern China, with the vast Haihe river basin hit with its worst flooding since 1963. Floodwaters could take up to a month to recede in Hebei province, a water resources department official told state media. Zhuozhou southwest of Beijing is the hardest hit city in Hebei province, with about 100,000 people - a sixth of its population - evacuated.

Persons: Doksuri, Tingshu Wang, Typhoon Doksuri, David Kirton, Tom Hogue Organizations: REUTERS, China News Service, Thomson Locations: Zhuozhou, Hebei province, China, SHENZHEN, Shulan, Jilin, State, Beijing, China's Heilongjiang

In the waterlogged provincial capital Harbin, two vehicles plunged into a sinkhole that appeared on an expressway near a swollen river, local media reported. Paddy fields have also been inundated, and villagers in low-lying areas told to evacuate, local media reported. The storms and floods also triggered power cuts in nearby Shangzhi city, where supermarkets were running low on provisions, according to media reports. "I only managed to get a few bottles of mineral water and two boxes of instant noodles," a Shangzhi resident told local media after rushing to the supermarket after the storm alerts. "Some production and power equipments were damaged, and production had been suspended," the company said in an exchange filing on Friday.

Persons: Typhoon Doksuri, Tingshu Wang, Doksuri, Jinrui, Liz Lee, Ella Cao, Samuel Shen, Ryan Woo, Gerry Doyle, Miral Organizations: REUTERS, Aerospace, Holdings Group, Mineral Development, Thomson Locations: Mentougou district, Beijing, China, Tingshu Wang BEIJING, Northeastern Heilongjiang, Heilongjiang, Daqing, Harbin, Shangzhi, Jilin, Shulan, Zhuozhou, Hebei province, Hebei, Qinghai, Chongqing, Shanghai

CNN —Severe flooding in Beijing was caused by the heaviest rainfall in 140 years, according to local meteorologists, and there’s little reprieve for the region as Typhoon Khanun lashes Japan with wind and rain. Meanwhile, Typhoon Khanun packed winds of 220 kilometers per hour (137 mph) – the equivalent of a Category 4 Atlantic hurricane – as it made its nearest pass to Japan’s southwestern Okinawa islands early Wednesday. In the past 24 hours, many locations in Okinawa have received 175 to 220 millimeters (6 to 8 inches) of rainfall, according to CNN Weather on Wednesday morning. People evacuate Tazhao village in Zhuozhou city, Hebei province of China on August 1, 2023. Zhai Yujia/China News Service/VCG/Getty ImagesOn Tuesday, more than 300 people were stranded in a residential building in Hebei’s Zhuozhou city, state-run outlet The Paper said.

Persons: Khanun, Zhai Yujia, Xi Jinping Organizations: CNN, Beijing Meteorological Service, CNN Weather, Okinawa Electric Power Company, Beijing Daily, CCTV, Xinhua, People, China News Service Locations: Beijing, Japan, Okinawa, Khanun, East, Ryukyu Islands, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Hebei, Tazhao, Zhuozhou city, China, Hebei’s Zhuozhou, Zhuozhou, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia

☆ China logs 52.2 Celsius as extreme weather rewrites records
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The target of keeping long-term global warming within 1.5C is moving out of reach, climate experts say. Prolonged bouts of high temperatures in China have challenged power grids and crops, and concerns are mounting of a possible repeat of last year's drought, the most severe in 60 years. China is no stranger to dramatic swings in temperatures across the seasons but the swings are getting wider. Since then, the heaviest rains in a decade have hit central China, ravaging wheat fields in an area known as the country's granary. Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: John Kerry, Xie Zhenhua, Ryan Woo, Tom Hogue Organizations: U.S, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Sanbao, Xinjiang's Turpan, Xinjiang, Ayding, Asia, China, Mohe, Heilongjiang, United States, Beijing

☆ Horrific World War II bunker where Japanese scientists experimented on prisoners with biological weapons, found by archaeologists, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Archaeologists found a bunker used by WWII Japanese scientists to conduct human experiments, says a report. The Japanese scientists captured by the US were granted immunity in exchange for their research findings. Japanese scientists exposed prisoners to pathogens and dissected them to learn about the effects on the human body. The researchers are yet to enter the bunkers, but the survey has revealed details about the underground structures, South China Morning Post reported. Most of the surface-level buildings at the Anda site were destroyed in 1945 to erase evidence of the experiments, but the underground structures remain, archaeologists said.

☆ These maps show how far China's freight railways are stretching across Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING — In the last two years, China has announced the opening of new freight train lines, while cross-border railways have become a feature in President Xi Jinping's meetings with regional leaders. Here's a look at where the rail lines are being built across the Asian continent. In the last six months, China also opened freight train lines to Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, according to state media. Those freight lines are in addition to China's relatively older rail network through central Asia — connecting Yiwu in eastern China to London. While it's difficult to verify how operational all the rail lines are, official reports offer a glimpse at how China's Belt and Road ambitions are panning out.

SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, April 28 (Reuters) - Chinese banks are ramping up efforts to promote international use of the yuan, and reporting a surge in cross-border yuan business from the country's booming trade with Russia and deepening ties with the Middle East. Harbin Bank Co (6138.HK), in China's Heilongjiang province neighboring Russia, saw its cross-border yuan business grow nine-fold last year to a record, as the Sino-Russia trade grew briskly after the Ukraine war began. Industrial Bank Co (601166.SS), whose cross-border, corporate payment business jumped 50% last year, has also been actively promoting CIPS, China's own global payment system. The bank said it currently helps 153 foreign and Chinese banks connect to CIPS, to advance China's yuan internationalisation strategy. "Increasing the use of yuan in pricing, and settling cross-border oil and gas trade will give a boost to yuan internationalization."

LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) - China’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports fell sharply in 2022 because of the disruption caused by lockdowns to control the coronavirus epidemic and the massive exit wave of infections when they were lifted. But the import rebound could be smaller than some analysts anticipate because domestic gas production is rising strongly and the country has mostly completed its transition to natural gas for urban residents. Both LNG and pipeline imports remained subdued in the first two months of this year with any rebound delayed until later in 2023. China’s LNG purchasers have proved price-sensitive and will likely wait for prices to decline before increasing imports and refilling storage. PIPELINES NOT LNGThe shift from LPG and especially gasworks gas has turbocharged consumption of natural gas over the last decade.

☆ Thick sandstorms shroud Beijing and several provinces in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, March 22 (Reuters) - Capital Beijing and several provinces in China will be affected by thick, dense sandstorms that will severely affect visibility, Chinese weather authorities said on Wednesday. The Central Meteorological Observatory issued yellow warning signals from Wednesday to early morning Thursday for Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui and Hubei provinces. Many areas will have low visibility, weather forecasters said, cautioning drivers on speed. China has a four-tier, colour-coded weather-warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue. Beijing, which was also issued a yellow sandstorm warning, has experienced sand and dust storms over the past several days, causing pollution levels to drastically increase.

China's four new vice premiers:Ding Xuexiang, 60, is the first-ranked vice premier who also sits in the ruling Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, China's top echelon of power. Wang Zhigang, 65, remains minister of science and technology. Huai Jinpeng, 60, remains minister of educationPan Yue, 62, remains head of the National Ethnic Affairs CommissionWang Xiaohong, 65, remains minister of public securityChen Yixin, 63, remains minister of state security. Considered a Xi ally, he had worked with Xi when the latter was party chief of Zhejiang province from 2002-2007. Tang Dengjie, 63, remains minister of civil affairsHe Rong, 60, remains minister of justiceWang Xiaoping, 59, remains minister of human resources and social securityWang Guanghua, 59, remains minister of natural resourcesHuang Runqiu, 59, remains minister of ecology and environmentNi Hong, 60, remains minister of housing and urban-rural developmentLi Xiaopeng, 63, remains minister of transportLi Guoying, 63, remains minister of water resourcesTang Renjian, 60, remains minister of agriculture and rural affairsHu Heping, 60, remains minister of culture and tourismMa Xiaowei, 63, remains head of the National Health CommissionPei Jinjia, 59, remains minister of veterans affairsWang Xiangxi, 60, remains minister of emergency managementHou Kai, 60, remains auditor-general of the National Audit OfficeReporting by Yew Lun Tian, Ziyi Tang, additional reporting by Albee Zhang; Editing by Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 6 companies that struck it big on China's zero-COVID policies and came out on top after 3 years of lockdowns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

As China kept to its chaotic zero-COVID push, a few companies reaped the rewards of a country prone to lockdowns. Kevin Frayer/Getty ImagesChina's economy suffered under zero-COVID, growing by just 3% in 2022 — one of the country's lowest levels ever. As China's economy reopens after a rollback of the zero-COVID policy on December 7, local media and social bloggers are heaping attention on how much was spent on the lockdowns, and who benefited from the expenditures. However, a select pool of firms and industries gained massive rewards from the years of lockdowns and constant testing. Here are six companies and sectors that came out on top during China's zero-COVID policy.

[1/7] Farmer Wang Zhanling sits next to his wife in their house in Quansheng village, Heilongjiang Province, China, February 8, 2023. The state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences sees the pension system running out of money by 2035. "If the pension system does not change, this is unsustainable," said Xiujian Peng, senior research fellow in the Centre of Policy Studies at Victoria University in Australia. The province has the lowest birth rate in China, with just over 100,000 births in 2021 and 460,000 deaths. Many experts, including Macquarie's chief China economist Larry Hu, suggest implementing a unified national pension system, backstopped by the more resourceful central government rather than cash-strapped local administrations.

☆ China's cities are struggling to pay their bills from three years of Covid and a real estate crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Rolling lockdowns seriously dented household incomes, leading many to reduce spending, which in turn resulted in less tax revenue for local governments. “China’s runaway local debt poses a serious threat to the country’s overall economic health and will weigh heavily on China’s still-nascent recovery,” said Singleton. Debt that is backed by local governments but which doesn’t show up on their balance sheets could be much bigger. That’s more than 20% higher than the estimate of 53 trillion yuan made by Goldman Sachs in 2021. Their debt squeeze could pose a serious threat to China’s financial system, particularly to small regional banks.

☆ China's Xi says COVID containment still under stress - state media
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, Jan 18 (Reuters) - China's President Xi Jinping said the country's COVID-19 prevention and control is still going through a time of stress but the light is ahead, state media CCTV reported on Wednesday. Xi said there is a need to expand medical resources, increase supply of medical services and the availability of medicines, CCTV reported. He made the comments during a virtual meeting with medical staff in a hospital in northeastern Heilongjiang province. Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China's big consumer market isn't rebounding to pre-pandemic levels just yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

For the past six months, revenue had dropped to 30% of typical levels, Chong said. The travel season for China's big holiday runs this year from around Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. That's twice what it was last year, and 70% of 2019 levels, China's Ministry of Transport said Friday. It noted most of the trips will likely be for visiting family, while just 10% will be for leisure or business travel. By that time, people will have been able to process their passport applications, while the number of international flights may have recovered to 50% or 60% of 2019 levels, Chen said.

☆ Travelers rush to take advantage of China reopening
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

After years of separation from his wife in mainland China, Hong Kong resident Cheung Seng-bun made sure to be among the first in line following the reopening Sunday of border crossing points. Those crossing between Hong Kong and mainland China, however, are still required to show a negative COVID-19 test taken within the last 48 hours — a measure China has protested when imposed by other countries. Hong Kong media reports said around 300,000 travel bookings from the city to mainland China have already been made, with a daily quota of 60,000. "I've been under isolated quarantine for six times in different cities (in mainland China)," said Ivan Tang, a Hong Kong business traveler. Meanwhile, more foreign governments are imposing testing requirements on travelers from China — most recently Germany, Sweden and Portugal.

Nanjing, a historic city in eastern China, vowed to ensure daily supplies of fever medicines. The rapid spread of the virus across China has left many pharmacies sold out of medication to treat COVID-19. A major Chinese pharmaceutical company said this week that it expects the shortage of fever medicines to ease soon as manufacturers ramp up production. The Haikou-based drug manufacturer said there was a “short-term” shortage of its fever and cold medicines mostly due to hoarding. Tech giant Tencent announced this week that it had rolled out a program via its social messaging app Wechat allowing people to share surplus fever medicines.

☆ Column: Key coal import hubs in China perk up as economy reboots: Maguire
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

China coal use seasonallyBut recent measures aimed at lifting movement restrictions and reviving economic activity in China are already resulting in increased coal import activity at key usage hubs, which stand to impact global coal flows, prices and emissions in 2023. Between January and October, the province cut thermal coal use by 51 million tonnes from the same period in 2021. As a result, many Southern China coal plants are almost overwhelmingly reliant on imported coal. And all major coal ports in that region are now starting to show signs of a recovery in coal import volumes compared with mid-2022, when lockdowns were common throughout the country. And much of that increased coal demand will be fulfilled by imports, which will serve to tighten global coal markets, boost China's coal sector emissions, and potentially raise prices for other coal consumers.

Almost three years of pandemic restrictions have been especially hard for Zu, who has autism spectrum disorder, but thanks to Chen's Studio, music has become his saving grace. REUTERS/Tingshu WangBEIJING, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Almost three years of pandemic restrictions have been hard for 23-year-old Chinese villager Zu Wenbao, but thanks to Beijing-based Chen's Studio, music has become his saving grace. All that changed when he started learning music free of charge at Chen's Studio, which started lessons for people with autism just as the pandemic began. Chen says he knew very little about autism before he started teaching a bass player with the disorder in 2020. When COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions on movement curtailed his regular music lessons, Chen started the free-of-charge lessons for people with autism.

☆ Chinese cities clamp down on COVID as cases rise before winter season
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In Guangdong province, manufacturing centre Guangzhou has seen a spate of cases over the past week that has closed some districts. Over the past week, authorities raced to get a handle on rising cases in Datong, Xining, Nanjing, Xian, Zhengzhou and Wuhan forcing temporary lockdown measures of some neighbourhoods. Datong, which recorded 288 cases from Oct. 27-30, has enforced stricter isolation and management of hotels, key industries and its railway. As winter nears, northern cities, particularly those close to international borders, are seeing higher case numbers and could face new curbs. Mudanjiang in Heilongjiang province, bordering North Korea, extended the temporary lockdown of some areas, according to local media reports.

"With the zero-COVID policy here to stay, we think the economy will continue to struggle heading into 2023," Zichun Huang, economist at Capital Economics, said in a research note. At this month's twice-a-decade Communist Party Congress, President Xi Jinping reiterated China's commitment to its zero-COVID policy, disappointing investors and countless Chinese frustrated by lockdowns, travel curbs and testing. "We don't expect the zero-COVID policy to be abandoned until 2024, which means virus disruptions will keep in-person services activity subdued," said Huang from Capital Economics. New cases in mainland China hit 2,898 on Sunday, topping 2,000 for a second straight day, a tiny number by global standards. However, in Beijing the Universal Resort theme park reopened on Monday after being shut last week because one visitor had tested positive for coronavirus.

☆ China's Golden Week spending plunges to seven-year low as zero-Covid batters economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The National Day break is one of China’s longest public holidays and usually a peak season for travel and spending. But this year, people were deterred from traveling by a resurgence of the virus and stringent Covid restrictions. All the weak data point to the heavy damage of Beijing’s zero-Covid policy on consumer spending and the economy, said analysts. China’s service sector is a key source of employment, accounting for 48% of total jobs created, according to government data. “Entrepreneurs’ concerns continued to stem from recurring Covid outbreaks and the impact of related controls on the market,” Wang said.

☆ Oil prices extend losses on fears aggressive Fed rate hike will curb demand
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Yuka Obayashi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Pumpjacks are seen during sunset at the Daqing oil field in Heilongjiang province, China August 22, 2019. Brent crude futures dropped 26 cents, or 0.3%, to $90.36 a barrel by 0040 GMT after falling $1.38 the previous day. Gasoline inventories rose by about 3.2 million barrels, while distillate stocks rose by about 1.5 million barrels. API/U.S. crude oil and distillate stockpiles were expected to have risen last week, while gasoline inventories were seen lower, according to an extended Reuters poll. The shortfall highlights underlying tightness of supply in the market, even as recession fears drag prices lower.

☆ Explainer: Does China need more Russian gas via the Power-of-Siberia 2 pipeline?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Negotiations will be complex, however, not least because China is not expected to need additional gas supply until after 2030, industry experts said. The proposed pipeline would bring gas from the huge Yamal peninsula reserves in west Siberia - the main source of gas supply to Europe - to China, the world's top energy consumer and growing gas consumer. The idea gained impetus when the first pipes of the currently operational Power of Siberia pipeline were laid in Russia's eastern Yakutia region in 2014. DOES CHINA NEED MORE RUSSIAN GAS? Russia's Gazprom already supplies gas to China through the first Power of Siberia pipeline under a 30-year, $400 billion deal, which was launched at the end of 2019.

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