Anti-theft app snaps, sends photo of suspect in China

A young mother is hoping that an anti-theft iPhone app can help her retrieve precious pictures of her baby stored on a stolen cell phone.

Xie Danhong, 33, said she dropped her phone in a taxi during a business trip to Beijing on Thursday and feared she had lost all the photographs and video clips she made of her nine-month-old daughter with it.

However, just six hours later, the iPhone automatically sent her a picture of the suspected thief – thanks to iGotYa.

The app snaps anyone who tries to unlock the phone using an incorrect password and then e-mails that photo to the rightful owner's registered e-mail address.

"I immediately recognized the guy in the picture, as the driver of the taxi that day," said Xie, who works in advertising sales in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.

She posted the picture, along with the driver number and taxi's license plate on Sina Weibo, China's answer to Twitter, on Friday, and also reported the case to police in Beijing's Haidian district.

"If the thief wants the phone, he can have it," Xie said, "but the contacts and pictures it contains are really important to me. I have no backup."

Zhao Junfeng, a police officer in Haidian said the case is under investigation and Xie will receive an update on Tuesday.

IGotYa requires people to "jailbreak" their iPhones, which means they are released from Apple's strict download restrictions.

Xie is not the first smartphone user to be helped by the app. Huang Zongce, 28, from Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, said he found his iPhone just two hours after he lost it in a taxi on April 30 thanks to iGotYa.

With the information sent to his inbox, he tracked his iPhone to a family home and eventually got it back after negotiating.

"I wasn't really worried when I lost it," Huang said. "I know my phone is well protected."

iGotYa is one of many anti-theft applications available for download by smartphone users.

Ren Wei, a Beijing hairdresser, said he uses security guard software that informs him of his phone's position once the simcard is taken out, as well as sounds an alarm.

"Technology is playing a more significant role today in fighting crime," said attorney Yi Shenghua at Yingke Law Firm in Beijing.

However, he warned that users run the risk of defamation if they go online to accuse someone captured on a smartphone camera before they are confirmed by police as the thief.

"The person in the picture may just have been attempting to find out who the phone belonged to," Yi said, adding that the best option is still contacting the police.

In love with LV in China

As China prepares to replace Japan in the top spot for worldwide luxury consumption, Louis Vuitton is well placed to capitalize further on its brand.

Fang Wenting has had an eight-year love affair with Louis Vuitton. The 30-year-old bought her first LV in 2004, the classic Speedy 30 handbag in Monogram Multicolore Canvas.

Since then, she has built quite a collection from the French luxury label: around a dozen bags, a wallet, a card holder, a pendant, a belt, a key chain, a hairclip, scarves and T-shirts.

Fang, a Shanghai housewife, is upfront about her admiration of the 158-year-old brand.

"After having bought many luxury items, I realized that, whether it be customer service or the quality of bags, LV is really a master."

Late last year, she joined an online club of Louis Vuitton aficionados. The Chinese group, which has 13,000 followers, is comprised largely of urban women in their 30s who discuss their latest purchases, compare product prices in various countries and share photos of discontinued models found in secondhand stores, founder Liu Xiao says.

Among the club's active members is 29-year-old Chen Xiaolei, a marketing manager in the Internet industry. The Shanghai resident discovered LV six years ago and now owns two of its handbags, a belt and a wallet.

This year, however, Chen is dreaming of getting her hands on Chanel's signature 2.55 quilted shoulder bag.

"If I go to cocktail parties or attend weddings and other elegant events, I think a Chanel would be prettier and more suitable," she says.

As Louis Vuitton marks two decades in China this year, the fashion house is confronted with a byproduct of its tremendous success: It is trying to maintain the image of exclusivity in a market that it dominates – and where it's expected to grow even bigger.

When LV opened its first of 39 mainland stores at Beijing's Peninsula Hotel in September 1992, luxury goods were practically nonexistent in China. Now, the country is the world's second largest consumer of luxury products.

Last year, it accounted for US$12.6 billion, or 28 percent, of luxury purchases globally, according to survey results released in May by the advertising company Publicis.

By 2015, as the number of affluent mainlanders continues to grow, China is expected to bump off Japan from the top spot in luxury consumption.

"Yves Carcelle, as the chairman of Louis Vuitton for the last 21 years always thought from the very beginning, along with a few of us, that China would eventually – in those days we used to say eventually – become either the most important or a very, very important destination for Louis Vuitton in the world," Christopher Zanardi-Landi, president of Louis Vuitton in China, says in an exclusive interview in Beijing.

The executives' foresight has paid off.

The Chinese are now the biggest customers of the multibillion-dollar company, which started out as a trunk maker serving 19th century European aristocracy. Louis Vuitton has also become – and remains – the "most desired luxury brand" on the Chinese mainland, according to a 2011 study by management consulting firm Bain & Company.

"LV enjoyed first-mover advantage for many years," says Angelia Teo, content director for Asia Pacific at WGSN, a forecasting service for fashion trends. "Its logo practically means luxury for some customers."

The flipside of this popularity is that some customers think the brand is losing its sheen of exclusivity, and they are moving to labels that are less commonly seen.

"The truly wealthy no longer want to buy the same fashion brands everyone else has," says a CNBC report by Shaun Rein, founder and managing director of China Market Research Group, "causing challenges for Louis Vuitton and other historically dominant players like Zegna and Omega. [Mega rich Chinese] are moving more toward inconspicuous consumption in handbags and apparel".

How is the French luxury label dealing with this trend, even as it attracts more clientele from second- and third-tier cities?

"We do try very hard to do everything without any sense of compromise. And I think Chinese customers really appreciate that, and they see it. That I would say is very much the key to it," says Zanardi-Landi, a Briton who has been with Louis Vuitton in China since 2003, and who is married to a native of Sichuan and is the father of an 8-year-old boy.

"The products we create are completely unique in the way we do them. There's a really, really strong investment that we put in after-sales. I mean, the after-sales structure that we built in China is unparalleled to anybody else's."

Next month, as part of the label's 20th anniversary celebration in China, LV will unveil an expanded store at Plaza 66, Shanghai's premier luxury shopping mall.

Zanardi-Landi declined to reveal details of the store ahead of its reopening, except to say: "It's really one of the most extraordinary stores we've built anywhere in the world. We think it will bring a level of elegance, sophistication and refinement that is new, frankly, to the world of luxury."

The label's focus in China right now is the quality of its customer service rather than the quantity of its stores. This is partly to encourage Chinese customers to do their shopping at home – even if prices here are higher.

"There are reasonably high import duties and very high VAT in China, which of course has an impact on the price," Zanardi-Landi says. "We would love to be able to have pricing in China that's the same as other markets in the world, but unfortunately we're unable to do that today.

"In each city that we have a Louis Vuitton store, what we try to do is to have a very close relationship with our customers," he adds. "It's clear that if you're at home and you walk into the store where everybody knows you and greets you by name that's a very personal experience and can't be matched anywhere else."

Strategies like this are among the ways the French fashion house is staying ahead of competition.

"I don't think LV ever stands still – especially in China," says Teo, who is based in Hong Kong.

"The new [Plaza 66] store is also reported to have craftsmen in-store explaining their handwork. This will mark a shift in marketing strategy from the brand, in response to the consumers' changing needs."

When the store opens its doors on July 18, there's a good chance Fang Wenting will be among its first shoppers.

"LV was the first luxury brand I ever encountered, so it's also the brand that has made the strongest impression," she says.

Insurance for foreigners in China to be simplified

Social insurance payments, for foreigners in China and Chinese citizens working overseas, will be simplified under international agreements currently being discussed, a senior social security official said.

"We've held three rounds of talks with Japan and one round with France, and we have also held initial discussions with Sweden and Belgium," said Xu Yanjun, deputy director of the Social Insurance Administration under the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

Xu said 11 countries, including Finland, Singapore, Denmark, Spain and Switzerland, have expressed their willingness to negotiate with China since a regulation, which stipulates that all foreigners working in China will be covered by social security, took effect on Oct. 15, 2011.

China's Social Insurance Law allows foreign workers to enjoy retirement, medical, work-relatedinjury, unemployment and maternity insurance similar to those for Chinese citizens.

Workers and employers in China collectively pay endowment, medical and unemployment insurance but employers are responsible for paying for work-related injury insurance and maternity insurance.

Germany and South Korea have signed reciprocal agreements with China.

The agreement between China and Germany exempts workers from the other country from paying endowment and unemployment insurance.

The deal with South Korea exempts workers from paying endowment insurance, Xu said.

"The two agreements have benefited 4,500 Germans and 2,000 Koreans working in China, as well as 10,700 Chinese working in those two countries," he said.

Agreements such as these are common practice in other countries as they help avoid double payment of social insurance contributions.

Negotiating teams are made up of each country's social security and foreign affairs departments, he said.

"Negotiations mainly focus on the type of insurance the deal might cover. Each party has their own considerations. It normally takes a year or two to complete the negotiations and sign the deal," Xu said.

Maiko Niwa, who works at a media firm in Beijing, welcomed the possibility of an agreement.

She contributes jointly with her company for medical insurance and she will begin to pay endowment insurance in June.

"I hope the agreement that the Chinese and Japanese governments are discussing will exempt me from paying endowment insurance because it's a burden and I don't know how long I will stay in China. Besides, I have already participated in similar insurance schemes in Japan," Niwa said.

She hopes that the medical insurance policy will continue because it is convenient to go to hospitals covered by Chinese insurance and she can have some of her medical charges reimbursed.

A Swedish citizen also welcomed the benefits an agreement would bring.

"It will be good news if it is signed because I think there is little possibility of me retiring in China," said Eskil Hallstrom, 27, who works at a Beijing public relations company.

But he wants medical insurance exempted because his private insurance he bought in Sweden covers medical expenses in China.

Workers in China pay 8 percent of their wages, and employers pay an amount equal to 20 percent of workers' wages each month, to pension accounts. Workers must contribute to the pension for at least 15 years to collect it after retiring.

Boy's case isolated, bird flu outbreak unlikely in China

Kahon Chan and Li Wenfang, Asia News Network ( China Daily ), Hong Kong/Guangzhou, China | Tue, 06/05/2012 9:56 AM

All of the contacts of a 2-year-old boy who tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland were either asymptomatic or tested negative for birdflu, authorities of the special administrative region and Guangdong province said, suggesting that the chance of an outbreak was slim.

The boy was still in serious condition after a week of treatment in Hong Kong.

He is being kept isolated in the pediatric intensive care unit at Princess Margaret Hospital.

It was the city's first human case of bird flu in 18 months. The boy is thought to have been infected with the deadly virus during his visit to a wet market in Guangzhou last month.

Hong Kong kept the bird flu alert level at "serious" after raising it on Friday, and stricter visiting restrictions were imposed in the city's public hospitals.

Imports and sales of poultry have continued as usual – unlike in December, when an infected live chicken was found. Samples collected from 30 local chicken farms on Sunday all tested negative for bird flu, a spokesperson from the city's agriculture, fisheries and conservation department said.

York Chow Yat-ngok, secretary for food and health, assured the public that it was an "isolated" case and the city is well guarded against all types of infectious diseases.

"We feel that there is no need for panic among Hong Kong residents," he said. "All in all, I would only advise the public to maintain a good level of personal and environmental hygiene."

Though summer is not considered a peak season for flu, Chow said human flu cases are not seasonal in nature, as observed in tropical countries, like Vietnam and Indonesia.

The boy's illness was first reported before midnight on Friday. His condition was said to be stable, but it worsened to serious on Saturday.

The boy, who lives with his parents and maternal grandmother in the Haizhu district of Guangzhou, had visited a wet market on Nanyuan Street in mid May where his mother had bought a live duck.

Returning home from a three-day tour to Anhui province, the boy developed a fever and runny nose on May 23. He was taken to a private medical clinic in Hong Kong three days later.

He was taken to a hospital emergency room on May 28 and was thought to have encephalitis. However, he tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza on Friday.

All of the boy's 80 contacts in Hong Kong were either asymptomatic or tested negative for bird flu leading the center for health protection to suggest that the chance of human-to-human transmission was slim.

As a precaution, however, the center alerted doctors on Saturday that special attention should be paid to patients who had contact with poultry in Guangzhou.

No one in Guangzhou who had close contact with the boy showed any sign of infection on Monday and the source of the virus had yet to be determined, local authorities said.

Among those tested were poultry venders at the wet market in Haizhu district, said He Jianfeng, director of the Epidemic Studies Institute of the Guangdong Disease Control and Prevention Center.

The source of the infection may not be determined because the duck had been eaten and too much time has passed since the boy was infected, He said.

"Vigilance has been maintained against a human avian flu epidemic in Guangdong. No sample has tested positive so far this year. The boy infected with avian flu is apparently an isolated case," He said.

He advised that people stay away from live poultry, cook poultry thoroughly and wash their hands after handling poultry.

Wary about Iran, Obama lobbies Russia and China

The Jakarta Post | Sun, 11/13/2011 9:49 PM

Searching for help, President Barack Obama lobbied the skeptical leaders of Russia and China for support in keeping Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed menace to the world, hoping to yield a "common response" to a crisis that is testing international unity.

Yet Obama's talk of solidarity with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao was not publicly echoed by either man Saturday as Iran moved anew to the front of the international stage - and to the center of the ferce U.S. presidential race.

Obama, at home in Hawaii and holding forth on a world stage, also sought to show aggressiveness in fixing an economy that has weakened his standing with voters. He pushed Hu about American impatience with China's economic policy, touted the makings of a new pacific trade zone and sowered attention on the lucrative Asia-Pacific export market.

The United States' vast worries about Iran grew starker with a report this week by the U.N. atomic agency that asserted in the strongest terms yet Iran is conducting secret work with the sole intent of developing nuclear arms. The U.S. claims a nuclar-armed Iran could set off an arms race among rival states and directly threaten Israel.

Russia and China remain a roadblock to the United States in its push to tighten international sanctions on Iran. Both are veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council and have shown no sign the new report will changtheir stand.

With Medvedev on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit here, Obama said the two "reaffirmed our intention to work to shape a common response" on Iran.

Shortly after, Obama joined Hu, in a run of back-to-back diplomacy with the heads of two allies that hold complicated and at times divisi relations with the United States. Obama said that he and the Chinese leader want to ensure that Iran abides by "international rules and norms."

Obama's comments were broad enough to portray a united front without yielding any clear indication of progress. Medvedev, for his part, was largely silent on Iran ring his remarks, merely acknowledging that the subject was discussed. Hu did not mention Iran at all.

White House aides insisted later that Russia and China remain unified with the United States and other allies in preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and that Obama, Hu and Medvedev had agreed towork on the next steps. Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said the new allegations about Iran's programs demand an international response, and "I think the Russians and the Chinese understand that. We're going to be working with them to formulate that response."

As the president held forth on the world stage in his home state, Republicans vying to compete against Obama for the presidency unleashed withering criticism in a debate in South Carolina. It was a rare moment in which foreign policy garnered attention in a campaign dominated by the flagging U.S. economy.

"If we re-elect Barack Obama, Iran will have a nuclear weapon. And if you elect Mitt Romney, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon," said Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann warned that Iran's attempt to develop a nuclear weapon is setting the table "for worldwide nuclear war against Israel."

Iran has insisted its nuclear work is in the peaceful pursuit of energy and research, not weaponry.

U.S. officials have said the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency was unlikely to persuade China and Russia to support tougher sanctions on the Iranian government. But led by Obama, the administration is still trying to mount pressure on Iran, both through the United Nations and its own, for fear of what may come should Iran proceed undeterred.

More broadly, Obama sought Saturday to position the United States as a Pacific power determined to get more American jobs by tapping the explosive potential of the Asia-Pacific.

For businesses, he said, "this is where the action's going to be."

"There is no region in the world that we consider more vital than the Asia-Pacific region," he told chief executives gathered for a regional economic summit.

The president went so far as to saying the United States had grown "a little bit lazy" in trying to attract business to the United States.

Obama's aides said he was blunt with Hu in expressing concern about China's undervalued currency, which keeps its exports cheaper and U.S. exports to China more expensive.

Deputy National Security Adviser Mike Froman said Obama made it clear that Americans are growing "increasingly impatient and frustrated" with the state of change in China economic policy. China had a $273 billion trade surplus with the U.S. last year and U.S. lawmakers say the imbalance hurts American manufacturers and taken away American jobs.

Underscoring the search for some good economic news ahead heading toward a re-election vote, Obama announced the broad outlines of an agreement to create a transpacific trade zone encompassing the United States and eight other nations. He said details must still be worked out, but said the goal was to complete the deal by next year.

"The United States is a Pacific power and we're here to stay," Obama said.

The eight countries joining the U.S. in the zone would be Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Obama also spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda about Japan's interest in joining the trade bloc.

In a sign of potential tension with China, Froman shrugged off complaints from China that it had not been invited to join the trade bloc.

He told reporters that China had not expressed interest in joining and said the trade group "is not something that one gets invited to. It's something that one aspires to."

Addressing the European debt crisis, Obama said he welcomed the new governments being formed in Greece and Italy, saying they should help calm world financial markets. Obama's ever increasing attention to the Asia-Pacific is driven in part by Europe's own financial woes and the U.S. need to get more aggressive in tapping its export options.

Obama will be in Honolulu through Tuesday, when he leaves for Australia before ending his trip in Indonesia.

US report blasts China, Russia for cybercrime

Associated Press, Washington | Fri, 11/04/2011 11:30 AM

U.S. intelligence officials accused China and Russia of systematically stealing American high-tech data for their national economic gain.

It was the most forceful and detailed public airing of U.S. allegations after years of private complaints. U.S. officials and cybersecurity experts said the U.S. must openly confront China and Russia in a broad diplomatic push to combat cyberattacks that are on the rise and represent a "persistent threat to U.S. economic security."

Experts said Thursday that solving the problem will not be easy.

In a report released Thursday, U.S. intelligence agencies said "the governments of China and Russia will remain aggressive and capable collectors of sensitive U.S. economic information and technologies, particularly in cyberspace."

Speaking at a forum at the National Press Club, Robert Bryant, the national counterintelligence executive, said the U.S. finally is making the charges public because China and Russia are stealing sensitive U.S. technology data.

"If we build their economies on our information, that's not right," he said. "We want to basically point out what the issue is. We want to be worried and we want to be careful, but we also want there to be an awareness and, frankly, drive that toward solutions where we work together to bring this under control."

The report is part of an increased effort by U.S. officials to highlight the risks of cyberattacks in a growing high-tech society. People, businesses and governments are storing an increasing amount of valuable and sensitive information online or accessing data through mobile devices that may not be as secure as some computers.

4 dead, 57 trapped in China coal mine rock blast

Associated Press, China | Fri, 11/04/2011 10:36 AM

Rescuers were working Friday to try to save 57 miners who were trapped in a coal mine in central China after a rock explosion that followed a small earthquake, state media reported. Four miners were killed in the blast.

The accident in the coal mine in the city of Sanmenxia in Henan province occurred Thursday evening when 75 miners were working in the shaft, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Fourteen workers escaped.

At least 200 workers were digging a small rescue tunnel about 1,650 feet (500 meters) deep to try to reach the trapped miners, the People's Daily newspaper's website said.

The Qianqiu Coal Mine belongs to Yima Coal Group, a large state-owned coal company in Henan, the State Administration of Work Safety said on its website.

Xinhua said a magnitude-2.9 earthquake occurred to the east of Sanmenxia and that the rock explosion happened about 30 minutes later.

The phenomenon known as a "rock burst" occurs when settling layers of earth bear down on the walls of a mine and result in a sudden, catastrophic release of stored energy. Exploding pillars can turn chunks of rock or coal into deadly missiles, and the shock waves alone can be lethal.

The survival of the trapped miners depends on the intensity of the rock explosion and the rescuers' ability to provide ventilation to them, a local official told The Associated Press.

"If it was not very strong, it might have caused the tunnel to get narrower, but we might still be able to send some air in there to ensure ventilation," said the Yima city Communist Party's head of propaganda, who would give only his surname, Tian, as is common with Chinese officials.

China blogger angered over losing Facebook account

The Associated Press | Wed, 03/09/2011 9:00 AM | World

Chinese blogger and activist Michael Anti wants to know why he is less worty of a Facebook account than company founder Mark Zuckerberg's dog.

Anti, a popular online commentator whose legal name is Zhao Jing, said in an interview Tuesday that his Facebook account was suddenly canceled in January. Company officials told him by e-mail that Facebook has a strict plicy against pseudonyms and that he must use the name issued on his government ID.

Anti argues that his professional identity as Michael Anti has been established for more than a decade, with published articles and essays.

Anti, a former journalist who has won fellowships at both Cambridge University nd Harvard University, said he set up his Facebook account in 2007. By locking him out of his account, Facebook has cut him off from a network of more than 1,000 academic and professional contacts who know him as Anti, he said.

"I'm really, really angry. I can't function using my Chinese name. Today, I fond out that Zuckerberg's dog has a Facebook account. My journalistic work and academic work is more real than a dog," he said.

Zuckerberg recently set up a Facebook page for "Beast," complete with photos and a profile. Unlike Anti's, however, the page for the puppy doesn't violate Facebook's policies beause it's not meant to be a personal profile page. Rather, it's a type of page reserved for businesses and public figures that fans can "like" and receive updates from on their own Facebook pages.

Facebook said it does not comment on individual accounts, but added that it believes a "real name culture'leads to more accountability and a safer and more trusted environment for people who use Facebook.

"This viewpoint has been developed by our own research and in consultation with a number of safety and child protection experts," Debbie Frost, Facebook's director of international communications and Publc policy, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Facebook said in an e-mail to Anti that the company has "tried to keep the rule simple and fair by saying personal profiles must always be set up in the real legal name of the individual concerned."

Dissidents in a variety of countries ave argued that Facebook's policy can endanger human rights activists and others if their identities become known.

Anti said there is a long tradition in China for writers and journalists to take pen names, partly as protection from retaliation from authorities. If Facebook requires the use of real names, that could potentially put Chinese citizens in danger, he said.

"For my fellow Chinese, this policy could easily help Chinese police identify them," he said.

It's not the first time Anti has had problems with an Internet site. In 2005, his blog on a Microsoft website was shut down by the company following pressure from Chinese officials. Microsoft's action led to a public outcry.

China ups minimum wages, as inflation persists

The Associated Press, Beijing | Wed, 01/26/2011 11:31 AM | Business

Many Chinese cities are raising minimum wages for workers, fanning inflationary pressures while also seeking to soothe frustrations over price hikes.

The double-digit increases in major manufacturing centers like Guangdong, and the cities of Shanghai, Tianjin and Beijing follow wage hikes last year that have further raised labor costs, accelerating a shift by makers of inexpensive goods to lower cost places like Vietnam and Indonesia.

Shortages of workers in some areas and strikes and other protests by disgruntled young workers have also prompted authorities to push minimum wages higher, with most localities expected to follow suit.

A report released last week by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai said that 85 of the companies responding believed that rising costs are hurting China's competitiveness compared with other developing countries.

China retains massive advantages such as the standard of its infrastructure and its own huge market, which increasingly is the focus of foreign companies manufacturing there. But surging costs for labor, land, energy and materials have prompted many making low-cost items such as toys, shoes and clothing to move some production to other parts of the developing world.

Tianjin's labor bureau, in a statement seen Wednesday on its website, said it is preparing to raise the city's minimum monthly wage to 1,070 yuan ($160) from the current 920 yuan ($140).

Shanghai's mayor, Han Zheng, confirmed last week that the city was preparing for an April 1 increase in the city's minimum wage, by more than 10 percent over the current monthly 1,120 yuan ($170).

Han described this as an effective way to ensure a "rational income distribution."

"It is our responsibility to raise wages in Shanghai because people living on those wages are having a really hard time," he told reporters during an annual news conference. "It is important for every worker to share the fruits of progress and harmonious labor relations are conducive to healthy businesses," he said.

Beijing has announced its minimum wage will rise by 20.8 percent this year. Jiangsu, an affluent region adjacent to Shanghai, is hiking its minimum monthly pay by 15 percent and Guangdong, by about 19 percent in March to 1,300 yuan (about $200) - the country's highest.

Mindful of past links between surging inflation and political unrest, the authorities have sought to reassure consumers that they have prices under control.

China's inflation rate was at 4.6 percent in December, down from a 28-month high of 5.1 percent the month before but well above the government's target of 3 percent. Annual inflation in 2010 was 3.3 percent, and many economists are warning that price hikes may persist in coming months, especially if recent bad weather keeps food prices above normal.

Asked if rising costs might discourage companies from investing in places like Shanghai, Han said he believed companies focus more on the local investment environment and their own business strategies than on labor costs.

"If the companies cannot afford such increases it means their business model is not suitable for the development pattern in Shanghai," he said.

GM to export $900 million in autos, parts to China

The Associated Press | Mon, 01/24/2011 11:23 AM | Business

General Motors Co. says it plans to export $900 million in vehicles and parts to China under a two-year agreement signed with its flagship joint venture, Shanghai GM.

The agreement was among various trade and investment deals signed in connection with Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to the United States, the company said in a release Sunday.

Vehicle exports will be worth $500 million and components worth $400 million under the agreement. The amount of GM's current exports, excluding the deal, was not immediately available.

"We are committed to working with both countries to promote bilateral trade," Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group.

China overtook the U.S. to become the world's biggest auto market, by sales of new vehicles, in 2009. Last year, passenger car sales rose by a third to 13.7 million vehicles, while total vehicle sales topped 18 million.

GM's strong growth in China and other fast growing emerging markets has proven a lifeline in tough times, helping to offset lagging growth in the U.S. and Europe.

Shanghai GM sold 1.03 million vehicles in China last year, as the country's leading passenger car maker. Overall, GM and its joint ventures sold 2.35 million vehicles in China in 2010, up nearly 29 percent from a year earlier.

During the summit between Hu and President Barack Obama, China announced $45 billion in contracts and said it would increase its investments in the U.S. by several billion dollars - deals that Obama said will support 235,000 American jobs.

Asian shares mixed after China central bank move

The Associated Press, Tokyo, Japan | Mon, 01/17/2011 9:58 AM | Business

Asian shares were mixed Monday as investors digested the latest move by China to control interest rates.

China's central bank on Friday raised the amount of money banks must keep on reserve for the seventh time in a year. It ordered state-owned banks to set asde an additional 0.5 percent of deposits as reserves, effective Jan. 20.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.3 percent to 24,214.97, the Shanghai Composite index lost 1.3 percent to 2,753.79, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5 percent to 4,779.20.

Benchmarks in New Zealand and Taiwan also retreated Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.4 percent to 10,536.74 as banks benefited from a strong showing by U.S. financials before the weekend. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's biggest bank, rose 0.7 percent.

The optimism was triggered by JPMorgan Chase & Co., which reported that its income soared 47 percent in the fourth quarter. The bank set aside less money to cover bad loans and said it expected to get permission from the Federal Reserve to raise its dividend.

South Korea's Kospi added 0.2 perent to 2,111.27 on strength in high-tech shares.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 55.48 points, or 0.5 percent, to 11,787.38. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 9.48, or 0.7 percent, to 1,293.24.

The Nasdaq rose 20.01, or 0.7 percent, to 2,755.30. U.S. financial markets will be cosed Monday to observe the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. In currencies, the dollar rose to 82.90 yen from 82.80 yen late Friday.

The euro stood at $1.3344 from $1.3385. Benchmark oil for February delivery fell 9 cents $91.45 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 14 cents to settle at $91.54 a barrel Friday.

China State Grid buys Brazil power assets for $1b

The Associated Press, Shanghai | Wed, 12/22/2010 9:28 AM | World

China's biggest electricity provider, State Grid, says it has invested $989 million to acquire seven Brazilian power companies and their transmission facilities.

A notice by State Grid on the website of the government agency that manages state assets says the investment includes a 30-year concession to operate the Brazilian power grids that can be renewed in 20-year contracts once it expires.

The deal marks a further expansion of State Grid into overseas markets following a similar investment in the Philippines.