China is world's biggest car manufacturer

Official figures Monday confirmed China had overtaken the United States to become the world's top auto maker and market in 2009 boosted by government stimulus measures.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) announced annual sales rose 46.15 percent year on year to 13.64 million units. Output increased 48.3 percent to 13.79 million units.

Passenger car sales were up 52.93 percent to 10.33 million units, and production was 10.38 million units, up 54.11 percent year on year.

The brisk sales in China is in contrast with the United States where 10.43 million units were sold last year, 2.8 million units less than in 2008, as the global financial crisis kept U.S. consumers out of the showroom.

The three top-selling brands last year were Shanghai Volkswagen, FAW Volkswagen and Shanghai General Motors -- all joint venture brands between Chinese auto makers and the German or U.S. counterparts.

"China's market still enjoyed abundant potential, as living standards improved and the average auto ownership remained low," Dong Yang, CAAM deputy chairman told Xinhua.

The industry would continue to see rapid growth in the next decade as it had become a pillar of the national economy, he said.

To boost the sluggish auto market in 2008 and spur the use of clean and fuel-efficient cars, the government announced in January last year that it would halve the purchase tax to 5 percent on vehicles with a displacement of less than 1.6 liters.

Rural consumers got up to 5,000 yuan (735 U.S. dollars) in government subsidies for vehicles with a displacement under 1.3 liters.

The annual revenue from auto purchase tax was expected to surpass 110 billion yuan, a rise of 10 billion yuan year on year, as more units were sold, analyst said.

Besides policy incentives, the underlying reason behind the sales boom was that the consumption structure was improved while housing and traveling costs increased, said Yao Jingyuan, chief economist with the National Bureau of Statistics.

"It would profoundly impact the Chinese auto market," he said.

Brisk sales in China also allowed the world's leading auto makers report double-digit growth in China last year despite bleak pictures in other parts of the world.

Against the backdrop of 15-percent slump worldwide, Ford reported a 44-percent sales rise to 440,619 units in China in 2009.

General Motors (GM)'s sales rose 66.9 percent to a record high of 1.82 million units in China. The German auto maker Volkswagen AG sold 1.4 million units in China, up 36.7 percent from a year earlier.

Since the sales in 2009 would overdraw demands for this year and next, and with the less aggressive tax incentives for 2010, sales expansion was expected to slow remarkably this year, said Huang Yonghe, analyst with the China Automotive Technology and Research Center.

Dong Yang estimated the auto sales growth would retreat to 10 percent to reach 15 million units in 2010.

"Despite China's top position in sales, there are still distance to go before it becomes a real auto giant, as it does not own the state-of-the-art technologies nor world-famous brands," said Dong Yang.

As part of its "going global" strategy, Geely, China's largest privately-owned car maker, is close to finalizing a deal to buy Volvo to acquire the new energy technology and access the world auto market.

The Beijing Automotive Industry Holding purchased some assets of GM's Saab in December. The Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial also has agreed to take over Hummer brand.

Acquiring foreign brands could help accelerate China's pace of technological innovation, but it could not be a shortcut to the global stage, said Han Lei, deputy director of the Society of Automotive Engineering of China.

"We can not simply copy foreign brand's technology and management expertise, but use them as a basis to develop our own model," he said.

The unprecedented boom also boosted producer's morale for further expansion.

"The Chinese auto makers added the capacity by 30 percent to 20million units in 2009, leaving their bitter memories of job cuts and shuttered business far behind," said Wei Wenqing, vice manager of the Dongfeng Citroen Motor Corporation.

Fuel-efficient cars have already shown some signs of overheating, as the demand for auto with displacement less than 1.6 liters was about 3 million units before 2011, less than half of the capacity of 7 million units, said Jia Xinguang, auto industry analyst.

"Since this market is largely affected by government policies, uncertainty and risks remain," he said.

Source: http://cin-ceo.blogspot.com/

China Launched World's Fastest Train

The Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway with the world's fastest train journey with a 350-km-per-hour average speed, started operation Saturday.

Two passenger trains rolled out the Wuhan Railway Station and Guangzhou North Railway Station at about 9 a.m. and reached the terminals within three hours, compared with the previous 10 and a half hours.

The service between Wuhan, a metropolis in central China, and Guangzhou City, a business hub in the southern Guangdong Province, was put into trial operation on Dec. 9, reaching a maximum speed of 394.2 km per hour.

A 600-member delegation from Xianning City boarded the train at 10 a.m. at Xianning North Station to promote tourism and attract investment in Guangzhou. Nearly two hours later, they had to take off winter coats on arrival of Guangzhou where the temperature was about 20 degrees Celsius at noon.

"We have long been waiting for the service to start," said Zheng Zengjin, manager of Yaochi Hotel of Xianning and a delegation member. "Previously, we had to suffer the tired and crowded journey as the train ride took more than 10 hours."

"It is really good news for us to have so comfortable and fast ride," he said. "As the travel becomes more frequent, we expect closer cooperation between the Pearl River delta and less developed regions such as Xianning."

In 2004, China hailed the completion of the rail line from Guangzhou to Shenzhen, both in Guangdong Province, with a speed of 160 km per hour. Now the speed more than doubled within five years, said Xu Fangliang, general engineer in charge of designing the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed line.

The average speed of the high-speed railways is 243 km per hour in Japan, 232 km per hour in Germany and 277 km per hour in France, he said.

Source: http://cin-ceo.blogspot.com/

China builds world's longest bridge

China on Tuesday began construction of the world's longest cross-sea bridge linking its southern economic hub of Guangdong province to Hong Kong and Macao, a move widely expected to bring economic ties closer.

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang attended the inauguration ceremony in Zhuhai, Guangdong, and launched the project.

"The construction of the bridge is a milestone event," he said at the ceremony, five days ahead of the 10th anniversary of Macao's return to Chinese rule.

"It is a move for Hong Kong, Macao and the Pear River Delta region to cope with global economic downturn, boost investment and inspire people," he said.

"Meanwhile, it can also further increase the links and promote economic cooperation between Hong Kong and Macao, and between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao," he said.

"It is of great significance to maintain the long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao, and enhance overall competitiveness in the region," he said.

Li also urged construction authorities to work with a strong sense of responsibility and sense of mission, and build a landmark in the region and a model of cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao in the field of infrastructure construction.

Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, chief executive of the Hong Kong special administrative region (SAR), Edmund Ho Hau Wah, chief executive of the Macao SAR, and Chui Sai On, the incoming Macao SAR chief executive, also attended the inauguration ceremony.

During a meeting with the three officials, Li said he hoped the two SARs could further enhance cooperation with Guangdong to seek mutual benefit and common development by drawing on one another's advantages.

Li vowed all-out efforts of the central government to continue to support the Hong Kong and Macao SAR chief executives and governments to govern by law.

He urged the SAR governments to closely watch changes in the global economic and financial situation, consolidate the stabilizing trend in the regions' economies, and promote the long-term prosperity and economic development of Hong Kong and Macao.

The Y-shaped Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge will have a total length of almost 50 km, of which about 35 km will be built over the sea, making it the longest cross-sea bridge in the world, said Zhu Yongling, an official in charge of the project construction.

It will be built according to the six-lane expressway standard with a vehicle speed limit of 100 km per hour.

"It is designed with a service life of 120 years. It can withstand the impact of a strong wind with a speed of 51 meters per second, or equal to a maximum Beaufort scale 16 (184 to 201 km per hour)," Zhu said.

"It can also resist the impact of 8-magnitude earthquake and a 300,000-ton vessel," he said.

The entire project was estimated to cost almost 73 billion yuan ($10.7 billion), which would be shared by authorities on the mainland, and in Hong Kong and Macao, he said.

During construction, they would take into consideration the protection of the ocean environment and marine life, such as white dolphins, he said.

"We will control the construction noise and turbidity of seawater, and prevent oil pollution," he said.

The construction would take about six years, he said. On completion, it would take about half an hour to travel from Zhuhai or Macao on the west bank of the Pearl River to Hong Kong on the east bank, compared with the current three hours, he said.

Source: http://cin-ceo.blogspot.com/2009/12/china-began-to-build-world-longest.html

Chinese non woven face masks

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Size of face mask: 17.5x9.5cm ± 0.5cm
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Packing: 50pcs/box, 40boxes/ctn(41.5*37.5*32cm)
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Ear-loop, Latex Free; 3-ply, 20g+20g+28g; Green,Blue,White color;
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Source: http://cin-ceo.blogspot.com/2009/12/nonwoven-face-masks.html