Tag: China

LAHORE - China Mobile, the world's largest mobile operator in terms of subscriber base and the parent company of ZONG, has nominated Fan Yun Jun as new CEO of CMPak Limited. He will replace Qian Li as the CEO of CMPak. Fan Yun Jun has over 12 years of diverse experience in engineering and marketing.
His last assignment with China Mobile was as deputy general manager at Beijing. He holds a PhD degree in engineering. ZONG is China Mobile's first venture outside of China and has

BEIJING - US retailer Best Buy said it would close its nine outlets in China as well as its head office in Shanghai, making it the latest foreign big box operator to struggle in the fast-growing market.
The consumer electronics giant said it would merge its China operations into its wholly owned subsidiary Five Star Appliance Company. "The company intends to explore other more profitable growth options for the Best Buy brand and plans to reopen two of the China stores at a later

KARACHI - Pakistan, which has imported over nine million cell phones from China out of a total import of over 11 million handsets during 2009-10, is likely to impose custom duty on those imported from countries with which it has signed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to generate revenue.
Under the existing FTA with China and zero-rated duty on the import of cell phones, Pakistan has potentially lost great revenue which could have been generated, if the Rs 500 per set duty was imposed

BEIJING - China raised interest rates for the second time in just over six weeks, intensifying a battle in fast-expanding economy against stubbornly high inflation that threatens to unsettle global markets.
The timing was a surprise, coming on the final day of China's Lunar New Year holiday, but investors have long expected more monetary tightening as Beijing struggles to rein in price pressures and ward off a property bubble in an economy that grew at a double-digit pace last

BEIJING - From January to December 2010, Pakistan's exports to China increased by nearly $500 million with an overall growth rate of 37.4 percent. According to the figures released by China Customs, total Pakistani exports to China last year were $1.7 billion compared to $1.2 billion in 2009.
Since 2006, Pakistani exports to China have steadily grown. The total volume of Pakistan-China trade rose by $2.0 billion to $8.7 billion approximately. Last year, textiles, ores and mineral

MELBOURNE - Li Na's memorable achievement in becoming Asia's first Grand Slam finalist put Chinese tennis firmly on the map at the Australian Open, and made her a big winner despite defeat to Kim Clijsters. Li led Saturday's final against the world number three, before Clijsters switched tactics to close out a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory for her fourth Grand Slam title, and her first outside the US Open.
Mother-of-one Clijsters, 27, had gone into the tournament as the firm favourite in

ISLAMABAD - The relatives of 350 prisoners including 16 women in different jails of China staged a protest demonstration in support of the release of their dear ones on Wednesday. They demanded the government bring the jailed Pakistanis back to the country for trials under the Geneva Accord.
Wajahat Ali, who had been fighting to get his brother released for the last four years, said that Pakistan had inked an agreement with China in December 2007 for the repartition of the

NEW YORK - When borrowing money it's always good to have a Plan B in case a big creditor pulls the plug. That should be true whether the sum is a few thousand dollars or about a trillion, the size of the United States government's debt to China. With Chinese President Hu Jintao due to arrive in Washington on Tuesday, it is worth asking US officials' Plan B just in case one day relations take a surprise turn for the worse and Beijing dumps its holdings of US treasuries.
China is

WASHINGTON - Two years after the Obama administration launched a charm offensive with China, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could not say Wednesday whether Beijing was a friend or foe.
"The reason we're rolling out the red carpet and having President Hu (Jintao) come for a state visit is we think we'll be better to answer such a question as we move forward," Clinton said in an interview with ABC television. "Well, my hope is we have a normal relationship," the chief US

BEIJING - The Chinese economy grew around 10.1 percent last year, the deputy head of China's top economic planning agency said, which amounts to the fastest pace of annual growth in three years.
Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the country's gross domestic product totalled about 39.5 trillion yuan ($6.0 trillion) in 2010. The 2010 growth rate accelerated from a revised 9.2 percent expansion seen in 2009. But Zhang noted that

KARACHI - A Chinese delegation of 100 young members visited the University of Karachi (KU) on Wednesday in connection with a memorandum of understanding signed between Pakistan and China to exchange the youth of both countries for promoting an interactive environment on both sides. The members of the delegation included artists, workers, students etc.
Talking to the delegation, KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Pirzada Qasim said that the year 2011 should be regarded as the year of

BEIJING - China said Tuesday its foreign exchange reserves hit a record high at the end of 2010, which is likely to fuel calls for a stronger yuan when President Hu Jintao visits Washington next week.
The increase in the forex holdings, already the world's largest, highlighted imbalances in global trade and the challenge Beijing faces in stemming a flood of liquidity into the country.
China's foreign exchange reserves expanded 18.7 percent from a year earlier to $2.847

BEIJING - US attempts to shore up rocky military relations with Beijing were overshadowed Tuesday by a test flight of China's stealth fighter jet, reflecting the growing rivalry between the two powers. Chinese state media carried photos purporting to show the maiden flight of the J-20 warplane just as US Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with President Hu Jintao -- who heads to Washington next week -- and other officials.
The timing of the flight appeared to be a snub to

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and China have agreed on a joint action plan to observe 2011 as Pakistan-China friendship year and will focus on a wider people-to-people interaction in addition to bilateral contacts between the two governments through exchange of delegations and troupes.
The year 2011 was declared as Pak-China friendship year during the recent visit of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to Pakistan on the completion of 60 years of the diplomatic relations between Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday said China and Pakistan would set up a new energy cooperation mechanism to promote cooperation in conventional, renewable and civil nuclear energy.
"We have identified 36 projects for the next Pak-China five-year development programme (2012-2016). These include major projects in education, health, energy, information and communications technologies (ICT), transport, agriculture, and water conservancy. Our goals are to

MADRID - Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang has said Beijing is willing to buy about

TEHRAN - Iran is to open its atomic sites to some world powers, officials announced on Tuesday, as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted the West was wrong to confront Tehran over its nuclear programme.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in Tehran that invitations to visit Iran's nuclear sites in Natanz and Arak have been sent to ambassadors of some of the nations represented in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Diplomatic sources at