2013 was a year of booming social e-commerce in Thailand

2013 was a year of booming e-commerce in Thailand. Thanks to more3G coverage , the 131 percent mobile penetration rate, and about 52 million internet users in the country, more people than ever shopped online. In fact, the Thai E-Commerce Association expects that e-shopping and online businesses will have grown by 30 percent this year, up from THB 119.64 billion ($3.65 billion) spent in 2012.

In Thailand, this boom was boosted by newer kinds of e-commerce, things that have evolved from more established channels such as general e-stores and consumer-to-consumer selling via forums. Here are four emerging social e-commerce trends we’ve seen in Thailand in 2013.

F-commerce

Now that Thailand has 24 million Facebook users , it’s only natural that people are taking advantage of the crowded social network for things other than sharing. This trend is ‘Facebook commerce’, or f-commerce for short. In Thailand, f-commerce sellers often focus on women’s products, ranging from accessories to clothes, skincare products to make-up. However, merely creating a page to sell something is so 2012; in 2013, merchants actually started using promoted posts and other types of Facebook advertising. This made the business a lot more social.

This new trend – across Asia as a whole, not just Thailand – was also a chance for startups to offer services to these sellers. And so we saw things like Page365, Instapps, and Bentoweb emerge as services dedicated to building solutions for Facebook vendors in this region. Those all offers an analytics dashboard for sellers to monitor their customers’ behavior, product requests, purchases, and view how items are being shared socially within Facebook.

In some cases, these Facebook stores in Thailand are making over $100,000 per month in revenue.

Source: TECHINASIA

Millions of Tons of Metals Stashed in Shadow Warehouses

According to a report published today on the Wall Street Journal, "the world's metal is slipping into the shadows.

Banks, hedge funds, commodity merchants and others are stashing tens of millions of tons of aluminum, copper, nickel and zinc in a hidden system of warehouses that span the globe.

These facilities are known to some in the industry as "shadow warehouses" because they are unregulated and don't disclose their holdings.

They operate outside the London Metal Exchange system of warehouses, the traditional home for these metals".

As of October, a record seven million to 10 million tons of aluminum were being housed in these facilities, in countries as far apart as Malaysia and the Netherlands, according to estimates from several analysts.

The amount dwarfs the 5.5 million tons of aluminum in the LME-licensed warehouses, based on LME figures as of Tuesday. Just 12 months ago, the figures were about equal.

A similar shift is taking place with other industrial metals, analysts say.

As a result, producers and consumers are bracing for potentially wild swings in metals prices as market participants have difficulty accurately gauging supplies of these metals. With no clear insight into how much metal is in the shadow system, setting prices will become increasingly difficult, they say.

Turbulent raw-materials prices can make it more expensive to produce everyday goods when prices spike or limit output from mines and smelters when prices drop below their cost of production.

The lack of transparency is making this shadow system increasingly attractive to institutions seeking to profit from information that other buyers and sellers don't have. Some companies also are seeking a cheaper alternative to the LME warehouses, which can be 10 times as expensive as the unregulated storage, analysts and traders say.

However, metal owners can face higher interest rates from banks if they wish to use metal stored in shadow warehouses as collateral for loans, because banks see the LME system as less risky, analysts say.

Five companies operate 75% of the LME's 778 licensed warehouses. All own shadow facilities as well, people familiar with the companies said.

In some instances, a single firm runs licensed and unlicensed warehouses in the same building, with the metal counted by the LME separated from hidden stockpiles by a chain-link fence, said David Wilson, a commodities analyst with Citigroup.

After five Years from the Great Recession,UK recovery is still slow.

Five years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers almost tipped the global economy into the abyss, recovery has been slow and halting. Meanwhile the UK's 'Alice in Wongaland' economy has been coasting on easy money, its growth propelled by shopping sprees and property prices. It was a phrase which struck a chord in a year when many things were not quite what they seemed.
The UK was braced for a triple-dip recession in spring,but by summer even the double-dip
recession of 2011/12 has been pushed from headlines by statitistical updates. Growth accelerated,unemployment dropped.But many economists saw little to celebrate in a recovery driven by consumer spending and an overheating housing market. While the chancellor boasted of upward revisions to growth forecasts,the economy remains 2.5% smaller than its pre-recession peak.

Source: theguardian

Brasil : Operação para segurar dólar custa R$ 8 bilhões ao governo em novembro

O governo teve um gasto extra de R$ 8 bilhões em novembro  -o equivalente a quatro meses de Bolsa Família- na tentativa de conter a alta das cotações do dólar.

A perda foi contabilizada em operações nas quais  o Banco Central ofereceu uma espécie de seguro ao mercado contra a valorização da moeda norte-americana. Como ela subiu, o BC ficou com o prejuízo.

Chamadas de swap cambial, essas operações haviam gerado um ganho de R$ 4,7 bilhões em outubro ao BC. O objetivo, porém, não é ganhar ou perder dinheiro: é tranquilizar empresários e investidores que temem a desvalorização do real.

O dólar está em tendência de aumento em razão das perspectivas de recuperação da economia dos Estados Unidos, o que pode gerar perdas para quem tem dívida externa e elevação dos preços dos produtos importados.

Sem o seguro oferecido pelo BC, o mercado buscaria proteção comprando dólares à vista, o que elevaria ainda mais as cotações.

As perdas do mês passado foram incorporadas às despesas financeiras do governo federal, que, somadas às dos Estados e municípios, chegaram a R$ 29,9 bilhões.

Com isso, as contas públicas fecharam o mês com despesas acima das receitas, mesmo com a poupança recorde de R$ 29,7 bilhões  puxada pelo governo federal.

Fonte : Fohla de São Paulo

Foreign Warplanes Active in China’s Defense Zone

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal,"after China announced an air defense zone in November, the U.S.demonstrated its displeasure by deliberately entering the air space with an unannounced incursion by a pair of B-52 bombers. As with that dramatic gesture, new Chinese figures suggest the air zone did not deter activity by foreign militaries".

"China’s Defense Ministry said this week it monitored nearly 800 foreign warplanes within the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone during its first month. At a press conference Thursday, Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng also said China sent  87 of its own aircraft into the area on 51 missions during the period, both for routine patrols and “emergency identification missions.”

“We have had effective monitoring and management of the East China ADIZ and will take corresponding measures in accordance with different air threats to safeguard national air security,” Mr. Geng said.

Countries set up air defense zones as early-warning buffer areas; planes flying through them may be required to identify themselves to distinguish potentially hostile incursions. China says its zone is needed because of evolving military risks in the region  , stressing that it doesn’t reflect any new territorial claims by Beijing.

But the U.S. and China’s Asian neighbors charged China with raising risks in an already tense region, in part because its zone overlaps with ones previously declared by Japan and South Korea.

Washington regularly warns that stepped up military activity in and above the East China Sea raises the possibility of accidents and miscalculations.

In the press conference, "the Chinese defense ministry spokesman made no suggestion any dangerous incidents arose from the foreign military flights into the zone. He didn’t characterize any communication with intruding aircraft, or say which sections of the zone were entered".

Source: WSJ

China: Foshan’s Four Surprises and How China can move from middle income to high income status

"Few people outside of China know Foshan, a city of seven million located at the heart of the Pearl River Delta in southern China. But this vibrant and economically progressive city – which Foreign Policy and the McKinsey Global Institute ranked last year as the  world's 13th most dynamic city , based on its projected GDP increase from 2010 to 2025 – embodies China’s quest for a high-value-added, high-income economy.

  With this in mind, about 18 months ago, a team of researchers (including us) launched a case study on Foshan . The city stood out, because its experience exemplifies China’s progress over the last 35 years – as well as the structural challenges that the country now faces. One of the first Chinese cities to implement experimental economic reforms, Foshan first built itself up as a low-cost manufacturing center, and is now working to become a knowledge-based, innovation-driven economic powerhouse.

This micro-institutional study of macro outcomes produced four surprises.

 The first was Foshan’s economic performance. The city’s per capita GDP reached $14,828 in 2012 – higher than Shanghai or Beijing, and well within the World Bank’s “high income” category. Real-estate value per capita reached almost $50,000 in 2010 – more than four times per capita GDP that year – owing largely to soaring property prices. And Foshan’s urbanization rate, supported by high-quality infrastructure and an advanced industrial sector, reached 94%.

Of course, Foshan is not the only such success story in China. Of 287 Chinese cities, 17 have populations of more than three million, with per capita GDP exceeding $12,000. Together, these cities account for 11% of China’s total population and 30% of its GDP. While all of them hold important lessons for China as it attempts to avoid the middle-income trap, Foshan’s experience offers particularly useful insights.

  This is because of the second surprise: beyond slightly easier access to international markets – a result of its proximity to Hong Kong and history of municipal-level reform – Foshan’s success does not depend on some unique advantage. Thus, the main components of Foshan’s escape from poverty can be replicated in other Chinese cities. These include:

         Private-sector-led growth. The private sector contributed 62.5% of Foshan’s GDP in 2012, with one private enterprise for every 20 residents.

       Production for domestic markets. Foshan’s net exports declined from 30% of GDP in 2006 to 18% in 2012, reflecting a much earlier shift to domestic markets than occurred in other Chinese manufacturing cities like Wenzhou (25% of GDP), Dongguan (32%), and Shenzhen (37%).

·         Globally connected, specialized markets. Foshan has more than 30 specialized market towns with sophisticated industrial clusters and local supply chains linked to international markets.

       High-quality migrant labor. More than half of Foshan’s population and two-thirds of its workforce are migrants, who have access to the same social services as locals, owing to reforms in vocational training, health care, housing, and social security.

        Greater local autonomy. By delegating significant fiscal and management responsibility to county, township, and village officials, Foshan’s government was able to stop acting as a substitute for the market, and begin facilitating and supporting market growth.

        Decentralization of social services. The delegation of social services to more than 1,000 industry associations and non-government entities improved delivery and reduced the burden on public finances.

The third surprise was why only Foshan took these six steps, even though other cities could have done so easily. The city’s mayor, Liu Yuelun, explained that Foshan “had to rely on the market to get the people, capital, resources, infrastructure, technology, and sales for its growth.” After all, Foshan is not a special economic zone; it is not under the direct control of the central or a provincial government; and it is not rich in natural resources. In other words, the market – not the state – played a key role in resource allocation.

 The final surprise was that the key economic challenges facing Foshan today – such as local-government debt, credit access for small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), and pollution – are identical to those facing China as a whole.

These four surprises highlight the need for China to move beyond mainstream economics, which emphasizes top-down macro policies, at the expense of the micro, institutional, and municipal-level reforms. But it is precisely such reforms that will determine whether China reaches the next stage of development".

Source: by Andrew Sheng and Geng Xiao, Project-Syndicate

Banks to accept smartphone photos of cheques

British banks are set to accept photos of cheques sent by smartphone, cutting the processing time from six to two days, the Treasury said on Thursday – but it insisted that this was not the next step in phasing out them out entirely.

The chancellor, George Osborne, is to consult next year on legislation to speed up cheque payments and make it easier for businesses and consumers to use smartphone technology. Consumers would also be allowed to send photos of cheques or go to banks with photographs of cheques in a move that mimic the way that plane tickets can now be printouts of emails.

In America, JP Morgan Chase introduced the cheque service in 2010, followed by Citibank and Bank of America. But in the UK, the law states the bank has a legal right to demand to physically see the cheque, especially if it is from a different bank, before it decides to honour it.

Welcoming the move, Steven Roberts, Barclays' managing director, said: "When you can download a book or a film in seconds, we believe you should be able to deposit a cheque in the same way. This is just the beginning of how we want to transform the 'cheque clearing cycle' for our customers, driving down the six days it currently takes a cheque to clear."

The Treasury said it accepts that despite debit cards, cheques remain crucial, with nearly £840bn-worth processed last year. This accounts for 10% of all payments made by individuals. A total of 23m cheques were sent as gifts since surveys show they are still the most trusted method of sending money through the post. But with cheques in overall decline, the Treasury said the new photo cheque would boost their status.

Source:  theguardian

Japan's CPI 1% in November. Analysts skeptical of 2% target of BOJ

Japanese consumer inflation topped 1 percent in November for the first time in five years, making steady headway under the central bank's efforts to achieve a 2 percent inflation target via aggressive monetary stimulus.

Factory output rose for a third straight month, retail sales jumped and job availability hit a six-year high, other data showed on Friday, adding to growing signs the recovery in the world's third-largest economy is gathering momentum.

Still, analysts remain doubtful of whether inflation will accelerate quickly enough to meet the BOJ's ambitious target, set in April, of 2 percent inflation in roughly two years.

"Consumer prices show signs of being pushed up by the weak yen, so we're still looking at cost-push inflation. It remains to be seen how strongly wages will rise," said Yasuo Yamamoto, senior economist at Mizuno Research Institute in Tokyo.

The core consumer price index, which includes oil products but excludes volatile costs of fresh food, rose 1.2 percent in November from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday, roughly in line with a median market forecast for a 1.1 percent increase.

That was the fastest pace of growth since a 1.9 percent increase in October 2008, when a spike in global commodity prices pushed up import costs.

Source: NewsOnJapan

China will further open its markets, accelerate negotiation on free trade zones and promote investment partnerships.

China will further open its markets to the outside world by setting up free trade zones and launching investment agreement negotiations with its trade partners, according to a statement issued after the annual Central Economic Work Conference.

The closed-door meeting, which was held from December 10 to 13 in the capital, brought together the country's top policymakers to review the previous year's economic conditions and set out a roadmap for the following year's development.

In some ways, the meeting can be seen as picking up where the third full meeting of the Communist Party's 18th Central Committee left off, trying to flesh out broad plans with finer details.

At the conference this year, policymakers indicated that opening up the economy would continue. Also, for the first time leaders said they wanted to take measures to help exports.

Exports have experienced a significant slowdown since the onset of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. In the past, exports grew at 30 percent per year, but recently that has slowed to 10 percent. Although the country's exports continue expanding as a portion of the global total, they are facing challenges due to rising labor and material costs and stronger competition from Southeast Asia and Latin America.

The conference this year pledged to "accelerate negotiations on free trade zones" and for the first time mentioned "steadily pushing forward with negotiations on investment agreements." These statements indicated the country wants better engagement in bilateral and regional trade and business cooperation.

China has signed 12 free trade agreements and another six are in talks, including ones with South Korea, Australia and Norway. Negotiations with Australia are expected to be completed next year.

The talks between China and South Korea have entered the stage of price bargaining, while trade talks between China, Japan and South Korea are in their third round where the focus is on the model of tax reductions and scope.

In May, negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) between China, Association of Southeast Asian Nation members and several other countries were launched. The talks are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2015.

China is also trying to promote stronger investment partnerships with the United States and Europe. With the launch of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, some experiments in foreign investment management are expected to be adopted in future partnerships.

In both the economic work conference report and a document issued after the party meeting in November, policymakers said they wanted to "promote a new maritime Silk Road." This is an indication the government intends to enhance links between the Pacific Ocean and the Baltic Sea, the body of water between northern and central Europe.

Source: Xinhua

China : Grain Security Top Priority in 2014

Grain security and agricultural modernization are the two expected focal points at this week's Central Rural Work Conference. Officials say China’s high self sufficiency ensures a stable grain supply, while more efforts are needed to make it more secure.

Despite the record high grain output this year, officials are admitting that the grain supply remains a challenge for China, as the country’s urbanization continues to unfold. Therefore, ensuring grain security will be a top priority next year.

China’s grain self-sufficiency is more than 95 percent. It is absolutely secure, and the actual figure is higher than the level, up to 98 percent.

Agricultural modernization is also a major issue at the meeting. Experts say the Chinese government is piloting rural reform areas and looking to set up a new rural operation system, as part of its modernization drive. That will give a huge boost to the sector’s overall efficiency.

Source: Xinhua

London Metal Exchage Prices

London Metal Exchange
Aluminium Alloy Cash Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Fri 13:30	1810.00	+15.00		+0.8
Aluminium Alloy 3mo Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Fri 13:30	1845.00	+35.00		+1.9
Primary Aluminium Cash Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Fri 13:30	1753.25	+43.75		+2.6
Primary Aluminium 3mo Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Fri 13:30	1796.75	+41.50		+2.4
Copper Cash Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Fri 13:30	7365.25	+93.75		+1.3
Copper 3mo Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Wed 13:30	7226.75	0.00		0.0
Lead Cash Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Fri 13:30	2278.75	+32.75		+1.5
Lead 3mo Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Fri 07:45	2245.50	0.00		0.0
N. American Special Alum Alloy Cash Official Confmd $/m tonne			Fri 13:30	1814.50	+42.00		+2.4
N. American Special Alum Alloy 3mo Official Confmd $/m tonne			Fri 13:30	1847.50	+35.00		+1.9
Nickel Cash Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Fri 13:30	14222.50	+115.00		+0.8
Nickel 3mo Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Wed 13:30	14102.50	0.00		0.0
Tin Cash Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Fri 13:30	22975.00	+35.00		+0.2
Tin 3mo Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Fri 13:30	22975.00	+57.50		+0.3
Zinc Cash Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Fri 13:30	2102.25	+30.50		+1.5
Zinc 3mo Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Fri 07:45	2075.00	0.00		0.

Xinhua Insight: Given history lessons, Japan's rearmament drive should be kept at bay

Humanity can learn from mistakes and lessons provided by history.

Japan's rearmament pursuit incarnated in a array of controversial moves its government has taken recently demands high vigilance of the international community and should be timely contained, considering the horrible occurrences in the last century.

On Sept. 1, 1923, a deadly mega-quake jolted Japan's main island of Honshu, killing hundreds of thousands of people, including three royal family members, and leaving about 1.5 million homeless in Tokyo and Yokohama.

The devastating quake had further exacerbated anxieties for security and survival of the island nation, which has been fettered by its narrow land territory and the lack of natural resources.

These anxieties and mentality have been behind Japan's aspiration for military expansion of its Lebensraum or living space overseas.

Also in the 1920s, a hurricane of economic crisis originating from the United States crushed Japan's economy, leaving around 3 million people jobless. That as well prompted Japan to speed up its military expansion overseas to quell domestic turbulence.

A then weak and perplexed China, which was only years away from the crumble of the 2000-year-long feudal imperialist system and overwhelmed by warlords' infighting, topped Tokyo's hunting list.

In later years, a militarized fascist Japan launched one of the most sanguinary aggression in the human history into China and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region and killed tens of thousands of people before it was defeated in 1945.

After nearly a century passed since the 1923 quake, Japan was hard hit again in March 2011 by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, which was followed by huge tsunami waves that set off a nuclear crisis.

This natural disaster came at a time when Japan was led by a ever-right tilting government and mired in a stagnated economy in the aftermath of the worst global financial meltdown since the Great Depression.

These striking similarities seen in the 1920s and in the recent years have already carried enough weight for the world community to stay highly vigilant again.

In fact, the real situation on the ground is even worrying. The Japanese government led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seems to have taken history not as a lesson, but more of a humiliation of a defeated samurai.

Therefore, it has apparently decided to rearm itself despite constraints prescribed in its constitution and opposition voiced by nations having the best knowledge on what kind of brutality and slaughter Japan was able to deliver if its paranoia for growing military muscle went unchecked.

Seeking to conceal its territorial ambitions, Abe and many of his cabinet ministers are tirelessly whipping up Chinaphobia and China-threat in a coherent manner so as to rationalize their motive for military build-up.

While at the same time, the United States, Japan's adversary-turned-ally, is taking advantage of the escalating tensions to maintain orders in the Asia-Pacific according to Washington's wishes.

Yet it seems that the U.S. government has forgotten the Japanese politicians never play the game by the rules, and once their vicious desires are unleashed, American lives could also be in jeopardy.

Therefore, nations concerned should not appease a warmongering Japan again.

For the world not to be pushed into another bloody conflict, all peace-loving nations, especially those in the region, need to stand united, take enough precautions against Japan's malicious agenda, and adopt effective measures to contain Tokyo's dangerous pursuit of rearmament.

These countermeasures could include strong international consensus at the UN and other multilateral forums that demand the Abe administration stop further fan the flames in Northeast Asia, as well as practical economic sanctions that could cost Japan dearly so that it would never again cross over the line.

Because of Japan's self-assertive moves, the Asia-Pacific region is once again standing on the edge of a situation very much similar to that seen 90 years ago.

For the sake of peace and the millions of lives that were lost during the Second World War, it is dead certain that this time the horrors of history should not be repeated, and chances for another dispiteous war should be strangled once and for all.

Source: Xinhua

China Nov. industrial profits rise 9.7%, slower than October

China’s industrial profit growth slowed in November. Industrial firms with annual revenues over 3.3 million U.S. dollars posted a profit rise of 9.7 percent. That’s sharply slower than October’s 15.1 percent increase.

The slowdown is main due to state firms and collectively owned companies. Private firms and foreign invested companies’ logged quicker earnings growth.  The National Bureau of Statistics says January to November industrial profits totalled 5.33 trillion yuan, or 877 billion US dollars. That’s up 13.2 percent year on year.

Source: CCTV

China trade volume hit 4.14 trln USD in 2013, up 7%

China’s Ministry of Commerce held its work conference in Beijing today. Minister Gao Hucheng summarized China’s major economic data for 2013.China’s trade volume is estimated to reach 4.14 trillion dollars in 2013, up more than 7 percent from last year.

Trade volume in the services sector surpassed 520 billion dollars.

Retail sales is predicted to reach 23.8 trillion yuan this year, growing more than 13 percent year on year.

Foreign direct investment will reach 117 billion dollars, up around 5 percent.

Gao says that consumption and investment in the services sector are growing quickly.

Chinese outbound investment will reach 88 billion dollars in 2013, up around 15 percent from last year.
Gao says China’s outbound investment will continue to grow --as Chinese companies become more advanced in their technologies and management. He points out the strong demand for investments in infrastructure construction around the world.

Source: CCTV

China : Agricultural modernization and Grain Security Top Priorities in 2014

Grain security and agricultural modernization are the two expected focal points at this week's Central Rural Work Conference. Officials say China’s high self sufficiency ensures a stable grain supply, while more efforts are needed to make it more secure.

Despite the record high grain output this year, officials are admitting that the grain supply remains a challenge for China, as the country’s urbanization continues to unfold. Therefore, ensuring grain security will be a top priority next year.

China’s grain self-sufficiency is more than 95 percent. It is absolutely secure, and the actual figure is higher than the level, up to 98 percent.

Agricultural modernization is also a major issue at the meeting. Experts say the Chinese government is piloting rural reform areas and looking to set up a new rural operation system, as part of its modernization drive. That will give a huge boost to the sector’s overall efficiency.

S

Ex-steelmaker president Sudo seen as next chairman of ailing TEPCO

The government is making final arrangements to appoint Fumio Sudo, a former president of steelmaker JFE Holdings Inc., as the next chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co., which is trying to restructure itself in the wake of the crisis at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, sources close to the matter said Friday.

Sudo, 72, currently an outside director of TEPCO, will have the task of helping the utility to continue its cleanup activities at the plant and at the same time reviving its battered business.

On the same day, TEPCO and state-backed Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund sought government approval of the utility's new 10-year business plan, which features more financial support from the state and the resumption of the idled Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant from July.

Source: NewsOnJapan

SoftBank on course to buy T-Mobile

Japan's SoftBank plans to acquire T-Mobile US through its subsidiary Sprint in a move that would create the world's second largest mobile carrier by revenue after China Mobile, a report said Wednesday.

SoftBank intends to buy a majority stake in fourth-ranked US wireless carrier T-Mobile in early 2014 in a transaction with an estimated price tag of more than 2 trillion yen ($19 billion), the Nikkei business daily said.It is in the final stages of talks with T-Mobile's parent, Deutsche Telekom of Germany, the economic daily quoted anonymous sources close to the matter as saying.
SoftBank declined to comment on the report. Shares in the firm fell 0.56 percent to 8,760 yen in Tokyo morning trade.
The purchase would boost the SoftBank group's annual revenue from mobile operations to $69.4 billion, making it the world's No. 2 carrier behind China Mobile with $90.4 billion, the Nikkei said citing, industry figures.

Source: NewsOnJapan

China 2013 grain collection hits historical high

China has kicked off its nation-wide grain collection process, just as the country's autumn harvest reached new high. Farmers are looking ahead for a great harvest season since the government recently increased the minimum purchase prices for grains. But, storage has become a big challenge.

Grain production in China is expected to reach over 600 million tons this year, the 10th straight year of growth.

One tenth of this amount will go to the national reserves. Good news for farmers: minimum purchase prices have been adjusted up. Rice produced from the North-east part of China rose 2 Jiao per kilogram, from its original 3 yuan per kg. Corn price has also risen on a small scale.

"We will strictly follow government price policies, and adjust how much we purchase according to market price fluctuations," Song Zhiyuan, Deputy Manager of China Grain Reserves Corporation, says.

The price policy certainly protects Chinese farmers, but as more bag of grain flood in, storage space is running out.

"Jilin Province plans to purchase 20 million tons of grain, the highest in history. But storage space in the whole province is just enough for about 7 million tons," Song Hai He, Planning Director of China Grain Reserve Corporation of Jilin Province, says.

And China's largest local grain reserve, located in Dalian is already full. It is estimated that about 20 million tons of grain would have to be placed in open ground, with a big risk of getting spoiled.

Source:  CCTV

Okinawa Gov. announces approval of landfill for base relocation

Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima announced Friday that he has approved the Japanese government's application for landfill work that is part of the plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air base within the southernmost Japan prefecture.

The issue of the Futenma base relocation, agreed between the Japanese and U.S. governments, will enter a new phase following the key decision by the governor.

Source: Jiji Press

U.S. expresses disappointment at Abe's Yasukuni visit

The United States expressed disappointment at Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday.

"The United States is disappointed that Japan's leadership has taken an action that will exacerbate tensions with Japan's neighbors," the U.S. embassy in Tokyo said in a statement."The United States hopes that both Japan and its neighbors will find constructive ways to deal with sensitive issues from the past, to improve their relations, and to promote cooperation in advancing our shared goals of regional peace and stability," it said.

Defiant Abe a real danger

 No matter what pretexts Japanese politicians employ to justify it, the Yasukuni Shrine in the heart of Tokyo is a highly symbolic reminder of Japan's militarist past, because it enshrines 14 convicted Class-A war criminals such as Hideki Tojo and other war criminals among Japan's war dead.

Whether a Japanese prime minister visits the shrine is a tested-and-true political weather vane for judging its political direction, as well as proof that he respects or disregards the sensitivities of other countries and the postwar international order.

On Thursday Shinzo Abe signed the entry book to the shrine as Japan's prime minister, revealing the claims by his subordinates, that he visited it in a "private capacity" and it was a matter of "personal belief", to be poor disguises and outright lies.

Resorting to their same old gangster logic in the dispute over the Diaoyu Islands, they want us to swallow Abe's offensive pilgrimage to Yasukuni as a non-issue.

Responding to the ensuing angry diplomatic ripples, the unapologetic Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida highlighted his government's "hope" to "avoid letting an affair as such develop into a political or diplomatic issue". This "hope" is sheer hypocrisy. Because Abe knows full well "it is a reality that the visit to Yasukuni Shrine has become a political and diplomatic issue".

Contrary to his claim that Abe had "no intention at all of hurting the feelings of Chinese or South Korean people", Abe made the visit anticipating opposition from both countries, as Japanese New Komeito Party chief Natsuo Yamaguchi confirmed.

Abe knew it would be an insult. But he does not care. What he wants to do is use the opposition of neighboring countries to fuel domestic nationalism and garner more support.

Abe's shrine visit is a signal that nothing at home is holding him back from his ultra-rightist political agenda to rewrite Japan's pacifist Constitution and revive his war-cabinet grandfather's dream of making Japan a military power.

If Abe truly loves peace, he would not have sought to break Japan's tradition and let it export weapons again. If he respects international law, he would not have claimed there is no clear definition of "aggression". If he honors humanity, he would not be trying to sweep under the carpet the atrocities committed by the Japanese troops and instead show respect to their victims, both the buried and the breathing.

Abe's calculated move, on the anniversary of his administration's taking office, is an intolerable insult to the feelings of Chinese and Korean peoples among others and a blatant attack on human decency, as well as a shameful challenge to the international consensus on history and justice, to which our response should in no way stop at diplomatic representations.

Abe's nasty track record — his denial of the aggressive nature of Japanese intrusions during WWII, his lack of remorse for Japan's historical sins, and his crooked approach to territorial disputes — disqualifies him from having an opportunity to explain, face to face, to Chinese and South Korean leaders his motive and purpose. His tribute to Yasukuni has slammed the door to dialogue shut.

Given the Abe administration's bankrupt political credibility and dangerous political orientations, the international community and China should not be fooled by his excuses, instead it is time for them to seriously reconsider their relationship with Japan, from perspectives of security, diplomacy and economy.

A Japan obsessed with its militarist past is a real danger to the Asia-Pacific.

Source: China Daily