Japan brushes off China 'troublemaker' criticism

Japan on Thursday brushed off a bristling attack in which a Chinese diplomat branded Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a "troublemaker", saying Beijing's sentiment is inaccurate and ignores the facts.

The rebuttal came after China's envoy to the African Union fired the latest salvo in an increasingly bitter war of words between Asia's two largest economies with a dramatic display of pictures he said showed the results of Japanese atrocities during World War II.In a press conference held the day after Abe wrapped up a landmark African tour aimed at boosting Japan's presence in Africa, Ambassador Xie Xiaoyan accused him of trying to undermine Beijing's own diplomatic reach. "Abe has become the biggest troublemaker in Asia," Xie, who is also China's ambassador to Ethiopia, told reporters.
"He has worked hard to portray China as a threat, aiming to sow discord, raising regional tensions and so creating a convenient excuse for the resurrection of Japanese militarism," the ambassador said at the news conference.
He said the conservative Japanese leader's visit to Africa was part of what he described as a "China containment policy".
Xie also repeated criticism over Abe's visit last month to the Yasukuni war shrine, which honours around 2.5 million of Japan's war dead, including several high-level officials executed for war crimes after World War II.
In Tokyo on Thursday, the government issued a low-key response, with a deputy press secretary of the foreign minister telling reporters Japan had a decades-long record of peace.

Source: AFP

N. Korea seeks visit by Japanese lawmakers: Inoki

North Korea has asked for a visit to the country by Japanese lawmakers, House of Councillors member Antonio Inoki said Thursday.

The Korea-Japan Amity and Friendship Association made the request to Inoki in writing during his four-day visit to the country, the Japanese lawmaker told a news conference at Tokyo International Airport at Haneda upon returning from the trip.He added that Kim Yong Il, secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and adviser at the friendship association, sought a visit by Keiji Furuya, Japanese minister for the issue of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korean spies decades ago.

Source: JiJi Press

BOJ: 5 of 9 Japan regions up economic views on domestic demand

The Bank of Japan said on Thursday that five out of the nine regions in Japan upgraded their economic views from three months ago as domestic demand continues to be backed by better prospects for jobs, wages and factory production.

"All regions said that the economy had been recovering or recovering moderately, reflecting firm domestic demand, a moderate increase in production and improvement in the employment and income conditions," the BOJ said in its quarterly regional economic report.

It is the first time since April 2005 - when the BOJ started the report - that all the nine regions have described their economic conditions as "recovering."

A BOJ official told reporters that the virtuous cycle among production, income and spending is spreading to many regions. The economy is supported by high demand for durable goods before the April sales tax hike, he said.

"Compared with the last assessment in October 2013, four regions noted that their economic assessments regarding the pace of economic improvement had remained unchanged; five regions reported upward revisions to their economic assessments, mainly reflecting improvement in private consumption supported by the employment and income situation," the report said.

Many regions also reported bright assessments of key components, such as industrial production, private consumption and capital investment.

Source: NewsOnJapan

China's US debt holdings reach record high

China's total holdings of US government debt in November reached a record $1.317 trillion, a development that could mean added pressure to help currency appreciation in the world's second-largest economy, according to analysts.

China increased its US Treasury securities by $12.2 billion from October to remain the US's largest creditor, staying above the $1.3 trillion mark for the second consecutive month, according to data released on Thursday by the Treasury Department. Japan remained the second-largest US creditor in November, increasing its debt securities by $12 billion to $1.186 billion.

"Overall, purchases of US assets are entirely in line with what one would expect given the rapid increase in headline reserves," Troutman said. "2013, especially the back half of the year, was one of remarkable foreign reserve accumulation. The main takeaway from this statistic for me is that pressure to appreciate remains very strong."

"Policymakers in China are still grappling with how to balance the need for shorter domestic economic stability with the need - or necessity - for longer-term structural change," Troutman added. "2013 shows that stability is still king."

Foreign demand for US assets weakened as net foreign purchases of long-term securities totaled $29.3 billion in November, compared to purchases of $35.4 billion in October, the data showed.

According to a Jan 15 blog post written by Troutman on China Economic Watch - the PIIE blog that monitors China's economy - the People's Bank of China announced that its foreign-exchange reserves jumped $157 billion in the fourth quarter, bringing the total increase in reserves to $508 billion for 2013.

"This marked pickup in reserve accumulation, coupled with persistent trading of the renminbi at the top of its official trading range and a premium on the offshore Chinese yuan, suggests that pressure to appreciate could continue into 2014," wrote Troutman.

Source: Chinadaily

World Economic Forum 2014 to to take place Jan. 22-25

The annual World Economic Forum will take place in the ski village of Davos from January 22 to 25. The event, which gathers world leaders, top business executives and public figures, sets the key priorities and challenges for the world to tackle in the new year. Our reporter Martina Fuchs will be on the ground covering the event for us. Before heading to the mountains, she reports on what we can expect from the WEF this year.

"We are just a few days away from one of the biggest events of the year: the World Economic Forum in Davos. The extravaganza of the world of business and politics will descend on the small Swiss ski resort, including many VIP guests from China."

"The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business" - this is the theme of the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2014, unveiled at a media briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.

Presidents, business shapers, civil society leaders and technology pioneers will get together to brainstorm and find solutions for global problems.

"We use the annual meeting in Davos as an opportunity for leaders to get together and try to make sense of the technological, societal, economic and political changes which are occurring in our world today." Olivier Schwab, Executive Director China of World Economic Forum said.

The four-day meeting will see 2,500 participants from more than 100 countries. Meanwhile, female representation is still low. The average age is 52 for men and 49 for women.

"Contrary to previous years, there is no single issue that dominates the agenda this year. Last year, we’ve had two crises which was the breakup of the euro as well as the fiscal cliff, both which have been avoided but the risks are still here." Olivier Schwab said.

How to better embrace innovation, achieve inclusive growth, and sustain a world of 9 billion people in the future will also be discussed.

And one thing is for sure how to unfreeze the cold that is still gripping the world economy and spread the "Spirit of Davos" remains to be seen in this picturesque Swiss village.

Source: CCTV

PBOC warns banks to control size of loans

The People’s Bank of China’s today warned banks to control the size of their loans, to avoid another credit crush.

Huangshan is an inter-bank market trader. She oversees bank liquidity flows, and keeps an eye on cash in and cash out.

"At the beginning of the day, the bank has a liquidity insufficiency table, which will tell you whether the bank should borrow money from the market or lend it out. At the end of the day, the central bank requires every bank to have a certain amount of reserves. Therefore, banks decide their amount of borrowing or lending depending on daily situation. " Huang Shan, Bank Trader said.

Over night inter-bank lending is the most commonly used short-term product. Its rate usually stays around 4 percent, but this rate shot up on cash constrains in June. The People’s Bank of China didn’t barge at the rising rates, averting its routine. The central bank’s harsh attitude has sent the rates further to as high as 30 percent on 20th June.

"When rates reached new high, trading floor started a shouting game telephones QQ, everyone’s talking about it, because it never occurred before." Huang Shan said.

After the PBOC boosted cash into the market on pressure of the sky-rocketing rates, the cost of borrowing finally lowered down to normal level. The incident has made analysts such as Huangshan realise that banks should control its risks more, and rely more on the market, rather than counting on lifelines from the central bank all the time.

Source:  CCTV

PBOC to maintain prudent monetary policy

China’s new bank lending slowed more than expected in December while growth of broad money supply eased, according to the data released by the central bank at today’s press conference.

For the month of December, Chinese banks made 482.5 billion yuan worth of New Yuan Loans, lower than forecast of 600 billion yuan. For the whole of 2013, New bank loans rose 8 percent from the previous year to 8.89 trillion yuan. The rate of expansion slowed modestly from 10 percent in 2012.

The M2 supply, the broadest measure of money supply rose 13.6 percent last month from a year earlier, down from November’s 14.2 percent rise. Going forward, the PBOC plans to maintain its neutral monetary policy stance with fine tuning.

"We will continue to implement prudent monetary policy this year and make appropriate fine-tuning and pre-emptive adjustments in policy to make monetary conditions not too tight or too loose to create a good environment for steady economic growth." Sheng Songcheng, Dept. Head of Financial Survey & Stats, PBOC said.

Analysts also expect the Chinese authorities to step up monitoring on the growing shadow banking sector. The long-term deleveraging drive aims to ensure the sustainability of China’s economic growth.

"The central bank will actively guide shadow banking activities to support the real economy while heading off potential risks.. We will increase monitoring and analysing shadow banking statistics to contain its risks." Sheng Songcheng said.

The central bank also said China’s total social financing aggregate, a broad measure of liquidity in the economy, grew 9 percent from the previous year to 17.3 trillion yuan. The growth slowed sharply from 23 percent in 2012. Some say this slow down in growth rate supports the view that the central bank has been targeting shadow banking.

Source:CCTV

Negative list a potential topic of Sino-U.S. investment talks

One of the most important investment talks in the world, the China-U.S. Investment Treaty talks has entered its second and last day in Shanghai. This morning the head of the Chinese delegation Li Chenggang expressed his outlook for the coming negotiation.

"China and the US are jointly pushing forward the talks in a proactive, pragmatic ad cooperative manner. The two sides have reached a consensus to better protect investor interest and respect supervision rights of the government. We will strive to reach a high quality treaty that benefits the people of both our countries," said Li Chenggang, head of Chinese delegation.

Besides these topics, what's also high on the agenda in the negotiations may be an investment "negative list". This very topic has been a key focus since the 5th round of talks held back in July 2013. Once the two sides reach a consensus, expert say, it will substantially push forward the negotiations. Mr. Li also announced this morning that this round of talks will round up at 6 p.m. Beijing time this afternoon.

Source: CCTV

China-US Investment Treaty to cast great influence on international investment rules

The China-US Investment Treaty has drawn worldwide attention, with many believing the result could cast great influence on global trade rules.

Wang Xinkui, the director of the Counsellor’s Office of the Shanghai municipal government, has reiterated the changes in the global investment condition. Different from the traditional way of developed countries investing in developing countries, more and more emerging economies such as China and Brazil are now rapidly increasing their investments in the developed world. Such changes require new international investment rules, and the investment treaty talks between China and the United States will definitely influence the drawn up of such regulations.

"The China-US bilateral investment treaty talks actually include several sectors, the first is equal treatment. The second is total rights protection, including the rules on environment standard and dispute settlement. The third is related services, and the fourth is balancing benefits," said Wang Xinkui, director of Counsellor's Office of Shanghai.

The basis of the negotiation are the Pre-establishment National Treatment, which means foreign investors will be treated the same as domestic ones, and the negative list, a list of sectors in China’s economy that are off limits to foreign investment. Wang Xinkui said the key for the talks is to set up transparent rules.The final result may lead to big changes in China’s managements on foreign investment and macro control, so it is even harder than the WTO entrance negotiation.

"The negotiation to join the WTO involved tariff and trade facilitation. It’s like talking about rules used in your courtyard. But the talks on investment treaty involves many specific and domestic issues, it’s like negotiating the rules used in your living room or bedroom," said Wang Xinkui, director of Counsellor's Office of Shanghai.

Wang Xinkui said he is cautiously optimistic about the negotiation results, as both sides will try to win the utmost benefits and security.

Source: CCTV

Serious air pollution causes concern among Japanese in Beijing

Japanese residents in Beijing are gravely concerned about the impact of serious air pollution by microparticle PM2.5, which measured more than nine times the upper limit of Japanese guidelines on Thursday.

Smog in the Chinese capital reached the highest point on the six-level scale of air pollution. According to data by the U.S. embassy, the atmospheric level of PM2.5, or particulate matter up to 2.5 micrometers in size, temporarily came to 671 micrograms per cubic meter.

The level compares with the upper limit of 70 micrograms, which would prompt the Japanese Environment Ministry to call for caution.

Source: Jiji Press

WSJ: Q&A: Apple’s Tim Cook on China Mobile Deal

  Interview to Tim Cook done by Paul Mozur the Wall Street Journal's Beijing bureau.

Q:  Are you concerned about  growing competition from cheaper handsets in China?

Cook: I’ve always thought it was important for an individual and a company to have a North Star, something that doesn’t change.  Many many things can change but the North Star should be clear, and for Apple that’s always been making the best products in the world. That’s our strategy and that’s not changing today or tomorrow or the next day or the next year.

When you really back up and look at what’s happening in China the usage numbers are staggering. Fifty-seven percent of the mobile browsing in China is done on iOS devices. Now there are many different views of unit market share and you can choose to look at whichever one you think is most reputable, but for us that is not our North Star, we don’t get up in the morning saying we want to sell the most, we get up saying we want to make and create the best, and so that’s our strategy and it doesn’t change.

Q:  What is the significance of the iPhone being launched through China Mobile?  

Cook: What this partnership does is, it allow us to take the  iPhone to a different level in China, to marry it with the fastest network, with TD-LTE [Time-Division Long-Term Evolution], for the very first time. As [China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua] said,  this is a new product, this is a world phone. Now you can take your iPhone in China use it on TD-LTE and if you travel to the United States you can now use it on FDD-LTE [Frequency Division Duplexing Long-Term Evolution network]. This is a big deal, it’s huge, and so I couldn’t be happier with how we’re doing.

Q:  How is Apple performing in China and how will the deal help its sales outlook?

Cook: Last quarter, we haven’t announced numbers, but I can tell you that last quarter we sold more iPhones in Greater China than at any time in our past. And so it was a record quarter, helped by launching China very first in the queue [launching new iPhones at the same time as the U.S.] And I think with what we’re announcing today, I see a huge barrier being removed, because there are lots of people that love China Mobile’s network and love iPhones and those two spheres are finally coming together, so it’s a monumental day and a watershed announcement.

Apple CEO Hopeful on China

4:43

Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company's deal to offer its devices through China Mobile will help it to bolster sales in the world's biggest smartphone market. Paul Mozur tells Yun-hee Kim why the executive remains optimistic on China in spite of stiff competition in the country’s tech sector.

Q:  How will this impact the gray market, in which iPhones are smuggled into China from other locations and sold through unofficial channels?

Cook: I do believe it will help, because I believe that the sum of the gray market is born out of many people wanting something that’s not available where they want to buy it.  By having the iPhone at China Mobile in an authorized place that has fantastic service and fantastic sales people, I think many people will desire to buy in China Mobile’s channel. And so as of this weekend we will be selling iPhones in more than 3,000 additional locations from what we were selling it before.

Q:  How will cooperation with China Mobile  improve your sales channels?

Cook: China Mobile already has a reach to many cities that Apple does not have a reach to. So yes, you will see over time Apple going to more and more cities and this is something that China Mobile’s skill and know-how and distribution network will be an enormous assist to us.

Q:  How did the deal, that took six years in the making, come together?

Cook:  The iPhone began to support TD-LTE in September, the licenses were issued in November and we announced the deal in December, so it actually came together fairly quickly. Within just eight to ten weeks after Mr. Xi and I met in Cupertino, I came to Beijing.  Mr. Xi and I shook hands at that meeting and I knew then it was just a matter of working through some last details. And we spent some amount of time working through those, but the key really big meetings were in the fall of 2012 and January in Beijing in 2013, and then it was a matter of preparing the organizations and executing and working the details.  I agree with Mr. Xi, this has been very much like a courtship and all of the discussions that China Mobile and Apple had over the time period before this laid a great foundation because they developed a mutual respect for both companies.

Q:  What do you think of China Mobile as a partner?

Cook: We saw a company in China Mobile that was unlike any other company we had ever dealt with, that had enormous skill and enormous size and enormous scale and enormous talent, and so those discussions laid a great foundation. I can tell you that from my point of view, every meeting that occurred between 2008 and today was a good meeting.  There were some great meetings, but all meetings were at least good, because we left with a better understanding of one another.  Great relationships are not built on always agreeing, they’re built on mutual respect, and they’re built on trying to see the issue from the other lens and I think the time that we spent in allowing that to occur will be great for both companies, and more importantly for the customers that we both serve.

Vietnam: Take a look inside the world's largest cave

Son Doong Cave in Vietnam – which is so big it contains a jungle and a river – is now open for public tours. But don't expect it to become crowded: just 224 tourists will be permitted to visit this year.


It's so big you could fit a 40-storey skyscraper inside, but Son Doong cave remained undiscovered until a local man found it in 1991. Even then, no one explored beyond its vast entrance until British cavers visited in 2009. All photographs: Ryan Deboodt
Ropes and harness are needed to get inside Son Doong, and any visitors will need to rappel 80 metres to reach the cave floor.

Pilot tours took place in August, but so far only 10 people have visited. Oxalis Adventures have been working closely with the government to ensure a sustainable future for the cave: this year they are able to take 224 tourists to Son Doong.
The first night of the six-day tour will see visitors camp near the Hand of Dog, a giant stalagmite said to resemble a dog paw.

BP study predicts greenhouse emissions will rise by almost a third in 20 years

Global greenhouse gas emissions are set to rise by nearly a third in the next two decades, putting hopes of curtailing dangerous climate changebeyond reach, a new report by BP has found.

The drastic rise in emissions, despite international efforts to cut carbon, will come despite the predicted enormous growth in the use of shale gas, according to the oil and gas giant.

Shale gas – previously inaccessible because the exploitation of these resources requires technology only recently perfected – will account for a rising proportion of the growth in energy in the years to 2035, but its use will not cause a decline in greenhouse gases.

The finding deals a blow to proponents of shale gas, who have argued that its use will cut emissions. Burning gas produces much less CO2 than burning coal, but the effect of a huge rise in shale gas exploration will not ameliorate the increases in emissions that scientists say will take the world to dangerous climate change.

Proponents of the fuel have argued that shale gas can counteract dependence on coal. But while shale gas use has increased dramatically, particularly in the US, where it brought down gas prices from $12 (£7) to below $3 (£1.80) at one stage, global emissions have continued to rise as the coal that would otherwise have been used has been exported elsewhere.

Christof Ruehl, BP chief economist, said that fuel switching had little impact on overall emissions. Coal use globally had risen to record levels, even as shale gas had risen.

BP in its global energy outlook said gas would take a 27% share of global energy consumption by 2035, with a similar share for coal, oil, and an amalgamated low-carbon sector including nuclear, hydro, wind and sun.

BP predicts that global emissions will rise 29% by 2035. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that emissions must peak by 2020 to give the world a chance to avoid a further two degrees of warming, beyond which the effects of climate change become catastrophic and irreversible.

Tony Bosworth, Friends of the Earth energy campaigner, said: "The case for shale gas is crumbling.Experts say it won't lead to cheaper fuel bills, and now BP says it won't cut carbon emissions either.

"Follow the PM's logic and we'd be punching thousands of holes in our countryside only to further add to climate change and continue with sky-high bills.

"Instead of going all out for shale, the prime minister should focus on the real answers to the energy challenges we face: energy efficiency and renewable power."

Meanwhile, analysts at the City firm Brewin Dolphin also poured scorn on Cameron and George Osborne for over-hyping the potential impact of shale in Britain. "We believe the shale industry is unlikely to produce commercial volumes of gas until the end of this decade and that it is unlikely to have a meaningful impact on gas prices," said a report drawn up by Elaine Coverley, head of equity research, and Iain Armstrong, oil and gas equity analyst at the investment house.

"This is due to two reasons; first, commercially available volumes are likely to be significantly lower in the UK than in the US, and second, if UK shale is successful, exploration companies could export the gas to achieve higher prices," they argue.

Their comments came as a new opinion poll for the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME) found that 47% of people would be unhappy for a gas well site using fracking to open within 10 miles of their home, compared with just 14% who said they would be happy.

Source: theguardian

LIN HWAI-MIN: CLOUD GATE DANCE THEATRE OF TAIWAN

                                          Lin Hwai-Min superb choreography once again.

Emmanuelle Béart in "La Belle Noiseuse"

                It is the beauté of french actrice Emmanuelle Béart,that makes this short trailer,so different. 

The Rise of China's Innovation Machine

  According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, "increasingly, China's own technology companies are challenging market leaders and setting trends in telecommunications, mobile devices and online services".

Keeping better-known global competitors at bay in their massive home market, they are hiring Silicon Valley executives and expanding overseas with aggressive marketing campaigns featuring international sports stars and celebrities.

Chinese companies still face a perception problem among consumers in many parts of the world that their products aren't as high-quality or reliable as others. Some foreign competitors have alleged that Beijing gives unfair advantages through subsidies, cheap financing and control over the currency market.

But, many executives at Chinese and Western companies contend, China's technology sector is reaching a critical mass of expertise, talent and financial firepower that could realign the power structure of the global technology industry in the years ahead.

"Traditionally Chinese companies were fast followers, but we are starting to see true innovation," said Colin Light, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The rise of China's tech industry is fueled in part by its growing investment in research and development. According to a study released in December by U.S.-based Battelle Memorial Institute, R&D spending in China will likely reach $284 billion this year, up 22% from 2012. That compares with just 4% growth forecast in the U.S. to $465 billion for the same period. It forecasts China will surpass Europe in terms of R&D spending by 2018 and exceed the U.S. in 2,020.

At Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies Co., the world's second-largest telecommunications-equipment supplier by revenue after Sweden's Ericsson, annual R&D expenditures rose fourteenfold in a decade to $5.46 billion in 2013 from $389 million in 2003.

When Peter Zhou joined Huawei straight out of graduate school in 2000, the company's Shanghai research center had a few hundred workers in a shared office. Every Wednesday night after work, Mr. Zhou and other young Chinese engineers gathered for study sessions, sometimes using university textbooks from the U.S.

But in the past decade, Huawei overtook Western rivals such as NokiaCorp. and Alcatel-Lucent SA in the telecom-gear market. Part of its success stemmed from Huawei engineers' creative ways to upgrade wireless networks using software instead of a costly method of replacing all hardware components, according to Mr. Zhou.

Huawei now has an R&D center in Shanghai that employs more than 10,000 engineers, many of whom have computer-science degrees. As the mobile industry deploys faster fourth-generation networks, Huawei is already working on the technology for fifth-generation networks, which could be ready around 2020.

China is also moving up the technological curve in sophisticated areas like mobile processor chips, where it used to be absent.

China's Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Co. and Allwinner Technology Co. are increasing their presence in the fast growing market for chips used in the low-end smartphones and tablets.

Income gap poses biggest threat to global community, warns WEF

"Reflecting mounting concern about the risk to societies from inequality, the WEF said the need to tackle disparities in income and wealth had to be addressed at WEF's annual gathering in the Swiss ski resort of Davos next week".

"The WEF said its annual survey of 700 opinion formers had identified the income gap, extreme weather events and unemployment or underemployment as the three threats most likely to cause major cross-border damage in the next 10 years.

It added that a fresh fiscal crisis, climate change and water shortages were the three risks that would have the biggest impact on the global community, although these were seen as less likely.

Jennifer Blanke, the WEF's chief economist, said that although incomes gap between countries had been narrowing, the gulf between rich and poor had widened within countries. "The message from the Arab spring, and from countries such as Brazil and South Africa is that people are not going to stand for it any more."

The Davos meeting has often been targeted by anti-globalisation campaigners for being an exclusive club for a small, powerful elite but Adrian Monck, the WEF's head of communications, said inequality and the wealth gap was on the agenda. "We need to mobilise people around these issues and make people aware of them", he said.

Philip Jennings, general secretary of UNI Global Union, said: "The report should act as a wake-up call to the influencers and leaders at Davos next week. These are global issues we can do something about: we can twist the global economy back into shape – this includes a new commitment to create jobs, address income inequality and falling living standards. Since the global financial crisis it's been a race to the bottom in jobs, wages and living standards."

The report also highlighted the problems of "generation lost" and said the world's increasing reliance on the internet had resulted in a threat of "cybergeddon".

The study, Global Risks 2014, said the generation coming of age in the 2010s faced high unemployment and job insecurity, hindering their efforts to build a future and raising the risk of social unrest.

Noting that many young people faced an uphill battle, David Cole, group chief risk officer of Swiss Re, one of the companies behind the report, said: "The members of generation lost are not lost because they have tuned out. They are highly tuned in. They are lost because they are being left out or they are deciding to leave."

He added: "As a result of the financial crisis and globalisation, the younger generation in the mature markets struggle with ever fewer job opportunities and the need to support an ageing population. While in the emerging markets there are more jobs to be had, the workforce does not yet possess the broad-based skill sets necessary to satisfy demand."

The WEF said the huge expansion of the internet made the risk of systemic failure greater than ever, but revelations about governmentsurveillance had reduced countries' willingness to work together to address potential weaknesses. It added that the effect could be a Balkanisation of the internet, or so-called cybergeddon, where hackers enjoy overwhelming superiority and massive disruption is commonplace.

Axel Lehmann, chief risk officer at Zurich Insurance Group, said: A fragmentation of the internet is the wrong way to solve this issue, as it would destroy the benefits the web provides to all of us. Rather than building walled gardens, it is time to act by setting up security standards and regaining trust."

The Competition of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival is now complete

JAN 15, 2014:
BERLINALE 2014: COMPETITION COMPLETE

The Competition of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival is now complete. 20 of the 23 films in theCompetition programme will be vying for the Golden Bear and Silver Bears (see also press releases from December 17 and 20, 2013). The following countries are participating: Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, People’s Republic of China, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Uruguay and the USA. The Competition programme includes 18 world premieres and three feature debut.

The Award Ceremony will take place at the Berlinale Palast on Saturday, February 15th, 2014. The event will close with a screening of the winner of the Golden Bear.

European Film Market & Co-Production Market.PRESS RELEASE. 64TH,BERLINALE 2014

JAN 10, 2014:
NEW FEATURE FILM PROJECTS ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS AT THE BERLINALE CO-PRODUCTION MARKET

39 new feature film projects from 30 countries will be presented at the 11th Berlinale Co-Production Market (February 9 - 11, 2014). In addition, five internationally renowned production companies have been selected without a concrete project for the exclusive Company Matching programme. TheBerlinale Co-Production Market gives all of these producers the opportunity to come together for pre-scheduled individual meetings with 450 potential co-production and financial partners.

Chosen from 328 entries, the official selection includes 20 new feature film projects from around the world. All of them will be realised by experienced producers and already have 30 % of their financing in place. The budgets of the projects range from 700,000 to 6.5 million euros.

In conjunction with CineMart Rotterdam, three more projects have been picked for the “Rotterdam-Berlinale Express”. They will participate in both the CineMart and the Berlinale Co-Production Market.

Among directors whose earlier works were also presented at previous Berlinale Co-Production Markets prior to being filmed are Christos Georgiou from Cyprus, whose 2009 box-office hit, Small Crime, was presented there in 2006, Norwegian filmmaker Erik Skjoldbjaerg (Pioneer), and Israeli director Nir Bergman (Intimate Grammar). New projects this year are also from multi-award-winning directors Peter Webber (Girl with a Pearl Earring), Pernille Fischer Christensen (A Soap; A Family), Oliver Schmitz (Life, Above All; Turkish for Beginners), and Eran Kolirin (The Band’s Visit).

Also on board are the 2013 Berlinale Residency participants – all prize-winning filmmakers: Emir Baigazin, Alistair Banks Griffin, Bence Fliegauf, Sebastián Lelio, Elina Psykou and José Luis Valle will present their new projects - which they developed further during their three-month Berlinale Residency - for the first time to potential partners at the Berlinale Co-Production Market.

At the “Talent Project Market” - co-organised as usual with Berlinale Talents - ten new producers and directors will be primed for the international market. Their projects have been selected out of an additional 216 entries. Here, co-production partners also have the opportunity to discover promising projects each year and many of them have been successful on the festival circuit: for instance, Ritesh Batra’s debut hit The Lunchbox received much acclaim last year. And this year, one “Talent Project Market” film has already been announced to screen in the Generation programme at the Berlinale 2014: Il Sud è Niente (South Is Nothing) by Italian filmmaker Fabio Mollo.

The Berlinale Co-Production Market can now look back at almost 170 films that have been realised (a success rate of over 40 %). The Co-Production Market’s strict structural and content-related selection criteria ensure that the participating producers, world sales agents, TV broadcasters, distributors, funders, and financiers can meet reliable partners with marketable projects whose chances of being realised are particularly high.

The five production companies presenting themselves within the scope of this year’s Company Matching programme are from Germany, Denmark, Canada, the USA and India. Here it is not about specific projects, but about extensive exchange on a structural level that is meant to foster medium- and long-term international partnerships.

The main partners of the Berlinale Co-Production Market are MDM – Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung and the European Union’s MEDIA Programme.

The Berlinale Co-Production Market is part of the European Film Market.

The Berlin House of Representatives – situated directly across from the European Film Market in the Martin-Gropius-Bau – will again be the Co-Production Market’s co-partner and venue.

China's FDI inflow grows to US$ 117.59 billion dollars in 2013

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Chinese mainland increased 5.25 percent year on year in 2013 to reach 117.59 billion U.S. dollars, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday.

The growth came as a change from the annual 3.7 percent decline registered in 2012, when the country's economic slowdown worried global investors.

In December alone, the country's FDI inflow rose 3.3 percent from a year earlier to 12.08 billion U.S. dollars, the ministry's spokesman Shen Danyang said at a press conference.

Shen said FDI in the country's service sector gained 14.15 percent in 2013 to reach 61.45 billion U.S. dollars, or 52.3 percent of the total. FDI in the manufacturing sector dropped 6.78 percent to 45.56 billion U.S. dollars.

The ministry data showed FDI from the United States expanded 7.13 percent from one year earlier to 3.35 billion U.S. dollars last year, while that from the European Union was up 18.07 percent to 7.21 billion U.S. dollars.

However, FDI from Japan fell 4.28 percent to 7.06 billion U.S. dollars, while the Chinese mainland's investment in Japan's non-financial sector plunged 23.5 percent last year.

The country's total investment in overseas non-financial sectors increased 16.8 percent year on year to 90.17 billion U.S. dollars last year, the ministry said.

Source: Xinhua

Asia stocks finished mixed, European Markets are mostly lower.

The European equity markets are mostly lower in afternoon action, coming off of yesterday's advance that took the Stoxx Europe 600 Index to a six-year high, with traders digesting the mixed earnings reports in the U.S. However, U.K. stocks are trading modestly higher, following a solid gain in shares ofHome Retail Group Plc. (HMRTY $13) after the company reported upbeat same-store sales for the holiday shopping season. Also, U.K. stocks are finding some support from a report showing the nation's home prices remained near decade highs for December, per Bloomberg, and as Bank of England Governor Mark Carney offered comments yesterday suggesting the upward momentum for housing will continue this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the region are shrugging off a solid gain in eurozone new car registrations for December, as well as a favorable three-year debt auction in Spain, which saw the nation's borrowing costs fall to record lows, per Bloomberg. 

The UK FTSE 100 Index is up 0.1%, France's CAC-40 Index is down 0.2%, Germany's DAX Index is dipping 0.1%, Spain's IBEX 35 Index is declining 0.3%, Italy's FTSE MIB Index is trading 0.4% lower, and Switzerland's Swiss Market Index is gaining 0.3%. 

Stocks in Asia finished mixed following yesterday's gains, as Japan's Nikkei 225 Index declined 0.4%, despite some continued weakness in the yen and a report showing the nation's machine orders rose more than expected in November. Elsewhere, China's Shanghai Composite finished flat, as lingering concerns about the dilutive impact of a flood of initial public offerings (IPOs) that are set to hit the market offset a stronger-than-estimated read on the nation's foreign direct investment for December. Moreover, India's S&P BSE Sensex 30 Index dipped 0.1%, pulling back from yesterday's five-week highs. However, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rallied 1.2% despite an unexpected drop in the country's employment change for December, which appeared to have fostered some expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia may ease monetary policy further. Finally, South Korea's Kospi Index rose 0.2% and the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index gained 0.4%.

Source: Schwab

U.S. initial claims decreased 2,000 in week ending Juanuary 11th

U.S. Department Of Labor

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

          SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending January 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 326,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 328,000. The 4-week moving average was 335,000, a decrease of 13,500 from the previous week's revised average of 348,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending January 4, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemploymentduring the week ending January 4 was 3,030,000, an increase of 174,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,856,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,908,750, an increase of 38,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,870,500.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 534,431 in the week ending January 11, an increase of 51,190 from the previous week. There were 556,621 initial claims in the comparable week in 2013.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.8 percent during the week ending January 4, an increase of 0.3 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,638,564, an increase of 354,387 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.0 percent and the volume was 3,867,784.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending December 28 was 4,703,499, an increase of 508,309 from the previous week. There were 5,873,824 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2012.

No state was triggered "on" the Extended Benefits program during the week ending December 28.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,569 in the week ending January 4, an increase of 372 from the prior week. There were 1,741 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 533 from the preceding week.

There were 22,811 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending December 28, an increase of 2,103 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 30,676, an increase of 2,111 from the prior week.

States reported 1,350,663 persons claiming Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits for the week ending December 28, an increase of 63,626 from the prior week. There were 2,059,438 persons claiming EUC in the comparable week in 2012. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 28 were in Alaska (6.2), New Jersey (4.0), Connecticut (3.8), Pennsylvania (3.6), Montana (3.5), Wisconsin (3.5), Oregon (3.4), California (3.2), Illinois (3.2), Idaho (3.1), Massachusetts (3.1), Michigan (3.1), Minnesota (3.1), New York (3.1), and Rhode Island (3.1).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending January 4 were in New York (+28,314), Georgia (+18,734), South Carolina (+9,632), Alabama (+6,782), and Texas (+6,638), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-17,635), New Jersey (-6,882), Massachusetts (-5,485), Ohio (-5,482), and Iowa (-4,212).

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UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DATA FOR REGULAR STATE PROGRAMS

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WEEK ENDING	Advance Jan. 11	Jan. 4	Change	Dec. 28	Prior Year1

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Initial Claims (SA)	326,000	328,000	-2,000	345,000	350,000
Initial Claims (NSA)	534,431	483,241	+51,190	451,452	556,621
4-Wk Moving Average (SA)	335,000	348,500	-13,500	358,750	365,250

WEEK ENDING	Advance Jan. 4	Dec. 28	Change	Dec. 21	Prior Year1

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Ins. Unemployment (SA)	3,030,000	2,856,000	+174,000	2,817,000	3,248,000
Ins. Unemployment (NSA)	3,638,564	3,284,177	+354,387	2,844,723	3,867,784
4-Wk Moving Average (SA)	2,908,750	2,870,500	+38,250	2,854,000	3,212,750

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Ins. Unemployment Rate (SA)2	2.3%	2.2%	+0.1	2.2%	2.5%
Ins. Unemployment Rate (NSA)2	2.8%	2.5%	+0.3	2.2%	3.0%

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INITIAL CLAIMS FILED IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS (UNADJUSTED)

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WEEK ENDING	Jan. 4	Dec. 28	Change	Prior Year1

Federal Employees	1,569	1,197	+372	1,776
Newly Discharged Veterans	1,741	1,208	+533	2,378

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PERSONS CLAIMING UI BENEFITS IN ALL PROGRAMS (UNADJUSTED)

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WEEK ENDING

Dec. 28

Dec. 21

Change

Prior Year1

Regular State	3,279,798	2,841,070	+438,728	3,725,033
Federal Employees (UCFE)	22,811	20,708	+2,103	22,737
Newly Discharged Veterans (UCX)	30,676	28,565	+2,111	39,142
EUC 20083	1,350,663	1,287,037	+63,626	2,059,438
Extended Benefits4	148	293	-145	1,143
State Additional Benefits 5	3,812	3,662	+150	5,083
STC / Workshare 6	15,591	13,855	+1,736	21,248
TOTAL	4,703,499	4,195,190	+508,309	5,873,824

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FOOTNOTES 
SA - Seasonally Adjusted Data, NSA - Not Seasonally Adjusted Data 
¹ - Prior year is comparable to most recent data.
² - Most recent week used covered employment of 130,938,360 as denominator. 
³ - EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity. Tier-specific EUC data can be found here: http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/docs/persons.xls
⁴ - Information on the EB program can be found here: http://www.ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/extenben.asp 
⁵ - Some states maintain additional benefit programs for those claimants who exhaust regular, extended and emergency benefits. Information on states that participate, 
        and the extent of benefits paid, can be found starting on page 4-5 of this link: http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/pdf/uilawcompar/2010/special.pdf 
⁶ - Information on STC/Worksharing can be found starting on page 4-9 of the following link: http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/pdf/uilawcompar/2010/special.pdf 

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED JANUARY 4, 2014