China's grain output rises for 10th consecutive year

China's grain output rose 2.1 percent year on year to hit 601.94 million tonnes in 2013, marking the 10th consecutive year of growth, according to data released Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Source:Xinhua

China: Maritime shipping sails into agenda

Developing maritime shipping may become a national strategy in 2014, a senior government official said at a forum in Shanghai on Thursday.

Song Dexing, director of the water transport department of the Ministry of Transport, said the ministry has submitted a proposal for developing maritime shipping as a national strategy for review and approval to the State Council, China's cabinet.

The Ministry of Transport has been researching the development of port hubs, improving shipping systems for commodities and cooperation between railway transport and water transport, said Song.

"The proposal looks to provide long-term solutions to boost the sea shipping industry in China including restructuring shipping capacity, setting up a special capital fund for phasing out old ships as well as cutting taxes for shipping companies and their employees," said Song.

China's shipping industry has been suffering amid the global gloom for shipping companies since 2008.

Slow economic growth and the shifting trade strategies of various manufacturing industry owners have led to excessive supplies for international shipping by sea, said Zhang Ye, president of the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.

"Amid the not-so-thriving times, the shipping industry may use multiple tools to hedge risks and seize opportunities to grow - and effective and fair top-level designs are extremely important for the healthy development of China's shipping industry," said Zhang.

Experts and market insiders are calling for innovative management and investment in the shipping sector to strengthen support for the real economy.

Since the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone was launched on Sept 29, shipping companies and regulators in the city have been conducting research into solutions to improve shipping, said Yuan Jiarong, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Urban-Rural Development and Communications and deputy director of the Shanghai International Shipping Center Municipal Promotion Office.

Compared with its shipping hub competitors including Hong Kong and Singapore, Shanghai is yet to mature its shipping enterprise cluster, fleet development and high-end shipping services, said Yuan.

"The free trade zone program enables Shanghai to try out some pioneering systems including more open investment management and leaner administration processes," said Yuan.

Zhang, the president of the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, said the exchange is to introduce the trading of derivatives for the international ocean dry bulk shipping price index.

"In the future financial institutions will play increasingly important roles in financing shipping enterprises for business expansion. Also, investment in the e-commerce of the shipping sector, perhaps the only virgin territory within the e-commerce arena, will significantly increase information-sharing within the shipping sector in China," said Zhang.

Source: China Daily

China: Securities law must prioritize investor protection

Protecting investor interests is a priority when amending China's securities law, the head of the country's securities regulator has said.

Amending the existing securities law, which was last altered in 2005 and came into effect in 2006, is among the top priorities of the standing committee of China's top legislature - the National People's Congress, according to a plan released in October.

"In essence, securities law is a law on investor protection," Xiao Gang, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, was cited by Friday's China Securities Journal as saying.

Protecting public investors should be the basic value of securities law as investors lack knowledge about invested companies, Xiao said.

The chairman suggested amendments consider ways to protect investors, such as a system of public interests litigation and forced securities buy-back in case of fraud during issuance or sales, as well as compulsory fulfillment of obligations.

He added that securities law should be able to stimulate the market's vitality and push for unified supervision on different types of securities markets.

Source:  Xinhua

PetroChina sued over pollution in NE China

A Chinese environmental group is suing PetroChina, the nation's largest oil and gas producer, for what they claim is severe pollution in northeastern Jilin Province.

The All-China Environment Federation said on Friday that it has filed suit in the Beijing Municipal No. 2 Intermediate People's Court against the oil producer and its Jilin subsidiary for illegally discharging waste drilling water which poisoned local groundwater and farmland.

The nationwide organization are demanding that the company pay 60.75 million yuan (almost 10 million U.S. dollars) for environmental restoration.

PetroChina refused to comment on the lawsuit but a statement on Thursday said that an investigation team had been sent to Jilin. The company has promised to punish those responsible and repair the local environment.

Source: Xinhua

Xi calls for stronger strategic reserve forces

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to reinforce the party's leadership over the troops, enhance its war capabilities and strive to build a strong strategic reserve force.

Xi, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected the Jinan Military Area Command on Thursday, as part of his visits to Shandong Province in east China.

Xi witnessed the training of recruits at a training base. He congratulated the recruits on the remarkable progress they had made and urged them to train harder and become real soldiers as soon as possible.

While meeting with division commanders of the Jinan Military Area Command, Xi said military training is critical to beef up the PLA's war capacities and that trainings must focus on what is needed to fight a war and what it lacks most.

Training should include education of troops of their duty to the nation,be conducted in a base and under simulated war conditions, Xi said.

Xi urged the generals to learn and implement strategies on national defense and military reforms outlined in a key decision approved at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee earlier this month.

The decision promised to optimize the size and structure of the army, reform the leadership system, and reduce noncombat institutions and personnel.

Military leaders must precisely grasp the goal and tasks of the reforms and exert themselves to solve prominent problems hindering military development, Xi added.

Source: Xinhua

6,000 companies apply for Shanghai FTZ

About 6,000 companies have applied to register in Shanghai's free trade zone (FTZ) within two months of its launch, the administrative committee of the FTZ said on Thursday.

As of November 22, a total of 1,434 companies have already registered in the FTZ. Of this number, 38 are foreign-funded with an average registered capital of 15 million U.S. dollars, and 1,396 are domestically funded with an average registered capital of 25 million yuan (about 4.07 million U.S.dollars), according to the committee.

"The free trade zone has inspired people's enthusiasm for entrepreneurship," said Dai Haibo, deputy director of the administrative committee.

"The general quality of the registered companies is good, judging from their average registered capital," Dai said.

Regarding the fact that less than 3 percent of the registered companies are foreign funded, Ai Baojun, head of the administrative committee, dismissed the view that it had been a disappointing start.

Ai said foreign companies have shown great interest in the FTZ and he has received many visits from companies, including Goldman Sachs, who are interested in setting up office there.

"It's normal to have fewer foreign companies at the beginning, because they tend to do thorough research before making a final decision," according to the official.

Source:  Xinhua

China: PLA Air Force patrols air defense zone

Planes from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force conducted normal air patrols in China's recently established East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Thursday, according to a spokesman for the force.

Shen Jinke said that several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft carried out the patrol mission, which he described as "a defensive measure and in line with international common practices."

According to Shen, China's air force will remain on high alert and will take measures to deal with diverse air threats to firmly protect the security of the country's airspace.

On Saturday morning, the Chinese government issued a statement on establishing the ADIZ. It also announced aircraft identification rules and issued a diagram of the zone.

On the same day, the PLA Air Force conducted its first air patrol in the area.

Source:  Xinhua

Kiip Says Its Self-Serve Platform Is Now Open To All Advertisers

"Kiip just announced that it's opening the self-service version of its ad platform to all companies globally".

"Kiip, for those of you who don't remember, is pitching mobile rewards as a way for advertisers to reach consumers at moments when they're feeling particularly warm and fuzzy, say when they beat a level in a mobile game".

"The company actually went self-serve last year in terms of integrating with developers. It started testing out the same approach within invited advertisers    five months ago, and since then, it says it has worked with number companies that should be familiar to TechCrunch readers including Hulu, Hotels.com, Lyft, Beachmint, and Homejoy.

The company says it reaches 70 million users across a network of more than 1,500 games and apps. In those early tests, Kiip-powered rewards have apparently seen in-app engagement rates of 5 to 7 percent and led to email open rates of 30 percent.

Co-founder and CEO Brian Wong told me:

Large, advertising agency led brands like Pepsi and McDonald's continue to use our products focused on branding as well. Self-service clients are more conversion rated and have the online system for tracking and credits.

He added that prior to going self-serve, most of Kiip's ads were purchased through agencies, but the team realized that this new approach was “the best way to scale and to make our team more ial launch, and that will accept ads from businesses in any country.nternational.

The company says that this is a global launch, and that will accept ads from businesses in any country".

Source: techcrunch

EU chief attends China summit

On the eve of the 16th EU China summit, we were caught up with the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, to find out if the Eurozone is really on the path to recovery and how he hopes to strengthen relations between Europe and China.

"The EU China summits have become increasingly important over the years as a way of not only understanding, but encouraging what has become one of the world’s biggest trade relationships. What are you hoping to achieve at this year’s gathering?" Said Jack Barton.

"I think this summit is very important. It is the first summit where we meet the new leadership even if for instance I have met Premier Li several times before he was premier of China and it is the tenth anniversary of our comprehensive strategic partnership. This summit will be important also because of the general topic Green Growth in a Safer World’. But I see apart from that general topic six important issues we should address in Beijing. First of all to look on the past ten decades to see what will be our relationship and to have this vision in strategic terms. Second to launch the terms of an ambitious investment agreement, thirdly to launch this innovation dialogue , then it is important that we focus on energy security, then what is important as well is the exchange between researchers and students we also now have in the budget the possibility of more exchanges between China and Europe and last but not least what we can do in the international forum, for instance the G20 or the United Nations, for instance at the G20 there is a very good cooperation between the EU and China." Said Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission.

"You mentioned investment. In the short to medium term is that one area that China and the EU should focus more constructively on because right now it certainly lags well behind trade?" Said Jack Barton.

"Yes it is true there is a huge potential in investment, but if there is progress we believe an ambitious agreement on investment, and agreement that can cover both investment protection and market access can be a very important contribution in this deepening relationship, that is what we are looking at the ambitious agreement and we launched negotiations." Said Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission.

"We almost saw a trade war at the start of this year. Tension have eased enormously since then but does more need to be done to create perhaps a trade hotline or some sort of mechanism that can help avoid serious trade disputes before they reach boiling point?" Said Jack Barton.

"When the relationship is so intense as it is today and trade volume so high it’s only natural that here and there some problems can come. What I think is important is that when the problems come or we see the problems coming is that we have a mechanism of discussing issues in a cooperative manner giving the first priority our overall strategic partnership as we have done in recent cases and the fact that we were able through negotiations, through the spirit of compromise to solve some of these issues that are natural to happen sometimes is in fact creating a very good precedent for the future." Said Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission.

Source: CCTV

The Guardian Editorial 27th November 2013. Japan and China: collision course

Is it Europe before the first world war or the second? Analysts disagree, but all see the escalation of military threats between the two industrial giants China and Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea with growing alarm. The latest crisis was caused by China's decision to extend its "air defence identification zone" (ADIZ) over a group of uninhabited islands which Japan calls the Senkakus and China knows as the Diaoyutai. Several overflights later, not least by a pair of US B-52 bombers, and nothing much has changed, except that a hairtrigger that originally was to be measured in hours and governed by the speed of boats, has now become a matter of seconds.

Few can say what prompted the latest Chinese move. This is a time when the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, is attempting to drive major economic reform and the announcement may be a sop to the military, when its voice in the national debate could be weakening. It is hard to avoid the conclusion, though, that the declaration was a way of testing the waters for a reaction – which they duly got. The state-run China Daily accused Japan and the US of overreacting, saying that if the world's sole superpower needed multiple ADIZs to fend off perceived threats, China should be allowed theirs. Besides, they claimed the measure was not targeted at any particular country.

This is not how it is seen in Japan, which has witnessed a growing number of confrontations, or "incidents", over islands in which Beijing showed little interest for much of the last decade. For Japan, the dispute over the islands is part of a major naval push to extend China's maritime influence beyond the first island chain of the Pacific. China claims the status quo was changed by Japan's decision to nationalise the islands. What they don't want to admit is that this was done to stop the islands being used by Japanese nationalists on madcap flag waving stunts.

The land to which the islands are closest is neither Japan nor China, but Taiwan – with which Tokyo has few problems. Last year Taiwan showed the way out of these disputes by signing an agreement with Tokyo which sidestepped the issue of sovereignty and divided the fisheries to mutual benefit. This model, first applied in the North Sea, is the only rational way out of these disputes – although it is not one that Britain is particularly keen on applying to the Falklands. China and Japan agreed in 2008 to co-operate on the joint development of the East China Sea. Further talks have never been pursued and, to date, not even a hotline exists between the two powers to avert another incident in the sea or in the air. It is time for people in China and Japan to turn down the volume of simplistic nationalist rhetoric and to pursue pragmatic dialogue.

Is Shinzo Abe's 'new nationalism' a throwback to Japanese imperialism?

The deepening confrontation between Japan and its giant neighbour, China, over a disputed island chain, which this week sucked in US military forces flying B-52 bombers, holds no terrors for Kenji Fujii, captain of the crack Japanese destroyer JS Murasame.

As a battleship-grey drizzle sweeps across Yokosuka harbour, home port to the Japan maritime self-defence force and the US Seventh Fleet, Fujii stands four-square on his helicopter deck, a totemic red Japanese sun-ray ensign flapping at the flagstaff behind him. His stance exudes quiet purposefulness.

The Murasame, armed with advanced missiles, torpedoes, a 76mm rapid-fire turret cannon and a vicious-looking Phalanx close-in-weapons-system (CIWS) Gatling gun, is on the frontline of Japan's escalating standoff with China and its contentious bid to stand up for itself and become a power in the world once again. And Fujii clearly relishes his role in the drama.

Asked whether he will be taking his ship south, to the hotly disputed waters off the Senkaku islands in the East China sea (which China calls the Diaoyu and claims as its own), Fujii smiles and bows. His executive officer, acting as translator, explains that "for security and operational reasons" the captain cannot comment. The situation there is just too sensitive.

The name Murasame means "passing shower". But Japan's decision last year to in effect nationalise some of the privately owned Senkakus - officials prefer to call it a transfer of property rights - triggered a prolonged storm of protest from China, which has been sending ships to challenge the Japanese coastguard ever since.

Source: theguardian

Japan, U.S. conduct joint naval drills near Okinawa

Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force said Thursday it has conducted joint drills with the U.S. Navy in the Western Pacific near Okinawa Prefecture's main island.

The operation-oriented drills were held between Nov. 16 and Thursday with some 15 destroyers and 50 planes from the MSDF taking part, at a time when China's military presence in the East China Sea is growing.

Source:  Jiji Press

Japan to consider stripping Tibor supervision from banks

An advisory panel set up by Japan's financial regulator will consider stripping oversight for setting Tibor, the yen benchmark interest rate, from the banking group now responsible for its administration, said people with knowledge of the potential supervisory overhaul.

The move would bring oversight of the Tokyo interbank offered rate closer into line with that of Libor, following sweeping reforms of the London benchmark triggered by revelations that major banks had manipulated it to profit from related trades or to misrepresent borrowing costs.

Some in financial markets had raised questions as to whether Tibor had also been manipulated since the rates quoted in Tokyo for 3-month borrowing and those quoted for Libor diverged from 2009 after a decade of moving in near lockstep.

But an investigation by the Japan Bankers Association, which has oversight of Tibor, found no evidence that Tibor benchmarks had been manipulated.

Japan's Financial Services Agency, the country's main financial watchdog, announced this week that it had convened a 12-member advisory panel to study Tibor and other financial indicators. The panel, which is headed by Keio University economics professor Kazuhito Ikeo, will meet for the first time on Thursday and aims to complete its review by March.

One of the proposals the advisory panel will study is whether to shift responsibility for oversight of Tibor from the Japan Bankers Association to the FSA, or another independent body, according to people with knowledge of the preparations.

Source: Reuters

Court voids poll in western Japan constituency on vote disparity

The Hiroshima High Court ruled Thursday that the outcome of a western Japan constituency in July's House of Councillors election should be invalidated due to an unconstitutional disparity in the weight of votes.

The decision by the court's Okayama branch is the first ruling among 14 similar lawsuits filed with high courts across Japan by groups of lawyers, who have argued the disparity up to 4.77-fold in the July 21 upper house election is against the equal-protection clause under the Constitution, thus the election should be invalid.The Supreme Court ruled in October last year that the maximum fivefold disparity in the weight of votes in the 2010 upper house election was "in a state of unconstitutionality."

Source:  NewsOnJapan

Forty percent of Yamato offices violate delivery rules

Japan's Yamato Transport Co. said Thursday that some 40 pct of its parcel delivery footholds have violated handling rules for chilled and frozen parcels.

The major parcel delivery company's in-house investigation found that at least one rule violation was done at a total of 1,522 offices nationwide. Of them, staff at 253 offices were continually breaching the rules, the company said.

To clarify the management team's responsibility, a total 15 top officials were punished, with the president's salaries cut by 10 pct for six months。

Source: NewsOnJapan

Laox opens large duty-free shop in Ginza,Japan.

Electronics retailer Laox has opened a large duty-free store in an upscale shopping district in Tokyo amid a rise in the number of visitors to Japan.
The store in Ginza opened its doors on Thursday. It has a floor space of 880 square meters.
Shoppers can choose from a wide range of electronics and other products popular with tourists.

Among the latest home appliances on offer are rice cookers and air filtration devices.

Traditional Japanese products, such as Nanbu Tekki ironware and Kiyomizu Yaki ceramics, are also available.

Source: NewsOnJapan

U.S. affirms support for Japan in islands dispute with China

The United States pledged support for ally Japan on Wednesday in a growing dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea and senior U.S. administration officials accused Beijing of behavior that had unsettled its neighbors.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel assured his Japanese counterpart in a phone call that the two nations' defense pact covered the small islands where China established a new airspace defense zone last week and commended Tokyo "for exercising appropriate restraint," a Pentagon spokesman said.China's declaration raised the stakes in a territorial standoff between Beijing and Tokyo over the area, which includes the tiny uninhabited islands known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.
The United States defied China's demand that airplanes flying near the islands identify themselves to Chinese authorities, flying two unarmed B-52 bombers over the islands on Tuesday without informing Beijing.
It was a sharp reminder to China that the United States still maintains a large military presence in the region despite concerns among U.S. allies that President Barack Obama's "pivot to Asia" strategy has borne little fruit.

Source:NewsOnJapan

Japan's October industrial output up 0.5 pct

Japan's industrial output rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent in October from the previous month for the second straight monthly growth, according to the government on Friday.

The index of output at factories and mines stood at 98.8 against the base of 100 for 2010, said Japan's economy ministry in a preliminary report.

The index of industrial shipments increased by 1.8 percent to 98.6, while that of investors dropped 0.5 percent to 107.8.

Source: Xinhua

Xi underlines morality during Confucius site visits

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for morality to be developed across society, building on what is useful in traditional moral standards and discarding what is unhealthy.

Xi made the remarks on a just-concluded five-day tour of east China's Shandong Province during which he visited Qufu City, which lies near the birthplace of ancient philosopher Confucius, or Kong Zi. His teachings centered on peace and social harmony.

Xi visited the Confucius mansion, the residence of descendants of Confucius, and the Confucius Research Institute as part of a tour which ended on Thursday.

The development and prosperity of Chinese culture is one of the preconditions for China's great rejuvenation. The moral standards passed on by forefathers should be inherited, adapting ancient forms for present-day use and weeding through the old to bring out the new, he said.

The president called for morality to be promoted among the people, cultivating moral judgement and sense of responsibility, and enhancing their abilities to practice morality.

People should be led to pursue lives where moral standards are valued, respected and abided by, he urged.

"Our nation will be full of hope as long as the Chinese pursuit of a beautiful and lofty moral realm continues from generation to generation," according to Xi.
Source: Xinhua

WSJ: China's Credit Levels Echo U.S. Crisis

  According to an article published on the Wall Street Journal,"investors have made billions betting against economies in which debt is rising and home prices are soaring. They have had particular success targeting the banks that fund these booms".

Right now, their target is China. Some compare China to the U.S. in 2007. Others cite Japan before the 1989 real-estate bust. China bulls acknowledge the risks but say the government has the money and expertise to defuse the problems.

"In the Western case, the official response was denial or complete ignorance," says Mr. Magnus a senior independent economic adviser to Swiss bank UBS AG. In China, where the central government controls the economy and policy makers witnessed the U.S. bust, Beijing "will be able to respond in ways we [in the West] weren't capable of. But it doesn't mean it won't be painless," he says.

China's corporate and household credit has risen quickly, from around 120% of gross domestic product in 2008 to more than 170% today, according to Bank for International Settlements data, which does not include debts owed by financial companies.

The U.S. in its credit boom rose from 143% in 2001 to 177% in 2008. Japan had a similar run up in the decade before 1989. Economists say quick jumps in debt—rather than absolute levels—are the determinants of future crises.

One key area of concern is China's banks. As in the U.S., much of their loan growth in recent years has been off-balance-sheet. In China's case, it has been wealth-management products and other devices that allowed banks to keep lending even despite regulators' efforts to slow things down.

Much of this shadow-banking growth is being monitored by regulators. "The shadow-banking thing has been both known and blessed for a time," says Jaspal Bindra, Asia chief executive for U.K.-based, emerging-markets-focused bank Standard Chartered. "Then I think they decided that people have taken it to a point where it's been abused."

In June, a credit crunch hit China's banking system, reviving fears that the kind of credit market paralysis that hit the U.S. in 2008 and 2009 could wreak havoc on the financial system. The squeeze was engineered by the central bank to rein in what it saw as out-of-control credit growth driven by the country's shadow-banking system. While the credit squeeze caused turmoil, it eased once the central bank let the cash flow again. It was also a sign regulators are aware of the problems in the system.

Another difference: America's bubble originated in home mortgages. China's house-buying frenzy has been financed mostly with cash. The big debt growth has been to developers, companies and local governments, some of whom have implicit backing from the state.

In Japan, "no systemic financial crisis occurred, but financial stress was hidden," writes Haibin Zhu, J.P. Morgan's chief China economist. Banks refinanced loans even though there was little prospect the beleaguered corporate borrowers would pay them off in the end. This led to "zombie companies and zombie banks" and little new investment in the economy.

He worries that without reforming the banking and corporate sector, China could put off a restructuring of debts needed to cleanse the economy. "The consequences could be more severe for China," he says. "China is not as wealthy as Japan was and so would not be able to sustain as much stress."

China. Designer: moon rover uses cutting-edge technology

China's third lunar probe, the Chang'E Three is set to launch in early December.

In recent years, China has made considerable progress in its space program. In June, three Chinese astronauts spent 15 days in orbit. And this time the country will send a rover to the moon.

A monumental project like the Chang'E Three requires time, money, and people. Han Bin, the Deputy Chief Designer of China's first lunar Rover, says the moon rover marks another breakthrough for China's space exploration.

Noting can hide Jia Yang's pride.

He's the deputy Chief designer of China's first lunar rover, named the "Jade Rabbit". He's been working on it for some ten years.

The moon rover is China's most advanced robot with complete automatic navigation and operation. For Jia Yang, China's third lunar probe is a great leap forward in space exploration.

"China started four decades late in the lunar project, yet the rover design is not a simple copy of advanced nations. It combines an integration of modern technologies of electronics, machinery, and thermal control," Jia says.

The dream of flying to the moon has deep roots in Chinese culture. According to legend, the fairy Chang'E drank a magic potion that gave her the ability to fly there. The dream has already come true for US and Russian astronauts. But it might take China at least another decade.

China has a moon rock at the Beijing Planetarium, a gift from former US President Jimmy Carter. The Chang'E lunar project is also aimed at bringing back materials from the moon in the future.

"China's lunar project will help accumulate experience and technology, which will be crucial for future projects. Making a soft landing and moon rover is a practical step for the long journey of China's space exploration," Jia says.

This is just a mini model of the rover. If all goes well, Jia Yang and the world will see the real rover on the moon, from the pictures taken and sent back from the Lander.

Jia Yang's dream is to see the "Jade Rabbit" running on the moon. He also believes the country will go beyond the moon, to Mars and other celestial bodies.

This mission shows China's resolve to bridge the gap with other space going nations. The Chang’e-3 is just one more example of the country's increasing technological capabilities. For scientists, like Jia Yang, the next part of the space dream could be clear, sending astronauts to the moon.

Droni e supercannoni, l’arsenale della Cina

Giovedì ha volato per la prima volta un drone con motore a getto e tecnologia stealth made in China. Si chiama Lijian: Spada affilata. Verrà usato in operazioni antiterrorismo, ricognizione, combattimento, dice la stampa cinese. La tecnologia stealth (furtiva o invisibile) permette di sfuggire ai radar.
Un apparecchio senza pilota che secondo gli esperti occidentali somiglia nel disegno alle ali a forma di pipistrello dell’RQ-170 Sentinel, prodotto dalla Lockheed Martin e impiegato dagli americani fin dal 2007. La tecnologia bellica cinese è all’inseguimento. Ma si è avvicinata: l’Esercito popolare di liberazione ha già sviluppato piccoli droni per uso tattico e corto raggio e altri apparecchi senza pilota che somigliano in modo impressionante agli americani Reaper e Predator, usati nella caccia ai terroristi di Al Qaeda dal Medio Oriente al Pakistan e all’Afghanistan.
Anche i cinesi sono in grado di armare i loro droni: recentemente un alto ufficiale dell’ufficio antidroga ha detto al Quotidiano del Popolo che l’uso di un drone è stato preso in considerazione per eliminare un trafficante birmano che si nascondeva nella foresta di Myanmar ed era ricercato per l’uccisione di 13 marinai di un peschereccio cinese. Il narcotrafficante fu poi arrestato e giustiziato dopo un processo.
Un altro impiego dei droni è la ricognizione aerea e Pechino potrebbe inviarli anche a pattugliare la zona delle isole Diaoyu/Senkaku, controllate dal Giappone. Tokyo, che chiama le isole Senkaku, minaccia di aprire il fuoco sugli apparecchi che violano lo spazio aereo. Pechino, che le chiama Diaoyu, replica che l’abbattimento di un velivolo, anche senza pilota come un drone, «sarebbe un atto di guerra».
L’intelligence occidentale ha appena scoperto un altro progetto cinese. Le foto di un satellite mostrano due super-cannoni con canne lunghe 24 e 33 metri nel poligono di Baotou, nel deserto della Mongolia. L’interesse degli analisti militari occidentali era stato destato dalle grandi piazzuole in cemento individuate nel 2011: di fronte erano stati collocati dei bersagli. In seguito ci sono stati montati i due supercannoni. Nome in codice Xianfeng: Pioniere.
La Cina ha lavorato a pezzi d’artiglieria di grande calibro e lunga gittata dagli anni Settanta. Poi apparentemente abbandonò il progetto. Per riprenderlo negli anni Novanta, contemporaneamente all’Iraq di Saddam Hussein. E i due Paesi, secondo l’intelligence, avevano in comune anche l’ingegnere: Gerald Bull.
Il supercannone iracheno di Bull, chiamato Progetto Babilonia, era lungo 45 metri e teoricamente avrebbe potuto fare un fuoco di sbarramento sui satelliti.
Secondo gli analisti di Jane’s Defence, non è probabile che i cinesi pensino ai satelliti come bersaglio del loro Pioniere: hanno missili balistici per questo. Potrebbe trattarsi di un supercannone ferroviario, sul tipo della Grande Berta dei tedeschi. O di un congegno per sperimentare nuovi proiettili d’artiglieria.
Questa ricerca militare estrema si inserisce nella corsa al riarmo cinese, nel confronto con il Giappone per le Diaoyu/Senkaku, e con la Settima Flotta americana per le rotte del Mar della Cina. Per sconsigliare la US Navy dall’avvicinarsi troppo, l’Esercito popolare di liberazione ha anche provato un nuovo missile ammazza-portaerei: si chiama Dongfeng: Vento dell’Est. Duemila chilometri di gittata. Lo hanno provato nel deserto del Gobi su un bersaglio disegnato nella sabbia che simulava la sagoma di una portaerei americana. Con successo, come provano i grandi fori nella sabbia all’interno della sagoma.
Corriere della Sera

TC Cribs: Inside SoundCloud, The Berlin-Based Startup Fueled By Music

Berlin is buzzing with entrepreneurial energy at the moment, and SoundCloud is one of the companies that has emerged as an anchor to the city's growing tech startup scene. 

SoundCloud has grown significantly since its debut in 2007, and now its service boasts more than 250 million active listeners around the world. Its staff has grown quite a bit too, as you'll see by the density at its current headquarters (the company, which has satellite offices in San Francisco, New York, London, and Bulgaria, is set to move to a new larger Berlin office next year.) For now, though, the close quarters make for an exciting collaborative vibe - and being that most SoundCloud staffers are music buffs or musicians themselves, there's a lot of creativity in the air in addition to the tech.

Source: techcrunch

Immobili, torna di moda la nuda proprietà Annunci di vendita su del 22% in 3anni

Un tempo era una formula di vendita a cui pochi pensavano, magari per godersi in serenità gli anni della pensione. Oggi invece la nuda proprietà è una realtà importante nel mercato immobiliare, arrivata nel 2013 a rappresentare nelle grandi città lo 0,7% dell’offerta totale: una crescita che arriva fino al 21,9% in 36 mesi. Secondo l’analisi svolta dall’ Ufficio Studi di Immobiliare.It Torino è il capoluogo in cui questo fenomeno è aumentato maggiormente, ma l’incremento è a doppia cifra in tutte le città prese a campione. «Senza alcun dubbio la crisi di liquidità è una delle ragioni principali di questo fenomeno - spiega Carlo Giordano, amministratore delegato di Immobiliare.It - e la prova è che l’offerta di nuda proprietà, vale a dire la vendita dell’immobile disgiunta dalla possibilità di usufrutto dello stesso, è presente anche al di fuori delle grandi città, in modo equivalente rispetto all’offerta di vendita». Scorrendo i numeri dell’indagine si evidenzia come, dal 2010 ad oggi, l’offerta sia aumentata del 20,3% a Roma, del 18,7% a Milano, del 17,4% a Firenze e del 15,5% a Genova. Solo a Napoli la percentuale supera appena il 10% attestandosi all’ 11,1% ed evidenziando come nel meridione, dove la casa ha una centralità maggiore nella vita degli individui, la vendita in nuda proprietà sia ancora un tabù difficile da far tramontare.

LA TIPOLOGIA - La tipologia di immobile venduto in nuda proprietà si trova, solitamente, in stabili di tipo economico e in zone semi centrali o di prima periferia, e il valore della proprietà ceduta oscilla tra i 142.000 di Napoli e i 228.000 euro di Roma; la diminuzione generale dei valori di mercato ha avuto un effetto anche su queste vendite, rendendo più esiguo, rispetto al passato, per l’acquirente il vantaggio rispetto all’acquisto di un immobile equivalente in vendita con formula classica. Gli sconti, comunque, rimangono importanti e se chi compra una nuda proprietà a Milano risparmia circa il 24% del prezzo di mercato, chi fa lo stesso acquisto a Napoli riesce a spendere quasi il 35% in meno. Si trovano nel mezzo i risparmi di Roma (24,7%), Genova (25,6%), Torino (26,6%) e Firenze (31,1%). In un confronto con il 2010 la domanda, che essendo guidata principalmente da un’ottica ottica di investimento si concentra pressoché esclusivamente (97%) nelle grandi città, è rimasta stabile, a causa del bilanciamento fra l’aumento dell’offerta, e quindi dell’opportunità di acquisto, e la ridotta intenzione all’investimento in Italia. Infine una curiosità: se esiste un mercato dove la nuda proprietà gode ottima salute è quello delle Costa Azzurra. In questa area, dove l’investimento ha già dimostrato la propria redditività, le vendite con la formula della nuda proprietà rappresentano il 3,5% del totale e, a parità di offerta, la domanda è aumentata dell’11% in tre anni.

Corriere della Sera

IBM Thanksgiving Day U.S. Sales Data Shows 22% Of Online Transactions Made On Mobile, With Average Order $132

It's Thanksgiving, and IBM, is once again tracking how U.S. consumers are taking to the web to kick off holiday season shopping. Early indications are that this year once again shows growth, but less than in 2012. Overall, Thanksgiving online sales are up 9% over last year. On the same day in 2012, they were up by over 14%. The average value of an online order is down slightly, too. IBM tells me it is $132.13 so far for today; in 2012, it was $132.57.

IBM says its numbers come from tracking millions of transactions from 800 retailers online in real time.

IBM's results indicate that newer platforms like mobile are getting ever more popular: mobile accounted for over 35% of all online traffic, up almost 30% compared to 2012.

Source: techcrunch