China Freezes Lending to Curb Investing Frenzy
WSJ | JAMES T. AREDDY
Chinese authorities are slamming the brakes on bank lending, in their latest attempt to curb the runaway investment threatening to overheat what is soon to be the world's third-largest economy.
In recent weeks, regulators have quietly ordered China's commercial banks to freeze lending through the end of the year, according to bankers in several cities. The bankers say that to comply, they are canceling loans and credit lines with businesses and individuals.
A China Banking Regulatory Commission official here confirmed that local and Chinese subsidiaries of foreign banks have been asked to ensure that loans at the end of the year don't exceed the total outstanding on Oct. 31. The official described the request as "guidance aimed at supporting the macro-control measures being implemented."
Monday, November 19, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Congress to Yahoo: Boo! to You!
Yahoo execs defend role in arrest/jailing of Chinese journalist
Associated Press Erica Werner
WASHINGTON - Two top Yahoo Inc. officials on Tuesday defended their company's role in the jailing of a Chinese journalist but ran into withering criticism from lawmakers who accused them of complicity with an oppressive communist regime.
"While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies," House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, D-Calif., said angrily after hearing from the two Yahoo executives.
He angrily urged Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang and General Counsel Michael Callahan to apologize to journalist Shi Tao's mother, who was sitting directly behind them.
Shi Tao was sent to jail for 10 years for engaging in pro-democracy efforts deemed subversive after Yahoo turned over information about his online activities requested by Chinese authorities.
Associated Press Erica Werner
WASHINGTON - Two top Yahoo Inc. officials on Tuesday defended their company's role in the jailing of a Chinese journalist but ran into withering criticism from lawmakers who accused them of complicity with an oppressive communist regime.
"While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies," House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, D-Calif., said angrily after hearing from the two Yahoo executives.
He angrily urged Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang and General Counsel Michael Callahan to apologize to journalist Shi Tao's mother, who was sitting directly behind them.
Shi Tao was sent to jail for 10 years for engaging in pro-democracy efforts deemed subversive after Yahoo turned over information about his online activities requested by Chinese authorities.
Friday, September 21, 2007
1 million Chinese-made cribs recalled
1 million Chinese-made cribs recalled
Money | CNN
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- About one million Chinese-made, Simplicity brand cribs are being recalled after three infants died and seven were trapped when the drop side of cribs detached causing a dangerous gap, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Failures in the crib's drop side are due to a combination of hardware and design flaws that allow consumers to unintentionally install the drop side upside down. This installation could weaken the hardware and cause the drop side to detach from the crib, creating a gap that could lead to the entrapment and suffocation of infants.
The cribs, which were made in China, were sold in department stores, children’s stores and mass merchandisers nationwide from January 1998 through May 2007 for between $100 and $300.
The affected cribs include the following models: Aspen 3 in 1, Aspen 4 in 1, Nursery-in-a-Box, Crib N Changer Combo, Chelsea and Pooh 4 in 1. The recall also involves Simplicity cribs Aspen 3 in 1, Ultra 3 in 1, Ultra 4 in 1, Ultra 5 in 1, Whitney and the Trio using the Graco logo.
The recalled cribs have the model numbers 4600, 4605, 4705, 5000, 8000, 8324, 8800, 8740, 8910, 8994, 8050, 8750, 8760, and 8996, which can be found on the envelope attached to the mattress support and on the label attached to the headboard.
Money | CNN
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- About one million Chinese-made, Simplicity brand cribs are being recalled after three infants died and seven were trapped when the drop side of cribs detached causing a dangerous gap, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Failures in the crib's drop side are due to a combination of hardware and design flaws that allow consumers to unintentionally install the drop side upside down. This installation could weaken the hardware and cause the drop side to detach from the crib, creating a gap that could lead to the entrapment and suffocation of infants.
The cribs, which were made in China, were sold in department stores, children’s stores and mass merchandisers nationwide from January 1998 through May 2007 for between $100 and $300.
The affected cribs include the following models: Aspen 3 in 1, Aspen 4 in 1, Nursery-in-a-Box, Crib N Changer Combo, Chelsea and Pooh 4 in 1. The recall also involves Simplicity cribs Aspen 3 in 1, Ultra 3 in 1, Ultra 4 in 1, Ultra 5 in 1, Whitney and the Trio using the Graco logo.
The recalled cribs have the model numbers 4600, 4605, 4705, 5000, 8000, 8324, 8800, 8740, 8910, 8994, 8050, 8750, 8760, and 8996, which can be found on the envelope attached to the mattress support and on the label attached to the headboard.
Friday, August 17, 2007
China gets a consumer safety tsar
Jonathan Watts in Beijing
Guardian Unlimited
China's most respected troubleshooter, vice-premier Wu Yi, was appointed head of a new consumer safety panel today as Beijing attempted to reverse a growing trust deficit with overseas trade partners and domestic shoppers.
Guardian Unlimited
China's most respected troubleshooter, vice-premier Wu Yi, was appointed head of a new consumer safety panel today as Beijing attempted to reverse a growing trust deficit with overseas trade partners and domestic shoppers.
Johnson & Johnson tracks down maker of phony diabetes test
NEW YORK: A global manhunt begun by Johnson & Johnson has traced to China counterfeit versions of an at-home diabetes test used by 10 million Americans to take sensitive measurements of blood sugar levels.
Potentially dangerous copies of the OneTouch Test Strip sold by Johnson & Johnson's LifeScan unit surfaced in U.S. and Canadian pharmacies last year, according to federal court documents unsealed in June.
Court filings disclose, for the first time, that China is the source of about one million phony test strips, which have turned up in at least 35 states and in Canada, Greece, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
International Herald Tribune
Potentially dangerous copies of the OneTouch Test Strip sold by Johnson & Johnson's LifeScan unit surfaced in U.S. and Canadian pharmacies last year, according to federal court documents unsealed in June.
Court filings disclose, for the first time, that China is the source of about one million phony test strips, which have turned up in at least 35 states and in Canada, Greece, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
International Herald Tribune
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
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