IN BRIEF (Page 3)

Trade

EU solar deal hailed as blueprint

The European Union's endorsement of an agreement that settled a dispute with China over solar panel sales in the EU should be credited mostly to the Chinese government's "great concerns" about the matter and "efficient communication" with the EU, Chinese trade experts said.

The settlement also sends a strong signal about Sino-EU economic and trade ties, avoiding the possibility of a trade war between the major economies worldwide, and setting a good example or how the two sides can solve future trade disagreements through consultation and communication, they said.

On Aug 2, the European Commission endorsed a negotiated settlement with China that sets a minimum price and a volume limit on EU imports of Chinese solar panels until 2015.

The agreement took effect on Aug 6. Chinese manufacturers that agree to it will avoid punitive duties that the 28-nation bloc had planned to impose.

The European Commission said an overwhelming majority of member states voted in favor of the deal and no member state voted against it.

US urged to ease exports ban

Chinese experts are urging the United States to loosen restrictions on high-tech exports to China to balance bilateral trade and spur the US economic recovery.

The call comes as the US has pledged to expand its shipments to China and to reclaim 10 percent of China's total imports by 2015.

Although China remained the US' third-largest export market last year, buying goods from the US worth $109 billion (82.2 billion euros), Washington must fight harder to increase its share of that total, the US-China Business Council said in two reports on Aug 1.

From 2003 to 2012, US exports to China rose by 294 percent, up nearly $81 billion. But the US share in China's total imports fell to 7 percent from 10 percent in 2000 and it "significantly" trails the European Union, Japan and South Korea in exports to the country.

Infrastructure

Overseas investment welcome in Beijing

Foreign investors are welcome to finance the capital's infrastructure construction projects.

Six areas of Beijing's infrastructure construction will be open to overseas and domestic investors this year, said Peng Bo, a spokesman for the Beijing Commission of Reform and Development.

The six areas include rail transport, city roads, the rail transit complex, drainage treatment, garbage disposal and heat supply in townships.

A total of 126 projects will need investment of 338 billion yuan ($55.15 billion; 41.63 billion euros), of which 130 billion yuan will be channeled from social capital, according to a plan released recently by the commission at the 5th Beijing Investment Fair.

The first phase of the plan has 27 projects, which need an investment of 68 billion yuan from social capital, said Yang Xuhui, a commissioner of the economic planning body.

The second phase, with 99 other projects, will call for investment from social capital later this year, Yang said.

Private companies will enjoy the same policies in terms of land, price, investment return and supporting facilities as their state-owned counterparts, according to a statement from the commission.

Food

GPS devices to tackle food waste problem

Food waste collection trucks and trash cans will be fitted with a computerized weighing and GPS device in Wuhan to deal with the problem of gutter oil, illegally recycled cooking oil.

Operations will start on Dec 1 when a regulation that requires integrated collection and processing of kitchen waste takes effect in the Hubei capital.

All waste, including food remnants, scrap materials and edible oil wastes from food and beverage facilities, canteens and factories involved in food production and processing will be monitored by the integrated system, according to the regulation.

The regulation also defines edible oil waste as a mixture of water and oil retrieved from kitchen ventilators, oil-water separators or sewerage plants.

"Companies will be set up in each (city) district for collection and transport," said Chen Jian, director of construction for the Wuhan Urban Management Bureau.

Companies or individuals not affiliated with the designated companies will be subject to fines, he said.

Environment

Forum fights desertification

The United Nations is seeking more cooperation with China to explore better models to fight desertification, according to the Kubuqi International Desert Forum 2013 that opened in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Aug 2.

The two-day forum is being held deep in the Kubuqi, the country's seventh-largest desert, covering 18,600 square kilometers.

The forum is co-hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification secretariat, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Forestry Administration and the Inner Mongolia regional government.

More than 300 business leaders, decision-makers and experts from home and overseas shared their views on combating desertification and exploiting business potential buried in the sands.

Premier Li Keqiang said in a congratulatory message: "We would like to enhance cooperation with other countries, explore new ideas and forms of combating desertification and new technologies and industries for ecological protection."

Tourism

More visa-free transit tourists in Beijing

Beijing says it will step up promotion of its 72-hour visa-free policy, aiming to attract more foreign transit tourists following a drop in arrivals for overnight stays in the first half of the year.

About 2.14 million tourists visited the capital during the six months, a 14.3 percent decline compared with the corresponding period last year, according to the Beijing statistics department.

"The city is considering further cooperation with Beijing Capital International Airport and Air China to come up with air ticket discounts, while building an alliance to attract more foreign transit tourists," Lu Yong, director of the Beijing Commission of Tourism Development, said.

Beijing introduced the 72-hour visa-free policy for tourists from 45 countries on Jan 1, but it has not had the expected effect.

Legal

Medical giant loses antitrust lawsuit

Medical giant Johnson & Johnson has become the first Fortune 500 company to be ruled by a Chinese court as holding a monopoly, in a landmark lawsuit that experts say signals the country's tougher stance toward price-fixing.

In a final verdict on Aug 1, Shanghai High People's Court ordered Johnson & Johnson Medical China Ltd and Johnson & Johnson Medical Shanghai Ltd to pay 530,000 yuan ($86,500; 65,300 euros) in compensation to a former dealer.

The court said the Chinese subsidiaries of the US giant adopted a monopolistic practice by setting a price floor for its Chinese medical equipment dealer Rainbow Medical.

Ding Wenlian, chief judge of the case, said, "The practice of placing a minimum resale price made Johnson & Johnson avoid price competition and confined the market competition of similar products, which kept the price of the equipment at a high level and damaged consumer interests."

China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/09/2013 page3)