Amber Butler-Davis (Staff Reporter)

5 MILLION IN THE JOB LINE!

Could being a College Graduate really be that tough?

If you are a college graduate next year I hope for your sake you already have a job lined up. Throughout China, there will be at least 5.5 million graduates eager to enter into workforce next year, that is 13 percent more than last year.

These students will definitely feel the pressure when trying to secure their perfect job because they will also have to compete with the 700,000 graduates who could not find work in the last year.

Carol Cai, an employee of British market research company TNS told the China Daily how the number of new recruits in the job industry has halved and now most of the positions are only advertising for experienced applications. These pose of rather large problem to the college graduates of 2008. Unless they have some experience in the work place finding a job in their field of study could be tricky.

Students are now being advised to major in more than one field. Education officials have said it will be more beneficial to learn a range of skills rather then concentrating on the ever so popular ones such as banking, finance and trade.

Xiao Jiang, a finance major from Zhejiang University has applied for nearly 20 job positions as research analyst for multinational companies, non-profit organisations and private enterprises. He told the China Daily how even trying to get an interview is a tough enough job itself. Xiao has now stopped questioning wether his studies matches his dream job. The only thing Xiao is concerned about the moment is if he will ever find a job.

Students are already starting to think about staying at College to continue their studies and obtain a higher degree of education. The only problem with this idea is that they will probably encounter the same situation they are in now but with even more competitors.

Students today need to realise that being smart on paper and being smart in the work environment is not the same. There is only so much one can learn from a book in the end they will need to find common sense somewhere. For at least one semester these students should stop relying on a text book and do an internship in a company that is in their field of study. It may only be a short time in the work force but at least it might give them the upper hand when they apply for a job that another 10,000 students are trying to get.

On the other hand, they are running for the hills, literally. Wang Xuming, a spokesman for the Ministry of Education in trying to encourage college graduates to apply for jobs in the Western and rural areas. Already over 20,000 students have signed up to work in the countryside either specialising in education, agriculture and poverty alleviation. Other students have also opted to work in Sichuan, Shaanxi and the Chongquig municipality, regions that were hit by the May 12 quake.

Surprisingly, those students that do opt to work in a rural region for over two years will enjoy favourable treatment in recruitment for government organs and State enterprises. These students will also receive bonus points if they decide to take the civil service exams.

So, the choices our graduates face today are either staying at College longer and becoming a permanent student, fighting the masses for that dream job or working in the countryside. And if those three options don’t work for them, then I guess we will be seeing a lot of local businesses popping up in the near future.

Hong Kong Correspondent

ELUSIVE YETI CONTINUES EVASION TACTICS

A dedicated team of adventurers from Japan claim to have discovered footprints of the legendary Yeti. Many have tried to capture the elusive Yeti on film in its stomping ground in the Himalayas between Nepal and Tibet but so far none have been successful.

Yoshiteru Takahashi, the leader of the Yeti Expedition said, “The footprints were about 20 centimetres long and looked like a human’s”. Takahashi spoke to a group of people along with his 7 member team and told of the half-man, half-ape, stories of which have captured the imaginations of mountaineers for over a century.

Even after spending a gruelling 42 days on the mountain known as Dhaulagiri which peaks at 7,660 metres, where the team had discovered Yeti traces in the past, they failed to capture the elusive Yeti on camera!

Takahashi was insistant that the footprints they discovered were proof enough of the Yeti’s existence.

“Myself and the other team members have been coming to the Himalayas for years and we can recognise bear, deer, wolf and snow leopard prints and it was none of those,” he said.

“We remiain convinced it is real,” he continued. “The footprints and the stories the locals tell make us sure that it is not imaginary.”

Photographs of the prints have been posted on the expeditions’s website, http://www.everest.co.jp/yeti2008/

The team has positioned 9 motion sensitive cameras in an area where on a previous expedition Takahasi thought he saw the Yeti.

“It was about 200 metres away in silhouette. It was walking on two legs like a human and looked about 150 centimetres tall,” said Takahashi.

Not one for quitting Takahashi added that the team had plans to continue the quest, “We will come back as soon as we can.”

Beijing Correspondent

China Housing Bust

China is facing a housing market lull, which could ultimately drag their economy further down, joining the worldwide financial crisis. Cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Xi’an have all seen a consecutive drop in housing prices over the last four months. Rescue policies will be helping the real estate market, since the central government is now keeping a close watch on the property market after 18 cities had to launch various measures to stop property sales from falling.

Chinese economists told the Inquirer that a worsening slump in China’s real estate market would not only undermine the healthy growth of the economy but also put the country’s financial system at a great risk. The financial crisis that is sweeping the world at the moment and hardening the lives of many citizens, did originate from the subprime issue in mid 2007 in the United States. The sudden bust of a 10 year American housing boom resulted in a numerous amount of American homeowners unable to pay their mortgages, which then resulted in the banks by being troubled from a mountain of bad-debt. China would like to prevent this from happening in their country so they have resorted to measures such as handing out subsidies to private homebuyers.

Pushed by the local government measures, the central government is now studying the market trends. Analysts have predicted that Beijing might have to rectify its strict regulatory decrees of higher taxation and also remove the harsh control that banks have when lending money to anyone wanting to buy a second home.

After the Shanghai municipal government raised the mortgage ceiling of the housing accumulation by one fifth the government is now closely watching its development. Employees can now deposit money from their wages every month, which in return they will get a lower interest rate. The vice-mayor of Shanghai, Yang Xiong said that the new measures by other cities was exciting new for them and that his government will continue to study and control the policies which are based on changing the economy and property market. Xiong’s biggest aim is to keep the property market stable.

Such offers like raising the funding for homebuyers and giving people more time to develop their land are being favoured by the people. It was in the fourth quarter of last year when the countries property market began to slow down and transactions have remained at a low since then. However, such analysts are reserved to explain on what this move actually means. Research chief at CB Richard Ellis’ Beijing Branch, Qin Xiaomei told the Inquirer that it is hear to tell whether this is the right time for the government to be saving the real estate market, as there is still plenty of room for prices to fall even further.

Qin explains how the property prices in most cities have fallen each month recently but the year to year indexes are still going up. According to the figures from NDRC, the prices in 70 major cities have jumped to 5.3 percent year to year, but the growth rate declined by 1.7 percent from last month.

In the mean time, the developers who bought land in 2005 or 2006 seem unaffected by the current price drop; they are still enjoying good profit margins. What they should really be doing is cutting down their prices so they can meet the consumers’ wallets. And it seems many buyers are waiting for the prices to fall, and really why wouldn’t you.

Manila Correspondent

Poetry in the Train

Today’s generation is all about technology. If they aren’t spending their spare time surfing the net and uploading their latest photos in facebook, listening to their iPods or have their cell phone stuck to their ear then they are fighting battles on the Wii, Xbox or PlayStation consoles. It seems that the youth of today will only sit down and read a book if they have to be tested on it, and even then, I believe they rent out the video or should I say DVD of it. However the National Book Development Board (NBDB) are trying their best to compete with the world of technology. The NBDB has come up with an innovative project called “Tulaan Sa Tren” (Poetry in the Train) This project aims to reintroduce poems that have been written by Filipinos to a large mass of people. Andrea Pasion-Flores, NBDB executive director, told the inquirer that the main message of the program is to promote local authors and to give the Filipinos book industry a boost.

Since early August, commuters on the LRT line 2 – which piles the Recto-Santolan route and vice versa – have literally been overwhelmed by the poetry readings on the trains public address system in 11 different stations. Flores explained to the inquirer how a number of celebrity voices are being used to read out the selection of poetry. Flores believes that by celebrities will be an effective way to get their messages across and reach their audience. The familiar voices include OMB Chair Edu Manzano, actor Romnick Sarmenta and wife Harlene Bautista, TV hosts Lyn Ching-Pascual, Rhea Santos, Miriam Quiambao and Christine Bersola-Babao; singer Nikki Gil, teen star Matt Evans and actress and environment advocate Chin-Chin Gutierrez.

Everyday at 8am, noon, 4pm and 7pm the commuters can enjoy a half hour of pre-recorded poetry readings. The poems that are being read are painting various pictures of Metro Manila. They describe such things like how it is to live in its complexity, amidst beauty and ugliness, and trying to keep your dignity despite living in misery. Not only do commuters get to listen to their favourite actor or actress read poetry but there are also pictures of the celebrites with their favourite Filipino book. These pictures are on display inside three of the LRT Line 2’s trains.

The program so far has had very positive feedback, even to the extent where teachers of Philippine literature have expressed an interest in how they could get copies of the poetry readings. LRTA press relations chief Evelyn Paragas said that there have been a number of people interested in the poetry readings and are asking if we could make compact discs with the readings on them for sale. Paragas believes that the positive feedback is due to the “cool and pleasant to the ear” delivery of the celebrities that are involved.

The NBDB is in the process of recording the next chapter for the commuters to enjoy. A wider celebrity audience will read the next set of poems and the poems chosen are not your commercial type. There will also be another set of posters, displaying the celebrities and their favourite book.

So the next time you go to surf the net, update your ipod or pick up the Wii remote, think again, and grab a book or even a piece of poetry. You may be amazed to find out that you might enjoy it.

Bejing Correspondent

Premier: “Govt responsible in tainted milk incident”

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has agreed that his government is partly responsible for the tainted milk. The Premier is particularly concerned about the industry regulation and that this incident will be handled seriously and will make sure that lessons will be learnt from it.

In an interview with Bruce Alberts, the editor in chief of the Science Magazine of the United States, the Premier stated that his government will strengthen legislation in every phase of food production. From the farm to the dinner table is now put under strict supervising according to the law. Important steps in making milk products, production of raw milk, collection, transportation, processing and making formula all should have clear standards and testing requirements plus corresponding and legal responsibilities. But it seems that the government was not regularly checking to see if these steps were being practiced.

Wen told Alberts that it is absolutely impermissible to sacrifice people’s health and lives in exchange for temporary economic development. The Premier strongly believes that his government will be able to successfully lead the people through the difficulties caused by the tainted milk incident. The government is also looking into and is going to draw up plans for the revival of China’s food industry. The Premier has vowed to make the ‘made in China’ brand safe again.

In late September, Beijing tried to restore confidence after an outburst of reports said that the industrial chemical melamine had been found in milk product. However, after testing 47 different brands of milk and other dairy products and finding not a trace of the chemical that has made nearly 53,000 children sick, the Premier has now vowed to ensure that the ‘Made in China’ brand will be safe for consumers at home and internationally.

The Premier feels that his government will be able to make the whole ‘Made in China’ brand worry-free and reputable for not only the Chinese market but also for the people around the world. China has been desperately trying to contain the information of the contaminated milk scandal because it has had a global repercussion. Many countries around the world have been rushing to ban or even stop importing dairy products from China.

By the 26th of September, the European Union had decided to stop importing baby food that contained traces of milk and Hong Kong had ordered a recall for two of the products that were found positive when tested for the industrial chemical melamine, surprisingly one of those brands was Heinz baby food.

Even though China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision told AFP the following day that they had checked another 296 different dairy products from brands across the country’s major cities and that none of these products contained traces of the chemical. The EU and Hong Kong are sticking with the ban of milk products from China. And can you blame them. Over 7,000 tons of contaminated dairy products have been removed from shops across China.
China’s Commerce Minister, Chen Deming made a statement on the central government website saying that it is extremely important to restore the confidence of consumers, especially those interested in the countries milk product brands. The only way that this can be achieved is through effective monitoring and detection
Still, 176 new cases have emerged from China claiming that children have fallen ill after drinking the contaminated milk. Shanghai authourities also revealed that nearly five percent of children under the age of three have shown symptoms for possible kidney stones after being fed milk powder products tainted with the industrial chemical. Taiwan has reported that three young children had developed kidney stones and one of the children’s mother had also fallen ill after drinking Chinese milk formula. Plus in Hong Kong, five cases have been reported of children falling ill from drinking the tainted milk products.
Professors at Lanzhou University in Northwest China are working around the clock to perfect a newly developed chemical substance that will be able to detect the industrial chemical melamine quickly and cheaply. Any dairy farmer can use the substance and it will detect any traces of melamine within 20 minutes. The government in Gansu province was the ones to ask the university id they would be able to develop such a substance.
Hopefully, China will be able to export their milk and dairy products soon without having to place such warning labels like ‘Keep out of reach from children’ or instead of ‘may contain traces of nuts’ we could be finding such labels as ‘may contain traces of melamine’

Beijing Correspondent

Toys, Toys, Toys.

With Christmas only ten weeks away, we would like to hope that the toy stores are ready with all the latest gadgets and gizmos. However, it is sad to tell you this but after the closure of the Smart Union toy factory last week, nearly half of all the toy manufacturers in the Pearl River Delta could quite possible have to close their doors and go out of business within the next couple of years.

The vice-chairman of the Dongguan Toy Industry Association, Wang Zhiguang told the Guangzhou Daily that out of the 3800 toy firms based in Dongguan, it would be very likely that more than 2000 of them will not survive the next couple of years. Even though Zhiguang forecast is not the best news for the toy industry, no one can rebut it because the cost of raw materials have rose, there are now soaring overheads, the slowdown in the global market is evident plus the deprecation of the US dollar have all made a contributing factor to the fall in toy sales.

It will be the companies with the good financials and their own brands that will find it easy to survive over the next few years. The companies that are dependant on OEM (original equipment manufacturing) are going to be the ones that could crash and fall.

From 2006 to now, it was surprising to see that the total cost for producing toys has increased by more than 60 percent. While contract prices have also risen by an extra 10 percent. Also the local customs bureau explains how Dongguan toy firms exported a total worth of $550 million worth of toys in the first half of this year. This is not only a 1.5 percent decrease from last years figures but also the first drop in three years.

The owner of a toy factory in Dongguan, who would like to be left unidentified, told the China Daily on Monday that they are having a very hard time in business at the moment. He fears that someday in the near fututre he will have to close the doors to his factory and walk away. The owner explained to the China Daily how the tighter capital chain has been a negative impact for toy makers like himself. He states that all the toy makers are now a lot more cautious when they deal in raw materials suppliers and other business partners.

Xiao Yong, another owner of a Dongguan toy firm that sells not only gifts but Christmas trees too is just as worried about what winter has in store for them. Yong explains how one of the main problems for the numerous toymakers in Dongguan is that they rely too much on the United States and Europe to place orders. It is evident that the huge financial crisis over there has led directly to a reduction in orders here. Yong has only received half of the amount of orders for this Christams compared to last Christmas. Also, since the EU and the US changed the market threshold for toys made in China, because of the recall incident with the Bindeez in 2007, the testing fees for the toys have increased by nearly 25 percent.

The Chairman of Hayidai Toys Co Ltd, Xiao Senlin told the Nanfang Daily that it is time to start concentrating on the domestic market rather then internationally. Developing their our own brands instead of doing OEM might be the best way to avoid the global financial crisis.

Osaka Bureau

Fad in Japana take off like no other place on the planet. Take the craze of deco-tora sweeping the transport carriers of the country. Trucks lit up like Christmas trees or Manilla Jeepneys gone mad are to be found at night in every road side servo.

And now the whole place has gone Bananas! Literally. It is very difficult to find a shop with an adequate stock of bananas in Japan because of the “banana diet” craze. Normally stores can hardly get rid of this boringly classified fruit but the new banana diet has taken grip to such a degree that the importers can no longer get sufficient supply.

Getting out and about in Japan you would wonder why the population by and large the anithesis of obese and hardly weighing in more than 40 Kg dripping wet would want a diet. But that seems on the surface as the fast food rage has got the better of the younger people.

According to one credit card issuing company employee Ryuji Yamamoto “after college I simply put on the kilos. I tried every sport and ran every morning before work but the kilos came off in grams and not very many. After trying the banana diet for less than a year he lost over 12 kilograms!

This was due to a colleague recommending a breakfast of only raw bananas and water which supposedly boosts the metabolism so well that one can eat or drink almost everything for the rest of the day. However nutritionists claim that the diet is questionable and there is no clinical evidence to support it.

“Bananas and water for breakfast can hardly do any hard though”, they said.

Yamamoto said “it’s easy and cheap and far better than having to find time in my busy day to work out.”

Needless to say the best selling books in Japan now are banana diet books, as if one would need to read up on it but obviously so as one particular version has sold more than half a million copies!

Of course a Japanese businessman would seriously have to change habits away from after office drinking sessions; late night train rides home; a half hearted attempt at a midnight dinner before slouching on the tatami and of course a carefully balanced diet and regular excercise is well known to be the best thing for you.

Well the best of us can only go bananas for a short time. Peel it and see!.

Beijing Bureau

Local Chinese auto brands have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to being accepted in the market. Unlike the United States and Japan, how are the world’s two largest manufacturers for automobiles, whose cars are widely accepted not just in China but on an international level. The Chinese automobile market is being dominated by foreign automotive brands such as Volkswagen and Honda, even though most of them are produced by their joint ventures with local businesses. For China to transform from the land of bikes to a large automobile market took nearly 20 years. And for the past four years China has maintained a 20-30% annual growth rate. Last year alone its output and sales reaching 8.8 million and 8.79 million, with many forecasting that if the growth rate is no less than 14% the sales figures could cross the 10-million mark this year. This would make China the second country in the world whose auto sales would of exceeded 10 million. The United Sates of America being the first of course.

Even though the numbers may be hard to comprehend at first, it is still only half true to say that China is a giant when it comes to car manufacturing. For a matter of fact most of the cars made in China aren’t actually made by China. Confused? It is not the Chinese companies manufacturing most of the cars, the ones responsible are the foreign joint ventures.

The only two Chinese-owned automakers that are on the list of being the top 10 passenger carmakers (in terms of sales in China since 2005) are Chery and Geely. But unfortunately, their ranking was fourth and ninth at the end of 2007 and in July of 2008 they came in at seventh and tenth. Not only are Chery and Geely dropping in ranks but China has also seen a significant drop in the market share of domestic car brands. At the beginning of 2007 it was a record high of 30.6% but by late 2007 it took a tumble down to 18.62%, a new record low. So what went wrong? Well, with raw materials and oil prices continuously on the rise this did contribute to the many challenges the Chinese auto market has. Other challenges have been the increasing incomes of metropolitan households along with the falling prices of all types of automobiles. The price competition going on between the auto manufacturers in the country has equally contributed to the shrinking of the low-end car market. No wonder the small guys like Chery and Geely don’t stand a chance in the market place.

As found in The Inquirer, statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows us that the sales of cars with emissions lower than one liter saw a slow growth but a growth nonetheless in the first half of this year. While the good old SUV sales increased dramatically by 42%. By these stats, it is easy to see that the competition has shifted to the middle and high-end segments. Which needless to say, domestic automakers are not ready to go there yet. However, domestic automakers are trying to expand overseas but compared to their foreign counterparts’ in China, they are moving along at a snails pace. Soon the big foreign names will crush the local Chinese automakers in the international markets.

However, I think it is significant to mention that the Chinese government has now realised that the country needs more independent innovations and brand building. These are the two crucial factors that Chinese companies need if they are going to compete with the well-established MNCs in the future. Soon, Chinese auto manufacturers can be expected to enjoy more favourable policies. That’s smart isn’t it. China’s automotive market is going to transform itself into this huge competitor, which could be the end of all local automakers.

Surprisingly, the foreign auto giants do not see the Chinese brands being a serious threat to them in the industry. And can you blame them. I guess we will all have to wait and see for what the Chinese players have in store for us when it comes to auto manufacturing and sales.

Osaka Correspondent

The one place in the world you do not want to be caught with your pants down is the Royal Moat which surrounds (or almost) the Imperial Palace, the home of the Royal Family, in Japan.

A tourist, reportedly from Gr Britain, was arrested after swimming naked in the most of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Perhaps he didn’t like the beer or couldn’t hold his sake but the skinny dipper was quite miffed when asked to leave the pool. He hurled rocks at police and security guards and even acquired a long stick with which to prod them.

A video recording of this can be found on U-Tube and it is definitely worth viewing. After thwarting the authorities with a barrage of stones he jumped back in the water obviously needing to cool down after his one man battle.

Eventually our undaunted acquarian decided to make a getaway by climbing the moat wall - no mean feat as it is some 10 metres high in parts - only to find police waiting for him at the top.

By this time the police had brought their own poking devices and managed to subdue the perpetrator. He probably wouldn’t be invited back to Japan very soon.

by Amber Butler-Davis

From our Australian Bureau

Got Milk? If so, be careful drinking it. Another Chinese milk product, which is sold in the Philippines, was found to be contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine on Wednesday. However, health authorities seem less worried about the effect it will have on the consumers. Should we remind them that Melamine – contaminated products have already taken four infant lives and caused another 54,000 children in China to fall ill, prompting a worldwide recall of milk.

The red and white milk cartoon which holds a litre of Jolly Cow Slender High Calcium Low Fat Milk has been found to have 4 times the acceptable amount of melamine in it. The officer in charge of the Bureau of Food and Drugs’ (BFAD) laboratory services, Ma. Lourdes Sanitiago reported at the press conference on Wednesday that that level of melamine was high because is should be zero. If that is not stating the obvious then I don’t know what is.

The Jolly Cow cartoons have been withdrawn from store shelves joining the other 22 brands, which have been proven to be contaminated with traces of the industrial chemical.

It is reported that Manila has so far imported more than 2 million kilograms of milk from China this year. Now any shipment of milk brands from China will be immediately condemned. The Chief of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Services explained to the Inquirer how once the products are condemned, the custom officers can then find a way to return it to China or dispose of it.

Not only is the Jolly Cow Slender High Calcium Low Fat Milk in question but also on the 3rd of October the BFAD announced that Greenfood Yili Fresh Milk and Mengniu Drink had also tested positive to Melamine. Just as everyone was about to stop drinking milk forever the BFAD cleared 21 dairy products. These products included some ice-cream and chocolate products which were all tested and have been reported for being melamine-free.

But don’t rush to that fridge just yet because there are still around 90 more milk and milk-related products to be tested for melamine. The BFAD did have 200 products still to test but was able to shave that number to 90. What is worrying is how the Health Secretary Francisco Duque III is playing down the effects of having three melamine-contaminated products on the market. Duque told the Inquirer that we should not focus on melamine but equally more important public health issues. Duque said it would be ‘unlikely’ for adults to develop kidney problems after consuming the tainted milk because adults are able to eat other foods. However, the Health department is concerned for the children then advised anyone if they have consumed the contaminated milk products, they should see their doctor. No contradiction there at all.

What I would like answered is why melamine was even added to milk products in the first place. Some dairy farmers have confessed and said that by adding melamine to a milk product makes it look and appear protein rich in tests. So, what has happened to the protein then?

Melamine is used in items such as plastic, paint and adhesives, so let’s leave it there – in non-drinkable products.