Missing Melamine

The concerning thing about Cadbury’s recall of its chocolates made with milk tainted with melamine is that all of the dairy suppliers to Cadbury’s Beijing plant had earlier been given the all-clear by the Chinese testing. It was the company’s own tests that uncovered the traces of melamine, although the source and extent is not [...]

Shenzhou VII Flies Home, Airline Passengers Wait

With the Shenzhou VII mission safely and jubilantly returned to Earth, the FT reports how China’s air traffic controllers grounded civil airliners for the launch of the mission without notice, only the latest sudden and unexplained delay to flights by the Civil Aviation Administration of China when the PLA wants clear skies.

Buffett Buys Batteries

Warren Buffett knows a smart deal in China when he sees one. He came away from a $488 million investment in PetroChina in 2002/03 with a $3.5 billion profit in 2007 (see Buffett On PetroChina). Now he is putting down $231 million for a 10% stake in BYD Co., China’s largest maker of rechargeable batteries [...]

Spacewalks, Milestones and the Party Plenum

It was shorter than expected, 13 mins, but a spacewalk nonetheless, and the latest milestone in China’s fast advancing space program.
Astronaut Zhai Zhigang, floated out of Shenzhou 7’s orbital module on Saturday afternoon, and at one point waved a Chinese flag. Xinhua has lots of coverage, including pictures of Zhai and flag (How do you [...]

Ripples From Tainted Dairy Products Scandal Spread Wider

It is less than 48 hours since a senior official said the problems with tainted dairy products were under control. Since then the E.U., India, France and South Korea have joined the ranks of those imposing restrictions on Chinese milk and dairy related imports, the maker of White Rabbit candy has issued a product recall, [...]

Xinhua Spaces Out

Xinhua’s web site ran a detailed report Thursday on the successful launch of the Shenzhou 7 space mission,  including snatches of dialogue between the astronauts. Only problem was the story was posted hours before lift off. An Associated Press report on the snafu. And another on the actual successful launch is here.

Venezula, China To Build Oil Refineries Together

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez would like to sell more of his country’s oil to China and less to the U.S.
Venezuela sold Beijing 38 million barrels in the first seven months of this year, almost double last year’s sales, despite the logistics difficulties of shipping it. Chavez, now visiting Beijing, says Venezuela could be sending China [...]

China’s First Spacewalk Due On Friday

The first Chinese spacewalk is due to occur on Friday, according to the commander-in-chief of the Shenzhou VII spacecraft. As we have noted before, it will be broadcast live, though there will probably be some time delay, for expediency’s sake.
The countdown for Thursday’s launch has started. China’s third manned space flight comes just five years [...]

Tainted Dairy Products Scandal Deepens, Claims First Central Government Official

The most senior head to date has rolled in the tainted dairy products scandal. Li Changjiang has resigned as head of the agency responsible for ensuring China’s food supply chain is safe.
Li is the first central government official to lose his job over the scandal, but several local officials have been sacked and several dozen [...]

More Tainted Dairy Products, More Anger, Less Confidence

It now not just melamine in baby formula from one company sold in three provinces, but in dairy products nationwide, and beyond. Chinese dairy products are being pulled off shelves in Hong Kong and Japan. Malaysia and Singapore have banned Chinese milk imports.
At home, consumer outrage is growing. Beijing has ordered free medical treatment for [...]