May 13 – The death toll from the 7.8 magnitude quake that hit southwest China’s Sichuan province has reached 9,219. Those killed numbered 8,993 in Sichuan, 132 in Gansu, 85 in Shaanxi, eight in Chongqing and one in Yunnan, according to sources.The death toll is expected to increase as earthquake relief and rescue efforts progress.

Chinese president Hu Jintao has made earthquake rescue and relief top priority at all government levels with the army, armed police, paramilitary forces, and medical personnel deployed to quake-hit areas.

The State Disaster Relief Commission and the Civil Affairs Ministry has issued a Level I emergency response plan to deal with the disaster. The Level I emergency plan is for the highest degree of natural disasters.

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May 12 – Thousands are feared dead in the aftermath of a massive earthquake that struck Southwestern China’s Sichuan province on Monday. The 7.8 magnitude quake struck Wenchuan county at 2:28 p.m., leveling buildings and trapping those inside. Xinhua reported that 3,000 to 5,000 people were feared dead in Beichuan county near the quake’s epicenter. Roughly 80 percent of buildings in the county had been detroyed according to disaster relief officials. Current estimates are placing the dead at over 7,600 with as many as 10,000 injured, though that figure is expected to rise throughout the night as relief efforts intensify.

Earlier in the day, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs said that the earthquake killed at least 107 people in the provincial capital of Chengdu, neighboring Chongqing, Gansu and Yunnan provinces. Up to 900 teenagers were feared buried when their high school buildings in suburban Chengdu collapsed. By the evening, at least 50 bodies have been pulled from the rubble. (more…)

May 12 (Updated 17:00) - A major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck Sichuan province in Southwest China at 2:28 p.m. on Monday.

The earthquake, centered in Wenchuan county – 146 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital of Chengdu – was felt as far away as Taiwan and Bangkok.

The U. S. Geological reported that aftershocks measuring 6.0 and 5.4 on the Richter scale followed the initial quake. On CNN, Bonnie Thie, country director for the Peace Corps, said that the aftershocks continued throughout the afternoon. State media is reporting that the aftershocks could continue into the evening, measuring from 2.2 to 6.0 in size.

The magnitude of the quake virtually assures that damage will be extensive and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is on his way to the area to personally oversee the relief effort. The government has already pledged aid for quake victims and the military has been deployed.

The remoteness of the region has limited damage and death reports, though Xinhua is now reporting that four primary students were killed and more than 100 injured when two schools collapsed in Chongqing.

May 12 - A major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck Sichuan province in Southwest China at 2:28 p.m. on Monday.

The earthquake, centered 146 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital of Chengdu, was felt as far away as Taiwan and Bangkok. There have been no reports of damage yet, but the magnitude of the quake would suggest that it could be extensive.

Office buildings in both Beijing and Shanghai – which swayed for up to three minutes following the quake – were evacuated as a precaution against further aftershocks.

Land line and mobile communication networks throughout the country have been erratic for the hour following the quake. Public street announcements in Beijing are urging people to continue to evacuate office buildings and all offices along Jianguomen and Chang An Avenues appear to have been evacuated.

More to come as this story develops.

May 6 - The provincial government of Guangdong province has unveiled plans of providing 1.2 million jobs for 2008. The plans will also provide wider coverage for migrant workers like social insurance, endowment, medical, unemployment, injury at work, and maternity insurance to name a few.

Fifty percent of the target 1.2 million jobs are expected to be newly-generated, a 28 percent increase from last year’s figure.

Lin Jingqing, director of the labor relations division of the provincial labor and social security department, told China Daily: “More people will be included in our social security system this year, embodying the Labor Contract Law implemented by the central government at the start of the year.”

For 2007, Guangdong’s 10.55 million resident workers and 13.5 million migrant workers were provided with work and medical insurance - one-third of China’s total. This year, migrant workers with work insurance should increase by 13.3 million while those with medical insurance will jump by 13.6 million. (more…)

By Jean-Charles Briand, Noemie Lanes and Anna Sellger

SHANGHAI, April 30 - To understand how China’s economy is evolving, just look at the Yangtze River Delta. With 30 percent of the country’s private sector, this populous and wealthy region including Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces has relied heavily on its secondary market for growth. But that’s changing as more and more foreign direct investment pours into tertiary businesses focused on finance, wholesale and retail, information technology and real estate. The result is a rising service sector that many believe is China’s next step toward developing a modern economy.

Industrial strengths
With China’s most developed private sector, the delta now accounts for roughly 20 percent of the national GDP, its own total reaching some RMB4,775.4 billion two years ago. Jiangsu contributed most to the region’s GDP, about 45 percent, while Zhejiang and Shanghai represented about 33 percent and 22 percent, respectively. After Shanghai the most economically vibrant cities were, in descending order by economic size, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Ningbo and Nanjing. (more…)

By Andy Scott

WUHAN, April 28 - The Expo Central China 2008 came to a close today in the city of Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei province. The third of its kind, the expo is an opportunity for the Central China provinces of Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Shanxi to attract investor attention to a region that has historically lagged in development behind China’s coastal provinces. As investor sentiment has waned for China’s coastal regions where the rising costs of doing business are beginning to force large corporations to rethink their China strategy, the Central China region, and especially Wuhan with its perfectly centered location in China, is looking to take advantage. Long considered a secondary market, the completion of the new, expanded Wuhan Tianhe International airport as well as the continued dredging of the Yangtze downriver is turning Wuhan into destination for foreign investment.

The expo’s theme focused on the region’s belief that industry inside China is indeed beginning to shift, and the main focus of many of the provincial officials at the expo was directing inbound investment from the coast. At the opening ceremony, Vice-Premier Wang Qishan stressed that the region needed further reform and opening-up, stressing awareness of reform, innovation, and the rule of law as keys. (more…)

By Jean-Charles Briand and Anna Sellger 

April 18 - Perhaps no other region has played so vital a role in China’s growth as the Yangtze River Delta. Home to Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejian provinces, the delta has become the country’s commercial core, accounting for roughly 20 percent of GDP and nearly half of all foreign direct investment, according to Xinhua News Agency. As part of our series focusing on China’s hotspots, we look closely at the YRD and the infrastructure that keeps its economy humming, from the harbors and airports that provide gateways to the outside world to the roads and railways crisscrossing its interior. What emerges is a picture of mixed development that has created benefits—and challenges—for the region.

Harbors and airports
Among the toughest challenges has been implementing a unified plan for the region’s harbors. While Shanghai is still the delta’s major destination point for cargo ships, its rapid growth has brought about opportunities for neighboring cities looking to support their own ports. As a result, some cities now compete almost as much as they cooperate with the region’s megalopolis. Ningbo, for example, is expanding berths at its harbor – considered the nation’s best natural deepwater port – even as Shanghai finishes work on a new deepwater port of its own at Yangshan Island. (more…)

BEIJING, April 17 - A group of enterprising editors have launched an all out PR campaign to drum up excitement and support for the coming Olympic Games in Beijing this August.

After weeks the Olympic torch relay placing China and its international policies being placed squarely at the center of what has become in many countries an organized street riot, some in the Beijing community are responding by rolling out a concerted PR campaign in the city that is to host the games in little over three months.

All around the capital city tonight, bumper stickers boldly proclaiming “Beijing Jia you,” or “Go Beijing” can be found. From bars to metro walls to taxis, the stickers are everywhere. KFC, one of the largest Western-style fast food restaurants in China has also picked up the promotion. (more…)

Practice now has three offices in Shanghai’s Yangtze River Delta and nine nationally

NINGBO, April 16 - Dezan Shira & Associates, the specialist foreign direct investment firm, has opened an office in the port of Ningbo, on China’s Eastern coast just south of Shanghai.

The practice, which provides legal, tax and due diligence advice to multinationals throughout China, Hong Kong, India and Vietnam, has maintained a large regional office in Shanghai for 14 years and a year ago established a branch in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang province and situated between Shanghai and Ningbo.

“Business in Shanghai is becoming highly competitive and many companies are more price sensitive than was previously the case,” says Olaf Griese, the firm’s regional manager. “As Shanghai moves more towards becoming a center for services, cities such as Ningbo are developing rapidly and are a major draw to foreign manufacturing investors looking at accessing Shanghai’s wealth yet without the higher cost.” (more…)