LinkChinese UK News

China Development Bank (CDB, 国家发展银行) agreed to buy up to £6.6 billion share of Barclays Bank, which will be China’s record foreign purchase. Chen Yuan (陈元), the governor of the CDB and a member of the State Council of China will take a seat on the board of Barclays. The deal have been approved by the British government. Barclays sold another £2.4 billion share to Singapore government’s investment fund, Temasek at the same time.

After the agreed share sale, Barclays tabled a new cash-and-share offer for ABN Amro worth €67.5 billion, €2.7 billion higher than its previous bid.

The Times report.

The Guardian report. Barclays finds an ally in China in sturggle for ABN Amro.

 

Edinburgh Evening News reports Edinburgh Castle has commissioned audio guides in Mandarin and Russian. The decision is based on the analysis of recent trend and tourists’ requests. Edinburgh Castle has already had audio guide in six languages.

Edinburgh Evening News

 

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has carried out the first Environmental Performance Review of China in 2006/2007. It builds on over a decade of environmental co-operation between OECD and China. As a result, China has embodied OECD approaches such as “Polluter Pays” and “User Pays” Principles in its environmental legal acts, for instance through environmental charges or water pricing.

Through this partnership, OECD countries have gained insights into the major environmental challenges facing China, and the measures being taken to address them. The Environmental Performance Review of China confirmed that rapid economic development, industrialisation and urbanisation have generated growing pressures on the environment, resulting in significant damage to human health and depletion of natural resources. The review also highlighted efforts by the Chinese authorities to encourage more balanced patterns of development, by promoting concepts such as “harmonious society” and “scientific development”.

The Review offers some 51 recommendations. It urges Chinese authorities to strengthen effectiveness in implementing environmental laws (in particular at the sub-national level) and to mobilise financing for environmental infrastructure. It insists on reorienting economic growth by both institutional and market-based integration of environmental concerns in energy, agriculture, transport, urban policies and sectors as well as in financing and planning. It also highlights that China has a shared interest with OECD and other countries to address international environmental challenges, and has significantly enhanced its engagement in international environmental co-operation in recent years.

Links:

OECD Environmental Performance Review of China (2007)

The Guardian report

 

A recent report published by Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) argues that UK universities should lower fees in order to attract more interantional students, who will ultimately contribute much more to UK economy than the cost to the universities. The report, based mainly on the figures of 2004-05 academic year, quantifies the contribution of EU and non-EU students to UK economy, combining the direct cash injection, fiscal effects and their contribution to the GDP growth. The report concludes that each EU student contributes £23,600, and each non-EU student £24,400 each year to UK economy. Even if only the direct contributions (tuition fees and expenditure) are calculated, the total injection (3.74 billion) from international students makes higher education a bigger exporter than broadcast and media (3.7 billion), alcohol (2.8 billion), and publishing (2.3 billion).

However, although UK has good share of international students market so far (11%, only second to the US, 20%), it is facing increasing competition from other countries, who charge less fees. The report argues that it’s in the national interest to subsidise UK universities to lower their fees in order to attract more international students.

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BBC Radio 4 is to broadcast China Girl, on Monday 16 July 2007. Emily Buchanan presents the first of two programmes following the progress of British families trying to adopt a child from a Chinese orphanage.

China Girl on BBC Radio 4

 

Des Moines Register of Iowa, U.S. reports:

The West Des Moines school district will offer a high school Mandarin Chinese curriculum for the first time in fall 2008, thanks to a roughly $600,000 federal grant.

Valley Southwoods Freshman High School and Valley High School will be the second and third schools in metropolitan Des Moines to teach the language, said Phyllis Staplin, director of curriculum for the West Des Moines district. The other is Des Moines’ Central Campus, a regional academy for central Iowa students.

“We have wanted to do this for quite awhile,” Staplin said. “We want our students to have not only global awareness and understanding, but we want them to build proficiencies in language. … The grant has enabled us to do this.”

The district received word last month that it was awarded a three-year U.S. Department of Education grant that will funnel about $197,000 into the new program for each of the next three years, said Donna Wilkin, associate district superintendent for teaching and learning services.

Read the full story.

 

Pupils in five UK state schools are going to study Chinese in their schools, helped by a project sponsored by Hanban, China’s equivalent of the British Council. The five schools are to become ‘Confucius classrooms’, which is dedicated to promoting the study of Chinese culture and language, the Independent reports.

All five schools, which include grammar and comprehensive schools and privately sponsored academy, were chosen by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. The schools have already started teaching Chinese. The new project means more resources for the Chinese teaching. Hanban is giving each school £3,000 to help the project off the ground.

Next week 175 pupils and their teachers will leave UK next week to attend a summer camp in Beijing.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is redrafting the syllabus of GCSE Chinese exam so that it can be learnt as a foreign language in the same way as French or German. This is believed will help the Chinese teaching in schools.

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BBC ONE will broadcast a documentary made by Alan Yentob about the making of Monkey: Journey to the West (poster, photos, reviews) tonight (4 July) at 10:40pm. The documentary Damon and Jamie’s Excellent Adventure, as part of Alan Yentob’s Imagine… series, follows the entire process from Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s first trip to China, up to the opening night in Manchester. (Monkey: Journey to the West boxoffice link)

From BBC ONE website:

Damon and Jamie’s Excellent Adventure

Alan Yentob presents a documentary about cartoon pop group Gorillaz’s foray into the world of Chinese opera, with Damon Albarn composing his first full length score and Jamie Hewlett designing a myriad of gigantic sets and elaborate costumes. Drawing on the 1970s cult TV series the cast includes the cloud-hopping, mountain-somersaulting Monkey, his mates Pigsy, Sandy and Tripitaka, plus acrobats, martial artists, umbrella-twirling girls, a horse-eating dragon, a skeleton demon and a giant Buddha.

 

Generation Y, a group of mainly Chinese young people, aged between 11 and 16 from the greater Belfast area are among the 1,800 children and young people who will benefit from the Lottery funding. The Big Deal programme awards a total £82,000 to 40 youth projects across Northern Ireland.

The Generation Y group have organisd a residential weekend to include outdoor actitivities and address issues such as sexual health and drug awareness.

Matthew MaCreary wrote on the Belfast Telegraph:

A group of Chinese young people and a graffiti art workshop are just two of the Northern Ireland-based projects to benefit from the latest round of Lottery funding.

A total of £82,000 in small grants will be paid out to 40 youth projects and groups across the province under The Big Deal programme.

The programme allows children and young people up to 25 years of age to apply for an award of between £500 and £2,500 to run a project where they plan and decide what they want to do and how.

Read the full story.