July 28:
Chinese pharmaceutical companies are showing startling growth and increasing economies of scale, according to a report published by Peking University's Center for Pharmaceutical Economic Research, China’s top pharmaceutical industry magazine, and H&J Vanguard Consulting Co Ltd. Between February and July, the report surveyed 50 experts and analyzed 132 publicly traded Chinese pharmaceutical companies with annual sales exceeding RMB 100 million ($14.64 million) in 2008, Russia’s Interfax News Agency reports. Seven companies examined averaged 50 percent growth between 2006 and 2008 while over 80 percent of them recorded 20 percent average growth. The report said 11 Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturers had RMB 2 billion ($292.83 million) in sales revenue last year, and four reported revenue exceeding RMB 4 billion ($585.65 million).
August 1:
Beijing Yirenping Center, a Chinese rights protection organization, has filed a charge with the Beijing Municipal Government against the Beijing Municipal Cultural Law Enforcement Unit for conducting "an illegal search" and confiscating more than 90 documents related to "anti-discrimination." Beijing Yirenping’s representative Lu Jun said three law-enforcement personnel searched and photographed the center's office on July 29 because it was “suspected of publishing unapproved publications,” Hong Kong’s Ming Pao reports.
August 4:
About 100 local residents in the Algerian capital of Algiers have clashed with Chinese migrant workers brandishing knives and rods, the BBC reports. Ten Chinese migrants were injured and several Chinese shops were looted. The violence flared after a confrontation between a local shop owner and a Chinese migrant over a parking spot. "I punched him, I thought it was over, but after 30 minutes he came back with at least 50 Chinese to take revenge. It is a miracle I am still alive," Abdelkrim Salouda told the BBC. High unemployment among young Algerians has fuelled tensions over Chinese migrants who accept lower pay. Official estimates put the number of Chinese migrant workers living in Algeria at 35,000.
[Editor’s Note: On June 18 armed militants 250 km east of Algiers attacked security forces escorting Chinese workers. In the attack, in which more than 20 guards were killed, guerrillas reportedly used rocket propelled grenade launchers, Algeria’s Tout sur l'Algerie reports.]
China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy has seized a Vietnamese fishing boat and its 13 crewmembers in the South China Sea. The vessel was sheltering from Typhoon Goni among the Paracel Islands when a Chinese naval patrol discovered it, Vietnam’s Thanh Nien Daily reports. China’s coastguard has stepped up patrols to monitor 128,000 square km of the South China Sea to enforce its unilaterally declared three-month ban on commercial fishing in waters between the two countries. Commenting on the ban, which covers areas claimed by Vietnam, Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dzung had said Hanoi asserted its sovereignty over both the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos. Provincial level authorities in Vietnam have urged Hanoi to formally request that Beijing release the boat and crew.
August 5:
In response to widespread discontent among China's rural poor about the disparity between their income compared to city dwellers, Beijing has announced a new pension scheme for peasants that mirrors the current program for urban workers. Unlike the present system where rural residents pay all medical and retirement costs, under the new system the government will pay peasants’ basic medical expenses and they will help contribute to a communal pension pot. Payment will vary regionally based on average local income. All farmers over 60 will be covered and anyone over 16 not already in the government's existing urban pension scheme is eligible to pay into the rural pension program. According to the BBC, a pilot version of the program is currently underway in Jiangsu and it will be extended across rural China in October. Beijing wants to improve both pensions and medical insurance to encourage average Chinese to spend a larger proportion of their income.
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