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Issue 1 January 2008
• Cityconnect • Chongqing • Wuhan • Chengdu •

 

City Connect

Chongqing Conference Programme

First night reception hosted by Chongqing City

Silver Sponsor:      

 

We are delighted to show our now official conference programme for City Connect Chongqing to be hosted April 7 & 8 next year, a line up that includes presidents, mayors, ceos and a top blend of public/private, shipper and transport executives. Take a look at the line up and feel free to give us your feedback by contacting info@cityconnect.com.cn. Major express operators have all indicated they will be sending their top China executives to our event.

Supply Chain Asia

Our official media partner, Supply Chain Asia, the leading logistics title, is embarking on its inaugural Guide to Chongqing, a 36-page bilingual magazine that details developments in every mode of freight transport in the world’s largest municipality. The magazine will be distributed with the March edition as well as at our event in Chongqing in April. Contact frank.paul@supplychainasia.com for more details.

What is City Connect?

Google around and you won’t find any decent supply chain events related to inland China — that region of 800m people where industry is stymied through the high costs of transportation. Hence City Connect came into being.

City Connect is a unique platform connecting inland city governments, multinationals and freight transport providers under one roof for a two-day event to focus on improving supply chains out of individual strategic transport hubs.

Intercontinental Chongqing

In 2008 there will be three City Connect events, starting in April at Chongqing, moving to Wuhan in September and Chengdu in November. The following year will see additional cities such as Kunming, Harbin and Nanjing added, plus City Connect’s debut in Vietnam.

We are delighted to tell readers that City Connect’s Chongqing dates have officially been set for April 7th and 8th. The event will take place at the best hotel in town, the Intercontinental, and there will be a golf and cultural day on the 6th, and on the 9th, the option to visit the massive China International Motorcycle Trade Exhibition or to take site visits to the port or the rail logistics park.

Endorsed by Municipal Government

Our events, which have received municipal endorsement, are split into three sessions: potential, where the state discusses the key attractions of the city; challenges, where multinationals discuss their logistics issues with the city; and solutions, where freight transport providers and consultants suggest ways to make the city more competitive.

Evening receptions, cocktails, river cruises, ‘speed business dating’, and many other social gatherings are all planned to make our conferences both memorable and valuable.

Each of our events is timed to coincide with a major export fair, so delegates will get a flavour of how developed the manufacturing industry is inland.

City Connect Sponsorship

City Connect is a boutique brand that values the primacy of content over commercialism, hence our decision to limit the numbers of sponsors to just five. In doing so, we believe there is a win-win situation for sponsors and delegates: sponsors receive maximum exposure rather than being crowded out by double digit supporting organisations, while delegates and sponsors alike get to spend time in quality and appropriate meetings during the event.

By signing on as a sponsor, companies get the ultimate platform to display their pan-China credentials since each sponsor comes in for a 12-month, 3-event period with first right of refusal to renew the following year.

First night reception hosted by Chongqing City

Silver Sponsor:      

Contact greg@cityconnect.com.cn to discuss available sponsorship opportunities.

 

 

Chongqing April 7-8 2008

Bangkok bound

On the aviation front the world’s largest metropolis got a link to the Thai capital. Shanghai Airlines announced a new route linking Shanghai with Chongqing and Bangkok. Three weekly flights (departing Tues, Thurs and Fri) between the three cities will launch on 22 January. As we have reported in each and every issue of Connected, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is growing in leaps and bounds and we have lined up top speakers for our aviation session in the City Connect Chongqing programme to analyse the airport’s potential and how it interacts with others in the region.

Chang’An first CQ firm to surpass 50 billion yuan annual sales

Cars brought big financial numbers to the city this past year. A glance at the major companies in this city and it is no wonder the City Connect Chongqing programme is so peppered with automotive issues. Furthermore, to ensure delegates get a better appreciation of just how advanced and large the city is on the automotive front, our event is timed to coincide with the massive 7th Annual China International Motorcycle Trade Exhibition.

Chang’an Automotive Group, China’s fourth largest automaker, said on January 4 its 2007 sales rose 24.3 percent to a record 57.4 billion yuan (US$7.86 billion) as it rolled out new models and cooperated with global carmakers to expand in the fast growing market.

The sales figure made Chang’an the first company in the southwestern municipality to surpass the 50-billion-yuan milestone, company chairman and president Xu Liuping said.

Chang’an Auto, a joint venture partner with Ford Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp., said it sold an estimated 850,000 cars in 2007, up 20 percent from a year earlier. Its production rose 22 percent to 870,000. It didn’t provide a breakdown of the sales.

Chang’an Auto planed to produce 2 million vehicles annually by 2010, with an output value of 100 billion yuan, a company statement said.

Exports topped 40,000 cars last year, against 21,700 in 2006. Its in-house minivan models Benni and Joice had gained popularity in overseas markets, it said.

Last month the company unveiled China’s first domestically developed hybrid car, a Joice HEV.

Focus on Ford

Meanwhile, Ford Motor Company said separately it had sold 216,324 cars under its brands except Mazda in China in 2007, up 30% year on year.

The US carmaker’s venture in China Chang’an Ford Mazda Automobile Co., Ltd. saw a 60% in whole sales to 217,000 cars in 2007, which made it one of the fastest growing carmaker in the country.

The venture’s performance was to a large extent contributed by Ford Focus, a medium-grade sedan model, which achieved whole sales of 124,972 cars, up 57%. The car model, which was upgraded in 2007, had seen monthly sales of over 10,000 cars since April of the year and was awarded a top-ten best-seller in the country in the year.

Suzuki’s new range looks to change fortunes

Another Chang’An joint venture is aiming to make a splash in Shenzhen. Chongqing Chang’an-Suzuki Automobiles, a Chinese venture of Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan, launched three 1.5L new Swift models in Shenzhen, South China’s Guangdong Province, on December 27, 2007.

The new models are priced at CNY 81,800, CNY 91,800 and CNY 98,800. They are powered by M15A engines, which, together with M16A series engines on TianyuSX4, are Suzuki’s new global strategic engine lineup. The engine, equipped with variable valve timing-intelligent system (VVT-i), has a maximum power of 81KW/6,000rpm and maximum torque of 143Nm/4,000rpm.

The Chongqing-based venture, which sold a little bit more than 14,000 Swift brand cars during the first ten months of 2007, down 30% year on year, hopes to turn around the irked situation by the new products, which will start sale in the venture’s stores over the country from January 1, 2008.

Isuzu ups its sales presence

Chongqing-based Qingling Motors, in which Isuzu Motors has a 40% stake, has agreed to jointly invest in Qingling Isuzu (Chongqing) Automobile Sales and Service Co, an automobile dealer established in Chongqing to engage in the sale of vehicles and their parts manufactured by Qingling Motors, development of after-sales service and supply of parts for maintenance. The JV company’s target sales volume is expected to be 1,000 vehicles per annum for the years 2008 and 2009.

The registered capital and total investment of the JV company will both be $4.6 million. The JV company will be owned as to 50% by each of Qingling Motors and Isuzu Motors.

Mitsubishi starts work on natural gas-based methanol plant

As we have covered extensively in previous issues, Beijing very much views Chongqing as a strategic centre for petrochemicals with Chinese oil majors setting up ever bigger bases here and key pipeline arteries shooting through the municipality. City Connect’s Chongqing programme has taken this very much into account with the head of BP’s logistics division on our steering committee and our event having a strong hazardous cargo logistics focus.

At the end of December we learnt Mitsubishi Gas Chemical started building a natural gas-based methanol plant in Chongqing in partnership with Chongqing Pharma-Chemical Holding (Group) Corp. The plant, which involves total investment of CNY 2.1 billion, has a designed annual capacity of one million tons. The two firms set up a methanol joint venture, with Mitsubishi Gas holding 51% stake and Chongqing Pharma-Chemical owning the remainder. The project is slated to begin commercial operations in the second half of 2010.

Another Fortune 500 firm sets up

France’s Le Carbone Lorraine, one of the world’s 500 largest companies, recently completed a $48 million, 5,000-ton graphite-production base in Chongqing. The project is the company’s largest investment in China, and it mainly produces isostatic graphite, which is used in the manufacturing of electrical equipment, semiconductors and automobiles, among other things. With the new plant, Carbone Lorraine is the world’s second-largest isostatic graphite producer, and the company hopes to double its worldwide production capacity over the long-term.

The base aims to provide graphite for the entire Asian market. Currently, China needs 50,000 tons of special graphite materials every year, and 80 percent of the materials are from foreign suppliers, including Japan and the United States Carbone Lorraine plans to derive 20 percent to 25 percent of its sales from Asia by 2011.

In 2004, Carbone Lorraine entered Chongqing by creating a subsidiary to produce graphite. The company had originally planned to invest $30 million but decided to expand it to $48 million in 2006.

Carbone Lorraine noted in a release that since the 1997 designation of CQ as a municipality rather than a slice of Sichuan, Chongqing has attracted more than 70 of the world’s largest companies.

Insurance: Singaporean JV approved to set up Chongqing unit

On December 20 the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said it has given its approval to Great Eastern Life Assurance (China) Co Ltd to set up a branch in Chongqing.

Launched in June 2006, the venture is held 50-50 by Singapore’s Great Eastern and the Chongqing Land Properties Group. It booked a premium income of 11.7 million yuan ($1.59 million) in the first 10 months of 2007. Great Eastern is a unit of Singapore’s OCBC Bank.

The Silicon Valley of China

Few sectors in manufacturing require such acutely perfect supply chains as the hi-tech business. In its genuine bid to become the Silicon Valley of China Chongqing continues to attract top names to its hi-tech parks, yet supply chains remain an issue, hence how our coverage in our City Connect Chongqing programme has some of the very best names in the supply chain game in China designated to speak on just in time deliveries in and out of the world’s largest municipality.

ProMOS Technologies, a Taiwan-based world leading chip giant, is moving its 8-inch manufacturing facilities from Taiwan to its new plant in Xiyongwei Electronics Industry Park, Chongqing. The new plant in Chongqing is the first 0.25 and 0.18 micron technology-based 8-inch integrated circuit production line in Western China and it is also the first chip production line approved by Taiwan authorities to shift to the mainland.

A spokesperson for the company said that the reason for ProMOS Technologies selecting Chongqing was not because of the lower labour and production costs there, but for the huge potential of the mainland market and the vast talent pool.

ProMOS Technologies has scheduled to invest a total of US$960 million in Chongqing, $600 million to $700 million of which will be poured into manufacturing equipment.

After ProMOS Technologies and other Taiwanese companies have settled down in Chongqing, the city will form a complete chip industry chain covering chip design, manufacturing, packaging, etc, says Wang Xuexi, chairman of Qongqing Yude Technology, a local chip designer.

The local government in Chongqing is planning to invest $3 billion in chip industry in the coming three years in an attempt to build up the “Silicon Valley of China“.

Established in 1996, ProMOS Technologies is one of the world’s leading memory solution providers. Headquartered in Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan, the company has sales offices in Asia Pacific and North America.

 

 

Wuhan September 22-23 2008

The experimental zone

As regular readers of Connected will know, Wuhan is often selected by central government as a petri dish for change AKA in Beijing speak as an ’experimental zone of comprehensive reform’. Whther its in fostering links with the poorer rural surroundings, developing green industries, pioneering aviation liberlaisation, or even gambling (see story further below) Wuhan in the heart of China is also the heartbeat of change.

And so it was on December 21 that the local government held a press conference announcing comprehensive transportation investments to become a hub and make best use of the State Council’s grant of its ‘experimental’ status.

Rail to the fore

News from the press conference showed the main body of Wuhan Railway Station will be completed before the Spring Festival; Tianxingzhou Road/Railway Yangtze Bridge, with a total investment of 16.7 billion yuan, will be completed and put into operation in 2008. Wuhan Railway Station, with a total investment of 14 billion yuan, will be completed in 2009 and make Wuhan the fourth largest railway hub in China.

Bullet trains between Guangzhou and Wuhan?

The Chinese government is considering using Japanese-style bullet train technology on a high-speed rail line slated to be launched next summer, a Japanese news report said towards the end of December.

Beijing initially planned to only use trains developed by German conglomerate Siemens AG, Japan’s main business daily The Nikkei said in a Beijing-datelined story in its evening edition.

However, it has decided to also use Japanese-style “shinkansen” trains, partly in an apparent bid to improve bilateral relations.

CSR Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co. is manufacturing the trains using technology from the Hayate-series of bullet trains that has been licensed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. and five other Japanese companies, the paper said.

About 10 eight-car trains — which can travel at up to 300 kph (186 mph) — will be used for the 120 kilometer (74 mile)-long route between Beijing and Tianjin, which is scheduled to be opened before the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

Half will be the “shinkansen” type and the remainder will be provided by Siemens, the paper said.

CSR Sifang Locomotive plans to produce 60 trains modeled on Japan’s bullet trains, which will also likely be used for other routes, including one that will link the cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan, it said.

Port becomes teu millionaire

Regarding shipping, the first phase of Yangluo New Terminal and Hanyang Yangsi Terminal have handled more than 400,000 teu. The second phase of Yangluo New Terminal and the expansion and renovation of the second phase of Yangsi Terminal, which are expected to be launched soon, will increase the throughput of the two terminals to 1.5m teu.

Expressway bonanza

Regarding road traffic, eight expressways that connect Wuhan with nearby cities will be completed in 2008, making the neighbouring eight cities reachable to Wuhan within one hour and making Wuhan more ’outstanding’ as the China Daily put it, as a transportation hub.

Airport to have three terminals

Regarding air transport, the second terminal building of Tianhe Airport will be completed and put into trial operation before the Spring Festival, increasing the capacity of this airport to 13m passengers annually. The third terminal building and the runway are expected to start construction soon and will increase the capacity of the airport to 35m passengers annually.

According to Yin Weizhen, Vice Mayor of Wuhan, transportation is a key advantage of Wuhan. The approval of Wuhan City Group (Wuhan and the eight neighbouring cities) as a comprehensive experimental zone will promote Wuhan to better utilize this advantage and forge itself into a transportation hub of national level so as to improve the strategic position of Wuhan in the country accordingly.

City adds another top name to its booming air sector

Wuhan really is the envy of jsu about everywhere else in China when it comes to aviation. While Beijing has become pretty restrictive on granting rights for new airlines Wuhan’s aviation liberalisation experiment has allowed plenty of new firms to get the blessing of central authorities making the city a vibrant air hub.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said mid-December that it has approved the application of setting up a new air freight company called Uni-top.

The new company will be based at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, with a focus on domestic and overseas cargo transportation. Uni-top Logistic Company and Autel Intelligent Technology Co Ltd will invest RMB 135 million and RMB 15 million respectively in Uni-top.

It plans to rent two Boeing 747-300 aircrafts and one 747-400 plane to undertake the services, as reported by sources.

Eighth largest suspension bridge in the world opens

At the end of December, Wuhan Yangluo Yangtze River Bridge, the fifth Yangtze River Bridge in the city, started operation. The Wuhan government has spent RMB2 billion on building this bridge. The bridge has also become the 8th largest suspension bridge in the world. The total length of the bridge is 1,280 metres. The bridge is situated at Northeast of Wuhan, connecting Yangluo with Beihu petrochemical plant. The bridge will also be one of the major parts of the Northern section of Wuhan outer ring of national highways like Beijing-Zhuhai Highway and Shanghai-Chengdu Highway.

Sinopec and SK start building ethylene plant

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec), Asia’s top refiner, has started building an ethylene plant with annual capacity of 800,000 tons in Wuhan. The ethylene plant is part of Sinopec’s 14.7 bln yuan petrochemical complex in Wuhan, the first such large-scale project in central China.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, approved the project last April.

The ethylene project is slated to be put into operation in 2011.

South Korea’s SK Corp is participating in the petrochemical complex project as a joint venture partner.

In related news, Sinopec will soon expand the capacity of a major refinery in Wuhan by 30% to ease a fuel supply shortage in central China, its parent company said in early January.

The company will increase the refinery’s crude oil processing capacity to 6.5 million metric tons a year or 130,534 barrels a day from the current 5 million tons a year once a new vacuum distillation unit comes online.

Sinopec on Christmas Day completed construction of the unit, with an annual processing capacity of 5 million tons of crude oil.

Sinopec will soon build more units at the refinery, including a 1.2-million-ton-a-year delayed coking unit and a 2-million-ton-a-year hydrocracking unit, which will together increase the refinery’s combined capacity to 8 million tons a year or 160,657 barrels a day, it said.

Demand for gasoline and diesel in central China is increasing rapidly as a result of the region’s booming economy, but oil refining facilities in the region have remained at low capacities over the past few years, resulting in shortages from time to time.

Apart from supplying more gasoline and diesel to central China, the refinery will also supply feedstock to the nearby SK joint venture ethylene facility.

Dongfeng Auto looks to double output in five years

Wuhan’s very own Dongfeng Automobile plans to realize sales revenue and profits of 30 billion and 1.5 billion yuan by 2012 respectively, according to its latest five-year plan.

By then, Dongfeng Automobile also aims to sell 300,000 complete vehicles and 300,000 engines with over 15 percent contribution rate to its parent Dongfeng Motor Group Company in terms of output and sales volume.

In 2007, Dongfeng Automobile sold 150,000 vehicles, up 19 percent year-on-year and its light vehicle business ranks third up from sixth in the country.

Dongfeng Automobile exported near 10,000 vehicles to more than 40 countries and areas in 2007, jumping 39 percent from 2006.

WISCO links with Korean and Indian firms on pipelines

Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp. (WISCO), one of China’s iron and steel giants, recently announced that its subsidiary WISCO International Economic & Trading Corp inked a memorandum of understanding on pipeline steel with two companies from India and South Korea.

The company will expand the global pipeline steel market together with MAN Industries (India) and South Korea-based Daewoo International Corp , establishing an effective and high quality technology services system.

Wuhan selected as the testbed for the return of horse racing

The Chinese government is set to legalise horse racing, and even betting, as the ruling Communist Party loosens controls on practices it once banned as feudal, colonial and backward.

Wuhan, once a European “concession” or colonial settlement, will be the first to open a race-track as early as September 2008 in which case delegates at City Connect Wuhan can have a flutter on us as a sponsored event.

Gambling, apart from a state sports lottery, has been banned on the mainland since the Communist takeover in 1949.

The Orient Lucky Horse Group, the company granted the first licence to run races, said the venture would start small, with jockey clubs around the country invited to put forward 250 horses to compete.

Racing was stopped after the civil war partly because of its colonial reputation. It was introduced by the British who dominated the foreign “concessions” in China in the 19th and early 20th century. Racing lived on in Hong Kong, where it remains both the focus of society life and of the only permitted form of gambling in the territory. The Jockey Club is to help Wuhan develop a code of rules.

On the rich list, citizens have money for a flutter

The selection of Wuhan as the place to reintroduce horse racing and betting comes at a propitious time; just as citizens have more money than ever before. The number of mainland cities with gross domestic products exceeding 300 billion yuan more than doubled last year, rising from six to 13.

China News Service said newly qualified “rich cities” included two of City Connect’s 2008 destinations: Chengdu and Wuhan, showing that prosperity was spreading from coastal regions to central and western parts.

 

 

Chengdu 17-18 November 2008

US agricultural trade set to grow

In late December the U.S. Department of Agriculture opened an agricultural trade office in Chengdu. The move is seen as a signal that the U.S. is ready to move forward in trading with China.

About $8.2 billion of U.S. agricultural products were shipped to China last year. Ellen Terpstra, Deputy Undersecretary for USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service says China is a vital market for U.S. agriculture.

“It is one of the world’s largest economies and the fifth largest market for U.S. agricultural exports,” Terpstra says. “Rising per capita incomes and steady economic growth are creating new demand for U.S. products. This office will help U.S. exporters position themselves to take advantage of these trends.”

The office in Chengdu is the USDA’s fourth ag trade office in China, joining Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. These offices are the starting point for U.S. companies, processors or individuals who want to export to China.

Huawei, Symantec joint venture to take on IBM and HP

China’s Huawei Technologies and U.S. security software maker Symantec Corp recently won approval from the European Union (EU) to establish a joint venture in Chengdu.

In early 2007, Huawei and Symantec agreed to form a joint venture which will develop security and storage appliances for telecommunications carriers.

The new company, to be named Huawei-Symantec Inc and based in Chengdu will be 51 percent owned by Huawei and 49 percent by Symantec.

The joint venture will be able to take advantage of Huawei’s R&D resources, manufacturing and engineering capacities, and Symantec will provide $150 million for its operation.

The new firm, hopefully to be established within this year, would enable Huawei to compete with technology giants like Hewlett-Packard and IBM. It will also provide a fresh boost for Symantec’s security and data management business.

Microsoft aims to bridge the digital divide

Located in Chengdu, deep in China’s western interior, Pujiang County is a pilot site for Microsoft’s ambitious plan to help share the digital revolution with the billions of people worldwide who do not have access to information and communications technology (ICT).

While most of urban China has successfully entered the information age, there are hundreds of millions of rural citizens who are still divorced from ICT — a situation that is exacerbating the country’s poverty-wealth gap and an urgent priority for the government. It is widely agreed that digital inclusion is a necessary element in any economic development plan, but how to effectively introduce technology into disparate and dispersed rural communities is a complex issue. The Chinese government’s Ministry for Information Industry (MII) sees access to ICT in a relevant and measured way as central to solving this challenge — a vision that aligns with Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential initiative.

Through Unlimited Potential, Microsoft is working to transform education, foster innovation and create jobs and opportunities by removing the barriers that prevent underdeveloped communities entering the digital age. Microsoft’s approach is to work closely with local communities, assessing the best ways to address their specific ICT needs through pilot projects that can then be adapted and applied on a wider basis.

“Understanding the needs unique to the person’s circumstances and locality are paramount before we can really apply technology in a meaningful way,” says Karishma Kiri, Director, Unlimited Potential, Rural Computing. “Rural pilots like the programs underway in China are invaluable for honing how we approach digital inclusion to meet the diverse needs of rural areas both in China and around the world.”

Microsoft has started running several rural projects such as InfoWagons — mobile ICT training labs — and Information Service Centers (ISC). The latter are village-level centers that provide e-government and information services, ICT access and training and agricultural training. In the ISC pilot in Chengdu, an ISC consists of 10 PCs with Internet connections and one full-time employee, called InfoStaff, to manage them. As the guardian of the ISC, the InfoStaff is a government employee that is a university graduate selected by the Ministry of Organization as part of the “One college student per village” program for his interest in the promotion of digital literacy to villagers.

Aviation market between HK, Chengdu further liberalized

The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China and the Transport and Housing Bureau of the HK SAR completed late December the latest round of consultations on the Mainland/HKSAR Air Services Arrangement recently. They also decided to further liberalize the aviation market between Hong Kong and the mainland by signing the new memorandum of understanding.

On operating rights on individual routes, starting from the end of March 2008, there will not be any restriction on the number of designated airlines on most of the routes. As for the Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Kunming, Dalian and Chengdu routes, each side may designate three airlines to operate passenger/all- cargo services and two other airlines for all-cargo services with effect from summer/autumn 2008.

As regards capacity, the two sides decided to further eliminate capacity restrictions. For passenger services, the frequency limit for 14 routes will be lifted starting from summer or autumn 2008, such that airlines of both sides can operate without any capacity restriction on a total of 49 routes. As for the Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Kunming, Dalian and Chengdu routes, the capacity will be increased moderately.

For all-cargo services, the present capacity limit, which only applies to the Beijing and Shanghai routes, will be completely lifted starting from the end of October 2008, achieving full liberalization for all-cargo services.

Aerospace merger sees Xi’an and Chengdu coming together

China plans to combine its main state-owned aerospace giants, China Aviation Industry Corp. I (AVIC I) and AVIC II, into one corporation to help China compete on the global market and streamline its civilian and military aircraft manufacturing capabilities. It looks likely that Chengdu will now report to Xi’an after the shake up is complete.

Details are sketchy, but the State Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense is responsible for the plan.

Both AVIC I and AVIC II comprise more than 120 member units that include companies that build fighters, bombers, helicopters, engines and commercial aircraft and parts for foreign companies such as Boeing and Airbus. Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Group, under AVIC I, produces the Xialong (Fierce Dragon) fighter, but also has manufacturing contracts for commercial airplane assemblies such as the MD-80/90 nose sections, the Boeing B-757 empennage and the Airbus A320 rear passenger door.

In June, Boeing signed contracts worth $500 million with four AVIC I and II subsidiaries to produce 747 and new 787 Dreamliner components. Xi’an Aircraft produces in-board wing flaps for the Boeing 747 and Hafei Aviation supplies composite parts.

Xi’an military wing produced the FBC-1 “Flying Leopard” and H6 bomber series.

There have been concerns raised over U.S. commercial aviation companies providing new manufacturing equipment and methods to Chinese companies that also produce military hardware.

Chengdu a must visit in ’08: Lonely Planet

Famous guidebook publishers Lonely Planet offers its own list of new and unique travel destinations for 2008 through the book BlueList 2008, which includes City Connect’s November destination.

“In 2008, we suggest you test your temperature at the hottest and coldest corners of the globe, get a taste of zero G (gravity) in the world of space travel or spend time with the world’s friendliest people — the choice is yours,” the book said.

BlueList features 30 picks for top destinations in 2008, such as Armenia, Bhutan, Eritrea, Montenegro, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea and Yemen. Also drawing attention are cities Bologna, Italy; Chengdu, China; Fez, Morocco; Matsuyama, Japan; Miami, U.S.; Mumbai, India; and Vienna, Austria.

Japanese top visitors poll

The Japanese are seemingly one step ahead of the Lonely Planet’s recommendations, coming to the capital of Sichuan province already in their droves.

Japan has become the most important source of tourism for Chengdu. Information from the Chengdu tourism bureau revealed the city received 78,800 overseas tourist arrivals in November, most of them Japanese. More than $25.5 million was spent by the visitors.

The United States ranked second among the arrivals, followed by Taiwan, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Sichuan has many historical and cultural sites, alongside plenty of superb natural scenery, including the Mount Qingcheng, the Dujiangyan ancient irrigation system, Huanglong scenic spot, the Sichuan giant panda sanctuaries, and the Mount Emei scenic area. All these have been included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The province hosted 600,000 Japanese tourists in 2006, accounting for more than half of its total overseas tourist arrivals. Last month, 62,000 Japanese tourists arrived.

Shen Wanshu, Sichuan Provincial Association of Tourism deputy chief, predicted the number of Japanese arrivals to the province would exceed 800,000 for the whole of 2007.

Skiing in maglev circles

Tourists will have another good, well, wacky reason to visit Chengdu soon. Forget the maglev train in Shanghai, Chengdu has just bought its own piece of maglev tech wonderment.

Ski Trac International has announced that work will begin this month on the world’s first Ski Trac revolving ski field.

The development follows the establishment in November of a joint venture company involving Meishan City, 70 klms south of Chengdu, for the purpose of constructing a Ski Trac and other associated projects.

The ski trac dome houses a huge 175-metre (570 ft.) diameter rotating snowfield. Its outer 50 metres (160 ft.) comprises a metal structural deck that flexes over a pre-set profile as it rotates.

Using new maglev technology, the snow deck, with its 200 mm (8 in) snow cover will “float” on an electro-magnetic field without the need for wheels, thus ensuring frictionless, vibrationless, silent, and maintenance-free rotation. The fifty metre wide field of snow curves its way upwards around a 300 metre (980 ft.) slope, providing a down-hill run varying in length from 380 metres (1200 ft.) to 20 kilometres (12 miles) and more, depending on the speed of the moving slope.

As the skier skis down into the on-coming snow he experiences all the pleasures of skiing — right in the heart of a populated area.

At the top speed of 30 km/h (19 mph), the slope-stretching magic of the rotating deck becomes apparent. As the skier zigzags downhill he is constantly being taken back up again by the on-coming snow and may in fact never reach the bottom!

In one hour he has traveled 30 kilometres (19 miles) over the snow, making the Ski-Trac the longest ski run in the world — and all under one roof!

The ability to provide a ski run vastly in excess of the size of its structure will see the Ski-Trac become the standard method of indoor skiing throughout the world, its designers claim. Chengdu is very much the guinea pig to see if this boast will materialise.

“After many years of stops, starts, and recurring frustrations, Ski Trac International has its first official project,” said a company statement.

The new company, 27% owned by the City’s nominee company and Ski Trac International Pty Ltd, under the name Dongpo Island Tourism Development Company Ltd., is charged with not only the construction of a twin dome ski and space attraction, but the development of the whole island into a major world-class tourist complex. Accordingly, Ski Trac in association with a visit by a delegation of Meishan city officials which included the Vice Mayor signed on 18th December a project management agreement in Melbourne with New Global Management, a group associated with some major companies in the architectural, development and construction industry.

For a video or three of what this revolutionary skiing concept will look like, click here.