China has world’s most outbound tourists
Nearly 100 million Chinese tourists visited foreign countries last year, and they are likely to extend their lead as the world’s biggest-spending travellers, state media reported Thursday. A total of 97 million Chinese tourists left the country in 2013, up 14 million from the previous year, the state-run China Daily reported, citing official data from China’s National Tourism Administration. China’s economy has boomed over the past decade, expanding the ranks of its middle-class who are hungry for foreign travel after the country’s decades of isolation in the last century. European Union and Asian countries have moved to ease visa application procedures for Chinese tourists in recent years, keen to cash in on their big-spending habits.
Qiu Li returns Home for third time
The China-born Singapore international was not retained by Balestier Khalsa at the end of the 2013 season and will play for Lee Lim Saeng again in the new campaign
Read More →Ferrer claws through to Auckland semis
Top seed David Ferrer snuffed out a determined challenge from fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the Auckland Open. American John Isner, seeded third, also advanced into the final four, along with Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun and Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain. World number three Ferrer, who is seeking a record fifth title in the warm-up event for this month’s Australian Open, looked to be cruising to victory as he took the first set 6-3, then broke Garcia-Lopez in the first game of the second. I’m very tired now,” said the 31-year-old, who will meet Lu in the semis after the Taiwanese world number 62 defeated American Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4.
China to work with Ghana on illegal mining: FM
China’s foreign minister on Wednesday said Beijing was tackling illegal gold mining in Ghana, after hundreds of his compatriots were arrested and sent home for extracting the mineral without permission. Wang Yi, on a four-nation tour of Africa, told reporters after meeting his Ghanaian counterpart Hannah Tetteh in Accra that China took the issue “very seriously”. “The Chinese government will encourage reputable and equitable finance companies to come to Ghana to be involved in the resource sector and we hope the government of Ghana will provide the support and facilitation to these companies,” he added. Illegal mining in Ghana, particularly of gold, has become a major issue and also raised concerns about water pollution and environmental damage.
Hong Kong reports first H7N9 case of the year
Hong Kong health authorities on Wednesday confirmed the territory’s third human case of the deadly H7N9 bird flu, the city’s first of 2014. A 65-year-old man has been infected with the virus and is in a critical condition, Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection controller Leung Ting-hung told reporters at a press conference late Wednesday. Leung also said that the patient may have “passed through” the entrance of a government building complex containing a wet market in Hong Kong. An 80-year-old man died on Boxing Day after he was infected with H7N9, Hong Kong’s first death from the virus.
Alibaba to set up mobile gaming platform in China
E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Wednesday it would set up a mobile gaming platform in China, venturing into a fast growing sector dominated by tech rival Tencent Holdings Ltd. Mobile gaming is hugely popular in China, home to the largest number of smartphone users in the world. In 2013, mobile gaming revenue accounted for 11.24 billion yuan ($1.86 billion), or 13.5 percent of the overall Chinese video gaming market, the world’s third largest. Liu Chunning, a former Tencent executive who now heads Alibaba’s digital entertainment business, said in a statement the mobile gaming platform would be offered free to developers for the first year.
Salvadoran ex-president admits Taiwan payments
Salvadoran ex-president Francisco Flores admitted to a congressional panel Tuesday that he had received checks worth millions of dollars from Taiwan but denied the funds were for his personal use. “I handed in those checks (from Taiwan) for their appropriate use at all times,” said Flores, who was president from 1999-2004. President Mauricio Funes last month suggested to reporters that the missing funds might have been skimmed or misused, and said prosecutors would call Flores in for questioning. Funes recently charged that three checks — for $1 million, $4 million and $5 million — were issued by the Bank of New York, on behalf of Taiwan, and endorsed by Francisco Flores.
Hong Kong mulls following China to destroy ivory stockpile
Hong Kong’s government is considering destroying its stockpile of over 30 tonnes of ivory obtained through seizures of elephant tusks, it said Wednesday. The Chinese government crushed a pile of ivory weighing more than six tonnes on Monday, its first public destruction of ivory, to discourage illegal trade. “The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department is aware of the steps taken in other places to destroy forfeited ivory,” the Hong Kong government department said in a statement sent to AFP Wednesday. Hong Kong has been a transit point for the ivory elephant tusk trade.
L’Oreal halts sale of Garnier brand in China
French cosmetics group L’Oreal said Wednesday it was halting the sale of its Garnier brand in China, the latest Western company to get cold feet over a chill in luxury sales. In order to reinforce its leading position on the Chinese cosmetics market “…the decision was taken to halt the commercialisation of the Garnier brand in China,” the company said in an email to AFP. L’Oreal said it would now focus on its L’Oreal Paris and Maybelline New York mass market brands in China, which have been enjoyed better sales there than Garnier.
Tech tie-up says to launch smartphone OS to rival iOS, Android
A new smartphone operating system developed by a global collaboration of tech firms to rival Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS is expected to launch in the next few months, Japanese mobile phone operator NTT Docomo said Wednesday. The open source offering called Tizen, based on the Linux operating system, could be installed on telephones sold from the end of March, NTT Docomo spokesman Jun Otori told AFP. Tizen is the product of a tie-up among companies from Japan, China, South Korea, Europe and the United States and comes despite tensions among the Asian neighbours over territorial disputes.
