CSG news update -- 2007-07-03

[China Study Group <chinastudygroup@gmail.com>]

China Study Group news update

Worker Beaten to Death over Pay Strike
http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/215751.htm
Shanghai Daily | 2007-07-02
One unpaid migrant worker was beaten to death at a building site in Guangdong Province and hundreds of his workmates who were striking to get delayed salaries were injured by thugs the building owner hired.  The attackers, armed with shovels, steel pipes, axes, and knives, injured many of the stri...

China's June Manufacturing Pace Slows to 4-Month Low (Update1)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aUPAo5jpzc5A&refer=india
Bloomberg | 2007-07-02
Nipa Piboontanasawat
China's June Manufacturing Pace Slows to 4-Month Low (Update1)  By Nipa Piboontanasawat  July 2 (Bloomberg) -- Manufacturing activity in China expanded at the slowest pace in four months in June amid a government clampdown on polluting and energy-intensive industries, according to a survey o...

GM opens engine plant in China
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070702/BUSINESS01/70702006
AP | 2007-07-02
SHANGHAI, China — General Motors Corp. inaugurated a new engine plant at its minicar factory, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., in southern China today.  The $263-million plant, adjacent to the factory in Liuzhou, will have a capacity of 300,000 units a year and begin production of 1.1-liter an...

Hong Kong Marks Handover to China
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/01/ap3875024.html
AP | 2007-07-02
WILLIAM FOREMAN
Rock bands and dancing dragons celebrated the 10th anniversary Sunday of Hong Kong's handover to China, but there were also protests to demand democracy and anxiety about the future of the ex-British colony.  After a bumpy decade of recession followed by a robust recovery with help from the bo...

Firms Alert Over China's Labor Law
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2007/07/123_5790.html
The Korea Times | 2007-07-02
Cho Jin-seo
An alarm bell is ringing for Korean firms operating in China after Beijing passed a stronger labor law aimed at protecting workers' right last week.  When the new law goes into effect in January 2008, it will reduce labor flexibility and increase operational risks for Korean firms while improv...

China heading for top spot in world tourism rankings
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070702/bs_afp/chinatourismoly2008chn_070702023435
AFP | 2007-07-02
Joelle Garrus
BEIJING (AFP) - With the Olympics as a launch pad and amid a rising global fascination in all things Chinese, China is expected to replace France as the world's top tourism destination by 2014, according to experts.   From just 300,000 in 1978, the number of foreign visitors to China reached ...

Key issue for China's new labor law: enforcement
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070702/wl_csm/ostamp_1
The Christian Science Monitor | 2007-07-02
Jude Blanchette
Shanghai, CHINA - The comprehensive labor law that China's top legislative body passed Friday includes provisions that have appeared in previous legislation. But what may be different this time, some observers say, is the government's willingness to enforce mandates protecting workers' r...

China's CNPC to explore for more oil in Sudan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070702/wl_africa_afp/chinasudanenergyoil_070702115511
AFP | 2007-07-02
BEIJING (AFP) - China National Petroleum Corp, the nation's largest oil producer, will take up to a 40-percent stake in an oil exploration project in northern Sudan, a Chinese official in Khartoum said Monday.   "China National Petroleum Corp will take a stake of 35 percent to 40 percent in t...

China Passes a Sweeping Labor Law
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/30/business/worldbusiness/30chlabor.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin
New York Times | 2007-06-29
JOSEPH KAHN and DAVID BARBOZA
BEIJING, June 29 — China's legislature passed a sweeping new labor law today that strengthens protections for workers across its booming economy, rejecting pleas from foreign investors who argued that the measure would reduce China's appeal as a low-wage, business-friendly industrial b...