Category Archives: World News

A Swedish and two American scientists win 2015 Nobel Prize

Stockholm, Oct. 7(Greenpost)–Swedish scientist Tomas Lindahl and American Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar share 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for Mechanistic Studies of DNA repair, announced Goran Hansson, Permanent Secretary from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

DSC_3796 Sara Snogeerup Linse explained that The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 is awarded to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar for having mapped, at a molecular level, how cells repair damaged DNA and safeguard the genetic information.

Their work has provided fundamental knowledge of how a living cell functions and is, for instance, used for the development of new cancer treatments.

“Each day our DNA is damaged by UV radiation, free radicals and other carcinogenic substances, but even without such external attacks, a DNA molecule is inherently unstable. Thousands of spontaneous changes to a cell’s genome occur on a daily basis. Furthermore, defects can also arise when DNA is copied during cell division, a process that occurs several million times every day in the human body.”

The reason our genetic material does not disintegrate into complete chemical chaos is that a host of molecular systems continuously monitor and repair DNA.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 awards three pioneering scientists who have mapped how several of these repair systems function at a detailed molecular level.

In the early 1970s, Tomas Lindahl demonstra­ted that DNA decays at a rate that ought to have made the development of life on Earth impossible. This insight led him to discover a molecular machinery, base excision repair, which constantly counteracts the collapse of our DNA.

Aziz Sancar has mapped nucleotide excision repair, the mechanism that cells use to repair UV damage to DNA. People born with defects in this repair system will develop skin cancer if they are exposed to sunlight. The cell also utilises nucleotide excision repair to correct defects caused by mutagenic substances, among other things.

Paul Modrich has demonstrated how the cell corrects errors that occur when DNA is replicated during cell division. This mechanism, mismatch repair, reduces the error frequency during DNA replication by about a thousandfold. Conge­nital defects in mismatch repair are known, for example, to cause a hereditary variant of colon cancer.

The Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 2015 have provided fundamental insights into how cells function, knowledge that can be used, for instance, in the development of new cancer treatments.

DSC_3803Being interviewed by Green Post, Torleif Härd Professor in Structural Biology said the discovery is very important in helping us understand how cells work and it can be very helpful for finding new methods in anti-aging and cancer.

He said this can be seen as another tool for the human body to protect itself.

Tomas Lindahl, Swedish citizen. Born 1938 in Stockholm, Sweden. Ph.D. 1967 from Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Professor of Medical and Physiological Chemistry at University of Gothenburg 1978–82. Emeritus group leader at Francis Crick Institute and Emeritus director of Cancer Research UK at Clare Hall Laboratory, Hertfordshire, UK.

Paul Modrich, U.S. citizen. Born 1946. Ph.D. 1973 from Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. Investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute and James B. Duke Professor of Biochemistry at Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.

Aziz Sancar, U.S. and Turkish citizen. Born 1946 in Savur, Turkey. Ph.D. 1977 from University of Texas, Dallas, TX, USA. Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina school of Medicine.

Tomas Lindahl said he was surprized and feel lucky and privileged in answering Green Post question.

In interview with Nobel Media Adam Smith, he said he was surprised to some extent.

“… not 100% surprise because Im getting up in the years and I know that I have been one of the well known scientists in my field of science, which is DNA repair for many years. So the question was will there be a Prize for DNA repair, and I think many people have now realised its a very important topic of research, and if so there would be 10, 15 excellent people you could choose from, and you cant give the Nobel Prize to more than three people. So I feel very lucky and privileged to be included in the top class that was awarded.”

He was at home when he learned the news.

The American Modrich said he was in his countryside cabin when he received emails from outside.

He said he felt shocked, but happy to hear the news.

Kajita, MaDonald win 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm, Oct. 7(Greenpost)–The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Noble Prize in Physics for 2015 toTakaaki Kajita,  and Arthur B. McDonald “for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, showing that neutrinos have mass”.

Permanent Secretary Goran Hansson made this announcement at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2015 recognises Takaaki Kajita in Japan and Arthur B. McDonald in Canada, for their key contributions to the experiments which demonstrated that neutrinos change identities. This metamorphosis requires that neutrinos have mass. The discovery has changed our understanding of the innermost workings of matter and can prove crucial to our view of the universe.

Around the turn of the millennium, Takaaki Kajita presented the discovery that neutrinos from the atmosphere switch between two identities on their way to the Super-Kamio­kande detector in Japan.

Meanwhile, the research group in Canada led by Arthur B. McDonald could demonstrate that the neutrinos from the Sun were not disappearing on their way to Earth. Instead they were captured with a different identity when arriving to the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory.

A neutrino puzzle that physicists had wrestled with for decades had been resolved. Compared to theoretical calculations of the number of neutrinos created in nuclear reactions inside the Sun, up to two thirds of neutrinos were missing in measurements performed on Earth. Now, the two experiments discovered that the neutrinos had changed identities.

The two discoveries led to the far-reaching conclusion that neutrinos, which for a long time were considered massless, must have some mass, however small.

For particle physics this was a historic discovery. Its Standard Model of the innermost workings of matter had been incredibly successful, having resisted all experimental chal­lenges for more than twenty years. However, as it requires neutrinos to be massless, the new observations had clearly showed that the Standard Model cannot be the complete theory of the fundamental constituents of the universe.

The discoveries rewarded with this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics have yielded crucial insights into the all but hidden world of neutrinos. After photons, the particles of light, neutrinos are the most numerous in the entire cosmos. The Earth is constantly bombarded by them.

Many neutrinos are created in reactions between cosmic radiation and the Earth’s atmosphere. Others are produced in nuclear reactions inside the Sun. Thousands of billions of neutrinos are streaming through our bodies each second. Hardly anything can stop them passing, neutrinos are nature’s most elusive elementary particles.

Now the experiments continue and intense activity is underway worldwide in order to capture neutrinos and examine their properties. New discoveries about their deepest secrets are expected to change current understandings of the history, structure and future fate of the universe.

Takaaki Kajita, Japanese citizen. Born 1959 in Higashimatsuyama, Japan. Ph.D. 1986 from University of Tokyo, Japan. Director of Institute for Cosmic Ray Research and Professor at University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan.
http://www.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp/about/greeting_eng.html

Arthur B. McDonald, Canadian citizen. Born 1943 in Sydney, Canada. Ph.D. 1969 from Californa Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. Professor Emeritus at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada.
http://www.queensu.ca/physics/arthur-mcdonald 

Prize amount: 8 million Swedish krona, to be shared equally between the Laureates.

In an interview after the press conference, Professor Per Carlsson said the discoveries are great for us to understand how the sun works and how neutrinos the smallest particles work and it contributes a lot for future research.

Who can be 2015 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology/ Medicine?

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm, Oct. 5(Greenpost)– According to DN, Swedish Newspaper, Karl Daisseroth, James Allison, Michel Sadelain, Jeffrey Gordon, Harvey Alter, Michael Houghton, Charles Rice are among the list of Nobel Prize winner in 2015 for physiology/Medicine.

The announcement will be made at around 11:30 at Nobel Forum in Karolinska Institutet.

2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine to be announced in two hours

Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm, Oct. 5(Greenpost)–2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine to be announced in two hours.

Nobel Prize in Physics will be announced on Tuesday at 11:45.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry will be announced on Wednesday at 11:45.

Nobel Prize in Literature will likely be announced on Thursday in Swedish Academy and Nobel Prize in Peace will be announced on Friday in Oslo.

Swedish Riksbanken Prize for Economics in memory of Alfred Nobel will be announced next Monday at 11: 45.  Please stay tuned.

China Headlines: China initiates new round of reform and opening up

BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) — Trying to restart a slowing economic growth, China’s President Xi Jinping has decided to deepen the reform and open up the country wider to the outside world.

“China will stay strongly committed to deepening its reform on all fronts while opening still wider to the outside world,” Xi told the Wall Street Journal in a written interview before he departed for an official state visit to the United States on Tuesday.

This was the second time in a week that the president reassured the market, that the policies which brought wealth and prosperity to China’s people will continue, deeper and wider.

Last week, Xi told a room of former U.S. officials and business leaders that China is fully committed to reform and opening up and he hoped they would actively support it.

While China and the United States are expecting much from Xi’s visit, China-Britain cooperation has born fruit. On Monday, the two countries reached 53 agreements on nuclear energy, high-speed railway, infrastructure among many others at the 7th China-Britain Economic and Financial Dialogue in Beijing.

Notably, China suggested opening up its closely controlled financial market, allowing British institutional investors to trade securities in China, and mulling a mechanism to connect the Shanghai and London exchanges.

Premier Li Keqiang told visiting British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne that China is ready to cooperate in an open and inclusive manner.

These agreements indicated that opening up has reached levels unthinkable decades ago.

Since the incumbent central leadership was formed in late 2012, China has introduced many new measures to foreign investment and trade.

China is actively seeking a bigger say in international affairs, by participating in and increasingly initiating, global cooperation.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Belt and Road initiative are among China’s efforts to supplement the existing international order and overhaul global governance.

The phrase “opening up” frequently appears in policy statements and headlines at a time when China needs to find new sources of growth.

During a tumultuous summer, Chinese stocks were hit by repeated plunges and most of economic indicators were soft. Worries arose about whether China can sustain medium-to-high speed growth. Reform and opening up is China’s solution. Last week, Xi said opening up and reform will add new impetus and vitality to the economy and provide new room for growth.

“China should be committed to attracting foreign investment and expertise, and improve opening-up policies,” he said, addressing the 16th Meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform.

“The government will not change its policy toward foreign investment, and will protect the lawful interests of foreign-funded companies and provide better services for them,” said a statement released after the meeting.

China promised to make a national “negative list” by 2018, of sectors which are not fully open to all market entities, both domestic and overseas. Border areas will explore new models of cross-border cooperation and new mechanisms for regional growth.

More state-controlled sectors will be opened to private investors and it will be easier for foreigners to apply for permanent residence permits.

China is becoming more interdependent on and interrelated to the world economy, said John Thornton, co-chair of Washington-based think tank Brookings Institution.

Regional and global cooperation and policy coordination can yield results satisfactory to all, he said.

“China has been on a course of reform and opening up for almost 40 years. That trend will continue,” said Thornton. Enditem

 

China signs deal to buy 300 Boeing aircraft

SEATTLE, United States, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) — A group of Chinese companies signed here Tuesday a deal with U.S. plane maker Boeing to buy 300 Boeing aircraft.

The deal, signed by China Aviation Supplies Holding Company, ICBC Financial Leasing Co., Ltd., and China Development Bank Leasing with Boeing, was reached during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to the United States which was kicked off on Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd. also signed a cooperative document with Boeing to build a 737 aircraft completion center in China.

Earlier media reports, citing Boeing sources, said this will be the company’s first non-U.S. airliner plant, tasked with the completion and handover of single-aisle 737 jets to customers.

Chinese sources told Xinhua that the project, in the form of a mutually-funded joint venture, signifies that China-U.S. cooperation in aviation has reached a higher level.

It will also upgrade relevant Chinese enterprises as Boeing’s tier-one suppliers, the sources said.

Also on Tuesday, the National Development and Reform Commission of China inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. plane maker on the promotion of comprehensive strategic cooperation in the civil aviation industry.

According to the MOU, in the next five years till 2020, the two sides will enhance industrial cooperation, expand scale of production, jointly develop “green aviation technologies,” and develop world-class air transportation systems together.

In addition, Boeing has agreed to authorize the Aviation Industry Corporation of China to increase its production of Boeing 747-8 plane parts.

With industry experts predicting continued rapid growth through 2020 for China’s air transportation market, Boeing is vying against other major aircraft manufacturers such as the Europe-based Airbus Group for a bigger share of the Chinese orders.

The visiting Chinese president, who has a very tight schedule for his stay in Seattle before heading to Washington D.C., will tour Boeing’s largest factory in Everett on Wednesday. Enditem

Chinese acrobatics performance by Wang Qiang–Absolutely Challenging

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm, Sept. 25(Greenpost)–Chinese acrobatic performer Wang Qiang gave an excellent performance on Thursday in Stockholm.  This is one of the programs performed by Cultural China’s European Tour for overseas Chinese.

Filmed by Xuefei Chen Axelsson, on Sept. 24, 2015.

News Analysis: New reforms open China’s borders and business

BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) — China is working to open its economy wider to the world as persistent headwinds threaten to derail growth.
Promoting opening up while pushing forward reforms will add new impetus and vitality, President Xi Jinping said at a meeting of a group tasked with steering reforms on Tuesday.
In an effort to do so, several new guidelines including a negative list regulating market access, easier green card applications for foreigners and allowing border areas to explore new business models were adopted at the 16th Meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform.
China will further expand on its negative list to identify sectors and businesses that are off-limits for investment and gradually improve the list through pilot programs. The list has been piloted in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone since 2013.
To live up to its promise of “letting the market play a decisive role in resource allocation,” the government vowed efforts to delegate powers to the enterprises and let them decide how to run their businesses in sectors that do not appear on the negative list.
The list approach is intended to give freedom for foreign investors as any sectors not banned on the list are open for investment.
It is also a critical part of protracted talks between China and the United States on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT). After rounds of talks since 2008, the two sides began discussing implementation of a negative list since June. An agreement would mean a breakthrough on the BIT deal.
According to Tuesday’s statement, it will be easier for foreigners to apply for permanent residence permits, or green cards, by simplifying requirements and streamlining the application procedure.
China only issued around 5,000 permanent residence permits between 2004, when the green card policy was introduced, and 2012. That compares with about 600,000 total foreigners living in the country, most on medium- or long-term visas.
The statement also said China will allow border areas to explore new models of cross-border economic cooperation and new mechanisms for promoting regional growth.
Compared to coastal areas in eastern China, border areas in the west lag behind in terms of opening up, said Shi Benye, a professor at Jilin University.
To fix that, authorities will increase infrastructure construction in border areas, improve local tourism and ramp up fiscal and taxation support, according to the statement.
Experts believe there is vast potential waiting to be unlocked in China’s border areas.
For example, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region can play a key role in the country’s cooperation with the ASEAN member countries. Yunnan and Xinjiang can leverage their geographical advantages to forge closer business ties with neighboring countries.
China’s northeastern “rust belt” provinces and Inner Mongolia can work to tap northeast Asia.
Guangxi has achieved a 13.3 percent growth in exports in the first eight months, compared to a 1.6 percent drop in China’s total exports during the same period, statistics show.
Guangxi’s fast growth in exports is closely related to its increased efforts to promote border trade, especially with ASEAN countries, according to Wang Dongtang, an official with the Ministry of Commerce.
In the next five years, China will seek to advance the opening up of its border areas under the guidance of state-level development strategies such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Belt development plan, said Huang Shengqiang, an official of the General Administration of Customs.
“The government will not change its policy toward foreign investment, and will continue to protect the lawful interests of foreign-funded companies and provide better services for them,” said a statement issued after Tuesday’s meeting.
With a cooling domestic property market and falling external demand amid a tepid global recovery, China’s economy has hit a soft patch, growing only 7 percent in the first six months, the slowest pace in nearly a quarter of a century and a far cry from the double-digit expansion in previous decades.
The official growth target for 2015 is around 7 percent.  Enditem

China Exclusive: China in transition to gain more clout in global governance, tech-led

 

DALIAN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) — Global institutions should better represent the world’s emerging economies, chief among them China, to reflect shifting geo-political realities, said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, on Tuesday ahead of its annual summer meeting in China.

Robust economic growth from countries like China and India are signs that Asia is once again the economic center of the world, a fact that Schwab said is not being adequately reflected in international governance.

China has long sought greater clout in global institutions commensurate with its growing economic might. The country has led the creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, an alternative to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, with both developing and developed countries as its perspective founding members.

“I’m very happy that China is taking leadership in developing infrastructure not only in China, but having regional cooperation,” Schwab said.

He said that rather than competing with the IMF and the World Bank, the AIIB will complement existing institutions to fund a trillion dollar infrastructure investment gap, much of it in Asia.

China’s outreach also comes at a time when growth in the world’s second largest economy is moderating on soft investment and trade. Economic growth slowed to 7 percent during the first half this year as traditional drivers such as real estate, heavy industries and exports run out of steam.

But Schwab said the slowdown is “a necessity to transform the economy from production and export-oriented to a more consumer-led and innovation-based model.”

“The future growth will come not so much from traditional sources like manufacturing….China has to orientate its economy towards innovation and creativity,” Schwab said.

China’s vast manufacturing sector has been saddled with overcapacity as domestic and global demand for its industrial goods have weakened amid economic slowdown.

Authorities have since this year announced plans to nurture tech-intensive industries to help China regain its competitive edge in manufacturing. Meanwhile, China’ s budding internet sector has churned out a legion of innovative firms from Alibaba and Tencent to taxi-hailing startup Didi Kuaidi that helps the economy adapt to its new consumers.

These companies, and western equivalents such as Uber and Airbnb, have come up with what Schwab called “a new approach to old business models,” and brought innovation “not just to one product, but the whole system.”

Competitiveness of the Chinese economy in this new era of disruptive technologies, he said, will come from the agility and speed at which businesses adopt new technologies.

“I’ve seen China confronted many times with what seem insurmountable problems,” Schwab said, “What I’m always impressed with is the vision behind China’s economic policies, which allows the country to meet those challenges.” Enditem

 

 

Spotlight: China economy enters “new normal” eyeing 7 pct growth rate: G20

 

ANKARA, Sept. 5 (Xinhua ) — The Chinese economy has entered a “new normal” status and the growth rate of economy is predicted to be around 7 percent in the coming 4 to 5 years, said Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei here on Saturday.

Lou said it in a written statement after the 2-day G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Ankara Turkey.

Zhou Xiaochuan, People’s Bank of China governor pointed out in the joint statement that there is no foundation that RMB will keep devaluing for a long term.

Zhou Xiaochuan stated that the bubble in Chinese stock market keep increasing before June 2015. The Shanghai Composite Index has mounted up 70 percent from March to June.

Risks as Investors leverage rapid rise occur during this period of time. China has implemented the correction phase of stock market for three times among which the third time in August has some global impacts.

China has been taking measures to prevent its economy from systematic risk including the PBOC providing liquidity to the market through multiple channels.

The measures taken by Chinese government has prevented the stock market from decline in precipice way and the occurrence of systematic risk.

According to the statement, since the August correction in stock market, the Investors leverage in Stock market has been going down significantly and the real economy has not been impacted.

The reform of the middle price quotation of RMB exchange rate mechanism on August 11 is an important step to the marketing reform of RMB rate.

RMB was devalued for a certain degree after the reform, but the RMB was over valued for reasons like the value-up of U.S. dollar ,the generally value depreciate of Currency in emerging market economies.

“But there is no substantial transformation in the real economy of China and large surplus still remains in the foreign trade of China, so there is no foundation that RMB will keep devaluing for a long term,” Governor Zhou strengthened in the Statement.

“The status of Chinese economy is till in predication. The Chinese Economy has entered a “new normal” status and the growth rate of economy is predicted to be around 7 percent in the coming 4 to 5 years” Chinese Finance Minister of Lou Jiewei said in the joint statement.

It is stated that there are mainly two reasons that the growth rate of China will enter the 7 percent period.

Firstly, the rapid growth rate which keeps 9-10 percent in the past and highly depends on the stimulation of policy is not sustainable, and is over the potential growth rate of China which lead to over capacity and mass increase of inventory. It will take years to consume these over capacity and inventory.

The next 5 years will be a painful period for the reform of Chinese economy, and the main goals need to be achieved by 2020. China’s economy will be mainly driven by consumption rather than investment and foreign trade during the reforming period, and this will not be an easy job to accomplish.

Secondly, China’s economic cycle is different with the developed countries. Developed countries generally initiated the process of deleveraging after the global crisis, however, China initiated its leveraging process between 2009 and 2010 and achieved the 10 percent in growth rate.

The contribution rate to growth of global economy was as high as 50 percent above during that time. China now is initiating its process of deleveraging and the growth rate will down to 7 percent but still making 30 percent contribution rate to growth of global economy.

Lou stressed in the statement that there are some positive changes in Chinese economy despite the lower of growth rate, including the contribution rate to growth of consumption comes higher than that of investment, the proportion of service in GDP over passed industry, the proportion of trade surplus in GDP has been decreasing, 7 million new jobs was created in the first half year, the quality of economic growth keeps rising etc.

China will continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy and the increasing rate of central government spending is predicted to be 10 percent, which is higher than the 7 percent budget.

China is taking measures to plug fiscal gap to maintain moderate economic growth and support the structural reform, the statement added.

“The Chinese government will not pay particular attention to a seasonal short term economic fluctuation, and will keep the stability of macroeconomic policies,” Lou pointed out in the statement.

China has achieved a 7 percent growth despite the decreasing of demographic dividend and falling on rate of capital return.

The huge potential of Chinese economy lies in reform and China is unswervingly promote reform and opening up in accordance with the established plan.

“G20 financial ministers and central bank governors have talked about the economy problems in China and we are not pessimistic about China keeping the 7 percent growth rate in the future,’ Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Cevdet Yilmaz said in the press conference Saturday in Ankara.   Enditem

 

 

 

China urges nations to speed up negotiation for Paris climate summit

BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) — China on Tuesday called on all countries to speed up negotiations to reach accord at the UN climate summit in Paris at the end of the year.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei told a daily press briefing that China appreciates France’s efforts so far for hosting the summit.

“China looks forward to French President Francois Hollande’s visit to China in November. Both sides are in close communication on the visit,” said Hong.

China is willing to work with all parties to help the summit reach a comprehensive and balanced accord on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, equity and respective capabilities, Hong said.

According to China’s intended nationally determined contributions (INDC), an action plan submitted to the secretariat of the UN framework convention on climate change in June, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by at least 60 percent from the 2005 level by 2030.

The latest round of negotiations on climate change concluded Friday in Bonn, Germany with progress seen by developing countries as slow, putting pressures on negotiators who will come back next month to continue thrashing out a global climate deal.

There is only one official meeting left for negotiators before they head for Paris to clinch the new climate deal which will set rules for actions to prevent global warming above 2 degrees Celsius after 2020.

“As there is not much time left before the summit, all parties need to speed up the negotiation with utmost sincerity so as to build consensus to the greatest extend,” Hong said. Enditem

 

China still attractive to European firms: European Chamber

BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) — China remains attractive to European companies, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (European Chamber) said, though rising wages and slower growth have led to worries about the emerging economy.

“Despite a challenging business environment, China still offers significant potential to European companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises,” said the chamber’s position paper released Tuesday.

Twenty-five percent of European firms have a research center in China, and 85 percent of those are likely to increase their presence in the near future, demonstrating China’s importance to the long-term strategies of European companies, the report said.

Facing downward pressure and pains from an economic overhaul, China’s economy expanded 7 percent in the first half of the year, the lowest reading since the 2008 global financial crisis.

The chamber said China should stick to bold reform pledges in a bid to tackle challenges from lower growth and ensure a successful rebalancing of the economy.

The European Chamber, founded in 2000, is an independent non-profit organization and has nearly 1,800 members in China. Enditem

 

China to curb speculation in forward forex transactions

BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) — China’s new measure requiring commercial banks to pay risk deposit for forward foreign exchange sales aims to raise the cost of forex speculation and avoid excessive fluctuation, the central bank said Tuesday.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced last week that commercial banks will have to pay a 20 percent deposit for their forward forex sales to companies as of Oct. 15.

In forward exchange sales, commercial banks agree to sell a foreign currency to a company at a specific time in the future to help the company ward off risks from exchange rate fluctuations.

The new move is conducive to curbing excessive fluctuation on the forex market, preventing financial risks and promoting prudent operation of banks, the PBOC said in an online statement.

This measure was rolled out as forward exchange sales from commercial banks surged to three times as high as the monthly average of the first seven months in August. “It shows there were speculative transactions,” the PBOC said.

On Aug. 11, the central bank decided to let the market have a greater say in forming the yuan’s central parity rate against the U.S. dollar, leading to a depreciation of more than 4 percent last month.

The measure is not capital control as it does not restrict transaction volume, nor does it require approval for each single transaction, the PBOC said.

The deposit allows banks to make preparations for their possible losses in the future, curbing speculative transactions and raising the overall cost, the central bank said. Enditem

 

 

 

 

 

Diabetes medication could be used to treat alcohol dependence

By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

Stockholm, Sept. 12(Greenpost)–A new study on mice and rats at Sahlgrenska Academy shows that a medication used for diabetes and obesity also could be a valuable tool for the treatment of alcohol dependence.

gothenburg-sweden Alcohol dependence causes morbidity as well as mortality and is –major health problem in today’s society. The costs for alcohol dependence in Sweden are estimated to be around SEK 45 billion per year. Nearly 5 percent of the adult population in Sweden have been diagnosed with alcohol dependence, which corresponds to approximately 300 000 people. Even more Swedes have harmful alcohol consumption. Indeed, approximately 15 percent consume more than 14 standard drinks per week (men) or more than nine standard drinks per week (women).

images (1)A new study at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, shows that interfering with the hormone GLP-1 could be a target for treating alcohol dependence, which is an entirely novel aspect.

Researchers have found that a medication that resemble GLP-1, which is used to treat type 2 diabetes as well as obesity, also could be used to treat alcohol dependence.

Usually, dopamine is released in the brain’s reward center in response to drinking alcohol, which leads to a sense of euphoria. The GLP-1-like substance prevents the ability of alcohol to increase dopamine in reward areas in the mice, suggesting that they no longer experience a reward from alcohol. In addition the diabetes medication caused the rats to decreases their alcohol intake, as well as reduced the motivation to drink alcohol in rats that were bred to drink a lot of alcohol. The medication also prevents relapse drinking in rats, which is major problem for alcohol dependent individuals.

“The GLP-1-like substance reduced the alcohol consumption by 30-40 percent in rats that drank large quantities of alcohol for several months” says Elisabet Jerlhag, researcher at Sahlgrenska Academy.

imagesSimilar mechanisms appear to regulate alcohol dependence and binge eating. The hormone GLP-1 is released from the intestines when we eat and causes satiety. It is also released in the brain and thereby reduces food intake.

“The results of the present study suggest that the physiological role of GLP-1 extends beyond glucose homeostasis and food intake regulation and includes modulation of development of alcohol dependence. In addition we suggest that medications that resemble GLP-1 could be used to treat alcohol dependence in humans. This will now be studied further,” says Elisabet Jerlhag at Sahlgrenska Academy.

The article The glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist liraglutide attenuates the reinforcing properties of alcohol in rodents was published in the journal Addict Biology on August 25.

Link to article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26303264