China’s algae spread to resorts

The algae outbreak that threatened the Olympic sailing competition in Qingdao has spread hundreds of kilometres up the coast to popular tourist areas, even as Chinese officials on Friday claimed near-victory over the thick green sludge.

The long stretch of beach at Baishatan, 150km north of Qingdao, has been lined in recent days with 10-metre-wide slicks of algae that gave out a noxious odour to the few tourists who braved the sand, causing panic among tourist operators. Xu Xin, who has a stall selling seashells near the beach at Baishatan, said that the boardwalk would usually be packed at this time of year. “But look at it now, there is almost no one here,” she said. In front of her stall, two large earth-moving machines were scooping up chunks of the green algae that covered most of the beach. “They have cleaned the beach twice already, but it keeps coming back.”

“We are just coming into the summer holiday period,” said Ms Li, duty manager at the Jinxiang Villa Hotel, near Baishatan, who declined to give her full name. “If this continues for much longer then we will have big problems over the summer.”

The algae outbreak first appeared in Qingdao, the Shandong port city that is hosting the Olympic sailing competition next month. With many of the athletes already in the city to begin preparations, the city government has been working flat out to clear the algae from the competition area, calling in thousands of volunteers and soldiers and using hundreds of boats.

Officials said on Friday that only 1.37 per cent of the area was now covered in algae – they have pledged to clear it by July 15 – and a 32km-long net will keep out new outbreaks.

Just as the algae problem appears to be worsening, Xinhua news agency said this week pest-killers were trying to prevent a plague of locusts in Inner Mongolia from descending on Beijing – adding to the sense of near-biblical woes afflicting China.

State media have quoted a number of scientists playing down the health risks from the algae, which they said was a natural phenomenon.

Zhou Mingjiang, a researcher at the Institute of Oceanology in Beijing, said the algae in the sea was very different from the toxic blue-green algae that appeared in Taihu Lake in eastern China last year and forced the city of Wuxi to shut its water supply.

But, some environmental activists said the size of the algae outbreak was due to pollution from industry and fish farms.

“The natural ecosystem of the ocean has been destroyed, which is why strange events such as this can happen,” said Wen Bo, co-ordinator of Save China’s Seas Network.

ARSENIC FEARS

Burma’s cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta and Indonesia’s Sumatra island face high risks of arsenic contamination in ground water that could cause cancer and other diseases in residents, according to a study released on Friday, reports AP from Bangkok.

Using a digitalised model that examines geological features and soil chemistry in south-east Asia, researchers writing in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Geoscience mapped several likely hot spots that had never been assessed for arsenic risks.

Arsenic, especially in drinking water, is a global threat to health, affecting more than 70 countries and 137m people.

The country worst affected is Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of people are in danger of dying from cancers of the lung, bladder and skin.

Odourless and tasteless, arsenic enters water supplies from natural deposits in the ground or from agricultural and industrial practices

China to increase grain output

China's cabinet has approved a plan to ensure grain production keeps pace with strong domestic demand and overcomes challenges such as climate change.

China aims to reach and maintain annual grain output of 500 million tonnes by 2010, and to increase output to more than 540 million tonnes a year by 2020.

Harsh weather and the development of arable land are hurting grain output.

Despite this, the government said China would be self-sufficient in the future and could meet rising consumer demands.

In order to achieve its goals, China has set out a "red line" defining 120 million hectares (296 million acres) of land as a necessary minimum to ensure at least 95% self-sufficiency in grain supply.

Future challenges

China has the world's largest population, with more than 1.3 billion people.

As its economy grows, so do the demands and desires of its population, boosting demand for food, commodities and consumers goods.

While the country's supply and demand are more or less equal at the moment, the Chinese government has forecast that meeting demand will be tight in future.

Rapidly increasing urbanisation, a growing population and industrialisation across the country all pose major challenges to future grain production.

Water shortages and extreme weather conditions such as the recent floods are also hampering food production.

In a bid to further combat the problems, the government has also decided to increase farmer subsidies and ramp up China's grain reserve system.

Food prices have almost doubled within the past three years and have led many countries to curtail exports in order to ensure enough stocks remain for domestic consumption.

Higher prices have also led to widespread unrest across Asia and Northern Africa.

China 'discouraging France trips'

Beijing's official tourism body is urging tour operators to stop selling holidays to France, the French foreign ministry has said.

The claim comes amid souring relations between the two countries after the Paris leg of the Olympic torch relay.

Thousands of pro-Tibet protesters disrupted the event last month, and managed to extinguish the flame.

However Beijing said that it had "simply reminded Chinese tourists to be careful about their security."

Estimates suggest that about 700,000 tourists from mainland China visited France last year.

"Our embassy in Beijing is currently taking steps with the Chinese authorities to find out the reasons that could have motivated (the move)," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has suggested that he may boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympics, unless China started talks with the Dalai Lama.

And Chinese nationalists have called for a boycott of French goods.

The Olympic Torch relay was also disrupted a number of cities, including London and San Francisco.

China Launches Jumbo Jet Company

China has established a company to start making passenger jumbo jets, Chinese state media reported Sunday

The Xinhua News Agency said that China Commercial Aircraft Co. was established in Shanghai with registered capital of $2.7 billion.

The plan marks a step forward in China's long-term quest to design and build large aircraft, making it less dependent on Boeing Co. and Europe's Airbus.

The central government and Shanghai government are among the major shareholders, as are China's two main aircraft manufacturing and servicing companies, Xinhua said.