Damian Holmes

Shanghai Stock Exchange(chart) closed today up 0.38% but down 6.656% since the open on Monday.

The Chinese Government announced that it wished to see more Mergers and reorganisation of the State Owned Enterprises(SOE) as some industries are too fragmented and relatively weak in their ability to be innovative & competitive. The move is to also increase the quality and quantity of development whilst strengthening the capabilities to counter risks from international markets. (Gov.cn)

Shares of Bank of China (HKG:3988)  were suspended on the Hong Kong stock exchange with Market Watch reporting that Taiwanese newspapers are reporting possible agreements between BOC and 4 Taiwanese banks. BOC Shanghai (SSE:601988) listed shares continued trading.

China Economic Review reports that there is a push from  Beijing to have 1,027 banks open in China’s rural areas by 2011, an effort to provide wider access to financial services in the countryside…. there are 118 rural banks set up since 2006.

GM sales have risen by 66% for the first half of 2010 according to (SRC: Global Times)

Chalco has pulled the plug on its $3 billion accord with Australia’s Queensland state to develop a bauxite project at Aurukun. After the announcement the shares fell on the Shanghai Exchange(SHA:601600) by 1.68% and 3.32% on the Hong Kong Exchange (HKG:2600). (Best SRC: Businessweek)

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced Thursday that the country will cease levying tariffs on 60 percent of imports from 26 least developed African nations, including Ethiopia and Liberia. This policy went into effect July 1. (Gov.cn)

China Resources Land(HKG:1109) to build Mixc City in Shanghai. The company is set to build a 550,000m2 (5,920,150 square feet) shopping complex in the Minhang district after the success of a similar sized shopping complex CRL built in Shenzhen at a cost of HKD$4billion. (SRC:China Knowledge)

China’s Xinhua starts 24-hour English TV news called CNC which began transmitting on July 1 to most of Asia and will have arrangements with cable channels in the U.S., UK and other western countries by October (SRC: MarketWatch)

The Chinese Government have also announced a push for planning to ramp up growth in Xinjiang, Kashgar has a good chance of catching up, officials and analysts said. Authorities aim to restore southwest Xinjiang, near the borders of Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan, where Kashgar is located, as a transport and trading hub. Kashgar is seen as the Shenzhen of the West and is set to become have an Economic Development Zone of eight(8) square kilometres (3.08 square miles). The government also wish to increase the population from its current 350,000 to 1 million people. (Gov.cn)

Hope you have a good weekend and you can contact me – damian@damianholmes.com or @damianholmes on twitter

Susan Szenasy posted on Metropolis an article titled “United We Stand” in which she recalls some government officials giving encouragement at a recent NeoCon East annual trade show that there is “a new day for government design”. Szeasy goes on to talk about the importance to design of the recent $5.5 billion allocation to General Services Administration and the Department of Defense’s $7.4 billion reconfiguration funding.

However the point I found most interesting in Szenasy’s article was the GSA signing of a new accord with AIA, ASLA, IIDA; in which they have pledged to collaborate to achieve design excellence. I find this encouraging that professional associations have come together.

Currently, there is change occurring not just in the short-term with the Global Financial Crisis, but it seems more and more that sustainability, the environment, and climate change is becoming more important to the world. I feel that we need to move forward with new ideas and be armed with new tools especially in the area of urban design where cities are shrinking in the USA, new eco-towns are being built in the UK and new mega-cities are being designed and constructed in China, India, and Africa. Now is the best time to seek out other disciplines for collaboration not just for the networking and possible work opportunities but for the greater good of the profession. As Landscape Architects I know we often seek collaboration with other disciplines whether they are internal or external of our companies, however I think that as we head towards a new decade we should make more of a commitment to further collaborate with other professions to improve your knowledge and their knowledge so that together we can create a better future.

By Damian Holmes

Read the full article that inspired this post at the [SOURCE: Metropolis - United We Stand]