CHINA DEVELPMENT AND IT’S IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

“The world of 2020 is likely to be one in which Asia is the main engine of the world economy, where China and India are major powers”. – National Intelligence Council, 2005.

This short sentence resumes what is happening in China in the last 30 years. The evolution if China economy goes hand by hand with the developing of innovation and technology.

In the past three decades, China has become a major contributor to science and technology. Four factors favor China’s continuing rise in science: a large population and human capital base, a labor market favoring good academic records, Chinese-origin scientists, and a centralized government willing to invest in science. Nowadays, China is entering in the second stage of globalization, where the service industry and the increasing in the acquisition power are two of the main pillars.

Two key factors in this increasingly globalized world are economic resources and human resources. China has both and has made good use of them in its development of science.
Today’s world of science may be characterized as having multiple centers of scientific excellence across the globe. When science in China and other fast-developing countries improves, it greatly expands the scale of science and thus speeds up scientific discoveries, benefitting the entire human race.

China government has implanted a Five-year Plan 2016-2020 which consist in a serie of initiatives focused mainly on: Innovation; Balance between countryside and cities; Greening by developing environmental technology industry and ecological living and culture; Opening up as a call for more international co-operation; and Sharing the knowledge of economic growth so to the extinguish welfare gaps.

Focusing in the Greening scope, and following the guidelines set out in the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan, the country has begun to adopt a mixed model of energy consumption that gradually increases the use of clean energy to the detriment of Coal, a reduction that has been aimed at cutting consumption of this mineral by 80 million tons by 2017 and by 160 million by 2020. There will be also a decrease in the energy intensity of the country (the amount of energy used per unit of GDP growth) by 3.1% compared to the 4.8% drop in 2014. To replace a withdrawn coal from the Chinese government wants to bet on so-called renewable energy, especially solar and wind, as between China and Taiwan, about 75% of the world’s photovoltaic cells are produced and, by 2020, the aim is to achieve installed wind power of 250 Gw from the 114 at the end of 2014, figures that would certify Peking’s commitment to clean energy.

Another part of the emissions reduction plan, part of the economic reform plan for 2016-2020, is the closure of small or inefficient coal mines and the replacement of obsolete and highly polluting industrial sites with others Which, instead of coal, are fed with natural gas. Despite the progress, official figures show that pollution still causes 1,600,000 premature deaths each year in China and that coal is used in more than 65% of primary energy consumption. For all this, from Beijing consider that it is time to change course and several NGOs call for that change to go beyond the air.

The goal of avoiding the announced two-degree increase in planetary temperature by the year 2100 is on the horizon of China and other countries.

Enviar comentario / 18 Mar 2017 por sordozgoiti
MIGMAmad /

Innovation in Chine nowadays

Innovation data show that both the perceived quality and the effectiveness of innovation in China continue growing. The 13th Five-Year Plan 2016-2020 expects an increase of 6.5% per annum over the next five years of the Chinese economy, which is lower than the previous years, but this economic slowdown is a process controlled by the Chinese authorities.

 

This slowdown is because China will focus on the quality of growth rather than quantity, although, in the short term, China will remain as one of the great factories of the world.

 

They propose to modify a development model based on the export manufacturing sector and industrial investments for another that prioritizes domestic consumption and a more competitive services sector, with a greater presence of foreign investments.

 

Chinese companies are focussing on «the great technological leap» to compete globally with the major foreign brands, mainly US and European. Outstanding Huawei and ZTE in the telecommunications sector and Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent operating on the Internet.

 

These changes in the development model also have consequences for population policies in China. The population policy will be modified allowing couples to have up to two children. The rapid aging of the population is decreasing the available labour force.

 

China’s rapid transition from a developing economy to an advanced and innovative economy is a great opportunity for foreign companies, especially for the environment, health, tourism, food and capital goods.

 

China is a difficult market. Success or failure depends on whether entrepreneurs and professionals have or not, a good knowledge of the economic, social and cultural reality of each market. Consequently, in China it takes a lot of effort and persistence to reach good results, and are usually achieved in the medium and long term.

Enviar comentario / 17 Mar 2017 por cmoran
MIGMAmad /

Chinese Political and Economic System and China´s policies on foreign investment

Chinese political system.

In the context of the political system the chinese government is People’s Republic of China and it’s a communist state.
China is a centralized as a unitary state, totally administered by the Chinese Communist Party, with a large national bureaucracy that deals with everything and it’s authoritarian in its structure and in its ideology.
According with the executive power is overseen by a collegial corporation with important powers: the State Affairs Council (CAE), under which government commissions, ministries and certain agencies with ministerial rank are placed.

In terms of the legislative power is unicameral and rests in the Popular National Assembly. It is made up of about 3000 deputies who are elected every five years by indirect suffrage by the local authorities. In fact, the deputies represent the 23 provinces, the 5 regions and the 4 autonomous municipalities.

 

Chinese economical system.

Nowadays China is the second largest economic power in the world, the first exporter and has the highest exchange reserves. The global recession of 2009 interrupted the pace of steady growth that the country had undertaken, and the limits of growth focused essentially on exports. As a result of the global crysis in 2016 Chinese, growth was 6.6% of GDP, and is expected to be only 6.2% in 2017, which has resulted in an evident recession in the northeastern región.

Moreover local businesses and local authorities are heavily indebted, and the injection of billions of yuan into the economy fuels speculation and the central bank’s exchange reserves are declining, which has led the authorities to resort to control of investments. The quality of bank assets degrades and this trend is underestimated due to the importance of shadow banking.

There are still a number of challenges related to population aging, labor shortages, the lack of openness of the political system, the competitiveness of an economy dependent on high investment expenditure and the expansion of credit.
Also there are still large differences between the living standards of the city and the countryside, between the urban areas of the coasts of China and the interior and west of the country.

But China is planning to grow his economy with the Five Year Plan that includes:
– Innovation: in the outside China still farming and planting by hand and using animals instead of irrigation or using authomatic machines and they need to develop urbanization and services.
– Internet +: They need to digitalize the country (Internet of Things, Big Data, Robotics, IA, Smart cities…)
– Made in China 2025: it’s base don Industrialization 4.0. They don’t want their productos to be perceived like low quality products and they will need to créate a suistanable financial system.
– Opening Up (One Belt One Road): They want to expand the chinese market in order to develop the exportation to Europe and other countries by a large system of railways.
– Coordination & Sharing.
So Chine in order to achieve these goals are going to deal with the construction of more airports, reestructure his 5 big cities (Beijing, Shangai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Tianjin) and deal with the problems of the ghost cities trying to bring people to them.

 

China’s policies on foreign investment.

Investment in China has his particular way.
First of all if you are interested in investing in China you need to take careful if the industry you want to invest is in the Catalogue of Industries for Foreing Direct Investment 2015 which stablish the rules to follow for foreing industries. Also it takes notes about the procedural restrictions that will be apllied for the investment so the investor could know if the business will be encouraged or discouraged by Chinese government.
So take careful about the business you want to invest because the governemt has the total power to stop your company and keep in mind that all the money you earn in China need to be in China.

Enviar comentario / 16 Mar 2017 por fpinto
MIGMAmad /

China´s history and political situation

6 am, hating jet lag. After spending the last hour tossing and turning in my bed, I now face the challenge of writing about my experience in China. I don’t know if it is due to the lack of sleep or the remains of pollution and Chinese food inside my body, but I have to write about the conference I liked the most, and they are all kind of mixed up in my head. I remember a very good Spanish speaking Chinese woman telling me not to stick the chopsticks in the rice; an old man in a weird suit that collects classic cars; and a really funny lawyer from Chile complaining about his wife…

Definitely need a coffee break.

Well, I’m better now, I have the conferences clearly separated in my mind, and I think I’m going to tell you about Professor David Inch’s conference about the Chinese political and economic system, and Chinese policies on foreign investment (uff!…long title). This might seem like a strange topic to choose, but for the first time in my life, I had a preview of the historical and political background before visiting a foreign country.

It looks like Chinese people are proud of their history, and I would also be if I were Chinese, at least at the beginning of the conference. Chinese did conquer the most impressive architectural achievements in their early ages. During the 4th and 5th century they built The Grand Canal, 1776 km long, in less than 50 years, and I guess I don’t need to tell you anything about The Great Wall.

But the most interesting thing about this conference, and what actually made me choose this topic, are the trips that Admiral Zheng He did during the early 15th century. He travelled almost all around the world in a boat at least 4 times the size of “La Pinta”, “La Niña” or “El Santa Maria”. Actually, some theories affirm that he could have reached America before Christopher Columbus (don’t think so, but amazing anyway). It was really good to have the chance of having a look to the Admiral Zheng He Museum at the Jiao Tong University before leaving Shanghai.

Though I really enjoyed the conference, I was really surprised hearing about the “Chairman” Mao Zedong, a man whose policies leaded to 30 million death of starvation and whose Cultural Revolution meant closing Universities and destroying literature.  It is then shocking to see his face printed in every coin and sculptured in almost every statue in the city, and even more shocking getting “Because he was the man who liberated China” as an answer when you ask about it (in my opinion, he liberated China from having more than one political party).

But, leaving politics aside, I really enjoyed the conference, loved the country and the culture, and kind of tolerated the food. I really wonder if I’ll have the chance to go back again. Gan bei!

Enviar comentario / 11 Abr 2016 por lalvarezgarciamoran
MIGMAmad /

How to set up a business in China

I am going to talk about the negotiation in China and some of the key points that all investor have to know to set up a business in China.

First of all I have to say that all the conferences we assisted there in China were interesting and useful, and allow us to understand the life in China in different aspects and points of view. However the conference which I liked more was the negotiation in China and how to run a business in that country.In this conference showed us the way of doing business in China from a practical point view and not so formal like in other conferences told us.

The first thing we must know if want to set a business in China is how the economy works in this country. There is a 5 plan year, which is a plan where you can find all the economics actions that will be carry out by the government.

 

Inside this plan exists a catalogue for foreign investment which is a document that shows what kind of business is welcome and which one don´t. There are three categories:
• Encouraged category: In this category are the businesses which the government could help, give to the entrepreneurs money and support.
• Restricted category: To run a business that belongs to this category is harder because the foreign investor need a Chinese partner to help him. Laws say that require a suitable Chinese partner.
• Prohibited category: It is almost impossible to set up a business inside this category, although it could works negotiating with the local administration.

 

 

The negotiation with local administration to set a business in some regions is different and depends in which category your business is. It is so much different and depends on the region where you are. The administration in one district or region could be suitable for your business, and could be forbidden in other district.
Despite of the problems that the government put to the foreign investors in some cases, it is getting easier to run a business in China. This catalogue is becoming wider and allows more kind of business.

Other important key point that we learnt in this conference was that Shanghái is not like the rest of China. It is possible think about set up a business in other parts like west and north China because there are more help and support by the government and they are trying to develop these regions.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the main key point is: by many obstacles that stand between us and our potential Chinese partners due to cultural differences and law, all can be saved having a consistent product and a good business plan.

Enviar comentario / 19 Mar 2016 por acapilla
MIGMAmad /

BUSINESS PROTOCOL IN CHINA

China one of the most complex and oldest culture of the world with a great variety of habits and traditions between provinces, cities, and even towns.

Most of the things that use to be said about protocol and business in China seems to be more cliches than reality, so I am going to write some key points I have learned in the study trip teached by an authentic Chinese.

The first thing you have to take into account is that China is a very ancient culture and with a lot of tradition. The differences begin when you have to present yourself to the manager you have to do business with. The typical european handshake must be avoided due to they greet each other with a slight inclination of the body.

Other important thing is if you want to translate your name into Chinese, do not take the easy way and make the phonetic translation directly. In order to give a serious image to your Chinese client you must create an appropriate name. The translation to Chinese has to have an specific meaning since for them the phonetic translation means nothing.

 

“Ser-gio, this means nothing to Chinese people, it is my fake name”

 

Something very typical in both Europe and China, when doing business, is to give some presents although you must be very careful with your presents given to your Chinese client. If you give them a red envelop, they will expect always money inside, if not they will get angry.

In order to conclude I would like to show you other Chinese behaviors less formal in negotiations. Is very common to have business dinner where they use to get drunk by the typical toast of “Ganbei” with which they have to drink the hole glass of alcohol. The most affected are the employees because they can not decline the drink ordered by the boss and if it is refused they will give a bad image. Chinese say that with this great friendships are genereated. In addition, is very common Chinese asking you about the situation of your family, despite they seem distant for them the family is very important.

The impression I have caught from younger professionals we have met in China is that the behavior of new generations is changing and getting closer to Europe.

 

Sergio Rubiera Gracía MIGMA

Enviar comentario / 18 Mar 2016 por srubiera
MIGMAmad /

Mapa a tiempo real de la Contaminacón Atmosférica Mundial

En el siguiente enlace se encuentra un mapa donde esta indicado a tiempo real la contaminación atmosférica con todos los parámetros de ciudades de todo el mundo. Con esta herramienta se permite una comparativa global de la contaminación en el mundo en un mismo momento.

Fuente: aqicn.org/

Comentarios desactivados en Mapa a tiempo real de la Contaminacón Atmosférica Mundial / 05 May 2015 por albertoariasfernandez
Sin categoría /

Prevención 10/25. Herramienta PRL

Prevencion10.es es una herramienta configurada como un servicio público de asistencia a empresas de hasta 25 trabajadores en materia de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales.

Entre los servicios que dispensa a pequeñas empresas y autónomos está la reducción de cargas administrativas, el desarrollo de los planes de prevención o el asesoramiento a aquéllas que asuman la actividad preventiva.

Según el proyecto de Resolución, la Seguridad Social compensará al INSHT con más de 1,5 millones de euros por la encomienda de gestión del servicio.

Qué es Prevencion10.es

La Secretaría de Estado de la Seguridad Social encomendó al INSHT el desarrollo un servicio público de asesoramiento para empresas de hasta 10 trabajadores, 25 en la actualidad, destinado a facilitarles de forma gratuita el cumplimiento de sus obligaciones ligadas a la prevención de riesgos laborales.

De esta forma, nace el servicio público Prevencio10.es, un formato desarrollado conjuntamente por el INSHT y las comunidades autónomas y que cuenta con la asistencia de la Inspección de Trabajo y Seguridad Social.

Prevencion10 se estructura en 4 áreas:

– “Evalúa-T”, el objetivo es que la empresa establezca un plan de prevención, evalúe los riesgos y planifique la actividad preventiva.

– Servicio “STOP riesgos laborales”, servicio de atención telefónica que asiste y orienta a las empresas.

– “Instruye-t”, plataforma para desarrollar el plan de formación al empresario para que pueda asumir personalmente la gestión de la prevención.

– “Autoprevent”, herramienta destinada al asesoramiento a los autónomos sin empleados a su cargo y que promueve la formación específica en materia de prevención para este colectivo de trabajadores.

El conjunto de herramientas se complementa con otras funcionalidades en el portal web Prevencion10.es, donde además se puede acceder a información sectorial, novedades, enlaces de interés, biblioteca, libros, etc.

 

Fuente: prensa.empleo.gob.es

Comentarios desactivados en Prevención 10/25. Herramienta PRL / 23 Abr 2015 por albertoariasfernandez
Sin categoría /

Nueva ISO9001:2008

La Nueva ISO 9001:2015, Borrador, con los Primeros Cambios

La norma ISO 9001, continua evolucionando y ya está disponible el borrador de la futura ISO 9001:2015 que está siendo actualmente revisado por el comité ISO/TC 176.

Desde la ISO 9000 de 1987 o incluso desde sus precursoras como la BS 9000 o la BS 5750, han pasado ya casi 30 años y sigue siendo el estandar de calidad internacional estrella, por todo ello existe gran espectación a los nuevos cambios que nos depara esta nueva versión, que nacerá con 7 años de diferencia de su hermana mayor.

Seguro que de aquí a su publicación se producirán variaciones, ya que estamos en un estado podría decirse inicial, pero los principales cambios actuales son:

 

• Mejor redacción para hacerla más general y entendible a empresas de servicios

Destacan la planificación y el liderazgo como ejes importantes y el cambio de “Realización de Producto” a Operaciones, más amoldable a cualquier sector

• Explicitando el Enfoque a Procesos

El punto 4.4.2 explicita con un conjunto de requisitos que se consideran esenciales para la adopción de un enfoque basado en procesos en una organización (determinar los procesos, los insumos, los resultados, la secuencia, interacción, los riesgos, indicadores, recursos, responsabilidades, autoridades, acciones para la consecución de los resultados…)

• Desaparece el término Acción Preventiva

En el apartado 10.1 habla de no conformidades y acciones correctivas cuando la actual ISO 9001 del 2008 tiene un apartado para ella sola, el 8.5.1.

El Anexo SL (en el que se basa la nueva estructura de la ISO 9001:2015) no habla de acciones preventivas ya que concibe cualquier sistema de gestión como una herramienta de prevención en sí. Es por ello que la norma ISO 9001:2015 habla de la prevención a un más alto nivel alienada a la gestión de riesgos en su punto 6.1.Acciones para abordar los riesgos y las oportunidades

 

• Información documentada

Los términos “documento” y “registro” se han sustituido ambos, en línea con el Anexo SL Apéndice 2 por “información documentada”

 

• Del cliente a las partes interesadas

En tres ocasiones nos habla la norma ISO 9001:2015 del cliente y … “las partes interesadas”. Un enfoque a calidad total y a modelos de Excelencia que nos deja incluir a accionistas, personas, sociedad, proveedores, alianzas en aspectos tales como las expectativas y necesidades, la interacción (comunicación, establecimiento de requisitos…) o la propiedad

 

• La Gestión del Cambio

Otro aspecto muy relacionado con los modelos de Excelencia y que se detalla claramente en la nueva norma es Planificación y control de cambios (punto 6.3.), algo no muy clarificado en la versión actual de ISO y que en un entorno como el actual (… dónde el cambio es la única constante) es imprescindible

 

• Incidiendo en la Mejora Continua

Respecto a este punto los auditores se van a poner “mucho más estrictos” en este sentido. La nueva norma no se va a limitar sólo al desarrollo de los ciclos de NC / AC, de Auditorías Internas y Externas, y de evaluación de satisfacción de clientes e indicadores, sino que van a instar a las organizaciones a emplear más herramientas para gestionar las oportunidades de mejora organizando bien las acciones a desarrollar: “La organización debe evaluar, priorizar y determinar la mejora a implementar”.

Ver Documento de la Norma

 

Fuente: www.intedya.com/

 

Comentarios desactivados en Nueva ISO9001:2008 / 15 Abr 2015 por albertoariasfernandez
MIGMAmad /

Volkswagen Automotive Manufacturing Plant in Shanghai

The automotive manufacturing plant that Volkswagen has set up in Shanghai is a very well structured and organized factory where machines and people work together. Volkswagen has transfered all their high technology, know-how and quality to this plant in order to maintain the position and spirit of the brand. In the visit of the plant we could see how everything is working and which are the differents parts of the factory.

    

 

In the first part of the plant is held the construction of the different components of the chassis (such as body, doors,etc.). They are made separately and later on, all the parts are assembled and connected with each other. In the next stage, with the chasis already assembled, it is set the dashboard by its different parts. The work team and concentración of the employees are very important here. There are quite a lot of components and devices that are needed to be set in a row. In a conveyor belt, where the car is moving, the employees are working against the time and they need to conclude their job not to break the work chain. The following workers should start their next specific task in the conveyor belt when the car arrive to their spot. Once the body with the dashboard of the car is finished, all this piece is connected with the bottom part of the chassis, engine and breaks.To complete the car, they need to set the remaining parts such as seats, doors, etc.

It might seem easy as it is explained here, but there are a lot of complex processes and machines that are involved in the manufacture of the car. The employees should be working hard as well not to break any part of the chain. There are differents team focus in developing and product every part of the car and their job is very important in order to allow the next team continue manufacture of the car. Without an specific part of the car finished, the chain is broken, what means that at the end, all the employees are just «one team» working together to finish the car in time. Finally, the brand new cars are gathered together and they are ready to be sent to the clients.

Enviar comentario / 20 Mar 2015 por gbigeriego
MIGMAmad /