The research team, under the leadership of Jiang Yifang, dean of children nutrition at the Children Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, found that boys aged 10 to 15 were slightly taller and heavier on average than those in the US.

Meanwhile, girls aged 10 to 13 are a little taller on average than US girls of the same age. However, local girls weigh more than their US counterparts in nearly all age groups except those above 16, the report said.

In 2006, the research team recorded the height and weight of 6,277 boys and 5,743 girls less than five years old throughout Shanghai and compared it to that of 10,541 boys and 9,904 girls in the same age bracket in 2001. The study showed that the average height and weight for both boys and girls increased sharply during the period, but the numbers of overweight or obese children were almost equal to those of 2001, the report said.

However, in 2004, Jiang’s team collected the information from 11,103 boys and 10,328 girls aged 6 to 11 around the city. After comparing statistics from 1999, Jiang found these children weighed more than their counterparts five years ago, the report said.

Jiang said the number of overweight and obese boys increased an average of 2.3 percent and 3.9 percent respectively every year from 1999 to 2004, while the rate for overweight or obese girls climbed an average of 1.2 percent and 2.5 percent respectively during the period, according to the report.

“It clearly indicates that primary school students are in danger of becoming either overweight or obese,” Jiang told the newspaper.

He suggested that parents closely monitor the weight of their children and make dietary changes if necessary.

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Asia was home to some of the world’s fastest-growing populations of millionaires, their annual World Wealth Report said, with India, China, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore in the top ten in terms of growth.

The number of millionaires in India rose 22.7 percent to 123,000 people, the fastest growth in the world, and millionaires in China grew 20.3 percent to 415,000, making it home to the fifth-largest number of millionaires in the world, displacing France in that position.

Li Ka-shing, who controls a vast telecoms and property empire in Hong Kong and China, ranks as the world’s 11th richest man, according to Forbes.

Globally, millionaires grew 6 percent to 10.1 million people and their wealth rose 9.4 percent to $40.7 trillion in the same period, the Merrill/Capgemini report said.

“This year’s report found that the number of high net worth individuals (with net assets, excluding primary residences, of at least US$1.0 million), and the amount of wealth they control, continued to increase in 2007, with the greatest wealth being created in the emerging markets of India, China and Brazil,” said Mr Robert McCann, president of Global Wealth Management at Merrill Lynch in Paris.

Kong Eng Huat, Merrill Lynch’s Southeast Asia head of wealth management, said that in five years millionaires in Asia would have more combined wealth than those in Europe.

“Notwithstanding the recent dislocation in global markets, the robust economies in Asia are increasingly being driven by the domestic consumption story and continue to spur wealth creation in the region,” he said.

Asian millionaires’ wealth would grow annually by 7.9 percent to $13.9 trillion in 2012 against $13.5 trillion among Europe’s wealthiest, or 4.9 percent annual growth, the report said.

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The number rose by 44.8 million in the first five months of this year as mobile operators cut phone rates to attract customers, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing the Ministry of Information Industry. It said the number of fixed-line accounts fell by 6.5 million to 358 million. The fixed-line users, however, dropped by 6.5 million to 358 million.

China has by far the world’s largest population of mobile phone users, with China’s dominant mobile carrier — China Mobile — being the world’s biggest phone company by number of subscribers, with more than 400 million. But several million have multiple phones for personal and business use, so the total number of subscribers is smaller than the number of accounts.

The telecom sector reported a revenue of 330.6 billion yuan (48billion U.S dollars) in the five months — period that included an industry restructuring aimed at creating more robust competitors to China Mobile — which represents an increase of 9.6 percent from a year ago.

Meanwhile, fixed-asset investment in the telecom industry rose 2.7 percent to 75.1 billion yuan (11 billion U.S dollars).

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Using data from Google’s Safe Browsing initiative, StopBadware.org analyzed over 200,000 websites found to engage in badware behavior. The analysis found that over half of the sites were based on Chinese network blocks, with a small number of blocks accounting for most of the infected sites in that country. The U.S. accounted for 21% of infected sites, and these were spread across a wide range of networks.

Compared to last year, the total number of sites was much higher, likely due both to increased scanning efforts by Google and to increased use of websites as a vector of malware infection. Several U.S.-based network blocks that were heavily infected last year, including that of web hosting company iPowerWeb, whose network block topped last year’s list, no longer host large numbers of infected sites.

With 52% of identified badware sites, China hosts far more sites than any other country. The U.S. is second with 21%. No other country hosts more than 4% of the world’s badware sites, though a total of 106 countries host at least one infected site and 38 countries host at least a hundred.

StopBadware.org also analyzed, for the seven countries topping the list of infections, the relationship between a country’s Internet-using population and its number of badware sites. It is difficult to find current numbers of Internet users by country, but using the most recent data (ranging from 2005 to 2008) from the CIA Fact Book, StopBadware.org calculated the badware sites per million Internet users for the world (210 sites per million) and for each of the seven countries:

These numbers reinforce the dominance of China as a malware host, with an infection rate over three times that of the world average. Russia also stands out with a disproportionately high rate (possibly skewed by rapid growth in Internet use not reflected in the CIA’s 2006 numbers), while the United States is just about average. Relative to their populations, the western European countries and the Republic of Korea are far less likely to host badware sites than other nations.

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Asia’s largest number of searches, not surprisingly, came from the 82 million Chinese Internet users doing 6.2 billion searches in April. That is an average of 75 searches per Chinese searcher.

Search intensity get even more interesting with China vs Japan:

Japan’s 60 million Internet searchers conducted nearly the same number of searches (6.1 billion) as the 82 million Chinese searchers, a result of the heavier search volume per person in Japan (102.6 searches per searcher). Korea (104 searches per searcher) and Singapore (101 searches per searcher) also exhibited notably heavy search volume per person.

Another aspect of Asia’s Internet shown by the Comscore report is how local search sites challenge Google and Yahoo.

Across Asia, Google sites have a 39.1 percent share and Yahoo sites have a 24 percent share, but five of the region’s top ten search properties are local, including China’s Baidu.com (16.7 percent) and Korea’s NHN Corporation (5.3 percent), which owns search engine Naver.com.

The report adds:

Chinese properties Alibaba.com Corporation, Tencent Inc., and Sohu.com Inc., which host Internet-search functionality although they are not strictly search engines, rounded out the list of key local players.

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Part of China’s innovation stodginess reflects history: the Chinese R&D system has evolved from a Soviet-style mission approach, slowing the transition to a more market-led approach. Geography is also a factor, with many pockets of excellence living separate lives–more an archipelago than an interlinked whole. A glance at the map also reveals that the hot spots of innovation lie along the east coast. In bleak contrast stands the number of R&D facilities in the western and central provinces. Again, history comes in to play, since many of these sites were chosen during the Cold War because their remoteness from busy economic hubs was considered as a “third frontier” in defending Chinese intelligence.

It goes to recommend that:

Those innovative “islands” have to be linked together for a start, and the gates of thousands of science and technology parks opened up through the promotion of networks for sharing human and capital resources. A greater national and regional concordance would avoid wasteful research duplication, such as by issuing guidelines or creating an independent co-ordinating agency. The authorities could inspire themselves from OECD-style “competence centres” for long-term co-ordination between public research organisations, businesses and universities.

Link: “Chinese innovation”

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watch the preview (from YouTube).

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Science and civilization in China have lasted thousands of years. As a profound tradition, knowledge and intellectuals have been truly respected. Chinese people have zealously advocated innovation. Papermaking, gunpowder, the compass and movable type printing are four gifts China contributed to the world, which have changed the history of mankind. Those inventions have been recounted in children’s books, alongside Thomas Edison’s bulb, Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone and the Wright brothers’ airplane.

However, Chinese science and civilization has declined over the past four centuries. Why did it happen? One of the key reasons is that knowledge and technology was not perceived as a commodity, and a modern intellectual property (IP) system was not established in China until the 1980s. Comparatively, Europe boasted an IP system as early as the 17th century, which boosted the development of the Industrial Revolution. Therefore, an IP system is a basic guarantee for the enhancement of a country’s innovation and is of great significance to economic development and social progress.

Accompanied with the technological revolution and economic globalization, IP has gradually become a strategic resource and core to competitiveness. China has learned a bitter lesson from centuries of backwardness. People have realized that more importance should be attached to the IP system, which is essential for the country’s sustainable development.

Three decades ago, a modern IP system emerged in China with the implementation of Reform and Opening-up. China promulgated the Trademark Law in 1982, the Patent Law in 1984 and the Copyright Law in 1990. Over the past 20 years, China also enacted laws to protect Geographical Indications, Trade Secrets, New Plant Varieties and Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits. After its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, China amended its IP laws in line with its commitments, which, at present, accords with WTO standards.

From then on, great efforts have been exerted by Chinese courts and government agencies to effectively enforce the law. Since the 1990s, the number of foreign patent applications filed in China has increased more than five-fold, among which, patents filed in China by American companies have seen an average annul growth of 19 percent. By 2006, foreigners’ registered trademarks in China had reached 490,000. Multinational companies (MNCs) have set up an increasing number of R&D centers in China. All these demonstrate that IP laws have been enforced firmly in China, which is applauded by foreign investors.

Since the end of 20th Century, the knowledge-based economy has seen rapid development. More than half of the GDP of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member states comes from knowledge-based industries. In 2006, IP made up more than one third of the U.S. enterprise’ value, almost equivalent to half of the U.S. GDP. It’s widely acknowledged that economic development of countries such as the U.S. was greatly enhanced by innovation. Consequently, IPRs have become an important issue of international trade. Therefore, a large number of countries have shown increasing concerns about intellectual property rights (IPRs). For instance, Japan implemented an IP strategy in 2002.

Over the years, the Chinese government has been promoting industrial innovation. Statistics show domestic patent applications have increased nearly 20-fold since the 1990s. This means if infringement occurs, Chinese companies are also victims. Hence they have raised higher demands for IPrs protection. At present, more than 90 percent of IP lawsuits are filed by domestic enterprises. Therefore, it’s imperative for China to maintain a fair market, which protects IPRs and inspires innovation.

It’s hoped that via the implementation of the strategy, all innovations will be respected and more wealth will be created. It’s also hoped that the country will be turned into a dreamland for inventors and innovators from around the world. First, Chinese IP law and public policies will be optimized. The amendment of the Patent Law, Trademark Law and Copyright Law has been listed in the Chinese government agenda, which plan to legislate on the protection of Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, ensure the rights of Reasonable Use in case of education and R&D and formulate IP-related policies conducive to the development of relevant industries and regions. It shares the view with the U.S. Supreme Court that the abuse of IPRs will be prohibited. In order to ensure sufficient market competition and guarantee consumers’ rights and interests, an anti-abuse law is highly required.

Moreover, it’s a priority to boost the creation and usage of IPRs. The government encourages companies in creating and using IPRs and welcomes MNCs to be engaged in state technological innovation projects to obtain market reward with IPRs. Particularly, the government supports foreign companies in setting up innovation-based business in China and embraces inventors all over the world in realizing their innovative ideas.

Furthermore, China is to strengthen enforcement of IP laws. Law enforcement faces various difficulties in all countries. To more efficiently enforce the IP law, Chinese People’s Courts will keep playing a leading role, and government agencies will fulfill their duties. Finally, a profound understanding of the significance and value of IPRs has a great bearing on China’s future. Therefore, China is going to foster an environment that encourages innovation and boosts awareness of IPrs. In addition, the country’s education will emphasize the enlightenment of creative thinking, the cultivation of innovation and inspiration.

When Thomas Edison’s bulb enlightened the U.S. in 1879, China was still in the Dark Ages. Not until the 1980s had a comprehensive IP system been established in China. As for IP legislation, China in just a few decades completed the foundations that developed countries had spent centuries building, which displays the strong determination and painstaking efforts China has spent in establishing and improving its IP system.

However, it’s well known that carrying out such a system is costly, and the system and its implementation must reflect the level of economic development. As a developing country with per capita income lower than the world average, it’s not surprising that China would lack the ability and law enforcement resources to effectively implement the system. Therefore, it would be too much to ask for the current level of IP protection in China to reach that of developed countries.

Chinese government acknowledged that an IP system is of great importance to innovation. As Abraham Lincoln once declared, “The Patent System added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius.” However, the basic principle of IP protection is to keep a balance between the right holders and the public. The ultimate goal of an IP system is the peace and common development of mankind. All of the world should adopt an appropriate strategy and build a comprehensive IP system to encourage innovation, boost the application of knowledge and ensure a fair market. IPRs should neither obstruct information dissemination and free trade, nor harm the public interest.

Chinese government holds that developed countries bear obligations of technological transfer, and the generation of IPRs comes along with its intrinsic social responsibilities. Current world crises of energy resources, food, climate change and environmental protection, are all tied in with IPRs. To handle these challenges, each member of the global village must work closely with a broader outlook, and shoulder common but different responsibilities. Only this way, can we realize mutual benefits and peaceful development, and embrace a better future for all humanity.

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The findings were based on a survey carried out in four municipalities directly under the central government — Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing — and 15 developed cities such as Changchun, Dalian, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Jinan and Guangzhou, among others.

About 8.4 billion yuan (around 1.2 billion U.S. dollars) — more than half of the total — came from male consumers, while 3.1 billion yuan (450 million U.S. dollars) were attributed to students.

The consumer-to-consumer (C2C) site Taobao.com, a subsidiary of online portal Alibaba.com in which Yahoo! invested 1 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, was the nation’s dominant Internet retailer. It had an online shopping penetration rate of 81.5 percent.

Dangdang.com was second with 16.6 percent, followed by Joyo, Amazon’s China subsidiary, with 13.6 percent. Eachnet, owned by Tom Online and eBay, had 8.4 percent, while Tencent’s C2C site Paipai.com was 7.2 percent.

According to the CNNIC, 91 percent of online shoppers who had heard of Taobao had made purchases at the site, while 61.4 percent of those familiar with Joyo had shopped there.

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“One of the very good sources for Google is the very rapid growth in Asia,” said Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google, which gets almost all its revenue from advertising next to search results. Historically, people tend to shift their money to the most “highly measured” advertiser when there are “economic difficulties,” he said recent at a briefing in Beijing.

Google, which generates about half its sales from outside the US, said operations overseas, including the Chinese market, are “well positioned” to cope with a US slowdown. Mountain View, California-based Google’s shares have fallen 37 percent this year after climbing 50 percent in 2007, amid concern the world’s largest economy is in recession, Bloomberg News said.

“We think the Chinese online advertising market is one of the best places to be,” said Elinor Leung, an analyst at CLSA Ltd in Hong Kong. “Even if the US slows, China is still going to see quite strong economic growth.” Leung has a “buy” rating on Baidu.com Inc, China’s biggest search site.

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