• briefing asia infrastructure aug 15, 2006 • briefing asia energy aug 15, 2006

investments in manufacturing.
Even supporters of expanded ties between Africa and China express concern. "They are selling. They are trading. They are not producing locally," said Victor N. Chibundu, a former Nigerian ambassador to China who is now chairman of the Nigeria-China Friendship Association, based in Lagos.
In that way, analysts say, burgeoning Chinese business interests are following a pattern long established in Africa: Foreign powers treat the continent mainly as a source of raw materials and a market for finished goods.
Those with money to spend benefit from the cheaper, more abundant products, but most of the jobs are created elsewhere, in factories thousands of miles away.
"There's no question that for upper classes, it's a boon," said Neva Seidman Makgetla, an economist for the Congress of South African Trade Unions, speaking from Pretoria. "The problem is any lower-class South Africans would rather have a job."
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Document WP00000020060613e26d0001y

www.growthstockanalyst.com , Stocks To Watch: SOEN, ADVC, XKEM, MNCP, HLSH
2,067 words

12 June 2006

M2 Presswire

MTPW

English

(c) 2006 M2 Communications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Stocks To Watch: Solar EnerTech Corp. (OTCBB: SOEN), Advanced Communications Technologies Inc. (OTCBB: ADVC), Xechem international Inc. (OTCBB: XKEM), Motient Corp. (PinkSheets: MNCP), HealthSouth Corp. (PinkSheets: HLSH)
FEATURED STOCK: Solar EnerTech Corp.
Ticker Symbol SOEN: Current Price (1.70) http://www.solarenertech.com
MENLO PARK, CA - Solar EnerTech Corp. (OTC BB: SOEN.OB - News) announces its support of the Solar America Initiative proposing the largest funding increase for solar energy research in U.S. budget history. President Bush's Fiscal Year 2007 Budget proposes a new $148 million Solar America Initiative with a 78% increase of $65 million over Fiscal Year 2006 appropriations for solar energy technology. Solar EnerTech is focused on the development and manufacture of quality solar cells, applications and advanced technologies and applauds the U.S. Department of Energy's commitment to clean solar energy.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy the Solar America Initiative is designed to accelerate the development of advanced photovoltaic (PV) materials that convert sunlight directly to electricity, with the goal of making solar PV cost-competitive with other forms of renewable electricity by 2015. The goal of the initiative is to generate enough solar energy by 2015 to provide 5 to10 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power 1 to 2 million homes.
Solar EnerTech is working to meet the growing worldwide demand for solar energy. Solar electric energy demand has grown consistently by 25% every year for the past 15 years. World solar PV market installations reached a record high of 1,460 megawatts in 2005, representing annual growth of 34% (MarketBuzz). Worldwide the solar PV industry generated approximately $6.5 billion in revenue in 2004 and is expected to reach $9.9 billion in 2006 and $18.6 billion in 2010 (SolarBuzz). Like the U.S.'s Solar America Initiative, many countries are implementing programs and policies in support of clean energy and government support is one factor driving industry growth and market adoption.
As recently announced, construction of Solar EnerTech's new state-of-the-art solar cell manufacturing plant in Shanghai is running ahead of schedule and within budget. The projected production capacity for its facility is estimated at an output of 20 megawatts per production line. At current prices this projection translates into roughly $37.5 million dollars in annual revenue per line. The Company's strategic plan is to have the initial 20 megawatts in production by fourth quarter of this year.
About Solar EnerTech Corp. (SOEN.OB)
Solar EnerTech is a photovoltaic (PV) solar energy cell manufacturing enterprise based in Shanghai, China where the Company is establishing a sophisticated 42,000 square foot manufacturing and research facility in Shanghai's Jinqiao Modern Science and Technology Park. Solar EnerTech plans to invest in PV cell research to develop higher efficiency cells and put the results of that research to use immediately in its manufacturing processes. Led by one of the industry's top scientists, the Company's R&D program will work to bring Solar EnerTech to the forefront of advanced solar technology research and production. The Company has also established a marketing, purchasing and distribution arm in Northern California's Silicon Valley.
SmallCapVoice.com, Inc. announced that a new audio interview is available at SmallCapVoice.com. The featured guest is Leo S. Young, President of Solar EnerTech Corp. (OTC BB:SOEN.OB). Mr. Young stopped by to discuss all of the Company's recent news as well as providing a strong outlook for the Company in 2006. The interview can be heard here at http://www.smallcapvoice.com/soen/soen-6-2-06.html .
China 3C Group Ticker Symbol CHCG: Current Price (6.20) www.growthstockanalyst.com
China 3C Group is a large-scale enterprise integrating the selling, circulation and modern logistics of 3C product (Communication Product, information technology products and digital products) in China through its two subsidiaries: Yiwu Yong Xin Telecommunication Company Limited, which is an authorized sales agent, focusing on the selling, circulation and modern logistics of fax machines and cord phone products in China, and Hangzhou Wang Da Electronics Company Limited, which is an authorized sales agent focusing on the selling, circulation and modern logistics of cell phones, cell phones products, IT products (including notebook or laptop computers), and digital products (including digital cameras, digital camcorders, MP3 players, PDA, flash disks, and removable hard disks) in China.
For in-depth analyst report please visit : www.growthstockanalyst.com
Ticker Symbol ADVC: Current Price (0.0021) www.growthstockanalyst.com
Advanced Communications Technologies, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary, Encompass Group Affiliates, Inc., provides repair, refurbishment, and recycling services to the computer peripheral and consumer electronics market worldwide. It offers advance exchange, depot repair, call center support, and parts and warranty management services for technical products, such as office equipment, fax machines, printers, scanners, laptop computers, monitors, and multifunction units, as well as consumer electronics, such as personal digital assistants and digital cameras. The company also sells parts, accessories, and consumable supplies to dealers and end-users. It offers its services to third-party warranty companies, original equipment manufacturers, national retailers, and national office equipment dealers. The company was founded by Randall Prouty in 1997 and is based in New York City.
Ticker Symbol XKEM: Current Price (0.0315) www.growthstockanalyst.com
Xechem International, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, and production of generic and proprietary drugs from natural sources. Its principal product under development is NICOSAN/HEMOXIN, which would be used for the treatment of sickle cell disease. The company also applies its proprietary extraction, isolation, and purification technology to the production and manufacture of Paclitaxel, which is an anti-cancer compound used for the treatment of ovarian, breast, small cell lung cancers, and AIDS-related kaposi sarcomas. In addition, Xechem International engages in the research and development of other compounds using traditional medicinal plants, microbial fermentation, or semisynthesis to produce anti-cancer, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, and memory-enhancing compounds. It operates in the United States, India, the People's Republic of China, and Nigeria. The company was founded by Ramesh C. Pandey in 1994. Xechem International is headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Ticker Symbol MNCP: Current Price (15.00) www.growthstockanalyst.com
Motient Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership, operation, and development of two-way wireless communications businesses in the United States. The company owns and operates a wireless radio data network that provides wireless mobile data service. It provides two-way mobile Internet services, including its own eLink SM wireless email service; and BlackBerry, which provides personal consumers and corporate customers with wireless access to various email and information services; wireless data systems used by companies involved in data transmission and processing, used to connect remote equipment, such as wireless point-of-sale terminals, with a central monitoring facility; and mobile data and mobile management systems used by transportation and other companies to wirelessly coordinate remote, mobile assets, and personnel. The company provides mobile satellite-based communications services, which allow customers access to satellite-based wireless data, voice, fax, and dispatch radio services in North and Central America and in various coastal waters. It provides iMotient Solutions that enable the company's customers to use multiple networks, via a single connection to its back-office systems, providing a one-source alternative for development, device management, and billing across multiple networks, including GPRS, 1XRTT, and DataTac. The company's customers include companies from various markets, including transportation and package delivery, telemetry and point of sale, wireless Internet, and field services. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois.
Ticker Symbol HLSH: Current Price (4.00) www.growthstockanalyst.com
HealthSouth Corporation provides ambulatory surgery and rehabilitative health care services in the United States. The company's Inpatient segment operates inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFS), long-term acute care hospitals (LTCH), home health, and skilled nursing units, as well as provides treatment on both an inpatient and outpatient basis. Its Surgery Centers segment operates ambulatory surgery centers that provide facilities and medical support staff necessary for physicians to perform nonemergency surgical procedures in various specialties, such as orthopedic, GI, ophthalmology, plastic, and general surgery. HealthSouth's Outpatient segment operates outpatient rehabilitation facilities and outpatient facilities owned by other health care providers that it maintains. Its outpatient centers offer a range of rehabilitative health care services, including physical therapy and occupational therapy, with a focus on orthopedic, sports-related, work-related, hand and spine injuries, and various neurological/neuromuscular conditions. The company's Diagnostic segment operates diagnostic imaging centers, which provide outpatient diagnostic imaging services, such as MRI services, CT services, X-ray services, ultrasound services, mammography services, nuclear medicine services, and fluoroscopy. As of December 31, 2005, HealthSouth operated 93 IRFs and 10 LTCHs; 620 outpatient rehabilitation facilities; 158 ambulatory surgery centers and 3 surgical hospitals; and 85 diagnostic centers. The company was founded 1983 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.
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Document MTPW000020060612e26c0043c
Global Economy

As China Rises, So Does Its Risk Doing business in unstable countries has made Beijing a target.

Ian Bremmer

1,366 words

12 June 2006

Fortune Asian Edition

FORTUI

30

English

Copyright (c) 2006 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
ON APRIL 29, a call from a mobile phone detonated a car bomb near an oil refinery in the southern Nigerian city of Warri. No one was killed, but the effects of the blast were felt as far away as Beijing. "We wish to warn the Chinese government and its oil companies to steer well clear of the Niger Delta," a Nigerian militia group wrote in an e-mail to the media claiming credit for the attack. "Chinese citizens found in oil installations will be treated as thieves. The Chinese government, by investing in stolen crude, places its citizens in our line of fire."
How did China find itself in the crosshairs of the Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta, a group it once might have praised for its revolutionary fervor? Nearly three decades ago the Chinese Communist Party renounced its commitment to Marxist economic principles and began embracing market capitalism and soliciting foreign investment to fuel its economic growth. The collapse of the Soviet Union reinforced the party's conviction that only by providing the Chinese people with a rising standard of living could the state ensure lasting stability for its authoritarian system. Now Beijing recognizes that attracting foreign investment is no longer sufficient and that it must promote Chinese investment overseas in the quest for energy and other resources needed to sustain development. Which means Chinese companies and workers are active all over the world, involving them in the political turmoil of other states.
China has suffered attacks on its citizens working abroad before. In May 2004 three Chinese engineers working on a port construction project in Pakistan were killed in a car-bomb attack. Militants seeking autonomy for their province targeted the Chinese workers to protest Beijing's participation in a project they believed would exploit local resources and enrich the Pakistani government. A month later 11 Chinese railroad workers were murdered at a construction site in northern Afghanistan. And in October of that year two Chinese engineers were kidnapped by Pakistani terrorists. One of the hostages died during a botched rescue attempt. In response to the attacks, the Chinese government created a Department of External Security Affairs, charged in part with the protection of China's overseas assets and its citizens working abroad.
In short, the party's "go out" policy to boost Chinese investment abroad has exposed Beijing for the first time to substantial international political risks. China is especially vulnerable because its companies have forged agreements with a number of relatively unstable states that Western companies prefer to avoid, such as Iran, Sudan, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe. Willingness to sign long- term deals with such nations compels China to manage new kinds of threats to its interests and often brings Beijing into political conflict with the U.S. and the European Union.
Nigeria, an oil-rich state in which Western energy firms are struggling to maintain a secure foothold, is the most recent challenge. Niger Delta militia groups, which have shut in about a quarter of Nigeria's oil production, have no ideological grievance with China. But to pressure President Olusegun Obasanjo's government to share more oil revenue with impoverished Delta residents, they have stepped up attacks against foreign firms operating in the area. The warning to China was made just after President Hu Jintao visited Nigeria, where he and Obasanjo agreed on a number of deals, including one that provides Chinese companies with four oil- exploration licenses in return for a $4 billion investment in Nigeria's infrastructure. Three days later the bomb went off.
During the trip Hu told African journalists that his government adheres to a "principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of other states." Beijing believes this principle gives China a competitive advantage in countries where Western companies are constrained by their governments' concerns for democratic reform and human-rights protections. In exchange for access to the resources China needs, these states receive more than China's abundant cash and engineering expertise; they also win protection from Western pressure. Beijing says it will not support tough sanctions on Iran meant to force Tehran to renounce its nuclear ambitions. It has vetoed UN sanctions on Sudan intended to pressure Khartoum into halting government-sponsored violence in its Darfur region. And its investments in Zimbabwe help that country's dictator, Robert Mugabe, resist calls for reform.
Beijing has not yet paid a heavy price for investing in states buffeted by conflicts over control of precious resources. But as its international presence and profile grow, it is increasingly vulnerable to the political risks that developed states have managed for years. Nigeria is plagued by precisely this sort of unrest. The warnings from the country's best-armed and best-organized militant group reveal that Beijing is wrong to believe that noninterference in politics shields it from turmoil in developing nations. Its state- owned companies certainly have the cash to win friends among these countries' elites. But managing threats posed by powerful militia groups is another matter.
In the longer term, as China's overseas assets become subject to the kinds of threats facing more developed states, the party will probably diversify more of its investment portfolio toward countries with relatively mature market economies. That's good news for the U.S. and the EU: Greater investments in such states may force Beijing to adhere more faithfully to established economic rules of the road. And it makes sense for China, since attacks by militant groups aren't the only challenges for Beijing's foreign investment strategy. In a number of countries, workers have expressed frustrations over rising unemployment in textile and manufacturing sectors caused by the flood of low-cost Chinese imports and the presence of large numbers of Chinese workers on Beijing-financed construction projects. In September 2004, for example, hundreds of Spaniards took to the streets to protest job losses to Chinese competition in the country's shoemaking industry. Demonstrators badly damaged two Chinese-owned warehouses and set fire to a truck owned by a Chinese businessman. Others unfurled banners that read CHINESE OUT.
Meanwhile, Beijing's efforts to block Western sanctions against states like Iran and Sudan contribute to the already significant pressure within the U.S. Congress for punitive trade legislation aimed at China. To the extent that Beijing continues to pursue an investment strategy that brings it into conflict with Washington, there may be an increasingly steep economic price for China to pay at a time when its economy remains vulnerable to global economic volatility.
In the short term it's unlikely any of these emerging threats to Chinese growth will mature quickly enough to force Beijing to reverse its course. The "go out" strategy has paid remarkable dividends and will continue to do so. But over the longer term Beijing will discover that its aggressive international