Pen power: China closer to ballpoint success www.bbc.com

It has sent rockets into space, produced millions of the world's smartphones and built high-speed trains. But until now, one bit of manufacturing had perhaps unexpectedly eluded China: the ballpoint pen.
A year ago Premier Li Keqiang went on national television and bemoaned the failure of his country to produce a good quality version of this seemingly-simple implement.
Locally-made versions felt "rough" compared to those from Germany, Switzerland and Japan, Mr Li complained.
High precision
The problem was not the body of the pen, but the tip - the tiny ball that dispenses ink as you write.
It might be something we take for granted, but making them requires high-precision machinery and very hard, ultra-thin steel plates.
Put simply, China's steel has not been good enough. And it has struggled to shape its pen tips accurately.

Without that ability, China's 3,000 penmakers have had to import this crucial component from abroad, costing the industry a reported 120m yuan ($17.3m; £14.3m) a year.
But according to People's Daily, the state-owned Taiyuan Iron and Steel Co thinks it has cracked the problem, after five years of research.
The first batch of 2.3-millimetre ballpoint pen tips has recently rolled off its production lines, the paper says.
And once lab tests are completed, it's expected China could phase out pen tip imports completely within two years.
Symbolic
On one level, whether China can make a great pen is not hugely important in the scheme of things.
High-tech and innovative manufacturing lie at the heart of the central government's Made in China 2025 programme - designed to help domestic growth.
Relatively low-value items, like ballpoint pens, have not been a priority.

European firms have dominated the ballpoint pen industry at both the top and lower ends of the market
Despite producing more than half of the world's crude iron and steel, China has still heavily relied on imports for high-grade steel.
It was a failing that Mr Li said highlighted the need to upgrade China's manufacturing capabilities.
Different culture
"Historically, China has never been able to do precision engineering very well and the ballpoint pen is an example of that," says Professor George Huang, head of the University of Hong Kong's department of industrial and mechanical engineering.
"Its parts are so small and very precise, and it's not easy to solve this problem"
Precision engineering is thriving only in certain sectors such as aerospace and defence where the government has placed a high priority, says Prof Huang.
Even when it comes to smartphones and computers, the high end computer chips are usually imported from Japan and Taiwan.
Prof Huang says that China lacks a culture of excellence in precision engineering.
He uses the Mandarin term "fucao" or "floating grass", a euphemism for something that is not 100% solid or reliable.
"The culture is different from the Japanese and Germans," he says, who are known for innovation in engineering.
"We Chinese are supposed to be craftsmen, but somehow the spirit is not as good."

Russian Elite $29Bln Richer After Trump Election Victory www.themoscowtimes.com

Russia’s wealthiest have seen their fortunes grow by $29 billion since the election of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in November, Forbes magazine reported Tuesday.

New technology products against air pollution introduced www.gogo.mn

With an aim to reduce air pollution, new technologies to provide households with electric heating and to improve insulation of houses and gers are being introduced. A technology fair, where over 50 companies displayed their products, opened yesterday at ‘Misheel expo’ expo hall. The Government made decision to provide ger district residents with free electricity for nighttime use and the fair has been organized to help people to choose products.
Electric heaters, air cleaning equipment, compressed fuels made of industry waste including sawdust and shell of nuts, and masks are on display. Products which developed by Mongolian engineers or co-produced with foreign companies attracted the visitors of the fair. 
 ‘Arya’ company introduced its set of insulation materials for Mongolian traditional ger. This new technology based insulation materials have been proved with tests that it keeps warm equal to 6- layer felt covering. “- The inner layer is made of aluminum laminate/shield and outer layer is of water resistant synthetic polystrol. In addition, our set contains floor insulation material, which is useable instead of wooden floor. Using the set, allows ger to get warm in short period and the warm can be kept for some 12 hours. Price of our set is MNT1.250.000, which means cheaper than traditional materials for ger warming and insulation” said director of ‘Arya’ company Z.Zoljargal. The company also offers to customers its eco-stove pipe, which impulses to complete combustion of fuels and filters smoke.
Prime Minister J.Erdenebat and Minister of Environment, Green Development and Tourism D.Oyunkhorol visited the fair and the Prime Minister promised to meet the company delegates in the near future to discuss the effectiveness of their product and how to introduce their new technology products.

ICBC to Open Its Office in Mongolia www.montsame.mn

The Board of Directors of the Central bank of Mongolia has made a decision to grant Industrial and Commercial Bank of China /ICBC/ a permission to open its representative office in Mongolia in 2017, on January 5. According to the Banking law of Mongolia, the representative office of a foreign bank is prohibited to undertake banking activities without a license of the Bank of Mongolia. The office in Mongolia will engage in representational and administrative functions on behalf of the ICBC.

Mongolian woman climbs all ‘Seven Summits’ www.news.mn

Mountaineer B.Gangaamaa has returned to Mongolia after successfully climbing the Mount Vinson Massif, the highest peak of Antarctica. In reaching her goal, she became the first Mongolian woman to conquer the mountain and the first Mongolian "Seven Summiteer."

Danish man threatens to blow up Canadian Embassy in Ulaanbaatar www.news.mn

Mongolian law enforcement officers have arrested a Danish man who allegedly threatened to explode a bomb in the Central Tower, located in the heart of Ulaanbaatar. The incident occurred on Monday 9th of January at 16:00 p.m. following an argument with an employee of the Embassy of Canada, which is located on the 6th floor of the building. Evidently, the Danish citizen wanted to see the Canadian Ambassador but was barred by the employee after which the bizarre threat was made. Central Tower security guards called the police and officers from the Sukhbaatar District Police Department quickly arrived on scene. More information is expected to emerge regarding the incident.

‘Erdenes TT’ to sell coal for USD 59.3 per tonne www.news.mn

Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (Erdenes TT) is to sell coal for USD 59.3 per tonne at the East Tsankhi block in first quarter of 2017. The pricing decision was made on the basis of the coal pricing index and the coal market price. In December, a Mongolian Government and Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi working group revised the agreement with TT JV Co to raise the average selling price for coal by 85% in December. The coal price will be same at the East Tsankhi block until the second quarter of 2017.

11th Annual International Mongolian Studies conference to be held www.gogo.mn

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and USA, the 11th Annual International Mongolian Studies Conference will take place on January 27-28, at the Embassy of Mongolia to the USA and the Library of Congress of US.
The conference under the theme “Mongolia-US Relations; Past, Present and Future” will be hosted by the Mongolian Cultural Center and Embassy of Mongolia in Washington. Scholars and Mongolists from Mongolia, the US, Russia, China and Canada will attend to deliver speeches on issues of the US-Mongolia bilateral relations, history, language and literature of Mongolia and Mongolians in the USA.
Some of the speeches to be given at the event are ’30 years of US-Mongolian relations-trends’, ‘The significance of Mongolia’s third neighbor foreign policy’, ‘Contribution of Buddhist Monks for the Mongolia-US relations’, ‘Exploring the Significance of Values-based Leadership Development in Mongolian Higher Education’, ‘The First Draft of History has a Poor Memory: The Dilowa Khutughtu in American Journalism’, ‘Online News Consumption Habit in Mongolian American Community’, ‘Critical Discourse Analysis of Social Media Communication in Mongolian American Communities’ and ‘Category of ‘Unpleasantness’ in Mongolian Language.

Alibaba leads $2.55 billion bid for Chinese retailer Intime www.reuters.com

E-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N) and the founder of Intime Retail Group Co Ltd (1833.HK) have jointly bid to take the Chinese department store operator private for HK$19.79 billion ($2.55 billion), the partners said on Tuesday.

Gildan wins American Apparel auction with $88 million bid - source www.reuters.com

Canadian apparel maker Gildan Activewear Inc (GIL.TO) has won a bankruptcy auction for U.S. fashion retailer American Apparel LLC after raising its offer to around $88 million, a person familiar with the matter said Monday.