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Insurance group buys the Waldorf

China's Anbang Insurance Group has bought the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York for $1.95 billion (1.54 billion euros) from Hilton Worldwide Holdings.

It is the largest amount paid for a US hotel, according to research firm Lodging Econometrics, and the highest price paid by a Chinese buyer for a US property, according to commercial real estate brokerage CBRE Group.

Once the purchase of the landmark 60,000-square-foot property is completed, Chinese investors will have spent $2.7 billion on New York-area real estate in 2014, exceeding last year's total by $100 million, according to Real Capital Analytics, a research firm that tracks commercial real estate sales.

The purchase is Anbang's first major deal in the United States, and The Wall Street Journal reported that it had to beat two rival bidders.

The historic hotel has been the top-choice accommodation for a series of Chinese leaders and celebrities including former leaders Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao.

GM to sink $14b into China over five years

General Motors is to invest $14 billion (11 billion euros) in China over the next five years and open five new manufacturing plants to increase annual sales to nearly five million vehicles.

The plans also include introducing 60 new models or revamped vehicles, including nine new models from its flagship luxury brand Cadillac, said Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra.

She revealed the details during a presentation to investors and financial analysts at a GM plant in Milford, Michigan, that centered on some of the company's biggest ever initiatives planned until the end of the decade.

Tim Dunne, director of automotive industry analytics for global market research firm JD Power and Associates, described the China details as "a substantial investment".

"GM is still among those at the forefront in China in terms of annual vehicle sales volume. Everyone is expecting vehicle sales to grow there."

Champion of disabled wins global honor

Zhang Haidi, a role model for China's disabled, has been elected the new leader of the disability rights organization Rehabilitation International.

Her appointment demonstrates global approval for China as it strives to improve life for its disabled population, said the China Disabled Persons' Federation, of which she is chairman.

The 59-year old has used a wheelchair since contracting a spinal disease at age 5. She taught herself several languages during childhood and has been a national role model since the 1980s.

"I want to share China's experience in improving the welfare of its handicapped population with other countries, especially developing ones, and present them with better rehabilitation services," Zhang told Xinhua News Agency.

She added she plans to promote cooperation between her federation and other organizations in the world and help China play a bigger and more effective role in the affairs of disabled people.

Most HK residents oppose protest: survey

More than two-thirds of Hong Kong residents do not support the occupation of key traffic routes, according to a survey conducted during the first five days of the recent protests in the city.

The Hong Kong Research Association found 67 percent of 1,361 respondents did not support the occupations, in telephone surveys conducted between Sept 30 and Oct 5. More than half of the respondents said blockades in Mong Kok, Causeway Bay and Admiralty had affected their daily lives, while 46 percent said the protest had tarnished Hong Kong's international image.

Just under half of the respondents said Hong Kong's prospects would be no better or worse after the crisis was resolved, while only 17 percent believed the city's lot would improve after the occupations ended.

PLA begins three-way exercise with US

China, the United States and Australia started their first trilateral military exercise on Oct 6.

Five soldiers from the US Marine Corps, and 10 each from the People's Liberation Army and the Australian Army are taking part in the survival training exercise known as KOWARI 14.

Fan Changlong, vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission, visited Australia from July 16 to 19, when the two sides formally announced the military exercise, which will run until Oct 25.

Australian Defence Minister David Johnston said: "The exercise demonstrates the willingness of Australia, China and the United States to work together in practical ways."

Meanwhile, the US has strengthened its six-decade alliance with Australia by announcing it will double its 1,200 elite soldiers there by 2020, boost live-fire exercises and increase naval visits.

British-Irish visa plan to benefit Chinese

Britain and Ireland have signed a memorandum of understanding to allow Chinese and Indian visitors to travel to the two countries on a single visa.

The deal will see them share data and exchange information to inform and determine immigration decisions, and allow visitors from India and China to travel more easily between the two, the British Home Office said.

The visa will be available in China by the end of this month and in India soon after.

China and India are both key markets for British and Irish tourism, and more than 10,000 visitors are expected to use the program.

Lack of doctors hampering reform

Private hospitals in China's overburdened public healthcare system say they are experiencing a shortage of doctors, which could dent the country's reform drive, just as more private investors are expressing interest in the market.

The Chinese private healthcare sector is set to more than double by the end of the decade to $600 billion (475 billion euros), according to figures from consultancy firm Bain & Co.

Part of the shortage is being caused by doctors having to gain the permission of state-owned hospitals where they work, before they can accept jobs in the private sector.

Charles Elcan, president of Chinaco Healthcare Corp, whose 500-bed hospital in Cixi, Zhejiang province, admitted its first patient in July, said public hospitals do not want to let their best doctors go, so they dig in their heels.

"Some are very open and support it, but some don't," he said. "It's a challenge."

World Bank cuts China's growth forecast

The World Bank has cut its growth forecast for China to 7.4 percent in 2014 and 7.2 percent next year.

"Measures to contain local government debt, curb shadow banking and tackle excess capacity, high energy demand and high pollution will reduce investment and manufacturing output," it said.

But Sudhir Shetty, chief economist for the bank's East Asia and Pacific region, insisted the situation was not negative.

"China's economic slowdown will be gradual; it's not the bottom falling out of China's growth," Shetty said, adding that other countries would not be dramatically impacted.

"The main message of this report is one that I would categorize as cautious optimism," Shetty said.

Possible global risks include a weaker-than-expected recovery in trade and an abrupt rise in global interest rates, the bank's report said, noting that its baseline scenario was based on an orderly normalization of monetary policy in the United States.

(China Daily European Weekly 10/10/2014 page2)