CHINA

Baby Formula

China has unveiled a blueprint to consolidate its fragmented infant formula industry, indicating that the sector would have about 10 producers with each having an annual sales revenue of more than 2 billion yuan ($326.3 million) by 2015.

According to the blueprint, the sector will be revamped in two phases. By 2015, the top 10 domestic producers will account for 65 percent of the market share and by 2018, there will be three to five producers with more than 5 billion yuan ($815.7 million) in annual sales revenue, with the market share growing to 80 percent.

To realize the goals, the blueprint stipulates several policy measures, including strict rules and regulations for industry access and production. China's formula industry was dealt a massive blow in 2008 following a scandal when 59 babies in the northwestern Gansu Province were diagnosed with kidney stones after drinking locally made tainted infant formula.

Kenya

Tourism Charm Offensive

Kenya's tourism marketers have launched a global online media campaign on tourism recovery as part of the strategies to reassure tourists of the country's safety in the wake of repeated terrorism attacks in the country. The campaign under the hashtag headline "Why I Love Kenya" will see Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) rally tourists, celebrities, corporate bodies, and friends of tourism sector to tell the world about the uniqueness of the country despite the earlier travel advisories issued by a few Western countries.

The campaign will cover the continent of Africa and all the main markets in Europe. The move comes against the backdrop of travel warnings issued by some of the foreign missions from the top tourist source markets, a situation that has damaged the Kenya's image. CA

China and Tanzania

Geo-Parks Cooperation

Wudalianchi World Geo-Park in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province closed a deal in early June to partner Tanzania's East Usambara.

Qu Shuguang, head of the Scenic Management Committee at Wudalianchi, said the two sides will exchange volcanic specimens, biological research, tourism development ideas and ways to popularize science.

Wudalianchi literally means five volcano lakes. It is designated as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 2003. East Usambara was designated as a UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve in 2000. The reserve has developed ecotourism as an additional income source for locals. CA

South Africa

Credit Rating Downgrade

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) has lowered South Africa's long-term foreign currency credit rating by one level, from BBB to BBB-.

"The downgrade reflects our expectation of lackluster GDP growth in South Africa, against a backdrop of relatively high current account deficits, rising general government debt, and the potential volatility and cost of external financing," the agency said in a research update. BBB means a government has "adequate capacity to meet financial commitments, but more subject to adverse economic conditions."

Market participants see BBB- as the lowest investment grade. S&P said a prolonged strike in the platinum sector, as well as weak domestic and external demand, led GDP to contract in the first quarter of 2014 and is likely to depress the second-quarter GDP growth. "We are therefore lowering the long-term foreign currency rating on South Africa to BBB- from BBB and the long-term local currency rating to BBB+ from A-," said S&P. CA

Zimbabwe

Economic Downturn

A senior official of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe warned in late May that Zimbabwe's economic growth could slip into negative territory in the next year or two if structural bottlenecks affecting the economy are not urgently addressed.

Simon Nyarota, a senior division chief for the Economics, Research and Policy Enhancement Department, told delegates at the annual general meeting of Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries that Zimbabwe's economic growth since 2012 has been volatile and was projected to dip further in 2014.

The country registered positive economic growth rates of about 10 percent annually between 2009 and 2011 following the adoption of multiple currencies, but since 2012 growth has slowed down to below 5 percent due to depressed foreign investment inflows. CA

China

Judicial Fairness

Lawyers and legal experts will have the chance to be selected as judges and prosecutors to enhance justice capacity, according to a judicial reform pilot project.

Different from the past when justice staff members were nominated by local county and city authorities, judges and prosecutors will be selected by a council of provincial authorities, consisting of legal professionals, including judges, prosecutors, lawyers and legal experts, according to the guideline of the pilot project unveiled in June.

Besides, justice workers' salaries will also be paid by provincial authorities to prevent low-level government departments from interfering in lawsuits. The pilot project will be put into practice soon in Shanghai Municipality and Guangdong, Jilin, Hubei, Hainan and Qinghai provinces. CA

China

Horticultural Expo

Beijing won the bid to host the 2019 International Horticultural Exposition through voting by all the 168 members of the Association of International Horticultural Producers at its 155th Congress in Paris in June.

The expo is an A1-rating exposition and focuses on a healthy lifestyle. The 162-day event will be held from April 29 to October 7, 2019 in Yanqing County. The venue will cover 960 hectares. The Chinese Government has already gained useful experience from the staging of the Horticultural Exhibition in Kunming in 1999 and the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010. CA

China

Deeper Media Cooperation

China will step up media cooperation with African countries according to the Second Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation held in Beijing on June 16.

More than 260 delegates from 42 African countries attended the forum, including government ministers and leaders of radio and television organizations.

A total of 19 cooperation agreements were signed during the forum between China and African countries, including authorizing Chinese TV programs with media agencies in Mali and Sudan, among others.

As a major partner in the digital migration undertaking in Tanzania, China's private Startimes constructed digital platform and infrastructure for digital terrestrial broadcasting in the African country.

"These early undertakings enabled Tanzania to be the first African country south of the Sahara to switch off the analogue transmitters. Tanzania has since then played host to a number of African countries for benchmarking their digital migration process," said Tanzanian Minister of Information, Youth, Culture and Sports Fenella Mukangara.