Society

Hong Kong's securities regulator is seeking a court order to freeze assets of China Forestry Holdings Co. Chief Executive Li Hanchun, who sold a stake in the company just two weeks before trading in its shares was halted and possible accounting irregularities were disclosed.

The Securities and Futures Commission is also applying for a High Court order restraining Mr. Li from dealing in China Forestry's shares "whilst in possession of unpublished information about accounting irregularities in the company," according to a court document filed Monday.

The latest move underscores the regulator's efforts to fight market misconduct following several high-profile criminal prosecutions of insider-dealing activity in recent years.

China Forestry, which was listed in December 2009 and counts private-equity firm Carlyle Group LLC as a major shareholder, said Jan. 13 that Mr. Li had sold 119 million of the company's shares at 3.35 Hong Kong dollars (43 U.S. cents) each in a placement handled by Standard Chartered PLC, raising HK$398.7 million (US$51.2 million). With the transaction, Mr. Li's stake in the company fell to 2.46% from 3.9%.

China plans to sell 600 billion yuan ($91 billion) worth of welfare lotteries from 2011 to 2015, up 73.6 percent from the past five years, an official from the Welfare Lottery Distribution and Management Center (WLDMC) has said.

The sales of welfare lotteries posted an annual increase of 18.7 percent over the past five years, from 41.2 billion yuan in 2006 to 96.8 billion in 2010, the official said.

The sales totalled 345.53 billion yuan from 2006 to 2010.

Beijing will embrace its first snow this winter during the coming 24 hours, which arrives as the latest snowfall in 60 years, China's meteorological authority forecast Wednesday.

Beijng has had no precipitation for 108 days, as of Wednesday, making this winter the longest snow-free season on record in the past 60 years, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said in a statement on its website.

Affected by a cold front moving eastward, light snow is forecast throughout the entire city during Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Most parts of the city will have snowfall of one to two millimeters.

On the heels of Forbes’ meeting with the World Bank comes news that China has surpassed the World Bank in lending to the developing world. The Financial Times estimates that over the past two years, China has made an estimated $110 billion worth of loans to Africa, South America and the Middle East. With China taking center stage in the U.S. political arena, could it also be taking over the globalization agenda?

The development goals of China stand in stark contrast to those of the World Bank according to Jamie Metzl, executive vice president of the Asia Society. “The key difference between World Bank loans and China’s loans is that Chinese investments are not being made from an economic perspective, but from a strategic and national security one. China has national security motives in gaining access to natural resources and in gaining political support.” Sudan, for example, sells two-thirds of its oil to China and in exchange is provided with tanks, combat aircraft, small arms and investment funds, despite the civil conflict and human rights violations in Darfur. In 2007, Chinese President Hu Jintao announced that China would forgive $70 million in Sudanese debt and enter into a series of bilateral economic deals, including an interest-free loan of $12.9 million for a new presidential palace.