As reported by Fuels and Lubes, KH Neochem Co., Ltd. is constructing a
new manufacturing plant to make raw materials for refrigeration
lubricants in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The Japanese
company has two plants: one in a petrochemical complex in Yokkaichi and
the other in the Keiyo Rinkai area in Chiba. “Recently, there has been
growing demand for KH Neochem’s refrigeration lubricant raw materials
due to the expansion of the air conditioner market in emerging countries
and the shift to environmentally friendly refrigerants to protect the
ozone layer and prevent global warming,” said the FuelsandLubes.com
report. “Refrigeration lubricant is a lubricating oil used to circulate
refrigerants inside air conditioners. With the tightening of
international environmental regulations, demand for environmentally
friendly refrigeration lubricants is expected to grow further in the
future.” Construction will begin in June, with completion expected in
July 2024.
Shanghai-based MicroPort Scientific Corp., a maker of drug-eluting
stents and other medical devices, announced in November it would
establish this HQ for the Americas in Irvine, where it will “house the
Miracle Point Southern California Innovation Center and Intelligent
Manufacturing Base” and form a “MicroPort U.S. Triangle” with R&D and
manufacturing sites in Boston and Memphis. An intelligent production
line of coronary stent products is planned to complete installation and
trial runs within two years with large-scale mass production capacity.
Global shipments of the company’s coronary stent systems are expected to
exceed 1.2 million this year. “MicroPort will continue to invest US$200
million in Southern California in the next five years, and create around
500 high-quality jobs to further support the local communities,” said
Jonathan Chen, the company’s chief international business officer. The
company further stated that its U.S. triangle would complement R&D and
manufacturing in Greater China, UK, France, Italy and Spain, to form the
“MicroPort Global Triangle” of R&D and production centers in Asia,
Europe and Americas.
The Tax Foundation last week ranked European OECD countries on cross-border tax rules in the last part of a
series examining the five components of its International Tax Competitiveness Index. The
UK’s cross-border tax system ranks the highest, while Slovakia’s ranks
the lowest. “Like most OECD countries,” says the Foundation, “the UK
operates a territorial tax system, fully exempting foreign-earned
dividends and capital gains from domestic taxation.”
Photo by BAI Yu, Shenzhen Luohan
Photography Studio, courtesy of Crossboundaries and v2com
This image from design firm Crossboundaries captures the multitude of
activities unfolding at Shenzhen Nanshan Sky Park in the Chinese
megalopolis of nearly 17 million. The project was commissioned by the
local government to occupy the rooftop of the southern terminal and
depot of Shenzhen’s Metro Line 2, which extends for 1.2 km.
(three-quarters of a mile). The metro line leads to Shekou, a major
crossing point across Shenzhen Bay to neighboring Hong Kong by ferry,
bus, car, or train. The project was designed to serve several
neighboring schools; the leisure sports needs of the general public; and
the facility requirements of pro sports events with an audience. In
total, for all of the schools, five tennis and six basketball courts, as
well as two five-a-side fields, were constructed, along with several
running tracks. The competition and training area for professionals was
equipped with two lawn courts, six competitive tennis courts, four
training and two clay courts, and two volleyball courts. The community
segment features green areas, as well as a full-size soccer field.
“Our linear park is like a missing puzzle that plugs into the
neighboring communities,” says Binke Lenhardt, co-founder of
Crossboundaries, with offices in Beijing and Frankfurt, Germany. “It
creates the necessary physical and visual link between the urban tissue
and the seaside and, along the way, aims to satisfy the schools’ and the
public’s ever growing need for recreational spaces and room to breathe
in a dense, urban environment.”
