According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China the Chinese economy surged 10.9% year-on-year in the first half of this year. The booming construction and bank loans could ignite inflation - driven by the building boom, China's economy grew a stunning 11.3 percent in the second quarter from a year ago. The 11.3 percent growth in the second quarter compared with a year ago exceeded forecasts (the fastest pace in a decade). Exports also surged, but the government said consumer inflation stayed low at just 1.3 percent.

The world's 4-th largest economy defied a series of cooling measures implemented by the government over the past six months - they increased borrowing costs and curbing investments after first-quarter growth hit an already strong 10.3 percent.

The total GDP of China between January and June reached 1.14 trillion USD.

China's macroeconomics presents overheating of investment in the first half of this year. Economists said they expected Beijing to tighten the monetary policy or to respond by raising interest rates for a second time this year and possibly allowing the yuan to rise against the U.S. dollar, which could slow growth by making exports less competitive. China's multibillion-dollar trade surplus has led to complaints that its currency is undervalued.

The fast growth in China could reduce poverty, pay for reforms of state industry and create jobs for millions of laid-workers and new university graduates. But they worry that a wave of construction of factories, shopping malls and luxury apartments is creating a glut of unneeded properties and could leave banks buried under unpaid loans.

Tags: macroeconomics, China, economics, politics, economy, growth

At the moment, if you're talking to anyone, but you wish to add another person to the call, you can call him and to gather the two calls in one and make an original conference call.

What does a conference call mean? This is a conversation with more than two participants. The conference call, usually, can be made by special intended gadgets - mobile phones, personal computer, lap top and other communication devices.

The conference call helps in many cases when you have to talk to more people at the same time. It is very useful in calls between small or big companies, banks, corporate and business partners, clients or people from the family and friends, of course. Another important thing is that the conference call is not expensive. In the matter of the fact it is cheaper and more economical because you talk with more people in lower prices. It is a great way to settle down a business and talk with your partners even though you are not near to each other.

Nowadays there are companies which are interested in the conference calling and they try to manage more and more calls. They offer great rate plans and man can choose the one that is most suitable for him. These services are as popular as the "rent a car" services especially in the USA, Japan and China. The corporate structure in most of the companies allows the conference calls between businessmen. The lawyer's offices inevitably need way of communication because part of their job is to consult one to another about the cases.

It is really comfortable to talk with more friends just with one call. In that way you economize the calls you'd do if you have to talk with each individually about the same thing. Other priority is that by using the service of conference call it becomes possible to chat with people from different countries. It is great opportunity for international companies to talk with business partners all over the world or with colleagues who are in another country.

You can have audio and video conference call. You can see the people you're talking to and they can observe each other. The audio call is a normal call but with three, four, five and so on people.

An important fact to remember is that you always must point when you can accept or decline a call(if the service is on or off-line) .If you don't want to use the conference call service you can hold the call and talk to the person later.

There are programs that are made for this particular kind of calls. Mostly these are the chat programs like Skype. This is really comfortable way to talk to many people who are far away from you. And these are not just colleagues but family and friends. Skype is the most used chat program at this time. And all you have to do is to have internet connection and account. It is so easy. Everything is easy.

Whether you are a Fortune 500 company or a small business just getting on your feet, you need to meet when and where it's convenient for you. What you're really looking for is a reliable conference calling service that can give you convenience and a variety of products to help you manage your meetings efficiently. If you choose the right company for conference calling and the right offer everything can be much more cheaply and comfortably. By using conference call you avoid the duplication of information with the different clients and services.

Tags: Online Business, conference calls, voip, im, calls, business

Israeli military planes stroke for the first time the no man's land on the border between Lebanon and Syria, informed France press, relying in the Lebanese police. There are positions of the Syrian army in this region, informed Royters.

"It is very important to be known that our attacks were launched against bridges and other objects only in Lebanon. We didn`t bomb anything in Syria", said a speaker of the Israeli army.

Eighteen civil Lebanese, including eight children, were burned alive on the 15th of July during an Israeli bombing against a column of running people from a village in South Lebanon, announced France press, relying on the UN and medical sources. A rescue team found 13 bodies. Before that had been found the charred bodies of a father and his four children.

The Russian minister of defence Sergei Ivanov stated that the conflict in the Near East is a war indeed, that has already started and that more countries could be dragged into this growing violence.

The Islami group Hezbollah has to stop using teroristic methods, including attacks against neighbour countries, stated Ivanov before the official opening of the meeting of G-8 in Saint Petersburg. The minister appealed to the two countries in the conflict to calm the situation down fast, to manifest self-control and cautiousness and to value the consequences of their acts.

Today it became clear that the Lebanese prime-minister Fuad Signora had promised to strengthen the government control over the whole territory of the country, giving a signal that he's going to put an end of the autonomy of Hezbollah in the southern regions, which is one of the main demands of Israel, informed Associated press. However, the prime-minister insisted first the UN to cause pressure for declaring peace, which will stop the war campaign of Israel in the country.

"We will work for strengthening the state control over all the territories in South Lebanon in cooperation with the UN and for restoring the full state authority over these territories", stated Signori in a TV announcement to the nation.

Meanwhile Israel warned the Lebanese army not to shoot against Israeli airplanes, which are taking part in a war campaign against the radical Palestinian movement, informed Royters. On Friday Lebanese army parts had shot against an Israeli airplane above the Lebanese sea-shores, but they had missed.

"Until now Israel had restrained itself from actions against the Lebanese army but the country won't hesitate to strike against anyone who acts against it", said a speaker of the Israeli army.

Tags: political news, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, war, Hezbollah

When you are about to start a small business you should take into consideration how you could enlarge it. Here come the small business marketing ideas that I am going to mention below. Marketing is all about satisfying customer needs.

First of all you have to make a full analysis to identify your position in the market and to make a clear review of your opportunities. Then, when you have your position you have to view the supply and the demand in your area of interest or in other words - who are your customers and your main competitors. A good research is always a plus.

Modern technologies and the internet can make your business grow rapidly. This is maybe one of the most important things in small business marketing - internet advertising. There a few things you have to remember - you should pick your keywords and key phrases very well to introduce your company to the market. Your website should be well introduced to the audience by the top search engines, and you can also do the "pay per click" strategy in order to increase your visitors. Your website should present everything your company does and also it should catch the eye. You should have in mind user's time. You should reduce distractions like complex backgrounds, graphics and try to provide only valuable content. Keep your text content as short and concise as possible on each page, many users do not scroll entire screens before they click to a new topic area. See what your competition looks like before starting your site and determine how your site can be a better alternative. Make flexible ordering options. Online ordering is desirable for some but not all. Describe other ways of placing an order for your product, e.g. printing online form and mailing, faxing online form... Establish a credit card payment option for clients. Publish a newsletter for customers and prospects.

Next is advertising in the media - newspapers, television, radio, magazines.

Now when you have established your company and have your customers you have to take the next step of small business marketing by making your customers by more from you. There are several ways to do this:

1. Buy 2, get 1 free - Make your customers buy in bulk.

2. Make a "HOT" offer that they could not resist to. An example is "if you buy this you get a discount on the other product if order in 10 minutes". Announce free or special offers in your direct response pieces. (Direct responses may be direct mail, broadcast fax, or e-mail messages.) Include the offer in the beginning of the message and also on the outside of the envelope for direct mail.

Also make your clients buy more often from you. Make them discounts for frequent customers so that they are better off to make business with you.

Use economies of scale. Produce more so that you minimize your costs. Use economies of scope so that you make a vertical integration.

Next but not last is the free stuff section. Put your logo on t-shirts, pens, cups organize kid events and thus win popularity. Create a poster or calendar to give away to customers and prospects.

Another small business marketing idea is about the look of your product. Make their outlook up-to-date with today’s fashion. Customers won't buy a product wrapped with grey paper with lousy white signs... make them like the wrapping then like the product. Offer a fancier/more expensive/faster/bigger version of your (or another existing) product or service.

There are millions of marketing ideas that can enlarge your small business and make you a leader in your area. You just have to think of something and if you can't - there are people who do it for money. They are not very cheap but they are worthy. With their experience and professional background they can do a lot for your small business. Go and try!

Plan A is the most optimistic. It is the easiest and simplest option: Bulgaria joins the EU on 1st January, 2007 according to schedule, with no safeguard clauses, additional conditions and modifications. The government still hopes this scenario is possible.

Plan B: according to schedule but with modifications. Under this scenario Sofia receives its EU membership card on time but with one or two restrictive clauses. These are the so-called “small clauses”, which concern the internal market and the mutual recognition of decisions in the field of criminal law. There are two possibilities for their invocation: before accession of the country, on the basis of the monitoring findings; or in the first three years after accession if problems arise with the country`s membership.

Plan C: postponement until 2008. This scenario is possible in case the EU member states decide to apply the big safeguard clause, which provides for postponing the candidate country`s membership to January 1st, 2008, if they decide that the country is poorly prepared and may put at risk the interests of the community.

Plan D: postponement plus safeguard clauses. This is the worst-case scenario. Under it the candidate country will not only lose a whole year and join the EU on January 1st, 2008; it will also be restricted by one or two safeguard measures concerning the market and/or judicial system.