22nd of October 2010

The Lion Awakes 

Daily News, Culture & Current Affairs about China

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China Daily

Hu Jintao to visit US early next year

BEIJING - Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday confirmed it had started preparations for President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States early next year, which the ministry said would be profound and far-reaching for bilateral ties.

"China and the United States have maintained close communications about the visit, which will be very important and will bring far-reaching influence for bilateral relations in new era," spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told a regular press briefing.

China launches own online map service

BEIJING - China has launched its official online mapping service, Map World, as Google Inc has yet to apply for a Web mapping license in the country.

The State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (SBSM) officially unveiled the free online map service on Thursday.

The service will provide "comprehensive geological data", said Xu Deming, director of the SBSM, at the launch ceremony.

Map World, the government-backed service, will "allow users to fly over mountains and plains around the world and search restaurants and traffic information across the country, free of charge", he said.

Users can enter Map World directly through www.tianditu.cn or www.chinaonmap.cn and search for two and three-dimensional images across the world, without client installations like Google Earth.

The service features images of satellite remote sensing with a resolution of 500 meters but this is enhanced to 2.5 meters for the Chinese map and 0.6 meters for maps of more than 300 Chinese cities.

China, Japan have no secret deal on Diaoyu Islands

BEIJING - China and Japan have no secret agreement concerning the Diaoyu Islands issue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in Beijing Thursday.

Ma's remarks came after media reports said Japanese government sources had revealed that China and Japan secretly reached a compromise on the Diaoyu Islands issue while Junichiro Koizumi was Japanese prime minister.

The Japanese government sources said Japan agreed in the deal not to detain Chinese citizens setting foot on the Islands while China promised to restrain Chinese vessels who voluntarily defend the Diaoyu from approaching the isles, according to reports.

Consumer prices increase sparks worries

BEIJING - China still faces strong inflationary pressure in the coming months after consumer prices hit a nearly two-year high in September, raising the possibility of more monetary tightening measures, economists said.

The possible measures, however, will not hamper China from playing a major role in the global economic recovery, they said.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) registered 9.6 percent growth year-on-year in the third quarter, slowing down from 11.9 percent in the first quarter and 10.3 percent in the second, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday.

Chinese home buyers heading overseas

BEIJING - Individual Chinese investors are quickening their expansion into the overseas property market as tightening measures on the sector at home continue to restrict their opportunities.

So far, 13 local governments have rolled out policies to restrict the number of homes that a family can purchase. The further increase in down payments for both first and second homes has also raised the cost of investment.

According to Real Capital Analytics, China-based companies have invested $62.6 million in the US real estate market this year. The figure does not include US-based Chinese companies or other intermediaries. Statistics from the US National Association of Realtors also show that investors from China are the most likely foreign investors to purchase US properties valued at $1 million and more.

Li Ye, a 42-year-old company executive, has been thinking about buying an apartment in the US as her company just floated shares on Nasdaq. She believes it is now a good time to buy a house overseas instead of investing in property at home.

Sinohydro Group boosts African stakes

BEIJING - Sinohydro Group, a leading State-owned group in hydropower construction, will increase its investments in Africa, said a senior company official.

"We are conducting a series of projects in some African countries, including a copper and cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and two hydropower stations, one in Mozambique, and the other in Zambia. We are also looking closely at investment opportunities in Liberia," said Ding Zhengguo, assistant president in charge of overseas projects for Sinohydro Group, on Tuesday.

The actual amount of investment involved is still uncertain and will depend on specific stages of negotiation, because some African countries have yet to establish a sound legal framework to support investments, he added.

More Chinese investments are flowing into Africa as the continent emerges as one of the most important outbound direct investment (ODI) destinations.

Chinese Zodiac

Jewellry

Global Times

Editorial - Expectations need to match China's status

The grass is always greener at one's neighbor's when one has too high an expectation. The Chinese government is putting more emphasis on improving governance and satisfying public demand for better welfare. That, however, also requires reasonable expectations from society.

Various polls suggest that the majority of Chinese citizens agree that China is still a developing country.

But when it comes to the public's social welfare, it seems that a large portion of China's society wants rich Western standards. The omnipresent Western culture has naturally set an example for Chinese to imitate.

Yet the reality of the situation is not so simple. Besides wealth accumulation, as a developing country, China is also in the initial stages of building a social welfare network and public service system that suits a modernized country, and one that is also within the country's budget.

A prime example is the property market. Making sure individual ownership of an apartment seems to be a mandatory task of the government. This unreasonable demand actually restricts the government's policy options, and worse, creates divisions within the country.

Healthcare is a universal concern. It has attracted many complaints from the public in China, given the prevailing problems such as over prescription and inadequate medical services.

While the government is looking into these issues, the public perhaps needs to put up with hospital facilities that do not measure up to the ones in developed countries for a period of long time. Similarly, the pension for Chinese farmers will not match the level of a farmer in Western Europe for many years to come.

The end result of overspending is not difficult to imagine. It would be like somebody scraping together several months' moderate salary to purchase a Louis Vuitton handbag. Too much desire can destroy an individual and a country as well.

Chinese need to clearly understand China's status as a developing country. The concept of being a developing country needs to be put into practice in everyday life.

Indeed, there are too many imperfections in people's daily lives, from the jammed roads to poor air quality. To some extent, that is the price everybody pays for speedy development.

The government needs to make sure living standards are getting better. Continued development, however, also needs a degree of collective tolerance of the gap between where China is now and its future status.

It is one of the major reasons behind China's decades of unprecedented growth.

Dialogue - A 30 Minute Current Affairs Programme on CCTV - 9 (In English) where current issues are discussed by experts from China and Internationally:

Inclusive growth of next five years

Beijing vows to keep a lower but steady GDP growth rate in the next five-year plan. The blueprint is compared to a more sustainable strategy of inclusive development.

The consensus is generated at a landmark conference of the Chinese communist party that comes to a very fruitful conclusion on Monday. The strong visible hand of the central government has helped bail out a big continental economy in times of financial meltdown.

But is the Chinese mode of development healthy enough to sustain a sizable economy that will be based more on its domestic consumption and environmentally friendly manufacturing? How shall we examine the sense of global responsibility for China as its economy continues to pull the world economy out of recession?

 

CCTV - 9

News for Today

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International News Sources

The Wall Street Journal - China RealTime Report

Designer of Hong Kong’s Dollar Peg Still Supports It

The growing internationalization of the yuan and the U.S. dollar’s weakness still don’t make a strong enough case for Hong Kong to change its dollar-based monetary system anytime soon, according to John Greenwood, often called the architect of Hong Kong’s currency board.

Back in 1983, when huge uncertainty over Hong Kong’s future was spurring capital flight ...

Beijing, Fighting Traffic, Considers Car Limits

Beijing officials are mulling limiting the number of cars on city roads in order to ease worsening traffic congestion, according to state media (report in Chinese).

China Signals Shift in Economic Focus

BEIJING—Signs are building that China's government is retreating from the single-minded focus on high growth that pulled it through the global financial crisis, and is instead emphasizing structural changes that could contribute more to expansion and jobs in the struggling West.

How China manages its economy is an issue of global concern, with the nation representing one of the few sources of strong growth. While the recovery produced by the nation's huge stimulus plan has been welcome, many of its trading partners still want to see a change of course.

The U.S., for instance, has pushed for freer domestic markets ...

IMF Calls for Higher Asian Currencies

SINGAPORE—Asian countries should allow their currencies to rise and withdraw stimulus measures as they grapple with surging capital inflows that threaten to fuel inflation, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.

Asia, including Japan, is likely to grow by 8% this year, faster than the 7% estimated in April, but the region's economies need to rebalance their growth toward stronger domestic demand, as imports of goods and services by developed nations aren't likely to return to precrisis levels anytime soon, the IMF said in its latest Regional Economic Outlook for the Asia-Pacific.

"In view of the strong economic expansion that is ...

Kaixin OpEd – Kaixin has two issues:

The first is that the I in IMF is misleading. It implies an international view, when in reality the IMF is a mouthpiece for Uncle Sam.

The second is that a body of economists opining on anything is suspect. Nobel Prizes have been awarded to economists who almost sent America broke. Economists, Kaixin has often opined, are good at counting things and that’s about it. They never agree and all too often one is pushed out to legitimise a political debate. Then the other side finds an economist with the opposite view. Then a third economists stops pecking at the dirt like a demented chook and calls out a third view.

Geithner's Goal: Rebalanced World Economy

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he would use weekend meetings of G-20 finance ministers to advance efforts to "rebalance" the world economy so it is less reliant on U.S. consumers, to move toward establishing "norms" on exchange-rate policy, and to persuade others the U.S. doesn't aim to devalue its way to prosperity.

Kaixin Oped – Trust me, we have no hidden agenda …….. trust me ……… trust me ………

Well…….. after all ……… he is an economist.

The New York Times

China Faces Concern Over Inflation

By DAVID BARBOZA

SHANGHAI — China’s roaring economy slowed in the third quarter, rising at an annual rate of 9.6 percent after the government took steps to prevent overheating, according to data released Thursday. But inflation last month hit its highest rate in nearly two years.

China Remembers a Vast Crime

Then, on Oct. 18, British forces were ordered by Lord Elgin — son of the Lord Elgin who removed the marble friezes from Greece’s Parthenon — to inflict a final blow, with fire, as revenge for the deaths of British and Indian prisoners in Chinese captivity.

A century and a half later, Yuanmingyuan holds a similar grip on the China that has inherited its ruins and can forget neither its vanished glory nor its vindictive desecration.

Kaixin OpEd – Xiaosui often says that when China is united under a wise and strong leader the people prosper and culture flourishes. When China is divided and weak then she is invaded and pillaged. Yuanmingyuan is one example, the Rape of Naking is another. America circles China like a vulture and says, trust me. Japan says, rape, what rape? Britain clings to its stolen loot like a demented Scrooge. France likewise.

Mao made many grave errors after he took power in 1949, but he did forge a united and strong New China that laid the groundwork for Deng Xiaoping’s economic drive.

Xiaosui does not want to see China become vulnerable again.

Caixin Online

Hot Money in Question as Forex Reserves Swell

Speculative capital inflow may or may not explain a recent jump in China's foreign exchange reserves

(Beijing) - China's foreign exchange reserves had risen to a record US$ 2.64 trillion by the close of the third quarter, raising questions about a possible influx of hot money.

The government added just over US$ 100 billion to its forex stash in September, exceeding that monthly psychological threshold for the first time since 1997. The jump in reserves followed an increase of US$ 126.5 billion in the first quarter and US$ 7.2 billion in the April-June period.

Villagers Take a Stand on Wrecking Ball Beach

A 'nail house' saga in Beihai between local officials and villagers over seaside development has been nasty, and it's not over

In a sense, seaside calm returned to the scenic Silver Beach area in Beihai on October 8, the day after national holidays ended and an estimated 200,000 tourists packed their bags and went home.

But a festering property dispute reached a new crisis level as the day dawned in this Beibu Bay community, in southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Kaixin OpEd – Xiaosui points out that many of the people who resist development are simply holding out for higher prices. She points out that usually every effort is made to re-locate the people.

Yes, there has been an abuse of process and power at time, but that is generally the exception, not the rule in her experience.

It is distressing if a family is forced to leave its home in any country.

It makes a good story for the media.

However, it happens in all countries. If the government wants your house, it is going to get it.

All too often these reports in the western media sensationalise the issue to make a point against China, while conveniently ignoring similar events in the ‘west’.

Last holdout in downtown Beijing (China Daily 15/7/2010)

A "nail house," the last house in the area, stands in front of a tall building, blocking the road in Beijing's downtown area, July 14, 2010. The house owner Zhang Changfu's family has been living in this condition for seven years while the area was built into a modern community with many high-end residential buildings. Living in Beijing's "hardest nail house," as dubbed by many, Zhang said he was helpless because the family wanted to have their house demolished and move away but didn't know whom to turn to for help. "We feel very sorry for causing so much inconvenience to our neighbors, but we really don't know whom we can turn to for help to solve this problem," Zhang said. [Photo China Daily]

 Wikipedia: A nail house (钉子户 dīngzihù) is a Chinese neologism  for homes belonging to people (sometimes called "stubborn nails") who refuse to make room for development. The term, a pun coined by developers, refers to nails that are stuck in wood, and cannot be pounded down with a hammer.

Asia Times Online

AIA primed for sale
By Olivia Chung

AIA, the Asian unit of troubled US insurance giant AIG, is set to price its Hong Kong share sale in its bid to raise around US$20 billion. Big institutions and rival insurers are keen to buy. Local investors are less enthusiastic, preferring to bet their savings on China-based companies than give money to the US government.

China, Thailand foster high-speed link
By Michael Mackey China,

A rail link is to be built connecting Thailand and China via Laos, with a high-speed route taking passengers and freight onto Bangkok and possibly Malaysia. Completion should boost trade in the region; first, obstacles such as immigrant Chinese labor, rail gauge, financing and local politics have to be overcome.