1st July 2010

The Lion Awakes 

News at a Glance

今天的中国新闻

A compilation of Headlines + Brief Summary from Chinese & International Publications relating to China.

Just 5 Minutes each day to be up-to-date on the News of China

Combined with Kaixin’s boutique SITE SEARCH ENGINE, it is a unique source of knowledge about China"

China News Archive

From 2008

China Daily

Strive for emancipation of mind

Many scholars have praised the book and its author for an insightful account, which they say has never before been attempted by others.

That is not quite correct.

The well-known Chinese thinker and scholar Lin Yutang touched upon precisely this topic in his book, My Country and My People, which was published sometime in the 1930s.

Chu is essentially right in claiming that something is shackling the Chinese mind. It is imperative that our educational system is overhauled to encourage creative and independent thinking.

Our thinking is much more pluralistic when compared to what it was three decades ago, yet the space for creative and independent thinking is being squeezed out to make room for the will of power.

Gradual political reforms are needed to create an environment conducive to creative thought.

Kaixin: See the Dialogue Series - 30 Years of the New Long March  "Emancipation of the Mind"

It is the sovereign right of a country to decide the value of its currency. And it should not change to suit another country's need - China Daily Editorial 27th June 2010

The US, on the other hand, believes the global economy is still so dependent on US con-sumption that everybody needs to keep finding ways to let the US export more, either by letting their currencies appreciate or by providing incentives for the governments and the public to spend.

Meanwhile, many wonder if the US is really capable of bringing the financial market under control, and after the toothless new financial regulation bill, whether it's really sincere in its efforts in doing so.

G20 Full Coverage

China Daily

Wen: economy heading in right direction, 'relatively fast' growth seen

China's government said the world's third-biggest economy is heading in the right direction and business people and economists expect "relatively fast" growth to continue.

Premier Wen Jiabao said the nation will "further cement and develop the positive economic trend," in a statement posted on the government's website today. He pledged both continuity and flexibility in policies amid an "extremely complicated" domestic and global outlook.

Scrap dollar as sole reserve currency: UN report

UNITED NATIONS - A new United Nations report released on Tuesday calls for abandoning the US dollar as the main global reserve currency, saying it has been unable to safeguard value.

But several European officials attending a high-level meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council countered by saying that the market, not politicians, would determine what currencies countries would keep on hand for reserves.

"The dollar has proved not to be a stable store of value, which is a requisite for a stable reserve currency," the UN World Economic and Social Survey 2010 said.

The report says that developing countries have been hit by the US dollar's loss of value in recent years.

China to maintain steady, rapid growth: PBOC

Chinese economy likely to maintain steady, rapid growth in 2010: PBOC

BEIJING -- China's economy is very likely to maintain steady and rapid growth in 2010, with more positive factors than last year boosting the economy, the People's Bank of China (PBOC), China's central bank, said Wednesday.

Minimum wage rises in 10 provinces and cities

The minimum wage in 10 provinces and cities including Hainan, Henan, Shaanxi and Anhui provinces, as well as Shenzhen city was raised on July 1, National Business Daily reported Thursday.

Except Shenzhen, other provinces or regions increased their minimum wage by at least 20 percent, with the highest at 31.7 percent in the first-tier zone in Hainan.

In recent years, the standard for China's minimum wage fell behind the average level of the world. Even after some adjustments this year, there is still chance for minimum wages in these regions to rise," said an expert.

Statistics shows that China's minimum wage is less then 15 percent of the world's average, ranking 159.

Most Beijingers environmentally aware: Survey

BEIJING - Residents of China's capital are strongly aware of the importance of environmental protection and are ready to pay more to buy energy-saving products, a recent survey has found

Google says to 'abide by the Chinese law'

BEIJING - A company running Google's China website has pledged to "abide by the Chinese law" in a letter of application to renew Google's operation license, government sources told Xinhua Wednesday.

Guxiang Information Technology Co Ltd operator of Google.cn, had submitted an application to China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to renew its Internet Content Provider (ICP) license, permit to run websites in China, an official in charge of Internet administration, who declined to be identified, said.

Kaixin – Principle? Principle? I though it was all about Principle. Good to see Google has those deep American/Western values of profit before principle.

Global Times

Changing with the times

Shi Wenxia hung a flier carefully on a notice board. She stepped two steps back, examined the balance of the flier on the wall, and murmured what it said.

"Gathering for a meeting of democratic life," she nodded.

It was June 10, 20 days before the 89th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). By the end of 2009, its membership stood at 77.9 million, equal to about one in 12 adult Chinese.

Kaixin - An interesting article about the first shoots of democracy in China. The 'west', the U.S, in particular want to impose their form of democracy on China and are impatient to do so. Democracy works in the west because it grew from a seed, it grew from the very soil of the nation. If democracy is to grow and flower in China, it must also be allowed to grow from a seed, grow from the very soil of the nation.

The Party School of the Central Committee of CPC in Beijing with the words "Seek truth from facts" inscribed in stone. Photo: courtesy of the Party School of the Central Committee of CPC

A show of Party openness

A total of 11 spokespersons from various departments within the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee lined up Wednesday at a press conference in Beijing, marking what experts call an unprecedented display of enhanced transparency in Party affairs.

International News Sources

Caixin Online

Clearing a Path for Payment Providers

Mottled regulations on foreign-funded payment providers and uneven wording on accrued interest has only thrown third-party payment companies into more uncertainty

After five years of discussion, the People's Bank of China on June 21 unveiled new regulations for third-party payment service providers. But instead of being bathed in relief, the companies within the industry will be keeping a watchful eye on the central bank's interpretation of the rules, which take effect on September 1. In the absence of greater clarity, companies are now hoping that the overhanging vagueness of the measures will be pulled to their advantage.

The Wall Street Journal    China RealTime Report

As Steel Mills Sneeze, Global Shippers Catch a Cold

For all its failures at forging a united front to control global iron-ore prices, China still has the heft to remind us that the appetite of the world’s biggest steel factory matters, a lot, when it comes to influencing commodity markets.

Exhibit A comes from the Baltic Dry Index, which could use a drink after June’s performance.

Did a China Indicator Lead the Market Down?

A once-obscure indicator from the Conference Board has managed to capture global headlines less than two months after it was published for the first time.

State Grid Guns for China’s Smart Grid

State Grid Co. of China has thrown down the gauntlet in a move that could pose a major challenge to foreign companies seeking a foothold in the multibillion-dollar upgrades of China’s electricity network

Rising Star Stresses ‘Spiritual Health’

Chongqing Communist Party boss and rising political star Bo Xilai is stepping up his populist campaign, with a call for the country’s development to extend beyond materialism and to a greater focus on “spiritual” health.

China Agency Nears Times Square

China's state news agency could soon be the newest Times Square neighbor of media giants Thomson Reuters and Conde Nast.

China Cools Growth Despite Market Worry

BEIJING—Premier Wen Jiabao made clear that China will press ahead with economic policies that many analysts expect will lead to slower growth in coming months as the property market cools, an outcome that is unnerving global markets.

The Age

China growth worries may be overdone

Spreading jitters of an abrupt halt to Chinese growth are likely to prove as misplaced as concerns earlier this year that the economy might boil over.

"However, it is more likely to be a soft landing than a hard landing," said Zhang Xiaojing, a macroeconomic researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, a leading government think tank.

Asia Times Online

Taiwan seals trade hug with mainland
By Olivia Chung

HONG KONG - A trade pact signed on Tuesday between mainland China and Taiwan has brought the economies of the political rivals to their closest in the six decades since they split amid civil war.

SINOGRAPH
Propaganda, stir-fried and roasted
By Francesco Sisci

BEIJING - Ideas and good writing may be fun, good music can be soothing, the cinema and theater are certainly entertaining, and sports and video games are heart-racing. All that is good and well, and all are the flesh and blood of the soft power that many countries try to build and whose management the United States has possibly mastered.

    
Gates open on departure
By Peter J Brown

The shakeup in the senior command of the United States military in late June from the surprise resignation of General Stanley McChrystal could not have been predicted. Another change in command, involving US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, will come as no surprise, though the exact date Gates plans to step down remains a mystery.

THEMES

A selection of News and OpEd reflecting the main themes for

contemporary China starting from August 2008

Green China  

Insights into China

Economic China

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Yuan Revaluation & Internationalisation

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