8th of January 2011
The Lion Awakes
Daily News, Culture & Current Affairs about China
Graeme has been using ChinesePod since 2007
"I highly recommend ChinesePod, I haven't found any Online teaching programmes that come close."
China Daily
Special: Meeting China's Ministers
At the threshold of the new year of 2011, the start of China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), a developing China is dealing with some challenges, as it maintains its fast-paced growth. Looking into the future, China Daily interviewed some of the country's top officials to talk about China's achievements and its blueprint of to-dos.
The economic forecasts to keep in mind in 2011
China will enhance and improve macroeconomic regulation to ensure stable and healthy economic development, according to a statement released on Dec 12 after the annual Central Economic Work Conference.
Next year's macro-regulation should basically be proactive, stable, prudent and flexible.
The focus will be on better handling the relationship between stable and relatively fast economic development, economic restructuring and controlling inflation expectations in an active and stable way, the statement said.
Counting Costs
We are looking for stories that would tell us how life on the ground is responding to the rising yuan and price hikes.
Editor's note: We are looking for stories that would tell us how life on the ground is responding to the rising yuan and price hikes. We found tales of courage, resilience and of lessons learned and mastered.
There is no clearer barometer of change than a country's attitude toward money. China is no different.
Big push to unlock affordable housing
More land will be made available as ministry fights to keep down prices
BEIJING - The man in charge of China's top land watchdog pledged on Friday to continue to carefully manage the availability of building plots in an effort to curb soaring property prices.
Xu Shaoshi, the minister of land and resources, said at the ministry's annual working conference in Beijing that the strengthening of control over the property market was top of his agenda.
See Kaixin's - CHINA REAL ESTATE
Beijing: 'No first nuke strike' policy stays put
BEIJING - China Foreign Ministry on Thursday reaffirmed the country's commitment to not pre-emptively using nuclear weapons.
Ministry spokesman Hong Lei was responding to a report by Japan's Kyodo News agency saying China would consider launching a pre-emptive nuclear strike in extreme circumstances. Kyodo said the policy was laid out in secret Chinese documents it had obtained, but did not say when they were written or by whom.
"From the first day China possessed nuclear weapons, the Chinese government has solemnly pledged never to be the first to use nuclear weapons at any time or under any circumstances and has always strictly adhered to this pledge," Hong told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference.
"The relevant report is completely baseless and has ulterior motives," Hong said.
China conducted its first nuclear bomb test in 1964.
Kaixin OpEd - See WSJ OpEd below ...
Chinese ministry to protect arable land
Beijing - A permanent arable-land protection zone will be established in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) to guarantee the country's food security, the country's top land watchdog said on Friday.
Under the pressure of economic development, the Ministry of Land and Resources is expected to guarantee a minimum land area for cultivation of 104 million hectares and increase the amount of arable land through land compensation and reclamation by more than 1.8 million hectares, Minister Xu Shaoshi said at the annual working conference of the ministry in Beijing on Friday.
The country's fast industrialization, urbanization and agricultural modernization will pose dramatic challenges to the country's land supply and demand by 2015, he added.
"This year we will further strengthen supervision and law enforcement of land protection and monitor land deals and protection in 60 cities," Xu said.
Over the past three years, the use of satellite photos and discussions with heads of cities experiencing severe illegal land-use problems have decreased the area of illegal land by 24 percent.
In 2009, illegal use of arable land reached 18,000 hectares, threatening the country's shrinking availability of arable land, statistics released by the ministry show.
Arable land in China dropped dramatically from 130 million hectares in 1996 to about 122 million hectares in 2008 due to rapid urbanization and natural disasters, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show.
Only by guaranteeing the availability of enough arable land can the country guarantee its food security, Yin Chengjie, former vice-minister of agriculture, told Guangzhou-based Nanfang Weekly on Friday.
Vice premier meets German President
BERLIN - Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang met with German President Christian Wulff on Friday to upgrade relations between the two countries.
Li said China-Germany relations have been achieving new progress in recent years, particular last year when bilateral trade is expected to exceed $140 billion, about one third of the total trade volume between China and the European Union (EU).
Chinese slowdown good for inflation control: Amundi
NEW YORK - China will lead an economic slowdown in Asia this year -- but that's good news for investors, as it should avoid bigger inflation problems in the region, fund managing company Amundi said on Thursday.
Markets are expected to be choppy in 2011 as Beijing adjusts policy to fight inflation, but a foreseeable end to its monetary tightening cycle later this year could boost the return profile of Greater China's equity market, Amundi said.
"Investors should welcome, not fear, a slowing Chinese economy in 2011," Ray Jovanovich, who helps manage more than 650 billion euros at the fund manager, said in a letter to investors.
Asia is on the opposite side of most developed economies such as the United States, where deflation remains the main threat, Jovanovich said.
China OKs JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley joint ventures
HONG KONG - Chinese regulators gave approval on Friday to the banking joint ventures of JP Morgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley, bringing the banks a step closer toward operating securities businesses in China that they, and other banks, have long sought.
For JP Morgan, the approval allows it to make its maiden entry into the Chinese securities market, where foreign banks seek the ability to underwrite securities in the rapidly growing stock and bond markets. The bank will link up with First Capital Securities Co, a Shenzhen-based brokerage and hold 33 percent of the venture.
China mulls policies to spur imports
China is set to launch a basket of policies to promote the country’s imports in the first half of 2011 in a bid to reduce the country’s trade surplus, the 21st Business Herald reported Friday.
These policies will focus on promoting imports of advanced equipment and technologies.
Government agencies in charge of foreign trade are discussing how to adjust the Catalogue for Technologies and Products Encouraged to Import, a document jointly issued by several ministries in 2009, the newspaper reported.
Winding down import tariffs, subsidizing companies that import high-end technologies or equipment, and simplifying import processes are the main goals of these policy shifts.
Looser forex control and lower import tariffs would be the most important two parts in these policies, according to Zhou Shijian, former vice-president of China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers & Exporters.
Chinese economist sees 5-6% yuan rise in 2011
BEIJING - The yuan is expected to rise between 5 and 6 percent this year against the US dollar, Li Daokui, an adviser to China's central bank, was quoted as saying in a local newspaper.
"My personal view is that the yuan will rise by 5 to 6 percent this year in a controlled and gradual manner," said Li, one of three academics on the central bank's monetary policy advisory committee.
Li's comments were reported by the Xiaoxiang Morning News on Thursday. He had made the remarks in a speech on Wednesday at an event sponsored by the newspaper in Changsha, the capital city of China's central Hunan province.
Li said China will steer its monetary policy in a modest and gradual way, and that investors should not rule out the chance of more interest rate rises in 2011.
He added that China's economy will grow at least 9.5 percent this year, and that inflation will hit 4 percent. This means economic growth will largely be on par with last year's pace, while inflation picks up from 2010's 3.3 percent.
See Kaixin's - YUAN REVALUATION & INTERNATIONALISATION
DPRK urges ROK to accept proposal for dialogue
PYONGYANG - Prominent officials and personalities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have urged Republic of Korea (ROK) to drop its policy of confrontation and accept the DPRK's proposal for unconditional inter-Korean dialogue at an early date.
Rural doctors to get more perks
BEIJING - Health authorities have urged the inclusion of more village doctors in the social welfare system to improve their livelihoods.
Unlike their urban counterparts, village doctors are not paid with public funding, and receive neither pensions nor social insurance.
"Village doctors are classified as members of the rural population and hence excluded from the social welfare system," Ministry of Health department of rural health management official Yao Jianhong said.
"They also are not qualified to work for public hospitals. Their living conditions are pretty tough."
Li Jiasheng crosses the Nujiang River by sliding on a 400-meter-long zip line.
Kaixin OpEd - Now that's what I call a home visit!
See Kaixin's - INSIGHTS INTO CHINA'S SOCITY & CUTLURE
VIDEO - Preserving Tibetan art
Thangka is the essence of Tibetan culture. Simply put, it is a kind of scroll painting.
See Kaixin's - China & Tibet and Xue Xinran
Carving the world
Kernel carving is a traditional micro-sculpture exclusively owned by China. Carved on the kernels of fruits or nuts, these handicrafts can be shaped into the figures of human, animals, landscapes and pavilions. Materials including walnut, peach nut, olive nut, apricot nut or cherry nut are applicable for kernel carving, among which the olive nut is the best option for engraving because it is as small as a finger, fully reflecting the precise skill of a handicraftsman.
A couple celebrates during a sub-zero wedding at Harbin's Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province
See Kaixin's - Marriage in China
Cross-sea bridge offers a route to prosperity
A fisherman displays an octopus as he sells his catch at Dong'ao pier in Pingtan, Fujian province
Zheng Xialao burst into tears when he traveled across the newly built Pingtan Straits Bridge for the first time.
"It's a dream come true," said the 77-year-old as he rode a tour bus over the 3,510-meter crossing.
"Soon, Pingtan county will be prosperous, and not just an isolated island. There will be factories and my grandchildren will be able to find good jobs."
The retired fisherman is not the only one who hopes the completion of Fujian province's first cross-sea bridge is a sign of things to come.
After being selected as a cross-Straits development zone due to its close proximity to Taiwan, Pingtan's 400,000 or so residents have been eagerly awaiting a revival of the island's flagging fortunes. In announcing the move, authorities promised an influx of new investors and employers.
"If the project brings more jobs, my daughter can stop drifting from city to city as a migrant worker," said Lin Yun, 46, who runs a small fish food business. "She can come home."
Vehicles are seen running on Pingtan Strait Bridge in Pingtan County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Nov. 30, 2010. The 4,976-meter bridge opened on Tuesday is the first cross-sea bridge in Fujian, linking Fuqing City and Pingtan County, Fujian's biggest, China's fifth biggest island.
Nuclear fuel feat to solve uranium shortage
Efficiency hiked by 60 times, resource 'to last for 3,000 years'
BEIJING - China has made a breakthrough in spent nuclear fuel reprocessing technology, which could greatly extend uranium's usage rate and potentially solve the problem of its supply shortage
The technology, which was developed by the No 404 factory under the China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC), is able to boost the usage rate of uranium materials at nuclear plants by 60 times.
"With the new technology, China's existing detected uranium resources can be used for 3,000 years," according to China Central Television (CCTV) on Monday.
China, the world's second largest economy, has more than 170,000 tons of detected uranium resources.
"We're among the few countries that can implement the recycling of nuclear fuel As such, we, to some extent, lead the world in this field," Sun Qin, general manger of CNNC, China's largest nuclear generator, was quoted by CCTV as saying.
The nation has strived to extend the usage rate of the strategically important resource to meet growing demand. The country aims to increase its nuclear power capacity to 40 gigawatts (gW) by 2020 compared to just more than 9 gW of nuclear capacity at present.
China, as one of the world's largest energy consumers, now has 12 nuclear power plants in operation, with 25 reactors under construction.
China claims breakthrough in nuclear technology
BEIJING - Chinese scientists have made a breakthrough in spent fuel reprocessing technology that could potentially solve China's uranium supply problem, Chinese television reported on Monday.
The technology, developed and tested at the No.404 Factory of China National Nuclear Corp in the Gobi desert in remote Gansu province, enables the re-use of irradiated fuel and is able to boost the usage rate of uranium materials at nuclear plants by 60 fold.
CCTV9 - China's breakthrough on spent nuclear fuel
China National Nuclear Cooperation ended 2010 on a high note, after successfully extracting uranium and plutonium from spent fuel. The breakthrough made on December 21st paves the way for China to sustain its uranium storage beyond 3-thousand years. Currently, the lifespan of fuel plants spans 50 to 70 years.
The new technology will make nuclear materials 60 times more efficient.
Under current nuclear power technology, only three-to-four percent of nuclear fuel can be used.
But the remainder, previously called "wasted materials", has much more power. During the heating period, it can generate new nuclear material.
Wang Jian, Chief Engineer of CNNC's Fuel Reprocessing Project, said, "We need to reprocess the spent fuel during the heating period to extract the recyclable part from burned material, as well as the newly generated part through a series of chemical processes. The next step is fuel assembly."
But the process is easier said than done. The current breakthrough comes after 24 years of trials and tribulations.
"We designed and built this facility by ourselves. It is 100 percent original." Said Wang Jian.
So far, only France, Britain, Russia, Japan and India have mastered the technology. But each country regulates these core technologies as classified.
The most common way in the past to deal with spent fuel rods was to put them in water-pressurized pool. However this poses the risk of a potentially devastating and costly nuclear leak.
ABC TV - Catalyst (Incl. video of programme)
China is gearing up for the fastest deployment of nuclear energy in history, fuelled by Australian uranium.
At least thirty new reactors are planned to be built in the fifteen years. Nearly all will be Pressurised Water Reactors, the most common type in the world.
But one will be the first commercial Pebble-Bed Reactor, a radically different Chinese design that researchers claim is ‘meltdown proof’ and ‘inherently safe’.
As Australia debates whether we should build our own reactors, one thing is clear: our nuclear future is inextricably linked with China.
Catalyst visits two reactors in China to search for answers, in the first Australian science TV report about the practicalities of making nuclear energy in the world’s most populous nation.
Mark Horstman: Do you believe pebble bed reactors are the safest form of nuclear?
Professor Wu Zongxin: I think so. It is most recognised by the international nuclear community.
Mark Horstman: So in the future, new reactors could all be pebble bed reactors?
Professor Wu Zongxin: No, I don’t think so.
Narration: The Professor laughs, because he understands the commercial realities. Another ten water-cooled reactors will be built before the first pebble-bed is even up and running.
And what does this mean for Australia?
Professor Zhang hopes that one day we will use pebble-bed reactors from China. But for now, he’s surprisingly frank about our own nuclear capability.
Prof Zhang Zuoyi: It’s better not to use nuclear energy for Australia. Because for nuclear you need a lot of infrastructure, you need a lot of experienced people you should be careful. I think the best way is you can share the uranium. I think it is the best way. You just get money and you don’t need a lot of work.
SLIDESHOW - Fancy ice and snow sculptures cover Harbin
Drinking tea in different cities
If you want to understand someone, you don't need to know everything about him or her. Sometimes a tiny behavior can betray everything. The same is true with a city - some details hidden in public may be the spirit of the city. Similarly, unique charms and characters of different cities are concentrated, hidden, and permeated in different tea houses.
See Kaixin's -
Chinese green tea -Tie Guan Yin’s story 铁观音 & The story of the Pu'er Tea 普洱茶 the famous red tea of China. & Magic Tibetan Tea - Po Cha 'Tibetan Butter Tea'
Tea sage Lu Yu and his masterpiece of Cha Jing
It’s often said that China boasts a sophisticated tea culture: tea was first discovered and drunk in China several thousand years ago and drinking tea has become a daily habit of the Chinese people.
Confucius, TCM best represent Chinese culture
What are your first thoughts about symbols of Chinese culture? The Great Wall, the Bird’s Nest or Peking opera?
A survey among 2,000 college students shows that Confucius,traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and former chairman Mao Zedong broke into the top 10 Chinese cultural icons among the 270 candidates.
The survey is a result of research on the development strategy of the soft power of Chinese culture, which is a major project of the national social science foundation. Other items on the top 10 list are Chinese characters, calligraphy, the Great Wall, the five-star national flag, the Imperial Palace, statesman Deng Xiaoping and the Terracotta Warriors.
Learn to Read & Write Chinese with Xiaosui
See Kaixin's - INSIGHTES INTO CHINA'S SOCIETY & CULTURE
Rooting out the tree thieves to save forests
Pristine mountainsides laid bare as traders pay villagers to plunder. Liu Zhihua reports from Henan.
The slopes of the Tongbai Mountains were once covered with beautiful, thick forests of ancient trees. That was before villagers started stealing them.
In the 1990s, farmers were simply looking for free lumber and firewood, but today organized gangs are targeting large and rare trees as part of a multimillion-yuan industry.
"The mountainsides are starting to look very bare," said Li Peng of the Huaihe Rangers, an NGO set up to protect the rivers and forests of East China's Huaihe River Basin.
"You'd be lucky to find a living tree up there measuring more than 30 centimeters in diameter now. The thieves have taken almost all of them," he said.
A State Forestry Administration publicity official, who gave her name only as Wang, revealed that the nation's laws were being amended but refused to elaborate. Enforcement, she said, is "reliant on the local bureaus".
The ultimate solution is to stop the demand among buyers at the end of the chain," said Jiang. "There is no excuse for moving large trees into cities from their natural habitat in the mountains.
"The law should punish whoever buys and uses these trees as decoration."
This six-meter-high honeylocust tree has graced Lingbei village in Xuchang county, Henan province, for more than 100 years. Its owner, Shi Shaojun, has rejected numerous off ers to buy it
Top 10 most viewed videos
China's most viewed Internet video site, what Chinese netizen are watching online in 2010.
Top 10 Best China Daily Videos
2010 was a big year for China and the rest of the world. And China Daily's multimedia team was there to show you video of the biggest stories and most interesting events and people of the year.
Bridge reaches across the sea off Qingdao
Photo taken on Dec 8 shows an aerial view of the Qingdao Haiwan Bridge under construction. The main section of the bridge was joined up on Dec 22. The bridge links the main urban area of Qingdao city, East China’s Shandong province, with Huangdao district, straddling the Jiaozhou Bay sea areas (located on the southern coast of the Shandong Peninsula). With an overall length of 42.58 kilometers, the bridge will be open to traffic in the first half of 2011. The route between Qingdao and Huangdao will be shortened by 30 kilometers, cutting the travel time by 20 minutes at 80 kilometers per hour.
Chinese top-class actress Fan Bingbing appears on the latest cover of the magazine Elle China.
See Kaixin's - Women in China & Chinese Movies
Royal beauty secrets
Every morning Empress Dowager Cixi applied face powder made up of pearls and skin cream made of flower distillate. At night, she applied egg white, kept it on until half an hour before sleep, and then applied flower extract, finally patting her wet face dry with soft towels. Furthermore, she used a jade face roller, cool and smooth, on her face again and again every morning before dressing. High-quality jade is believed by many to have natural health-enhancing functions and repeated rolling is in essence a good massage for the face.
These beauty techniques are used today at modern spas around the world. But let us look back at more examples of classical Chinese beauty treatments.
Global Times
World-class military not exclusive luxury
The rumored Chinese stealth jet, or "aircraft-carrier killer," has been making headlines in the US. China-US relations, that seemed to warm around the New Year, now face a new wall.
There are numerous walls between the two powers. Some would try to help the two sides negotiate a path between the walls, while others attempt to bring the two to a dead end.
It is both natural and unnatural for the US to be concerned about China developing new weapons. Most powers wish that their superiority will last forever. China is growing up fast, and the US military edge over China is unavoidably shrinking.
Whether the reported new weapons are true or not, in the long run, China will own first-class weapons that are capable of competing with the US war machine. But owning these weapons does not necessarily mean China will attack the US.
The outcry among US media reflects the permeating surprise over China's military progress. This gap of expectation and reality is dangerous for Sino-US relations, and is worth the attention of both Beijing and Washington.
Some are even trying to estimate at what pace China's development, especially military progress, would be seen as tolerable for American society. Should China surpass this theoretical threshold, the danger could then be more easily ascertained.
Apparently, the US is not ready to treat China as a major power. They cannot accept the fact that China will sooner or later possess a first-class military. They are too used to the old power structure, in which China and other developing countries have long been treated unfairly.
Some American decision-makers swear by the role of aircraft carriers in the western Pacific, as if a few of these vessels could prevent the slumbering giant from waking.
China now faces a dilemma. Raising its voices in certain international affairs, it risks being labeled as tough or overly assertive. But China can no longer forego its own basic rights.
It will be a painful procedure. There will be many discussions about China's growing military power, that may even spiral into protest and criticism.
China does not need to be surprised by these events.
Similar to our adaptation to increasing frictions with Western countries, the older powers will also acclimatize to China's rise.
Breaking away from 'zero-sum' curse
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang Tuesday starts a European tour that includes Spain, Germany and Britain. Just four days into 2011, it is the first official trip by a Chinese leader abroad, and it is the third European visit in as many months by top officials, after trips late last year by the president and premier.
On the flip side, the European Union is paying significant attention to China, as most of its members' leaders visited China last year. Besides ideological frictions started by Norway late last year, Sino-European relations were fine most of the year.
For most of the Chinese people, Europe is seen as a singular entity, with most of its countries sharing similar values.
They see Europe as the origin of Western modernization and admire the civilization and living standards. Chinese people do not hold much prejudice against Europeans and do not think China has any strategic conflicts with Europe.
When some conservative forces find faults with China, the Chinese people, though angry, are mostly baffled by the misunderstanding.
Chinese people want big powers to respect each other, not play so-called zero-sum games.
Japan should cast off 'enemy' mindset
On Tuesday, Japan and South Korea announced that they are seeking to boost military cooperation, including sharing intelligence and supplies for "peace-keeping" operations.
Although the Japanese foreign ministry has denied any plans of a military alliance between the two countries, it does admit that military cooperation is designed to counter North Korea and China, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.
So far, the cooperation plan has been met with public criticism in South Korea, which is yet to emerge from the shadow of Japan's brutal colonial rule during World War II. The South Korean government is also cautious about the materialization of a military agreement with Japan.
But the move reflects Japan's continuing push for an "arc of freedom and prosperity," which is seen as a means of containing China. Japan's strategy seems to be joining hands with the US and its allies, and prove its power through competition and friction with China.
Actually, the "threat" from China is not Japan's biggest challenge. Japan's economic woes as a result of an aging population have been troubling the country for two decades. Targeting China as a threat has become an easy way for Japanese authorities to shift attention away from that problem.
Under US occupation, Japan does not enjoy real sovereignty. It is hard to understand why Japan has taken this for granted. Also, under the umbrella of US military protection, how could Japan still fear a threat from China?
Japan has never been content with being a small island country in the Pacific. It tried to control East Asia more than half a century ago, but was pushed back home.
Its economy recovered after World War II and it leapt forward as a new Asian giant. Now that China is on the rise and South Korea is catching up, the Japanese economy appears to be leaving center stage. Japan is extending its hand to the US in an attempt to compete with China.
China and the US exchange some tough words now and then. South Korea and North Korea experience tensions at times. But Northeast Asia is not likely to descend into turmoil like it did before.
Japan should no longer try to capitalize on regional troubles. Instead, it should adjust its polices and work with China and South Korea in a sincere manner.Even if Japan successfully establishes a military alliance with South Korea, it will not do much good for Japan - a military alliance will not help it sell more of its consumer products to the world.
Japan needs to reconsider its perception of China. Cooperation with its neighbors should not be based on confronting certain "enemies," but on the true interests of its people.
How to make real friends with the US
In a recent commentary in the New York Times, former US national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski called Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington this month "the most important top-level United States-Chinese encounter since Deng Xiaoping's historical trip more than 30 years ago."
Brzezinski's thoughts of befriending China might please Chinese folks, but were soon refuted in the US as "borderline silly" by Stephen Yates, a former official in the Bush II White House.
It is a tiring process for China to stay friends with its big Pacific neighbor nowadays. The two powers are witnessing a colossal volume of mutual trade, but their distrust is also significant.
US media often labels China as "arrogant." This No.1 power holds the misgiving that China nurses its strength to plan retaliation. Its deployment of aircraft carriers near China also triggers a sense of insecurity among the Chinese.
"Friend-or-foe" identification is often used to describe global power relations. However, it is difficult to apply such stereotypes to the China-US relationship. The US is obviously not China's enemy. Instead, it is a great partner in China's reform and opening-up, and a respected reference for China's social progress.
However, can China really see the US as a reliable, sincere friend? The answer is troubling when one thinks of recent US moves in Asia.
It is important to make friends with the US, but it is also necessary to watch out for potential risks.
The comparison of strength between China and the US hasn't changed: China is still the weaker one. China needs to gain more control, while preventing the bilateral relationship from collapsing. This promises to be a very difficult test facing China's top decision-makers.
The China-US relationship is more complex than many others in world history, such as the UK and Germany, or the US and the former Soviet Union.
History will not reveal where the China-US relationship will go. We can only seek the answer from the day-to-day reality.
The competition between the US and China is ultimately a contest of domestic prosperity and stability. A good China-US relationship usually takes place when China makes significant domestic achievements.
US challenges against China largely take advantage of vulnerable domestic affairs, including arms sales to Taiwan, meeting with the Dalai Lama as well as interference in China's justice system through supporting some dissidents.
In a bid to improve its relationship with the US, it's quite important for China to enhance its civil livelihood and further promote the reform and opening-up.
Tobacco plan up in smoke
Widespread resistance by tobacco industry interest groups to national anti-smoking drives has contributed to China's failure to honor its international commitments to tackle tobacco use, a report revealed Thursday.
Tobacco could claim as many as 3.5 million Chinese lives in 2030 alone if no steps are taken, according to "Tobacco Control and China's Future," a 180-page document compiled by more than 60 experts from home and abroad.
As the world's largest cigarettes producer and home to some 300 million smokers, China has fallen short of its tobacco-control commitment to the international community, it said.
Dialogue
A 30 Minute Current Affairs Programme on CCTV - 9 (In English) where current issues are discussed by experts from China and Internationally:
China-US mutual testing in 2011
International News Sources
The Wall Street Journal - China RealTime Report
The Wall Street Journal
Pictures of China
Slideshows
Two Banks Gain Access Within China
HONG KONG—J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley have both won approval for securities joint ventures in mainland China, the first U.S. firms to gain such access in six years.
Maehara Has a Lesson for China
Japan’s foreign minister issued a veiled call for China to pursue democratic changes, citing Indonesia as a country that has earned respect by electing its president and allowing freedom of speech.
Kaixin Oped – Japan’s militant FM has probably worked out that it is far too early for democracy in China. A democratic China would be weakened, which would suite Maehara.
The relationship between China and Japan is fraught and not helped by the likes of Maehara.
See – Nanking Nanking (Japan has never formally recognised that crime and people like Maehara still worship at the shrine of the war criminals that perpetrated it)
First Clear Video of Chinese Mystery Plane
The clearest video footage yet of what appears to be a Chinese stealth fighter prototype has been posted online.
The footage shows what appears to be the J-20 fighter moving around an airfield during ongoing tests at the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute in the western city of Chengdu.
China's Stealth Jet 'Leak' Not Seen as an Accident
BEIJING—Fresh video and still images of China's supposed stealth fighter prototype have emerged online, fueling speculation among military officials and experts about why the secretive military would suddenly allow the curtain to be lifted on such a sensitive project.
Huawei Expands Android Phone Lineup
Huawei Technologies on Friday revealed details on its newest smartphone running on Google’s Android operating system, in the latest show of the company’s aim to boost its profile and its penetration of new markets with low-priced Android phones.
EU Aims to Seal Deal With Beijing
Chinese leaders are stepping up their courtship of cash-strapped European countries such as Spain, pledging to buy their bonds and expand business ties. Yet China watchers caution that despite the warm diplomacy, Beijing won't save the euro zone.
Kaixin OpEd – It’s interesting isn’t it ….
America and its top shot economists got the world into the GFC. China is getting the world out of the GFC.
Yes, it’s an economic opportunity for China.
But why is that?
Think about it.
Which county was prudent and saved trillions of dollars. Which country squandered its wealth and handed over its economic destiny to the Wall Street spivs.
See Kaixin's - 'Tai Gui le' by Graeme
China Real-Time’s Top 10 Posts in 2010
From Apple and Avatar to WikiLeaks and Traffic Jams, these were the year’s most-read stories on China Real Time Report:
1. China to Overtake Japan in Global Wealth
China’s boosting its position as the second largest economy and its consumers are beefing up their pocketbooks.
2. Beijing: World’s Biggest Parking Lot
What happens when 2,000 new cars enter the road every day? A 10-day traffic jam.
3. Fox Premiers Its First Chinese Film
With $2 million-budget “Hot Summer Days.”, Twentieth Century Fox woos Chinese movie-goers.
4. An Overhead View of China’s Pollution
Where’s China’s position in the world’s most polluted places?
5. Clearing Up Confusion on Google and China
A look at the misunderstandings about Google’s surprise China announcement in January.
6. WikiLeaks: Singapore’s Lee Rates China’s Leaders
Singapore’s founding father throws in his two cents on China’s future and the people steering it.
7. A Chinese Take on Avatar
For many Chinese who saw James Cameron’s 3D sci-fi blockbuster, one theme resonated: economic exploitation.
8. China’s Military Ambitions: A Walking Tour
China’s flexing its military muscles, building up drone technology and anti-aircraft missiles.
9. Have an iPad? China Customs Says Pony Up
Buying cheaper iPads in Hong Kong just got more expensive. Here’s why.
10. China More Expensive Than the U.S.?
Think it’s cheaper to buy your eggs in China? Think again.
The New York Times
U.S. Shifts Toward Talks on N. Korea
Obama administration envoys met with their Chinese counterparts amid Seoul’s rejection of a North Korean offer for peace talks.
China and U.S. Have ‘Useful’ Talks on North Korea
BEIJING — On the heels of a North Korean plea for negotiations to end the crisis on the Korean Peninsula, Obama administration envoys central to stalled six-party talks met Thursday with their Chinese counterparts, and one said he was hopeful that serious talks on North Korea would begin soon.
Kaixin OpEd – Kaixin would like to see a cartoon of the archetypal Uncle Sam sitting opposite a Panda Bear. They each have a glove puppet, Uncle Sam’s clearly South Korean and the Panda Bear’s clear North Korean.
The puppets are going through the motions but it is Uncle Sam and the Panda Bear who are the ventriloquists.
I.H.T. Op-Ed Contributor
China's North Korean Calculations
China has several geostrategic and social reasons for supporting North Korea.
Selig S. Harrison is director of the Asia program at the Center for International Policy and author of “Korean Endgame.”
Kaixin OpEd - An informed and interesting article
JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley Win Approval to Expand in China
By DAVID BARBOZA
The two firms are the latest global banks to win the right to form joint ventures to underwrite stock and bond offerings in China.
Mortgage loan policies have reportedly been relaxed at the beginning of 2011
Homebuyers in China are now being offered a 30 percent discount on mortgages rates by commercial banks after a brief suspension of the policy, according to Beijing-based media reports.
See Kaixin's - CHINA REAL ESTATE
Mines, Power Plants in a Chinalco Survival Strategy
China's biggest aluminum producer is pursuing vertical integration to save money and hopefully sidestep risk
Having extracted itself from a sea of red ink, China's leading aluminum concern Chinalco is now busy building an upstream investment portfolio as a bulwark against future threats.
Recent additions to the portfolio of state-owned Chinalco include stakes in rare earth and coal mines in China as well as an iron ore project in West Africa in a partnership with Anglo-Australian mining concern Rio Tinto.
Chinalco is also preparing to enter the electricity generating business by building power stations in several parts of northern China, said the company's general manager, Xiong Weiping.
Asia Times Online
China outward bound through Myanmar
By Brian McCartan
Myanmar occupies an important position in Beijing's ambitious plans to construct a high-speed rail network linking China with the economies of Southeast Asia and beyond. If completed as planned, it would be the largest infrastructure project in history. Different gauges used by rail systems in Myanmar and other countries are a significant obstacle to a project first proposed in the 1960s.
Taiwanese politics take strange turn
By Jens Kastner
These are strange days in Taiwan. During a visit by a top mainland diplomat, the island's Beijing-friendly government paid for a provocatively nationalistic newspaper ad. Meanwhile, the ostensibly pro-independence opposition told its supporters not to stir up trouble during the visit. It seems that 2011 will offer surprising twists
Share Article 
