3rd of March 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
Food safety 'a top priority'
BEIJING - A warning to potential food safety offenders has been issued by a senior member of the top political advisory body after a number of incidents of food contamination caused deaths and endangered lives.
Insecurity about social security biggest concern
BEIJING - Social security tops the concerns of Chinese people ahead of the coming annual sessions of the country's top legislature and political advisory body.
Their concerns over social security topped hot topics such as inflation and housing prices, according to a survey conducted by people.com.cn.
A review of the 11th Five-Year Plan
This year marks the beginning of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015). The blueprint is expected to be discussed at the annual session of the National People's Congress on Saturday.
China Daily takes a look back at the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) and how it was implemented.
Tariff cut 'to boost imports'
Measure will help 'maintain balanced trade' official says
SHANGHAI - Import tariffs will be reduced on a range of products and red tape involved in import application procedures will be further cut, to "maintain balanced trade", a senior official told China Daily.
"We will launch a series of measures to stimulate imports this year, including adjusting tariffs on some categories of goods and further simplifying the administrative process," Zhong Shan, vice-minister of commerce, told China Daily on the sidelines of the East China Fair, which opened in Shanghai on Tuesday.
China sees sharp rise in foreign exchange purchase
BEIJING - China's funds outstanding for foreign exchange (FOFE) rose to 23.08 trillion yuan ($3.51 trillion) at the end of January, up 24.39 percent or 501.65 billion yuan from December, according to the People's Bank of China, or the central bank, on Wednesday.
Analysts said that China was facing pressures to prevent hot money inflows due to international liquidity and the expectations for the appreciation of the yuan.
China's trade surplus stood at only $6.45 billion while foreign direct investment was $10.03 billion.
The central bank's rise in foreign exchange purchases was triggered by high global liquidity after the United States' second round of quantitative easing measures announced at the end of last year, said Guo Tianyong, a professor with the Central University of Finance and Economics.
See Kaixin's - ECONOMIC CHINA
Floating group gains numbers, moves inland
BEIJING - China's floating population - composed of people who live in an area different from where they have a hukou (permanent residence permit) - increased by 10 million last year to reach a total of 221 million, according to the National Population and Family Planning Commission.
Nearly 43 percent of the population was born after 1980 and migrant workers account for almost 75 percent of it, Li Bin, head of the commission, said at a recent conference in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province.
In the next three decades, another 300 million people from rural areas are expected to find work and take up residency in cities and towns.
At the same time, more and more migrant workers are flocking to inland cities, partly reversing a trend in which waves of people had moved to coastal regions in search of jobs, Li said.
Xinjiang builds foundation for rapid development
URUMQI - The government of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has vowed to make more efforts to achieve rapid development and long-term stability during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period.
"To fulfill the strategic goal of rapid development set by the central government, fundamental work is needed and requires great effort," Nur Berkri, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, said in an interview with China Daily.
Push for a 'ministry of children' gathers steam
BEIJING - The problems faced by homeless children and defects in the current system that is supposed to protect the vulnerable group were discussed on Wednesday at a meeting of officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Wage hike to benefit migrant laborers
GUANGZHOU - The capital of Guangdong province raised its minimum monthly salary to 1,300 yuan ($198), which was the greatest amount seen among mainland cities.
The change amounted to an 18.2 percent rise above the city's previous minimum monthly salary of 1,100 yuan. Guangzhou's minimum hourly wage was also increased to 7.47 yuan an hour from 6.32 yuan an hour.
China to adjust personal income tax
BEIJING - An executive meeting of China's State Council, the Cabinet, approved Wednesday the draft plan to amend the personal income tax law and a plan to accelerate development of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone.
Unicom unveils its Wophone
Telecoms carrier premieres domestically developed smartphone operating system
BEIJING - China United Network Communications Group Co, the parent of China Unicom, launched the first domestically developed smart terminal operating system (OS) on Monday.
Officials said Motorola Mobile Holdings, HTC Corp, Samsung Electronics Co, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications and Dell Inc will launch the first batch of mobile phones using the Wophone OS this year, challenging Google Inc's Android, Apple Inc's iOS and Microsoft Corp's Windows Mobile Phone 7.
The initial screen size for the handsets will be 8 centimeters, although other sizes may become available later. The average price for each phone will be less than 2,500 yuan ($380).
Awake from Libyan nightmare
JINAN - Huang Zhanshi is back in China enjoying a happy family reunion, having survived what he described as a nightmare in Libya.
"It was like I was in a bad dream, struggling to make my way home," Huang, from Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province, told China Daily.
"Now I am really at home safe and sound. This is all because we have a strong motherland that cares for us," he said.
On the vessels, Huang met Chinese embassy staff and learned three vessels were chartered in Greece by the Chinese government to send them to Crete in Greece and then they would take flights back to China.
Fourteen hours later, Huang and his fellows arrived at Crete. The injured were sent to hospital and the rest were put up in hotels.
"The Chinese embassy staff members were very efficient. We got settled in the hotel very soon," Huang said.
Some of his colleagues at the financial department of Huang's company had also arrived in Greece to ensure that the company's foreign employees - those from Bangladesh and Vietnam - got paid and could return home safely.
"We also received great help from the Chinese in Greece. They have taken care of us like a big family," Huang said. "They brought us phone cards to call home as none of us had any means of communication. Some also brought water and food."
Huang recalled one of the Chinese in Greece as saying: "Our country is getting you home and it is our duty to do what we can to help you here."
Huang and his wife, as well as more than 1,000 of his colleagues, arrived in Beijing on Feb 28.
"I'm really proud of being a Chinese. Our motherland is always with us when we encounter hardship," Huang said.
Huang Zhanshi and his wife Cao Ye from Jinan, Shandong province, talk about their evacuation from Libya after arriving home safely on Feb 28
Kaixin OpEd – cf this report with the ‘western’ media, which reported that China was not responding to the events in Libya. That there was only criticism for how China was handling the situation.
Kaixin can hear the sniggers now and the murmurs of ‘typical Chinese propoganda’.
Ahhh, if only those people possessed a mirror .... but where would you hang it in a glass house?
Only 6 percent happy, survey finds
BEIJING - Only 6 percent of Chinese people see themselves as happy, despite the government's efforts to improve the population's sense of happiness, a survey showed on Wednesday.
The proportion was in stark contrast to Denmark, which topped another recent poll. There, 82 percent described themselves as happy in a sampling carried out by Gallup World Poll. That poll ranked China 125th in a table of worldwide happiness.
But it was not all bad news. About 36 percent of respondents said their lives had improved during the past five years.
Those living in first-tier cities were the least contented, feeling more pressure because of high-price housing and traffic congestion than their counterparts in smaller towns and cities.
Kaixin OpEd - See Kaixin's take on finding a guiding philosophy in Modern China. (At the end of the Article on Lei Feng)
Witness of Tibet Photography Contest and Exhibit
2011 marks the 60th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet, and the magazine China's Tibet and Federation of Literary and Art Circles of Tibet Autonomous Region are jointly holding a "Witness of Tibet, 1950-2010" photography contest. In addition to prizes, all winning works will be exhibited in Beijing and Lhasa in May 2011.
CCTV
CCTV Live cross to 1st 2011 CPPCC news briefing: Issues and proposals this year VIDEO
For more on the news briefing at this year's CPPCC, we are joined live by our CCTV reporter Wang Guan, who is at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Hello, Wang Guan.
Q1: What do you think will be among the top issues at this year's CPPCC, and what's the media's focus of the proposals?
Q2: The CPPCC is China's top advisory body, but some foreign observers believe the annual CPPCC is just procedural. You were there, what do you think?
CCTV Shortfalls of current income tax policy VIDEO
For more on this special issue, we are joined by our reporter Zhang Bo who has discussed the issue with experts and officials.
Q1: I am wondering how to position this level of personal income tax in a more scientific way? What kind of factors that should be taken into accounts in terms of raising its level?
CCTV Top political advisors arrive in Beijing VIDEO
China's top political advisory session will be opened in Beijing in two days' time. The first group of the nation's top advisors from Jilin province has just arrived in the capital.
6 AM, a train from Jilin province arrived in Beijing's train station.
The train brought with it members who are taking part in this year's plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference or CPPCC.
One member addressed the group of waiting journalists.
CCTV China's ten years in the WTO VIDEO
2011 marks ten years since China joined the World Trade Organisation. To mark the occasion, Chinese officials and business executives gathered at a forum in Beijing. They say the last decade has been a success, but Chinese companies could do more to succeed overseas.
China's international trade has expanded rapidly over the past decade. But an increasing number of trade disputes have posed a challenge to Chinese exporters, seeking to expand overseas.
Long Yongtu, China's former trade representative, labels it protectionism. But he says those issues should ease as economies emerge from the global financial crisis. And that's good news for Chinese companies.
Long Yongtu, China's former trade representative, said, "It's impossible for trade protectionism to cause substantial damage to China's international trade and economic power. China's economic strength relies more on the domestic market. Trade protectionism is basically a political show in response to domestic political pressure. I believe that as the worst of the global economic crisis passes, so will the worst of international trade protectionism."
CCTV Migrant workers choose to work in home towns VIDEO
Now the Spring Festival is over, many migrant workers have returned to the cities where they work. However,a new trend is taking hold, where some are choosing to find employment in their hometowns.
Meet Mr Liu. He used to work in Shenzhen City, in southern China.
After returning home last year, he found a job at a plastic pipe production plant.
Compared to his previous job in the city, Liu says his new job is less demanding, so he has more free time.
Liu Yongjian, Former Migrant Worker, said, "I work eight hours a day, that's much less than I did in Shenzhen. Now, I can earn at least 15-hundred yuan a month."
Despite the 2,000 yuan he used to earn in Shenzhen, Liu couldn't save much money because it was more expensive to live there than in his home town.
While working at the local factory, he has saved more than before, and can even enjoy a delicious lunch, with his employers splitting the bill.
But what really makes Liu happy is that he'll be spared the pain of leaving his loved ones behind, like he had to in the past, as his workplace is now only ten minutes away.
For him, playing with his daughter is no longer a rare occasion.
Kaixin OpEd – This was the foundation for the cheap widgets from China that the 'west' gorged on.
Where were all the human rights protesters from the ‘west’?
I doubt any of them would have stopped to question why the widgets they were buying from WalMart were suddenly so cheap.
Yes, where are the strident voices of those human rights yuppies.
After all, they benefited from the tears of Chinese parents forced to leave their children to make a basic living.
Free this, Free that ….. what about Free you minds!
CCTV Studio interview: China's stance on South Korea and US joint military exercises VIDEO
For more insight on the joint military exercises between South Korea and the US, and Japan and US, we are now joined by our current affairs commentator, Mr Raymond Zhou, from the China Daily.
Q1: Hello, Mr Zhou, we know South Korea and the US have kicked off their annual joint military exercises. On the same day, Japan and the US also started joint military drills. What impact could the exercises have on the stability of the Korean Peninsula?
Q2: As neighbors of both South Korea and Japan, what's China's stance on the joint military drills?
Studio interview: Goals of US-ROK drills
For more into the joint military drills between South Korea and the United States, we're joined by our current affairs commentator, Dr Zhang Chuanjie, from Tsinghua University. Thanks for joining us Dr Zhang.
Q1: Before the start of the annual drills, the commander of the US Pacific Command said the aim of this year's exercise is to prevent further provocative actions from the DPRK. Do you think the drills will help achieve those goals?
Q2: Do you think frequent military drills by the US and South Korea, enhance security and stability in the region?
CCTV Live cross: Purpose and impact of Japan- US joint drill VIDEO
For further analysis on the drill between Japan and the US, we turn to professor Takesato Watanabe, from Doshisha University. Hello professor.
Q1. What is the purpose of Japan holding this military drill?
Q2. What impact do you think it will bring to the region?
Global Times
The UK taught the world how to produce in the 19th century, the US showed the world how to consume in the 20th century, and China needs to demonstrate how to develop in a sustainable way in the 21st century.
Seeking greatest common denominator
China's annual meetings of the NPC and CPPCC, known as the "two sessions," kick off today. As the world continues to debate democracy, China's two sessions have been offering a different perspective.
According to the Western definition, China is not a democratic country. But we can feel the changes: now public views and demands are influencing the two sessions; all of society is concerned about the two sessions; the two sessions focus more on people's livelihoods; their "Chinese characteristics" grow larger.
The West thinks this is not democracy. This view has affected some Chinese people.
Democracy should be a political system moved by practical significance. However, some people merely want a democracy for its own sake. With a population of 1.3 billion, China should be especially cautious. A democratic system should help China move forward, namely to improve livelihoods and ensure a sustainable development.
There is a ma t h ema t i c a l concept called the greatest common denominator. The evolution of the two sessions is targeting the "greatest common denominator" of Chinese society in a diverse era. Today's China is part of worldwide globalization and information spreading. The two sessions provide the main framework for multi-party cooperation led by the Communist Party of China. The annual meetings have been closely connected with the Internet. Proposals raised in the two sessions are increasingly close to grass-roots needs, and the interests of the many are vying with those of the few, seeking balance.
The strengthened democratic functions of the two sessions in recent times have led to the overall development of democracy in China. They have amplified what best fits China. They enjoy popular participation and have advanced social progress, without steering away from the current Chinese political system. They have created conditions for gradual political reform, rarely seen in most developing countries.
Established about 60 years ago, the political structure of China's two sessions is relatively young compared with established Western democracy. The outside world often speaks of doom for any new things. This is not surprising, but we must persevere.
Discussions in Chinese society, especially on the Internet, have shown that it is not easy, and may even be impossible, for all of society to form a common political consent. But it is possible and necessary for the mainstream to do so.
Being different from the West, China must take a road of innovation based on its own realities.
The two sessions are the framework and platform for the development of democratic politics in China. In fact, this framework has been continuously expanding in recent years. The Chinese people should cherish and enrich this platform.
China's rise will be accompanied by innovations within its own political sphere, and these will succeed. The country has learned a lot from Europe and the US, but the most important steps have to be made alone.
Kaixin OpEd – Kaixin has oft repeated that Democracy must grow out of the soil of a nation.
Democracy, in Kaixin’s opinion, is not a static concept. It is malleable and must suite the needs of the society, not be imposed onto that society.
China will indeed evolve Democracy with Chinese characteristics.
The label is not important, the reality is.
Kaixin OpEd - See Kaixin's take on finding a guiding philosophy in Modern China. (At the end of the Article on Lei Feng)
China's success attributed to socialism model
The country's economic and political achievements since the late 1970s owe to a unique socialism-featured development model, a government think tank said in a report Tuesday.
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' annual Yellow Paper of World Socialism says China's development path lies in implementing necessary structural reforms and in learning from others' success, while, at the same time, refusing any form of foreign intervention.
"China's success in the past 60 years, especially after the opening-up, has surpassed the achievements of Britain during the Industrial Revolution and the US' progress in the 19th century," the report said, adding that Beijing will not force others to accept the Chinese model.
It said the current global financial depression, ignited by a US credit crisis in 2008, provides opportunities for the development of socialism around the world.
"As long as we stick to the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, we can avoid catastrophic financial crises and economic downturns and help the world economy as a whole," the report added.
It quoted several foreign experts to support its theory that Western democracy is not ideal for every country. One of them being Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize–winning economist and a professor at Columbia University.
"In the developing world, people look at Washington and see a system of government that allowed Wall Street to write self-serving rules that put at risk the entire global economy," Stiglitz wrote in 2009 in an article called "Wall Street's Toxic Message."
"They see continued re-distributions of wealth to the top of the pyramid, transparently at the expense of ordinary citizens. They see, in short, a fundamental problem of political accountability in the US system of democracy," Stiglitz added.
Francis Fukuyama, a professor with the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, told the Financial Times in January that the US system has now become polarized and ideologically rigid.
Dialogue
A 30 Minute Current Affairs Programme on CCTV - 9 (In English) where current issues are discussed by experts from China and Internationally:
Challenges to world's 2nd largest economy
China's policies to avoid property bubbles
Wider impact of food price hikes
Controversy over fireworks in China
International News Sources
EastSouthWestNorth
Fake Western Media Coverage Of Jasmine Revolution In China
The website anti-CNN came into being because of the western media reporting about the Lhasa riots. Here is a post from the anti-CNN BBS about some western media coverage of the so-called Jasmine Revolution in China. It is actually not difficult to find these fake photos. You being with a suspicious-looking photo (e.g. people marching down on a major thoroughfare when it is known that the Jasmine Revolution demonstrations were sparsely attended gatherings in front of McDonald's or Starbucks), you use a photo-identification site such as TinEye and you've scored again!
Kaixin OpEd - We rest out case!
As we said before, it was only the hamburgers that were revolting.
The Wall Street Journal
Can the Yuan Replace the Dollar?
China is nurturing Hong Kong as an offshore center for trading and investing in yuan and yuan-based financial products.
See Kaixin's - YUAN REVALUATION & INTERNATIONALISATION
China Railway Suspends Libya Operations
HONG KONG—China Railway Construction Corp. said it has suspended all of its projects in Libya due to the unrest in the country.
Tilting at Windmills? The USTR, China and the WTO
China has typically complied more with the letter than the spirit of the WTO rules. The foreign negotiators that hammered out the conditions for China’s accession to the WTO 10 years ago probably assumed that financial liberalization was as much in China’s interests as that of Western countries, and that everyone was broadly on the same page regarding the amount of access foreign firms would get.
It didn’t really turn out that way ...
CapitaLand Queries Beijing's Moves
CEO of developer's China unit says limits on home purchases won't reduce prices; risk of creating pent-up demand
SHANGHAI—The chief executive of property developer CapitaLand Ltd.'s China unit said Tuesday that the country's latest measures to cool the property sector, including restrictions on home purchases and reduced land supply for private development, will most likely result in pent-up demand rather than lowering prices.
Kaixin OpEd – That is what Kaixin has been saying.
Gossip from the Forrest, ie: from our friends in China (which includes the odd property developer or two), is that prices are not dropping back much, and in some places they are rising.
The rise in real estate prices in China is a function of demand.
Plus generally prudent lending policies v the irresponsible lending policies of the Ponzi Scheme Greenspan presided over.
Put a lid on demand without addressing supply side issues, and the demand only builds up. This will be further exacerbated as China becomes richer and richer.
Beijing is mandating low cost housing and the focus on developing rural China will see some of the demand wash out into the second tier cities and so on.
However, to truly address the problem the underlying demand has to be satisfied by supply.
See Kaixin's - CHINA REAL ESTATE
UnionPay: China’s Unloved Monopoly
t’s not easy being a monopoly. China UnionPay Co. can attest to that.
Last month, the U.S. government decided to formally launch a case at the World Trade Organization to force open China’s electronic payments market, a move aimed at breaking China UnionPay’s domestic monopoly.
China's AVIC to Buy U.S. Plane Maker
SHANGHAI—China Aviation Industry Corp. the state-run company behind China's stealth fighter and its first planned commercial jetliners, agreed to buy Minnesota-based private-aircraft maker Cirrus Industries Inc., a small deal that nonetheless illustrates the expanding ambition of China's aerospace industry.
AVIC unit China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. plans to acquire Cirrus's line of four-seat propeller aircraft for an anticipated takeoff in China's general-aviation market, which includes small planes owned by individuals and small businesses. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
Even though the use of such aircraft is limited in China and most of ...
Taiwan Opens More Sectors to Chinese Investors
TAIPEI—Taiwan's government will open an additional 42 sectors to Chinese investors, including the strategically important panel and chip industries, as cross-strait economic ties continue to deepen, the island's Ministry of Economic Affairs said Wednesday.
See Kaixin's - CHINA & TAIWAN
Coda to Sell Electric Car in U.S.
BEIJING—Coda Holdings expects to start selling its first all-electric car in the U.S. in the second half, as the California start-up uses Chinese manufacturing and battery technology to make inroads in the challenging U.S. electric-vehicle market.
Chief Executive Philip Murtaugh, who joined Coda in January, said the company's Coda Automotive Inc. unit expects to sell 10,000 to 14,000 Coda sedans in the 12 months after the model is introduced in California. Coda also has begun talks with its main vehicle-manufacturing partner, China's Hafei Motor Co., about selling cars using Coda's technology in China, the world's largest car market, Mr. Murtaugh ...
See Kaixin's - GREEN CHINA
Japanese Publishers Take on Baidu
The consortium of four Japanese publishing associations that joined forces to take on Apple Inc. has expanded the reach of their sword to China.
China as ‘Octomom’?
“Being accused by the Chinese government of currency manipulation struck me as equivalent to being lectured on birth control by the “Octomom,” Frank said, referring to Nadya Suleman, the mother of eight children popular in tabloid magazines.
Kaixin OpEd – Leaving aside the matter of Americans not being able to spell (mom v mum) …. the word that springs to mind is, of course, oxymoron.
ie: American Politician and knowledge of world affairs, in particular China.
Hong Kong Offers Cash Handouts
HONG KONG—Hong Kong said it would hand out 6,000 Hong Kong dollars (about US$770) to each of the Chinese territory's adult permanent residents in a bid to diffuse widespread public discontent over a previous plan, even though the sweeteners could add to the city's inflationary pressures.
Kaixin OpEd - Seems a bit daft to Kaixin.
The New York Times
Op-Ed Columnist
This Is Just the Start
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
I’ve been putting together my own back-of-the-envelope guess list of what I’d call the “not-so-obvious forces” that fed this mass revolt. Here it is:
Kaixin OpEd - Well worth reading and considering ...
Not that Kaixin agrees with it all, in particular his observations about how China is governed.
Economy the Focus as Chinese Legislatures Convene
BEIJING — The agendas for China’s two quasi legislatures this week include proposals to raise taxes on gas-guzzling cars, crack down on drunken driving and improve food safety, most of them predigested by the Communist Party’s leadership and destined for rote approval. About the only uncertainty involves the one topic that will get the most attention: the future of China’s roaring economy.
Caixin Online
Central Bank Mulls New Money Supply Measure
Monetary statistics are being adjusted to keep pace with changes in the way money moves in China
The People's Bank of China has introduced new measures designed to improve statistical tracking of the nation's money supply by including funds flowing through a wider variety of financial channels.
Nomura: Minimum Wage May Double in Five Years
A report by Nomura Securities expects the labor shortage to benefit industry upgrades but may also intensify inflationary pressures
(Beijing) -- Labor shortages in China have given migrant workers more bargaining power in wage negotiations and the trend is irreversible, said a report released by Nomura Securities on March 1.
Nomura Securities said in the report that the minimum wage for migrant workers may increase by 100 percent in the next 5 years.
Kaixin OpEd – Ten years ago Xiaosui could hire a girl to keep the house clean and prepare the evening meal for 600 Yuan a month.
It now costs between 2,000 and 3,000 yuan.
Unskilled Labour has found its voice in China.
Myths of Judicial Independence
Three-way power sharing is off-limits in China, but efforts to promote independent courts are continuing
In the run-up to the annual "liang hui," or two sessions, for members of the National People's Congress (NPC) and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the NPC Standing Committee announced the official completion of a socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics.
Fast Track Wreck for Rail Minister's Circle
A Ministry of Railways graft probe broke up a close-knit group of schemers centered on a fast train-loving minister
Their working lives followed parallel tracks from ground-level jobs to powerful positions as railway executives – and now to corruption charges that probably permanently derailed their careers.
The Age
Labor's secret curb on China
CANBERRA'S foreign investment regulator has privately admitted that it is seeking to limit investment from China in response to political concern about the control of Australia's strategic resources.
Contrary to the federal government's claims that it supports a non-discriminatory foreign investment policy, the secretive Foreign Investment Review Board has told US diplomats that new guidelines approved by Treasurer Wayne Swan signalled ''a stricter policy aimed squarely at China's growing influence in Australia's resources sector''.
GM's China sales leap in February
General Motors said its sales in China, the world's largest car market, jumped 34.4 per cent year-on-year in February to set a new record for the month.
Kaixin OpEd – “OK, if I can’t buy a unit this month, I will buy a car.”
Kaixin has been keeping an eye on the rise and rise of car sales in China.
From bicycles just a few years ago to mammoth traffic jams now.
The disposable income of average China is on the Great March to overtake the average income of the middleclass in the ‘west’.
The Question Kaixin keeps exhorting the ‘west’ to ask is:
Is this a Threat or an Opportunity?
Kaixin obviously thinks it is an opportunity.
An opportunity to be managed, for sure, but an opportunity nevertheless.
The Sydney Morning Herald
We could learn to love Chinese inflation
Michael Pascoe
It's possible that a Chinese inflation rate running between four and six per cent would do more to rebalance the global economy than the sharp currency appreciation American politicians keep carping about while downplaying their own role in that imbalance. It could also improve the lot of China's considerable working class while not impeding the nation's long march to regaining its position as the world's premier economic power.
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It sounds like heresy, running totally counter to the orthodox teachings of the economics church – but such teachings often need challenging. It is part of the charm and confusion of economics that so much is counter-intuitive. It's also why populist policy makers so often don't get it.
Kaixin OpEd - Kaixin could not agree more!
Asia Times Online
Trade dance stomps on Huawei deal
By Benjamin A Shobert
In a lesson that will resonate with Chinese-owned multinationals with eyes set on US markets, Huawei Technologies has been blocked from forging a deal on the grounds of American national security. The undertone is the ongoing dance between the two countries to define the next generation of rules that will animate their trade relationship over the coming years.
SINOGRAPH
Berlusconi exposes need for moral compass
By Francesco Sisci
More than ever, Italy's troubled politics are the subject for reflection in China. The leadership could do well to observe that with a weak moral guide (Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi) a moral coup becomes inevitable. If the public carnival would end, a real private carnival of investments from Asia could pour in and help change Italy, Europe and the Mediterranean.
Kaixin OpEd - See Kaixin's take on finding a guiding philosophy in Modern China. (At the end of the Article on Lei Feng)
See Over for the 2nd of March 2011
CULTURAL CHINA
Articles of interest from the week's news
Insights into China's Society & Cutlure
Witness of Tibet Photography Contest and Exhibit
2011 marks the 60th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet, and the magazine China's Tibet and Federation of Literary and Art Circles of Tibet Autonomous Region are jointly holding a "Witness of Tibet, 1950-2010" photography contest. In addition to prizes, all winning works will be exhibited in Beijing and Lhasa in May 2011.
CCTV Farewell to Jialing river cableway VIDEO
After serving as an important transportation channel for 29 years, the Jialing River Ropeway ceased operation February 28th. The cableway is blocking new bridge construction. It is now set for demolition.
The 740-meter-long Jialing River crossing debuted in 1982, bringing increased convenience to residents in the area. About 12-thousand people used the route each day. A maximum of 25-thousand could use the crossing. It ran safely over the past 29 years. Passengers that once used the cableway can now use four bridges crossing the Jialing River.
Fuzhou plans to restore romance of waterways
"Our ultimate goal is to revive the romance of a watery city"
FUZHOU - Fed up with endless traffic jams and a congested subway? How about sailing your way through the downtown bustle instead?
Fuzhou, capital of East China's Fujian province, is carrying out an ambitious plan to renovate its 163-kilometer-long urban canal system. The project is expected to re-establish the city's waterway transport in the next few years, and in the long term its charm as the "Oriental Venice".
"The crisscross water veins flowing through Fuzhou have been functioning as important water routes as well as flood control facilities since the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907)," said Zhang Fan, deputy director of the Fuzhou construction commission, who is in charge of the city's largest public project this year.
See Kaixin's - China's Top 10 Leisure Spots (11 when include Fuzhou)
Why Breakfast Matters for Chinese Tourists
The Chinese-speaking call centers for Hotels.com, an online hotel reservation company, are inundated with one question: What’s for breakfast?
Being able to get their own kind of food is one of the top concerns for outbound mainland Chinese travelers ...
Kaixin OpEd – Spot on!
After a few weeks or months in China, I, Graeme, long for some of my own food, in particular breakfast.
I recall visiting Shanghai on my first long visit to China. Western food was impossible in Nanning at the time and I was starting to pine.
In Shanghai I stumbled across a shop selling genuine French croissants and very good coffee. Breakfast in the hotel we were staying at was definitely Chinese.
I would stagger into the patisserie of a morning and join with other westerners, with a sort of glazed look in their eyes, devouring the croissants and gulping the coffee.
Making musical instruments in Suzhou
Suzhou, a city located in the south of Jiangsu province, has a long history of making musical instruments. Its techniques and the local characteristics of the instruments have made them famous at home and abroad. In 2008, the making of musical instruments in Suzhou was selected as one of China’s national intangible cultural heritages.
The manufacture of musical instruments in Suzhou dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), when bronze melting techniques in Wu State progressed. This led to production of bronze musical instruments. In 1964, nine chime-bells were excavated from Chenqiao Western Zhou Tomb in Jiangsu province. They are the earliest musical instruments in Wu discovered so far.
The making of musical instruments in Suzhou combines unique skills of several traditional handicrafts.
Exquisite and lovely painted egg-shells
Painted egg-shell is a folk custom craftwork to paint pictures on the shells of chicken and goose eggs. The pictures look fresh, concise, exquisite and lovely. The eggshells are erected downside, showing stereoscopic feeling on the sides. The painted egg-shells are covered with exquisite glass frames, with unique styles. They are processed in Wenzhou, Lucheng, Rui’an, Pingyang and Cangnan of Zhejiang province, largely for exports.
Whenever they construct a house, the Bai ethnic group living in Heqing county, Yunnan province, would hang a treasure jar on the girder in time of erecting poles and girders. The treasure jar contains “five nuts” (lotus, laurels, pine nuts, melon seeds, and sunflower seeds), “five treasures” (silver, rice, salt, brown sugar and tea), and “five dragon water” (water from five ponds). The jar will also contain a painted goose eggshell, known as “precious gallbladder”.
Making the cut for dragon's day
Hair salons get ready for peak in customers
As the legendary dragon prepares to raise its head, Beijing hair salons are being bombarded with bookings by citizens searching for good luck.
Thousands will hit the barbers' chair next Sunday to celebrate Longtaitou - the second day of the second lunar month - as it is a traditional day for Chinese to get haircuts.
A visitor holds a snowball at the snow-covered Temple of Heaven park in Beijing
See Kaixin's - Contemporary China in Photoghraphs
CCTV Studio interview: Encouraging youth to learn traditional culture VIDEO
For more on the protection of intangible cultural heritage, we are joined by our current affairs commentator, RAYMOND ZHOU in the studio.
Q1: Hello, RAYMOND, it seems that there are less young people wanting to learn traditional cultures, what do you think can be done to reverse this trend?
Q2: A new law comes into effect this June, what do you think is the significance of this?
CCTV Can flower-drum song passed to the next generation? VIDEO
It's not only palace lanterns that are losing their vitality but many other Chinese intangible cultural heritages are as well. Folk arts are silently becoming "old arts".
Lyrics Meaning: A girl is sewing flowers in her room. Suddenly she hears someone playing music outside her door.
The song is precious. The 93 year old man is the only person in China who can sing a complete flower-drum song. Yes, that's what you are hearing.
He's definitely a unique artist of the country. But can he pass his art to the next generation? That's what he's really worried about.
He said, "There's no one left but me. If I die, flower-drum songs will be lost."
CCTV Palace lantern craftsmen in search of successors VIDEO
The protection of intangible cultural heritage faces one common obstacle. That is the lack of successors. The Beijing palace lantern, a typical form of traditional Chinese culture, has enjoyed a sought-after reputation in the world throughout history. But now it is in desperate need of successors.
Palace lanterns can be found in many parts of Beijing, such as theatrical stages, tea houses and traditional taverns. The glamorous lanterns themselves are the stories of their past glories.
The beautiful pieces are made by the Beijing Art Red Lantern Factory. Zhai Yuliang is a third generation craftsman. As the sales manager of this lantern factory, he points out the difficulties this cultural industry faces.
Zhai said, "The staff here are not young. Most of us are more than 50 years old. We are not able to recruit youngsters."
The traditional Chinese palace lantern experienced its hey-day after 1915, when it was given the golden award at the Panama World Exposition. After that it became a major export product.
Xiaolin believes in truth through a lens
Walking through city alleys and field ridges in rural areas carrying his cameras, Xiaolin enjoys his time recording every element in life that most easily ignore.
"Going to different places to experience people's life makes me keep tranquil and rich in mind," Xiaolin says of the reward he gets from photography.
Starting from a love for Chinese painting as a child and as a requirement for his job after graduation as a graphic designer, Xiaolin decided to express the beauty frozen in a single frame through photography starting in 2003.
Xiaolin said he cherishes honesty and truth in every photo and considers it necessary for every photographer who wants his works unique.
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