9th of August 2011
The Lion Awakes
Daily News, Culture & Current Affairs about China
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People's Daily
Trade booming between Guangxi, ASEAN
In the first half of this year, trade between Guangxi and countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations totaled 3.93 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 49.5 percent year on year.
Of that amount, Guangxi's exports totaled 2.76 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 56.2 percent, and imports totaled 1.17 billion, which increased by 35.7 percent year on year. There was a bilateral trade surplus 1.59 billion dollars.
Xinjiang's top official vows harsh crackdown on religious extremists
The top official of far western China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has ordered a harsh crackdown on religious extremists in the latest clampdown on outbursts of violence.
Zhang Chunxian, secretary of Xinjiang regional committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), made the pledge at a regional government meeting in the wake of a trio of deadly attacks in the region.
Zhang ordered cadres and officials to rely on the public to unswervingly curb illegal religious activities and crack down on the use of the religion to incite violence or organize terrorist attacks, local media reported Monday.
Use Weibo as a guide, not a master
Weibo is increasingly dominating the way information is perceived in China, while traditional media sources have gradually surrendered the power of guiding the public discourse agenda.
"Naked marriage" challenges Chinese marriage traditions
Without expensive preparation and rituals, Wang Shaowei and Zhang Xin tied the knot at a cost of nine yuan (1.4 U.S. dollars), which was used to obtain the marriage certificate.
See Kaixin's - Marriage in China: Ancient & Modern
Opinion
US: A crisis of debt and of democracy
What the US is facing is not only a debt crisis, but more of a democracy crisis, as the debt impasse has revealed that the relationship between the President and Congress has turned abnormal, said Jacob S. Hacker and Oona A. Hathaway, professors from Yale University, in an op-ed piece in The New York Times on August 1, 2011.
U.S. a 'parasite' on global finance: Putin
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Monday of living beyond its means “like a parasite” on the global economy and said US dollar dominance was a threat to global finance.
“They are living beyond their means and shifting a part of the weight of their problems to the world economy,” Putin told the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi while touring the lakeside summer camp about five hours drive north of Moscow.
“They are living like parasites off the global economy and their monopoly of the dollar,” Putin said at the open-air meeting with admiring young Russians in what looked like early campaigning before parliamentary and presidential polls.
Should we cater to the US "special interest" in Asia ?
By Li Hongmei
In recent days, Sino-US interaction in the Asia-Pacific region has witnessed an upturn both in cooperation and contest. The tendency is, on the surface, determined by interests and policies, but the profound reason lies in the fact that both are influenced, perhaps subtly, by the self-perception and the perception of each other. Only on the basis of knowing about themselves and knowing about each other, can a sound interaction set in.
From the perspective of security, China should recognize the dual roles played by the U.S. in the regional security, and reach out to cooperate with it, when it plays the constructive role in promoting the regional peace and stability. But China should also raise alert on the destructive role the super power acts at times, and should castigate, boycott it in this regard, and lead it on the right track if possible. Meanwhile, China should also enhance its awareness of the U.S. with the change of time and situation. With its shrinking strength, the U.S. foreign policies and the corresponding activities will be more and more defined by the outside influence.
On this basis, there seems no point for China overstating the US-preached "containment" on China or the defensive measures the U.S. cherishes to counterbalance China.
Americans' right move to cut spending
By Li Hong
It always makes economic sense to reduce deficit spending when a country’s national revenue has been exhausted during dire times. The gap between expenditure and income should be carefully watched by the budgeters, so that it won’t place a country’s health in peril.
Old Han customs stand the test of time
Guizhou is home to 34 ethnic groups of China's total 56. A clan of Han Chinese, an overall majority in China but known as Tunpu people here, has strived very hard to maintain their traditions of old Han culture.
For 600 years, Tunpu people have been living in fortress-like stone houses and keeping the old Han culture.
China Daily
China's July inflation to exceed 6%:analysts
BEIJING-- Last month's inflation rate is expected to exceed 6 percent, driven by stubbornly high food prices, analysts said ahead of official data to be released on Tuesday.
July's Consumer Price Index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, is likely to exceed June's three-year high of 6.4 percent, according to forecasts by several domestic securities firms.
The Shanghai-based Shenyin and Wanguo Securities estimated that the CPI grew by 6.7 percent last month, 0.3 percentage points higher than that of June, mainly due to rapidly rising food prices.
The company said prices for commodities and housing will still be the main focus of China's macroeconomic control policies.
Huge tracts of arable land neglected
Farmers abandoning rural life to work in the cities for more money
BEIJING - Millions of hectares of arable land in central, eastern and southern parts of China are lying unattended in winter as villagers shun agricultural life, experts said.
Rural residents are leaving the land amid rapid urbanization, according to official data.
More than 46.6 percent of arable land in 16 provinces in southern parts of China - 21.5 million hectares - lies untilled in winter, according to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture. The land used to be planted with rice.
High-pressure private loans trouble for small businesses
Small companies are putting themselves at high risk by to borrowing money from private capital due to a lack of deposit money and more difficult loans, the People's Daily reported.
The paper quoted the People's Bank of China's Liaoning branch as saying that the deposit growth in Liaoning province has fallen for three months in succession. New deposits in June were 44.2 billion yuan ($6.86 billion), 51.6 billion yuan less than those of the same period last year.
Bank lending is more difficult after government took steps to control bank loans to curb inflation.
See Kaixin's - Economic China
Middle class to dominate cities by 2023
BEIJING - Half of city dwellers in China will be part of the middle class by 2023, according to estimates from the country's think tanks.
Middle class to dominate cities by 2023
Based on data from 2000 to 2009, researchers calculated that 37 percent of city dwellers were part of the middle class in 2010.
That percentage is expected to surpass 45 percent in 2019 and exceed 52 percent in 2025, said Zhang Lifeng, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Marriage knots unraveling
Extramarital affairs a major factor behind rising divorce rate amid changing social scene, reports He Na in Beijing.
Wang Xiuquan, a senior matrimonial lawyer with Beijing Chang An Law Firm, spends most weekends at the office, thanks to the soaring divorce rate. His wife has complained many times, but now she spends weekends with him - at his office.
"Divorce lawyers became the busiest lawyers in our firm in 2005," he said. "Our team handled about 110 divorce cases last year."
See Kaixin's - Dr Geoff Raby
Share your China stories!
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XinHua News
China to offer compulsory education to 95 percent of girls
BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- An official document released on Monday pledged that the government will endeavor to provide compulsory education to 95 percent of Chinese girls over the next ten years.
The Outline for the Development of Chinese Women (2011-2020) issued by the State Council, or China's cabinet, said that the government will continue to promote equal opportunity for nine years of free schooling for all children, but especially for girls, who are more likely to drop out.
The outline said the government has set a target to promote the enrollment rate of female students to 90 percent for high school and 40 percent for college by 2020.
The illiteracy rate of female young adults will be reduced to below 2 percent, it added.
Deep-rooted parental discrimination toward girls, especially in China's rural areas, has hindered many from receiving a high school education, and some parents even fail to allow their daughters with disabilities to complete the nation's compulsory education level.
More than 4,200 Beijing couples register marriage on "Chinese Valentine's Day"
BEIJING, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- A total of 4,251 couples registered their marriage by 6 p.m. Saturday in Beijing on the so-called "Chinese Valentine's Day," according to the capital's civil affairs authorities.
The figure was 10 times that of the daily average and was even about 200 more than that on Valentine's Day on Feb. 14, according to the Beijing Daily, citing government statistics, on Sunday.
Some marriage registration bureaus in Beijing started work one hour earlier than scheduled, the newspaper reported.
Some young couples queued up at the registration bureaus as early as Friday night, it said.
Qixi, literally "Night of Sevens," falls on the seventh day of the seventh month on China's lunar calendar. It is based on the legend of two separated lovers, Niu Lang and Zhi Nu, who could only meet each other on Qixi through an interstellar bridge formed by magpies.
People have been moved by the love story and the tradition of Qixi has been preserved for more than 2,000 years.
Nowadays, many young people view Qixi as Chinese Valentine's Day and an occasion for celebration with their partners.
See Kaixin's - Qixi Festival 七夕节 - China's Valentine
Sudan, China pledge to strenghten ties
KHARTOUM, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir met Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Monday and they expressed will to cement bilateral ties.
Al-Bashir said China is Sudan's real friend and good partner. It supports Sudan in exploiting oil fields and has helped train many Sudanese talents.
Sudan is willing to establish partnership with China in the agricultural sector and enhance their cooperation in the oil domain, the president said.
Global Times
Blood stains the Silk Road
Terrorists who spilled blood and bombed a building last month have again shaken Uyghur and Han residents in two cities along the ancient Silk Road in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
In Kashi, also known as Kashgar, the blood has been cleaned and damaged buildings have boarded up. The suspects of the violence have been arrested or killed. Recovering victims are wondering what triggered the random attacks and their anger is tinged with deep sadness.
Crash victim families accept new deal
Nineteen of 31 families bereaved by a deadly bullet train crash in Zhejiang Province have accepted compensation of 915,000 yuan ($143,000) per deceased family member as of on Sunday.
The compensatory payment was adjusted Friday from the original offer of 500,000 yuan ($77,399).
Jiang Zheng, brother of victim Jiang Zhengtong, told the Global Times on Sunday that he has accepted the compensation.
"I signed the deal on Sunday… I hope to end the matter as soon as possible, leaving my brother in a peaceful world," he said.
Despite the raise in compensation, the relatives of victims from 16 families still refused to accept the offer, demanding higher compensation or the results of an investigation before any deal was struck.
'We will punish those responsible'
Initial investigations into Saturday's train crash in Zhejiang Province found that signal failure and human error were the likely causes, authorities said on Thursday, on the same day that Premier Wen Jiabao promised the probe result would "stand the test of history."
"The signal system at Wenzhou South Railway Station has serious design flaws. After being hit by lightning, it failed to turn one of its lights from green to red, which then failed to prevent the collision," An Lusheng, head of the Shanghai Railway Bureau, said at an investigation meeting held by the State Council in Wenzhou on Thursday.
CCTV - 9
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The Wall Street Journal
China's Conundrum: Angry at U.S. but Trapped in Treasurys
Frustrated as it is over U.S. debt policy, China—America's biggest foreign creditor—is expected to continue buying Treasury bonds, mostly because the alternatives for parking its giant pool of foreign reserve are limited.
China Steps Up Criticism of U.S.
SHANGHAI—China stepped up its criticism of the United States in its latest reaction to the U.S. credit-rating downgrade, blaming bipartisan politics in Washington and urging the country's government to take political responsibility for a global economic recovery.
"What's near the cliff edge isn't the global economy. It's the politics in Washington," said a commentary in the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece, on Monday. It added that the debt crisis plaguing the U.S. isn't financial but ...
Double Dip: Would China Bail Out the Global Economy Again?
According to University of California, Berkeley economist Barry Eichengreen, the answer is no. Asia should be “very” afraid of a double-dip recession, Mr. Eichengreen writes at East Asia Forum, adding that the world’s second-largest economy isn’t where it was in 2008:
Asia Today: China’s Downgrade Dilemma
As the largest holder of U.S. debt, China faces new challenges in the wake of the U.S. credit-rating downgrade. WSJ's Andy Browne and Tom Orlik discuss the factors at play, as China weighs its policy options.
Pressure Grows on China to Spur Domestic Consumption
BEIJING—The U.S. credit-rating downgrade is piling more pressure on China to move away from an export-reliant economy that has produced mountains of currency reserves in declining dollars, though Chinese politicians, like those in Washington, often struggle to confront tough policy decisions needed to drive change.
See Kaixin's - Economic China
Asian Leaders React With Caution
China called for an alternative global reserve currency to the U.S. dollar, while Japan said it wouldn't change its investment plans.
China's Yuan Policy Could Get 'Tougher,' Banker Says
HONG KONG—Standard Chartered PLC's top executive for Asia sees China slowing the internationalization of its currency if the U.S. unleashes a new round of stimulus.
Speculation is growing that rising concerns about the state of the U.S. economy could prompt the Federal Reserve to launch a third round of securities purchases known as quantitative easing, creating a wave of liquidity that could stoke inflation across Asia. If that happens, "China is going to get even tougher," said Jaspal Singh Bindra, Standard Chartered's Asia chief executive, in an interview, citing Beijing's sensitivity to any inflationary pressures.
See Kaixin's - Yuan Revaluation & Internationalisation
Where Can China Stash Its Cash?
Of course, all of this is ultimately speculation. What is actually going on remains mysterious, and for good reason. China’s reserves managers are shifting a lot of money around, and if they start signaling their intentions to the markets, everything they want to buy will get very expensive and everything they want to sell very cheap. But with the U.S. raising the specter of a default on its “risk free” debt, it makes sense for China to explore other options.
Kaixin OpEd - A good analysis
Australia Can Build Its Way Out of Trouble
SYDNEY—With countries running out of fiscal bullets to fend off a global economic downturn, Australia is in the enviable position of having little debt, a triple-A credit rating—and a glaring need to build new infrastructure.
Making Sense of China’s Economic Statistics
Tom Orlik is a reporter in the Beijing bureau of The Wall Street Journal and the author of a new book, titled, “Understanding China’s Economic Indicators: Translating the Data into Investment Opportunities.”
The New York Times
Chinese Fault Beijing Over Foreign Reserves
HONG KONG — It is not just many Americans who are upset about the Standard & Poor’s downgrade of United States debt. A lot of people in China are angry, too. But they are aiming their venom at the Chinese government.
Kaixin OpEd - We ponder that the economists who advised the Chinese government were probably educated (brain-washed) in American Universities, certainly in Western Universities.
They spewed out the conventional teachings they had been taught ..... chief of which, was that America was the only place to park huge amounts of foreign currency.
Hmmmmmmm .... a rudimentary knowledge of history would show that when powerful countries get into economic trouble, they default. After all, what can be done?
America has been and is in the process of defaulting.
If only those bright young things who advised the Chinese government had shown some imagination.
If only ....
China Tells U.S. It Must ‘Cure Its Addiction to Debt’
By DAVID BARBOZA
SHANGHAI — China, the largest foreign holder of United States debt, said Saturday that Washington needed to “cure its addiction to debts” and “live within its means,” just hours after the rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded America’s long-term debt.
China’s Premier Seeks Reforms and Relevance
Wen Jiabao, the prime minister of China and the leading supporter of what passes for political liberalism in the country, appears increasingly marginalized.
Caixin Online
Slowly, China Widens Access to Shale Gas
Small and private companies are preparing to compete against the Big Three energy giants for shale gas rights
China is pushing for more diversity in the nation's emerging shale-gas sector, potentially to the dismay of the central government's powerful energy monopolies.
Russian Fund to Invite Chinese Investors
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of Russia's first sovereign wealth fund, RDIF, said the fund is seeking to partner with Chinese investors while in Beijing on August 4
(Beijing) -- The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia's first sovereign wealth fund, is seeking to partner with Chinese investors, said Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the fund in Beijing on August 4.
Russia Said to Lower Natural Gas Price Offer to China
The move comes after a deal to follow up on a 2009 framework agreement between China National Petroleum Corp. and Gazprom was stalled in June
(Beijing) – Russia plans to bring down its natural gas offer to the Chinese side in the aim of breaking a stalemate in negotiations for a 30-year export contract, according to a report by Russian newspaper, Izvestia.
Six Paths for Advancing China's Market Reform
Having finished the heavy lifting, China must address market reforms in areas such as pensions and the central bank
After more than three decades of reforming and opening China to the rest of the world, the nation's market economy framework is now firmly in place.
How can we describe this framework? There are two key points: First, the market now basically determines resource allocation.
Asia Times Online
Confucius reprises role as political pawn
By Benjamin A Shobert
While Mao Zedong attempted to banish Confucius as his work reminded the people of government-induced inadequacies, Confucian ideals of justice and honesty have today proved a timely, utilitarian narrative as Beijing tackles corruption and searches for a unifying political identity.
See Kaixin's - Confucius in Modern China
Tianjin rebrands its colonial legacy
By Antoaneta Becker
Tianjin on China's east coat is enjoying a makeover to capture the potential of its colonial past as a magnet for tourism and commerce. But while the city's beautification marks the rebranding of an old sore in line with former mayor Dai Xianglong's vision, others are left wondering if it represents a triumph of consumerism over preservation.
THE ROVING EYE
An extreme traveler, Pepe's nose for news has taken him to all parts of the Pepe Escobar globe. He was in Afghanistan and interviewed the military leader of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, Ahmad Shah Masoud, a couple of weeks before his assassination
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