02/12/2019
- World’s largest coal consumer shows little sign of ending its dependency even though it is also the biggest market for renewable energy sources
- UN climate summit is meeting to discuss ways to limit future warming, but hopes are fading that China will commit to further curbs on emissions
China now accounts for around 30 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions. Photo: AP
As world leaders gather in Spain to discuss how to slow the warming of the planet, the spotlight has fallen on China – the top emitter of greenhouse gases.
China burns about half the coal used globally each year. Between 2000 and 2018, its annual carbon emissions nearly tripled, and it now accounts for about 30 per cent of the world’s total.
Yet it is also the leading market for solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles, and it manufactures about two-thirds of solar cells installed worldwide.
“We are witnessing many contradictions in China’s energy development,” said Kevin Tu, a Beijing-based fellow with the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. “It’s the largest coal market and the largest clean energy market in the world.”
That apparent paradox is possible because of the sheer scale of China’s energy demands.
Pollution alarm as tourism businesses contaminate home of China’s hairy crab
But as China’s economy slows to the lowest level in a quarter century – around 6 per cent growth, according to government statistics – policymakers are doubling down on support for coal and other heavy industries, the traditional backbones of China’s energy system and economy. At the same time, the country is reducing subsidies for renewable energy.
At the annual United Nations climate summit, this year in Madrid, government representatives will put the finishing touches on implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement, which set a goal to limit future warming to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Nations may decide for themselves how to achieve it.
China had previously committed to shifting its energy mix to 20 per cent renewables, including nuclear and hydroelectric energy.
Climate experts generally agree that the initial targets pledged in Paris will not be enough to reach the goal, and next year nations are required to articulate more ambitious targets.
Hopes that China would offer to do much more are fading.
Recent media reports and satellite images suggest that China is building or planning to complete new coal power plants with total capacity of 148 gigawatts – nearly equal to the entire coal-power capacity of the European Union within the next few years, according to an analysis by Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based non-profit.
China is the world’s leading market for wind turbines and other renewables – but is still a major source of emissions. Photo: Chinatopix via AP
Meanwhile, investment in China’s renewable energy dropped almost 40 per cent in the first half of 2019 compared with the same period last year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a research organisation. The government slashed subsidies for solar energy.
Last week in Beijing, China’s vice-minister of ecology and environment told reporters that non-fossil-fuel sources already account for 14.3 per cent of the country’s energy mix. He did not indicate that China would embrace more stringent targets soon.
“We are still faced with challenges of developing our economy, improving people’s livelihood,” Zhao Yingmin said.
As a fast-growing economy, it was always inevitable that China’s energy demands would climb steeply. The only question was whether the country could power a sufficiently large portion of its economy with renewables to curb emissions growth.
Many observers took hope from a brief dip in China’s carbon emissions between 2014 and 2016. Today the country’s renewed focus on coal comes as a disappointment.
“Now there’s a sense that rather than being a leader, China is the one that is out of step,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air in Helsinki.
He notes that several developed countries – including Germany, South Korea and the United States – are rapidly reducing their reliance on coal power.
After climbing sharply for two decades, China’s emissions stalled around 2013 and then declined slightly in 2015 and 2016, according to Global Carbon Budget, which tracks emissions worldwide.
This dip came as Chinese leaders declared a “war on pollution” and suspended the construction of dozens of planned coal power plants, including some in Shanxi.
Pollution scandal near China nature reserve at Tengger desert’s edge
At the same time, the government required many existing coal operators to install new equipment in chimneys to remove sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide and other hazardous substances. About 80 per cent of coal plants now have scrubbers, said Alvin Lin, Beijing-based China climate and energy policy director for the Natural Resources Defence Council, a non-profit.
As a result, the air quality in many Chinese cities, including Beijing, improved significantly between 2013 and 2017. Residents long accustomed to wearing face masks and running home air-filter machines enjoyed a reprieve of more “blue sky days,” as low-pollution days are known in China.
In the past three years, China’s carbon emissions have begun to rise again, according to Global Carbon Budget.
The coming winter in Beijing may see a return of prolonged smog, as authorities loosen environmental controls on heavy industry – in part to compensate for other slowing sectors in the economy.
The UN Climate Change Conference is taking place in Madrid this month. Photo: AFP
Permits for new coal plants proliferated after regulatory authority was briefly devolved from Beijing to provincial governments, which see construction projects and coal operations as boosts to local economies and tax bases, said Ted Nace, executive director of Global Energy Monitor.
“It’s as though a boa constrictor swallowed a giraffe, and now we’re watching that bulge move through the system,” said Nace. In China, it takes about three years to build a coal plant.
The world has already warmed by 1 degree Celsius. All scenarios envisioned by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for holding planetary warming to around 1.5 degrees Celsius involve steep worldwide reductions in coal-power generation.
In that effort, other countries rely on Chinese manufacturing to hold down prices on solar panels. wind turbines and lithium-ion batteries.
“China has a really mixed record. On the one hand, it’s seen rapidly rising emissions over the past two decades,” said Jonas Nahm, an energy expert at Johns Hopkins University.
“On the other hand, it’s shown it’s able to innovate around manufacturing – and make new energy technologies available at scale, faster and cheaper.”
Source: SCMP
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30/11/2019
A child makes a snowman at the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 30, 2019. Beijing saw a snowfall Friday night. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
BEIJING, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) — Beijing on Saturday was covered in white after experiencing the first snow this winter, which experts said was timely after a much-delayed snowfall in last year’s droughty winter.
The snow, which began Friday evening, reached the level of a blizzard in the outlying districts of Yanqing and Changping. In the city proper, the average precipitation was 3.1 millimeters, said the Beijing Meteorological Service.
“The first snowfall in Beijing this winter was most timely. Records show since 1961, Beijing’s average first winter snowfall happened exactly on Nov. 29,” said Guo Jinlan, a chief forecaster with the service.
The city’s first snow last winter did not fall until February this year.
Experts expect the snow to reduce the risks of wildfire and clean the air in Beijing, whose air pollution usually deteriorates in the winter season.
The city has issued an alert for icy roads and advised citizens to beware of health problems during the low temperature and windy weather after the snow.
Source: Xinhua
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30/11/2019
- Zhuhai police, at the end of the world’s longest sea bridge, use body armour and tear gas in preparation for Macau’s 20th anniversary celebration
- Hong Kong is just an hour’s drive away from Macau using the bridge
More than 1,000 police officers took part in the anti-terror drill in Zhuhai. Photo: Toutiao
Armed police in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai held a massive anti-terror drill at its end of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge on Friday morning as part of its preparations for the 20th anniversary of the handover of Macau, when President Xi Jinping is expected to visit the city.
More than 1,000 police officers and 80 vehicles were involved in the exercise, amid
, according to local news portal Southcn.com.
Photos circulated online showed officers in body armour, helmets and shields firing tear gas as they confronted a group of people carrying sticks and wearing black shirts and yellow helmets – attire associated with the protesters in Hong Kong, 60km (37 miles) away from Macau.
The drill was held three weeks before the 20th anniversary of Macau’s return to Chinese administration under the “one country, two systems” policy on December 20.
Police trucks and riot officers during Friday’s exercise at the Zhuhai end of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. Photo: Toutiao
Security is expected to be tightened when Xi visits the city, in response to the violent clashes in Hong Kong over the past six months, which Beijing has repeatedly blamed on radical protesters.
The former Portuguese colony is connected to Hong Kong and its neighbouring city of Zhuhai, Guangdong province, by the world’s longest sea crossing bridge. It takes about an hour to drive from Hong Kong to Macau via the bridge.
Guo Yonghang, Zhuhai party chief, urged the local police to stay loyal to the party. “[Police] should be loyal and fulfil duty and mission to create a peaceful and stable political and social environment for the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Macau’s reunification to the motherland,” he said.
Macau was returned to China two years after Hong Kong and celebrations of its success under one country, two systems could be overshadowed by its neighbour’s anti-government protests which stemmed from opposition to proposed extradition legislation and have escalated into violence on the streets and in university campuses.
In August, two months after more than 2 million people in Hong Kong took to the streets to protest the now-suspended extradition bill, police in Shenzhen held at least three drills featuring anti-riot exercises involving tear gas, armoured vehicles and water cannon.
Source: SCMP
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29/11/2019
BEIJING, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) — China has started the design of Fengyun-5 meteorological satellites and the third generation polar orbit meteorological satellite observation system, according to the Science and Technology Daily Thursday.
The new satellites and observation system will conduct high-precision global 3D atmospheric detection, the report quoted Zhang Peng, deputy director of National Satellite Meteorological Center (NSMC) as saying.
China has launched a total of 17 Fengyun meteorological satellites, with seven currently in orbit. With an increasing demand for meteorological satellite data, China plans to launch another nine Fengyun satellites before 2025.
Fengyun-5 satellites will be low-orbit meteorological satellites with a network of comprehensive observation satellites, special-purpose observation satellites and constellations for extreme weather monitoring.
They will be the successor of the Fengyun-3 satellites currently in service and are expected to completely replace them by 2035.
The planned meteorological satellites, including Fengyun-5 satellites in polar orbit and Fengyun-6 satellites in geostationary orbit, will better support meteorological disaster prevention and enhance global meteorological services, the report quoted Yang Jun, director of NSMC as saying.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in Beijing, China alert, design, Fengyun-5, meteorological, National Satellite Meteorological Center (NSMC), new, observation system, plans, polar orbit, satellites, Science and Technology Daily, third generatio, Uncategorized |
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29/11/2019
BEIJING, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) — A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense on Thursday slammed U.S. warships and military aircraft’s willful and repeated trespassing into the adjacent waters and airspace of China’s islands and reefs in the South China Sea.
The trespassing hurts regional peace and stability, harms China’s sovereignty and security, and endangers the lives of frontline officers and soldiers of both sides, spokesman Ren Guoqiang said at a press conference, calling it “a highly dangerous provocation.”
“We demand that the United States immediately stop such infringement upon China’s interests,” Ren said, adding that the Chinese military is always on high alert and will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in Beijing, China alert, Military aircraft, Ministry of National Defense, slams, South China Sea, trespassing, U.S., Uncategorized, warships |
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28/11/2019
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses the opening of a training session for heads of military academies and schools at the National Defense University of the People’s Liberation Army in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Gang)
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for efforts to cultivate a new type of military personnel who are competent, professional and possess both integrity and ability.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the requirement at the opening of a training session for heads of military academies and schools held in Beijing.
On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, Xi extended greetings to the heads of military academies and schools as well as those working in the military education field.
In the morning, Xi met with all members of the training session and took photos with them at the National Defense University of the People’s Liberation Army, where the opening was held.
The military education policy in the new era, Xi said, upholds the Party’s absolute leadership over the military, serves the goal of building a strong country with a strong military, and aims to train a new type of military personnel who are competent, professional and possess both integrity and ability.
To deepen reform and innovation of military academies and schools, Xi emphasized efforts to strengthen the top-level design and long-term plans, develop better academic disciplines, build a high-caliber teaching staff and improve support systems and institutions.
Xi required the heads of military academies and schools to have high political integrity, possess a good knowledge of education, warfare research and management while subjecting themselves to strict self-discipline.
Xi stressed more efforts to care for and support military academies and schools and prioritize their development.
The opening ceremony was presided over by Xu Qiliang and attended by other senior military officers including Zhang Youxia, Wei Fenghe, Li Zuocheng, Miao Hua and Zhang Shengmin.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in ability, Beijing, Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Chinese President Xi Jinping, competent, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, integrity, military academies, military personnel, National Defense University, People's Liberation Army, professional, Uncategorized |
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27/11/2019
- But Washington still commands more diplomatic influence, analyst says
- Beijing extends its reach as its interests grow abroad and as Taipei loses allies
China has 276 embassies, consulates and other missions around the world, surpassing the US with 273 missions, according to a global index. Photo: AP
China has overtaken the United States to have the biggest number of diplomatic outposts around the world, as its international ambitions and economic interests expand.
According to the 2019 Global Diplomacy Index, released by the Lowy Institute in Australia on Wednesday, China has 276 embassies, consulates and other missions globally, surpassing the US with 273 missions. France was third on 267.
Bonnie Bley, the index report’s lead researcher, said that while a country’s total did not equate to diplomatic influence, “diplomatic infrastructure is still important”
“China’s newly held lead serves as a telling metric of national ambition and international priorities,” Bley said.
Beijing has 169 embassies or high commissions, while Washington has 168. However, China had 96 consulates while the US had 88, suggesting that Beijing’s diplomatic expansion was closely linked to its economic interests, she said.
Beijing bulks up diplomacy budget as China extends global reach
Renmin University international relations professor Shi Yinhong said China had close and growing trade and investment ties with many developing countries, especially those taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative, increasing the need for consulates.
“One of the consulates’ main goals is to serve the citizens and businesses located in those countries,” Shi said.
Beijing has also expanded its reach at Taipei’s expense. Since 2016, when the index was first published, Taiwan’s total number of embassies fell from 22 to 15, the biggest drop among the 61 places ranked.
China opened five new embassies – in El Salvador, Burkina Faso, Gambia, São Tomé and Príncipe and the Dominican Republic – countries that severed official diplomatic ties with Taiwan. This directly contributed to China’s lead over the US, the report said.
Beijing’s diplomatic expansion also comes as the US, under the administration of President Donald Trump, is taking an “America first” approach to foreign policy.
Sri Lanka rejects fears of China’s ‘debt-trap diplomacy’ in belt and road projects
Trump has sought to cut funding to the US State Department and the White House has not appointed US ambassadors for at least 17 countries, including Brazil and Egypt, according to the American Foreign Service Association.
“Even though the US has a strong diplomatic base but it is not so proactive any more. It has fewer consulates and fewer foreign service workers,” Shi said.
“For the long term, China is in a more advantageous position.”
But a country’s diplomatic ability and influence did not rest on the number of foreign service postings and the US still held more international diplomatic sway than China, he added.
Some of China’s biggest diplomatic missions include Islamabad in Pakistan, Washington and London.
Source: SCMP
Posted in 2019 Global Diplomacy Index, American Foreign Service Association, “America first”, Beijing, belt and road projects, biggest, boast, Brazil, Burkina Faso, China alert, commands, diplomatic, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Gambia, influence, Islamabad, London, network, Pakistan, President Donald Trump, Renmin University, São Tomé and Príncipe, São Tome, Sri Lanka, Taipei, Uncategorized, United States, US State Department, Washington, White House, world’s |
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26/11/2019
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, meets with a delegation of the United Russia party led by Chairman of the United Russia’s Supreme Council Boris Gryzlov at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping Monday met with a delegation of the United Russia party at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
The delegation, led by Chairman of the United Russia’s Supreme Council Boris Gryzlov, is in Beijing for the seventh meeting of the dialogue mechanism between the ruling parties of China and Russia held Monday.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, expressed congratulations for the success of the 19th congress of the United Russia party.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the forging of diplomatic ties between China and Russia, said Xi.
“President Putin and I jointly announced the development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, agreeing to guide bilateral relations in the direction of mutual support, in-depth integration and innovative cooperation to achieve win-win results,” said Xi.
He said China and Russia have formed strong strategic support for each other, which is of great strategic significance to world peace and development.
Saying that as ruling parties, the CPC and the United Russia party shoulder responsibilities to further promote China-Russia ties, Xi called on delegates to the seventh meeting of the dialogue mechanism to fully exchange views so as to contribute wisdom and strength to bilateral ties as well as world peace and prosperity.
Congratulating China on the fourth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, Gryzlov said Russia-China ties have reached an unprecedented level as the two countries have sound cooperation in various fields and good coordination in international and regional hotspot issues.
The United Russia party stands ready to enhance cooperation with the CPC to further promote bilateral ties, said Gryzlov.
The dialogue mechanism between the CPC and the United Russia party was launched in June 2009. Its sixth meeting was held in Kazan in March 2017.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in 70th anniversary, Beijing, China alert, China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, Chinese President Xi Jinping, diplomatic ties, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Great Hall of the People, Kazan, President Putin, Russia, Uncategorized, United Russia party, United Russia's Supreme Council |
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25/11/2019
- Unit 121 on Lanman Hutong, about 10 minutes’ drive from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, changed hands last month for 1.28 million yuan
- The new owner bought a 5.6-square metre (72 square feet) cubicle covered in bathroom tiles large enough to fit a bunk bed, with standing room only
A view of the 5.6 square metre cubicle-size home in Beijing on 15 November 2019. The home sold for 1.28 million yuan at auction. Photo: Louise Moon
A subdivided home in a run-down alley in Beijing recently sold for a record price at auction, as eager buyers piled in to get hold of its much sought-after address to gain access to some of the Chinese capital’s best schools.
A subdivided unit at No. 121 Lanman Hutong, about 10 minutes’ drive from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, changed hands on November 11 for 1.28 million yuan (US$182,400) after 136 rounds of furious bidding during an auction in Beijing.
For 230,000 yuan per square metre (HK$23,850 per square foot), the new owner bought a 5.6-square metre (72 square feet) cubicle covered in bathroom tiles large enough to fit a bunk bed, with standing room only. That’s smaller than even Hong Kong’s notorious micro-apartments – also known derisively as shoebox flats or nano flats – which average about 200 square feet. A standard car parking space measures 126 square feet.
What the dilapidated space does have is an address that entitles its owner to a hukou, the household registration that is the prerequisite for access to schools, homes, civil service jobs, public health care and almost every aspect of daily life in the Chinese capital.
The alley on which No. 121 Lanman Hutong sits in Beijing on 15 November 2019. Photo: Louise Moon
Lanman Hutong, or the Alley of the Brilliant Drapes, sits in Xicheng district, a chequerboard neighbourhood criss-crossed with hundreds of alleyways that boasts three of the five highest-ranked schools in the city.
According to Beijing’s real estate regulations, one square metre entitles the owner a
hukou. That fuelled the rush by parents to buy property in the area to qualify for sending their children to such eminent schools as the Beijing No. 4 High School, whose alumni include
former Chongqing Commissar Bo Xilai, former China Development Bank president Chen Yuan and Citic’s chairman Kong Dan. Most of these bolt holes are now unoccupied after they have served their purposes, local residents said.
Lanman Hutong, or the Alley of the Brilliant Drapes, in the Xicheng district of Beijing, about 10 minutes drive from the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, on 15 November 2019. Photo: Louise Moon
The auction result offers a peek into the growing speculative bubble in Beijing’s property market, a development that has defied more than two years of policymakers’ attempts to control. The average price of newly built homes rose 4.3 per cent in October to 60,894 yuan per square metre in Beijing, according to China’s statistics bureau data and Lianjia, a major real estate broker.
“Beijing’s homes have always been expensive, [particularly so] in Xicheng, where only the ultra-wealthy can afford to stay,” said Midland Beijing’s analyst Zhao Jia. “A million yuan is not expensive at all, to find space that close to the Forbidden City.”
Beijing’s average home price is equivalent to 24.9 years of the city’s median net income, excluding expenditures, according to data by E-House China Research and Development Institution. Hong Kong, the world’s most expensive urban centre to live and work in, requires 21 years of average income to affordable the average abode, according to the Demographia International Housing Affordability Study, as the city also boasts of a higher income and lower tax rate.
A tiny alleyway leading to No. 121 Lanman Hutong, which sold earlier this week for 1.28 million yuan in Beijing. Photo: Louise Moon
“It is not that easy for the average person to own property in Beijing,” said Midland’s Zhao. “For most homes in the city, 1 million yuan is only enough for a down payment.”
Unit 121 on Lanman Hutong is located among a cluster of siheyuan, as Beijing’s traditional courtyard homes are called. Bicycles, old washing machines and other household junk are piled along the maze of alleyways leading to the ground-floor unit.
Its auction drew 29 bidders starting from 470,000 yuan. The final winning bid prices the Lanman cubicle 35 per cent higher than a 100-million yuan villa with view of the Summer Palace in Beijing’s outskirts, on a per square foot basis.
To be sure, the unidentified buyer of the unit may be speculating for a quick flip, when the property is torn down, said Zhang Dawei, an analyst at Centaline Property Agency.
“This is more like a gamble, betting on the unit being demolished,” Zhang said. “If the odds are good, the buyer can pocket the [compensation], which could be several times what he bought it for. Even if it is not demolished in the short term, it is not bad to have some asset in the heart of Beijing.”
Source: SCMP
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25/11/2019
- Television report shows how drivers are willing to pay more than US$20,000 for a sham marriage with someone who has a valid registration
- City authorities ration the number of plates that allow people to use their cars in the capital as part of efforts to tackle pollution and congestion
Beijing has started limiting the number of plates issued as part of its efforts to tackle the city’s notorious pollution and congestion. Photo: EPA-EFE
Some desperate Beijing motorists are resorting to sham marriages to get round strict licence plate rules that are designed to limit the number of cars allowed on the city’s congested roads.
A report by state broadcaster CCTV that aired on Sunday night claimed that some drivers were willing to pay the equivalent of tens of thousands of US dollars to marry someone with one of the prized plates, have it transferred into their name and then get divorced.
Specialist agencies charge over 160,000 yuan (US$22,700) to help their clients obtain a licence this way for a petrol-driven car, or over 110,000 yuan for an electric-powered one, according to the report.
The scam is the result of a licence lottery first introduced in 2011 to tackle the Chinese capital’s notorious congestion and pollution.
Chinese driver arrested for doctoring number plate to spell out obscene phrase
Because of the strict limits on the number of Beijing number plates issued, there are now 2,600 applicants for every one issued for petrol-powered vehicles. Those who wanted a licence for an electric car may have to wait until 2028, the report said.
The government has also been steadily lowering the annual quota for new local licences from 240,000 in 2013 to 100,000 last year.
The owners of locally registered cars are also banned from using them on one day a week, which is determined according to the plate number.
Cars that do not have a Beijing licence plate face severe limits on driving in the city. The owners of these cars must apply for a permit that only allows them to use their cars for seven days at a time – and as of this month they are only allowed 12 permits a year.
A man carries a number plate at a used car market in Beijing. Photo: AFP
The result is that many drivers have been looking for legal ways to get round the limits – with the sham marriages being one of the most extreme examples.
“We receive at least three or four clients a day asking to get a licence via fake marriages,” a manager at one agency told a CCTV reporter.
A staff worker helps go through all the procedures and if a suitable match is found, the process can be completed within 20 days.
Another loophole some are taking advantage of is to buy a car in the name of someone who has won the licence lottery, according to the agency.
Chinese police do U-turn on traffic crash after online crowd doubt official account
The actual user pays for the car in full, registers it under the licence owner’s name, and pays the latter a sum of money for using the licence – typically 20,000 yuan a year, 49,000 yuan for three years or 69,000 for a five-year deal.
In many cases, the two parties sign an agreement to limit the risk of a protracted dispute, but one judge warned that this was still a risky business.
Wang Lidan, a judge at Haidian District People’s Court in the northwest of the capital, told the programme makers that he knew of one case where a woman had paid a man with a Beijing licence to marry her, only for him to vanish after receiving the money.
Not only did the woman miss out on getting the licence but she faced an extra legal headache in getting a divorce.
Under Chinese law she had to first publish a notice about his disappearance in a newspaper and then wait three months before the divorce could go through the courts.
Record price for Beijing’s cubicle home shows desperation for hukou
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Source: SCMP
Posted in Beijing, car, chinese police, desperate, licence plate, marrying, motorists, People, secure, traffic crash, U-turn, Uncategorized |
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CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 