Economics | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

13/11/2012

* Child journalists grill ministers at China congress

“From the mouth of babes …” If only the official response had been more honest and not from the standard script.

SCMP: “The innocent but pointed questions from a pair of young reporters to officials at China’s Communist Party talks have provided a refreshing break from the usual fare of bland reports and rote answers.

The plucky 11-year-old reporters from Chinese Teenagers News have become a minor media sensation in their own right by highlighting hot-button issues that typically make authorities squirm, including food safety and rising prices.

Zhang Jiahe, press badge around his neck and “junior journalist” embroidered on his clothing, told China’s housing minister that rising accommodation costs were affecting disposable income – including for new toys.

“Our family has not bought a house but a few friends nearby have faced this problem,” he said at the normally tightly-scripted gathering that heralds the unveiling of a new leadership on Thursday.

Skyrocketing property prices have squeezed China’s growing urban population in recent years even as government controls have slowed their rise.

Meanwhile food safety scandals have put off Zhang’s colleague Sun Luyuan and her friends from eating their favourite snacks.

“I love snacks, but I don’t dare to eat snacks now because we see so many reports these days of problems with food products,” she asked high-level officials, according to the state-run China News Service.

“Why are these kinds of food products available for purchase?”

Many Chinese have become concerned about food safety after a spate of scandals including a vast contamination of milk powder in 2008 that killed six babies and sickened 300,000 others.

“I thought of the question myself,” Sun told reporters this week of last Friday’s press conference. “I think this issue is very important to us so I really wanted to ask this question.”

Sun said the delegates had all been friendly so she was not afraid to put queries to them on behalf of Chinese Teenagers News, which is affiliated with the Communist Youth League.

The pair’s supervisor told reporters they were selected for the assignment because they were among the best journalists at the paper.

For over an hour during a press conference on Monday, both faced forward and sat up straight, seemingly unfazed by the unending flashes as photographers captured their efforts.

But while the child reporters’ inquiries have been acute, they have only received standard answers.

Sun was given a stock response on food standards from officials who pledged the government was addressing the situation and putting proper safety measures in place – a line repeated for years even as the scandals have persisted.

via Child journalists grill ministers at China congress | South China Morning Post.

* The consuming challenge of food safety (chindia-alert.org)

Posted in 10 year leadership change, China alert, Economics, Social & cultural | 1 Comment »

Tags: China, food safety, Xi JinPing

13/11/2012

* Yuan to surpass Dollar

Inevitably the US dollar will gradually be on a par with the Chinese yuan. And then several decades down the line, it will be relegated to second place.

The Future of Forex – Chinese Yuan vs US Dollar about to Launch for Online Trading (prweb.com)
Asian Countries abandon U.S. dollar for Chinese Yuan (blacklistednews.com)
Chinese Yuan at Record High vs. Greenback (247wallst.com)
CaesarTrade Urges Forex Traders to Invest in Hong Kong Dollar in Order to Trade The Chinese Yuan Forex Pair (prweb.com)

Posted in China alert, Economics, GeoPolitics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Chinese, Chinese yuan, Global Finance, Peoples Bank of China, Renminbi

12/11/2012

* Hu’s calls on household registration reform face opposition

As usual, local authorities go against national strategy and interests.

SCMP: “President Hu Jintao’s calls for faster reforms to the out-of-date household registration system face strong resistance from local government officials, the Jinghua Times reported on Monday.

Household registration, or hukou, which covers every family in mainland China, records people as either town dwellers or rural peasants. Many blame it for causing discrimination against peasants who move to cities, where their identity prevents them from gaining access to services like health care and education for their children.

At the 18th party congress, which continues this week in Beijing, Hu has called for faster reform of the registration system and expanded public welfare coverage for all citizens, whatever their household origin.

But scholars say the reform effort is encountering strong opposition from local government officials, because it would unleash financially ruinous demands for social welfare spending, the Jinghua Times newspaper said.

Hu Xingdou, a professor of economics at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said the state council has issued several orders for reforms since 2001, but they were blocked by fierce resistance at the local government level.

Reforms bring heavy financial pressure on local governments, says agricultural economics scholar Zheng Fengtian. The social welfare costs needed to cover tens of millions of rural migrants, when they arrive in big cities, are too heavy for local governments to handle, he said.

A blue paper from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences forecasts that 500 million peasants will move from the countryside to the mainland’s cities within the next 20 years. Including them in social welfare programmes will cost between 40 trillion and 50 trillion yuan (HK$49 trillion and HK$62 trillion), it estimates.

This situation will be especially intense in coastal regions, where the mobile population will surpass the number of city residents, Zheng added.

Professor Hu said market mechanisms would solve the problems that concern local officials. “When [rural migrants] find cities overcrowded, and the unemployment rate and housing prices too high, they will eventually leave the cities,” he said.

He warned that delaying reforms will only increase the risks, saying “what matters most is the central government’s determination on reform”.

There are currently 271 million people in the mainland who are not living in the location of their household registration, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Dang Guoying, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said “without proper reform of household registration, peasants cannot benefit from urbanisation, which will intensify social disparities and eventually bring stagnation to China’s development”.”

via Hu’s calls on household registration reform face opposition | South China Morning Post.

See also:

* Top China official urges residency permit reform (chindia-alert.org)

Posted in China alert, Economics, Household registration, Migrant workers | 1 Comment »

Tags: Beijing, Beijing Institute of Technology, China, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Family register, Hu Jintao, Hu Xingdou, politics, president hu jintao

10/11/2012

* China’s ‘most polluted city’ breathes cleaner air

As Western organisations know, “what you don’t measure you cannot manage” and “incentives matter”. So China’s local authorities are beginning to realise, as evidenced at Linfen. Assuming this notion is being espoused across China, then it is very good news indeed for the environment.

China Daily: “Fan Lifen clearly recalls the days when her hometown was shrouded in darkness, with the sun barely visible through a thick curtain of smog.

“The situation would worsen in the winter, when households would burn coal for heating,” recalls Fan, a native of the city of Linfen in North China’s Shanxi province.

Rapid industrialization and urbanization in the past two decades have saddled cities like Linfen with heavy environmental burdens, damaging the health of local residents and fueling complaints.

However, Linfen is making efforts to turn its situation around.

“The air in Linfen has improved tremendously,” said Liu Dashan, spokesman for the Shanxi Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau.

The dramatic turnaround started when Linfen was listed as the “most polluted” among 113 major Chinese cities for three consecutive years from 2003 to 2005.

The local government has since launched a cleanup campaign, closing 1,056 factories and imposing stricter environmental standards on those that are still operating, according to Mayor Yue Puyu.

Substandard mines have been shut down and smaller ones have been merged into competitive mining conglomerates, Yue said.

Residents have been weaned off of coal burning, with natural gas heating introduced to more than 85 percent of the city’s households, said Yang Zhaofen, director of the city’s environmental protection bureau.

The changes were made possible by changing the way the performance of local officials is evaluated, with promotions and other rewards linked to their efforts to improve the city’s environment.

Officials have not only closed down heavily polluting factories, but also taken action to add “green” features to the city. A large park was opened on the banks of the Fenhe River last year, helping to absorb pollutants and purify the air.

Over the years, China’s economic growth has been fueled by over exploitation of natural resources, resulting in environment degradation. A worsening environment has prompted the government to exert greater efforts on environmental protection, replacing the practice of achieving growth at all costs.

President Hu Jintao said in a speech delivered to the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress on Thursday that China should “give high priority to making ecological progress” and “work hard to build a beautiful country and achieve lasting and sustainable development.”

Linfen is a part of Shanxi’s efforts to repair its environment. The province, which provides over 70 percent of China’s coal, is slowly turning toward sustainable development.

More than 3,000 mines have been shut down since reforms were initiated in 2008, according to Wang Hongying, chief of the institute of macroeconomics under the provincial development and reform commission.

In addition to consolidating coal mines, the province has also made changes to the coal tax and fostered substitute industries, Wang said.

“We have set an example for other provinces. Although difficulties may emerge in the future, reforms will continue and we have high hopes for them,” Wang said.”

via China’s ‘most polluted city’ breathes cleaner air |Society |chinadaily.com.cn.

See also: http://chindia-alert.org/economic-factors/greening-of-china/

Jiangsu most sewage, Henan worst living environment: reports (wantchinatimes.com)
Shanxi to spearhead reform for China’s resource-constrained regions (wantchinatimes.com)
What Is The Future Of King Coal In China? – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)

Posted in carbon emission, China alert, Ecology, Economics, employment, Good news, Green, greenhouse gas, Pollution, Sustainable development | 1 Comment »

Tags: China, climate, Coal, communist party of china, environment, environmental burdens, environmental protection bureau, Fen River, Hu Jintao, Linfen, Shanxi, shanxi province

09/11/2012

* Hu sets out path for future

“The issue of what path we take is of vital importance for the survival of the Party, the future of China, the destiny of the nation, and the well-being of the people,” Hu, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said on Thursday at the opening of the CPC’s 18th National Congress.

Hu sets out path for future

Looking back at China’s eventful modern history and looking to the future, Hu, also the Chinese president, said a definite conclusion has been drawn: China must unswervingly follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

He said proceeding along the path is key to completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, accelerating socialist modernization, and achieving the great renewal of China.

To reach that goal, China must lose no time in deepening reform in key sectors and discard all notions and systems that hinder efforts to pursue development in a scientific way, he said.

“Our overall approach (in building socialism with Chinese characteristics) is to promote economic, political, cultural, social and ecological progress,” Hu said.

This is the first time that ecological progress has been incorporated into the overall development plan by the CPC.

By 2020, the country’s 2010 GDP and per capita income should be doubled, he said in a 100-minute keynote speech, punctuated by applause dozens of times, at the Great Hall of the People.

This is also the first time that per capita income has been included in the economic growth target set for 2020. Previous targets called for the growth of GDP, not of per capita income.

The head of the world’s largest political organization sounded the alarm on what he said was the “serious graft situation”, calling on Party members to be ethical and rein in their family members.

Combating corruption and promoting political integrity, a major political issue of great public concern, is a clear-cut and long-term political commitment of the Party, he said.

Failure to handle the issue could prove fatal to the Party, and even lead to the collapse of the Party and the fall of the country, he warned.”

via Hu sets out path for future |Politics |chinadaily.com.cn.

Code Red: China’s Leadership Transition Begins Amid Pomp and Security (world.time.com)

Posted in 10 year leadership change, Economics, Politics | 1 Comment »

Tags: central committee of the communist party, China, communist party of china, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Gross domestic product, Hu Jintao, politics, Socialist market economy

09/11/2012

* Just one joke in 10 years, but Hu has the last laugh

Which world leader can look back at his/her past decade in power and point to the achievements that president Hu can?

Extract from The Times, London, 9 November, 2012 – http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/asia/article3594528.ece

Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese president, delivers a keynote report during the opening ceremony of the 18th CPC National Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 8, 2012. The 18th CPC National Congress opened in Beijing on Thursday. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

“China’s economy was the world’s sixth biggest when Hu Jintao took power. A decade later, it is second to the US and gaining.
…
Most Chinese could only dream of owning a house or a car when Mr Hu took over. In 2002, just 3.2 million vehicles were sold; the number reached 18.5 million last year. Traffic jams seem endless and 65,000 miles of road have been laid — up from just 20,000. China overtook the US as the world’s biggest auto market in 2009. Only 16 people out 100 owned a mobile phone in 2002; today 74 in 100 have one.

About 59 million Chinese used the internet in 2002. Last year, nearly 520 million surfed cyberspace. The censors are meticulous in weeding out conversations deemed to be subversive. Perhaps more surprising is that such open discussion is allowed at all. Incomes have nearly tripled.
…
He ensured his popularity among 800 million peasants — and possibly his place in history — by abolishing a 2,600-year-old agricultural tax levied by emperors on every farming family.He put a man in space, launched an aircraft carrier (Soviet-made, admittedly) and developed technology to shoot down a satellite.
…
Some 200 protests erupt daily and the gap between rich and poor has widened to threaten Mr Hu’s cherished stability. In one of his jails Liu Xiaobo, the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner, serves 11 years. Mr Hu pledged to tackle corruption and arrested two Politburo members. An average of 94 officials are picked up every day for such offences. It’s a drop in the ocean of venality.

He once quipped: “A fall into the pit, a gain to your wit.” His rule was an odd mix of bold decisions and stasis.”

Checkered end-of-term report card for Hu Jintao (cnn.com)
Hu Jintao’s Legacy: A Strong but Strained China (lookingbeyondborders.com)

Posted in 10 year leadership change, China alert, Economics, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, China, Hu Jintao, Liu Xiaobo, Politburo

07/11/2012

* India and Canada finalise conditions of nuclear deal

BBC: “India and Canada have finalised the terms for their nuclear deal, paving the way for Canadian firms to export uranium to India.

Electricity cable in India

Once implemented, the deal is likely to provide a boost to India’s plans to increase its nuclear capacity to meet growing energy demands.

The deal was agreed in 2010, but there had been differences over supervision of the use of uranium in India.

Canada has banned the trade of nuclear materials with India since 1976.

“Canada with its large and high quality reserves of uranium could become an important supplier to the Indian nuclear power programme,” India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper said in a joint statement.

‘Important economic opportunity’

India’s economy has seen rapid expansion in recent years resulting in a surge in demand for energy in the country.

In a bid to meet its growing energy needs, India has been looking to increase its dependence on nuclear energy.

It is planning to set up some 30 reactors over as many years and get a quarter of its electricity from nuclear energy by 2050.

As a result it has been looking to secure supplies of uranium to achieve that target.

Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that being able to be a part of India’s nuclear power plans was “a really important economic opportunity for an important Canadian industry… that should pay dividends in terms of jobs and growth for Canadians down the road”.

Earlier this month, India agreed to begin negotiations on a civil nuclear co-operation agreement with Australia, which holds an estimated 40% of the world’s uranium.

Last year, it agreed a deal that will allow South Korea to export its nuclear energy technology to India.”

via BBC News – India and Canada finalise conditions of nuclear deal.

Tags: canada, India, manmohan singh, nuclear energy technology, Nuclear power, prime minister manmohan singh, South Korea, Stephen Harper, Uranium

06/11/2012

* India Is Clamping Down on Spending

WSJ: “India’s government has started to tighten its belt as it strives to meet the revised budget deficit target of 5.3% of gross domestic product for the year through March 2013.

It’s not that spending is decreasing: it’s still increasing – only a lot less. So in September, government spending rose by a “paltry” 1.4% from a year earlier, according to a new report by brokerage Nomura. By comparison, in August, spending had increased by a whopping 32% from a year earlier, Nomura economist Sonal Varma told India Real Time.

To look at it another way, public spending rose by 0.47% between August and September compared to a 30.7% increase in the same period last year.

Nomura’s Ms. Varma told India Real Time said that the government has cut spending on sectors such as defense. A recent increase in fuel prices means the government is also saving money on subsidies. In September, the government raised the price of diesel by 14% to about 47 rupees to reduce its expenses on fuel subsidy. The government estimates this will save it around 150 billion rupees in the year ending March 31, 2013.

One of the reasons why public spending has slowed down, says Ms. Verma, is because the government has delayed paying subsidies to oil marketing companies. These are costs that may be partly rolled over to next year.

A senior finance ministry official told India Real Time that the government expects to cut at least 500 billion rupees, or about 4% of the 14.9 trillion rupees that it had planned to spend this year. The official said spending cut will be across the board, but did not want to single out any particular area.

Despite spending cuts, public expenditure remains high, mainly due to subsidies on fuel, food and fertilizers, and on social sector schemes.

To meet its budget deficit target, India needs to slash government expenditure as well as raise funds through stake sales in state-run companies and the sale of radio bandwidth.

These are the governments priorities as laid out by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram last week, when he announced a fiscal roadmap aimed at lowering the budget gap from 5.3% in the year through March 2013 to 3% by 2017.”

via India Is Clamping Down on Spending – India Real Time – WSJ.

* India minister Chidambaram promises more reforms (chindia-alert.org)

Posted in deficit, Economics, India alert | 1 Comment »

Tags: Business, economy, Government, Government budget deficit, Gross domestic product, India, p chidambaram, politics, Rupee, Subsidy

06/11/2012

* Chinese State Media Survey: It’s the Wealth Gap, Stupid

Close on the heels of a survey regarding happiness, comes this more serious survey. The new leadership should heed the results:

Reducing the wealth gap
Reducing corruption
Reforming economics

WSJ: “With China’s once-a-decade leadership transition set to get underway on Thursday, pundits and scholars around the globe are speculating about what Beijing’s new top brass will — or won’t — do to tackle the country’s many problems. But what change are Chinese people themselves expecting to see?

If an online survey conducted by the state-run China Youth Daily newspaper is anything to go by, the answer is one that recalls the ideological roots, if not the recent reality, of China’s ruling party: income redistribution.

Of 11,405 Chinese Internet users polled by the Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily last week, 66.6% said they thought the country was likely to pursue reforms related to income distribution in the future, the newspaper reported on Tuesday (in Chinese). Second on the list were reforms aimed at curbing corruption (57.8%), followed by reforms of the economic system (53.5%) in third.

The results exceeded 100% because respondents were allowed to choose multiple options. Nearly half of respondents were born in the 1980s, with 17.7% born in the 1990s and the rest born in the 1970s, the newspaper said, adding that most of those who took part in the poll earned less than 5000 yuan ($800) per month.”

via State Media Survey: It’s the Wealth Gap, Stupid. – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, corruption, Economics, income-wealth gap, Inequalities | 2 Comments »

Tags: Beijing, China, economy, politics

06/11/2012

* The Rise of Innovation in China: Failed Western Stereotypes

Rainforest Realities: “In the past few months I’ve had the opportunity at several conferences to speak about innovation and intellectual property in China. I’ve come to realize that outside views about intellectual property in China are similar to common misperceptions about sustainability in this land. I’m glad to share my thoughts because I see huge gaps between Western views of China and the reality that is unfolding here.

Failure to appreciate the reality of innovation in China will lead many in the West to miss huge emerging opportunities. China is moving from a nation of low-cost manufacturing to a nation that relies on innovation and intellectual property. There is much progress still needed, but the changes are dramatic. China has gone from a nation with essentially no intellectual property laws 30 years ago to a nation that now leads the world in patent filings.

It is a nation where a small company in the U.S. can take its patents and trademarks to Chinese courts and win against Chinese companies. This happened recently (April 2012) in Shanghai, when a maker of blow-molded tables from my home state of Utah in the United States was able to enforce both its design patent and its trademark against Chinese infringers.

The growth of China’s intellectual property system from essentially nothing to a bustling, world-class system in so short a time is a dramatic example of what can be achieved in China, and should remind us that old stereotypes about China need to be frequently updated or discarded.

Illustrations from China’s 1313 Book of Farming

Today we are on the verge of a renaissance in Chinese innovation, returning China to a historic leadership role in technology and innovation. This historic role, however, is often not appreciated by the West. For example, many in the West, including eminent scholars, still think that Europe invented printing with movable type, and believe that the first mass-produced book printed with movable type was the Gutenberg Bible. This was a brilliant achievement, absolutely, but it came 142 years after Wang Zhen used movable type to mass produce the mammoth Nong Shu (农书) or Book of Farming in 1313, a beautifully illustrated book of agricultural innovation intended to preserve advanced knowledge from across China to help elevate the nation economically. The book not only describes useful agricultural methods and crops, but also details many mechanical inventions with drawings reminiscent of Leonardo DaVinci’s works.

China’s historic role as a great inventor only recently became available in the West with the publication of Science and Civilization in China by famed British scholar Joseph Needham. His 28-volume work details the Chinese origins of gunpowder, the compass, smallpox inoculation, mechanical clocks, paper money, suspension bridges, and numerous other advances long thought to be Western in origin.

The current rise of innovation now in China is not something new, but a return to ancient splendor. There are those who dismiss innovation in China as something the Chinese just aren’t capable of. That flawed viewpoint is squarely defied by the tide of history. While there were many forces that delayed China’s entry into the industrial revolution and led the modern world to see China as far from innovative, the momentum is shifting dramatically now.

Just as the West has failed to credit China for many past innovations, modern innovation from China doesn’t fare much better. APP’s innovation in sustainability, for example, ought to be evidence to anyone who visits our mills or sets foot on one of our plantations.

The water coming from APP’s mills has levels of purity exceeding accepted standards not just in China but in Europe and North America. Air emissions are remarkably low as well. And many advanced and innovative techniques have been developed in our sustainable plantations to provide high levels of productivity and efficiency —a sustainable model that often goes unrecognized.

There have been remarkable progress and achievements as noted in APP-China’s corporate sustainability report and our innovative Paper Contract with China, where APP is taking a leadership role in China in advancing the sustainability of the industry.

I challenge you to think about what you might have heard regarding sustainability in China and at APP. Just as the West gets a lot of things wrong regarding IP and innovation in China, some of what you’ve heard on sustainability may be incomplete or way off. We hope you’ll take a look and see for yourself.”

via The Rise of Innovation in China: Failed Western Stereotypes | Rainforest Realities.

Posted in China alert, innovation, Intellectual Property Rights | 1 Comment »

Tags: China, Gutenberg Bible, Intellectual property, intellectual property system, Joseph Needham, patent filings, Shanghai

CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

Categories

Blogs I Follow

Archive for ‘Economics’

* Yuan to surpass Dollar

* China’s ‘most polluted city’ breathes cleaner air

* Hu sets out path for future

* Just one joke in 10 years, but Hu has the last laugh

* India and Canada finalise conditions of nuclear deal

* India Is Clamping Down on Spending

* Chinese State Media Survey: It’s the Wealth Gap, Stupid

* The Rise of Innovation in China: Failed Western Stereotypes

Tags

Creative Commons

Archives

Meta

Blog Stats

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

Categories

Blogs I Follow

Archive for ‘Economics’

Related articles

Related articles

Related articles

Related articles

Related articles

Related articles

Related articles

Related articles

Tags

Creative Commons

Archives

Meta

Blog Stats