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Hurun Report: Chinese Billionaires Number More than 5,000

In a recent interview, Rupert Hoogewerf, the founder of China’s Hurun Report, a famous list of wealthy Chinese, estimated the number of Chinese billionaires to be over 5,000.
The calculation is based on official statistics that count 1,393 individuals as having personal assets of 1 billion yuan ($0.15 billion US). Hoogewerf believes that the those who are excluded from the official count generally number about twice those who are included, or around 3,000 people. Adding the two numbers together, the richest group may well be above 5,000.
Hoogewerf said that their wealth mainly comes from real estate, manufacturing, IT, medicine, and retail business. The average age of wealthy Chinese is only 51 years old.
Source: China News Service, September 30, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/cj/2010/09-30/2566310.shtml

Bank of China: Starting Registration Process for a Taiwan Branch

On September 23, the Taiwan banking supervisory authorities approved the establishment of the Bank of China’s Taiwan Regional Office. The spokesman for the Bank of China confirmed the news and suggested that the bank will immediately start the registration process to set up its first branch. The Bank of China currently has a brokerage relationship with 19 Taiwanese banks.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission already issued approval for four Taiwanese banks to open branches in mainland China. Along with the Bank of China, Taiwanese authorities also approved the Bank of Communications, headquartered in Shanghai. Regional offices can only perform non-commercial functions.

Source: Xinhua, September 23, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-09/23/c_12599085.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/tw/2010-09/23/c_12599010.htm

Xinhua: Nine Chinese Arms Sales Companies Attended Show in South Africa

From September 21 to 25, a South African Defense Exhibit was held in Cape Town. The China State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense organized the show, and nine Chinese arms sales companies attended. The main companies included the China Aviation Technology Import and Export Company, Ltd.; the China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation; the China North Industries Corporation; the Space Long March International Trade Company; etc. This was the largest gathering of Chinese arms sales companies ever. The Chinese Exhibition area occupied 735 square meters.

Source: Xinhua, September 21, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-09/22/c_13524715.htm

Beijing Conducted Large Scale Armed Police Exercise

With the background of the bus hijacking incident in the Philippines not long ago, Beijing Police recently conducted an exercise involving both Special Police and Military Police. The scenario of the exercise was based on an anti-terrorist situation in which “terrorists” occupied a shopping center and took several hostages. Around 400 police officers participated in the exercise. A large amount of special and heavy equipment was deployed during the exercise, such as police helicopters and climbing assault vehicles. According to the Beijing Police spokesman, the purpose of the exercise was to demonstrate the capabilities of the police in handling an ever increasing crime rate and maintaining social stability.

Source: Xinhua, September 23, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-09/23/c_12598890.htm

Xinhua’s Taipei Bureau: Review of Mainland China’s Local Government Delegations’ Visits to Taiwan

[Editor’s Note: A recent Xinhua article gave a brief review of how, in recent years, China’s local government delegations have used cultural exchange programs and business operations to make frequent visits to Taiwan. According to the article, which is from Xinhua‘s Taipei bureau, these efforts have resulted in a great improvement in the Taiwanese perception of Beijing. The following is a translation of selected parts of the article.] [1]

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A Hong Kong Conference for Unification across the Strait

The Overseas Chinese World Conference for Promoting the Peaceful Reunification of China was held in Hong Kong on September 21 and 22.
Fifteen hundred delegates from 60 countries gathered for the meeting, with about 600 attendees from Taiwan. Jia Qinglin, one of the members of the Chinese Communist Party’s nine-member Politburo Standing Committee, sent a congratulatory letter, saying that “the compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao and the overseas Chinese … have been an important force in anti-secession and reunification efforts.” Jia serves as the chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification, a CCP-led network connecting global Chinese to oppose Taiwan independence and promote unification.
Du Qinglin, the head of the CCP Central Committee’s United Front Work Department, called on “Chinese both at home and abroad to jointly shoulder the historic responsibility of moving cross-Strait ties forward.” The meeting, first held in Berlin in 2000, has convened in such cities as Tokyo, Sydney, Moscow, Vienna, Bucharest, Macao, and Los Angles. Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang and Taiwan representative Xu Linong also spoke at the meeting.
Source: Xinhua, September 22, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-09/22/c_12597165.htm

China to Launch Space Station in 2011

China expects its first space station “Tiangong 1” to be orbiting the Earth in early 2011.
The 8.5-ton Tiangong-1 (Tiangong means “heavenly palace” in Chinese) is scheduled to lift off on a Long March 2F carrier rocket and serve as a docking station for three Shenzhou spacecraft – the Shenzhou-8, Shenzhou-9, and Shenzhou-10. The Shenzhou-8, currently under construction, will dock at the Tiangong-1 as it orbits the Earth, sometime in the second half of 2011. The Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spaceships are scheduled to be launched in 2012.
Eventually, after the Shenzhou dockings, Tiangong-1 will serve as a manned space lab and will expand as the Tiangong-2 and Tiangong-3 merge with the primary space module. According to Chinese authorities, the Tiangong-2 is scheduled to be completed by 2013 and the Tiangong-3 will be finished sometime later, possibly between 2014 and 2016.
Source: China News Service, September 23, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/2010/09-23/2550767.shtml