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China-Latin America Cooperation in Science and Technology Innovation

According to China’s official newspaper People’s Daily, the 2022 China-Latin America and the Caribbean Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation was recently held via video conferencing. More than 20 participant representatives from the science and technology authorities in Latin American and Caribbean countries participated online. During the forum, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and the counterpart officials in Latin American countries signed memorandums of understanding on cooperation to accelerate the construction of sustainable food innovation centers. Participants expressed their willingness to continue to deepen the cooperation between Latin America and China in the fields of clean energy, digital technology, agricultural technology, and satellite communications.

The report mentioned the Sino-Bolivian satellite cooperation project and China’s Sinovac Biotech’s vaccine plant in Chile.

Source: People’s Daily, September 8, 2022
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2022-09/08/nw.D110000renmrb_20220908_4-03.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Wave of Mortgage Boycotts Has Spread to 340 Locations in 190 cities

Numerous unfinished real estate, also known as “rotten-tail” buildings in China, has led property owners to engage in a wave of mortgage payment suspensions, By September 6, This  involved 119 cities and a total of 340 projects, and 2022 property owners, raising concerns that the payment suspensions may continue to worsen economic development.

The wave of mortgage suspensions triggered by “rotten-tail” buildings began in July, with many property owners stopping payment on their mortgages, issuing one “loan suspension notice,0, after another, demanding that real estate developers resume their construction work in full, or they will stop paying the principal and interest to the banks.

A person involved in the suspension of loans collected some data and stored it at the online repository GitHub (WeNeedHome). The collection at this site showed, on September 6, that the suspension of mortgag payments on property cumulatively involved up to 340 sites in 119 cities across the country. The number is still climbing. Henan Province tops the list with 66 sites, followed by Shaanxi Province and Hunan Province.

On top of that, banks that could not collect on their loans were among those affected, with the share price of Shenzhen-based financier Ping An Bank falling as overdue payments on suspended homes reached 78 million yuan ($11.3 million).

Source: Radio Free Asia, August 18, 2022 (figures updated on September 6)
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jingmao/cm-08182022120213.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Under Fiscal Pressure, Chinese Local Governments Have to Resort to Fines to Generate Revenue

China’s economic downturn, along with the Covid epidemic and other factors, has drained local government revenues. Mainland Chinese media reported that many local governments have been resorting to the indiscriminate use of fines to generate revenue.

China NewsWeek magazine reported on August 29 that, in recent year, in many areas, the revenue from fines, penalties, and confiscations has increased significantly.

In 2021 among the 111 cities that have publicized data on fines. 80 cities saw a rise in the revenue from fines. In 15 of them the fines more than doubled. For example, the fines in Leshan in Sichuan increased by 155 percent and Nanchang in Jiangxi by 151 percent.

Qingdao, the city, ranked Number One. In 2021. The revenue from fines amounted to RMB 4.377 billion ($ 0.63 billion), an increase of 127 percent compared to 2020. In addition to Qingdao, Jiangsu Province includes 6 of the top 14 cities in terms of the highest fine revenue.

For example, in order to raise revenue, traffic police in Inner Mongolia set up check points on highways and have fined the truck drivers for violations such as “not wearing seat belts,” although in fact the drivers had actually buckled up and did not violate any traffic laws.

The newspaper quoted a researcher who reported that the source of a significant portion of local fiscal revenue is from land sales. He said that, according to the National Bureau of Statistics,, the local government revenue from land sales in the first seven months of this year was only about 1/3 of  what it had been in the same period last year, putting pressure on fiscal revenue.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), August 29, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202208290196.aspxwear

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Turkish Media: China is Selling Russian LNG to Europe at Inflated Price

The Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak reported on Friday, September 2, that China will sell Russian LNG (liquid natural gas) to European countries at an inflated price. In practice, this represents an indirect violation of the European embargo.

According to Chinese customs data, in the first six months of 2022, China imported 2.35 million tons of fuel from Russia at a value of $2.16 billion.

The newspaper said Russian LNG exports to China via the Siberian pipeline have increased by 63 percent. .

The article added, “Experts stressed that the supply of LNG exceeds China’s domestic demand and that the Chinese government will sell LNG purchased from Russia to European countries that are coping with the energy crisis,” .

Source: Sputnik News (Russia), September 3, 2022
https://sputniknews.cn/20220903/1043653866.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China Officially Declared Bankruptcy of Two Village and Town banks

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBRC), the country’s top regulator of the financial industry, announced on Friday August 26 via its official website that two banks in Liaoning Province were approved to enter bankruptcy proceedings. The two banks are Liaoyang Rural Commercial Bank and Liaoning Taizihe Village Bank. The announcement is tantamount to officially declaring the bankruptcy of the two grassroots banks.

China’s village and town banks have recently plunged into a series of crises, to the extent of bank runs. As the most grassroots financial institutions, they are often directly dealing with less urbanized residents in the vast rural areas, rendering the banks’ operations highly related to the stability of the Chinese society.

According to a publication of the People’s Bank of China, in July, Shenyang Agricultural and Commercial Bank had already completed the takeover of business branches, employees and deposits from the two banks.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), August 26, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202208260260.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

2022 Overseas Chinese World Conference for Promoting the Peaceful Reunification of China

According to China’s official Xinhua News Agency, on August 27, the Overseas Chinese World Conference for Promoting the Peaceful Reunification of China was held in Sichuan.

Zheng Jianbang, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and vice chairman of the National Association for China’s Peaceful Unification (NACPU), said in a video message that opposing “Taiwan independence” and promoting the peaceful reunification of China is the common ideal and glorious cause of yhe Chinese people at home and abroad.

It was reported that more than 3,000 people from 360  NACPU branch organizations in more than 120 countries and regions around the world participated in the conference through online and offline means.

China’s state TV network CGTN mentioned names of several participants, including Cao Yanling, chairperson of the Federation of Overseas Chinese Associations in Europe, Guan Liang, vice president of the China Overseas Friendship Association, and Xu Changbin, president of the All-Africa China Peaceful Reunification Promotion Association.

In October 2020, the U.S. State Department designated NACPU as a Foreign Mission of the People’s Republic of China. A statement from then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the NACPU was controlled by China’s United Front Work Department, a Chinese Communist Party body charged with spreading its influence and propaganda overseas.

Source: People’s Daily (PRC), August 228, 2022
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2022-08/28/nw.D110000renmrb_20220828_3-04.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China to Build Internet Infrastructure for the Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands received a $66 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of China, which will be used to build telecommunications towers on one of  the islands. Huawei will rtake on the project.

This is the first loan the Solomon Islands has received from China since it switched diplomatic relations from Taiwan to Beijing. With this 20-year loan at a one percent annual interest rate, the pacific government aims to improve telecommunications infrastructure to provide mobile communications and Internet service in its rural areas for the first time in 30 years. 161 mobiles are expected to be built, 48 percent of which will be completed by November 2023, when the Solomon Islands will host the Pacific Games.

Internet penetration in the Solomon Islands is currently below 30 percent. In 2018, Australia became involved after the Solomon Islands government announced it would award the contract for underwater communications cables to Chinese telecom giant Huawei. The excuse was that Chinese companies could not be allowed to intervene in critical communications infrastructure due to national security concerns. The Australian government promised that, in exchange, it would be willing to cover part of the expenses for the cable laying.

Not long ago, during her visit to the Solomon Islands, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman promised that the U.S. will open an embassy in the Solomon Islands within the year.. Earlier Vice President Kamala Harris announced that the United States will provide $60 million in annual assistance to Pacific Islands.

Source: Sputnik New (Russia), August 20, 2022
https://sputniknews.cn/20220820/1043224071.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Local Officials’ Unconventional Tricks to Boost Home Buying

Ming Pao, a Hong Kong based daily Chinese-language newspaper, recently reported a viral online video of a Chinese official’s speech on promoting home purchasing. Deng Bibo, head of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) committee in Shimen County of Changde City, Hunan Province, called on CCP cadres at a local real estate trade show to spearhead efforts to buy properties. “I hope that at today’s meeting, we, comrades and leaders, will take the lead in buying properties. After buying one unit, buy a second, third and fourth unit.”

Deng’s remark was not an isolated incident. According to the mainland Chinese media, the government of Si County in Suzhou City, Anhui Province, also issued an “Initiative on creating prosperity for the real estate industry,” calling on civil servants to mobilize their friends and relatives to participate in the home buying campaign.

In Huzhou city, Zhejiang Province, there is a “Notice on promoting the stable and healthy development of the real estate industry in our city.” The proposed measures include encouraging state-owned enterprises to acquire the unsold houses of real estate developers, and adjust the policy on the use of the “housing provident fund,” a mandatory contribution by employees and employers for the purpose of housing expenditures.

In the first seven months of this year, the total sales area of commercial properties in China dropped by a whopping 23.1 percent over the same period last year, and sales revenue by 28.8 percent. It is believed that sluggish consumer purchasing power is behind the downturn in the housing market.

In addition to traditional measures of stimulating the housing market, Beijing also passes political pressure onto local governments to “stabilize the property market.” That is why local officials, who generally look to the housing market for fiscal revenue, are coming up with unconventional tricks such as Deng’s remark and practices in other provinces.

Source: Ming Pao, August 18, 2022
https://news.mingpao.com/pns/%e4%b8%ad%e5%9c%8b/article/20220818/s00013/1660759572212

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources