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Wen Jiabao Denies that the Private Sector Is Declining

On March 14, 2011, after the closing of the Fourth Session of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, China’s Premier Wen Jiabao told Chinese and foreign reporters at a press conference that “there is no instance where state-owned enterprises are advancing while private ones are declining.” He supported his statement by enumerating two State Council papers issued in 2005 and 2010 respectively, although he acknowledged that “implementation was inadequate.” At the same time, Wen emphasized “although the percentage of the state-owned economy is lower, it still holds the country’s economic lifeline.” Days earlier, on March 10, 2011, Wu Bangguo, Chair of National People’s Congress, had emphasized in his report that China will never adopt privatization of the economy.

Source: China News Service, March 14, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/cj/2011/03-14/2904086.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Sinopec Signs MOU with Saudi Aramco

The Sinopec Group announced on March 16, 2011, that it had signed a partnership MOU with Saudi Aramco to jointly develop a world class deep-processing refinery at Yanbu on the Red Sea coast. The Sinopec Group will hold a 37.5% stake, and Saudi Aramco a 62.5% stake in the project. The refinery plans to start operation in 2014. Su Shulin, Sinopec’s general manager, said that the joint venture will deepen the strategic partnership between the two companies and diversify Sinopec’s sources of energy outside China.

Source: Xinhua, March 16, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2011-03/16/c_13782256.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China’s Investments in Libya

There are 13 Chinese state-owned companies in Libya, most of which are in the industry of infrastructure construction, including China Railway Construction Corporation, China State Construction Engineering Corporation, China Communications Construction Company, China Gezhouba (Group) Corporation, Sinohydro Corporation, and China Metallurgical Group Corporation. Other investments include 75 joint ventures and 50 projects with 36,000 personnel. China National Petroleum Corporation and Huawei are among the investors. 
These companies have a substantial stake in Libya. For example, China Railway Construction Corporation has 3 construction contracts totaling US$4.2 billion with US$686 million completed. As of February, China State Construction Engineering’s construction contracts amounted to $17.6 billion, close to half of which have been finished. Recent years have seen increasingly close economic ties between China and Arab countries in the field of communications, automobile, oil, and natural gas.  The total trade volume exceeded US$100 billion over the past three years. 

Source: International Herald Leader, March 7, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2011-03/07/c_13764823.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Official Survey: a Growing Underclass

Outlook Weekly, a magazine owned by Xinhua, conducted a survey from February 13 to 18, 2011, in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Chengdu. The survey statistics show the underclass in China is growing. Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed believe that there are few opportunities for the underclass to move up, while a meager 7.5% think opportunities are abundant. Seventy-seven percent believe that the underclass in China is growing. The survey also shows that many are concerned that they may become part of the underclass. Sixty-five percent think that unemployed college graduates are likely to join the underclass.

Source: China News Service, March 7 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2011/03-07/2887584.shtml

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

A Quarter of Chinese Residents Have No Clean Drinking Water

According to a report released by the National Development and Reform Commission, a quarter of Chinese residents have no clean drinking water, one third of the urban population breathes polluted air, and less than 20% of garbage goes through proper treatment. The report says that, "Large numbers of people are exposed to polluted air, water, and soil.” It further states, “China’s ecological environment is very fragile; forests cover only 18.21% of China’s land surface, which is less than 67% of the average for the world’s countries. China has 1.74 million square kilometers of desertified land. 90% of its natural grassland suffers from degradation.”

Source: Economic Information, March 9, 2011, reprint by People’s Daily
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1027/14096289.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

People’s Liberation Army to Receive Pay Raise

This year, the PLA will see its third pay raise in the past six years. The pay raises range from 5% to 40% and will be retroactive to the second half of 2010. Non-commissioned officers will receive a 40% raise, while the average raise for officers will be 1,000 yuan (US$152). For example, a platoon lieutenant’s monthly pay will increase from 3,500 to 4,500 yuan (US$685) and a general’s monthly pay will increase from 21,000 to 22,000 yuan (US$3,348). Salaries vary in different services. For example, Army salaries are the lowest, followed by the Navy and Air Force, with the Second Artillery Corps, also known as the PLA’s Strategic Missile Forces, being the highest.

Source: Guangming Daily, March 2, 2011 reprint from Chongqing Morning
http://mil.gmw.cn/2011-03/02/content_1666423.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Spokespersons Trained to Improve the Party’s Image

From February 21 to 23, 2011, more than 200 Communist Party spokespersons from across the country met in Beijing for the first time for a three-day intensive training course to learn how to handle the media. The topics covered included “understanding the responsibilities of a Party spokesperson, how to better explain the Party’s policies and major decisions to the public, and the best way to present China’s ruling party to the world. …” The Party’s International Communications Office and the State Council Information Office sponsored the training. As of the end of 2010, the 13 departments under the Central Committee of the Party and Party committees at provincial levels had spokespersons in place. “2011 is the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party, the first year of the twelfth five-year plan, and the year when the Party secretaries at the provincial, municipal, county, and township levels will change. This will provide sufficient press content to the Party spokespersons.”

Source: Xinhua, March 1, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-03/01/c_121136112.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China to Establish Its Own GPS by 2020

According to Qi Faren, an expert in Chinese space technology, China will establish its own global navigation system, called Beidou-2, by 2020. It will be done in three steps. The first step is to build a regional navigation system. This has already been completed through the launch of the first Beidou system, officially called the BeiDou Satellite Navigation Experimental System, also known as Beidou-1. Beidou-2 will be completed in the second and third steps. The second step is to launch about 12 to 14 satellites in the early part of the twelfth five-year plan period (2011 to 2015) to form a regional and autonomous navigation positioning system. The third step is to have over 30 satellites covering the entire earth by 2020. Beidou-2 will provide navigation services to China and its neighboring countries, said Qi. “Beidou-2 will be the equivalent of the U.S. GPS. Wherever the U.S. GPS is used, one will be able to use Beidou-2.”

Source: Xinhua, March 1, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/it/2011-03/01/c_121136735.htm

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology