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2019 Bond Defaults Topped 143.258 billion Yuan

China Finance Online Co., Ltd, which provides web-based financial services in Mainland China and Hong Kong, reported that, In 2019, bond defaults among Chinese companies continued to surge.

JT², an asset management technology platform under JD Digital Technology, conducted intelligent analysis and research of public data and found that, as of December 23, 2019, a total of 177 bonds had defaulted in the bond market in 2019, involving 143.258 billion yuan.

Forty issuers defaulted for the first time on the bond market in 2019. Most of these issuers were private enterprises in a number of different industries and regions.

During the six years from 2014 to the present, be it the first-time defaulting companies, the number of newly added defaulting bonds, or the size of funds as a whole, all have shown an upward trend. Specifically, the number of bond defaults in 2019 increased by more than 6 times compared to 2014; the actual sum of what was in default amounted to more than 10 times the amount from five years ago.

Source: China Finance Online, December 31, 2019
https://finance.jrj.com.cn/2019/12/31160028610736.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Huanqiu Attributes the Results of the Hong Kong Election to Influence from Western Countries

A November 26 editorial from China’s State media, Huanqiu (Global Times) attempted to attribute the results of the November 24 Hong Kong District Council election to the influence of Western countries.

“In the past week, some Western forces have worked at full steam to assist the Hong Kong opposition in the District Council elections. The Australian media suddenly revealed that ‘an agent who committed infiltration in Hong Kong surrendered’ (the man was a scammer). Also a former employee of the British Consulate General in Hong Kong who was arrested three months ago in the Mainland precipitously claimed to the BBC that he had been ‘tortured’ while in the Mainland. These factors have influenced public opinion in Hong Kong. In addition, the U.S. Congress expeditiously passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. All of these targeted the District Council elections.”

“The Western forces and the radical forces in Hong Kong wanted to turn the elections into a political demonstration and deny that stopping the violence and ending the riots is the most urgent task facing Hong Kong at present.”

“It is inconceivable and completely impossible that most people in Hong Kong support violence, support the formation of a political confrontation in Hong Kong, and support Hong Kong in becoming a bridgehead for some American political forces to exert pressure on China. The reason is that this would severely damage everyone’s interests and push Hong Kong into great uncertainty.”

“A number of forces in Hong Kong, including the opposition, must compete for influence within the existing establishment. No one should follow the wicked path of street politics.”

Source: Huanqiu, November 26, 2019
https://opinion.huanqiu.com/article/9CaKrnKnYqd

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics

CCP Issues Guidelines for Patriotic Education

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and the State Council have published new guidelines titled, “Outline for Promoting Patriotic Education for the New Era”.

The guidelines state that patriotic education in the new era should be guided by “Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of the Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”

The guidelines define patriotism as not just a love of the country but also of the ruling Chinese Communist Party and its official political ideology. “Adhere to the unity of love of the [Communist] Party, the country and socialism. The new China is a socialist country under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The fate of the motherland is inseparable from the destiny of the Party and the destiny of socialism. In contemporary China, the essence of patriotism is to maintain a high degree of unity of patriotism and love for the Party and socialism.”

Source: Xinhua, November 12, 2019
http://www.xinhuanet.com/2019-11/12/c_1125223796.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

CCP’s Informant Culture Has Penetrated Hong Kong

A senior lecturer in journalism at the Hong Kong Baptist University expressed that the informant culture that exists in Mainland universities, where students report teachers to the Communist Party, has been spreading fast in Hong Kong, particularly since the Occupy Central with Love and Peace movement (OCLP) started in Hong Kong.

One indication is that the management in Hong Kong universities engages their counterparts from the Mainland universities. Those with close ties to the CCP are appointed to senior management positions in the Hong Kong universities. The intention is to control promotions in Hong Kong universities and thus see that they fall in line with the CCP.

Another indication is that students coming from the Mainland monitor lecturers in the Hong Kong universities. These students from the Mainland suddenly show interest in a lecturer and shower him with a lot of questions. They show an obvious increase in curiosity,  much more than normal students. Some even tape every class. Others have stated without hesitation that they are tasked with reporting regularly to the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government (LOCP). There are a few who are made to do so and have no choice. Such students handle LOCP in a perfunctory manner.

While academic or research organizations recruit these informant-students, it is the CCP security departments that control these organizations. Often the informants are required to write reports for the CCP’s internal dissemination. On some occasions, they simply turn in the recorded tapes. Students join in because of the good pay as well as their belief that such activities serve the interest of the country. For that reason, they don’t think it is wrong to be an informant for the CCP.

Source: Epoch Times, November 21, 2019CCP security departments
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/19/11/21/n11670500.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

CCP Propaganda Chief Criticized America for Cyber Bullying without Naming It

Huang Kunming, head of the Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and a member of the CCP Politburo, delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 6th World Internet Conference.

Lianhe Zaobao [the largest Singapore-based Chinese-language newspaper] reported that, without specifying which country he was referring to, Huang was criticizing the United States. He stated, “Some countries have used national security as an excuse and have restricted and attacked other countries and enterprises. This has increased the uncertainty and even the antagonism in cyberspace.”

Huang warned, “The Cold War and zero-sum game thinking have hindered exchanges in cyberspace. Cyber hegemony and bullying behavior in cyberspace have jeopardized the mutual trust in Internet space.”

This is the second year for Huang to attend the opening ceremony of the World Internet Conference. In his speech last year, he called for “effectively safeguarding the right to development, participation, and governance of all countries in cyberspace.” This year, he took a tougher, offensive stance and emphasized the rationality of China’s development of a new generation of Internet technology to seek more space for China’s 5G technology in the international communities.

Although the World Internet Conference this year is not getting as much attention as it did in previous years, it remains an important platform for China to declare its cyber position and compete for the right to speak on global Internet space. In his keynote speech, Huang Kunming reiterated China’s vision of promoting China from a “big cyber player” to a “major cyber power.”

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, October 21, 2019
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/news/china/story20191021-998663

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Proposed Law: Civil Servants Opposing the CCP Will Be Fired

On October 8, 2019, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China released the full text of the draft of the Law on Disciplinary Rules for Civil Servants (government employees). According to the draft, Chinese government employees must be politically correct and those who oppose the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will be fired.

This is the first time that the Chinese government put into law that the disciplinary scheme for CCP members will apply to all government employees.

Under Article 30, those who publish articles, speeches, statements, declarations, or anything else opposing the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, the socialist system or the reform and opening, will be dismissed. Whoever engages in the following will also be disciplined and subject to actions up to dismissal: spreading speech that is harmful to the reputation of the CCP or the State; refusing to implement directives and policies of the CCP and the State or the major decisions and deployments of the CCP Central Committee.

Under Article 31, those who organize or participate in strikes, protests, and demonstrations, or who organize or exploit religious activities to undermine ethnic unity and social stability will be dismissed.

The NPC is soliciting public comments on the draft which may be submitted through November 6, 2019. Per statistics published in 2016, there are 7.16 million civil servants in China.

Source: Xinhua, October 8, 2019
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2019-10/08/c_1125078748.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Wang Yi: China Makes All-Out Effort to Protect African Brothers

On September 26, Wang Yi, China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister, said that China will make an all-out effort to “do whatever our African brothers expect from us and whatever is in their interests.” Wang made these remarks at the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of China and the Security Council of African Member States at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Wang stated that China stands firmly with its African brothers, whether from the past, present, or future. The world today faces unprecedented and major changes that have occurred in the past 100 years. The most important change is the rapid growth of a large number of developing countries such as China and Africa. Wang Yi said that, when China regained its seat in the United Nations, it relied on African brothers and developing countries. African countries are China’s most important and most trusted partners and have been since the first day that China joined the U.N. Security Council.

Wang said reflecting Africa’s appeals, addressing its concerns and safeguarding its interests have become the focus of China’s work in the U.N. Security Council.

Wang further said that China will make an all-out effort to “do whatever the African brothers expect from us and whatever is in their interests.”

Source: Xinhua, September 27, 2019

http://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2019-09/27/c_1125045797.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

The Impact of African Swine Fever on China Is Not Less Than a War

According to a Caixin article, the African swine fever hasn’t merely pushed the pork prices in China to a record high. Some Chinese experts have estimated that the direct losses that the African swine fever caused will reach RMB 1 trillion. Experts also said that the impact is “nothing less than what a war would bring.” It has hit the poverty alleviation efforts, an official priority, rather hard. The government is striving to eliminate the impact and has taken steps to encourage a reduction in the consumption of pork.

Caixin published a quote from Li Defa, an Academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He is the Dean of the College of Animal Science and Technology at the China Agricultural University and Vice-Chairman of the World Livestock Product Association. At a forum on pigs on September 24, 2019, Li expressed that, based on estimates, the direct loss due to African swine fever is 1 trillion yuan, not considering the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.

Li said that half of the pigs in the world are produced in China and African swine fever has taught a lesson to Chinese animal husbandry. “It is impossible to prevent epidemics and diseases. The cost of this loss is too great.”

According to Caixin, in May 2019, Qiu Huaji, the director of the Pig Infectious Diseases Research Office of the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences published a report in the “Shanhe Forum” of the Chinese pig industry on the theory and practice of prevention and control of African swine fever. He said in the report that the impact of African swine fever is wide-ranging. “Although it does not cause human fatalities, the economic losses, the impact on the national economy, the people’s livelihood, and the political, economic, and social impact are nothing less than war.”

In his May 2019 report, Qiu said that some people say that there are 100 million employees in the upstream and downstream of the pig industry, but there are countless families behind these billion people, so the impact is comprehensive. He further said that another important consequence is the impact on “helping the poor and tackling the hardships.” Getting people out of poverty is one of the most important achievements of Xi Jinping, the CCP Secretary.

The Caixin article is no longer available at its website.

Source: RFI, September 25, 2019

http://www.rfi.fr/cn/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20190925-%E5%AD%A6%E8%80%85-%E9%9D%9E%E6%B4%B2%E7%8C%AA%E7%98%9F%E6%8D%9F%E9%80%BE%E4%B8%87%E4%BA%BF-%E4%BC%A4%E7%97%95%E5%A6%82%E6%88%98%E4%BA%89%E4%B9%9F%E9%87%8D%E5%88%9B%E4%B9%A0%E8%BF%91%E5%B9%B3%E8%84%B1%E8%B4%AB%E6%A2%A6

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources