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All posts by TGS - 33. page

The Number of Left-Behind Children Exceeds 60 Million

At the same time that economic development is occurring in China, over 60 million children are left behind in poor regions as their parents try to make ends meet by emigrating from rural areas to cities. The left-behind children account for 37 percent of all the children in the countryside.  The parents of left-behind children tend to work long hours and do not visit their children regularly. About half of them (30 million) do not see their parents annually. According to a survey, in 2014, both parents of 51.7 percent of these children are out of town for work. About 46.5 percent have been left in their hometown without their parents for over two years and over 32 percent for over five years. In most cases, the children are left behind in rural areas under the care of relatives, mostly grandparents, who have little education, family friends, or ability to take care of themselves. Very often these children suffer from serious developmental problems. 

Source: China Youth reprinted by Xinhua, March 13, 2015 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/edu/2015-03/13/c_127575782_2.htm
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Overweight and Obesity in China

Southern Weekend reported that being overweight and obese has become a serious health issue for both adults and children in China. 

In 2010, using the body mass index standards, 32.1 percent of adults and 39.8 percent of the elderly were overweight. That represented an increase from 2005 of 3 and 4.2 percentage points respectively. Currently, there are about 300 million adults who are overweight and 46 million adults who suffer from obesity. 
As for young people, 12 percent of children are overweight. According to a joint survey issued by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and North Carolina University, 1.9 percent of children between 12 and 18 have diabetes. That figure is 4 times the number for U.S. youngsters. Another 27.7 million have pre-diabetes. 
Source: Southern Weekend, March 10, 2015 
http://www.infzm.com/content/108164
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Qiushi: The Need to Maintain Information Sovereignty

Quishi published a commentary on the U.S. response to China’s proposed anti-terrorism law. The article stated that the law is to meet the needs of anti-terrorism work in China and was drafted based on the legislature and on the practice of other countries. It is a major step towards the rule of law. “However, some foreigners do not seem to understand China’s development of its anti-terrorism law. They particularly disagree with the part related to information security.”

“In order to maintain their own information security and related businesses, [the U.S.] asks its companies” to comply with the requirements of its national laws, but the U.S. expects that its companies not respect China’s information security within China. The United States is probably still using last century’s calendar. As we comprehensively promote the rule of law at the beginning of the year, we need to maintain China’s information sovereignty.” 
Source: Qiushi, March 5, 2015 
http://www.qstheory.cn/freely/2015-03/05/c_1114527416.htm
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Former Auditing Official: Overseas Assets of State-Owned Enterprises Are Not Audited

Dong Dasheng, Former deputy auditor general of the National Audit Office, stated that China has not audited the overseas assets of the centrally administered State-owned enterprises (SOEs). Those assets amount to over 4 trillion yuan (US$639.6 billion). 

According to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, as of the end of 2013, the value of the assets that over 110 centrally administered SOEs owned totaled 35 trillion yuan (US$5.59 trillion), 12.5 percent (around 4.3 trillion yuan) of which was located overseas. 
According to Dong, "In the last years, the unwritten practice has been that the National Audit Office only audited 57 of the 118 central State-owned enterprises for the economic responsibility of leading cadres. It was left to other departments to organize or hire accounting firms to conduct audits of the rest of the SOEs. The National Audit Office has not audited the subsidiaries of the central SOEs. Basically there has been no audit of the increasingly large overseas investments of the central SOEs, leaving a large number of blank audit spots among the SOEs.” 
Dong recommended that auditors be co-located at these central SOEs. 
Source: China Economic Net, March 3, 2015 http://big5.ce.cn/gate/big5/wap.ce.cn/szsh/201503/03/t20150303_4706218.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Study Times: How Overseas Think Tanks Study China

Study Times published an article on how Western think tanks study China issues and what China should do about it. 

The article stated that first, those in the U.S. lead the Western think tanks in studying the China topics that they select. These topics are very focused, pragmatic, and forward-looking. For example, the U.S. think thanks study China’s rise, the return of the U.S. to Asia, China’s energy strategy, the North Korean nuclear issue, the impact of the U.S.-Iran relationship on China, and the China-India relationship. Second, Western think tanks have high quality researchers and research products due to the revolving door where researchers move among government, think tanks, and academia. Third, Western think tanks tend to be very influential in many ways. 
The article recommended that China should attach great importance to timely tracking and analyzing the progress of the overseas think tanks’ studies of China; proactively participate in the China study programs of these think tanks, and actively promote exchanges and cooperation between Chinese think tanks and international think tanks. 
Source: Study Times, March 2, 2015 
http://www.studytimes.cn/shtml/xxsb/20150302/9526.shtml
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Qiushi: Chinese Overseas Culture Centers Face Challenges

According to Qiushi, since 1988, China has established 16 Chinese Culture Centers overseas which organize culture activities, provide training on Chinese language and culture, and distribute information about socialist achievements and the socialist value system. They now face some challenges. 

First, the lack of funding is a bottleneck. Government funding is limited. An effective channel to attract private funds has yet to be established. Second, these centers are not adequately staffed. It is common for each staff member to wear multiple hats. Infrastructure such as libraries leaves a lot of room for improvement. Third, the centers do not function effectively due to a lack of understanding on the part of the host country. When organizing culture activities, the centers tend to follow the Mainland way of thinking under the Communist Party and can hardly satisfy the needs of the local people. Fourth, the centers are not ideally located. Currently most of the centers are establishments in developing countries. 
Source: Qiushi, February 25, 2015 
http://www.qstheory.cn/dukan/hqwg/2015-02/25/c_1114432853.htm
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Xi Jinping’s Strategic Blueprint for the Four Comprehensives

On February 24, 2015, People’s Daily published a front-page editorial discussing Xi Jinping’s new political theory in great detail. It is a "strategic blueprint for China" represented by four slogans known as the "four comprehensives."  

These are: “Comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society; comprehensively deepen reform; comprehensively rule the nation according to the law; and comprehensively use the strict governance of the Party.”
“The ‘four comprehensives’ have both goals and initiatives; they have both focus and an overall picture; every ‘comprehensive’ carries great strategic significance. Development is the theme of the times and the common pursuit of countries in the world; reform is the driving force and the trend of social progress; the rule of law is an important protection of national governance systems and governance modernization; and governing the Party strictly is a necessary requirement for the ruling party to strengthen itself. The four do not simply have a parallel relationship; they are connected organically, in a top-level design. Building a moderately prosperous society, full of the spirit of reform, strengthening the rule of law, and implementing the tightening of Party discipline – the main theme of ‘the four comprehensives’ – draws the blueprint for the future of socialism in China."
Source: People’s Daily reprinted by Xinhua, February 24, 2015 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-02/24/c_1114423235.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Supreme People’s Court: Judicial Independence Not Allowed in China

China News reported that the Party leadership of China’s Supreme Court held a meeting on February 25 at which it stated that, in China, there shall be no Western style “judicial independence” or “separation of powers.” At the meeting the Party leadership called for confidence in the path, theory, and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. “Firmly uphold the judicial system with Chinese characteristics; draw a clear line; stay away from Western style ‘judicial independence’ or ‘separation of powers’; resolutely resist the influence of erroneous Western thoughts and views; and, on major issues, make sure to be very clear minded, standing firm and with very clear banner to identify your stance.” 

Source: China News, February 25, 2015 
http://www.chinanews.com/fz/2015/02-25/7079142.shtml
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics