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All posts by TGS - 42. page

People’s Daily: China’s Energy Consumption Remains High

On October 2, 2014, People’s Daily reported that China continues to consume the largest amount of the world’s energy. 

In the past 10 years, the consumption has surged rapidly. In 2010, China became the No. 1 consumer of energy in the world. The consumption increased from 1.5 billion metric tons in 2001 to 3.7 billion metric tons in 2013. The annual increase has averaged 190 million metric tons or an eight percent growth rate. 
China’s share of total global energy consumption went up from less than 11 percent early the 2000s to 22 percent today. From 2002 to 2012, China’s energy consumption increase accounted for 58 percent of the entire world growth of energy consumption. 
China’s energy supplies mainly rely on domestic coal and imported oil. Domestic coal dominates the energy structure, causing severe environment pollution. 
Source: People’s Daily, October 2, 2014
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/1002/c1001-25772362.html
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

People’s Daily: China Will Not Change Its Policy towards Hong Kong

On October 2, People’s Daily published an editorial on its front page stating that the Communist Party has not and will not change its basic policy towards Hong Kong. 

According to the editorial, “The August 31 decision that the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress made has unchallengeable legal status. Anyone who respects the ‘one country, two systems’ framework and the Basic Law, should respect and abide by this decision.” 
“The activities of ’Occupy Central’ are in flagrant breach of the law. They have caused serious traffic congestion and are disturbing the social order, placing minority political aspirations above the law.”
“The central government fully trusts Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and is very satisfied with his work. The central government will continue its firm support for the SAR Government of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to govern Hong Kong in accordance with law, and give its strong support to the SAR police to deal with illegal activities in accordance with law.” 
 Source: People’s Daily, October 2, 2014 
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2014-10/02/nw.D110000renmrb_20141002_5-01.htm
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Xinhua: Hong Kong Students Are Pawns of Western Anti-China Forces

On October 1, 2014, Xinhua reprinted an editorial that China News Service had originally published on the student protests about universal suffrage in Hong Kong. The article stated that some extremists and anti-China forces are damaging Hong Kong. “In the name of true universal suffrage, they attempt to deceive the public. Through the illegal ‘Occupy Central,’ they attempt to paralyze Hong Kong’s business districts in order to blackmail China’s central government and the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.” “If they really want to express their requests, they should be peaceful, rational, and lawful. They should not be so blatant in undermining the rule of law, stability, and order.” 

The editorial stated that the student protesters who favor universal suffrage are not patriotic and do not care about Hong Kong. Instead, "they are extremists in Hong Kong. They act as a pawn of the Western anti-China forces." According to the editorial, the most basic and most direct interest of the Hong Kong people is the traffic jams and the disorders that the student protesters cause. The goal of extremists and the forces behind them is to damage Hong Kong. 
Source: China News Service reprinted by Xinhua, October 1, 2014 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/gangao/2014-10/01/c_1112701710.htm
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Sinosteel’s Revenue Decline May Result in a Default

Beijing News published an article in which it reported that Sinosteel may not be able to meet its obligation to pay an amount due that totals tens of billions of yuan. According to the article, the liabilities to asset ratio for Sinosteel has remained between 90 and 95 percent since 2009. Prior to 2009, the business model for the State-owned steel companies involved importing ore and doubling or tripling the price when re-selling the ore to domestic downstream steel mills. In late 2009, these downstream steel mills were allowed to import ore, thus eliminating the high profit margin for large State-owned companies. Sinosteel’s revenue dropped from 180 billion yuan in 2010 to 140 billion yuan in 2013. Another reason for the financial loss is that it has failed in a series of investments overseas.

Sinosteel is under the China’s State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. It has 86 subsidiaries, of which 63 are in China and 23 overseas. Their functions include developing and processing metallurgical mineral resources, trading and logistics of metallurgical raw materials and products, related engineering technical services, and equipment manufacture. 
Source: The Beijing News, September 24, 2014 
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/finance/2014/09/24/334968.html
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China Uncovered $10 billion in Fraudulent Entrepot Trade

At a press conference on September 25, 2014, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) discussed its investigations into entrepot trade, a trading post where merchandise can be imported and exported without paying import duties. SAFE stated that its investigations confirmed that the amount of China’s entrepot trade using false documents had reached $10 billion. 
Wu Ruilin, Deputy Director of the Management Inspection Division of SAFE, stated that, since April of last year, SAFE has conducted special investigations of entrepot trade in 13 provinces and cities. In 2014, the effort has expanded to include 24 provinces and cities. 
Wu further explained that these investigations found that entrepot trade has become a speculative arbitrage tool because many companies use forged or altered commercial documents, re-use property documents, or use the import declaration documents for general cargo trade. 

Source: State Administration of Foreign Exchange, September 25, 2014
http://www.safe.gov.cn/resources/wcmpages//wps/wcm/connect/safe_web_store/safe_web/whxw/ywfb/node_news_ywfb_store/d258558045990e0ba668aed2d1baac76/
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Ministry of Finance: State-owned Enterprises Have Liabilities to Asset Ratio of 65 Percent

On September 22, 2014, China’s Ministry of Finance released the economic performance report on State-owned enterprises for the period of January through August. 

The report showed that, as of the end of August, the value of State-owned assets exceeded 99 trillion yuan, with total liabilities at nearly 65 trillion yuan; the ratio of liabilities to assets was 65 percent. The central government owned enterprises showed high financial expenditures. In the first eight months of the year, these grew by 22.4 percent. 
The report also showed that, compared to the same period last year, the rate of growth of both the revenues and profits in these State-owned enterprises continued to decline. Costs, however, continued to increase faster than revenue. 
 Source: China Business News, September 23, 2014 
http://www.yicai.com/news/2014/09/4021971.html
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China Further Tightening Control of Internet TV Industry

On September 18, 2014, China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) asked all Internet video companies to remove video applications from their offerings so that they will no longer be available for mobile phone users to download them. 

This is not the first time that the State regulatory body ordered the shelving of video applications. Industry analysts in China observed that SAPPRFT has been attempting to stop many online video companies from walking a fine line and continuing to offer the applications. This action is an attempt to have blockage occur at the source in order to prevent Internet contents from being seen on the TV screen altogether. 
 IQIYI, one of China’s leading online video portals, stated that on September 1, it notified its third party online application stores to remove video applications from their offerings. On the same day, LETV, another leading online video company, also took action to follow the SAPPRFT order. On September 18, Youku’s XL application for Android users was no longer available for download. The application cannot be found at Baidu and Tencent stores either. According to one of Youku’s third party application stores, Wandoujian, the application had been downloaded 720,000 times. 
Reports indicate that the authorities are preparing tighter implementation guidelines to target the Internet TV industry, potentially with a focus on the hardware. 
 Source: Caixin.com, September 18, 2014 
 http://companies.caixin.com/2014-09-18/100730563.html
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Huanqiu: ISIS May Have Some Rational Elements

On September 17, Huanqiu published a commentary stating that it is not clear whether ISIS is a terrorist group and that therefore China does not need to participate in the effort to fight ISIS. 

The commentary stated, “ISIS is more focused on challenging the bottom line of U.S. interests. Therefore, China has no need or capability to mind others’ business.” 
The commentary questioned, “If ISIS did not have any rational elements, there would be no way to explain why ISIS has been able to gain ground in Iraq and Syria so quickly. Currently, the Western media blindly exaggerate the extremist side of ISIS killing captives and beheading Western hostages, but they rarely mention other sides of ISIS.” 
“According to the sporadic information that has been obtained, ISIS provides utilities, pays wages, controls traffic, and manages bakeries, banks, schools, courts, and mosques in the occupied territories. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether ISIS is a heinous terrorist organization or the inevitable product of the current political developments in the Middle East. Since this key issue is not resolved, it is premature to rush to participate in military strikes against ISIS. China’s cautious attitude demonstrates the exact reason that China is a ‘responsible power.’” 
Tian Wenlin, author of the commentary, is an associate research fellow at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing. It is affiliated with China’s Ministry of State Security, while the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China oversees it. 
Source: Huanqiu, September 17, 2014 
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/opinion_world/2014-09/5140290.html
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations