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Briefings - 1002. page

China Is Diversifying the Allocation of Its Foreign Exchange Reserves

At the end of June, 2010, China had $2.4543 trillion in foreign exchange reserves. On August 24, 2010, China Review News reported that China has been implementing a strategy to diversify the allocation of its foreign exchange reserves.　　

According to the U.S. Treasury Department on August 16, China had reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds by $96.2 billion since July 2009.

Japan’s Finance Ministry announced on Aug. 9 that China had purchased 456.4 billion yen (about 5.3 billion U.S. dollars) in Japanese government bonds in June, which means that China has purchased Japanese government bonds for 6 consecutive months. For the first half year of 2010, China purchased a total 1.73 trillion yen in holdings of Japanese government bonds (about 20.2 billion U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, China has increased its holding of South Korea government bonds by 111%, up to 3.99 trillion won (about 3.4 billion U.S. dollars). In mid-July of 2010, the Chinese Administration of Foreign Exchange bought about 400 million euros in Spain’s 10-year bonds.

Source: China Review News, August 24, 2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1014/2/4/1/101424122.html?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=101424122&mdate=0824080231

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China is the Largest Doctoral Degree Manufacturing Country without Quality Assurance

China Gate (http://www.wenxuecity.com/) republished an article from Changjiang Daily on August 24, 2010, claiming that China is the world’s largest doctorate manufacturing country.

China awarded more doctoral degrees than the U.S. in 2008. In the ten years from 1999 to 2009, the number of doctoral students increased from 54,000 to 246,300, a total of 4.56 times more. Statistics show that 46% of doctorate advisors guide more than 7 Ph.D. students and even as many as 47 Ph.D. students (not including master’s program students). Nearly 13% of doctoral students communicate with their advisors less than one time per month. Three percent of doctoral students said that they had never communicated with their advisors.

Source: Changjiang Daily, August 24, 2010
http://news.wenxuecity.com/messages/201008/news-gb2312-1150578.html

Briefings | | |   Grapevine

SARFT and China Eximbank Struck Deal on Financing Culture Exports

On August 26, China’s State Administration for Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) and China Eximbank signed a Cooperation Agreement on Supporting and Fostering Key Export Oriented Radio, Film, and Television Enterprises and Projects. Under the agreement, over 5 years, China Eximbank is to provide 20 billion yuan or the equivalent in foreign currency financing support for radio, film, and television enterprises, in addition to multiple financial products and services.

Signers of the deal believe that the agreement, as part of fulfillment of the state’s strategy of Chinese culture “going global,” will help enlarge China’s share of film and TV products in the world market, boosting the nation’s cultural soft power.

In 2009, China sold more than 10,000 hours of TV programming to more than 100 countries, with a total export of US$80 million in film and other broadcasting products and services.

Source: Xinhua, August 26, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-08/26/c_12488797.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Ministry of Culture and Agriculture Bank’s Strategic Cooperation

A strategic cooperation between the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the state Agriculture Bank was launched on August 26, at a ceremony where the latter joins the “Culture Industries Investment and Finance Public Service Platform,” a government initiative to help fund culture enterprises. According to Gao Shuxun, the Assistant to the Culture Minister, the central government supports the Bank-Ministry alliance and has become a new model for the financial institutes to support the development of culture industries.

On August 18, the Ministry and Agriculture Bank jointly issued a Notice of Comprehensively Strengthening Strategic Cooperation, which made clear the Ministry of Culture’s policy support of the Agriculture Bank to provide financial services to culture enterprises.

Source: Ministry of Culture website, August 26, 2010
http://www.ccnt.gov.cn/sjzz/whcys/cydt/201008/t20100826_81718.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Scholar Calculates ‘Hidden Income,’ Challenged by Statistics Bureau

Wang Xiaolu, a scholar at the National Economic Research Institute under the China Reform Foundation, recently published an article that calculates the 2008 urban residents’ “hidden income” to be as high as 9.26 trillion yuan, about 30% of the year’s gross domestic product (GDP). Wang believes that the existence of gigantic amount of “hidden income” or “grey income” shows the severe distortion of the distribution of national income. The sources of the “hidden income” include corruption, and other means of misappropriation of public funds and private wealth.

On August 24 and 25, the National Bureau of Statistics published two articles on its website, confronting Wang’s study by questioning its methodology.

Source: Jinghua Daily, August 26.
http://epaper.jinghua.cn/html/2010-08/26/content_580292.htm
[Editor’s Note: Jinghua Daily is a Beijing local newspaper]

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China Review: Key Focus of the US-China Relationship is Shifting

“The U.S. is shifting the focus of the U.S.-China relationship from the economy to politics, the military and security,” according to a commentary by the China Review, citing the recent U.S.-Korea military exercises, Hilary’s statement and the appearance of the U.S. fleet in the Yellow Sea.

The commentary suggested that the shift was caused by the U.S. inability to have China change its currency exchange rate while China remains as the largest debt holder of the U.S. The recent actions taken by the U.S. in Asia were to take over its lost influence from China, increase its strategic pressure on China and limit China’s overseas expansion.

Source: China Review, August 25,2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1014/1/9/4/101419440.html?coluid=1&kindid=0&docid=101419440&mdate=0825001912

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Party Political Bureau Passed ‘Opinions to Exercise Open Management of Party Affairs’

On August 20, the Party Political Bureau passed the “Opinions to exercise open management of party affairs at the party’s grass roots level," thus giving more flexibility and less restrictions.

The meeting emphasized inter-party democracy and called for exercising open management of party affairs, separation of party affairs from management administration and increasing party members’ rights to participate in party affairs.

Source: China Review News, August 20, 2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1014/2/0/9/101420920.html?coluid=151&kindid=0&docid=101420920&mdate=0820143209

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Ministry of Justice Completes First Round of Training of 2,799 Directors from the Judicial Bureau

The Party Organization Department within the Ministry of Justice organized a 10-day training session, which was attended by 2,799 Directors of the Judicial Bureaus at the city and county levofel. The training encompassed eight sessions and lasted one year.


The main areas of the discussions were carrying out the “three-key-works,” covering the reduction social conflicts, renovating social management, practicing clean government and enforcing social justice. It also included topics on maintaining social harmony, stability, and promoting economic development. Over a dozen experts and professors from the Central Party School conducted forums on strengthening party development at the grass roots level, various measures in handling sudden incidents, and guiding public opinion.

Source: Legal Daily, August 23, 2010
http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/China_legalaid/content/2010-08/23/content_2254379.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability