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Institute of Marxism: International Socialism in the World Financial Crisis

On May 21, 2010, www.QStheory.cn published an article titled, “International Socialism in the World Financial Crisis,” by the Institute of Marxism, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The following are some points from the article:

The financial crisis has caused “a revival of Marxism” and made the world realize that the “China model will change the world.” We should take advantage of the financial crisis to:
1) Fully expose the facts that the Western development model is unsustainable and that the revival of Marxism in the West again highlights the immeasurable superiority of the socialist development path with Chinese characteristics;
2) Strengthen the education and propaganda of Marxist theory, and the basic experience and theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics so as to further firm up everyone’s confidence in the bright future of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Source: www.QStheory.cn, May 21, 2010
http://www.qstheory.cn/hqwg/2010/201010/201005/t20100521_30687.htm

China Review News: China must expand the development of energy resources in foreign countries

On May 22, 2010, China Review News published a commentary giving ideas on how China can overcome its shortage of energy resources. It suggests China spend part of its huge foreign exchange reserves on investing in energy resources in foreign countries.   

“China must expand the development and reserves of energy resources in foreign countries. It must be involved in the production chains of the international energy resources from beginning to the end through shares, investment, acquisition, M & A and other methods so as to integrate one with the other and so they cannot survive without one another.”  

Source: China Review News, May 22, 2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1013/1/0/8/101310849.html?coluid=1&kindid=0&docid=101310849&mdate=0522002541

Wenzhou City Openly Hires Party Secretaries

Wenzhou, a coastal city in Southeast China, is to openly hire 25 Party secretaries to be posted in local private companies, according to the city’s Party organization department. The secretaries, paid by the private businesses, will organize and expand the Party branches inside the companies. Ever since the fourth session of the 17th Congress of the CCP in 2009, nationwide private enterprises have been required to set up local Party organizations as part of the regime’s efforts to build up the Party. Usually the secretaries are appointed by superior Party cadres; Wenzhou’s move is an innovation because it is integrating the political process with the market mechanism. 

Source: Zhejiang Online (flagship website of Zhejiang Province), May 19, 2010http://zjnews.zjol.com.cn/05zjnews/system/2010/05/19/016618714.shtml

11 Provinces Plagued by Flooding

Since late April, repeated heavy rainfall has caused flooding in southern provinces including Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Hubei, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Anhui, and Yunnan. So far 15.179 million people have been affected and 101 have died, with direct economic losses of over 8 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion). 

Source: China News Service, May 17, 2010 
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/news/2010/05-17/2287438.shtml

China’s Luxury Consumption to Top the World in 5 Years

According to the Business Blue Book issued by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on May 19, China has a luxury consumption of US$ 9.4 billion. With 27.5% of the world’s total in this market, China has surpassed the U.S. to become the largest luxury goods consumer second to Japan. Within five years, it will top the world luxury goods market with US$ 14.6 billion spent on luxury goods. 

The Business Blue Book noted that China’s affluent consumers are generally younger than in other countries. A 2008 report from McKinsey, a managment consulting firm, said that 80% of China’s wealthy people are below 45 years old, while the ratio is only 30% and 19% in the U.S. and Japan. 
Source: People’s Daily, May 19, 2010
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1026/11641831.html

Government Employees Subjected to Loyalty Training

Over 6 million Chinese government employees have attended various political training sessions over the past five years. Intensive orientation training of these “civil servants” includes indoctrination in Party tradition, loyalty pledges, and military boot camp. It is rumored that the training has been effective in improving the political awareness of these trainees and their thinking is now in line with the directives of the Communist Party. In recent years, topics such as social unrest and State security have been added to this on-the-job training. Government employees have also taken training overseas. Such training has been institutionalized and without the training, the employee cannot be promoted.

Source: Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China, May 17, 2010                   http://www.mohrss.gov.cn/Desktop.aspx?path=mohrss/mohrss/InfoView&gid=792b0119-2f0e-41ed-b168-6a64a362378a&tid=Cms_Info

Inflation Worse than the Official Consumer Price Index

Inflation in China has become a very serious problem despite the moderate official numbers, according to an article by Shanghai Business Daily. The official CPI released in April was at 2.8%, showing a mild upward trajectory. However, the paper reports, "the true inflation level has by far exceeded what the CPI reflects. If one takes into consideration various economic inflationary indicators or listens to the experiences of everyday people, the real inflation level has reached serious proportions.” If the government applies macro controls this year, the economy will come to a standstill, but without such control there could be chaos, says the article.

Source: Shanghai Business Daily reprinted by Nanfang Daily, May 13, 2010
http://gcontent.nddaily.com/d/2a/d2ac71782272659e/Blog/ac5/9e958b.html

Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against the Communist Party in Beijing

A class action lawsuit was filed with China’s Supreme People’s Court in Beijing against the Chinese Communist Party, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and the State Council. Mr. Lu Qingfu, a freelance writer and a “rightist,” initiated the civil lawsuit and was joined by Ye Xiaogang and over 60 plaintiffs. The plaintiffs asked for apologies and compensation on behalf of over 550,000 victims who were denounced in 1957 by the defendants as “bourgeois rightists.” Lu spent over twenty years in prison after he was denounced as a rightist in 1957.

Source: China Human Rights Defenders, May 18, 2010
http://ww2.crd-net.org/Article/Class71/201005/20100518003901_21267.html