Information/Technology - 77. page

Liu Bingjie, Director of the General Administration of Press and Publication, the government regulator of news media and publications, suggested in an interview that the industry is going through “major reform, major development, major changes, and a major leap forward.” Liu revealed that China is assembling an “aircraft carrier,” meaning a gigantic state corporation, with capital of 20 billion yuan (US$3 billion) and (annual) income of 20 billion yuan (US$3 billion). It will be launched in a couple of years.

Source: People’s Daily, March 9, 2011
http://2011lianghui.people.com.cn/GB/215096/14101912.html

The report stated that its 2011 goal is to maintain the current market size while advancing franchise operations, stepping up law enforcement by increasing the penalties, and building Internet café associations. 

Source: Xinhua, March 17, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2011-03/17/c_13784383.htm

An article appearing on Study Times, the official newspaper of the CCP Central Party School, suggested measures for the authorities to use to direct public opinion on the Internet: 1) Release the official voice at the earliest time so as to guide public opinion. 2) For officials: act as ordinary users and participate in cyber communications. 3) Build a “politically strong” “news propaganda troop” – bloggers, twitters, commentators – who will be the opinion leaders in the online world. At the same time, the author suggested that it is imperative for the government to “collect, monitor, analyze, access, and take advantage of Internet public opinion.”

Source: Study Times, March 14, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/03/14/16/16_32.htm

The recently published “Blue Book: The 2010 Research Report on Chinese Culture’s Soft Power” focuses on the point that China’s “new media” are becoming new distribution channels for the nation’s soft power. The Blue Book suggests that the distribution environment and methods for promoting the national image and China’s core values have changed in the 21st century. Compared to the traditional one-way media such as TV, the radio, and newspapers, the new media promote two-way communication. It is considered a new development in the field of public diplomacy. The report calls for advancing a Chinese new media platform in order to export Chinese values and political views and to improve China’s international status.

Source: Xinhua, February 18, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-02/18/c_121098302.htm

Global Times, a branch of the Chinese state news, People’s Daily, recently published an editorial in response to U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s speech on Internet freedom. The editorial blamed the U.S. for using the Internet to push a Cold War mentality, calling it a U.S. “strategy of twenty-year-old selfishness.” The author expressed the belief that China cannot remove the “Great Firewall” and that the Chinese government has to respond to national security threats from the U.S. by breaking away from the U.S. dominated Internet. For example, in China, Baidu is used instead of Google. The editorial warned that the Chinese Internet population exceeds the total U.S. population. Thus the U.S. dominance of the Internet may one day change. The author ended the article by saying, “The U.S. cannot use the Internet to turn China into the Middle East.”

Source: Global Times, February 17, 2011
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/roll/2011-02/1503066.html

The chief designer of the Chinese "Shen Zhou" spacecraft recently disclosed that China intends to conduct over 20 space launches in 2011, compared to 15 in 2010. The missions include its first target spacecraft “Tian Gong No. 1,” the “Shen Zhou No. 8” space shuttle, as well as the first unmanned space docking test. In November, China’s first Mars exploration space probe is to be sent by Russian carrier rocket.

China’s five-year (2011-2015) space plan focuses on space detection, earth observation, information utilization, and breakthroughs in space technology and applications. The year 2020 will see the accomplishment of the exploration of the Moon and Mars, the establishment of a high resolution earth observation system, and a global positioning system.

Source: Xinhua, March 2, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-03/02/c_121137814.htm

According to Qi Faren, an expert in Chinese space technology, China will establish its own global navigation system, called Beidou-2, by 2020. It will be done in three steps. The first step is to build a regional navigation system. This has already been completed through the launch of the first Beidou system, officially called the BeiDou Satellite Navigation Experimental System, also known as Beidou-1. Beidou-2 will be completed in the second and third steps. The second step is to launch about 12 to 14 satellites in the early part of the twelfth five-year plan period (2011 to 2015) to form a regional and autonomous navigation positioning system. The third step is to have over 30 satellites covering the entire earth by 2020. Beidou-2 will provide navigation services to China and its neighboring countries, said Qi. “Beidou-2 will be the equivalent of the U.S. GPS. Wherever the U.S. GPS is used, one will be able to use Beidou-2.”

Source: Xinhua, March 1, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/it/2011-03/01/c_121136735.htm

On February 28, 2011, the Propaganda Office of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee announced that China has become the world’s third largest film producer and No. 1 in TV series. For the past six years in a row, each year’s growth of box office income from film productions has exceeded 30%.

Recent years have seen tremendous government support for the cultural industries by providing preferential policies in financing and investment. In 2010, newly added mid-and-long-term loans in cultural industries amounted to 27.6 billion yuan (US$4.2 billion); special funds at the central and provincial level add up to 5.2 billion yuan (US$0.79 billion). So far, special investment funds or investment corporations have emerged in seven provinces, with total capital of over 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion). 26 companies in culture related businesses are now listed on the Shanghai or Hong Kong stock markets. In 2010 alone, they raised capital of 10.4 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion).

Source: Xinhua, February 28, 2011

http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-02/28/c_121130553.htm