Chinascope – Page 1033

Sinopec Tops Fortune 500 China

Jinghua Times, a Beijing based daily newspaper under Chinese state media People’s Daily, recently reported on the newly released 2011 Fortune 500 China list. China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) remains number one on the list with a revenue of RMB 1.91 trillion, followed by PetroChina as second and China Mobile as third. The total revenue of all 500 companies on the list reached RMB 18.9 trillion, which is 47% of the nation’s GDP. This total represents a growth of 38% over last year. State owned capital still holds the vast majority of the Fortune 500 China list. This year, 45 new companies joined the list. Only 9 out of the 500 reported financial losses. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Sinopec and China Construction Bank are the top 3 most profitable companies on the list.

Source: Jinghua Times, July 14, 2011
http://epaper.jinghua.cn/html/2011-07/14/content_679703.htm

Briefings | | July 19, 2011 | Economy/Resources

Communist Party Members in Foreign Invested Companies

Xinhua published an article featuring stories of how Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members and branches inside foreign invested companies in Shanghai helped the companies pull through difficult times during the global financial crisis. A few large corporations including the U.K.’s Hamworthy, the U.S.’s Medtronic, Walmart, and Hamilton Sundstrand, Korea’s Samsung, and Finland’s Nokia Siemens Networks, have CCP branches in place in their China subsidiaries.

According to the article, “In 2004, Shanghai Foreign Service Co., Ltd, (abbreviated SFSC, a subsidiary company of Shanghai World Expo Group, which specializes in human resource management for foreign investment companies in Shanghai) assumed the function of manageing its 3,900 Chinese Communist Party members. Among the 550,000 employees of foreign invested companies, almost 10,000 are CCP members. As of end of March this year, under SFSC, there awere 407 stand-alone CCP branches in individual foreign invested companies and 88 CCP branches jointly across foreign invested companies.”

“There are more than 6,000 foreign invested companies in Suzhou City, with over 1,000 CCP organizations in place. Statistics indicate that, at the end of 2010, there were 7,300 CCP organizations in ‘two new’ types of organizations, managing 110,292 CCP members, accounting for one third of the city’s total membership.”

[Ed. note: The “two new” types of organizations refer to new economic and social organizations. Before the economic reform, CCP organizations existed in virtually all units of Chinese society. Since the reform, many new economic and social organizations, such as foreign invested companies, appeared and there were originally no CCP organization in place.]

Source: Xinhua, July 15, 2011.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-07/15/c_121671880.htm.

Briefings | | July 18, 2011 | Social Stability

Chinese American Organizations Denounce Obama-Dalai Lama Meeting

Some overseas Chinese organizations in the United States have echoed Beijng’s outcry and lashed out at the Obama-Dalai Lama meeting, saying it hurts the overseas Chinese people’s feelings.

He Xiaohui, the executive deputy president of the Washington D.C. branch of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Unification, said, “Overseas Chinese in the United States insist on maintaining national reunification, and oppose any separatist act. The Tibetan issue is China’s internal affair; no country or no person is allowed to interfere.”

Ye Yubin, deputy chair of the Union of Chinese American Professional Organizations, said, “The Tibetan issue is China’s internal affair and should be decided by the Chinese people themselves. Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama is interfering with China’s internal affairs. Overseas Chinese firmly oppose any separatist act and support peace and the reunification of the motherland.”

Source: Xinhua, July 17, 2011.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-07/17/c_121678738.htm.

Briefings | | July 18, 2011 | US-China Relations

People’s Daily Condemns Obama’s Meeting with the Dalai Lama

A July 16, 2011, a People’s Daily commentary criticized U.S. President Obama, because, against the objections of the Chinese government, he met with the Dalai Lama in the White House map room. “The development of events shows that the U.S. insists on interfering with China’s internal affairs and has harmed the Sino-U.S. relationship.”

The article said, “While begging for a meeting with U.S. government officials and profiting from U.S. tax payers money, Dalai has repeatedly neglected the historic facts, intensified attacks on the Chinese government, and claimed ‘to cause trouble for China.’”

The commentary further added, “a (U.S. State Department) official announced that by the end of July this year, the U.S. government will allocate funding of $2 million for a two-year project to support the Tibetans settling down in India, Nepal, Bhutan and other South Asia countries, with the goal of ‘increased economic opportunities which will encourage youth to remain in the settlements, strengthen community ties, and preserve cultural and linguistic traditions.’ This type of monetary ‘support’ will undoubtedly encourage and intensify the Dalai clique’s separatist activities.”

Source: People’s Daily Online, July 16, 2011.
http://world.people.com.cn/GB/15172544.html.

Briefings | | July 18, 2011 | US-China Relations

International Herald Leader: Carrying the Flag in the South China Sea, Vietnam Embarrasses China

[Editor’s Note: An article published on June 13 in the International Herald Leader, a newspaper under Xinhua, gives Beijing’s version of the recent events in the South China Sea. In particular, it targets Vietnam. The article is translated below.] [1]

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Reports | | July 17, 2011 | Report

Study Times: The Role of China in Foreign Economies in the Post Financial Crisis Era

A Study Times article calls for immediate strategic adjustments to face the global economic realities in the post financial crisis era. The article suggests: 1) In order to take advantage of the relative changes in the economic strengths in the world, [China should] establish its own world financial center, set up its own international trade platform, and assume the right to set prices in certain areas. 2) Promote the RMB’s internationalization and break free from dependence on the U.S. dollar. 3) Speed up Chinese enterprises’ direct investments. 4) Allocate a considerable amount of foreign currency reserves to national strategic capitals markets, such as essential products, technology, and resources. 5) Promote industrial transformation and promote the development of low carbon, green, and environmental friendly industries.

Source: Study Times, July 11, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/07/11/02/02_37.htm

Briefings | | July 15, 2011 | Economy/Resources

People’s Daily: Internet Has Become a Tool for the West to Export Its Values

According to People’s Daily Online, on July 12, 2011, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) issued The 2011 China New Media Development Report. The report said that the security of China’s ideology has become the most important issue in the era of new media; the Internet has become “the ultimate tool for the West to export its values to the world.”

The author analyzed how U.S. propaganda toward China has transformed. “Western media moved the battlefield of ideology against China to a new space, developing Internet propaganda against China, emphasizing ‘mobile’ infiltration of ideology, expanding ideological hegemony, and developing technology to break through China’s Internet surveillance." It suggests that new media will be the major platform for the U.S. ideological battle against China. 　　

“Ideology security has become China’s most important issue. New media technology … has made the conflict and battle of different ideologies more direct, fierce and diverse. … On the other hand, new media also brings opportunity. It has greatly reduced the cost of transmission and shattered the West’s monopoly on ideology. … How to let our socialist ideology become highly recognized and accepted by mainstream social groups has become the most important research project in order to protect the security of our country’s ideology.”

Source: People’s Daily Online, July 12, 2011
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1026/15135416.html

Briefings | | July 15, 2011 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.