According to Xinhua, the Ministry of the Treasury is to allocate a budget as high as 190 million yuan for building facilities to monitor environmental related emergencies in key regions in provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities.
According to People’s Bank of China’s latest statistics, 551.6 billion yuan of newly added loans were issued in the month of May, which is 100.5 billion less than the same period last year. Market experts believe the drop is due to the Bank’s strict control of credit. The total outstanding loans at the end of May amounted to 50.77 trillion yuan, a 17.1% year-over-year increase, 4.4% lower than the last May’s growth. As inflation remains the top economic headache, the tightened monetary policy is expected to continue.
By U.S. standards, skyscrapers are buildings taller than 152 meters. According to a Xinhua article, China now has over 200 skyscrapers under construction, a number comparable to existing U.S. skyscrapers. China already has five out of 10 of the world’s tallest buildings. In the coming three years, China will see one skyscraper finished every five days. Five years from now, the number will be quadruple that of the U.S.
The concern is overinvestment, as half of the top 50 of China’s skyscrapers are in the real estate business. Skyrocketing housing prices result in pressure to sell or rent the units. Meanwhile, small-to-middle sized cities are leaping forward. The southwest city of Guiyang is planning 17 skyscrapers, and Guangxi Province’s Fangchenggang, with a population of one million, will build a 528-meter-high financial center.
The article mentioned Andrew Lawrence, a former Deutsche Bank economist, who invented the “skyscraper index.” In his research, Lawrence observed that major downturns in the economy occurred shortly after skyscrapers were completed.
Source: Xinhua, June 9, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2011-06/09/c_121510519.htm
China’s Ministry of Land and Resources released new regulations applying to foreigners who conduct cartographic activities in the country. Foreign cartographic work can only take two forms: a joint venture with a domestic company or a one-time job such as cartography preparing for state-approved events. Foreigners are forbidden from performing activities such as geodetic surveys, aerophotographical surveys, administrative district boundary surveys, hydrographic surveys, topographic mapping, world and national administrative mapping, provincial-and-below level administrative mapping, national school mapping, 3-D mapping, and electronic navigational maps.
For Internet mapping activities, the regulation has even stricter requirements. A joint venture is a must and the foreign share must be less than half. The report mentioned that, in recent years, a great deal of national security related information has been leaked via Internet mapping.
Source: People’s Daily, June 10, 2011
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1026/14863757.html
China’s Ministry of Health (MOH), the Geneva based Global Fund’s freeze on funds will significantly impact disease prevention against Malaria, Tuberculosis, and AIDS in China. MOH hopes “the Global Fund Secretariat solves the problem and restores the funding as soon as possible in a transparent, fair, positive, and cooperative manner.”
Sources:
China National Radio, June 10, 2011
http://www.cnr.cn/china/gdgg/201106/t20110610_508085015.html
AP, June 10, 2011
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5glHW1yRKDB85XyXM0t03gP-6gC4A?docId=475409ba0fb8442c926a2b134f76fa25
Xu Xuejiang, the deputy chief editor of Xinhua News Agency, wrote a commentary calling for beefing up the Chinese Communist Party’s loyalty education, in the run up to its 90th anniversary.
Source: Xinhua, June 10, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/comments/2011-06/10/c_121514513.htm
On June 10, 2011, the Chinese Communist Party’s Organization Department of the Tibet Autonomous Region announced that CCP organizations have been established in each of the 5,200 administrative villages, a complete coverage of the region’s countryside.
Source: China News Service, June 10, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2011/06-10/3103640.shtml