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China’s Annual U.S. Human Rights Record

On April 10, 2011, two days after the U.S. State Department published its 2010 human rights report, China’s State Council Information Office issued a report on the 2010 U.S. Human Rights Record. “On April 8, 2011, the U.S. State Department released its ‘2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,’ with distortions and accusations on the human rights situations in more than 190 countries and regions including China. However, the U.S. turns a blind eye to its own terrible human rights situation and rarely mentions it. To urge the U.S. to face its own problems, we hereby release the 2010 U.S. Human Rights Record.’”
The report claims “The U.S. has the world’s worst violent crimes.” “Every year, about one fifth of Americans are victims of various crimes, the highest proportion in the world.” “The U.S. has the world’s largest number of privately owned firearms; among the 300 million people in the U.S., about 90 million hold 200 million guns.” “The U.S. has been claiming itself to be a ‘land of freedom,’ but it has the world’s largest number of prisoners deprived of their freedom.”

Source: Xinhua, April 10, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-04/10/c_121287373.htm

China Sends College Graduates to Work in Villages

Starting in 2008, the Chinese Communist Party’s Department of Organization and the Ministry of Education have been sending twenty thousand college graduates per year to be “village officials” for a period of five years. The purpose is to build an army of grassroots communist cadres and to ease unemployment for college graduates as well. Ironically, being enrolled in a college or university is the only means for a rural Chinese to be able to obtain resident status in the cities.
The “college graduate village officials” are usually “officials’ assistants” rather than real administrative officials. However, they receive annual subsidies ranging from 5,000 (US$ 766) to 15,000 yuan (US$ 2,296). After three years, they can choose to leave the village and may receive extra benefits if they get permanent government jobs or apply for a post-graduate program.

Source: VOA, April 9, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20110409-College-Students-Work-at-Grassroots-119530704.html

Banks’ Hidden Practice of High Quarter-end Rates to Lure Deposits

In March, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) launched spot checks on banks’ illegal practice of attracting deposits as the quarter-end review of banks’ financial status approached.
Many banks are known for the hidden practice of offering significantly high returns on financial products with an issuance period that spans end-of-quarter dates such as March 31. Increasing deposits in this way can reduce the loan-to-deposit ratio below the 75% industrial red line. For example, on March 31, some banks have offered 80,000 yuan in daily interest for a 10 million yuan deposit (the equivalent of a 300% annual interest rate). In March last year, some banks even put up an announcement that, depending on the amount of the deposit, the depositors might receive returns in kind, such as eggs and cooking oil. In September last year, CBRC criticized a list of banks for such illegalities, including the Agricultural Bank of China.

Source: Beijing Morning Post, April 11, 2011
http://www.morningpost.com.cn/xwzx/jjxw/2011-04-11/179314.shtml

Leadership Reshuffle in State Oil Giants

China recently appointed the top leaders of the state Sinopec Group and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC). Su Shulin, Party Secretary and General Manager of Sinopec, was appointed Deputy Chief of the Party Committee in Fujian Province. Fu Chengyu, Party Secretary and General Manager of CNOOC, was appointed Party Secretary and Chairman of Sinopec. Wang Yilin, Deputy Manager of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), was appointed Party Secretary and Chairman of CNOOC. China is also using this opportunity to set up a board of directors at the two state oil giants, although their subsidiaries listed in domestic and overseas stock markets already have boards. Sometime later, a board will also be created for CNPC.

Source: Beijing News, April 12, 2011
http://epaper.bjnews.com.cn/html/2011-04/12/content_219795.htm?div=-1

VOA: Aircraft Carrier Varyag Sets a Milestone for the Chinese Military

Voice of America (VOA) recently reported that China’s first aircraft carrier is approaching the stage of final delivery. The report saw this as a major milestone in China’s effort to modernize its military –despite the fact that the aircraft carrier is just a refit of the long-retired Ukrainian aircraft carrier “Varyag.” It is widely believed that this new addition to China’s Navy will be used mainly for training purposes and as a reference for future aircraft carrier designs. The real-world battlefield capabilities are far behind the ship’s counterparts in today’s U.S. Navy. The VOA report also mentioned the worries expressed in the media on the part of China’s neighboring countries, such as Taiwan and South Korea.

Source: Voice of America, April 9, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20110409-China-First-Aircraft-Carrier-119529679.html

People’s Daily on Internet Culture

Qiushi Journal, a bi-weekly magazine published by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, recently republished an article from People’s Daily on the phenomenon of Internet culture. According to the author, theoretical studies on this culture are far behind the reality of its rapid development. The article focused on the fastest growing portion of the domestic Internet market – online gaming – saying that the growth of the gaming industry should be limited. The author dismissed the view that Internet culture represents only a “virtual” world. He suggested that the virtual world is obviously interacting with the real world and concluded that, to a certain degree, “managing the virtual society amounts to managing the real one.” The author also expressed the belief that Internet-based enterprises lack deep cultural resources and called for help from the traditional culture industry. The article ended with the observation that the Internet culture is merging into mainstream Chinese culture.

Source: Qiushi Journal, April 5, 2011
http://www.qstheory.cn/wh/sxdl/201104/t20110405_75256.htm

Xinhua: Over 93% of Imports and Exports Rely on Sea Transportation

Xinhua recently reported on The Symposium Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of China’s Sailors’ Union in Beijing. The article stated that China now has over 1.55 million sailors; of those, 650,000 are seamen. Today, 93% of the transportation used for Chinese import and export industries is sea-based. Over 95% of all oil and 99% of all ironstone rely on water transportation. Currently, the scale of China’s water transportation fleet is the fourth largest in the world. It includes 184,000 vessels, which translates into a transportation capacity of 124 million tons. Mainland China now has 12 out of the world’s top 20 ports with an annual freight handling capacity of over one-hundred-million tons.

Source: Xinhua, April 6, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2011-04/06/c_121273093.htm

State-owned AVIC buys US-based Nexteer

China’s State-owned parts manufacturer, AVIC Automobile Industry Holding Co. Ltd. recently became the majority stockholder in Nexteer Automotive, the Michigan-based maker of steering and drive-line systems. The merger is said to be the largest acquisition that the China’s auto parts industry has made. 
Last November, Pacific Century Motors (PCM) bought Nexteer from General Motors. PCM is a joint venture; the Beijing E-Town International Investment & Development Co Ltd, the financial and investment arm of the Beijing municipal government, owned the majority of PCM. In March, AVIC Automobile then acquired a 51 percent stake in PCM, becoming the controlling stockholder in Nexteer. Beijing E-Town and its partners own the remaining 49 percent.
Based in Saginaw, Michigan, Nexteer is the world’s third-largest company in sales of drive-shaft components and the fourth-largest for steering systems. It had more than $2 billion in revenue last year.

Source:
Xinhua, April 8, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-04/08/c_121283512.htm
http://www.nexteer.com