Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated Beijing’s support for Hong Kong to become the RMB offshore center, suggesting that Hong Kong should lead China’s financial reform. According to Hong Kong’s monetary authority, in 2010, a total of 36 billion yuan (US$5.5 billion) in RMB bonds were issued. China Merchants Bank President Ma Weihua said earlier this month that Hong Kong’s RMB deposits totaled 370.6 billion and may hit 2 trillion in five years.
Source: Chinese News Service, March 31, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/cj/2011/03-31/2941967.shtml
Source: Xinhua, March 30, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-03/30/c_121249991.htm
Xi Jinping, the Vice President of China, met with Liberian Foreign Minister McIntosh in the People’s Hall in Beijing on March 30, 2011. Xi said the Chinese government is "highly concerned about peace and the security situation in Africa, and along with African countries, including Liberia, would like to actively promote a peaceful resolution of the crisis.”
Source: Xinhua, March 30, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-03/30/c_121249926.htm
To step up the regulation on the submission of publication samples, China’s publishing regulator, the General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP), recently issued a Notice about Further Strengthening the Submission of Publication Samples. It requires that all publishers submit a sample of every new publication to a specific address in a timely manner.
The types of publications falling into the regulation include first editions of books, reprinted books, audio-visual products, and electronic publications. All must be submitted within 30 days of publication. All submissions must be complete, without any missing components.
Source: China News and Publishing Journal, March 29, 2011.
http://data.chinaxwcb.com/epaper/2011/2011-03-29/9179.html.
According to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), in 2010, 45.8% of Chinese Internet users encountered virus or Trojan malware attacks and 21.8% experienced account or password theft. CNNIC also noticed that, by the end of 2010, the number of Internet users in China had reached 457 million, an increase of 73.3 million over 2009.
Source: China News Service, March 29, 2011.
http://www.chinanews.com/it/2011/03-29/2938890.shtml.
Guangming Daily is a Chinese official newspaper geared toward intellectuals. Joining Beijing’s recent media campaign against the Western forces’ strikes on Libya, Guangming’s website published an article criticizing President Obama’s March 28 speech given at National Defense University. In provocative tones, the article, titled “Obama’s Speech is Worrisome to Humankind,” asks the Obama administration, “Who authorized you to play such a special role in global security? Does this special role mean using military force to bombard a sovereign country and kill innocent civilians?”
The author condemns the speech as “showing the ugly face of U.S. hegemony.” “The U.S. practice is extremely despicable, according to either the international community’s acknowledged rules or the common sense of human rights.”
Source: The Guangming Daily website, March 29, 2011
http://guancha.gmw.cn/2011-03/29/content_1769282.htm.