On February 12, 2011, Xinhua reported that the General Office of the State Council sent out a notice about establishing the National Security Review and Approval System for Foreign Acquisitions of Chinese Companies. A multi-ministry joint committee will be created to administer the review process. The notice encompassed the System’s scope, content, working mechanism, and procedures. The national security review mainly covers companies that foreign investors may actually control. The fields the companies will deal with will include military, key agriculture products, critical energy and resources, important infrastructure, important transportation, key technology, and heavy equipment. The State Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce are the leading agencies on the operational front. These regulations apply to investors from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The process of reviewing the acquisition of financial companies will be regulated separately.
Source: Xinhua, February 12, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-02/12/c_121070713.htm
Special Projects Initiated for Strategic Leading Technologies
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) recently announced that, in 2011, special projects will be initiated in six to eight strategic leading technologies such as advanced nuclear fission, energy, and space science. These initiatives are aligned with the CAS Road-map to 2050 and are a part of the “Innovation 2020” plan. The goal of these initiatives is to make breakthroughs in each of these areas and to stimulate technological as well as industrial innovations. With a goal of completion in ten years, “Innovation 2020” is designed to enter the global cutting edge of strategic technology, build a high-end talent pool, and establish innovative platforms. It is planned that, by the end of 2020, China will be the world leader in all mainstream scientific fields, such as chemistry, physics, and mathematics.
Source: Guangming online, February 15, 2011
http://tech.gmw.cn/2011-02/15/content_1612333.htm
Hu Jintao Gave a Speech on Controlling Society
On February 19, 2011, the Conference on Social Management and Innovation was held at the CCP’s Central Party School. Top leaders from the central and provincial government attended the conference. Hu Jintao gave a speech at the opening ceremony. Hu stressed the importance of social management and outlined eight points for society’s future direction: 1. Improve the Party’s leadership and formalize social management work. 2. Improve the Party and government-led mechanisms to protect people’s rights. 3. Improve the management of transients and special populations and create a national database to cover every individual in China. 4. Improve the basic social management and service system. 5. Improve the public safety system. 6. Improve social management in private companies. 7. Improve Internet management and establish a mechanism to lead public opinion on the Internet. 8. Strengthen education in socialist ideology.
All of the nine members of the Politburo standing committee, all other Politburo members, and top CCP officials in central and provincial authorities attended the opening ceremony.
Source: CCP News Online, February 19, 2011
http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/64093/64094/13958405.html
CCP’s Politburo Met to Set Strategy on Middle East Reporting
Boxun.com, an overseas Chinese language website, reported that the CCP’s Politburo held a meeting to set strategy on reporting the Middle East’s democracy movement. “Some Politburo members in Beijing had an informal meeting the day after Mubarak stepped down. They set new rules and education goals for the military, the armed police, and the police. The focus was on ‘propaganda:’ to stop the media from freely posting reports, comments, and discussions about Egypt and the region; to strengthen the cleanup and management of blogs and forums; to require local media to use only Xinhua’s articles on the Middle East; to control the media’s tone and direct it to find that the ‘U.S. is behind the scenes;’ and to prepare to shut down certain Internet functions.” The CCP’s Propaganda Department’s directive also added “to reduce the reporting of local ‘sensitive events.’”
[Editor’s Notes: Boxun.com called for a public protest in 13 Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai for February 20, 2011. Boxun’s website has since been under severe attack and unable to function normally. This article can be found on Google cache or other websites that republished it.]
Source: Boxun, February 18, 2011
news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2011/02/201102182219.shtml
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China Again Hiked the Bank Reserve Ratio but Refused Fast Renminbi Appreciation
On February 18, 2011, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced that it will increase the bank reserve ratio by 0.50% on February 24. This is the second reserve ratio hike this year and the eighth since the start of 2010. With this rate hike, PBOC expects to keep 350 billion yuan in the banking system from entering circulation.
China, however, refused to allow significant appreciation of the Renminbi against the U.S. dollar. On February 17, 2011, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the central bank, said in Paris that “(China) has never paid special attention to external pressure for the Renminbi’s appreciation. The Chinese government will decide the pace on its own.”
Sources:
1. Xinhua, February 18, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2011-02/18/c_121098458.htm
2. Xinhua, February 19, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2011-02/19/c_121099068.htm
Present and Future Cooperation between China and Europe on Industrial Investment
[Editor’s Note: The following People’s Daily article, authored by the Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, Xu Xianping, gives details on China-EU economic cooperation, as part of the two parties’ strategic relationship. The translation of excerpts relating to several points from the article follows.] [1]
China’s “Golden Shield” Has over 99% Coverage of the Public Security Information Network
On February 16, 2011, Xinhua reported that, in recent years, due to the great efforts that organizations in the public security system have made nationwide in developing the “Golden Shield” project (also known as the Great Firewall of China), the basic infrastructure for the public security information network has been almost entirely completed. Currently, the network covers 32 provincial bureaus, 478 city bureaus, 3,361 county branches, and more than 70,000 grass roots stations. The coverage is over 99 percent.
Source: Xinhua, February 16, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-02/16/c_121089330.htm
Chinese Enterprises Actively Seek Acquisitions Overseas
Guangming Daily reported on the 2011 Investigation Report of the International Business Survey issued by Grant Thornton China on February 16, 2011. According to the survey, following the global economic recovery, Chinese enterprises’ intentions to expand have markedly increased. It showed that 45 percent expect to be involved in M&A activities in the next three years. That is an increase of 19 percent over last year’s 26 percent. It is also higher than the global average of 34 percent. Among the enterprises surveyed, 26 percent anticipate acquiring companies overseas in the next three years, the highest level since 2008. Overseas acquisitions have increased rapidly in recent years. Since the start of February of this year, Chinese companies have spent over US$10 billion on acquisitions. At the moment, large state-owned enterprises are responsible for most overseas acquisitions. Due to opposition from hostile overseas forces, many face obstacles and failure. Thus many private enterprises and other economic entities have been driven to join the acquisition activities.
Source: Guangming Daily, February, 17, 2011
http://economy.gmw.cn/2011-02/17/content_1624010.htm