Skip to content

China’s Strategic Oil Reserves

[Editor’s Note: On January 18, 2011, China Review News published an article about China’s quest to increase its oil reserves. As China is importing more and more crude oil, it has realized the paramount urgency of having a secure source of energy reserves. On December 18, 2007, China’s National Development and Reform Commission announced the establishment of the China National Oil Reserve Center. Its plan is to develop oil reserve bases over the next 15 years. The entire project is to be implemented in three phases, with the goal of having 85 million tons, or 99 million cubic meters, of oil reserves by 2020.] [1]

Continue reading

PBOC Hikes Interest Rate

On February 8, 2011, the People’s Bank of China announced that, effective February 9, it will raise the benchmark interest rate by 0.25%; the one-year deposit rate will be 3%; and the one-year lending rate will be 6.06%. Scholars suggest this increase is due to the pressure of high inflation and the real estate bubble. They expect that 2011 will bring even more rate hikes.

Ba Shusong, Deputy Director of the Financial Research Institute, Development Research Centre of the State Council, stated that China will adopt a monetary tightening policy in 2011. Ba outlined three causes for the rate increase: 1. A rapid increase in loans in January 2011, which some estimated at 1.2 trillion yuan. 2. Consumer product price increases due to weather and the Chinese New Year. 3. Continuous price increases for commodities overseas.

China News Service
referred to the central bank’s monetary policy report, which was released before the Chinese New Year. The report stated it would "use ‘society’s total financing amount’ to measure the scale of financing." China News Service interpreted this to mean, "PBOC does not look just at ‘RMB loans,’ but also at corporate bonds, stock, trust loans, and entrusted loans, etc. for deciding on monetary tightening."

Sources:
1. People’s Bank of China Website, February 8, 2011
http://www.pbc.gov.cn/publish/goutongjiaoliu/524/2011/20110208183128735889235/20110208183128735889235_.html
2. China News Service, February 8, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/cj/2011/02-08/2828737.shtml
3. China News Service, February 8, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/cj/2011/02-08/2828736.shtml

Official Media Says Promoting National Image a Strategic Investment

People’s Daily published an article commenting on how China is conducting an advertising campaign on CNN to promote China. The same ad is also being displayed with high frequency in New York’s Times Square. The ad started on January 17, 2011, and will continue until February 14, 2011. 
 

The article’s author stated that this kind of national image promotion campaign is a long-term investment. “With this type of strategic effort, we can develop a good international environment for China to prosper, and create a reputation as a good ‘product-manufacturing country’ to support Chinese companies. These efforts are a strategic investment in advertising our national image and can generate enormous value." 

Source: People’s Daily, February 8, 2011
http://opinion.people.com.cn/GB/13871770.html

China to Extract North Korea’s Mineral Deposits

The World Journal reported that China will sign an agreement with North Korea on February 15, 2011, to jointly extract North Korea’s mineral deposits. 

“The agreement will specify the mineral sites. … The minerals to be extracted include gold, anthracite coal, and rare earth.” The two countries will set up a jointly owned company in Hong Kong to raise money from China’s private investors. South Korea estimates that North Korea’s total mineral deposits are worth US$6.3 trillion.

Source: World Journal, February 7, 2011
http://gb.worldjournal.com/view/aChinanews/11295144/article–ifbase4-base164-JUU1JTgzJUI5JUU1JTgwJUJDNi0zJUU1JTg1JTg2JUU3JUJFJThFJUU1JTg1JTgzLSVFNCVCOCVBRCVFNSU4
RiVBRiVFOSU5NiU4QiVFNyU5OSVCQyVFNSU4QyU5NyVFOSU5RiU5MyVFNyVBNCVBNiVFOCU5NyU4Rg~~?
instance=chin

Ministry of Health Issues Guidelines for the Risk Assessment of Health Related Social Emergencies

In order to implement the State Council’s requirements for increasing control over social stability, the Chinese Ministry of Health recently released a Guideline on assessing the risks of health related social emergencies. The Guideline includes seven features: (1) acknowledging the importance of health related risk assessment; (2) the basic requirements of the assessments; (3) the scope of the Guideline, especially for events triggering large scale social emergencies; (4) key assessment areas such as “controllability;” (5) the organizational and responsibility structures of the assessment system; (6) the fundamental procedures for the assessment process; (7) measuring the quality of the assessment. The Ministry requires all the branches under its administration to move rapidly to implement the Guideline. According to the Guideline, those responsible for triggering large scale group petitions or other group events will be punished.

Source: Ministry of Health, January 5, 2011
http://www.moh.gov.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/mohbgt/s3589/201101/50484.htm

66,000 Visited Yonghegong Lamasery on Day One of the Chinese New Year

Beijing News reported that, on February 3, 2011, the first day of the Chinese New Year, around 66,000 Beijing residents visited Yonghegong Lamasery, the largest Tibetan Buddhist lamasery temple in inner China. Most of the visitors came to pray for blessings and to make wishes. In order to light the “first stick of incense,” some people started waiting in line outside the lamasery at 10 p.m. the night before, despite very cold weather in Beijing. There were 4.8% more visitors this year than last.

Source: Beijing News, February 4, 2011
http://news.bjnews.com.cn/2011/0204/107514.shtml

Xinhua: African Union Praises Chinese Company’s Construction of Convention Center

Xinhua reported that the Committee Chairman of the African Union (AU) recently visited the construction site of the AU Convention Center, which China’s African Aid program funded. A Chinese construction company also did the work. The AU appreciated the “gift” from China and was satisfied with the progress made on the project. It is one of the key projects under the African Aid program. The Convention Center is located in Ethiopia. The construction started on June 16, 2009, and is expected to reach completion by the end of the year 2011.

Source: Xinhua, January 21, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-01/22/c_121011695.htm

Survey Shows Many Chinese Not Going Home for Lunar New Year

A recent official survey shows that many Chinese are not willing to go home for the Chinese New Year. Among 1000 questioned by China Youth Daily, 41.1% considered themselves to be “those who dare not return to their parents’ home” for the Chinese New Year. The reasons include the expenditures for gifts (70%), the heavy traffic (38.2%), the fear of being asked why they have not married (37.2%), exchanging debts of gratitude (36.6%), and endless parties and dinners (26.1%). 69.4% do not want to go home because they were unable to show themselves off as successful and rich men or women in front of their parents, relatives, and friends.

Source: China Review News, January 18, 2011
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1015/7/3/2/101573259.html?coluid=154&kindid=0&docid=101573259&mdate=0118130902