Chinascope – Page 427

Top Lawmaker: China’s GDP Not Credible Due to Data Fraud

According to Yin Zhongqing, deputy director of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the total amount of all local GDP added together is greater than the national GDP due to data fraud.

“There is a discrepancy between regional and national GDP figures and it has negatively affected the credibility of the government,” said Yin at a press conference on March 10 during the second session of the 13th NPC. “Some local governments tend to cook their books, inflate some statistics, or conceal some data to stand out from the competition.”

According to Yin, a number or factors contribute to data fraud. First, people do not comply with the law and data fraud persists despite repeated crackdowns. Second, local governments, businesses, and residents are overburdened with data calls from different government agencies. Third, many government agencies apply different standards, resulting in inconsistencies in the data collected. Fourth, punishment over data fraud is “too light.” Fifth, a lot of statistical indicators are still defined according to the planned economy and do not reflect actual development.

Source: Beijing News, March 10, 2019
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2019/03/10/554694.html

Briefings | | March 13, 2019 | Economy/Resources

Mainland Movie “The Wandering Earth” Suffered Box Office Flop in Hong Kong

Known as China’s first space movie, The Wandering Earth had a smashing 4.5 billion (US$669 million) in box office revenue in mainland China but suffered a devastating flop in Hong Kong. The opening day box office revenue was only HK$320,000 (US$40,000). For the showing at 9:50 pm in a Broadway Cinema in Mong Kok, only 7 out of a total of 300 seats were sold. A Radio France Internationale article reported that, in order to improve the poor box office performance, some Hong Kong patriotic organizations and individuals launched a “rescue the Earth” campaign. Some schools, such as the New Territories School Head Association, even gave out free tickets saying it was “in the name of the upcoming 70th anniversary.”

According to the Radio France Internationale article, the official party media Global Times even reported the poor box office performance of The Wandering Earth in Hong Kong but attributed the cause to the economic gap and cultural differences between Hong Kong and the mainland. In the article that Radio France Internationale published, it reported that the Global Times seems to have forgotten the fact that, among movies made in Hong Kong in 2018, the top box hit was a low budget movie called Agent Mr. Chan, which took in revenue of 44.7 million Hong Kong dollars (US$5.69 million). As for the movie that achieved the highest box office revenue in Hong Kong last year, it was Hollywood’s “Avengers: Infinity War,” which had a box office revenue exceeding 150 million Hong Kong dollars (US$19.11 million). Another mainland movie, “Red Sea Action” had director Lin Chaoxian, who was from Hong Kong, but its box office revenue was only 8.7 million Hong Kong dollars (US$1.1 million), which was a lot lower than the mainland box office of 3.65 billion yuan (US$465 million). Therefore, it argues that citing poor economic performance in Hong Kong as the reason for the low box office performance of The Wandering Earth seems to be a bit untenable.

Source: Radio France Internationale, March 9, 2019
http://cn.rfi.fr/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20190309-%E6%B5%81%E6%B5%AA%E5%9C%B0%E7%90%83%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E7%A5%A8%E6%88%BF%E5%87%84%E6%83%A8%E7%88%B1%E5%9B%BD%E5%AD%A6%E6%A0%A1%E6%B4%BE%E7%A5%A8%E6%95%91%E5%9C%B0%E7%90%83

Briefings | | March 13, 2019 | Government/Politics

China’s Three-Self Churches Vow to Eliminate Foreign Influence

China’s Three Self Churches belong to the Chinese Communist Party-controlled Three Self Patriotic Movement. The three ‘Self’s are self-governance, self-support, self-propagation, and the rejection of foreigners’ influence on church leadership.

Rev. Xu Xiaohong, Chairman of the National Three Self Churches, gave a speech at a session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which started on March 5.

Xu said, “It must be recognized that the surname of Chinese churches is ‘China,’ not the ‘West.’ The anti-China forces in the West are trying to influence China’s social stability and even subvert China’s political power through (the use of) Christianity. They are doomed to fail. For individual black sheep that participate in the subversion of national security under the banner of Christianity, we firmly support that the state brings them to justice.”

Xu added that on this issue one needs “continuously to eliminate the ‘foreign imprints’ on China’s Christian churches,” and “continuously to carry forward and practice the core values of socialism.”

Estimates have been made that more than half of China’s 60 million Protestants worship in unregistered churches.

In response to Xu comments, Xu Yonghai, an elder of the Divine Love Fellowship of the Beijing Christian House Church, said that since the 1950’s, members of the Three Self Churches have been leading armed police to search for elders and pastors. “In 1995, the authorities arrested me. This was also due to the role of the Three Self Churches.”

Source: Central News Agency, March 12, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201903120052.aspx

Briefings | | March 12, 2019 | Government/Politics

Retired General: Military Increases Spending Because China Feels Threatened

China announced that, from 2018 to 2019, its military spending will grow 7.6 percent to 1.19 trillion yuan (US$177 billion). The “Qiang Guo Internet Forum,” under People’s Daily invited Luo Yuan, a retired PLA admiral to comment on the increase in military spending. Luo said that China’s “limited defense spending” is to safeguard its national sovereignty. Some countries, who adopt a double standard, should not judge it as a “China threat.” The increase was rather because “China feels threatened.”

According to the Central News Agency, Luo said that whenever it is the time for the Lianghui (China’s “Two Sessions”), some western media stir up the “China Threat theory.” The military spending increase is solely for the purpose of safeguarding the country’s sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity and for implementing the settlement of retired military personnel and veterans; it will not pose a threat to other countries. Luo commented that the environment around China is not secure. U.S. military ships frequently enter and exit the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, which poses a provocation to China’s sustainable development interests. Luo said, “When some countries show off their military power at the doorstep of our family … Taiwan independence and other separatist forces are eager to move forward. … If, once the country needs it, we don’t make a few moves to win the battle, the PLA won’t live up to the ‘glorious title it has been given.” China’s military goal is to build the army into a “world-class army” but there are still gaps and pressures in these areas. China needs to have a sense of urgency and anxiety.

Source: Central News Agency, March 5, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/201903050035.aspx

Briefings | | March 12, 2019 | Defense/Military

Largest Apple Supplier Foxconn Recorded Four Year Low on Revenue

Major Taiwanese newspaper, China Times, recently reported that Apple’s largest supplier, Foxconn, headquartered in Taiwan, just announced its February revenue numbers, which showed a month-over-month decline of 35.85 percent and a year-over-year decline of 4.39 percent. This is the lowest point in four and one-half years. Foxconn pointed out that the primary causes of the decline were the U.S.-China trade war and weak orders from Apple. According to the latest supplier list that Apple released, Foxconn remains the largest supplier with 35 manufacturing locations. Further looking into the February Foxconn report, the computing products category is still satisfactory, but consumer electronics and communications equipment were below expectations.

Source: China Times, March 8, 2019
https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20190308004618-260410

Briefings | | March 12, 2019 | Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

China February Exports Reached Three Year Low

BBC Chinese recently reported that China’s February total exports suffered a year-over-year decline of 20.7 percent. This is the lowest point in three years. China’s imports declined by 5.2 percent. These numbers brought down the Asian stock markets significantly. Some suggested that the numbers might be the result of the Chinese New Year. However, most economists expressed their belief that the general expectation was a decline of 4.8 percent. The reality was five times worse than the expectation. Even with the seasonal impact factored in, the official numbers were quite negative. Some researchers indicated that the U.S. Tariff is having an impact on exports to the U.S. globally. Although the U.S.-China trade talks are still on-going, yet the uncertainty kept bringing doubts to the market. Currently the global market demand is still weak. Even if President Trump and President Xi quickly reach an agreement, China’s export outlook remains very bleak.

In the meantime, according to the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), China’s February domestic passenger vehicle sales recorded a year-over-year decline of 18.5 percent and a month-over-month decline of 45.4 percent.

Sources:
1. BBC Chinese, March 8, 2019
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/business-47495127
2. East Money, March 9, 2019
http://finance.eastmoney.com/a/201903091064544862.html

Briefings | | March 11, 2019 | Economy/Resources

Chinese Investment in Europe Fell Sharply

Chinese investments in EU countries are experiencing a sharp decline for the second year in a row. The combined value of completed Chinese FDI transactions in the EU fell to EUR 17.3 billion in 2018, down 40 percent from 2017 levels (EUR 29.1 billion). This represents the lowest investment level since 2014.

According to a report that the German think tank The Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) and the U.S. consulting firm Rhodium Group jointly published on March 6, after the peak of EUR 37.2 billion in 2016, Chinese investments in the EU dropped to EUR 29.1 billion in 2017 and dropped further down to EUR 17.3 billion in 2018.

“The lion’s share of Chinese investment in the EU’s 28 member countries continued to go to the three biggest economies in Europe—the UK (EUR 4.2 billion), Germany (EUR 2.1 billion) and France (EUR 1.6 billion)—which received 45 percent of China’s investments in Europe.”

Despite the decline in Europe, Chinese investment in Germany has risen. Compared with 2017, China’s investment in Germany in 2018 increased by EUR 400 million. This includes China Tiancheng Pharmacy Ltd.’s acquisition of German competitor Biotest, and Ningbo Jifeng Auto Parts’ purchase of German auto parts supplier Grammer.

An important reason for the overall decline in Chinese overseas M&A is that China has continued strict capital controls and tightened liquidity, making it difficult for companies to transfer funds abroad. That European countries have increasingly strict controls over acquisitions has also increased the difficulty for Chinese companies to complete acquisitions. European countries are expected to exert stricter controls over acquisitions.

However, in the near term, the recent expansion of the US investment screening regime and the continued US–China tensions, may also boost Chinese investment in Europe.

Source: Radio France International, March 6, 2019
http://rfi.my/3kdC.T

Briefings | | March 11, 2019 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.