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

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

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

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

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Popular Websites Warned for Carrying Illegal Unauthorized News Contents

Guangming Daily reported that a number of popular websites including Sina, Sohu, 163, and ifeng, received warnings from the Beijing Internet Information Office for carrying illegal unauthorized news contents. According to the article, these websites violated article number 16 of the recent news reporting regulation that the State Internet Information Office issued. It requires that "all media outlets must only report the news from authorized news channels, must disclose the news source, and must not alter the contents." The article pointed out, “These websites published a large number of news reports which they sourced and edited themselves.” It continued, “These websites were ordered to pay a fine and must take corrective actions immediately.”

Source: Guangming Daily, July 25 2016
http://politics.gmw.cn/2016-07/25/content_21112601.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Expert: None of the Air Quality Detectors Sold in the Chinese Market Are Reliable

Xinhua carried an article reporting on the use of PM 2.5 detectors. [Editor’s note: PM 2.5 is particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less. Referred to as "fine" particulates, they are believed to pose the largest health risk.] According to an expert, none of the PM 2.5 detectors for home use that test air quality and are sold at China’s markets are reliable. The article stated that there are several hundred types of detectors sold on the market; the cost ranges from 100 yuan or less to several thousand. Both their accuracy and their reliability, however, are questionable. In a test discussed in the article, two different brands of detector gave two different results. The article also quoted the expert as saying that the state has not provided standard specifications for the air quality detectors in general; nor has the industry.

Source: Xinhua, July 25, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016-07/25/c_129174055.htm

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

China Automotive Industry Association Issued its Semi-Annual Auto Report

Xinhua published an article on the China Automotive Industry Association auto sales report for the first half of the year. According to statistics, in the first 6 months of 2016, even though the auto production and sales volume grew 6.47 percent and 8.14 percent respectively compared to the same period last year, only 5 big auto manufacturers hit 50 percent of their annual sale’s target. The article stated that, without question, China’s automobile market’s growth is slowing down and many auto manufacturers have already reduced their 2016 annual sale target. The sales numbers also showed that there was an increase in sales for Japanese made models, a decrease for Korean made models, and increase in sales for China made brands.

Source: Xinhua, July 25, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2016-07/25/c_129174541.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

VOA: “Patriots” Boycott KFC

After the International Tribunal at The Hague made its arbitration decision rejecting China’s territorial claim over the South China Sea, Chinese state media blamed the U.S. as the evil force working behind the scene. Some Chinese suggested campaigns to boycott American products, including Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and McDonalds.

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Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Knight Island Criticized the Central Communist Youth League over the Zhao Wei Incident

Because of attacks in a series of articles from the Central Communist Youth League and many other accusations posted on China’s Internet, the “Zhao Wei Incident” recently became a hot topic on the Internet in Mainland China. The Wall Street Journal published an article titled, “Taiwanese Actor Leon Dai Loses Part in Zhao Wei Film After Political Pressure in China.” Taiwanese movie actor Leon Dai lost a major role in Mainland Chinese director Zhao Wei’s movie because he supported the “sunflower movement” in Taiwan in 2014 and he made positive comments about gala shows that Falun Gong practitioners had launched [the Shen Yun Performing Arts show in 2016].

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Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Chinese Private Sector’s Investments in the U.S. Skyrocketed

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that new research found that Chinese companies invested around US$29 billion in the U.S. in the first half of this year. This is more than the full-year-investment record set in 2014. Companies in the Chinese private sector made over half of the investments. This round of investments has one unique characteristic; nearly all of the money ended up in acquisitions and mergers instead of new establishments. There were quite a few high profile deals in this round such as Haier acquiring GE Appliances with US$5.4 billion. Analysts expressed the belief that the attractiveness of the U.S. comes from its diversified investment opportunities as well as the stability of the U.S. Dollar. The U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is expected to say no to more applications than it did previously. However, no one seems to be really worried.
Source: Sina, July 16, 2016
http://dailynews.sina.com/bg/news/int/int/chinesedaily/20160716/07337423734.html
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Chinese Leadership Identified Five Key Economic Concerns

The well-known Chinese financial newspaper The Economic Observer published an article on the Economic Forum that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang hosted on July 11 in Beijing. The Forum, which analyzed the situation of the Chinese economy in the first half of the year, took place before the National Bureau of Statistics released the key index numbers for the first half of 2016. The Forum identified five key concerns that “should not be ignored.” First, investments in the private sector continue to decline. Second, the effort to reduce industrial production capacity faces obstacles. The third concern was the increase in the number of non-performing loans in the banking industry. The fourth one was the worsened difficulties that small and medium sized companies have in obtaining financial help. The fifth concern lies with the uncertainty that developed from the British exit from the European Union. Li suggested in the Forum that both the global and the domestic challenges are generating growing pressure on the Chinese economy and that the government’s structural adjustment strategy will remain the key direction for the second half of the year.
Source: The Economic Observer, July 14, 2016
http://www.eeo.com.cn/2016/0714/289594.shtml
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources