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Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

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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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Xi Jinping on Protecting Investors in the Stock Market

On November 10, 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping held the 11th meeting of the Communist Party leadership on financial and economic affairs, calling for stock markets to be better regulated so that investors are treated fairly. 

Xi pointed out that in promoting economic structural reforms, the effort should focus on key issues. He called for efforts to resolve excess capacity effectively, promote optimal industrial restructuring, reduce costs and help businesses stay competitive, resolve the real estate inventory, and promote a sustainable development of the real estate industry. 
On stock markets, Xi stated that efforts should be made to guard against and defuse financial risks and to accelerate the formation of stock markets that have a fully functional financing mechanism, a solid infrastructure, effective regulation of the stock markets, and full protection of the interests of investors. 

Source: Caixin, November 10, 2015 
http://www.caixin.com/2015-11-10/100872547.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

VOA: At Xi-Ma Meeting, China Central TV Cut Off Live Broadcast before Ma Ying-jeou Gave his Speech

Voice of America (VOA) reported on China Central Television’s (CCTV) coverage of the historic summit that Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou held on November 7, 2015, in Singapore. The two leader’s handshake lasted for over one minute. This was the first time that the Chinese Communist Party Chairman and the nationalist President of Taiwan met since Mao Zedong founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

Before going into a closed-door meeting, Xi and Ma each gave a brief opening speech, one after the other. In a slightly delayed live broadcast, CCTV transmitted Xi Jinping’s full speech in Mainland China, but abruptly cut off its live broadcast when it was Ma Ying-jeou’s turn to give his speech. Two hours later, CCTV broadcasted a moment of Ma giving a speech without Ma’s voice.

Having witnessed the so-called “live broadcast,” China’s Internet users all condemned CCTV. Some comments were: “Who made such a stupid decision?! (I am) really speechless.” “CCTV’s so-called ‘live coverage’ will create controversy among public opinion. In a disgraceful way, it is recorded into the history of China’s TV news." “I turned off CCTV! A human being cannot be so shameless.” “I began to worry about the freedom of our Taiwanese compatriots."

One Chinese viewer commented that the state TV’s failure to broadcast Ma’s speech live "shows that the [Beijing] government lacks confidence." Some believed Ma’s speech was skipped because propaganda agencies needed time to review the text.

Taiwan-based Liberty Times Net reported that, before the November 7 meeting, CCTV blurred out the suit lapel of President Ma Ying-jeou during a news report because Ma was wearing a suit lapel pin in the form of a Taiwanese flag. Liberty News also noted that CCTV did not blur out the word "President" on the plaque when it reported on the press conference that Ma Ying-jeou held after his closed-door session with Xi Jinping.


Sources: Voice of America, November 8, 2015

http://www.voachinese.com/content/cctv-xi-ma-20151107/3048659.html
Liberty Times Net, November 7, 2015 
http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/politics/breakingnews/1501167

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

People’s Daily: 70 Percent of Wetlands in the Yangtze River Middle Reaches Disappeared

People’s Daily recently reported from the Annual Meeting of the Yangtze River Wetland Protection Network. Its report stated that the Yangtze River’s ecological security is currently facing a severe threat. The area of the wetlands has shrunk significantly; biodiversity is on a rapid decline as well. For example, one of the largest lake systems, the Dongting Lakes, shrank from a size of 4,350 sq. kilometers 60 years ago to today’s 2,650 sq. kilometers. Its area during its dry-season is now only 500 sq. kilometers. Compared to the total wetland areas of the Yangtze River Middle Reaches in the 1950s, only 30 percent remain today. Starting in 2014, the State Council strategically decided to further develop the Yangtze River Economic Region, which covers 5,326 kilometers of the Yangtze River, out of the full length of 6,397 kilometers. Experts think that the Yangtze River area is now facing the most severe conflict between economic development and natural resource protection. 
Source: People’s Daily, November 2, 2015
http://sn.people.com.cn/n/2015/1102/c356148-26990665.html
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

NPC Report: Forty Percent of the Online Goods Are Counterfeit

BBC Chinese recently reported that the Chinese National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee published an official report that its Law Enforcement Inspection Team had authored. The Inspection Report was the result of an investigation based on the Consumer Protection Law. According to the Report, the Chinese online shopping market is growing rapidly. However, the Report expressed the belief that over forty percent of the products sold online are counterfeit. These counterfeit products have deeply impacted the health of the e-commerce market. They usually violate the rights of the legitimate original owner of the design or the brand. This issue has been causing major headaches for foreign companies that have wanted to enter the Chinese market. The largest Chinese online retailer Alibaba had to put forth a major effort to lobby the U.S. government to avoid having the United States blacklist it. 

Source: BBC Chinese, November 3, 2015
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/business/2015/11/151103_china_counterfeit_goods
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Caixin: Chinese Manufacturing PMI Remains Low

Well-known Chinese financial site Caixin recently released its official Chinese Manufacturing PMI index number for October, which was 48.3. Caixin PMI was formerly known as HSBC PMI, which was a well-respected economic indicator monitored globally by financial institutions. The Caixin PMI has been below 50 for eight consecutive months. The sub-indexes under the Caixin Manufacturing PMI show that the overall Chinese manufacturing industry remains weak. However, the number of new export orders saw a rebound in October. Even so, the total number of orders for Chinese exports for October is still expected to suffer a decline of -3.7 percent, year-over-year. The employment level in manufacturing continued to shrink despite the increase in the services industry. PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) is an indicator of financial activity reflecting purchasing managers’ acquisition of goods and services. A PMI number below 50 typically reflects a decline. 
Source: Caixin, November 4, 2015
http://pmi.caixin.com/2015-11-04/100869757.html
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Xinhua: Five Unique Features of the Third Round of the Disciplinary Inspection Tour

Xinhua published an article on the third round of the tour that The Central Leading Group for Inspection Work conducted. The article highlighted five key features that are unique to this tour. 1) Among 31 companies or institutions to be inspected, 21 are financial institutions. Therefore the third round of the tour is also called the “Finance anti-corruption campaign.” 2) The head of the team members of the inspection group have extensive experience in both the discipline inspection work area and in their knowledge of finance. 3) The target of the inspection work is the Party organization and Party officials in the work unit and whether they carry out the directions that the central administration has issued. The focus is not on the operational part of the business. 4) Each inspection team will visit two companies and one inspection team will need to visit three companies. The inspection teams are expected to identify common issues and apply serious disciplinary measures to those who fail to deal with problems after they have been given advanced warnings. The effort is to show the determination of the central administration in dealing with disciplinary violations. 5) Those selected companies have expressed full cooperation with the inspection work and have issued statements to show zero tolerance for any violations while the inspection team is on site.

Source: Xinhua, November 6, 2015
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-11/06/c_1117067924.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Aging Population to Accelerate in China; 70 Percent of Seniors are Empty Nesters

Guangming Daily reported that the National Senior Council published an estimate that, from 2015 to 2035, the senior population will increase by 10 million people each year. Currently 70 percent of the seniors in the middle to large cities are empty nesters. The statistics from the Council also indicated that China will enter into a period in which the growth in the number in China’s aging population will accelerate. The estimated growth from 2015 to 2035 was from 212 million to 418 million.

Source: Guangming Daily, November 9, 2015
http://politics.gmw.cn/2015-11/09/content_17653952.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

The Social and Population Structure in Beijing Needs Improvement

Guangming Daily recently published an article on the results of a survey that was reported in the 2015 Beijing Society Bluebook. According to the statistics in the Blue Book, the social and population structure in Beijing still needs to be improved. The results showed that, in 2010, the middle class accounted for 35.85 percent of the population and the lower class accounted for 61.17 percent. The Blue Book estimated that, in 2015, the middle class grew to 40 percent of the population and could reach 50 percent by 2025. As to the quality of the population, Beijing still sees a shortage in the area of finding and keeping talent in the city. The population also sees an imbalance between the sexes. The Blue Book noted that 60 percent of the college graduates who took the survey, but who have resident status outside of Beijing, indicated that they plan to leave Beijing in the future due to the high cost of living or the lack of professional growth and financial improvement opportunities.

Source: Guangming Daily, November 6, 2015
http://economy.gmw.cn/2015-11/06/content_17627403.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability