On July 1, 2015, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) marked its 94th anniversary with celebrations extolling the “glorious history” of the Party. People in a dyeing and weaving factory in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province chose a different approach. All 1,000 Party members in the factory renounced their membership in the CCP together.
Caixin: Tumble in Share Price Puts Well-Connected Tycoon in Spotlight
Caixin online reported that Che Feng, who owns a majority stake in Hong Kong-listed Digital Domain, was detained on June 2, 2015.
On June 3, as rumors circulated that Che, son-in-law of a former central bank governor, was under investigation, the share price of Digital Domain plunged 41.4 percent. Digital Domain is a special effects producer for several Hollywood blockbusters. Within days, Hong Kong-based Apple Daily disclosed that Che had close ties with Zeng Wei, son of Zeng Qinghong, China’s former vice-president and member of the Politburo Standing Committee.
Several sources said the inquiry into Che was triggered by an investigation into Ma Jian, a former vice minister of state security, and Guo Wengui, a property tycoon who controls Beijing Pangu Investment Co. and was a stakeholder in Digital Domain. The Communist Party’s graft buster detained Ma in January. Guo is overseas.
The predecessor of Digital Domain was Sun Innovation Holdings, Ltd. Documents from the Hong Kong stock exchange show that, in September 2012, Guo purchased 8.6 percent of the company for HK$ 0.083 per share from Che’s brother, Che Tao. Guo sold all his stock on January 16 at HK$ 0.18 per share, making a profit of about HK$ 80 million.
People with knowledge of the situation said Guo and Che remain close. Che once loaned 600 million yuan to Guo to help him get through a tough period and this cemented their relationship.
Source: Caixin Online, June 29, 2015; Apple Daily, June 5, 2015
http://english.caixin.com/2015-06-29/100823510.html
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/international/art/20150605/19172998
Economic Downturn Will Impact 2015 Fiscal Revenue
China’s Finance Minister Lou Jiwei predicted that, in the next few months, the State will face considerable pressure to meet its 2015 revenue target. He made these remarks when speaking to the People’s Congress on June 28, 2015. "In the next several months, due to factors such as the pressure of the economic downturn, we expect to face considerable pressure to meet the central government’s fiscal revenue target."
Lou set out five priorities for the future. In regards to in-depth reforms of the taxation system, Lou stated that efforts will be made to study a reform proposal on the personal income tax and to support real estate tax legislation.
Source: Ministry of Finance of China, June 29, 2015 http://www.mof.gov.cn/zhengwuxinxi/caizhengxinwen/201506/t20150629_1262257.html
Dongxiang Magazine: Zeng Qinghong’s Two Trusted Subordinates in the National Security System Sacked
Wenxuecity.com, a popular Chinese media website, republished a report (originally from Dongxiang, a Hong Kong news magazine) that suggested Zeng Qinghong might be in trouble.
The report said, “After Xi Jinping came to power, he started to purge the Ministry of State Security, which Jiang Zemin’s faction had long dominated. Following the sack of Zeng Qinghong’s henchmen Ma Jian, Vice Minister of the CPC National Security Ministry, Zeng’s other confidant Le Dake, deputy director of the Tibetan People’s Congress, was then put under investigation.”
Le’s dismissal was announced on the morning of June 26. He is the first provincial-level official to be investigated in Tibet after the "Eighteenth Congress of the CCP." Zeng Qinghong promoted Le and he has worked in the national security system for nearly 20 years.
“The Hong Kong newspaper Sun reported that Tibet and Xinjiang have been resisting the anti-corruption campaign, using the excuse of exceptional circumstances. Especially at the local public security level and the national security system, corruption has become a ‘forbidden zone.’ Le Dake’s arrest shows that Xi does not recognize any forbidden zone in anti-corruption.”
“Le’s dismissal is another major case in the state security system. He represents another important dismissed figure following the Beijing National Security Bureau head Liang Ke, Vice Minister Lu Zhongwei, and Vice Minister Ma Jian of the Ministry of State Security.”
Source: Wenxuecity.com, June 27, 2015
http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2015/06/27/4375175.html
Xinhua: Chinese Communist Party’s Grass-roots Organizations Continue to Expand
Xinhua recently reported that, according to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Organization Department’s latest statistics, as of the end of 2014, the total number of members of the Chinese Communist Party was 87.8 million, a net increase of 1.1 million over the previous year, or a growth of 1.3 percent. The Party’s grass-roots organizations had 4.36 million members, an increase of 56,000 over the previous year, or a growth of 1.3 percent.
The Party’s grass-roots organizations have continued to expand. CCP organizations are in place in 7,565 urban Street Offices (城市街道), 32,753 townships, 92,581 communities or neighborhoods (居委会), and 577,273 administrative villages, with a coverage rate of more than 99 percent. 194,000 state-owned enterprises have Party organizations, accounting for 91.0 percent of the total state-owned enterprises. Party organizations have been installed in 1.6 million non-public (private) enterprises, accounting for 53.1 percent of the total number of non-public enterprises. Party organizations have been installed in 184,000 nongovernment organizations, which is 41.9 percent of the total.
Source: Xinhua, June 29, 2015
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-06/29/c_1115760026.htm
RFA: A Thousand Workers Renounce Their Membership in the CCP
According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), the Human Right Defender’ website quoted a report about the Dyeing and Weaving Factory in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, which is an old state-owned enterprise in Central China. Just a few days before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was to celebrates its 94th anniversary on July 1, all of the members of the Communist Party at the factory renounced their membership in the CCP. Some of them had been Party members for decades.
There has long been a problem since the government stopped providing retirement benefits to the factory’s retirees. Employees of the factory appealed many times and even confronted the government many times. Each time they were suppressed. When the people became completely desperate, all Party members at the factory decided to renounce their membership in the Party.
Sources:
Radio Free Asia, June 29, 2015
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/5-06292015111801.html
Human Rights Defenders, June 29, 2015
http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2015/06/blog-post_375.html
Global Poll Showed U.S. Still Enjoys a Better Image than China
Well-known Chinese news portal Netease recently reported that the latest global Pew poll, which has been conducted annually since 2005, showed that, as usual, the United States has a better national image than China. Around 69 percent of the global population surveyed expressed a positive impression of the United States, while 55 percent were positive about China. In most regions of the world, the U.S. won a higher preferable ratio. Interestingly, both China’s highest and lowest ratings were from Asia. Around 82 percent of the people surveyed in Pakistan gave China a positive score. At the same time, the poll in Japan showed a below-single-digit percentage positive rating for China. This has been the case for the past three years.
Source: Netease, June 26, 2015
http://data.163.com/15/0626/01/AT0FV68S00014MTN.html
Shanghai Plans to Establish Gold Fixing Price in RMB
Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the Shanghai Gold Exchange is planning to use the Chinese currency RMB for its gold fixing price. The Exchange already submitted its plan details to the Chinese central bank for approval. Once approved, the Exchange will decide on the international and domestic banks that will be part of the process of fixing the prices. This is the latest of China’s efforts to improve its status in the world’s gold market. Currently the Base London Gold Fixing Price is the primary indicator of gold prices. However the London Fixing Price has been under legal investigation for potential manipulations. If the RMB-based Gold Fixing Price is established and accepted globally, the world gold trade could then be settled in RMB. This could render the London Gold Price irrelevant. However the Chinese currency is not yet freely exchangeable.
Source: Sina, June 24, 2015
http://finance.sina.com.cn/money/nmetal/20150624/181222507193.shtml