Chinascope – Page 689

China’s Trade Surplus Declined to $3 Billion in March

Well-known Chinese news site Netease reported that the General Administration of Customs held a press conference recently. According to the announcement that it made, China’s trade surplus suffered a sharp decline to US$3.08 billion in March, while the expected surplus was US$40.1 billion. The same number in February was US$60.62 billion. Month-over-month, March imports declined 15 percent, while March exports declined 12.7 percent. In the first quarter of this year, China’s total import/export volume declined six percent year-over-year. According to the spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs, the world economy is still in a “deep recovery period,” following the global financial crisis. China has entered the mode of the “New Norm.” Its international trade volume has been declining, but the quality and the efficiency of the trade has seen improvements. The second quarter situation now faces uncertainty. After the announcements, the onshore Chinese currency RMB dropped sharply against the U.S. Dollar.

Source: Netease, April 13, 2015

http://fa.163.com/zx/cj/15/0413/10/AN2U6TIO00754KOA.html

Briefings | | April 21, 2015 | Economy/Resources

People’s Daily: Market Penetration Rate for Mobile Users Reached 94.6 Percent

People’s Daily reported that, according to the statistics that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently released, by the end of March, the number of mobile users in China was close to 1.3 billion with a market penetration rate at 94.6 percent. Meanwhile the number of broadband users had reached 640 million. In the month of March alone, the number of 4G broadband users went up by 23 million and reached 162 million. The statistics also suggested that total mobile Internet users surpassed 899 million in the first three month of 2015, up by 5.7 percent compared with the same period in 2014.

Source: People’s Daily, April 20, 2015
http://it.people.com.cn/n/2015/0420/c1009-26869500.html

Briefings | | April 20, 2015 | Information/Technology

People’s Daily: Real Estate Registration Process Faces Serious Delays from the Local Government

People’s Daily reported that, last December, the State Council issued provisional regulations on real estate registration. Local cities and counties were to launch the regulations but have been seriously behind in doing so. Therefore, the Ministry of Land and Resources and the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform recently issued another round of directions targeting the delays. The article quoted a representative from the Ministry of Land and Resources who stated that, out of over 300 cities and 2800 counties in China, only 16 percent of the cities and 4 percent of the counties had formed a designated department to handle the real estate registration process in their area. According to the representative, the delays have seriously hindered the progress of the real estate registration process.

According to Xinhua, the State Council, China’s Cabinet, issued the provisional regulations on real estate registration. The regulations provided that all governments above the county level shall designate special departments for registration in their areas, which would then follow instructions from higher governments. The regulations will cover collective ownership of land, ownership of buildings and forests, contracted land management rights, and rights to the use of land for construction, homesteads, and maritime areas.

Sources:

People’s Daily, April 19, 2015

http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2015/0419/c1001-26868660.html
Xinhua, December 22, 2014

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-12/22/c_133870891.htm

Briefings | | April 20, 2015 | Government/Politics

PLA General Political Department to Develop Team of Cadres with Absolute Loyalty to the Party

Xinhua published an article which reported that Xi Jinping, Chairman of the Central Military Commission, approved a notice that the PLA General Political Department issued on April 19. The title of the notice was, “Opinion to Develop a Political Team of Cadres That Will Demonstrate Absolute Loyalty to the Party, Has a Strong Capability to Fight in Wars, and Displays a Good Work Style and Image.” According to Xinhua, the Opinion directed that all levels in the political department within the PLA should focus on “strengthening the ideology work to build a strong Party spirit; strictly abide by the political rules and requirements; display devotion to the Party; and ensure absolute obedience to the Party Central Committee’s directions, to the PLA General Political Department, and to Chairman Xi.”

Source: Xinhua, April 19, 2015
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-04/19/c_1115016951.htm

Briefings | | April 20, 2015 | Defense/Military

People’s Daily: China’s Air Force Exercises in the Far Sea Will Be Routine

After China’s Air Force recently performed training exercises in the West Pacific ocean over the Bashi Channel [the body of water between Taiwan and the Philippines archipelago] for the first time, People’s Daily interviewed Chinese military expert Major General Yin Zhuo. Yin said that, in the future, the Chinese air force training in the far sea will certainly be routine. It will conduct co-training with the Navy, so it will truly become a joint operation between the two forces.

Yin said, "In the future [China’s Air Force] may also go to the open sea (for exercises). It will go through the northern airspace, through the Miyako waterway, or the Osumi Strait airspace. These airspaces are international public airspaces. For the Chinese Air Force to fly in these airspaces is entirely consistent with international law; no country has the right to interfere."

Source: People’s Daily: March 31, 2015

http://military.people.com.cn/n/2015/0331/c1011-26775049.html

Briefings | | April 17, 2015 | Defense/Military

Li Keqiang Criticizes Burdensome Bureaucracy

At the Executive Meeting of China’s State Council on April 15, Chinese Premiere Li Keqiang criticized some ministries and local governments for having burdensome bureaucratic processes and called for an immediate streamlining of the process and for speeding up decentralization.

Li observed, "The policies that were discussed and approved at the State Council executive meeting that the Minsters attended have been held up so that several division chiefs can do ‘quality control.’" He then asked, "Isn’t this procedure upside down?” "You, ministers, were at the meeting and did not present any disagreement. Now you need to have several division chiefs do ‘quality control?’" “It took more than a year for the central government to come up with these policies. Now it takes another year to go through all of these procedures. Isn’t this absurd?"

Li said that to overcome this "chronic illness," it would first be necessary to accelerate the transformation of government functions so that they decentralize. Second, the participants should be proactive and pay close attention to policy implementation.

Source: Xinhua, April 15, 2015

http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-04/15/c_1114982674.htm

Briefings | | April 17, 2015 | Government/Politics

Li Keqiang: Downward Pressure Continues and Greater Difficulties Lie Ahead

On April 14, 2015, Chinese Premiere Li Keqiang met with some academicians, experts, and business leaders to hear their recommendations on the Chinese economy. During the meeting he stated, “Downward pressure on China’s economy continues to increase.” The country “must prepare to face bigger economic difficulties and challenges.”

It was the second time within five days that Li expressed grave concern about the Chinese economy. On April 12, Li made similar remarks about China’s economy when he was inspecting the northeast region. “I used to work in the northeast and can be considered as being half northeasterner, so I don’t have to be too polite. Your [economic] statistics indeed make me worry.”

Source: People’s Daily, April 14, 2015, and April 12, 2015

http://cpc.people.com.cn/n/2015/0415/c64094-26846242.html http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2015/0412/c1024-26831938.html

Briefings | | April 16, 2015 | Economy/Resources

Mingpao: Police System to Access Extensive Personal Information on National Database

On April 14, 2015, Mingpao in Hong Kong published an article introducing details on China’s new 21 regulations on social stability maintenance, especially commenting on the “One ID Card System.”

“A resident identity card in China will not only record the holder’s name, address, and date of birth; it will also link to his or her credit cards, hotel occupancy records, and records of travel via aircraft, trains, and high-speed rail trips. It will also record social insurance and other private information. It is called the “One Card for All.” All of the information recorded in the ID card will be linked to the national public security system’s internal database and will be available for thousands of police officers nationwide. They will be able to access the database to check on anyone at any time. One part of the content in the 21 regulations was called "Advice on Strengthening the Social Security Protection System." The General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the General Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China recently issued the policies to establish the system.

In addition, the 21 regulations emphasized that the overall TV monitoring system coverage will increase in public places. Under the new stability maintenance policies, the authorities will be able to watch Mainland Chinese citizen’s very closely.

Source: Mingpao, April 14, 2015

http://tinyurl.com/oucuq4g

Briefings | | April 16, 2015 | Government/Politics

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.