People’s Daily republished a commentary from China Military Online (http://www.81.cn/), stating that the U.S. will live in a nightmare for the next 100 years for being hostile to china.
Survey Finds Sixteen Percent of the Land in China is Polluted
On April 17, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Land and Resources released an "Official Report on National Soil Pollution," based on an eight-year survey of over 6.3 million square kilometers of land across the country. The report found that about 16 percent of the country’s soil and 19 percent of its arable land were polluted to one degree or another. The vast majority of the pollution came from cadmium, nickel, copper, arsenic, mercury, lead, DDT and PAHs. The latest results contrast with the situation in October 2011, when 8.3 percent of the arable land was polluted.
In his government report earlier this year, Chinese premier Li Keqiang announced the initiation of a "Soil Remediation Project." However, Chinese scholars estimated that soil pollution prevention and remediation demands trillions or even tens of trillions in investment, while the central government’s budget for soil remediation during the twelfth five-year plan period, or 2011 to 2015, is only 30 billion yuan (US$4.8 billion).
China’s Agricultural Population May Decline to 10 Percent
According to Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, China‘s agricultural population may decline to about 10 percent. Currently, about 40 percent of China’s population is engaged in agriculture.
China’s 2013 Gold Production Topped the World for the Seventh Year
People’s Daily reported that China has been the world’s largest gold producer for seven years in a row. In 2013, its gold output reached 428.16 tons. According to the president of China’s Gold Association, "China’s 2013 gold production increased by 6.23% over last year, a new historic record."
As of the end of 2012, China’s gold reserves of 8,196.24 tons ranked second in the world. In addition, for the first time, China’s gold consumption, which was 1176.40 tons in 2013, jumped to world’s top spot. According to an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, "For the first time, China’s gold consumption has surpassed India. With an increase of 41.3 percent over last year, China has become the world’s largest gold consumer." In 2013, China’s gold consumption was about 27 percent of the global consumption of physical gold.
Source: People’s Daily Online, June 5, 2014
http://finance.people.com.cn/n/2014/0605/c1004-25105841.html
Tsinghua Professor: Maximally Increase Nuclear Deterrence to Deal with the Threat of U.S. and Japan
Chu Shulong, director of the International Strategy and Development Institute at Tsinghua University, wrote an article for Global Times, a division of People’s Daily, calling for China to maximally increase its nuclear deterrence against the U.S. and Japan.
Qiushi: Xi Jinping’s Diplomacy Strategy for the Communist Party
On June 3, 2014, Qiushi published a commentary by Wang Jiarui, director of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The commentary explained Xi Jinping’s strategy of diplomacy for the Party.
China’s Local Governments Are Deep in Debt
China Review News reported that the level of debt that China’s local governments have reached is unsustainably high. According to the China’s National Audit Office, by June 2013, local governments had 10.88 trillion yuan (US$1.78 trillion) in debt obligations, 2.66 trillion yuan (US$429 billion) in debt for which they have provided guarantees, and 4.34 trillion yuan (US$711 billion) in debt for which they bear certain bailout responsibilities. The total is close to 18 trillion yuan (US$3 trillion).
The peak period of the debt payback, which is from 2014 to 2017, is close at hand. However, so far, local governments have put up a total of 320 billion yuan (US$52 billion) as the reserve to pay off the debt.
Facing the mounting pressure of a local debt crisis, in an attempt to resolve this problem, the State Council approved ten local governments to issue local bonds. The ten governments include Shanghai, Zhejiang Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and Qingdao City in Shandong Province.
Source: China Review News, May 26, 2014
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1032/0/4/8/103204872.html?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=103204872&mdate=0526070321
Study Times: Recent Trends in News Release Reform
Study Times published an article summarizing recent trends in the Chinese government’s efforts to manage public opinion and magnify the voice of the authorities, especially in the implementation of regularly issued official news releases. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party demanded this "move forward in the institutionalization of news releases."
First, the institution of issuing official news releases, which started in 2003 at the level of central and provincial governments, is expanding to lower level and grass roots governments.
Second, the media and the public do not fully grasp the official news releases. The article suggested that the official news should be connected to social issues that garner public attention.
Third, the official news releases now take multiple formats and adapt to different situations. In addition to regular press conferences, there are also web releases, exclusive interviews, news briefings, news conferences at the event location, and increases in the Q&A portion.
Finally, according to Xi Jinping’s speech given to provincial level officials in the Central Party School in 2009, leading officials at different levels are now required to interact with the media and leading cadres should "improve their ability to deal with the media."
Source: Study Times, June 2, 2014
http://www.studytimes.cn/shtml/xxsb/20140602/5140.shtml