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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

Study Times: CICA’s Geopolitical and Geo-economic Opportunities for China

Study Times published an article on the significance of the recent Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). The article mentioned several points.

"In 2013, China’s contribution to the world’s economic growth came close to 30 percent. Its trade with neighboring countries reached US$1.3 trillion, more than the total of the Sino-EU and the Sino-U.S. trade. For example, Sino-Russian trade amounted to nearly US$90 billion. China has become the largest trading partner for and an important investor in most CICA member states."

"China’s desire to ‘go out’ has become increasingly stronger. In recent years it has also needed to seek more international cooperation in areas such as energy and security. As Russia’s excessive dependence on energy and raw material has not fundamentally changed, and as international political factors constrain its own economic development, Russia is moving to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with China and other Asia-Pacific countries. On May 22, the US$400 billion gas deal between China and Russia highlighted the desire and sincerity for bilateral cooperation."

"Due to the impact of the South China Sea territorial disputes and the Diaoyu Islands issue, the U.S.’s military and political ‘return to Asia,’ the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), the TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), and the PSA (Plurilateral Services Agreement) that have altered global trade patterns, China’s eastward ‘opening-up’ situation faces a serious challenge, with its strategic space being threatened. At the same time, Russia and Central Asian countries’ willingness to look toward the East and other Asian countries’ willingness to ‘hook’ up with China’s economic engine continue to grow. In addition, China has no territorial disputes with Russia or with Central Asian countries. The common strategic interests in the economy and security allow an easier consensus and a mutually beneficial cooperation. Therefore the ‘open-up to the West’ strategy is likely to stand side by side with the original ‘open-up to the East’ strategy."

"Geopolitical wise, there are two routes in the open-up to the west strategy. The first route, also known as the "Maritime Silk Road," is from inland China, via southwest border provinces and southern coastal province, then Southeast Asia and South Asia countries, to West Asia and even Africa. This route is essential to our energy security and expansion in emerging markets. Another route, or "Silk Road," starts from China’s economic hubs such as the Yangtze River Delta, Beijing, Tianjin and the Hebei area, via the vast central and western regions, and via the Central Asian countries to Russia. If the international political circumstances permit, the route can extend to EU countries, forming a "Silk Road" economic corridor across Europe and Asia. Among them, Russia and Central Asian countries are energy and resource powers; China is the world’s second largest economy, the country with the largest foreign exchange reserves and the largest country in trade in goods; the EU is the world’s traditional economic and technological center. Along this route, these countries have common interests and mutual needs. The EU has so far failed to get rid of its debt crisis amid its weak recovery. EU countries are obviously willing to seek cooperation from China in the East, while they also have a considerable degree of reliance on Russian energy and resources."

Source: Study Times, June 2, 2014
http://www.studytimes.cn/shtml/xxsb/20140602/5128.shtml

Fu Ying: Provocative Neighbors Caused the Recent Troubles at Sea

People’s Daily recently reported that Fu Ying, the Chairperson of the National People’s Congress Foreign Affairs Committee, appeared on a TV program where she commented on a number of regional issues. Fu suggested that all issues in the seas around China were caused by the provocative behavior demonstrated by China’s neighboring countries. She especially mentioned that Japan faces the question of whether it will continue on the path of being a peaceful nation or not. Fu suggested that China will not give up on peaceful resolutions. However, “strong responses” are necessary when facing challenges. This position is also needed to maintain the peaceful and stable order in the entire region. She said the position the United States takes on these regional issues will ultimately dictate how the Chinese people view the U.S. and its allies. 
Source: People’s Daily, May 30, 2014
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2014/0531/c1002-25088543.html

Large Foreign IT Vendors Face Serious Challenges

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the new term “Removing IOE” is becoming a hot topic. “IOE” stands for IBM, Oracle and EMC. All are major IT vendors headquartered in the United States. Ever since the Snowden incident, U.S. high-tech companies have been suffering sharp declines in sales. The meaning of IOE quickly expanded to include more U.S. companies such as Microsoft and Cisco. According to reports released by the research institute Gartner, the IBM computer server market share in the Asia-Pacific region declined from last year’s 37 percent to 28 percent this first quarter. Its first quarter sales in China fell 20 percent compared to the first quarter last year. Cisco’s Chinese sales also suffered double-digit declines. Within the last month, the Chinese government also announced a policy to ban IBM products in Chinese banks and ban Microsoft Windows 8 from government procurement. The Chinese government intends to replace U.S. high-tech products with domestic alternatives. 
Source: Sina, May 30, 2014
http://tech.sina.com.cn/it/2014-05-30/01009408474.shtml

BBC Chinese: The Chinese Authorities Are Cracking Down on Illegal Instant Messaging Activities

BBC Chinese recently reported that, on May 27, the Chinese authorities started a month-long legal campaign against illegal communications distributed across popular public instant messaging tools such as WeChat, which has over 300 million users. The China National Internet Information Office, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Public Security are operating this campaign jointly. According to the officials in charge of this program, the primary goal is to crack down on rumors, violent activities, terrorism and pornography. In addition to those targets, this campaign also attacks “domestic and foreign hostile forces’ infiltration and sabotage activities.” Seven major Chinese instant messaging vendors volunteered to craft a joint agreement on establishing rules requiring users to use their real names, associating user accounts with cellphone numbers, restricting the size of online chat groups, and reviewing contents posted to the chat groups. The agreement also promised timely reports to be sent to the authorities as soon as “hot topics” gather substantial interest. 
Source: BBC Chinese, May 27, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/05/140527_wechat_governance.shtml

China Vows to Increase Anti-Terrorist Efforts

In the wake of recent incidents in Xinjiang, Meng Jianzhu, secretary of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Politics and Law Commission, spoke at the anti-terrorist working meeting on May 30. Meng instructed all levels of law enforcement authorities to make the anti-terrorist effort their top priority. Meng requested the innovation of the intelligence work mechanism and improvement of early warning and precautionary capabilities. Meng also required intensification of street patrol efforts, combatting the organizers who smuggle groups across the border, and preventing the infiltration of the religious extremist ideology.

Source: China News, May 31, 2014
http://news.china.com.cn/2014-05/31/content_32539304.htm

Problems in China’s Outbound Investment in the Mining Industry

According to a Xinhua report, over the past five years, over 95 percent of the overseas mergers and acquisitions made by Chinese companies in the mining industry ended in failure.

A major problem is that most individual Chinese companies lack an in-depth understanding of the political, economic, legal, and cultural differences in the host countries. Another issue is the proportion of stock ownership on the Chinese side. A higher Chinese ownership simplifies the decision making process and streamlines the operations. However, it invites opposition from the host countries and may even result in a lower market valuation. Chinese companies have also complained about fraudulent mining data and exaggerated mining exploration statistics.

In 2013, China topped the world in both production and consumption of iron ore, crude steel, steel, and non-ferrous metals. Chinese outbound investment in the mining sector jumped from US$4.2 billion in 2007 to 20.2 billion in 2013.

Source: Xinhua, June 1, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2014-06/01/c_126570335.htm

People’s Daily: Over 60,000 Party Organizations at the Grass Roots Level Completely Restructured

According to a People’s Daily report, by the end of April, 57,688 or 9.6 percent of village level Chinese Communist Party organizations and 5,222 or 5.6 percent of community level CCP organizations in urban areas were identified as weak and loosely managed. As of May 31, most of the above lowest level CCP branches had gone through a restructuring process.

The report indicated that 5,679 out of the 7,195 rural villages and 321 out of 556 urban communities where the Party secretary or the local CCP official’s office was vacant had these positions filled with candidates who were defined as having "a strong Party spirit, being capable, and having a strong sense of reform and service." So far, 521,000 Party secretaries in villages and communities nationwide have gone through training sessions.

Another effort was an increase in funding for Party operations. For example, in inner Mongolia, each community has been allocated 100,000 yuan (US$16,000). Hubei Province has a plan to invest 300 million yuan (US$48 million) to build 442 new community Party service centers and expand 556 existing Party service centers. Hunan Province allocated 68 million yuan (US$10.88 million) out of the province’s budget as a bonus for the village level organizations.

Source: People’s Daily, May 31, 2014
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/0531/c1001-25088508.html