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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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BBC Chinese: China Investing Heavily in Ukraine Port

BBC Chinese reported that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich visited China on December 4. At the same time in Beijing, well-known Chinese investor Wang Jing announced a planned joint-venture to build a deep water port in Ukraine. Wang’s planned investment totals US$3 billion. Ukrainian domestic media have reported that the President conducted the planned visit to China in order to seek a Chinese loan of US$10 billion for the country’s immediate debt crisis. The first phase of the planned deep water port project costs US$3 billion. The second phase, which has an estimated cost of US$7 billion, will be funded by building an oil refinery, a liquid natural gas plant, an airport and a shipyard. Ukraine currently has a “strategic partnership” relationship with China. President Yanukovich is currently facing heavy political challenges in Ukraine. A senior U.S. official has reported that the United States supports Yanukovich’s opposition.
Source: BBC Chinese, December 5, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/12/131205_ukraine_china_wangjing.shtml
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Study Times: The Keys to Resolving Social Conflicts

Study Times, a magazine of the Chinese Communist Party Central Party School, recently published an article discussing how to resolve the social conflicts occurring throughout China. The article categorized social conflicts into six types: conflicts caused by differences in income, conflicts caused by misaligned policies, conflicts caused by growing “social anxiety,” conflicts caused by a lack of proper administrative control over the Internet, conflicts caused by the abuse of government power, and conflicts caused by incomplete reforms. The author expressed the belief that the keys to the resolution of these conflicts are: (1) Relying more on the people to enhance social policies; (2) establishing a comprehensive “social management system;” (3) building a widespread “psychosocial intervention mechanism” by setting positive social expectations; and (4) improving Internet administration by acquiring the latest technologies.
Source: Study Times, November 11, 2013
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2013/11/11/03/03_34.htm
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

People’s Daily: 100 Million Chinese Tourists Expected to Travel Overseas in 2014

The China Consumers Association recently published the 2013 Travel and Meal Investigation Report. According to the report, currently, the number of countries and regions that Chinese citizens have selected for traveling overseas has reached 150. In 2012, Chinese tourists spent US$102.1 billion when they travelled overseas. It is expected that the tourist population will exceed 90 million in 2013 and break the 100 million mark in 2014. The report indicated that, when traveling, more and more people favor the self-guided tour.

Source: People’s Daily, December 6, 2013
http://travel.people.com.cn/n/2013/1206/c41570-23763050.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Media Survey Showed Most People Used “Exhausted” to Describe Their Feelings during 2013

Guangming Daily reported that, in November 2013, Insight China magazine and the Media Survey Lab of Tsinghua University conducted a survey in which 2013 Chinese people participated. The survey results showed that most people had mixed feelings about their lives in 2013. The description that was used most to describe their feelings durig 2013 was that they were exhausted both physically and mentally.

The article quoted Fu Chunsheng, the Principal of Beijing Boai Psychological Medical Research Institute on why Chinese people felt exhausted. According to Fu, feeling exhausted is a reflection of people’s lack of a personal value system in their lives. Therefore, they tend to lack a goal in life; they do not know who they are or why they are busy with life. Another reason is that people often felt insecure due to the uncertainties in their lives: they were unable to afford a car or housing and were therefore unable to get married. In addition to feeling exhausted, people also used “uninterested,” “good,” “busy,” and “irritated” to describe their feelings.

Source: Guangming Daily, December 6, 2013
http://life.gmw.cn/2013-12/06/content_9724288_2.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Huanqiu: Confucius Institute Connects the China Dream with the Rest of the World

According to an article in Huanqiu, the 8th annual Confucius Institute conference was held in Beijing on December 7. Over 2,000 university principals and Confucius institute representatives from 120 countries and regions attended the conference. The conference awarded recognition to 28 Confucius institutes, 30 individuals, and 10 universities in China. Huanqiu declared that the “Confucius Institute has become a bridge to connect the ‘China Dream’ with the rest of the world.”

Source: Huanqiu, December 8, 2013
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2013-12/4641125.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Qiushi: Who Has the Highest Level of Control over China’s Economy?

[Editor’s Note: Qiushi Theory Online published an article analyzing the “highest level of power” exercised over China’s economy. The article claimed that the U.S. has long controlled China’s economy because it has controlled the “top-level power.” That includes the right to set the exchange rate, to issue base money, and to set the price of assets. The article concluded that the U.S. has plundered China, divesting it of enormous financial profits. The U.S. is the culprit responsible for China’s economic problems including inflation, the real estate bubble, the bear stock market, and company bankruptcies.

The article heavily criticized China’s central bank for selling China’s interests to the U.S.

Yu Yunhui, who holds a Ph.D. in economics from Xiamen University, is the author. He is not well-known. However, the article appeared in Qiushi, a prominent periodical on political theory that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) Central Party School and the Central Committee publish. That, in itself, makes it worthy of attention and consideration.

The following is a translation of a majority of the article. The Chinascope editors do not analyze the author’s arguments, but leave it to the reader to do so.] [1]

Continue reading →

Reports | | |   Report

Trading of Chinese Renminbi Is Increasing Rapidly in Russia

Russian Finam recently released data indicating that, as of November, the trading volume of the RMB at the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) had increased 19 times since April. At the same time, statistics from many Russian banks with RMB-related businesses showed that the Russian public’s recognition and acceptance of the RMB has also risen. Analysts believe that the weakening of the euro and the dollar, the steady growth of Sino-Russian trade, and other factors have been accelerating the process of the internationalization of the RMB. 

Back in December 2010, MICEX started direct trading of the RMB against the ruble and became the first overseas brokerage offering an RMB exchange. In April of this year, the brokerage increased the trading options of the RMB against the ruble, extended trading hours, and added more delivery methods. Trenin, director of the Moscow Carnegie Center, told reporters that, by adjusting the trading rules, the RMB obtained the same trading conditions as the dollar and the euro. Trenin affirmed that, as the liquidity of the dollar and euro is tightening, the average daily trading volume of the RMB has been increasing significantly. Since May of this year, the average daily trading volume of RMB has exceeded 22 million yuan. 

People’s Daily, December 3, 2013 
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2013/1203/c1002-23721945.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Non-Performing Loans Continue to Grow

According to the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the total value of non-performing loans has increased for seven consecutive quarters. 

As of the end of the third quarter of this year, commercial banks saw their non-performing loans reach 565.6 billion yuan (US$92.85 billion), an increase of 70.7 billion yuan (US$11.61 billion) since the beginning of the year. This accounts for 0.97 percent of total loans, an increase of 0.01 percentage point compared to the end of the second quarter; the figures show that there has been an upward trend for seven consecutive quarters. 
The total of non-performing loans for 16 banks that are listed on stock exchanges amounted to 460 billion yuan (US$75.52 billion) in the third quarter, an increase of 18 billion (US$2.96 billion) from the second quarter. Of these 16 banks, 14 have seen both their non-performing loan ratio and the value of the loans increase. Meanwhile, the profit growth of the 16 banks has dropped from 17 percent for the same period last year to 13 percent. 
Source: Huanqiu, December 3, 2013 
http://finance.huanqiu.com/data/2013-12/4623461.html
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources