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Actual Economic Growth Was Lower Than Forecast

21st Century Business Herald reported that local governments have revised downward the forecasts of their economic growth. One reason is that the targets were set too high. Shanghai was the only one that had the same target rate as the national forecast of 7.5 percent. All other regions had much higher targets. 

Although local governments sped up their investments earlier in the year, the actual growth has been lower than expected due to capacity surplus and weak demand. For example, Sichuan Province and Shanxi Province reported that the target growth rates of 11 percent and 12.5 percent respectively have been revised downward to 10 percent and 11.3 percent. For Beijing and Hebei Province, the original goals were 8 percent and 9 percent. In the first half of the year, the two economies reported growth of 7.7 percent and 8.7 percent. 
Beijing municipal government has requested that the Beijing People’s Congress reduce the growth rate from 8 percent to 7.5 percent. An official of a provincial government stated, “We submitted a report recommending a downward revision of the economic growth rate for this year.” 
Source: 21st Century Business Herald reprinted by i, October 8, 2013 http://finance.sina.com/bg/chinamkt/sinacn/20131008/1641875281.html

Qiushi: We Must Have Confidence in Our Path, Our Theories, and Our System.

On October 1, 2013, Qiushi, a journal of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article titled, “Consolidate the Guiding Position of Marxism in the Ideological Field.” The article opened with a quote from CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping’s explanation of purpose of the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda and ideological work: “Propaganda and ideological work are to consolidate the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological field and to consolidate the common ideological foundation shared by the whole Party and all the Chinese people when they fight together (for their goals).” The article emphasized that the more diverse ideas and thoughts circulate in society, the more (the Chinese Communist Party) should uphold and consolidate the guiding position of Marxism. However, the Marxism mentioned in the article includes not only Marxism but also Marxism-Leninism and all the “theories” promoted by the previous top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, such as Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping’s Theory, Jiang Zemin’s “Three Represents,” and Hu Jintao’s Scientific Outlook on Development.

The article criticized two different trends of anti-Marxism: 1) replacing Marxism with “universal values” and replacing the socialist system led by the CCP with the Western capitalist system model; 2) negating China’s economic reform and opening up, which is a special kind of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The CCP needs to pay close attention to the problem of “lack of faith.” The article said that some Party members and officials “pray to gods and to Buddha” and “believe in a Qigong Master." “Family members emigrate to foreign countries” and “deposit money in foreign countries” so as to get ready to escape China. The article concludes, “We must have confidence in our path, our theories, and our system.”  

Source: Qiushi, October 1, 2013
http://www.qstheory.cn/zxdk/2013/201319/201309/t20130927_275462.htm

Qiushi Advocates Red Culture to Safeguard the CCP’s Ruling Status

On September 24, 2013, Qiushi, a journal of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article titled, “Red Culture: The Chinese People’s Spiritual Backbone.”  The "red culture," according to the article, is the “advanced culture” that the Chinese Communist Party created during the process of leading the Chinese people of all ethnic groups to carry out the revolution (overthrowing the Nationalist government that the Kuomintang Party led), to build the nation (the People’s Republic of China) and to reform the country’s economy. China’s red culture originated from Marxism-Leninism and selected “excellent” traditional Chinese culture including folk culture and selected “excellent” world culture. “We can proudly announce that the Chinese Communists and the Chinese people are excellent successors and developers of mankind’s outstanding cultures.”

According to the article, the soul of the red culture is Marxism and the theme of the red culture is the socialist ideal with the Chinese characteristics, i.e., the China dream. The purpose of promoting China’s red culture is to fight against 1) the infiltration of universal values, 2) Neoliberalism that advocates complete privatization across the country, 3) "constitutional democracy" which copies the Western multiparty system and would subvert the Chinese Communist Party’s ruling status, 4) the theory of "modern civil society" that permits the set up of new political forces and opposition parties, 5) the public intellectuals’ theory which would create a legal basis and the space in public opinion for intellectual dissidents, and 6) freedom of the press which would negate the principle of the Party’s control over news reports. The article further enumerates several suggestions on how to promote China’s red culture and expand the soft power of red culture.

Source: Qiushi, September 24, 2013
http://www.qstheory.cn/hqwg/2013/201318/201309/t20130924_273805.htm

Xinhua: Government Cracked Down on Illegal Mobile News Apps

Xinhua recently reported that the National Internet Information Office has been cracking down on some mobile news apps such as “ZAKER News Reader” and “Bee News." The Office has required that these mobile apps be removed from the market and report back to the authorities to confirm their legal compliance status. The key accusation against these mobile news clients was “offering news services without proper government certification.” The National Internet Information Office provided more details, suggesting that these news apps distributed “inappropriate information that may have endangered adolescent health” and that they disrupted “the orderly dissemination of online news.” According to several Chinese laws governing Internet information services, all Chinese Internet news providers must register with and get certified by the corresponding government administrative office which regulates and manages Iinternet information content. 
Source: Xinhua, September 30, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2013-09/30/c_117577860.htm

People’s Daily: Beijing PM2.5 Pollution Reached Hazardous Level

People’s Daily reported that, on October 5, Beijing’s air pollution level peaked out in the morning with PM2.5 readings in a number of different locations reaching as high as 240. The Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center has been monitoring PM2.5 levels continuously and has strongly suggested that Beijing residents stay indoors, especially children, the elderly, and people with heart or lung disease. On October 6, the pollution intensified. In some areas the PM2.5 24-hour average number reached 435.
PM2.5 particles are air pollutants with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less, small enough to invade even the smallest airways. These particles generally come from activities that burn fossil fuels, such as traffic, smelting, and metal processing. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers a PM2.5 number below 10 to be safe. The highest PM2.5 level in Beijing was recorded by the U.S. Embassy on December 4, 2011. That number was 522. China started official monitoring not long after that. New York’s PM2.5 peak level was 68 on October 5, 2013.

[Editor’s note: According to a U.S. Embassy site in Beijing (http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/aqirecent3.html), a reading of 201 to 300 is considered unhealthy; 301-500 is considered hazardous.]

Source: People’s Daily, October 5 & 6, 2013
http://society.people.com.cn/n/2013/1005/c1008-23106740.html
http://ah.people.com.cn/n/2013/1006/c227130-19636767.html

BBC Chinese: Internet Public Opinion Analyst Has Become an Official Career

BBC Chinese recently reported that the Chinese Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security officially recognized a new career category called Internet Public Opinion Analyst and has started to issue certificates. These analysts are expected to collect netizens’ viewpoints and attitudes and then to come up with reports for government decision makers. It is estimated that there are around two million people currently performing this type of work in China. Some experts described it as “browsing the web for leaders.” The announcement triggered a widespread discussion on the Internet and many netizens called the new position “Professional 50-Cent Party Members.” [Editor’s note: It is well known that the Chinese government secretly pays people 50 cents per posting to post pro-government comments on the Internet. These people are considered members of the “50-Cent Party.”] Government experts suggested that the new job category is a direct result of the Internet’s impact on media that is traditionally government controlled. 
Source: BBC Chinese, October 4, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/10/131004_china_internet_analyst.shtml

Housing Prices Rose for 16 Consecutive months; Beijing Had the Highest Increase

Guangming Daily carried an article stating that, according to the statistics published by the China Index Academy, in September 2013, the average increase in housing prices for 100 cities in China was 10,554 yuan (US$1,724) per square meter, up 1.07 percent from August. According to the article, this was 16th consecutive month that saw an increase. The average increase in 10 large cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, was 18,179 yuan (US$2,930) per square meter, up 13 percent compared to the same period last year. The article stated that, of those 10 cities, Beijing had the highest increase. It also pointed out that, while the housing prices for the first tier cities kept increasing, the prices in third and fourth tier cities have  remained relatively stable and are not expected to see much fluctuation in the future..

Source: Guangming Daily, October 2, 2013
http://politics.gmw.cn/2013-10/02/content_9076291.htm

Guangming Daily on the Importance of the Party’s Ideology Work

Guangming Daily published a commentary on the importance of the Party’s ideology work. It stated that, whether the party ideology work can do well or not affects to “Party’s future fate, its long term stability, and the country’s unity.” According to the article, the western countries have always held hostile, biased opinions towards the socialist system. The propaganda emanating from western democracies consists simply of “beautiful lies,” which are mainly against the Chinese Communist Party and China’s socialist system. Therefore, the article stated, the Party members should constantly be clear headed and on guard to react while understanding and "clarifying the truth about the western political value system and not to be fooled by it.”

Source: Guangming Daily, October 4, 2013
http://www.gmw.cn/sixiang/2013-10/04/content_9084371.htm