On September 30, Chinese Business Wisdom published a commentary saying that bankruptcies in 10 industries have been on the rise and that waves of bankruptcies are probably not far away.
China Goes After Mobile News Apps
The State Internet Information Office, an agency under the State Council, recently issued a directive that demands the "rectification" of mobile news apps that "obtain Internet news illegally or conduct Internet news services illegally." It named news aggregator Zaker, which has 17.5 million users, and Chouti, which uses the slogan "Publish what shouldn’t be published," as being among those failing to comply with government guidelines.
Some of the apps provide Chinese users the news from overseas and foreign media, including those banned by the authorities, such as New York Times. The government demands all mobile news apps register with the authorities in charge of Internet information and meet the appropriate qualifications. All mobile apps stores are also forbidden to provide uploading or downloading and other services for illegal news apps.
This move comes after Chinese police conducted an intensive campaign to strike "Internet rumors." Earlier this month the Chinese Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued a judicial interpretation that the use of the Internet for slandering and defamation that leads to mass incidents causes "serious harm to the social order and the national interest," which should be characterized as a criminal offense subject to the investigation of police and prosecution by the People’s Procuratorate.
Source: BBC Chinese, September 30, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/09/130930_china_news_apps_closure.shtml
People’s Daily: So Many U.S. “Osprey” Come to the Asia-Pacific. What Prey Do their Claws Seek?
People’s Daily published a report about the U.S. deployment of the "Osprey" at a military base in Japan. Below is an excerpt from the report:
Totalitarian State Has Caused an Economic Crisis in China
Niu Dao, a popular commentator on real estate and finance in China, stated in a blog at sina.com that the totalitarian Communist regime is bringing about an unprecedented economic crisis in China and that the five year real estate bubble will burst soon.
Muddled Urbanization in Ordos Results in the Loss of Billions and Helpless Ex-Farmers
On September 27, 2013, China Review News published a report on the failure of the urbanization process in Ordos, one of the twelve major subdivisions in Inner Mongolia, the People’s Republic of China. After 10 years of muddled urbanization in which the government caused overheating in the real estate market and in which almost all residents participated, Ordos, a coal mining city, is now an empty city where most of the new buildings are vacant. As a result, billions in wealth has been lost with the burst of the property bubble. Now, all local-governments as well as ordinary residents have to find ways to repay their debts.
As previous rural villages have been demolished, ex-farmers, now urban citizens, stand idle and feel helpless. They have lost all their relocation money in private financing related to real estate development. When property development was hot, these ex-farmers, without any money and no flocks of sheep, had to find jobs as construction workers. In the most recent couple of years, they could not even find any construction jobs because all construction sites have been shut down.
Source: China Review News, September 27, 2013
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1027/6/7/7/102767771.html?coluid=10&kindid=258&docid=102767771&mdate=0927175545
Study Times: Strengthen the Supervision and Management of Social Organizations
On September 23, 2013, Study Times published an article on further strengthening the supervision and management of social organizations in China. Recently, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of China issued the following orders: It asked four social organizations to stop having any activities for 6 months; it gave warnings to six social organizations; and it revoked one social organization’s registration. The article urged the People’s Republic of China to accelerate the pace of relevant legislation and build a sound and comprehensive legal and regulatory supervision system to control and manage all social organizations.
Source: Study Times, September 23, 2013
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2013/09/23/06/06_36.htm
Beijing CBD Properties Are as Expensive as the Tokyo Shinjuku CBD and the City of London
On September 29, 2013, People’s Daily published an article on how expensive properties are in the Beijing Central Business District (CBD). The original article was from Beijing Youth Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Youth League committee in Beijing. According to the article, Beijing CBD property is as expensive as real estate in the Tokyo Shinjuku CBD and in the City of London. However, the average income of Beijing residents is only 1/5 of the income of people living in Tokyo and London. If an ordinary young man wanted to buy an 80-square-meter apartment in the Beijing CBD, he would have to work at least 40 years without eating or drinking anything.
Source: People’s Daily, September 29, 2013
http://house.people.com.cn/n/2013/0929/c194441-23069638.html