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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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The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.

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Shortage of Donated Organs Continues in China

Nanfang Daily reported that an organ donation and transplant cooperation project under China’s Ministry of Health recently held its 10th forum in Kunming. According to the report, in 2010, the Ministry of Health established a pilot project for organ donations. In 2011, it expanded to 19 locations. Since then, 480 operations were conducted on the donors, with 1,294 organs donated, thus saving the lives of over 1,200 people. Experts attending the meeting agreed that the shortage of organs for transplant continues to remain a major issue at present.

[Editor’s Note: On December 2, 2012, three American doctors created a petition at whitehouse.gov to petition the Obama Administration to “investigate and publicly condemn organ harvesting" as people in China are "killed on demand to fuel China’s lucrative organ transplant industry." http://wh.gov/5Jmn.]

Sources:
Nanfang Daily, December 4, 2012
http://epaper.nfdaily.cn/html/2012-12/04/content_7148347.htm
http://wh.gov/5Jmn

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

RFA: Some Foreign Companies in China Alleged to Be “Sweatshops”

On December 3, 2012, Radio Free Asia published an article titled “Some Foreign Companies in China Are Alleged as ‘Sweatshops.’” According to a report released by “China Labor Watch,” a non-governmental organization with headquarters in New York City, Mattel company and other foreign enterprises in China have become “sweatshops.”  The article said that Mattel, the world’s largest toy manufacturer, has four factories in China. Its workers often have to work overtime, sometimes up to 113 overtime hours per month. This is considerably more than the overtime hours allowed by law.

Source: Radio Free Asia, December 3, 2012
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/nu-12032012155429.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Boosting Consumption Is the Fundamental Way for China to Get Out of Its Economic Predicament

On November 20, 2012, Qiushi Theory, a periodical on political theory published by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the CCP Central Committee school, reprinted an article from Ziguangge (cpc.people.com.cn), a periodical under People’s Daily, having the title, “Boosting Consumption Is the Fundamental Way for China to Get Out of Its Economic Predicament”.

According to the article, China’s economic growth rate has fallen over the past several quarters. The period of the export-led economy may be over. Therefore, China’s economy must shift from excessive dependence on external markets to production for the domestic market. China’s Ministry of Commerce has established a goal in its 12th Five-Year Plan of having around a 15% average annual increase in total retail sales of consumer goods so as to reach the goal of 32 trillion yuan by 2015.

Source: Qiushi Theory, November 20, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/jj/jjggyfz/201211/t20121122_195708.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Private Lending Is Active in China

On December 4th, 2012, Xinhua published an article on how widespread private lending has become in China. Many small and medium sized enterprises borrow money using private financing. Recently, the Public Security Bureau in Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province issued a warning to alert the people about “illegal funding activities.” One recent incident of “illegal funding" involved up to 80 million yuan.

Source: Xinhua, December 4, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-12/04/c_113895746.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Yangtze Evening News: 27% of Wealthy Company Owners Have Completed Emigration

Yangtze Evening News recently reported that 27 percent of Chinese company owners having over RMB 100 million yuan (around US$16 million) worth of private property have completed the processes of emigrating  to foreign countries. The statistics are based on a research report jointly issued by the Merchants Bank and Bain Consulting. Forty-seven percent of the same sample are considering the emigration option. The main reasons given for the decision to emigrate are the children’s education, retirement planning, and risk management for their wealth. The report expressed the concern that this new wave of emigration is coupled with a massive outflow of capital from China to the outside world, which may damage the effort to expand China’s domestic consumer market.

Source: Yangtze Evening News, November 30, 2012
http://epaper.yzwb.net/html_t/2012-11/30/content_41296.htm?div=-1

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

CRN: Reform of Wealth Redistribution System Requires Breakthrough

China Review News (CRN) recently published a commentary about the issue of reforming the system for the redistribution of wealth, which has been identified as a focal point of public opinion. The commentary suggested that a breakthrough will be required in five areas to solve the problem of the unfairness in the distribution of wealth: (1) First-time distribution needs to avoid the sharp differences that exist between the company’s growth versus wage growth and between management income versus the income of the average worker. (2) The process needs to include the growth of government income versus the growth of citizen’s income. (3) The reform must solve the root cause of “gray income” and corruption. (4) Enhanced tax system reform is required to improve the balancing function of taxation. (5) The average citizen’s income level should be raised when the job market expands. The commentary also called for protecting China’s middle-class population. The author concluded that reform is not a simple matter. Instead, it requires adjustments in the political, economic, legal system, and cultural areas.

Source:China Review News, November 29, 2012
http://www.zhgpl.com/crn-webapp/doc/docDetailCreate.jsp?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=102320766&mdate=1129080126

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Jinghua Times: Some Countries Don’t Welcome the New Chinese Passport

Jinghua Times recently reported that the new version of the Chinese smart passport (which has an implanted chip) has triggered complaints from neighboring countries. The new passport includes pages with pictures and a map of China that includes disputed regions in Tibet and the South China Sea. So far, Vietnam, The Philippines, and India have complained. These countries are instead issuing the visa on a separate piece of paper instead of the visa page of the passport. Normal entry into these countries is still granted, even if the new passport is used. The United States suggested that it still considers the new passport to be a valid document and U.S. officials will still use the new passport for visa and stamps. However that does not mean the United States agrees with the borders drawn on the map. A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented that neighboring countries should not overreact to the map part of the passport.

Source: Jinghua Times, November 30, 2012
http://epaper.jinghua.cn/html/2012-11/30/content_1908282.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Economic Expert: China to Seek New Economic Reforms

According to Zhang Monan, a researcher from the Economic Forecast Department of the State Information Center, China faces difficulty maintaining the economic growth it has experienced over the past 30 years. Since the beginning of this year, China has seen an overall decline in investments, exports, and spending as well as in company’s profit margins, revenue, and production volume.

Zhang believes that China no longer has the advantage of being a low cost and narrow margin market. She suggested that reforms should start with breaking up the monopolies in energy resources and in the power structure; adjustments need to be made in the existing interest groups in China; government intervention should be minimized; and collaboration among all channels must be encouraged in order to work together to find a model that is suitable.

Source: China News Review, December 1, 2012
http://www.zhgpl.com/crn-webapp/doc/docDetailCreate.jsp?coluid=45&kindid=0&docid=102323382&mdate=1201090425

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources