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China’s Reaction to Trump’s Election Win

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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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Military Professor: China Must Be on Guard against ‘Peace Disease’

On December 12, 2012, the International Herald Leader, a newspaper under Xinhua News Agency, published an article titled, “Liu Minggfu: China Must Be on Guard against ‘Peace Disease.’” According to Liu Mingfu, a professor at the PLA National Defense University, we must firmly grasp the “Missile” (People’s Safety) and the “Egg” (People’s Livelihood) with both hands.

Liu stated, “The development of China’s military forces is behind China’s economic development; it lags behind what is needed for the Sino-US strategic competition. Therefore, China must increase military spending and speed up the pace of the army’s build-up.”

Source: International Herald Leader, December 12, 2012
http://ihl.cankaoxiaoxi.com/2012/1212/134491.shtml

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Xinhua: Quick Risk Management Required after U.S. QE4

Xinhua recently published an article about the new QE4 policy that the U.S. Federal Reserve announced on December 13. The article called for early risk management reactions to remedy the damage. The U.S. Fed’s QE3 and QE4 operations will inject a combined $85 billion in monthly currency. The article expressed the belief that the U.S. move was much faster than the international community expected. The Fed announced its QE3 plan only three months ago. Since China has the world’s largest foreign exchange reserve, mostly in U.S. Dollars, the QE4 execution will have the heaviest impact on China. It can also cause rapid appreciation of the Chinese currency. The immediate result will be a slowdown in Chinese exports. The article suggested that China should take similar actions to increase the supply of the Chinese currency so that the appreciation expectation can be stopped. The author called the U.S. “selfish” and concluded that the Fed is introducing an unnecessary “depreciation war.”
Source: Xinhua, December 14, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/comments/2012-12/14/c_114022883.htm
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Xinhua: Nanjing Discontinued the Government’s Paid Health Care Benefits

Xinhua recently reported that, starting January 1, 2013, the City of Nanjing will no longer provide Government Paid Health Care Benefits for all people, including government officials and those working in government sponsored organizations. For decades, health care has been one of the primary benefits given to government workers. Nanjing is the capital city of Jiangsu Province, which is one of the wealthiest provinces in China. It is estimated that the move will impact over 200,000 people, who will all have to join publicly available insurance plans. Before this new move was announced, Jiangsu’s other twelve cities that the provincial government directly manages had already implemented the new policy. Many Nanjing residents could not believe that government officials would be losing this privilege. However, the new policy has two “catches” that are raising doubts. One is that government officials whose rank is above “Deputy Bureau Director” are exempt. Second, for a period of “transition” time, the government will cover the increased cost that government officials must pay because they must switch to a regular insurance plan. 
Source: Xinhua, December 15, 2012
http://www.xinhuanet.com/comments/20121215jrht/
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Xinhua: China’s Global Strategy

Xinhua recently published an article discussing the strategic adjustments that are required based on the current global political environment. The article suggested that many countries in the world (such as the U.S. and Japan) are adjusting their global strategies and China needs to do the same in order to keep pace with them. The article discussed four areas for the new strategic adjustments. On the east side, China should stabilize the Asia-Pacific region as an answer to the U.S. shift of its strategic focus to the East. This stabilization effort should especially emphasize the relationship with Japan and the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations). On the north side, China should enhance its relationship with Russia, focusing on nuclear technology, space technology, and trade. On the west side, China should strengthen its ties with the Mid-Asian and West Asian countries, especially with nations that are rich in energy resources and who may be suffering from the U.S. strategy of “reducing its energy dependency.” On the south side, China should pay extra attention to the traditional “Southern” developing countries that include the African countries and the Latin American countries. Direct investments from China to these countries are growing very rapidly. 
Source: Xinhua, December 16, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2012-12/16/c_124095365.htm
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

November Year to Date Profit for State Owned Enterprises Down 7 Percent

According to data released by the Ministry of Finance on December 14, 2012, November year to date profit for State Owned Enterprises was 1.94 trillion yuan (US$310 billion), down seven percent compared to the same period last year.

The revenue for November year to date was 37.94 trillion yuan (USD$6.08 trillion), up 10.9 percent from the same period in 2011 and 11.8 percent from October. The industries that showed the largest increase in profit included electric power, tobacco, electronics, light industry, and the auto industry. The industries that showed the sharpest decrease in profits include the chemical industry, nonferrous metals, transportation, construction material, and mechanical areas.

Source: Xinhua, December 15, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2012-12/15/c_114034861.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China Holds Central Economic Work Conference

China will hold a Central Economic Work Conference on December 15 and 16, 2012, to determine the direction for its economic policies in the upcoming year.

Many policy experts believe that the target for economic growth will remain at 7.5 percent with a focus on maintaining stability while improving quality and productivity. It is expected that the urbanization of rural areas will drive economic growth in the mid to long term. There will also be personnel shifts at the upper management level in the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, and the National Development and Reform Commission, as well as in some entities dealing with financial regulation.

Source: Huanqiu, December 13, 2012
http://china.huanqiu.com/politics/2012-12/3374586.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Xinhua Commentary: China Has Made Significant Improvements in Human Rights

On December 12, 2012, the Chinese Society for Human Rights Studies and the China Foundation for Human Rights Development co-hosted the fifth Beijing Forum on Human Rights. On December 13, Xinhua published a commentary and stated that the forum “has had a significant impact in urging exchange and collaboration of the international community in promoting human rights; it also demonstrated the progress China has made in this area.”

As to the criticism that China has received from foreign media and from some Chinese people about its human rights record, the commentary stated that some are constructive while more are “one-sided and lack fairness.” The commentary also noted that China’s human rights are not perfect, just like the U.S., the human rights preacher, whose record is often criticized. The commentary further asserted that China should be recognized for the significant improvements it has made on human rights issues.

Source: Xinhua, December 13, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/comments/2012-12/13/c_114017998.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Xinhua: The U.S. Senate Complicates the Diaoyu Islands Issue to Deter China

[Editor’s Note: In a recent article, Xinhua reported that the U.S. Senate added an amendment to its National Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 2013, stating that, while the United States took no position on the sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands (called the Diaoyu Islands in China), it acknowledged that Japan had administrative authority over them. Xinhua collected and reviewed many of its recent reports on the Diaoyu Islands. In the article it criticized the U.S. Senate for making a wrong decision and claimed that “the U.S. is the controlling hand behind the scenes on the Diaoyu Islands issue.” It further alleged that the U.S. wants to “use the Diaoyu Islands to distract and interfere with China’s strategic focus in order to deter China’s rise.” The following is a translation of excerpts from the article.] [1]

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