Chinascope – Page 944

China Central Bank Lowers Interest Rates

The People’s Bank of China announced that it was lowering its interest rates by 0.25 percentage point, effective June 8, 2012. The one year deposit rate will drop from 3.5% to 3.25% and the one year lending rate will fall from 6.56% to 6.31%. This is the first time since December 23, 2008, that the central bank has lowered interest rates. At that time, the central bank lowered its interest rates by 0.27 percentage points.

Source: Xinhua, June 7, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2012-06/07/c_112152900.htm

Briefings | | June 8, 2012 | Economy/Resources

China Offers $10 billion Loan to SCO Members

On June 7, 2012, President Hu Jintao announced in Beijing that China will offer a loan of $10 billion to members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to promote economic development within the security group. Hu also said that China will help train 1,500 experts from other member countries over the next three years. It will also provide 30,000 government scholarships and invite 10,000 Confucius Institute teachers and students to come to China for research and study over the next decade.

The Beijing-based SCO was founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001, and currently has six full members — China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India, Pakistan, Iran and Mongolia have observer status in the SCO.

Source: Xinhua, June 7, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-06/07/c_112143358.htm

Briefings | | June 7, 2012 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Politics and Law Commission Secretaries in Guangdong Province Have Less Power

According to Southern Metropolis Daily on June 4, 2012, in six big cities in Guangdong Province, deputy party secretaries concurrently serve as secretaries of the Politics and Law Commission. The Politics and Law Commission secretaries in 21 cities in Guangdong Province no longer serve as heads of Public Security Bureaus. Instead, in these 21 cities, vice mayors serve as heads of the Public Security Bureaus. Wang Yang is the Communist Party Secretary of Guangdong Province.

Source: Southern Metropolis Daily, June 4, 2012
http://nd.oeeee.com/nfhypd/hytopnews/201206/t20120604_1310175.shtml

Briefings | | June 7, 2012 | Government/Politics

PLA Major General Challenges the U.S. with Ten Questions

On June 5, 2012, at a press conference for the release of a report assessing the power of the U.S. military, PLA Major General Luo Yuan posed 10 questions to the United States. The China Strategy Culture Promotion Association, where Luo serves as its spokesperson and Deputy Executive Director, released the report.

The 10 questions are as follows:

Who has the largest and best-equipped military? Who has the world’s biggest military budget? Who has the largest inventory of nuclear weapons? Which country is involved in the most wars at present? Which country arranges the greatest number of combined military excises around the world? Who perceives China as its enemy? Who is the target of the U.S. strategic pivotal shift to the East? Who is the target of the air and sea combat strategy? Who is implementing or preparing to implement cyberspace warfare? Who is creating roadblocks in the Sino-U.S. military cooperation?

Luo concluded that the U.S. has the most powerful military with the largest budget and has a strong hostile state of mind towards China.

Source: Huanqiu, June 5, 2012
http://mil.huanqiu.com/paper/2012-06/2789073.html

Briefings | | June 7, 2012 | US-China Relations

Xinhua: China Planning a Pilot Program Allowing Foreign Companies to Issue RMB Stock Shares

Xinhua recently reported that the State Council is planning to allow foreign companies to enter China’s stock market by issuing shares of stock in Chinese currency (RMB). The government is designing a pilot program and is preparing rules and technical details. Also under consideration is allowing foreign organizations with Chinese currency to invest those foreign-owned RMB in China’s domestic market. The plan supports Shanghai in becoming an international financial center, while it strengthens Hong Kong’s current status as an international financial center. The plan is part of China’s effort to widen the use of China’s currency internationally and to enhance the acceptance of China’s currency as an international reserve currency. The new pilot program may be extended to issuing bonds and establishing funds, in addition to stock shares.

Source: Xinhua, June 2, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/finance/2012-06/02/c_123225878.htm

Briefings | | June 5, 2012 | Economy/Resources

Bureau Director: It Is Illegal for the U.S. Consulate to Release Air Quality Numbers

On June 1, 2012, China News reported that Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau Director Zhang Quan made some public comments about Shanghai’s air quality monitoring standards. He suggested in a news conference that it is illegal for the U.S. consulate in Shanghai to release Shanghai’s local PM2.5 air quality readings to the general public. He pointed out that the U.S. consulate measures local air quality with its own equipment. The Shanghai government does not currently release this number, but it plans to complete equipment testing in June. Shanghai is in the first group of Chinese cities that will actually provide PM2.5 numbers. The U.S. embassy in Beijing started releasing Beijing’s local PM2.5 numbers several years ago, but this is the first time a Chinese official suggested that it is illegal to do so. PM2.5 particles are air pollutants with particulate matter having 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.

(Ed: The U.S. rates pollution levels according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard that is more stringent than the one used by the Chinese government. On Tuesday, for example, the U.S. Embassy reported that the level was “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” while Beijing categorized the air quality as “good.”)

Sources: China News, June 1, 2012
http://www.chinanews.com/df/2012/06-01

Washington Post, June 4, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-says-foreign-embassies-not-allowed-to-report-on-air-quality-in-beijing-other-cities/2012/06/05/gJQABHT4EV_story.html

Briefings | | June 5, 2012 | US-China Relations

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

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