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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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Qidong Village of Hunan Province Launched 24 Hour Skynet Electronic Surveillance System

According to an article carried by the People’s Daily, Qidong Village of Hunan Province has installed and launched a Skynet Electronic Surveillance system throughout the village; even the bus lines are included. The surveillance system is a high resolution system that is rated first class and is the first of its kind in Hunan Province. The village also formed a surveillance team that consists of members from the public security, transportation, city management, electric and water power departments to perform surveillance duties 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, using real time images.

Source: People’s Daily, April 27, 2012
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/70731/17763532.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Liu Qi: Be on Guard against Sabotage Activities Carried out by Hostile Forces

On April 27, 2012, Liu Qi, the secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Beijing Municipal Committee, spoke at Beijing’s first quarter financial review teleconference. Liu called for the party cadres and the general public to "clearly understand the current situation, be confident, do a solid job, advance while maintaining stability, and make an effort to finish the second quarter tasks in the run up to the 18th National Congress of the Party".

In addition to the second quarter directions, Liu particularly highlighted the importance of “security and stability” work. He asked all levels of the government to "ensure stability with a high level sense of political responsibility and historic mission, increase efforts to resolve conflicts, be strictly on guard against the sabotage activities carried out by domestic and foreign hostile forces, strengthen the guidance of public opinion, and strengthen and innovate in the area of public administration so as to create a favorable social environment for promoting scientific development in the capital."

Guo Jinlong, the Mayor of Beijing, gave the first quarter financial summary: in the first quarter, Beijing’s nominal GDP grew 7 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Guo concluded, “It was reasonable and met with expectations.”

Source: Xinhua, April 28, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2012-04/28/c_123050620.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

National Bureau of Statistics: Chinese Farm Workers Exceeded 250 Million

A recent National Bureau of Statistics report show that, in 2011, the population of Chinese farm workers, farmers who left their land and chose to work in cities, reached 252 million, up by 4.4 percent from 2010. Of these workers, there were 158 million migrant workers who travel outside their local region to find jobs, 3.4 percent more than 2010. The report showed that 65.4 percent of farm workers were concentrated in the eastern region, down 1.5 percent from 2010; 17.6 percent were in the central region, up by 0.7 percent; 16.7 percent were in the western region, up by 0.8 percent; and the balance of 0.3 percent worked in Hong Kong, Macau, or outside of China.

The survey also reported that there were fewer farm workers who worked outside of their residential province. The jobs that the farm workers held remained in the manufacturing, construction, and service industries. The average monthly income for the migrant workers in 2011 was 2,049 yuan (US$350), up by 21.2 percent from 2010. The middle and central regions had a greater increase than the Eastern region. There has been improvement in delayed wages and extended working hours. The level of participation in social insurance has improved but still remains low.

The term "migrant worker" refers to the farm workers who work outside of their residential village or town for more than 6 months. The sample survey was conducted among 200,000 farm workers from 7,500 villages and 899 counties in 31 provinces.

Source: Xinhua, April 28, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2012-04/28/c_123050775.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Chinese Scholars: The Chongqing Model Has Collapsed

[Editor’s Note: Since Wang Lijun went to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, seeking political asylum and Bo Xilai was removed as Chongqing’s top leader, the Chinese people have had widespread discussions about Bo’s style of government, which has come to be called the “Chongqing Model.” The general characteristics of the “Chongqing Model” include heavy borrowing to stimulate economic growth, the ideology of returning to the “left,” and the political movement that Bo initiated. Bo Xilai pushed the “Chongqing Model” to the center of China’s political stage using his high-profile “singing the red” campaign, where people were organized to sing songs ythat were popular in the Mao Zedong era in praise of the Communist Party, and the “striking the black” campaign in which the Chongqing authorities bypassed the regular legal system claiming they were eradicating triads in Chongqing.

Voice of America (VOA) reported that, in recent discussions, many Chinese scholars have expressed their disapproval of the “Chongqing Model.” The following is the translation of the VOA article.] [1]

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Reports | | |   Report

China’s Central Bank’s Increased Issuance of RMB Leads to Domestic Inflation

According to Beijing News, the People’s Bank of China (China’s central bank) ranks No. 1 in assets in the world and last year printed money equal in value to half of the total currency printed in the world. The latest statistics released by the central bank show that, as of February 2012, its assets reached 28,330 billion RMB (about $4,500 billion), surpassing the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank and the European Central Bank. In the past five years, its assets increased by 119% and M2 by 146%. Due to the exchange control and the fact that the RMB is not an international currency, the increased RMB circulated only inside China. Thus those in China bore the full inflationary impact. “China is way behind the United States in terms of total GDP, economic power, personal income, and the overall wealth of the country. In 2011, the ratio of China’s M2 to GDP reached 189% while the ratio of M2 to GDP in the U.S. was about 64%. This showed the power of the RMB to boost inflation.”

Source: The Beijing News reprinted by Xinhua, April 24, 2012
http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-04/24/c_123025821.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Wen Jiabao: What Will We Leave to Future Generations?

In Stockholm recently, Wen Jiabao met with local Chinese companies, overseas Chinese and representatives of Chinese students. In his discussion he raised the question of China’s future. He also pointed out a number of issues related to China’s economic development. He stated, “In a nutshell, our economic development is neither balanced nor coordinated; nor is it sustainable. (The problems) relate mainly to the widening income gaps between rural and urban areas and between different regions, to expanding inequality in income distribution, to over-consumption of resources, to  energy, and to severe environmental pollution. These problems lead us to think about what we will leave to future generations.” Wen stated that sustained growth “relies not only on economic development, but also on progress in society, on the quality of our people, and on the power of morality. No one would be able to beat such a country (that had those qualities).

Source: China News Service, April 25, 2012
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2012/04-25/3843708.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Chengming: The Bo Xilai Incident Embarrasses Western Chinese Scholars

Chengming, a magazine of political commentary based in Hong Kong, published an article by Hu Xiaojiang, a popular Internet blogger, on the subject of the Bo Xilai incident. In the article, Hu laid out the weaknesses that Western scholars who are close to the Chinese Communist regime have in their ability to understand the direction of China’s politics and economy.

The article explained that the Bo incident indicates the following: 1) The power transition within the Chinese Communist Party is still not an orderly change, unlike the perception of many that China has established a stable and smooth system for the transfer of power. 2) China needs a bipartisan or multi-party system. 3) It proves again that the authoritarian system is a reverse elimination system in which the ruling party does not allow the existence of independent political thoughts to challenge the top authorities.   

The article offered a sharp explanation as to why these Western scholars fail to understand China correctly. On the one hand, studying China is their job security, so they often cannot help but prove their own value by beautifying the study targets. On the other hand, China’s corruption is so deep and so pervasive that many Western Chinese experts get paid for praising China’s totalitarian system.

Source: Chengming Magazine (Hong Kong), April 19, 2012 http://www.chengmingmag.com/t320/select/320sel07.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China’s First Quarter Tax Revenue Growth Slows

On April 24, 2012, the Chinese Ministry of Finance released a report on the first quarter’s tax revenue, showing a tax revenue of 2.58 trillion yuan (US$409 billion), 10.3% higher than the same period last year. However the growth rate was down 22.1 percentage points; it was the lowest in the past three years.

The data show that from January to March, on a year-over-year basis, the domestic value-added tax, consumption tax, business tax, and corporate income tax increased by 5.4%, 15.1%, 7.6% and 20.5% respectively. The growth rates dropped 17.8, 6.4, 18.7 and 17.4 percentage points respectively from the same period last year. The import taxes and tariffs increased by 13.0% and 9.6% respectively, 35.8 and 37.9 percentage points lower than the same period last year.

It is noteworthy that real estate related tax revenue growth fell sharply. For the first quarter, the deed tax and the real estate sales tax decreased by 13.6% and 17.5%, respectively, 41.1 and 45.8 percentage points lower than the same period last year. The land appreciation tax increased by 4.5%, 108.4 percentage points lower than the same period last year. In addition, personal income tax revenue declined by 6.2% year-on-year, down 43.2 percentage points from the same period last year.

A Ministry of Finance official attributed the decline to the slowdown of domestic economic growth, as well as tax cut practices implemented in the fourth quarter of last year.

Source: Xinhua, April 24, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-04/24/c_111836288.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources