Chinascope – Page 999

China to Further Support Expansion of Confucius Institutes

On December 12, 2011, China’s National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing held the opening ceremony for the sixth annual global conference of Confucius Institutes. Li Changchun, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, attended the conference. Liu Yandong, State Councilor and president of the Confucius Institute Headquarters council, gave a speech calling for “supporting the development of Confucius Institutes to further promote cultural exchanges.”

The ceremony featured an “I Sing Beijing” concert performed by foreign vocalists. The music included pieces from classic operas such as Madam Butterfly, as well as from revolutionary operas that forged and culminated in the Cultural Revolution, such as Red Guards on Honghu Lake and Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy.

The first conference was in 2006. More than 2,000 university presidents and representatives of Confucius Institutes from 105 countries in the world attended the 2011 conference.

Source: Xinhua, December 13, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-12/13/c_122412214.htm

Briefings | | December 15, 2011 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Number of Chinese Students Studying Abroad Increases Sharply

According to a China Education Online report released on December 13, 2011, the number of Chinese students studying aboard will exceed 300,000 and may reach 330,000 by the end of 2011. It will be the 4th year for the annual growth rate to exceed 20%. The report said that, since 1978, there were two quantum leaps in the number. One was in 2002 and the other, which has continued unabated, was in 2008. For example, the number of 284,700 students studying overseas in 2010 was double the number in 2007. The most popular country of destination is the United States. In 2010 over 45% of students studying abroad went to the U.S. Other top choices include Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore. The report attributed the growth to the fact that Western countries have been encouraging the enrollment of international students since the 2008 financial crisis began. The report stated that the U.S. Embassy in China granted over 85% of student visa applications. It was also noted that students leaving China tend to be younger in age. While 62% surveyed would like to attend colleges abroad for bachelor’s degrees, 22% wanted to attend high schools.

Source: China Education Online, December 14, 2011
http://gaokao.eol.cn/2011luntan_11216/20111214/t20111214_718923.shtml

Briefings | | December 15, 2011 | US-China Relations

International Herald Leader: Depreciate RMB Sharply and Keep Foreigners’ Hot Money in China

The International Herald Leader, a publication under Xinhua News Agency, published an article on December 12, 2011, blaming the Western countries for “draining” China of its real estate properties, stocks, and currency. According to the article, since last year, foreign institutions have been quietly selling their real estate properties. Since September this year, China began to notice the trend of property sales when Blackstone sold all of its properties in Shanghai. In November, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs reduced their shares in the Bank of China. Meanwhile, foreign capital has quietly retreated from the stock market. At the same time, high-end U.S. manufacturers are leaving China. The article speculates that once foreign companies start to sell RMB on a large-scale, the RMB will devalue and China’s economy will suffer from a hard landing. The article gave two suggestions to avoid a hard landing and “fight a financial war of defense”: 1) Sharply reduce the price of real estate properties before foreigners sell their properties in China on a large scale; 2) Depreciate the RMB before foreigners sell RMB on a large scale, thus letting foreigners’ hot money “become rotten in China.”

Source: International Herald Leader, December 12, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2011-12/12/c_131295799.htm

Briefings | | December 14, 2011 | Economy/Resources

China Establishes Non-War Military Operation Research Center

On December 12, 2011, PLA’s Academy of Military Sciences (AMS) launched a Non-war Military Operations Research Center. The State, the Central Military Commission (CMC), the PLA general headquarters and PLA departments, and the AMS will assign the research that the center will conduct; the center will also be available for consultations. The research center will keep abreast of the latest research achievements and cutting-edge developments at home and abroad so as to increase China’s quick-reaction capability on theoretical research in non-war military operations such as counter-terrorism, stability maintenance, disaster relief, protection of interests and security, international peacekeeping, international relief, joint military exercises, and other theoretical research.

Source: China News Service, December 12, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2011/12-12/3526428.shtml

Briefings | | December 14, 2011 | Defense/Military

Huanqiu: China Cannot Sit Idly and Watch the U.S. Military Action against Iran

On December 12, 2011, Huanqiu, a state newspaper under Xinhua, published an article titled, “China Cannot Sit Idly and Watch the U.S. Military Action against Iran that Undermines China’s Interests.” The article claimed that “the alliance between China, Russia, and Iran will be a nightmare for the United States.” “From the perspective of the U.S. global strategy, the interdependent relationship between Iran and China, as well as Russia, is the relationship between the lips and the teeth. When the lips are lost, the teeth will be exposed to the cold.” “After the U.S. killed Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and Muammar Gaddafi, the three anti-American strongmen in the Islamic world, Iran became the last country in the Middle East to be under U.S. siege.”

The article concluded, “After the painful lessons of the Iraq war and the Libya war, China can no longer tolerate the U.S. and the Western countries starting wars at will and undermining China’s interests.” “China should join Russia and firmly oppose any proposal of military action against Iran.”

Source: Huanqiu, December 12, 2011
http://mil.huanqiu.com/Observation/2011-12/2255589.html

Briefings | | December 14, 2011 | Geo-Strategic Trend

People’s Daily: China’s Foreign Trade Increased 21.6% Per Year over the Past Decade

People’s Daily reported on the 10th anniversary of China’s entry into the WTO (World Trade Organization). According to the report, China’s total foreign trade has grown by 21.6% annually since 2001. Standing as the largest exporter and the second largest importer in the world, China’s customs tariffs are now five times the level they were in 2001. Statistics show that, due to the decrease in international demand resulting from a sluggish world economic recovery, the rate of growth of China’s exports has been declining since August of this year. The authorities are fighting the downturn by adjusting the structure of exported goods, as well as by advancing the transformation of export companies. Those provinces that traditionally handle large numbers of exports are still responsible for over 80% of the country’s international trade.

Source: People’s Daily, December 11, 2011

http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2011-12/11/nw.D110000renmrb_20111211_6-01.htm?div=-1

Briefings | | December 13, 2011 | Economy/Resources

Guangzhou Daily: Technical Trade Barriers against Chinese Exports are Increasing

Guangzhou Daily recently published a report complaining that other countries have rapidly increased the technical trade barriers against Chinese exports. Estimates are that the direct financial losses due to these technical trade barriers have grown by 15% per year over the last several years. Last year, the figure was US$58.2 billion. In addition to traditional trade barriers such as tariffs and quotas, ASEAN (The Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries have adopted more and more technical trade barriers against China. China’s three largest trade partners (Europe, the U.S. and Japan) have recently imposed more and more complicated technical requirements on Chinese products. For example, Chinese rice exported to Japan faces 579 technical inspection items.

Source: Guangzhou Daily, December 11, 2011
http://gzdaily.dayoo.com/html/2011-12/11/content_1554950.htm

Briefings | | December 13, 2011 | Economy/Resources

Xinhua: China will not Rescue Europe

Xinhua reported on December 10 that the Chinese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fu Ying, stated in Vienna that China is not in the business of “rescuing” Europe. Fu offered her opinion when she was visiting Europe and suggested that China is an active participant of Europe’s effort to fight the debt crisis. She said the word “rescue” was misleading. Since the European Union is the world’s largest economy with strong economic power and a much higher living standard than developing countries, it does not need a “rescuer.” Fu expressed her belief in a strong Euro and Europe’s ability to resolve the crisis. She emphasized the point that China does not intend to use financial tools to “control” any European country. She called for a “good investment environment in Europe” for investors from developing countries.

Source: Xinhua, December 11, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-12/11/c_122405576.htm

Briefings | | December 13, 2011 | Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Reaction to Trump’s Election Win

Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

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