"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner
Today’s Links:
THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT
1. China Said to Accelerate $1 Trillion in Projects to Spur Growth – Bloomberg China is accelerating 300 infrastructure projects valued at 7 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion) this year as policy makers seek to shore up growth that’s in danger of slipping below 7 percent. Premier Li Keqiang’s government approved the projects as part of a broader 400-venture, 10 trillion yuan plan to run from late 2014 through 2016, said people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified as the decision wasn’t public. The National Development and Reform Commission, which will oversee the projects, didn’t respond to a faxed request for comment.
Related: Burdens, Breaks and Tax Reform Debate – Caixin Recent interest rate cuts by the People’s Bank of China and other monetary policy adjustments aimed at softening the impact of a slowing economy triggered capital flight to the country’s stock and bond markets. But so far these adjustments have failed to ease borrowing costs for financially strained small- and medium-sized businesses, according to economists, demonstrating that policy tweaking alone may not be enough to invigorate the economy. Thus, the plight of smaller entrepreneurs – whose businesses employ a large percentage of the labor force and contribute substantially to the nation’s gross domestic product – has prompted calls from some economists for business tax cuts. Adjusting the business tax regime, they argue, could help stabilize GDP growth – and perhaps even accelerate growth – by giving small businesses a break.
Related: China December HSBC services PMI at three-month high, more stimulus still seen | Reuters The robustness in the services sector contrasted sharply with surveys last week which showed Chinese factories were struggling at the end of 2014, suggesting a further loss in economic momentum. Those findings reinforced expectations that more stimulus measures are on the cards, either in the form of more liquidity injections by the central bank, interest rate cuts or reductions in the amount of reserves banks must hold to encourage them to lend.
2. Hong Kong Insists Voting Will Abide by China’s Rules – NYTimes.com The Hong Kong government vowed on Tuesday to press ahead with an election proposal that ignited months of street protests last year, using a report originally offered as a concession to student demonstrators to warn that the authorities would not shift course from plans laid down by Beijing. The report, which was presented by the local government as a summary of the protests that erupted in late September and the state of public opinion in the city, was released as the police notified organizers and prominent supporters of the protests to prepare for arrest. And the city’s leader, Leung Chun-ying, warned against any attempt to repeat street blockades.
Related: Hong Kong government submits report surrounding Occupy protests to Beijing | South China Morning Post Pan-democrats yesterday accused the government of intentionally distorting public views with the “unsubstantiated” conclusion that “it is the common aspiration” of Hongkongers to have universal suffrage in 2017 “as scheduled and strictly in accordance with the Basic Law and [Beijing’s rulings]”. They vowed to veto any reform proposals based on the rulings in August by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, which they claimed would not allow Hong Kong “genuine universal suffrage”.
3. Founder executives held in graft probe following Zenith allegations | South China Morning Post Top executives of Peking University’s Founder Group, the parent of Founder Securities which has been hit by allegations of corruption, have been taken away for questioning, Founder confirmed. Founder Group chairman Wei Xin, chief executive Li You and president Yu Li were taken away by mainland authorities on Sunday “to assist with investigations”, the company said. Caixin, citing unnamed sources, said Founder Group vice-president Li Guojun (a younger brother of Li You) had also been taken away. // very deep waters here, lots of rumors and overseas Chinese media reports over the last couple of months about ties to Ling Jihua, his wife Gu Liping and the “Xishan Club”. My favorite so far was a sensational claim that in December armed police raided a hotel inside Pekin University in which the founder top execs were meeting. Who knows, but where there is smoke there is usually fire…
Related: 魏新、李友被要求协助调查 是否牵涉令计划案成谜 – CAIJING 李友在随后接受《财经》记者采访时，
Related: 北大方正4高管被带走协助调查 传涉令计划_中国-多维新闻网 不过，除了上述举报内容，
4. 全国宣传部长会议在京召开 刘云山出席会议并讲话-新华网 Liu Yunshan chairs meeting of propaganda officials from around the country // 刘云山强调，宣传思想工作服务大局，要紧紧围绕“四个全面”
Related: 改革攻坚不停 文化活力倍增（全面深化改革一年来）–时政–人民网 p1 People’s Daily on the cultural sector reforms in 2014 // 2014年文化体制改革利好政策频出，进一步解放了文化生产力，
5. Baby Hatch Programs Struggle to Cope with Number of Infants with Birth Defects – Caixin The baby hatches was part of program implemented in 2013 by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, which called for baby refuges in dozens of cities as a way to better protect the country’s large number of abandoned infants. The program was widely applauded for its humanitarian spirit. But in practice, many of the participating cities, Guangzhou included, quickly abandoned it due to the overwhelming number of babies they received. Other facilities adopted stricter rules to dissuade parents from giving their infants away. The number of China’s babies with congenital defects has soared over the past decade, with nearly 900,000 such cases reported each year, according to a 2012 report from the Ministry of Health. In addition, a report from the Ministry of Civil Affairs shows that at least 100,000 children are abandoned each year. Most are disabled and many are girls.
6. 2014 saw worst persecution of Chinese Christians in a generation ucanews.com For many Christians in China, this was the most difficult year since Deng Xiaoping allowed Christianity to re-emerge from the shadows of Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution in the mid-1980s. But that does not mean Chinese authorities are deliberately targeting Christians because of their faith alone. And despite this very bad year, the longer-term prospects for Christianity in China are perhaps more hopeful than ever. In Zhejiang, speculation has centered on whether or not Beijing has ordered provincial authorities to crackdown on the spread of faith in an area with among the densest populations of Christians in the country. More likely, authorities have been more strictly interpreting the tougher presidency of Xi Jinping and his ongoing emphasis on the “rule of law” since his term in office began in March of 2013.
7. Rebalancing China’s Energy Strategy-Paulson Institute this inaugural paper is a scene setter that provides a comprehensive overview of China’s energy strategies, policies, choices, and tradeoffs. It is a first-rate survey of China’s underlying energy challenges, and frames the exciting series of additional papers to come. These papers will focus on such diverse topics as China’s shale gas development and the changing economics of Chinese energy.
8. A Very Bad Plan | Audubon Magazine The Nicaraguan government, in league with a Chinese company, wants to dredge an 800-foot-wide canal through one of the world’s most biodiverse regions, connecting the Pacific and the Caribbean. What could possibly go wrong? // sounds like a lot environmentally
Related: U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua voices concerns over Chinese-led canal | Reuters in a statement released on Tuesday, the U.S. mission in Managua said all relevant documents pertaining to the project should be made public, and that the voices of all stakeholders should be heard in a peaceful manner. “The embassy is worried by the lack of information and transparency that has existed, and continues to exist, over many of the important aspects of this project,” it said. It urged disclosure of environment studies, tenders and other details of the project.
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
“China’s fiscal slide” less fun than it sounds | FT Alphaville Sentences to warm the New Year heart, from Deutsche: This year, China will likely face the worst fiscal challenge since 1981. We believe this is the most important risk to the economy and one that is not well recognized in the market.
地方债甄别关门 最高版本激增50%财经频道一财网 how much will the official tally of local government debt increase now that we have passed the January 5 deadline? // 1 月5日是地方政府债务上报甄别的最后截止日期，这个“烫手山芋”
2015年京土地市场首拍落锤 招商华润等联合体86.
Hugh Hendry Embraces The Central-Planning Matrix: “I Am Taking The Blue Pills Now” | Zero Hedge Bears used to love Hendry, especially his viral China ghost city video…// To conclude I thought that I would expand upon our present Platonic thinking on the Chinese equity market. China is set to record its weakest growth in GDP in 25 years. Yet it seems to have entered a bull market and may be where we deploy much more of our risk capital next year. That’s because the recent exuberant run up in onshore Chinese equities seems to me to amply demonstrate the power of imagined realities….my question today is whether we will see a similar prolonged bull market in Chinese equity markets, one that the hyper-realist discretionary global macro community will dismiss as they cite worsening qualitative concerns and fret about an impending property crash? I think so. The valuation of Chinese equities today suggests that once again capital markets are betting against the success of the local monetary authorities. They are probably wrong. The Chinese state is the largest shareholder in the Chinese financial system. That surely makes its ability to stave off a liquidity crisis pretty much limitless. One more thing strikes me: the more I examine the obvious similarities with today’s China and Japan back in 1989, the more I wonder why no one is speculating that the renmimbi might go on to match the yen’s strength in the 1990s or suggesting that sovereign CNY bonds might one day be priced as JGBs now are. Perhaps that is a discussion for next year.
Rhodium Group » China’s Global Outbound M&A in 2014 With more than $50 billion worth of completed deals, Chinese firms continued to be an important driver of global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in 2014. However, anticipation of a different growth model and more liberal outward investment policies have affected Chinese buying behavior and deal structures. This note reviews China’s global outbound M&A activity over the past 12 months, focusing on five trends that are most relevant for intermediaries and policymakers.
How Internet Companies Disrupt China’s Secondhand Car Market – TechNode Internet companies, big and small, have been popping up in response to the growing demand…Cheyipai, one of the leading players in China, has secured a combined US$75 million in three rounds of funding. The company’s major rival Youxinpai reportedly pocked US$260 million of Series B funding from Warburg Pincus and Tiger Fund last September. Renrenche recently announced US$20 million of funding led by Ceyuan Ventures and Shunwei Ventures, the venture capital fund backed by Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun.
BBC News – China scraps quotas on rare earths after WTO complaint Beijing imposed the restriction in 2009 while it tried to develop its own industry for the 17 minerals, which are crucial to making many hi-tech products, including mobile phones. Last year, a WTO panel ruled that China had failed to show the export quotas were justified.
Kaisa Bonds Show Distress as Default Looms Following S&P Cut – Bloomberg It will also “undermine the confidence of property buyers in Kaisa, particularly in relation to the company’s property offerings in Shenzhen, its home market,” Leung said. “Such a weakening in buyer confidence will in turn weaken Kaisa’s property sales performance.” Kaisa also said today in its exchange filing that two of its business partners had terminated their joint ventures, citing agreement breaches, and demanded their 1.2 billion yuan back.// CNB claims Kaisa to file for bankruptcy but company has issued a denial【独家】又一家地产倒下 佳兆业董事会决定破产重组
Private Firms Given Six Months to Ready Credit Data Businesses – Caixin They include the subsidiaries of Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. and Internet giants Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Ant Financial Services Group, which is related to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and also controlled by Alibaba chairman Jack Ma. The permission does not guarantee that all of those companies will get a license, a source from Ant said. This was confirmed by a source close to the central bank.
中央级媒体轮番炮轰出租车行业垄断：不能让既得利益群体把持
北京认定“专车”属非法运营 has Beijing just declared Uber and its kind illegal? // 导读：滴滴专车、一号专车、易到用车、
POLITICS AND LAW
令计划落马后 人事变局渐明朗政经频道财新网
Graft Offensive May Expose Something More Vile in China: Factions – NYTimes Mr. Xi comes from a long line of Chinese leaders who see corruption as a symptom not only of personal greed, but also of dangerous disunity. The People’s Daily commentary [人民日报批政治山头主义：清正官场须远离圈子文化 ], which was written by a propaganda official, Qin Qiang, warned that the collapse of Chinese dynasties was often accompanied by the spread of self-serving bureaucratic factions. “The toxic abuses of clique culture have not been eradicated,” it said.
近期的人事调整，不寻常 党务系统在政治局分量空前加重 -原天津市委书记孙春兰调任中央统战部部长，
Austere working practices the “new normal” – Xinhua Chinese central authorities on Monday announced that 12 teams have been organized to study how the austere working practice policies were carried out in 2014 in provinces, state organs and state-owned enterprises. The inspection teams are jointly formed by the General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, or the cabinet. They will cover 16 provinces, regions and municipalities, 6 state organs, and 6 state-owned companies, including financial firms, according to a statement of the two offices on Monday.
近六成超配干部待“消化”特别报道新京报网
独家｜官员形象传播“亲民十策”之地策篇：知天知地 胜乃可全
中央纪委网站 on the App Store on iTunes The CCDI app on itunes. There is also an Android version
为什么反宪政没有未来？ – 评论 – FT中文网 How much longer can Prof. Zhang Qianfan be so outspoken? piece in FTChinese argues that there is no future without constitutionalism // 北京大学宪法学教授 张千帆 为英国《金融时报》中文网撰文…无论你的身份、地位、
China Arrests Activist Who Assisted in Daring 2012 Escape – NYTimes Guo Yushan, a young activist who helped the prominent rights advocate Chen Guangcheng flee house arrest in 2012, has been arrested and charged with operating an illegal business, according to a Beijing police notice posted online on Tuesday by Mr. Guo’s wife, Pan Haixia
Journal runs rare Xi tribute – China Media Project In a rare homage yesterday to General Secretary Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party’s official theoretical journal, Seeking Truth (求是), ran a retrospective on its website summarising and linking to every article ever written for the journal by the current president. Some suggested the tribute might be a sort of mea culpa by the journal, which on December 15, 2014, Issue 24 for the year, ran a piece by Ling Jihua (令计划), the former top Hu Jintao aide who is now under formal investigation for corruption.
哈尔滨官员疑穿价值万元羽绒服现身火灾现场(图)新闻腾讯网
全面推进依法治疆（深入学习贯彻习近平同志系列重要讲话精神）-
More wiggle room on Tibet: Beijing reaching out to Dalai Lama – Hindustan Times China has increased the frequency of ‘informal’ contacts with the Dalai Lama’s establishment, possibly to ‘soften’ his stance prior to inviting him to China. At the same time it is working to undermine his influence and support base abroad. Jayadeva Ranade is a member of the National Security Advisory Board and former additional secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India. He is also president of the Centre for China Analysis and Strategy
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
Japan, China had agreement to maintain Senkaku status quo, Suzuki-Thatcher files show | The Japan Times Japan and China agreed to maintain a status quo on the Senkaku Islands and avoid any discussion over their respective sovereignty claims, the late Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki was quoted as saying in a 1982 conversation with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, according to British government files released this week. The comment was reportedly made during a private conversation on Sept. 20 of that year.
FBI eyes Chinese hacking of dams database – Washington Times A federal weather service employee charged with stealing sensitive infrastructure data from an Army Corps of Engineers database met a Chinese government official in Beijing, according to court documents that reveal the case to be part of an FBI probe of Chinese economic espionage…According to an FBI document in the case made public Dec. 30, Ms. Chen and Jiao Yong, an official of the Ministry of Water Resources in Beijing, exchanged a series of emails in May 2012 indicating that the two met in Beijing that year and that she was searching for, and would provide, dam-related information for him.
China Creates New Avenue for Afghan Peace Talks – WSJ Current and former Afghan officials said a group of Taliban representatives traveled last month to China to discuss the possibility of opening talks with the Afghan government. “The Chinese are positioning themselves in how they can support the reconciliation process,” said an Afghan official familiar with the matter. “There is not going to be a [Taliban] office; the Chinese could provide a venue for talks.”
How the U.S. Can Influence China to Abandon North Korea | Christopher R. Hill Too often, China and the U.S. address the issue of North Korea in a formulaic way, with the Chinese declaring that they “support dialogue,” while the U.S. urges China to do more, without specifying what. For the U.S., the goal should be to persuade the Chinese to make deterring North Korean rogue behavior a higher priority. That means communicating to the Chinese more clearly where North Korea stands among its own priorities. In particular, China needs to know how the U.S. views future arrangements on the Korean Peninsula. Of all of China’s worries about North Korea, the most serious is that regime collapse — probably followed by state failure — could be perceived as a Chinese defeat and a U.S. victory, with Korea reunified as part of the U.S. alliance system.
China fumes after Taiwan’s flag raising in Washington | Reuters China has protested to the United States after Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Washington hoisted a Taiwanese flag on New Year’s Day, and urged the United States to respect the “One China” policy, the foreign ministry said on Monday. The U.S. State Department said it had not been notified in advance of the ceremony and that it was inconsistent with U.S. policy.
Japan’s leader says he will express remorse for World War II – The Washington Post Emperor Akihito, in his annual New Year’s message, also stressed the need to remember the past. “So many people lost their lives in this war,” he said in a statement. “I think it is most important for us to take this opportunity to study and learn from the history of this war, starting with the Manchurian Incident of 1931, as we consider the future direction of our country.” The proof, China says, will lie in Japan’s actions.
Chinese Military Confirms DF-41 Flight Test | Washington Free Beacon China’s People’s Liberation Army on Thursday confirmed that its military conducted a flight test of a new long-range missile that U.S. intelligence agencies say involved the use of simulated multiple warheads.
New vessel to supply South China Sea islands – Xinhua Sansha I is the largest and most advanced vessel to supply the islets in the South China Sea, helping with efforts to defend China’ “blue territory” and protecting its interests in the sea. “The Sansha I can cover all of the South China Sea and reach more islets and reefs in the remote Zhongsha and Nansha groups,” said Feng Wenhai, vice mayor of Sansha. Sansha I, 122 meters long and 21 meters wide, has a displacement of 7,800 tonnes. The rollon-rolloff vessel can accommodate up to 456 people and carry 20 standard container trailers, cover 6,000 nautical miles without docking and has a top speed of 19 knots. It has a helicopter pad to help in rescue missions.
改革强校，人才高地上的战略远征–军事–人民网 新年伊始，
Criticizing the “Low-Key” Approach: Chinese Responses to the DPRK Soldier-Murderer in Yanbian | Sino-NK There are a few final threads that this case is entangled in, not including cross-border intelligence sharing and border agency cooperation between the PRC and DRPK, which is ongoing. One thread is the role being played by China’s Ambassador Liu Hongcai, who emerged from a tw0-month hiatus on December 29 in order to conclude a sports agreement with Pyongyang. Presumably he and his staff are activated and very much working on this case in the North Korean metropole. Interestingly, it seems that the Embassy and the Xinhua Bureau in Pyongyang are keeping a lid on any dispatches, which has not always been the case involving North Korea-implicated deaths of Chinese civilians.
China’s New International Mindset?-Gatestone Institute did Wang Yang’s speech at the JCCT in Chicago really signal a change, or was it made for the audience and the locale? // Furthermore, Xi’s new stance — admitting the influence and role of the U.S. in the world — in a way could be a late response to Obama’s policies toward China in 2009. Immediately after his election, Obama seemed to offer China a sweeping opportunity for cooperation. This offer was received in a lukewarm fashion by Beijing, then plagued by deep rifts on crucial political choices. Now, of course, times and conditions are different, but Xi, in more than one way, seems to be trying to set the clock back — and forward.
二炮人事再调整：周亚宁少将任二炮副司令员–重磅推荐–
解放军报：一篇有力的反腐檄文–评论-人民网 评论《
TECH AND MEDIA
经济参考网 – 中国十亿金融IC卡95%使用“荷兰芯” 国产芯片行业遭遇国际巨头价格围攻和国内银行安全成见 Econ
Blocking FB account shows freedom of speech has limits – Global Times Facebook’s actions are decisive. Many, including Liao [Yiwu], believe it is another move by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to cater to Beijing so as to enter the Chinese market. Facebook refuted such views. There are clearer facts behind it all. First, it is not the case that freedom of speech on Western websites has no boundaries. These websites stick to their principles firmly. Second, Liao doesn’t only have conflicts with the Chinese government. Western opinion mechanisms cannot bear his behavior either. Few dissidents abroad can integrate into local communities. Most experienced the process of being admired at the beginning but became isolated or even forgotten in the end. They were not unified, and complained that local forces didn’t offer enough support. They were politically paranoid, which was also reflected in their characters and behavior.
Chinese Cyber Administration Office Goes Online – techblog86 In a fitting move (for a Web site of a Web authority in China), the Chinese Cyberspace Administration (中华人民共和国国家互联网信息办公室), which operates also as the CCP’s Office of the Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs (中共中央网络安全和信息化领导小组办公室), has just opened its website at cac.gov.cn. // official website of Cyberspace Administration of China and Office of the Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs// the site. so those are the official translations for those bodies. One of the top news articles on the site is Lu Wei’s January 4 meeting with Rupert Murdoch.
China pushes for SIM card registration in crime crackdown – Xinhua There are more than 130 million “black cards” in circulation at present, which refer to unregistered phone cards which are used in cell phones or provide wireless Internet services. This, however, runs contradictory to a regulation passed by the government on Sept. 1, 2013, which mandated that SIM cards must be registered with genuine identities. China Mobile, the nation’s largest wireless service provider, said on Tuesday that up to 16 percent of its users were unregistered, making it the major source of unregistered customers in the country compared to its competitors China Telecom and China Unicom.// mother in law just bought two at a newstand on Tuesday with no ID.
Evernote’s Chinese Service Disables Public Note Feature | TechCrunch have seen a fair amount of “sensitive” content in my Wechat circles shared out of Evernote China, not surprised // Unless Yinxiang Biji (which means “memory notebook”) confirms that it disabled the public note feature because of an order from the government, it’s difficult to say for certain if it is related to censorship because the Cyberspace Administration of China, the state agency in charge of Internet regulation, usually does not announce when it blocks a site or service.
当着LinkedIn中国区掌门人，
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
Nobel laureate Mo Yan to write anti-graft novels- China Daily The well-known Chinese writer made the remarks in an interview for the website of the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The novel is about people, he said, as “power, money and other temptations are tests to everyone” and “touchstones of every soul.” He said the book could have a “penetrating and profound” effect, as it would put people under the microscope of morals and laws, adding that China’s problems should not be avoided in his work. // CCDI website report of Mo Yan’s interview “聆听大家”
Donations at China’s temples go mostly to developers｜WantChinaTimes The money stuffed in donation boxes in China’s Buddhist and Daoist temples is in most cases not going to temple administrators but to the management agencies of the space surrounding religious venues, reports the Chinese-language Beijing News
Inside a Chinese Test-Prep Factory – NYTimes.com Even as cram schools have proliferated across urban areas, Maotanchang is a world apart, a remote one-industry town that produces test-taking machines with the same single-minded commitment that other Chinese towns devote to making socks or Christmas ornaments. The glut of university students may have eroded the value of a college degree, especially as unemployment and underemployment rises among new graduates. And many wealthy families are simply opting out of the system, placing their children in private international schools in China or sending them abroad for an education. But for those of limited means, like Yang, the economic uncertainty has only intensified the gaokao competition; a few points either way could determine whether a student qualifies for a degree that is worth something — or nothing.
Emotions Run High as Family Members Removed from Shanghai Stampede Site – WSJ Access to the site called Chen Yi Square was strictly controlled with new gates and a strong police turnout as the visitors set flowers, burned candles and threw ceremonial paper money. Wails from the distraught could be heard over the din of traffic, in a grim scene for the usually touristy Bund. People who appeared to be plainclothes police removed the mourners, often using force, a few minutes after they set flowers and bowed in front of the tall black statue. The distraught woman who said she wanted to die was carried by her limbs and others were forced onto ambulance gurneys or into wheelchairs and moved down the Bund away and toward an underground parking garage.
China’s Villages Are Dying. A New Film Asks If They Can Be Saved : Goats and Soda : NPR Ou Ning is the subject of the documentary Down to the Countryside by filmmakers Sun Yunfan and Leah Thompson. The 12-minute film follows the artist-turned-activist as he tries to bring economic and cultural development to a village struggling to survive China’s rapid urbanization. He’s part of the emerging “back-to-the-land” movement in China.
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
环保组织可跨省提起公益诉讼（热点解读）–社会–人民网
环保局执法“手软”被检察院告上法院国内新京报网 近日，
大学生成卵子交易链供卵主力 “想做试管婴儿的话，
BEIJING: Women are at the forefront of China’s anti-smoking crusade | Asia | McClatchy DC China’s anti-smoking movement includes many prominent men. Former NBA center Yao Ming and other celebrities have lent their names to the cause. An activist named Li Enze filed a lawsuit in 2013 against China’s tobacco monopoly, alleging that it had fraudulently marketed a low-tar cigarette brand called Black Tiger. Yet in government and among tobacco-control groups, women are leading the charge. China’s health commissioner, Li Bin, has been outspoken in seeking a national indoor-smoking ban. Li sits on the State Council, a top-level panel that drafted the restrictions unveiled in November. Two of her key deputies are women.
AGRICULTURE
经济参考网-土地流转市场将终结“无章可循” 在市场形式、规模、布局、品种等方面将有明确规定 Clear rules for rural land transfers to be released by end of month says Economic Information // 《经济参考报》记者从知情人士处获悉，
河北奶农因奶价狂跌每日倒奶 raw milk price collapse has led to Hebei dairy farmers dumping their milk // 2014年下半年以来，鲜奶收购价格一路下跌，
China renews safety certificates for local GMO rice | Agricultural Commodities | Reuters China, the world’s top rice producer and consumer, has renewed biosafety certificates for its own genetically-modified (GMO) rice, but large-scale production may be years away. The agriculture ministry has extended approval of two varieties of pest-resistant rice for another 5 years after the certificates, which were first granted in 2009, expired last year, according to an official website (www.agrogene.cn).
Dim Sums: Rural China Economics and Policy: Import Quota Linked to Reserve Auctions In a new rule Chinese companies will only be able to import grain this year if they agree to buy an equal amount of old Chinese grain from government reserves.
BEIJING
防踩踏 北京数家超市取消大型促销国内新京报网 To prevent stampedes Beijing supermarkets cancel large scale promotions. Sounds ridiculous but is actually prudent, I once got caught between cabbages on sale and a long line of retirees at a Carrefour on east 4th ring road, was not fun… // 多家超市昨日发通知称，为吸取上海踩踏事故教训，