The Sinocism China Newsletter 06.16.14

"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner

Sinocism has returned to much more regular publishing thanks to the work of West Consulting Malaysia Sdn Bhd. West built a plugin that has significantly reduced the grind involved in the creation of the newsletter.

So they get a huge plug, and I hope any readers who need technology development work will consider them.

Here is some background on West Consulting:

“Traditionally, West is specialised in online technology, complex content management systems, making legacy systems available online in a safe and secure way, and the development of mobile applications. More recently, West is also focussing information security. Our portfolio of services has expanded with vulnerability- and security assessments, and network penetration testing.

Among our customers are the European Space Agency (ESA), the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice, the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), the Dutch Council for Refugees, and a number of other local Dutch and Malaysian NGOs and companies.”

I love these guys and hope that you will too since they have helped bring back Sinocism.

Today’s Links:

THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT

China to meet this year’s 7.5 percent growth target: Premier Li | Reuters Writing in Britain’s The Times newspaper on the eve of his visit to London, Li said slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy was normal and not a problem. “China’s economy needs to grow at a proper rate, expected to be around 7.5 per cent this year,” Li wrote. “It is slower than the past, but normal.”

Related: China’s fine-tuning adds up to stimulus by stealth | Reuters Wary of being criticised for not doing enough to wean the world’s second-largest economy off its reliance on easy credit and heavy investment, authorities have ruled out major stimulus even as growth slowed to an 18-month low in the first quarter. Instead, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has relied on four low-key adjustments that have added a total of 550 billion yuan ($88 billion) into the banking system, a calculation based on a Reuters poll and information from sources shows.

Related: “克强指数”回暖 微刺激有后招_财经频道_一财网 the “Keqiang Index” may be recovering as the “micro-stimuli” take effect, but experts tell CBN they expect more increases in infrastructure investment… //  在 一系列密集“微刺激”政策出台后,上周陆续公布的宏观经济数据表现亮眼,其中尤以“克强指数”三大指标受到关注,中国经济在二季度短期企稳成为市场共识。 但受房地产投资下行等因素拖累,固定资产投资增速有所回落,一些专家对《第一财经日报》预计,基建项目仍将加码。

Japan says Chinese warship could have ‘locked’ on SDF vessel, patrol plane – AJW by The Asahi Shimbun A Chinese warship in the East China Sea is thought to have activated fire-control radar, a prelude to opening fire, to track a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel and patrol plane on May 29, government sources in Tokyo said.

Related: China summons Japan defense attache over jets dispute | Reuters “The Japanese side ignores reality and has flipped right and wrong, making groundless accusations,” China’s Defence Ministry said in a statement on its website. Tokyo has “persistently taken it upon itself to stir up trouble, often irresponsibly inciting deception and making malicious attacks on the Chinese side,” the statement added, calling on Tokyo to “immediately correct the error”.

人民日报四问楼市会撞冰山吗:不会断崖式暴跌–时政–人民网 People’s Daily refutes Pan Shiyi’s claims that China’s real estate market like the Titanic about to hit an iceberg, says there will not be a collapse

Related: 北京楼市降价风言过其实 业内建议刚需再等两个月|北京楼市|降价风|房价跳水_新浪财经_新浪网 Securities Daily says the reports of price declines in Beijing’s real estate market are exaggerated, says developers have sold some of the units at discounts, but usually just a handful and they were the least desirable units…and they did it to gin up publicity and drive traffic to their sales offices…also says the reports of “zero down payments” are exaggerated //  《证券日报》记者走访调查通州多个新盘后发现,与其说是降价,还不如说是开发商拿出少量户型位置等较差的房源促销,以低价吸引客户。正如某销售人员直言,“波动肯定是有的,但实际上不好的房子才拿出来促销,这是开发商抢客的销售手段。从整个盘面来看,与前一期房源销售均价相比,新一期房源的成交均价并未降低,甚至还有不同幅度的上涨”。此外,记者调查还发现,此前引发热议的“零首付”也开始逐渐沉寂,所谓中国“零首付”购房或重蹈美国次贷危机覆辙可能性也并不大。事实上,开发商仅仅是拿出几个或者几十个名额来做宣传噱头,有点类似交定金占房源的意思,而且当时并不能网签,仅是与开发商草签合同,待半年或者更长时间后付齐首付才能网签。

Related: 楼市只是调整,不会崩盘(见解·热点解疑房地产市场出现拐点了吗?)–财经–人民网 MOHURD research director Qing Hong says in a speech to building materials and furniture industries expo that the housing market is going through an adjustment but will not collapse

河北顺势大转场(全面深化改革进行时)–时政–人民网 page one People’s Daily Monday on Hebei’s initial success in transitioning from heavy industries to emerging, cleaner ones…//“钢老大跌出十强,新产业挺起脊梁!” 5月份召开的河北省民营经济发展大会上,百强民企揭晓,大家吃惊地发现:前十强中居然无一家钢铁企业,取而代之的是战略性新兴产业的骨干。 河北转型发展透射出一道曙光。 面对重轻工业高达8∶2的比例、压减产能涉及的106万人再就业、积弱不振的现代服务业、频频来袭的重雾霾……河北迈出了第一步。// also a full page piece on page 6 about Hebei’s transition 转型再造 有舍有得(全面深化改革进行时(河北篇)) , much talk about reducing emphasis on GPD, which certainly makes sense as Hebei’s has fallen off a cliff as Beijing has forced it to start dealing with overcapacity and pollution

Related: 京津冀环保方案月底将出台 生态补偿将写入方案|京津冀|北京市_凤凰财经 Environmental protection plan for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei expected by end of June…part of the overall plan for the integration of the three areas, something Xi Jinping is pushing hard on // 新京报讯 (记者李丹丹)“京津冀一体化将首推环保,三地将逐步实现排污标准统一。”昨日,记者从参与京津冀一体化发展规划整体方案的专家处获悉,《京津冀地区生态环境保护整体方案》已形成,预计将于6月底出台。

Inspector questions CASS ideology – Global Times Zhang Yingwei, a senior discipline inspector with the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) stationed at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), claimed that the academic institute has four major “ideological problems” on Tuesday during a public speech to the Institute of Modern History under CASS. Zhang detailed the four ideological problems that academy experts have, including using academic research as a disguise for other purposes, fabricating false theories using the Internet, conducting “illegal collusion” during politically sensitive times and receiving peer-to-peer infiltration from foreign forces.

美国中东政策难去“毛糙”(钟声)_网易新闻中心 Zhong Sheng in People’s Daily Monday on the current crisis in Iraq and America’s responsibility for creating the mess, and its inability to fix it  //  新世纪以来,尽管美国中东政策几经调整,但其毛糙一面始终没有去掉。由于缺少周密论证,尤其是对一系列连锁反应的推演,不仅频频造成按下葫芦浮起瓢的局面,甚至捅了不少马蜂窝。造成这种情况有两大因素:一是对美国软硬实力的过于自信,天真地认为有了美国经济、军事支持,美国政治制度在中东同样可以开花结果;二是将中东国家当成美国推行外交构想的政治工具,由于急着打造样板、开辟“试验田”,随之而来的乱局不过是第二位的,如何平定只好以后再说。

China’s Li flies into UK to talk trade, seal deals worth $30 bln | Reuters Britain is expected to take the opportunity to announce it is easing some visa restrictions on Chinese citizens, a long-standing request from Beijing which has complained current arrangements are overly lengthy, bureaucratic and opaque. Li will hold talks with Cameron and will also meet the Queen. China’s ambassador to Britain on Friday robustly rejected local media reports that Beijing had threatened to cancel the trip if Li was not granted an audience.

New York Times to host 3rd World Media Summit| China Daily October 2013 hearing that the New York Times has pulled out..perhaps Bloomberg will step in  //  We are delighted to be engaged in the WMS and believe it is a mission to foster mutual understanding among leading world media organizations,” said Arthur Sulzberger, Jr, chairman of the New York Times Company, who attended the summit’s 2nd presidium meeting held in Hangzhou, capital of East China’s Zhejiang province. The plenum will be held in September, he said. “We are open to discussions of a theme for next year’s plenum, but we are considering ‘media without borders’.” Presided over by Li Congjun, Executive President of the WMS and President of Xinhua News Agency, the meeting discussed new media challenges and the feasibility of creating global prizes for journalism.

 

BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE

Where will the Chinese economy land? | East Asia Forum Recently, the government accelerated its pace of implementing wide-ranging economic reforms. It looks like the government will be able to push ahead with reforms more quickly in areas of reducing administrative controls, liberalising the financial system and reforming factor prices, but more slowly in areas of land reform and restructuring of state-owned enterprises. These reforms should eventually lift China’s GDP growth potential by improving resource allocation and supporting productivity gain. However, in the near term, growth will likely weaken further before it picks up. Yiping Huang is a professor of economics at the National School of Development, Peking University.

Chinese Steel Game Changer ‘Good News’ Says World’s Biggest Mill – Bloomberg ArcelorMittal (MT), the world’s largest steelmaker, welcomed the potential removal of a near 10-year block on overseas takeovers in China’s steel industry. ArcelorMittal is one of the few foreign steelmills with investments in China since the ban on overseas control was imposed in 2005.

UBS Plans China Property Expansion With New Commercial Funds – Bloomberg Office, retail and industrial properties are “where investor demand is certainly moving to” in China, Trevor Cooke, head of global real estate for Asia-Pacific at UBS Global Asset Management, said in an interview in Sydney. “The stock of investment grade assets in China is growing at about 35 percent per year.” The bank would either partner with a developer or a company with an ability to source existing assets, he said.

众多企业感融资“既贵又难” 银行的钱去哪儿了?–财经–人民网 People’s Daily sends reporters to Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanxi to investigate tight financing conditions for local businesses…money still not getting to the “real economy” as directed by Xi and Li…

Kickstarter And China Manufacturing. You Are So Wrong On Your China Risks. | China Law Blog I am writing on this now because twice this week I have received calls from “companies with product” who are now encountering serious (and expensive to remedy) difficulties arising from their failures to button down their IP protections when we spoke a year or two ago. Bottom Line:  Failing to protect IP early on is probably the most common mistake made by start-up companies.

China Economic Reform Scorecard – June 2014 | US China Business Council USCBC is rolling out a Reform Scorecard to assess the actual impact of China’s reforms on foreign company concerns. The scorecard is divided into categories based on key themes for reform, such as the role of the state and the market, foreign investment, institutional reform, and others. The report assesses the impact of reform policies, both individually and as a whole.  In this first assessment, China’s economic reform policies to date have had a limited impact on foreign company operations.

 

POLITICS AND LAW

China Voice: China sharpens “Sword of Damocles” in anti-graft war – Xinhua Speaking at a meeting on disciplinary inspection work in March, national anti-corruption chief Wang Qishan called for innovation in inspections to bring a “Sword of Damocles” to hangs above those in power as a deterrent. His words came with solid actions. Over two dozens government officials at or above provincial- and ministerial-levels have been put under investigation, of which close to half were probed in the first half of this year. Undoubtedly, Su [Rong] stands out from those crooks, for being the highest-ranking official to ever be probed. //I prefer to think of Wang Qishan as the grim reaper, with a long scythe

Disciplinary inspections reveal problems in anti-decadence campaign – Xinhua Problems uncovered included local Party committees slack in supervising the campaign, inspection groups not making enough effort to review local officials’ reports and coordinate the campaign’s operation, and missions to correct officials’ misbehavior not specific and effective, said a statement released Sunday by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Ministry of Supervision…The second phase of the campaign is scheduled to last until September, targeting more low-level departments and officials, while the first phase focused on central and provincial-level departments. // 中央巡视组2013年第二轮巡视整改情况陆续公开–剑指吏治腐败官员特权 

巩固扩大教育实践活动成果 把作风建设新要求落到实处 lead comment in latest Seeking Truth on consolidating and expanding results of the mass line education campaign…supposed to run for four more months, can’t imagine everything will just relax when it ends…

多地纪委“招兵买马”-中国青年报 CCDI recruiting more people at all levels. They have more corruption cases than they can handle  //  国家行政学院教授竹立家向记者分析,在过去一年的反腐过程中,“通过几次办案,纪检部门发现问题较多,人手还是不够。另一方面还是要继续加大办案力度和反腐力度。”

国务院至少20个部委开展约谈 谈后不改将被处分–时政–人民网 State Council calls in officials from at least 20 Ministries and Government Organs to discuss implentation issues, says if they do not now get with the program they will be disciplined 

中央决定在上海广东等6省市试点司法改革_网易新闻中心 Judicial reform pilots to be set up in 6 regions // 答:《改革框架意见》主要针对下列问题提出了政策导向:一是对法官、检察官实行有别于普通公务员的管理制度。二是建立法官、检察官员额制,把高素质人才充实到办案一线。三是完善法官、检察官选任条件和程序,坚持党管干部原则,尊重司法规律,确保队伍政治素质和专业能力。四是完善办案责任制,加大司法公开力度,强化监督制约机制。五是健全与法官、检察官司法责任相适应的职业保障制度。六是推动省以下地方法院、检察院人财物统一管理。七是完善人民警察警官、警员、警务技术人员分类管理制度。

证监系统可能也会反腐-评论频道-和讯网 corruption crackdown to spread to the CSRC bureaucracy?

社会主义核心价值观是历史传承和时代要求的统一 来源: 《红旗文稿》2014/11     作者: 教育部中国特色社会主义理论体系研究中心 what exactly are Socialist Values? Red Flag Manuscript on them, seem to be hearing a lot more about them lately, and some banners are up promoting them on Beijing roads

李望知的微博_微博–Li Wangzhi Weibo Bo Xilai’s first son Li Wangzhi posts a nice Father’s Day note on his Weibo account, includes a picture of him with his father 30 years ago

盘点内地上半年被查12名女官员 部分以色谋权(图)–地方领导–人民网 The Beijing News looks at 12 female officials who have been detained for corruption in the last 6 months  //  12人中,6人担任地市县(区)要职,包括宜昌市副市长郑兴华、山西高平市市长杨晓波、江西会昌县委书记傅春荣、安徽无为县副县长汪梅琴、荆州市委副秘书长陈虹、南通市港闸区副区长黄雅香;另有2名厅局级,分别为武汉市科学技术局副局长赵杏娥、曾任四川红十字会巡视员的文家碧。   其余4人中,除金秋芬外,另两名任委办局领导的是嘉兴市民政局副局长金渊、内江市住建局纪委书记吴小红。还有一人来自国企,为曾任中石油玉门油田分公司副总经理的杨国玲。   12人中,最年轻的是生于1971年的杨晓波。杨国玲和文家碧则均年满60周岁,都是退休后被立案调查。

神木打砸租户副局长被曝身家上亿 有多套豪宅_网易新闻中心 finance official in Shenmu. Shaanxi outed for having over 100m RMB in assets after he is caught trashing the shop of one of his tenants who was overdue on rent…he owns 6000 square meters or property

‘Desperate’ Tibetans struggle to escape from Chinese yoke – FT.com By setting up roadblocks around Lhasa, increasing border security and pressing Nepal to turn away Tibetans, China has reduced the flow of refugees to a trickle. Before the 2008 uprising, 2,000-3,000 Tibetans left annually; last year only 300 made it across. The young monk is one of only four people staying in a centre built for 500.

 

FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS

DOD Report Shows Chinese Nuclear Force Adjustments and US Nuclear Secrecy | Federation Of American Scientists Like all the other nuclear-armed states, China is modernizing its nuclear forces. China earns the dubious medal (although not in the DOD report) of being the only nuclear weapons state party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that is increasing it nuclear arsenal. Far from a build-up, however, the modernization is a modest increase focused on ensuring the survivability of a secure retaliatory strike capability (see here for China’s nuclear arsenal compared with other nuclear powers). The report continues the Obama administration’s don’t-show-missile-numbers policy. Up until 2010, the annual DOD reports included a table overview of the composition of the Chinese missile force. But the overview gradually became less specific in until it was completed removed from the reports in 2013. The policy undercuts the administration’s position that China should be more transparent about its military modernization by indirectly assisting Chinese government secrecy.

高度重视网络意识形态安全 来源: 中国社会科学报 作者: 李殿仁– 一、必须把维护网络意识形态安全放在与维护信息技术安全一样的重要位置; 二、维护网络意识形态安全,关键在于完善网络社会治理体系; 三、加强网络社会管理,要处理好活力和有序的关系; 四、要加强计算机系统的科研开发和技术创新,从根本上掌握主动权;– (作者系中国人民解放军国防大学教授、中将)// Lt. Gen Li Dianren writes in the China Social Sciences Newspaper, reprinted on the Seeking Truth website, that Internet security must include ideological security online

WMS global awards for excellence to open for entries – Xinhua The WMS Global Awards for Excellence, which is launched by the World Media Summit (WMS), will open for entries on July 1, the WMS Secretariat said here Sunday. The awards are launched upon the decision made during the Second WMS Presidium Meeting held in Hangzhou last October. The awards honor “truth, objectivity, excellence” in journalism, the secretariat said, and are aimed to encourage all people working in the media sector to hone their professional skills and pursue excellence, while inspiring media setups to work with the times in the spirit of innovation.

Interview: Abe’s “active pacifism” can not bring real peace to the region: Japanese former PM – Xinhua Japan’s former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama criticized Japan’s current military stance, saying the “active pacifism”created by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a blinkered concept and, therefore, can not bring real peace to the Asian-Pacific region. Hatoyama made the remarks during an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Saturday before his departure to China for a peace forum which focuses on how to build peace in Asia and the world

Former U.S. congressman: Diaoyu Islands part of China – Xinhua | English.news.cn The Diaoyu Islands belong to China since ancient times, former U.S. congressman David Wu said. The Japanese government’s behavior on the issue has brought troubles for the China-U.S. relations and put the Obama administration in a very awkward situation, Wu said in a recent interview with the Hong Kong-based newspaper Wen Hui Po.

US Aircraft Carrier Welcomes Chinese Military Officials Aboard, Seeks Return Invite | Defense News | defensenews.com The four People’s Liberation Army members were among guests flown by a C-2 Greyhound aircraft to the USS George Washington for a “VIP visit” before it berths Monday off Hong Kong on a routine call.

Christopher Walker: Authoritarian regimes are changing how the world defines democracy – The Washington Post We can infer from this that the emerging authoritarian doctrine reflects the need for leaders in Moscow, Beijing and elsewhere to contain what they fear and do not possess: democratic accountability and legitimacy. Given the stakes for the liberal order, the democratic world will need to develop a serious “long game” sooner rather than later to respond to the growing challenge presented by the migration of the authoritarians’ illiberal norms beyond their borders.–Christopher Walker is executive director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy.

China ‘builds school’ on disputed South China Sea island – Yahoo News The school on Chinese-held Sansha or Woody Island will serve about 40 children whose parents work there, the official news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday, adding that construction will cost about 36 million yuan ($5.8 million) and take a year and a half.

Asia-pacific – Pakistan launches ‘comprehensive operation’ against militants – France 24 Military sources said a number of ethnic Uighur militants, who operate alongside Uzbeks and share a similar Turkic language with them, had also been killed.

 

HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN

China respects Taiwan’s social system, senior official says | Reuters Yu Zhengsheng, China’s top political adviser and a member of the elite Politburo Standing Committee, said problems in cross-Straits relations should be resolved by China giving “more understanding, respect and consideration from the perspective of a family” to Taiwan, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Yu made the remarks at a forum on cross-Strait ties in the coastal city of Xiamen.

With white paper, Beijing may have achieved the opposite of what it wants | South China Morning Post Michael C. Davis says not only does the white paper raise doubts about Beijing’s commitment to the rule of law, but its tough stance has also inflamed, not frightened, Hong Kong protesters

Hong Kong international schools full of scions of mainland elite|Culture|WantChinaTimes Instead of sending their children overseas to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada or Australia, China’s wealthy are turning to bilingual international schools in Hong Kong which teach in both English and Mandarin and are generally cheaper than international schools on the mainland. Most importantly, the close proximity is something schools in the West cannot offer. In contrast to mainland international schools, which only accept students with foreign passports, Hong Kong’s international schools can admit up to a certain percentage of children from mainland families. // the new Keystone School, which opens in Beijing this coming school year, should also attract the kids of mainland elite, or at least the ones who can not get into the top US or UK boarding schools. Apparently Keystone was able to get an exemption to the Ministry of Education rule preventing international schools from accepting students with PRC passports

 

TECH AND MEDIA

News Analysis: Huawei’s Kirin 920 to shake global chip market? – Xinhua | English.news.cn all indigenous tech, no patent issues?  //  When it comes to chips for powering smartphones, it has long been a story of the world’s leading smartphone chip-maker — U.S. firm Qualcomm. This time, it is a Chinese-made chip that has caught the eye of market observers. The octa-core Kirin 920, unveiled by Huawei-owned HiSilicon on Friday, features support for QHD displays, 4K video recording and a high-speed LTE category-6 platform, something even the global industry leaders find it difficult to offer.China relies heavily on imported chips, which are among the country’s top four import categories in terms of value, along with oil, iron ore and LCD panels. As its reliance on foreign oil and iron ore cannot be reversed overnight, China has been working hard to promote the other two industries.

Fei Chang Dao: Caixin Report Provides Context for Baidu’s 2011 Censorship of Search Resutls for “CCTV Baidu” good lesson in the complexities of trying to understand the motivations behind CCTV attacks on businesses //  a former CCTV employee has confirmed to Caixin that it was not Guo who initiated the affair. This source says that the four-day’s of continuous reports was not some plot of the economic programs, but rather came about as a result of a document from the “National Leading Group on Rectifying and Regulating Market Economic Order,” and that the primary goal was to regulate Internet order, which was growing more chaotic by the day. But what surprised him was that, after submitting what he originally took to be just another report, it would broadcast in such an “explosive” format. A source at CCTV told Caixin that internally it was said that prior to this Guo had harbored a grudge against Baidu. It related to an incident where the Internet was plastered with reports and posts about quality problems with a certain company’s pork products. This company sought out Guo, and paid him to help out. Guo personally approached Baidu, hoping to comprehensively block relevant posts from Baidu search. Baidu tactfully declined.

郭振玺妻儿不在国内 到央视财经后频道风气巨变|央视财经|郭振玺_新浪财经_新浪网 more details on the Guo Zhenxi case, including that his wife and son are safely overseas

 

SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY

What does Chinese say What does Chinese say allows you to search among Chinese news and social media (weibo). It uses Baidu translation API, so you can search in English and view results (machine-translated) in English.

Online sitcom sparks trendy Xinjiang image – Xinhua The online sitcom “Ledoumanwu,” [the show on Youku 《乐逗满屋》] or “Fun-filled Apartment” depicts the lives and friends of four college boys living in a rented apartment in Xinjiang. The lead characters represent the many ethnic groups in Xinjiang, including the Tajik, Uygur and Kazakh people. The show has been available exclusively via the Chinese online video platform Youku.com since April 4. It had been viewed more than 6 million times as of Monday.

Chinese Fathers Who Beat Their Kids Get a Beating Online – China Real Time Report – WSJ This past year, a reality show titled “Dad, Where Are We Going?”—which features celebrity fathers and their sons working together to succeed at different tasks such as cooking—became a big hit in China. Separately, a survey of 500 Chinese dads by communications company JWT last November found that many don’t even want to scold their kids. Instead, Chinese fathers said playing the family chauffeur was their most important role, compared to many of their American counterparts, who said discipline came in first. Among the memories that users recalled from their childhood on Weibo, though some were bitter, many said their punishments were a form of parental love.

 

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH

China readies for an energy revolution | Business Spectator Xi, who arguably has greater power vested in him than any Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping, made five important points about China’s energy industry that could have lasting consequences for the global energy sector. The one that will have the most impact on Australia is the push to diversify China’s energy sources. Xi emphasised the importance of having a diverse range of energy suppliers and sources to ensure the country’s energy demand and security. Chinese authorities will place new prominence on clean coal technology and upgrade polluting coal fired power stations.

Hunan chemical plant shut over high lead levels in children, official blames ‘pencils’ – Global Times A chemical plant suspected of causing lead poisoning in more than 300 children in Hengdong county, Central China’s Hunan Province, was shut down Saturday, said the county government. One local official, however, contended that the results might come from the children “biting pencils.” China Central Television (CCTV) reported Saturday that blood tests on more than 300 children in Dapu township,  Hengdong county found excessive lead levels, a sign of heavy metal poisoning.

 

FOOD AND TRAVEL

In China, Negotiating Peaks and Police – NYTimes.com “People don’t live in this valley, but we might come across herders,” Kiboya said. The herders brought their yaks to higher altitudes to graze. Kiboya said we might be the first foreigners to walk through the valley — he had not heard of anyone taking this path to enter Huanglong. Most foreigners who came to the area took another route outside Mafengcun to climb the nearby snow mountain of Xuebaoshan, whose 18,000-foot peak was on this day shrouded in clouds.

 

BEIJING

北京幼升小报名家长凌晨4点排队|北京幼升小_新浪新闻 As part of the Beijing primary school reforms Shijia, one of the top schools, has expanded its catchment area and increased entering class size…wonder how much the administrators’ incomes dropped  //  今年,东城史家小学扩大了划片范围。昨天,有些家长怕错过信息审核,凌晨4点就到学校排队。 史家小学相关负责人表示,现场审查结束后,学校将对学生家庭入户调查,以保证信息真实性。今年该校一年级计划由16个班增到18个班,预计新生有80%来自片内,新生将在史家小学遂安伯校区就读。

 

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