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

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I will be spending at least thirteen hours with United Airlines over the weekend, flying from Beijing to Washington, DC with our two daughters. (Can you tell how much I am looking forward to the flight?) We will be in the DC area through the middle of August.

Sinocism will continue publishing, though there will be a 2-3 day hiatus at the beginning of next week depending on the jet lag.

If there any readers in the DC area who would like to meet up, send me a note and we will try to figure something out.

The Sinocism LinkedIn group has some good discussions underway, including this one about Eric X. Li: A tale of two political systems.

Today’s Links:

THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT

China to grow 7.6 percent in second half; debt, overcapacity risks up: paper | Reuters China’s economy is expected to grow 7.6 percent in the second half of 2013, but risks of bad local government loans, slowing growth of central government revenue, diminished export competitiveness and industrial capacity are growing, the official China Securities Journal reported on Thursday.

Related: China Said to Suspend Release of Steel Industry PMI Data – Bloomberg China suspended the release of a set of data on the country’s steel industry after the National Bureau of Statistics decided to change how the figures are compiled, a person involved in producing the numbers said…Other data were omitted from the statistics bureau’s release of China’s official manufacturing PMI on July 1. Five of 12 sub-indexes usually released together with the figures, including numbers for export orders, imports and inventories of finished goods, were missing, without any explanation from the government.

Related: 人民日报-唱衰中国”别搬石头砸自己脚（人民时评） 闻 涛 today’s People’s Daily page 5 has an admonishment for those who say China’s economy is in deep trouble…one of a few recently // 唱衰中国的声音听了无数次，言中的事例寥寥无几，留下笑柄的却比比皆是。本世纪初，中国银行体系被西方判定为“技术性破产”，并预言将拖累中国经济步入深渊。他们话音未落，中国开启了新一轮银行改革，如今中国的银行业多项指标全球领先，当初看空的机构也从中赚得盆钵皆满。在本轮全球经济危机的最高峰，有很多机构都替中国捏把汗，而中国经济却上演了大逆转…经常活跃于中国经济研究和预测领域的研究者中，有一些来自大型外资投资银行的研究部门，这些机构都声称内部建有用来规避利益冲突的“防火墙”，外界却经常能从其研究结论和投资行为之间找到联系。资本逐利无可厚非，但不能扰乱别国经济秩序来浑水摸鱼…中国经济前行的路上，不应惧怕刺耳的诤言，需要倾听诚恳的忠言，也得提防乔装打扮的谎言，及时澄清扰乱秩序的谣言。吸纳诤言和忠言得靠宽广的胸怀，应对谎言和谣言有赖坚定的信心，而胸怀和信心均建基于强健的经济基本面。一叶轻舟成功穿越激流险滩，两岸猿声自然会停止呼喊。// the author concludes with a nice reference from the Li Bai poem 早发白帝城 …wonder if means anything more by choosing something about apes… a youtube kids video of the poem, complete with the “apes” 

Related: China’s New Loans may Drop to CNY800 Bln in June, Paper Says-Caijing Chinese bank may have extended about 800 billion yuan($130 billion) in new loans in June, slower than the 900 billion yuan recorded a year earlier, reported the Economic Information Daily. New loans given by the biggest four banks-the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank- were around 230 billion yuan ending June, the papar said, citing banking sources. The four state-owned banks usually account for 30 percent of new yuan loans issued by the whole banking system.

Shadow Bank Assault Backfires as Rates Lure Cash: China Credit – Bloomberg A record 1,137 of the investment plans were sold by about 70 banks in the last two weeks, almost 50 percent more than the similar period ended June 14, according to Benefit Wealth, a Chengdu-based consulting firm tracking the industry since 2007. China Minsheng Banking Corp. (1988), the nation’s first privately owned lender, last week sold a 35-day product with an annualized yield of 7 percent.

Related: China May Introduce Deposits Insurance System This Year -Caijing China is likely to introduce a deposits insurance system by the end of this year, an explicit approach to protect depositors from suffering losses when a bank fails or in crisis, according to China Daily, the government’s mouthpiece newspaper.  A deposit insurance scheme is one of the central bank’s prime goals for 2013, said Wu Xiaoling, a senior member of the National People’s Congress, and former vice governor of the People’s Bank of China on Tuesday.

Eliminating corruption is CPC’s long-term task – Xinhua The Communist Party of China (CPC) has punished yet another official in its fight against corruption. Wang Suyi, a vice ministerial-level official who was a standing committee member of the CPC committee of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has been dismissed from his post due to suspicions of serious disciplinary violations. Wang’s fall follows the recent sacking and investigation of several senior officials, including Liu Tienan, former deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, and Li Chuncheng, former vice secretary of the CPC Committee of Sichuan Province. Former minister of railways Liu Zhijun stood trial last month on charges of bribery and abuse of power.

Related: 45个中央督导组陆续开展工作 各组组长名单一览–独家稿件–人民网 inspection teams led by retired officials to oversee Xi’s “mass-line education” campaign// 日前，各地各单位陆续召开党的群众路线教育实践活动动员大会，中央派出的督导组成员分别出席会议。据报道，中央派出督导组，是加强督促检查、具体指导的重要举措，是教育实践活动健康开展、取得实效的重要保证。督导组要加强分类指导，抓住督导重点，发现并督促解决突出问题，督促建立健全并严格执行作风建设的制度规定，注重发现总结典型经验，确保教育实践活动不虚、不空、不偏，确保有序有效进行。 据公开报道显示，从7月开始，45个中央督导组陆续到各个教育实践活动单位开展工作，各组负责人均由省部级官员担任。

Related: 消息称发改委原副司长熊必琳被查_财经频道_一财网 former NDRC official w close links to Liu Tienan is detained// 7月3日，记者从多个渠道获悉，中国食品工业协会副会长兼秘书长熊必琳已于6月下旬被相关部门带走调查。西王食品高管在接受记者采访时，也证实了上述消息。熊必琳是该公司的独立董事。 熊必琳原为国家发改委产业协调司巡视员、工业司副司长。2010年9月退休后，熊必琳出任中国食品工业协会副会长兼秘书长、党委书记，同时还担任国家食品安全风险评估中心理事、中国国际工程咨询公司专家学术委员会副主任。多渠道消息称，熊必琳事发国家发改委任职期间，被带走调查是牵涉到“刘铁男案”。

Related: Homeowner information |Comment |China Daily The central government has failed to tell the public whether it has made or missed the June deadline to build a nationwide database of homeowner information. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, which initiated the project two years ago and managed to link around 40 cities a year ago, said the network would cover 500 cities by the end of last month…It is widely suspected that the government has missed the deadline because of opposition from vested interest groups. Senior housing ministry officials have previously conceded that they were facing difficulties in building the proposed network.

Related: 人民日报-500城市住房信息联网 进展不顺原因复杂 专家们认为，联网遭遇困难原因复杂：一是一些城市住房信息联网工作起步比较晚，信息的完整性和整合度不够，城市之间联网就暴露出来很多问题。有些地区的住房信息还是纸质档案，未录入电子信息库。二是各地技术标准、平台条件及人才素质不统一。三是一些地方或部门不愿意主动配合。

Japan PM slams China on territorial disputes as party leaders debate ahead of upper house vote – The Washington Post Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday criticized China for shutting “all the doors” to dialogue because of the countries’ territorial disputes, as he joined other party leaders in a debate a day before campaigning officially starts for July 21 parliamentary elections.

Related: Beijing’s gas development in East China Sea undermines 2008 agreement – AJW by The Asahi Shimbun Beijing’s recent moves to develop a new gas field near the Japan-China median line in the East China Sea undermine a bilateral agreement signed five years ago to seek joint gas development in the area. In May 2008, then Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Hu Jintao, president of China, said in a joint statement following summit talks that the East China Sea should be an area of peace, cooperation and friendship.

Related: Marco Polo Bridge Incident – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sunday is the 73rd anniversary, wonder if we will see anything different around the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands

[视频]【经济新动力】京津冀联手加速首都经济圈建设_新闻频道_央视网 Beijing/Hebei really are building a 900km long 7th ring road…CCTV news on developing Beijing-Hebei-Tianjin economic area// 国家“十二·五规划”中明确提出打造首都经济圈，首都经济圈涵盖的京津冀三地，资源优势互补，如何联手发展就成了共同的课题。今年以来，三地密集互动，从基础建设到高新技术发展，共同推动首都经济圈建设向更深层次加速发展，作为国家战略的首都经济圈也正在成为全国发展最具活力的区域之一。

The Revolving Door of Chinese Politics – Economic Observer Researchers from the School of Economics at Renmin University of China analyzed data on personnel shifts at state-owned enterprises that operate directly under the central government between 2008 and 2011. (link to full paper – in Chinese – here). They looked at the appointments of 189 central SOE executives over that four-year period and found that “work performance” (政绩), connections (关系) and a PhD (博士) were the three key factors that determined career advancement among the pool of candidates.

国内动态调查委员会揭密：一直假装上面有人|艳照|秘书长|骗子_新浪新闻 　oh this is a great story of a fake “official” committee set up to scam people….this may go down as one of the classics// 2012年2月22日至25日，“中国新农村建设促进会会长”、“国调委副局级调查员”党金国(左二)到南阳、漯河、许昌调研。 (南方周末资料图/图)　他们宣称接受党的领导，并宣称有一大批退休部长及军队高级将领做顾问。他们将办公地点设在省委对面的大楼中。从文件、穿着到讲话的语气，他们竭力打造“官方”形象。　这是一个骗子的江湖。有人骗到巨款，有人被打死。他们彼此搭伙又彼此欺骗。他们最主要的欺骗对象是基层的干部群众。他们知道权力在某些时候可以变异为商品，所以他们出售伪造的权力。　2013年6月21日，一组艳照和一个叫做“国内动态调查委员会”的神秘机构突然进入公众视野。

China gears up to tackle tainted water : Nature News & Comment In its plan, the government says that it will divide the North China Plain into 30 units for pollution prevention and control, which it will separate into three severity categories — serious, poor and good — to be addressed differently. The details, which have not been publicly released, include an investment of nearly 500 million renminbi (US$81 million) between 2013 and 2020 for a raft of measures across the country: to increase pollution assessments and establish a database of results; to control river pollution from agriculture and point sources from industry and landfill; to treat of polluted areas; and to conduct more research into clean-up and prevention strategies. Among other things, researchers will look into the effects of shale-gas development on groundwater.

Related: 污水治理规划出台预期升温 多地提前加码水处理-财经频道-新华网 昨日，环保部正式启动2013年“中国生态城乡行——美丽中国行”活动，全面摸排各地低碳节能产业的现状与问题。记者从有关渠道获悉，继“大气十条”规划出台之后，污水防治行动计划将很快出台. 环保行业专家对上证报记者表示，水污染将受“重点关照”，后续各部委会陆续出台重磅治污政策。目前市场处在政策“等待期”，但根据记者了解的情况，各地政府并未“空等”，早已提前加码水处理市场，并将污水治理纳入新兴城镇化建设纲要。

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Debt of Business, Financial Sectors ‘at 270 Pct of GDP’ – Caixin The combined debt of the country’s business and financial sectors has risen to 270 percent of GDP, a Haitong Securities report says. The figure was only 200 percent in 2008, the report says. In four years, total social financing has more than doubled to 15.8 trillion yuan. The business sector’s leverage rate increased because individual companies’ debt-to-asset ratios grew and oversupply in some industries worsened, the brokerage firm’s chief analyst, Jiang Chao, said

In China, a replica of Manhattan loses its luster | Marketplace.org The city‘s called Yujiapu. It’s now one of the biggest construction sites on the planet. Workers are completing dozens of skyscrapers, many over 50 stories tall. Zhang Xiaoying is a real estate analyst for Tianjin Centaline Property Consulting. Her job is to advise those who are interested in investing in this area. What is she telling them about China’s next Manhattan? “Don’t invest here!” Zhang says loudly, “It’s way too risky.

China’s Risky Finances by Zhang Monan – Project Syndicate As prudent fiscal and financial policies gradually stabilize China’s economy, monetary policy must remain neutral. Loosening monetary policy would increase significantly the risks stemming from local-government debt and shadow banking, while tightening monetary policy would fully expose those risks, posing a serious systemic threat.

以阳光化地方政府债券取代影子银行融资_一财网–作者 王梅 贾康 Wang Mei, Jai Kang and Fan Gang in First Financial on how to deal with the local debt challenges //要从根本上解决地方政府融资平台公司问题，应适当降低宏观经济增长目标到7%左右，同时显著增加地方政府债券发行至3万亿元左右存量规模；配之以多项政策优化、制度改革措施。

地方自行发债试点扩容 苏鲁两省被纳入_财经频道_一财网 在我国地方政府自行发债试点运行两年后，2013年地方政府自行发债队伍首次出现扩容，江苏省和山东省被纳入自行发债试点范围。

多地财政收入超三成来自卖地 楼市调控难上加难_证券时报网 根据《第一财经日报》记者的计算，多地土地出让收入能占到地方公共财政收入(即一般预算收入，不包括含土地出让金的政府性基金预算收入)的三成以上，“土地财政”势头依旧不减。尽管土地出让收入中相当一大部分将用于征地支出等，真正的土地收益并不多，但迅猛的土地出让增幅仍让各界忧虑地方财政转型出路。

阿里金融再搅局：首试小贷资产证券化_财经频道_一财网 AliFinance getting more interesting, starting to securitize its loans // 小贷公司不像银行可以吸储，或者从银行间市场获得低成本资金，只能利用自有资金经营信贷业务。信贷资产的证券化有助于快速回笼资金。

Slow the Pace of Urbanization, CASS Researcher Urges – Caixin The country should slow urbanization in the face of slower economic growth, said Cai Fang, a population researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.  Cai is also a member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the nation’s top legislature. The National Development and Reform Commission and a dozen ministries and government departments have been drafting a national plan for urbanization. It is expected to involve spending of more than US$ 6.5 trillion. // 蔡昉等建议适当降低城镇化速度预期_经济频道_财新网

Land prices surge in Chinese cities – Xinhua | English.news.cn A land lot in downtown Beijing was sold for 1.77 billion yuan (289 million U.S. dollars) on Wednesday, and on the same day, Poly Real Estate Group Co. Ltd. and China Vanke Co. Ltd. paid 2.36 billion yuan and 4.87 billion yuan, respectively, for lots in Shanghai..Analysts say local governments are also encouraging land sales, as a slowdown in fiscal revenues and lingering concerns of credit tightening may squeeze funding pipelines for local government financing vehicles (LGFVs).

China to Place Largest Treasury Deposit With Banks in 7 Months – Bloomberg China’s central bank plans to place 100 billion yuan ($16 billion) of deposits with commercial lenders in July, the largest monthly total since November, a move UBS AG said is positive for the country’s banking system.

One-Third of China Shipyards Face Closure as Vessel Orders Slump – Bloomberg or the PLAN, and CMS could launch a massive boat building campaign? // The yards in peril of closure have failed to get any orders “for a very long period of time,” Wang Jinlian, secretary general of the China Association of National Shipbuilding Industry, said in an interview yesterday. They may end operations in three to five years if the “gloomy market persists.” The nation has more than 1,600 shipyards.

Investors Pull Back From Chinese Stocks, Yuan – WSJ.com Global fund managers have yanked money out of Chinese stocks for sixteen of the last 18 weeks, including a net $834 million during a five-day period ending June 5. That was the largest outflow since January 2008, when the financial crisis was getting underway, according to data provider EPFR. The gloomy mood is also spilling over into the currency market. Investors are raising their bets the yuan will fall, clashing with efforts by the central bank to keep it strong.

Goldman Slashes Target for China Stocks–CNBC The U.S. investment bank, which sees “no rainbow” ahead for mainland equities, cut its 2013 target for the China Security Index (CS1) 300 by 15 percent to 2,380 from 2,800. The new target represents 8 percent upside over the next six months.

Premier Li: Unleash and Activate “Revenue Stock” for Investment Expansion-Caijing Chinese premier Li Keqiang said yesterday the government should activate, or “panhuo” as he put it, of revenue stock after he repeatedly urged for better use of money stock in June in a fresh policy action separating him from the previous leaders. “Currently we need to further panhuo the existing stock of revenue, make good use of idle fiscal cash, and channel the limited money into major sectors and key links which would help stabilize growth, restructure the economy and improve livelihoods,” Li told a State Council meeting he chaired on Wednesday.

Audit rotation in China | China Accounting Blog | Paul Gillis The Wall Street Journal printed an op/ed about the auditing of China’s big banks. The op/ed makes a number of misleading or incorrect statements about what is going on with the auditing of China’s big banks.

Carl Walter and Fraser Howie: Beijing’s Financial ‘Reform’ that Wasn’t – WSJ.com

Get Ready For The Next China–Stephen Roach With China’s new leadership embracing a very different approach to policy and politics, it has little choice other than to move ahead aggressively in implementing its consumer-led rebalancing.  The United States needs to take that possibility as a given as it frames its approach to the upcoming dialogue with China. This raises four key issues:

China pushes to make renminbi freely tradable – FT.com At a Chinese central bank conference earlier this year, whose proceedings were previously unreported, Guan Tao, a director-general in the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and an architect of China’s exchange rate reform, said Beijing should follow a two-step process to loosen constraints on its currency…

Chinese property buyers switch from Hong Kong to Thailand, the US and London | beyondbrics Sansiri, a Thai property developer, launched a road show last month in a luxury Hong Kong hotel for a beach apartment project in Phuket, with flat prices ranging from HK$1.75m to $13.24m. “We see the trend of Chinese buying overseas property,” Apichart Chutrakul, CEO of Sansiri said, “2.7m Chinese tourists visited Thailand last year, and it will be much more this year. Hopefully some affluent Chinese will buy a flat here in Phuket, just like many Hong Kongers did.”

China, Australia and a hard landing | FT Alphaville Kevin Rudd 2.0 has been quick to highlight the dangers posed by slowing Chinese growth since he was returned as Australia’s prime minister. For example:

Time for a Transformation – Caixin Zong Qinghou built Hangzhou Wahaha Group into a beverage giant, and now he has his sights set on conquering the retail sector… The following are excerpts of a conversation Zong had with Caixin.

 

POLITICS AND LAW

Chinese courts ordered to hand down harsh punishments – Xinhua | English.news.cn The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) on Thursday urged courts at all levels to severely punish serious crimes to make the public feel safer. Zhou Qiang, the SPC president, told presidents of higher courts across the country at a symposium held here, that harsh punishments should be handed down to those committing the crime of jeopardizing state security, and other felonies, including homicide, robbery, offences involving explosions and mafia gang crimes. People who spread fabricated information that causes panic and those who violate the lawful rights and interests of juveniles should also be penalized severely

最高人民法院院长:让有理无钱的人打得起官司_网易新闻中心 周强在当天召开的全国高级法院院长座谈会上作以上表述。他强调，坚守防止冤假错案底线，增强人民群众对法治建设的信心。 在谈到“狠抓公正司法”时，周强说，最高人民法院高度重视加强公正司法、提升司法公信力，就坚持依法独立公正审判、尊重和保障律师权利、健全预防和纠正冤假错案机制等进行研究部署，各级法院进一步提高审判质量和效率，充分发挥审判职能作用。

Big Move? China’s Highest Court Flirts With Transparency – China Real Time Report – WSJ Legal scholars are divided over the significance of the database in a country where courts are dominated by the ruling party, and where legal decisions are often cloaked in secrecy.

人民日报- 买买提江·尼买尔在“6·26”暴恐事件中遇害，家人至今难以走出阴影 鲁克沁小镇在倾诉 People’s Daily on the scene of the 6.26 violence in Xinjiang. One police man shot attackers until he ran out of bullets then leapt out of a window to safety //  走进镇派出所，两边的树叶呈焦黄色。三层办公楼一直到顶烧得焦黑，墙面上血迹斑斑。室内的铝合金柜子上，留着长长的刀痕。已经脱离了危险、还在医院接受治疗的镇派出所所长李常青介绍：当时院子里停放的3辆警车全被点燃。歹徒冲进值班室，他打光子弹，击毙多名歹徒，从二楼窗户跳了下来。

China enhances protection of martyrs’ memorials – Xinhua | English.news.cn Ministry figures show that China has 25,000 memorial facilities and 4,151 martyr memorial protection units across the country. More than 1.4 million martyrs are buried in memorial cemeteries nationwide.

Beijing steps up centralisation of power to control provincial leaders | South China Morning Post “It is much easier for senior officials from Beijing to understand the central government’s policies. They will also benefit from their connections in Beijing when they need help in realising the top leaders’ ideas.” During the administration of former premier Wen Jiabao , the authority of the central government had been so weak that even “the officials outside Wen’s office in Zhongnanhai wouldn’t listen to him”, analysts said.

我国城市规模划定标准将重设–打破行政等级，增加特大城市认定，许多小城镇将变成“市”– 新华社——经济参考网 《经济参考报》记者独家获悉，目前正在广泛征求意见并抓紧修改完善的“国家中长期新型城镇化规划”对城市规模划定标准进行了重新设定。未来我国城市规模划分将打破行政等级限制，根据城市所具备的承载力，人口集聚能力等方面进行认定。

新媒体不是谣言集散地（新媒观察）–传媒–人民网 应当加大对谣言打击的力度，用法律和规则来治理互联网上的谣言，净化网络空间的环境。同时，也不应一棒子否定新媒体在推动信息公开、化解社会危机、促进阶层互动中的作用

吉林致121死大火11名公职人员涉玩忽职守罪被查_网易新闻中心 11 officials under investigation in wake of Jilin fire that killed 121

 

FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS

Rivals play down China’s overture in S.China Sea, no breakthrough | Reuters Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario walked into a regional security forum this week to hear his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi reel off a list of complaints against Manila for stirring tensions over the South China Sea. Del Rosario was not scheduled to speak, but after hearing Wang’s speech at Sunday’s closed-door meeting in the kingdom of Brunei, he raised his hand and proceeded to rebut China’s allegations one by one, according to Philippine diplomats. The Singapore foreign minister called it “testy exchanges”.

The Chosun Ilbo – China to Send Senior Official to N.Korean Armistice Celebrations China is to send a high-ranking government official to North Korea around the time of the 60th anniversary of the armistice that halted the Korean War on July 27, a diplomatic source in Beijing said Wednesday. Senior North Korean official Kim Song-nam went to China on Tuesday and met with officials from the Chinese Communist Party’s International Department.

Naval vessels seen during Sino-Russian joint naval drills – Xinhua Photos

Military academies, universities to jointly train pilots – Xinhua | English.news.cn A joint pilot training program allowing high school graduates to study in both military academies and universities has been approved by the Central Military Commission (CMC) and President Xi Jinping. The first batch of 87 would-be pilots will be trained by military academies and Peking University, Tsinghua University and Beihang University, according to a statement jointly issued by the Ministry of Education, the General Staff Headquarters and the General Political Department of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

Tokyo monitors Chinese fleet – People’s Daily Online A Chinese fleet passed through the strategic Tsushima Strait into the Sea of Japan on Wednesday and will join Russia’s Pacific fleet this week for China’s largest-ever naval drill with a foreign partner. In response to the movement by the Chinese fleet on the high seas between Japan and South Korea, Japan’s Self-Defense Forces sent P-3C surveillance aircraft and a Shimakaze missile destroyer to watch the fleet and later released photographs of the warships, media reported.

China and Canada to form pact|Asia-Pacific|chinadaily.com.cn Canada and China will take a tougher approach to crack down on transnational crimes, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird told China Daily on Thursday. The two countries concluded negotiations on a deal called the Agreement of Sharing of Forfeited Assets and the Return of Property before Baird wrapped up his two-day visit to Beijing.

Few Roads Leading to China Tell a Tale of Mongolia’s Trad – Bloomberg A week-long reporting swing through boomtowns and border crossings and interviews with dozens of Mongolians from coal moguls to dairy herders shows a nation torn — between the lure of prosperity and feared degradations of development; between traditional ways and a booming economy that threatens to change Mongolia’s cultural face; and, not least, between distrust of and a need for China, its biggest trading partner.

India should not ‘stir up’ border trouble, says PLA General ahead of Antony visit – The Hindu On the day Defence Minister A.K. Antony arrived in China on a three-day visit, a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Major General warned India to not “provoke new problems” and “stir up” trouble through its plans to increase deployments along the border. Major General Luo Yuan, a military scholar of the PLA’s Academy of Military Sciences who is known in China for his particularly hawkish views, told reporters on Thursday “it is up to India to not stir up new trouble” as Mr. Antony begins the visit aimed at boosting strategic trust.

Asia’s Great Game of Ports | Via Meadia China is attempting to hijack India’s port development project in Chabahar, Iran. It’s a sign that the two largest economies in Asia are gearing up for a global battle over commercial harbors. India announced in May that it would fund a $100 million upgrade of the Iranian port, but yesterday the Indian Express reported that China offered Iran just under $80 million in an attempt to yank it out of India’s hands. The Indian government is considering setting up a multi-ministerial task force to make sure China can’t elbow its way in.

Jiaolong discovers iron-manganese deposits in South China Sea – Xinhua | This photo taken by China’s manned submersible Jiaolong on July 3, 2013 shows iron-manganese deposits in South China Sea. Extensive iron-manganese deposits were discovered by Jiaolong here on July 3

[Column] Government twists language after summit with China : National : Hankyoreh When one views the joint statement from South Korea and China or the comments by Chinese leaders, it appears that the Chinese government was trying to avoid putting direct pressure on Pyongyang in consideration of its bilateral relations. Nevertheless, the Blue House openly stated on two occasions that China agreed that North Korean nuclear weapons would not be tolerated. This is what arouses suspicions that the government “massaged” the language to inflate the results of Park’s trip to China.

棱镜门成国产软件发展契机:产品可替代成关键 |软件|国产|企业_业界_新浪科技_新浪网 On how the Snowden revelations may spur faster adoption of Chinese software, for security reasons // 一些业内人士认为，从“棱镜”计划来看，美国情报部门之所以方便获取数据，根本在于美国企业生产的服务器、数据库、路由器等软件和设备在全球范围内的广泛使用。　“棱镜”计划的曝光让信息监视的问题公开化，在这样的情况之下，如何保证信息安全已经成为企业和政府必须考虑的问题…据业内人士透露，在棱镜计划曝光之后，部分国有企业和政府机构已经开始在一些涉及核心信息业务上的基础设施方面替换国外产品。

CPC official urges global cooperation against cyber crimes, faster steps on norms – Xinhua | English.news.cn The international community should work together to combat cyber crimes and move faster on information security regulations, a senior Chinese official said Thursday. Meng Jianzhu, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in a keynote speech at an international meeting of high-ranking security officials in Vladivostok

A Conversation on the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue | Brookings Institution In advance of the fifth meeting of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue next week, Brookings scholars Kenneth Lieberthal and Eswar Prasad discuss U.S.-China relations and the top agenda items both sides. Topics covered include: cybersecurity, the U.S.-China economic and investment relationship, North Korea, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, maritime issues and the South China Sea, and China’s currency and exchange rate.

中国海监船激烈对峙美国间谍船画面[图集]_军事_多维新闻网 Duowei pictures of what it claims is a standoff between china maritime surveillance vessel and US spy ship// 近日，一段中国海监5001号船与美国海军“无瑕”号音响测量船在中国东海相遇时的录像资料在网络上曝光。中国海监5001船用无线电对美方船只进行了警告。

Israel and China: The ‘Odd Couple’ Trading Partners Tighten Their Ties – Knowledge@Wharton Why does China, an industrial powerhouse with a population of 1.35 billion, care about tiny Israel, with its population of only eight million? What are the economic and strategic foundations of this bilateral relationship, and why is it so significant for Israel as well? What strategies are the Israeli government and private sector using to expand their presence — and their country brand — in China? And what are the challenges for achieving their goals?

 

HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN

Cinematographer, director face charges in Taiwan[1]|chinadaily.com.cn A mainland cinematographer and a Taiwan film director may face criminal charges after they boarded a naval vessel in Taiwan without consent from the island’s military authorities. Director Doze Niu and award-winning cinematographer Cao Yu are accused of violating a law that bans people from the mainland from entering military facilities in Taiwan

 

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TECH AND MEDIA

360“棱镜门”：互联网信息安全“问题样本” | 每经网 National Business Daily accuses Qihoo of vilating user privacy, having its own “Prism-gate”. Zhou Hongyi, Qihoo CEO, says company will push for criminal charges // 用户的资金数据、各项期货操作数据被曝光。作为受害者的期货操作当事人，在此之前毫不知情。这暴露出360在用户隐私信息获取方面，已经突破了道德和法律的底线。

每经网专题: 360“棱镜门”：互联网信息安全“问题样本” – 专题 | 每经网

CNZZ: Qihoo 360, Sogou Increase Search Traffic Shares in June | Marbridge Consulting – China Internet News Chinese internet company Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) captured 69.37% and 65.74% of China’s June online search engine market in terms of page views (PVs) and unique visits (UVs), respectively, down from 71.14% and 67.55% in May, according to Alibaba Group’s third-party web analytics subsidiary CNZZ. Rival Qihoo 360 (NYSE:QIHU) garnered 15.26% and 16.58% of June PVs and UVs, respectively, up from 14.13% and 15.18%, respectively, in May. Chinese internet firm Sohu’s (Nasdaq: SOHU) online search subsidiary Sogou captured 8.83% and 9.27% of June PVs and UVs, respectively, up from 7.87% and 8.48%, respectively, in May.

“Tiny Times” turns up the heat on summer screens – Xinhua | English.news.cn have not seen it // The first film from Guo Jingming, an author-turned-director who just celebrated his 30th birthday in June, is an adaptation of the first installation of his literary trilogy of the same name. As of Wednesday, the film had taken in almost 350 million yuan (57 million U.S. dollars) since it premiered on June 27, besting “Man of Steel” to take the top spot at the box office. The film revolves around the love lives and budding careers of four female college students in Shanghai who study in a palatial college and reside in dorm rooms decked out in expensive, luxury items.

Cai Emerges as Chinese Billionaire With Touchscreen Glass – Bloomberg Shenzhen O-film Tech Co. Chairman Cai Rongjun has become a billionaire after shares in the Chinese touchscreen glass-panel maker soared almost 178 percent this year on higher demand for tablet computers.

China white-box vendor introduces ultra-thin smartphone China-based white-box smartphone vendor UMeox Mobile has joined the world’s ultra-thin smartphone market by introducing its UMeox X5, which has a thickness of only 5.6mm. The Umeox X5 is equipped with a 5.3-inch touchscreen and is powered by a dual-core processor set on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. It has an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 3-megapixel front camera.

Top China Mobile App, Tencent’s WeChat, Racks Up 70 Million Users Abroad – China Real Time Report – WSJ no wonder western apps like Path have started to copy wechat features // Speaking at a developer conference in Beijing on Wednesday, Mr. Lau said that WeChat – a talk-and-text app that has remade the Chinese mobile landscape – now has 70 million registered users outside of China, a jump of 30 million users in roughly three months.

Chinese Video Sites Embrace British TV Invasion – China Real Time Report – WSJComparing levels of discussion on different social media sites, a recent study from entertainment research company Entgroup (in Chinese) found that British dramas were catching on among China’s wealthy and well-educated youth. While virtually unknown on the Chinese Internet a few years ago, British dramas now account for more than 9% of foreign TV discussion across Chinese social media sites, compared to around 28% for Korean soap operas, according to the study.

Court in China Convicts Online “Malicious Feedback” Blackmailers | Alizila The Hangzhou Shangcheng District People’s Court delivered a landmark verdict against a growing class of criminals in China called “malicious feedback agents” on July 3, 2013. The Court found 11 men and one woman guilty of extorting money from online merchants on Taobao Marketplace, among other sites, by threatening to post neutral to negative buyer ratings.

北京属地重点网站就保护公民个人隐私作出公开承诺 – 新闻中心 – 新华网　7月3日，北京市互联网信息办公室召开属地重点网站“保护公民个人隐私”座谈会。邀请了全国人大法工委相关负责人解读《全国人大常委会关于加强网络信息保护的决定》。会上，北京市属地重点网站就保护公民个人隐私作出公开承诺。

China smartphone vendors to foray into tablet segment China-based smartphone vendors, including Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo and Xiaomi Technology, all will step up their efforts to penetrate the tablet market, according to industry sources.

The iWatch’s biggest enemy: Existing Chinese trademarks | South China Morning Post Before Apple sets the tech world ablaze with their latest gadget, trademarked the “iWatch”, they may have to first contend with a series of similarly-named Chinese trademarks that beat them to the punch. The name “iWatch” was already registered with the China Trademark Office by nine different companies prior to Apple’s registration, The Beijing News reported.

Central Bank Raises the Red Flag over P2P Lending Risks – Caixin A recent report by the central bank about peer-to-peer (P2P) lending websites in China has shed light on some severe problems in the business for which there is, as yet, little regulation. The original idea for P2P lending websites was that they were only a platform to match people with spare cash and those who need to borrow money. A typical transaction could see someone with cash to spare lend 5,000 yuan to a young couple wanting to decorate their new home. The attraction for lenders is that expected rates of return are mostly above 10 percent and some exceed 20 percent. In contrast, the annual interest rate on a one-year term deposit at banks is 3.25 percent.

 

SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY

曝中国十大城市生育成本排行榜 北京276万居首_网易新闻中心 the ten most expensive Chinese cities in which to raise a child. Beijing tops // 在西安养育一个孩子要花费多少钱呢？最近，一个名为“中国十大城市生育成本排行榜”的微博在网上热传。这个排行榜显示，西安市的生育成本是142.5万元，排在全国第九位。以家庭年收入12万元计算，需要夫妻双方不吃不喝工作11.88年。这个结果让很多网友“震撼”、“惶恐了”。不过，更令人倍感压力的还是北京、上海等城市，“榜单”称生活在这些城市的家庭养育一个孩子要花费200多万元，需要夫妻二人不吃不喝工作20年以上

China’s Visit-the-Parents Law Also Affects City Buildings – Bloomberg China will accelerate development of standards for functions and designs that accommodate the elderly in buildings and public facilities to comply with the same new law under which people can be forced to visit their parents. China’s revised and broadened Law for the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly includes a chapter aimed at ensuring comfortable living environments, the official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

Camacho to receive large compensation – Xinhua | English.news.cn China Football Association (CFA) decided to terminate its contract with national soccer head coach Camacho June 22 after an embarrassing 1-5 loss to Thailand in a friendly match that outraged Chinese soccer fans and the general public alike. The former Spanish and Real Madrid head coach will be compensated 6.45 million euro (US$8.36 million ), a year-and-a-half’s salary.

Fighting Communism, One Athlete at a Time – NYTimes.com As China has embraced opening up and reform, individual — not collective — will is becoming the order of the day. Li is openly critical of the notion that Chinese athletes should work for the nation rather than themselves. Last week she was asked whether she felt pressure to win at Wimbledon. “Why should I carry for whole country. I mean, I’m only tennis athlete,” she answered. “I try as best as I can on court.”

China’s Communist Party paper blasts ‘capricious’ top athletes | South China Morning Post The People’s Daily has started a heated debate about whether Chinese athletes represent the nation after criticising tennis player Li Na and world-record-holding swimmer Sun Yang for being “overly prima donna-ish”. “Who can restrain this terrible capriciousness?”, the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party wrote on Monday.

佛山沐足女：这几天店里正在培训“打飞机” – 新闻中心 – 今视网 – 江西省新闻视频门户 江西省重点新闻网站 江西省广播电视台主办　顺德杏坛一沐足店为招徕生意，从7月1日起在某些保健项目上增加“打飞机”、“大腿推”等服务，多名技师指其“逼良为娼”。昨日南都记者暗访该店，一位负责培训的技师证实已有了色情服务。 联系到日前爆出的“打飞机”是否属于卖淫争议，有律师提醒，一些休闲业经营者不可因刑法未入罪就对该类“擦边球行为”心存侥幸。

Gaokao whiz evinces changing views – People’s Daily Online Huang Yiqing has become an Internet celebrity, not because he earned the top science score in the college entrance exam in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, but for what he subsequently wrote on Renren, a Chinese website similar to Facebook. After learning his score for this year’s gaokao, or college entrance exam, Huang wrote, “I have received praise from people all over the city, but I can’t win your love,” on June 26, suggesting he had been turned down by the girl he loves.

 

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH

China Probes 60 Drugmakers to Keep Health Expenses in Check – Bloomberg China’s top economic planning agency is investigating the costs and prices of drugmakers including GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK), Merck & Co., Novartis AG (NOVN) and Baxter International Inc. (BAX) to improve the pricing system for medicines. The National Development and Reform Commission will examine 27 companies for costs and 33 for pricing, according to a July 2 statement posted on the commission’s Evaluation Center of Drug Pricing. The investigation is being done so that drug prices can be adjusted in a more timely fashion, it said.

Coal: As China’s demand for coal soars, so does its water scarcity — Energy and Environment Daily By many measures, this northern Chinese city is an ideal candidate for being China’s Wyoming. It has more brown coal reserves than any other Chinese region, and it is only 600 kilometers away from power-hungry Beijing. The sparsely populated landscape here provides enough space for new coal mines and downstream businesses. There’s just one problem: The coal industry consumes huge amounts of water, while this land is one of China’s driest. Informal ads offering well-drilling services hang everywhere outside of Xilinhot’s coal fields, signaling how pressing the conflict is.

New Flashpoint For Chinese Food Consumers: G.M. Soy | Tea Leaf Nation Chinese netizens and media outlets alike are voicing serious skepticism at the recent decision to allow the importation of additional GM soybeans, adding further controversy to an already controversial Chinese food system. Some experts are even telling Chinese media that children, adults of childbearing age, and pregnant women should not eat genetically modified foods to avoid the health risks. Others are publishing point-by-point articles on the downsides of GM foods and the threats to human health and the environment. Chinese consumers are reporting on Sina Weibo that they are changing their buying habits as a result.

Largest-ever algae bloom hits China’s shores–AFP China’s coast has been hit by a massive algae growth, officials say, with vast waves of green washing onto the shores of the Yellow Sea. Pictures on Thursday showed beachgoers swimming and playing in the green tide in the eastern city of Qingdao, while bulldozers shovelled up tonnes of algae from the sand

 

BEIJING

Capital’s Taxi-Hailing App Firms Told to Work with Official Dispatchers – Caixin The government of the capital city said the move is aimed at better regulating the market and making it easier for people to get a taxi during rush hour and in bad weather. However, Zhao Zhanling, a legal adviser at the Internet Society of China, said the government was interfering, and the decision would slow the app companies’ development.

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