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The mystery of Lou Jiwei’s 7% GDP comment continues. Xinhua has now changed the text of the original English story to say “there is no doubt that China can achieve this year’s growth target of 7.5 percent.” Here is a screenshot of the original version in which he said:

China’s expected GDP growth rate this year is seven percent. In the first quarter the growth rate was 7.7 percent, and the rate in the first half of this year will be slightly lower than 7.7 percent. There is no doubt that China can achieve the growth target, though the seven-percent goal should not be considered as the bottom line.

Bloomberg apparently heard the comments and reported on them in China Can Endure Growth Slowdown to 6.5%, Finance Chief Says, making it hard for Xinhua to unilaterally change what he said.

Interestingly, a Chinese version of the story (screenshot) still has the 7% comment:

楼继伟指出，2013年中国经济预期增长7%，截至目前，一季度的增长率是7.7%，二季度的增长率将稍后公布，估计比7.7%低一点，但不会低太多，因此，中国经济“实现今年的增长预期应该不会有多大问题”。

Lou is not known as someone who does not have a strong grasp of numbers and details, though maybe he did make a simple mistake. But we should also consider that internal expectations for GDP may have been lowered below the official 7.5% target. Perhaps he is aware of the GDP number due Monday and it is on the low side and this is a way of preparing the markets. Regardless, the leadership seems to be making it clear that there is not some magic GDP number below which they expect significant social stability problems.

Lou also said:

“I want to emphasize that the structural economic adjustment is a painful process…It won’t be possible to enjoy a comfortable life and a rapid growth rate with the structural adjustment.” [“有一点我要提醒大家，结构调整是痛苦的事，想要非常舒服、保持非常高的增长，对于结构调整是不可能的.”]

Lots of people are hoping for a new round of stimulus (温和刺激”还靠投资 铁路、棚改或成重点-第一财经日报), be it railroad and road building, slum renovation, water and environmental projects or the urbanization “holy grail”. Given the Mass Line campaign and Xi’s frequent references to Mao (see today’s Essential Eight), perhaps if Beijing starts saying “structural adjustment is not a dinner party” then we will know the leadership is serious about holding the line this time?

I have been overwhelmed by the response to my call for interns to help with the “Tech & Media” and “Energy, Environment, Science & Health” sections, to the point where I can not reply to everyone. The internships are unpaid given the current Sinocism business model, though if that changes I would be happy to provide compensation. If you are still interested, please submit by Friday, July 19 a list of 3-5 daily items that you have compiled during the week that you think are relevant and important. Some should be from Chinese media with a 1-2 sentence English summary, in the format of the newsletter entries. I am looking for help in discovering new content so pulling from mainstream Western media is not desired.

Today’s Links:

THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT

U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue [91!!] Outcomes of the Strategic Track The two sides held in-depth discussions on major bilateral, regional, and global issues and recommitted to the S&ED’s role in deepening strategic trust and expanding practical cooperation to build a new model of relations between the United States and China. The dialogue on the Strategic Track produced the following specific outcomes and areas for further cooperation. The United States and China:

Related: 人民日报-第五轮中美战略与经济对话框架下战略对话具体成果清单 教育实践活动已经开始，中央有明确的要求，群众有很高的期待。各级领导干部务必警醒起来、行动起来，在解决“四风”问题上树立标杆，在密切联系群众上作出示范。我们深信，各级领导特别是主要领导干部带头，把工作做实、做深、做细，我们就能推动教育实践活动扎实深入、善始善终，取得实实在在的成效。

Related: 人民日报-第五轮中美战略与经济对话框架下战略对话具体成果清单 People’s Daily with list of concrete results from S&ED

Related: Commentary: Key dialogue one step further in redefining China-U.S. ties – Xinhua With crucial consensus reached on climate change, energy and investment, China and the United States have wrapped up their annual pivotal dialogue in Washington, taking a further step toward fostering a new-type relationship between the world’s major countries. The forum has become a diplomatic routine in bilateral ties since 2009, but this year’s talks carried a number of new meanings.

Related: An Investment Treaty with China: Don’t Hold Your Breath–Derek Scissors–Heritage Foundation The U.S. and China yesterday announced that they are restarting talks on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT). Given China’s track record, it’s not clear that a BIT is a useful step now or in the near future. It may be a good thing, then, that one is not likely to be completed and put in effect for several years.

Related: 汪洋会见奥巴马转达习近平重要口信_资讯频道_凤凰网 汪洋转达了习近平主席致奥巴马总统的口信。习近平在口信中积极评价第五轮中美战略与经济对话的成果，表示下阶段双方应该牢牢把握两国元首会晤时确定的方向，积极拓展双边、地区、全球层面的合作，妥善处理关乎双方切身利益的敏感问题，在相互尊重、合作共赢的基础上，全面推动两国关系向前发展。

Xi urges China to keep red – Xinhua  He was speaking during a two-day inspection tour of north China’s Hebei Province, which concluded on Friday. During the trip, Xi visited Xibaipo, an old revolutionary base, where the CPC leadership were based from May 1948 to early 1949 to draw the blueprint of the new country and prepare for the CPC’s new role as the ruling party. Late Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s remarks on Party members’ work styles prior to the founding of New China in 1949 still have far-reaching ideological and historical significance, he said. At an important meeting of the CPC in March 1949, Mao called on the whole Party to resolutely carry forward the work style of displaying modesty and prudence while guarding against conceit and impetuosity, and resolutely carry forward the style of working hard and plain living. Xi said the comments bear lessons learnt from thousands of years of Chinese history, a summary of the process of the CPC’s growth, and profound thoughts on keeping the Party’s advanced nature and purity as well as on maintaining the prolonged stability of an upcoming state power.

Related: [视频]习近平在调研指导河北省党的群众路线教育实践活动时强调 充分调动干部和群众积极性 保证教育实践活动善做善成_新闻频道_央视网 First 9 minutes of Friday CCTV Evening News on Xi’s two-day inspection tour of Hebei Province, including to Xibaopo (starts at 2:50)

Related: 人民日报-习近平在调研指导河北省党的群众路线教育实践活动时强调 充分调动干部和群众积极性 保证教育实践活动善做善成

Related: Xibaipo–Chinese Posters Xibaipo (西柏坡) is a village located 80 km. northwest of Shijazhuang, Hebei Province. Here the CCP established its base between 1947-1948 after moving out of Yan’an. From Xibaipo, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De led the military struggle against the Guomindang (Kuomintang).

Related: CPC’s “mass line” campaign not a short-term movement – Xinhua | English.news.cn Experts said the “mass line” education campaign recently launched by the Communist Party of China (CPC) will not be a short-term movement, but a long-term effort to strengthen ties between the Party and the people. On June 18, the Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee held a meeting concerning the campaign, saying that it will act as a “thorough cleanup” of undesirable work styles such as formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance.

Related: Appraising Xi Jinping’s Politicking | The Jamestown Foundation–Peter Mattis Given how centralized Xi’s power appears, it may be more accurate to say that Xi—rather than trying to please everyone—is trying to seal off the avenues by which he can be attacked. The mass line protects against the leftists, such as those who supported the ousted Bo Xilai’s “Chongqing Model.” Xi also has put substantial effort into meeting with the People’s Liberation Army, which traditionally has been an important base of support (“Commander-in-Chief Xi Jinping Raises the Bar on PLA ‘Combat Readiness’,” China Brief, January 18). If Xi’s politicking has been as strong as it appears from the outside, then the biggest questions involve the next steps. What will a secure Xi do with his power? Will he succeed where others failed on economic reforms?

中央编译副局长俞可平:推进民主并不必然导致秩序失控_网易新闻中心 Yu Keping: promoting democracy will not necessarily lead to social order going out of control // “民主是个好东西”，指的就是民主能够造福于民。民主要造福于民，其中一个前提就是社会秩序不能失控，不能给人民带来痛苦。要是民主导致国家动乱，民不聊生，腐败风行，谁还要民主？反民主的人往往拿这个来吓人。事实上，更多的事实证明，推进民主并不必然导致秩序失控。相反，从长远看，惟有民主法治才能使国家长治久安。那么，如何在中国的现实条件下实现有序的民主？

Finance: Money for nothing – FT.com Over the past six months, analysts working for Argyle Street Management have been fanning out across China to visit local bank branches. Argyle, a Hong Kong-based hedge fund, wanted to know more about some of the products these banks were selling to their clients – in particular high-yielding wealth management products…Given the lack of disclosure, transparency and meaningful collateral, it appears to the analysts at Argyle and other hedge funds that the collapse of many of these products will leave the banks on the hook. That does not pose a huge risk for the large state-owned banks. But second-tier banks listed in Hong Kong or in mainland China, including China Merchants, China Minsheng Banking and tiny Huaxia, are vulnerable

Related: China Squeezes Shadow Banking as Li Grapples With Cooling Growth – Bloomberg Data for aggregate financing, the broadest measure of credit, showed new yuan loans played the biggest role since September 2011, with non-traditional sources of finance less prominent. M2 money supply rose 14 percent, down from 15.8 percent the previous month, People’s Bank of China numbers showed in Beijing yesterday. A central bank-engineered cash crunch last month helped squeeze speculative lending and rein in what Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao last week termed “prominent” shadow-banking risks. The danger for the government is that efforts to protect the financial system only worsen the nation’s slowdown after exports unexpectedly fell and manufacturing contracted…M2 growth has exceeded the government’s 2013 target of 13 percent every month, reaching a peak of 16.1 percent in April.

Related: China June M2 Growth Up 14Pct on Year; New Loans at CNY 860 Bln-Caijing Aggregate financing, known as total social financing in China, was 1.04 trillion yuan, down from 1.78 trillion yuan in June 2012…It is a surprising deviation from what we typically see in June, when commercial banks include off-balance-sheet assets in their financing reports at the mid-year, triggering a rise in money supply, said Everbright Securities analyst Zhong Zhengsheng.

U.S., Firms Draw a Bead on Chinese Cyberspies -WSJ- Yahoo! Finance In February, as Washington and Beijing heatedly traded accusations of cyberspying, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was also providing service providers with Internet addresses associated with a hacking group that U.S. officials linked to the Chinese military, officials said. The aim, they said, was to warn companies that traffic from those addresses could use the U.S. networks as gateways to attack U.S. computer networks. At the time, U.S. officials said they saw a temporary decline in infiltrations of U.S. companies from what they identified as the Chinese group. Many outside security experts attributed the drop to the Obama administration’s public shaming campaign against Chinese cyberattacks. But the cooperation with service providers was also responsible for the drop, current and former U.S. officials now say.

China’s blackout of U.S. media can no longer be ignored – The Washington Post OpEd by Jim Sciutto // First, at this week’s U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Washington has an opportunity to raise this as a violation of China’s trade commitments. Beijing has denied the New York Times and Bloomberg millions of dollars in revenue. Meanwhile, Chinese media — including the state-run China Daily, which is available on street corners across Washington — face no trade barriers in the United States. The effect on U.S. technology companies is even broader. By interfering with Google, for example, the government has helped funnel most of China’s 600 million Internet users to a homegrown search engine, Baidu. Second, the United States can execute a more reciprocal visa policy. Denying visas to Chinese journalists would undermine the U.S. commitment to a free press. The State Department could, however, make it more difficult for executives of Chinese state media to obtain visas for travel not related to news-gathering.

Related: In China, foreign correspondents see worsening conditions – Blog – Committee to Protect Journalists The FCCC’s annual survey, distributed by email this week, notes that that the past year “has seen unprecedented examples of investigative journalism by western reporters in China.” (A PDF of the survey is here.) But many correspondents report heightened tensions as well. Of the 98 respondents to the survey, 70 percent said that working conditions have worsened or stayed the same as compared to the previous year. The journalists’ list of complaints was telling

How an Airline Buyer’s Buddies Crashed, Burned – Caixin great tale // Eight years after Li Zeyuan bought an entire airline, earning the wings he still wears today as a legendary investor, the 60-year-old was breathing with an oxygen mask and fighting tears while pleading innocent in a Beijing courtroom. Li no longer controls Shenzhen Airlines, although he remains on staff as a generously paid senior consultant. He’s also a well-connected financier and ex-con who was in and out of prison before raising via questionable — officials say illegal — means  2.72 billion yuan to buy Shenzhen Airlines.

Benefits of the Sino-Russian Oil Deal Flow Both Ways – Caixin Russia gets a huge amount of cash and China gains a long-term supply, meaning the two countries’ recent agreement was a win-win

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

China Regulator Orders Banks to Register Wealth Management Products – WSJ.com China’s banking regulator has taken further steps to tighten its oversight of wealth management products by asking banks to register these products before selling them to the public, according to a document seen by The Wall Street Journal on Friday. The new rule would give the regulator increased information on these high-yield products, though it could slow the speed at which they come to market, a local banker who received the document said. The China Banking Regulatory Commission in the document recently asked Chinese commercial banks to provide detailed information of each wealth management product on a newly set up electronic platform 10 working days before they begin selling the product to the public.

银行理财产品登记系统上线 获唯一代码方可发售-财经网 7.3.13 按通知，银行业金融机构发行设计的理财产品实行全国统一的电子化报告和信息登记制度，总行应在理财产品销售前10个工作日，通过系统向银监会或属地银监局报告产品相关信息。

Foreign owner laws may stymie China’s US pork move – NBC News.com Decades-old laws barring foreign ownership of farmland in Iowa, Missouri and at least three other Midwest states may complicate Chinese company Shuanghui International’s $4.7 billion planned purchase of U.S. pork powerhouse Smithfield Foods…The statutes in question, some first adopted during the 1970s in response to fast-paced Japanese investment in U.S. real estate, restrict foreign businesses or governments from owning or controlling U.S. land used for livestock or crop production. The laws could provide Midwestern states legal recourse against the Smithfield deal.

Asia Is Reaching a Turning Point–Byron Wein Monthly Commentary The critical problem in Asia is tied, not surprisingly, to China.  While Chinese Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth was reported at 7.7% in the first quarter, although some have suggested that the underlying rate was less than that.  I have been watching electricity consumption carefully.  While this is a volatile indicator, it is hovering in low single digits, suggesting that momentum in China is slower than many believe.  Foreign direct investment was only up 1% in the first five months of 2013 compared to a year ago and it was down in 2012.  Several years ago China’s major problem was believed to be overbuilding of apartments and offices.  There were supposedly empty cities and a real estate collapse was widely predicted.  It didn’t happen and today a survey of prices for residential real estate in 100 major cities shows a clear uptrend.  The current major problem is non-performing loans at the country’s banks and so-called “shadow banks.”  This weakness in the financial system has been with us for some time, but the People’s Bank of China has been willing to provide the liquidity necessary to keep the banks functioning, even though a significant proportion of loans in the system might be in default.  Recently the banking authorities have decided to restrain what they believe to be irresponsible lending and this has raised further questions about whether the economy can grow at high single-digit-rates without easy credit.

US Launches Probes into Sany over Patent Infringement -Caijing The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has announced 337 probes into Sany Heavy Industry Co., China’s largest machinery maker, over allegations of patent infringement. The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Manitowoc Cranes, an American company which alleged the Chinese company violated the section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 by infringing its patents on certain crawler cranes and components, said the USITC Thursday on its website.

Interview: Author of ‘How Asia Works’–Lowy Interpreter The book How Asia Works is a bold assault on what we might call the neo-liberal consensus about what makes economies grow. You argue that protectionism and industry policy are actually important policy tools for countries at an early stage of development, and that Asian governments have adopted this model with varying degrees of success.

 

POLITICS AND LAW

Party campaigns: Masses of meetings | The Economist Economist skeptical of the mass line campaign // ON JULY 9th the Communist Party issued a new directive on President Xi Jinping’s campaign to clean up its act. Among the orders: “Avoid going through the motions”. Despite a blizzard of instructions in recent weeks calling on officials to get “closer to the masses”, the response has been perfunctory. Even one of the party’s own newspapers has hinted that Mr Xi’s efforts are on the wrong track.

Rectification Campaign to Boost Cadres with “Red DNA” | The Jamestown Foundation-Willy Lam–Given that the campaign will run for at least 12 months, it is premature to assess whether it will live up to the billing of winnowing out bad sheep who are responsible for the alarming deterioration of cadres’ morality and competence. It is significant, however, that, in the footsteps of the Great Helmsman, Xi is resorting to Cultural Revolution-era ideological and propaganda campaigns to change of mindset of cadres rather than establishing institutions such as universal-style checks and balances.

As Red Cross Probe Stumbles, Critics See Red – Caixin A special committee assigned to save the faltering reputation of China’s Red Cross has itself come under fire

China’s Wild West: A Cautionary Tale of Ethnic Conflict and Development | The Diplomat we suggest that the root cause of Uyghur unrest in Xinjiang is not terrorism, separatism, or even human rights abuses. Rather, it is an outgrowth of the state’s development efforts in the region, which are interrelated with China’s economic engagement of Central and South Asia. In this regard, the violence reflects a substantial and volatile local challenge to the almost unstoppable plans of the Chinese state to project its power westward. While these plans are already quickly transforming the geopolitical map of Central and South Asia, the recent street violence in Xinjiang and China’s strong response to it may hint at the nature of these changes and whether they are more likely to bring stability or conflict to the region.

Rare Protest in China Against Uranium Plant Draws Hundreds – NYTimes.com Participants said that as many as 1,000 residents “took a walk” through Jiangmen, a city less than 60 miles from Hong Kong, to express their opposition to the plant, which officials say could enrich enough nuclear fuel to provide roughly half of China’s atomic energy needs by 2020…The authorities apparently worked hard to head off the protest by deleting posts on Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, but some participants said they learned about it through WeChat, an increasingly popular walkie-talkie-like app that is harder to censor.

NIMBY Protest in Pearl River Delta — Will Government Relent, Again? – Tea Leaf Nation lots of pictures

党媒借苏军非党化败亡力挺中共党指挥枪_中国_多维新闻网【多维新闻】中共中央理论机关刊物《求是》旗下的《红旗文稿》13期抛出惊人“天命论”，与此同时，同一期的国际版的一篇文章，就军队是否“党化”表态称，苏联之所以解体是因为苏共放弃对军队的领导，也引发舆论广泛关注。而就在7月7日至8日中共中央军委召开的民主生活会上，习近平再次强调党指挥枪的重要性。因此，《红旗文稿》的文章无疑是在借苏联解体而力挺中共党指挥枪。

苏联军队“非党化”的历史悲剧_2013/13_求是理论网 Red Flag on how the Army’s “de-Partification” led of fall of Soviet Union // 1917年十月革命时期，近20万布尔什维克党员领导不足3万人的工人赤卫队和革命士兵，夺取政权，建立了社会主义国家；第二次世界大战时期，拥有200多万党员的苏共领导人民，战胜了德国法西斯；70多年后，拥有近2000万党员和530万军队（其中军官130万）的苏共却自我否定、自我缴械，丧失政权、亡党亡国。苏联解体后，美国中央情报局局长罗伯特·盖茨飞到莫斯科，他骄傲地在红场散步，并宣称：“我们知道，无论施加经济压力还是进行军备竞赛，甚至用武力也拿不下来。只能通过内部爆炸来毁灭它。”当年，苏共放弃对军队的领导，国家危急关头军队袖手旁观，最后瞬间苏联分崩离析，苏共土崩瓦解，教训深刻！…（作者：广州军区某集团军参谋长)

北京分类清理小产权房 专家称最好清理时机已过_城市_凤凰网 北京拉开了史上最大规模的小产权房整治工作。小产权房已经经历了不止一次的整治，在整治过程中存在的困难也愈发明显。 如何协调好各方面的利益，使小产权房整治工作有序进行，考验着管理层的智慧

Associated Press–Accused of rape, General’s son plays victim Li Tianyi, 17, the photogenic, baby-faced son of Li Shuangjiang, 72, a military singer who holds the rank of general, has become the newest target of popular anger over abuses of power by the country’s elite. “At the moment, public opinion is not on Li Tianyi and his family’s side,” said Zhan Jiang, a journalism professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University. “China’s public mood is this way when some wealthy or powerful people are involved and the opposing side is a weaker victim,” he said.

Thirty Glaxo Employees Under China House Arrest, Telegraph Says – Bloomberg Those detained include five or six executives, among them Glaxo’s legal counsel in China, who has been cut off from communication with the head office, the newspaper said, citing an unidentified person familiar with the situation. Glaxo isn’t commenting further on the investigation at this stage pending more information from Chinese authorities, the London-based company said in an e-mail today.

《打铁记》第七章：多数媒体自愿放弃报道刘铁男贪腐案_UGC精选 关于刘铁男贪腐案的禁令是在12月9日才下发的，这意味着多数媒体自愿弃权。一个拥有1900多种报纸和9900多份期刊的巨大市场，弃权比例未免太高了。

无处不在的“临时工” 导语:6月8日，浙江大学生魏煌向人社部申请公开全国“临时工”信息，在答复期限内，没有收到任何回应，7月4日，他提起了行政复议。其实，国内“临时工”的人数信息，一直以来没有得到过具体的统计，但根据信息世界里种种碎片化的数据，不难得出结论：政府部门里，“临时工”的数量十分庞大。

UGC精选 Netease is doing some excellent journalism on this site

 

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FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS

U.S. Negotiates Expanded Military Role in Philippines – NYTimes.com The United States is negotiating an agreement to allow it to position military equipment and rotating personnel in the Philippines while avoiding the controversial issue of re-establishing American bases in the country, according to officials from both countries.

Exploring the Significance of China’s Membership on the Arctic Council | The Jamestown Foundation In this context a paper by Tang Guoquiang for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs-administered China Institute of International Studies claims that unnamed “military experts” believe “that to dominate the Arctic is to control the commanding point [I assume the Chinese is 制高点]in the world military affairs” [3]. If that perspective accurately characterizes Chinese strategic thinking, the opportunity to participate in demarcating Arctic maritime and land boundaries is of considerable value to Beijing. The possibility for intensified strategic rivalries in the Arctic where China will either participate in the disputes or have to participate in attempting to adjudicate or resolve them should not be taken lightly.

 

TECH AND MEDIA

Alibaba Unveils Wall of Shame for Deadbeat Borrowers – China Real Time Report – WSJ Given the lack of transparency about nonperforming loans in China, in some ways the list could be seen as a gesture toward transparency. The list is also a reminder of how underdeveloped access to formal loans is for smaller businesses in China, where loans are typically extended only to the largest and most well-connected companies. As Alibaba increasingly pushes to extend financial services to its customers, who are a blend of under-banked and savvy serial entrepreneurs, it is in part forced to teach the ins and outs of the services it is providing.

马云谈拜访“气功大师”：对未知好奇是我的爱好(图)_科技频道_凤凰网 Jack Ma and Jet Li visit a qigong master, no word if he was given an auspicious date for the Alibaba IPO // 南都讯一组照片过去几天引发争议，内容是马云、李连杰等名人在江西芦溪县拜访一位叫王林的“气功大师”。马云昨日发微博称，对未知的探索、欣赏和好奇是他的爱好，“即便是魔幻术，挑战背后的奥秘也快乐无穷”。他还说，“人类很容易以有限的科学知识去自以为是地判断世界”，“过度的沉溺信仰和迷失信仰都是迷信”。

Wechat Joined Hands With China Telecom To Make Inroads into Rural ChinaChina Telecom Corporation Limited (HK:00728) is reportedly to roll out a 499 yuan contract, including a 3G handset preinstalled with WeChat (source in Chinese) . Targeted at rural areas, the contract features a 399 yuan E-surfing branded smartphone, 100 yuan prepaid fee and 20M data every month. China Telecom claims the monthly data offering means 20 thousand text messages, 400 photos or 360-minutes-long  voice messages through WeChat.

Fund Management Firms Seek to Emulate Yu E Bao’s Success – CaixinFund management companies are hurrying to establish their presence on Alibaba’s Internet platforms, after online shoppers showed great interest in Yu E Bao, a money market fund the e-commerce giant recently launched. Beijing-based Manulife Teda Fund Management Co. has started recruiting client service personnel for its planned virtual store on Taobao, Alibaba’s e-commerce website.

 

SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY

Women and the property market: Married to the mortgage | The Economist In choosing a husband, three-quarters of women consider his ability to provide a home, according to a recent survey of young people in China’s coastal cities by Horizon China, a Beijing-based market-research firm. Even if a woman herself dismisses this criterion, her family and friends, not to mention the country’s estate agents, will not let her forget it.

Third person dies in Asiana air crash: San Francisco hospital – Yahoo! News A Chinese girl died in hospital on Friday, becoming the third fatality in the crash of an Asiana Airlines jet at San Francisco airport last Saturday, doctors and Chinese officials said. The child, who died on Friday morning, had been in critical condition, according to a statement from two doctors at San Francisco General Hospital. The girl was a Chinese national, according to the Chinese consulate in San Francisco.

China’s failing footballers forced to attend ‘patriotism education’ classes – Telegraph Chinese football definitely needs rectification // One of China’s top football clubs has vowed to “crackdown on sloth” among its players with a slew of new measures including forcing underperforming stars to attend “patriotism education” classes.

Wimbledon Win Sparks Taiwan-China Controversy – Caixin The big news from the tennis world this weekend was not, of course, Andy Murray ending Britain’s 77-year wait for a Wimbledon champion, but China’s Peng Shuai teaming up with Hsieh Su-wei from Taiwan to win the women’s doubles title. Taiwanese media pointed out that President Ma Ying-jeou, Vice President Wu Den-yih, Premier Jiang Yi-huah and Minister of Education Chiang Wei-ling all sent Hsieh congratulatory telegrams

 

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH

China to Overhaul Environmental Law – Economic Observer Summary：Amendments to focus on improving information transparency and encouraging public participation. The new law will also standardize environmental impact assessments and make it easier for people to launch public interest lawsuits against polluters.

28%！珠三角率先公布土壤污染数据_政经频道_财新网 Caixin summary: Some 28 percent of soil in the Pearl River Delta is polluted by heavy metals, according to a report that the Guangdong land and resources bureau sent to the provincial people’s congress on July 10…Much of the polluted soil was marked as Level III pollution or worse, meaning it poses serious health hazards. Guangdong is the first province to release such data on soil pollution amid a public outcry.// 珠三角地区28%的土壤重金属超标，22.8%的土壤为三级和劣三级。佛山南海、江门新会、广州白云重金属超标土壤超过50%。广东全省土壤污染状况未公布

广州公布污染大户企业名单 石化发电企业成重灾区_资讯频道_凤凰网中新社广州7月12日电 (记者杨薇)记者12日从广州环保局了解到，该局11日晚在其官网上公布了67个污染大户企业名单，其中包括今年5月设备大修期间涉嫌违法行为被立案查处的中国石油化工股份有限公司广州分公司。

发改委时隔3个月回复发泡餐具解禁 被指含混不清_网易新闻中心依据国家发改委公告，曾被称为“白色污染”的发泡餐具已于今年5月1日正式解禁，然而市场上对于解禁的质疑仍持续不断。上海律师严义明于3月26日向发改委申请公开发泡餐具解禁政府决策的过程及信息依据等，昨天，严义明表示，发改委在三个月后终于给予回复，但是该回复仍然含糊不清。

The water challenge facing China’s coal and power sector is “inescapable” | Wai-Shin Chan – China Dialogue Many of China’s coal operations are water-inefficient and could constrain future growth, suggests Wai-Shin Chan of HSBC

 

JOBS AND EVENTS

Orville Schell and John Delury in Conversation with Evan Osnos – Wealth and Power: China’s Long March to the Twenty-first Century | Politics & Prose Bookstore Jul 17, 2013, 7 p.m. , DC

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