"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner
Today’s Links:
THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT
Xi Says China’s Slower Economic Growth Is Result of Adjustment – Bloomberg China would “rather bring down the growth rate to a certain extent in order to solve the fundamental problems” hindering long-run development, Xi said in an interview yesterday with media outlets from Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, according to a transcript distributed by the official Xinhua News Agency. // Full text: President Xi’s joint written interview with media from Turkmenistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan – Xinhua
Related: China has a choice – short-term growth or sustainability – FT.com Pettis–Beijing faces a difficult choice. It must choose between preventing growth from slowing further in the short term and speeding up the transition to a healthier economy over the medium term. How China responds to interest rate pressures over the next year will be an important indication of the political difficulties Premier Li faces.
Related: Li Confident China Will Achieve Year’s Economic Goals – Bloomberg “We are able to and have conditions to meet China’s major economic and social development tasks this year,” Li said. “We are also determined to lay a sound foundation for next year, for the future and for long-term sustainable and healthy economic development.”
Related: China Stocks Rise to 10-Week High on Li Confidence, Goldman View – Bloomberg China’s stocks rose to a 10-week high after Premier Li Keqiang said he’s confident the country will achieve this year’s economic goals and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its forecast for the nation’s expansion in 2013 // far cry from the depths of late June when the conventional wisdom seemed to be that collapse was imminent. Just deferred, or were the doomsayers overstating their case?
China Economic Watch | China’s Local Government Debt: Saving for a Rainy Day interesting note from the Peterson Institute…but how much of the local debt issued was stolen through corruption? has anyone done a an estimate of that amount? it can’t be small // Auditing local government debts is the very first step towards rebalancing local government fiscal positions. Local government debts may be as high as 40 to 60 percent of GDP, but remain manageable given sizable government assets and revenues. Short-term measures are needed to deleverage cities with large debts, while long-term measures are required to create a more sustainable local government fiscal environment. Resolving this issue provides an opportunity for the government to push forward much-needed structural reforms.
Related: 地方债审计冲刺 基层审计员加班到12点_财经频道_一财网 not fun to be a local debt auditor right now..working until midnight every night, audit should be done by end of September, presented to State Souncil in October…but if local governments won’t even obey Beijing’s mandate to put real estate data into a national database, why will they not hide as much debt as they can, especially when some of it is inextricably linked to corruption? // 《第一财经日报》由地方审计部门了解到，自8月1日开始的“十八大”后第一轮全国性地方债务审计，将于9月底收官
Related: 夏斌：强化监管协同 防控金融风险–国研视点–中国经济新闻网 Interview with the DRC’s Xia Bin, says results of local debt audit will be shocking, proposes package to deal with the problems…sounds likely a bailout coming for some, but will there also be accountability for those officials who oversaw the bad loans? like so many issues in China, you can’t mitigate the local debt problems without addressing the corruption // 夏斌：目前，审计署正在全国对地方债务进行新一轮的全面的、彻底的审计。所谓全面，这次审计范围已下延到乡级政府；所谓彻底，这次审计涉及政府各类融资活动包括BOT、租赁等都包括在内。我相信，10月底的审计结果肯定是惊人的，会有相当部分的债务已成为呆账坏账。 面对这种状况怎么办？对地方政府的债务，总体上应坚决执行国务院、金融管理部门的一系列严加控制的规定。这里想特别指出，要控制好地方债务的增长，从眼前看主要是3条，一是中央政府应“放话”，对继续明显违反规定、弄虚作假、纵容做假账进行融资活动的地方政府负责人和当事人，一定要“秋后算账”。二是要防止监管套利。“一行三会”等几个金融管理部门应切实负起共同的责任，加强监管协调，防止各算各的账，加总出现监管上有空子可钻。三是杜绝各金融机构的道德风险。要让金融机构重温《中华人民共和国担保法》，法律不承认各地方政府的担保行为。对于仍不顾风险，钻政策空子，最后造成严重损失的，也应追究其责任。
Minister sacked as China corruption probe widens – FT.com–Jamil Anderlini– One person with close ties to China’s security services said Mr Zhou was placed under house arrest last week but said it was possible he may ultimately not be charged with any crime. This person has done business with Mr Zhou’s son, Zhou Bin, and said the younger Mr Zhou left China recently and is now in the US.
Xi Jinping rallies party for propaganda war on internet | South China Morning Post going to keep saying this until I am blue in the face..this is consistent with what came out of the october 2011 6th Plenum of the 17th Party Congress. this should not be a surprise…// President Xi Jinping has issued a call to arms against the country’s unruly internet, ordering the Communist Party’s propaganda machine to build “a strong army” to “seize the ground of new media”. ..”The wording of his speech relayed in internal briefings is far stronger,” said a source. “The most impressive [point] is that Xi said the Communist Party should be combative, instead of being passive, and it should wage a war to win over public opinion. Xi also ordered the propaganda apparatus to form a strong internet army to seize the ground of new media,” he said.
Related: 打击违法无碍言论自由（人民论坛） 钟新文 《 人民日报 》 People’s Daily page 4: cracking down on lawbreaking [online] does not obstruct freedom of speech. // 鲁迅先生曾辛辣讽刺一些人的思维方式：一见短袖子，立刻想到白臂膊，立刻想到全裸体，进而一路联想到私生子。80多年过去了，这种“想象的跃进”，在我们身边还时不时地冒出来。最近，有网络大V涉嫌嫖娼和聚众淫乱被拘留，社会舆论一片哗然，人们普遍对警方依法处置表示认同。但也有个别人，总觉得这背后有“深意”，认为“不在于他嫖娼，而在于他是大V”，猜度抓嫖是“揪住别人的裤腰带以让他闭嘴”，为的是“杀鸡儆猴”。于是乎，在捕风捉影的想象中，一起普通治安事件，竟与“打击言论自由”挂起钩来。个中观点，值得深思。
Related: 把握好互联网这个“最大变量”（人民观点） ——创新我们的宣传思想工作之五 本报评论 page 5 commentary by people’s Daily Commentary team on properly grasping the Internet, “the biggest variable”…the 5th in a series of commentaries on innovation in propaganda work. this is the phrase getting the most attention online, and in the headlines of the piece on other news sites…but people should not get too excited that this signals a softening of current campaign…read the whole article, not about reducing control, just about being more sophisticated // 对谣言盛行、谬种流布当然要依法亮剑，但也不能因噎废食，把婴儿和洗澡水一起倒掉；遏制网络活力，同样有违中央精神和时代潮流。宣传思想工作的正道，在于化解负效应、激发正能量，善于把网络活力转化为社会进步的动力，而不是任其异化为阻力和破坏力。
Related: 牢牢掌握舆论工作主动权 李从军 《 人民日报 》 head of Xinhua news Agency Li Congjun in today’s people’s daily on firmly grasping the initiative in public opinion work…Can’t do that without seizing the commanding heights on the Internet, and especially Sina Weibo // 三、占领新兴舆论阵地是牢牢掌握舆论工作主动权的重中之重…四、增强国际话语权是牢牢掌握舆论工作主动权的重要方面
农地权益有望以市场化方式分配 新华社——经济参考网 more aggressive land reforms imminent? // “土地征收‘剪刀差’问题突出，尤其是土地被征用以后，巨大的增值收益没有多少真正落到农民腰包。”农业部部长韩长赋近日表示。 受国内城镇化进程的推动，关于农村集体用地流转、宅基地制度改革等问题一直是业内关注热点。业内专家认为，新一轮土地改革的核心是如何打破土地二元结构限制。 《经济参考报》记者获悉，国土部门目前已形成关于改革完善土地管理制度的框架建议，在完善改革土地制度过程中，与补偿相关的征地制度改革是最大难题。未来，在原有制度模式上，通过总结当前一些试点城市的经验，“农地”有望通过招拍挂等方式进行市场化流通，权益进行市场化分配。
Related: 集体建设用地流转试点未开闸 方案待定_政经频道_财新网 国土部相关人士表示，新的经营性集体建设用地使用权流转试点相关文件仍在走程序，征求意见待进一步完善，未下发至地方
Related: 国土部:尚未下发农地流转试点工作指导意见|国土部|试点|建设_新浪财经_新浪网 日前有媒体报道称，国土部已于6月下旬下发《关于开展农村集体经营性建设用地使用权流转试点工作的指导意见》。对此，谢晖称，经向国土部相关部门核实之后确认，国土部并未下发上述文件。不过，谢晖并未告知在国土部层面相关指导意见的具体进展. 这一信息也从湖北省国土资源厅得到回应。周二下午，湖北省国土厅相关处室负责人向大智慧通讯社透露，今年三四月份，国土部曾下发关于农村集体经营性建设用地使用权流转工作的通知，要求地方上报2-3个试点单位，但最后试点安排以及试点工作的指导意见，目前还没有接到正式的文件。
China ‘Catastrophe’ Hits 114 Million as Diabetes Spreads – Bloomberg The most comprehensive nationwide survey for diabetes ever conducted in China shows 11.6 percent of adults, or 114 million, has the disease. The finding, published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, adds 22 million diabetics, or the population of Australia, to a 2007 estimate and means almost one in three diabetes sufferers globally is in China.
When a Beijinger Owns 1,000 License Plate Numbers – Caixin Beijinger Wang Xiuxia should be in the Guinness World Records book for holding 1,000 license plate numbers, equivalent to 5 percent of new Beijing numbers issued monthly. She rented them out for profit. The case, exposed in late August, involves a number of legal and public policy questions worth analyzing. Wang’s rental business had two models of operation. Before a purchase limit was enacted by the Beijing city government in 2011, she rented identity cards to people from outside Beijing so they could register license plates. After the purchase limit came into effect – a limit that requires locals to enter a lottery system to get a plate – she rented out plates under her own name.
Xi and Abe Need to Talk-Carnegie-Tsinghua Center Paul Haenle always worth reading// China has demanded that Japan agree to establish a no-entry zone around the islands as a precondition to a high-level summit. This would entail implicit recognition that the facts surrounding sovereignty of these islands are in dispute, which Japan denies, and it would contradict Japan’s administrative control of the islands… In light of the Japanese government’s perceived restraint, conceding that a dispute exists would be difficult for Abe, especially without some sort of reciprocal move by China. So despite calling for talks and expressing openness to dialogue, Abe has criticized China for demanding these initial concessions and appears unwilling to give way…
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
China services sector grows steadily as government measures kick in | Reuters (Reuters) – China’s services sector grew steadily in August as domestic demand picked up, official data showed on Tuesday, adding to signs that government measures have started to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of its longest slowdown.
COLUMN-China PMI may not signal rising commodity demand: Clyde Russell | Reuters What the data show is that China’s commodity buying is more leveraged to price movements than industrial output growth, as the Chinese appear willing to use inventories and higher domestic output when prices for imports rise. A better indicator of likely import demand growth than the PMI may come from watching inventory cycles, the cost of domestic production for commodities with significant local output, and movements in international prices
Beijing weighing large fines against GlaxoSmithKline | South China Morning Post “We should learn from the practice of other countries in imposing astronomical fines,” the Ministry of Public Security said on its website yesterday. GSK paid the United States government US$3 billion last year to settle charges of illegal drug promotion, failure to report safety data and false price reporting. It was the biggest fine of a drug firm in US history.
In China, Veil Begins to Lift on High Consumer Prices – WSJ.com As China aims to build a more balanced economy that is consumption-driven, regulators have begun cracking down on companies they believe have unfairly swayed pricing in the market. Authorities recently fined five local jewelry retailers a combined 10.6 million yuan for price manipulation. And in August economic planners launched pricing investigations of the auto, pharmaceutical and baby-formula sectors, looking for prices that were higher in China compared to other locations.
多地竞逐下一自贸区_财经频道_一财网 just about everyone wants a Shanghai-style Free Trade Zone now. Guangdong next?// 近期有消息称广东自贸区的方案已确定，作为粤港澳合作三大战略平台的广州南沙、珠海横琴和深圳前海有望成为建设这一自贸区的载体。
周其仁：人往哪里流 政府难主导-财经网 Caijing interviews Zhou Qiren on urbanization // 北京大学国家发展研究院教授周其仁接受《财经》记者采访时表示，在城镇化进程中，既要充分发挥政府这只“有形的手”在调控、监督和引导等方面的作用，更要加强市场这只“无形的手”对城镇化进程的牵引力，防止城镇化过程中政府唱“独角戏”的现象。“人口的流动趋势，企业、项目往哪里聚？政府并不能完全掌握，也不能依赖规划来主导。”
As Return of Gov’t Bond Futures Nears, Experts Pore over Details – Caixin Despite holding the majority of outstanding government bonds, the amount which banks intend to use for trading is only several hundreds of billions of yuan, a fraction of the expected turnover on the futures market, Li Qian, an executive of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said. A source close the CFFEX said: “The big banks hold nearly 90 percent of their government bonds to maturity and the other 10 percent for trading.” That is because holding the bonds to maturity is essentially a risk-free investment, which can also pay off decently, analysts say. The average annual yield of the big banks’ government bonds portfolio is often higher than 4 percent.
Courier Service Firm Finally Takes Delivery of Outside Investment – Caixin Wang Wei, the soft-spoken head of SF Express, is finally opening his company to outside investments, a full 20 years after first founding his delivery service business. On August 19, executives at SF Express (Group) Co. Ltd. confirmed the company had entered a strategic investment agreement with state-backed investors Oriza Holdings of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province; China Merchants Group; and CITIC Capital. The three investors will own a little less than 25 percent of SF Express after the deal. This is the first time that SF Express has taken on external investments in its 20 years. People close to the transaction say the total investment of the three organizations was nearly 8 billion yuan. The company is valued at over 30 billion.
China Real Estate Developers Look Abroad as Government Measures Take Effect – China Real Time Report – WSJ This year, outbound property investment by wealthy individuals is expected to grow 30%, a growth level similar to those seen from 2010-12, according to estimates from real-estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle. The most popular offshore residential property investment destinations for wealthy Chinese include the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K., it added. Outbound property investment deals have reached $2.7 billion so far this year, compared with $1.6 billion in the same period last year, according to data tracker Dealogic. Investors have also widened their reach to more countries this year, including the U.S. and Singapore.
JPMorgan Case Tests U.S. Law on Buying Influence Abroad – NYTimes.com The United States government is unlikely to care much about a few questionable hires, even if those people were less qualified than other applicants. The government is not going to get into a fight about who had the necessary credentials to work in the world of high finance. Still, the breadth of the overseas bribery law puts JPMorgan — and no doubt other Wall Street banks that engaged in similar practices — in a difficult position. The government will look for a pattern of misconduct. And as information about the hiring of more children emerges, there is a greater likelihood that the government will file charges for a violation because the banks will have a harder time claiming that each one was done solely on the merits.
Tales from the Trenches: Some Thoughts on Doing Business in China | The China Story Antony Dapiran is a partner of the international law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, based in the firm’s Hong Kong office…the Chinese economy is at a crossroads as it seeks continued economic growth in a shift from an investment-led to a consumption-led economy. At the same time, while the Reform era has left the economy more open than ever to international investment, foreign businesses still face significant barriers – and some new challenges. What are these challenges and what can be done at a policy level to help Australian businesses face them?
BofA Seeks $1.5 Billion From Construction Bank Stake Sale – Bloomberg Bank of America, the second-biggest U.S. lender, is offering its remaining 2 billion Construction Bank shares for HK$5.63 to HK$5.81 each, according to terms for the deal obtained by Bloomberg News. That represents a discount of as much as 5.1 percent to today’s closing price in Hong Kong.
Solar Defaults Shock Holders as $8.4 Billion Due: China Credit – Bloomberg Premier Li Keqiang’s steps to cut the state’s role in the economy are forcing investors to reconsider bailout bets as $1.3 billion of bonds in businesses including electric car batteries, hydropower and biofuels matures by the end of the year and $7.1 billion in 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. His predecessor Wen Jiabao turned China into the world’s biggest maker of solar panels through spending including $47.5 billion of credit lines that crippled the industry with overcapacity.
POLITICS AND LAW
Bribery Charges in China for Official Whose Child Worked for JPMorgan – NYTimes.com Zhang Shuguang, former deputy chief engineer at the Ministry of Railways, was indicted on charges related to 13 incidents of bribery from 2000 to 2011, Chinese news reports said on Tuesday. State prosecutors have accused Mr. Zhang, who has been under investigation for more than two years, of accepting graft payments of around 47 million renminbi, or nearly $8 million at current exchange rates, according to the reports
裸官张曙光妻女移民美国 在美拥3千平米别墅（全文）_网易新闻中心 Zhang Shuguang’s wife and daughter have emigrated to the US…have they properly declared all their overseas bank accounts and global income to the IRS?
检察日报：薄熙来案控辩对抗激烈 庭审模式堪称经典_大公资讯_大公网 国人瞩目的“薄熙来案”庭审已经结束，该案审判程序前所未有的公开、透明，给国人留下了深刻印象，也让国人看到了法治的进步。再如，在关于被告人贪污罪名的辩护中，辩护人对证人薄谷开来的作证能力提出质疑。
温州官员双规期间头部被闷水致死 办案人被公诉–法治–人民网 6 in Wenzhou charged for their role of death of Yu Qiyi while he was shuang’gui’d…he was drowned? Waterboarded? Article now deleted from People’s Daily Online… // 今年4月9日，温州官员於其一在双规期间非正常死亡。京华时报记者昨天获悉，此案将在浙江省衢州市中院异地审理。8月30日，衢州市人民检察院对於其一案的6名办案干部提起公诉。起诉书显示，6名被告人中有5人系纪委系统干部，另1人系从检察院借调。检方称，6人为迫使於其一交待问题，将其转置于冰水浴桶中反复闷水致死，涉嫌故意伤害罪。
Chinese officials urged to avoid luxurious festival revels – Xinhua The top disciplinary arm of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Tuesday released a circular urging officials to refrain from luxurious banquets and gift-giving as festivals near. “During festivals, sending mooncakes and gifts paid for with public funds is strictly prohibited; luxurious feasts, travel, fitness programs and high-end entertainments that are covered by public funds are strictly prohibited,” said the circular. It was jointly released by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the guidance team of the “mass line” campaign.
银行将金银月饼改称百宝盒 政府人员低调购买_网易新闻中心 tough year for mooncake sellers // “今年金银月饼销量和去年没法比。”赵先生说，今年他们的“金银月饼”售出几万套，约有数亿元。而去年总销售额达到24亿元。赵先生认为，销量下降，与“禁止公款送月饼”的禁令有直接关系。
孙立平：政府在环境污染问题上的渎职相当普遍-财经网 目前对环境的破坏可以说不是零星的、自发的破坏，而是有组织的大规模的破坏。这个破坏的力度超过了人类过去多少万年的时间。从某种程度上某种意义上来说是由政府推动破坏的。政府对环境的标准上已经在击穿底线了
胡德平：绿色GDP成为负值 将是国家经济的失败-财经网 说到绿色、生态、环境、低碳，人们都会想起1962年出版美国生物学家蕾切尔·卡森的《寂静的春天》一段话“四周山里尽是一片红色，闪耀着可怕的血光，树木很少看到，弥补的铁沟……”
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
Xinhua Insight: Li Keqiang vows China-ASEAN “diamond decade” – Xinhua Bilateral trade between China and the ASEAN amounted to 400.1 billion U.S. dollars last year, nearly six times that of 10 years ago. In the first half of 2013, the bilateral trade surged to 210.56 billion U.S. dollars, representing a 12.2-percent increase year on year. On Tuesday, Li said that China and the ASEAN could consider holding discussions on further lowering tariffs, and the Chinese side is willing to expand imports from the ASEAN and boost free trade and investment. China is willing to join hands with the ASEAN to advance talks of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and discuss exchanges and interactions with frameworks such as Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, so as to create an open, inclusive and mutually beneficial climate to “make the two wheels of regional and global trade roll together,” according to the premier.
Rogozin Talks up Russian-Chinese Aviation Project | Business | The Moscow Times Russia and China plan to collaborate on developing a wide-body long-haul passenger airliner, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Tuesday. The project is only financially viable as a collaboration, as Airbus and Boeing already account for 80 percent of Russia’s long-range passenger aircraft market, Rogozin said. He offered no indication of the project’s current status, only saying that Russian aircraft design bureau chiefs were due to meet soon to discuss it.
Scientific Innovation and China’s Military Modernization | Flashpoints | The Diplomat More importantly, the 863 Program has paved the way for China’s current “indigenous innovation” strategy, embedded in the 2006 National Medium to Long-term Plan (MLP) for the Development of Science and Technology (2005-2020). The MLP became China’s most ambitious comprehensive national science and technology plan with special long-term total funding estimated at Rmb 500 bn (US$75bn). Central to the MLP are 16 National Megaprojects – vanguard S&T programs – “priorities of priorities” – designed to transform China’s science & technology capabilities in areas such as electronics, semiconductors, telecommunications, aerospace, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, clean energy, and oil and gas exploration. The megaprojects include both civilian and military areas, with 13 listed and three “unannounced” areas classified.
Premier Li Keqiang says China wants South China Sea solution | South China Morning Post China is serious about wanting a peaceful resolution to the bitter dispute over the South China Sea, Premier Li Keqiang told Southeast Asian leaders on Tuesday, but he signalled it was in no rush to sign a long-mooted accord…Separately to Li’s comments, Philippines Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin accused China of violating the informal DoC by building new structures in the Scarborough Shoal, part of the area disputed by Beijing and Manila
HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN
The Big Bet – By Isaac Stone Fish | Foreign Policy In January, Weidner announced that he plans to build clusters of 30-floor hotels that would offer 26,000 rooms — as many as Macau’s total capacity and 13 times the number in Weidner’s original proposal for Matsu. Three months later, Weidner Resorts posted a new video on its YouTube Channel titled “Weidner’s Destiny, A Gem Now Awakening — Matsu, The Mediterranean of Asia.” The video opens with old images of artillery fire, describes the economic benefits that a casino resort will bring, and ends with a statement from Weidner himself. “It’s time to change,” he says forcefully. “Matsu is my destiny.”
Asia Sentinel – A Kinder, Gentler South China Morning Post “There has been a sustained and creeping clean-out of western reporters and editors for a couple of years,” said a former SCMP executive who asked not to be named. “‘Gweilos’ (a derogatory term for Caucasians) are seen as a problem for a Chinese-owned and managed newspaper… They ask awkward questions at meetings which embarrass the puppets put in to manage them. They also, more importantly, have networks to international media which cause no end of unwelcome exposure to the men behind the screen who work best in the shadows.” Overseas Chinese from Canada, the United States and the UK are ostracized as well, a source said. And, while Western reporters and editors have steadily lost influence except for their work polishing stories from reporters for whom English is a second language, local Chinese reporters are beginning to despair as well, a source told Asia Sentinel.
Taiwan’s Power Grab in the South China Sea | Flashpoints | The Diplomat Taiwan has announced it will invest 3.37 billion New Taiwan Dollars (US$106.5 million) over three years to build a wharf on Taiping Island in the disputed Spratly Archipelago to increase its naval presence in the area, a move that is likely to irritate other claimants to the region.
For Rich Mainland Chinese, Hong Kong Loses Luxury Luster – Scene Asia – WSJ “We’re not selling much to those who were passing these on as gifts to officials,” said Jay Ginsberg, owner of wine dealers Ginsberg + Chan in Hong Kong, who estimates that the gift trade represented almost 40% of his business in 2011. “That’s disappeared,” he said, pointing to the Chinese-government crackdown on corruption as the main reason for the decline.
TECH AND MEDIA
央视关注手游盈利 植物大战僵尸2收费重被点名-搜狐IT CCTV looks at mobile game profits, calls out EA’s Plants and Zombies by name // DoNews游戏9月3日消息（记者 孙永立）《植物大战僵尸2》因收费过重遭到国内玩家吐槽，也引来了央视2套《第一时间》对该游戏及手游行业的报道。报道指出，对前作收费版成功的误解导致《植物大战僵尸2》不合理收费。此外，也提到了盗版、急于回收成本和渠道分账等因素。
China-based Xiaomi to unveil new 7-inch tablet with help from Taiwan players, says paper China-based smartphone vendor Xiaomi is ready to unveil its new 7-inch tablet, the Mi-Pad on September 5 with a price of CNY999 (US$163), according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report, adding that MediaTek is the supplier of the processor and Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) is the manufacturer.
Baidu’s IQiyi to Sell TCL Smart TVs to Compete With Alibaba – Bloomberg Baidu and TCL’s 48-inch TV will go on sale online today at 4,567 yuan ($746), the companies said in a joint statement ahead of a news conference in Beijing yesterday. A second model priced at 2,999 yuan will go on sale in November. The devices will be sold through 360Buy Jingdong Inc.’s e-commerce platform offering content from Baidu unit IQiyi.com, they said.
In ‘Tiny Times’ Movies, Material Girls Have a Nation Tsking – NYTimes.com The first, “Tiny Times 1,” beat Hollywood’s “Man of Steel” when it opened here in late June, grossing more than $43 million its first week, according to Entgroup, a film industry research company. The sequel, “Tiny Times 2,” which opened on Aug. 8, grossed more than $47 million in its first three weeks. (“Tiny Times 1” opened in select North American markets in July, and its sequel opened in New York on Friday.) Ticket sales for both movies qualified them as major hits in China.
Wall Street Journal launches “China’s World” column; examines China at a crossroad – Campaign Asia “China’s World”, a new Wall Street Journal column that launches today, offers insights into this transcending issue. It’s written by Andrew Browne, formerly China Editor for the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones.。。。
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
Late aunt suspected in eye-gouged boy case – Xinhua Police confirmed Tuesday that the suspect in the case of the six-year-old boy whose eyes were gouged out in north China’s Shanxi Province is the boy’s aunt, who committed suicide six days after the incident. On Aug. 24, the boy, Guo Bin, was lured by an unknown woman with yellow-dyed hair into a field, where she gouged out his eyes. On Aug. 30, Guo’s aunt, Zhang Huiying, the wife of Guo’s father’s older brother, killed herself by jumping into a well in Qiaojiazhuang Village in Fenxi County.
Beijing team apologizes for rugby scandal – Xinhua The Beijing women’s rugby sevens team on Tuesday night apologized for throwing a match at the 12th Chinese National Games. Beijing had been widely favored for the women’s gold in rugby sevens’ debut at the National Games, but Shandong scored two tries to jump 10-0 up soon after the start of the final in the afternoon. The Spanish umpire awarded Shandong another try in the second half, a decision which Beijing players claimed “wrong”. The Beijing players then refused to play and stood still on the pitch, only to see their opponents score easily and eventually win by a scoreline of 71-0.
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
福建检出“镉大米” 拒绝公布来源_财经频道_一财网 Cadmium rice discovered in Fujian but local government will not disclose source // 福建日前在该省质量技术监督局的官网上通报了今年第二季度粮食类加工产品抽查结果。结果显示，几家企业生产的大米存在镉超标。
Foreign firms recall faulty medical gear – Xinhua Medtronic Inc., Medtronic Minimed and Unomedical a/s have ordered recalls of their medical devices in China for “design and manufacture faults,” the China Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday. Medical devices involved include a drug infusion system produced by the U.S.-based Medtronic Inc as well as disposable insulin pump infusion tubing and needles from U.S.-based Medtronic Minimed and Denmark-based Unomedical a/s, according to a statement from the administration.
FOOD AND TRAVEL
New Chinese Luxury: Pairing Wine With Duck, Not Sprite – Bloomberg The anti-graft push has “accelerated the change from extravagance to more discerning enjoyment,” said Horace Ngai, China managing director at Paris-based distiller Pernod Ricard SA. (RI). Pernod Ricard’s teams have organized trips to vineyards and whiskey regions in France and Scotland and tasting sessions in China. Sales of its liquors priced over 1,500 yuan ($245) in China rose more than five times in the last three years.
Hainan Airlines makes maiden flight to Chicago – Xinhua | English.news.cn Hou Wei, vice president of Hainan Airlines, said the company will offer nonstop service between Beijing and Chicago twice a week on Sundays and Tuesdays at the initial stage. But starting from December, the nonstop service will be increased to four times a week, and Boeing 787 Dreamliner will be introduced to fly the route, Hou said.
China Food Fight Over Genetically Modified Organisms Heats Up – China Real Time Report – WSJ Two weeks ago, a major-general in the People’s Liberation Army took to a popular newspaper to publish (in Chinese) a series of pointed rhetorical questions about Beijing’s policy allowing more trade in genetically modified grains, suggesting that genetically modified organisms, or GMO, are a strategy by which a Western conspiracy to supplant China’s food security is taking shape. GMOs are organisms that have had their genetic blueprint artificially re-engineered; for example, crops altered to become bug-resistant.
BEIJING
To Combat Pollution, Beijing Considers Congestion Fees on Cars – China Real Time Report – WSJ In addition to worsening air pollution, Beijing is also combating heavy traffic. The average speed of car traffic in the city is short of 15 kilometers, or 9.3 miles, per hour, about the speed of easy bicycling, data from UBS Securities show. The notice said Beijing will ban vehicles of outside the city from entering the Sixth Ring Road unless they get permission from the city government. The restriction will take effect in 2014. Currently, cars from other provinces are prohibited from entering the Fifth Ring Road during rush hours.