"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner
Just links today:
THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT
China calls time on expensive watches in face of crackdown – FT.com In the first three months of this year, the value of Swiss watch exports to China is down 26 per cent compared with the same period a year ago. Exports to Hong Kong are 9 per cent lower. March was particularly disappointing, with sales to China down 31 per cent and Hong Kong down 8 per cent. “This is one of the worst monthly performances in Greater China for over three years,” wrote Thomas Chauvet, an analyst at Citi, in a note to clients.
Related: Luxury sellers adapt to changing market– China Daily Early last year, eyebrows were raised when 500 grams of high-quality Longjing tea was sold for 180,000 yuan ($29,196) at an auction in China. The record price for the tea brand made it much more expensive than gold at that time. However, this spring the situation has changed completely. The price of the same high-quality Longjing has reportedly fallen to around 2,500 to 2,800 yuan for 500 grams, compared with the average price of 3,200 yuan in 2012.
Commentary: China’s Unhealthy Elites | The National Interest President Xi Jinping is the latest in a long line of Chinese rulers to campaign against corruption—but likely will not be the last. Xi’s austerity measures aimed at curtailing conspicuous government spending on the lavish banquets that are practically mandatory among Chinese officials—part of a broader anticorruption drive—were met with almost immediate backdoor schemes contrived to perpetuate these culturally and politically ingrained practices in secret. That may take conspicuous spending out of the limelight but will do little to reduce corruption or have much impact on the health of the men who engage in this de rigueur tradition //so true, killing themselves
Australia Affirms F-35 Purchases, Seeks U.S.-China Balance – Bloomberg The decision is a boost for prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. after the plane has been plagued by a costly redesign, bulkhead cracks, too much weight and software delays. Australia, an ally of the U.S., also decided in its Defense White Paper released today to bring forward funding for 12 new Boeing Co. (BA) EA-18G Growler aircraft and will replace its existing Collins Class submarines with a fleet of 12 conventional submarines, to be assembled in South Australia…“More than any other, the relationship between the U.S. and China will determine the outlook for our region,” the paper said. “Some competition is inevitable, but both seek stability and prosperity, not conflict. The government does not approach China as an adversary.”
Related: China threat off the Australian radar – Xinhua Australia no longer sees a growing China as a potential military threat, shifting its defense posture to accommodate regional developments, according to an analysis of the 2013 Defense White Paper released this weekend. The posture taken in the 2013 Defense White Paper backtracks on former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s 2009 paper, which agonized over China’s long-term strategic ambitions.
Sales of Nongfu Spring Products Blocked in Beijng in Bottled Water Row-Caijing Sales of bottled water produced by Nongfu Spring Co., Ltd are blocked in Beijing following a string of quality scandals and a row over quality standard.
Related: 仙池特供天然矿泉水3L – 五大连池矿泉水|五大冷矿泉|火山冷矿泉 friend who was once a senior exec at one of china’s biggest water treatment SOEs recommends this bottled water as the cleanest they found in China…it is what she drinks. I get the little bottles delivered in Beijing, have to buy ten cases at a time for delivery, 76 RMB a case
Commentary: RMB rate debate should focus on mechanism improvement – Xinhua | English.news.cn The undervaluation claims drew scorn from such experts as Huang Yiping, chief economist of Barclays Capital Asia, who said U.S. Treasury officials must be dreaming when they make such statements. The joke reflects a growing consensus of many experts worldwide that there is limited room for the RMB’s further appreciation. Those who insist that the RMB is undervalued often cite China’s huge trade surplus to support their views, but that argument no longer stands. That’s because China’s trade surplus to GDP ratio has already dropped from a previous high of 6 percent to 3 percent, the internationally recognized “equilibrium” level
Related: Xinhua Says Yuan Debate Focus Should Be How Level Is Set – Bloomberg The goal should be on “perfecting” the exchange-rate mechanism to guide the yuan to a “dynamic” equilibrium, not on the numerical value of the currency, Xinhua writes. Lawmakers and economists find it “hard to determine” whether the yuan is over- or undervalued, given that the exchange rate has many influences, including foreign trade, capital flows and growth prospects, Xinhua said.
Today’s China Notes: Dreams, Obstacles – James Fallows – The Atlantic Not to be coy about it: almost everyone I’m aware of in the first, China-uber-alles camp knows China mainly via charts, and at a distance. Most people I know on-scene are instead in the “anything is possible, but it’s going to be a lot tougher” category. And that is the case I argue at length in China Airborne, where I look at the country’s ambitions in highest-tech and -value industries as proxies for its potential. //Fallows also questions the Economist’s suggestion that Tom Friedman somehow influenced the formation of the “Chinese Dream”. How many people weighing in on this have read Liu Mingfu’s 2009 book “中国梦”？
Peer Review and Congressional Oversight – An Invited Post | Savage Minds Backup About two weeks ago, I received an email from one of the editors of the Science Insider blog. He began: “You’ve probably heard that your NSF grant to study the [Chinese] melamine poisoning scandal was targeted at two House science committee hearings yesterday.” I hadn’t heard and this is the first time my research has become the target of what feels like the never-ending rounds of partisan politics. The original critique of my project and the others being targeted is that they fail to directly benefit the American people. I was, quite frankly, rather surprised to be included as my project examines China’s evolving food regulatory system and has direct relevance for America’s food safety and security. //if you buy at Trader Joe’s in the US check the label for origin..I was surprised by how much comes from China; Chinese food safety is very relevant to American consumers
Reading ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Beijing : The New Yorker But to Chinese readers, who have read Gatsby (in translation or in English) for decades, the story has acquired new layers of relevance in recent years, as the initial rush of China’s boom has given way to a more complex economic phase. When Chinese readers talk about Gatsby today, some see a cautionary tale of materialism run amok; others point to the potential danger in the gap between riches and power; and still others recognize the dawning realization that that one may never grasp the dream he so desires.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
China and the End of Extrapolation by George Magnus – The Globalist To stay on track, China will have to meet the demanding standards of smarter growth, social consent, a cleaner environment, a rapidly aging population, and economic stability over the coming decade.To achieve that, China will have to reboot its economic model. This includes the implementation of widespread reforms that will be costly and may be incompatible with the primacy of the Party. China’s economic potential is considerable, but it won’t happen on a spreadsheet. China has reached the end of extrapolation.
In gloom of economic data, hope flickers for China Inc | Reuters Earnings growth for China-listed companies averaged 10.5 percent for the first quarter, a big improvement from losses in the same period last year of about 10 percent, but still short of the 16.5 percent expected, according to research from CLSA-Fortune Securities.
China Magazine Floats Idea of Selling Parts of Currency Reserves – Bloomberg The article, “How to Cope With ‘Excessive’ Foreign- Exchange Reserves,” was published in the April 29 issue under the pseudonym Xiao Yi. Caixin said the author is a “senior economist” without elaborating and that a more detailed account of the proposal will be published in a sister magazine, China Reform. One possibility is that the author is an official involved in management of the reserves, said Zhang Bin, a Beijing-based researcher with the government’s Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Exclusive: EU to propose punitive duties on Chinese solar panels | Reuters The case, the biggest the Commission has launched, is a delicate one for Brussels. Europe wants to protect its manufacturers such as Germany’s SolarWorld against cheap imports but also needs China, the EU’s second largest trading partner, to help the bloc emerge from recession.
建银投资纪委书记坠楼悬疑 或涉嫌亿元国资流失|建银投资|纪委书记|坠楼_21世纪网 the Jianyin exec who jumped to his death on financial street 3 weeks ago may have been involved in disappearance of 100m RMB in property management fees// 王世强生前出任建银投资监事长和纪委书记，而建银投资所在的长安兴融中心一直纠纷不断。记者调查发现，公寓物业北京世邦魏理仕物业管理有限公司(下称“世邦公司”)征收北京最高物业费一度与业主闹上法庭，大业主建银投资却并不愿意联合其他业主要求降低物业费。 业主与世邦公司对簿公堂期间，世邦公司提供的财报被业主抓住把柄，上亿元的物业费不知所踪。王世强去世之前，业主们向中纪委举报，以建银投资为首的国有企业涉嫌亿元国资流失。
山西煤矿主之子在京1.3亿买房109套 7年升值4倍_财经_腾讯网 expose of son of shanxi coal boss who seven years ago spent 130m RMB on 109 flats, using 2 IDs// 两桩合同纠纷案的多份法律文书显示：7年前，一名山西年轻人以自己的两个身份证，在东城区和平里花近1.3亿元买下锦鸿阁小区B座的109套房子。109套房子的出资人是他父亲杨三俊——曾是山西洪洞县的煤矿主。开发商称，他出资以儿子名义买房是不想太显眼。如今，这109套房子已经升值4倍。
POLITICS AND LAW
Almost 90 mln members in China Communist Youth League – Xinhua | English.news.cn The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) has a total of 89.906 million members as of the end of 2012, CYLC’s central organization department said on Friday.There are 3.59 million CYLC organizations at grassroots levels, according to official figures released before the Youth Day, which falls on May 4 every year.
Deng Xiaoping’s Duke Law Alumnus Grandson Named County Official – Bloomberg Deng Zhuodi, in his late 20s, will oversee economic development, law, agriculture, poverty alleviation and major projects in Guangxi province’s Pingguo county, today’s report said, citing local media. Pingguo is part of the city of Baise, where Deng Xiaoping helped lead a Communist uprising in 1929 against the Nationalist government.
On World Press Freedom Day, China’s censors are on full gear to block a 19-year-old poisoning case | Offbeat China We’ve covered that how the poisoning of Zhu Ling, a 19-year-old cold case, is under national spotlight in China again after a recently similar case at Shanghai’s Fudan University. Chinese netizens, both in and outside of China, have been working for weeks to push for a re-investigation of the case. And yesterday, on World Press Freedom Day, authorities in China finally spit out their long overdue response – to block all words and to delete all posts related to the Zhu Ling case on Sina Weibo, China’s most dynamic microblog platform.
Lights Out for Corrupt Tian’anmen Official – Economic Observer An official in charge of managing the area around Beijing’s Tian’anmen Square has been sentenced to over 10 years in prison after he pocketed the proceeds from selling off the old metal casings that once formed the foundations of the square’s ornate lights.
Haunted house used to train China’s SWAT teams – Telegraph Left alone in the dead of night in an abandoned driving school, the prospective SWAT teams are expected to show they can remain calm even in the face of the paranormal. “After only three steps, my flashlight shone on a skeleton,” wrote a journalist from the Wuhan Evening News who was permitted to test run the new haunted house training centre.
Loyal Dissent in the Chinese Blogosphere: Sina Weibo Discourse on the Chinese Communist Party | Lagerkvist | Studies in Media and Communication The impact of the Internet on Chinese politics is a hot topic in contemporary academic debate. Some scholars believe that political discussions in cyberspace will lead to a more pluralistic and democratic China. Others argue that the ruling Communist Party will strengthen its position by using the Internet as a tool for censorship and active propaganda. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the debate on the political impact of increasing Internet use, by studying uncensored online opinions about the Communist Party and its policies. More specifically, we investigate and analyze some of the most popular and uncensored microblog tweets (Sina Weibo) that discussed political scandals in China during the Spring of 2012. The findings show that a majority of the tweets contains criticism against certain activities of the Party, but do not challenge its hold on power. The study indicates that the phenomenon of loyal dissent is a distinguishing feature of online political discourse in contemporary China. Consequently, the blogosphere has the potential to foster a generation of more critical Chinese citizens. However, in the current phase of overall information repression and censorship, and as a particular form of online expression, microblogging cannot yet be considered a catalyst for democratization.
Global Times blasts social media’s ‘excessive’ supervision of luxury military vehicles | South China Morning Post The editorial entitled “military cars should get used to excessive supervision” pubished on Thursday argued that netizens with an ”idealistic and extreme attitude only exacerbate resentment.” Instead, it said, people should face reality and understand the complicated nature of the society. If not anything else, the editorial surely got the newspaper its own share of “resentment.” By Friday morning, the story was reposted thousands of times on China’s social media and drew an outpouring of criticism.
刘志军窝案落马官员获缓刑 法院认定其是”人才”_网易新闻中心 中国铁建电气化局集团有限公司原副总经理李汝军，涉嫌将下属公司4.6万欧元侵吞，折合人民币40万余元。记者昨天获悉，李汝军已被市二中院以职务侵占罪判处有期徒刑3年，缓刑3年。据悉，这笔钱本是李汝军申请用来替公司疏通关系拿工程的费用，其上司称，需要疏通关系等非正常费用支出无额度限制。
重庆红歌研究会未通过年检 会长已不再唱红_新闻_腾讯网 曾经以唱红歌蜚声全国乃至世界的重庆，一年以前，狂飙突进的红歌运动戛然而止，红歌甚至成为一个敏感的话题。除了一些广场、公园老人们的文娱活动中还有红歌的声音之外，红歌潮水般在这个被称为火炉的城市退却。
体制内学者于建嵘新书《父亲的江湖》遭遇审查压力 – 阿波罗新闻网 知名出版人贺雄飞在微博上透露，“中国的事情很奇怪，于建嵘老师的著作马上就要下厂印刷，责编曾勋突然接到自称是新闻出版署的电话，要求撤销该书CIP数据和印刷手续，并不予出版。理由不是因为内容问题，而是因为于老师是敏感人物。今天终于收到出版社的正式公函。今年的出版“风声太紧”。
河南女子拦温家宝车队为儿喊冤续：造假警察被双开_资讯频道_凤凰网 本报南阳讯 唐河县公安局桐寨铺乡派出所长孙永远伪造口供错误逮捕，致当事人党清广自杀后，被判处拘役六个月、缓期一年执行。（编者注：见早前报道“河南男子两遭冤案自尽 其母曾拦下温家宝车队”）但不可思议的是，2008年9月被判刑后的孙永远，仍在履行公职。此事经媒体曝光后，唐河县纪委常委昨日召开会议，决定对孙永远开除党籍、开除公职。
红军后代纪念井冈山会师85周年 朱德外孙发言(图)_资讯频道_凤凰网 中新网井冈山5月3日电(刘占昆、王姣、苏路程)3日，中国中共党史人物研究会井冈红军人物研究分会“纪念朱毛红军井冈山会师85周年学术研讨会”在革命圣山江西井冈山举行。来自全国各地的红军后代、中共党史专家学者齐聚一堂，缅怀革命先辈。
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
Shandong-born businessman buys Sydney mansion for record price｜Society｜News｜WantChinaTimes.com While no real estate agent has claimed the sale, it is widely believed that the buyer is the Chinese-born and Melbourne-based chairman and sole shareholder of Chaimovich Investments. He is also a senior member of the firm Moszkowsku Investments.
Chinese state councilor stresses Sino-U.S. partnership – Xinhua | English.news.cn Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi on Friday said China and the United States need to work together to strengthen their cooperative partnership and build a new type of relationship. Yang made the remarks during a meeting with a delegation of the Richard Nixon Foundation, headed by Christopher Nixon Cox, grandson of former U.S. President Richard Nixon.
Draft rules target foreigners’ illegal presence – Xinhua | English.news.cn Foreigners must obtain work permits and residence certificates for employment before being employed, the draft says. It shall be considered as illegal employment if a foreign student works beyond the time limit or scope of their work-study program, according to the draft rules.
Five-year visas for foreigners on way|Society|chinadaily.com.cn Foreign talent will soon be eligible for China visas valid for up to five years, under a draft regulation. The draft was released by the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council on Friday, and public opinion is being sought for a month. It states that China will grant two new types of visa, R1 and R2, for foreign professionals. Both types will be granted to foreign talent and professionals at senior level that the country urgently needs, according to the draft.
China Reaches Out to India on Afghanistan | Center for Strategic and International Studies For the first time, India and China have met to discuss the future of Afghanistan, in light of the impending departure of Western forces from the nation. In this Issue Perspective, Dr. Harsh Pant discusses China’s new interest in developing a regional approach, after years of relying on a “hands-off policy.”
Rhodium Group » Speculation on Depsang My favorite school of thinking is a bit far-fetched, but has a certain geopolitical flair to it. This links the Daulat Beg Oldie intrusion with the Chinese takeover of the Pakistani port of Gwadar. The Depsang plateau’s northern ridge overlooks the Karakoram Pass – China’s gateway to Pakistan and lands beyond. Beijing’s demands that India cease and desist its recent attempts to improve its border defenses are an attempt to neutralize the plateau as a site for Indian military deployments. An artillery line or two, or even some sort of a helipad on Depsang’s heights, and it’s hunting season for any vehicle, train or container crossing the Karakoram Pass.
Asia Times Online :: China’s border rows mirror grim history In the past, both sides have patrolled this no-man’s land but make a point of not setting up permanent facilities inside it so that the zone would not become focus of a competitive exercise in asserting control, and part of a wider fracas. Until now. It is not a matter of dispute that the PLA has moved troops into the area. But the troops are camping out in tents for now – non-permanent facilities in keeping with the traditional live-and-let-live precedent for the area. At the same time, the PRC is demanding that the Indian government dismantle bunkers and other permanent installations in the area. Permanent installations could very possibly represent an effort by the Indian military to transform “perceived control” of the disputed zone into “actual control”.
Why Beijing Could Win the Great China-America Showdown of 2030 | Danger Room | Wired.com If the Carnegie experts are to be believed, the likely future of U.S.-Japanese-Chinese relations looks a lot like today, although more volatile. In that sense the think tank’s report could be mistaken for, well, accepted wisdom. It’s tempting to project current, short-term trends in straight lines over decades, although in reality today’s trends are often fleeting — and poor predictors of the future. It should not come as a surprise, then, if the seemingly unlikely fringe scenarios spelled out in the Carnegie report – both pro-U.S. and pro-China — look a lot more realistic in just a few short years. Between America and China, with Japan watching closely from the sidelines in the world’s new strategic center of gravity, the future could be a toss-up.
China: Middle East Peace Broker? | China Power On Sunday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will fly into China for a two-day state visit at the invitation of Xi Jinping, even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Shanghai for a trip that will include a meeting with Premier Li Keqiang.
台北故宫展出清代海洋史料 足证钓鱼岛属中国领土 – 台湾频道 – 新华网 Xinhua happy about a Qing Maritime History exhibition at Palace museum in Taipei, says supports diaoyu claims// 新华网台北５月３日电（记者陈斌华 王亚光）台北故宫博物院３日开始举办“顺风相送——清代海洋史料特展”，将持续至９月１５日，共展出１２５件（册）清代图籍档案，其中周煌撰清乾隆年间武英殿刊聚珍本《琉球国志略》和１８１９年美国《哈泼斯》杂志制作的《琉球舆图》，堪称钓鱼岛自古是中国领土的铁证。
The American Mandarin Society – Supporting the development of the future stewards of U.S.-China relations The American Mandarin Society is a non-partisan, non-profit, members-based organization that serves as a broad forum for the growing numbers of Americans who have studied, researched, and lived in Greater China since the early 1980’s, all of whom have Mandarin language capabilities. The Society aims to facilitate communication, intellectual synergies, cultural and educational exchanges, and other productive collaboration among Americans and Chinese in an effort to support the development of future stewards of U.S.-China relations.
TECH AND MEDIA
阿里巴巴移动互联网圈地_杂志频道_财新网 Caixin on Alibaba-Sina deal, claims Alibaba offered better terms, pulled Sina away from negotiations with Baidu, got the Weibo deal, may also go after UCWeb now // 有数位知情人士透露，阿里巴巴给出了更有吸引力的合作条件，将新浪微博从百度的谈判桌上拉到自己身边；而阿里巴巴还很可能从和百度的竞争中胜出，增持UC浏览器。
Alibaba Pact Sinks Sina Shorts on Weibo: China Overnight – Bloomberg “Alibaba’s stake purchase in Weibo set a floor to Sina’s valuation, making it senseless for those who used to short its shares to continue do so,” Ming Zhao, founder of 86Research Ltd., which focuses on Chinese Internet companies, said by phone from Beijing yesterday. “The companies’ revenue projection is a minimum guarantee for the partnership, which will come from sellers on Alibaba’s online marketplace advertising on the Weibo platform.”
Behind the Screen on Alibaba’s Stake in Weibo – Caixin market expectations for Sina Weibo’s performance have weakened on competition from Tencent’s voice messaging service, WeChat, and a general fatigue from users. As the company stock fluctuates, the management team of Sina has faced mounting pressure, especially given the fact that Sina Weibo has yet to find a stable profit mode. Some believe if Alibaba waited just a little longer, it could have cut an even better deal with Sina Weibo. Jack Ma’s decision to move now reflects growing pressure from the rapid expansion of WeChat and Alibaba’s need to play catch-up with mobile Internet development.
Amazon has big challenges to overcome in China before it launches the Kindle there – The Next Web In addition, fierce competition from local player Dangdang also poses significant challenges for Amazon. As an early pioneer of selling books online, Dangdang took the lead in terms of collaborating with Chinese publishers. According to Wenfei Yi, Dangdang’s Vice President of Digital Content Development, the company’s 12 years of experience cooperating with traditional publishers, along with years of making publishers significant profits, give it the strongest network and strongest value proposition for traditional publishers in China.
舆论场：V力无边_多维新闻网【多维新闻】清理“新三反”传言掀起的舆论风波还未彻底平息，中国国家互联网信息办再以官方身份来了当头一棒，且直接将矛头对准了网络谣言。按照国信办网络新闻协调局有关负责人的说法，极少数网民在网上散布各类谣言的情况不时出现，有的拼接图片诽谤他人，还有一些所谓“大V”账号以“求辟谣”、“求证”等方式故意扩散谣言，让一些不明真相的网民跟风，损害了网络媒体的公信力，扰乱了正常传播秩序，社会公众对这种现象深恶痛绝。互联网信息内容主管部门对这一现象一直予以高度关注，在加强日常执法的同时，正进行集中打击。
China’s Huawei still wants to sell smartphones in America – May. 3, 2013 China’s largest telecommunications firm says it will continue to sell its phones in the United States, even as national security concerns keep the company’s equipment out of American telecom networks.
Acer just restarted the Android tablet race to the bottom: The new target is $100 – The Next Web thanks China and Google// In other words, the A1 is a budget tablet, but it’s still very competitive. The $169 price tag may be just $30 cheaper than the Nexus 7, yet it’s worth noting that’s a 15 percent savings. I would argue that this is just the beginning. Acer likely decided to undercut the now-standard $199 price tag for one big reason: Google I/O.
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
Creativity and Constraint in Today’s China: Executive Summary | PEN American Center This report arises out of five years of research and targeted advocacy on behalf of writers and journalists who have been censored or persecuted for their work in the People’s Republic of China. It presents PEN International’s findings, compiled by our international researchers and by our colleagues on the ground in China, on the ongoing threats to individual writers and journalists in the country and our assessment of the climate for freedom of expression in the world’s most populous state. These findings and assessments are echoed and amplified throughout the report in ten essays contributed by leading writers from China.
Murong Xuecan on China’s ‘Crappy Freedom’ – Matt Schiavenza – The Atlantic Since the publication of his debut novel Leave me Alone: A Novel of Chengdu, Murong Xuecan (real name: Hao Qun) has emerged as one of China’s brightest literary stars as well as a trenchant critic of Chinese censorship. In this essay, adapted from PEN International’s new report Creativity and Constraint in Today’s China and translated from Chinese by Scott Savitt, Murong discusses how censorship penetrates all levels of Chinese society.
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH
Time to End Secrecy Over Chinese Overseas Fishing | ChinaFile Now that China is a fully participating member of the international community, it will have to adhere to its rules. In fisheries, this means an adequate level of transparency and the provision of reasonable catch data to national, regional, and international fisheries management organizations, which scientists of various countries can use to make inferences on the state of the stocks.
Rhino’s Dying Breath Signals General’s Return to War – Bloomberg As he watched a white rhino take its final breath after poachers broke its back and hacked off its horn, major general Johan Jooste said he realized that South Africa is facing a war to save the endangered species.It was one of at least 273 slaughtered this year by April 30 as poachers target South Africa, where 90 percent of the world’s rhinos live, for the horns which sell for more than gold by weight in China and Vietnam
四川石化回应选址彭州:远离居民区并非国际标准_新闻_腾讯网 记者：网民认为，国内外的大型化工厂一般都是建在靠近大江大海的地方，为什么地处内陆的四川省要建石化项目？更有甚者，为什么要建在地处成都市“上风上水”方位的彭州市？ 负责人：生活在现代社会的人与石化产品已经息息相关，大到各行各业，小到衣食住行。长期以来，西南地区一直是我国石化工业的唯一空白区域，石油能源供应一直处于紧张状态，使下游轻工、纺织、电子、汽车、建材等相关行业发展都受到制约，这也必然会影响到百姓生活成本。
China’s electric cars: socket shortage | beyondbrics Unfortunately, it’s proved harder than expected to build an affordable and practical electric car in China; despite hefty government subsidies, private sales of electric cars have not got off the ground. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that there is no public infrastructure for charging private vehicles (taxi fleets have proven easier to convert to electric). But in Shanghai, at least, things might be changing.
FOOD AND TRAVEL
Jancis Robinson Q&A: On China’s wines, Cabernet Gernischt, ‘American Wines’ & more | Grape Wall of China English wine writer Jancis Robinson has been visiting China and its wineries for more than a decade, with her most recent trip being to Ningxia last fall to taste ~50 wines and tour the region’s operations. This week I asked her a few questions about China’s wine scene (my highlights).
BEIJING
方草地 — Parkview Green – Always Fresh! Leading sustainability in China perhaps the nicest mall in Beijing now
北京回应毕业生落户年龄限制：只是指导性意见_网易新闻中心 人民网北京5月3日电 今天，北京市人力资源和社会保障局通过人民网回应毕业生落户有年龄限制一事时表示，用人单位引进落户的应届非北京生源毕业生，毕业当年本科生不超过24岁、硕士生不超过27岁、博士生不超过35岁，这一要求不是针对特定人群提出的新的进京政策，而是对当前北京市属用人单位人才队伍建设工作提出的指导性意见。
BOOKS AND LITERATURE
Chinese Medicine and Healing: An Illustrated History Chinese Medicine and Healing is a comprehensive introduction to a rich array of Chinese healing practices as they have developed through time and across cultures. Contributions from fifty-eight leading international scholars in such fields as Chinese archaeology, history, anthropology, religion, and medicine make this a collaborative work of uncommon intellectual synergy, and a vital new resource for anyone working in East Asian or world history, in medical history and anthropology, and in biomedicine and complementary healing arts.