China’s aircraft carrier passes through Taiwan Strait

China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, passed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday morning on its way to a training mission in the South China Sea.

It took about 10 hours for the carrier and its four escort ships to get through the strait separating the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

The Liaoning entered the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday afternoon after it left its home port in Qingdao of east China’s Shandong Province on Tuesday for the South China Sea on a scientific and training mission.

It was escorted by two missile destroyers, the Shenyang and Shijiazhuang, and two missile frigates, the Yantai and Weifang.

During the voyage, the carrier has kept a high degree of vigilance against approaches from foreign warships and aircraft, according to Liaoning Captain Zhang Zheng.

This is the first time the carrier has conducted a cross-sea training voyage and passed through the Taiwan Strait since it was commissioned into the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in September last year, according to Zhang.

It is also the fifth time this year that the vessel has been out to sea for experiments and training, the captain said, adding that all the year’s operations have been conducted as scheduled.

Progress has been made regarding everything from integration of the carrier and carrier-borne aircraft to the skills of the carrier staff and aircraft pilots to the testing of equipment under complicated conditions, which has laid a firm foundation for proceeding trials, said Zhang.

The upcoming South China Sea engagement is a normal arrangement in the carrier’s scheduled training, according to the PLA Navy.

The Liaoning is China’s only aircraft carrier in operation. It was refitted based on an unfinished carrier of the former Soviet Union. The refitted carrier was delivered to the navy on Sept. 25, 2012.

Xinhua News via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/5abin0_wTYg/

Beijing to keep backing Chinese firms’ overseas expansion

Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday pledged continued support for Chinese companies to expand overseas and protection of their legitimate rights on foreign soils.

Touring the Romanian subsidiary of Chinese tech powerhouse Huawei Technologies Co., Li said the Chinese government will continue to support those companies that are credible, competitive and law-abiding in their overseas operations.

Meanwhile, China will firmly oppose trade protectionism and trade remedy measures, and safeguard the legitimate rights of overseas Chinese companies, he said.

He added that China wants to join all nations in leveling the playing field for their respective businesses, and settle their differences through dialogues.

After being briefed about Huawei’s business operations and market development in Romania, he said the company has not only linked the Central and Eastern European (CEE) nations together with its equipment, but also strengthened the friendship between China and the region.

He wished the company to invest more in innovation and stay globally competitive with quality products and services so as to achieve greater success across the world.

Independent intellectual properties and quality products and services have led Huawei to grow from a domestic company into a global giant, said Li, adding that doing businesses abroad, Chinese enterprises can promote its own development and benefit local population at the same time.

Huawei, which now boasts a 70,000-strong research & development (R&D) team globally, opened its official subsidiary in Romania in 2003, where it currently employs some 800 people and has helped created more than 2,500 job opportunities.

According to Wang Haitao, CEO of Huawei Romania, the company is planning to further expand its presence in Romania in the coming years by investing 120 million U.S. dollars by 2018.

While at Huawei Romania, the Chinese premier also said China’s equipment technologies, after many years of development, have already cut a figure in many sectors and have been growing ever stronger in the thick of global markets competitions, making them new highlights in China’s cooperation with other countries.

Li arrived in the Romanian capital on Monday for an official visit to promote bilateral ties and cooperation.

During his stay in Romania, the Chinese premier also attended a China-CEE leaders’ meeting.

Later, he will travel to the Uzbek capital of Tashkent for a prime ministers’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

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Shanghai FTZ to work on its negative list

The new version of the negative list in 2014 for the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone has room for improvement on the 2013 version, said Ai Baojun, director of the zone administration commission, in a news briefing on Thursday in Shanghai.

The commission is seeking advice from relevant industrial associations and main market players to streamline the current 190 administration measures according to Ai.

Eight foreign enterprises have so far won approval from his commission in 190 fields with restrictions according to the negative list.

According to Ai, his commission had dealt with more than 580,000 cases involving consulting and registrations from Sept 29 to Nov 22. Of these cases, some of which may have been dealt with more than once, 6,000 were enterprises.

In 35 working days, the zone saw 1,434 enterprises registered, including 38 new firms established by foreign funds.

The registered capital of foreign enterprises exceeded $560 million and the registered capital of domestic enterprises is more than 34.7 billion yuan ($5.6 billion).

Sixty-nine percent are trade enterprises, and 26 percent are in the service sectors.

The enterprise with the largest registered capital, 5 billion yuan, is the Shanghai Energy Exchange Center and the smallest registered capital for an enterprise is 30,000 yuan.

The zone is also very popular among financial agencies and service sector projects.

There have been 40 financial agencies, covering banking, securities, futures, insurance, foundation and equity transactions, established in the zone. Nine major Chinese banks and 11 foreign banks have set up branches in the zone.

By Wei Tian in Shanghai and Li Yang in Beijing ( chinadaily.com.cn)

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Airspace Claim Forces Obama to Flesh Out China Strategy

While foreign-policy experts and risk analysts were riveted by the nuclear talks with Iran last weekend, the next major geopolitical crisis erupted a world away, over a clump of desolate islands in the choppy waters between Japan and China.

With the United States dispatching two B-52’s to reinforce its protest over China’s attempt to control the airspace over the islands, it served as a timely reminder that President Obama wants to turn America’s gaze eastward, away from the preoccupations of the Middle East.

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Mark Landler, New York Times via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/swIbq8PM4WM/

Two Weeks in, Kennedy Faces Diplomatic Challenge

Caroline Kennedy has had some dramatic challenges in her life, starting with her father’s assassination 50 years ago. Her new job as Washington’s s ambassador to Japan has already thrust her into the middle of growing geopolitical tensions in East Asia less than two weeks after her arrival.

The daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy came to Japan with the profile of a superstar, but with little experience in foreign policy and no specific ties to her host country. Rather than easing into her new role, the 56-year-old lawyer, author, and mother of three has found herself on the spot, delivering a stern message to China whose growing dominance in East Asia challenges the U.S.’s own regional strategy.

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Yuka Hayashi, Wall Street Journal via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/4iM3ra7FddE/

As China’s one-child policy fades, new challenges lie ahead

By promising to relax its “one child policy” the Chinese government has sounded the death knell for one of its most unpopular edicts, demographers here and abroad agree.

“This marks the beginning of the end of the one-child policy,” says Wang Feng, a population expert at the University of California, Irvine. “But they don’t want to go over a cliff so they’ll do it a step at a time.”

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Peter Ford, Christian Science Monitor via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/6RW6eRuzz1U/

China prepares to unravel its cotton stockpile

China was due to start selling down its bloated state cotton reserves on Thursday, in an anticipated move that has already caused prices on global markets to unravel.

Chinese state cotton reserves stand at about 10m tonnes, or half the world total, after a three-year buying binge that supported international prices. The China National Cotton Reserve Corp is caught in a dilemma, as any attempt to cut its position is likely to pressure prices further and result in steep losses.

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Exclusive: U.S. expands China hiring probe to Morgan Stanley

The U.S. Justice Department is probing Morgan Stanley for its hiring practices in China as part of an industry-wide investigation by the government into whether banks’ employment of politically connected Chinese breached U.S. bribery laws, according to people familiar with the matter.

As part of the industry sweep, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sent letters to Morgan Stanley and other banks, including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, seeking information about their hiring practices, according to several people familiar with the matter.

The SEC has asked the financial services firms to provide information about their hiring of the relatives of government officials in China, said two people, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

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Japan Asks Airlines to Ignore China Flight-Plan Rule

The Japanese government has pressured the country’s airlines to ignore a recent Chinese bid to assert its claims in a high-stakes territorial dispute.

Japan’s aviation authorities issued an order Tuesday to the national airline association instructing them to disregard a Chinese request for the flight plans of all flights that pass over the area in dispute.

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China to launch first moon mission next month

China is launching its first lunar probe in early December, state-run Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday, just over a decade after the country first sent an astronaut into space.

The Chang’e-3 probe — which will blast off from a Long March 3B rocket in Sichuan province located in southwest China — is expected to land on the moon’s surface in mid-December, a spokesman for the China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence told Xinhua.

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China carrier steams towards disputed South China Sea for drills

China sent its sole aircraft carrier on a training mission into the South China Sea on Tuesday amid maritime disputes with the Philippines and other neighbors and tension over its plan to set up an airspace defense zone in waters disputed with Japan.

The Liaoning, bought used from Ukraine and refurbished in China, has conducted more than 100 exercises and experiments since it was commissioned last year but this is the first time it has been sent to the South China Sea.

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China looking for new markets in Eastern Europe

China is on a charm offensive in Eastern Europe, an attempt to secure business ties in a region where the European Union and Russia are increasingly jostling for influence.

Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, trailed by a cohort of 300 corporate executives, met the leaders of 16 countries in Bucharest, Romania, on Tuesday.

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China Said to Plan Crackdown on Banks’ Loan Limit Evasion

China has drafted rules banning banks from evading lending limits by structuring loans to other financial institutions so that they can be recorded as asset sales, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

The regulations drawn up by the China Banking Regulatory Commission impose restrictions on lenders’ interbank business by banning borrowers from using resale or repurchase agreements to move assets off their balance sheets, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to discuss the rules publicly. Banks would also be required to take provisions on such assets while the transactions are in effect.

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US move to break off ITA talks criticized

Washington’s requirements are ‘too high’

China on Monday accused the United States of being “irresponsible” in suspending negotiations to expand an international agreement on reducing tariffs for a wide range of IT products while Washington criticized China for stalling the talks with a long exemption list.

“The US is irresponsible to discard the consensus reached by most of the countries only because the deal did not meet its own requirement for several products. This disregards the efforts of all the negotiation participants, including China,” Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said on Monday in a statement posted on the ministry’s website.

On Thursday, the US halted negotiations to expand the Information Technology Agreement. Negotiators from more than 50 countries, accounting for about 97 percent of IT products’ global trade, aimed to update the 16-year-old World Trade Organization agreement to cover the Internet era, cutting the import cost of items such as personal computers, laptops, telephones, fax machines, computer software and semiconductors.

US Trade Representative Michael Froman said China’s demands to exempt more than 100 products from the technology trade deal could lead to a breakdown in the negotiations.

The talks first halted in July after China decided to exclude more than 100 products from the 256-product list at the center of the negotiations.

The talks resumed in November following China’s assurances to negotiators that it was prepared to substantially reduce the number of excluded products.

But China’s updated list amounted to only a few minor tweaks rather than significant concessions, the Financial Times reported.

“China has been actively engaging in the ITA talks since September 2012. It not only adjusted domestic industries many times but kept improving its offer during the talks,” Gao said in the statement.

“Through China’s efforts, the majority of the negotiators reached a consensus covering tax exemptions on about 200 items worth a global trade value of $2.77 trillion,” he said.

“The US’ abrupt suspension of the negotiations on Thursday not only surprised China but also disappointed all participants with potential benefits from the talks.”

Gao added that it is “very normal” for various negotiators to have different claims during the talks because of diverse development levels. But he said the US demands far exceeded what was acceptable to Chinese industries, which “is the prime cause that the negotiations could not reach an agreement”.

China acknowledged that the US is unwilling to make concessions owing to pressure from its enterprises with significant competitive advantage. But, the statement said, it is “unacceptable” to China for the US to ignore the appeals from Chinese enterprises in weak positions as well as the huge gap between the two countries.

“It’s the US being irresponsible rather than China that should be blamed. All negotiators in the ITA talks have their lists, and they can narrow China’s list through negotiations instead of discarding the current outcome,” said Sang Baichuan, director of the Institute of International Business at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

“The US made too high requirements for developing countries. Not only China, but also negotiators from other developing economies agreed that developed economies should make more concessions and come up with flexible arrangements and transition periods for developing economies,” Sang said.

Yao Weiqun, associate president of the Shanghai WTO Affairs Consultation Center, said China had made “arduous efforts, and it is never easy to adjust domestic industries involved in the talks”.

“The US has competitive advantage in information and communication technology products and wants to expand its business presence in China. But these products relate to China’s strategic emerging industries, and China expects more room for industrial development,” Yao said.

China is the world’s leading exporter of and market for IT products.

The Financial Times quoted John Neuffer, senior vice-president for global policy at the Information Technology Industry Council, as saying that “China has got to be part of this. They are too big a player. You can’t have an outcome without the Chinese.”

“China does not think the talks are ended. All sides should head for the right direction to find a proper solution and reach an agreement as soon as possible,” Gao said in the statement.

By Li Jiabao ( China Daily)

China Daily via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/c9xi_5kPcH0/

Nuclear power ‘to fall short of demand’

China’s need for nuclear power is likely to exceed its long-term development target as the nation strives to lower its reliance on coal-fired power and cut air pollution, industry insiders said on Monday.

“As demand for energy has outstripped domestic sources of supply, China’s nuclear power industry will expand more quickly than anticipated in the next two decades to better manage the nation’s energy structure and deal with environmental problems,” said Zheng Mingguang, head of the Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute.

After the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan, China reduced its installed nuclear power capacity target for 2020 to 58 gigawatts from the original target of 80 to 90 gW. The current installed capacity is 12.6 gW.

But even the lower target would still make China the world’s largest nuclear market. And building on the domestic market, State-owned nuclear companies hope to move onto the global stage by selling domestic reactor designs and technology.

Wang Binghua, chairman of State Nuclear Power Technology Corp, said that China has intellectual property rights for the third-generation nuclear power technology known as CAP1400.

That design is based on technology used in the AP 1000 reactor technology of United States-based Westinghouse Electric Co LLC, which is a unit of Japan’s Toshiba Corp

Ownership of those IP rights means China could export its reactors.

“It is very important for China, because by achieving our own nuclear technology, China could become a strong nuclear power country and establish itself on the international stage,” he said.

Countries such as South Africa and the United Kingdom are target markets for CAP1400 technology, Wang said.

Wu Zongxin, a professor of the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology of Tsinghua University, said that it was a good move for China’s nuclear power companies to cooperate with Westinghouse, which has the world’s most advanced nuclear technology.

“With refinements of design, it is possible for Chinese nuclear power companies to reduce imports of reactor components and designs as well as to be very competitive in the global market,” he said.

Over the weekend, the 922-metric-ton dome for unit 1 of the Sanmen nuclear power plant in China’s eastern Zhejiang province was raised into position atop the AP1000 reactor building.

Sanmen’s Unit 1 is the world’s first nuclear power unit to employ Westinghouse’s third-generation technology, known as an advanced pressurized water reactor nuclear technology.

Wang Mingdan, deputy general manager of SNPTC, said the placement of the dome at Sanmen represented a milestone, marking the end of the major civil engineering work and the start of the next major stages — installation of key equipment and then commissioning.

“Third-generation nuclear technology features a passive safety system that has a water replenishment capacity to ensure the safety of nuclear stations. It can also be fortified against earthquakes, external floods and other extreme natural disasters,” he said.

The first unit at Sanmen is one of two AP1000 reactors that are being built at the site. Two other AP1000s are being built in China at Haiyang in Shandong province.

The unit at Sanmen is expected to be the world’s first AP1000 reactor to begin operations, as soon as in 2014.

Four other AP1000 reactors are being built in the US: two at the Vogtle site in Georgia and two at the V.C. Summer site in South Carolina.

By LYU CHANG ( China Daily)

China Daily via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/cUfpcZ_yiw4/

High court to broadcast monopoly trial online

A high-profile case involving two Internet giants in China will be heard in the country’s top court on Tuesday. The court will also open the trial using multimedia in real time, by streaming the proceedings online.

Tencent, China’s largest instant messaging service provider, was accused of abusing its dominant market position in the case filed by Qihoo 360, an anti-virus software company, according to Guangdong High People’s Court, which earlier rejected all claims by Qihoo 360.

Now a second trial will be heard the Supreme People’s Court.

The court will be broadcast via its official micro blog, which was established last week, and several television media outlets. It is the first time that the top court is making use of multimedia to open its work to the public, aiming to improve judicial transparency.

Tuesday’s proceedings will be the first anti-monopoly case among Internet companies heard by the Supreme People’s Court since China’s Anti-Monopoly Law was enacted on Aug 1, 2008.

The relationship between Tencent and Qihoo 360 soured in September 2010, when Qihoo 360 accused Tencent of invading the privacy of its users through QQ Doctor, a security program developed by Tencent for use with its popular QQ instant messaging service.

Tencent shot back two months later, saying that it would shut down the QQ instant messaging service on computers that had security software created by Qihoo 360 installed on them.

In October 2011, Qihoo 360 sued Tencent for hindering market competition and abusing its market position. It also claimed 150 million yuan ($24.6 million) in compensation from Tencent.

After the trial that lasted nearly a year, Guangdong High People’s Court ruled on March 28 that Tencent did not create a monopoly and all of Qihoo 360′s claims were rejected.

The court had tried to mediate between the two sides but failed, Xinhua News Agency said.

By Cao Yin ( chinadaily.com.cn )

China Daily via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/z10ZgP2CYio/

China refutes Japan’s protest at ADIZ over East China Sea

China refuted Japan ‘s protest on Monday over China’s newly established Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea, demanding Japan stop irresponsible words on the issue.

In Tokyo, Chinese ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua rejected protest lodged by Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki, saying the setup of ADIZ is a normal move in the world and accords with international laws and practices.

He said the ADIZ will not affect the freedom of flight over the East China Sea, and urged Japan to stop irresponsible and groundless entanglement.

In Beijing, Assistant Chinese Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang lodged representation with Japanese ambassador to China Kitera Masato over Tokyo’s response to China’s establishment of ADIZ on Saturday.

Zheng said that the ADIZ aims to defend China’s national sovereignty and its territorial and airspace security, as well as safeguard the flight order over the East China Sea, stressing it conforms to the UN charter.

The official said that more than 20 countries, including Japan, have set up air defense identification zones since the 1950s.

“The Japanese side is not entitled to make irresponsible remarks and malicious accusations against China,” Zheng said, urging Japan to immediately correct its mistake, stop any acts that create frictions and undermine regional stability, and avoid further damage to China-Japan relations.

Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a session of a Diet committee that Japan was seriously concerned over the ” unilateral” setup of ADIZ and urged China to “retract the decision. “

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said Sunday that Japan has established its own ADIZ in the 1960s, therefore it has no right to make irresponsible remarks on China’s setup of such zone over the East China Sea.

As to the disputed Diaoyu Islands which is included in the ADIZ, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang reiterated Monday that the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands are inherent parts of China’s territory, adding China is firm in its resolve and will to safeguard sovereignty over the Diaoyu islands.

“We call on the Japanese side to stop all actions that undermine China’s territorial sovereignty and make efforts to properly manage and solve the relevant issues through dialogue and negotiation,” said Qin.

Tension between Tokyo and Beijing has heightened since September 2012 when Tokyo illegally “nationalized” Diaoyu islands by “purchasing” them from a private owner.

Xinhua News via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/C4vtIkAgjTc/

Japan, China in war of words over airspace

A war of words between Japan and China over a territorial dispute escalated Monday, with each country summoning the other’s ambassador and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calling a newly declared Chinese maritime air defense zone dangerous and unenforceable.

Abe told a parliamentary session that the zone alters the state of affairs in the East China Sea and escalates a tense situation.

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Sinopec reshuffles refineries, diverts tankers after blast

Asia’s top oil refiner Sinopec (0386.HK)(600028.SS) has cut production for at least two of its refineries in China’s eastern Shandong province after the pipeline blast which killed 55 people on Friday, industry sources said.

The adjustments are part of a juggling of oil refining operations across its plants after the disaster, which has sparked a public backlash and an apology from Sinopec, saying it will conduct safety checks on all its more than 30,000 km of pipelines.

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China Declares Air Defense Zone in East China Sea Amid Row

China declared an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea amid a territorial dispute with Japan, warning its armed forces will take “defensive emergency measures” if aircraft fail to comply.

A map, details of the zone’s coordinates and rules governing the area were posted on the Ministry of Defense’s website today, along with a question and answer statement from Yang Yajun, a ministry spokesman. Japan’s Foreign Ministry lodged a complaint with China over the zone.

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China local government debt at manageable levels, though some risks: expert

China’s local government debt is at a controllable level although risks are increasing in some areas and projects due to a lack of transparency, a finance ministry official at a think tank was quoted as saying by the official People’s Daily.

Jia Kang, head of the Research Institute of Fiscal Science, said in comments published on Monday that the overall debt of China’s public sector accounts for about 50 percent of the country’s GDP, within a safe level.

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S.Korea to discuss with China over air defense zone

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Monday that it will discuss with China this week over the recently announced Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in East China Sea that partly overlaps with the country’s military air zone and covers Ieodo, a southernmost submerged rock claimed by Seoul.

“The Korea-China vice defense ministerial-level strategic dialogue, scheduled to be held in Seoul on Nov. 28, will discuss overlapping areas between the ADIZ and Korea’s ADIZ (KADIZ) along with the ADIZ that includes Ieodo,” Kim Min-seok, spokesman of Seoul’s Defense Ministry, told reporters at a routine press briefing.

South Korea’s Vice Defense Minister Baek Seung-joo will reportedly hold the third bilateral strategic talks in Seoul Thursday with his Chinese counterpart Wang Guanzhong, deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

The talks comes after China’s Ministry of National Defense said that all aircraft in the ADIZ must report their flight plans to authorities in advance, maintain two-way communications with the ministry and follow instructions for identification.

Any airplane that fails to follow such rules will face emergency defense measures taken by the Chinese military.

The air defense identification zone is established by a maritime nation to guard against potential air threats. Since the 1950s, 20-plus countries, including the United States, Japan, Germany, Australia and South Korea, have set up their own zones.

The newly launched ADIZ of China and the existing KADIZ had overlapping areas of 20 km wide and 115 km long, according to local media reports.

The ADIZ also covered Ieodo, which lies 149 km southwest of South Korea’s southernmost island of Marado.

Spokesman Kim said that the air defense identification zone is different from a territorial air, noting that the zones have been set up to identify airplanes entering a certain area in advance on concerns that an unidentified fighter jet can invade the territorial sky. He added that the freedom of innocent over-flight can be guaranteed in the air defense identification zone as the area is on open waters.

On the Ieodo, Kim said South Korea’s jurisdiction in the submerged rock has not changed, noting that the country’s naval and air force operations have been made possible already as the area surrounding the rock was included in the country’s approved area of operations (AAO).

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China deems U.S. irresponsible for suspending ITA negotiations

The head of China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) deemed the United States as irresponsible for abruptly suspending Information Technology Agreement (ITA) negotiations, according to a ministry statement on Monday.

On Thursday, the U.S. decided to discard a consensus agreed by 78 countries that covers tax exemptions on about 200 items, involving trade volume of 2.77 trillion yuan (451.57 billion U.S. dollars). The U.S. made the decision after China refused to grant tax exemptions on several products, Gao Hucheng said.

China has been pushing forward ITA expansion negotiations since September and understands that each country has different requirements. However, demands made by the U.S. far exceeded what is acceptable to Chinese enterprises, according to the statement.

Gao said Chinese companies would be left in a weaker position if the U.S. got its way.

The Commerce Minister urged all sides to find a proper solution and reach an agreement as soon as possible.

Xinhua News via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/_CLyX9vMbT0/

Chinese premier to attend China-CEE summit

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will attend a China-Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) leaders’ meeting in Romania’s Bucharest on Tuesday to enhance mutual understanding and cooperation.

During the summit, Li will attend a “1+16″ round table meeting and an economic and trade forum, and deliver speeches and hold separate meetings with leaders from 16 CEE countries.

He will elaborate on China’s position in regards to relations with CEE countries and announce important cooperation measures.

Participants will also assess the implementation of the cooperation proposals made in Warsaw during the first China-CEE leaders’ meeting in the spring of last year, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta told a press conference last week.

China announced a list of twelve proposals to push forward cooperation between China and CEE countries during the Warsaw summit, and a secretariat prioritizing the list was established in Beijing in September last year.

Since then, the secretariat has promoted practical cooperation on projects in economy, culture, education, tourism and other fields, said Song Tao, secretary-general of the secretariat.

China has sent more than 30 delegations of trade and investment to CEE countries.

A 10-billion-U.S.-dollar special credit line included in the plan has been launched, and a series of inter-enterprise trade and economic cooperation agreements have been signed under the China-CEE cooperative framework.

In addition, the two sides have successfully held a series of events, including a special tourism products promotion event, a forum on cultural cooperation and the first Education Policy Dialogue between China and CEE countries.

In July, the first local leaders’ meeting of China and CEE countries was held in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality to expand cooperation between provinces and cities of the two sides.

The China-CEE cooperative mechanism has been improved since the first economic and trade forum was held in 2011, and the upcoming summit will lay a solid foundation for practical cooperation in the future, experts say.

Ruan Zongze, vice president of the China Institute of International Studies, said the meeting, which Li will attend as premier for the first time, will enhance mutual understanding between China and CEE countries.

Ruan said China’s new leadership has kept the promise to share development opportunities with CEE countries by implementing signed agreements on cooperative projects.

Cooperation between China and CEE countries “conforms with each side’s respective development features and needs for cooperation,” Song said, describing such cooperation as reciprocal and win-win.

Trade between China and the 16 CEE countries amounted to 45.4 billion dollars during the first 10 months this year.

Chinese companies’ investment in CEE countries has exceeded 3.5 billion dollars, and investment in the opposite direction has topped 1.1 billion dollars.

“The summit is of great significance since it will vastly enrich the content of cooperation between the two sides,” said Ruan.

Xinhua News via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/O5TfLkJC24c/

Japanese PM concerned over China’s air defense zone

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that Japan is seriously concerned over the air defense identification zone China announced to set up in the East China Sea on Saturday.

Abe made the remark at a session of a Diet committee, following the words made by Japan’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday that Japan can not accept the fact that the zone covers the Diaoyu Islands.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Sunday that China “firmly opposes” Japan’s remarks on the Diaoyu Islands included in the identification zone, adding China’s move conform to the Charter of the United Nations and international laws and practices and are thoroughly legitimate.

Qin said the remarks by the Japanese side are “irresponsible” and “groundless and utterly wrong.”

The spokesman reiterated that the Diaoyu Islands and its surrounding islets are an inherent part of China’s territory, and the country’s determination and volition to safeguard its sovereignty over the islands are “unwavering.”

China’s Ministry of National Defense on Saturday issued an announcement to establish an Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea.

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Experts explain defense identification zone

Military experts on Saturday said that the establishment of the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone accords with international common practices.

Military expert Meng Xiangqing said that a country has the right to decide on its own whether or how to set up such zones, without getting permission from other countries, if the move does not violate international laws, breach other countries’ territorial sovereignty or affect the freedom of flight.

Military expert Yin Zhuo said that China’s establishment of the zone is based on the need to tackle a more complex security environment, and the move is a justified act to maintain the sovereignty and security of the country’s territory and airspace.

On Saturday morning, the Chinese government issued a statement on establishing the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone. It also issued an announcement on the aircraft identification rules and a diagram for the zone.

According to Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun, an air defense identification zone is established by a maritime nation to guard against potential air threats. This airspace is demarcated outside the territorial airspace and allows the country to set aside time for early warning and helps defend the country’s airspace.

Since the United States established the first air defense identification zone in 1950, more than 20 countries and regions have set up such zones.

Experts said that the announcement of the details of the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone is an important step in increasing military transparency.

Zhang Junshe, a military expert, said that the demarcation of the zone will not only increase the country’s air defense early warning ability, but also avoid military misjudgements with foreign aircraft.

Foreign aircraft should report their flights and follow other regulations if they enter the zone, Zhang said.

“That is an important measure for the two sides to understand the situation on the sea and in the airspace in a timely manner,” he said.

Yin said that based on different situations, China will take timely measures to deal with air threats and unidentified flying objects from the sea, including identification, monitoring, control and disposition.

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China maps out its first air defense ID zone

Ministry says move will ensure sovereignty, order and security

China has established its first air defense identification zone in accordance with Chinese law and international practices to safeguard its sovereignty, the Ministry of National Defense announced on Saturday.

The move allows early-warning time and helps China protect its sovereignty and territories, and guarantee regional air security, officials and analysts said.

An air defense identification zone is a defensive area of airspace established by a coastal state beyond its territorial airspace, explained Wang Ji, a Chinese expert on domestic and international law from an institution affiliated with China’s air force.

It is used to identify, monitor, control and react in a timely manner to aircraft entering this zone that are potential air threats, Wang said.

The East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone includes the airspace within the area enclosed by the outer limit of China’s territorial waters and six other points.

People’s Liberation Army air force spokesman Shen Jinke said two scouting planes have completed the zone’s first patrol with the support of surveillance and fighters.

The military is capable of effectively controlling the zone, Shen said. It will not influence international airlines’ flights, he said.

The zone was created to safeguard China’ sovereignty, territory and security while maintaining flight order, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Yang Yujun said.

“This is a necessary measure China has taken to exercise its right to self-defense,” Yang said.

“It is not directed against any specific country or target. It does not affect the freedom of flights in the airspace.”

He emphasized China has always respected the freedom of flights in accordance with international law. The zone’s establishment does not change the legal nature of the related airspace, and normal flights by international airlines will not be affected.

“The zone’s founding has adequate legal basis,” Wang said.

“China’s domestic laws and regulations, such as the Law of the PRC on National Defense, the Law of PRC on Civil Aviation and Basic Rules on Flight, also clearly stipulate the maintenance of territorial land, air security and flight order.”

It is also in line with the United Nations Charter to exercise the right to self-defense, he added.

Naval Military Academic Institute researcher Zhang Junshe said: “The zone shows China’s resolve and determination to defend its national sovereignty. It can also help maintain flight security in the region and avoid air accidents. It is in accordance with current international practice.”

Since the 1950s, more than 20 countries, including the United States, Canada and China’s neighboring countries, such as Japan and South Korea, have successively established air defense identification zones.

On Saturday, the ministry also issued the Aircraft Identification Rules for the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone, which states aircraft flying in the zone must abide by these rules and provide identification, including flight plans, radio contact, transponders and logos.

The regulations also require aircraft in the zone to follow the instructions of the zone’s administrative organ or the unit authorized by the organ.

China’s armed forces will adopt defensive emergency measures to respond to aircraft that do not cooperate in the identification or refuse to follow the instructions, it said.

“We hope all parties concerned work actively with the Chinese side to jointly maintain flight safety,” Yang from the ministry said.

The scope of the zone covers China’s Diaoyu Islands and is located 130 km from Japan’s territory. It overlaps with Japan’s air defense identification zone.

The zone is different from territory and, therefore, does not infringe upon other countries’ sovereignty, Zhang said.

“The zone’s coverage area is determined by China’s need for air defense and flight order,” said Yang, the ministry spokesman.

“The easternmost point of the zone is actually so close to China that combat aircraft can quickly reach China’s territorial airspace from it.

“It is necessary for China to identify any aircraft from this point to assess its intentions and examine its identifiers so as to allow enough early-warning time for responsive measures to maintain air security.”

China will establish other air defense identification zones at the right time after necessary preparations are completed, Yang said.

Later on Saturday, Junichi Ihara, director general of the Asian and Oceanic Affairs Bureau with Japan’s Foreign Ministry, lodged representations to China’s acting ambassador to Japan, Han Zhiqiang, because the zone includes the Diaoyu Islands.

Japan also claims the islands.

But Zhang said Japan’s representations are meaningless because the islands belong to China.

Officials of Japan’s Ministry of Defense held a meeting and vowed to strengthen surveillance over China, reported China Central Television.

By Zhou Wa ( China Daily)

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Plenum Decision Charts New Road for Urbanization Drive

The decision on comprehensively deepening reforms, endorsed at the Third Plenum of the 18^th Central Committee of the Communist of China and made public on October 15, charted a roadmap for comprehensive reforms. With significant reform measures clarified for such important sectors as fiscal and finance systems and State-owned enterprises, there are few direct mentions or words about urbanization. However, if reading between the lines, a major shift in the development of urbanization is too apparent to ignore.

Zhang Monan

Quality, not speed, holds the key to China’s new mode of urbanization. The past model for urbanization, which was categorized as “high speed but low efficiency”, “prioritizing investment but ignoring services”, and “bigger role for the government but lesser role for the market”, are no longer sustainable. It is crucial to shed the urbanization model of “being dominated by the government.” And when economic transformation and institutional innovations are taken into consideration, it is a must to improve the system for the healthy development of urbanization.

According to the roadmap rolled out at the plenum, the new urbanization will feature a gradual establishment of a system of social equity with “equal rights, equal opportunities and fair rules” as it’s main feature, will take the “market systems as the fundamentals and free competition as the base”, and will protect the rights of all to equal participation and development. By introducing new systems, the four supply factors – labor, land, capital and technology – will be rejuvenated. System and mechanism backing will be strengthened, and an overall upgrading of all factors, and high-quality urbanization will also be promoted.

Three imbalances will be reversed

Statements on urbanization in the plenum’s decision mean that future reforms will be aimed at reversing three imbalances. The first is to reverse the unbalanced phenomenon in which priority was given only to cities, not the countryside. The new mode of urbanization does not seek to convert the countryside into cities, but instead, to create a fair, equitable, and equal urban-rural relationship. Urban expansion used to be a one-way and extensive expansion, and a form of “invasive” “space acquisitions” from the rural areas. Practice has proven that this is an unsustainable development model. Public service resources should not be centralized only in big cities, and medium-sized and small cities and the vast rural areas should be entitled to equal services. By making services more available, it will help change the unbalanced dual structure in which the rural areas support and nurture the cities, farmers feed the urbanites, and agriculture nurtures industry, and will help promote the healthy and sustainable urban-rural integration.

The second is to reverse the unbalanced situation of stressing the demands and ignoring the expansion of supply. The fundamental role of urbanization does not seek to stimulate domestic demands. It is actually aimed at the effects of economies of scale generated by the industrial division through industry clustering, and aims at improving the efficiency of factor clustering generated by cooperation among cities. Urbanization means changes in the supply-demand structure, and the economies of scale and expansion of urban population will greatly promote the improvement in industrial division and employment structure.

This new mode of urbanization must bank on the forceful support by industries. Only when rational area distribution of industries and competitive industrial chains take shape, will it be possible to promote the clustering of urban factor resources, to achieve the rational division of work between the suburban districts and counties and their neighboring regions, and it could be possible to gradually eliminate the urban-rural limits and gaps. This will be the starting point for urbanization under a new supply-demand structure, and will be the destined road to achieve the innovation-driven urbanization.

The third is to reverse the unbalanced situation of giving priority to big cities and ignoring medium-sized and small cities. The new type of urbanization does not mean to ignore medium-sized and small cities or small towns. Of 661 cities in China, the number of medium-sized and small cities with a population of less than 500,000 is 533, accounting for 80.6% of the total, and total population of the medium-sized and small cities accounts for 59% of the national total. Medium-sized and small cities are evenly distributed across the country. Promoting the development of the medium-sized and small cities with job opportunity creation may help solve the employment problems for these cities, and the growth potential of these cities is enormous.

Three interactions needed

On the road to new urbanization, three interactions must be achieved.

First, we must foster a sound interaction between cities and the countryside. The issue at the core of the urbanization drive is the market-oriented reforms of the supply factors. Extensive use of the factors will inevitably lead to low productivity. The protection of and respect for complete property rights of the means of production are necessary conditions for the factors’ access to the market and their highly efficient distribution, and subsequent economic efficiency. The decision of the third plenum grants farmers with the rights to possess, utilize, benefit from and transfer their contracted land, and the use of their contracted operation rights as mortgage or guarantee. The rights to mortgage, guarantee and transfer farmers’ housing properties are meant to revitalize the means of production, improve capital gains and to bring benefits to the farmers, and subsequently promote the upgrading of the productivity of these factors. With the reinvigoration of the rural and agricultural means of production, the momentum and driving force for rural reforms will muster to promote the urban-rural integration, the equal exchange of urban and rural means of production, and the balanced distribution of public resources.

Second, we must develop a sound interaction between urbanization and industrialization. The country must integrate itself into the global production network and upgrade the competitive edge of its urban system. With the functional areas of modern industries as the base, it is imperative to speed up the development of the leading industries, such as modern manufacturing, modern services and modern urbanite-oriented agriculture, and to extend the chain of urban industries.

Third, we must form a sound interaction between big cities and the medium-sized and small cities and small towns, and to develop a multi-level urban system. In the new type of urbanization, a division of industries among big cities and medium-sized and small cities should be defined according to their advantages in human resources and industrial chains. With big city clusters as the bases and a rational division of industries among medium-sized and small cities, it will help prescribe a solution to the “mega-city diseases” and the problems of “poverty-stricken belts around big cities.” It will also be helpful in promoting reasonable distribution of regional industries and the industrial development of city clusters.

The decision also mentioned improving the standards for setting up cities. Strict examination and approval procedures should be exercised, and counties qualified for administrative division adjustments could be elevated to the status of cities in an orderly manner. For towns with strong capacity in absorbing population and strong economic power, administrative powers compatible with their population and economic scale could be granted. Residence registration control in medium-sized and small cities will be eased, and a series of innovation and reform measures in medical service, health and education will be adopted. The social security system for medium-sized and small cities and their residents will be further strengthened, so as to make these cities and the quality of life in these cities more attractive, and to make them the real foundation for the urbanization drive.

Zhang Monan is a researcher at the Strategic Studies Department of the China International Economic Exchange Center.

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China’s cabinet announces appointments

The State Council, China’s cabinet, on Friday announced a number of government appointments.

Mao Weiming was appointed vice minister of Industry and Information Technology.

Chen Zongrong was appointed vice director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs.

Wu Wenxue was appointed vice director of the China National Tourism Administration, replacing Zhu Shanzhong.

Ren Xianliang was appointed vice director of the State Internet Information Office.

Li Yafei and Gong Qinggai were appointed vice directors of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, replacing Zheng Lizhong and Sun Yafu.

Huang Hong was appointed vice chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) while Li Kemu was removed from the post. Liang Tao was appointed CIRC assistant chairman.

Wang Zhiyong was appointed vice director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, replacing Li Daning.

Lu Yong was appointed director of the sixth executive council of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF). Sun Xiande, Cheng Kai, Jia Yong and Wang Meimei were appointed vice directors of the sixth executive council of the CDPF.

Zhang Rong was appointed president of Shandong University, replacing Xu Xianming. Dong Xiaojun replaced Zheng Qingdian to be representative of the People’s Republic of China to the International Seabed Authority.

Yu Jianhua was removed from the post of vice representative of international trade negotiation for the Ministry of Commerce. Zhou Wenzhang was dismissed from the post of vice president of the Chinese Academy of Governance.

Li Heping was removed from her post of vice director of the State Archives Administration. Wang Jiliang was removed from vice political commissar of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

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Death toll from China’s oil pipeline blast rises to 44

The death toll from an oil pipeline explosion in eastern Chinese city of Qingdao has risen to 44 from 35, local authorities said on Saturday.

Another 136 injured people have been hospitalized, rescue headquarters said, adding that rescue work is still going on.

The blast occurred at 10:30 a.m on Friday in Huangdao District of Qingdao, after oil leaked from a Sinopec pipeline flowed into the municipal pipe network, an initial investigation showed.

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U.S. and China Find Convergence on Climate Issue

Discord and rivalry between Beijing and Washington have factored in international discussions of global warming since the United Nations climate treaty was established in 1992, contributing to the foundering of the 2009 talks in Copenhagen and much rough sailing since.

But with China having recently surpassed the United States as the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the countries are finding that their interests increasingly overlap, climate experts and government officials say. The more productive relationship is raising hopes that the friction of recent years may be easing, paving the way for a new global climate change treaty in 2015.

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Media: Chinese stealth drone takes 1st test flight

China’s first unmanned stealth drone made its first test flight in the latest advance for the domestic arms industry, state media reported Friday.

Photos and video of the tailless delta-wing drone flying were posted on the websites of People’s Daily and other major outlets. The location of the 20-minute flight made Thursday was identified only as a southwestern China testing base.

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China warns North Korea, blames Japan for tension

China warned North Korea on Friday it would not tolerate chaos on its doorstep, while blaming Japan for the tension between Asia’s two largest economies.

Ties between Beijing and Pyongyang have deteriorated since North Korea conducted its third nuclear test in February. China signed on to U.N. sanctions in March, but remains the North’s largest trading partner.

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Pakistan Plans Nuclear Power Plant With China Amid Energy Woes

Pakistan plans to construct a civil nuclear power plant with China’s help in the country’s biggest city to meet growing demand for energy, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said today.

“We and China are building this plant together,” Sharif told a seminar in Islamabad that was televised live by state-run PTV. He plans to travel to Karachi on Nov. 26 to lay the foundation stone of Pakistan’s sixth nuclear power plant, which he said will produce 2,117 megawatts of electricity.

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EU trade chief says China investment pact must open markets

Europe has no interest in a bilateral investment pact with China that omits measures to prise open the Asian giant’s markets, the European Union’s trade commissioner said on Friday, after a summit with Chinese leaders announced plans for treaty talks.

China and the EU have said the landmark treaty aims to boost investment that lags growing trade and address market access, long a point of contention for foreign firms operating in China, which say they are barred from key sectors often reserved for state-owned enterprises.

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Optimism Boosted by Third Plenary Session of 18th CPC Central Committee

With a little attention one will find that the general public is quite optimistic after the 3^rd Plenary Session of the 18^th CPC Central Committee. Public sentiment indicates that most people basically approve of the five-in-one reform approach put forward by the CPC Central Committee. It suggests that the Chinese ruling party’s commitment to reforms in the political, economic, cultural, social and environmental fields is aligned with the people’s desire for higher living standards. On the other hand, it also affirms the strong doubts and criticisms coming from Chinese society that have been caused by increasing conflicts and problems in the five autonomous regions. Therefore, launching reforms in these five regions is naturally rather popular. Furthermore, the meeting explicitly gave equal importance to the campaign against government corruption and public servants and the five major reforms, which positively affects public opinion.

But what has interested me most is not the general public’s opinion after the high-level CPC meeting, but rather the fact that many public intellectuals, some pioneering economists and many white-collar middle class in particular, have shown an optimism that has been rare in recent years. And I wonder why that is.

The average person’s optimism with the “new” Third Plenum can be attributed to them seeing a connection between future reforms and their own interests. What makes Chinese intellectuals happy is the fact that debates about reforms are drawing attention of the ruling party’s top leaders, who seem to have made fairly correct judgments. In fact, these rather theoretical debates have a bearing on whether China will continue with its opening-up policy. In other words, China has reached a historical critical point in its reform and opening up. Will it create an upgraded version of social development or hesitate in front of difficulties until the achievements of the past three decades are exhausted? The CPC, the ruling party, must give clear answers to these questions. Those Chinese intellectuals and economists who strongly support market reforms are cautiously optimistic because they have seen the ruling party’s answer in the Communique published after the session, which relieves them and gives them hope.

To be more specific, the meeting has given clear-cut answers to the following contentious questions. It first confirms that future reforms will not only focus on the economy and that a holistic strategy will be adopted to achieve major changes. The CPC Central Committee has stressed that economic, political, cultural, social and ecological reforms must be systematic. The decision to set up a steering agency at the central government to guide deepened reforms highlights the holistic and coordinated feature of this strategy. It seems that this approach can be attributed to President Xi Jinping’s military experience, which gave him familiarity with operational coordination and joint services exercises.

The CPC Central Committee also further clarified the objective of political reform as modernizing governance structure and capacity. This objective seems to have multiple meanings and needs further authoritative interpretation. However, today this expression presents new, unprecedented demands on the Chinese government by describing existing governance capacity as less than desirable. The call to modernize governance structure has also gone beyond the old, narrow understanding of political reform as only the decentralization of administration. Establishment of the National Security Council should be seen in this context.

All of the above has been well received in Chinese society and has led to optimism amongst the middle class and intellectuals. But I don’t think they are the core reason. The most fundamental and enlightening sentence in the Communique petitions us to “let the market play a decisive role in allocation of resources”. Before the 3^rd Plenum, the role of the market in resource allocation was described as “basic”, which is now set as “decisive”. People familiar with Chinese politics and political jargon know well that there may be a world of difference between one word and another. The likelihood of a word changing the nation’s destiny is not an illusion in China today, but rather a tangible reality. Debates over role of the market have accompanied the whole Chinese reform process. It may seem easy to claim a decisive role for the market in resource allocation. More importantly, it truthfully and accurately reflects the Chinese decision-makers’ basic ideas about the urgent need to upgrade industry, transform the economy and re-position the government. Such a description summarizes the achievements and lessons in socio-economic development learned over the past thirty-five years, and lay down the datum point for all economic reforms in the coming decade.

Qin Xiaoying is a Research Scholar with China Foundation For International and Stategic Studies.

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PBOC Says No Longer in China’s Interest to Increase Reserves

The People’s Bank of China said the country does not benefit any more from increases in its foreign-currency holdings, adding to signs policy makers will rein in dollar purchases that limit the yuan’s appreciation.

“It’s no longer in China’s favor to accumulate foreign-exchange reserves,” Yi Gang, a deputy governor at the central bank, said in a speech organized by China Economists 50 Forum at Tsinghua University yesterday. The monetary authority will “basically” end normal intervention in the currency market and broaden the yuan’s daily trading range, Governor Zhou Xiaochuan wrote in an article in a guidebook explaining reforms outlined last week following a Communist Party meeting. Neither Yi nor Zhou gave a timeframe for any changes.

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China, EU agree to start talks on investment treaty

China and the European Union will begin talks on a landmark treaty aimed at boosting investment that lags behind burgeoning trade and at tackling thorny market access issues, the two sides announced at a summit on Thursday.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in speeches in Beijing that the potential agreement would increase openness and deepen cooperation as well as boosting investment, which has not kept pace with trade growth.

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China Clashes With U.S., EU on Roles in New Climate Deal

China clashed with the U.S. and European Union over the commitments each should take in a new climate change agreement that envoys aim to reach by 2015.

The deal should operate under rules dating back to 1992 that set a clear division between the obligations of industrial and developing nations, Chinese Environment Minister Xie Zhenhua told delegates at United Nations climate talks in Warsaw. The U.S. and EU want to step away from that division.

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China Manufacturing Loses Momentum in November

A preliminary gauge of China’s manufacturing activity showed a mild weakening of growth momentum in November, weighed down by sluggish new export orders, and suggesting the third-quarter rebound in the world’s second-largest economy may be losing steam.

The HSBC preliminary Purchasing Managers’ Index slipped to 50.4 in November from 50.9 in October, HSBC Holdings PLC said on Thursday. That leaves it in positive territory, holding above the key 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction compared with the previous month. Despite the weaker expansion, the result was still the second-best reading in the past seven months.

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China’s Highest Court Seeks to Curtail Abuses of Justice

China’s highest court issued demands on Thursday that judges bar confessions obtained through torture and avoid applying the death penalty when the evidence is shaky. The directive was unlikely on its own to curb such abuses, but reflected a growing official recognition of the need to stop gross injustices, experts said.

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US must seize opportunity of China’s reforms: Obama aide

Seeking to boost economic ties with China, the United States must seize the opportunity of Beijing’s newly launched “sweeping reforms,” a key aide to President Barack Obama said Wednesday.

China’s economic reforms, if realized, “could go a long way toward leveling the playing field for private and foreign investors and moving China’s economy toward market principles,” said Susan Rice, Obama’s national security adviser.

China released a key reform roadmap last week aiming to build a united and open market system with orderly competition, and enabling the market to play a “decisive” role in allocating resources.

“That’s an opportunity we must seize,” Rice said in an address on “America’s Future in Asia” at Georgetown University.

The United States seeks to build a new model of major-country relationship with China, which means “managing inevitable competition while forging deeper cooperation on issues where our interests converge — in Asia and beyond.”

Rice, former US ambassador to the United Nations, said despite the differences between the two countries, their interests on many of the major challenges can and should be more closely aligned.

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Roadmap ‘will curb local debts’

Reform efforts will ease financial pressures, support project funding

Although the world has been talking about China’s local government debt piling up, how bad is it really?

It is “under control”, said a senior economic policy official on Wednesday in Beijing.

Yang Weimin, an official with the Leading Group on Finance and Economics of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the amount of local debt is risky but remains manageable.

The debt raised by local governments to finance their own development projects has grown quickly, he said.

But if measures pledged in the reform roadmap adopted by the Third Plenum of the 18th CPC Central Committee are followed, local debt won’t be a major problem, Yang said.

In fact, the reform efforts will ease local government debt burdens, Yang said.

The details are still being worked out by officials, he said, but will be unveiled nationwide in due course. The National Development and Reform Commission will come up with an annual target list to carry out the reform initiatives, Yang said.

The National Audit Office last reported local government debt at the end of 2010, giving the figure as 10.72 trillion yuan ($1.77 trillion).

Economists’ estimates of current local debt range from 20 trillion yuan to 30 trillion yuan, with the latter equivalent to 60 percent of the GDP.

By Zhao Yinan ( China Daily)

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Chinese president pledges closer EU cooperation

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called on China and the European Union (EU) to properly position their comprehensive strategic partnership amid the process of globalization so as to forge ahead with bilateral cooperation.

In a meeting with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, here for the 16th China-EU Summit, Xi said China and the EU are two major forces in maintaining world peace, two important markets to promote common development and two civilizations to advance the cause of human progress.

He said the recent Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee mapped out an overall plan for comprehensively deepening reform.

China is moving forward to the realization of the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation, while Europeans have sought the dream of integration for centuries, Xi told his guests.

Stressing that both sides are walking on roads that have never been tried by previous generations, Xi called on the two sides to show mutual respect, support and tolerance, and to treat each other equally.

China will continue to firmly support European integration, he said.

China and the EU need to bear the trends of historic reforms in mind, grasp opportunities, accurately position the comprehensive strategic partnership amid a multipolar world and economic globalization, and realize the innovative development of China-EU cooperation so as to benefit the peoples of both sides and the world, the Chinese president said.

Xi said both China and the EU need to make full use of the high-level meetings and several other mechanisms of dialogue in order to enhance mutual trust and communication on major global and regional issues.

The two sides also need to expand cooperation on trade and investment, promote the negotiation on investment agreements and oppose protectionism in all forms, he said.

Xi expressed the hope that the European side could create a sound environment for Chinese enterprises to conduct economic and trade cooperation in Europe.

He called on the two sides to make a strategic plan for cooperation in 2020, boost cooperation on urbanization, science, aeronautics and astronautics and green economy.

For their part, the two European leaders said the EU and China have become major partners for each other since the two established comprehensive strategic partnership ten years ago.

The EU speaks highly of China’s remarkable achievements and supports China’s comprehensively deepening reform, they said, adding that China’s momentum of rapid development is vital to Europe.

The EU appreciates China’s support and would like to maintain dialogue with China, deepen mutual trust, finish the negotiation of investment agreements at an early date and intensify communication and coordination on international and regional issues, the two leaders said.

The 16th China-EU summit will be held on Thursday in Beijing to outline cooperation for the next five to ten years and upgrade their relationship.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will launch the summit with Van Rompuy and Barroso.

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Court rules out confession through torture

Using torture to extract confessions must be eliminated, China’s Supreme People’s Court said on Thursday.

“Inquisition by torture used to extract a confession, as well as the use of cold, hunger, drying, scorching, fatigue and other illegal methods to obtain confessions from the accused must be eliminated,” the Supreme Court said in a statement posted on its official microblog account.

The Supreme People’s Court also introduced more stringent rules for death penalty cases, saying adequate evidence must be furnished and that only experienced judges should handle capital punishment trials.

China’s government said last week it would work to reduce the number of crimes subject to the death penalty.

The Supreme People’s Court comments were part of a statement on weeding out false charges in legal cases and follows a landmark package of reforms last week, including abolishing forced labour camps.

The Supreme People’s Court also emphasized that courts much not yield to pressure from the media or “unreasonable petitioning by litigants.” Public outrage has sometimes swayed verdicts in high profile cases.

The court released a paper late last month calling for an end to corruption in courts and for officials to stop interfering in decisions.

China Daily via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/bp5MPUV9Gq0/

China hospital ship to set sail for Philippine typhoon zone

China is sending a state-of-the-art hospital ship to the Philippines following foreign and domestic criticism that it was slow and less than generous in its response to one of the world’s biggest typhoons, which killed at least 4,000 people.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing confirmed on Tuesday the deployment of the 14,000-tonne “Peace Ark” as state television reported the arrival of the first batch of Chinese relief supplies in the Philippines.

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Greg Torode, Reuters via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/ePQ6pXXeeVA/

US Ambassador to China to Step Down Early in 2014

U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke, who oversaw the handling of potential crises over the flights to U.S. diplomatic missions by a persecuted legal activist and a high-profile police chief, said Wednesday he will step down early next year.

Locke, the first Chinese-American to hold the post, said he informed President Barack Obama earlier this month of his decision to rejoin his family in Seattle.

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Louise Watt, The Associated Press via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/36SPkYFMstc/

China could field largest fleet of modern subs, warships in Pacific by 2020, says US panel

A congressional advisory panel sounded a warning Wednesday about China’s military buildup, predicting Beijing could possess the largest fleet of modern submarine and combatant ships in the western Pacific by 2020.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said China’s military modernization is altering the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific region and challenging decades of U.S. pre-eminence.

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The Associated Press via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/CXoNuSpUd0U/

PBOC Will ‘Basically’ End Normal Yuan Intervention: Zhou

China’s central bank will “basically” end normal intervention in the currency market and broaden the yuan’s daily trading limit, Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said, without giving a timeframe.

The daily range will be widened in an “orderly way” as China seeks to enhance the currency’s two-way flexibility, Zhou wrote in an article in a guidebook explaining reforms outlined last week following a Communist Party meeting. The nation will phase out investment caps for both domestic and foreign investors, he added. A ceiling on deposit rates offered by local banks will be gradually removed as well, PBOC Deputy Governor Yi Gang wrote in the book.

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Bloomberg News via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/w2c4H0MM9oo/