1. Reuters: U.S. ambassador to China says 'level playing field' a top goal
Ensuring a "level playing field" for American businesses stands at the top of the U.S.
diplomatic agenda in China, U.S. Ambassador Max Baucus said in his first public remarks since taking office. "The first (of three goals) is to strengthen our economic relationship with China in a way that is mutually beneficial and ensures a level playing field for American businesses and workers to compete fairly with their Chinese counterparts," the former Montana senator said in remarks to reporters. "I think this is very important." The world's two largest economies have numerous points of contention in the region, including China's assertions of sovereignty over swathes of the East China and South China Seas, as well as U.S.
support for self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a renegade province. Baucus helped steer trade policy with China as chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, taking a firm stance against some of China's trade practices. He also led
U.S. efforts in the 1990's to aid China's admission to the World Trade
Organisation. Baucus also said he hoped to strengthen people-to-people diplomacy and work with China on global challenges while encouraging it to abide by human rights norms. "We're also urging China to support the laws, the norms, values and human rights that
undergird the current international system from which we all benefit," he said.
U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus gestures in front of Chinese and American national flags during a news conference at the U.S. Embassy, upon his arrival
to his new post, in Beijing, March 18, 2014. Reuters
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2. NYT - Sinosphere: New U.S. ambassador to China gets a fast start
The new American ambassador to China, Max Baucus, got off to a fast start on his first day on the job in Beijing.
Early Tuesday, he visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to present a copy of his credentials, a formality that allowed him to meet with journalists at the United States Embassy in the afternoon. In brief remarks, Mr. Baucus, a former Democratic senator from Montana, said his first goal would be to strengthen the economic relationship between China and the United States and ensure a “level playing field” that benefited American workers. He also said he would seek to enhance respect for human rights, and promote strong people-to-people ties. The relationship between the United States and China is so important, he said, “We simply must get it right.” Mr. Baucus has long been interested in the United States-China trade relationship, and has made it clear that he will be an advocate for American companies that complain about unfair access to the Chinese market. Last year, he invited the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, to Montana in an effort to overcome Chinese restrictions on the import of American beef. Mr. Baucus said he first became interested in China when he hitchhiked around the world during his college years and visited Hong Kong. During a 36-year career in the Senate, he said he made his first visit to mainland China in 1993 and made his last visit in 2010. He said as a man who likes to get out of the office, he aspires to visit every province of China.
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3. WP: New ambassador to China vows to focus on business, human rights
New U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus said one of his top goals will be ensuring a “level playing field for American businesses.” In his first public remarks since arriving in Beijing, the former Montana senator outlined his highest priorities: to nudge China into taking more global responsibility, to strengthen people-to-people ties and to raise Chinese respect for human rights norms. Addressing a packed room of Chinese and Western media less than 24 hours after he and his wife landed in Beijing, Baucus opened his first news conference quoting Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu’s saying about a journey of 1,000 miles beginning with one small step. “The fact is I like to walk. I like to travel,” he said, vowing he would try to visit each of China’s 22 provinces and five regions before finishing his tenure. He said his interest in China began as a student when he hitchhiked his way around the world for a year, including a stop in Hong Kong. Describing the increasingly complex and intertwined relationship between China and the United States, Baucus said, “We simply must get it right.” On business, he talked of finding mutually beneficial interest while making sure U.S.
businesses and workers can “compete fairly with their Chinese counterparts.”
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4. WSJ - China Realtime: New U.S. ambassador talks the talk, aims to walk the walk
The new U.S.
ambassador in Beijing looks like he plans to walk the walk. Not long after getting off a flight from Honolulu on Monday night, Max Baucus was greeting the local press corps, kicking off his remarks with an energetic quote from Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu and saying “a journey of a 1,000 miles begins with a single step.” “Brave words,” added the 72-year-old former senator and long-time
outdoorsman from Montana—a place where you can get in a lot of practice tramping around. He quickly picked up the travel theme again, saying: “I hope to get out of this office and out of Beijing.” Mr. Baucus said his goal is to visit all of China’s provinces and regions, adding: “I’m eager to listen and learn.” The six-term Democratic senator concedes he is hardly a China specialist, but he has made eight visits to the country—and his first official one was in 1993. More importantly in his current post, he is well versed in trade and financial issues, including his key support for China’s accession to the World Trade Organization. Just to be safe, Mr. Baucus said he talked to two of his predecessors, Gary Locke and Jon Huntsman, for a little bit of guidance. The new ambassador said he has met President Xi Jinping and noted the Chinese leader referred to common interests between the U.S.
and China
outweighing the differences. Mr. Baucus called
U.S
.-China ties “one of America’s most important bilateral relationships.” “I want to be part of managing this relationship,” he said. “We simply must get it right.”
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5. WSJ - China Realtime: Xi, Obama to meet on sidelines of Nuclear Summit
The leaders of China and the U.S.
intend to meet later this month in the Netherlands, China’s state news agency confirmed Monday.
Xinhua news agency said Chinese President Xi Jinping would meet U.S. President Barack Obama in the Hague on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit, scheduled for March 24 and March 25. The brief dispatch provided no additional information. A meeting has been anticipated. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing declined to comment. The meeting comes amid Russia-Ukraine tension over the Crimea, which local residents on Sunday voted should succeed from Ukraine and align with Russia. Critical of Russia’s behavior, Mr. Obama in recent days has said he is seeking support from other leaders for possible sanctions on Moscow. On Friday, U.S. State Department Spokesman Jen Psaki was asked about China’s view of the Ukraine situation and said, “Well,
our hope continues to be that many members of the international community, including China, are in coordination and cooperation about the illegal steps that Russia took in this case and the pressure that needs to be exerted from not just the United States, but countries around the world.”
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6. WP: Michelle Obama will try to avoid politics during trip to China
Michelle Obama’s upcoming trip to China will focus on cultural exchange and avoid contentious topics, including China’s human rights violations, White House officials said Monday. The first lady will head out Wednesday, accompanied by her daughters, Malia and Sasha, and her mother, Marian Robinson. President Obama will not be on the trip. But he and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands next week. The White House is leaving the politics to those leaders. The first lady, whose overseas travel has been marked by soft diplomacy and an interest in youth empowerment, will visit China March 19-26, with stops in Beijing and sightseeing at tourist attractions in Xi’an and Chengdu. “Her visit and her agenda send a message that the relationship between the United States and China is not just between leaders, it’s a relationship between peoples,” said Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications. “Her focus on people-to-people relations, her focus on education and youth empowerment, is one that we believe will resonate with China.”
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7. NYT: Developer’s collapse adds to China concerns
New pockets of economic weakness in China emerged Tuesday, as the collapse of a highly indebted real estate developer and weak home sales pointed to a continued slowdown in the sprawling property sector. The latest batch of
difficulties add to the continuing debate over China’s
committment to economic reforms. While Beijing is pushing through a host of restructuring efforts, the worry is that the country’s slowing economy will prompt China to pull back. The nation’s growth has decelerated to its slowest pace in more than a decade. The vast real estate market, which has accounted for a significant portion of the gross domestic product, is an essential piece of the economic puzzle. And a drumbeat of data in recent weeks has prompted concerns about the health of China’s housing market. In the latest example, growth in new-home sales in several of China’s biggest cities slowed last month from January, data released on Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed. As the property market comes under pressure, real estate developers are feeling the pinch, in some cases acutely. According to reports in Chinese state-run news media on Tuesday, Zhejiang Xingrun Real Estate Investment Company, a small developer in the coastal city of Ningbo, collapsed after being unable to repay more than 3.5 billion
renminbi, or $566 million, in debt. While it is not unheard-of for Chinese property developers to default on loans or to face bankruptcy, the size of Xingrun’s debt load is particularly notable.
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8. Reuters: BoE's Carney says welcomes China's widening of yuan trading band
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Tuesday that he welcomed the decision by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) to double the
currency's trading band as part of its commitment to let markets play a greater role in the economy. "We welcome the move by the PBOC. We welcome all measures that have been taken, will be taken, to further the
internationalisation of the
renminbi," Carney told a news conference after a speech outlining a major
reorganisation at the BoE. "We are working closely with the PBOC, the Treasury, others in order to develop an offshore market in
renminbi here in London," he said. On Saturday, the People's Bank of China doubled the yuan's daily trading range, so that it can now rise or fall 2 percent around the daily
mid-point rate.
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9. FT: China and EU step towards trade peace
China and the EU have resolved a dispute over the pricing of a key component in solar panels, bringing an end to another trade battle between Brussels and Beijing ahead of a European tour by China’s president later this month. The deal announced by Germany’s Wacker Chemie AG and China’s ministry of commerce sets a minimum price for
European-produced
polysilicon that Beijing had accused European producers of dumping on the Chinese market. The move comes just months after China renewed its anti-dumping penalties on US and South Korean
polysilicon producers. It also follows a US decision to expand a probe into the dumping of Chinese solar panels on the US market. But, perhaps most importantly, it comes ahead of a March 31 visit to Brussels by Xi Jinping, China’s president. China has made clear that it wants an end to trade hostilities with the EU, its biggest trading partner. Li Keqiang,
Chinese premier, told reporters last week that Beijing was eager to resolve all of the outstanding disputes it has with the EU. “As long as the two sides respect each other and engage in proper consultations, problems can be solved,” Li told his annual press conference. But he made clear that China was intent on moving its trade relationship with the EU up the value chain. “We can’t just export toys, apparel and shoes,” he said.
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10. SD: New US ambassador in fair trade pledge
New US ambassador to China Max Baucus embraced the increasingly intertwined relationship between the two countries yesterday, saying he would push for fair trade. Meeting with journalists less than 24 hours after arriving in Beijing, Baucus said the US-China relationship is one of the world’s most crucial. “We simply must get it right,” the former senator from Montana said. Underscoring opportunities and barriers for US businesses in the China market, Baucus said he wants to promote trade “in a way that is mutually beneficial and ensures a level playing field for American businesses and workers to compete fairly with their Chinese counterparts.” “I think this is very important,” he said. Baucus helped steer trade policy with China as chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, taking a firm stance against some of China’s trade practices. He also led 1990’s US efforts to aid China’s admission to the World Trade Organization.
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11. CD: Xi to meet Obama in Europe
Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet US President Barack Obama next week in the Netherlands on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism in the world. Vice-Foreign Minister Li Baodong described the upcoming first meeting between the two presidents this year as significant in the development of
future China-US relations. "China is willing to work with the United States to push for a fruitful outcome from the meeting of
two heads of state," Li said. The third Nuclear Security Summit will be held in The Hague next Monday and Tuesday. Ben Rhodes, White House deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, said on Monday that the US has a significant and broad agenda with China. "That agenda benefits very much from regular communication at senior levels of our governments," said Rhodes. The two leaders last met at the G20 in Russia, following their high-profile informal summit in June in Sunnylands, California. Rhodes stressed that the China-US bilateral relationship is as important as any relationship in the world and China is a country the US cooperates with on a whole host of international issues. Reiterating that the US welcomes the peaceful rise of China, which is in the service of global stability and greater prosperity of the two peoples and people of the region, Rhodes pointed out that the two nations also have differences on a host of issues. "So it's a relationship that allows for both constructive cooperation and candor when we disagree," he said.
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12. Xinhua: China positive on investment treaty negotiations with US
China said on Tuesday that it is positive on negotiations over an investment treaty with the United States and hopes for the two sides to work for an agreement at an early date. Spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce Shen Danyang made the remarks at a press conference here. "We hope both China and the United States will take an attitude of pragmatic cooperation and work toward the same goal, so as to reach an agreement that is mutually beneficial and satisfactory to both sides at an early date," Shen said. He said that the negotiations over the China-US bilateral investment treaty constitute one of China's most important economic and trade negotiations, given that the discussion is
between the world's biggest and second-biggest economies. Meanwhile, the talks are strongly connected with China's efforts in deepening reforms and opening wider to the outside world. "We are positive on the negotiations and have done a great deal of pragmatic work," Shen said, adding that China's agreement to adopt equal treatment for both domestic and foreign firms as well as its introduction of "negative list" management has been a breakthrough in promoting the talks. According to the spokesman, the talks will also offer a good opportunity to improve the country's foreign investment management system and for better protection of its overseas interests. Talks over the treaty were initiated in 2008. The two sides held the 12th round of talks in Washington between March 4 and 8.
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13. CD: First lady's China trip aimed at better ties
This week's trip by the US first lady Michelle Obama to China will help improve bilateral relations between the two nations, according to senior White House officials. "Her visit and her agenda send a message that the relationship between the United States and China is not just between leaders, it's a relationship between peoples," Ben Rhodes, the White House deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, told a conference call on Monday. Rhodes described that as critically important, given the roles that the two countries are going to play in the 21st century. "Her focus on people-to-people relations, her focus on education and youth empowerment is one that we believe will resonate in China," Rhodes said. Rhodes believes a significant benefit of the trip is that it can improve the US-China relationship. "And we believe that she has proven very capable
at doing exactly that in her previous travel, both with the president and independent of the president," he said. From March 19 to 26, the first lady will visit Beijing, Xi'an and Chengdu with her two daughters, Malia and Sasha, and her mother Marian Robinson. In Beijing, Mrs Obama will meet President Xi Jinping's wife Peng Liyuan, who came to the US last June with her husband during his meeting with President Barack Obama at the Sunnylands estate in Rio Mirage, California.
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14. SD: Yuan-NZ dollar direct trade starts today
Premier Li Keqiang (right) and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key exchange Chinese yuan and New Zealand dollar banknotes during an announcement ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday. The start of direct transactions between the two currencies marks a significant step forward in economic and trade relations between China and New Zealand, said the People’s Bank of China. It also said the move will boost the use of the two currencies in bilateral trade and investment and be conducive to enhancing bilateral financial cooperation.
AFP
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15. WSJ: Greenberg's Starr group takes control of Chinese state-owned insurer
The Starr group, led by Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group Inc., AIG +1.72% has taken control of Dazhong Insurance in a deal described by the company as the first foreign takeover of a state-backed Chinese general insurer. "We have increased our ownership to almost 93% of the company," Mr. Greenberg said in an interview. Starr took a 20% stake in the Chinese property and casualty insurer in 2011 before starting talks in 2013 about increasing that holding. Mr. Greenberg declined to outline the details of the acquisition. According to a Feb. 20
statement on the websites of both Dazhong and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, Starr paid $120 million to increase its stake to 59.19%. Details on the price of the remaining stake, which takes Starr's holding to almost 93%, weren't available. A spokesperson at the China Insurance Regulatory Commission wasn't immediately available to comment. The commission's website says Starr's move to increase its stake to 59.19% has won final approval, but doesn't mention the latest deal. Mr. Greenberg said Starr has
approval for the
full nearly 93%. "Being a minority in a state-owned company isn't an easy thing," Mr. Greenberg said. "Although we had the management it is still very difficult."
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16. Reuters: Nu Skin says likely to be fined by Chinese regulators
Nu Skin Enterprises Inc said on Tuesday that it would likely be fined by Chinese regulators investigating whether the producer of personal care products and nutritional supplements distributed false information and conducted illegal business in China.
Nu Skin also said in its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it has temporarily suspended promotional meetings and accepting applications from prospective new sales representatives in China. The company said that in addition to fines, it could potentially face sanctions in China, such as a formal suspension of its ability to recruit new sales people and a temporary suspension of its right to sell products in various markets. In January, China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) ordered local authorities to investigate media reports alleging misconduct by Nu Skin.
Nu Skin shares fell 4 percent to $73.57 in after hours trading.
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17. NYT: Confirmation of shake-up in China’s film industry
Even more mysterious than the subterranean power struggles in Hollywood are the hidden currents in China’s growing film business. But one mystery clarified itself, at least a little, when Asia Film Business on Monday confirmed what had been widely reported for months: Han Sanping has stepped down as chairman of the China Film Group, a government-sponsored company with duties that include the supervision of film imports to China. Asia Film Business was following a report in which China’s Huaxi Metropolitan Daily said that Mr. Han was retiring after seven years as chairman. His departure leaves both La Peikang, who has been deputy chairman of China Film Group, and Jiao Hongfen, its vice chairman, in charge of the company. Rob Cain, a consultant who writes about China’s film business on his Chinafilmbiz.com Web site, was among those who described the now-official transition weeks ago. Identifying La Peikang as the new top officer, Mr. Cain wrote of him in February: “Don’t let La’s quiet, academic demeanor fool you; he’s undoubtedly as tough and effective as they come in China’s political bureaucracy.”
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18. WSJ - Andrew Browne: Compelling signs the Chinese property boom is over
For years, China "bears"—a group of Cassandras ranging from hedge fund managers to media pundits—have been predicting a crash in China's residential real-estate market, the single most important driver of the Chinese economy. We aren't there yet; many economists think an outright collapse is unlikely. But there are plenty of signs that one of the greatest real-estate booms in history is winding down. Like all booms, this one is ending in a bout of crazy excess. The evidence is apparent in the massive overbuilding that strikes visitors to almost any Chinese city. In the northern industrial city of Harbin, for instance, "ghost suburbs"—entire communities of unoccupied high-rises—haunt the view on the way into town from the airport. These empty blocks have acted as warehouses for the exploding wealth of China's middle classes, which have few other options to invest their money. And for more than a decade, real estate has been a good bet. In megacities like Shanghai and Beijing, property values rose up as much as fivefold between 2002 and 2012. Now, though, some of these bets are souring. In January, monthly price gains on new homes compared with a year earlier slowed for the first time in a year across the country; sales volumes are also shriveling. In Hangzhou, an eastern metropolis where lakes and cool breezes attract buyers from all over the region, several real-estate developers have cut prices on luxury developments. And on Tuesday, it emerged that Zhejiang Xingrun Real Estate Co., a property developer based in a small city south of Shanghai, is unable to repay almost $400 million of bank loans.
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