Must Read
Chinese News Sources
Notables
16. Bloomberg: Goldman, Warburg advance in China Huarong sale: sources
17. Motorola Mobility names new operating chief
18. Bloomberg: China’s Xiaomi plans to give iPhone cool at half price
19. FT: Global steel demand to slow as Chinese economy cools
20. WSJ - China Realtime: Forget Beijing: Where China’s tourist hordes are traveling
21. WSJ - Joseph Sternberg: Beijing's flight of fancy
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Must Read
1. Bloomberg: Hagel to meet Xi as China vows no compromising on sea disputes
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel meets Chinese President Xi Jinping today after being told the U.S.
refocus to Asia won’t contain China or affect its claims to territory and resources disputed with American allies. China will make “no compromise, no concessions” in disputes with Japan and the Philippines, Hagel’s counterpart in Beijing, General Chang Wanquan, said yesterday. “We are prepared at any time to cope with all kinds of threats and challenges,” Chang said. “The Chinese military can assemble as soon as summoned, fight any battle and win.” In response, Hagel stressed the U.S.
commitment to its Asian allies and said China had inflamed tensions by setting up an air defense zone over East China Sea islands also claimed by Japan.
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2. WSJ: Hagel asks China's Xi Jinping to do more to contain North Korea
Amicable talks follow blunt U.S.
exchanges with Beijing's military leaders during three-day trip.
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3. Reuters: China fires shot across U.S. bow ahead of Obama's Asia trip
In one of the many frank exchanges U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had in China this week, General Fan Changlong told him how one of his uncles died as a slave in a Japanese mine during World War Two. Fan, deputy head of China's powerful Central Military Commission, spoke about the lessons of history, signaling Beijing's concerns that the United States was siding with Japan against China. Hagel replied by saying his own father had helped fight Japanese forces in World War Two. "The secretary made it very clear that we should be informed by
history but not driven by it," a U.S.
official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity to recount a conversation on Tuesday that he described as terse. The exchange sums up the frustration in China over America's role in Asia, where in the eyes of Beijing, Washington is increasingly supporting Japan as well as other countries over territorial disputes with China. The United States has said it is not taking
sides but stands ready to defend its allies.
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4. Reuters: China angered by latest U.S. arms sale plan for Taiwan
China's defense ministry expressed anger on Wednesday after the U.S. House of Representatives agreed to authorize the sale to Taiwan of four second-hand U.S.
warships, saying the United States had ignored Chinese protests. China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island at the end of a civil war with the communists in 1949. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. The U.S.
legislation also reaffirmed the Taiwan Relations Act, which obligates the United States to come to Taiwan's aid in the event of an attack, and was enacted in 1979 when Washington severed formal ties with the island in favor of recognizing the People's Republic of China in Beijing.
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5. WSJ - China Realtime: IMF urges China to rein in credit, even if growth slows
Look out for a downgrade in China’s growth outlook if Beijing follows the International Monetary Fund‘s advice. The IMF says China’s financial problems are bad enough to warrant more aggressive action by authorities to rein in borrowing, even if it means lower growth than currently forecast. Without stronger oversight of China’s lending practices, the country risks a financial crisis that could send the economy into a nosedive. And that could wreak havoc on global growth, weighing particularly
on other emerging markets that rely on demand from the world’s second-largest economy. Beijing is tightening oversight of the country’s shadow-banking services amid fears that bad loans may be building to dangerous levels.
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6. Bloomberg: Deutsche Bank’s Ma joins PBOC to aid drive to change economy
Deutsche Bank AG economist Ma Jun said he’s joining the People’s Bank of China to get involved in economic changes that he expects will be “very aggressive.” Ma, 50, will be chief economist with the central bank’s research bureau, ending a 13-year stint with Deutsche, according to a message from Ma to clients this week and an internal Deutsche memo, both obtained by Bloomberg News. Chinese officials face the challenge of shifting to a more market-driven economic system just as growth is slowing and risks accumulate from a credit boom. After last
month widening the trading band for the yuan, the central bank’s planned next steps include scrapping constraints on deposit rates. “My speculation is that the PBOC is about to start a round of aggressive financial liberalization,” said Huang Yiping, vice president of the National School of Development at Peking University and former chief Asia economist at Citigroup Inc. Ma’s appointment may aid the PBOC’s communication with
capital markets as such changes are rolled out, Huang said from Beijing.
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7. WSJ: New China central bank chief economist pushes liberalization plan
Ma Jun presented a proposal for remaking China's monetary policy.
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8. FT: China bank regulators caught in turf war
A bitter turf war between China’s two most important financial regulators is hampering policy co-ordination just as the country’s debt-laden financial system is starting to show signs of real strain. The China Banking Regulatory Commission and the People’s Bank of China, the central bank, have always been rivals, but now rising tensions are obstructing reforms and efforts to
tackle risks in the financial sector, according to officials from both agencies. From the outside, the Chinese system can often look like a monolithic
structure but the various arms of the bureaucracy are often engaged in vicious institutional battles that can delay or even hamstring policy.
In just one example of how rancorous the split has become, several people familiar with the matter say a Financial Stability
Council chaired by the PBoC and including the heads of the main financial regulatory bodies has met just once since it was established last August.
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9. WP: China tries to repair Malaysia ties damaged by criticism of Flight 370 probe
The Chinese government is trying to repair damage to its ties
with Malaysia after its criticism of an investigation into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 unleashed an ugly bout of nationalism and upset a country it had been trying to woo. The hallmark of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s foreign policy in his first year in office has been an attempt to improve relations with Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, while trying to confront and isolate key U.S.
allies and territorial rivals Japan and the Philippines. The charm offensive has largely been concentrated
on countries that Beijing feels it can pry out of Washington’s orbit with promises of lucrative trade deals and billions of dollars in infrastructure investment.
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Chinese News Sources
10. Xinhua: Chinese president meets U.S. defense secretary
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with visiting U.S.
Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel in Beijing on Wednesday, calling on the two countries to build a new model of military relationship. "Military-to-military relations are an important component of China-U
.S.
ties and both sides should develop a new model of military relationship within the framework of building a new type of major-country relations," Xi said. Xi recalled his Annenberg meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama last June, during which they agreed to build a new type of major-country relations based on mutual respect and win-win cooperation. The two presidents have since met twice, respectively in St. Petersburg during the G20 Summit and in The Hague during the Nuclear Security Summit. China and the U.S.
enjoy broader scope for cooperation under the current complex international landscape, Xi said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with visiting U.S.
Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel in Beijing, capital of China, April 9, 2014. Xinhua photo.
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11. SCMP: Xi Jinping urges US defence chief Chuck Hagel to work on closer military ties with China
Co-operation is crucial to conflict resolution,
president tells US
defence chief Chuck Hagel.
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12. Xinhua: NDRC working on Beijing "economic circle" plan
China's top economic planner announced on Wednesday that it is drawing up a plan for the coordinated development of a Beijing-centered "economic circle." Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the integrated development of an economic zone covering Beijing, neighboring Hebei Province and Tianjin Municipality in February. The Beijing-centered circle is one of three economic growth poles in east China, and its progress will push forward the economic transformation and upgrading of the area surrounding the Bohai Sea, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said. The NDRC said the draft will make use of the region's comparative advantages and bring about specific measures in infrastructure construction, industrial layout and innovation in the three areas. It also vowed to strengthen ecological building practices and environmental protection, promote widely beneficial public services, and deepen reform and opening up. A mechanism for regional cooperation can also be expected in the plan. The NDRC did not unveil when the plan will finally come out, saying it depends on the drafting progress.
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13. Xinhua: RMB to be global reserve currency by 2030: Economist
China's currency yuan is expected to become one of three global reserve currencies by 2030 on a par with the U.S.
dollar and euro. Justin Yifu Lin, former chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank, made the remarks at a panel discussion on Wednesday at the Boao Forum for Asia in south China's Hainan Province. The yuan, or
renminbi (RMB), is on the way to becoming a global reserve and payment currency. As the world's largest trader, about 25 percent of China's exports are now priced
in RMB, and it has become the main settlement currency in some regions, according to Lin. Apart from the three main reserve currencies, the Japanese yen, the Swiss franc, and the British pound will also be
reserve currencies, but in smaller amounts, the economist predicted. "Confidence in the yuan lies in China's real economy that is stronger than developed countries, and will maintain growth of 7 to 8 percent for the coming 20 years," Lin said.
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14. Xinhua: Emerging economies should help set world trade rules: Economist
Emerging economies, particularly China, should help draw up new world trade rules, former Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank Justin Yifu Lin said Tuesday. Lin made the remarks at a TV panel discussion at the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia in south China's Hainan Province. As an important trading partner for all major economies around the Pacific rim, China should join in the discussion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that includes members like the United States, Australia and Japan. The old world trade rules were set up by advanced industrial nations, Lin said, but with the rise of other economies, the world must accept a new scenario and allow emerging economies to draw up new rules for the world trade. Zhiwu Chen, professor of finance at Yale University, who also joined the discussion, said Asian countries should build mutual trust to help ease geopolitical tensions in response to signs of slowdown in the economic integration process in Asia over the past several years.
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15. SCMP: Russia close to reaching gas supply deal with China
Gazprom hopes to sign supply contract next month that will include building a pipeline.
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Notables
16. Bloomberg: Goldman, Warburg advance in China Huarong sale: sources
Goldman Sachs Group (GS.N) and U.S.
private equity firm Warburg Pincus
are among the companies that have advanced to the next round of the sale process to buy a stake in China Huarong Asset Management Co Ltd, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. China Huarong Asset, the nation's biggest bad debt manager, has
short-listed eight suitors, including Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional KHAZA.UL, private equity firm Apax Partners and a unit of Deutsche Bank (DBKGn
.DE), the people said, declining to be identified because the information is not public.
Huarong is planning to sell a stake of 15 to 20 percent to strategic investors ahead of an eventual initial public offering, as it seeks to raise over $2 billion to buy bad loans and forfeited assets from companies unable to repay lenders, Reuters previously reported. One of four asset management companies the government established in 1999 to absorb toxic assets held by China's four biggest banks,
Huarong would be the second of those companies to list following the successful debut of China Cinda Asset Management Co Ltd (1359.HK) in December.
Bloomberg Back to Top
17. Motorola Mobility names new operating chief
Handset maker is in the process of being sold by Google to China's Lenovo Group. Motorola Mobility named Rick Osterloh as the company's president and chief operating officer as the handset maker.
WSJ Back to Top
18. Bloomberg: China’s Xiaomi plans to give iPhone cool at half price
As China’s Xiaomi Corp.
began selling
smartphones in Singapore this year, each batch sold out in just a few minutes. So when the company asked people on Facebook to spread the word that more phones would be available soon, one fan was having none of it. “Spread the word so that my friend can compete with me to buy the phone in under 8 minutes?” wrote Zen Yeo, a 31-year-old documentary film director. “You must be kidding me.”
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19. FT: Global steel demand to slow as Chinese economy cools
Global steel demand will see slower growth this year because of a halving of growth in China, the world’s biggest consumer of the metal – hitting the profitability of
steelmaking groups. On Wednesday, the World Steel Association, the industry’s main international body, said it expected global demand to rise 3.1 per cent in 2014 to 1.52
bn tonnes – down from growth of 3.6 per cent last year. Demand growth will then increase slightly in 2015, rising 3.3 per cent.
FT photo.
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20. WSJ - China Realtime: Forget Beijing: Where China’s tourist hordes are traveling
There’s beauty in Guangxi, heaven in Suzhou and a rainbow of color waiting for you in Yunnan. In a barrage of billboards and wall-to-wall TV ads, China’s tourists are being urged to hit the road and see their country, and they’re responding in
enthusiastic, if somewhat agoraphobia-inducing droves. According to a new report from a state-backed think tank, income from tourism rose nationally by at least 15% in 2013. Among the provinces, Anhui, Shanxi, Sichuan, Qinghai, Hubei, Yunnan and Xinjiang all experienced growth in tourist income of at least 30%. Northwestern Gansu and southern Guangdong province topped the list for growth, with Guangdong’s tourism receipts growing by a blistering 63%–no word on how much it was boosted by its notorious sex trade—and Gansu’s by 41%.
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21. WSJ - Joseph Sternberg: Beijing's flight of fancy
A state-driven attempt to build a passenger jet risks undermining other reforms.
WSJ Back to Top
