4 December 2014

Gentlefolk,

As you know, I compile a monthly summary of events and news which caught my eye.  

We live in an age of information overload – there is so much happening all over the world that it is difficult to keep track.  I am hoping that these monthly summaries will help me recall the key events which took place that month in China and internationally.

Events which made the news in China in November 2014

Note: these news items were sourced from The China Daily newspaper in November 2014. Keep in mind that it is a government-run newspaper.  I can't vouch for the accuracy of the statistics, except to say that China used to be a centrally-planned economy and they collected (and continue to do so) data on all manner of things.  

Actual events usually occurred a day or two before they appeared in the newspaper.  Currency is US$, and the exchange rate used this month is US$1 = Yuan 6.1.

Previously I listed the International Events first and then the Domestic (inside China) Events.  But I think you may be more interested in the China list, as you are already familiar with the International events, so I will reverse the order.

I used to include these monthly news summaries in posts with other commentary, but they are actually quite long, so in future I will make them a separate post.

(a) Domestic (in China) events and news

1 Nov	In 2013 inbound tourists numbered 129 million, down 3% on 2012 figures.  75% satisfaction; main concerns: water & air pollution, and safety at tourist sites.
	China has 58,789 people aged 100+; 75% women.  The oldest Chinese is 128.
	150 in 10,000 babies suffer from some defect and about 900,000 babies are born every year with a congenital disease.  The Government is considering re-introducing compulsory pre-marital health checks.
	The Commercial Aircraft Corporation (a state-owned enterprise) is building narrow-body aircraft with 90 and 168 seats. Plans to build wide-body aircraft by 2023, to compete with Boeing and Airbus.
13 Nov	11/11 is promoted as “Singles Day” in China, with lots of e-commerce specials aimed at young people. Estimated total sales of $13.2 billion in 24 hours (about 410 million orders averaging $32 each). Alibaba, the e-commerce giant, represented 71% of total turnover.  Local smart phone company, Xiaomi, sold 720,000 phones in the first 12 hours. Huawei and Heier products also popular.
	The government is stepping up the anti-corruption campaign.  Wei Peng Yuan, Deputy Director of the National Energy Administration, had $33 million in his home in Beijing.  Ma Chao Qin, General Manager of the water company of Qinghuangdao, Hebei Province was found with $20 million cash, 37 kg of gold, and 68 property certificates.
	Lenovo’s revenue for the 3rd Quarter (July – Sept 2014) was $10.5 billion (40% inside China, 60% outside). Shipped 16 million personal computers in Q3. Recently bought IBM’s server unit, and Motorola (smart phones).
14 Nov	2013 Chinese outbound tourists: 880,000 France, 790,000 Australia, 1.8 m USA.
	China Mobile, the largest mobile service provider, has built 470,000 4G base stations around China.  It has more than 50 million subscribers.
	2015 estimate: 300 million households in China will have disposable income of more than $10,000 pa
18 Nov	Tibet: 82,666 hectares planted with trees in 2014 (program now suspended for the winter months).
	Opening of new “Museum of Overseas Chinese” in Beijing (Dong Cheng District Ph 010 6407 0943). 15,000 exhibits in 4 halls.
19 Nov	Contrary to tradition the annual CCTV advertising sales meeting was held in private. Soft market because slowing economy and govt’s austerity drive. Experts say that this year, for the first time, ad spending on ‘new media’ (internet, video streaming, etc) will surpass traditional media (TV, magazines).
	Following ruling by the High Court of Hong Kong, bailiffs backed by police started clearing protest areas in Mong Kok and then other locations, after about 60 days of occuption.  The government has shown great patience; other jurisdictions would have moved much earlier (eg New York dealing with disruptions caused by the Occupy Wall Street movement).
	Microblogger Yang Xiu Yu was sentenced to 4 years in jail and fined $24,000  “for publishing rumours and deleting unfavourable posts for client companies”.
22 Nov	About 60,000 Chinese travelled abroad for medical treatment this year, mainly to USA, Taiwan, HK, Singapore, Europe.  The Mayo Clinic now has 200 Chinese patients pa.
	Jane Goodall, 80 years old, visited for the 20th anniversary of the first Roots & Shoots NGO in China.  Now 600 branches in China; 150,000 world-wide.
24 Nov	6.3 magnitude earthquake hit Kangding, Sichuan Province.  Remote area, 5 dead 54 injured.
	Peking University (Bei Da) sacked Associate Professor Yu Wan Li for affair with a PhD student from Singapore; for brining the university’s name into disrepute.
27 Nov	Fire in Hengda Coal Mine in Fuxin, Liaoning Province: 26 dead, 50 injured.
	Microsoft’s China Office accused of cross-border tax evasion (channelling earnings through Ireland, Singapore and Puerto Rico) and ordered to pay $137 million in back taxes.
28 Nov	The Ministry of Education will assume responsibility for the development of junior soccer from the China Football Association.  Soccer will become compulsory in many schools.  Plan to train 6,000 coaches in the next 12 months.
	According to the Public Security Bureau (Police) there are now 300 million licensed drivers in China, and 154 million ‘civilian vehicles’.
	Gambling is prohibited in China, but there are two nation-wide, legal lotteries.  In October 2014 the Welfare Lottery (started 1987) sold tickets valued $2.9 billion and the Sports Lottery (started 1990) $2.5 billion.  Questions how the proceeds are being used, and the govt has announced an audit of the two lotteries.
	As part of its austerity drive, the Government has established maximum sizes of official’s offices: a Minister’s office should be less than 54 sq metres; Vice-Minister 42 sq m; Bureau Head 24 sq m; Director 12 sq m.
	Beijing subway and bus fares will increase on 28 December 2014. Subway will be $0.50 for first 6 km, then by distance; bus will be $0.33 for first 10 km, then by distance. In 2013 the Beijing subway system carried 3.2 billion passengers; it covers 465 km, with another 208 km under construction.
29 Nov	The Shanghai Stock Market is experiencing a bull run (after 4 years in the doldrums) and the Composite Index hit 2682. It set a new record for a single-day turnover of $114 billion (previous record $99.5 billion was set by the New York Stock Market on 26 July 2007).

(b)  International Events

1 Nov	Sweden became the 9th country to formally recognise “The State of Palestine”, after Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Rep, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania and Iceland. The British Parliament (13 October) and the Spanish Parliament (18 November) passed non-binding resolutions urging their Governments to recognise Palestine.  The French Parliament is debating the issue in December and is expected to follow suit. These countries see “Two States” as the only viable solution and are hoping that Israel will stop prevaricating.
	The San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals in the 7th game to win the baseball World Series.  Madison Bumgarner (pitcher) named MVP.
3 Nov	Ban Ki Moon said “time is not on our side” as UN Panel of climate scientists issued another report asserting that climate change is man-made and calling for action.
	Western Sydney Wanderers beat Al Hilal in Riyadh to win the Asian Champions League.  First Aussie club to be Asian Champs.  The Guardian called it “The Football Story of the year”. The Daily Telegraph said “From a twinkle in the eyes to Asian Champions in less than 3 years!” The Sydney Morning Herald said “Achieved the seemingly impossible!”
5 Nov	Mexico announced that a Chinese consortium won the contract to build a 210 km high-speed train from Mexico City to Queretaro. A few days later the contract was cancelled, and a new bidding process announced.
	A record 37.5 million tonnes of iron ore were shipped out of Port Hedland, Western Australia in October 2014 (of which 31.7 mt went to China). The price of iron ore (62% content) delivered in Qingdao fell to $72 per tonne (down 47% so far in 2014).
	5 – 12 November various APEC meetings in Beijing, hosted by President Xi Jin Ping who spoke of an “Asia-Pacific Dream”.  APEC Leaders agreed to negotiate a “Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific” (FTAAP).
6 Nov	US Mid-term election held on Tuesday 4 November: the Republican Party gained seats and will control both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 115th Congress.  The turn-out rate was 36.4%.
	A Memorial Service was held in Sydney for former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.
	The USA had a record monthly trade deficit in September 2014 of $43 billion (of which China was 80%). In September US exports to China were $10 b, while imports from China were $45 b.
	Reports that Lee Chong Wei, Malaysia’s badminton star (55 global titles), failed a drug test and was banned for 2 years.
13 Nov	Following the APEC meeting, President Obama made an official one-day visit to China.  Bilateral agreements were announced on:  climate change; a military code-of-safe-conduct; and accelerated talks on a bilateral investment treaty.
	Myanmar hosted the East Asia Summit in its capital Nay Pyi Taw.
	The International Ski Federation banned Vanessa Mae for 4 years because some of her qualifying races to get into the Sochi Winter Olympics were rigged.
15 Nov	USA announced that visas for Chinese for business and tourism (B1 & B2) will now be valid for 10 years.
17 Nov	15 & 16 Nov, G20 meeting in Brisbane hosted by Australian PM Tony Abbott.  Attended by many world leaders including Obama, Xi, Cameron, etc.
18 Nov	Following the G20 meeting Xi Jin Ping made an official visit to Australia (then on to New Zealand and Fiji).  This was his 5th visit to Australia; the first was in 1988 when he was Deputy Mayor of Xiamen in Fujian Province. He has now visited every Australian State. Xi addressed Parliament in Canberra; and opened the Chinese Garden, a gift from Beijing for Canberra’s centenary (they are sister-cities). In Hobart he witnessed the signing of an MOU on cooperating on Antartica. In Sydney he attended the inaugural Australia – China State & Provincial Leaders meeting, and the opening of the China Cultural Centre. After lengthy talks Australia and China announced finalisation of a Free Trade Agreement.  Two-way trade in 2013 totalled almost $130 billion (heavily in Australia’s favour).
20 Nov	Kobe Bryant scored 28 points in the Lakers win over the Atlanta Hawks.  He has now scored more than 32,000 points in regular season games.
21 Nov	Main countries of candidates sitting the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) in 2014 for graduate study in the USA: America 336,367; China 44,100; India 42,098.
22 Nov	UK Independence Party (UKIP) won a 2nd set in the House of Commons (for the Rochester & Stroud Constituency).
24 Nov	Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick when Barcelona beat Seville 5 – 1, and broke the La Liga record of 251 goals set by Telmo Zarra in 1955. He also holds the European Champions League record with 74 goals (in 91 games). Ronaldo from Real Madrid is second with 71 goals (in 108 games).
25 Nov	The Oxford Dictionary word of 2014 is ‘vape’ (or vaping = to smoke an e-cigarette).  Their word of 2013 was ‘selfie’.
	Switzerland (anchored by Roger Federer and Stan Wawarinka) beat France to win the Davis Cup for the first time.
	Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, to take out the 2014 F1 Championship (he won once before, in 2005, with McLaren).
26 Nov	A Grand Jury cleared policeman Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, St Louis, on 9 August 2014.  Big demonstrations in many cities.
	Chuck Hagel resigned as US Secretary of Defence.
28 Nov	25 year old Aussie cricketer Phillip Hughes died after being hit in the head by a cricket ball (bouncer).
29 Nov	Indonesia’s new President, Joko Widodo, has instructed govt officials to cease extravagant entertaining and spending.  Last weekend he flew economy-class to Singapore, which produced many positive comments.

Keep well, and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Thursday, 4 December 2014