Gentlefolk,
As you
know, I do a monthly summary of interesting news events, with a focus on news in/on
China.
There is
such competition within Western media outlets that usually only the unusual,
sensational, or bizarre in any country gets a mention. It is much the same here – only when 8 kids
are murdered does Australia get into the Chinese papers!
Events
which made the news in China in December 2014
These
news items were sourced from The China Daily newspaper in December 2014.
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.
Remember
that the China Daily is a government newspaper whose main purpose in life is to
make the Communist Party (CPC) and Chinese Government look good.
I read foreign
news websites regularly, such as the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC),
The Canberra Times, The New Daily, The Beast (Newsweek), The Economist, etc but
the only ‘full’ newspaper I read every day is the China Daily.
My China
Daily subscription costs $0.25 per copy, no delivery charge. Each afternoon I
pick up the previous day’s copy at the campus Post Office so it is at least
one day old, sometimes two or three, before I read it.
If you strip
away the propaganda, there is quite a lot of interesting stuff in the paper. It’s not ideal, but it is certainly much
better than just getting 30 second news grabs on TV (actually, we haven’t even
had access to CCTV English News for the last 3 months, since moving into our
new apartment – for some unknown reason we can’t pick up the CCTV signal in this
building).
Hopefully
this summary gives you a broader idea of what is happening in China. The
events/items included are not necessarily the headlines, but rather things
which caught my eye.
(a) Domestic (in China) events and news, December 2014
1 Dec
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According to the Ministry of Education 74% of Primary
schools and Middle schools now have access to the internet (compared to 25%
in 2011).
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The annual Civil Service Entrance Exam (Guo Kao) was held
on 30 November. 1.05 million candidates sat the exam (for 22,000 vacancies).
|
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2 Dec
|
Reports that 60% of groundwater in China is of poor or
very poor quality.
|
German chain, Metro, now has 79 stores in 55 Chinese
cities.
|
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Last week the average daily turnover on the Shanghai Stock
Exchange was $93 billion.
|
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3 Dec
|
In 2014 so far 15,494 officials have been disciplined for
breaches of the govt’s ‘frugality
regulations’.
|
A mobile phone number 188----888 sold for the equivalent of
$957,000 in Nanning, Guangxi Province. Chinese love number 8!
|
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Car accidents in China result in 200,000 injured every
year and 60,000 deaths.
|
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China has an estimated 85 million people with
disabilities.
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4 Dec
|
China’s two largest railway rolling stock manufacturers,
CNR and CSR, will merge. The new company will be called China Railway Vehicle
Corporation, with 170,000 employees and assets of $49 billion.
|
Outbound tourists totaled 100 million in the first 11
months of 2014 (total for whole of 1998 was 8.4 m). 90% went to Asia (mostly
to Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan), about 3% to each of Europe, Africa and
America, and 1% to Oceania.
|
|
Steel demand in 2014 is projected to be 710 million tonnes.
Major sectors: construction 395 mt; machinery 144 mt; energy 33 mt; ship
building 14 mt.
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5 Dec
|
China’s annual defence budget is $132 billion. President
Xi is determined to modernise the military.
|
6 Dec
|
China’s grain production in 2014 totaled 607 million
tonnes, the eleventh year of increased production. Grain imports in the first 10 months of
2014 were 73 mt (mainly soy bean)
|
Govt announced that the harvesting of body organs of
executed criminals will cease at the end of December this year.
|
|
China’s domestically produced ACP1000 nuclear reactor
passed the IAEA’s safety review. China has 21 nuclear reactors generating
14.6 gigawatts of power. Another 27
under construction which will bring the total up to 50 GW by 2018.
|
|
9 Dec
|
Eight Chinese Uygurs given death sentences for terrorist
attacks in Urumqi (Xinjiang) in April 2014 in which 46 people died and 79
were injured.
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China Shipping Container Lines took delivery of the world’s largest container ship with
capacity of 19,100 TEU.
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10 Dec
|
The National Electronic Sports Meet held in Qingdao last
weekend featured Dota2, League of Legends, Warcraft 3, NBA2K competitions.
70,000 people attended. At the end of 2013 there were an estimated 495
million online video game players in China. An estimated 27 m watched the
final of the annual World Championships of League of Legends between a Korean
team and a Chinese team.
|
11 Dec
|
In 2013 Govt revenue from cigarettes totaled $155 billion
(8% of total revenue).
|
In 2013 China had 639 ‘accredited’ golf courses (up from
432 in 2009). The building of new courses was prohibited in 2011 to preserve
farmland and water resources. Several illegal courses are being closed down.
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12 Dec
|
When swimming champion Sun Yang failed a doping test on 17
May he was only suspended for 3 months, which enabled him to compete in the
Asian Games in September where he won 3 gold medals and 1 silver. His transgression
was announced on 24 November by the Chinese Swimming Federation. Following a
storm of international criticism (eg Australia has banned Sun from training
there), China announced much stronger anti-doping regulations.
|
Guangdong Province has announced new standard procedures
for its 141 universities and colleges in cases of student deaths on campus.
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13 Dec
|
The Central Route (1,400 km of canals, pipelines and
tunnels) of the South-North Water Diversion Project started operating. The
first water is expected to arrive in Beijing in 2 weeks. Total expenditure so far estimated at $80
billion.
|
Anniversary of the capture of Nanjing by Japanese troops
on 13 Dec 1937. Over the next 6 weeks
an estimated 300,000 civilians and unarmed soldiers were killed.
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15 Dec
|
Beijing Environmental Exchange reported that since carbon
trading was introduced 12 months ago 719 contracts have been signed worth $17
million for 2.1 million tonnes. Carbon trading is being trialed in major
cities.
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16 Dec
|
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Leung Chun Ying announced that
the last barricades of the 79 day Occupy Central protests have been cleared. 130
police and 221 demonstrators were injured during the protests; 955
demonstrators were arrested.
|
The fertility rate of Chinese women has fallen from 4.8 in
the 1970s to 1.4 now (about 15 million births a year). The one child policy
has been further relaxed. But the
population is aging - estimated 30% of the population will be over 60 by 2050.
|
|
Xiaomi sold 17 million smartphones in Q3 2014, 3rdmost
after Samsung and Apple. This
still-private company started operations only 5 years ago, and is making big
inroads. Slim margins (reportedly 2%)
mean low prices. In November the Wall Street Journal reported Xiaomi made
more than $500 million profit in 2013, but that figure has now been revised
downwards by 90%.
|
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China’s glaciers are shrinking at a rate of 244 sq km a
year. An estimated 3.4 million
hectares of wetlands have been lost in the last 10 years.
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22 Dec
|
Two new high-speed railway lines opened: Guangzhou to
Guiyang (857 km) and Lanzhou to Urumqi (1,777 km).
|
Following several scandals, the Ministry of Education
announced new procedures for colleges and universities to improve
transparency relating to promotions, enrollments, construction contracts, and
the allocation of research funds.
|
|
The winter solstice (shortest day/longest night) is called
dong zhi in Chinese. The Lunar Calendar divides the year into 24 periods, and
the winter solstice is considered the start of the coldest period.
Traditionally in Northern China people eat dumplings on this day, while in
Southern China they eat glutinous rice balls. It is also a time for ancestor
worship.
|
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23 Dec
|
The two authors who earned most royalties this year were
Zhang Jia Jia (“Passing through your world”) and Zang Yuan Jie (“Pipilu”
series). Each made a little over $3 million.
Han Han was #6 with $2.5 m, and
Guo Jing Ming was #7 with $2.3 m.
|
Construction of Beijing’s second international airport
will start next week. It is expected to become operational in 2019, and cost
$13 billion. It will handle up to 72 million passengers and 2 million tonnes
of freight a year.
|
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26 Dec
|
China has 358 billionaires; the richest are Li Ka Shing
(net worth $29.4 billion), Ma Yun ($29.1 b) and Wang Jian Lin ($24.8 b).
|
Following the successful trial of the Shanghai Foreign Trade
Zone (FTZ), similar FTZ’s will be established in Guangdong, Fujian and
Tianjin.
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30 Dec
|
The first water in the Central Route of the South-North
Water Diversion Project arrived in Beijing. This new sources will supply
about 20% of BJ’s water needs.
|
Shenzhen announced that from 1 January only 100,000 new
cars will be permitted every year (similar restrictions already apply in Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Hangzhou).
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31 Dec
|
Tragedy: 36 killed and many injured in New Years Eve ‘stampede’
in Shanghai.
|
Top 10 online news issues in 2014 in China:
Govt’s anti-corruption campaign; deepening reform; rule of
law; new normal of economic growth; China’s diplomacy (APEC host);
anti-terrorism; missing MH370; Occupy Central; overturned criminal convictions;
cyberspace governance.
Top 10 China-related business events in 2014:
New normal (quality of growth rather than quantity);
Natural gas deals with Russia, for delivery of 38 billion cm pa for 30 years;
anti-trust investigations resulted in lower automotive prices; Alibaba IPO
raised $21.8 b; Lenovo bought Motorola
and IBM’s server business; restrictions relaxed on purchases of
residential properties; Silk Road initiative; various bilateral Free Trade
Agreements; Central Bank cut interest rates link between the Shanghai and Hong Kong
stock exchanges; stock market boom in second half of 2014.
|
(b) International
events covered in the China Daily, December 2014
1 Dec
|
Poland’s Donald Tusk assumed Presidency of the European
Council for next 5 years.
|
ALP won the Victorian State elections in Australia; Daniel
Andrew new Premier.
|
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Rugby: Australia’s Wallabies beat Wales but lost to
France, England and Ireland.
|
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2 Dec
|
190 countries were represented at the Lima Conference on
Global Warming. Since the first conference in Rio de Janiero in 1992, carbon
dioxide levels are up 60%. Aim is to announce firm commitments by countries in
Paris next December.
|
OPEC decided to maintain output at 30 million barrels per
day. Weak oil prices have hit the Russian economy, with the rouble down by 50%
in 9 months. ExxonMobil report “Outlook for Energy”
predicted that the USA will become a net exporter of oil and natural gas by
2020.
|
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21 year old American Jordan Spieth won the Australian Golf
Open. He hit a course record 63 in the last round. Lydia Ko, World #3, will
attend university in Seoul.
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5 Dec
|
Decision by Grand Jury not to charge NY policeman Daniel
Pantaleo for ‘choke-hold’ death of Eric Garner in July. Big demonstrations in many US cities.
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6 Dec
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Ireland to introduce ‘plain packaging’ for cigarettes.
|
Queensland University and the China Research Academy for
Environmental Sciences established the joint Australia-China Centre for Air
Quality.
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10 Dec
|
World-wide 63 deaths due to sharks in last 10 years; 25%
in Australia.
|
New format “Premier Tennis League” started – emphasis on
fun, speed and noise.
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11 Dec
|
Time magazine named “Ebola Fighters” their Person of the
Year (there have been 19,497 cases of Ebola and 7,588 deaths in the last 12
months). Xi Jin Ping was named “Person of the Year” by the Russian
Biographical Institute.
|
Three Chinese films nominated for “Golden Globe”: Coming
Home (Director Zhang Yi Mou); Dearest (Peter Chan); and The Continent (Han
Han).
|
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“Shirtfront” was the Aussie Word of 2014.
|
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A French university found that men reacted more favourably
to women the higher their high-heels.
|
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13 Dec
|
The World Health Organisation reported that there were 12
million new cases of syphilis in the world last year (about 450,000 in
China).
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15 Dec
|
PM Shinzo Abe won re-election in Japan.
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16 Dec
|
Hostage drama in Lindt Café, Martin Place, Sydney ended
with 3 dead (2 hostages and the gunman).
|
France drafted a UN resolution setting a 2 year deadline
for withdrawal by Israel to pre-1967 borders and finalisation of a Two-State
solution.
|
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White South African medical student Rolene Strauss won the
Miss World contest.
|
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Kobe Bryant passed Michael Jordan’s total of 32,292 to become
the 3rd highest regular season point scorer in NBA history.
|
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A six-man Taliban group killed 130 students in an army-run
school in Peshawar, Pakistan.
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18 Dec
|
President Obama announced moves to normalise relations
with Cuba.
|
The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
announced that it received 2.6 million patent applications in 2013; 32% from
China, followed by USA, Japan.
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19 Dec
|
Avon paid a fine of $135 million for violating the US
Foreign Corrupt Practises Act for bribing local officials in China.
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The Rev. Libby Lane became the first female bishop of the
Church of England.
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A Chinese consortium will build a 734 km high-speed
railway between Bangkok and Nong Krai.
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Eight children were found stabbed to death in Cairns,
Queensland. Mother arrested.
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23 Dec
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Aussie father, Steven van Lonkhuyzen, and his two sons (5
& 7) survived 10 days stranded in the Outback.
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A Hong Kong company started construction of the Inter-oceanic
Grand Canal in Nicaragua. The Canal will be 278 km long and take 5 years to
build ($50 billion).
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27 Dec
|
After 13 years of combat operations, President Obama
marked the end of US role in Afghanistan; 2,200 troops killed; cost more than
$1 trillion dollars. NATO (incl. US) will leave 13,500 advisers in
Afghanistan.
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29 Dec
|
AirAsia flight QZ8501 crashed flying from Surabaya to
Singapore; 155 passengers and 7 crew perished.
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