07/12/2010 Source: Xinhua

Officials at the deputy county level and above are required to report their family members’ jobs, as well as their family’s assets and investments, according to a new regulation that took effect on Sunday.

The rule, in a move to fight corruption, broadens the categories of items to be reported by the officials from eight to 14.

“It’s a new development of China’s anti-corruption mechanism, and it shows central authorities highly value the issue,” said Ren Jianming, director of the anti-corruption and governance research center of Tsinghua University.

The newly added items include the official’s salary and subsidies; income from other sources such as lecturing; housing owned by the family, including spouse and children; the family’s investments in unlisted companies; the family’s investment in stocks, investment-oriented insurance and other financing products; and the employment of a spouse and children at home or abroad.

Officials are required to report yearly to the organization departments of Party committees. Organization and discipline departments, as well as prosecutors, can check the reports after going through proper procedures, the new rule says.

The new regulation also makes it clear that those who fail to make timely reports, or report fake or incomplete information, could face dismissal or discipline. The highest punishment stipulated in the previous regulation was informed criticism.

However, according to Zhu Lijia, an anti-corruption professor with the Chinese Academy of Governance, the new regulation fails to make a breakthrough in terms of making officials’ assets transparent.
While the regulation requires officials to report to higher officials, it does not make that information public.

“Sunshine is the best way to fight corruption. It’s a pity the new rule does not require publicizing officials’ assets,” he said.

The new regulation was issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and General Office of the State Council.

The reporting system was set up in 1995, and revised in 1997 and 2006 by broadening items and adding more detailed procedures.

But “it’s still an anti-corruption regulation within the system”, said Zhu.

Lin Zhe, a professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said strong opposition from officials prevents China from adopting an asset declaration system that would make information about officials’ finances public – but there is a loud public voice calling for it.

“Therefore, the new regulation is a compromise. Its actual effect remains limited,” she said.

Ren said ideally such a mechanism would contain five steps: clarification of who should report and what should be reported; procedures of reporting; release of the details in the reports; examination on whether the reports are true; and punishments for those who fail to report properly.

07/12/2010 Source: Xinhua

Officials at the deputy county level and above are required to report their family members’ jobs, as well as their family’s assets and investments, according to a new regulation that took effect on Sunday.

The rule, in a move to fight corruption, broadens the categories of items to be reported by the officials from eight to 14.

“It’s a new development of China’s anti-corruption mechanism, and it shows central authorities highly value the issue,” said Ren Jianming, director of the anti-corruption and governance research center of Tsinghua University.

The newly added items include the official’s salary and subsidies; income from other sources such as lecturing; housing owned by the family, including spouse and children; the family’s investments in unlisted companies; the family’s investment in stocks, investment-oriented insurance and other financing products; and the employment of a spouse and children at home or abroad.

Officials are required to report yearly to the organization departments of Party committees. Organization and discipline departments, as well as prosecutors, can check the reports after going through proper procedures, the new rule says.

The new regulation also makes it clear that those who fail to make timely reports, or report fake or incomplete information, could face dismissal or discipline. The highest punishment stipulated in the previous regulation was informed criticism.

However, according to Zhu Lijia, an anti-corruption professor with the Chinese Academy of Governance, the new regulation fails to make a breakthrough in terms of making officials’ assets transparent.
While the regulation requires officials to report to higher officials, it does not make that information public.

“Sunshine is the best way to fight corruption. It’s a pity the new rule does not require publicizing officials’ assets,” he said.

The new regulation was issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and General Office of the State Council.

The reporting system was set up in 1995, and revised in 1997 and 2006 by broadening items and adding more detailed procedures.

But “it’s still an anti-corruption regulation within the system”, said Zhu.

Lin Zhe, a professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said strong opposition from officials prevents China from adopting an asset declaration system that would make information about officials’ finances public – but there is a loud public voice calling for it.

“Therefore, the new regulation is a compromise. Its actual effect remains limited,” she said.

Ren said ideally such a mechanism would contain five steps: clarification of who should report and what should be reported; procedures of reporting; release of the details in the reports; examination on whether the reports are true; and punishments for those who fail to report properly.

07/08/2010 Source: Xinhua

BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) — China’s draft law on social insurance, which aims to create a universal safety net for all the country’s 1.3 billion people, has fueled nationwide debate since it was opened to public comment last December.

Over a 50-day time span ending Feb. 15, the country’s top legislature had received a total of 70,501 suggestions and proposals, the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee said in a statement Thursday.

The proposals, written on the NPC website by netizens or sent to the top legislature by letter, were from people all over the country, including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, the statement said.

The social insurance draft, which underwent its second reading by the NPC Standing Committee last December, specifies a common right for citizens, urban and rural alike, to pay premiums and enjoy old-age pensions and insurance for medical care, work injuries, unemployment and childbirth.

Many netizens agreed that the law is urgently needed as the government strives to expand domestic consumption in the face of the international financial crisis.

“I believe domestic consumption will increase if people don’t have to worry about old age and expensive medical fees,” an anonymous netizen wrote on the NPC website.

China has established several policies concerning social welfare since 1984. By 2008, about 219 million people have pensions and about 317 million have basic medical insurance. An additional 124 million have unemployment insurance, 138 million have work injury insurance and 91 million have childbirth insurance.

Fu Yan, a migrant worker employed by a Beijing household management company, said both she and her husband do not have any insurance. “I didn’t know anything about insurance when I signed a contract with the company. All I wanted then was a job,” said 28-year-old Fu, who is from southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

“There are a lot of migrant workers like me. It’s OK now since I am still young, but I do worry about the future. I definitely hope the law could help us have insurance, like pension and medical insurance,” she said.

To address the concerns of migrant workers, the social insurance draft law allows Chinese citizens to pay pension premiums in one place and draw money in another, if they migrate to other cities or provinces. This stipulation is particularly significant as the country has a much more mobile population than in the past.

The draft also determined that a new rural medical system, in which farmers and governments raise funds together, would be included in the medical insurance plan.

Meanwhile, governments will cover medical insurance expenses for citizens who live on low-income subsidies, have serious disabilities or are older than 60 years, the draft said.

The draft also highlights more efficient fund management. Governments at municipal, provincial and the state-level should encourage and support the public’s participation in supervising insurance funds. Any individual or organization has a right to complain or report illegalities.

Many netizens agreed that the law will be a “blessing” to many people once it was adopted, especially to low-income groups.

“Many migrant workers, laid off workers and unemployed people don’t have any insurance. I think government should increase investment and put them under the safety net to build a harmonious and stable society,” one netizen wrote.

But not all feedback was positive. Some people complained the draft was too general.

“Articles in the draft are too simple and authorize too much power to the local government,” Tan Zhongxiao from central Hunan Province wrote on the NPC website. “Social insurance law has a direct bearing on everyone. I think the law should be more specific so that there will be no problem when being implemented in the future.”

The draft will be further revised based on the public’s proposals before it is passed on to lawmakers for the third reading later this year, according to the Commission for Legislative Affairs.

07/08/2010p Source:China Daily

SHENYANG – China’s Anshan Iron and Steel Group Corp (Ansteel) called for maintaining a fair market environment in the US on Wednesday after 50 US lawmakers sought to block its investment in a US steel company.

In a recent letter to US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the Congressmen said the joint rebar venture proposed by Ansteel and US’s Steel Development Co threatens “American jobs” and “national security”.

In a statement, the steel mill said its investments in the US and other regions were commercial acts based upon market demands and also attempts in international cooperation.

The steel bars produced at the $175 million facility, in which Ansteel has a 14 percent stake, would mainly substitute imports, it said. Rebar is a low-end steel product mainly used in construction.

The 300,000-ton plant in Amory, Mississippi would create jobs and increase tax revenues and would not harm local suppliers, it said.

“We chose the US because it has a perfect law system,” it said. “We believe the US has given, and will continue to give, all businesses that respect local laws and customs the same market environment.”

Qi Xiangdong, deputy secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Association, on Monday urged western countries to maintain the proper attitudes towards global trade and economic globalization.

“If the (US) government supported blocking the deal, it was a protectionist attitude,” Qi said.

07/2/2010 Source: Xinhua

BEIJING, July 1 (Xinhua) — China on Thursday voiced “grave concern” over the trade probe of imported Chinese-made wireless wide-area networking modems launched by the European Union (EU).

On Wednesday, the EU began an investigation into safeguard measures concerning the import of Chinese-made modems and an anti-dumping probe into these imports, worth 4.1 billion U.S. dollars.

An unnamed official with the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in a statement posted on its website that the Chinese wireless wide-area networking modems are high-tech products, which have promoted innovation, opened new markets and also benefited consumers.

“The EU’s move is typical trade protectionism and abuses trade remedies. It will not only hamper the EU’ s economic recovery, but also impair China’ s interests and technological progress”, the MOC official said.

He added that the EU probes runs contrary to the consensus the G-20 leaders reached during their meeting in Toronto over the weekend.

He noted China and the EU are important trading partners, which lays a solid foundation of Sino-EU relations. China has been advocating discussions and consultations with the EU to deal with trade friction and to also encourage cooperation between business enterprises from the two regions, rather than resorting to trade protectionism measures.

China will closely watch the progress of the investigation while abiding by the rules of the World Trade Organization. Also, it retains the right to launch further measures to deal with these developments, the official said.

7/2/2010 Source: China Daily

A deal that would have given a Chinese investment company a  60 percent stake in Emcore’s fiber optics business has been called off because of regulatory concerns, the companies said Tuesday.

A filing with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States was officially withdrawn last week due to the concerns of Tangshan Caofeidian Investment Corp (TCIC).

Emcore Corp, of Albuquerque, announced in February it would sell a majority stake to TCIC, in the Hebei province of China, for $27.75 million.

The semiconductor and solar power supplier says it plans to continue working with TCIC despite the collapse of the deal.

06/30/2010 Source: China Daily

BEIJING – Google Inc will stop redirecting Chinese online users to its Hong Kong site in an attempt to renew its license for Google.cn, which is set to expire on Wednesday, the Internet search giant said on Tuesday.

The Chinese government has told US-based Google that re-routing users to Hong Kong is an “unacceptable” approach and said it would not renew its Internet Content Provider (ICP) license, said David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer.

The ICP license is a permit issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) to allow websites to operate in China. The authority has the right to shut down any website that fails to get an ICP license or have its license renewed, according to Chinese regulations.

Drummond said on his company blog on Tuesday that Google has instead started to provide a landing page on Google.cn that links to Google.com.hk and has “re-submitted” its ICP license renewal application.

“Without an ICP license, we can’t operate a commercial website like Google.cn – so Google would effectively go dark in China,” Drummond said.

“This approach ensures we stay true to our commitment not to censor our results on Google.cn and gives users access to all of our services from one page,” he said.

MIIT spokesman Wang Lijian told China Daily that he was not aware of Google’s announcement. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang also said he had not seen Google’s announcement, but noted that “the government encourages foreign enterprises to operate in China according to law”.

Since Google announced three months ago to move its search service to Hong Kong, its domestic traffic has been automatically redirected to its Hong Kong site. But the company still keeps some of its services such as Google Map via its domestic site Google.cn.

Google said on Tuesday at its landing page on Google.cn that the company has moved its services to Hong Kong and reminded users of the Hong Kong site’s address.

Marsha Wang, spokesperson for Google China, said the company is still waiting for response from the government. She refused to comment on whether Google will shut down its China offices if it failed to renew its license.

Google risks losing many users who do not want to follow the search engine to its other sites manually, industry analysts said.

“Not redirecting users automatically will have a huge impact on Google’s business because many Chinese users don’t want to bother following the search engine manually,” said Edward Yu, president of domestic research firm Analysys International.

The search giant’s market share in China fell to 30.9 percent in the first quarter from 35.6 percent three months earlier, figures from Analysys showed.

Yu said the impact of Google’s announcement in March to move to Hong Kong was limited because users could hardly feel the switch.

“But this time the impacts are for real,” he said.