China celebrates 60 years as the People’s Republic of China 

In a display of advanced technology, China celebrated its 60th anniversary with a stunning march-past of nearly 100,000 people who paraded through Tiananmen Square in what the China Daily described as a ‘civilian pageant” for all.  Nineteen enormous floats represented China’s achievements in agriculture, education, industry, sport and space.  Thirty-one floats represented China’s provinces, including Taiwan and the Special Administrative Regions of Hongkong and Macao.  Fifty-six red columns that enveloped Tiananmen Square represented China’s 56 ethnic minorities.  One of the largest flags constructed was carried by a representative 1,949 persons.  The PRC was founded on October 1, 1949.  Portraits of four important PRC leaders were driven past the review stand and accompanied by 36,000 parade participants on a variety of floats that featured themes of the leader’s achievements:  for Mao Zedong it was self-reliance; for Deng Xiaoping it was opening and reform; for Jiang Zemin it was ‘three-represents’; and the portrait of Hu Jintao, the current President of the PRC and chair of the Chinese Communist Party, was accompanied by floats that represented ‘scientific outlook on development’, said the China Daily.  While the main pageant in Beijing also contained 52 pieces of military weaponry and 152 military jet fly-overs, only 8,000 soldiers marched in parade compared to 24,000 in 1999.  Unlike the stunning opening of the Summer Olympics in 2008, the parade was characterized as being by Chinese, for Chinese, said the New York Times, and few concessions were made for a global audience aside from the government providing live-streaming over the Internet in English and other languages.  A China Daily report on the festivities reminded readers that in 1949, China had so little it even had to import matches.  Contemporary accomplishments are too numerous to list, but include its rise to the 3rd largest economy in the world. The events were tightly orchestrated with Chinese citizenry told to watch the events in the comfort of their own homes rather than come to Beijing, reported the BBC.  Even so, hundreds of foreign guests were invited, such as the Archbishop of the Hongkong Anglican Church, Bishop John Tong Hon.  Former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger who brokered President Richard Nixon’s history visit to China in 1972, said it was because of Chinese ‘vision, dedication and patriotism’, that they have achieved so much, reported the China Daily. 

(“China celebration recalls another era”, BBC News, October 1, 2009; “Civilians celebrate six decades of achievements”, China Daily, October 2, 2009; “Mooncakes and money: 60 years of change”, BBC News, September 30, 2009; “China celebrates 60 years of communist rule”, New York Times, October 2, 2009; “Chinese told to watch party on TV”, BBC News, September 30, 2009; “Kissinger praises China’s achievements as ‘extraordinary’”, China Daily, September 18, 2009)

Chinese Communist Party fails to identify Hu’s successor

In a surprise outcome, the Fourth Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party’s 17th Central Committee failed to put forward an obvious successor to President Hu Jintao when Hu steps down in 2012 after his second 5-year term in office.  No reason was given why vice-president Xi Jinping’s succession to the post of vice-chair of China’s Central Military Commission, a post that in previous years has produced the next president of the People’ Republic, failed to make it on to the Plenum’s agenda.  Analysts are divided about whether this signals a significant rift within the Chinese Communist Party hierarchy.  Some feel that Party rulers agree on the need for changes but not how to go about them, said the New York Times.  Mr. Xi was not Hu Jintao’s favourite to succeed him; analysts believe that choice is Vice-premier Li Keqiang, said the Associated Press.  But the fact that only President Hu and Vice-president Xi delivered major addresses at the Plenum signalled that Xi still held formidable clout, said China Brief.  The process of political succession in China has always intrigued outsiders, and analysts usually look to revealing symbolism.  Having Xi deliver a key note address is a source of such symbolism.  The Party’s internal debates on the matter are considered state secrets, said the New York Times.  In other business the Plenum outlined challenges to the Chinese Communist Party which included its own internal problems (corruption and graft) that “severely weaken the Party’s creativity, unity and effectiveness,” said a plenary session communiqué, as reported by the NYT.  Other issues of importance was cracking down on separatism (in reference to the ethnic violence in Xinjiang Autonomous Region), and strengthening democracy within the Party.

(“China’s Communists vow crackdown on separatism”, Associated Press, September 18, 2009; “CCP 17th Central Committee Plenum skips Xi Jinping and inner-Party democracy”, China Brief, September 24, 2009; “Shock as CCP fails to anoint Xi”, South China Morning Post, September 19, 2009; “Party’s agenda in China seems to fall flat”, New York Times, September 21, 2009)

China’s high-speed rail links country and key to economic recovery

China will build 42 new high-speed railway lines over then next decade and when completed in 2020 will have invested nearly £179 billion in lines designed to connect every provincial capital with Beijing, said Fortune.  More than 16,000 miles of track will be added to China’s rail system by 2020 and the new Beijing to Shanghai train is scheduled to run 220 miles per hour and will cut in half the current journey time of eight hours, said the BBC.  Two high-speed lines from Fuzhou, Fujian province to neighbouring Zhejiang province have cut the travel time from 15 hours to 100 minutes, said the China Daily.  Previously passengers on that route had to change in Nanchang, Jiangxi province then travel to the Shanghai municipality before getting a train south to Wenzhou.  Fuzhou is now also directly linked to Shanghai and that journey which used to take eleven hours has been cut to five.  The construction of the railway lines has employed nearly 100,000 persons, mostly migrant workers.  What has aided this investment is a breakthrough in design that will allow both high-speed and normal trains to run on the same track said the BBC.  In 2008 1.4 billion persons were carried to and fro by China’s rail system.  By 2020 the passenger capacity will be seven billion.  China’s massive investment in rail development is said to be key in China’s swift economic recovery, reported Fortune. 

(“China’s amazing new bullet train”, Fortune, August 6, 2009; “Two high-speed railways open in east China”, China Daily, September 28, 2009; “China unveils high speed railways”, BBC, September 9, 2009)

Mandatory pay cap for top state finance executives 

China’s Ministry of Finance imposed a pay cap for top executives of state-owned financial institutions in a move to stem increasing public criticism of the large salaries being given to executives in the banking sector in light of the nation’s economic downturn, said Xinhua.  The new rule said that an executive’s pay must be no more than 90 percent of the 2007 pre-tax level.  The official China Securities Journal reported that top executives of listed financial institutions were making an average of 604,600yuan (£50,500) during 2008, the highest salary of all industries.  In comparison the per capita income of the average Chinese citizen is £1,080 cited the Chinese embassy.  The high salaries of state financial executives have angered many people in China where nearly 40 percent of all factories that produced goods for export have closed.

 “China’s national per capita income reaches $1,740,” http://big5.fmprc.gov.cn/gate/big5/us.china-embassy.org/eng/gyzg/t268200.htm ; “In China, pay cuts are ordered for bankers,” The New York Times, April 11, 2009; “Executive pay ignites public grumble, regulations urged,” Xinhua, February 9, 2009

China to revise writing, add more strokes to characters 

Later this year Beijing is set to announce plans to create a new list of Chinese characters whose simplified version (jianti zi) will have some additional strokes added to the character to correct what Beijing calls ‘oversimplification’, said theEconomist.   In the 1950s the government of Mao Zedong had simplified many of China’s 50,000 characters in order to assist literacy efforts as well as to disassociate itself with traditional values, which included classical writing, which it thought held the country back from modernization.  Taiwan, the Hongkong and Macau Special Administrative Regions, and overseas Chinese diasporas continue to use traditional characters (fanti zi).  The move to add more strokes to some of the most reduced characters is highly emotive as some feel traditional characters add a greater expressiveness and cultural identity than simplified ones.  Others are worried how hard it will be for those brought up on simplified characters during the last 51 years to learn anew, as well as the cost of converting hundreds of millions of primary and secondary school text books. 

“Not as easy as it looks,” The Economist, April 23, 2009

Universal health care to return for China's citizens

China's State Council passed a plan to establish universal health care for every Chinese citizen beginning the year 2010. According China's state news agency, Xinhua, the 'long awaited' measure will provide basic health care and medical services to 'ordinary' Chinese citizens, and include free medicines, medical services, and reforms to the way rural hospitals are run. Said Xinhua, "Growing public criticism of soaring medical fees, a lack of access to affordable medical services, poor doctor-patient relationship and low medical insurance coverage compel the government to launch the newround of reforms." China's health care systemis also facing long term changes, said the BBC.

A growing urban middle class means families can afford more red meat in their diets and are eating less vegetable and rice dishes; many are forsaking the bicycle for motor scooters and can afford to take taxis. All this impacts the general health of an ordinary urban resident, who now may be getting less exercise than they did ten years ago. As a result a growing percentage of people have chronic diseases like heart attacks and strokes which could be lifestyle-related indicated the BBC. The government will be investing 850 billion yuan (£84 billion) into this universal health care project and it is widely thought that this project also hopes to stimulate domestic spending in an effort to kick start a stalling Chinese economy, said the New York Times. Chinese citizens have one of the highest savings rates in the world, in part to save for medical emergencies, said the International Herald Tribune (IHT). Professor Bai Zhongen, chair of the School of Economics at Qinghua (Tsinghua) University, said that universal health care will increase consumer spending as families will no longer need to save money for health care needs, reported IHT.

("China passes new medical reform plan," Xinhua, January 21, 2009; "China plans to subsidize health care nationwide," International Herald Tribune, January 22, 2009; "China announces subsidies for health care," New York Times, January 22, 2009; "China to pour $120 billion into health," BBC News, January 21, 2009

Thrift is a many splendid thing: Chinese youth adopt grassroots frugality

Chinese young people in urban areas are forming Internet clubs and networks which encourage each other to come up with useful ways to save money, reported the China Daily. Known as the kou kou zu (stingy group) these young people, mostly born in the 1980s, are the generation of twenty- and thirty-somethings who have been accused of being spoiled and spendthrifts. Wang Hao, a Beijing office worker used to buy a new cell phone every six months to keep up with technology and appearance, said the China Daily. Now he has launched his own website to curb his living expenses to 100 yuan ($14) per week, a challenge in a city where 100 yuan buys just two movie tickets or a cup of coffee at an airport lounge. Ms. Zhang Yan, another kou kou zu from Fujian province has launched a website to help people keep account of and budget their money, reported the BBC. It is also a forum for people to discuss money matters in relation to saving and cutting back. People share everything from recipe dishes to the best public bus services and remind each other to record their expenses to help track their spending. While still a grassroots movement, the kou kou zu eat in subsidized work canteens rather than outside restaurants, go to work by bicycle not taxi, and shop online not in high street stores. One thrift website offers "ten mottos for financial winter", and says now is the time to avoid quitting one's job, having a baby, starting a business or buying a car, said the China Daily. But proponents say that far from being whimsical, the zou zou zu movement is both a response to the economic climate and a call to reevaluate one's values and lifestyle. It is environmentally friendly and represents a healthy and positive life attitude, said Ms. Zhang. The point is both to save money and to lead a quality life with lower costs, said a member of the "Let's have a 100-yuan week" on the popular Chinese social networking site, www.douban.com.

("China's newly frugal youths," BBC News, January 7, 2009; "Chinese youths get thrifty in gloomy economy," China Daily, January 5, 2009)