Must-read China news by Danwei

The verdict of Liu Xiaobo's trial has been declared. Andrew Jacobs reports for the New York Times:

In an unequivocal rebuke to those pursuing political reforms, a Chinese court convicted Liu Xiaobo, one of the country’s best-known dissidents, of subversion and sentenced him Friday to 11 years in prison.

Mr. Liu, 53, a literature professor and a vocal critic of China’s single-party political system, was detained in December 2008 after he helped create a petition known as Charter 08 that demanded the right to free speech, open elections and many other liberties.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 3:35 PM | Permalink

China Daily reports:

China has revised its gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for 2008 to 9.6 percent from 9 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said today.

The new figure amounted to about 4.59 trillion U.S. dollars, at the exchange rate on December 31 of 2008.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 12:00 PM | Permalink

Waffles & Steel, a blog about cycling in China, finds some interesting vehicles on the road.

See also: "Crash & Punch," a three-part account of a bike collision and its aftermath.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 11:20 PM | Permalink

Danwei went to the fifth Chinese Bloggers' Conference and interviewed bloggers, rural teachers and citizen journalists. Part 2 featuring teachers is here.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 3:49 PM | Permalink

A freelance writer and TV host, also reported to be an adviser of the Maldives, writes some uncomfortable truths for The Guardian.

Mark Lynas has been getting a lot of attention from outlets such as The New York Times Dot Earth blog. His original article is from The Guardian:

Here's what actually went on late last Friday night, as heads of state from two dozen countries met behind closed doors. Obama was at the table for several hours, sitting between Gordon Brown and the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi. The Danish prime minister chaired, and on his right sat Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the UN. Probably only about 50 or 60 people, including the heads of state, were in the room. I was attached to one of the delegations, whose head of state was also present for most of the time.

What I saw was profoundly shocking. The Chinese premier, Wen Jinbao, did not deign to attend the meetings personally, instead sending a second-tier official in the country's foreign ministry to sit opposite Obama himself. The diplomatic snub was obvious and brutal, as was the practical implication: several times during the session, the world's most powerful heads of state were forced to wait around as the Chinese delegate went off to make telephone calls to his "superiors".

James Fallows also has a comment on Lynas' article.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 1:51 PM | Permalink

The New York Times has a story about Americans and Chinese working in the same office:

Communication styles, Professor Taras said, can create workplace challenges. “Americans often perceive the Chinese as indecisive, less confident and not tough enough, whereas the Chinese may see Americans as rude or inconsiderate.”

This, he said, “can lead to conflicts and misunderstandings, but also affect promotion and task assignment choice, and ultimately performance.”

What is similar, though, is that both the Americans and the Chinese perceive a glass ceiling. “Most expats don’t speak good enough Chinese, so their promotion prospects are limited, and on a social and cultural level, young Chinese feel there are barriers that are hard to get past,” said Ziyu Wen, 28, who works with Americans in her job as a communications manager in Beijing.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 1:16 PM | Permalink

From The Financial Times:

The appeals body of the World Trade Organisation has upheld an earlier ruling against China’s restrictions on imports of US films and music, rebuffing Beijing’s claim that the restrictions were necessary to protect public morals...

...Ron Kirk, US trade representative, said: “Today America got a big win. We are very pleased that the WTO has found against China’s import and distribution restrictions on US movies, music, DVDs and publications.”

The ruling comes at a time of escalating trade tensions between the US and China, which is under international pressure to let its currency appreciate.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 1:02 PM | Permalink

From the Wall Street Journal China Real Time Report:

Recent China-Africa deals show a move toward more collaboration on financing between Chinese lenders and their African counterparts, which helps give Africa more control over how investments on the continent get done.

“If China is to become an important partner, African policymakers must drive the agenda,” Ghana-headquartered African Center for Economic Transformation said in a policy brief. It said that a key problem for Africa is that many of the continent’s countries lack strategic development plans, thereby failing to leverage the impact of Chinese and other investments in African countries.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 12:53 PM | Permalink

The Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch reports:

China will unveil a package of business-tax reductions next year to help the economy, according to news reports Thursday.

While China's State Administration of Taxation plans to raise the minimum income-tax threshold, it will also lower taxes on small and medium-sized enterprises, the reports said, citing an anonymously sourced account in the Chinese 21st Century Business Herald newspaper.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 12:45 PM | Permalink

Bloomberg reports:

China’s stocks fell to a three-week low, led by developers, on concern government measures to curb property speculation may damp economic growth.

Poly Real Estate Group Co., the nation’s second-largest developer by market value, slid 3 percent. China Vanke Co., the biggest, dropped 2.4 percent after the Oriental Morning Post cited the company’s Chairman Wang Shi as saying the housing market is a bubble that may burst. Zijin Mining Group Co., the largest gold producer, fell 2.5 percent on lower bullion prices.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 12:49 PM | Permalink

The Economic Observer writes about competition in the retail market:

In mid November, just two days after National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, announced another increase in fuel prices in line with the country's new pricing system, Sinopec decided to cut the price of petrol and diesel at certain service stations in Beijing.

Such moves were in response to strong competition pressure from private gas stations, which have witnessed a rapid expansion in the wake of the global financial crisis, the Economic Observer (EO) learned.

Over the past year, about 20,000 private gas stations have opened in regions that were dominated by Sinopec.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 12:10 PM | Permalink

The New York Times reviews In Search of My Homeland, Er Tai Gao's memoir of his days in a rightist camp. The book was translated by Robert Dorsett and David Pollard.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 11:58 AM | Permalink

The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was founded in those two cities in 1865, but departed Shanghai after the revolution in 1949.

The bank's name is now usually rendered with the bland acronym HSBC, but is set to return to Shanghai and offer shares on that city's market. From The Guardian:

HSBC plans to become the first international company to list on the Shanghai stock exchange by launching a £5bn share offer to Chinese investors in a move that is rich in symbolism.

The listing underlines the importance of China to HSBC's growth as well as demonstrating how the centre of financial gravity is moving east. It has appointed two Chinese banks – China Citic and China International Capital Corporation – to advise it on the flotation and is set to add Goldman Sachs as the float date approaches, possibly as early as March.

The bank is already well capitalised and does not need the money from flotation, but HSBC is keen to raise its profile with Chinese retail investors as it expands its branch network and looks at buying stakes in rival Chinese banks.

Read full article

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 12:50 PM | Permalink

ESWN has translated a CCTV article titled 'Internet triad organization manipulates public opinion: 50,000 yuan can influence court verdict'. The article does not mention anything about CCTV's own manipulation of public opinion.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 12:38 PM | Permalink

The China Daily has published a list of the 'Top 10 darndest things officials said in 2009' introduced thusly:

Officials in China are a special breed. They tend to be restrained when facing the press and stick to the scripted lines. But occasionally they can be caught off guard and make some of the most unusual remarks one can expect from public servants, including those that are funny, annoying, ironic or simply heartless. You can laud them for speaking their minds, or you can criticize them for their big mouth, but you cannot deny that these retorts, rebuttals and asides add much needed color to an otherwise drab portrait of Chinese officialdom.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 12:35 PM | Permalink

From The Wall Street Journal:

Youku.com, one of China's largest video Web sites, raised $40 million in new funding, a nod of confidence that the medium will continue to grow in China as companies shift further away from the user-generated videos for which they were once known.

Youku Chief Executive Victor Koo said the new funds will go toward expanding its offerings of licensed professional video and content made exclusively for the Internet. Youku will also invest more in mobile video, he said.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 12:33 PM | Permalink

Reuters reports:

Noisy marchers distrustful of communist China's intentions for Taiwan walked for hours along roads in Taichung in the center of the export-reliant, self-ruled island China claims as its own.

Taiwan negotiator P.K. Chiang and China's Chen Yunlin will meet in Taichung on Tuesday for more talks on the proposed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), a pact aimed at slashing import tariffs and opening the banking sector that should be signed next year.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 12:10 PM | Permalink

From China Daily, a collection of images and words documenting incidents such as Tang Fuzhen and SOHO blackout.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 11:50 AM | Permalink

From The Guardian:

"We cannot again allow negotiations on real points of substance to be hijacked in this way," he writes in the aftermath of the UN summit in Copenhagen, which climaxed with what was widely seen as a weak accord, with no binding emissions targets, despite an unprecedented meeting of leaders.

Miliband's original Comment is Free's article is here.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 11:38 AM | Permalink