In a Fortnight
CCP Provincial Committees’ Reports Highlight Growing Wealth and Urban-Rural Inequality
According to the provincial Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) second plenary committees' work report collected by Guangdong-based newspaper Nanfang Daily, the gap between the rich and poor is growing wider in many provinces of China. Among China’s 31 provinces (including municipalities and autonomous regions), 26 provinces... MORE
Hu Jintao’s ‘Six-Points’ Proposition to Taiwan
On the eve of 2009, the President of the People’s Republic of China and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee, Hu Jintao, delivered a capstone speech commemorating the 30th anniversary of the "Message to Compatriots in Taiwan" (Xinhua News Agency, December... MORE
China’s Poor, Young and Restless
The "Economic Blue Paper," a report published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on December 2 (China Brief, December 8), stated there will be 6.1 million college graduates entering the job market in 2009, among those graduates some 30 percent to 40 percent—approximately... MORE
Competing Forecasts Cloud China’s Economic Conference
The annual Central Economic Work Conference organized by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will convene on December 8-10 in Beijing. Senior economic planners were in Beijing last week to attend a preliminary meeting that laid out an agenda for the discussion... MORE
China’s Strategic Engagement with Latin America
Ten days before Chinese President Hu Jintao left Beijing to attend the G20 Summit hosted by President George W. Bush in Washington on November 15 (China Brief, November 7), Zhongnanhai released its first policy white paper on Latin America and the Caribbean. The release of... MORE
China Cautious Toward G-20 Summit
According to Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Qin Gang, Chinese President Hu Jintao will attend the G20 Economic Summit to be held in Washington DC on November 15. At a press conference on November 4, Spokesperson Qin announced that President Hu has accepted President George W.... MORE
China’s African Inroads Shaken by Regional Political Uncertainties
Chinese state-owned enterprises and private companies doing business in Africa are increasingly finding their lucrative and unbridled trade and contracts mired in the pervasive domestic power struggles shaping African politics. Chinese businesses' risk aversion to political uncertainties and their ability to remain above the fray... MORE
China En Route to Cap Antartica
The Chinese icebreaker and research vessel Xue Long (Snow Dragon) has left the port of Shanghai on October 20 for its 25th annual expedition to Antarctica for a six-month mission that will see the construction of China's first inland scientific research station in Antarctica, the... MORE
Global Crisis Presents Challenges and Opportunities for China’s Economic Reform
The massive bailout of Western financial institutions is remaking the international financial order, spurring debate in China about what adjustments and financial instruments need to be on the table for Beijing to address domestic challenges and the international financial crisis. These calls come amid the... MORE
China and Pakistan Enhance Strategic Partnership
On September 26, 2008, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie met with Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, chief of the Army Staff of Pakistan, in Beijing. The meeting, which called for the enhancement of bilateral strategic partnership, was held against the backdrop of deteriorating U.S.-Pakistan relations as a... MORE