Politics
Xinhua
To strengthen China's soft power, the country needs to (...) better use the new media and increase the creativity, appeal and credibility of China's publicity, says President Xi Jinping.
The Mirror*
Reporters "coincidentally" find Beijing's police chief Fu Zhenghua patrolling Wangfujing.
Seeking Truth*
China's current economic structure is "hardly sustainable", writes Vice Minister of Finance Wang Baoan.
Chennai Centre for China Studies
"The deification of Mao exists not in a small way. And this is pertinent for the leadership," writes New Delhi-based strategic analyst Bhaskar Roy. "The Mao worshippers have the leftists to lead them if there is a serious ideological struggle."

Society
Bloomberg
More than 2 per cent of China’s arable land, or an area the size of Belgium, is too polluted to grow crops.
Taipei Times
A second Chinese tourist in Taiwan has been diagnosed with H7N9 bird flu.
The Independent
By legitimising the sale of ivory sourced from natural elephant deaths, culls and police seizures, the registration system was introduced in 2004 to cut prices and profits in the black market. Yet, the wholesale price of ivory has tripled over the last nine years.
New York Times
Chen Guangbiao's offer to buy The New York Times: Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said the family that controls the paper is not interested in selling.

Economy
Financial Times
If the slowdown continues next year and growth drops below 7.6 per cent it will be the slowest since 1990 when China faced international sanctions.
Bloomberg
China’s new home prices in December jumped by the most last year even as the country’s biggest cities tightened property controls to moderate price gains.
Quartz
The photovoltaic power plant project in Turpan Prefecture help soak up China’s excess manufacturing capacity while creating jobs for local workers.
Tech in Asia
Over the past few months it’s become clear that Tencent and Alibaba are butting heads over who will get access to Chinese consumers’ wallets.

Foreign affairs
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Infographic: From 2009, the total number of diplomatic meetings remained relatively stable but the role of core leaders rose steadily.
Global Times
Editorial: "The confrontation between China and Japan will be a long-lasting event."
Chosun Ilbo
"Since Jang's execution, [North Korean] embassy staffers in Beijing have been acting very cautiously, only going out in groups and buying food in bulk," a diplomatic source said.
Reuters
The Knights Templar cartel became so successful at exporting iron ore to China that the Mexican Navy in November had to move in and take over the port in Lazaro Cardenas.