China news round-up: Cosco executive investigated, Taobao villages prosper

Wall Street Journal
President Xi Jinping told a group of foreign visitors that the Third Plenum would endorse a blueprint of comprehensive reforms that will allow China to double its gross domestic product by 2020 and avoid the "middle income trap".
Global Times
Third Plenum survey: Nearly 80 per cent said they want reforms in social security.
People's Daily*
The Third Plenum "has to give a new direction to China's path of reform and development".
ChinaFile
"Corruption today is much worse than it was under Chiang Kai-shek when his regime collapsed. So, it’s a worry," says Harvard's Roderick MacFarquhar.

Society
New York Times
The driver of the vehicle that crashed and burned at Tiananmen Square may have sought revenge for the demolition of parts of new mosque that he had helped finance.
Radio Free Asia
Journalists and researchers sent by the central government to investigate conditions in a Tibetan-populated mining area in Qinghai province have been blocked by local officials.
Asahi Shimbun
Shanxi locals suspect anger at government behind Taiyuan blasts.
The Economist
CCTV curbing of entertainment shows "will only accelerate the broadcasters’ decline and the switch to online viewing".

Economy
Caixin
A parcel of land in Shenzhen that is legally classified as rural will be allowed onto the market, an experiment by the city as the country grapples with ways to reform its land policies.
Bloomberg
16 Chinese villages generated at least 5 billion yuan in combined sales on Taobao last year, creating 40,000 jobs and helping slow the flow of residents moving to cities in search of work.
Tech in Asia
Tesla Model S electric sports cars will be shipped to China in January and be sold shortly thereafter.
China Business Journal*
The executive director of China's largest shipping company Cosco, Xu Minjie, is the target of a party graft investigation.

Foreign affairs
Jamestown China Brief
Nascent anti-Chinese sentiments have turned violent in Central Asia in the last few years, most often via hostility toward Chinese migrants.
Foreign Policy
"We've noticed a greater crackdown on people who are speaking out about political issues, environmental issues," says Gary Locke, the US ambassador to China.
Macauhub
Brazil is due to sell US$1.75 billion in maize to China.
Christian Science Monitor
Taiwan's trade pact with Singapore is the latest sign that China is relaxing its traditional opposition to such deals.

* denotes articles in Chinese language.