Politics
China News Service*
President Xi Jinping puts pressure on the Central Military Commission in austerity drive.
Financial Times
Beijing will need to spend several years tackling excess credit and over-investment.
Wall Street Journal - China Real Time Report
Newspaper attacks spur press freedom fears in Hong Kong.
Radio Free Asia
Police open fire at Dalai Lama birthday event in Sichuan province.

Society
Quartz
Pollution in northern China has shaved residents’ life expectancy by an average of 5.5 years.
Caixin
Chinese students will have their futures linked to tests as long as tight government regulation limits the number of good universities in the country, writes Peking University law professor Zhang Qianfan.
The Atlantic
A leaked list of what to offer Ningxia officials shows how entrenched corruption remains in China.
Businessweek
China's aging workers need to increase private retirement savings, but more investors lose than win in the Chinese stock market.

Economy
Economic Observer
China's Central Bank delivered some tough love to Chinese banks at the end of June.
The Diplomat
Is private banking in China still a pipe dream?
China Dialogue
Many of China’s coal operations are water-inefficient and could constrain future growth, suggests Wai-Shin Chan, HSBC's research director of climate-change strategy.
Bloomberg
China’s second-largest insurer Ping An buys the Lloyd’s of London building.

Foreign affairs
Reuters
Snowden affair clouds US attempts to press China to curb cyber theft.
China Economic Weekly*
The Snowden leaks will have "a limited impact" on the Sino-US strategic and economic dialogue that starts on Wednesday, says Renmin University professor Jin Canrong.
El Universal
Venezuela arrested five officials on charges of embezzling Chinese funds.
Asahi Shimbun
China embarks on regulating anti-Japanese TV dramas.