https://www.scmp.com/rss/324034/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com At least seven seminars to spread key messages from China’s recently-concluded annual meetings of its top political advisory body and national legislature have been held in Hong Kong since the start of this month, and on Monday, former chief executive Leung Chun-ying took the stage at one of them. With hundreds of guests watching, Leung, a vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), exhorted the city’s advisers to Beijing to promote the Chinese constitution... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2140965/cy-leung-exhorts-hong-kongs-advisers-beijing-strengthen?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2140965/cy-leung-exhorts-hong-kongs-advisers-beijing-strengthen?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Apr 2018 23:17:38 +0000 After years of decoding “forward guidance” from the US Federal Reserve, market participants feel increasingly confident that they can anticipate monetary policy direction. For many, decoding China’s policy communication is not quite as straightforward. China’s “two sessions” – annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – wrapped up last week. During the sessions, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan (周小川) for the first time... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2081443/decoding-chinas-policy-intent-how-liberalisation-happens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2081443/decoding-chinas-policy-intent-how-liberalisation-happens?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Mar 2017 06:02:36 +0000 The Chinese central government has added a new line in the final version of its annual work report, pledging to curb surging property prices in big cities, as home prices in central Beijing rise to levels on par with Hong Kong. A day after the revised government work report was published, the Beijing municipal government announced new measures to discourage home buying, including raising down payments for most property deals for second home purchases to an unprecedented 80 per cent. Beijing... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2080019/china-adds-national-pledge-curb-housing-prices?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2080019/china-adds-national-pledge-curb-housing-prices?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Mar 2017 15:45:30 +0000 The “two sessions” in Beijing – the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – offer some sense and insight about China’s governance. Attending them this year, I have come away with several impressions. One is the conjunction of two ways of thinking that Westerners would deem incompatible: stricter conformity and enforcement of political orthodoxy, and greater freedom and encouragement to critique government programmes. To... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2079109/chinas-two-sessions-delivers-core-message-xi-jinpings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2079109/chinas-two-sessions-delivers-core-message-xi-jinpings?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Mar 2017 07:35:23 +0000 Beijing was firm on supporting Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s bid for Hong Kong’s top job after the annual “two sessions” meetings attended by the top national leadership, a high-level adviser said. But think tank vice-president Professor Lau Siu-kai was critical of the “resign” pledge made by the former chief secretary during a televised debate, saying it was improper for politicians to openly talk about stepping down before even winning the election. As the race enters its final stretch, all... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2079831/carrie-lam-still-beijings-favourite-should-not-have?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2079831/carrie-lam-still-beijings-favourite-should-not-have?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Mar 2017 04:54:08 +0000 From the annual government work report to the musing of delegates on the sidelines, the topic of Hong Kong’s future has been inescapable at the “two sessions” in Beijing - the annual meetings of the China People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC). But this year, in a break from past practice, delegates with no official ties to the city have pushed ideas on how Beijing should approach the special administrative region and respond to calls... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2079391/chinas-two-sessions-delegates-surprisingly-outspoken?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2079391/chinas-two-sessions-delegates-surprisingly-outspoken?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Mar 2017 04:30:41 +0000 In a short span of two weeks, China’s most important people attending its biggest political ball of the year have been treated to two vastly different shades of Beijing’s skies. When the annual plenary sessions began on March 3, the sky was a smoggy grey as the Chinese capital suffered light to medium pollution. That cleared quickly, however – as if the gods knew the import of the event that had the country’s movers and shakers all gathered in one place at the same time. Or maybe it was the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2079196/beijings-blue-skies-shouldnt-be-luxury-it-sure-two?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2079196/beijings-blue-skies-shouldnt-be-luxury-it-sure-two?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 23:00:45 +0000 One of the most eagerly anticipated events on the Chinese political calendar is the premier’s press conference after the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The questions to Li Keqiang may have been screened to avoid surprises. But they reflect perceptions of China’s growing global influence amid political and economic change and uncertainty. Testament to that yesterday, for example, was the number of questions from the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2079293/premier-sends-clear-messages-china-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2079293/premier-sends-clear-messages-china-world?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 20:26:58 +0000 Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday called on US President Donald Trump to work with China to avoid a trade war and create “opportunities rather than trouble” for Southeast Asian neighbours caught between the two powers over the long-standing South China Sea dispute. His remarks, made at the annual press conference at the end of the National People’s Congress, struck a positive note on Sino-US relations ahead of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to Beijing this weekend, the first... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2079194/we-dont-want-trade-war-li-keqiang-calls-trump-work?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2079194/we-dont-want-trade-war-li-keqiang-calls-trump-work?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 16:00:00 +0000 One of the most eye-catching scenes of Premier Li Keqiang’s two-hour press conference on Wednesday actually took place a couple of minutes before it started – when one of the nation’s most high-profile policemen unexpectedly came into the main hall and sat quietly near the press corps. The appearance of Fu Zhenghua, the second-in-command of the world’s largest police force, flanked by security personnel in suits and ties, immediately raised eyebrows. Fu was the top police officer in a task force... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2079195/top-cop-shows-two-sessions-beijing-hes-still-game?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2079195/top-cop-shows-two-sessions-beijing-hes-still-game?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 15:59:20 +0000 China’s systems to launch and catch carrier-based aircraft are more advanced than those ­designed for the new generation of US supercarriers, according to a ­Chinese expert in the technology. Rear Admiral Ma Weiming, a top engineer working on the project, said on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress on Monday that China had made breakthroughs in its advanced ­arresting gear (AAG) system designed to retrieve aircraft at sea, while the US had stumbled. “The Gerald Ford cancelled its AAG... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2079192/can-china-leapfrog-us-scramble-worlds-best-aircraft?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2079192/can-china-leapfrog-us-scramble-worlds-best-aircraft?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 15:45:45 +0000 Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday defended his record of economic management, saying his biggest achievements in his four years in the top office have been steering the country on a steady growth course and avoiding the much talked-about threat of a “hard landing”. Addressing hundreds of journalists at the end of the annual gathering of the country’s legislature, Li hit back at the doubters, saying the economy would be able to maintain medium to high growth in the long run. “I’ve been... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2079190/steady-growth-and-no-hard-landing-chinese-premier-lays-out-his?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2079190/steady-growth-and-no-hard-landing-chinese-premier-lays-out-his?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 15:30:15 +0000 China will continue to support a united European Union and a strong euro, Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday, sending a clear message of the country’s hopes for the bloc’s future. Despite the uncertainties ahead, Li said he was optimistic about the future of the EU as well as Sino-EU ties. The assessment delivered at his annual press conference in Beijing came just hours before the start of a general election in the Netherlands, a poll seen as a ­barometer of this year’s key national elections... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2079186/china-throws-weight-behind-strong-european-union?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2079186/china-throws-weight-behind-strong-european-union?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 15:15:45 +0000 China’s largest political event of the year ended in Beijing on Wednesday after two weeks of meetings. Known as the “two sessions”, the gatherings of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the National People’s Congress brought 5,000 officials, lawmakers and political advisers to Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. Curtains down on “two sessions” But amid the serious topics, there were also more colourful, lighter and individual moments as these photographs show. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2079182/pictures-colourful-side-chinas-two-sessions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2079182/pictures-colourful-side-chinas-two-sessions?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 14:23:17 +0000 Escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula will only lead to harm for all concerned, Premier Li Keqiang warned as he called for dialogue to contain Pyongyang’s nuclear programme. But Li made no mention of Beijing’s row with Seoul and Washington over the deployment of an controversial anti-missile system, which the United States began to deploy in South Korea this month. China views the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence missile system (THAAD), as a threat to its own strategic... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2079133/speaking-korean-issue-chinas-premier-says-no-one-wants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2079133/speaking-korean-issue-chinas-premier-says-no-one-wants?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 10:22:06 +0000 What are some of the highlights of this year’s meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference? First, the economy. The rate of real GDP growth held steady at 6.7 per cent in 2016. This year, the target is “around 6.5 per cent”. The macroeconomic situation has begun to stabilise and the economy has essentially entered the horizontal part of the L-shaped recovery, at a flat but high rate of growth that is still the envy of the world. The... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2078758/economy-judicial-reform-china-settling-new-normal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2078758/economy-judicial-reform-china-settling-new-normal?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 09:08:24 +0000 While much has been discussed by the about 5,000 officials, lawmakers and political advisers in the two-week annual plenary sessions in Beijing, what hasn’t been mentioned can be equally revealing in gauging China’s politics. Issues including the disappearance of a well-connected mainland businessman in Hong Kong, the ongoing hunt for “financial crocodiles”, a warming in Sino-Vatican ties and the creation of a super anti-graft agency were either left unspoken in the hallways of the Great Hall of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2079032/what-big-topics-went-unmentioned-chinas-two-sessions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2079032/what-big-topics-went-unmentioned-chinas-two-sessions?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 08:52:44 +0000 The air quality worsened visibly in Beijing as the annual plenary meeting of China’s parliament drew to an end on Wednesday, with Premier Li Keqiang vowing to earmark special funds to research any currently unknown causes of smog. The Air Quality Index in the capital as measured by the US Embassy climbed above 150 on Wednesday morning from a reading of around 50 a day earlier, an unhealthy level at which people begin to experience health effects. The pollution is expected to worsen further in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2079090/smog-returns-beijing-political-gala-ends?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2079090/smog-returns-beijing-political-gala-ends?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 08:07:46 +0000 The Chinese premier took a wide range of questions during his media briefing at the end of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, including on the economy and China-US relations. We give you the six key points from Li Keqiang’s press conference on Wednesday. 1. China-US relations Premier Li highlighted the damage that any trade war between the two countries would inflict, saying American companies would be the first to suffer. “We don’t want to see any trade war breaking out between the two... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2079082/what-china-doesnt-want-highlights-li-keqiangs-press?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2079082/what-china-doesnt-want-highlights-li-keqiangs-press?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 07:30:15 +0000 Premier Li Keqiang pledged to enhance support for Hong Kong by establishing a bond market connect scheme between the city and the mainland this year, as he stressed the importance of implementing the “one country, two systems” principle in its entirety. The scheme, the country’s No 2 official said, would enable Hong Kong to maintain its status as an international financial centre and ensure long-term prosperity and stability. “The principle of one country, two systems needs to be perceived and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2079043/one-country-or-two-systems-both-premier-li-keqiang-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2079043/one-country-or-two-systems-both-premier-li-keqiang-says?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 05:30:14 +0000 Welcome to the South China Morning Post’s live coverage of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s message on the closing day of China’s annual plenary meetings. Li is giving his speech on Wednesday morning at the annual post-National People’s Congress press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Read on to see the highlights of Li’s message as they flow in. The Chinese premier, the foreign press and the state of the nation https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078800/live-coverage-chinese-premier-li-keqiangs-message-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078800/live-coverage-chinese-premier-li-keqiangs-message-it?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 02:30:30 +0000 Financial crises are said to come once a decade – the Black Monday market crash of 1987, the Asian contagion in 1997 and the global financial crisis of 2007. If true, we’re about due for a hit. And if a crisis is looming, China must be especially cautious given it’s the world’s second-largest economy, with capital markets full of shadow bankers and “crocodiles”– Beijing’s term for high-rolling insider traders. One way to deal with these risks is through establishing a super-financial regulator.... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2078889/china-talk-super-financial-regulator-cheap-until-next-crisis-hits?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2078889/china-talk-super-financial-regulator-cheap-until-next-crisis-hits?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2017 00:33:46 +0000 Since the late 1980s, the Chinese premier’s press conference at the end of the country’s annual congressional sessions has been a rare chance – albeit limited – for overseas media to ask the premier directly about the state of the nation. This year is the fifth time Premier Li Keqiang will mount the podium in Beijing to take questions . SCMP.com will cover the press conference in a live blog. What is the press conference and why does it matter? The tradition started in 1988 when the then new... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078890/chinese-premier-foreign-press-and-state-nation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078890/chinese-premier-foreign-press-and-state-nation?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Mar 2017 23:32:31 +0000 Cross-strait political tensions have led to breakdowns in official communications and the rejection of a large amount of Taiwanese food and cosmetics imports at mainland ports, a top quality inspection official said on Tuesday in Beijing. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said roughly 175 batches of food and cosmetics from the island were destroyed or returned in January for failing to meet standards. The import problems ranged from packaging to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078860/cross-strait-tensions-barrier-mainland-entry-taiwanese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078860/cross-strait-tensions-barrier-mainland-entry-taiwanese?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Mar 2017 15:44:26 +0000 China’s urbanisation drive should focus on providing services and creating jobs instead of putting up new skyscrapers and building empty cities, according to three delegates attending this month’s parliamentary sessions in Beijing. The three local government officials told Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily that districts should not be created without proper businesses or industrial activity and the priority now was to give the nation’s 260 million migrant workers welfare services and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2078858/create-jobs-not-ghost-towns-chinese-delegates-tell-urban-planners?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2078858/create-jobs-not-ghost-towns-chinese-delegates-tell-urban-planners?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Mar 2017 15:36:17 +0000 Patriotism is the “mission” of religion in China, but greed is tainting Tibetan Buddhism, says the government-appointed second-highest spiritual leader of the faith, who was chosen by Beijing to win the hearts and minds of Tibetans. Although officially atheist, China in 1995 selected Gyaltsen Norbu as Tibet’s 11th Panchen Lama, the number-two spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. Tibet’s current spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing brands a dangerous separatist, had announced his own... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078701/chinas-panchen-lama-calls-patriotism-says-greed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078701/chinas-panchen-lama-calls-patriotism-says-greed?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Mar 2017 06:58:39 +0000 Education experts in Hong Kong called on the government to tread carefully and ensure pupils were presented with balanced views after Beijing’s top political advisory body urged delegates to visit schools to promote mainland developments. Educators and youth groups feared a repackaged version of the controversial national education programme, which was touted in 2012 with the aim of nurturing patriotism but scrapped after 10 days of protests amid claims it was a brainwashing exercise. Some... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2078638/quash-pro-independence-ideas-schools-giving-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2078638/quash-pro-independence-ideas-schools-giving-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Mar 2017 03:15:59 +0000 Cui Yongyuan may be a former host on China’s state-run national broadcaster but he is no fan of the country’s news censors. On Friday, Cui lashed out regulators taking the razor to news coverage and movies. “[The censors] simply block everything they don’t like in a way I would call rude and barbarian … I don’t think they’re helping the Communist Party or the government at all. They are only causing more trouble,” he said. China’s internet censorship under fire – but proposal against controls... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078472/lone-voices-dissent-chinas-political-wilderness?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078472/lone-voices-dissent-chinas-political-wilderness?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Mar 2017 00:00:50 +0000 As the Communist Party’s twice-a-decade national congress and its key power transition approaches, most of the party’s political stars are keeping a low profile on the sidelines of the annual session of the top legislature. Things were different at the session five years ago, just ahead of the leadership reshuffle at the party’s 18th national congress. The open-to-foreign-media sessions of the Xinjiang deputies of the National People’s Congress were focal points for journalists. This was under... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078498/five-years-why-are-chinas-political-stars-shying?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078498/five-years-why-are-chinas-political-stars-shying?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:51:00 +0000 China knew it might not be able to stop Seoul deploying a US anti-missile system and was prepared to counter with its own anti-radar equipment, a retired PLA general said on Monday. The comments by Wang Hongguang came as a South Korean court’s decision to uphold the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, the country’s former president, fanned hopes Seoul might put plans for the Terminal High Altitude Area ­Defence system on hold. China vows ‘resolute’ measures as US deploys first parts of THAAD missile... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2078476/china-readying-countermeasures-against-missile-defence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2078476/china-readying-countermeasures-against-missile-defence?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:00:45 +0000 China’s policymakers support opening financial markets for capital and investment to flow both in and out of the country, according to central bank Deputy Governor Pan Gongsheng. China would push ahead on oversight and enforce existing regulations on foreign exchange, Pan said in an interview on Sunday with Bloomberg and Caixin Magazine. Scrutiny of foreign companies transferring profits out was “not excessive”, he added. A healthy foreign-exchange market helped all participants, said Pan, who... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2078418/china-supports-opening-financial-markets-better-forex-flows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2078418/china-supports-opening-financial-markets-better-forex-flows?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Mar 2017 10:17:01 +0000 Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying was showered with support by state leaders, including a handshake and minute-long chat with President Xi Jinping, as he was elected a vice-chairman of Beijing’s top political advisory body on Monday. Leung also shook hands with the remaining six of Xi’s Politburo Standing Committee members. After receiving a landslide vote backing a motion to appoint Leung as vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the Hong Kong chief executive... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/2078367/handshakes-speak-volumes-xi-jinping-and-top-state-leaders-welcome-cy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/2078367/handshakes-speak-volumes-xi-jinping-and-top-state-leaders-welcome-cy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Mar 2017 08:45:45 +0000 Calls by members of China’s legislature and itstop advisory body for the mainland to allow more open access to the internet have increased this year, amid mounting frustration. During this month’s meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) – annual events more commonly referred to as the “two sessions” – deputies and delegates criticised the central government’s tightening of internet restrictions, despite political... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078350/chinas-internet-censorship-under-fire-two-sessions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078350/chinas-internet-censorship-under-fire-two-sessions?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Mar 2017 07:30:30 +0000 Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying was elected vice-chairman of China’s top advisory body on Monday, becoming the first chief executive to hold the two roles simultaneously. The move is seen as an acknowledgement of his efforts to curb pro-independence forces in Hong Kong as the city’s top official. Leung had announced in December that he would not seek another term as chief executive, citing family reasons. How did Leung get the job? A vice-chairman needs to first secure majority support from the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2078306/more-respect-no-immunity-what-cy-leung-can-expect-new-job?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2078306/more-respect-no-immunity-what-cy-leung-can-expect-new-job?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Mar 2017 02:50:39 +0000 Hong Kong’s slow economic growth and acute political divisions since the 1997 handover “went beyond Beijing’s expectations”, and state leaders were “anxious” about the city’s diminishing financial role, a scholar and adviser to the central government told the Post. In an exclusive interview, Professor Qi Pengfei, vice-chairman of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, a semi-official think tank, said Hong Kong’s development had not been “as smooth as we thought”, but the “one... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2078220/hong-kongs-slow-economic-growth-and-political-divisions-were?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2078220/hong-kongs-slow-economic-growth-and-political-divisions-were?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Mar 2017 00:01:32 +0000 Universities must make ideology classes “trendy” and appealing to young people, Education Minister Chen Baosheng said on Sunday in the latest move to tighten the Communist Party’s grip on the next generation. Chen’s call on the sidelines of key annual political meetings in Beijing follows a meeting in December in which President Xi Jinping ordered tighter ideological control in tertiary ­institutions. “When we investigate at colleges and universities, we find that attention levels at thought and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078251/communist-dogma-cool-cats-china-tells-universities-hop?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078251/communist-dogma-cool-cats-china-tells-universities-hop?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Mar 2017 15:41:58 +0000 The annual two sessions might look the same this year, with delegates in flamboyant costumes putting on a show of diversity for state-run TV. But no women delegates from remote villages, no fur-garbed ethnic minority elites, and no white-collared Catholic priests could hide the fact that the political show is indeed changing – it’s getting much harder to meet the people who really matter. The country’s top political advisory body, which ends its annual session today, has stopped letting overseas... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078249/china-shuts-doors-overseas-media-corridors-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078249/china-shuts-doors-overseas-media-corridors-power?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Mar 2017 15:25:09 +0000 Beijing is drafting a national development plan on artificial intelligence and setting up a special fund as part of an effort to push the technology’s application in the economy and national security, said China’s top technology official. Wan Gang, the minister of science and technology, said that the plan, which aims to facilitate the adoption of the technology in a wide range of areas, including “economy, social welfare, environmental protection and national security”, is expected to be... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/2078209/beijing-release-national-artificial-intelligence-development-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/2078209/beijing-release-national-artificial-intelligence-development-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Mar 2017 10:15:30 +0000 China’s industrial output for the first two months of the year grew by more than 6 per cent, the statistics bureau chief said on Sunday, in the latest sign that the economy is stabilising. “January-February industrial output rose above 6 per cent and that of the service sector jumped more than 8 per cent,” National Bureau of Statistics chief Ning ­­Ji­zhe said on the sidelines of the annual “two sessions” political gatherings in Beijing. Ning was speaking ahead of the official release of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2078184/chinas-growing-industrial-and-services-sectors-signal-stabilising?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2078184/chinas-growing-industrial-and-services-sectors-signal-stabilising?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Mar 2017 06:25:14 +0000 Google is still in talks with Beijing over its plans to return to the mainland Chinese market, according to a senior Chinese lawmaker and former top official with knowledge of the negotiations. “China has been in touch with Google through various channels. Last year, leaders of our country’s important department had further communication with Google,” said Liu Binjie, a standing committee member of the National People’s Congress and former head of the General Administration of Press and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078173/google-another-step-closer-being-unblocked-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078173/google-another-step-closer-being-unblocked-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Mar 2017 04:45:30 +0000 If there is a number coming out of Donald Trump’s White House that should get Beijing worried, it is not the 10 per cent growth in the military budget. It is the promised 20 per cent corporate tax cut. The US president signalled two weeks ago that he intended to propose a “historic increase” in military spending to US$603 billion – up 10 per cent from a year ago. The eye-watering number immediately grabbed headlines around the world. In China, which was about to release its own defence budget... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2077839/what-china-can-learn-trump-soviets-and-kublai-khan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2077839/what-china-can-learn-trump-soviets-and-kublai-khan?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Mar 2017 04:01:47 +0000 There have been numerous calls for greater integration with Guangdong and Macau since the return of Hong Kong to China. In 2011, a paper termed “Study on the Action Plan for the Bay Area of the Pearl River Estuary” was rolled out jointly by authorities in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau to coordinate regional development. The term “bay area” is also found in Hong Kong’s strategic planning blueprint, the “Hong Kong 2030 Plus” plan. But this concept of closer integration was elevated to a national... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2077763/can-hong-kong-get-fully-behind-idea-southern-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2077763/can-hong-kong-get-fully-behind-idea-southern-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Mar 2017 03:33:03 +0000 The jailing of rights ­activists was considered the biggest achievement of China’s supreme court and the top prosecutor’s office last year, according to the two bodies’ annual work reports ­released ­on Sunday. “[We] severely punished state security crimes, and sentenced subversion cases such as that of [rights lawyer] Zhou Shifeng,” the Supreme People’s Court report read. The prosecutions of Zhou and Hu Shigen, another rights activist, were also among the Supreme People’s Procuratorate’s most... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078167/chinas-top-courts-list-jailing-rights-activists-their?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078167/chinas-top-courts-list-jailing-rights-activists-their?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Mar 2017 02:49:32 +0000 Chinese trade minister Zhong Shan said he was looking forward to meeting his US counterpart Wilbur Ross, as he reiterated Beijing’s stance against a possible trade war between the two nations. The newly appointed commerce minister said at his first press conference on Saturday that Ross was an excellent entrepreneur and a good negotiator. “I am willing to deal with excellent people as they are good at handling issues from the long-term and strategic perspectives,” Zhong said in Beijing. “Mr Ross... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078124/chinas-new-commerce-chief-upbeat-building-ties-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078124/chinas-new-commerce-chief-upbeat-building-ties-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Mar 2017 15:41:55 +0000 China will not suffer labour shortages in the years ahead even though its society is rapidly ageing, according to a leading population official. Wang Peian, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, forecast that China would still be a populous country at the end of this century and that a sufficient labour force “would not be a problem at all”. China will have 211m fewer workers by 2050, official says The quality, not quantity, of the workforce was what mattered, Wang... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078071/china-will-never-suffer-labour-shortage-says-family?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078071/china-will-never-suffer-labour-shortage-says-family?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Mar 2017 09:15:45 +0000 China is concerned about the possible impact on the integration of the European Union and Beijing’s holdings of euro bonds as the nation watches the French presidential election campaign, a senior Chinese diplomat said. The agenda of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, in which she has promised to push France to leave the EU and drop the euro, has created uncertainties over whether the continent can remain united, said Shi Mingde, China’s ambassador to Germany. “The overall global situation is... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2078063/how-could-win-far-right-french-candidate-marine-le-pen?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2078063/how-could-win-far-right-french-candidate-marine-le-pen?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Mar 2017 07:15:30 +0000 Despite its name and origin, the China Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD), like the country’s seven other officially sanctioned political parties, has long pledged its allegiance and loyalty to the ruling Communist Party. It is rarely visible except on important occasions when its leaders and those of the other parties are trotted out to burnish the Communist Party’s policies and decisions in their advisory capacities. So some mainland journalists were in for a surprise on March 1 when... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2077918/chinas-opening-requires-open-minds-not-blocked-internet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2077918/chinas-opening-requires-open-minds-not-blocked-internet?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Mar 2017 07:00:21 +0000 The industry minister for mainland China, Miao Wei, on Saturday called on Taiwan to be more open to mainland investment after two high-profile cross-strait deals fell through. Taiwan’s ChipMOS Technologies in November said it had scrapped a planned US$373 million stake sale to the mainland’s Tsinghua Unigroup due to uncertainty about Taiwanese regulatory clearance. It is the second deal in as many months between Unigroup and a Taiwanese manufacturer to be cancelled. Push to absorb Taiwan ‘is... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078058/china-says-taiwan-should-be-more-open-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2078058/china-says-taiwan-should-be-more-open-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Mar 2017 06:15:15 +0000 China’s Industry Minister Miao Wei brushed aside foreign firms’ concerns on Saturday that Beijing’s programme to upgrade its industry would become a market barrier. He made the remarks in response to a detailed analysis by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, which lashed out against “the problematic” Made in China 2025 initiative to move up China’s industry base, saying it hurt foreign companies. China rolled out Made in China 2025 two years ago, aiming to develop home-grown... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2078056/beijing-industry-minister-says-no-discrimination-against-foreign?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2078056/beijing-industry-minister-says-no-discrimination-against-foreign?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Mar 2017 05:45:00 +0000 China’s government is preparing for a war of sorts with the United States to claim the vantage point to define the technological trend for the next generation. At the annual meeting of China’s parliament this week, the usual Communist Party agenda of economic growth, social welfare, jobs, health care and pension made way for an unusual addition: a clarion call by some of China’s most influential business and technology leaders for the government to set policies to define what they consider the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/2077845/future-here-china-sounds-clarion-call-ai-funding-policies-surpass-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/2077845/future-here-china-sounds-clarion-call-ai-funding-policies-surpass-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Mar 2017 01:00:45 +0000