https://www.scmp.com/rss/326511/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com As Beijing seeks to accelerate China’s rise to superpower status, the expanded global ambitions set out by President Xi Jinping may have already hit a snag. While Americans worry about US President Donald Trump’s inward-looking vision of Washington’s global role and the steep budget cuts he has proposed for the State Department, which many warn are causing a US foreign service brain drain, Beijing seems to have a talent gap of its own to deal with. With China becoming increasingly assertive on a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2137092/china-headed-diplomatic-crisis-its-own-making?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2137092/china-headed-diplomatic-crisis-its-own-making?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Apr 2018 13:02:07 +0000 Yan Qijiao sits contentedly with her eyes closed, head tilted towards the sky, on a wooden bench along Xian’s ancient city wall in China’s northwest.  It is not often that she can come outdoors to enjoy the warm spring sun, light blue skies and snatches of fresh air here in the capital of Shaanxi province.  It’s a lightly polluted day in Xian, according to the official air quality index, and the skyline in the distance is a smoggy grey, but at least Yan isn’t confined to her bed, struggling to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2139060/why-spring-couldnt-come-soon-enough-city-frontline-chinas-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2139060/why-spring-couldnt-come-soon-enough-city-frontline-chinas-war?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Mar 2018 06:15:30 +0000 China named a new Communist Party secretary for the country’s central bank on Monday, creating a puzzling double-headed leadership structure. Veteran reformer Guo Shuqing, who was confirmed last week as the head of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, will take the bank’s party secretary role – a position that makes him the real boss in areas such as personnel appointments within the central bank, according to its website. The appointment of the 62-year-old is extraordinary... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2138979/so-whos-really-charge-chinas-central-bank-new-double-headed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2138979/so-whos-really-charge-chinas-central-bank-new-double-headed?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Mar 2018 13:00:30 +0000 Beijing has broken with tradition and named a low profile official to head up its finance ministry and manage an annual flow of about US$5 trillion worth of government funds. The appointment of 62-year-old Liu Kun as China’s new finance chief is surprising as he is the first person in decades to be given the position without being a member of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, although he is a member of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. In his first public speech on Sunday,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2138744/can-chinas-new-finance-chief-deliver-president-xi-jinpings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2138744/can-chinas-new-finance-chief-deliver-president-xi-jinpings?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Mar 2018 02:45:45 +0000 China recently revised its constitution, as it has done several times in the past, but the extent of the changes this time were greater than before, and the impact will be too. Legislators voted this month to include President Xi Jinping’s political doctrine, “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”, into the constitution, among other changes. In sum, the amendments leave the framework of the 1982 constitution intact, but they project a self-confidence that... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2138542/beyond-term-limits-chinas-new-constitution-written-nation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2138542/beyond-term-limits-chinas-new-constitution-written-nation?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Mar 2018 04:59:14 +0000 It’s been a momentous month in Chinese politics, but the move to abolish the presidential term limit has overshadowed all else. It took just two weeks – from the time it was announced to the near unanimous endorsement by the legislature – to make the most drastic revision to the state constitution since it was introduced in 1982, a change that sent shock waves through both Chinese society and the international community.   Now, the only clause that had prevented Xi Jinping from staying in power... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2138439/does-xi-jinping-really-want-be-chinese-president-life?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2138439/does-xi-jinping-really-want-be-chinese-president-life?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Mar 2018 10:00:30 +0000 The top domestic security commission of China’s Communist Party looks set to regain its prominence under Beijing’s latest restructuring plan for state and party agencies. The Central Politics and Law Commission was once an extremely powerful body, and until 2012 was run by then security tsar Zhou Yongkang. But after his retirement, and subsequent expulsion from the party and imprisonment on corruption charges, the organisation was downgraded. Now that is all set to change, as three coordination... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2138272/chinas-domestic-security-commission-gets-renewed-powers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2138272/chinas-domestic-security-commission-gets-renewed-powers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Mar 2018 00:03:18 +0000 Beijing on Wednesday unveiled a massive plan to further assert the Communist Party’s control over economic and foreign affairs, cultural policies, and the appointment and training of cadres. While the central government is restructured every five years after each term of cabinet, major overhauls of the party organs are rarely seen. The move was made public by state-run Xinhua a day after the largely ceremonial legislature concluded its annual meetings. It is part of a shake-up that will also see... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2138291/china-unveils-bold-overhaul-tighten-communist-party?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2138291/china-unveils-bold-overhaul-tighten-communist-party?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Mar 2018 15:30:27 +0000 A mainland official involved in the drafting of the recent historic amendments to China’s constitution has been appointed to lead the body that advises Beijing on Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law. In what is being seen as a move to highlight the importance of the national constitution for Hong Kong and Macau, bureaucrat Shen Chunyao was named on Wednesday by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) as head of both the Basic Law committees of the two cities, state... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2138288/hong-kongs-new-top-basic-law-official-bureaucrat-who-drafted?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2138288/hong-kongs-new-top-basic-law-official-bureaucrat-who-drafted?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Mar 2018 14:31:05 +0000 The controversial Chinese Communist Party department responsible for promoting its influence around the world will have its authority greatly strengthened, according to a document seen by the South China Morning Post.  The document was later published by the official Xinhua news agency on Wednesday afternoon. The United Front Work Department, which has fallen under the scrutiny of Western governments in recent months, will now oversee the country’s ethnic and religious issues as well as overseas... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2138196/its-mysterious-department-behind-chinas-growing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2138196/its-mysterious-department-behind-chinas-growing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Mar 2018 07:00:15 +0000 President Xi Jinping has vowed to crush any attempt to divide China, and tried to rally support for his Chinese dream using nationalism and references to the country’s cultural achievements – from ancient literature to architecture. Xi’s status as the country’s most powerful leader in decades has been cemented during the 16-day session of the National People’s Congress, and his closing address on Tuesday was his first since the constitution was changed to remove the limit on how long he can stay... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2138112/xi-jinping-tries-rally-support-chinese-dream?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2138112/xi-jinping-tries-rally-support-chinese-dream?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Mar 2018 15:00:45 +0000 China is merging its state television and radio networks into one mega broadcaster in an overhaul designed to tighten the Communist Party’s grip on public opinion and burnish the country’s global image. China Central Television (CCTV), China National Radio (CNR) and China Radio International (CRI) will be consolidated into a new broadcaster called Voice of China – a nod to federally funded Voice of America in the United States and Germany’s Deutsche Welle. A department head at one of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2138103/beijing-plans-merge-state-media-outlets-it-tightens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2138103/beijing-plans-merge-state-media-outlets-it-tightens?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Mar 2018 12:59:10 +0000 China said it will continue to “resolutely” tackle financial irregularities, after several officials and tycoons were punished last year in a crackdown on market manipulators and fraud. “Some unlawful and [risky] conduct has been making waves in China’s financial sector,” Premier Li Keqiang said at a press briefing wrapping up the National People’s Congress on Tuesday. China’s regulators had been working “decisively” to prevent financial risk from spreading, Li said, and had “lanced the boil” of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2138101/china-will-push-ahead-resolutely-financial-sector-fight-says-li?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2138101/china-will-push-ahead-resolutely-financial-sector-fight-says-li?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Mar 2018 12:53:19 +0000 Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday vowed there would be no mandatory technology transfers in China’s manufacturing sector, in the latest bid to reassure the country’s frustrated trading partners. Foreign companies have complained for years about forced technology transfers in exchange for market access in China, including having to reveal their most sophisticated or key technology to Chinese partners in joint ventures. They say forced technology transfers are rife in the car, semiconductor and new... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2138087/china-vows-end-forced-tech-transfers-manufacturing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2138087/china-vows-end-forced-tech-transfers-manufacturing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Mar 2018 12:34:05 +0000 China’s leaders delivered veiled jabs at US President Donald Trump at the close of the country’s biggest political event of the year, as trade tensions between the two nations continue to simmer. Without naming the United States, Chinese President Xi Jinping hit out at those who perceived China’s rise as a threat, as the curtain fell on the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress, the country’s legislature, in Beijing. “Our development poses no threat to other countries,” he said in a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2138091/china-no-threat-other-nations-president-xi-jinping-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2138091/china-no-threat-other-nations-president-xi-jinping-says?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Mar 2018 11:45:30 +0000 Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday rejected suggestions that China was leveraging its economic strength to gain political influence on the world stage. In answer to a question posed at a press conference at the end of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, Li said that such an interpretation would be a “misreading or misunderstanding”, and that China was on the path of “peaceful development”. The United States, Germany, India and Australia have all raised concerns about China’s growing... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2138085/chinese-premier-li-keqiang-rejects-claims-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2138085/chinese-premier-li-keqiang-rejects-claims-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Mar 2018 11:16:13 +0000 China’s President Xi Jinping addressed the National People’s Congress on Tuesday as it ended its annual session in Beijing. The meetings have seen Xi cement his grip on power, with a limit on presidential terms in office scrapped and major changes made among the government’s top leadership. Here are the key points Xi made during his remarks at the Great Hall of the People: 1. Taiwan Xi warned that forces leaning towards independence in Taiwan or “any efforts to divide the nation would be... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137981/six-key-points-xi-jinpings-speech-wrapping-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137981/six-key-points-xi-jinpings-speech-wrapping-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Mar 2018 04:45:15 +0000 Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has finished his press conference to mark the end of the National People’s Congress.  This year’s congress  resulted in many significant changes, including the constitutional revision to remove presidential term limits, a sweeping plan to restructure the State Council and the appointment of many new figures to top government posts.  Here are the key takeaways from the two-hour event. China-US relations Li called on the United States not to act “emotionally” when asked... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137907/live-premier-li-keqiang-addresses-media-close-landmark?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137907/live-premier-li-keqiang-addresses-media-close-landmark?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Mar 2018 02:30:15 +0000 President Xi Jinping spoke at the closing of China’s National People’s Congress today. This year’s NPC carried special meaning for Xi. His status as the most powerful Chinese leader in decades was cemented over the course of the 16-day event.  The constitution was changed to remove presidential term limits – allowing him to stay on as head of state for as long as he sees fit. The political theories that bear his name were also enshrined in the constitution, giving him the same political status... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137914/xi-jinpings-speech-wrap-chinas-two-sessions-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137914/xi-jinpings-speech-wrap-chinas-two-sessions-after?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Mar 2018 01:15:00 +0000 Once considered a possible future president, Hu Chunhua was on Monday installed as one of China’s four vice-premiers on the penultimate day of the National People’s Congress in Beijing. His appointment, along with those of fellow deputies Sun Chunlan, Liu He and Han Zheng, and five State Councillors, was confirmed as President Xi Jinping put pen to paper in front of almost 3,000 lawmakers at the Great Hall of the People. The former Communist Party chief of Guangdong province – China’s richest –... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137925/man-once-most-likely-replace-chinese-president-xi?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137925/man-once-most-likely-replace-chinese-president-xi?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Mar 2018 14:58:32 +0000 As the biggest event on China’s political calendar comes to a close, several key questions remain unanswered, including who will oversee Hong Kong in the coming term. This year’s session of the National People’s Congress ends on Tuesday after two weeks of meetings in Beijing that have seen the passage of historic constitutional amendments to end presidential term limits and the fortification of the Communist Party in governance. There have also been the unveiling of a new political line-up and a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137926/who-will-be-beijings-point-man-hong-kong-one-big?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137926/who-will-be-beijings-point-man-hong-kong-one-big?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Mar 2018 14:27:30 +0000 China has unveiled most of the main players charged with handling the vexed Sino-US ties, with the elevation of Foreign Minister Wang Yi to state councillor at the national legislature’s annual meeting in Beijing on Monday. Wang’s rise to state councillor – a position not previously held by a serving foreign minister – is among a number of moves expected to raise the profile of diplomats in the nation’s decision-making structure as North Korea, Taiwan and the South China Sea – and the US – loom... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2137922/meet-team-china-expects-unknot-ties-united-states?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2137922/meet-team-china-expects-unknot-ties-united-states?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Mar 2018 13:30:30 +0000 Harvard-educated economist Liu He is set to play a pivotal role in the management of China’s US$12 trillion economy – alongside newly appointed central bank governor Yi Gang – after being named on Monday as one the country’s four vice-premiers. While the division of duties among the four deputies to Premier Li Keqiang has yet to be announced, 66-year-old Liu is the hot favourite to lead on economic and financial affairs, which would include the handling of trade issues with the United... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2137913/vice-premier-liu-he-set-lead-chinas-new-economic-team-government?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2137913/vice-premier-liu-he-set-lead-chinas-new-economic-team-government?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Mar 2018 12:45:00 +0000 When an “authoritative person” declared on the front page of Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily in May 2016 that the days of high-speed growth were over in China, few doubted the message came right from the top. President Xi Jinping’s right-hand man, Liu He, 66, then the director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, was widely believed to be the source of the stinging rebuke to then vice-premier Zhang Gaoli’s high-profile claims that 2016 had got... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2137860/liu-he-chinas-new-one-man-debt-bomb-disposal-unit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2137860/liu-he-chinas-new-one-man-debt-bomb-disposal-unit?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Mar 2018 08:34:08 +0000 Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of China’s central bank for more than 15 years, has officially retired from his office, ending an extraordinary long central banking career in which he became known as “China’s Alan Greenspan”. Zhou, 70, has been credited for freeing up interest rates at home and earning the yuan a nominal reserve currency status abroad. But he has also been criticised for allowing the Chinese government’s massive stimulus to create a mountain of debt and for letting financial risks... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2137846/chinas-alan-greenspan-steps-down-central-bank-chief-after-more-15?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2137846/chinas-alan-greenspan-steps-down-central-bank-chief-after-more-15?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Mar 2018 06:45:29 +0000 From fighting poverty to cutting corporate taxes, some of China’s most prominent businessmen brought their best ideas to one of the nation’s most important political gatherings. The annual meetings of China’s legislature and political advisory body provided executives from companies including Tencent Holdings and automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group with a platform to lobby for policies and show their support of government initiatives. Here’s where corporate leaders stand on the top issues... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2137832/cdrs-xiongan-here-are-hot-topics-chinas-business-titans-nations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2137832/cdrs-xiongan-here-are-hot-topics-chinas-business-titans-nations?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Mar 2018 06:08:55 +0000 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has been promoted to a state councillor, a move elevating his status in the nation’s decision-making structure. Wang will keep his foreign minister title in a list of government appointments endorsed by the National People’s Congress on Monday morning. The move comes as China shakes up its foreign affairs structure in an effort to raise the country’s profile on the world stage. Xi shakes up Chinese government to cut bureaucracy, end turf wars The existing foreign... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2137769/china-promotes-foreign-minister-wang-yi-state?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2137769/china-promotes-foreign-minister-wang-yi-state?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Mar 2018 02:12:01 +0000 Despite rumours that some serious heavyweights were in the running for the top job at the People’s Bank of China – including newly elected Vice-Premier Liu He – with the benefit of hindsight, the appointment of Yi Gang was never really in doubt. Not only had he served a 10-year apprenticeship as deputy governor under Zhou Xiaochuan – whose retirement after 15 years was confirmed on Monday – but he had also spent a decade studying and working in financial fields overseas. As Beijing seeks to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2137763/china-appoints-yi-gang-central-bank-governor-liu-he-vice-premier?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2137763/china-appoints-yi-gang-central-bank-governor-liu-he-vice-premier?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Mar 2018 01:15:00 +0000 Most of the time China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress, goes along with the Communist Party and endorses its major decisions with an overwhelming majority. But there are times when the 2,000 or so lawmakers are more willing to exercise their preferences. A case in point is deciding who gets to sit on the NPC’s 159-member Standing Committee, which meets in between the full legislature’s annual sessions. On Sunday, one group of the 170 candidates in the running for the seats were... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137742/when-chinas-top-lawmakers-dont-go-communist-partys?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137742/when-chinas-top-lawmakers-dont-go-communist-partys?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Mar 2018 23:01:10 +0000 When an unassuming man was lost looking for his bus among the fleets parked near Tiananmen Square in October last year, few would have guessed that he was one of the Communist Party’s most powerful graft-busters. Yang Xiaodu, a deputy director of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, was second only to Zhao Leji, then the newly elected head of the CCDI. As he looked for his ride back to his hotel during the Communist Party’s national congress, the few journalists who did recognise... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137740/low-profile-cadre-who-rocketed-ranks-take-helm-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137740/low-profile-cadre-who-rocketed-ranks-take-helm-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Mar 2018 14:31:15 +0000 The Communist Party’s second-ranking graft-buster was appointed head of the country’s new sweeping anti-corruption body on Sunday – a surprise move that effectively asserts the party’s ultimate authority above the powerful state agency. Yang Xiaodu, a deputy chief of the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, was elected director of the National Supervisory Commission in a largely ceremonial vote by the party-controlled legislature. The controversial new body will extend the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137735/yang-xiaodu-surprise-choice-head-chinas-new-powerful?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137735/yang-xiaodu-surprise-choice-head-chinas-new-powerful?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Mar 2018 12:31:55 +0000 China on Sunday showed its commitment to stamping out corruption in the military with the appointment of a senior anti-graft official to the highest ranks of its governing body. General Zhang Shengmin was officially endorsed by the National People’s Congress as one of the four regular members of the Central Military Commission, who will serve under its chairman Xi Jinping and his two vice-chairmen. While Zhang was already head of the defence organisation’s discipline inspection commission, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2137732/china-confirms-anti-graft-officials-position-militarys?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2137732/china-confirms-anti-graft-officials-position-militarys?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Mar 2018 11:43:24 +0000 Chinese Premier Li Keqiang began a second five-year term on Sunday after President Xi Jinping’s nomination for him to remain in office was endorsed by the National People’s Congress. Li, 62, received 2,964 votes in favour and just two against. Xi on Saturday received unanimous support to remain as president, while just one delegate voted against Xi’s close ally, Wang Qishan, becoming vice-president. Meanwhile, on the military front, Xu Qiliang (four abstain) and Zhang Youxia (two votes against,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2137707/li-keqiang-endorsed-chinas-premier-while-military-commission?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2137707/li-keqiang-endorsed-chinas-premier-while-military-commission?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Mar 2018 07:30:37 +0000 A Communist Party deputy anti-corruption chief and President Xi Jinping’s trusted aide has been appointed head of China’s controversial new super anti-graft agency. Yang Xiaodu’s nomination as chief of the new National Supervisory Commission, which was endorsed by the National People’s Congress on Sunday, has surprised some political observers.  The super commission merges the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and several other government anti-graft departments. It... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137685/xi-aide-likely-head-chinas-anti-corruption-super-agency?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137685/xi-aide-likely-head-chinas-anti-corruption-super-agency?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Mar 2018 02:45:30 +0000 China is looking to set tougher goals in a new three-year “green” plan to improve air quality and tighten regulations, minister of environmental protection Li Ganjie said on Saturday. The ministry said the country had exceeded its target set in an air pollution action plan in 2013. Last year, average concentrations of PM 10, a fine particle that is harmful to health, were down by 22 per cent – compared to the target of 10 per cent – in more than 330 cities from 2013. In Beijing, the average... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137666/china-has-new-three-year-plan-clean-environment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137666/china-has-new-three-year-plan-clean-environment?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Mar 2018 23:02:07 +0000 Xi Jinping started his second term as China’s president on Saturday with a show of unchallenged authority, receiving full support from the legislature while his trusted ally was brought back to political centre stage. With no other candidate in the running, the unanimous vote by the largely ceremonial National People’s Congress was more of a political statement – proclaiming unequivocal loyalty and deference to the country’s most powerful leader in decades. In another confirmation of Xi’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137669/xi-jinpings-second-term-begins-show-unequivocal-loyalty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137669/xi-jinpings-second-term-begins-show-unequivocal-loyalty?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Mar 2018 14:51:48 +0000 Strongman politics is back. And for anyone who thought otherwise, a quick peruse of this weekend’s headlines should help set them straight. On Saturday in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping received a thunderous ovation at the Great Hall of the People as he was sworn in for a second term, just minutes after receiving a unanimous mandate to do so and less than a week after lawmakers voted to revise the constitution and remove the two-term limit. On Sunday in Moscow, Vladimir Putin will seek to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2137644/chinas-xi-jinping-and-russias-vladimir-putin-are-putting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2137644/chinas-xi-jinping-and-russias-vladimir-putin-are-putting?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Mar 2018 13:00:45 +0000 Beijing’s downtown area saw its first snow of the winter on Saturday morning, after a 145-day dry spell in the capital. For one government minister it was an auspicious sign as it coincided with lawmakers unanimously voting in favour of Xi Jinping’s second term as president. But much like proceedings in the legislature, the snow was carefully choreographed – weather officials said they had intervened to help ease the drought.  President Xi Jinping is China’s first leader to swear an oath to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2137663/beijing-wakes-light-dusting-snow-weather-bureau-steps?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2137663/beijing-wakes-light-dusting-snow-weather-bureau-steps?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Mar 2018 12:53:19 +0000 Xi Jinping on Saturday became the first Chinese state leader to take a constitutional oath, as the country’s president and head of its military.  The ceremony was held in the Great Hall of the People, where three guards of honour goose-stepped towards the podium, as a copy of the constitution was placed before Xi.  After the national anthem was played, Xi was invited to take the oath both as China’s president and chairman of the Central Military Commission.  Next up to swear their allegiance... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137598/president-xi-jinping-chinas-first-leader-swear-oath?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137598/president-xi-jinping-chinas-first-leader-swear-oath?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Mar 2018 11:06:58 +0000 China’s legislature formally endorsed Xi Jinping’s second five-year presidential term on Saturday, and voted in Wang Qishan as the country’s new vice-president. It followed the National People’s Congress a week ago approving a change to the constitution to remove term limits on both the presidency and vice-presidency. The political comeback of Wang – who stepped down from the ruling Communist Party’s top echelon and his position as head of its graft watchdog in October – confirmed a South China... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137615/wang-qishan-chinas-new-vice-president-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137615/wang-qishan-chinas-new-vice-president-after?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Mar 2018 02:45:30 +0000 Chinese researchers are bracing for what will be the biggest change to how they are funded by the government in more than three decades. “There’s fear everywhere,” Yang Jinbo, a professor with the physics department at Peking University, said on Tuesday after the announcement. As he spoke, his phone buzzed constantly with a stream of new messages on WeChat, mostly from other researchers concerned about what the move would mean for them. Hours earlier, a sweeping plan to shake up the central... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2137495/fear-everywhere-chinas-scientists-braced-ministry-takes-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2137495/fear-everywhere-chinas-scientists-braced-ministry-takes-over?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Mar 2018 15:02:47 +0000 China is ramping up its ideological campaign with a national conference to show how “Xi Jinping Thought”, the president’s political theory, has influenced university students. The conference is part of a series of measures – including boosting teacher numbers, changing the curriculum and opening research centres – designed to instil in China’s next generation the ideology of the ruling Communist Party. “Improving the quality of ideological and political education will remain a tough war in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137588/china-plans-student-conference-show-influence-xi?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137588/china-plans-student-conference-show-influence-xi?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Mar 2018 14:11:25 +0000 China will upgrade its management of strategic reserves such as food and energy, the latest step in efforts to boost national security beyond military weapons and training. A new State Grain Reserves Administration will be set up under the nation’s top economic planner as part of a government restructuring plan that is expected to be approved by the National People’s Congress on Saturday. Xi shakes up Chinese government to cut bureaucracy, end turf wars The agency will be responsible for... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137573/china-tries-improve-running-strategic-food-and-energy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137573/china-tries-improve-running-strategic-food-and-energy?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Mar 2018 12:27:54 +0000 This was the biggest social media story in China this week. The epic eye-roll that set the internet ablaze. To pay tribute to this story, the Inkstone team is holding an eye-rolling competition. That’s a lot of shade. https://www.scmp.com/politics/inkstone-eye-roll-contest-who-does-it-best/article/2137542?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/inkstone-eye-roll-contest-who-does-it-best/article/2137542?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Mar 2018 09:46:30 +0000 When China unveils the line-up of its top state leadership on Saturday, one man will probably receive more attention than President Xi Jinping – his trusted ally Wang Qishan. With Xi’s status a certainty, all eyes will be on whether Wang, who retired from the Communist Party’s top echelon in October, will become the vice-president as expected. If that happens, it will mark a formal return of the 69-year-old to the centre stage of Chinese politics. He will become Xi’s wingman and transform a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137398/will-wang-qishans-new-job-become-problem-communist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137398/will-wang-qishans-new-job-become-problem-communist?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Mar 2018 01:30:45 +0000 Hundreds of internet users have signed a petition calling on the White House to investigate a US-based broadcaster and its ties to the Chinese Communist Party after a Chinese journalist’s eye-roll set off a storm online. The petitioners want the investigation to determine whether Los Angeles-based American Multimedia Television USA (AMTV) is linked to the publicity apparatus of the Chinese government.  “Based on the Foreign Agents Registration Act, we ask to investigate its fund sources and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2137428/petition-campaign-sparked-chinese-reporters-dramatic-eye-roll?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2137428/petition-campaign-sparked-chinese-reporters-dramatic-eye-roll?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Mar 2018 23:15:00 +0000 Foreign diplomats and businesspeople expect China’s former anti-graft tsar to play a key role in de-escalating trade tensions with the United States, and that he could also get global relations higher up the nation’s policymaking agenda. Containing tensions with Washington and other economic trouble spots are expected to be the top priorities for Wang Qishan – known for his “firefighting” skills and ability to handle the tough tasks – when he takes charge of diplomatic issues as China’s new... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137384/can-chinas-firefighter-wang-qishan-break-deadlock-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137384/can-chinas-firefighter-wang-qishan-break-deadlock-us?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Mar 2018 13:00:00 +0000 Beijing is mapping out specific tactics to lure Taiwan into its orbit and possibly pave the way for forcible seizure of the self-ruled island, although there is no timetable for such a drastic move, according to a senior mainland Taiwan affairs adviser. Li Yihu, dean of Peking University’s Taiwan Studies Institute, said Beijing was reinforcing its “carrot and stick” approach to dealing with Taiwan’s independence forces after passing historic constitutional amendments on Sunday to remove... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137259/beijing-planning-take-taiwan-back-force?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2137259/beijing-planning-take-taiwan-back-force?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Mar 2018 04:30:45 +0000 When I covered the “two sessions” – the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – for the first time as a local television journalist nearly 10 years ago, I didn’t realise how much media freedom, by Chinese standards, reporters enjoyed at the time. I was called on several times to ask high-ranking central government officials questions. When I raised a tough question about Pearl River pollution to the environmental protection... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2137170/chinese-social-media-storm-over-reporters-eye-roll?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2137170/chinese-social-media-storm-over-reporters-eye-roll?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Mar 2018 04:10:13 +0000 China’s inaugural global imports fair in November is the perfect platform to try out new trade policies, as Beijing looks to make domestic consumption the mainstay of its economy, an expo veteran and lawmaker said. From lower import taxes to smoother customs clearance measures, businesses are pinning hopes that Beijing will use the China International Import Expo, scheduled from November 5 to 10 in Shanghai, to test new polices on trade and cross-border e-commerce. Zhang Weimin, assistant to the... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2137227/shanghai-expo-fair-ground-test-policies-spur-domestic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2137227/shanghai-expo-fair-ground-test-policies-spur-domestic?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Mar 2018 04:00:00 +0000