CSG news update -- 2007-12-03

From China Study Group <chinastudygroup@gmail.com>
Date Mon, 3 Dec 2007 02:00:35 -0800



China Study Group news update

China's show of strength ups military ante
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/IL01Ad02.html
Asia TImes Online | 2007-12-02
Willy Lam 
Large-scale air and naval maneuvers off China's southeast coast last week demonstrated the post-17th Party Congress leadership's determination to project hard power in view of tension in the Taiwan Strait. The week-long war games, which coincided with Beijing's sudden cancellation of the...

Book Beat: What's China Reading?
http://www.hemispheresmagazine.com/2007_12/bookbeat.php
United Hemispheres | 2007-12-02
Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom 
Chinese bookstores are stacked with signs of change, suggesting a readership often on the same page as Westerners, yet also reflecting a distinct and evolving national character.  It's fascinating to imagine what Mao Zedong (1893–1976) might make of 21st-century Nanjing, with its modernistic...

China's grain production expecting to top 500 mln tons in 2007
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/6313248.html
Xinhua | 2007-12-02
China is expected to produce a record high of more than 500 million tons of grain this year, according to a senior agricultural official.  However, the country has to maintain an annual output of 500 million tons up to 2010 if it wants to ensure an adequate food supply, said Wei Chao'an, vice ...

China 2007 GDP growth seen at 11.4 pct; CPI at 4.7 pct - state think-tank
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2007/12/02/afx4395256.html
Forbes | 2007-12-02
AFX News Limited
 BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China's gross domestic product is expected to rise by 11.4 pct in 2007 and 10.8 pct in 2008, while the consumer price index growth is projected at about 4.7 pct in 2007 and 4.5 in 2008, the State Information Center said.  In a research report published in the official Chi...

 China shuffles leaders of booming provinces: state media
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071202/wl_asia_afp/chinapoliticseconomy_071202051158
AFP | 2007-12-02
 BEIJING (AFP) - China has named new bosses of the booming regions of Guangdong and Chongqing, state media reported, as political reshuffling continues following a key Communist Party congress in October.   Wang Yang was named party secretary of southern Guangdong province, the economic powerhous...

Shanghai Tycoon Falls From Grace
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/01/world/asia/01china.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin
New York Times | 2007-12-01
JIM YARDLEY
BEIJING, Nov. 30 — He once was one of China's richest and most politically connected businessmen, a real estate tycoon who had started out selling noodles. But on Friday, Zhou Zhengyi was sentenced to 16 years in prison, the latest powerful Shanghai figure to fall from grace. Skip to next...

 New measures to ensure affordable housing
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-12/01/content_6292072.htm
China Daily | 2007-12-01
Hu Yinan
National guidelines on economically affordable housing were released on Friday night along with new State measures on housing for low-income families, which come into effect on Saturday.  Economically affordable houses ought to be around 60 sq m per unit, said the guidelines jointly released by th...

China-Japan high-level economic dialogue kicks off
http://www.china.org.cn/english/international/234060.htm
Xinhua | 2007-12-01
China and Japan held their first high-level economic dialogue in Beijing on Saturday.     The meeting, co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan and Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, will touch upon issues concerning macro-economic policies, energy-saving and environmental protecti...

Spotlight on China and India as delegates gather for U.N. global warming summit in Bali
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/02/asia/AS-GEN-Bali-India-and-China.php
International Herald Tribune | 2007-12-01
BALI, Indonesia: Coal-burning power plants belch pollutants into the air in China, contributing to global warming that experts say has destroyed billions of dollars in crops. In India, melting Himalayan glaciers cause floods, while raising a more daunting long-term prospect: the drying up of life-su...

Angry Students Riot in China
http://chronicle.com/news/article/3527/angry-students-riot-in-china
The Chronical of Higher Education | 2007-11-30
Paul Mooney
Beijing — Thousands of students at a Chinese military academy rioted this week after learning that the government would not recognize their diplomas, Radio Free Asia reported on Thursday.  The students were all enrolled at the Hefei People's Liberation Army Artillery Academy, in China&#3...

Lake shrinks, desert expands
http://www.china.org.cn/english/environment/233972.htm
China.org.cn | 2007-11-30
Zhang Ming'ai
Due to shrinking surface area, Xinjiang's largest salt lake, Aibi Lake, has increased the desertification of the area and subsequently transformed into one of China's major sandstorm sources.  Down to just 500 square kilometers from its original 1,200, Aibi Lake has become a direct threat ...

China to Let Market Forces Weigh on Value of Yuan
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/business/worldbusiness/29trade.html?adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1196642296-SU4c4nxEUp0XphA2K/Ma0A
New York Times | 2007-11-29
DAVID LAGUE
BEIJING, Nov. 28 — China will allow market forces to exert more influence over the value of the yuan as the country moves toward a fully convertible currency, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said on Wednesday.  His remarks came after European financial leaders visiting Beijing stepped up demands f...

Crawling Towards the Crash
http://www.eeo.com.cn/ens//Observer/2007/11/23/88141.html
The Economic Observer | 2007-11-23
Chen Zhiwu
From Observer, page 41, issue no. 342, November 19th, 2007 Translated by Zuo Maohong Original article: [Chinese]  Bubbles, surplus, loss of control, imbalance… these all have been popular keywords used to describe China's economy over the past several years. And in observing China's tr...