01/12/2010 Source: People’s Daily

China’s passenger vehicle market ended last year with a 59 percent year-on-year sales increase to surpass the United States as the world’s largest auto market for the first year, thanks to the central government’s stimulus package.

The domestic sales of cars, sports-utility vehicles (SUV), minivans and multi-purpose vehicles (MPV) hit 10.26 million units last year, surging from 6.4 million units in 2008, said Rao Da, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association on Friday.

The growth is also the highest in the country’s auto history, with total automobile sales expected to surge 44 percent year-on-year to 13.5 million units in 2009.

Statistics from the US consulting institution Center for Automotive Research showed that new car sales in the US last year plunged 21 percent year-on-year to a 27-year low of 10.43 million units, more than 3 million behind China.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) is expected to release detailed market figures of the country’s automobile industry on Monday.

The spike in vehicle sales was largely boosted by the government’s stimulus policies for lifting market demand, which included tax cuts on small-displacement automobiles, subsidies for trade-ins and subsidies for farmers to buy vehicles.

A low comparative base in 2008, when car sales growth slowed to 6.7 percent with 9.38 million vehicles sold, also helped boost 2009 figures.

To further support the world’s fastest growing auto market, the Chinese government said last month it will extend stimulus measures in the automobile industry for one more year.

The purchase tax for smaller cars will be lifted from the current 5 percent to 7.5 percent of the total vehicle price. The government also decided to raise the subsidy for trade-in cars from between 3,000 and 6,000 yuan ($440 to $880) to between 5,000 yuan and 18,000 yuan per vehicle.

The government’s continued support for the industry promises to fuel its rise for the coming years.

Automobile industry consulting firm Sinotrust predicted that vehicle sales will reach 15.13 million units this year, with a year-on-year growth rate of 15.2 percent.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, until the end of last year, almost 200 million Chinese people are able to drive a vehicle, making up about 15 percent of the country’s 1.3 billion population.

“Natural demand will continue to expand in the next few years,” said Lang Xuehong, chief auto industry analyst at Sinotrust.

Chinese automakers launched a record 221 new passenger vehicle models last year, with a majority of them upgraded models and less than half being new ones, according to the latest statistics from the CAAM.

Chinese automakers are expected to launch about 100 new models this year.

The brisk sales have also brought challenges to China’s appeal for a green society.

However, a number of analysts said the sales may also speed up automakers’ efforts to develop next-generation energy-efficient and emission-free vehicles.

Moreover, “the revised policy for this year, with tripled subsidies to encourage the replacement of outdated vehicles with high emissions and unstable driving performance, will contribute to an environmentally friendly society in which the automobile industry has a heavy responsibility,” said Yale Zhang, director of the Greater China Vehicle Forecasts for US auto industry consultancy CSM Worldwide.

Still, Chinese cities may face worsening traffic as the car boom puts an increasing number of people behind the wheel, with a number of local governments already expressing concern about the rising number of cars.

Zhang Gong, director of Beijing’s municipal commission of development, said the capital will enter the “automobile age” when every 100 families own 66.1 cars.

The capital is rated in a Sohu.com survey of more than 5,000 Web users as the most crowded Chinese city in November.

01/12/2010 Source: Xinhua

Chinese President Hu Jintao vowed Tuesday that no corrupt official would be above the law and Communist Party of China (CPC) discipline.

Addressing a plenary session of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the Party’s anti-graft body, Hu said efforts should be made to investigate cases of power abuse, corruption and embezzlement as well as dereliction of duty.
He pledged to push forward the construction of anti-corruption procedures, with confidence, determination, forceful measures and a solid working style.

Hu, also General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said efforts were needed to strengthen ties between the Party and the people and to address people’s complaints.

He called for enhanced supervision and monitoring on the implementation of major central policies and measures and urged the promotion of a corruption-free working style among Party leaders.

Problems that seriously violated the public interests and public complaints should be addressed to promote social harmony, he said.

The construction of the anti-corruption mechanism was a “pressing task” and important part of the country’s fight against corruption.

He called for intensified and improved publicity on anti-corruption measures, reform and improvement of intra-Party supervision, expanded supervision channels, and the establishment of an anti-corruption information database and network.

He said efforts should be made to better execute anti-graft regulations and promote awareness, especially among middle and high-level officials, that “all people are equal before the law, and no privilege is allowed.”

Leaders and officials should play a leading role in studying anti-graft regulations, strictly abiding by and safeguarding those regulations, he said.

Senior CPC leaders, including Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang and Zhou Yongkang, attended the meeting, which was presided over by He Guoqiang, head of the anti-graft commission.

01/08/2010 Source: www.guardian.co.uk

A Chinese court has jailed a lawyer for two and a half years over his defence of an alleged mafia boss, to the concern of others in the legal profession.

Li Zhuang was convicted of falsifying evidence and jeopardising testimony after a suspected gang leader, caught in a massive crackdown in Chongqing, said the lawyer told him to lie that he was tortured by police. Li denied the charges.

Lawyers have complained that they are coming under increasing pressure because of the eagerness of authorities to win convictions. Several signed a letter after Li’s arrest complaining that Chongqing authorities had violated his rights.

The controversy over what has been dubbed “lawyer fake-gate” is the latest twist in the south-western city’s high-profile campaign against gangs, which has gripped media across the country. Lurid accounts of the murders, kidnappings and beatings perpetrated by “black societies”, and details of the extravagant lifestyles of their leaders, have filled the airwaves and pages of newspapers.

Police say they have broken up dozens of gangs and detained more than 1,500 suspects, including their own colleagues. The city’s former deputy police chief Wen Qiang is due to stand trial shortly, accused of sheltering criminals. Many of the high-profile cases have already resulted in lengthy prison sentences or the death penalty for defendants.

The campaign has been welcomed by Chongqing residents, angered by the reign of the gangs, and has raised the profile of its ambitious Communist party boss, Bo Xilai.

But lawyers are concerned that their job of defending the accused has been confused with support for crime.
Zhang Kai, a Beijing lawyer who has been campaigning for Li, said the sentencing set a bad example and could further hinder access to defence lawyers for people charged with serious crimes.

“Some people have said Li Zhuang was helping criminal gangs. But all we are trying to do is help the development of a proper legal system,” he told Reuters.

Lawyers have complained that the law offers little protection to the accused and their representatives, and that a provision on evidence fabrication is vague and open to abuse – pointing out it is rarely used against prosecutors.

Police arrested Li late last year, claiming he had told the alleged mafia boss Gong Gangmo to lie in court by testifying that he was tortured in detention.

Gong told reporters that he turned in his “haughty” lawyer because he feared the tactics would backfire and hoped to gain credit by reporting him.

In an interview with a Chinese newspaper, Gong said he was a genuine supporter of the anti-crime campaign.
But Li’s lawyer, Chen Youxi, said in a statement posted on his website there was “no convincing evidence” against his client, who would appeal the “totally wrong” sentence.
In an interview before his trial, Li told China Youth Daily: “I raised both hands in support of the campaign against organised crime. But the fight against crime must not destroy procedural justice.”

According to the state newspaper China Daily, Li testified during his trial that Gong had shown him wrist wounds and told him that police had strung him up for eight days.

“I firmly believe Gong was tortured though I don’t exclude the possibility that he lied to me,” he said.

Chongqing’s legal authorities deny any wrongdoing and say Gong was not their only witness against Li.

01/08/2010 Source: Xinhua

China publicized draft regulations for government investment Thursday to solicit public opinions, a move expected to better regulate investment and improve investment efficiency.

To shun from extravagant government buildings or projects simply built to boost image, the draft stipulates the government should mainly use its funds on projects related to the nation’s security or those that can not pool resources efficiently only by exerting market forces, according to the State Council’s Legislative Affairs Office.

Authorities in charge of project examination and approval should “solicit public opinions sufficiently” when the project will either has great impact on economy, society or environment, or involves major public interests, the draft reads.

Projects of “special significance” should go through expert appraisals prior to its approval, it said.

“It will help the government to make decisions on investment more scientifically and democratically,” said an unnamed official of the Legislative Affairs Office Thursday.

“Government investment” here refers to activities of spending government capital in fixed assets in the People’s Republic of China.

Government workers, who use their power for personal gain or are negligent of duties, should be punished in accordance with administrative regulations or laws, and their illegal gains should be confiscated, the draft reads.

People responsible for project construction would be banned from being in charge of government-funded projects for three years and be punished in accordance with laws if they default the government of the funds, start construction without approval, change the original design, or embezzle funds, it stipulated.

Appraisal institutions that falsify or make inconsistent conclusions would face penalties ranging from a warning, rectification, demotion, or revocation of qualifications, it said.

The draft also allows the government to attract investment from private sources on projects by applying policies such as transfer of loan or fiscal interest discount.

The Chinese government launched an economic stimulus plan at the end of 2008 to combat global economic crisis, targeting to invest 4 trillion yuan (585.6 billion U.S. dollars) by 2010. The central government investment had accumulated to nearly 1 trillion yuan in 2009.

People can submit their suggestions on the draft by visiting chinalaw. gov.cn or sending E-mail to zftz@chinalaw.gov.cn before Jan. 30, the Legislative Affairs Office said in a notice.

01/07/2010 Source: Xinhua

China will encourage both FDI utilizing and domestic companies’ overseas investment, said Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice minister of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Zhang noted that the opening up of monopolized industries in the services sector will be accelerated, and both domestic and foreign enterprises will be treated equally. Meanwhile, domestic companies’ foreign investment in oil, natural gas and mineral resources will be encouraged.

On January 5, Zhang’s speech at a conference was published on the website of the NDRC. He pointed out that China should focus on both direct and indirect use of foreign investment, and guide the foreign investment to engage in the restructuring and transformation of domestic enterprises in various forms.

Zhang said that the government will continue to support qualified enterprises’ listing abroad. Foreign VC and PE investment in China is also encouraged.

Domestic companies should explore the deep processing of resource products on the basis of developing primary products. China’s outbound investment should follow a direction close to requirements of the upgrading of domestic industrial structure, said Zhang, adding that more funds should be put into overseas hi-tech industries and advanced manufacturing industry.

01/07/2009 Source: China’s Daily

China’s discipline and government watchdog Thursday pledged to tighten supervision on state-owned enterprises and fight corruption among their executives.

“We will push hard investigations into and punishment of corruption in the restructuring, merger, property transactions, capital operations and construction projects of state-owned enterprises,” said Vice Minister of Supervision Qu Wanxiang at a meeting in Beijing.

The watchdog would focus on cases involving executives and employees in senior positions, said Qu, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

Severe measures would be taken to curb commercial bribery and the illegal practice of setting up “small coffers,” referring to funds, securities and assets that should, but frequently are not, listed in account books in a bid to escape supervision.

The inspectors would also target malpractice that harmed common employees’ legal rights and interests in the restructuring of state-owned enterprises, Qu said.

Last year, China saw a string of serious corruption cases in state-owned enterprises.

According to a report Tuesday by Faren Magazine, affiliated to the Legal Daily and overseen by the Ministry of Justice, 35 senior executives of China’s large state-owned enterprises (SOE) faced corruption charges last year.

Among them was Kang Rixin, general manager of the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), who has been under investigation for alleged grave violations of discipline since August.

Another prominent case involved Chen Tonghai, former general manager of China Petrochemical Corporation, who was found to have taken almost 200 million yuan in bribes and given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve in July.

“Efforts should be made to incorporate corruption prevention in enterprise governance and risk control systems,” Qu said.

The government should further reform SOEs to help build sound corporate governance with proper decision-making, operations and supervision, he said.

Over the past three decades, China has been trying to introduce a modern corporate management in its state-owned enterprises, but faced problems with a lack of supervision and restricting the authority of managers.

01/04/2010 Source: Xinhua

Chinese companies is likely to raise more than 320 billion yuan (46.87 billion U.S. dollars) from initial public offerings this year on the domestic stock market, up from 185.6 billion yuan in 2009, Price waterwatch Coopers (PwC) said in a report released Monday.

China’s IPO market would see 145 new listings in 2010, with 15 listings in Shanghai and the rest on the Shenzhen bourse’s Small and Medium Enterprise board and ChiNext, the country’s Nasdaq-style board established in October, according to the report.

Whole year IPOs in 2009 reached 97, up 26 percent from that in 2008, as the securities regulator resumed IPOs after a nine-month ban in June.

China became the world’s second largest listing market in 2009,as a combined market value from both Shanghai and Shenzhen stood at 23.6 trillion yuan, said the report.

Financial service, infrastructures, industrial products, consumer goods and retail sectors will continue to be key driving forces to the country’s IPO market in 2010, Frank Y.C. Lyn, PwC’s China Markets Leader, was quoted in the report as saying.