Happy New Year Pandas!

As we all know, Chinese New Year, aka THE New Year is fast approaching, and pandas everywhere must be ready. CNY is a very important event to Chinese nationals worldwide, and involves much celebration. As an economist noted in this article, such a worldwide week-long party is bound to have interesting economic effects. Sean Lee predicts that this celebration will actually have a negligibly negative effect on foreign trade, but have a huge rally on China's domestic markets.

This is a unique reversal for the exporting giant China has become: many have worried about the domestic markets within China and whether or not they have suffered from China's outwardly focused economic stance. However, around this time every year, China proves to the world that its economic markets are strong both internally and externally. China is an economic superpower (no doubt thanks to the panda, somehow) and will continue to rise as a power as long as it has power on the FX markets. Lee predicts, however, that for this week, the giant panda that is China will take a break from, well, being a giant economic panda. It will instead, party, like this panda below.

City finds life tough without migrant workers

Click for link to article

Summary

The annual Spring Festival in China also marks the annual exodus of migrant workers back to their homes. With an increasing number of migrant workers each year, this causes increasing strain on urban residents during the festival. Many of the migrants are paid minimum wage and so they have no reason to work overtime. There are however some that get paid a little more and they choose to stay during the holiday. Because their jobs are not only undesirable but also low paid, the migrants continue to live a double life and this causes a false sense of urbanization. Since the workers can't enjoy normal family life in the big cities, they are forced to lead a split life. Sadly, it is only during this time that permanent city residents realize how much migrant workers contribute to society.

Significance:

Leave it to a festival to cause a multitude of problems. A big one among these being that coal for heating homes has largely become unavailable. In the United States the governemnt has stepped in before to prevent that so that no one group could put a stranglehold on the country and I'm curious to see if China will feel the same need. So far the companies that are still working have responded with drastically raising prices in order to make up for being undermanned. It is only during these times that full time residents realize how much these "menial" workers contribute to civil society. The optimist would look at people flocking to the cities as great for urbanization. The problem there being that that's simply not true. Because of low wages, these workers can't afford to bring their families to the city and so urban society is not truly growing. And in the pockets where it is growing, it's not urbanization that is spreading but poverty. After all, if a migrant can barely pay his own housing, how is he expected to pay for his whole family if they are to come to the city?

In short, people are not coming to the cities for city life, they are coming to the cities so their families can continue to farm.

China Steps Up Water Conservancy Efforts (Common Policy Issues)

Click here for link to web page.

Summary:

Chinese officials announced on January 25 that the government will begin to promote water conservancy, promote the sustainability of water, and reduce the average amount of water used annually on the national level. Floods, officials have pointed out, have recently shown the weaknesses of the water conservancy policies and related infrastructure in China. By 2020, new flood control and drought relief measures will be put in place to allow for better use of water. A strong drive to maintain amounts of water consumption and irrigation measures will be put in place, which should be advantageous for farmers and consumers alike. China proposes that it will double average annual spending on water conservancy over the next ten years, as spending in 2010 totaled around $15 billion. Following the typical Communistic theme, these new policies and "reforms" will be noted in the next Five Year Plan. Government loans will be issued for corporations interested in investing in the water sector.

Significance:

The notion that China, arguably the second most powerful nation in the world, does not have passable water conservancy or irrigation systems in place is quite interesting, if not odd. The idea of Communism manifests itself in this issue because there has been no reason for the government to intervene in this lack of water conservancy thus far. Without a strong private sector of the economy, there has been no need, driven by competition, for the government to implement any of these policies until the country was directly affected by environmental issues. Another idea that shows up in this article is infrastructure. It is apparent that China has not taken the opportunity or initiative to boost its infrastructure in this regard. There has been heavy government oversight in this entire project, which ties in with the ideas of Communism and unitary states.

Chinese Government struggles to eradicate dangerous growth drug from meat industry

Click here for article

Summary:

Clenbuterol, commonly used in the West as a performance enhancing drug, has been cropping in the Chinese meat supply and particularly in pork, the meat of choice for most Chinese. The drug burns fat and promotes muscle growth and in pork it makes the meat pinker, allowing it to look fresher longer. The drug can cause stomach pains, diarrhea, and dangerous heart palpations, which on rare occasions have led to death. Lean meat powder, as it is known in China, is illegal and the laws impose harsh penalties on those caught using it, but the huge numbers of small, unlicensed pig farms throughout the country, as well rampant bribery, has made enforcement difficult. Chinese officials are working to impose more stringent laws and step up enforcement and the drug has been eliminated from the major cities, like Beijing and Shanghai, it is still quite prolific in smaller cities and rural areas.

Significance:

Clenbuterol is commonly consider the biggest food health problem in nation that has been plagued by contaminated baby formula, milk laced with industrial chemicals, and cancer-causing eggs. The drugs wide distribution says alot about the changes going on in China. An increasily health conscience people are demanding leaner pork, which has led to clenbuterol's heavy usage. The drug also illustrates the ongoing the conflict between the rural farmers and the urban-based government. The US once dealt with its own food health problems in the early 20th century and we are now seeing the same thing in China over one hundred years later. It just goes to show the challenges posed by the modern economy, and in particular agribusiness, developing in China. The outcome of this ongoing issue will set a precedence as to how China handles all quality control issues in the future.

Strides Forward for Panda Diplomacy

More on Panda Diplomacy

Panda Diplomacy may sound silly, but we all are aware of its enormous effects on global politics. Panda Diplomacy is a well known Chinese government program involving the sending of Pandas as good-will gifts to other countries. At one point, world leaders might once have felt slighted if they returned from China without at least one panda. Nowadays, the US has two Panda Ambassadors of its own, and this week, President Obama has been informed that these Ambassadors may stay in the Smithsonian National Zoo for five more years. They have even recently offered Pandas to Taiwan: a gestures suggesting possible cooperation between the two.



Though one may see this as an international issue, Panda diplomacy has in fact been a force for change within China as well. It has provided diplomatic ties that have been used by Chinese merchants to have more established markets, essentially guaranteed markets, for Chinese goods. This has aided the expansion of already burgeoning Chinese Economy, indirectly leading to a further expansion of the new Chinese middle class. Additionally, Panda Diplomacy is part of China's current effort to "reimage" itself. As the world globalizes, the need to not be seen as "the bad guy" to the West has become paramount, and has led China to attempt to become (or at least appear) more westernized. In this way, Panda Diplomacy epitomizes China's goals both economically and diplomatically.

Beijing farmers to become shareholders of firms

Click here for article.
Summary:
There are currently 2.73 million rural residents in Beijing and they are all set to become shareholders of the city's rural collective farming enterprises by 2013. This is done in an effort to end confusion from villagers and to stop the corruption of village chiefs. Currently, 1.81 million residents have already recieved shares in Beijing, making up about 62% of the city's collective rural economy. This is stated as being worth $45.5 billion. This plan is meant to increase the average farmer's income by 8% in the next 5 years, marking the start of the 12th five year plan. The annual income almost doubled in the last five years so this goal is more than doable.

Significance:

Here we see an economic change that most Americans would regard as contrary to democracy because it's greaty reducing privatization. But the goal of such an edeavor is to make millions of people more wealthy and so far it's working. We've discussed how the exact same form of democracy can't exist everywhere and I think wealthier citizens will naturally start to demand more liberties as more money yields better living conditions. So although many would see this new course of action as a bane to democratization, we must remember that there are many ways to define a democracy. This may not lead to the democracy portion of a liberal democracy right away, but it will most likely lead to the stepping stone that is more liberties. When that happens, the people will gain more power in the government as a reflex.

Stabilizing Food Prices and the Housing Market in China

Click here for the article cited.

Summary:

In a time of economic advances and stimulants for the Chinese economy, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is stressing the necessity to stabilize food prices and the housing market in his native country. Wen met with his State Council and fellow Chinese politicians to discuss the possibility of helping farmers prepare for winter, spring ploughing, and aiding the farmers most affected by the long and harsh winter months. Wen also stressed the importance of maintaining a strong and balanced real estate sector of the economy. He urged authorities to "increase supply of residential buildings available at medium to low prices, curb property speculation, and enhance government supervision." Wen also focused on the need to balance out the supply and demand issues facing the transportation sector at present. Most of these changes are predicted to be implemented and placed in the next Five-Year plan.

Significance:

The Communistic style of government that we have continually mentioned in class plays a major role in the decisions that Premier Wen is making. With heavy governmental supervision over Chinese aspects of life such as agriculture, transportation, and the housing market, little competition can evolve in the private sectors. Also, this article displays the attributes of a unitary government. These governments are located centrally and hold power over all of the land, including separate provinces, states, and parishes. The government, in this case, even monitors and supervises when farmers begin to plough in each season. The article also mentions that the State Council will hear from several local representatives, but the ultimate decisions and policy changes will be made at the federal level.

Hu Jintao and Obama Sign New Set Cooperation Agreements

Click here for article

Summary

Yesterday, Hu Jintao and Obama signed a number of cooperation agreements, which included agreement to promote denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and attempt to maintain peace and stability between the respective parties. It also includes sections dealing new military cooperation to deal with terrorism, piracy, and regional hotspots. In addition, they agreed to increased exchange and cooperation in trade, the environment, and science and technology.

Significance

The meeting between the to leaders was an important step for China, a nation becoming in increasingly involved on the world stage. The meeting highlights the steps China is taking to bring itself, and its mighty economy, to the forefront of the worlds nations. The meeting also speaks of the mutual interest that both China and the United States have in the friction that has been occurring on the Korean Peninsula and it is not inconceiveble to imagine the two nations actively working in the same place that they warred over 60 years. All-in-all, the meeting illustrates the increasingly important role that the two nations have in each others economies, politics, and futures.

Greeting Comrades!

Welcome to the Panda Information Network, comrades. Congratulations on having the good sense to find a classy Chinese news website. Everyone knows that China is wholly based around we Pandas.