IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Target for GDP growth fixed at 6.5-7 percent

China aims to maintain an average annual GDP growth rate of 6.5 to 7 percent until 2020, without aggressive stimulus or blind expansion of investment, said Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli on Nov 1.

"If China can successfully achieve the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) targets, we will avoid the middle-income trap, which will be a miracle in the global development history," said Zhang in a speech at the opening of the Understanding China Conference in Beijing.

The conference was hosted by the government think tanks the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy, the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs and the 21st Century Council of the United States.

"We predicted that from 2011 to 2015 the average annual growth rate would achieve 7.8 percent," Zhang said.

Innovation was the key to driving development, and major problems should be solved as economic restructuring took place, he said.

Policy advisers see key role for currency

The renminbi should play a proper role in the world financial system in tandem with China's importance in driving global growth and international trade, senior policy advisers said on Nov 2.

Foreign politicians and economists backed the currency's inclusion in the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights basket at the Understanding China Conference in Beijing.

Their support preceded an IMF board meeting to discuss the issue.

In a speech to the conference, State Councilor Yang Jiechi voiced his appreciation for countries that have supported the renminbi's inclusion in the basket.

Call for youths to carry China-S Korea banner

Premier Li Keqiang encouraged youths in China and South Korea to carry on the traditional friendship between the two countries, and to be even more collaborative and innovative than their predecessors, as he ended a three-day visit to Seoul.

During the visit, the two countries agreed on a host of key issues, including building up synergies between their development strategies, working more closely in innovation and entrepreneurship, and exploring collaboration in production capacity in third-party markets.

Meeting Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Nov 2, Li said the two countries would both benefit by working together on innovation. This could be done by jointly establishing an innovation park in Chengdu, Sichuan province, and by promoting collaboration between large, small and medium-sized enterprises of the two countries.

Fund manager accused of insider trading

Xu Xiang, general manager of the private equities firm Zexi Investment in Shanghai, has been detained and is being investigated by police on suspicion of insider trading and market manipulation, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the Ministry of Public Security.

Xu, 37, become well known in the Chinese stock market after his firm managed to repeatedly outperform the market with investment returns exceeding 300 percent, even when the market suffered sharp declines.

His detention stirred the country's equities investment sector on Nov 2, underscoring the intensified government crackdown on illegal activities in the volatile Chinese stock market.

Market observers said the case could herald a fresh round of crackdowns on financial crimes.

Xi urges proper dispute resolution

President Xi Jinping has urged China and the United States to "have a correct understanding of each other's strategic intentions".

He also called for them to "handle disputes properly" amid tensions triggered after a US navy ship entered waters near Chinese islands in the South China Sea.

"The two countries should have a correct understanding of each other's strategic intentions and strengthen pragmatic cooperation at all levels to expand common interests by thinking in an innovative way," Xi said.

He made the comments when he met the former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger in Beijing.

Briefing Kissinger on the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), Xi said China will adopt innovation, coordination, green policies and an open and sharing approach to the plan, which will provide more opportunities for Sino-US cooperation.

SOE overhaulto speed up

The restructuring of unprofitable state-owned enterprises will be boosted to unleash their potential from the constraints of nonbusiness operations, such as schools and hospitals, to enhance industrial profits.

An executive meeting of the State Council presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Nov 4 decided to speed up the restructuring of "zombie enterprises" to encourage the market-oriented allocation of resources, a statement released after the meeting said.

The meeting pledged support for the SOEs to shake off their "historic burden", a term often used to describe the nonbusiness operations of SOEs, such as schools and hospitals - common establishments for super-powerful industrial giants born during the era of a planned economy.

Campaign targets prison bribery

Prosecutors have launched a campaign targeting convicts who are wealthy or influential to prevent them from illegally seeking commutation of sentences.

More than 88,800 criminals were released illegally on probation, served their sentences outside of prison or have had prison terms commuted illegally between 2010 and August this year, said a report submitted by the Supreme People's Procuratorate to the top legislature.

Those involved often use their connections and personal influence to bribe prison and justice officials to claim commutations and evade imprisonment, the report said.

Online shoppers find a lot to gripe about

Most complaints made by Chinese consumers last year were about online shopping, says a report by a law enforcement team that is part of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Chinese industrial and commercial authorities dealt with 78,000 complaints concerning online shopping, 356 percent more than the year before, the report said. Of the 20,135 cases taken on by consumer associations, 92.3 percent concerned online purchases, it said.

Pterosaur museum to show fossil-rich region

The country's first pterosaur museum will be established in Hami prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, to display the precious collection of fossils found there, the local government said on Nov 3.

Also on Nov 3, the prefecture government and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences opened a pterosaurs exhibition that will run for two to three months at the Hami Museum.

Some of the pterosaur fossils and eggs being exhibited were unearthed from a site 100 kilometers south of the prefecture, which, according to scientists, is the best site for pterosaur fossils in the world.

Xi starts visit to Vietnam, Singapore

President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, started a state visit to Vietnam from Nov 5 to 6.

After the Vietnam trip, Xi will visit Singapore from Nov 6 to 7 at the invitation of Singaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam.

Xi will also meet Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou on Nov 7 in Singapore, according to Zhang Zhijun, head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

The two leaders will exchange views on promoting the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, and they will also discuss deepening cross-Straits cooperation in various areas and improving people's welfare, Zhang said.

As it is the first such meeting since 1949, the momentous event will be the start of direct dialogue between top leaders on both sides, he said.

Mars probe model gives peek of future

A one-third size model of China's Mars probe has made its debut at the China International Industry Fair in Shanghai in a display of the country's latest technologies.

The gold-colored model of the planned smart probe has two main parts, a hexahedron for orbiting, and a cone-shaped portion for landing, illustrating how the probe will be able to perform all necessary functions and rove the planet autonomously.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the developer of the probe, said it is "still working on completing the real probe", and that the project is "going smoothly".

Chinese astronomers plan to launch the probe in 2020. It will take 10 months to get there.

Company support for bigger families

Some companies in China are preparing to introduce additional welfare measures for employees who give birth to a second child, following the central government's announcement of a policy revision universally allowing two children.

The benefits include flexible working hours, extra holidays, medical insurance for the two children and interest-free loans from the company to ease the economic burden on parents.

Troops on mission to remove mines

China has begun a mission in Yunnan province on the border with Vietnam to remove more than 470,000 mines before the end of 2017. It is aimed at ensuring residents' safety and opening up more border areas.

More than 400 soldiers from the Chengdu Military Area Command have begun a sweeping and clearance campaign in 95 minefields covering 52 square kilometers in the Wenshan Zhuang and Miao autonomous prefecture and Honghe Hani and Yi autonomous prefecture.

The mission follows large-scale mine clearances along the border from 1992 to 1994 and from 1997 to 1999.

UN official lauds childbirth policy

Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, said he hopes the universal two-child policy announced by China will lead to the fulfillment of what he calls a basic right for all individuals in China to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children.

He made the comments after the Communist Party of China Central Committee said on Oct 29 that the decades-old family planning policy would be changed to allow all couples to have two children. The aim is to balance population development and avoid a potential labor shortage in the future.

"We, at UNFPA, are committed to working with the government of China to advance and strengthen the sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights of all Chinese people, especially those of women and young people," he said.

Party stock trade ban explained

A ban on stock trading will not apply to all 88 million members of the Communist Party of China, an official with the Party's top discipline watchdog said on Nov 2. The CPC has listed illegal stock trading and other securities investments as violating Party rules in an effort to stop its members from engaging in corrupt practices. The restriction is not a complete ban for all officials. It is a prohibition for certain types of people who could make illegal gains through the stock market with their power, said Ma Senshu with the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Criminal Law amended to combat terrorism

Five new charges related to terrorism have been added to the Criminal Law in China and took effect on Nov 1.

The charges have been introduced after top legislators discussed terrorist attacks carried out nationwide in recent years.

The new charges are: Preparing a terrorist attack, inciting terrorism, using extremism to break the law, wearing clothing or logos associated with religious extremism and illegally possessing goods to carry out terrorist activities.

New rocket set for liftoff next year

China is preparing to launch a new-generation quick-response rocket next year to seize more of the international commercial launch market, industry insiders say.

The Kuaizhou-11, or Fast Vessel-11, is being developed by the Fourth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, a major supplier of missiles to the People's Liberation Army. Its first launch is planned for late 2016 or early 2017, said Zhang Di, head of the company's space projects department, at the First China Commercial Launch Forum in Wuhan, Hubei province.

The solid-fuel rocket will be able to place a 1-metric-ton payload into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers, Zhang said. Pre-launch preparations will take very little time, and the launch can be conducted on rough terrain.

Li stresses importance of water conservation

Premier Li Keqiang has urged local authorities to improve farmland water conservation facilities to protect farmers' interests and accelerate the development of modern agriculture.

At a meeting on the issue, Li called for an improved financing mechanism for water projects and for more private capital to be brought in to fund construction. Water conservation infrastructure is an important part of agricultural development, and could help safeguard national food security, he said.

China has attached great importance to improving its underdeveloped water conservation system. The Ministry of Water Resources estimates that about 238 billion yuan ($37.5 billion; 34 billion euros) was spent on water conservation projects in poor areas between 2011 and 2015.

S&P warns of surge in local govt debt

China's local government debt could continue to surge if the government sets a growth target above 6.5 percent in the next five years, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said on Nov 3.

That is significantly higher than S&P's prediction: Under its baseline scenario, China's potential GDP growth in 2016 and 2017 is 6.3 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively; the downside scenario even suggested growth rate could dip to 5.3 and 5.1 percent in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

S&P warned that under the downside scenario, it is most likely to cut ratings by up to two notches for China's building materials, real estate developers, metal and mining and transport industries. It is also likely to cut ratings by one notch for the nation's oil and gas, engineering and construction, and capital goods sectors.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily European Weekly 11/06/2015 page2)