China Watch Blog

China Watch Blog has learnt that Sina Corp has introduced a code of conduct for users of the local version of Twitter amid accusations of censorship to rein in what has grown into a raucous online forum.

According to a Reuters report, the code of conduct, first announced earlier this month, stipulates that users of Sina’s weibo microblogging site cannot post information that is against the principles of the constitution, cannot harm national unity, disclose state secrets or publish false information, among other rules.

Many users said the restrictions are aimed at muzzling what is often scathing and anonymous online chatter.

The move, the latest in a series of steps to rein in discussion on weibos, comes as China prepares for a once-in- a-decade leadership handover, expected to be announced later this year.

Sina, the biggest of the weibo operators, also introduced a points system in which a user starts with 80 points and loses points for every violation. A score of zero results in a canceled account. A user can gain points for validating his or her real identity.

“It gives Sina a firmer basis for expanding a ban on whatever is considered sensitive news,” said one prominent weibo user.

“The definition of what counts as sensitive was always loose and it’s expanding all the time. Of course, nowadays, they’re worried because of all the scandal and rumors before the 18th [Chinese Communist Party] congress.”

In a sign of how intensely sensitive the issue is, censors blocked online searches for the name of Bo Xilai, the former Chongqing party boss cast out of the party’s central committee.

Internet users have skirted restrictions by using code words to discuss the issue. Sina employs technicians to scrub weibo of politically sensitive posts.

Sina’s move to implement a user contract comes after Beijing demanded in December that microblogging operators ensure their users are registered with their real names.

Some weibo users expressed dismay over the new restrictions.

“New rules will be carried out on the 28th,” one wrote.

“So I should publish my personal opinion on matters of state sovereignty, territorial integrity and social problems before then.

“After the 28th, I will just write about personal things.”

China Watch Blog has learnt that China’s mobile Internet market added 21 percent in the first quarter from the same period last year to 30.6 billion yuan (US$4.9 billion), an industry report said.

The number of mobile Internet users increased 5.1 percent from that of a year ago to 450 million due to the rising popularity of smart phones and tablet computers, research house Analysys International was quoted as saying in a report in a Shanghai Daily report.

Mobile shopping has boomed this year with a transaction volume of 10.8 billion yuan in the first three months, more than the total of 10.5 billion yuan for all of 2011 as online vendors rushed to appeal to smart phone users.

China Watch Blog has learnt that China will increase the fine for piracy to 1 million yuan ($158,000) based on a China Daily report.

Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of General Administration of Press and Publication, made the announcement at a seminar on intellectual property law and adjudication between the US and China on Tuesday, Beijing News reported.

The National Copyright Administration drafted a revised version of the copyright law in March and solicited opinions. In the draft, the penalty for piracy has been raised to up to 1 million yuan from the current up to 500,000 yuan, the report said.

According to Yan, the copyright administration has received more than 1,560 responses to its solicitation of opinions, including the US Patent and Trademark Office, US Copyright Office, Motion Picture Association of America and International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the report said.

China Watch Blog has learnt that that China’s fixed asset investment of national highways and waterways totaled 285.8 billion yuan during the period from January to April, 5.2 percent less than in the same period last year.

The mainland shipping market is still at a low level and the situation is not optimistic. There is a slowdown in demand and capacity while costs increase, freight rates drop and losses widen, he said.

The nationwide road passenger traffic increased by 8.6 percent year-on-year to 11.7 billion during the first four months, and the waterway passenger traffic rose 2.5 percent year-on-year to 73 million, according to the Ministry of Transport’s data.

The cargo throughput completed by above-scale ports was 3.09 billion tons, realizing a year-on-year increase of 7.5 percent during the first four months. The container throughput was 54.17 million twenty-foot equivalent units, with a year-on-year increase of 8.4 percent.

China’s transport construction funds still face financial stress, said He Jianzhong, spokesman of the Ministry of Transport, China news.com reported on Friday.

He said that although development planning and implementation of China’s 12th Five-Year Plan has had a good start, infrastructure construction is indeed facing some new problems and difficulties, including delayed credit funds, difficulties in implementing counterparts funds, rising construction costs, and issues with structure adjustments.

China Watch Blog has learnt that the transaction size of China’s online shopping market will surpass Japan in 2012, and exceed the United States by 2013, becoming the world’s largest online trading market, reported Economic Information Daily on May 17.

The report cited the China Business Development Report Forecast (2011-2012) released by the National Academy of Economic Strategy of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on Thursday.

The China Daily report quoted the report as saying that even if China becomes the world’s largest online trading market in the next year, the thriving online shopping market is not enough to cover up problems in the general Chinese circulation industry.

According to Jing Linbo, vice-president of the National Academy of Economic Strategy of CASS, the fundamental reason lies in unclear positioning of China’s circulation industry.

He stated that other problems include market segmentation, enterprises scattered with low concentration, a less competitive market, a lack of theoretical research to guide the practice, and the need for improvement of personnel training.

China’s economic growth may weaken this quarter to the slowest in three years mainly due to the curbs on the property sector and weak external demand, the central government’s think-tank said in a report.

The China Information Center forecast the country’s gross domestic product will grow 7.5 percent in the second quarter of this year from the same period of last year, the slowest since the first quarter in 2009.

The forecast is in line with Premier Wen Jiabao’s remarks in March, and was lower than the 8.1 percent growth in the year’s first three months.

The report said the two factors contributing to the slowdown are “the pains” China must face during the transformation and upgrade of its economic structure.

The report comes as data showed that home prices in the country, excluding those for government-funded affordable housing, fell last month in 46 of the 70 cities tracked by the National Bureau of Statistics, a record high since the figures were first released.

The think-tank also expected inflation to cool to 3.3 percent in the second quarter due to weaker domestic demand. The Consumer Price Index rose 3.4 percent in April on an annual basis.

“China should step up fine tuning of economic policies,” the report said. “It should implement tax cuts, increase support for technological transformation, and reduce fundraising cost for companies to sustain stable economic growth.”

China Watch Blog reports that India’s inflation unexpectedly accelerated in April to over 7% as food bills soared, data showed on Monday, diminishing chances of swift interest rate cuts to boost a stumbling economy.

The closely watched Wholesale Price Index rose to 7.23% in April from the same month a year ago with food prices climbing more than 10 percent. Inflation stood at 6.89% in March.

The data was the latest grim reminder that Asia’s third-largest economy is facing trouble after figures last week showed industrial output shrank by a surprise 3.5% in March due to weak domestic demand and falling exports.

The inflation number, which far outpaced market expectations of a 6.7% rise, “makes for extremely gloomy reading,” said Credit Suisse economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde.

“India’s growth-inflation mix is not exactly looking favorable right now.”

China Watch Blog has learnt that newly released economic indicators show that China’s economy continued to slow in April, raising expectations that the government will resort to greater policy easing to help stimulate the GDP.

Quickly cooling industrial production and fixed-asset investment, together with disappointing trade figures, have overtaken inflation as the key concern for Chinese policymakers, the People’s Daily reported.

This is driving Beijing to raise concerns about potential downside risks in the coming months, analysts said.

“The pace of economic growth in April may slow to its lowest ebb this year, mainly dragged down by weak exports and the slumping real estate market,” said Liu Yuanchun, deputy head with the economics school of Renmin University of China in Beijing.

In April, China’s consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, eased to 3.4 percent year-on-year from 3.6 percent in March, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday.

Food prices increased 7 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with 7.5 percent in March, as falling pork and fruit prices offset rising vegetable prices.

A research report from the Bank of Communications forecast that the years’ average CPI may decline to 3.3 percent from 5.4 percent in 2011.

Inflationary pressure may ease in the first three quarters, while rebounding slightly in the last quarter of this year, the report said.

China Watch Blog has learnt that the Hong Kong economy slowed further in the first quarter of 2012, with real GDP posting a slight year-on-year growth of 0.4%, after a 3.0% expansion in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The weak performance in the first quarter was mainly dragged by the lull in exports amid a difficult external environment. The domestic sector nevertheless continued to display strength and help cushion the overall economic performance. On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, real GDP also grew slightly by 0.4% in the first quarter, similar to that in the preceding quarter.

* Total exports of goods dipped by 5.7% in real terms in the first quarter of 2012 over a year earlier. Although this was partly exaggerated by the exceptionally high base of comparison a year earlier, widespread weaknesses were seen across exports to many regions, including Asia. Exports of services likewise moderated but still grew modestly by 3.6% year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter of 2012, thanks to the strong cushion rendered by thriving inbound tourism.

* On the domestic front, private consumption expenditure held up well on the back of the much improved income conditions, with a further brisk growth of 5.6% year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter. Investment spending also remained strong with a further surge of 12.2% over a year earlier, buttressed by active machinery and equipment acquisition and hectic public sector infrastructure works.

China Watch Blog has learnt that a survey, conducted by TNS, shows that 2.8 million people in Hong Kong participated in this year’s “lights off” event, marking Earth Hour’s continued success in conveying the importance of sustainable living to the public.

This is the fourth year that WWF has organised Earth Hour in Hong Kong. This year, WWF called on individuals to not only turn off their lights for one hour, but to set their energy saving targets and work towards living sustainably.

According to the survey, a majority of participants showed commitment to sustainable living beyond the hour. In fact, all Earth Hour participants pledged to take future action toward a more sustainable living, with 77% saying they would turn off lights when not in use, 64% would replace old light bulbs and 61% would turn off appliances when not being used (please refer to Appendix for full survey results). In addition, two thirds of the survey respondents said Earth Hour influenced them into setting an energy saving target and committing to sustainable living.

Dr William Yu, WWF-Hong Kong’s Head of Climate Programme said: “Earth Hour is not about energy saving for one particular hour: it is about understanding that small changes in our everyday lives can collectively make an impact. The participation of over 2.8 million Hong Kong people in the lights-out event, and their commitment to go beyond the hour, is an incredibly encouraging message we are willing and ready to commit to sustainable living. WWF is taking this commitment one step further by asking the new government to set an energy saving target for Hong Kong as a whole.”

According to data provided by both CLP and HK Electric, electricity consumption in Hong Kong dropped by 4.27% during Earth Hour on Saturday 31 March 2012. This drop in electricity consumption is equivalent to saving 146 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which would require 6,348 trees to absorb in one year.

“We need related policies to help Hong Kong individuals and the business sector to reinforce their sustainable living commitment. WWF is encouraging the upcoming government to release a holistic and comprehensive climate and energy strategy, which includes implementing greater energy efficiency measures and setting emissions target for the city,” added Dr Yu. “The UK was the first nation to pass a binding Climate Change Act. Mexico is another excellent example as the Mexican Senate has recently passed its first comprehensive climate change law, which commits the country to cut its emission by 50% by 2050 with international support.”

The Earth Hour online survey was conducted by TNS after Earth Hour on 31 March 2012, and interviewed 1,000 people aged 18 to 64 across Hong Kong. 57% of the respondents who were aware of Earth Hour said they participated in Earth Hour 2012. About 29% said they had considered participating in Earth Hour but they were not able to make it due to various reasons, such as not being at home.

This year saw impressive participation of Hong Kong people in the annual lights-out event. Hong Kong joined hundreds of millions of people in over 6,500 cities and towns across 150 countries and regions in committing to a sustainable future. In Hong Kong, over 3,300 companies and buildings, all universities and over 340 secondary and primary schools pledged to join the global event.

To help Hong Kong people to go beyond the hour, WWF offers a range of activities and programmes, including “ I Will If You Will” Celebrity Challenge, “ I Will If You Will” Energy Saving Challenge, Climateers programme and the Low-carbon Office Operation Programme (LOOP) to help the general public and commercial sector continue practising sustainable living every day.

Standard Chartered Hong Kong 150th Anniversary Community Foundation has also been the lead sponsor for three consecutive years and fully supported the various promotional activities of Earth Hour in Hong Kong.