Photo by Reuters via SCMP
Stock market crash, growth figures
Wary Chinese investors are ditching stocks for real estate – Quartz, 27 July
http://qz.com/464505/wary-chinese-investors-are-ditching-stocks-for-real-estate/
“Like a bouncy castle on a patchy power supply, the Chinese property bubble has been rapidly inflating, deflating, and re-inflating since 2007. Thanks to extra-abundant credit and (probably) the stock market’s shaky state, it looks like it’s re-inflation time: The value of home sales jumped 30% in Q2, after diving 9% in the first quarter.”
China losing control as stocks crash despite emergency measures – The Telegraph, 27 July
“Chinese equities have suffered the sharpest one-day crash in eight years, sending powerful tremors through global commodity markets and smashing currencies across East Asia, Latin America and Africa. The Shanghai Composite index fell 8.5pc despite emergency measures to shore up the market, with a roster of the biggest blue-chip companies down by the maximum daily limit of 10pc. The mood was further soured by news that corporated profits in China are now contracting in absolute terms, falling 0.3pc over the past year.”
China dumps US treasuries at record rate – 25 July
http://www.sott.net/article/299439-China-dumps-US-treasuries-at-record-rate
“On Friday, alongside China’s announcement that it had bought over 600 tons of gold in “one month”, the PBOC released another very important data point: its total foreign exchange reserves, which declined by $17.3 billion to $3,694 billion.
We then put China’s change in FX reserves alongside the total Treasury holdings of China and its “anonymous” offshore Treasury dealer Euroclear (aka “Belgium”) as released by TIC, and found that the dramatic relationship which we first discovered back in May, has persisted – namely virtually the entire delta in Chinese FX reserves come via China’s US Treasury holdings. As in they are being aggressively sold, to the tune of $107 billion in Treasury sales so far in 2015.”
The real risk behind China’s stock market drama – The New Yorker, 15 July
http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-real-risk-behind-chinas-stock-market-drama
“Beijing never laid out its reasons for stepping in so forcefully, but there are many possible explanations for why it chose not to allow a longer slide. A falling market could pull down already falling economic growth, or scare away foreign investors, or expose Chinese banks to added loan defaults at a time when they are contending with a high rate of debt. The most powerful motive, however, may be more psychological than financial. Since stepping into office, in 2012, President Xi has offered his people a harsh but tantalizing bargain. He has arrested thousands of people for political activism (including, this week many human-rights lawyers) or for corruption; at the same time, he has signalled to the rest of the population that, if it can avoid those minefields, it will be free to pursue the “Chinese Dream”—his recipe of prosperity, pride in China’s rise, and a menu of state-sanctioned freedoms, including travel and entertainment. It is, a marketer might say, a value proposition based on performance, and a stock-market collapse would have imperilled the deal—and so it was halted.”
Making sense of China’s market mess – ChinaFile, 12 July
http://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/viewpoint/making-sense-chinas-market-mess
“In short Xi and his colleagues, like all their predecessors since Deng Xiaoping, are trying to have it both ways: improve economic performance by widening the scope of markets, but guide the outcomes through direct intervention and state ownership of key actors and assets. Both elements, from the leadership’s standpoint, are necessary; the critical question is how they are balanced. Free-market fundamentalists might say such an approach is unsustainable and doomed to failure. But they have been saying that since reforms began in 1978, and so far they have been proved wrong by China’s sustained strong economic performance. ”
Minitrue: Rules on Stock Market Reporting – China Digital Times, 9 July
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2015/07/minitrue-rules-on-stock-market-reporting/
“Last week, a controversially expansive new National Security Law designated the financial sector, seabeds, and outer space as territories in need of defense against internal and external threats. In keeping with this, China’s public security apparatus has been mobilized in the wake of the crisis.”
中航工业董事长林左鸣高调护盘，旗下上市公司违规减持被查 – 29 July
“在中航工业集团董事长林左鸣高调的护盘声中，旗下上市公司却因涉嫌违规减持被查，一时间争议四起……”
Chinese consumers are feeling pretty good, despite the market crash – Business Insider, 29 July
“While the report noted that consumers in larger-tier one cities, those deemed more likely to own stocks, were not completely immune to the declines with the current personal finances indicator for Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing falling, by-and-large most Chinese consumers couldn’t care less what the stock market was doing.”
Beijing cracks down on housing speculation in key suburbs – Xinhua, 28 July
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-07/28/c_134456339.htm
“Beijing is cracking down on housing speculation in its eastern Tongzhou District, soon to be a subsidiary administrative center for the capital, after recent price rises and false advertising by developers. In a recent law enforcement campaign, the district’s government authorities asked two real estate companies to correct their advertising claiming that housing prices will rise, said a district official.”
China’s economic growth beats forecast – Aljazeera, 15 July
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/07/china-economic-growth-beats-forecast-150715063053939.html
“China has released figures of its economic growth for the second quarter showing the country’s economy has grown at a steady seven percent, its weakest performance since the global crisis but slightly better than expected.”
There’s a dead giveaway that China’s growth numbers are fake – Business Insider, 16 July
“But after 25 years of watching China hit the mythical 7% mark without fail, analysts understand the charade. There are dead giveaways everywhere. The most obvious way to tell that China’s books are cooked, though, is by looking at how its neighbors are faring.”
Crack-down on human rights lawyers…
At least six missing after clampdown on human rights lawyers in China – The Guardian, 21 July
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/21/human-rights-lawyers-china-missing-clampdown
“Nearly two weeks after Beijing launched one of its most comprehensive crackdowns on civil society in decades, at least six people remain missing – believed to have disappeared into the custody of China’s security services. At least 238 people have been detained or questioned since the clampdown began, according to the Hong Kong-based China Human Rights Lawyer Concern Group, which is keeping a tally of the operation’s targets.”
Human-rights lawyers detained in China confess, state media reports – The Wall Street Journal, 19 July
“Zhou Shifeng and some of his associates at the Beijing Fengrui law firm—known for taking on politically sensitive cases—have admitted to wrongdoing ranging from hyping up legal cases to spreading smears against China’s legal system, according to a report published Saturday by the state-run Xinhua News Agency and the Communist Party mouthpiece, People’s Daily.”
Campaign against lawyers’ ‘criminal gang’ broadens – China Digital Times, 13 July
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2015/07/campaign-against-rights-lawyers-criminal-gang-broadens/
“Chinese authorities’ sweeping move against dozens of rights lawyers and activists late last week has expanded further over the weekend. The number of people reportedly involved has surged to over 100 across China, and the offices of three law practices—most notably Beijing Fengrui Law Firm—have been searched. Fengrui lawyers Wang Yu, Zhou Shifeng, Wang Quanzhang, and Huang Liqun, as well as Wang’s husband Bao Longjun and Fengrui administrative assistant Liu Sixin have all been criminally detained.”
(…and UK tourists)
UK tourists say they were deported from China after watching Genghis Khan film – The Guardian, 19 July
“China deported 20 foreigners from Britain, South Africa and India because they watched video clips that advocated terrorism and religious extremism, official state media has reported, while two of the tourists reportedly said they had done nothing more than view a documentary about Genghis Khan.”
China’s un-separation of powers – Foreign Affairs, 24 July
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2015-07-24/chinas-un-separation-powers
“In the past, there was at least some separation between party and government roles, but it seems that the line is blurring dramatically. The CCP and its ruling Politburo Standing Committee have always been the ones in charge, but they have been amassing greater control over policymaking and even implementation. It leaves one wondering: Does the Chinese government matter anymore?”
Xinjiang – documenting migration, documenting unrest
Terrified of returning to Xinjiang
http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/asia/2015/07/terrified-returning-xinjiang-150715130827207.html
“He told us the Chinese government wouldn’t give them official travel documents, and so, like many others, they crossed borders illegally by paying smugglers. In their desperation to reach Turkey, they spent every penny they had.”
Interactive: China’s Uighur unrest – Aljazeera, 14 July
Interactive map of Uighur unrest in Xinjiang.
Ethnic Tensions in Xinjiang Complicate China-Turkey Ties – NYT, 28 July
“Online video clips and photographs from Istanbul have shown Turkish and ethnic Uighur protesters burning a Chinese flag outside China’s consulate; angry men racing threateningly toward Korean tourists, apparently thinking they were Chinese; and a mostly Uighur mob smashing windows at the Thai Consulate after Thailand sent more than 100 Uighurs back to China against their wishes.
Chinese might wonder whether this is the same Turkey that has been attracting their country’s tourists in greater numbers — or, for that matter, the one that agreed to buy a missile defense system from a Chinese company, or that paid Chinese state-owned enterprises to build a 300-mile high-speed rail line between its two largest cities…”
Labour News
Remembering the sacrifice of Shenzhen factory worker Zhou Jianrong – CLB, 17 July
http://www.clb.org.hk/en/content/remembering-sacrifice-shenzhen-factory-worker-zhou-jianrong
“Zhou jumped from the top of a four-storey workshop on the morning of 17 July 2014, soon after learning that she and several other colleagues had been fired in retaliation for their activism. To mark the occasion, a group of workers and labour activists known as China Labour World (中国劳工界) issued a statement commemorating Zhou’s sacrifice and calling on China’s workers to overcome their difficulties through determined and unified collective action.”
Zhejiang shoe factory collapse kills at least 12 workers, injures 33 others – CLB, 6 July
“A total of 14 workers died and another 33 were injured when a four storey factory building in the eastern coastal city of Wenling, Zhejiang, suddenly collapsed on Saturday afternoon, 4 July 2015. There were more than 50 people working in the shoe factory at the time of the collapse. Witnesses told the official Xinhua News Agency that there was loud bang and the entire fourth floor collapsed on to the second floor.”
Taking on Uber
Cabbies Are Driving the Opposition to China’s Ridesharing Revolution – The Nation, 17 July
“According to China Labour Bulletin’s reports on more than 20 taxi labor actions in recent months, drivers of Uber and the other big ride-hailing app, Didi Kuaidi, should beware of “fishing,” a tactic drivers use to jam the gears of mobile “black cab” services. In May, a strike of Tianjin cabbies was sparked by an ad hoc street battle involving luring unauthorized drivers with a mobile hail and swarming them as regular cabbies form a flash mob–like blockade(sometimes corraling him to help local police apprehend the unauthorized driver).”
Tensions rise as China’s taxi drivers and factory workers strike in record numbers – CLB, 3 July
“Taxi drivers have demanded that local governments take action to ban the apps, and, in some cases, taxi drivers have taken direct action by “fishing” for ride app drivers: Hailing them to a specific location and surrounding them with their cars. In one case, after several hundred drivers in Tianjin went on strike, they were reportedly told by local transport officials that “if you fish them out, we’ll capture them.” The dispute subsequently escalated into a strike of more than 1,000 taxi drivers.”
Uber on a collision course with China’s taxi drivers and cartels
“Uber is making its presence felt as it chases an initial public offering. The company’s reported valuation – US$50 billion – is in the stratosphere, so you know Silicon Valley and Wall Street are looking to cash out. Hyperbolic statements about the China market, which Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick isn’t reluctant to make, will help keep the valuation up until an IPO. But Uber has two big problems in China: its millions of taxi drivers, and the local cartels for which they work.”
Uniqlo: striking Artigas workers
Global petition: Strongly urging Uniqlo to resolve the labour dispute in the Artigas factory in China (全球聯署信：強烈要求優衣庫(UNIQLO)迅速履行企業社會責任、積極協助慶盛工友合法維權), 13 July
https://sites.google.com/site/artigasworkers/
“Early this June, Artigas, located in Guanlan Township, Shenzhen, removed equipment and machines from its factory without official announcement to or negotiation with workers. This sparked a strike by over 900 Artigas workers on 9 June. Workers occupied the factory plants around the clock to prevent factory management from secretly removing the rest of the equipment and machines from
the premises. Many Artigas workers have worked over 10 years at the plant, but the factory has never paid their legally-mandated pension contributions. This led to frustration for many workers, as over 100 of them are reaching retirement age. Some workers even launched a hunger strike in the factory. Workers expressed their wishes in open letters to the factory, demanding fair and collective negotiations with factory management to discuss and resolve the issue in a constructive manner. However, Artigas ignored the sincere request by workers and instead released a false statement claiming it had already arranged negotiations with workers. In truth, the so-called negotiations were meetings with individual workers, not the collective negotiation requested by workers. 108 Artigas workers therefore travelled to Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong province, to send their petition to the Bureau for Letters and Calls of Guangdong Province on 29 June, yet did not get any response from the Bureau. Workers were forced to stay in the street in high temperature. One week later, they were violently sent back to Shenzhen by Shenzhen police.”
Hundreds of Chinese workers strike at factory supplying Uniqlo – FT 16 June
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/571fada2-1411-11e5-abda-00144feabdc0.html
“Hundreds of employees at the Shenzhen Artigas Clothing & Leather factory in Guangdong province [which provides Uniqlo] have been on strike since June 8 because of fears the company wanted to shut down the operation, according to a labour activist.”
In other Uniqlo news: sex tapes and selfies…
Chinese police detain suspects linked to viral Uniqlo sex video – CNN, 20 July
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/19/asia/china-uniqlo-sex-video-arrest/
“As Beijing police announced an investigation into the case Wednesday, China’s Internet regulators summoned executives from the parent companies of WeChat and Weibo. Government officials chastised the companies for their social networks’ role in spreading the video “against socialist core values,” and reminded Internet users to “preserve a healthy online environment.” Despite the message, many young people have flocked to Uniqlo’s three-story flagship store at Sanlitun — one of the trendiest retail and entertainment districts in Beijing — to take selfies outside the building and search the now-infamous fitting room inside.”
China’s young people have spoken. And what they want is sex – The Guardian, 16 July
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/16/china-sex-viral-video-uniqlo
“The youth of China are no longer a shy bunch. They’re increasingly hedonistic and up for a good time.”
Striking factory workers are using Uniqlo’s viral sex tape to highlight their low pay and severance – Quartz, 21 July
‘The Shenzhen strike didn’t garner much attention in China until labor activists linked it to the Uniqlo sex video. “Shall we go to Uniqlo to have sex, or hold up placards?,” one activist wrote on Twitter-like Sina Weibo on July 16, one of several similar messages…Chinese Uniqlo shoppers are getting involved. One Weibo userposted a picture from in front of a Uniqlo store here holding a sign that says “Fulfill social responsibilities, don’t be an unscrupulous enterprise.” She wrote she won’t buy T-shirts that “are soaked with workers’ blood.”’
被指欠缴工人养老金 优衣库深圳代工厂搬迁受阻 – 17 July
http://www.nbd.com.cn/articles/2015-07-17/930886.html
“优衣库位于深圳的一家名为庆盛服饰皮具有限公司的代工厂已停工月余，目前有200余员工因不满工厂搬迁及相关社会保险等问题，吃住在工厂内防止生产设备被转移。 ”
Foxconn expanding to ‘Make in India’
Foxconn to build up to 12 factories and employ 1m in India – FT, 13 July
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1ef06826-2952-11e5-8613-e7aedbb7bdb7.html
“The move signals a shift in strategy for the technology company, which is mainland China’s biggest private-sector employer and is best known as the largest global contract manufacturer of Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices… Foxconn said it sees “huge potential” to set up Chinese-style facilities in the country, providing a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” manufacturing drive.”
India as next manufacturing hub? Foxconn starts making Xiaomi phones in the country, to up capacity – The Economic Times, 14 July
“The world’s largest contract manufacturer will ramp up production capacities of the plant, located in 7,000-acre Sri City special economic zone in the state, and will bring it at par with its manufacturing units in other countries, Vincent WH Tong, chairman of FIH Mobile, Foxconn’s phone manufacturing unit, told ET.”
Why SoftBank, Foxconn Just Bet Billions the Sun Continues to Shine on India – Wall Street Journal, 23 June
“India, known for its high reliance on fossil fuels and frequent power cuts, received a ray of sunshine Monday when Bharti Enterprises Ltd., Foxconn Technology Corp.2354.TW -3.24%, and SoftBank Corp. announced they had formed a three-way joint venture to tap growing demand for cheap electricity using renewable energy sources in the South Asian country.”
But: Modi’s plans to reform India’s labour laws as part of his ‘Make in India’ plan are coming up against opposition:
Modi Faces Dissent From Within on India Labor Laws Overhaul – Bloomberg, 19 July
“The country’s top 11 unions — the biggest of which is linked to Modi’s ruling party — have called for a nationwide strike on Sept. 2. They are resisting his plan to merge 44 labor laws into four, a move that would simplify some of the world’s most rigid rules for hiring and firing workers…One of the most controversial provisions is allowing companies with as many as 300 workers to lay them off without government approval. The cap is currently at 100, while existing retrenchment compensation is three times lower than proposed. Another is an attempt to make it tougher to form unions.”
Explosions
Huge explosion at Chinese petrochemical plant caught on camera – video – The Guardian, 16 July
“A witness captures the huge explosion at a petrochemical plant in east China’s Shandong province on Thursday. Reports say that more than 200 firefighters and 40 fire trucks are battling the fire after tanks containing liquified hydrocarbon leaked and caused the blast. The plant is situated in Rizhao. No casualties are reported thus far.”
China Fireworks Warehouse Explosion Leaves 15 Dead, Injures Over A Dozen – International Business Times, 13 July
http://www.ibtimes.com/china-fireworks-warehouse-explosion-leaves-15-dead-injures-over-dozen-2004910
“An explosion at an illegal fireworks warehouse in China left 15 people dead and injured over a dozen, according to local reports. Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident and detained one person in the case.”
