Govt unveils guidelines to deepen SOE reforms

China on Sunday unveiled a top-down plan to further reform its State-owned sector that will affect 150,000 State-owned enterprises (SOEs), 100 trillion yuan ($15.69 trillion) worth of assets and 30 million employees. The guidelines, jointly issued by the Communist Party of China's Central Committee and the State Council, China's cabinet, will help improve corporate governance and assets management. The government said it expects "decisive results by 2020," according to the Xinhua News Agency. Experts said that the guidelines clearly define the nature of State-owned capital and assets and will help enliven the State sector, a key sector in China's economic transformation and upgrading. The guidelines split China's SOEs into two groups: those that seek commercial interests and those that serve public interests. "This categorization will allow SOEs to better fulfill their duties, which are threefold, with economic, social, and political responsibilities," Zhang Chunxiao, a professor at Peking University, told the Global Times Sunday. "Commercial SOEs will focus on growing its value, maintaining its vibrancy and striving to be leaders in various sectors. Public SOEs will focus on safeguarding people's livelihoods and providing high-quality, affordable public goods and services," Zhang said. Some State-led sectors, such as State-operated highways, grid companies and telecom companies have a duty to build the infrastructure of underdeveloped regions even if they are less-profitable from a business perspective, Zhang noted. The guidelines also call for a shift toward the management of State capital instead of SOEs, giving companies' management full play in running the company. State-owned capital investment companies and State-owned capital management companies will be established. This gives inspectors more chances to supervise, and the management of companies to focus on growing their businesses, Zhang said. Converting some State capital to preferred stocks means that the State would abdicate its management role, and would only require a fixed return, said Tian Yun, editor-in-chief of the Macro China Information Network. The guidelines likewise said as much as 30 percent of the earnings of SOEs will be used to improve people's livelihoods by 2020, and a portion of State capital will be used to beef up social security funds. "It would be a feather in China's cap if this goal is achieved by 2020. And there is still a chance of the share being raised further by 2025 and 2030," Tian said, adding that such a policy will help ease China's problem of over-investment and weak consumption. "Many industries are currently saddled with overcapacity, so their earnings can be used to boost public services and recuperate social security funds," Tian said. More State companies will restructure and prepare for public listing, said the guidelines. In the middle term to long term, the reform provides a chance for the government to stabilize the capital markets and avoid wild fluctuations and speculative trading. The guidelines also said that State firms can invite investors to help diversify their ownership by developing Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). Faced with mounting local government debt and a need to channel funds to urbanization, China released two PPP guidelines in 2014. In July, the Chongqing Municipality in Southwest China rolled out 33 projects worth 130 billion yuan to solicit private capital in the form of PPPs. Both experts said that SOEs are the building blocks of public ownership, and warned that SOE reform should not lead to the loss of State assets and worsen China's income gap.

US insecurity shows in false spying claims

The US Justice Department on Friday dropped the charges against Xi Xiaoxing, a physics professor of Temple University and world renowned expert in the field of superconductivity. Xi had been accused of sharing sensitive technology to China. It turned out that the department has made mistakes over the core evidence. Xi was arrested in May this year and accused of providing China technology for a pocket heater that is prohibited from export. Some physicists later proved that the heater involved in Xi's case is completely different from those banned from export in the US, and Xi's cooperation with China is legitimate. This is yet another false Chinese spy case. After the misjudged case of Lee Wen Ho in the 1990s, there have been constant false accusations to charge ethnic Chinese scientists, who were involved in research of sensitive technology, with being "spies." The false allegation against Xi was resolved, but he will suffer a great loss to his career and reputation, which he won't be able to fully recover. The US is becoming increasingly vigilant toward Chinese spy activities. Given the rise of China and its influence on the strategic landscape, Washington's mentality is understandable. However, after multiple erroneous cases, the US should have realized that it was just too sensitive. Such an emotion without restraint will not only endanger the atmosphere between Beijing and Washington, but will also worsen the racial tension in US society. Be it prejudice of ideology or the fact that the US itself has conducted too many espionage or secret network operations, public opinion in Washington and the entire US tend to think China is the most aggressive country toward the US in terms of spying. Such a "portrait" is making ordinary Chinese people feel like they are being "flattered" in a strange way, because normally they don't quite believe Chinese intelligence agencies are so capable of driving the US crazy. The movie Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation has just opened in China. People are asking why China can't make such a film. Chinese producers and directors respond that if they copy the plot to make similar films about Chinese intelligence agents, Chinese audiences will find it "unreal." Because that is not how Chinese intelligence agencies work in people's imagination. China is not such a villain, and US sense of insecurity has caused its actions to be exaggerated. The US attaches great value to President Xi Jinping's visit, and considers it a valuable chance to solve outstanding problems. But the US should be realistic, and not overstate the issues.

China issues guideline to deepen SOE reforms

China's central authorities on Sunday issued a guideline to deepen reforms of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the latest move from the government to invigorate torpid SOEs. China will modernize SOEs, enhance state assets management, promote mixed ownership and prevent the erosion of state assets, according to the guideline released by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council. The government will improve the competence of SOEs and turn them into fully independent market entities. It will be a key framework document to guide and boost SOE reforms. The government plans to achieve major reforms in key areas by 2020, when SOEs are expected to be more robust and influential and have greater ability to avoid risks. "The government should nurture a group of SOEs that are creative and can face international rivals by that time," the guideline said. According to the guideline, China's SOEs will be divided into two categories, for-profit entities and those dedicated to public welfare. The former will be market-based and stick to commercial operations and should aim to increase state-owned assets and boost the economy, while the latter will exist to improve people's quality of life and provide public goods and services. In terms of mixed-ownership reforms, the government should introduce multiple types of investors so SOEs can achieve mixed ownership and encourage them to go public, the guideline said. No specific agenda on mixed-ownership reform will be set, but the government will promote it gradually, the guideline said. Non-state firms will be encouraged to join the process through various means, including buying stakes and convertible bonds from or conducting share rights swaps with SOEs. SOEs will also be allowed to experiment with selling shares to their employees. SOE boards of directors will have greater decision-making powers, managers will be more tightly supervised, and intervention by government agencies will be forbidden under the new guideline. A flexible and market-based salary system will be established. Salaries of SOE employees will be in line with market levels and decided by company performance. SOEs will also hire more professional managers, the guideline said. China will improve the supervision over state-owned assets to ensure the security of assets and increase capital returns, the guideline said. Supervision will be intensified both from inside and outside SOEs to prevent abuse of power and the erosion of state-owned assets, and a mechanism for accountability will be established to track violations, including corruption and embezzlement.

Beijing to sound sirens for air raid drill

Beijing will conduct an air raid drill on September 19 in ten suburban districts and counties to improve abilities to handle attacks. Sirens will sound next Saturday in outlying districts of the Chinese capital, including Fangshan, Tongzhou, Daxing districts and others, the Beijing civil defense bureau said. They reminded the public to be prepared and not to panic when the sirens sound. In addition to issuing warnings to the public, the drills will include evacuation, shelter and protection of important facilities. Last year, the drill was held in the suburban Mentougou, Fangshan and Yanqing districts.

China, US reach ‘key cyber consensus’

Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy has reached "important consensus" on combating cyber crimes with senior US officials, ahead of Xi's upcoming visit to the US in late September, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Analysts said that although the two countries share interests in maintaining cyber security, the US is trying to pressure China by blaming it for hacking US companies. During the meeting from Wednesday to Saturday, special envoy Meng Jianzhu exchanged views on combating cyber crimes with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and US National Security Advisor Susan Rice in Washington, DC. Meng said that China and the US are both countries with highly developed Internet technology and anyone who conducts cyber attacks and commercial cyber espionage in Chinese territory violates the laws of China and will be subject to legal liability. Rice had a "frank and open exchange about cyber issues" in her meeting with Meng, according to a White House statement. The Obama administration is considering targeted sanctions against Chinese individuals and companies over cyber attacks against US commercial targets, several US officials were quoted as saying by media. "The US is trying to pressure China by blaming it for these hacking activities. Cyber security is a divisive issue between the two countries and the US wants China to make compromises in the Xi-Obama talks," Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Shanghai-based Fudan University, told the Global Times on Sunday. The US overstated China's part in the hacking, as it is difficult to trace exactly who is responsible and the US may feel threatened by China's rapid development in network techniques, Wu said. Commercial losses "The US attaches more importance to cyber security because it relies on the Internet more than other countries. Commercial interests will lose out if there are leaks in trade secrets or technology," Jin Canrong, vice-director of the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Sunday. US President Barack Obama said in his Friday speech that cyber crises are a core national security threat and that if states chose to make it an area of competition, then the US could make this an area in which it "will win if we have to." Obama also said he would raise concerns about China's cyber security behavior when he meets with Xi in Washington, DC. "The two countries share common interests in cyber security, for example cracking down on spreading terror information. And the vulnerability and universality of the Internet call for joint efforts to maintain security," Jin said. During the four-day meeting, Meng also said that against a backdrop of frequent incidents and ever-increasing security threats in cyberspace, it is especially important for the two nations to enhance mutual trust and cooperation in the sphere of cyber security, Xinhua reported. Meng said that communication and cooperation between China and the US on combating cyber crimes serve the common interest of both countries and the wider international community. Since China has the largest group of Internet users and the US has the most advanced technology, interaction between the two countries is important to establish order and maintain balance in the Internet world, Ni Feng, research fellow at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday. Charges dropped Separately, the US Justice Department was forced to drop charges against a Chinese-born Physics professor, Xi Xiaoxing, who had been accused of sharing sensitive US technology with China, after an "embarrassing" mistake was found in the case's key evidence, Xinhua reported Friday. "Communication and interaction between China and the US have not been smooth," Ni said. China suspended a Sino-US working group on cyber security issues in May 2014 after the US, for the first time, indicted five Chinese military officers for the alleged hacking of US companies. China has denied the accusations. "The first step for the two countries to cooperate is to make an agreement on what they should not do. For example, they need to both agree to not attack power and transportation networks or other civilian infrastructure," said Wu. The second step is to seek more cooperation in less-disputed areas, for example, in combating online financial crimes, noted Wu.

CPC speaks on Party legitimacy for 1st time

The legitimacy of the Communist Party of China (CPC) lies in history, its popular support and is the choice of the people, the anti-graft chief said in a latest international conference. It is for the first time that China's top leaders have expounded on the legitimacy of the ruling party, an important breakthrough in party discourse, analysts said. Wang Qishan, head of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), made the remarks at a conference attended by more than 60 overseas politicians and scholars, including former South African president Thabo Mbeki and former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, in the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday, the Xinhua News Agency reported. The meeting, called the 2015 dialogue between the Party and the world, kicked off on Tuesday in Beijing with the theme of Party discipline. Wang pointed out that the ruling party's mission is to fulfill its promise to the people and the way to realize it lies in strict discipline. "The legitimacy of the ruling party is derived from history and is the choice of the people," said Wang, adding that whether the government performed good deeds or not is determined by the people's attitudes - whether they are happy with, satisfied with and are willing to approve the moves. The ruling party is on behalf of the people, serves the people and it should establish correct core values and insist on its actions, he stressed. "Legitimacy in this context is a political concept, referring to the validity of the source of the power. The basis of legitimacy is people's approval. Wang's statement affirmed the legitimacy of the Party while stressing its obligations and promises to the people," Wang Zhanyang, a professor with the Central Institute of Socialism, told the Global Times. According to Wang Zhanyang, Chinese top leaders had previously avoided using the word as it was not an issue - legitimacy of the Party should not be questioned or denied. Wang Qishan's reference is a breakthrough in China's political discourse and aims to maintain the continuity of the Party, he said. However, whether this term will be written in official statements remains unknown, Wang Zhanyang said. He added that former Chinese top leaders had already expressed similar ideas in different statements. According to an article from WeChat account xxdaguo, managed by the People's Daily, which gains fame for releasing several incisive features about the Party and top leaders, Wang Qishan's statement at an international conference shows the confidence of the Party. It also reflects the Party's rational recognition of its lasting political stability, its vigilance about its survival as well as its downfall.

抗战阅兵致敬反法西斯胜利70周年 中国人民解放军热血剪辑！（彩排） 标清