Third Plenum

Chinese Thrust on Security

Sa, 12/10/2013 - 12:42 -- Anonymous (doğrulanmamış)

Growing discontent and unceasing restiveness among Tibetan and Uyghur minorities in the Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region ensured that domestic security issues dominate Xi Jinping’s agenda. Stark reminders of discontent surfaced in the days leading up to the plenum. China’s leaders allocated vast sums for the domestic security budget which this year officially exceeds US$ 110 billion. The domestic security budget has now surpassed the national defence budget for the past three consecutive years. This will increase with the creation at the recent plenum of the National Security Committee (NSC). The head of China’s official foreign policy think tank said the new NSC would focus on the “Three Evils” (terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism) in addition to co-ordinating international strategy, particularly on maritime issues.

Housing Prices Challenge China's Reforms

Sa, 12/03/2013 - 11:22 -- Anonymous (doğrulanmamış)
IMAGINECHINA New high-rise residential apartment buildings under construction in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, Nov. 18, 2013.

Eight months after taking office, China's new government is still struggling to bring housing prices under control. Despite a series of measures since March, prices have kept up their relentless climb, frustrating first-time buyers and the government's urbanization drive. In October, 65 of 70 surveyed cities reported higher new home prices, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The increases in China's four largest cities were the biggest since January 2011, Bloomberg News said. Price hikes from a year earlier ranged from 16 to 21 percent in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, the NBS reported. In November, prices rose again in 69 out of 100 cities in a China Index Academy survey, Shanghai Daily said.

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