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Chinese Communist Posters – Revolutionary Committees (1967)
Revolutionary committees are good, 1976
On 24 January 1967, Mao Zedong renamed the Shanghai People’s Commune as the Shanghai Revolutionary Committee. These Revolutionary Committees (革命委员会, Geming weiyuanhui), which were supposedly based on a “three-way alliance of Red Guards, Party cadres and army men”, were to replace the original political structures that had existed until then in China.
Resolutely protect the policy of the revolutionary three-in-one combination! 1967
One of their main functions, however, was to bring the factional struggle to an end that crippled the nation. The term “revolutionary committee” itself originated in the Soviet Union, where it refered to a power structure which combined the military and the state.
Warmly hail the formation of the revolutionary committee of Beijing, 1967
The formation of the revolutionary committees was the result of the power seizures by rebel and Red Guard factions that had led to nation-wide administrative paralysis. The introduction of the committees was a very slow process. Only by 5 September 1968, almost a year and a half after their inception, the committees had been set up in all provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, “with the exception of Taiwan”. Although Mao himself had allowed that the committees were merely provisional organs of power, they remained in existence until 1979, when they were abolished and replaced by people’s governments at all levels.
The revolutionary committees were not merely organizational tools that served political purposes. All work units, from factories to schools, from workshops to rural communes, formed their own revolutionary committees to take care of day-to-day administration.
Via
http://chineseposters.net/themes/revolutionary-committees.php
Sources:
Dalai Lama Gives Birth to Heir – Blames Chinese
Reports from Dharamsala, India, home of the Tibet-in-exile government, confirm that in the early hours of this morning, His Holiness, the Dalai Lama has given birth to a male heir.
The Dalai Lama was quoted as saying, “I was performing my early morning meditations as usual and sitting in the lotus position. I had just achieved a complete level of relaxation when I felt something drop. Naturally, I assumed it was my holy excrement, so I summoned my attendant to collect it for sale in Hollywood, again as usual. Imagine my surprise when I looked down and the little shit was looking back up at me.
Followers of the Tibetan Buddhist leader were jubilant upon hearing the news that there was now an heir to the ailing Dalai Lama. Incense, firecrackers, prayer wheels and flags, chanting and colourful demonstrations quickly spread around the world. However, celebrations have now been dampened by the further announcement that the baby lama is Chinese.
A spokesman for the Dalai Lama has issued a strongly worded statement blaming the Chinese government for the birth. “We have inside information that it was definitely the Chinese. Except for His Holiness’ non-political trips to America, France, Britain, Mexico, Guatemala, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Canada, Morocco, Singapore, Japan, Norway, Peru, Cuba, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Nigeria, Jamaica, Taiwan did I include America?, in the past year, the Dalai Lama has been right here in the lamasery with the other monks. And believe me, Tibetan monks know how to have safe sex without conception.”
In an unusually swift reaction, the Chinese government in Beijing has also claimed that the baby lama is indeed Chinese. Lin Hung, the young, handsome and popular Chinese appointed governor of Tibet has claimed he is the father and that he and the Dalai Lama have been having a clandestine affair for the past two years. Hung claims that the Dalai Lama has made numerous visits to their secret love nest in Lhasa disguised as a Buddhist monk.
The Dalai Lama’s attendant who was present at the birth has confirmed that Lin Hung is the likely father. “The baby lama has His Holiness’ ears, but everything else looked well Hung”, according to the attendant.
The Chinese authorities, and Tibetan Governor Lin Hung have invited the Dalai Lama and baby lama to return immediately to Tibet, and Potala Palace is being readied for their arrival. “The Chinese baby lama is a wonderful gift from the entire Chinese people to the Dalai Lama and all Tibetans. This baby will bring the peace and harmony we all so desperately want to restore”, said Chinese President Hu Jintao. Governor Lin Hong made a more emotional appeal directly to the Dalai Lama. “This was not just a dalaiance on my part. I love you and our baby lama. Please come home. If you don’t return, I will put a photo of our missing baby lama on every milk carton in China.”
In a move to ensure the return of the Dalai Lama and baby lama, the Chinese government in Beijing today issued an immediate order legalizing same sex marriage and granting partners and children of same sex relationships full and equal rights. To engender world support, the Chinese have also put in a bid for the 2012 Gay Olympics to be held in Lhasa with Governor Hung, the Dalai Lama and baby lama as official hosts. To protect the health and safety of baby lama, the Chinese government has also immediately banned the illegal melamine contamination of yak milk within 500 yards of Potala Palace and urged the Dalai Lama to breast feed.
A poll taken in Tibet by Chinese authorities immediately after the birth announcement shows that 117% of Tibetans want the Dalai Lama and baby lama to return. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3%. “It’s up to the Dalai Lama now to prove what kind of man he really is”, quipped a street vender outside Potala Palace hawking baby lama souvenirs.
via The Spoof : Dalai Lama Gives Birth to Heir – Blames Chinese funny satire story.
How Will the Dalai Lama React to the loosening of restrictions in Tibet?
How Will the Dalai Lama React to the loosening of restrictions in Tibet? At the time of writing we still await a response from the Dalai Lama.
If this is an honest attempt to see His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet from the perspective of the people of Tibet, then the new Chinese leadership is showing stunning clarity capable of breaking down decades of unnecessary misery and misunderstanding.
Read more from
| U-turn on Dalai Lama attacks Hong Kong Standard Beijing has loosened restrictions that kept Tibetan monks in two provinces from openly revering theDalai Lama. Authorities in Sichuan province said people can display pictures of the Buddhist spiritual leader and ordered officials not to criticize him … See all stories on this topic » |
| Beijing eases ban on Dalai Lama’s image The Australian Radio Free Asia‘s Tibetan service reported that permission to venerate the Dalai Lama openly again – as a religious but not as a “political” leader – is being introduced in areas of Sichuan and Qinghai provinces, which have large Tibetan populations. See all stories on this topic » |
| Reports Say Worship Of Dalai Lama Allowed In Sichuan And Qinghai, China International Business Times Chinese authorities have announced that two provinces with ethnic Tibetan populations will be able to openly venerate the Dalai Lama for religious purposes, in what seems to be a step toward the central government relaxing its attitude on the exiled … See all stories on this topic » |
Dalai Lama continuous ways of evil sorcery; troublesome for much noble China
The Dalai Lama, general and chief dangerous magic of Tibet rebel army, it is reported, continue plans and most worrying activities for the purposes to destroy beautiful state of China.
Wicked uses of illegal black magic operation in direct illegal against directive 231a and directive 197a, cause crops to fail and pigs to exhibit remorseful expression. Many hear about stealing away the children of China is ongoing. Children (and girls) from strong villages, honourable towns and powerful good cities of schooling age disappear again for many months now and Dalai Lama growing more direct, eat them up after cooking in large clay baked pot over fire during incorrect belief system against people’s party.
Children and pigs who would become make China great nation at risk threat to ongoing future generations and excellent economic future for all!
For ways of trouble stirring enemy increase need for swift reply to help continue lasting peace and make Olympic fun great whole of world watches and love now and years to come. Indeed president Hu Jintao angry for all people and wise and knowledgeable decision to make now: ‘Proud China standing together and world standing with and claws of Dalai Lama grow weaker. Honourable victory for everyone.’
Recite with us that together following leadership towards blessed victory for all. Good news!
via Dalai Lama continuous ways of evil sorcery; troublesome for much noble China | NewsBiscuit.
With New Leaders In Rome And Beijing, China’s Catholics Face Uncertain Future
The some 10 million Catholics in China remain divided between those loyal to the Pope and those in step with the Chinese Communist Party hierarchy.
SHANGHAI – On the last Monday of April, this city’s main Cathedral was filled with believers. They had come to honor the memory of the man who had done more than anyone to improve relations between the Vatican and China’s so-called “Patriotic” Catholic Church.
Bishop Jin Luxian died last month at the age of 97. He had done his novitiate preparation for the priesthood in France, returning to his native China in 1951, only to be imprisoned five years later by Mao’s regime — and would go on to spend a total of 18 years in prison and nine in a labor camp.
Despite all of this, Jin joined the official “patriotic” Church once he got out of prison in 1982, and worked for years trying to bring it closer together with the clandestine communities of Catholics loyal to Rome. The estimated 10 million Catholics in China are split between those with allegiance to the Pope and those that practice under the auspices of the Patriotic Church that is sanctioned by the Communist Party.
In 2005, Monsignor Jin successfully pushed for the ordination of an assistant bishop, who was approved both by Rome and the Chinese authorities. This event marked the beginning of a relative thawing of relations between Beijing and the Holy See.
But that compromise came undone in November 2010 in the northeastern city of Chengde, when the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association resumed the ordination of bishops who had not been previously approved by the Pope. Members of the clergy who were faithful to Rome were forcibly taken to religious services by State security forces.
On the one hand, Beijing argues that the ordination process must be accelerated, especially in dioceses where there is no bishop. Roman Catholics, on the other hand, see this move as a hardening of Beijing’s stance. What they are not sure about is whether this is part of a more general control over human rights militants, or a stratagem on the part of the officials in charge of Catholic affairs, who fear their power would collapse if the improved relationship between Rome and Beijing solidified.
A telling sign of the growing tension was evident at the memorial service for Jin, which was led by a simple priest. Indeed, Ma Daqin, the new auxilliary bishop of Shanghai, has been under house arrest since last summer. During his own ordination ceremony on July 7, Ma had refused blessings from two bishops who had been imposed by the state-sanctioned Church.
It was during this same ceremony in July that Ma had announced he would no longer be part of the body in the Communist Party that controls the Catholic Church. “Thunderous applause among young people, livid faces among officials!” a European witness recalls. All officials from the Communist Party promptly left the Cathedral. Shortly after the service, the new bishop was forcibly taken to the Sheshan seminary, 30 kilometers outside the city center, where he has been detained since.
Mass alone
The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association thought they had found in Ma Daqin a consensual, even docile new bishop. Contrary to someone like Msgr Jin, who had spent 27 years in prison and saw any changes as improvements on the harsh situation of the past, the new generation has raised expectations, explains one Western expert on Catholicism in China. “There has been an unaccounted for tightening in the State policy since 2010, and the young generation is making clear they do not want to go any further in that direction,” he says.
Jin’s last wish was to leave behind him an appeased community. Last year, in an interview with Le Monde, he refused to make any comment on this reactionary movement, though he did express concern for younger generations of clergymen.
His successor remains cut off from the rest of the world. On a visit to his seminary last month, one of his friends explained that Monsignor Ma could have his meals with the other seminarians, but had to say Mass on his own.
“The freedom of Catholics is subjected to their obedience to the system,” his friend remarked. Being allowed to visit the bishop on house-arrest, he confirmed that Ma Daqin was still allowed to manage his account on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, on which verses of the Gospel are sometimes published. The bishop has been allowed a few visitors, but no foreigners, as it would “make things even worse for him.”
Since last summer, the government in Beijing has been undergoing a handover of power, while in Rome a new Pope was elected this spring. But if the new Chinese President Xi Jinping has been talking about reforming the party internally, he has not given any indication on the future of Catholics in China. As a priest explained to us, “the relationship with the Roman Church falls within the scope of Foreign Policy, and Xi Jinping’s stance on this is still unclear.”
As a friend of the new bishop, he hopes “the government will be more open on this and let Msgr Ma go back to Shanghai.”
For weeks, the government had been aware that Jin was dying, and intentionally kept his successor away from his Cathedral. Sources say he has now been removed even further, to the capital, Beijing.
Read the article in the original language.
Photo by – Heurik
via With New Leaders In Rome And Beijing, China’s Catholics Face Uncertain Future – All News Is Global |.
via With New Leaders In Rome And Beijing, China’s Catholics Face Uncertain Future – All News Is Global |.
New Cigarette Drink Helping Restricted Smokers Worldwide
LOS ANGELES – USA – A new nicotine cigarette drink is taking the world by storm because there is no smoke, it is safe to drink in public and it is cheaper than buying real cigarettes.
“This is an amazing innovation that will revolutionise the tobacco industry. You do not need to smoke a cigarette now, spill ash all over the place, get ciggy breath or be told to put it out in public. People can now enjoy our cigarettes anywhere, even in aeroplanes, court houses, schools, cafes, restaurants, gyms, wherever you want,” Dan Bottnik, brand marketing manager for the Philip Morris tobacco company told CNN Tuesday.
The main benefits of course will be for the health of smokers worldwide where coughing up a lung will now be a thing of the past.
The new Marlboro Light drinks will be released to the public with a grand ceremony in Beijing in the New Year.
“We decided that Beijing, China was the best place to introduce our product to the world because people here are such prolific smokers. Soon we will have menthol and Marlboro red pack drinks too,” the brand spokesman added.
Hollywood star, Charlie Sheen was said to be so enamoured by the new cigarette drinks that he said he wants a drip permanently in his arm filtering the drink into his veins. He will also be the face of the new Marlboro drinks in a multi million dollar sponsorship deal.
No more ash trays, butts or tobacco breath, this is a product made in heaven for smokers all over the world.
via New Cigarette Drink Helping Restricted Smokers Worldwide �.
via New Cigarette Drink Helping Restricted Smokers Worldwide .
Marrows on Mars: China reveals plans to grow vegetables in extra-terrestrial bases
Chinese astronauts are preparing plans to grow fresh vegetables on Mars and the moon after researchers successfully completed a preliminary test in Beijing.
Four kinds of vegetables were grown in an ‘ecological life support system’, a 300 cubic metre cabin which will allow astronauts to develop their own stocks of air, water and food while on space missions, Xinhua news agency said.
The system, which relies on plants and algae, is ‘expected to be used in extra-terrestrial bases on the moon or Mars’, the report said.
‘Chinese astronauts may get fresh vegetables and oxygen supplies by gardening in extra-terrestrial bases in the future,’ the report said, adding that the experiment was the first of its kind in China.
Participants in the experiment could ‘harvest fresh vegetables for meals’, Xinhua quoted Deng Yibing, a researcher at Beijing’s Chinese Astronaut Research and Training Centre, as saying.
In its last white paper on space, China said it was working towards landing a man on the moon — a feat so far only achieved by the United States, most recently in 1972 — although it did not give a time frame.
China’s first astronaut Yang Liwei said last month that Chinese astronauts may start a branch of China’s ruling Communist Party in space, state media reported.
‘If we establish a party branch in space, it would also be the ‘highest’ of its kind in the world,’ Xinhua quoted Yang as saying.
The astronaut was launched into space and orbited the earth aboard the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft in 2003.
via Marrows on Mars: China reveals plans to grow vegetables in extra-terrestrial bases | Mail Online.
via Marrows on Mars: China reveals plans to grow vegetables in extra-terrestrial bases | Mail Online.
Dalai Lama Gives Birth to Heir – Blames Chinese
Reports from Dharamsala, India, home of the Tibet-in-exile government, confirm that in the early hours of this morning, His Holiness, the Dalai Lama has given birth to a male heir.
The Dalai Lama was quoted as saying, “I was performing my early morning meditations as usual and sitting in the lotus position. I had just achieved a complete level of relaxation when I felt something drop. Naturally, I assumed it was my holy excrement, so I summoned my attendant to collect it for sale in Hollywood, again as usual. Imagine my surprise when I looked down and the little shit was looking back up at me!”
Followers of the Tibetan Buddhist leader were jubilant upon hearing the news that there was now an heir to the ailing Dalai Lama. Incense, firecrackers, prayer wheels and flags, chanting and colourful demonstrations quickly spread around the world. However, celebrations have now been dampened by the further announcement that the baby lama is Chinese.
A spokesman for the Dalai Lama has issued a strongly worded statement blaming the Chinese government for the birth. “We have inside information that it was definitely the Chinese. Except for His Holiness’ non-political trips to America, France, Britain, Mexico, Guatemala, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Canada, Morocco, Singapore, Japan, Norway, Peru, Cuba, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Nigeria, Jamaica, Taiwan did I include America?, in the past year, the Dalai Lama has been right here in the lamasery with the other monks. And believe me, Tibetan monks know how to have safe sex without conception.”
n an unusually swift reaction, the Chinese government in Beijing has also claimed that the baby lama is indeed Chinese. Lin Hung, the young, handsome and popular Chinese appointed governor of Tibet has claimed he is the father and that he and the Dalai Lama have been having a clandestine affair for the past two years. Hung claims that the Dalai Lama has made numerous visits to their secret lovenest in Lhasa disguised as a Buddhist monk.
The Dalai Lama’s attendant who was present at the birth has confirmed that Lin Hung is the likely father. “The baby lama has His Holiness’ ears, but everything else looked well Hung”, according to the attendant.
The Chinese authorities, and Tibetan Governor Lin Hung have invited the Dalai Lama and baby lama to return immediately to Tibet, and Potala Palace is being readied for their arrival. “The Chinese baby lama is a wonderful gift from the entire Chinese people to the Dalai Lama and all Tibetans. This baby will bring the peace and harmony we all so desperately want to restore”, said Chinese President Hu Jintao. Governor Lin Hong made a more emotional appeal directly to the Dalai Lama. “This was not just a dalaiance on my part. I love you and our baby lama. Please come home. If you don’t return, I will put a photo of our missing baby lama on every milk carton in China.”
In a move to ensure the return of the Dalai Lama and baby lama, the Chinese government in Beijing today issued an immediate order legalizing same sex marriage and granting partners and children of same sex relationships full and equal rights. To engender world support, the Chinese have also put in a bid for the 2012 Gay Olympics to be held in Lhasa with Governor Hung, the Dalai Lama and baby lama as official hosts. To protect the health and safety of baby lama, the Chinese government has also immediately banned the illegal melamine contamination of yak milk within 500 yards of Potala Palace and urged the Dalai Lama to breast feed.
A poll taken in Tibet by Chinese authorities immediately after the birth announcement shows that 117% of Tibetans want the Dalai Lama and baby lama to return. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3%. “It’s up to the Dalai Lama now to prove what kind of man he really is”, quipped a street vender outside Potala Palace hawking baby lama souvenirs.
via The Spoof : Dalai Lama Gives Birth to Heir – Blames Chinese funny satire story.
via The Spoof : Dalai Lama Gives Birth to Heir – Blames Chinese funny satire story.
China slams Dalai Lama; Tibetan self-immolates – The Economic Times
BEIJING: China accused the Dalai Lama of allying with Japanese right-wingers in an island dispute as a way of attacking China and blamed him for glorifying a wave of self-immolations among Tibetans. The comments came as another Tibetan set himself on fire to protest Chinese rule, Tibetan exiles and a rights group said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the Dalai Lama’s comments in Japan on the island dispute showed his “reactionary nature” and determination to split China apart under the guise of religion.
“To achieve his separatist goal, he associated with the Japanese right-wing forces. Chinese people despise him for what he did. We are firmly opposed to any country’s providing a stage for him,” Hong said.
Chinese media have said the Dalai Lama called the islands by their Japanese name during a news conference in Yokohama last Monday but an Associated Press review of a tape of the event showed he referred to them only as “the islands.”
In Okinawa, the Dalai Lama criticized Chinese media for making up a claim that he sided with the Japanese.
Tensions have run high over the islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, since the Japanese government nationalized some of them in September in a bid to prevent Tokyo’s right-wing governor from buying them. Violent anti-Japanese protests broke out in a number of Chinese cities, and Beijing has sent ships to conduct near-constant patrols near the uninhabited rocks.
Hong also attacked the Dalai Lama for reportedly accusing the Chinese government of failing to investigate the root cause of despair and hopelessness among Tibetans that many say have prompted people to take their lives as a form of protest. China has long accused the Dalai Lama and his supporters of inspiring such acts, despite his condemnation of all forms of violence.
“Not only did the Dalai not condemn them, but he actually glorified these acts, which are against the national law and religious principles,” Hong said.
The remarks came as a 24-year-old Tibetan man set himself on fire at a prayer ceremony in Tongren county in western China’s Qinghai province, becoming the seventh person in six days to self-immolate in the region, the rights group Free Tibet said.
Nyingkar Tashi is reported to have died in the protest in which he called out for freedom in Tibet and for the longevity of the Dalai Lama, the group said. A statement from the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharmsala, India, provided similar details.
A Tongren government official who picked up the phone said he could not comment, while Ma Chunyin, head of the Tongren Communist Party Propaganda Department, said he did not know about the reported self-immolation.
Tibet support groups overseas have said the increase in protests in recent days is meant to highlight Tibetan unhappiness with Chinese rule as the country’s leaders hand over power to younger successors at a party congress in Beijing.
“Throughout the 18th Party Congress the new unelected leaders have been reminded on an almost daily basis of Tibetans’ rejection of Chinese rule, and of the terrible failure of policies to cement the occupation,” Free Tibet Director Stephanie Brigden said.
The Dalai Lama fled to India following an abortive 1959 uprising against Chinese rule over Tibet. He denies seeking the region’s independence, saying that he wishes Tibetans to enjoy real autonomy and protection of their traditional Buddhist culture.
via China slams Dalai Lama; Tibetan self-immolates – The Economic Times.
via China slams Dalai Lama; Tibetan self-immolates – The Economic Times.
Has the Dalai Lama got this Totally Wrong?
Acts of self-immolation are in-principle non-violent: Dalai Lama
Tibetans committing self-immolations were in principle practising non-violence as they had the courage to sacrifice their own life for a cause they believe, Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama said on Sunday.
“I consider these Tibetans burning — certainly these people have courage and determination to sacrifice their own life, so they can easily harm other people — but I think these people, although they practised a little bit of violence, but I think in principle they still practise non-violence,” the Dalai Lama said.
He said that the younger generation of Tibetans in Tibet these days have stronger determination as compared to earlier generations.
The Nobel Peace laureate cautioned that the situation in Tibet is serious. “Now, things are serious. Whether Chinese government agrees or not, there are problems and these problems are neither good for Tibetans or for the people of China. So, we have to find a solution based on mutual understanding and mutual respect,” he said.
He was addressing the members of Tibet Support Groups from all over the world who have gathered here to discuss the ongoing situation in Tibet.
The TSG pledged to mobilise the international community to press the Chinese government to find a lasting and mutually-agreeable solution to the Tibet issue.
On the concluding day of the Special International Tibet Support Groups Meeting organised here from November 16 to 18, the TSG members expressed solidarity with Tibetans inside Tibet for their unwavering determination to non-violence.
Over 200 members of the TSG from 43 countries carried out extensive discussions to find solutions to the Tibet issue.
via Acts of self-immolation are in-principle non-violent: Dalai Lama – World – DNA.
via Acts of self-immolation are in-principle non-violent: Dalai Lama – World – DNA.
Will Chinese consumers lead the world? –
Hong Kong (CNN) — When Shaun Rein drives to Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport, about 10 minutes outside the airfield, he begins to notice a line of cars — including Rolls Royces and Bentleys — parked along the side of the highway.
“Why? It’s because these people, who can spend a million dollars on a car, don’t want to spend $2 on parking at the garage,” said Rein, managing director at China Market Research Group.
For Chinese leaders, the nation’s newfound wealth represents a bumpy road as it tries to steer the nation on a new economic path. The ruling Communist Party (CCP) continues meetings this week for the 18th Party Congress, where it is expected to select Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang to become the president and premier, respectively, of China for the next decade.
One of the great challenges the new leadership faces is to move the economy — currently driven by exports and investment — toward a more sustainable course led by domestic consumer spending. While domestic consumption is rising, it still makes up just over one-third of the China’s total economy. American consumers, by comparison, power more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy.
China youth have savings rate near zero China’s migrants struggle More reforms in China’s future? Challenges for China’s new leaders
Much has been made of China’s growing group of super rich which has spurred record sales for luxury goods makers such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Prada. The nation has an estimated one million people with a net worth of $1 million or more, and that is expected to grow 2.5 times in the next three years, Rein said.
But much of the hope of the rising domestic spending rests with China’s growing middle class. There are an estimated 350 million people in China’s middle class, which are households that earn between $6,000 and $15,000, Rein said. A government think tank predicted last week that by 2020 there will be 600 million Chinese earning middle-class incomes.
“But they are not really middle class in the American sense. In the U.S., you’re born a blue collar worker, your parents were blue collar, your grandparents — and you’re proud of that, you have that identity. And you like to shop at Macy’s on special occasions,” Rein said.
“In China, you don’t have that — that doesn’t really exist. Everyone here says they’re going to be rich,” he added.
That growth represents eye-popping opportunities for foreign multinationals and domestic companies. Chinese consumers prefer overseas brands for consumer electronics yet favor domestic companies for personal care or household items, according to a recent report by McKinsey & Company. And foreign companies that got into the market early — such as General Motors — are now raking in record profits.
But as outgoing President Hu Jintao noted last week, concerns remain. He set an ambitious target for 2020 to double per capita income in China from 2010 levels for both rural and urban dwellers to address the rising wealth disparity. China’s per capita income was $4,423 in 2010, according to the International Monetary Fund. “Unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable development remains a big problem,” Hu said in his speech at the Party congress.
“I think what’s more alarming or more worrisome is how big is it going to get? Will it continue to grow and drive economic growth not only in China but for the world? Or will it stagnate under a mountain of new debt — debt from expensive housing to the cost of educating your kids to health care costs?” said Karl Gerth, author of “As China Goes, So Goes the World: How Chinese Consumers Are Transforming Everything.”
“These are all things that the government is trying to address by reinstituting some semblance of a social safety net, so instead of saving 40 or 50% of their disposable incomes, people can start to spend it,” adds Gerth, who teaches at Merton College of the University of Oxford.
For foreign companies, there are mounting worries of roadblocks from Beijing to prevent access to the growing Chinese domestic market. Last summer, a report from the European Union Chamber of Commerce showed that more than 40% of members said they think government policies for multinational companies are less fair than two years ago, and 22% say they may move investments out of the country as a result.
As Time’s Michael Shuman recently wrote, a new Chinese Great Wall — constructed of regulations and restrictions — are making it harder for foreign companies to compete with domestic players in the Chinese consumer market. “Things that were easy are less easy,” Michael Dunne, president of the Hong Kong-based auto consultancy Dunne & Co., told Time, adding that carmakers “have to work harder to get what they want. Free access is not part of the equation.”
Still, more cash is trickling down to Chinese laborers. More than half of the country’s growth last year “has come from domestic consumption, and it’s really because the government is pushing for more money to go into the pocket of everyday Chinese — 21 of China’s 31 provinces increased the minimum wage by 22%,” Rein said.
“So what you’re seeing is Chinese are getting wealthier, they’re starting to spend more,” he said. “That’s why you saw retail sales growth of 14.2% last month.”
misebogland 