Today’s Links:

THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT *

1. China to lay off five to six million workers, earmarks at least $23 billion | Reuters China’s leadership, obsessed with maintaining stability and making sure redundancies do not lead to unrest, will spend nearly 150 billion yuan ($23 billion) to cover layoffs in just the coal and steel sectors in the next 2-3 years. The overall figure is likely to rise as closures spread to other industries and even more funding will be required to handle the debt left behind by “zombie” state firms.

Related: China’s state-owned zombie economy – FT “[President] Xi Jinping probably believes that a large state-enterprise sector is good,” says Yukon Huang, former China country director at the World Bank and senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “He looks towards the west and sees that major companies are big and getting bigger. When China’s leaders look overseas at so-called ‘market’ economies, they don’t get the sense that big companies and big mergers are bad.”

Related: As China slashes coal jobs, miners protest in Party’s revolutionary base – The Washington Post The coal mines of Anyuan in southeastern China hold a special place in the history of the Chinese Communist Party. For it was here, nearly a century ago, that Mao Zedong and other intellectuals leading the brand new Communist Party made their first connection with ordinary workers, helping to unionize and mobilize them for what is known as the Great Strike of 1922. On Tuesday, though, hundreds of coal miners from Anyuan and nearby mines marched through the city of Pingxiang — to protest not on behalf of the Communist Party but against it. // the famous painting “Chairman Mao Goes to Anyuan”

Related: China’s PMI Reports Show Slowdown Deepening as Services Slip – Bloomberg Business The manufacturing purchasing managers index dropped to 49 in February, missing the median estimate of 49.4 in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. It hasn’t been weaker since January 2009. Numbers below 50 indicate conditions worsened. In a sign China’s slowdown is spreading, the non-manufacturing PMI — which has been outperforming the factory measure — fell to the lowest level since December 2008.The central bank late Monday stepped up efforts to cushion demand amid plunging stock prices and a weakening currency, freeing up the amount of cash the nation’s banks can lend. The National People’s Congress will gather Saturday, where plans for 2016 and the next five years will be outlined.

2. Heat rises on China tycoon Ren Zhiqiang – FT David Kelly, director of research at consultancy China Policy, said the affair had shocked Chinese society. “He’s crossed a line which is not just disrespectful to the emperor,” he said. “He represents a trend in society which is totally fed up. I was at a dinner party last night and the tone was disbelief.” Mr Ren, who for years has enjoyed engaging China’s leftists in fierce online battles, is controversial because of his statements and the wealth he earned by selling land owned by bankrupt state enterprises to property developers. But his forthright social and political comments have gained him popularity.  //  Wonder how worried Xi is about some of the Beijing elite, among the biggest beneficiaries of China corruption in last decade, being unhappy with him…one of the recurring dark jokes (Beijingers especially seem good at gallows humor) over my last year in Beijing was that Xi’s vision for China meant there would only be poor people and slaves left living there…No question the Beijing elite is unhappy that Xi has changed the rules, but after Wang Gongquan, Ren Zhiqiang, CITIC Securities and the hyper-connected families surrounding it, among other examples, is there much doubt there is more to come, and with higher cost applied to make sure everyone is getting the message? The real question for those who think this dissatisfaction and “resistance” to Xi may lead to attempts to remove him is how, exactly would such a removal work now that the elders who might have aided such a move seem neutered, Xi, at least from here, looks very much in control of the sources of hard power like the security services and the PLA and he has done a good job of demonstrating the costs of “resistance”? It is easy to see there is resistance, difficult to see how that translates into action. We should also remember that for every official who goes down another gets promoted and likely feels very grateful to Xi, and we should never underestimate the power of opportunism. 

Related: Beijing CPC committee vows punishment for Ren Zhiqiang – Xinhua  A Beijing district committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) pledged severe intraparty penalties for Ren Zhiqiang, a celebrity blogger and property developer whose accounts were closed for allegedly spreading illegal information. The Xicheng district committee of the CPC on Monday issued a circular saying Ren, “as a CPC member, has been releasing illegal information and making inappropriate comments online, resulting in a vile influence and damage to the party image.” // 北京市西城区委：将依据党纪处分条例严肃处理任志强 some speculating that the lack of “comrade” in this announcement means that at best Ren gets kicked out of the Party. Worst case could be much worse for Ren and his various business partners over the years, who include some famous and much loved, by the western media at least, real estate developers…

Related: 安生：任志强在为谁讲话？——之房产经纪论【原创】 第二、任志强作为国企领导人，有责任做大做强国企。但是，他掌控的华远集团，却始终半死不活。相反，他的铁哥们潘石屹的公司SOHO中国却做得风生水起。值得注意的是，两家公司间有密切业务往来的，而且基本是国有的华远集团蚀本，民营的SOHO中国盈利。任志强为什么要和他的铁哥们进行这样蚀本的交易，他是不是在搞监守自盗？任志强、潘石屹自己心知肚明！// online hit pieces already starting to dig at Ren’s ties with SOHO China and Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin, will SOHO China’s crisis PR be effective this time, or is it going to turn into more than a PR issue?

Related: 重拳净网孙海英等大V更要一拳千钧-新闻频道-手机搜狐 重拳净网孙海英等大V更要一拳千钧-新闻频道-手机搜狐 actor Sun Haiying under attack after his Weibo account closed last week. Ren was the big cannon but this crackdown part of something much broader

3. More Chinese cities unveil measures to boost home buying | Reuters China’s leaders have made reducing excess stock in the housing market a key task for in 2016 and more than 130 cities have already announced measures to support the housing market. The northeastern city of Shenyang will allow young people who have graduated from universities and vocational schools within the last five years to buy homes with zero downpayments when using the housing provident fund to finance home purchases, the official Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday. //meanwhile expect new restrictions in Shenzhen, Shanghai and possibly Beijing

Related: 新华社：警惕一线城市房价非理性上涨-新闻-上海证券报·中国证券网 中国证券网讯 新华社2月29日晚间发布评论文章称，春节后一线城市楼市火爆，房价持续上涨，其中的非理性因素应引起高度关注。 文章表示，在此关键节点，地方政府应及时回应社会关切，引导市场预期，切实防止房价过快上涨，防止投机需求利用金融杠杆炒房。//Xinhua warns on irrational price increases in tier 1 property markets

Related: 沈阳房产新政下发：大学生可零首付买房|贷款|房地产_新浪财经_新浪网 full text of the new Shenyang real estate measures

Related: 沈阳房价现在是个什么情况？_数字说频道_财新网 2016年2月沈阳房价跌至2011年7月水平，2015年当地刺激政策连番推出但收效甚微，无论是库存绝对规模还是存销比，沈阳在全国的大中城市里均名列前茅 //Caixin looks at the Shenyang real estate market as background for the new measures

Related: 南京房价涨幅仅次于北上广深 官方称已超出“理性判断” | 每经网 2016年1月，南京市新建商品住宅价格同比上涨10.8%，涨幅仅次于深圳、上海、北京；二手住宅价格同比上涨7.7%，涨幅仅次于北上广深四个一线城市。 //  January real estate prices up big, Nanjing fastest growth after tier 1 cities. Can see the logic for Chinese buyers, cash harder to get abroad, stock market looks like dead money, so default to real estate…

Related: 上海1套房8个月涨500万 购房者:干30年不如买房_新闻频道_中华网 【8个月一套房涨500万！购房者：工作30年不如买套房…】上海一手房价格上扬也带动二手房火爆。数据显示，上海二手房市场成交连续两个月突破4万套大关。上海买房者称去年6月份买的一套房到现在涨了500万，涨了百分之七八十。工作再辛苦努力不如买套房，成为很多购房者的内心写照  //  bit of a real estate frenzy in Shanghai right now

Related: China’s real estate land use plunges in 2015 – Xinhua China’s supply of state-owned construction land declined in 2015, with land used for real estate development dropping the most, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR). Total state-owned construction land slumped 12.5 percent year on year to 534,000 hectares in 2015, while land used for real estate development plummeted 20.9 percent to 120,000 hectares.

Related: China Sweetens Home-Ownership Deals for Rural Dwellers – WSJ Score one for the government’s effort to resolve China’s potentially crippling housing glut partly by encouraging rural dwellers to buy urban homes. In recent months, local governments in more than 100 cities have accelerated efforts to do this by loosening measures such as tax cuts, widened quotas for government-subsidized housing loans and cash subsidies.

Related: Investing in Chinese Stocks—投资大中华地区股市: Nexus of China’s Credit and Housing Bubble: HomeLink’s Two Week High Interest House Flipping Loans Funded From Own P2P Finance Platform Summary: HomeLink, a major realtor with offices all over China, got into the finance business a little over a year ago with little regulatory oversight. The Shanghai government is investigating. Putting the various reports posted below together, it appears the firm was engaged in risky lending practices at the very least. At the worst (in terms of financial risk, if not illegality), it was making high interest loans to house flippers, which one can assume it was earning commissions on, and funding these loans (which charged as much as 2% monthly interest in Shanghai) from its P2P finance platform, while also acting as the credit guarantor of those investment products. Before we get to the credit mayhem unleashed by HomeLink, let’s look at soaring home prices in China, which serve as the backdrop for this madness.

4. In a Harvard Scholar’s 18th-Century History, Glimpses of Modern China – The New York Times How does an autocratic ruler trample on the law? How does a bureaucracy manipulate the ruler? How does a government accommodate people of unconventional lifestyles and beliefs? The Harvard historian Philip A. Kuhn cited these as questions worth exploring in his preface to the Chinese translation of a book he wrote about 18th-century China. His death last month at the age of 82 has revived these questions for those who see striking parallels with contemporary politics. // Soulstealers: The Chinese Sorcery Scare of 1768 is a must read

5. 坚持尊重网络主权原则 推动构建网络空间命运共同体 — 学习习近平总书记在第二届世界互联网大会上重要讲话精神的体会与思考 2016年02月29日 08:00:00 来源：《求是》2016/5　作者：鲁 炜 //  Lu Wei has essay in the latest Seeking Truth/Qiushi on Internet Sovereignty

Related: China Reality Check: China’s “Internet Sovereignty” Initiative: Origins and Consequences | Center for Strategic and International Studies video of an interesting panel on Monday about a topic that should be getting much more attention  //  China has stepped up its efforts over the past year, most recently during the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen. If successful, this initiative could have wide consequences for not only the Internet, but also for a wide range of industries, the media, and information accessibility.

6. 在中国特色强军之路上阔步前行（治国理政新实践）–时政–人民网 ——党的十八大以来习近平主席和中央军委推进强军兴军纪实  //  massive People’s Daily commentary on the efforts to build a strong army with Chinese characteristics

7. Q. and A.: Minxin Pei on the Future of Communist Rule in China – The New York Times Historically, no autocratic regimes have survived for more than 74 years, because of the decay of their ideology and the corruption of the ruling elites. The Communist Party will have been in power for 81 years by 2030.  // Interesting that Dr. Pei doesn’t consider the many Chinese dynasties that lasted more than 74 years as “autocratic regimes”, that hat seems like a potential oversight, ignoring China’s own history and political culture. He is very articulate and may be right this time, or eventually, but as this interview notes he has expected the CCP to collapse since even before Gordon Chang started his prognostications. I remember when Dr. Pei gave a job talk at SAIS (Spring of 95 I believe) and touched on this theme…guess I am dating myself and perhaps too quickly falling into skepticism that just because people have been wrong for more than two decades they will not be right now….It is certainly possible (isn’t anything with China?), certainly another embedded bias to guard against…

8. Dim Sums: Rural China Economics and Policy: China Grain Price Reform Imminent, Official Says Chen Xiwen, vice director of the leadership group on rural work, made the statements at a meeting on rural affairs sponsored by Farmers Daily on February 27. Chen said the reform of the mechanism for determining corn prices would move ahead because the grain is used as an industrial raw material and animal feed and because corn has the most prominent contradictions with excessive inventories and other issues. Chen did not specify whether the reform would be a lowering of the “temporary reserve” price for the 2016 crop or an elimination of the program altogether.

BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE *

China reaffirms stable exchange rate, moving forward structural reform – Xinhua When meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew in Beijing, Li said China will continue to pursue a managed floating exchange rate regime based on market supply and demand and with reference to a basket of currencies, and will keep the exchange rate basically stable on a reasonable and balanced level. He added that China will be more forceful in proactive fiscal policy, and will continue structural reform, especially on the supply side to foster new growth drivers and revitalize traditional drivers.

剑南春董事长乔天明失联_公司频道_财新网 财新记者多方采访获悉，剑南春（集团） 有限责任公司（以下简称剑南春集团）董事长、党委书记乔天明已失联多日。剑南春集团是中国著名的白酒企业，总部位于四川省绵竹市。多位当地人士确认，2015年5月开始，乔天明长期失联。2015年12月，乔天明曾短暂返回绵竹，签署完一些授权文件后，他就离开了工作岗位。

DEUTSCHE BANK: $328 billion has been moved out of China in secret – Business Insider Here’s Deutsche Bank (emphasis ours): We provide evidence in this report, however, to show that misreporting imports and exports is the key way to evade capital controls. According to official banking statistics, importers in China paid USD2.2tr for goods imports in 2015, yet Customs recorded only USD1.7tr of such imports. On a monthly basis, this discrepancy widens when the market expects more RMB depreciation.

Airbus, Boeing See Politics Makes Business Sense in China – Bloomberg Business “It’s absolutely undeniable there’s been a communication of Chinese expectations for companies to build in China, to provide jobs in China, that they will be treated less equitably otherwise,” said Scott Harold, the Washington-based associate director of Rand Corp.’s Center for Asia Pacific Policy. “If you build in China, you’re a ‘friend’ of China.”  //  not really a “friend”, just useful…

How a Vancouver political science grad became China’s shadow banking sleuth – The Globe and Mail Vancouver-born Jason Bedford, director of Asian financials research at UBS, was warning about the dangers in the shadows of China’s banking system long before the world began to panic over the country’s mounting credit..China will not, Mr. Bedford insists, fall into a credit crisis and, unless things take a dramatic turn, he sees no reason for the kind of contagion that spread from the U.S. in 2008 and 2009. He believes the best Chinese banks have gained a degree of savvy few properly appreciate – “who is the more efficient lender, CIBC or ICBC? I might be inclined toward ICBC.”

China PBOC Gives Feb Details of Targeted Tools For Injection | MNI

Executive at Heart of Bad Loan Guarantee Scandal Said to Be Detained-Caixin An executive who oversaw a troubled 50 billion yuan lending program at a loan guarantee company has been detained by Communist Party graft busters, a person with knowledge of the probe says. Li Lingcheng was taken away by investigators from the party’s graft buster, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, on February 17, the source said. Li was once president of Hebei Financing Investment Holding Group Co. Ltd. and later served as its party boss.

Chinese pitch big M&A break-up fees, small stakes to allay U.S. regulatory fears – Business Insider Chinese companies are offering to pay record break-up fees and are willing to settle for minority stakes in U.S. mergers and acquisitions in an attempt to assuage concerns of potential overseas partners about regulatory snags scuttling the deals.

JD.com’s revenue growth beats expectations | Reuters JD.com, China’s second biggest e-commerce company behind Alibaba, has reported better than expected revenue growth in the last three months of 2015 as volume sales on its platforms jumped in the face of China’s economic slowdown. “Despite the macro slowdown the consumption growth remains healthy,” said Sidney Huang, JD.com’s chief financial officer.

五论习近平经济观｜两会瞩目十三五，五大发展理念贯穿全程_中南海_澎湃新闻-The Paper 清华大学政治学系主任、教授张小劲接受澎湃新闻（www.thepaper.cn）采访时表示，创新、协调、绿色、开放、共享的五大发展理念不仅是以习近平为总书记的本届中央领导集体掌舵中国经济社会发展的“指南针”，也充分体现了本届中央领导集体对世界经济发展规律的新认识。

POLITICS AND LAW *

不断开拓治国理政新境界 来源：《求是》2016/5　　作者：秋 石 “Qiushi” Commentary in the latest Seeking Truth/Qiushi-“continuously break ground in the new realm of governing the country”

China completes vehicle reform for central government – Xinhua A total of 3,868 official cars across 140 central government departments were taken out of service by the end of 2015, accounting for 62 percent of all government vehicles. All impounded cars, after their legal documents are verified, will be either auctioned or dismantled depending on their condition.

Legislature Lost 25 Members to Graft since Last Year’s Meeting-Caixin Twenty-five people who were members of China’s top legislature last year will not be attending the annual meeting this year because they have been kicked out for graft or are under investigation. Nearly 3,000 members of the National People’s Congress (NPC) will meet in the capital on March 5 for a full, annual meeting. The agenda, as usual, includes deliberating over a report the government writes on its work over the past year and studying a plan for economic and social development from 2016 to 2020.

Beijing grounds non-commercial flights as it goes on full alert for annual people’s congress | South China Morning Post don’t miss this annual tightening, will a renewed crackdown on VPNs be included?  //  In a national teleconference on Monday, Guo Shengkun, the minister of public security, called on police authorities to tighten controls throughout the congress period. Guo inspected two security checkpoints in suburban Beijing’s Fangshan district and Zhuozhou in neighbouring Hebei province on Monday, telling police officers to ensure all people, vehicles and items entering Beijing were “clean”, according to the ministry’s website.

指导做好新形势下党的新闻舆论工作的纲领性文献 —— 学习贯彻习近平总书记在党的新闻舆论工作座谈会上重要讲话精神 2016年02月29日 08:00:00 来源:《求是》2016/5 作者：本刊评论员 // essay in the latest Seeking Truth/Qiushi on Xi’s recent comments about managing the media

新华社副社长于绍良空降湖北省委组织部长_政经频道_财新网 Yu Shaoliang promoted from deputy head of Xinhua to head of Hubei Organization Department, Caixin notes that since the 18th Party Congress 20 provincial organization departments have had leadership changes.. His predecessor demoted for leaking secrets about CCDI inspection tour  //此前的2月4日，中央纪委监察部网站发布消息，湖北省委原常委、组织部长贺家铁被查出在担任中央巡视组副组长期间，泄露巡视工作秘密，以及严重违反中央八项规定精神等问题，已被撤销党内职务，行政撤职，降为正厅级非领导职务。贺家铁成为陈柏槐（湖北省政协原副主席）、郭有明（湖北省原副省长）后，湖北落马的第三位副省级官员。

中央党校开学，刘云山讲话：深刻汲取“周薄徐郭令”反面教训_中国政库_澎湃新闻-The Paper 刘云山说，看齐是重大的政治原则，是党的力量所在、优势所在。协调推进“四个全面”战略布局，贯彻落实好五大发展理念，决胜全面建成小康社会，关键在党，在党中央集中统一领导，在全党队列整齐、步调一致。讲看齐，对党员干部来说，不是个人的小事，而是事关政治方向的大事；不是一般的品行要求，而是党性要求。

证监会纪委书记王会民改任中央纪委驻证监会纪检组组长_人事风向_澎湃新闻-The Paper 澎湃新闻（www.thepaper.cn）记者从中国证监会官网“领导班子”栏目获悉，原任中国证监会纪委书记、党委委员的王会民已经改任中央纪委驻中国证监会纪检组组长、党委委员。 公开简历显示，现年57岁的王会民（1959.2）籍贯甘肃，工商管理硕士，1975年7月参加工作。

黑龙江政法委书记杨东奇任山东省委常委_政经频道_财新网 山东蓬莱人，长期任职高校，39岁踏入仕途，50岁跻身副省级；前任高晓兵已出任民政部党组成员；现任13名山东省委常委中，除了省长郭树清、省委副书记龚正、济南市委书记王文涛，其余十名常委全部是山东籍干部

民政部副部长邹铭任广东省委常委_政经频道_财新网 长期任职民政部，从事自然灾害与风险管理研究，曾负责2008年中国南方雪灾、“5.12”汶川地震和玉树地震的救灾工作，一年前升任民政部副部长；广东省委常委已达14人，比换届之初超员一人

财政部驻京官员向企业借1000万 遭拒后竟开罚单_凤凰资讯 CCDI reports on a ministry of finance official who asked a company for a 10m RMB loan, was rejected, then fined the company. Is it any wonder Xi has launched a cadre cultural revolution, the corruption is so systemic….

中纪委机关报曝腐败亚文化：送钱两天办出户口，不送等5个月_打虎记_澎湃新闻-The Paper 2月28日，中纪委机关报刊文《“腐败亚文化”就在身边》，报道一些地方群众办事难，托关系、送礼成风问题。 文章说，在“腐败亚文化”流毒的影响下，似乎求医、求学、求职都得“求人”，办企业、上项目、买房子都需要“找关系”，“章子不如条子，条子不如面子”，“有关系走遍天下，没关系寸步难行”……诸如此类的潜规则，看起来无影无踪，却又无处不在。

FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS *

Xi meets special envoy of Vietnam’s communist party chief – Xinhua Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Hoang Binh Quan, the special envoy of Vietnam’s communist party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, on Monday, pledging to boost party-to-party relationship and bilateral ties. Quan conveyed a message from Nguyen Phu Trong to Xi. In his message, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee said the two nations are close neighbors that share the same political system and have many common fundamental interests. Developing a stable, reciprocal and cooperative bilateral relationship is both a historical responsibility and a realistic requirement, and is in the fundamental and long-term interests of the two peoples as well.

Xi backs “China-U.S. Tourism Year” – Xinhua In a message to a ceremony launching the “China-U.S. Tourism Year” in Beijing on Monday, Xi said the relationship between the two countries since they forged diplomatic ties has not only benefited China and the United States, but also promoted peace, stability and prosperity worldwide. The president said he hopes the two sides will take advantage of the tourism year, noting both China and the United States boast colorful culture and beautiful scenery, and their people share strong aspirations to get to know each other more deeply.

Major powers team up to tell China of concerns over new laws | Reuters The United States, Canada, Germany, Japan and the European Union have written to China to express concern over three new or planned laws, including one on counterterrorism, in a rare joint bid to pressure Beijing into taking their objections seriously. The U.S., Canadian, German and Japanese ambassadors signed a letter dated Jan. 27 addressed to State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun, voicing unease about the new counterterrorism law, the draft cyber security law, and a draft law on management of foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

在那云飞浪卷的南海上 – 解放军报 – 中国军网 永兴岛，军民的比例为3∶1。尽管岛不大，但“五脏”俱全，处处彰显着国家主权。“你瞧，1栋办公大楼就囊括了党委、人大、政府等机构。而居委会办公楼，同时也是居民活动中心、避风避险所、民兵哨所、战时指挥所，实现‘五所合一’。”谈起军民“爱国爱岛、乐守天涯”的精神，在岛上住了17年的渔民林尤辉拿出几张照片娓娓道来。

Trump’s get tough on China policy same as Romney’s – POLITICO That’s not déjà vu you’re feeling when Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump starts describing how he’s going to get tough against China to win on trade. The policy he’s peddling is actually the same as the one Mitt Romney suggested in his losing 2012 presidential campaign, experts say, and it could backfire by allowing Beijing to slap sanctions on the U.S., reports Pro Trade’s Doug Palmer.

迟浩田之子迟星北转任陆军后勤部政委_政经频道_财新网 迟浩田上将之子、原总装备部陆装科订部政委迟星北少将，已平级转任陆军后勤部政委。 //  Chi Haotian’s son Maj. Gen Chi Xingbei gets a new job

做好新形势下军队宣传思想工作的根本遵循 —— 学习贯彻习主席视察解放军报社的重要讲话精神 2016年02月29日 08:00:00 来源：《求是》2016/5　　作者：中央军委政治工作部

HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN *

Hong Kong Bookseller Denies Kidnapped by China, Says to Renounce UK Citizenship – The New York Times A Hong Kong bookseller and British passport holder who disappeared last year said he had not been kidnapped by Chinese authorities, as many suspect, but had sneaked into China illegally and that he would renounce his British citizenship…In a 20-minute interview with China’s Phoenix Television late on Monday, Lee gave the first detailed account of his disappearance from Hong Kong in December, saying he had returned to China voluntarily.

It’s Actually Really Hard To Figure Out What Counts As A “Banned Book” In China – BuzzFeed News We tried to figure out what books Hong Kong booksellers aren’t allowed to sell and it turns out there’s no real list.

TECH AND MEDIA *

Meituan ‘Probed over Charge It Broke Payment Rules’-Caixin Tipster tells PBOC that group-buying firm ran payment service even though it lacks license, prompting central bank to investigate, source says

BBC’s Carrie Gracie: ‘China is difficult – a giant piece of history rising’ | Media | The Guardian The corporation’s China editor on going beyond Beijing, how James Harding created a role for her, and the News channel’s future

Oscar Streams Canceled as Online Video Rules Tighten – China Digital Times (CDT) Online speculation pointed to the nomination of two documentary films with politically sensitive themes, Global Times reported.

SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY *

China preparing to raise retirement age: report – People’s Daily Online China will set a plan to raise the statutory retirement age in 2017 to relieve pressures from an aging population, an official researcher said. “The plan is likely to be implemented in 2022 after a five-year transitional period,” China News Service quoted Jin Weigang, a researcher with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, as saying Saturday.

Mega Fail: How A Bestselling American Futurist Lost His Way In China | Beijing Cream there are apologists. And there are Apologists. I doubt many readers will be that familiar with John Naisbitt, or his 1980s Megatrends franchise. But back when it was “Morning in America,” Naisbitt’s book Megatrends (1982) sold the best part of 14 million copies and was widely hailed as having predicted “the Information Age.” Now this aging visionary is embedded in China, and I was eager to see his predictions for an Asian-Pacific century. In hindsight, I’d have been better off staying at home, reading straight from the Communist Party copybook

余杰：否定“文革”，任重道远 – 现代 – 共识网—在大变革时代寻找共识 我们把真话、真相留给后人，为的是告诉他们这样的悲剧绝对不能在中国的大地上重演。那么文革还会发生吗?这恰恰是我们最为担心的问题。虽然“文革”结束已经有40年了，但是这个40年里发生的许多事情在证明，这样的担心不是空穴来风的。 //  Yu Jie on the difficulties of negating the Cultural Revolution

Allegiance | ChinaFile – Sinica Podcast Kaiser and Jeremy recorded today’s show from New York, where they waylaid Holly Chang, founder of Project Pengyou and now Acting Executive Director of the Committee of 100, for a discussion on spying, stealing commercial spying, spying, and Broadway. Yes, you read that right. After catching the Broadway musical Allegiance, about the Japanese-American internment camps in WWII, we wanted to do a show discussing the experiences people of Chinese heritage have with racial profiling today, and particularly the experiences of the Chinese diaspora community in the United States

Xinhua Video- Toddler falls from boot of moving vehicle, lands in middle of road in E China, rescued by passenger in car behind terrifying, China a long way from child car seats…

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH *

Closer Look: Hospital Scalpers Anger Many, Stay in Business Anyway-Caixin Two men who say they profit by reselling appointments to see doctors insist they can survive crackdown prompted by woman’s rant in viral video

Beijing Prohibits Public Hospitals from Using Commercial Appointment Booking Services | Marbridge Consulting – China Internet News The Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning released a notice on February 24 requiring that doctors and staff at Beijing’s public hospitals cease to use appointment-booking services offered by commercial service providers. The notice said that any worker using these types of service should stop doing so immediately, and that those who were seeking to use their positions for personal gain were violating regulations as such conduct is unlawful. Those who fail to comply with the request will face disciplinary actions by the Ministry of Supervision and, potentially, investigation and prosecution, with those suspected of having broken the law to be handed over to the judicial authorities.

State of minds | The Economist Already about 9m people in China have some form of dementia. In absolute terms, that is more than twice as many as in America. It is also more than double the number in India, a country with a population similar in size to China’s but a much younger one. Nearly two-thirds of China’s sufferers have the form known as Alzheimer’s, cases of which have tripled since 1990. The number of Alzheimer’s patients may increase another fourfold between now and 2050.

EDUCATION *

Q. and A.: Zhang Fan on Chinese ‘Parachute Kids’ in the U.S. – The New York Times His English has improved a lot. He already knew lots of words but found it hard to speak. But now he’s in prison, and there are no other Chinese there. So he’s improved really quickly.

领导“抹香香”事件隐情：被辞老师超生，官员帮协调视频没播_直击现场_澎湃新闻-The Paper 3次报道，引发3个热点。河南乡村教师丁学玉的遭遇最近牵动人心。 2月23日，一篇电视报道，《26年后才知被“辞退”谁造就了“黑户”教师？》，68岁的丁老师进入公众视野，他质疑“辞退”无缘无故，让他丢失教师身份。在新闻中，被剪辑进去的河南鲁山县委群工部部长汤钦意外走红。镜头里，他正在脸上抹几把护肤膏，同时回答问题：“我是当领导的，不可能每件事都知道具体”……

FOOD AND TRAVEL *

Peking restaurant guide, 1977 what a piece of history

BEIJING *

Beijing life expectancy nears 82 years – Xinhua The life expectancy rose by 0.14 years from the figure in 2014, the commission said. The infant mortality rate was 0.21 percent. The top three fatal diseases were cancer, heart diseases and cerebral vascular diseases, according to the report.

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