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Chinese officials; Spending less? Or hiding it better? (The Economist Analects Blog)
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- Billionaires Big at China’s Annual Political Conclave (THE WSJ CHINA REAL TIME REPORT BLOG)
Chinese officials; Spending less? Or hiding it better? (The Economist Analects Blog)Mar 7th 2013 by J.C. | BEIJING http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2013/03/chinese-officials ORDERS from China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, for government officials to ease up on their guzzling of expensive grain liquor and their lavish banqueting have left restaurants and hotels in Beijing scrambling to help put up a façade of austerity during two key political gatherings now underway. Officials taking part in the meetings—the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)—have been in Beijing since March 3rd and have come from all over the country. But they have been careful to avoid ostentation and conspicuous consumption since December, when, on a visit to Hebei province, Mr Xi launched an austerity campaign for party and government officials. While there, he had a widely publicised (and conspicuously modest) meal of four simple dishes and a soup. Since then, instead of hosting lavish “banquets,” a four-star hotel chain in Beijing has been organising “receptions” for government events. Although the costs of both kinds of functions are the same, it makes officials look as if they are behaving, says the hotel’s event manager. “They are not spending less, they are just hiding it better,” says Mr Lee, a local businessman who works with high-end restaurants in the city, but does not want his full name used. On the evening of March 5th, the opening day of the NPC, the public dining rooms were nearly empty at the government-owned Beijing Hotel (pictured). But the lobby lifts were not. Delegates and pass-holding guests were riding them up to the hotel’s private halls. At Tian Di Yi Jia, a nearby luxury restaurant also favoured by officials, nearly a dozen black Audis and BMWs were parked outside the discreet entrance. Inside, only one table of foreigners was seated in the main dining room, but the reservation list showed many of the private rooms booked through the duration of the two meetings, which will end March 17th. Willy Lam, a specialist in Chinese politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, says Mr Xi’s austerity drive has all the trappings of a classic public relations exercise. “There are 1,001 ways to fool the auditors, and the campaign will have very minimal adverse impact on China’s GDP growth. Media reports saying otherwise have been exaggerating,” he says. In February, China’s Ministry of Commerce reported that nationwide sales of high-end spirits fell by about 30% over the Lunar New Year. The ministry said sales have also fallen recently at high-end eateries by 35% in Beijing and by 20% in Shanghai. Although independent analysts have confirmed a significant drop in luxury markets’ performance, this does not mean austerity measures will lead to institutional changes and constraints on official corruption over the long term, says Cheng Li, director of China research at the Brookings Institution, an American think-tank. A better test of Mr Xi’s commitment to fighting corruption will be his ability to pass laws forcing government officials and their family members to declare their assets and financial activities. Up to now, it has fallen to foreign news media to shed light on the assets and financial dealings of those closest to China’s top leaders. In June, a detailed report by Bloomberg, an American news service, said Mr Xi’s extended family controlled interests worth $376m and spread over a range of industries that included property, minerals and mobile phone equipment. Wen Jiabao, who at the end of the NPC will end his ten-year term as prime minister, received similar investigative treatment from the New York Times in October. The paper reported that “the prime minister’s relatives—some of whom, including his wife, have a knack for aggressive deal making—have controlled assets worth at least $2.7 billion.” Billionaires Big at China’s Annual Political Conclave (THE WSJ CHINA REAL TIME REPORT BLOG)March 8, 2013 http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/03/08/billionaires-big-at-chinas-annual-political-conclave/?mod=WSJBlog Austerity is in at this year’s legislative gatherings in Beijing. So are billionaires. The main event on China’s political calendar, now underway in Beijing, features measured economic growth targets — and less cuddling of the cadres. But billionaire delegates are becoming a perennial feature of the twin meetings of China’s National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, according to Shanghai research firm Hurun Report. Hurun counts 31 billionaires among the NPC delegates this year, plus another 52 in the CPPCC. In China, tycoons and politicians are increasingly comfortable bedfellows. Money and power feature in most countries, of course, but the contrast appears particularly stark in a system that swears allegiance to Communist Party roots. Plus, China’s business titans make for an extraordinarily affluent congress. Zong Qinghou, the richest person on Hurun’s list with wealth estimated at $13 billion, is a legislator in the NPC for his third five-year term. He’s one of four billionaires Hurun says are back for a third time. The firm counts 13 billionaires new to the NPC this year. The CPPCC, an advisory body, has two billionaires now in their fifth terms, Hurun’s figures show. It says 22 billionaires are new to the CPPCC this time. Of the five richest in the CPPCC, four are from Hong Kong real estate dynasties. The exception is Xu Jiayin, founder of Guangdong province developer Evergrande Property, who Hurun figures is worth $7.7 billion. Some billionaires Hurun tracks are moving between the bodies. Liu Canglong of chemical group Sichuan Hongda, for instance, served in the NPC in the past but this year begins a term in the CPPCC. Others are scions of rich men, including Lawrence Ho, a son of Macau gambling tycoon Stanley Ho, who Hurun says is the youngest CPPCC billionaire at 38 years old. In numeric terms, tycoons are a minority at the meetings; billionaires represent only 1% of the 2,987 NPC delegates and 2.3% of the CPPCC’s 2,237 members. And the dominance of the Communist Party in China means delegates to China’s NPC and CPPCC don’t exercise power in the same way legislators can in other political systems. Some joke the NPC is for raising hands, because its members invariably vote in favor of plans presented, while the CPPCC is for clapping hands to support the ideas. Yet, members and analysts say the positions afford status that can be particularly beneficial in business. Their seats, for instance, give them face-to-face time with top leaders, where attendees say there can be blatant lobbying. Hurun puts the net worth of the five wealthiest in the latest NPC at $34.8 billion. That’s at least five times the wealth of all 535 members of the U.S. Congress in 2010, according to figures from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. To be sure, another Hurun estimate of the world’s richest tycoons with a political profile shows a number outside China. The firm cites New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s $20 billion in wealth as notable in the U.S., for instance. In Asia, Hurun points to the $3.5 billion fortune of Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa’s brother. In Beijing, Xi Jinping set the muted mood for the twin meetings, which are expected to culminate with his appointment to state president. After the Communist Party named Mr. Xi as general secretary in November, he traveled with a small motorcade and espoused belt tightening. For the twin meetings, that means, as China Daily put it, the Chinese law makers and advisers are going without “ceremonies, flowers, banners and booze.” Banquets are toned down and purveyors of luxury are feeling the fallout, including liquor makers. Internet users notice an absence of bling. They are swapping photos that compare the designer outfits delegates wore in 2012 against toned down and off-brand attire this year. http://house.xinmin.cn/fczx/2013/03/07/19061748_3.html One property billionaire arrived for the CPPCC session wearing a no-name belt, for example. Last year, Hermes held up his pants. – James T. Areddy; Follow him on Twitter @jamestareddy Directory: 2013 2013 -> Annual InStructional unit plan 2013 -> The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine 2013 -> #1 a lifesafer of virginia inc 2013 -> Name(s): your name here team or Group #(if applicable): Professor’s name 2013 -> Alcott Local School Council (lcs) Meeting Minutes 2013 -> Table Of Contents introduction 2 2013 -> Supplemental demographic information 2013 -> 【Education&Working Experience】 Download 438.17 Kb. Share with your friends:
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