Disappearance of Chinese Tycoon Guo Guangchang

By He Qinglian on December 13, 2015
Source article in Chinese: 履险如夷的郭广昌还能平安否?
This abridged translation first appeared in the Epoch Time on December 28, 2015

The year 2015 was an unlucky one for wealthy tycoons in China. Many government officials and business tycoons were sent to prison or have committed suicide. The lucky ones chose to escape overseas. Among the many pieces of news, the one receiving the most attention was about Guo Guangchang, chairman of the board of Fosun Group. It was first said that he had disappeared, and later reported that he was “assisting in an investigation.” Guo once stated that he and his core team members would never acquire a foreign passport.

Regulatory Capture and the Chinese Stock Market

By He Qinglian on November 19, 2015
Source article in Chinese: 2015年金融反腐(2):权力与资本的关系能否重构?
This adapted and abridged translation first appeared in the Epoch Time on November 30, 2015

The Chinese leadership’s recent attempt to save China’s stock market, after its extraordinary meltdown this summer, failed. While key officials of China’s securities industry are being investigated, the big question is whether corruption and insider trading in China’s stock market will really disappear.

Why is China's plan to raise the retirement age objected?

By He Qinglian on October 25, 2015
Source article in Chinese: 何清涟:中国推迟退休年龄为何一片反对声?

Finally China's coming up with a plan to reform the pension system: the retirement age is to be raised gradually. This article will be about the key measures of the reform, the reasons the government intends to initiate this plan and why the public oppose it.

Flight of Li Ka-shing Signals the Beginning of China’s Economic Meltdown

By He Qinglian on September 29, 2015
Source article in Chinese: “李嘉诚话题”突显权力与资本关系日趋紧张
This abridged translation first appeared in the Epoch Time on October 11, 2015

After Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, Asia’s richest man, recently moved his investments out of China, state media accused him of being unethical and ungrateful, fleeing China when the economy was slowing despite having profited handsomely in better times. He Qinglian, a noted economist, explores the tensions between power and capital in today’s China.

China’s SOE Reform: Privatization or Taking over the Private Sector?

By He Qinglian on September 19, 2015
Source article in Chinese: 《国企改革方案》的风,姓私还是姓公?
This translation first appeared in ChinaChange on September 30, 2015

A flood of commentary has come out since the release of the long-anticipated Guiding Opinions on Strengthening and Reform of State-Owned Enterprises (《中共中央、国务院关于深化国有企业改革的指导意见》; “SOE Reform Program” or “Program” hereafter), jointly issued by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council. Some say that the Program is aimed at expanding and strengthening SOEs, while others say that the government is using market forces to promote privatization. That the same plan can yield two radically different suppositions is due to the Program’s strong “Xi Jinping quality”: It tries to combine the governance characteristics of both Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping and gain some advantage from both sides, thereby introducing a whole bunch of mutually contradictory formulations.

Likely Not Much to Come of Xi Jinping’s Meeting With Obama

By He Qinglian on September 11, 2015
Source article in Chinese: 习奥峰会“咯牙”话题知多少?
This translation first appeared in the Epoch Times on September 14, 2015.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s upcoming state visit to the U.S. has many overseas media speculating on the potential topics to be brought up during the talks with President Barack Obama, from regional tensions caused by Beijing’s activities in the South China Sea, human rights issues, and cyber-attacks.

China Is Not Saving the World Economy

By He Qinglian on August 27, 2015
Source article in Chinese: 黄梁梦醒:中国并非拯救世界经济的“诺亚方舟”
This adapted translation first appeared in the Epoch Times on September 7, 2015.

Recently, the international community finally, and collectively, began to have a pessimistic view of China’s economy. Reasons for their pessimism vary. Some believe that Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign has led to political instability and hence economic recession. Others believe that the Chinese regime’s intervention in the stock market directly caused an economic crisis.

Impending Revolution in China

By He Qinglian on June 29, 2015
Source article in Chinese: “革命”的一只鞋已经落地

An alternative version of the article first translated by and published in the Epoch Times on July 7, 2015.

History always makes fun of the wishes of rulers. The last thing rulers want, history would give them just that. Take for example Beijing, the last thing it wants is a revolution, and yet a revolution is looming.

Chinese Stock Market Set up as Communist Regime’s Cash Cow

Pillaging the savings from small speculators to enrich state-owned enterprises 

By He Qinglian on July 2, 2015
Source article in Chinese: 中国股市:一台由政府操控的财富榨取机
This translation first appeared in the Epoch Times

In recent months, having been encouraged by the state, millions of ordinary Chinese have put themselves at risk of losing everything by gambling in the stock market. The catastrophic results are unfolding daily. Actually, since its inception, China’s stock market has been under the control of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that has regarded the market as a kind of “ATM” for filling the coffers of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and lining the pockets of their CEOs, while draining the savings from small speculators.

Why China’s Revolution Has Already Begun

By He Qinglian on June 29, 2015
Source article in Chinese: “革命”的一只鞋已经落地

This translation first appeared in the Epoch Times. Slight changes have been made.

For a political organization founded to perpetuate revolution, the Communist Party of China (CPC) ironically fears it. But revolution is already underway in China, and the other shoe is about to drop.

US-China Relations: How China became the dominant party

By He Qinglian on June 25, 2015
Source article in Chinese: 中美关系,谁更能战斗在“伙伴”心脏里 

The seventh round of U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue started when the relationship between the two countries is at the tipping point. Statements from both sides underscored the respective characteristics of their foreign policy: U.S. policy toward China is unstable, whereas China's US policy shows considerable signs of consistency and continuity.

China Has a Massive Class Problem, and It’s Not Getting Any Better

By He Qinglian on May 23, 2015
Source article in Chinese: 从中国阶层结构看社会转型的失败

At the turn of the 20th century, China was still an empire, with a small elite at the top controlling the overwhelming majority of wealth and power, and a vast number of peasants on the edge of subsistence. Recently, the Chinese scholar Zi Zhongyun observed: “It’s been 100 years and there’s no improvement—at the top it’s still Cixi, and at the bottom the Boxers.” He was referring to Empress Dowager Cixi, who ruled the Qing Dynasty; the Boxers refer to the millions of disenfranchised Chinese who at one point attempted revolution.

The New Norm: Chinese economy faces six bottlenecks

Source article in Chinese: 何清涟:“新常态”:中国经济面临的六大瓶颈

A translation of a talk He Qinglian delivered in Vancouver on May 3, 2015.

My talk today, “The New Norm: Chinese economy faces six bottlenecks”, is to give an overview of the state of the Chinese economy. What lies ahead for China depends on whether or not the Chinese government can find ways to work around the six bottlenecks.

Chinese' mixed feelings for Singapore Model

By He Qinglian on March 25, 2015
Source Article in Chinese:  漫谈中国朝野对“新加坡模式”的爱与恨

The passing of Singapore’s founder Lee Kuan-yew sparked on China’s social media a round of criticism of the “Singapore Model”. Few took notice that the country had long denied the existence of such a model and made its latest denial in February this year. Singapore Roving Ambassador Bilahari Kausikan said in his speech delivered at the Brookings Institution that there was no such thing as a “Singapore model”, Lee and his team improvised many of the country’s policies and that the late leader’s pragmatic governance belief is ingrained in the regime.

Chinese Economy Dangles on a Cliff

By He Qinglian on February 14, 2015
Source article in Chinese: 中国经济逼近悬崖

China’s money supply had a net increase of 11 percent from 2013 to 2014, an increase that is significantly higher than the country’s economic growth. In 2014 it reached 122.84 trillion yuan (US$18.05 trillion), compared with 110.7 trillion (US$17.71 trillion) by the end of 2013. Of China’s 12.14 trillion added currency (US$1.94 trillion) in 2014, 9.78 trillion yuan (US$1.56 trillion), over 80 percent, was used for creating new loans. Not only was it 890 billion (US$142 billion) higher than that in 2013, but also broke the 2009 record of 9.59 trillion (US$1.53 trillion) by 190 billion (US$30 billion) more.
So much new money was printed. Where did it all go? The majority of the loans did not flow into the economy, but went into non-production areas, namely the financial market.

Will the CPC collapse?

By He Qinglian on March 13, 2015
Source article in Chinese: 中国未来:在“强大”与“崩溃”之间的“溃而不崩”

Recently, some American China hands have been airing their views through various channels to express their disappointment with and criticism of Xi Jinping. The wordings of these comments were the sharpest since the period immediately after the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989.

Why is Alibaba's “open sesame” spell paritcularly effective?

By He Qinglian on February 5, 2015

Chinese company Alibaba has recently made news headline in China and the US. The fact that the company reconciled with the SAIC (State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People's Republic of China) over the white paper dispute proved once again that Alibaba's “open sesame” spell is particularly effective, always manages to open doors at critical junctures.

And take a look at how Ma Yun and his company grew over the years, one would find the issues involved are far more than the commonplace problem of government-business collusion in China and they demand deep thinking.