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Friedman: What if China had a Wiki-leaker?

Posted on December 2nd, 2010 by Daan Roggeveen

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Changing perspectives is always good, especially when you can laugh about them as well. Thomas L. Friedman did a great piece in New York Times this week in which he speculates what would happen if the Chines embassey in Washington would have its own Wiki-leaker. Friedman suggests that the cables of Chinese diplomats in the US would more or less look like this – some excerpts:

About the political system:

Americans just had what they call an “election.” Best we could tell it involved one congressman trying to raise more money than the other (all from businesses they are supposed to be regulating) so he could tell bigger lies on TV more often about the other guy before the other guy could do it to him.

About technology:

The ambassador recently took what the Americans call a fast train — the Acela — from Washington to New York City. Our bullet train from Beijing to Tianjin would have made the trip in 90 minutes. His took three hours — and it was on time! Along the way the ambassador used his cellphone to call his embassy office, and in one hour he experienced 12 dropped calls — again, we are not making this up.

About the position of the US in the world:

They travel abroad so rarely that they don’t see how far they are falling behind. Which is why we at the embassy find it funny that Americans are now fighting over how “exceptional” they are. Once again, we are not making this up.

And about labour costs:

Finally, record numbers of U.S. high school students are now studying Chinese, which should guarantee us a steady supply of cheap labor that speaks our language here, as we use our $2.3 trillion in reserves to quietly buy up U.S. factories. In sum, things are going well for China in America.

Read the whole article here.

Violent Eviction Map

Posted on November 3rd, 2010 by Daan Roggeveen

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Through Shanghaiist and Global Voices:

Global Voices called our attention to a recent project created by an anonymous Chinese blogger devoted to charting incidents of violent eviction throughout China on a “Bloody Map” (xuefang ditu, 血房地图.) His motive is to inform the public and encourage new home buyers to boycott any property stained by violent acquisition. From his Sina account:

The goal of Bloody Map is to collect and list cases of violent eviction which have, or will, already faded from public view; some cases going back 2-3 years I had to dig up myself, but with your support, it’ll be much easier. When I say that new housing is being built right now on land covered in blood, people know what I mean.

There are forceful evictions taking place now which need more media attention, Bloody Map on its own isn’t an appropriate platform to that end. People can’t expect that an effort like this will create enough attention to put an end to current forced evictions. The goal of this site is to present evidence allowing consumers to make decisions. If a day comes when this tiny map is able to make people within the interest chain of a particular eviction reconsider their actions, then it will have achieved its goal.

Music in China

Posted on November 2nd, 2010 by Daan Roggeveen

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Audience at the Little Bar, May 2009

Last week, we returned to Chengdu, where we looked at the way the cultural scene in Chinese cities is changing. We interviewed artists, gallery owners, musicians and owners music bars.

But there’s more. The Chinese government, and especially its local departments, support music festivals. What kind of festivals? Rock festivals where 10,000’s of youngsters can listen to Chinese rock, folk and techno. The one in Chengdu is called ‘Zebra Festival’. China’s oldest one is called Midi. Read more about the background of music festivals here:

ZHENJIANG, China — A curious thing happened this month at the Midi Music Festival, China’s oldest and boldest agglomeration of rock, funk, punk and electronica. Performers took musical potshots at the country’s leaders, tattooed college students sold antigovernment T-shirts and an unruly crowd of heavy metal fans giddily torched a Japanese flag that had been emblazoned with expletives.

via China’s Music Scene Thrives in Unruly State-Supported Festivals – NYTimes.com.

Update: Liu Xiaobo Awarded Nobel Peace Prize

Posted on October 8th, 2010 by Daan Roggeveen

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Great news from Oslo: finally China has its first Nobel Prize, and it is even the one for peace.

It is awarded to Liu Xiaobo, literary critic, political essayist and democracy advocate repeatedly jailed by the Chinese government for his writings. Liu was arrested in 2008 just before publishing Charter 08, a manifesto calling for ‘an end to some of its (the Chinese political systems) essential features, including one-party rule, and their replacement with a system based on human rights and democracy.’

One year later, on Christmas when the Western world didn’t pay much attention, he was sentenced 11 years in prison, on charges of “inciting the subversion of state power.”

Farmers in Chongqing say ‘no thanks’ to hukou – GlobalTimes

Posted on September 29th, 2010 by Daan Roggeveen

Background, Chongqing

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farm in Chongqing

Remarkable developments in China’s hukou discussion. The hukou, a registration system for urban and rural dwellers, divides the Chinese people in two. Recently, the Chongqing government announced to change its policy:

The Chongqing government announced a major policy change in July that would turn 10 million farmers into urban residents by 2020. People with rural registration, or hukou, do not presently enjoy healthcare, education and social insurance benefits that urban residents receive in many cities.

People reacted different than expected:

Just 44,700 rural residents in Chongqing had changed their hukou to urban residents as of August 31, the Chongqing Daily reported earlier.

The reason?

Chen Yue, deputy head of the Village Institute at the Chongqing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Beijing News that compared with rural people, urban residents face more pressure in terms of finding jobs, buying apartments, educational fees, and medical expenses, all sources of frustration for most rural people.

Farmers in Chongqing say ‘no thanks’ to hukou – GlobalTimes.

Petition Urges Nobel for Jailed Chinese Writer – NYTimes.com

Posted on September 28th, 2010 by Daan Roggeveen

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A NYT article by Andrew Jacobs announced that:

a group of 300 scholars, lawyers, factory workers and retired government officials have signed a petition calling on the Nobel Peace Prize committee to award this year’s prize to Liu Xiaobo, an imprisoned writer who has spent much of his life calling for democratic reform in China.

Liu Xiaobo, an essayist and professor was sentenced to jail for 11 years last Christmas for writings that ‘were intended to subvert state power’. He was one of the writers of Charter 08, a petition that called on the Chinese Communist Party to introduce democracy and embrace human rights.

Last week, a group of three former Charter 77 writers, amongst whom Vaclav Havel, published an open letter in the NYT urging for the Nobel Peace Prize for mr Liu.

Petition Urges Nobel for Jailed Chinese Writer – NYTimes.com.

Chinese Investors Flock to London for Real Estate – NYTimes.com

Posted on September 22nd, 2010 by Daan Roggeveen

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Does China’s development have an impact on western cities? Yes, at least on who’s the landlord. This article in the New York Times shows that Chinese and Hong Kong investors are now looking at the London Real Estate market:

In some parts of London, mainland Chinese investors have already replaced those from Russia and the Middle East as the busiest real estate buyers with deep pockets, looking for trophy assets and pushing up prices, some brokers say.

The reason behind all this? Twofold, first of all, the fear of Chinese investors that the government will impose measures on the real estate market to avoid the market from overheating:

For wealthy Asians, fears that governments may impose more constraints on red-hot local property markets back home have made investments abroad more attractive.

but more in general:

The increase in transactions highlights a gradual shift in wealth to Asia, including mainland China. Free of the debt levels that still haunt Western households and governments, much of Asia began to recover rapidly from the global economic downturn last year.

Off course it is an interesting question wheater this change in landlords will also have an impact on the physical city…

Read the full article here: Chinese Investors Flock to London for Real Estate – NYTimes.com.

China’s Policies Ensure State Enterprises Grow – NYTimes.com

Posted on September 20th, 2010 by Daan Roggeveen

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The New York Times published a great report in last months newspaper, describing the increasing dominance of China’s State Owned Companies (SOE’s) in its economy, making it harder for entrepeneurs to compete:

New data from the World Bank show that the proportion of industrial production by companies controlled by the Chinese state edged up last year, checking a slow but seemingly inevitable eclipse. Moreover, investment by state-controlled companies skyrocketed, driven by hundreds of billions of dollars of government spending and state bank lending to combat the global financial crisis.

This is based on the attitude of the Chinese that:

Once eager to learn from the United States, China’s leaders during the financial crisis have reaffirmed their faith in their own more statist approach to economic management, in which private capitalism plays only a supporting role.

Economist Patrick Chovanec comments critically on the developments in one of his blogs, concluding:

As for China, my concern is that its leaders, its policy-makers, and to some extent its people have forgotten what made the economic miracle of the past 30 years possible. […] It was the courageous and far-sighted decision, on the part of China’s leaders, to get out of the way and allow the Chinese people to create better lives for themselves — starting with the humble step of allowing farmers to grow and sell their own surplus crops. […]

I’ve seen remarkable things these past 30 years, an incredible transformation, and I believe even more remarkable things are still to come in China — but not if it keeps heading in this direction.

via China’s Policies Ensure State Enterprises Grow – NYTimes.com.

Go West in seminar: “Design for Daily Life”, 17/9, Shanghai

Posted on September 16th, 2010 by Daan Roggeveen

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(FLTR: Bert de Muynck / Pan Jianfeng / Daan Roggeveen / Wiki Somers)

Go West participated in the Dutch Design Dialogue seminar: “Design for Daily Life” on Friday 17 September at the Dutch Design Workspace in Shanghai. Please find the outline of the seminar below:

13:30 > Dutch Design Dialogue seminar: “Design for Daily Life” (RSVP only: limited seats available!)

DDFA cordially invites you to take part in the Design Dialogue: Design for Daily Life

During the Design Dialogue seminar Dutch and Chinese designers will present work and discuss the notion of ‘Design for Daily Life?. The seminar consists out of three sessions of two short presentations, one by a Dutch, one by a Chinese designer, each time followed by a discussion. The seminar is set-up as a ?research by debate? session questioning what comprises quality of life, today and in the future. Is daily life about the mass objects we use, buy and produce? And how do product designers, architects, graphic designers and artists respond with these questions?

Letter From China – Beijing’s Vision for the Future – NYTimes.com

Posted on September 9th, 2010 by Daan Roggeveen

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The NYT published a nice article about Beijing’s urban planning centre:

The centerpiece of the Exhibition Hall is a scale model of 1,302 square meters, or 14,000 square feet, that shows in fantastic detail the entire city inside the present-day Fourth Ring Road.

Every city in China with a bit of ambition has such a hall, in which the urban future is represented. Very often, these planning centres, and their scale models for that matter, are used to seduce foreign investors. As Liu Yuyang, one of our interviewees, posed it:

They use the power of visual simulation to attract potential investors. It’s not a boring Excel sheet or Business Plan, but an image of a new CBD that plays with people’s imagination.

Read the full story: Letter From China – Beijing’s Vision for the Future – NYTimes.com.

First reports expert meeting ‘Designing the Hybrid City’ published

Posted on September 9th, 2010 by Daan Roggeveen

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Last month, we made the reports for the expert meeting ‘Desiging the Hybrid City’, organized by The Mobile City. The first reports of this expert meeting ‘Designing the Hybrid City’ are available now.

Chinese netizens report: 51.23% of sold housing in Shanghai is vacant – Shanghaiist

Posted on August 17th, 2010 by Daan Roggeveen

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Chinese netizens report: 51.23% of sold housing in Shanghai is vacant – Shanghaiist.

‘Most homes’ to be demolished in 20 years

Posted on August 9th, 2010 by Michiel Hulshof

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China Daily focusses on the problem of the short lifespan of Chinese constructions. The newspaper interviews a researcher from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, who states bluntly that “more than half of China’s existing residential structures will be demolished and rebuilt in the coming 20 years”.

Given China’s fast economic development and pace of urbanization, houses built between 1979 and 1999 cannot meet the demands of modern living, either because of limited space or a lack of supporting facilities,” he said. “Only those homes built after 1999 are likely to be preserved in the longer term.”

China’s fast housing production during the 80’s and 90’s has led to substandard compounds, similar to Europe’s post-war residential area’s that were demolished on a big scale during recent years. But the size of the Chinese problem seems to be a lot bigger.

In April, Qiu Baoxing, vice-minister of the ministry, said during an industry forum that Chinese buildings can only stand for between 25 and 30 years. In contrast, the average life expectancy of a building in Britain is 132 years and they last around 74 years in the United States.

Read the full article ‘Most homes’ to be demolished in 20 years.

Der Spiegel forsees bursting Chinese Housing Bubble

Posted on August 6th, 2010 by Michiel Hulshof

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Der Spiegel predicts a new challenge for the global economy in 2012, when Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao step down from the government. The magazine predicts that will be the moment China’s real estate bubble is likely to burst. We’ve heard the argument many times before, but Spiegel focusses on the first ones most likely to suffer from dropping housingprices: local governments in China’s cities:

China, which long seemed immune to the global crunch, now faces the threat of a homemade real estate crisis. This could spell trouble for many local governments, which in some cases have financed almost a third of their major infrastructure projects, like airports and train stations, by selling agricultural land to real estate sharks.

The article quotes Cao Jinhai from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, who scetches the worst case scenario, when local governments run out of money, because they lose their single most important source of income: land sales.

In the worst case, Cao predicts, there could be a large-scale run on the banks. “Of the 4 trillion yuan in the Chinese economic stimulus package, 3 trillion are in fact coming from local governments — and they borrowed the money from the banks.”

The Go West Project plans to focus on the overproduction of real estate in China during our trip to Yinchuan in October this year.

The influence of the state on the Chinese real estate market

Posted on August 2nd, 2010 by Daan Roggeveen

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Increasing influence of SOE’s on Chinese real estate market (source: New York Times)

Earlier this year, we posted an article by the Global Times reported the measures the Chinese government took on the increasing influence of State Owned Enterprises (SOE’s) on the real estate market. Today, the New York Times has a front page article on the growing influence of these SOE’s. The article is chrystal clear about the negative effects the SOE’s have on the real estate market:

By driving up property prices, the state-owned companies, which are ultimately controlled by the national government, are working at cross-purposes with the central government’s effort to keep China’s real estate boom from becoming a debt-driven speculative bubble

Figures proof a potential bubble, about which we reported earlier:

A recent study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Mass., found that land prices in Beijing had jumped by about 750 percent since 2003, and that half of that gain came in the last two years. Housing prices have also skyrocketed, doubling in many cities over the last few years.

Read the full article here.