July 17, 2013
Translated by Tian Shaohui and Pang Lei
Stories that got top billing on China's major web portals on Wednesday morning include coverage of top Communist Party Officials visiting various regions of the country to promote a 'mass line' campaign (Xinhua)
Reports on comments (Xinhua) made by Premier Li Keqiang at a meeting devoted to analysing the economic data from the first half of the year were also placed prominently on news websites.
There's also high-profile coverage of the detention of four people for sending out "rumors" that led to a protest out the front of the government compound in Shenmu county, Shaanxi Province (Global Times).
If Shenmu county sounds familiar, it's because it was in the news at the start of the year. Gong Aiai ((龔愛愛) or "big house sister" (房姐) as she became known in local media, was the former deputy head of the Shenmu County Rural Commercial Bank and deputy to the local legislature. Gong made headlines after it was revealed to own at least 45 houses and four household registration permits.
Finally, reports that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering visiting the islands of Ishigaki and Miyako (CCTV), is also being widely reported.
Keep readiing below for a translated digests of some of the other stories being reported by mainland Chinese media outlets today.
State Administration of Taxation Researching Expansion of Property Tax
Xinhua News Agency
The State Administration of Taxation (國家稅務(wù)總局) issued a notice recently that acknowledges that the agency it is looking into expanding a property tax that is already being levied in Shanghai and Chongqing. Last month, China Securities Journal (中國證券報(bào)) published a report saying that the cities of Beijing, Shenzhen, Nanjing and Hangzhou, had already submitted detailed plans about introducing such a property tax to the State Council. The State Administration of Taxation also announced that it was working on establishing a system that would allow them to better monitor the tax records and credit ratings of individuals.
Original article: [Chinese]
Xinhua Journalist Accuses Chairman of China Resources of Corruption
Sina Finance
Song Lin (宋林), chairman of China Resources (Holdings) Company Limited (華潤集團(tuán)) has been accused of dereliction of duty and corruption by Wang Wenzhi (王文志), a senior journalist with Economic Information Daily, a paper published by Xinhua News Agency. Wang Wenzhi made the accusations against Song via his personal Sina Weibo account (@記者王文志), saying that billions of yuan worth of stated owned assets were lost when China Resources acquired of Shanxi Jinye Coking Coal Group Co. Limited (山西金業(yè)煤焦化集團(tuán)有限公司).
Original article: [Chinese] original story removed try this one [Chinese]
Provincial Top Leaders Swarm Beijing in Search of Financial Support
China Internet Information Center
Top leaders from the provinces of Guangdong, Henan and Hebei have traveled to Beijing to ask Lou Jiwei, China's Finance Minister, for more financial support from the central government. Experts say that financial support not only refers to direct transfer payments but also policy support in terms of permission to issue bonds.
Original article: [Chinese]
Profits of Stated-Owned Enterprises Increased by 7% in First Half
Shanghai Securities News
Non-financial state-owned enterprises registered 11.13 trillion yuan in profits over the first six months of the year, a 7 percent increase year-on-year, according to statics from Ministry of Finance. The profits of central-administered SOEs and local SOEs reached about 8 trillion yuan and 3 trillion yuan respectively. Experts say that the profits of central SOEs expanded by over 15 percent because the industries in which they operate are more monopolized than the local state firms. The profits of local SOEs actually fell by more than 10 percent when compared to their earnings over the first six months of 2012.
Original article: [Chinese]
Life Sentence for Corrupt Grain Official
Beijing News
Li Changxuan (李長軒), the former general manager of the Henan branch of China Grain Reserves Corp (SinoGrain) (中國儲(chǔ)備糧管理公司河南分公司) - the grain monopoly that manages the State grain reserves, was handed a life sentence for accepting over 14 million yuan in bribes and for possessing 8.9 million yuan in assets that could not be explained. Corruption within Henan's grain industry, which produces about 10 percent of China's annual grain harvest, has been a serious problem in recent years. Cao Pusheng (曹濮生), the former head and party secretary of the Grain Administration of Henan Province (南省糧食局), was also detained on suspicion of corruption in late 2011.
Original article: [Chinese]