State Investment Body Recruiting, Looking for Options
Cover Story
The China Investment Company recently held a closed-door meeting with high level executives from Goldman Sachs to discuss the CIC's foreign management recruitment efforts. The person selected will likely be in charge of investing a large portion of the 70 billion dollars the firm has reserved for such investments. January is the last month for the firm to accept applications from candidates. Aside from this, the firm has found a partnership in Cambridge Associates, a British firm that will provide global asset management consulting to the CIC. The CIC has been using the sub-prime mortage crisis as a window of opportunity to negotiate investment in beleagured financial giants on Wall Street.
Original article: [Chinese]

New Tax Rules Almost Done
Cover Story
New tax rules will address a long-time problem where corporate taxes paid by branch offices were not accessible to local governments. Sources say that the new formula will have branch offices pay 50 percent of their corporate tax submission to the local tax regulators, 25 percent will be passed on to be a part of the headquarters taxes, and 25 percent will be placed in a specalized accounts set up by the central government.
Original article: [Chinese]

Central Document Emphasizes Rural Finance
From News, page 4
A central document has stressed that the legal status of rural credit cooperative at the county level be set, with this serving as the "guiding principle" of Chinese rural financial reform. It is the latest in a string of documents from the central government which over the last five years has focused on the "three problems of agriculture", including the scarcity of financial channels in rural areas.
Original article: [Chinese]

Merit Pay Moving Forward
From News, page 5
More details regarding merit pay for staff at state institutions are on the horizon. Already, around 50 percent of salaries at state institutions are tied to achievement, affecting over 40 million employees. Since the reforms began in 2006 and base salaries for employees at various ranks were basically set, how to determine the achievement-based portion of salaries had yet to be fixed.
Original article: [Chinese]

New Rules to Open up Defense Industry
From News, page 5
Private Chinese firms eager to enter China's defense industry have reason to be hopeful; a new law opening the industry to them has just been passed by the State Council. According to Zhang Jiahao, an official who works on defense-related legislation, these civilian-run firms will have more gaurantees and legal protections with the new rules.
Original article: [Chinese]

Coal Shortage in Shaanxi Begents Blackouts
From News, page 7
Coal shortages in Shaanxi province this month have led to emergency calls for injections from the national power grid, halts on sales of power generated in Shaanxi to other provinces, and the starting of old generators that had long fallen out of use. Other provinces are struggling to keep up with demand as well.
Original article: [Chinese]

Party Secretary of Guangdong: Emancipate the Mind
Fom Nation, page 9
Wang Yang, the new party secretary of Guangdong province, stressed at a guangdong party conference the urgent need for innovation and new thinking in managing the province lest it lose its rank as an economic pioneer in the country. With this backdrop, the EO interviews Gao Shangquan, director of the China Economic Reform Research Association. The 70-year old Gao recently surprised Guangdong leaders when he spoke for three hours straight on issues of innovation and economic reform after a special invitation by the Guangdong party committee.
Original article: [Chinese]

Concerns Over China’s Sub-Prime Sector
Money & Investment, page 19
As global financial market enters a year of uncertainties, some analysts are predicting that a sub-prime crisis is closing in on China as well. Among the major banks in the country, Bank of China holds sub-prime products of the highest value, at 7.45 billion dollars. Some analysts have projected that the Bank faces potential market value depreciation this year.
Original article: [Chinese] 

Workers’ Strike Against "Pay Raise"
Corporation, page 26
A strike involving some 1,000 workers caused the production lines of Southwest Pharmaceutical Company in Chongqing municipality come to a halt for three days, resulting in losses of three million yuan per day. The workers’ action stemmed from a "pay rise" notice, which they claimed would lead to a fall in their real income rather than an increment. The strike was later resolved with a new pay raise scheme being introduced and the resignation of a Chinese Communist Party leader from his position as the workers' union president.
Original story: [Chinese]

Lenovo Reshuffles to go Global
Corporation, page 27
China’s leading computer maker, Lenovo Group, is carrying out a corporate reshuffle to prepare for challenges in globalize businesses. The move is said to aim at nurturing native Chinese at mid and high level management for global operation networks. Lenovo group bought over America-based IBM’s PC division back in 2005, and the earlier has been working to merge the two brands in the international market.
Original article: [Chinese]

Historical Perspective on China’s Property Rights
Observer, page 33
The EO interviews author Yi Zhongtian on the motives and thoughts behind his controversial book, "End of the Empire: Criticism against China’s Ancient Political System". Yi looks at Chinese mentality concerning property rights, a concept he believes the Chinese lack understanding partly due to China's political history.
Original article: [Chinese]

New Theatre, Old Acts
Lifestyle, page 41
The opening acts at the new national theatre in Beijing have been dominated by old faces and and old tunes, says music critic Tang Luopu, who cautions that if the management fails to refresh its programming, the iconic theatre would devolve from a cradle of culture to a tourist trap.
Original article: [Chinese]

Feng Lun: From "Vagrant" to "Civilized"
Property, page 48
Feng Lun, one of China’s property moguls, penned "Barbarous Living"（野蛮生长）to recount the tortuous route taken by private entrepreneurs in the early days of China’s market reforms and opening-up. The EO reviews Feng’s book, along with the generation and era he represented.
Original article: [Chinese]