Dead fish 死鱼

The disaster in Tianjin was of course, like so many others, a "disaster waiting to happen". Yes, a tragic cliché. I respond viscerally to incidents like this because as an infant I suffered permanent damage to my lungs living in Huddersfield, an industrial city in Northern England where the air used to be filled with fumes from the ICI sulphuric acid plant and many other polluting facilities. (ICI later moved to Scotland and has tried to move to Xiamen.) I then, unaware of its nickname, "The Smoke" or "The Big Smoke", moved to London, but moved out just before the big smog that killed thousands in just a few days.

And I remember Minamata Disease, Lucky Dragon III, Chernobyl, Bhopal and many more around the world. So it's not just China. But it is China now. The rest of us have learned something from these dreadful experiences. The London smog disaster was followed by the Clean Air Act that very quickly rendered "A Foggy Day in London Town" just a folk memory.

No standard blueprint for democracy

This article by Ken Davies appeared in China Daily, Hong Kong Edition on 21 May 2015:

On June 19 this year the world will celebrate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta on the banks of the River Thames in England. What has this to do with constitutional development in Hong Kong?

OECD Economic Survey of China now out

20/03/2015 - After three decades of extraordinary economic development, China is shifting to a slower and more sustainable growth path. Further reforms are now needed to ensure that future growth is resilient, inclusive and green, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of China. The OECD forecasts that China’s GDP will grow by 7% this year and 6.9% in 2016.

“Following one of the most tremendous economic expansions in world history, China’s gradual transition  towards a ‘new normal’ of slower, more sustainable growth is to be welcomed”  OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said. “China knows how to grow at a blistering pace.  The challenge now is to ensure that future growth occurs on a more durable and inclusive footing.”  (Read the full speech)

Ken Davies' article on China's new investment rules (Nikkei Asian Review)

February 20, 2015 7:00 pm JST

Ken Davies

China's new investment rules: A step forward, but more is needed

The Chinese authorities are at long last starting to simplify the law on foreign investment in line with recommendations from trading partners and international organizations like the World Bank, the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. While this is a step forward, it does not yet provide a completely open and nondiscriminatory environment for foreign investors.

     The Ministry of Commerce, in charge of framing and implementing policies on both inward and outward investments, published a draft Foreign Investment Law on Jan. 19. This followed over a year of public consultation and there was a short window of opportunity -- until Feb. 17 -- for comments to be submitted before the law is finalized.

Hong Kong: A Time to Talk

The students and Occupy Central have made their point in a self-disciplined and dignified way, spreading their message of democracy far beyond Central. It is now time for them to clean up the occupation sites, go home and resume talks with the government.

Hong Kong pictured now

Hong Kong: power to the people - but peacefully, please

I can not keep quiet about this situation.

The tear gas attacks on peaceful demonstrators last Sunday were outrageous. Since then, I have attended the occupation stretching from Admiralty to Central and taken some photographs, all of which are on my Facebook timeline which you can see by clicking here. I am adding to these pictures every day, so please come back often to see how things are developing.

I have spoken to demonstrators and of course I have been reading and listening for many months and years. I have also written some articles (like the one below) attempting to promote peaceful dialogue.

The demonstrations, and the demonstrators, are admirable. The numbers involved are far higher than the trivial estimates in the local and international media. I can not count so many people, but I have seen many crowds of this kind, both in Hong Kong and in other parts of the world, and this is now far beyond the tens of thousands. Yet the self-discipline is better than in most of the other demonstrations I have witnessed elsewhere. The youngsters (as striking students have clearly taken over from supposedly more mature democracy activists) are keeping the occupied area clean, they have brought their homework with them, the slogans are moderate ("Go on, Hong Kong!", "Genuine universal suffrage"), and the atmosphere is so relaxed that slogan posters have appeared saying that this is not a carnival but a political protest.

Bridging the gap with calm dialogue

[Article by Ken Davies in China Daily Hong Kong Edition on 25 July 2014]

Opinion on how to nominate the next Chief Executive (CE) candidates of the Hong Kong SAR in 2017 is deeply divided, with much name-calling and emotion clouding the issue. What is now needed is calm dialogue to find common ground so a consensus can develop around a workable, broadly acceptable solution.

The "pan-democrats" can not ignore Hong Kong's geopolitical location. The SAR is indisputably a part of China. The Basic Law stipulates that the method of selecting the CE must be reported for approval to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress after endorsement by a two-thirds majority of Hong Kong's Legislative Council and the consent of the current CE. So central government leaders have to be happy with whatever arrangement is produced, or it won't happen.

At the same time, those leaders can not ignore a poll (even if they view it as being illegal and invalid) in which over a fifth of registered voters showed their wish for public nomination of candidates. More fundamentally, the fears of a significant proportion of the population of an erosion of freedom and the rule of law need to be honestly addressed -- not brushed aside.

If this chasm is not bridged, there will be an increased risk of instability. There is ample scope for the "Occupy Central" movement, and maybe other groups, to engage in protests whose outcome is not easy to predict with certainty. So far, the police have shown decency and restraint, but they might find this difficult to maintain should demonstrations escalate and they face increased pressure to contain disruption.

Chinese government White Paper on Hong Kong

Here is the full text of the White Paper on Hong Kong issued by China's State Council on June 10th, 2014: 

The Practice of the "One Country, Two Systems" Policy in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Photo © Ken Davies 2013.

• Foreword
• I. Hong Kong's Smooth Return to China
• II. Establishment of the Special Administrative Region System in Hong Kong
• III. Comprehensive Progress Made in Various Undertakings in the HKSAR
• IV. Efforts Made by the Central Government to Ensure the Prosperity and Development of the HKSAR
• V. Fully and Accurately Understanding and Implementing the Policy of "One Country, Two Systems"
• Conclusion

Road map for financial reform by Zhou Xiaochuan

This article is the first part of an excerpted translation from Chinese of a speech by Zhou Xiaochuan, Governor of the People's Bank of China, China's central bank, published in China Daily on December 11, 2013.

In a move to push for improving China's modern market system, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has drawn up a road map for comprehensive and deepened reforms.

As the core of a modern economy, the financial sector is at the heart of China's socialist market system. To do a better job in the financial sector in the future, the country should firmly hold on to the essential principle that the financial sector should serve the real economy, adhere to the reform direction that the market dominates the distribution of financial resources, and stick to a development concept that prioritizes coordination between innovation and oversight.

In line with the plenum's mapped program, we need to comprehensively push for reforms, opening-up and development, and accelerate the establishment of a safe, sound and modern financial market system with a broader range of services, a reasonable structure and greater efficiency.

Waste management policy will take time

Article by Ken Davies in China Daily, Hong Kong edition on December 4, 2013

Editor's note: This is the first of a series of articles exploring policies to address Hong Kong's waste management challenges.

People in Hong Kong are impatient with the government’s policy on waste management.

This, as Christine Loh, Under Secretary for the Environment recently explained to me, is because they expect everything to happen at once, while the various initiatives taken by the government will take time to implement.

Transforming life through music in Hong Kong

Article by Ken Davies in China Daily, Hong Kong edition on November 22, 2013

The Greeks were right — children need to be educated in music so they can learn to live in harmony with others. This principle is starting to be applied here in Hong Kong.

This week on China Outlook: Is China buying the world?

Is China buying the world?

This week on China Outlook: 3rd Plenum & government statistics

Third Plenum reforms vague, but carry a hidden bite.

Government statistics -- still not fit for purpose.

What do ordinary people expect from the Third Plenum?

Third Plenum: reforms vague, but carry a hidden bite

Click here to read this article in China Outlook

CCPCC Reform Decision

The Decision on Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reforms was adopted at the close of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee on Tuesday 12 November 2013. The following is an abridged version of the full text of the document as published in China Daily on Saturday 16 November 2013:

3rd Plenum Communiqué 中国共产党第十八届中央委员会第三次全体会议公报 (English/中文)

(Passed at the 3rd Plenum of the 18th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party on 12 November 2013)

The 3rd Plenary Meeting of the 18th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in Beijing from 9 to 12 November.

This Plenary Meeting was attended by 204 Central Committee members and 169 alternate Central Committee members. The Central Discipline Inspection Committee Standing Committee members and responsible comrades from relevant sides attended the meeting as non-voting delegates. A number of grass-roots comrades and expert scholars from among the representatives at the 18th Party Congress also attended as non-voting delegates.

Hong Kong should join the OECD

Article in China Daily, Hong Kong Edition on November 11, 2013 by Ken Davies.

Hong Kong can benefit from joining the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the world’s leading forum for sharing experience on all areas of policy apart from defense and national security.

Distorted view of China overlooks its many positive achievements

by Chandran Nair

[This article appeared in the South China Morning Post on September 11, 2013.]

The cover of a recent issue of The Economist featured a Chinese dragon encircling the globe, covering it in smoke and flame. The title read "The world's worst polluter." It was a bold cover typical of The Economist, but it betrayed deep-rooted ideological biases and did its readers a great disservice.

It was, in too many ways, what has become the quintessential "China story" - one that emphasises the nation's huge and growing impact on the world but chooses only to highlight its negative aspects - from environmental and foreign policy issues to investment in Africa, it would seem Beijing can't do anything right.

Hong Kong needs a bigger vision -- China Daily op-ed

China Outlook

I am now writing short articles on the Chinese economy for China Outlook, a new forward-looking magazine focusing on China. There is no byline for any article.

The lead story all this week has been on China's banks: Dysfunctional banking system fails the innovators.

The new lead story from today is: China's slowdown is structural, not cyclical.

Future articles will cover such topics as the rebalancing of China's economy and productivity growth in China.

China Outlook is here.

China's Economy: No Hard Landing

余永定:中国金融存在脆弱性 应加强短期跨境资本管理

中新社北京9月5日电 (记者 陈康亮)中国社科院世界经济研究所所长余永定5日在京表示，中国目前的金融体系存在一定的脆弱性，应加强短期跨境资本管理。

　　余永定是在由北京市金融工作局、中共北京市西城区委员会、北京市西城区人民政府共同主办的“第二届金融街论坛”上作如是表述的。

Five years of the 2008 Labor Contract Law

The World Bank has published a report on the implementation of China's Labor Contract Law, which came into force on January 1, 2008 after unprecedented public consultation that sparked a lively debate in which employers sought to weaken the law.

The report indicates general satisfaction with the way the law has been put into practice. Survey results show that nearly half of workers in the sample were happy with it, though an almost equally large number felt only  "so so". Over 90% of employers felt the implementation of the law was "strict" or "very strict". Differences in perceptions between urban resident and migrant workers were smaller than expected.

The complete report is available for download here.