A building project by a subsidiary of Beijing Jing’aogang Group Company Ltd in Nanjing’s Qilin New Town was halted on Nov. 25 after the company was hit by a broken capital chain, according to mainland Chinese news reports on Dec. 16. The Qilin New Town development is the first “land king” to have stalled due …
Read moreRisk Watch: Capital Chain Breaks for $700 Million Land Project in Nanjing
A Nov. 15 report on the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) website referred to new CCDI chief Zhao Leji as the head of the Leading Group for Deepening Supervisory System Reform. Why it matters: The CCDI’s subtle revelation of Zhao’s new position indicates that he has replaced Wang Qishan as the leading group’s in-charge. …
Read moreAnti-corruption Chief’s New Title Hints at Outcome of 2018 Personnel Reshuffle
Early in the morning on Nov. 17, state mouthpiece Xinhua News Agency published a 14,000-character article titled, “Xi Jinping: Guide of the New Era” which lauded and summarized Xi’s achievements in the past five years. Much ink was devoted to the results of the anti-corruption campaign and explaining the difficulty of implementing reform. Xinhua used …
Read moreXinhua Bestows Seven Titles on Xi in Book Chapter-length Article
Since the 19th Party Congress, several leading Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials, military generals, and state-level departments have issued articles or held meetings on “implementing the spirit” of the Congress where they expressed their loyalty and support of Xi Jinping: On Nov. 6, Central Military Commission (CMC) vice chairman Xu Qiliang said that it is …
Read moreChinese Officials Promoting Xi’s Authority a Prelude to Anti-corruption Storm
President Donald Trump tweeted on Nov. 16 that China is making a “big move” in dispatching an “Envoy and Delegation” to North Korea. “We’ll see what happens,” he added. A day earlier, Trump responded to The New York Times’s criticism of his rapport with Xi Jinping by tweeting that “these relationships are a good thing, …
Read moreTrump Hints at Xi’s Motive for Sending Envoy to North Korea
Song Tao, the head of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) international affairs department, will travel to North Korea on Nov. 17 to brief Pyongyang about the 19th Party Congress as a special envoy of Xi Jinping. Song had already traveled to Vietnam and Laos between Oct. 31 and Nov. 3 to conduct similar briefings. Why …
Read moreWhy Xi Delayed Sending Envoy to North Korea for 19th Congress Briefing
Several high-ranking Chinese officials, including two from the domestic security apparatus, recently committed suicide, according to various reports after the 19th Party Congress. On Nov. 2, Zhang Xiaohua, a Hunan Political and Legal Affairs Commission (PLAC) member and team leader of the discipline inspection team stationed in the Hunan PLAC, reportedly committed suicide by jumping …
Read moreReports of Suicides by Chinese Security Official Surface After 19th Congress
The new Central Military Commission (CMC) unveiled at the first plenum of the 19th Central Committee on Oct. 25 comprised only seven members. The downsized CMC falls outside our earlier assessment. We wrote that Xi Jinping could expand the CMC with a new guard of junior generals to dilute the military body’s power and better …
Read moreWhy China’s Central Military Commission Got Downsized
New Politburo member Yang Jiechi may become a State Council vice premier with a foreign affairs portfolio, according to latest intelligence from China. The backdrop: Yang spent most of his career in China’s foreign ministry, and served as China’s Ambassador to the United States from 2001 to 2005. From 2013 until his promotion to the …
On Nov. 2, Xi Jinping personally promoted Lt. General Zhang Shengmin to full general. Zhang is a Central Military Commission (CMC) member and the head of the CMC Disciplinary Inspection Commission. Rocket-style promotion: Zhang Shengmin joining the new 7-member CMC was his fourth promotion since Xi initiated sweeping military reforms in late 2015: Dec. 2015: …
Read moreCentral Military Commission Member Promoted Four Times in Two Years