Committee on Finance, US Senate, June 23rd 2010
Key points taken away from this Committee meeting in Congress.
-Seventy to eighty percent of software that is used in China is pirated
-Counterfeit products in China count for around 15% to 20% of all products made in the country
-Counterfeit products are equal to roughly 8% of China’s GDP
-A Chinese website known as Tomato Garden provided 10 million pirated copies of the Windows XP software; it has been shut down and convicted of piracy
-99% of all music being downloaded in China is pirated
During the Cold War between the United States and Communist ideology, President Richard Nixon made an important visit to China, the first by any US President since The Peoples’ Republic became the official government of China. It is considered by many historians to be the most important part of his political legacy as President. He achieved political success largely by taking an anti-communist stance so his trip to China was a significant departure from his early political beliefs. A phrase “Only Nixon could go to China” refers to his ability to take actions that might not be supported by his constituencies.
What is the WTO?
The WTO (World Trade Organization) is located in Geneva, Switzerland and is the only global entity that regulates international trade. It directs trade agreements, provides a venue for trade negotiations, a place to manage conflict over trade disagreements, and acts as an organization that observes trade policies.
WTO and China
Although China has been a member of the WTO since December 11, 2001, it took 15 years from application to admission into the trade organization. The WTO had three conditions which China had to follow in order to be admitted:
- Reducing tariffs on imports
Committee on Ways And Means US House: October 25th, 2011
The Committee on Ways and Means discussed issues facing the US China Economic Relationship on October 25th, 2011. It was a part of the 112th Congress, First Session and focused on the trade barriers that are hampering US Sino relations and the development of healthy international trade practices.
ISSUES OF CONCERN
Intellectual Property Theft: Creates a competitive disadvantage for research and development in the United States and costs the country 48 billion dollars per year.
Currency Manipulation – China’s government has kept its currency undervalued in order to fuel growth in its export market
Shenzhen is a city that Deng Xiaoping established in 1979 to experiment with market reform and it is located in the southern tip of the Guangdong Province adjacent to Hong Kong. The city was a small fishing village only having 30,000 residents when created and today it has an estimated population of more than 15 million people. In terms of population density, Shenzhen has replaced Hong Kong as the densest city in China, with an average of 7,500 people per square feet.
Fudan University is an elite university in China and is located in Shanghai. The name Fudan literally translates to that of Heavenly Light Shines Day After Day. Founded in 1905 by Ma Xiang Bo, a notable scholar during the late Qing Dynasty, Fudan University’s name arises from Confucian Classics. The University is located in the Yangpu District of Shanghai, which is in the northeast section of Shanghai and borders the Huangpu River. Tongji University and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics are also located in that area. The University is broken down into seventeen schools.
Shanghai is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River and is the largest city in terms of population in all of China. Known as the Paris of the East, it is a center of finance, international trade, research, and culture; it is considered one of China’s most modern cities. The two words that make up the city’s name each have unique meanings, Shang implying “on” and “hai” meaning the water.
Sina Corp is the publicly traded (NASDAQ) Chinese internet media company that offers the popular micro blogging service Sina Weibo. The word weibo literally means “microblog” and can apply to any company that offers a Twitter like platform for individuals to communicate online. For example, the company Tencent also has a Twitter like platform called Tencent Weibo. Sina Weibo has a similar character limit of 140 just as Twitter; however, much more can be communicated in 140 Chinese characters as opposed to 140 English letters. Each character can represent a word in the Chinese language.
The 5th National People’s Congress approved the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China on December 4th, 1982. Chinese Constitution has 138 articles, and seven sections and four chapters; it has five sections which include the preamble, general principles, fundamental rights and duties of citizens and structure of the state.
ARTICLE ONE
The People’s Republic of China is a socialist state under the people’s democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants. The socialist system is the basic system of the People’s Republic of China. Sabotage of the socialist system by any organization or individual is prohibited.
Established by President John Kennedy, the Peace Corp is a volunteer organization run by the United States government that aims to provide technical assistance, help Americans learn other cultures, and allow other countries to better understand American culture. The Corp was officially established on March 1st, 1961 and has had a total of 210,000 people serve.
The volunteer service lasts 27 months with 3 months of in service training. The application process takes 9-12 months and members are admitted on a rolling basis. While abroad, the Peace Corp provides student loan assistance, language and culture training, 48 paid vacation days, medical and dental coverage, travel to and from country of service, advantages in federal employment and an allowance of $7,425 to adjust to life once back in the states.
