Joel Wing-Lun is a Research Associate in the Lowy Institute's East Asia Program.
- Zhou Xiaochuan will remain as head of China's central bank despite reaching retirement age, providing stability at the top as the banking system prepares for tricky financial reforms. Veteran bankers Chen Yuan and Li Ruogu are also expected to retain their posts.
- China could benefit from the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
- James Fallows, Bill Bishop and others discuss the US response to claims of Chinese military hacking on the Asia Society's new ChinaFile blog. The Chinese government continues to deny involvement. In the meantime, Weibo users turned up a recruitment notice for PLA Unit 61398, the one accused of hacking, on a university website.
- The China Media Project tries out the government-controlled search engine Jike.com.
- Five young boys suffocated in an abandoned tobacco curing shed in Guizhou province after lighting a fire to keep warm. Five homeless boys died in a rubbish bin in similar circumstances in the same province three months ago.
- In 2004, Chinese state-owned enterprises controlled six times more industrial output than private firms. Today they control eleven times more.
- Julia Gillard's upcoming visit to the Boao Forum in Hainan presents both opportunities and potential hazards.
- Chinese software makers discuss the controversial plug-ins that help internet users purchase scarce train tickets.