Xi Jinping, likely China's next leader, called pragmatic, low-key
POOL/REUTERS - U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen (L), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, talks with China's Vice President Xi Jinping, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing July 11, 2011.
XIAMEN, China — When Vice President Biden visits China this week, his official host will be his counterpart, Vice President Xi Jinping, who has been tapped to take over the leadership of his country and its ruling Communist Party in a carefully managed succession that is to begin next year.
Little is known, beyond the official biography, about Xi's specific ideas or how he and his cohorts might manage China differently than the current leadership team. But those who have seen Xi's working style in the two provinces, Fujian and Zhejiang, where he spent more than two decades in various jobs working his way up to the top position, use similar words to describe him: pragmatic, serious, cautious, hard-working, down to earth and low-key. They also say he is a problem-solver and a leader seemingly uninterested in the trappings of high office.
In Fujian province on the east coast, where he served as deputy governor and governor, Xi immersed himself in details of China's relationship with Taiwan and helped attract Taiwanese investment to the province, say Taiwanese businessmen and Chinese academics.
Li Shih-Wei, a leader of the Taiwanese investment association in Fujian and head of the Tenfu Group, a tea company, recalls having frequent meetings with Xi over the years. "When we discussed some problems we had, he would listen closely, track the issue and try to find a solution," Li said. "His working efficiency was pretty high. That's pretty rare among the officials we met here."
Li said that lunch and dinner meetings were usually held in the government cafeteria, not opulent restaurants. "He didn't lead a luxurious lifestyle," Li said.
In neighboring Zhejiang province, where Xi moved after Fujian and served as governor and Communist Party chief from 2002 until March 2007, local businessmen and scholars said that civil society groups enjoyed a rare and prolonged period of openness. Thousands of new groups formed — many of them business associations representing the provinces' legions of small industries. Independent candidates took seats in the local political bodies, the district congresses.
"When [Xi] was governor here in Zhejiang, the atmosphere here was the most open ever," said Zhou De Wen, head of the local industry association in Wenzhou city. "Only with that relatively open and relaxed environment could an industry association like mine voice opinions that might differ from the government's."
Li Fan, founder of the World and China Institute in Beijing, which studies elections, said the period in Zhejiang from 2002 until 2007 saw the rapid growth of nongovernmental groups, including industry associations and unions, which bargained over wages and kept labor disputes to a minimum. Underground, unsanctioned churches operated relatively peacefully. Also, Li said, in local elections in Wenzhou five years ago, many independents not backed by the party won seats without government interference.
But Li said it was unclear whether Xi backed the openness. "We cannot say Xi Jinping supported this," Li said. "We can say it happened under Xi Jinping's leadership."
U.S. officials have been equally eager for insight into Xi's views — a main reason for Biden's visit.
Biden will have up-close contact to Xi throughout trip to China. The two will hold meetings in Beijing, travel together to Chengdu, visit a school affected by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and eat at a Sichuan restaurant.
"It will be first time a very senior official has spent a substantial amount of time with Vice President Xi Jinping," said Daniel Russel, senior director for Asian affairs at the White House National Security Council.
During those meetings, Biden plans to sound Xi out on a long list of topics, U.S. officials said, including North Korea, human rights, intellectual property and — what may be one of the most pressing and difficult issues because of the weakened U.S. economy — China's undervalued currency and its role as the biggest creditor to the United States.
Some of what is known about Xi's views comes from another "first" he launched while in Zhejiang province: He became a regular newspaper columnist.
Between February 2003 and March 2007, Xi, as Communist Party chief, contributed 232 opinion articles to the Zhejiang Daily, using the pen name Zhe Xin, said the paper's editors and others familiar with them. The short articles touched on issues such as corruption and the desire for party officials to get closer to ordinary people.
In one column, Xi railed against officials who display "the haughty manner of feudalism." Xi wrote: "If we stay removed from ordinary people, we will be like a tree cut off from its roots. Officials at all levels should change their working style, get close to ordinary people, try their best to do good things for people, put down the haughty manner and set a good example for ordinary people."In another piece, he criticized "eggheads," who he described as "some Party cadres" who "read books without then applying the knowledge." He wrote: "We should try to link the theory up with the reality, and do things in a down-to-earth way." To do otherwise, he said, was just putting out a pretty flowerpot "without planting the flowers."
In an essay against graft, Xi said that "transparency is the best anti-corrosive" and that "as long as we follow democracy, go through a proper process [and] avoid 'black' case work . . . fighting against corruption won't become some empty words."
Xi's anti-corruption stance has been notable throughout his rise through the party's ranks. When he left Zhejiang in 2007, he was sent to Shanghai to replace the party chief, Chen Liangyu, who was sacked from the job and eventually sent to prison for misusing pension funds for real estate investments and for taking bribes.
Li Shi Wei, the Taiwanese businessman, said he remembers in Fujian province that Xi did not want even the appearance of impropriety. Li recalled that a group of businessmen once offered to stop by Xi's home for a social call and that Xi responded by saying that "business is done in the office."
Xi belongs to a group of up-and-coming Chinese leaders known here as the "princelings," the sons of the Mao Zedong-era revolutionaries who are rising to the fore. Xi's father was Xi Zhongxun, a vice premier and governor of Guangdong province who was credited as the creator of China's first successful "special economic zone" in Shenzhen. The elder Xi was purged by Mao and also later fell from favor for expressing sympathy with student pro-democracy protesters who converged on Tiananmen Square in 1989.
But those who know him said Xi rarely displays the airs commonly associated with those who have been long groomed for power. "In our mind, compared with other Princelings, he's more approachable, easy-going and pragmatic," said Li, the businessman.
Many who worked with Xi said they never thought the unassuming provincial politician would emerge as the country's leader-in-waiting.
Zhang Wensheng, a professor at the Taiwan Research Institute at Xiamen University, recalled when Xi came to the center at the end of the 1990s to meet the researchers and learn more about Taiwan. He confessed to being "a little surprised" when Xi first got appointed vice president, a stepping-stone to the presidency.
"He dealt with the central level pretty effectively," Zhang said. "That's why he got promoted so quickly."
"It was a big surprise for us," said Li, the Taiwanese businessman. "If I had suspected, I would have gotten even closer to him!"
Staff writer William Wan in Washington and staff researcher Wang Juan in China contributed to this report.
刘罡
美报笔下的习近平美国《华盛顿邮报》8月15日的报道说，当美国副总统拜登本周访华时，出面接待他的将是中国国家副主席习近平。福建和浙江省曾经看到过习近平工作方式的人都用同样的词汇来形容他：务实、严肃、谨慎、勤奋、脚踏实地和低调。他们还说习近平注重解决实施问题，似乎是一位对显要职位带来的荣耀不感兴趣的领导人。报道说，福建一个台商投资协会的负责人李世伟说，习近平的工作效率非常高，这在他接触过的大陆官员中是很少见的。李世伟还说，习近平通常都与客人在政府机关的食堂里共进午餐和晚餐，他不喜欢奢华的生活方式。
报道说，浙江当地的商人和学者们说，习近平主政浙江时，浙江的民间社团享受了很长一段以往少见的开放期。报道援引温州中小企业协会会长周德文的话说，在习近平担任浙江省省长期间，这里的气氛是建国以来最开放的，只有在这种相对开放和宽松的环境下，我们这样一家行业协会才有可能发出或许与政府不一致的声音。
英报：Facebook说Google+"没人用"
英国《每日电讯报》8月17日的报道说，Facebook 的管理人士说，谷歌的社交网站Google+缺乏使用者、原创性和经济影响力。
报道说，Facebook 的游戏合作伙伴关系负责人Sean Ryan把Google+对Facebook的模仿比作麦当劳模仿星巴克卖咖啡。
报道援引Sean Ryan的话说，谷歌模仿了Facebook系统的方方面面，他们有权利这样做，我们只需做得更好就是了。Ryan还比较了Facebook和Google+与游戏开发商共享收入的模式。他说，我们目前共享30%的游戏收入，而Google+只能分享5%的游戏收入，因为它没人用。
美报：中国感受经济刺激的副作用
美国《洛杉矶时报》8月16日的报道说，北京旨在保护中国经济免受金融危机影响的大规模经济刺激计划加剧了通货膨胀。包括大型购物中心和写字楼在内的许多大型建筑物几乎空空如也。报道以北京丰台区首地大峡谷购物中心为例说，这里有多厅电影院和Gap 及Sephora等西方知名品牌的专卖店，它几乎具备大型购物中心的所有元素，只缺一样东西：真正购物的人。
报道说，不久前一个闷热的下午，这家购物中心里人流滚滚，但人们最感兴趣的似乎是这里的免费空调和美食广场，商店里的售货员都无事可做，只能打瞌睡、打哈欠和摆弄自己的手机。报道说，首地大峡谷购物中心这类建设项目可以告诉人们，如果全球再度陷入经济衰退为何中国不能又一次大把花钱了：因为它仍在为上一次的大笔支出付出代价。
（本文作者刘罡是《华尔街日报》中文网编辑兼专栏撰稿人。文中所述仅代表他的个人观点。）
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