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Anonymous ID: 7ffcbd May 18, 2019, 8:46 a.m. No.6528534   🗄️.is đź”—kun

China appoints state asset chief as new market regulator

 

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Xiao Yaqing, director of China’s state-owned asset regulator, has been appointed head of the country’s market regulation administration, state television reported on Saturday.

 

Xiao’s appointment came after the incumbent director of the State Administration for Market Regulation, Zhang Mao, reached the mandatory retirement age of 65.

 

Formerly the president of the Aluminium Corporation of China, Xiao was appointed head of the State-Owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) in 2016, presiding over an ambitious period of reform for China’s state-owned sector.

 

China has sought to slim down its state sector with the aim of creating a smaller number of “world-class” firms capable of competing internationally, but analysts say the effort to create more flexible management and ownership structures has put SASAC’s long-term future as a regulator in doubt.

 

The State Administration for Market Regulation was formed last year after a wide-ranging overhaul of government departments, and is responsible for areas such as intellectual property and market competition.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-appointments/china-appoints-state-asset-chief-as-new-market-regulator-idUSKCN1SO0BR

Anonymous ID: 7ffcbd May 18, 2019, 9:14 a.m. No.6528724   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>8868 >>8932 >>8956

Speculation grows that PM Abe set to dissolve lower house for summer double election

 

TOKYO – Speculation is growing within Japan's ruling and opposition camps that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may dissolve the House of Representatives to call a general election to coincide with the summer House of Councillors race.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga clearly said at a May 17 news conference that if opposition parties submit a no-confidence motion against the Abe Cabinet to the lower chamber, it could lead to the dissolution of the powerful chamber.

 

He apparently warned the opposition camp against introducing such a motion. However the remark, made by a key member of the Cabinet, is likely to cause wide political repercussions.

 

Suga's remarks came as high-ranking members of ruling and opposition parties have also pointed to the possibility of a double election, which is likely to happen if the prime minister dissolves the lower house shortly before the June 26 end of the ongoing regular Diet session.

 

An upper chamber election is held every tree years, with half of its 242 seats up for grabs each time. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secured 65 seats in the 2013 upper house election, which LDP Election Strategy Committee chairman Akira Amari describes as "a figure that we cannot surpass."

 

A focal point is how the LDP will minimize its losses. If a double election is held, lower house candidates will also campaign, causing a possible synergistic effect with upper chamber candidates.

 

The opposition camp is not sufficiently prepared for an early lower house election, as they have yet to decide on fielding joint candidates to present a united front. Abe Cabinet's approval ratings remain high, and the celebratory mood surrounding the start of the Reiwa era continues to build. These factors are behind the growing view that the prime minister will call a double election.

 

LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai told a May 13 press conference that the party is "always prepared" for simultaneous elections for the lower and upper chambers. Hakubun Shimomura, chairman of the LDP Headquarters for the Promotion of Revision to the Constitution, suggested that he shares this view.

 

"There are some people who said we should 'accept the challenge' if the opposition bloc submits a no-confidence motion against the Abe Cabinet," he told reporters at the party headquarters on May 16.

 

With regard to the possibility of calling a double election to ask the public if they support constitutional revision, Shimomura said, "There are a growing number of people who have mentioned this recently."

 

A summit meeting of the Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations and regions is scheduled for June 28-29 in Osaka, shortly after the current Diet session ends.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190518/p2a/00m/0na/017000c