The list referred to user-generated content on a section of Yahoo China’s Web site called “Yahoo Space,” which is not currently in operation. But a subsequent notice released today by the center said remnants of the “vulgar” content from Yahoo Space could still be found in other parts of Yahoo’s portal.

The Web sites “didn’t continue to follow the government’s call to effectively crack down on vulgar content and information on the Internet, and relaxed supervision of their Web sites, which ultimately led to the appearance of a lot of vulgar content, which is against social morals and does harm to the physical and mental health of the youth,” the center said in a notice. “Such behavior … has led to the anger of our public and should be strongly condemned.”

The public condemning of these Web sites follows a similar notice earlier this year that implicated Google for allowing pornographic content, which is illegal in China, to show up in its search results. The company was ordered to temporarily disable some of its services as a result.

An Alibaba spokesman said the company operates according to the laws and regulations of each country it operates in.

Yahoo (YHOO) gave Alibaba control of China Yahoo, also known as Yahoo China, as part of a 2005 deal in which Yahoo paid $1 billion for a 39% stake in Alibaba Group, making it the Chinese company’s biggest single shareholder. But under Alibaba’s watch, Yahoo’s share of China’s search market revenue shrunk from 21% four years ago to just 6% in the second quarter of this year.

Though the stake in Alibaba has been financially lucrative for Yahoo, its brand has suffered. In August, Alibaba restructured Yahoo China by stripping out a portion of its business to add it to sister company Taobao.com, and reducing its Yahoo China staff in Beijing.

–Loretta Chao and Sue Feng

It’s often not clear, when China speaks of “assistance,” whether it’s development aid or soft loans for investment or other projects. For example, no details were given about the concessional loan or the projects it would fund.

Indeed, when asked for details on the $10 billion “concessional loan”, China Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Tuesday that it was still being discussed. “We will listen to the suggestions of the African countries and we will take into consideration the specific situation of [each] country, so as to map out the plan for the future use of those loans,” he said in response to a reporter’s question.

Some analysts say Beijing’s methods reinforce the impression that China is only interested in access to Africa’s resources. But such criticism overlooks China’s development work in Africa, which they say might be hindered if every detail of the aid were spelled out - not just for Western democracies, but also for other African nations vying for Chinese assistance.

The gathering with African leaders, which ended Monday, and a new three-year plan signal that Beijing has no intention of backing away from an emerging trading partner that offers a growing market for Chinese goods and is a key source of energy and commodities to feed China’s rapid growth.

The new package shows that Beijing is becoming “more mature” in its aid, proposing assistance that is both appropriate to Africa’s needs and addresses international issues such as climate change and clean energy, said Liu Hongwu, director of the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University.

During the gathering, Premier Wen Jiabao sat in bilateral meetings with top leaders from several African countries, including Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes in Darfur.

Liu said China has thought about the implications of assisting countries like Sudan, and that behind the scenes Beijing is urging Sudan to improve conditions in Darfur and elsewhere.

China - which bristles when outsiders try to tell it what to do - doesn’t advocate interference in others’ affairs, and instead tries to “question and advise” in its relationship with African nations, Liu said.

Critics say China’s no-strings-attached aid could hurt Africa’s governance, human rights and economic reforms in the long run.

But analysts say that as China’s creditor profile in Africa increases, African nations themselves are likely to set their own conditions and demand more disclosure from China.

–J.R. Wu

That link to history earned Hormats, now undersecretary of state for economic, energy and agricultural affairs, a particularly warm reception at a Beijing university on Tuesday and helped defuse some, though not all, tension between Hormats and his audience over recent trade disputes between the two nations.

During his appearance at the University of International Business and Economics, students and faculty alike thanked Hormats profusely for his role in helping to establish official diplomatic ties between China and the U.S. But students also peppered him with tough questions on trade issues.

Hormats tried to reassure the audience that “the U.S. is not a protectionist country.” Still, he warned that trade imbalances between the U.S. and China are “politically unsustainable.”
“Support for international trade in the United States is much less today than it was several years ago,” he said. Especially with rising unemployment, he added, “there is skepticism about trade, and I have to say that to you candidly.”

One student asked Hormats to secure a pledge from the U.S. not to take any further protectionist measures, “just like you, four decades ago, advised Kissinger to help Nixon to build bilateral relations with China.”

Another student asked whether the timing of an announcement of import duties on Chinese steel pipes by the U.S. Commerce Department just over a week ahead of President Obama’s visit to China was “on purpose.”

“It’s not related at all to the visit by President Obama,” Hormats responded. The U.S. government’s actions, he said, are “not as well coordinated as China.”

Hormats reached back across the decades to close on a conciliatory note. “It goes back to Kissinger and [former Chinese Premier] Zhou Enlai. They understood that they could fight forever on bilateral differences. There were so many more differences in the 1970s than there are today.” Instead, he said, they chose to “look at the longer term areas where we can work together.”

–Aaron Back

Unusual for a poll: A proposed answer of “yes” is already attached in an open letter issued by the government of Jinling village, part of the city of Jiangdu.

According to the letter, following Jiangdu’s commitment to become a “well-off community” by 2009, the city will go through an inspection to determine whether its target has been reached. As a part of the inspection, people will be interviewed over the phone by officials about their status. For a passing grade, at least 60% of those called have to agree with the statement that they are now “well off.”

Another two required questions as well as their proposed answers, are listed in the letter.

Question: “Do you think Jiangdu has met the standards of being a well-off community?”

Proposed Answer: Yes, because by the end of this year, the city government has reached the 25 stated goals that define a well-off community.

Question: What is the average annual income of the members in your family?

Proposed Answer: For residents in cities and towns, no less than 16,000 yuan; for residents from rural areas, no less than 8,000 yuan.

A similar questionnaire, with suggested answers, by the Liba village government in the same county is also posted on Jiangdu Forum. Both letters have attracted much debate online.

In an in-depth report about this issue, People’s Daily says “We are delighted to see that the Jiangsu government is attaching great importance to the public’s view in evaluating a well-off community… but the attached proposed answers to the questions make people upset.”

People’s Daily also says that some individual Jiangdu primary schools have asked the students to recite the proposed answers to make sure their parents will give the “correct” answers if chosen for the interview.

A blogger called Lu Zhijian calls such inspections merely a formality.

“From the three required questions for the poll, we could tell that they are just aimed at inducing people to answer in a positive way … Such a poll should be questioned for its credibility.”

Earlier this year, it was reported that Jiangsu province had staged a “fake poll” for it’s well-off-community inspection at the end of 2008. A full 94.8% of Qidong city residents in a random-phone-call survey said they were now well off, but the poll was deemed skewed after it was reported that many people were paid by the government for a “yes” answer.

A Chinese blogger called Chen Xu commented on the reason to conduct surveys like these: “Why these polls? The key reason is that such polls usually carry weight in the evaluation of local government officials’ performance.”

Back in Jinling, the letter to villagers ends on a hopeful note: “We believe our Jinling residents will actively cooperate with this inspection. If it is passed, it will be a high honor for all the people in Jiangdu, and for you too!”

–Sue Feng

The company has since made a number of other changes to its pricing model, including expanding its “Gold Supplier” membership to sellers outside of China (who used to have cheaper memberships and fewer services than Chinese sellers), and eliminating its premium China membership level from offerings except to existing members who want to renew them. In addition to gaining more paying members, the changes may also translate into more revenue from value-added services like buying keywords for a position within buyers’ search results.

While investors may want to keep an eye out for how the company is translating that fundamental change into revenue growth, there are several other things going on within Alibaba.com that will be worth looking out for in the coming year.

India. CEO David Wei has been talking openly about plans for a partnership in India similar to its partnership with Softbank to operate its Japanese Web site, of which Alibaba.com owns 32%. Few details were given other than the possibility that the partnership could be with an existing partner, like Infomedia 18. This may be interesting because like China, the Indian market—which accounted for 12% of all registered users on Alibaba.com’s International marketplace as of June—provides both a strong buyer and seller base. The company does not give metrics for its Japanese Web site.

AliExpress. This product has been in beta since last quarter, and allows for transactions online that can be paid for through AliPay, Alibaba Group’s online escrow service. Up until now, Alibaba.com only connected buyers to sellers, but didn’t facilitate transactions online, so this could also mean a major milestone for Alibaba.com. It will be interesting to see whether the company moves toward a transaction-based model, because that model is very different from the current pay-up-front membership fee they charge to customers regardless of how many sales they make. The company already has competitors like DHgate, which allows transactions online, provides keyword search results by popularity and relevance rather than keyword advertising, and does not charge any membership fees.

International expansion. Aside from its $30 million ad-spending spree in the U.S. to attract more buyers to the site, Alibaba.com has been busy launching its listings in six more languages including Spanish, Portuguese and Russian. The Web sites are still in beta, and buyers and sellers must still chat in English because the company’s instant messaging software only provides Chinese-English translation. But it’s a step toward following through on Alibaba Group Chairman Jack Ma’s expressed desire to open the platform to Latin America and elsewhere; last year during a trip to Peru, he encouraged local vendors to consider the Internet and selling to the vast Chinese market .

–Loretta Chao

Under a joint program by the China Communist Youth League and China Postal Savings Bank, people between 18 and 40 who want to start a business can get loans ranging from 10,000 yuan to 200,000 yuan from China Postal Savings Bank, which was founded in 2007 with the goal of providing consumer credit and small loans through China Post’s myriad outlets.

The loans in the “Small Loans for Youth” program have to be backed up by assets or a guarantor. But the Communist Youth League will also take a financial role in the project, assuming some of the risk by setting up a guarantee fund that can bail out struggling young entrepreneurs. The fund will also issue bonuses to those whose businesses distinguish themselves.

It’s the job of the Communist Youth League, under the leadership of China’s Communist Party, to help find opportunities for China’s young.

As for the loan program, the Youth League and China Postal Savings Bank will together work on the screening of applicants who should get loans. Postal Savings Bank will give priority to the applicants recommended by the Youth League and accelerate the handling of their applications.

Almost all Chinese high school students are members of the Youth League, whose traditional mission has been to disseminate Communist doctrine. The Youth League has served as the primary breeding ground for future party leaders. Both President Hu Jintao and Vice Premier Li Keqiang held high offices in the central committee of the Youth League early in their careers.

–Gao Sen

The study, published in late October in “Geophysical Research Letters,” and mentioned here, suggests that the added weight of the Zipingpu Reservoir and dam likely helped trigger the 7.9 magnitude earthquake.

The dam “potentially hastened the occurrence of the Wenchuan earthquake by tens to hundreds of years,” wrote the report’s five authors. Wenchuan, a county in Sichuan, was the epicenter of the 2008 earthquake.

The study adds to the controversy over China’s massive dam-building program, which includes the flagship Three Gorges Dam, which forced the relocation of some 1.2 million residents. China’s biggest dam was not impacted by the May quake.

Critics say the dams are ecologically unsound white elephants. The government counters they provide much-needed clean energy and reduce reliance on dirty coal.

This latest study follows similar research by a group of Chinese scientists. “It is worthwhile to further study if the effect played a role” in triggering the quake, according to an abstract of the paper published in the December 2008 issue of the Chinese journal Geology and Seismology.

Chinese officials deny the reservoir, which was completed in 2005, had anything to do with the earthquake.

The authors of the latest study warn that there’s not enough data from before the dam was built to make a definitive correlation between the dam and increased seismic activity. “The microseismicity data recorded by the reservoir authority in the vicinity of the reservoir do not contain background data prior to 2004 or these data are currently unavailable to the public,” the authors explained.

There have been other concerns around the dam program. Influential business magazine Caijing reported this month that the threat of increasing landslides has forced managers of the Three Gorges dam to delay reaching the reservoir’s target height of 175 meters.

Ongoing droughts have further contributed to the Three Gorges problems. There’s less water than expected flowing into the reservoir, and officials have to release more to ensure sufficient water downstream.

Lower water cuts into two of the core justifications of the dam: electricity generation and shipping. Less water means the electricity turbines don’t operate at full capacity. Lower water also limits the size of boats that can travel on the reservoir.

(The Wall Street Journal reported about the geological risks of the dam in 2007. Government officials acknowledged those risks but said they had taken appropriate preventative actions.)

– Shai Oster

So when a panel at The Wall Street Journal China Financial Markets conference suggested that FIRB was being more active in its vetting of Chinese investments, Geoff Raby, Australia’s ambassador to China, didn’t let it slide.

Speaking up from the audience during a Q and A session, he said, “It’s not that FIRB is more active, it’s just that China’s investment has become so much greater.”

He then pointed out that Australia has approved $38 billion worth of Chinese investment over the last two years, compared with a total stock of Chinese investment in Australia of only $670 million at the end of 2007.

But while his command of the statistics was impressive, his following question to the panel perhaps offered the most insight into perceived difficulties Chinese firms have investing in the West.

“How well do Chinese firms looking to buy overseas understand democratic politics?”

The reply from Zhang Liping, head of Credit Suisse’s China investment-banking department: Chinese firms haven’t yet recognized the value of hiring PR and lobbying firms.

–Denis McMahon

Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board as the Federal Investment Review Board.