The South China Morning Post leads its China coverage with the return of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin. Seemingly content to exert influence from behind the scenes since his official retirement in 2004, Jiang chose as his vehicle for re-entry to public life a 16-page academic paper on national energy strategy. In his presentation to the executive arm of China’s newly formed Energy Commission, Jiang argues that China needs to make energy conservation the country’s top priority. Jiang's reappearance is a not-so-subtle reminder to the clique surrounding current president Hu Jintao, which is facing mounting pressure over Tibet, that even in China there are choices at the top of the leadership chain.

All the papers cover the 5.5% fall Wednesday in the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index to 3,413.907 points. The largest single-day drop in over two months eroded most of the gains from a four-day rally that kicked off after the market bottomed out at an 11-month low last week. The China Perspective covered this story yesterday via the China Daily. The Financial Times reports that the slump came as investors sold equities to free up capital ahead of the initial public offering of Zijin Mining Group scheduled for next week. The Wall Street Journal wonders where the bottom lies.

The Journal also expanded on Wednesday’s news that auto sales were up 21% year-on-year in China during the first quarter of 2008. According to the Journal, the sales boost in China was warmly received by global automakers facing a slowdown in the US in the wake of the ongoing credit crisis. Honda’s 29% gain in China sales for the quarter offset its 0.4% decline in sales in the US. In March alone, its sales grew 79% from a year earlier in China and slipped 3.2% in the US. Ford sold 54% more passenger vehicles over the quarter as its total vehicle sales grew 47%, a record for the company. Volkswagen sold 103,200 vehicles in March, breaking the 100,000 sales for a single month barrier for the first time. BMW's sales increased 43.2% but General Motors lagged the market, selling just 6.8% more vehicles in the quarter.

The International Herald Tribune carried a Reuters feature on the risk of food shortages in China due to a loss of arable land associated with rapid urbanization. China, which has 20% of the world's population but only 7% of its farmland, is also facing increasing pressure on its food supply due to the growing consumption of meat and dairy products as diets improve. Frédéric Hervouet, the head of commodity investor derivatives at BNP Paribas, said China has lost about 1% of its agricultural land every year for the past eight years. Li Guoxiang, a researcher with the Rural Development Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the government needed to increase agricultural subsidies to encourage farmers to continue planting crops. Direct subsidies accounted only for about 5% of farmers' income in China, well below the 60% in some developed countries, such as the United States or Japan.

The IHT also reports on Sotheby's Hong Kong auction of Chinese contemporary art. Despite fears the global economic slowdown would weaken auction prices, the hammer went down on nearly US$18 million worth of works on Wednesday afternoon alone.

Today’s Papers covers key China business stories carried by major international and Chinese dailies, sourced from their web editions. Other news and breaking stories are carried on The China Perspective's homepage or in the Daily Briefs section.