Exchanges

Curtain falls on Shanghai international film festival

Last June saw over 300 domestic and foreign-produced films screened at the 15th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), one of Chinas most prominent international film events.This year saw Iranian film The Bear swipe the festivals top prize, making it the second time director Khosrow Masoumi has received this accolade after first winning it in 2004. Russian actor Vladas Bagdonas clinched the Golden Goblet for the best actor for his performance in The Conductor, while Ursula Prunedas part in Mexican film The Dream of Lu won her the prize for best actress. Best director went to Chinese director Gao Qunshu for his exquisite depiction of working class hero Detective Hunter Zhang. Since it was first held in 1993, SIFF has constantly adapted to innovation within the industry, including introducing a category for short online videos. The festival was originally a biennial event, but has been held annually since 2001. Every year it attracts filmmakers and industry experts to its forums and other activities, with films from over 100 countries available for the enjoyment of film connoisseurs.

China-africa Ties Stressed at forum

The Second China-Africa Young Leaders Forum opened in Beijing on June 18, taking“China-Africa Cooperation and Youth Development” as its central theme. Its opening ceremony was attended by figures from both Chinese and African governments and political organizations, including Pendukeni IivulaIthana, secretary general of the South West Africa Peoples Organization (SWAPO), and Namibias founding president Sam Nujoma.

The keynote speech was given by Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), who praised the forum as a great creation of China-Africa friendship. In his speech, Jia discussed how young African and Chinese leaders might work to further strengthen friendly China-Africa relations, hoping that they would also promote cooperation and strive to safeguard global peace and justice in their future careers.

China to Contribute US$43 Billion to iMf

China announced at the G20 summit that it will contribute US $43 billion to the recapitalization of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The summit, held on the nations home soil, discussed the issue of boosting funding for the IMF. G20 leaders agreed that in order to address the risks and challenges the world economy currently faces, it is necessary to ensure that the IMF is sufficiently capitalized. China has constantly made it clear that it will not be absent from IMF recapitalization, and holds that such recapitalization must be mainly based on quotas, and that priority must be given to implementation of the IMFs 2010 quota and governance reform package. China has repeatedly expressed the hope that relevant countries will go through the approval process of the plan as soon as possible in order to ensure that the reform package will be effective before the 2012 IMF annual meetings in October.

Central Government Embraces Green Offices

The Green Office campaign initiated last year among central government departments shows encouraging results, according to the Government Offices Administration of the State Council. The program, which combines technical and managerial measures, is expected to improve government office energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. Its first participants were the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the Government Offices Administration of the State Council. The results of measures the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development has taken – including installing window awnings on outer walls, LED lights, photovoltaic cells and solar heaters, along with recycling rainwater, renovating the heating system and the bio-treatment of kitchen waste – are remarkable.The ministry headquarters has reduced its annual use of water by 3,900 tons, of electricity by 315,000 kWh and of coal by 475 tons, so cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 1,085 tons. The central government plans to make 40 percent of its departments energy-frugal by 2015, and to ensure that all its arms meet this goal by 2020.

China Releases Second Human Rights Plan

China has published its second human rights action plan, setting out human rights protection work over the period 2012 to 2015. The plan guarantees Chinas strict observation of stringent judicial procedures when handing down the death penalty and of Supreme Court reviews of such cases. It also steps up investigation and punishment of officials that abuse their power and violate citizensrights, particularly with respect to illegal detention. The plan pledges the Chinese governments upholding of freedom of religious belief in accordance with the law, including improved organization and management of the hajj, or Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and provision of better services for pilgrims. It moreover states that the government will provide financial support for the construction of new school buildings in the Buddhist Academy of China and expansion and improvement of the China Islamic Institute. More funds will also be allocated to rebuilding and expanding places of worship in Tibetan-inhabited areas.

20 Million Male Glut

In the demographic group below 30 years old, Chinese men outnumber women by an estimated 20 million – a staggering surplus that is expected to grow by one million annually in the coming decade. It signifies intensified pressure on men born in the 1980s and 1990s to find spouses at the age they would expect to wed and start families. A general imbalance in Chinas population first came to light in 1982 in the nations third census, and expanded in the years that followed to a ratio of 120.56 in 2008 – the worlds highest. In a recent meeting on addressing the countrys skewed sex ratio at birth, however, head of the National Population and Family Planning Commission Wang Xia disclosed that the top-heavy boy/girl ratio began to ease in 2009 and that it dipped to 117.78 in 2011. It nonetheless exceeds 10 points above the international red line. Ms Wang warned that normalizing this imbalance would be an arduous task for China.

Medical Reform Goals achieved

The Medical Reform Office of the State Council reports that it has met all five of its goals over the past three years. They include the countrys establishment of a non-profit healthcare system, introduction of competitive human resources management, adoption of a performance-based income distribution mechanism, a standardized process of pharmaceutical purchases, and establishment of a long-term funding system for public hospitals. During the 2009-2011 period the central budget earmarked RMB 1240.9 billion for medical reforms –RMB 390.9 billion more than the scheduled sum. The lions share went to medical insurance for urban residents and the New Rural Cooperative Medical Care System, a government-subsidized insurance plan for rural residents. The two schemes cover more than 95 percent of Chinas population, entitling both urban and rural inpatients to an average 70 percent reimbursement of hospital expenses, as compared to the 54 percent reimbursement for the former and 48 percent for the latter applicable since 2008.