Focus

Voices

To be frank, it is unrealistic to expect China to work as the sole or primary force in pulling the world economy out of the current slump. We hope developed countries can move on from their economic woes as soon as possible. We are in an interdependent world, where strong economies in the West lend steam to the Chinese economy, and likewise. A sound Chinese economy is in the interest of the whole world,

Vice Premier Li Keqiang said during a meeting with members of the International Business Council at the World Economic Forum(WEF), which opened on September 11 in Tianjin. The vice premier didnt mince words on the state of Chinese economy: “Facing a halting recovery of the world economy and growth pressure in east Asia, China finds itself in a new situation this year, and has accordingly brought down growth goals. This is a response to the global reality as well as a reflection of constant modifications in Chinas macro-policies.” Li said China would continue to seek stable growth, properly handle the tradeoff between stable and brisk economic growth, hone its economic structural changes and inflation management, and proceed with opening-up and reforms.

Nestlé has no plans to close its facilities in Chinas coastal and eastern regions. but our new factories will be in the countrys central and western provinces,

Nestlé SA Greater China Chairman Roland Decorvet told reporters at the 16th China International Fair for Investment and Trade(CIFIT), held in Xiamen September 8-11. The reason for the shift is the growing spending power of residents in central and western China, which indicates the future growth markets for the company. Nestlé is building a large factory in Zhumadian in Henan Province, and envisions two more in Sichuan Province. Mr. Decorvet revealed that Nestlés sales in China have been growing steadily, but refused to give specific numbers. Feeling the pinch of surging labor costs, some international companies have moved their operations in China to countries where pay levels are lower. But Mr. Decorvet ruled out that possibility for Nestlé.

Chinese Premier Stresses Importance of Ties with EU

In an address to the 8th China-EU Business Summit, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that China is willing to work with the European Union on making their bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership a model of international cooperation in the 21st century. The China-EU relationship is one of the most important in the world, and a strategic priority of Chinas foreign policy, the premier said. Wen went on to say that two-way trade, the most fruitful aspect of the China-EU relationship, reached US$567.2 billion in 2011, representing an average annual increase of 20.8 percent since 2003. He added that the EU has been Chinas top trading partner for eight consecutive years, and China is now the EUs second largest trading partner. Meanwhile, the European bloc is also Chinas largest source of technology imports, related contracts having aggregated US$150 billion. Premier Wen also noted in his address that people-topeople exchanges have become increasingly frequent, and that nearly two million Chinese went to Europe last year for tourism and study, marking a five-fold increase since 2003.

China and ASEAN Will Realize Total Zero-tariff by 2015

Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng said that by 2015, China will realize total zero-tariff policies with 10 ASEAN member countries. To date, China has removed tariffs for 90 percent of products moving between it and six ASEAN member countries. For the past decade, China has accomplished a series of achievements in economic and trade cooperation with ASEAN. The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, established on January 1, 2010, has improved trade and investment liberalization and deepened cooperation. By the end of 2011, ASEAN had replaced Japan as Chinas third largest trade partner, while China was ASEANs largest trade partner for the third successive year.

Chinese Tourism Operators Will Extend the“Silk Road” to Zurich

A Chinese tourism promotion delegation, consisting of travel departments and agencies in Shaanxi, Ningxia, Qinghai and Beijing, and delegates from tourism enterprises, promoted their Silk Road travel plan in Zurich, Switzerland on September 18. They introduced iconic images of the Silk Road, such as deserts, diversiform-leaved poplars, grottoes, ancient towns, to their Swiss counterparts. The Silk Road has a long history. During the Han Dynasty, envoys were sent overland to the west from Luoyang, Henan Province, passing through Gansu and Xinjiang to Central Asia, Western Asia and finally to the Mediterranean. It also witnessed the economic relations and friendship between Asia, Europe and Africa. The Silk Road stretches for 7,000 kilometers, 4,000 of which are located in China. The unique folklore and magnificent scenery along the route make travel all the more alluring. Such activities will bring further increases of incoming tourists from Switzerland. In recent years, Sino-Switzerland exchanges have been on the rise. Last year 70,000 Swiss tourists visited China. Meanwhile, 500,000 Chinese tourists toured Switzerland.

The Third China-US Cultural Forum Held in Nanjing

The Third China-US Cultural Forum was held from September 6 to 9 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.This years topic is bilateral cross-culture dialogues. The Sino-US Cultural Forum is a biennial event with alternating host countries. In December 2008, the first session, themed on “the protection and presentation of cultural heritage in the digital age,” was held in Beijing. The second session in October 2010 was held at the University of California Berkeley Campus on such topics as history of bilateral cultural relations, cultural heritage and creativity, and tradition and innovation in visual arts. This year, James Leach, chairman of the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities, attended the forum in China along with delegates.

Tcm Services to Cover Most Rural and Urban Neighborhoods

According to Vice Health Minister Wang Guoqiang, who is also head of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, by 2015 TCM services will be available at 95 percent or more of urban neighborhood health centers, at no less than 90 percent of township hospitals and at 60-plus percent of village clinics. At present such services are provided at 75.6 percent of urban neighborhood health centers, 66.5 percent of township hospitals and 57.5 percent of village clinics. Mr. Wang implied that this coverage is insufficient and that service quality at the grassroots level must be improved. In its millennia of application TCM has proved to be effective in addressing many common diseases, chronic conditions and old age-related ailments, and is highly regarded in disease prevention, regimen and rehabilitation.

Falling Premarital Health Checkups Blamed for Rising Birth Defects

The 2012 Report on Prevention and Treatment of Birth Defects, released by the Ministry of Health, reveals that Chinas birth defect rate stands at 5.6 percent, or 900,000 cases a year. Birth defects now account for 19.1 percent of infant mortality in the nation, moving up to become the second largest cause of such deaths from the fourth in 2000. The rate of congenital abnormalities was 129.8 per 10,000 in 2003, and has since climbed to 145.5 in 2006 and 153.23 in 2011. The uptick coincides with a decline in the number of couples who apply for premarital health checkups. China amended its marriage registration policy in 2003, making the formerly mandatory premarital health checkup voluntary. The national rate of newlyweds who underwent the checkups plummeted from 80 percent to 2.67 percent the following year, and the figure for some regions dropped to nil. Despite efforts by local authorities such as offering free checkups, simplifying procedures and even restoring the compulsory requirement in some areas, the rate has yet to return to the pre-2003 level, and stood at 41 percent last year.

College Grads Fill Village Positions

China has cultivated nearly 300,000 students to become village officials, with roughly two thirds of them incumbent, according to the latest data. The figures, released at a working conference of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, also showed that 5,000 of such students had been village heads. Li Yuanchao, head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, urged organization officials to review the work on students-turned officials and to perfect the system, so that they can serve as the backbone in building the socialist new countryside. According to a statement issued after the conference, these officials are supposed to offer information, technology, policy education and law services to farmers.

International Study on the Rise

According to a recent report from the International Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the number of international students worldwide had risen from 0.8 million in 1975 to 3.7 million in 2009. Data for years beyond 2009 has yet to be gathered. According to the Institute of International Education, the United States, with 691,000 international students during the 2009-10 school year, attracts the most students of foreign origin. The UK is the worlds second most popular study-abroad destination. China has become a major destination for studying abroad with around 265,000 students from other countries studying there in 2010, according to Chinas Ministry of Education. China also sends more students abroad than any other country in the world, followed by India and South Korea.

Activity

The Table by Blind Summit

Venue: experimental theater, Guangzhou opera House

Dates: nov.1-2, 2012

Price: RmB 80, 180, 380

The Table is a poignant play in which a puppet called Moses invites the audience to visit his home – a table – and tells the story of how he got there. He talks about people who have visited him and who have left him, and reflects on his life, his table and what lies beyond. In telling this story, Blind Summit, with its beautiful puppets, trademark performing style and succinct dialogue, combines the dark humor of Beckett with the flat-pack technology of Ikea. It draws on the traditional Japanese Bunraku school of puppetry, in which three puppeteers operate one beautifully crafted marionette, to communicate through finely detailed movements and gestures an intimate and intensely personal world where the characters thoughts are physically accomplished on stage. Founded in 1997, Blind Summit is reinventing puppetry for modern adult audiences and pioneering new methods of puppet performance.

Concert by Elaine Paige and Kris Phillips

Venue: the olympic Sports center Gymnasium, Beijing

Date: nov. 2, 2012

Price: RmB 280, 480, 680, 880, 1000, 1280, 1680

With an illustrious career spanning over 40 years, Elaine Paige is internationally famous for her roles as the original Eva Peron in the West End musical Evita, as Florence in Chess, and as Grizabella in Cats. In addition to being nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards, the British singer and actress has won many other accolades for her theatrical roles and is regarded as the First Lady of British Musical Theater. Born to an American father and a Chinese mother, Kris Phillips (Fei Xiang) is one of Chinas alltime best-selling recording artists. He was a pop icon during the 80s before moving his career to Broadway in 1990. The 2001 production of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, featuring both Phillips and Paige, is considered pivotal to the introduction of musical theater to Chinese audiences.

RMB 20 Trillion

A CCTV report disclosed that spending by Chinas senior citizens exceeded RMB 1 trillion in 2010, and is expected to reach RMB 5 trillion around 2050. The aging population has given rise to the need for relevant services and products. The number of people working in related sectors is estimated to soar from 20 million in 2010 to 78 million by 2030, reducing the unemployment rate by two percent or more. In the elderly care industry, for example, if one caregiver is employed for every three seniors, the total workforce will increase by more than 10 million persons. In the coming 20 years China will likely see the output value of seniors-related industries top RMB 20 trillion.

25 Billion KWH

The National Energy Administration released a plan pertaining to solar power generation for the 12th Five-year Plan period (2011-2015). It envisions installed capacity of the nations solar power generators topping 21 million KW(21 GW), and annual output reaching 25 billion KWH. The plan also sets a goal for 2020. By that year, the nations total installed capacity of solar power generators is expected to surge to 50 million KW, signifying that China will become a world leader in solar power.

58,196

A recent press release from the Graduate Management Admission Council, owner of the GMAT exam, which is accepted by more than 5,400 graduate business and management programs worldwide, disclosed that 2011 was a record year. During the test year July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012 a total 286,529 exams were taken, and 831,337 score reports sent to 5,281 graduate business and management programs around the world — all historic highs. GMAT testing outside of the United States has also continued to accelerate. Tests taken by nonUS citizens rose 19 percent in 2012 and represented 59 percent of global GMAT volume. Chinese test takers, secondlargest citizenship group after the US, represented 20 percent of global testing. In 2012, the number of exams taken by Chinese citizens increased 45 percent to 58,196.

Rich-Poor Gap at Alarming Level

A paper by the Beijing-based International Institute for Urban Development warns that beneath the profound achievements of Chinas opening-up and reform is a complex of risks due to the yawning wealth divide, which is approaching the limit of public tolerance. The paper says that Chinas Gini coefficient hit 0.438 in 2010, compared with 0.275 in the early 1980s, and has been increasing since the 1990s at an annual rate of 0.1 percent. The income disparity between Chinas urban and rural residents now stands at 330 percent, the highest in the world, and well above the runner-up, the figure for which is 200 percent. In the two decades from 1988 to 2007 the disparity between Chinas top 10 percent of earners and its bottom 10 percent has risen from 7.3-fold to 23-fold.

Stable Pricing Stressed in Central Banks Plan

In the 12th Five-year Plan for the Development and Reform of Chinas Financial Industry, the Peoples Bank of China, promulgator of the plan, articulated the goal of price stabilization and vowed to improve monetary policy regulation as well as optimize the target-setting system for monetary policy. According to the plan, monetary policy implementation and regulation must maintain a balance between brisk and stable economic growth, inflation management and economic restructuring. Policy is to be flexible, effective and forward-looking. The role of interest rates and exchange rate as leveraging tools will be enhanced, and the priority in monetary policy regulation and implementation will shift from money supply to a focus on pricing. China will also continue to pursue its prudential counter-cyclical macroeconomic policies in order to reduce institutional financial risks.

China Construction Bank to Make Chinas Largest Merger

In an interview with Reuters, China Construction Bank(CCB) President Wang Hongzhang said that the bank is looking for merger projects in Europe and anticipates striking its first deal within the year. Mr. Wang admitted that the global financial crisis, the EU debt crisis and strong growth in emerging markets have opened new opportunities for the banks overseas expansion. CCB has put aside RMB 100 billion(US $15 billion) to purchase a modest-size bank, or a 30-50 percent stake in a bigger one. If realized, the acquisition will be the largest ever by a Chinese bank. Mr. Wang named the UK, Germany and France as the most appealing locations for such a merger. For the moment, CCB is in the process of setting up branches in Dubai, Toronto, Russia, Melbourne, San Francisco and Taipei. Mr. Wang said the biggest obstacle for the banks overseas operations comes from restrictions set by supervisory authorities in host countries.

Tourism Stimulates Economic Growth of China and the United States

China and the United States have become each others fourth-largest tourist destinations, with nearly 3.5 million tourists traveling between the two countries last year, according to Chinas top tourism official Shao Qiwei, head of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). More than 1.36 million Chinese visited the US last year, an annual increase of 17.6 percent. The number of U.S. travelers to China exceeded 2.11 million. “We expect the number of tourists traveling between China and the U.S. will reach 5 million in 2015,”Shao said at the sixth ChinaU.S. Tourism Leadership Summit held in Qingdao in September. Chinese tourists spent a total of $7.7 billion in the U.S. last year, an average of US $7,107 per head, which helped create 210,000 jobs in the U.S. Tourists from the U.S. spent US $3.3 billion in China last year, or US $2,348 per tourist. Roger Dow, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Travel Association, said that the tourism industry is expected to stimulate economic growth for both countries.

Golden Monkey Breeding Base to Be established

China is expected to set up the countrys first artificial breeding base for the endangered golden monkey within the year. The base will be in the Shennongjia Nature Reserve in central Chinas Hubei Province, which is home to about 1,200 of the monkeys, according to the research institute at the reserves management authority. Like giant pandas, the golden monkey is regarded as a state treasure in China. In natural conditions, the birth rate of the golden monkey in Shennongjia is around four percent, with the survival rate of monkey infants only six percent. Researchers will focus on increasing fertility by artificial insemination, nutritional regulation and other assistance techniques. The Shennongjia golden monkeys live in dense forests at altitudes of between 1,680 and 3,000 meters, and are on the verge of extinction. They belong to the species Rhinopithecus roxellanae, or Golden Snub-nosed Monkey, one of the five golden monkey species.

Chinas Contribution to Ozone Layer Protection Honored

The Ozone Secretariat of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) conferred an honor on the Chinese government for its contributions to ozone layer protection in an event marking this years International Ozone Layer Protection Day, September 16. Zhang Lijun, vice minister of environmental protection, said at the event that China has phased out more than 100,000 tons of ozone depleting substances (ODS) since 1991, an amount that accounted for around half the total eliminated by developing nations. Since signing the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1991, China has continued to improve its management of ODS and phase out ODS production and consumption, contributing greatly to global ozone layer protection efforts, according to Zhang. China will face an “extremely arduous” task in meeting the next phase goal of ODS elimination set by the Protocol, he said. Ozone shields the planet from the suns harmful ultraviolet-B radiation. It also blocks lethal UV-C radiation. First signed by 24 nations in 1987, the Montreal Protocol set a global agenda for ODS elimination.

Weather Modification to Be Enhanced

China will take more active steps to enhance weather modification, in a bid to better serve agricultural production and disaster relief work. The country aims to build a sophisticated weather modification system by 2020 that features better coordination, supervision and security control, according to a plan published on the Chinese governments website. By 2020, China plans to increase precipitation by 60 billion tons annually via cloud seeding, as well as extend the coverage of artificial hail suppression to more than 540,000 square kilometers from the current 470,000 square kilometers, the plan said. The government also requires local authorities to develop weather modification services for agricultural production, exploita- tion of cloud-water resources, emergency response and the smooth running of major events.

No Timetable for Manned Moon Landing

A senior scientist working on Chinas lunar orbiter project recently said that China has not yet created a timetable for its manned moon landing program. “Putting a man on the moon is a very complicated systematic program with many technical challenges, including those related to space walks, docking, staying on the moon, and returning,” Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist on the lunar orbiter project, said at a conference at the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World held in Tianjin. “China wont carry out a manned moon landing until it masters all of these crucial technologies,” said Ouyang. Chinas lunar probe projects currently consist of unmanned moon exploration, a manned moon landing and the building of a moon base. “China is still at the first stage,” Ouyang said, adding that the first stage involves the successful orbiting, landing and return of a lunar spacecraft. China launched its Change-1 orbiter in 2007 and Change-2 in 2010. It is scheduled to send its third probe, the Change-3, to the moon in 2013 and retrieve it in 2017.

Convenient Cotton

Sterilizing a wound requires a cotton bud and liquid disinfectant. On most occasions, these two things are used together. Convenient cotton combines disinfectant liquid and a cotton bud in one treatment tool. Every bud contains an appropriate dose of disinfectant to ensure every drop is delivered to the wound without wastage and runoff. Each cotton bud is fitted onto a hollow plastic tube, through which the disinfectant is released. When just one end is used, the tube can be broken into two at its middle point, saving the other end for later use. Each half-length contains enough liquid disinfectant to treat one small wound. A quick pinch of the tube releases the disinfectant into the cotton bud.

Conclave Lock

How many times have you stumbled home late at night and fumbled around in the dark trying to put your key into the lock on your front door? Sober or otherwise, often it seems that docking a shuttle with a space station would be easier. While the shuttle has lasers, earth-based citizens now have the Conclave Lock to help with the task. The Conclave Lock glows in the dark courtesy of a fluorescent ring. The concave design of the lock means you just aim in the general direction of the center of the glowing ring and your key just glides right in. Open your door on the first try, every time.

Spaghetti Tower

Ever cooked spaghetti for one and ended up with enough to feed an army? Get around the problem with the Spaghetti tower, a dispenser that helps calculate portions. With portion settings for one to four persons, the storage containers cap can be adjusted to determine the volume of spaghetti strands released. Now all you have to do is boil the water. And if you cant do that, theres always takeout.

Photo News

October 1, 2012

A deluge of spectators watch the flag raising ceremony at tiananmen Square in central Beijing, recording the process with their handsets, iPads and cameras.

October 1, 2012

Chinas first aircraft carrier Liaoning is festooned with colorful banners for national Day at a bay in Dalian, liaoning Province.

October 3, 2012

The 2012 Beijing 798 art Festival, themed on “images of art, lights of imagination,”focuses on contemporary art and cultural activities.

September 29, 2012

Adam lambert of american idol fame appears in Shanghai at “The Voice of china,” chinese version of “the Voice,” press conference, flanked by four front-runners in the tV singing competition.

October 11, 2012

Chinese author mo yan is awarded the 2012 nobel Prize for literature. the Swedish academy praised his work which“with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary.”Photos by China Foto Press

September 30, 2012

The famous Red Beach in Panjin, liaoning Province, whose Suaeda scrubs, also known as seepweeds and seablites, that blanket the shoals, turn flamboyant red in autumn.