Voices

“The way that the Chinese conceive of themselves in the world is very different from the Western tradition. I imagine that most people think that as China rises it will be a bit like the U.S. in some shape or form in the way that it expresses itself， and I think this is probably wrong. The whole Chinese tradition is very different from this； they never really colonized other areas.”

Martin Jacques， a senior fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies of Cambridge University， made this comment in an interview given to the Financial Times. His bestseller When China Rules the World： the End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order， first published in 2009， has been translated into 14 languages. He added， “The difficulty with the Western mentality is that for 200 years weve dominated culture， ways of thinking， the economy and military. So we have not really been open to other cultures and ways of thinking. Weve thought that progress is about Westernization and becoming more like us.”

“When the Internet rumbles into other sectors， it exerts tremendous impact on them. Conventional industries may feel a sense of crisis， but will ultimately benefit from the changes the Internet brings about. When reshaped by the Internet， whichever sector of the society will improve its efficiency and become more robust. In this sense， the Internet is not merely about technology， but about a way of thinking， which has far-reaching influences on China.”

Robin Li， co-founder， chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu， Inc.， made these comments on the 20th anniversary of the Internets entry into China. On April 20， 1994， the country opened a 64K international dedicated circuit to the Internet through the Sprint Corp. of the United States， so realizing a full-function linkage to the Internet. On May 21， 1994， the Chinese Academy of Sciences finished setting up Chinas top domain name （CN） servers， which ended the practice of locating CN servers abroad.

Economy & Nation Weekly

Issue No. 8， published on April 14， 2014

Railways Boost Urbanization

Strategic thinking among Chinas top leaders has been to advance urbanization through railway construction. But the financial plight of China Railway Corporation， which is deep in debt and yet to come up with a viable profitable investment pattern， has inhibited putting the master plan into practice.

A State Council executive meeting on April 2 proposed five measures to raise funds for railway construction， so opening a new chapter of reform in this sector. The first is to establish a railway development fund. It does not， however， raise any valid suggestions on how to generate healthy returns. Whats more， the envisioned bank loans and central government subsidies are modest， so raising uncertainties as to the response of private investors.

Pinpointing potential sources of profit is crucial to alleviating the railway financing plight， and land development is one possibility. The Ministry of Land and Resources and the National Development and Reform Commission have reached consensus on integrating cities and towns located along railway lines. They are working on relevant policies that are expected to reshuffle existing patterns of interest with regards to land development. All stakeholders， therefore， are closely monitoring the reforms， which are still at a nascent stage. Details， such as the critical issues of who will take the leading role in land development， its scale and pattern， as well as the distribution of development proceeds， are yet to be hashed out. They are deciding factors on whether or not reforms will proceed smoothly. But， considered as a whole， reducing conflicts of interest and building consensus are the keys to successful implementation of any new policy.