On Chinese Media



On Chinese Media

Shanghai Film Production Revival

Oriental Outlook

Issue No. 32, 2016

Less than a year after being invented in France， film came to Shanghai and soon became an important facet of the city. In the succeeding decades， Shanghai enjoyed wide fame for its film industry. However， that glory is bygone. Does the city have the potential today to revive its reputation as a cine center？

The proposal to build a high-level film production base in Shanghai，comparable to Hollywood and Bollywood， was raised at last year’s Shanghai International Film Festival.

At present， Beijing leads China’s film industry as regards being home to most professionals， film companies， cinemas， and film schools. But in these times of upgrade and transformation， we must not ignore Shanghai’s potential cutting edge in this field， manifest in the city’s relatively complete industrial chains. The government， meanwhile， has intimated its support of the development directions and goals of the film industry. This is crucial to realizing the proposed film production base.

The launch of a series of policies to promote Shanghai’s film industry has linked each sector in the relevant industrial chain. This will facilitate the creation of funds needed to encourage screenwriting and professional training， and involve government help as regards production. It will also unleash the distribution potential of cinemas and distributors.

Revitalize Old Industry Bases

China Economic Weekly

Issue No. 34, 2016

Under the theme of stimulating endogenous momentum to explore new modes of revival， the Forum on Revitalizing Northeast China took place in Harbin， Heilongjiang Province last August. From this new starting point， Northeast China faces both challenges and opportunities.

In the past three years， Chinese President Xi Jinping has paid several visits to the country’s northeastern provinces and made observations on the region’s revitalization plans. The latest round of projects in this respect has now been launched under the guidance of policies released by the central government last April.

The implementation plan to revive China’s old industrial bases（2016-2018） was unveiled last August. In three years’ time， the implementation of hundreds of key projects with a total investment of RMB 1.6 trillion is planned for the entire region. Those to be launched in the Northeast will be in the fields of transport， energy， water conservancy，industry， agriculture， and urban and rural construction， in efforts to overcome weaknesses and nurture new driving forces.

New Era of Car Manufacture

CBN Weekly

Issue No. 33, 2016

This year might see the appearance of the greatest number of Chinese car brands. Internet entrepreneurs are investing heavily in the automobile industry in hopes of replicating Tesla’s success in China.

Last August， Le Holdings Co.， Ltd. announced its plan to establish an electric vehicle production plant and an ecological town for cars in Deqing， a county on the Yangtze River Delta.

It was Henry Ford’s assembly line that elevated automobile manufacture to a modern industry. GM established the industrial structure wherein component suppliers are dominated by finished vehicle manufacturers，and Toyota’s lean production has brought this structure into full play. Today， new changes， though still embryonic， are certain to transform the automobile industry.

Engines and gear boxes will be replaced by electric power and autonomous driving technology. Companies owning the most advanced technologies in these core fields are expected to venture into automobile manufacture under an entirely different status than that of their traditional counterparts. Chinese entrepreneurs have discovered opportunities in this regard. This could well be the time for traditional carmakers and component suppliers to adapt to the new trend.

Ready for Late Retirement？

Money Weekly

Issue No. 33, 2016

In light of an imminently higher retirement age， we have to think of an ideal pension plan that will guarantee our retirement income security.

At present， most Chinese people retire between the ages of 50 and 60， in line with the statutory retirement age set over half a century ago. However， this took no account of an ever-increasing longevity， as well as dramatic social and economic changes. Yao Yang， dean of the National School of Development of Peking University， has observed that later retirement is inevitably determined by China’s present demographic situation. On one hand， life expectancy in some big cities has risen from about 60 in the 1950s to more than 80 years old. Therefore，retiring in one’s 50s means receiving a pension for more years than one has worked， which is not sustainable in the long run. On the other，the country is faced with a so-called graying population， which portends a shrinking labor supply in the coming decades.

From a global perspective， late retirement has become a worldwide trend. Since 1989， 170 countries have raised their retirement ages.