A Politically Significant Visit

By LI WEIWEI

A Politically Significant Visit

By LI WEIWEI

Herman Van Rompuy’s recent stopover in China reflects the EU’s intentions to solidify cooperative relations with China

2.我國老年教育發(fā)展過程中的不均衡性。有學(xué)者指出，我國老年教育發(fā)展過程中的不均衡性表現(xiàn)在招收學(xué)員和校際發(fā)展的不平衡這兩個(gè)方面。從招收的老年學(xué)員成分來看，多數(shù)學(xué)員是機(jī)關(guān)干部、知識(shí)分子等，而普通城鎮(zhèn)居民和農(nóng)村老人享受繼續(xù)教育的機(jī)會(huì)很少。也就是說生活水平和文化素質(zhì)較高的老年群體正在接受繼續(xù)教育，不斷提高適應(yīng)現(xiàn)代生活的能力；而生活水平和文化層次較低的老年群體則與現(xiàn)代生活距離較遠(yuǎn)。在發(fā)達(dá)地區(qū)、中心城市的老年教育、老年大學(xué)發(fā)展勢頭良好，而欠發(fā)達(dá)地區(qū)和非中心城市，特別是縣鄉(xiāng)、尤其是廣大農(nóng)村的老年教育仍然停留在貧乏落后的低水平上。辦學(xué)水平和教學(xué)軟硬件條件參差不齊，校際存在巨大差異。

Following the Sino-EUS trategic Dialogue in Budapest on May 12, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy visited China. This visit showed how the EU will emphasize its relationship with China in the years to come.

“My visit to China is the first of ficial bilateral visit of the permanent president of the European Council outside Europe,” said Van Rompuy in Beijing on May 17. Since assuming the council’s presidency more than a year ago, Van Rompuy has been busy handling lingering internal problems from the global fi nancial crisis in the EU.

Chinese leaders arranged a high-level reception for Van Rompuy, fully illustrating China’s political support for European integration, a process that has been ongoing since the 1950s. As a regional organization,the EU has only partial UN rights, such as participating in the UN General Assembly,delivering speeches and submitting bills. The EU, however, is denied voting right.

China supports a stable euro zone. The EU is in urgent need of a replacement for former IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned following a scandal on May 18. Once this is accomplished, the IMF will be able to continue its close cooperation with the EU to solve Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. As it stands,some EU members, like Greece, have reached a critical point in the crisis. Without close coordination with the IMF to prevent debt restructuring and revive the world’s confi dence in the euro, the future of the euro will be in jeopardy.

With 27 member states and a combined population of nearly 500 million people, the EU is one of the most important economies in the world. China and the EU have made joint efforts and built a close trade and economic relationship, which is an important component of the Sino-EU comprehensive strategic partnership.

改革開放前我們重視公平而忽視效率，把共同富裕當(dāng)作同步富裕、同時(shí)富裕和同等富裕去追求，導(dǎo)致社會(huì)的同步貧窮、同等貧窮，造成分配上的平均主義和“大鍋飯”。改革開放后我們追求公平與效率的統(tǒng)一，允許一部分人、一部分地區(qū)先富起來，打破了平均主義和“大鍋飯”，調(diào)動(dòng)勞動(dòng)者積極性，解放和發(fā)展生產(chǎn)力，引起經(jīng)濟(jì)、社會(huì)和精神生活的深刻變化。所以，先富起來的辦法比平均主義的老辦法好，有利于實(shí)現(xiàn)先富。

綜上所述，蘇軾與王安石之爭，恰是王安石的“國本主義”與蘇軾是一位“民本主義”的分歧所在。顯然，這種思想認(rèn)識(shí)上的分歧是無法調(diào)和的。而他在《上神宗書》中的冒死相爭就成為一種必然。

China, an important member of the IMF,did not challenge the EU’s choice of Christine Lagarde, France’s current fi nance minister, as its preferred candidate for the IMF chief.

During his visit, Van Rompuy appreciated China’s extension of a helping hand to the EU at a time when the EU suffers economic troubles.

Today, the EU is China’s top trade partner,biggest export market, second biggest source of imports, biggest technology supplier and fourth biggest investor. China is the EU’s second largest trade partner, biggest source of imports and second biggest export market.

“I expressed my appreciation to the president for the strong confidence China displayed in the euro area, both with direct investments and through reserve investment policies,” Van Rompuy said, following his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Sino-EU trade has grown rapidly in the past six years. According to statistics from Chinese customs, even in 2008, when the fi nancial crisis was at its zenith, bilateral trade between China and the EU reached $425.58 billion, increasing 19.5 percent from the year before. The fi gure is 9 percentage points and 6.5 percentage points higher respectively than the annual growth rates of Sino-U.S. trade and Sino-Japanese trade in the same year. In 2010,trade volume between China and the EU was nearly $480 billion. In the first quarter this year, their trade grew 22 percent over the same time in 2010, reaching $123.7 billion.

動(dòng)物疫病監(jiān)測主要是在指定時(shí)間內(nèi)，對(duì)動(dòng)物疫病的發(fā)生、流行以及分布等因素進(jìn)行調(diào)查。同時(shí)，對(duì)所采集的樣本采用國家規(guī)定的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)方法進(jìn)行疫病的診斷，使我國動(dòng)物防疫人員能了解該疫病的發(fā)生、流行趨勢以及變化規(guī)律。當(dāng)防疫人員了解這些信息資料后，就能提出相應(yīng)的解決對(duì)策。在動(dòng)物疫病防控工作中，動(dòng)物疫病監(jiān)測極其關(guān)鍵，只有相關(guān)部門切實(shí)提高動(dòng)物疫病的監(jiān)測水平，才能為后期的疫病防治工作打下基礎(chǔ)。

Trade and economic cooperation promotes the interests of and bene fi ts both sides.The EU’s role in coordinating member states’foreign trade policies has contributed greatly to burgeoning trade and economic relations between China and the EU. The two sides held the fi rst Sino-EU High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue at the vice-premier level in Beijing in 2008. In 2010, they upgraded their Strategic Dialogue aimed at addressing strategic and political issues to a dialogue between China’s state councilor and the EU foreign policy chief.

Both China and the EU recently issued new development strategies—Europe 2020 and China’s 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15).Both emphasize looking for new economic growth engines to foster a green economy.

“It is very encouraging that China has decided to gradually implement a carbon-market mechanism as one key tool for reducing industrial emissions cost-effectively. We will engage with our Chinese counterparts in order to further explore their intentions,” said EU Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard in March .

In 2010, trade volume between China and the EU was nearly $480 billion. In the first quarter this year,their trade grew 22 percent over the same time in 2010, reaching $123.7 billion

The author is an associate research fellow with the China Institute of International Studies