THIS WEEK

THIS WEEK

“The on line m uckraking about Yang Dacai shows that the Internet is p laying an increasingly im portant role in bringing hidden confl icts to the surface.”

Yu Guoming, Director of the Institute of Public Opinion of Beijing-based Renmin University of China, commenting on the muckraking campaign against Yang Dacai, an official w ith a weakness for luxurious watches caught smiling at the site of a

fatal bus crash, on September 7

“W e are getting older, and one day a spouse w ill die and leave the other alone in this world. W ithout a legal guardian, the rem aining spouse faces enorm ous diffi cu lties in later life,because hospitals refuse to carry out surgery on peop le who cannot find a legal guard ian to sign consent, and nursing hom es turn away app licants w ithout a legal guard ian p resent.”

Li M inglan, a mother in Wuhan, Hubei Province,whose only son died from a brain hemorrhage in 1999, commenting the M inistry of Civil Affairs’plan to include senior citizens who have lost an only child in the state care system on September 21

“W e talked about the ‘Am erican D ream’ in the past, now we can talk about the world’s top talent en joying the ‘Chinese Dream.’”

Liu Yanguo, Deputy General Director of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, explaining a recruitment project that aims to introduce up to a 1,000 foreign professionals over 10 years to help spur innovation, and promote scientific research and corporate management in China on September 24

“M y hope is to d raw pub lic atten tion to un fair college adm ittance p ractices.”

Cheng Shuaishuai, a college graduate from central China’s Henan Province, protesting high enrollment rates for Beijing students at Peking University and other Beijing-based universities by carrying a sign w ith Chinese characters reading“Beijingers’ University” in front of the university on September 10

Aircraft Carrier

China’s first aircraft carrier was delivered and commissioned to the People’s Liberation Army Navy on September 25 at a ceremony at a naval base in Dalian, northeast China’s Liaoning Province.

President Hu Jintao, also Chairman of the Central M ilitary Comm ission (CMC), and Premier Wen Jiabao attended the ceremony.

The carrier, formerly know n as the Soviet shipVaryag, was renamedLiaoningand underwent years of refitting to install engines and weapons as well as a year-long sea trial.

According to the CMC, after being comm issioned to the Navy, theLiaoningw ill continue to be used for scientific research purposes, as well as military training.

China is the world’s 10th country and the last among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to have an aircraft carrier in active service.

China announced its aircraft carrier program in July 2011 when the carrier was berthed in Dalian for refi tting.

R&D Targets

China aims to become a world technological power by 2049 and strives to be a leading nation in innovation and scientific development,national companies are encouraged to set up R&D centers in the country.

GREEN TRAFFIC Bicyclists participate in a parade p rom oting World Car-free Day in Lianyungang, east China’s Jiangsu Province, on Sep tem ber 22

EXOTIC STYLE Dancers from Myanm ar perform during the International Fo lk Song Festival in Nanning, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonom ous Region, on Sep tem ber 22. The festival d raw s participants from China,Spain, Denm ark, Myanm ar, Bulgaria and nine other countries

Wang Lijun’s Sentence

according to a government document released on September 23.

The Communist Party of China Central Comm ittee and the State Council, the nation’s cabinet, released the document to give opinions on “deepening technological system reform and accelerating national innovation system construction.” The document sets the goal for the country to be “in the ranks of innovative nations” by 2020.

China’s R&D funds nationw ide should reach 2.2 percent of GDP during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) period, and more than 2.5 percent by 2020, it says.

The document also pledges that the nation’s technological plan will be more open to the outside world in terms of cooperation, and international academic institutions and multi-A Chinese court sentenced Wang Lijun to 15 years in prison for bending the law for selfish ends, defection, abuse of power and bribetaking on September 24.

Wang, former vice mayor and police chief of southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality,received a combined punishment for all offences. The Chengdu City Intermediate People’s Court in southwest China’s Sichuan Province delivered the verdict.

Wang stood trial on September 18 in an open court in Chengdu for bribe-taking and bending the law for selfish ends. One day before that, the Chengdu City Intermediate People’s Court held a closed-door trial on Wang’s two other charges of defection and abuse of power because they involved state secrets.

NGO Management

China welcomes law-abiding foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the country’s top civil affairs official said on September 20.

M inister of Civil A ffairs Li Liguo told a press conference that some foreign NGOs have made contributions to the development of China’s culture, education, health, science and sports causes and poverty reduction.

Li said, however, some ill-intentioned foreign NGOs have done things in breach of the country’s laws and it is imperative to apply strict registration procedures to foreign NGOs operating in China.

Legislation regarding supervision over foreign NGOs is not complete, said Li.Provisions on foreign NGOs setting up representative agencies in China are only seen in regulations relating to foundations, but not in those regarding social groups.

Regulations on the management of social organizations are being revised, Li said.

Islands’ Names

The State Oceanic Administration (SOA) and the M inistry of Civil A ffairs on September 21 jointly released a list of standardized names for the geographic entities on the Diaoyu Islands and some of its affi liated islets.

The list also relates to the surrounding waters of the islands.

The announcement details the Chineselanguage names as well as the descriptions of the geographic locations of various mountains, creeks, capes and other geographic entities in the region.

The names, standardized by the SOA and approved by the State Council, are also romanized according to theirpinyinphonetic spellings.

The SOA also released a set of location maps for the geographic entities.

In another development, China has announced to postpone a reception marking the 40th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan relations. It says the reception w ill be held at a proper time, in light of the tensions over the Diaoyu Islands.

Low-Carbon Day

The State Council decided on September 19 to institute a National Low-carbon Day in a move to cut greenhouse gas em issions in the world’s second-largest economy.

The introduction of the National Lowcarbon Day beginning in 2013 is aimed at promoting awareness about climate change and low-carbon development policies, and encourages public participation to facilitate the country’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, said the State Council.

SUCCESSFUL OPERATION A doc tor congratulates Dainzin Zhoigar, a Tibetan child,after his heart surgery in Beijing’s Anzhen Hospital on Sep tem ber 20. Seventeen p rovinces and cities, as well as several Chinese com panies, are p roviding free med ical aid to Tibetan child ren w ith congenital heart disease

MAIN CULPRIT Naw Kham,principal suspect for the m urders o f 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River last year, p leads guilty on m ultip le charges at the Interm ed iate Peop le’s Court of Kunm ing, southwest China’s Yunnan Province,on Sep tem ber 21. The Naw Kham crime ring was busted earlier this year in a joint operation by police from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand

The National Low-carbon Day w ill fall on the third day of the National Energy Efficiency Promotion Week in June every year, according to the State Council.

The Chinese Government has pledged to cut energy use per unit of GDP by 16 percent by 2015 from the 2011 level, while lifting non-fossil fuel energy usage to 11.4 percent of the country’s total energy consumption from the current 8.6 percent.

Sansha Projects

Construction on several environmental preservation projects has kicked off in the new ly established island city of Sansha in the South China Sea, authorities said on September 19.

Construction of a sewage processing and pipeline project and a garbage collection and transfer project started on August 25, sources w ith the Sansha Government said.

The two projects, being built w ith a combined investment of over 50 m illion yuan($7.93 m illion), w ill be capable of processing 1,800 tons of sewage and 20 tons of garbage each day upon completion.

Another project kicked off on September 14 to manage coastal erosion.

The government of Hainan Province adm inistering Sansha w ill prioritize environmental protection in all construction projects,as Sansha’s ecological environment is fragile and non-renew able, said Governor Jiang Dingzhi.

Econom ic Stability

The slowdown in China’s econom ic grow th w ill be curbed in the fourth quarter of the year follow ing government measures, but uncertainties remain for future development, said a report released by the Center for China in the World Economy of Tsinghua University on September 23.

China’s economy is expected to grow by 7.7 percent in the fi rst three quarters of 2012,while the grow th for the entire year is forecast at 7.8 percent, according to the report.

China still has potential for rapid grow th in the m id- and long term, and urbanization w ill be the greatest boost for the country’s future development. The report estimated that China’s GDP w ill grow by 8.2 percent year on year in the first half 2013, while achieving 8 percent grow th on average for the whole year.

However, the report said China’s economy is also facing enormous risks, including global political upheaval and limited choices in crafting monetary policies.

No Foreseeable Rebound

Real estate prices in China are in no condition to rebound as the government continues its hold on the property market,People’s Dailyreported on September 23.

Despite a rise in sales in recent months,speculative buying is still under control, and both property prices and housing inventories have remained at a stable level, an official from the M inistry of Housing and Urban-Ru ral Developm en t (MOHURD) to ldPeople’s Daily.

The recent rebound in home-buying activities is due to higher demand that had been suppressed, an increase of new housing supply and lower loan rates. But there has not been a w idespread rebound in property prices.

ODI Slows

Grow th of China’s investment overseas has slowed as a result of the global econom ic downturn and softening grow th in the world’s second largest economy.

Its outbound direct investment (ODI) in the non-financial sectors rose 39.4 percent year on year to $47.68 billion in the first eight months of the year, said Shen Danyang,spokesman for the M inistry of Commerce.

The inc rease w as slow er than the 52.8-percent expansion seen in the January-July period, as global grow th faltered and flagging property investment and exports weighed on the Chinese economy.

Of the ODI in the first eight months,investments in the form of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) reached $13.2 billion, or 28.7 percent of the total, Shen said.

Overseas M&As by Chinese investors have seen relatively fast expansion but have not shown a spurt in grow th as some expected, he said.

Auto Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction w ith major automakers has climbed to its highest point in the past 10 years, according to the China Automobile Customer Satisfaction Index released on September 21.

The index uses data from customer interviews to measure satisfaction regarding 125 auto brands created by more than 36 automakers.

The auto industry achieved a score of 80 out of 100, the highest mark since 2002, when the index was launched.

OFF TO A GOOD START An engineering sim ulator o f the C919, a large passenger aircraft developed by China, was on show in a lab of Shanghai Aircraft Design and Research Institute on Sep tem ber 21. So far, C919 has received 330 orders

FULL OF APPLES Attendees app reciate app les arranged in a taiji sym bo l at the 13th International Fruit and Vegetab le Exposition, which kicked o ff on Sep tember 23 in Yantai, east China’s Shandong Province

The industry’s performance this year has been impressive in terms of product quality,as well as sales and after sales service, according to Fan Tianshun, Director of the Users A ffairs Department affi liated w ith the China Association for Quality, which is responsible for compiling the index.

The customer complaint rate stood at 15.6 percent, down 1.6 percent year on year, said Fan, adding that high fuel consumption and air conditioner problems annoyed consumers the most.

Joint venture autom akers, inc luding Shanghai General M otors, Shanghai Volkswagen and Beijing Benz, led the index,although domestic brands, including Chery,Geely and BYD, have improved their rankings because of better designs.

However, there is still a gap between domestic brands and joint ventures regarding brand image and perceived quality, Fan added.

Shipbuilding to Rebalance

Current overcapacity in the shipbuilding industry is likely to end by 2020 w ith a rebalance between supply and demand, attendees of the World Congress of Ocean have predicted. The congress took place on September 20-22 in Dalian, a coastal city in northeast China’s Liaoning Province.

The global shipping market’s overcapacity is a result of fallen demand, and the capacity built during the boom years is no longer being used sufficiently, explained Corrado Antonini, Chairman of Fincantieri,an Italian shipbuilder and the world’s largest builder of cruise ships.

However, the rebalancing act may not be so easy. “We w ill first need a recovery of the global economy and the reduction of excessive capacity which was built during the boom years,” said Antonini.

“But I am confident that shipbuilding and shipping w ill be in balance again before the end of this decade,” he added.