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VOL 6 February
Media Watch

Film and Capital

January 6, 2013

China Newsweek

Statistically, the Chinese film industry is on the rise. At the end of 2013, China's annual box office hit 20 billion yuan ($3.3 billion), up 20 percent from the previous year.

China Newsweek in this issue looks behind this surging figure to analyze the problems that plague China's film industry. Taking Chinese Director Feng Xiaogang as an example, his new fluff film, Personal Tailor, did surprisingly well at the box office after it was released in December 2013, despite being panned by critics. But the director's more serious film, 1942, made at the end of 2012, slumped at the box office despite Feng's painstaking efforts.

The contrast in the box office earnings of the two films mirrors the immaturity of the C hinese film industry. Films no longer simply convey a story to an audience, but rather are conceived as a chain of commercial operations.

In the current Chinese film market, films are bound too closely with the capital market. For instance, every time Huayi, China's leading film production company, has issued a new film, the company's stock price has gone up or down with it. The problem is that capital is not currently used to promote a sound development of the film industry, but is instead used for speculation. Ideally, however, the core of the film industry is not capital but innovation.

 

 

Insurance Reform

December 30, 2013

Caijing Magazine

As an important part of financial reform, insurance reform will soon be launched. According to a communique issued at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the insurance reform includes four aspects: insurance against natural disasters, agricultural insurance, endowment insurance and health insurance.

Xiang Junbo, Chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CI RC), has clear thoughts about the reform. He said that the insurance reform will be carried out with the goal of building up market-oriented pricing mechanisms, capital utilization mechanisms as well as entry and exit mechanisms.

When Xiang took over the CI RC in 2011, China's insurance industry bade farewell to its previously rapid development and reached a bottleneck. During China's 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-10), the industry witnessed an annual growth rate of 24.2 percent in insurance premiums. In 2011, the beginning year of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), the growth rate dropped to 10.4 percent. Then in 2012, it dropped to 8 percent, marking the end of the double-digit growth rates it had enjoyed before. Xiang believed the fundamental reason for the slowing of growth is that the sector is insufficiently market-orientated.

In the meantime, the innovations in financial products and services in the banking as well as the securities industry form a new challenge for the insurance industry. It means he now shoulders the responsibilities of both bringing the industry out of its difficulties and encouraging new innovations.

 

Protecting Cultural Relics

January 14, 2014

Workers' Daily

A fire that broke out on January 11 in Dukezong Ancient Town in Shangri-la, a resort county in southwest China's Yunnan Province, has destroyed 242 houses and affected 335 families, but no deaths or injuries have been reported. The 1,300-yearold Dukezong Town, known for its well-preserved Tibetanstyle dwellings, lost nearly two thirds of the entire town in the fire. The blaze stirred up concerns over commercial development of ancient towns. Investigations show that the fire was caused by a hotel operator's improper use of electric heaters.

In recent years, local government and enterprises have spent 200 million yuan ($33 million) and absorbed investment of 800 million yuan ($132 million) to build Dukezong Town as a tourist attraction. Nearly all families in the ancient town are engaged in the tourism business. Tourism development brings huge revenues to local people, but they were unaware of the hidden danger behind the tourism boom.

Though some ancient towns levy a toll on tourists, funds spent on environmental protection and improving people's awareness of disaster prevention are still limited. Finding a balance between developing tourism and protecting historic constructions is a big challenge.

 

Junk Mail

Beijing Times

January 14, 2014

Junk e-mails and short spam messages are becoming commonplace nuisances. Some are even tricked by these messages and suffer huge losses.

Despite repeated prohibitions, the phenomenon is still rampant today. The major reason is that telecommunication and Internet service providers turn a blind eye on it. Some service providers have even engaged in the business of mass texting. The sending of spam mails is a crime and will be punished with a fine of 30,000 yuan ($4,962) according to Chinese law. But in the face of huge potential economic benefit, some opt to take risks.

To help stem the flow of junk mails, telecommunication and Internet service providers should pay more attention to their social responsibilities. Technically, they have solutions to block junk mail; therefore, the government should take a zero-tolerance attitude to those junk mail producers and service providers.

 

 

 

 

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