GROWING ECONOMY

China Economic Weekly

October 8, 2014

China is now the world's second largest economy. It started out as a poor country when the People's Republic was founded on October 1, 1949. In its early October issue, China Economic Weekly reviews the momentous events that happened in China over the past 65 years from the perspective of economic development. It likens China to a company named "Panda."

Those events include the founding of the People's Republic, its reform and opening up starting in 1978, formation of a socialist market economy, export contraction due to the Asian financial crisis in 1997, entry into the World Trade Organization in late 2001, and weathering the global financial turmoil in 2008.

The magazine notes that in the context of economic globalization, it is vital for this "Panda" company to increase cash flow to support its future prosperity. To this end, it needs to soak up the excess capacity to avoid waste of capital, and further enhance its capability of increasing the cash flow. In conclusion, the magazine believes that reform of its governance mechanism, innovation mechanism and the education system should still be the main focus for China to sustain its development.

WASTE DISPOSAL

Oriental Outlook

October 16, 2014

As Beijing's population grows, the volume of waste also increases. A report by the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said that the city generated more than 6 million tons of waste in 2013, highest in the previous five years.

The magazine looks at how this huge amount of waste is disposed. In 1994, the first landfill was built in Beijing. After 20 years, instead of simply burying or burning the waste, the city now processes waste in a more environmentally friendly way, focusing on recycling the waste and regenerating resources from it.

However, how to deal with the garbage accumulated over the past still remains a challenge for the city. Besides building more modern waste disposal facilities, the government should strengthen efforts to support rubbish sorting and promote a low-carbon lifestyle among the public.  

GETTING REVITALIZED

China Newsweek

October 9, 2014

Over the past few decades when instant messaging services and phones have replaced postal letters to become the major tools of communication, the image and position of post offices are fading out of people's daily lives.

In this issue, China Newsweek looks at what China Post Group has experienced during the decline and how it survived and re-emerged as a prosperous company through reform and innovation. As a stated-owned enterprise as well as a public service provider, China Post Group has been struggling to adapt itself to a market-oriented economy where people's habits of communication have changed fundamentally. In 1998, the group's most promising and lucrative business, their telecommunications service, was separated out.

Fortunately, the group found its position in fierce competition. Its service boasts a wide coverage of nearly 98 percent of villages in China. By using this advantage, the group restructured its former business plan of receiving deposits to provide financial services targeted at the rural population and SMEs and reformed the delivery business to make it more effective and competitive. With these efforts, the company has now revitalized and grown to one of the top 500 enterprises in the world.

CARE FOR PARENTS

Xinhua Daily Telegraph

October 14, 2014

Nanjing, capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, has taken an incentive approach to tackle the problem of shortage of certified nurses to take care of its 1.2 million senior residents. According to a new regulation, the local government will pay children of those physically vulnerable senior citizens up to 400 yuan ($65.32) a month for taking care of their parents at home.

Many can't help but wonder why the government should pay children to take care of their own parents, which traditionally was an obligation in China.

At present, many elderly people choose to live in a nursing home in spite of their dislike for such institutions so that their children, who are exhausted in today's stressful society, can be fully devoted to their work. Nanjing's policy gives children extra income and reduces their financial burden of providing care for their parents, which benefits both children and the elderly.

Besides, relevant government departments in Nanjing have pledged to establish a supervisory system to ensure that children who receive the pay fulfill their duties.