Innholdsfortegnelse for Aug-18-16 i Beijing Review

AZERBAIJAN Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (second left), Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (center) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (second right) attend a trilateral meeting in Baku on August 8, focusing on trade, transportation and the environment as well as the Syrian situation ZIMBABWE Robert Gabriel Mugabe (second left), President of Zimbabwe, inspects troops at the National Defense Day ceremony held in the capital, Harare, on August 9 JAPAN People at a store in Tokyo watch Emperor Akihito delivering a video message on August 8. In his address, the emperor hints indirectly at his wish to abdicate NEPAL Rescuers search for victims at the scene of a helicopter crash in the Madanpur area of Nuwakot District on August 8. All seven on board, including a newlyborn baby, were killed SWITZERLAND Hikers view…

Comments to liuyunyun@bjreview.com F inancial Times (FT) chief economics commentator Martin Wolf described today’s Germany in an article entitled Europe’s Lonely and Reluctant Hegemon in the following words: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em. Germany is now experiencing the last in full measure.” Beyond all doubt, Germany’s global status has not reached such heights since World War II. Thus, the British observer also drew attention to one of history’s great ironies: “Germany has won through peaceful means the position it sought through force of arms. Like it or not, the Federal Republic is Europe’s central power.” Germany’s role within the eurozone and the EU has only increased in recent years. Since the outbreak of the European debt crisis, German preeminence on the crisishit…

China’s investment and financing systems will be overhauled in the hope of ensuring stable economic growth, adjusting the economic structure and improving people’s livelihoods. A new guideline outlining the reform measures was issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council on July 18. “This is the first document specifying changes to the investment and financing systems to be issued by the CPC Central Committee since the reform and openingup policy was adopted some 30 years ago,” said Zhang Yong, Vice Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), at a press conference on July 25. Zhang said that the document is as important as the State Council’s decision to push forward amendments to the investment system in 2004. “It will be…

Comments to linan@bjreview.com ‘It might sound depressing but the truth must be told: the West knows little about China,” said Thorsten Pattberg, a German philosopher and cultural critic. Thus, he called for the nation to invent more original Chinese terminology to enlarge the intellectual property pool. Sun Jingxin, a senior editor with the Beijingbased Center for International Communication Studies, echoed Pattberg’s view. As he put it, “Inventing and communicating Chinese concepts, undeniably, is a crucial step to heal China’s Achilles’ heel in presenting itself to the world.” Though China has tried to project its voice to the world in recent decades, few madeinChina terminologies are widely accepted in the West. “The only one I can come up with is ‘paper tiger,’ which was invented long ago,” recalled Cai Lijian, a…

Li Si (center), a professor at the Yau Mathematical Sciences Center of Tsinghua University, receives the Morningside Gold Medal of Mathematics award at the opening ceremony of the Seventh International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians in Beijing on August 6. The congress is a triennial event that brings together Chinese and overseas mathematicians for the discussion of developments in mathematics. Progress Targets China expects knowledgeintensive services to contribute 20 percent of its GDP in 2020, up from 15.6 percent in 2015, according to the latest five-year plan for the nation’s scientific and technological progress. The total factor productivity (TFP), of which technological progress is a key subsection, aims to account for 60 percent of the country’s economic growth in 2020, up from 55.3 percent last year, according to the plan, which…

Comments to liuyunyun@bjreview.com When Egyptian President Abdel FattahalSisi attends the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, in September, it will be his third visit to China since assuming office in 2014. This will indicate, according to Tarek Kabil, Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry, the depth of ChinaEgypt relations. “In two years we have had three meetings between the two presidents [of Egypt and China],” Kabil told ChinAfrica, a monthly magazine published by Beijing Review, during his trip to China in July to attend the G20 Trade Ministers Meeting. “It shows how important the relationship is because Egypt is, among the very few countries that China has invited. It also gives a message to the whole world about Egypt’s stability and readiness for economic growth.” Though Egypt has faced turbulence…

Comments to yinpumin@bjreview.com On June 23, the Ministry of Education announced the expiry of a batch of regulatory documents, including Project 211 and Project 985, two major programs over the past two decades to develop universities in China. In November 2015, the State Council, China’s cabinet, announced the country will build a number of worldclass universities and firstclass disciplines, with the longterm goal of establishing topclass universities as global frontrunners by 2050. According to experts, the new policy is expected to tackle problems such as redundant construction and a lack of competition that were brought about by the 211 and 985 projects. Though having played an active role in promoting the development of China’s universities, the 211 and 985 projects engendered controversy for their side effects, including inequality and stagnancy,…

Comments to yushujun@bjreview.com Few men have come across their eureka moment while changing nappies and preparing infant formula, but that’s what made Xu Shu a superman, or, to be more precise, the founder of ToySuperman. When he had a baby two years ago, the then 31yearold went through all the ordeals parents undergo, especially trying to keep her amused with the toys she wanted without going bankrupt. Xu found that Chinese parents were generally spending about 2,0003,000 yuan ($305$458) every year on buying toys for their children. It was a nowin situation because despite spending all that money, the toys were often discarded within months or even weeks, with the child losing interest and moving on to other new toys. While most parents accepted this stoi-cally it gave Xu Shu…

Inflation Further Eases China’s consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew 1.8 percent year on year in July, down from June’s 1.9 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on August 9. The July data dropped for the third consecutive month from 2.3 percent in April, when the CPI reached its highest level since July 2014. On a month-onmonth basis, the CPI rose 0.2 percent in July. NBS statistician Yu Qiumei attributed the moderate inflation mostly to eased food prices. The price of pork rose 16.1 percent year on year in July, slowing from the 30.1percent rise recorded in June. Since January, the CPI has been calculated using a new comparison base and has included more products and services, while slightly reducing the weighting of food.…

Comments to yuanyuan@bjreview.com Fu Yuanhui, a Chinese swimmer at the 2016 Rio Olympics, has had a new Internet meme created for her impulsive and hilarious postrace interviews. After the 100meter backstroke semifinal on August 8, she was interviewed poolside by a Chinese broadcaster. When the reporter informed her that she’d actually broken the 59 second barrier, Fu was blown away: “58.95?! I thought I did 59 seconds! Wow! Am I so fast? I am very pleased!” she exclaimed. Having been questioned on whether she had reserved some energy for the upcoming final, Fu replied, “No, not at all! I’ve already assumed my final form. This is my best time ever!” The last question, on whether she saw more hope in the upcoming final, was met with an equally unorthodox response:…

A Chinese singer who struggled to gain popularity for years has finally made it—as a joke writer, or duanzi shou in Chinese, on social networks. By creating short and funny pieces on Weibo, China’s Twitterlike microblogging service, Xue Zhiqian now has more than 20 million followers and counting. Originating from Chinese crosstalk, duanzi is defined as a comedic episode, and is often used to refer to short and humorous writing on the Internet. Duanzi emerged as a popular form of posting in the early days of Weibo. Shou is used to refer to people who are good at something. Weibo users have gradually noticed Xue’s talent for jokes during the past few years, but it was only after he started appearing on TV reality shows in 2015 that he was…

Tackling asset bubbles was mentioned as a measure to reduce costs—one of the five tasks of the supplyside structural reform—at a July 26 meeting held by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The meeting studied the current economic environment and hashed out plans for economic tasks to be carried out during the second half of 2016. But what exactly are these asset bubbles? Since the meeting did not give any specific details, many market players have interpreted the term in different ways. Most people believe that, judging from the market’s current conditions, the asset bubbles that the government has targeted could mean all kinds of assets, including those in the stock, bond and property markets. However, what the meeting has drawn attention to is the real estate bubbles.…

yanwei@bjreview.com Please provide your name and address along with your comments Since results of this year’s national college entrance exam were published in late June, some topperforming students have become popular. As champions, either in the overall exam or in one subject, at the provincial or city level, some sell copies of their class notebooks, showing methods for dealing with the key points or difficult parts of particular classes, at up to 100 yuan ($15) each. Some students even divide their notebooks into different sections, just like newspapers or magazines, making them easy to read and understand. Besides selling notebooks, topscoring students can also command relatively high fees to tutor younger students, possibly earning upwards of several thousands of yuan by the end of the summer holiday. Supporters of the…