Beijing Review - March 17, 2016

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WORLD: OBAMA’S VISIT TO CUBA P.30 | BUSINESS: GREENING CHINA’S DEVELOPMENT

L.59 NO.11 MARCH 17, 2016

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u i l d i n g C o n s e n s u s

F r De v e l o p m e n t

E very M arch, deputies and m em bers fromacross the coun try m eetin B eijing for the“tw o sessions”— a series ofm eetings lasting

from M arch 3-1 6 thisyear. T he sessionscen-teraround the N ationalP eople’s C ongress N P C ), the highestorgan ofstate pow erthatconsists ofm ore than 2 ,9 0 0 deputies, andthe C hinese P eople’s P oliticalC onsultativeC onference C P P C C )N ationalC om m ittee,com posed ofabout2 ,2 0 0 m em bers. TheC P P C C is an institution for m ultiparty coop-eration and politicalconsultation in w hichrepresentatives from no n-C om m un istparties as w ellas various sectors of societydiscuss governm entpolicies and offer theirsuggestions.

N P C deputies are routinely tasked w ith

review ing and passing a nu m ber of docu-m ents, including the G overnm ent W orkR eport, state budgets, developm ent plansand d raft law s. In addition, w ork reportsby the S uprem e P eople’s C ourt and theS uprem e P eople’s P rocuratorate are exam -ined. T his year, they also adopted the 1 3thFive-YearP lan 2 0 1 6 -2 0 ). A sthe country’stoppolicy advisors, C P P C C N ationalC om m itteem em bers, for theirpart, held discussions onthese issuesand aired theiropinions.

E conom ic issues too k the spo tligh tduring the m eetings, prom pting questionssuch as: H ow can C hina im plem ent theinnovation-driven, balanced, green, open

and inclusive developm ent concept? H oww illthe country ensure the realization ofthe goaloflifting allits poorpeople outof

poverty by 2 0 2 0 ?H ow w illthe state carry outthe supply-side reform ?T hese questionsand

w ere addressed in earnest.A highlight in this year’s G overnm ent

W ork R epo rt, de livered by P rem ier LKeqiang, is the setting o f a G D P grow thtarget betw een 6 .5 and 7 percent for2 0 1 6 . Instead of a specific num ber forgrow th, as w as the case in previous yearsthis year’s grow th target offers a bu fferzon e againstan expected deceleration ingrow th. It also serves to allay the interna-tionalcom m unity’s fear of a h ard landingforthe C hinese econo m y.

L ike previou s years, issues concerningpeople’s livelihoods such as m edicalcare

education, housing, care for the elderlyem ploym ent, and the environm entreceivedintense scrutiny during the m eetings.

T he 1 3th Five-YearP lan, w hich sets thetone for C hina’s socialand econom ic de-velopm entover the nextfive years, w as anim portant aspect of the sessions. T he nexfive years w illbe crucialin term s ofC hina’sgoalto com plete the creation of a m oderately prosperoussocietyin allrespects. C hinais expected to achieve thattargetin additionto circum venting the m iddle-incom e trap.

C hina is currently at a criticalstage odevelopm ent. T he decision s m ade andconsensus reached at the tw o sessions this

yearw illprom ote the country’sprogressand

outin the 1 3th Five-YearP lan.

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http://www.bjreview.com MARCH 17 2016E I J I N G R E V I E W

T H I S W E E K

C U B M E S S E N G E R SGiant panda cubs,m ale Jia P anpan right)— m eaning Canadian H ope— and fem ale Jia Yueyue— m eaning

Canadian Joy— pose forphotosatthe Toronto Zoo in Canada on M arch 7.

on O ctober13 lastyearto fem ale panda ErShun,who w as loaned from China along w ith a m ale giantpanda in

2013 .

In a congratulatory m essage,Chinese P rem ierLiKeqiang said,“Iam sure the tw in cubs,a crystallization ofthe

China-Canada friendship indeed,w illgrow up to be new m essengersto carry forw ard ourfriendship.”



4E I J I N G R E V I E W MARCH 17 2016 http://www.bjreview.com

T H I S W E E K SOCIETY

PresidentialC allChinese PresidentXiJinping on

M arch 5 warned against“Taiwan

independence,”saying thatnational

secession should notbe repeated.

“W e willresolutely contain

‘Taiwan independence’secessionist

activitiesin any form ,”said Xiwhen

joining a group oflawm akersfrom

annualfullsession ofthe National

People’sCongress,held in Beijing

each spring.

“O urpolicy toward Taiwan

isclearand consistent,and itwill

rem ain unchanged along with the

change in Taiwan’spoliticalsitua-

tion,”Xitold the legislators.

TsaiIng-wen,the candidate for

the Dem ocraticProgressive P arty,

won Taiwan’sleadership election

in January. Tsaidefeated EricChu,

candidate ofthe Kuom intang,which

hasruled Taiwan forthe pasteight

years.

O nly by accepting the 1992

Consensusand recognizing itscore

im plicationscan the two sideshave

a com m on politicalfoundation

and m aintain good interactions,Xi

said. The 1992 Consensusreached

between m ainland and Taiwan

negotiatorsthatyearacknowledges

thatthe Chinese m ainland and

Taiwan belong to one C hina.

The Chinese m ainland iscom -

m itted to furtherprom oting cross-Taiwan Straitscooperation and

econom icand socialintegration,and

enhancing the senseofa com m unity

ofcom m on destiny,according to Xi.

Birth PolicyO n M arch 8 China’stop health

have a second child ifeitherparentis

an only child.

Thetwo-child policy isestim ated

to see 3 m illion m ore children born

in C hina every year.

Aid forWom enNearly 5 m illion wom en received

yuan ( 38 .1billion)in 20 15,the All-

China W om en’sFederation said on

M arch 8 . Centraland localgovern-

m entsubsidiescontributed m ore

to thissum .

China began issuing m icro-

entrepreneurship and poverty reduc

tion in 20 0 9. The loanshave helped

boostthe econom y especially in

underdeveloped western and rural

regions.

wom en isfree screeningsforbreast

and cervicalcancer,a program that

also began in 20 0 9. In 20 15,m ore

than 50 m illion ruralwom en have

received free cervicalcancerexam i-

cancertests,the federation said.

The governm entalso pro-

poverty-stricken wom en sufferingfrom severe diseaseslastyear.

Relics C onservationP rotection ofculturalrelicswillbe

included in the evaluation oflocal

to a new ly released governm ent

docum ent.

China hasbeen striving to

The 198 2 CulturalRelicsProtection

Law created institutionalguarantees

and variouslocalregulationshavesprung up since.

In recentyears,unm ovable

culturalrelicswere disappearing at

a fasterpace and responsibility of

protecting them wasnoteffectively

delineated,though rem arkable

achievem entshave been m ade,

said Liu Yuzhu,Directorofthe State

Adm inistration ofC ulturalH eritage.

According to the docum ent,

X I N

H

U

A

New indingAn explorerpreparesto entera doline forresearch in D onglan County,Hechiin GuangxiZhuang Autonom ousRegion,

on M arch 3 .

China willchange itsfam ily plan-

ning policy in the foreseeable future.

LiBin,M inisterofthe NationalH ealth

and Fam ily P lanning Com m ission,

m ade the rem arkswhen addressing

a pressconference.

Asof20 15,the Chinese popula-

thatChina’sper-capita econom ic

outputwas“considerably low ”as

wasthe average living standard.

“O urresourcespale in com pari-

son with ourvastpopulation. Until

thischanges,we willcontinue withthe currentfam ily planning policy,”

she said,adding thatthere isno

tim etable forthe fullrelaxation of

the policy,although itwillcontinue

to be im proved and adjusted.

China hasallowed allm arried

couplesto have two children from

the beginning ofthisyear. Thisfol-

lowed an earliereasing ofprevious

rulesin 20 13 thatallowed couplesto




T H I S W E E K

issued by the S tate C ouncil, C hina’s

cabinet, on M arch 8, annualevalua-

tionsshould be carried outto learn

the condition ofculturalrelics, in

addition to annualrenovations.

Itproposesbetterprotection inconstruction work, underscoring the

need forarchaeologicalsurveys,

exploration and excavation. T he

docum entalso callsforan im proved

registration system and database of

resources.

ase Filing Surges

C hina from M ay to D ecem ber2 0 15

hitnearly 10 m illion, up 2 9 .5 percent

yearon yearsincethe S uprem e

S ince the establishm entofa

case registersystem , adm inistrative

percentoverthe sam e period of

on judicialreform .

S uitdocum entswere previously

subjected to thorough and lengthy

reviewsbefore the case wasaccept-

ed. T he reform requiresthatas long

the law, they should be registered on

the spot.L egalcasesthatwere traditional-

often involved housing dem olition,

land requisition and governm ent

inform ation publicity, have also seen

an increase in acceptance, the white

papersaid.

S o far, 2 ,189 courtshaveonline

T he facility opened in D ecem ber

W ellbeing Initiative

T he governm entofnorthwest

C hina’sXinjiang U ygurA utonom ous

Region willcontinue to allocateenhancing locallivelihoods, authori-

ties said.

billion)willbe adm inistered thisyear

to help steer10 0 projectscovering

em ploym ent, housing, agriculture,

region.

A bout10 ,0 0 0 villagesin

Xinjiang willreceive5 0 0 ,0 0 0 yuan

-( 9 2 m illion)w illbe used forpoverty

reliefin 1,2 0 0 poverty-stricken vil-

billion)willbe used to build housesfor30 0 ,0 0 0 ruralherdsm en.

T he funding ispartofa

livelihood im provem entinitiative

launched by the regionalgovern-

billion)hasbeen m obilized in the

pastsixyearsthanksto the high-

Fun and Gam es

Wom en ofthe M iao ethnicgroup participate in a sportsactivity held to m ark

InternationalWom en’sD ay in a village in D anzhaiC ounty, G uizhou Province,

X I N

H

U

A

Securing the TitleL iu G uoliang (third left), head coach ofthe C hinesetable tennisteam ,

T he defending cham pion, C hina, won the m en’steam title forthe

trium ph forC hina in the eventsince2 0 0 1.

E arlierthatday, the C hinese wom en’steam m ade the sam e record at

the eventby winning the title forthe 2 0 th tim e.

have apps, m aking the servicem ore

T he white paperalso said that

a platform outlining allinform ation

on courtprocesseswillprovide

transparentinform ation to litigantsand theirattorneys.

Underground Lab

T he world’sdeepestsubterranean

lab in southwestC hina isbuilding

anotherunderground space thatw ill

blockcosm icrays, helping scientists

trace the origin ofelem ents. Jinping

U nderground L aboratory, w hich is

in S ichuan P rovince, hasbegun

building a nuclearastrophysicslab,

the C hina Institute ofA tom icE nergysaid on M arch 3.

T hisarm ofphysicsisa frontier

science thatstudiesnuclearreactions

within stars, the processthatcreates

m any elem ents. Research into this

area providesinsightinto stars’ evo-

lution and the origins ofelem ents.

“T he lab willofferthe world a

new top-classplatform forconduct-

ing precise m easurem enton nuclear

astrophysics,”said L iu Weiping, V ice

D ean ofthe institute.

Researchershope to usethe

facility to explore the birth ofheavyelem entsby m easuring neutron

source reactions, according to L iu.

S cientistssay cosm icraysare

know n to have disrupted previous

observations. T hisnew lab willpro-

vide a “clean”spacefora num ber

ofphysicaland cosm ologicexperi-

m ents, including thoseconcerns with

the search for“dark m atter.”






T H I S W E E K

with fundraising in the past10 years

Shale GasExploitationN orth C hina’sS hanxiProvince— the

country’s largestcoalproducer—

isconsidering m assexploitation of

shale gasreservesasitisfacing pres-

sure to drastically cutitspollution

levels.

A fterm orethan two yearsof

surveying, geologistsestim ated that

the provincehasashalegasreserve

with the provincialland and resources

T he survey wasconducted by

S hanxiC oalG eologicalBureau and

two localenergy com paniesstarting

in July 2 0 13.

T he basinsofE rdosand Q inshui

are rich in shale gas, and the thick-

nessand high contentoforganic

carbon and brittle m ineralsaresuit-

able forexploration, the survey

ineffective and low-end supply, a

guideline published on the website

ofthe M inistry ofC om m ercesaid.

C ustom swillstream line pro-

ceduresrelated with the program

to cutclearance costsfordealersand registration services forparallel

im ported vehicleswillbe im proved,

itsaid.

S uch vehiclesare usually

cheaperthan sim ilarm odelsfrom

dom esticdealersorsim ply not

channels.

T he S tate C ouncilpiloted the

plan in C hina S hanghai)PilotFree

-

ing itto otherfree trade zones

including G uangdong, T ianjin and

Fujian in 2 0 15 .

Falling EnergyConsum ptionC hina’senergy intensity, the am ount

ofenergy consum ed perunitof

G D P, hasbeen decreasing ata rapid

In 2 0 15 , C hina’senergy intensity

-

and 2 0 13, according to the N ationalB ureau ofS tatistics N B S ).

C oalconsum ption accounted

pointsfrom the share in 2 0 12 , asthe

governm entpushesfor“cleanerand

greenergrow th.”

“T he data show ed C hina’s

energy structure isbecom ing m ore

N B S .

to bring the shareofnon-fossil

energy to 15 percentby 20 2 0 and2 0 percentby 2 0 30 . In addition,

coalconsum ption willbe lim ited to

T he governm enthaspledged

thatitw illstrictly controlnew capac-

ity in the coalindustry and thatit

won’tapproveany new coalm ines

before 2 0 19 .

X I N

H

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A

L iu Yan right)operatesan online shopping website where he helpslocal

farm ersbuy farm ing tools, daily necessitiesand railway ticketsin Zhaom iao

province’scam paign to boostruralaccessto the Internet.

underlow tem perature and hassince been putinto m assproduction.

found.

“E xploration ofshale gaswill

help reducethe dependence on coal

and cutcarbon dioxide em issions,”

T he province started drilling the

Xixian C ounty in O ctober2 0 13.

cubicm etersofshale gasreserves,

the largestin the world. W hile

regularnaturalgasisextracted from

sedim entary rocks, shale gas, m ainly

m ethane, com esfrom delicate shale

form ations.

ParallelIm portedCarsC hina willboostpilotsofparallel

vehicle im portsin itsfree trade

zones, allow ing carsto be im ported

withoutproviding authorization from

carm akers.

T he program isa key m easure

to boostsupply-side reform s, a cur-

rentthem e thatincludesreducing





T H I S W E E K W ORLD

M L YSI

Prim e MinisterNajib Razak rightfront)and Transport

MinisterLiow Tiong Lai leftfront)join law m akers

toobservea m om entofsilencein Kuala Lum puron March 8 ,

in m em oryofthe Malaysia Airlines flight MH3 70

thatw entm issing two yearsago

SOUTH KORE

Google’sartificialintelligence AlphaGo program

beatsthe country’srenow ned professionalGo player

Lee Se Dol right)in the firstofa seriesofChinese Go

gam esin Seoulon March 9

MIDDLE E ST

A P alestinian w om an criesnearthescene

ofa stabbing attack in the old cityof

Jerusalem on M arch 8

X I N H U A

X I N H U A

X I N H U A




T H I S W E E K

NORTH KORE

The country’stop leaderKim Jong Un center)talksw ithscientistsduring hisinspection tourofthecountry’s

developm entofnuclearw eaponson March 9

GREECE

A large num berofrefugeesfrom the

MiddleEaststayin Idom eni,a tow n in

Greecelocated neartheborderw ith

Macedonia,on M arch 7,waiting for

theopening ofthe passage to their

destination ofGerm any and other

neighboring countries

INDONESI

Peoplewatch a totalsolareclipse

nearthe seaside ofBilliton Island

on March 9

X I N H U A / K C N A

X I N H U A

X I N H U A




MARCH 17,2016 http://www.bjreview.co

T H I S W E E K PEOPLE POINTS

“Fem ale leaders seem to be

m ore dedicated to driving theircom paniestow ard achieving goals, and appearto bem ore com m itted to theirjobs.”

X u u a,CEO ofGrantThornton China,on M arch 8,

saying w om en now hold about30 percentofthe toppositions in Chinese m ainland businesses,com pared

w ith 25 percentlastyear

The 1-Trillion-YuanClubOriental Outlook

M a r c h 0

H a n g z h o u , t h e c a p i t a l o f e a s t C h i n a ’ s

Z h e j i a n g P r o v i n c e , b e c a m e t h e 1 0 t h

c i t y w h o s e G D P s u r p a s s e d 1 t r i l l i o n y u a n

( 1 5 3 . 5 b i l l i o n ) i n C h i n a l a s t y e a r . A s a

r e s u l t , t h e c o m b i n e d G D P o f t h e 1 0 c i t

i e s — S h a n g h a i , B e i j i n g , G u a n g z h o u

S h e n z h e n , T i a n j i n , S u z h o u , C h o n g q i n g

W u h a n , C h e n g d u a n d H a n g z h o u — s u r

p a s s e d o n e f i f t h o f t h e n a t i o n a l t o t a l . I n

s h a r p c o n t r a s t , t h e s e c i t i e s , d u b b e d t h e

1 - t r i l l i o n - y u a n c l u b , o c c u p y j u s t 1 p e r c e n t

o f C h i n a ’ s t e r r i t o r y a n d h o s t o n e 1 0 t h o

t h e c o u n t r y ’ s p o p u l a t i o n .

H a n g z h o u b e g a n t a k i n g s t e p s t o

r e s t r u c t u r e i t s e c o n o m y i n 2 0 0 6 . N o w t h e

c i t y h a s t a k e n t h e l e a d i n t h e c u l t u r a l a n d

i n f o r m a t i o n t e c h n o l o g y s e c t o r s i n C h i n a

W u h a n , t h e c a p i t a l o f c e n t r a l C h i n a ’ s

H u b e i P r o v i n c e , h a s a l s o b e e n d r i v i n g

i n n o v a t i o n b y a t t r a c t i n g i n v e s t m e n t t o

d e v e l o p i t s t e c h n o l o g i e s .

T h e p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e t e r t i a r y i n d u s t r y

i n n i n e o f t h e 1 0 c i t i e s s u r p a s s e d h a l f o

t h e l o c a l G D P . T h i s i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e 1 0

c i t i e s h a v e a c h i e v e d r e m a r k a b l e p r o g r e s s

i n d e v e l o p i n g t h e h i - t e c h a n d c u l t u r a

“Itis reasonable forC hina to setthe

peak [greenhouse gas em ission]targeforaround 2 0 0 , and we willtry ourbestto achieve ita bitearlier.”

X ie Zh enh ua,China’s SpecialRepresentative onClim ate Change,w ho is also a nationalpoliticaladviserata new s conference ofthe NationalCom m ittee ofth

CPPCC on M arch 7

i n g Jz h e , V i c e M i n i s t e r o f t h e N a t i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t a n d R e f o r m C o m m i s s i o n , C h i n a ’ s t o p

m a c r o e c o n o m i c r e g u l a t o r y b o d y , h a s r e c e n t l y b e e n a p p o i n t e d h e a d o f t h e N a t i o n a l B u r e a u o f

S t a t i s t i c s ( N B S ) . H e w i l l h o l d t h e t w o p o s i t i o n s c o n c u r r e n t l y .

N i n g , 6 0 , h a s b e e n a r e s e a r c h e r i n C h i n a ’ s e c o n o m i c a n d s o c i a l d e v e l o p m e n t p l a n n i n g a n d

i n d u s t r i a l a n d e n v i r o n m e n t a l p o l i c i e s , a n d h a s b e e n e n g a g e d i n d r a f t i n g

a n u m b e r o f n a t i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t p l a n s . H e h o l d s a P h D i n e c o n o m i c s

f r o m t h e R e n m i n U n i v e r s i t y o f C h i n a .

n o m o r e t h a n 1 0 m o n t h s b e f o r e b e i n g r e m o v e d w h e n h e w a s i n v e s t i -

g a t e d f o r s u s p e c t e d c o r r u p t i o n i n l a t e J a n u a r y .

T h e N B S i s a C e n t r a l G o v e r n m e n t d e p a r t m e n t r e s p o n s i b l e f o r r e l e a s -

i n g C h i n a ’ s l a t e s t e c o n o m i c d a t a a n d h e l p i n g t h e p u b l i c u n d e r s t a n d t h e

c o u n t r y ’ s e c o n o m i c s i t u a t i o n .

N E W L A PP OIN T E D S T A T I S T I C S H E A D

Too M any RealityShowsGuangming aily

M a r c h 7

C a o K e f a n , a h o s t w i t h t h e S h a n g h a i - b a s e d

D r a g o n T V a n d d e p u t y t o t h e N a t i o n a l

P e o p l e ’ s C o n g r e s s ( N P C ) — C h i n a ’ s t o p l e g -

i s l a t u r e , r e c e n t l y s a i d C h i n a h a s t o o m a n y

r e a l i t y s h o w s a n d d e c r i e d t h e i r c r u d e n a t u r e .

T V s t a t i o n s s h o u l d f o c u s o n n e w s r e p o r t s

a n d t h e d i s s e m i n a t i o n o f c u l t u r e , r a t h e r t h a n

b e c o m e r e a l i t y s h o w c h a n n e l s , h e s a i d .

C a o ’ s v i e w s s p a r k e d a h e a t e d d i s c u s -

s i o n a m o n g I n t e r n e t u s e r s . M o r e t h a n

2 0 0 r e a l i t y p r o g r a m s a i r e d o n T V l a s t y e a r .

R e a l i t y s h o w s h a v e g a i n e d p o p u l a r i t y

t h a n k s t o m a r k e t c o m p e t i t i o n . B u t , w h i l e

t h e y a r e f a v o r e d i n t h e m a r k e t p l a c e , t h e y

a r e n o t w i t h o u t p r o b l e m s . F o r e x a m p l e ,

t h e c o p y r i g h t s f o r t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e r e a l -

i t y s h o w s w e r e p u r c h a s e d a b r o a d a n d d i d

n o t o r i g i n a t e i n C h i n a . M a n y a r e s i m i l a r t o

o n e a n o t h e r i n c o n t e n t a n d l a c k c r i t i c a l

w i t h s i n g i n g c o m p e t i t i o n s a n d s h o w s c e n -

t e r e d o n c o o k i n g , t r a v e l a n d d a t i n g .

T V p r o g r a m s s h o u l d s t r i v e t o n o t

o n l y e n t e r t a i n b u t a l s o s p r e a d c u l t u r e

t o v i e w e r s . O n e s u c h p r o g r a m h a s b e e n

w i l d l y s u c c e s s f u l . T h e f i n a l c o m p e t i t i o n

o f a C h i n e s e i d i o m c o n t e s t p r o d u c e d a n d

b r o a d c a s t b y t h e s t a t e b r o a d c a s t e r C h i n a

C e n t r a l T e l e v i s i o n r e c e n t l y r a n k e d f i r s t i n

a u d i e n c e r a t i n g s . S e v e r a l s i m i l a r p r o g r a m s

a i m e d a t p r o m o t i n g C h i n e s e c u l t u r e h a v e

a l s o a c h i e v e d s u c c e s s i n r e c e n t y e a r s . T V

s t a t i o n s s h o u l d p r e s e n t a w i d e r v a r i e t y

o f p r o g r a m s t h a t c a t e r t o t h e a u d i e n c e ’ s

d i v e r s e t a s t e .




T H I S W E E K

“As org ns re don ted free, llpeople

should h ve equ lrights to enjoytr nspl ntservices. Nobody should berejected bec use they re poor.”

u an g Jiefu,Vice Chairm an ofthe Com m ittee ofEducation,Science,Culture,Health and Sports oftheCPPCC NationalCom m ittee,in a statem entto report-

ers on the sidelines ofthis year’s CPPCC NationalCom m ittee session on M arch 8

“S he w s com m itted to friendly

exch nges between the twocountries, nd m de positivecontributions to the developm ent

Foreign M inistry spokesm an ong Lei,expressing

i n d u s t r i e s , b a l a n c i n g e n v i r o n m e n t a l

p r o t e c t i o n w i t h e c o n o m i c g r o w t h a n d

i n n o v a t i n g c i t y m a n a g e m e n t .

A s C h i n a e n t e r s t h e n e w n o r m a l o f

s l o w e r g r o w t h , t h e c o u n t r y f a c e s b o t h

o p p o r t u n i t i e s a n d p r o b l e m s . T h e d e v e l -

o p m e n t p a t h o f t h e 1 - t r i l l i o n - y u a n c l u b

m a t c h e s t h e p a t t e r n o f i n n o v a t i o n - d r i v e n ,b a l a n c e d , g r e e n , o p e n a n d i n c l u s i v e d e -

v e l o p m e n t s e t f o r t h i n t h e 1 3 t h F v e - Y e a r

P l a n , w h i c h c o v e r s t h e p e r i o d f r o m 2 0 6

t o 2 0 0

A ResilientEconom yP e o p l e ’ s a i l y

M a r c h

E c o n o m i c i s s u e s t o p p e d t h e a g e n d a o f t h i s y e a r ’ s a n n u a l s e s s i o n s o f t h e N P C a n d t h e C h i n e s e

P e o p l e ’ s P o l i t i c a l C o n s u l t a t i v e C o n f e r e n c e ( C P P C C ) N a t i o n a l C o m m i t t e e . C h i n a ’ s GD P r e a c h e d 6 7 . 7

t r i l l i o n y u a n ( 1 04 t r i l l i o n ) l a s t y e a r , g r o w i n g 6 . 9 p e r c e n t y e a r o n y e a r . M o r e t h a n 1 3 m i l l i o n n e w j o b s

w e r e c r e a t e d , s u r p a s s i n g t h e g o v e r n m e n t ’ s 1 0m i l l i o n t a r g e t .

A l l t h i s w a s a c h i e v e d a t a t i m e w h e n t h e w o r l d e c o n o m y r e g i s t e r e d i t s s l o w e s t g r o w t h r a t e i n

s u r p a s s e d 1 0t r i l l i o n f o r t h e s e c o n d c o n s e c u t i v e y e a r l a s t y e a r , m a k i n g i t j u s t o n e o f t w o c o u n t r i e s

a b l e t o d o s o w o r l d w i d e — t h e o t h e r b e i n g t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s .

C o n s u m p t i o n c o n t r i b u t e d t o a b o u t 6 6 p e r c e n t o f e c o n o m i c g r o w t h . I t h e m e a n t i m e , C h i n a u s e d

1 2 6 . 3 b i l l i o n o f f o r e i g n i n v e s t m e n t i n 2 0 5 , r e p r e s e n t i n g a n i n c r e a s e o f 5 . 6 p e r c e n t o v e r t h e p r e v i

1 4 . 7 p e r c e n t . C h i n a r e m a i n e d t h e m a i n d r i v i n g e n g i n e f o r g l o b a l e c o n o m i c g r o w t h l a s t y e a r , c o n t r i bu t i n g t o m o r e t h a n a q u a r t e r o f g l o b a l e c o n o m i c g r o w t h .

T h e C h i n e s e e c o n o m y i s s h i f t i n g g e a r s a n d t r a n s i t i o n i n g t o w a r d a h i g h e r d e v e l o p m e n t l e v e l

G o w t h w i l l s t a y w i t h i n a r e a s o n a b l e r a n g e g i v e n t h e s t r o n g r e s i l i e n c e o f t h e e c o n o m y a n d i t s a b i l i t y

t o w i t h s t a n d r i s k s .

F o t b a l l p l a y e r W a n g h a n s h a n s c o r e d t h e l o n e g o a l o f a m a t c h a g a i n s t S o u t h K o r e a d u r i n g t h e

e n d e d 1 - 0 e n a b l i n g t h e C h i n e s e w o m e n ’ s f o o t b a l l t e a m t o q u a l i f y f o r R o .

t h e O l y m p i c G m e s i n e i g h t y e a r s . T h e C h i n e s e w o m e n ’ s n a t i o n a l f o o t b a l l

t e a m w o n s e c o n d p l a c e a t t h e A t l a n t a O l y m p i c s i n 1 9 9 6 . H o w e v e r , i t f a i l e d

t o q u a l i f y f o r t h e 2 0 1 W o r l d C u p a n d t h e 2 0 2 O l y m p i c s .

“ W e w e r e a l i t t l e b i t t i r e d i n t o d a y ’ s g a m e , m a y b e b e c a u s e i t w a s t h e

f o u r t h g a m e . B u t w e p e r f o r m e d b e t t e r a n d b e t t e r , ” W a n g s a i d a f t e r t h e

m a t c h .

W a n g , 2 6 , i s a f o r w a r d f r o m t h e n o r t h e r n p o r t c i t y o f T i a n j i n . S h e s t a r t e d

t o p l a y f o r t h e n a t i o n a l t e a m i n 2 0 2 .

S O C C E R S T R I E R S C O R IN G A S H O T





NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

W O R D S B E G E T A C T IO N SEditor’s N ote Atthe opening ofthis year’s fullsession ofthe 12th NationalPeople’s Congress (NPC)on M arch 5,Prem ierLiKeqiang delivered the Governm entW ork Reportto som e 2,900 nationallegislators,joined by m em bers ofthe NationalCom m itteeofthe Chinese People’s PoliticalConsultative Conference (CPPCC).In the report,Lireview ed the w ork done in 2015 in detailandsum m arized the achievem ents attained in the 12th Five-YearPlan (2011-15)period.The reportalso surveyed the conditions thaChina willface during the ongoing 13th Five-YearPlan (2016-20)period,and outlined the plans forthe work to be done this year.

Beijing Review reporters NiYanshuo,Lan Xinzhen,Xu Bei,Zheng Yang,Yuan Yuan and Deng Yaqing spoke to NPC deputies andCPPCC NationalCom m ittee m em bers to heartheirsuggestions on the m easures to help achieve the nationaldevelopm enttargetsEdited excerpts follow:



http://www.bjreview.com MARCH 17,2016E I J I N G R E V I E W

NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

Zhang Y i N P C deputy and form erM inister

ofthe S tate-O w ned A ssets S upervision andA dm inistration C om m ission of the S tate

C ouncil):

In the past five

years w e have devel-

oped the econom y

to an adequate level

m ain tain ed social

stability dee pened

reform and m ade

profound progress in

com bating corruption.

The w ellbeing ofthe

Chinese peo ple h as

run a sm allparcelof land w hich w eakens

their com petitiveness in the m arket. Forthis reason it is necessary for the gov-

ernm en t to subsidize farm ers to en sure

reason able returns for them . Th is policy is

no w in discussion . Iexpect that the reform

of the corn purchasing and storage system

w illbe laun ched as soon as possible.

Farm ers should adjust the variety of

grain crops thatthey w illgrow in accordance

w ith the supply and dem and ofthe m arket

so that do m estic corn prices w illbe closer

to prices on the internationalm arket. In the

m eantim e there should be no new excess

stockpiles.

M ore im po rtan tly farm ers’interests

m ust be protected. Therefore the govern-

m en t should offer necessary subsidies in

accordance w ith m arket prices in order to

en sure farm ers’inco m e balance sup ply

and dem and strike equilibrium betw een

the returns and costs for farm ers as w el

as ensure that the production of corn and

other grain crops w illbetter satisfy the

m arketdem and.

W ang Zhengw ei N P C deputy and M inister

ofthe S tate E thnic A ffairs C om m ission ):

W h ile fac in g

the pressures of an

econ om ic grow thslow dow n w e m ustbe

resolute in enforcing

a num ber of policies

en suring stable eco-

nom ic grow th as w ell

as ge nerating n ew

supply and dem and.

Efforts to prom ote

investm ent m ust be

intensified w hich w ill

invigorate areas inhabited by ethnic m inorities

and underdeveloped areas as w ellas guide

private enterprises and the non-public sectorto

investin China’sw estern regions.

L iu G exin N P C deputy and C hairm an ofthe

S ichuan K elun P harm aceuticalC o. L td.):

The pharm aceu-

ticalindustry is facing

various difficu lties in

its developm ent:W e

started w ith shaky

foundationsand w ere

supp ressed at the

low end ofthe indus-

trial ch ain 20 years

ago. How ever Ch ina

still lacks pow erful

been im proved and China’sinternationalstatus

hascontinued to rise.Even so the com ing five years w illbe an

im portant period determ ining w hether or not

China can surm ountthe m iddle-incom e trap.

In addition to allthe efforts being m ade to

accom plish this target w e m ustpay specialat-

tention to the em ploym entand socialsecurity

ofm igrant w orkers and strive to build a labor

relation structure suited to China’s econom ic

developm ent. Thatis crucialto the establish-

m entofharm onious laborrelations and laying

solid foundationsto ensure socialharm ony and

stability.

M oreover w e m ust vigorously develop

the realeconom y w hich is crucialin overcom -

ing the m iddle-incom e trap. Efforts should be

m ade to upgrade traditionalindustries raise the

efficiency ofenterprises as w ellas vigorously

boostinnovation in technology m anagem ent

and business m odels. These efforts w illhelp

endeavorsto create new enginesforeconom ic

grow th.

China should also intensify the reform of

state-ow ned enterprises increase theirsizes

and im prove theircom petitiveness encourage

and supportnon-public enterprises in the real

econom yand give fullplay to the role ofvarious

typesofcapitalin supporting the realeconom y.

C hen Xiw en C P P C C N ationalC om m itteem em berand D eputy D irectorofthe C entral

R uralW ork L eading G roup):

P rem ierLipledged

in the G overnm ent

W ork Report that ef-

forts w illbe m ade to

“guide farm ers in ad-

justing w hat and how

m uch they grow and

breed in response to

the m arket dem and

and in m aking ap-

propriate reductions

to th e a m o u n t o f

cu ltivated lan d that

is devoted to grow ing corn.” H e also stressed

follow ing the principle ofletting the m arket

determ ine prices and de-linking subsidies from

prices as w ellas stating thatthe reform ofthe

corn purchasing and storage system w illbe car-

ried outin an active yetprudentw ay to ensure

reasonable returns for farm ers. This m eans

that prices w illbe determ ined by the m arket. It

is only through the m arket’s determ ination of

prices thatChina’sproduce can be com petitive

in the internationalm arket.

Since the n um ber of farm ers is sub -

stantialin China each ruralfam ily can only

P rem ierLiKeqiang

deliversthe Governm ent

W ork Reportatthe

opening ofthe annual

fullsession ofthe 2th

N ationalPeople’s

Congressin Beijing

on M arch 5

XI

U





NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

policies to supportleading C hinese pharm a

ceuticalcom panies in breaking through the

blockade ofm ultination alcorporations andim prove the com petitivenessofthe C hinese

pharm aceuticalindustry in the international

m arket.

D eveloping transitionalm edicines w illbe

conducive to the creation ofnew and original

m edicines.

C hina should also form ulate law s on rare

diseases as early as possible so as to pro

m ote the research and developm entoftheir

treatm ent.

Gao Chun fang CP P CC N ationalCom m ittee

m e m b e r a n d h ea d o f N o . 1 5 0 C e n tra l

H ospitalofthe form er Jinan M ilitary A rea

Com m and ofthe P eople’s Liberation Arm y):

C hina m ust set

up a un iversalcom

preh en sive m edical

se rvice p latfo rm

throu gh w hich pa

tients’ inform ation

co u ld b e sha red

nation w ide , em er

gen cy treatm en t

procedures in m ajor

hospitals co uld be

dissem ina ted , an d

long distance group consultations could

be realized. T his m ust be organ ized by

the C entralG overnm ent. O therw ise, there

w ou ld be a huge w aste ofresources ifvarious localgovernm ents establish their ow n

platform s.

A sfordisease control, the diseases in ques

tion m ustbe clearly listed. A llthese issuescould

be solved by the healthcare authority very

quickly.

M erdan M ugayt N P C deputy and Deputy

Secretary ofthe C om m un istP arty ofC hina

C om m ittee of A ksu P refecture,Xinjiang

U ygurAutonom ous Region):

T argeted poverty

reduction prog ram s

how to alleviate pov

erty, w ho to support

and w ho w illconduct

such m easures, so

that the assistance

c a n r e a c h e a c h

poverty stricken fam

ily. T his w illensure

that proper steps are

taken to reduce poverty caused by different

reasons.

In A ksu, the re are tw o co unties that

receive state poverty relief— they plan to

rem ove thatstatus by 2 0 1 7 and 2 0 1 8, re

spectively. W e are co nfident to lift 2 0 6 ,0 0 0

poor people in the counties out of poverty

as scheduled. T his is a m ission thatm ustbeachieved.

T here is a fast grow ing textile and cloth

ing industrialbase in A ksu, w hich can provide

a certain num berofjob opportunities.

M oreo ver, since naturalconditions in

those tw o counties are better than in other

places, farm ers are m ore capable of raising

theirincom e by im proving theiragricultura

practices.

A nother im portant m easure is to tackle

poverty through education, w hich is crucialto

creating a richersociety and econom y.

In recent years, the C entralG overnm ent

and o ther reg ion s in the co un try have

increased their efforts in assisting educa

tion in Xinjian g, from prim ary sch ools to

colleg es, ensuring that every local fam ily

have w ell edu cated m em bers. In region sw ith harsh naturalconditions, peo ple are

relocated to areas w ith betterresources fo

living and production.

A lso, in regard to im po verished peop le

having n o cap acity to w ork or suffering

from chronic diseases, poverty alleviation

throu gh the ruralm inim um subsistence

allow ance system are cond ucted, so that

socialsafety covers allof A ksu’s p overty

stricken population.




should be released during the 1 3th Five-YearP lan period.

In addition, I think an em phasis should be

laid on helping enterprises getout ofpredica-

m ents. O n this front, P rem ierL isuggested that

efforts be m ade in facilitating overcapacity

cuts in struggling enterprises in the coaland

steelsectors, and also letting the m arketplay

a decisive role in the process. H e also outlined

that localgovernm ents should be responsible

forcoordinating the efforts to reduce excess

capacity, and thatthe C entralG overnm entren-

ders its supportto them . T his w ould help press

ahead w ith the w ork in an orderly w ay, and

actively yetprudently tackle zom bie com panies

that are heavily indebted and cannotsurvivew ithoutexternalsupport.

Song Beishan CP P CC N ationalCom m ittee

m em berand form erV ice Chairm an of

the A ll-China Federation ofIndustry an d

Com m erce ):

I n n o vatio n is

on e o f the five de -

velopm ent ideas put

forw ard in the 1 3th

Five-Year P lan an d

a key factor in driv-

ing future econom ic

grow th. T o p rom oteinnovation and m ake

C hina a m agnetfor

inno vators, the m ostim po rtant thing w e

need to do is to protectintellectualproperty

rights IP R s). T o achieve higherlevelsofquality

in com m odities produced in C hina, w e need

to protectthe rights and interests ofinnova-

tors and punish those w ho infringe on their

rights. C urrent IP R policies face a num ber of

problem s involving a lack ofeffective punish-

m ents for violations, low penalty costs, and

expensive safeguarding m easures. Inadequate

IP R protection is a lingering problem restrain-

ing innovation-driven developm ent.In his G overnm entW ork R eport, P rem ierL

stressed thatC hina w illstrengthen the protec-

tion and use ofIP R sand look to the law to crack

dow n on the infringem entupon these rights

and on the production and sale ofcounterfeit

produ cts. H ow w illthe governm ent clam p

dow n on IP R infringem ent? T o w hatextent

should w e strengthen the protection and use of

IP R s?T hese questions and m ore are w orthy of

furtherexam ination.

NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

Zhou M ingw ei CP P CC N ationalCom m ittee

m em ber and P residen t of the C hina

InternationalP ublishing Group):I n th is yea r’s

G o ve rn m e n t W o rk

R eport, P rem ier L i

vow ed to im prove the

overallcaliber ofthe

population and raise

the levelofcivility in

C hina’ssociety. A m od-

erately prospe rous

society in allrespects

sho uld n ot just be

m easured by G D P or

by per-capita incom e. Itm ustalso include the

aspects thatP rem ierL ivow ed to im prove. T he

overallcaliberofthe population and the levelof

civility in society should be a new m easuring-

stick and a necessary part of a m oderately

prosperoussocietyin allrespects.

H istory has proved thata m an w ith fortune

in pocketis notnecessarily a m an w ith a for-

tune in hisbrain. T he w hole societyshould w ork

together to ensure thatthe C hinese are rich

both in m aterialand in m ind. A n im provem ent

in the overallcharacterofthe population isalso

a reflection of a country’s softpow er and its

im age. A sthe C hinese econom y isbetterdevel-

oped and becom es m ore open, the country’s

is through products m ade in C hina, throughw hich the internationalcom m unity can un-

derstand C hina better. T he second is through

C hinese people’s behavior. E ach year m ore

than 1 0 0 m illion C hinese travelabroad forvari-

ous purposes. T heirm annerofconductand the

values that they pursue w hilstoverseas have

becom e partofC hina’s nationalidentity.

T herefore, the governm ent should m ake

m ore detailed plans forim proving the overall

stature ofthe population and raising the levelof

decorum in society, and continue to m obilize as

m any people as possible across the country to

participate in the cam paign form axim um effect.

LiN ingping CP P CC N ationalCom m ittee

m em ber and P resident of the Gansu

P rovince E lectric P ow erInvestm ent Group

Corp.):

S in c e G a n s u

P rovince abounds in

resources and h igh

energy-consum ingen terprises m aintain

a dom inan t position

in related sectors, the

ongoing structuralre-

form has had a strong

im pacton som e local

en terprises. O n theotherhand, som e localgovernm entleadersare

reluctantto elim inate enterprises dogged by

overcapacitybecause they’ve devoted greaten-

ergy to advancing theirdevelopm entin the past

years. D espite that, efforts should stillbe m ade

to cut excess indu strialcapacity. O therw ise,

localdevelopm entw illhita bottleneck and be

hindered by furtherproblem s.

Zhao Tiechui CP P CC N ationalCom m ittee

m em berand form erD eputy D irectorofthe

State A dm inistration ofW ork Safety):

T he conceptof

pu t forw ard in the2 0 1 6 G o vern m en t

W ork R eport. T he

public safety system

encom passes food,

drug and w orkplace

safety, disaster pre-

vention, m itigation

and relief, as w ellas

socialsecurity. A key

pointis the legislation on public safety and the

inclusion ofthisarea into the education system .

In m y opinion, regulations for the im ple-

m entation of the P roduction S afety L awC op yedited by B ryan M ichaelG alvan

C om m ents to yushujun bjreview .com

D eputies to the N tion lPeop le’s C ongress

from Ji ng su P rovince p rticip te in p nel

discussion in B eijing on M rch 5

W

E I A

O





NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

Atthe opening of the Fourth Session of

the 12th N ation alP eople’s Congress

on M arch 5, Chinese P rem ier Li

Keqiang delivered the G overnm ent W orkReport. W hile review ing China’s econo m ic

and socialdevelopm ent in 20 15,the report

put forw ard targets and tasks for 20 16 as

w ellas the 13 th Five-Year P lan 20 16 -20 )

period.

Annualgrow th target:6.5 percentoraboveChina m ustachieve an annualeconom ic

grow th rate o f at least 6. 5 percent in the

doubling the 20 10 GDP and per-capita per-

sonalincom e by 20 20 . This is also requ ired

for China to overcom e the m iddle-incom e

trap,another pivotaltask during the period

of the 13 th Five-Year P lan. Ifthe cou ntry’s

econom y grow s at6.5 percentorabove,an-

nually,on average during that period,China

w illbe able to take a historic leap to join the

ranks ofhigh-incom e countries.

Structuralreform“Rather than ado pting stron g stim ulus

policies that w ould have an econom y-w ide

im pact,w e continued to m ove forw ard w ith

structuralreform [in 20 15],”P rem ierLisaid in

his report. The agenda for 20 16 and the pe-

riod from 20 16 to 20 20 also underscores the

im portance of structuralreform ,especially

G O V E R N M E N T W O R

R E P O R T H IG H L IG H T SB y H e J ing W an g Xinling

supply-side structuralreform . An im proved

supply en viron m ent w illhelp m ake supply

thus increasing the stability,coordinationand sustainability ofeconom ic grow th.

Debutofa “new econom y”The “new econom y” com prises new

industries,tech nologies and form s of bu si-

ness that have em erged under the Internet

P lus strategy,w hich calls for the pen etra-

tion ofthe Internet into allindustries. This

concepthas notonly unleashed existing pro-

ductive forces,butalso fostered new grow th

engines. As it seeks to surm ount obstacles,

C hina m ust speed up structuraladjust-

m ents w hile exploring new areas of grow th.

These initiatives w illenable the Chinese

eco nom y to reg ister lon g-term , stable

grow th w ith a higher quality and enhanced

Poverty reductionP o verty red uction alw ays featu res

prom inently in Li’s annualgovernm ent w ork

rep orts. H e also stresses the sup ervision,

inspection an d third-party evaluation of

poverty alleviation p rogram s. U nlike previ-

ous ones,the ongoing cam paign aim s to lift

allthose living under the poverty line out of

po verty w ithout exceptions. China is giving

top priority to poverty alleviation as itstrives

to accom plish the goalof building a m od

erately prosperou s society in allrespects

The high politicalatten tion C hina has given

to poverty reduction is rarely seen in othercountries.

M aking “M ade in China” shineP rem ier Lihas long been know n as an

advocate ofC hina’s high-speed railtechnolo

gy,a sym bolofthe country’s m anufacturing

prow ess. Bu t high-speed railis on ly part of

the story. C hinese m anufacturers are also

striving to excelin a w ider spectrum ranging

from technology and standards to services.

A new round ofopening upThe China-proposed Silk Road Econom ic

Belt and 21st-Cen tury M aritim e S ilk R oad

Initiative presents opportunities to both

China and the restofthe w orld. Itw illdeliver

and farbeyond.

Blue sky,green land and clearw aterEffectively dealing w ith sm og and w ater

po llution has top ped m any localgo vern

m ents’agendas. A num ber of state leaders

have m ade research trips to areas severely

po lluted by heavy indu stry,such as H ebe

P rovince. Th is year’s G overnm en t W ork

Report envision s a “beautifulC hina w here

the sky is blue,the land is green and the




C opye dited by M ara L ee D urrell

C om m ents to yanw ei bjreview .com

NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

w ater is clear,” illustrating the governm ent’s

determ ination to take a path that leads to

both econom ic developm ent and im prove

m entofthe environm ent.

A law -based innovative clean and service-

oriented governm ent

T h e g u id elin es o n b u ild in g a law

based governm ent issued by the C entral

G overnm entatthe end of2 0 1 5 putfor

w ard overallplans for efforts in this regard

through 2 0 2 0 . B y reaffirm ing this goal, the

G overnm ent W ork R eport show ed that a

law based, innovative, clean and service

oriented governm ent is not only w hat the

go vernm en t aspires to turn itself into but

also w here public interestlies in.

Im proving peo ple’s lives an d addressing

theirconcerns

C hina w illim plem ent a m ore proactive

em ploym ent po licy and encourage bu si

ness startup s that create em ploym ent. It

aim s to realize fullco verage o f the seri

ou s disease insurance schem e to reduce

co ntinue to raise basic pension ben efits

for retirees. A llthese statem en ts exem plify

the governm ent’s concern abo ut people’s

liveliho od s and com m itm en t to takingconcrete m easures to accom plish variou s

targets.

Con du cting diplom acy w ith the vision and

responsibility ofa m ajorcountryP residen t Xi Jinping visited the M iddle

E astin early 2 0 1 6 during his firsttrip over

seas this year. C hina w illalso hostthe G 2 0

S um m it in H angzhou later this year. W hile

C hina becom es a m ore active player on the

globalstage, challenges stillabound. It w ill

co ntinue to p ractice its diplom atic vision

w hen coping w ith issues such as C hina Japan

relation s, the S ou th C hina S ea and N orth

Korea’snuclearprogram .

Major Targets for the Next Five Years

7.8

18,000 km

Atleast

6.5

G D P

A g g r e g a t e e c o n o m i c o u t p u t P e r m a n e n t u r b a n r e s i d e n t s

a s a p e r c e n t a g e o f C h i n a ’ s

p o p u l a t i o n

80.3 tln

yuan

40.15 tln

yuan

2 0 2 0 2 0 1 0

20,092yuan

2 0 2 0

10,046

yuan

p e r s o n a l i n c o m e

2 0 1 0

A v e r a g e

a n n u a l

e c o n o m i c

g r o w t h

R e g i s t e r e d p e r m a n e n t u r b a n

r e s i d e n t s a s a p e r c e n t a g e o f

C h i n a ’ s p o p u l a t i o n

Exceed

90 tln yuan

67.7 tln

yuan

2 0 2 0

60 56.1

45

Less

than

40

2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0

2 0 2 0

T o l i n k m o r e

t h a n 80

o f b i g c i t i e s

30,000 km

r a i l w a y s i n s e r v i c e

C o n s u m p t i o n a n d e m i s s i o n s p e r u n i t o f G D P

C o n s u m p t i o n E m i s s i o n s C o n s u m p t i o n E m i s s i o n s

W a t e r E n e r g y

C a r b o n

d i o x i d e

W a t e r E n e r g y

C a r b o n

d i o x i d e

0

1 0

2 0

3 0

23

30

18

15

18.2 17

P o v e r t y r e l i e f o f all rural

residentsa l l i n g b e l o w t h e

c u r r e n t p o v e r t y l i n e c o m p a r e d

w i t h

a n d p o v e r t y a l l e v i a t i o n i n

a l l p o o r c o u n t i e s a n d a r e a s

N e w u r b a n j o b s A v e r a g e l i f e e x p e c t a n c y

2 0 2 0

( Compiled by B e i j i n g R e v i e w , designed byPamela Tobey

77

years

76

years





NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

In h is Governm ent W ork Report de-

livered at the o pe ning o f the Fo urth

Session of the 12 th N ation alP eople’s

Co ngress on M arch 5,P rem ier LiKeqiang

said that China w illface tough challen ges

in its developm en t this year. H e listed the

follow ing m easures in the governm ent’s ef-

forts to boostdevelopm ent.

M croeconom ic P olicies

— Replace business tax w ith value-added

— M ove faster in the reform efforts to

-

— Keep the renm inbiexchange rate gener-

— M ove forw ard w ith the reform of the

stock and bond m arkets.

— Reduce the num berofm atters thatare

— P ilota blacklist[that specifies off-lim its

— Im plem ent the strategy ofinnovation-

— Encourage business startups and inno-

— Strengthen the protection ofintellectual

— Address overcapacity in the steeland

— Im prove the perform ance of state-

— P rotect the property rights of entities

— Energize the non-public sector.

D om estic D em nd— Supportthe grow th ofconsum ption in

elderly healthcare,health,housekeeping,edu-

— Strengthen the grow th of em erging

areas of consum ption such as inform ation

products and services,sm arthom es and per-

— Investm ore than 8 0 0 billion yuan ( 123

— Invest1.65 trillion yuan ( 254 billion)in

— Startconstruction on 20 w aterconser-

— D evelop hydropow er,nuclearpow er,

ultrahigh-voltage pow er transm ission,sm art

grids,pipelines foroiland gas transm ission and

— Im prove the public-private partnership

— Ad vance new urbanization :G rant

urban residency to m ore people registered

to ruralhou seholds,reform the household

registration system ,and im plem entthe resi-

dence card system .

A griculture nd R ur lIncom e

— Speed up structuraladjustm ents in agri

— P rom ote the developm ent ofsuitably

scaled-up agriculturaloperations in diversified

— Com batpoverty.

O pening U p

— M ove ahead w ith the initiative to build

the Silk Ro ad Econ om ic Belt and the 21 st

— P rom ote the innovation-driven develop

— Launch trials in the area oftrade in ser

— Adopta m ore proactive im portpolicy

Increase the im portof advanced technology

and equipm ent,key spare parts and com po-

nents,as w ellas energy and raw m aterials in

— Continue to relax m arket access re

strictions on investm ent:Further op en up

the service sector and the gen eralm anu

facturing sector,an d sim plify procedures

for establishing overseas-funded en ter

— Achieve greaterindustrial-capacity coop-

— Accelerate the im plem entation ofthe

— N e g o tia te o n th e R e g io n a




C opye dited b y B ryan M ichaelG alvan

C om m ents to yaobin bjreview .com

NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

C om prehensive E conom ic P artnership R C E P )

— N egotiate on the C hina-Japan-R O K

— N egotiate on investm ent agreem ents

betw een C hina and the U nited S tates and be-

tw een C hina and the E U .

Green Developm ent— T ake strong m easures against airand

— D evelop the energy conservation and

— Im prove m echanism s w hich com pen-

sate forecologicalconservation efforts.

People’s W ellbeing— P ursue a m ore proactive em ploym ent

policy and encourage business startups that

— P rom ote faireraccessto quality educa-

— A llocate a greatershare offunds forpub-

lic education to centraland w estern regions as

— U nify the urban and ruralm echanism s

— A dvance the coo rdinated reform of

m edicalservices, m edicalinsurance and the

— R ealize com plete coverage ofthe seri-

— B uild an extensive and tightly w oven so-

— S trengthen and develop new form s of

socialgovernance.

Between 6.5 and 7%

M ajor Targets for 2016 and 2015 Achievem ents

(o m p i l e d b y Beijing Review d e s i g n e d b y P a m e l a T o b e y

GDP growth Registered urban

unemployment rate

New urban jobs

2016

2015 6.9%

Consumer price index growth As a percentage of GDP

10 m ln

13.12 m ln

2016

4

3

2

1

0

4.05%

4.5%

2016

2016 3%

1.4%

2.18 tln

yuan 1.62 tlnyuan

2016

2016

3%

2.3%

Energy intensity reduction

2016

At least3.4%

5.6%

Growth of the broad money supply M2)

About 13%

13.3%

Chemical oxygen demand

Emissions: Ammonia nitrogen

Sulfur dioxide

Nitrogen oxide

Chemical oxygen demand

Emissions: Ammonia nitrogen

Sulfur dioxide

Nitrogen oxide

Rural residents to be lifted out

of poverty

2 m ln

T o b e r e l o c a t e d f r o m

i n h o s p i t a b l e a r e a s

2016

Environmental improvement

14.42m ln

2%

2%

3%

3%

3.1%

3.6%

5.8%

10.9%

0 2 4 6 8 10

10 m ln

2016

2016





NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

D iplom atic S trategy

O urgoalis to help realize the Chinese dream

ofnationalrejuvenation and build a com m u-

nity of shared destiny for allm ankind. The

basic principle is to seek w in-w in coopera-

tion and,on that basis,build a new type of

internationalrelations. Th e m ain pathw ay

is to establish various types ofpartnerships

and choose partnership over alliance and

dialogue o ver con fron tation . The value w e

insiston is to adopt a balanced approach to

friendship and interests,upholding justice in

internationalaffairs and putting friendship

before interests in state-to-state relations.

orean P eninsu la N uclear Issue

China is a perm anent m em berof the U N

Security Council. W e have the obligation and

capability to im plem en t allthe resolutions

passed by the Security C ouncil,including

Resolution 2270 concerning the Dem ocratic

P eople’sRepublic ofKorea D P RK).

Iw ish to point out that Resolution 2270

-

ates support for the six-party talks [on the

Korean P eninsula nuclear issue participated

by the D P RK ,the Republic of Ko rea,China,

the U nited States,Russia and Japan]and asks

the parties to refrain from taking any actions

that m ightaggravate tensions. So in C hina’s

view ,the resolution m ust be im plem ented

in its entirety. Sanctions are justa necessary

m eans. M aintaining stability is the pressing

M O n C hina

And the W orldEditor’s N ote:O n the sidelines ofthe Fourth Session ofthe 12th N ationalP eople’s

Congress Foreign M inister W ang Yiw as invited to answ er questions on China’s

foreign policy on M arch 8 . The annualpress conference usually sets the tone for

China’s diplom acy for the year. W ang covered such hot-button topics as the South

China Sea disputes the Korean P eninsula nuclear issue and China’s relations w ith

m ajorcountries in the w orld. Edited excerptsfollow :

priority,and only negotiation can lead to a

fundam entalsolution.

Atthe m om ent,there issom e saber-rattling

happening on the Korean P eninsula,and the

situation ishighly charged. Asa neighborofthe

peninsula,China w illnotsitby and see a funda-m entaldisruption to stability in the region. And

w e w illnotsitby and see unw arranted dam age

to C hina’s security interests. W e strongly urge

the parties to actw ith reason and restraint,and

refrain from aggravating tensions.

To eventually resolve the issues on the

peninsula,w e have to adopta m ulti-pronged

approach and apply the right m edicine. To

have blind faith in sanctions and pressure

w ould,in effect,be irresponsible to the

future ofthe peninsula.

In term s of negotiation,China has put

forw ard a proposalto pursue,in paralleltracks,

the denuclearization ofthe peninsula and the

replacem entofthe arm istice agreem entw ith a

ofthe internationalcom m unity,w hile replac-

ing the arm istice is a legitim ate concern ofthe

DP RK. The tw o can be negotiated in parallel,

im plem ented in steps and resolved w ith refer-

ence to each other. In ourjudgm ent,this is an

equitable,reasonable and w orkable solution.

W e cherish ourtraditionalbonds w ith the

D P RK. Ifthe country seeks developm entand

security,w e are prepared to help and provide

support. But atthe sam e tim e,w e have an

unw avering com m itm ent to the den ucle-

arization of the peninsula an d w e w illn ot

accom m odate the D P RK’s pursuitofnuclea

and m issile program s.

S outh C hina S ea D isputes

China isthe largestcountrybordering the South

China Sea,so w e hope,m ore than any other

country,to uphold the freedom ofnavigation in

the South China Sea. Thanks to the concerted

efforts ofChina and other regionalcountries,i

is one ofthe freestand safestsea lanes in the

w orld. Iw antto rem ind som e people thatfree-

dom ofnavigation does notgive them a license

to do w hateverthey w ant. Ifsom eone wantstom uddy the w aters orto destabilize Asia,China

w illnotagree to itand the overw helm ing m ajor

ity ofcountries in the region w illnotallow itto

happen.

The N ansha Islands are China’s integralter

ritory. EveryChinese hasan obligation to defend

them . China hasnot m ade and w illnotm ake

any new territorialclaim s.

In building defense facilities on ourow n

islands and reefs,China is exercising its righ

to self-preservation under internationallaw

w eapons in the N ansha Islands,w e are not the

country thathas deployed the m ostw eaponsand w e are not the country thatconducts the

m ostfrequentm ilitary activities. China cannot

suited to som e othercountries.

In addition to building necessary defense

facilities on the N ansha Islands,m ore im portant

ly,China is building civilian facilities to provide

public goods to the internationalcom m unity

W hen the construction is com pleted and the

condition isripe,we w illconsiderinviting foreign

journaliststo visitthe islandsand reefs.

The factis,China has m ade various efforts

to prom ote peace and stability in the South

China Sea. W e have set up a China-ASEAN

Association of So utheast Asian N ation s

M aritim e Cooperation Fund,w hich has sup

ported over 40 cooperation projects. W e are

actively advancing the C O C code of conduct

consultation:The parties have reached tw o lists

of com m onalities and entered into the phase

of discussing crucialand com plex issues. W e

have initiated the form ulation ofpreventive

m easures form anaging m aritim e risks. And w e

have offered to setup the m aritim e em ergency

diplom atic hotline and the m aritim e jointsearch

and rescue hotline.

Th ese initiatives speak volum es about

our sincerity,but they’ve been obstructed




NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

by certain individualcountries. Yet C hina has

A S E A N countries to m aintain the overallpic-

ture ofpeace and developm entin the S outh

C hina S ea.

C hina w as the firstcoun try to discover,nam e, develop and adm inister the S ou th

C hina S ea islands. O ur ancestors lived and

w orked there for gen erations, so w e know

and love the place m ore than anyone else.

A nd m ore than anyone else, w e w ant to

uphold peace, stability and freedom ofnavi-

gation in the S outh C hina S ea.

C hina and the U nited S tates are tw o m ajor

countries and there are both cooperation

and friction betw een us. T his m ight be the

no rm alstate of affairs. T his m orning , I ’ve

justheard new s that the U nited S tates has

announced trade restriction s on a C hinese

com pany. W e don ’tthink it’s the right w ay

to hand le e cono m ic an d trade disputes.

T his approach w illonly hurt others w ithout

necessarily ben efiting oneself. I n the faceof problem s, our task is to resolve them . W e

w ant to expand and deepen coop eration

and, atthe sam e tim e, w ork hard to turn fric-

tion into cooperation.

In the past, the two countries had friction

in the area ofclim ate change. Yet lastyear,

w e w orked together to ensure the success

ofthe Paris C onference U N C lim ate C hange

C onference). In the recentperiod, cybersecurity

w asa pointoffriction. B utw e’ve setup a num -

ber ofdialogue and cooperation m echanism s.

M ore recently, there is grow ing friction con-

cerning m aritim e issues. B utI think it’s entirely

possible forusto considerconducting m aritim e

cooperation.

T he sou rce of these frictions is that

there are alw ays som e people in the U nited

S tates w ho have strategic suspicions about

C hina. T hey are w orried that C hina w illoneday supersede the U nited S tates. I w ant to

em phasize once again that C hina is not the

U nited S tates, and C hina w illnotand cannot

becom e another U nited S tates. W e have no

intention to displace anybody or dom inate

anybod y. M y advice to A m erican frien ds

P erhaps you m ay w antto spend m ore tim e

learning about C hina’s culturaltradition dis

tilled from its 5 ,0 0 0 -year history, and do n’t

alw aysjudge C hina w ith the A m erican m ind

set. G et this right, and you ’llsee the brigh t

prospects ofC hina-U .S . relations.

P resident Xi [Jinping] has pointed out

Foreign M inisterW ang Yiansw ers questions from

dom estic and foreign m edia on M arch





NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

tim e and again that w hen C hina and the

U nited S tates w ork together, w e can ac-

com plish great things that ben efit our tw o

countries and the w hole w orld. H aving gone

through a lot in our relationship, w e h ave

no w em barked on efforts to bu ild a n ew

m odelofm ajor-country relations featuring

and w in-w in cooperation.

C hina-R ussia relations are m ature and stable.

O ur com prehensive strategic partnership ofcoordination is builton a solid foundation of

m utualtrust and m utualsupport. In 2 0 1 5 ,

P residentXiand P residentV ladim irP utin m et

strong m om entum in C hina-R ussia relations.

W e are m aking active and orderly progress in

various big projects. C onstruction has started

on the eastern rou te of the C hina-R ussia

naturalgas pipeline. A nd our cooperation

on ind ustrialcap acity, equipm ent m anu -

facturing, agriculture, finance and so o n is

gathering pace.

T hisyearm arksthe 1 5 th anniversary ofthe

signing of the C hina-R ussia T reaty on G ood-

N eighborliness, Friendship and C ooperation. W e

w antto carry forw ard the vision ofever-lasting

frien dship set by the treaty, turn our strong

politicalrelationsinto m ore fruitsofpracticalco-

operation, and add new substance to the C hina-

R ussia com prehensive strategic partnership of

coordination.

China and the M iddle EastW hen it com es to M iddle E ast affairs, C hina

has neverbeen a m ere onlooker. W e have all

along supported A rab countries’ questforinde-

pendence and liberation, w e enjoy evercloser

econom ic and trade ties w ith the region, andw e are contributing actively to peace and stabil-

ity in the M iddle E ast. C hina does notseek any

w e look for any proxy… A llthe countries in the

M iddle E astw elcom e and look to C hina to play

a biggerrole.

If there is any change in C hina’s policy

tow ard the region, it is that in the context

of bu ilding the [C hina-prop osed]S ilk R oad

E conom ic B eltand 2 1 st-C entury M aritim e S ilk

R oad B eltand R oad), we wantto play a m ore

active role and deepen w in-w in cooperation

w ith countriesin the M iddle E ast. A nd on the ba-

sis ofnotinterfering in othercountries’ internal

affairs, w e w antto play a m ore active role in

seeking the politicalsettlem entofburning is-

suesin the region.

T hanks to the efforts ofw ise people on both

sides, there are signs of im provem entin the

relationship, but I don’t see any grounds for

optim ism . O n the one hand, the Japanese

G overnm entand leaders say nice things about

w anting to im prove relation s. O n the other

hand, theyare m aking trouble forC hina atevery

turn. T hisisa typicalcase ofdouble-dealing.O fcourse, w e w ant to see realim prove-

m en t in C hina-Japan relation s. B ut as a

saying goes, to cure a disease, you have to

address the underlying problem . A s far as

C hina-Japan relations are co ncerned , the

underlying problem is that som e politicians

in Japan have the w rong perception about

C hina. D o they view a grow ing C hina as a

friend ora foe, a partneroran adversary?T he

Japanese side needs to give serious thought

to this question and m ake the rightchoice.

China and EuropeC hina has alw ays regarded E urope as an im -portantpole in a m ulti-polarw orld, and E urope

has com e to view C hina’s developm ent and

rise in a m ore objective and sensible w ay. T here

w as a tim e w hen C hina-E urope relations w ere

besetby recurring frictions. Butafter the dust

settled dow n, E urope has found thatC hina and

E urope are notheaded forstrategic rivalry and

thatthere is no clash offundam entalinterests

betw een us. O n the contrary, w e have an in-

creasing need for cooperation and a grow ing

setof com m on interests. G oing forw ard, w e

w ant to m ake concrete efforts w ith E urope to

advance ourpartnerships for peace, grow th,

reform and civilization.

Working With ASEANW e w illw ork hard to build an evercloserC hina-

A S E A N com m unityofcom m on destiny. W e see

A S E A N asa preferred partnerin B eltand R oad

cooperation. W e w ant to ensure the success

of the C hina-L aos R ailw ay, the C hina-T hailand

R ailw ay and the Jakarta-B angdung H igh-S peed

R ailw ay thatC hina and Indonesia are building

together. T hese are im portantbuilding blocks

ofthe P an-A sian R ailw ay N etw ork. W hen they

are com pleted, the people ofC hina and A S E A N

A S E A N isourpreferred partnerin free-trade

cooperation. W e w antto ensure the successof

the upgraded version ofthe C hina-A S E A N Free

T rade A greem ent, so as to bring m ore ben-

efits to businesses and people on both sides

A nd w e w antto actively advance the R egiona

C om prehensive E conom ic P artnership negotia

tion and try to w rap itup before the end ofthe

year.

A S E A N is ourpreferred partner in regiona

cooperation. A tthe end ofthis m onth, P rem ier

L iKeqiang w illinvite the leaders ofallcountries

along the L ancang-M ekong R iver, nam ely V iet

N am , L aos, C am bodia, M yanm arand T hailand

to gatherin [south C hina’s]H ainan P rovince for

the firstL ancang-M ekong R iverC ooperation

L eaders’ M eeting. T he L ancang and M ekong

connectallsix countries. T o date, w e have pre-

pared 7 8 early harvestitem s. L ancang-M ekong

R ivercooperation is a usefulsupplem ent to

C hina-A S E A N cooperation. Itcan help boostthe

holistic and balanced developm entofA S E A N .

A S E A N is also our preferred p artner in

m aritim e cooperation. We w antto m ake good

use ofthe C hina-A S E A N M aritim e C ooperation

Fund, and step up cooperation on the ocean

R eporters have theireyes on Foreign

M inisterW ang Yiathis pressconference

on C hina’s foreign p olicy on M arch




C op yedited by M ara L ee D urrell

C om m ents to liuyunyun bjreview .com

NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

econom y, m arine environm entalprotection

and m aritim e security. In the m eantim e, w e

w antto explore the possibility ofestablishing

a S outh C hina S ea littoralstates cooperation

m echanism , and w ork togetherto m aintain and

build ourcom m on hom e, the S outh C hina S ea.

China and frica

A tthe end oflastyear, PresidentXiannounced

1 0 cooperation plans for C hina and A frica. T he

m ostsalientfeature ofthese plans is that w e

w antto transition from a trade pattern thathas

so farbeen dom inated by resource productstom ore investm entand industrialcooperation.

B y encouraging m ore C hinese businesses

to investin A frica, w e w antto help the continent

accelerate its industrialization and boostits ca

pacity fordevelopm ent. S o these plans couldn’thave com e ata bettertim e. T hey are designed

precisely to help A frica dealw ith the new chal

lenges from the globaleconom y. When C hina

m akes a prom ise, italw ays delivers. Justthree

m onths afterthe Johannesburg Sum m itofthe

Forum on C hina A frica C ooperation, w e have

gotten into touch w ith over2 0 A frican countries

to follow up on the outcom es ofthe sum m it. A

num berofearly harvestitem s w illm aterialize

soon, and the C hina A frica Fund for Industrial

C ooperation isalreadyup and running.

Belt and Road Initiative

forw ard m ore than tw o yearsago, notable prog

resshasbeen m ade.

First, m ore partnersare signing up. T o date,

m ore than 7 0 countries and internationalorga

nizations have expressed interest, and over30

countries have signed agreem ents w ith us to

jointly build the B eltand R oad.S econd, the finan cial arch itecture is

basically in place. T he C hina initiated A sian

Infrastructure Investm entB ank is up and run

the S ilk R oad Fund have been launched.

T hird, a connectivity netw ork is taking

shape. I m portant early harvests have been

and people to peop le exchange— m ost

notably, the bu ilding ofthe C hina P akistan

E conom ic C orridor and the C hina M ongolia

R ussia E conom ic C orridor. Freighttrain services

now link C hina directly to E urope. C onstruction

has begun on the B udapest B elgrade R ailw ay

and the Jakarta Bandung H igh S peed R ailw ay

Im portantsteps have been taken in the C hina

L aos R ailw ay and C hina T hailand R ailw ay, which

are both im portantpartsofthe P an A sia R ailw ay

N etw ork.

A nd fourth, w e are m aking all round prog

ress in industrialcapacity cooperation. W e have

institutionalized such cooperation w ith alm os

2 0 countriesand created a new m odelofcoop

eration w ith Kazakhstan. A large num berofkey

cooperation projects have been launched in

variouscountries.

T he B elt and R oad Initiative w as C hina’sidea, butits opportunities belong to the w orld

T his initiative echoes the generalcallofA sian

and E uropean countries fordevelopm ent and

cooperation. Itshow sthatC hina istransitioning

rapidly from a participantin the internationa

system to a providerofpublic goods. In build

ing the B eltand R oad, w e follow the principle o

w ide consultation, jointcontribution and shared

Overseas Interests

C hina w illnottake the old path ofexpansionism

follow ed by traditionalpow ers, and w e w illnot

engage in any form ofpow erpolitics. R ather, w ew antto pioneera uniquely C hinese w ay to pro

tect ouroverseas interests, one thatis in tune

w ith the trend ofthe tim es and w elcom ed by

the otherparties.

First, C hina is w illing to take on m ore inter

nationalsecurityresponsibilities. S ince 2 0 0 8, the

C hinese navyhasconducted escortm issionsof

the S om alicoast. S o far, w e have dispatched 2 2

ships passing through those waters. C hina isthe

biggestcontributorofpeacekeeping personne

S ecurity C ouncil. W e are also the second larges

contributorto the U N peacekeeping budget.S econd, responding to actualneeds and

the w ishes ofthe countries in question, w e are

trying to build som e necessary infrastructure

and logisticalcapacities in regions w ith a con

centration ofC hinese interests. This is notjus

reasonable and logical, butalso consistentw ith

internationalpractice.

A nd third, w e w ant to deepen m utually

ben eficialcooperation w ith other countries

including law enforcem entand security coop

eration.

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NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

T he utho ris professor

ofpolitics nd directorof

the Intern tion lG r du te

P rogr m in P olitics, E st

C hin N orm lU niversity

o othercountry in the w orld has m oreforeign neighbors on its bo rders orw ithin striking distance than C hina. Itis

a curious factand one thatpresents C hina w ith

both dangerand opportunities. W hy does such -lization ifnotstate— have so m any neighbors

on itsperiphery?

T here are m any possible answ ers, w ith

som e argu ing that C hina’s po litical ph i-

losophy over the lon g course ofhistory has

generally eschew ed conquestand dom inion

over others. T here are historicalexcep tions,

of course, long ago w hen som e of C hina’s

near ne igh bo rs in the east and southeast

w ere m ore or less un der C hinese con trol,

and there have been degrees of association

un der varying tribu te-state form s. B ut the

argum ent that C hina, du ring both m odern

and pre-m odern tim es, has avoided the sort

of im perialism and hegem ony com m on to

W estern pow ers cann ot be easily dism issed.

T his facthas been cited in one form or

itw as, in effect, repeated them atically during

Foreign M inister W ang Yi’s press conference

held in B eijing on M arch 8 during the tw o m ost

im po rtant annualpoliticalsessions in C hina,

know n as “the tw o sessions.”T here W ang again

clarified C hina’s foreign policy in response to

questions aboutissues related to its activities in

the S outh C hina S ea, the B eltand R oad Initiative

the S ilk Road E conom ic Beltand the 2 1 st-C en-

tury M aritim e S ilk R oad), the A sian InfrastructureIn vestm ent B ank, and investm ent in A frica,am ong others.

M illennium s of m em ory

C ounterargum ents stipulate that a m odernC hina is notnecessarily consigned to traditionalpractices and indeed, m uch of m odern C hina

can be view ed as a negation of tradition alC hinese values. Why then, should one putm uch

stock in traditionalC hinese values as a guaran-toragainstthe possibility ofan aggressive andpotentially hegem onic “rising C hina,”w hen the

contem porary C hinese state is substantially the

resultofideasand practices thatrun contrary totraditions?

O ne po ssible an sw er can b e o fferedas follow s. T o b eg in, there are those w ho

believe that ideas that in turn de velop astheo ries or stipu lated values, o r eve n, as

fundam en talprinciples, are m ore likely toem erge initially as descriptions ofhistorical

or on go ing practices than the othe r w ayaround. I n fact, m any believe this to be true,including a great nu m ber of senior scholars,

policym ake rs and leaders in B eijing tod ay:realpolitics, the realpoliticaleco nom y, and

so o n, com e first— theo ry com es second.

It often lead s to the tragic consequ en cesw hen idealism outpaces reality, w hen theory

takes com m and in a way thatneglects actualm aterialconditions and situations.

S uch a lesson is notunique to C hina andfurther, W ang alluded to such in his tacitcriti-cism of foreign pow ers that have engaged in

and perhaps even continue to engage in hege-m onic activities w hile stoking fears that C hina

m ay seek to do the sam e in the future. T heirony, ofcourse, is that som e ofthese pow ersfailto practice w hat they preach, and further,

have failed to learn theirow n lessonsdespite ex-periencing disastrous adventurism and a great

num berofforeign policy blunders.

H istorically, C hina haslearned and relearneda greatnum berofthings, buttw o ofthe great

estperhaps include the know ledge of how to

build and run a large state and in turn, the lim its

ofthatstate.

In ancienttim es, the Q in D ynasty 2 2 1 -2 0 6

B .C .)innovated an early form of the C hinese

state and the H an D ynasty 2 0 6 B .C .-A .D . 2 2 0

developed it further, produ cing an achieve

m entthatw asso rem arkable, so capaciousand

ahead ofits tim e, thatitw as cherished, institu

tionalized and protected to such an extentthat

itsurvived form illennia in variousguises.

O ne w ay itw as protected stem m ed from

the recognition thatthis state and its institutions, how ever rem arkable, w ere nevertheless

faced w ith lim its in m aterialterm s— thatsuch

a state at such a tim e, w ith such technology

ability to grow and extend itspoliticalcontrol. T o

extend beyond its capacity w ould threaten the

rem arkable achievem entatthe centerofitall. It

is reasonable to suggestthatvarious traditiona

C hinese politicalphilosophies that em erged

subsequently did so as theories buttressing this

basic politicalinsight.

Itisalso reasonable to suggestthata sim ilar

lesson h as been reaffirm ed am on g C hinese

leadersin m odern tim es, and likely m ore strong-

ly so than in the past. O n the on e hand, the

“century ofhum iliation” taughtC hina terrible

lessonsthathave notbeen lostduring rejuvena

tion. T hese lessons include the understanding

that there is no “m anifestdestiny” or “son o

heaven” m etaphysics that can guarantee the

survivalofthe state oreven the civilization.

O n the otherhand, given the factthata sin

gle party leads the state, there is an im m ediate

Forem ostam ong them , that overstepping

oneselfcreates opportunities forcatastrophic

failure. Instead, on e m ust“cross the river by

feeling the stones,”asD eng Xiaoping 1 9 0 4-9 7 )

HISTORY NDRE LITY

Foreign M inister offers a w ay to u nderstand Ch ina’s foreign policy aim s

y Josef Gregory M ah on ey





C om m ents to liuyunyun bjreview .com

NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

a renow ned C hinese statesm an, reiterated, not

only to solve problem s, butalso to effectively

recognize the lim its of a stable butadvancing

state. S uch a lesson carries an im portantcorol

lary, nam ely, thatw hile m ulti party states have

a num berofpositive qualities, one oftheirkey

w eaknesses is a tendency fortheirpoliticalpar

ties to avoid taking effective responsibility for

In B eijing, o ne can easily find pride in

bris am ong key leaders. T he lessons ofhistory,

both recent and ancient, are too fresh, and the

ongoing challenges and risksare alltoo clear.

O ne lesson w e learn from philosophy in

generalis that it is som etim es easier to talk

aboutideasin relatively abstractterm sthan itisto talk aboutpolitics in realterm s. N evertheless,

w hen neitherphilosophicalnorpoliticallessons

m utually resonate, for exam ple, w hen certain

lessons have notyetbeen learned orappreci

ated by one orthe other.

W indow to his thinkingD espite his diplom atic language, a careful

review ofW ang’s rem arks to the pressreveals

an underlying frustration, the sortprovoked

w hen m utualunderstanding sim ultaneously

appears to be so reasonable and possible and

yetincredibly distant. T his frustration appeared

to surface in both his criticalcom m ents as w ell

as in those points that he took great pains to

em phasize. H e repeated again and again that

C hina w as looking for w in w in scenarios and

w asdeterm ined to avoid zero sum gam es.

T hatsaid, asW ang him selfessentiallyadm it

ted, itiscertainly the case thatC hina isinvolving

itselfactively in internationalaffairslike never

cialeconom ic opportunities and substantial

contributionsto globalpeacekeeping efforts.

A t the sam e tim e, the foreign m inister

pointed to a num ber ofissues thatare com pli

cating C hinese efforts. Perhaps m ostdirectly,

W ang singled out Japan w ith surprising can

dor, starkly asserting, “O n the one hand, the

Japanese G overnm ent and leaders say nice

things about w anting to im prove relations.

O n the otherhand, they are m aking trouble

for C hina atevery turn. T his is a typicalcase of

double dealing.”

E lsew here, W ang did nothesitate to lec

ture A m ericans w ho harbor negative view s of

C hina’s rise, stating that, “I w antto em phasize

once again thatC hina is notthe U nited S tates,

and C hina willnotand cannotbecom e another

U nited S tates. W e have no intention to displace

anybody ordom inate anybody. M y advice to

A m erican friends: P erhaps you m ay want to

spend m ore tim e learning aboutC hina’s cultura

tradition distilled from its5 ,0 0 0 yearhistory, and

don’t alw ays judge C hina w ith the A m ericanm indset.”

A s expected, W ang also discussed C hina’s

recent support for new sanctions on N orth

Korea’s continuing efforts to develop nuclear

w eaponsand theirpossible deliverysystem s. O n

one hand, W ang em phasized C hina’s suppor

forthe sanctions as a continuing com m itm ent

to denuclearizing the Korean P eninsula. O n the

otherhand, W ang highlighted the longstanding

close relationship betw een C hina and N orth

Korea, and argued that negotiating a peace

treatyto replace the arm istice should go hand

in hand w ith negotiations aim ed athalting and

dism antling theirnuclearw eapons program sC onsequently, W ang’stone on N orth Korea was

som ew hatm ore conciliatory than com m ents

m ade by other leading figu res in B eijing in

recentdays.

Further, w hile som e view the sanctions

as having a punitive aspect, Wang suggested

instead that theirfundam entalpurpose w as to

provide a positive incentive forN orth Korea to

return to talks aim ed at resolving differences

peacefully.

for inform ation from localvillagers w hengo ing on patrolin G reenville, L iberia,on N ovem ber , 2 01 5

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NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

‘H ard landing’ im possible It is unden iable that the Chinese econom y

has inner resilience and a strong ability to

resistrisks.

W ith a solid fou nd ation ,an enorm ou s

m arket,vast roo m for region ald evelop -m en t, im prove d qu ality of prod uc tion

factors,and rich experien ces in m acro-

control, C hina is m ore than capable of

keeping econom ic grow th at rates w ithin a

reasonable range.

It’s ab solu tely im po ssible that th e

Chinese econom y w illgo throu gh a sharp

slow dow n— otherw ise know n as a “hard

landing.” Th e so-called pred ictions w hich

have called for C hina’s hard lan ding w ill

-

sibility ofincu rring itdoes notexist.

In addition,rep orts that “the C hinese

eco no m y is dragging do w n the glob al

eco no m y” are illusory,too . China’s eco -

nom ic grow th stillranks am on g the top

of the w orld’s m ajor econ om ies. Last

year,its GD P grew at 6. 9 percent,w hich

w as a hard-w on result am idst a w orldw ide

econ om ic do w nturn. D espite a decrease

in im po rt value caused by a price slum p

in com m od ities,C hina’s im po rt volum e

keep s on rising — form ing an im po rtant

co ntribu tion to the w orld eco no m y.

A nother significan t addition is its grow -

ing o utbo un d direct investm en t,w hich

totaled 118 billion lastyear,up 14 .7 per-

cent yearon year.

C hina is still a m ajor en gine for the

w orld’s econo m ic grow th. According to the

InternationalM onetary Fund (IM F),it m ade

up 1 5 percent of the globale cono m y in

20 15. Its rate o f co ntribution to globa

econo m ic grow th m ay have also exceeded

25 percent. China’s addition to the globa

econo m y is obvious.

Furtherm ore,there w ere rum ors that

China’s stock and foreign exchange m arkets

turbulen ce in January con tributed to the

chaos seen in the A m erican and European

m arkets.

A ctually, C h in a’s in flu en ce o n th e

global financialm arkets’recen t turm oi

has been o ver-hyped. China is unable to

produce such a pow erfulspillover effect

From February 8 throu gh 12 ,b ig d rop s

w ere w itn essed in the A m erican an d

Eu rop ean stock m arkets,as w ellas in bu lk

com m od ities such as crud e oil. B ut a

that tim e, China’s financialm arkets w ere

closed during the C hinese Lunar N ew Year

holiday.

D ebt risks controllable

China’s fiscalrevenue is in a severe situa-

tion— it needs to expand the fiscaldeficit

It has som e room to do so,bu t canno t

expand too m uch. Fiscalrevenue accounts

for around 3 0 percentofChina’s GDP ,low e

than thatofother countries and m uch low er

than that of developed econom ies. It could

therefore m oderately increase its fiscal

China’s go vernm en t-de bt-to-G D P ra

tio— arou nd 40 percent— is also low er

than other countries. It stillhas roo m to

increase. W hat’s m ore im portantis to m ake

good use of the room ,to support the sup-

ply-side structuralreform and inject vitality

into the econom y.

To control the risks of localgo vern

m ent debt,the M inistry of Finance (M O F

ties to strengthen m anagem ent. A tota

M E S S A G E S O C O N ID EEditor’s N ote:Fears and rum ors that China’s slow ing grow th w ould drag

dow n the globalecono m y have surfaced since last year. Right before the

opening ofthis year’s fullsessions of China’s nationallegislature and top

political advisory b ody,M oody’s Investors Service dow ngraded its out-look for China’s governm en t credit ratings from “stable” to “negative” on

M arch 2,citing reasons including rising governm ent debt and a continu-

ing fallin reserves.

-

ing to reassure the w orld by saying thatChina w ould continue to contribute

to globalgrow th. Edited excerpts oftheircom m ents follow :

predictions w hich have

called for C hina’ s hard

landing w illdefinitely

com e to nothing.”

— Xu Shaoshi,M inisterofthe N ational

Developm entand Reform Com m ission




C op yedited by B ryan M ichaelG alvan

C om m ents to yushujun bjreview .com

NPC CPPCC CLOSE-UP

of 5 trillion yuan ( 7 6 7 billion) of local

governm ent debt is due to com e this

year. M O F w illcontinue allow ing localgo v-

ernm en ts to issue ne w bo nd s to replace

tho se com ing d ue. B ut as for continge nt

debt, localgo vernm ents w ou ld pay m ore

am id an econo m ic grow th slow dow n.

M O F shou ld co ntrolthe ratio o f contin-

gen t deb t paid by localgo vernm ents.

M O F sho uld also p revent all kind s

of disgu ised b ond issuan ce. It’s closely

w atching public-private p artnership (P P P )

E

projects, b ecause it has fou nd that som e

localg overnm ents are borrow ing m on ey

throu gh P P P projects. A s lon g as the lo-

calg overnm en t debt risks are con trolled,

they w illbring n o b ig h arm to the overall

econom y.

Am ple foreign reserves

C hina’s foreign exchan ge reserves, cu r-

rently totaling 3.2 trillion, are still the

large st in the w orld, m ore than do ub ling

that of Japan, the second largest. T he fast

accu m ulation offoreign exchange reserves

happened in the past decade. T he am oun t

ofreserves soared from a m ere 30 0 billion

in 2 0 0 2 to a peak of 3.9 9 trillion in June

2 0 1 4. A s C hina’s econ om ic grow th shifts

ge ars, the decline in foreign exch an gereserves is som ething that the C hinese

G overnm enth as anticipated.

C hina saw its foreign exchange reserves

drop by about 5 0 0 billion in 2 0 1 5 . T he

reserves m ainly flow ed into the p urses of

C hinese citizens and com panies.

L ast year, dep osits of U .S . do llars

w ithin C hina increased by ten s of billions,

follow ing an increase of 1 0 0 billion in

2 0 1 4. B anks increased the ir stacks of

green backs by arou nd 1 0 0 billion , and

corpo rate deb t den om inated in U .S . dol-

lars dropp ed by around 1 0 0 billion.

M ean w hile, corpo rate and individu al

o utbou n d p aym en ts in foreign cu rren -

cies, w hich include d tou rism , education

and con sum ption expen ditures, sur-

passed inb ou nd paym en ts by 2 40 billion

last year.

T he app reciation of the U .S . do llar

against othe r curren cies last year w as

also a reason for the de crease in foreign

reserves, because n on-dollar reserves lose

value w hen being converted to d ollars.

A dm itted ly, there are capitaloutflow s

m ixed w ith the above m ention ed redu c-

tion s. H ow eve r, the m ajority of foreign

exch ange reserve losses can be explained

by the gains m ade by C hina’s citizens andcom panies.

In add ition, C hina follow s the standardsset by the I M F w hen calculating foreign re-serves, and assets thatlack liquidity w ere notincluded.

“As lon g as the local

governm ent debt

risks are controlled

they w illbring no big

harm to the overall

econom y.”

— L ou Jiw ei, M inisterofFinance

“ As China ’s econo m ic

grow th sh ifts gears

the decline in foreign

exchange reserves is

som ething that the

Ch inese Governm ent

has an ticipated. ”— YiG ang, V ice G overnorothe P eople’sB ank ofC hina









W O R L D

T he authorisan op-edcontributorto eijing

Review and a researcheratthe P angoalInstitution

U -cantstep tow ard reconciliation thisspringw hen U .S . P resident B arack O bam a visits

to visitthe island nation since C alvin C oolidgedid so in 1 9 2 8.

T he two sides restored diplom atic ties just

lastsum m erafter5 4 yearsw ithoutform alcom -m unication. P resident O bam a announced theM arch 2 1 -2 2 visit, tw eeting on February 1 7 ,“I’lltravelto C uba to advance ourprogress andefforts that can im prove the lives ofthe C ubanpeople.”

T he U nited S tates and C uba severed rela-tionsin the 1 9 6 0 sduring the C old W arfollow ing w as a m ilitary invasion called the B ay ofP igsin 1 9 6 1 , w hen a group ofC ubans funded andtrained by the A m erican C entralIntelligenceA gency tried to overthrow C uban P rim e M inisterFidelC astro’s governm ent, but w ere em bar-rassingly unsuccessful. T he second and better-know n incident is the C uban M issile C risis of1 9 6 2 , in w hich nuclearw arw asbarely avoided.

T rad e restrictio ns be tw ee n the tw ocountries had begun in 1 9 5 9 after C astro’scom m unistparty cam e to pow erand took overprivate businesses. S tricttrade em bargoes w ereputinto place follow ing the C uban M issile C risis,w hen allU .S . trade w ith C uba w asbanned, w iththe exception ofnon-subsidized food and m edi-cine. A m ericans w ere also no longerallow ed totravelto the nation, and alltw o-w ay com m ercial

S till, o ver the last 5 0 years, hu ndreds of

seeking asylum . In 1 9 9 4, P residentB illC linton’sadm inistration enacted the “W et-Foot, D ry-Foot”policy to dealwith the increasing num berof C ubans seeking refuge. If a C uban w ascaught in the w ater betw een the countries—w ith “w et feet”— they w ou ld be repatriatedhom e orsentto a third country. B utifthey w ereon A m erican soil— w ith “dry feet”— they w ouldbe allow ed to stay in the U nited S tates.

Ending the im passeD espite the decades-long U .S . em bargo andthe m ass exodu s, the com m un ist govern-m ent never fell, than ks in large part to thehelp and support of the S oviet U nion (un tilits co llapse) an d other co untries in A sia,A frica and L atin A m erica. T he decades-lon gem bargo and sanction s had largely invokedcriticism from both left and centralpoliticalparties particularly in L atin A m erica, w hichalso im pacted relations betw een the regionand the U nited S tates.

P resident O bam a em phasizes the useof“sm art pow er” and “soft diplom acy” w henprom oting A m erican interests abroad. A tthebeginning ofhis tenure, he adm itted A m erica’slong-term em bargo policy on C uba had failed,and prom ised to restore relation s w ith C uba.M oreover, C uban-A m ericans— w ho had votedforO bam a in 2 0 0 8 and again in 2 0 1 2 in higher

m argins than recentD em ocratic presidentiacand idates— had lon g been un able to visifam ilies in theirnative country because ofthetravelrestrictions.

A fter m ore than a yearofsecret negotiations, U .S . PresidentO bam a and FidelC astro’sbrother and C uba’s current P resident, R auC astro, announced on D ecem ber1 7 , 2 0 1 4, thadiplom atic relations betw een the U nited S tatesand the R epublic ofC uba w ould be restored.

D u rin g th e P a n am a S u m m it o f th eA m ericas in A pril2 0 1 5 , O bam a and R auC astro m et in person . T he A m ericans re-m oved C uba from its list of S tate S ponsorsof T errorism a m on th later. In July that sam eyear, the tw o countries reestablished form adiplom atic relations and the U .S . em bassy

reopened in H avana.O bam a and R aulC astro m et again on

the sidelines of the U N G eneralA ssem bly inS eptem ber2 0 1 5 . T hen on February 1 3 thisyear, C uba returned an inert training H ellfirem issile to the U nited S tates, w hich w as inad-vertently shipped there from E urope in June o2 0 1 4. Fourdays later, they inked an agreem ent nations.

T he U .S .-C ub a econom ic relation ship isalso thaw ing. A ccording to U .S . D epartm entof C om m erce statistics, the U nited S tates ap-proved 49 0 trade projects in 2 0 1 5 w ith C ubaw orth 4.3 billion, and bilateraltrade increased30 percent over 2 0 1 4. E arlier this year, theO bam a adm inistration gave its approvalfor the

Shift stillin progress his policy shifttow ard C uba. In his m eeting w ithR aulC astro, they are expected to exchangeideason trade and im m igration issues. O bam a isalso expected to press the C uban G overnm entforadditionalpoliticalreform s to liberalize itsgovernm entand seek econom ic privatizationalong w ith broadening access to the Internet

ResetPresident Obam a’s trip to Cuba w illsealdiplom atic legacy By An Gang

The question is then

w hether Obam a’s

new policies tow ard

Cuba w illrem ain in

effect after a new

president takes office

in January 2017




C opyedited by Jordyn D ahl M ara L ee D urrell

C om m ents to liuyunyun @ bjreview .com

W O R L D

H e w illalso m eetw ith politicaldissidentsduringhisvisit.

W hile relations are im proving, itshould be

noted thatthe tw o countries stillhave stark dif-

ferences regarding hum an rights and ideology

thatw illnot be easily erased by the norm aliza-

tion ofrelations.

O bam a’s foreign policies have also high-

lighted a riftam ong C uban-A m ericans. C lose

to 7 0 percent of young C uban A m ericans

surveyed in a 2 0 1 4 Florida I nternational

U niversity pollfavored reopening diplom atic

relations, w hile a sim ilar survey show ed that

those w ho leftC uba m uch earliersupported

the em bargo.

Yet O bam a is eager to disting uish hisfinal legacy as his term com es to an end.

projects: the “pivotto A sia” strategy and the

signing o fthe I ran nuclear dealfram ew ork

and the beginning ofthe reconciliation pro-

globalw arm ing.

R econciliation w ith C uba is also a n ec-

essary step if O bam a w ants to reestablish

A m erica’s influence in L atin A m erica. D uring

his presidency, O bam a o fficially renoun cedthe M onroe D octrine and initiated furtherrela-

tions w ith L atin A m erica through projects like

poverty alleviation, econom ic developm ent,

environm entalprotection and drug-control,

w ith positive results. In m any w ays, the thaw -

ing ofthe U .S .-C uba relationship isoccurring in

conjunction w ith the w arm ing ofU .S . relations

w ith otherL atin A m erican countries.

T he question isthen w hetherO bam a’snew

policies tow ard C uba w illrem ain in effectafter

a new presidenttakes office in January 2 0 1 7 .

C urrently, tw o C uban A m erican U .S . S enators

are com peting forthe R epublican presidential

nom ination, and Floridian M arco R ubio and

T exan T ed C ruz both disagree w ith O bam a’snew policytow ard C uba.

E arlierthis year, R aulC astro said the U nited

S tates needs to com pletely end the econom ic

em bargo againstC uba, return G uantanam o

B ay, respectits politicalsystem and stop inter-

fering in C uban internalaffairs. H e reiterated

that, “C uba w illneveracceptany conditionsthat

underm ine C uba’ssovereignty.”

For the U nited S tates, it is not easy to

persuade conservatives in C ongress to lift

trade and financialsanctions against C uba or

allow investm ents in the com m unistcountry.

D uring the second U .S .-C uba strategic dia-

logue in W ashington in January, C uban M inisterof Foreign T rade and In vestm ent R odrigo

M alm ierca D íaz repeated that A m erican block-ades in C uba are the m ain obstacle to the tw o

countries’ trade norm alization.

C hina has been paying close attention

to b oth U .S .-C uba and U .S .-L atin A m erica

relation s, not on ly out of con cern for the

developm ent of C uba, a fellow com m unist

cou ntry, but also because of the po ssible

influence o n C hina resulting from changes

in politicalstrategies and econom ic policies

C hina is now C uba’s second largesttrading

partner, w ith bilateraltrade volum e reaching

1 .8 billion in 2 0 1 4.

C hina w elcom es the im proved relationship betw een the U nited S tates and C uba and

values the expanded opportunities in tourism

infrastructure and agriculture broughtaboutby

the thaw .

In the long run, both C hina and the U nited

S tates attach greatim portance to theirrelations

w ith L atin A m erican countries, and O bam a’s

engagem ent w ith C uba m ay further increase

econom ic and coordination opportunities.

P eople w itness the raising ofthe

W ashington, D .C . on July 2 0 , 2 0 1 5 ,

the ties w ere severed 5 years ago



32B E I J I N G R E V I E W


N T I O N

Cities in China are bursting atthe seam s

and scraping further into the sky as

the coun try pushes forw ard urbaniza-

tion policies. Conseq uently,this has also

exacerbated urban m aladies such as pollu-

services.O n February 21 ,the CentralCom m ittee

of the Co m m unist P arty of Ch ina and the

State Councilreleased a guideline for urban

planning,developm ent and m anagem ent.

The docum entis an outcom e ofthe Central

U rban W ork Conference held in Beijing last

Decem ber.

Th is con feren ce is the seco nd u rban

conference hosted by the centralleadership

in 3 7 years,which suggests that the govern-

m ent has attached new found significance

to these issues.

W hen introd ucing the gu ideline,Chen

Zhenggao,M inister of H ousing and U rban-

RuralDevelopm ent,said that the docum ent

sets the overallgoalfor China’s future urban

planning,developm ent and m anagem ent.

Thattargetis to realize an orderly urban con-

operation,and strive to bu ild harm onious,

livable,vibrant and unique m odern cities,in

orderto im prove people’s lives.

In the pastfive years,10 0 m illion people

have sw arm ed from ruralareas to cities. N ow ,

56.1 percentof the country’s totalpopulation

is located in urban areas,according to data

from the N ationalDevelopm ent and R eform

Com m ission NDRC).

B lueprint for

U rb niz tionN ew gu ideline for pl nning, develop m en t nd

m n gem ent sets over llgo lB y W ng H irong

C urren tly, C hin a has 6 53 cities, o f

w hich,m ore than 14 0 have a po pulation

exceed ing 1 m illion,said H u Zucai,Vice

M inisterofthe N D RC ,ata pressconference

dated Janu ary 29.

T rgets nd tim et blesThe plan spells outseven m ain tasksincluding

-

proving public services,enhancing the quality

-

vating urban governance.

A highlightofthe docum entisthatitspeci-

fies that urban architecture should follow the

principle ofbeing “practical,econom ic,green

and beautiful.”

According to the schem e,cities’land-

regional,ethnic and contem porary features

w hile historicaland culturalcharacteristics

should also be preserved. Buildings should

m eet design requ irem ents in term s of

shape,color,scale an d h eigh t,the docu-

m entadds.

The guideline also encourages dom estic

and foreign architecture design firm s to com -

pete w ith each other to produce outstanding

w orksand prom ote design exchanges.

W hile requiring buildings to be beautiful

and in harm ony w ith the environ m ent,the

docum en t clarifies that the single-handed

pu rsuit of a bu ilding’s appearance should

be avoided. Buildings should be functionally

practicaland en vironm en tally frien dly,and

should be designed w ith the conservation o

energy,w ater,land and m aterials in m ind.

Yang Baojun,Vice P resident ofthe China

Academ y ofU rban P lanning and Design,said

thatin the future,C hina w illgive m ore atten

tion to the quality ofurban developm entandsw itch from exten sive to intensive develop

m ent.

The guideline has specified targets to

m ake its cities greener and m ore livable,as

w ellas tim etables for reaching som e ofthe

go als outlined.

Ecologicalrestoration should also be car

ried out so that dam aged m ountains,rivers

w etlands an d vegetation can be repaired

abandoned m ines are reclaim ed, and soi

po llution tackled,the do cum en t states. I

also encourages afforestation,including the

greening of three-dim en sionalstructures

such as roofs and w alls.

Airand w ater pollution controlm easures

have been specified as w ell. A ccording to the

guideline,by 20 20 ,allw aste w ater should be

treated. Also,cities suffering from w atershort

ages should treatand recycle m ore than 20

percentoftheirw aste-w ater.

The docum ent requ ires garbage to be

also stipulates that by 20 20 ,garbage recy-

cling rates should be raised to m ore than

to collect,recycle and reuse kitchen and

construction w aste m aterials should be set

up,too.

A garden in a residen tialarea

in Xiam en Fujian P rovince is

designed to collectas m uch rain

w ateras possible



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N T I O N


C om m ents to w anghairong bjreview .com

T he guideline also sets goals to expand

the public transportation system . B y 2 0 2 0 ,

public transportation w illprovide m ore than

40 percent of C hina’s m egacities’ transpor

tation capacity, m ore than 30 percen t in

large cities, and over2 0 percentin sm alland

m edium sized cities.T he year2 0 2 0 w illalso be the deadline for

the dism antling ofunauthorized structures,

designating historicaland culturalneighbor

hoods, and the com pletion ofthe renovation of

existing rundow n urban areas and dilapidated

housing.

B y that year, 2 0 percent ofcities in C hina

should have drainage system sthatare resistant

to w ater logging and flooding. B y 2 0 30 , the

80 percent.

Com m unity layoutA nother highlightof the plan is the hotly de

bated policy on opening up enclosed residential

com pounds.

T he docum ent con tains an article stat

ing that in principle, no en closed residential

com pounds w illbe built in the future, w hile

those already built w illgradually be opened.

T his is so that internalroads can be m ore

easily accessed by the public, problem s in

the layoutofthe transportation netw ork can

O n February 2 2 , on e day after the

guideline w as issued, W ang P eng, a resident

in B eijing’s H aidian D istrict, w as alerted by

a con stant be ep ing from his cellph one,

m essages.

W ang checked his cellphone and noticed

a heated discussion w as going on , abou t

w hether or no t the w alls surrou nding resi

dentialcom pounds should be torn dow n.H e found that opinions on this issue

w ere w idely divided . O ne ne igh bo r, w ho

w as irritated by som eo ne dam aging the

gate to his bu ilding during the C hinese

N ew Yearholiday, said that ifthe residential

com pound’s w allw ere to be dism antled, he

w ou ld feeleven less secure. N onetheless,

another neighbo r hoped that the com

poun d lying b etw een h er hom e and the

subw ay station could be m ade op en b e

cause cutting through the co m pound could

save heratleast2 0 m inutes ofcom m uting

tim e every day.

Yan g said that en closed residen tialcom pounds m ake cities less charm ing and

less vibrant, and that this situation should

be changed accordingly. W hile clusters of

buildings are segregated by w alls, enclosed

spaces and am en ities canno t be shared

w ith other m em bers of the pub lic. Yang

said that m odern cities should be open in

thatrespect.

In the pastdecades, m ore and m ore en

closed residentialcom pounds have been built

by property developers, so although urban

broader, sm aller “capillaries” have rem ained

clogged, he said.

T he new ly released blueprint states that

urban road netw orks should have a sound

balance of expressw ays in addition to pri

m ary and secondary roads, while dead end

roads should be reduced.

fic n etw orks. A cco rding to the gu ideline

by 2 0 2 0 , the average urban road density

should be increased to 8 km persquare km

and the roads should accountfor1 5 percent

ofthe totalarea. Yang said that currently in

m ostcities, roads take up 1 2 percent ofthe

totalarea.

N onetheless, after the docum ent w as

pu blished, m any people voiced their con

cerns over the op en ing up of en closed

residentialcom pounds, m ainly outofw orries

aboutthe threatto property safety and road

safety ifthe w alls w ere gone.

R espo nd ing to pu blic co nce rn, the

M inistry of H ou sing and U rban R uraD evelopm ent qu ickly released rem arks to

explain. T he m inistry stated that the new

policy is not a one size fits allrequirem ent

and that it w illb e im plem en ted step by

step according to the actualconditions o

residentialareas. T hey also stressed that

residents’ opinions w ould be taken into con

sideration and thattheirlegitim ate rights and

interests w ould be protected.

A resident ofC h ngchu n, c pit lofJilinP rovince, w tchesT V thisn ew hom eon N ovem ber1 , 20 1 5 . H isold hom e in

sh nty tow n w s torn dow n nd he w sgiven new hom e by the governm ent

I N

H

U

A

I N

H

U

A





Neverbefore has any othercountry in the

w orld experienced such a large-scale and

rapid urbanization drive as the one that

is ongoing in China. Fueled by rapid econom ic

grow th,the country’s urbanization rate soared

from under20 percentm ore than a decade ago

to 52.6 percentin 20 12— and to 56.1 percent

atthe end of20 15— w hich translates into an

annualgrow th rate ofm ore than 1.3 percent.

The traditionally agriculturalcountry has since

taken on a new look.

Yet “aggressive” urbanization has also

created m any problem s,such as a lack of

variation in cities’look an d feel,environ-

m entaldegradation,and insufficient public

services.

In M arch 20 14,the Chinese Governm ent

released a N ation alN ew -Type U rbanizationP lan 20 14 -20 ),a blue print to gu ide the

country’s urbanization process. The plan

has setthe goalto pursue people-oriented,

en vironm entally frien dly an d sustainable

urbanization.

Th e n ew -type urban ization has been

piloted in a batch ofChinese cities. By the

end ofD ecem ber2 0 15,a second batch of

cities had started to pilot the program ,w ith

m uch m ore progress on the horizon.

P roblem s encou ntered

China’s urbanization progressed m uch faster

than thatofdeveloped countries. Yetextensive

urbanization hasbroughta raftofissues to con-

tend w ith.

At the early stage,the coun try’s urban-

ization process w as virtually a city-m aking

cam paign. D uring m ass dem olishm ent and

construction forcom m ercialpurposes,m any

old streets rich in history,culture and ethniccharacteristics w ere torn dow n,replaced by

paved roads,law ns,plazas and skyscrapers.

These hastily built cities,regardless of

theirsize as w ellas geographicaland cultural

features, sought to look “international.”

M any cities flocked to construct landm ark

buildings,and som e even co pied fam ou s

on es such as the Tiananm en Ro strum in

Beijing,Arch of Trium ph in P aris,and the

W hite H ouse in W ashington,D.C.

As a result,m any Chinese cities looked

neither unique nor beautiful. M oreover,the

large num ber of high energy-consum ing

buildings led to a serious w aste ofresources

and a rise in pollution levels.

D uring the G D P -orien ted urbanization

process,not enough attention w as paid to

the construction of such facilities as h os

pitals,schools,parks,garbage dum ps and

underground pipelines. A s a consequence

som e cities w ere “m odern” but un inh abit

able. M any m egacities suffer from heavy w ater and electricity,as w ellas education a

and m edicalresources. M eanw hile,m any

sm all- and m edium -cities are plagued w ith

C ities E nterN ew S t ge B y P eng S huyi

P eo ple-cen tered urban ization w ill be

advanced. This m eans granting urban resi-

dency to arou nd 10 0 m illion peop le w ith

ruralhousehold registration living in urban

areas and otherperm anenturban residents,

com pleting the rebuilding ofboth rundow n

areas and “villages” in cities involving about

10 0 m illion people,an d enabling arou nd

10 0 m illion ruralresidents to live in local

tow ns and cities in the centraland w estern

regions.

By 20 20 ,perm anent urban residents

should account for 60 percent of Ch ina’s

population,and 45 percentofChinese people

should be registered asperm anenturban resi-

dents.

Three m ajor steps w illbe taken regarding

urbanization:

— M ove fasterto see thaturban residency

isgranted to m ore people w ith ruralhousehold

registration living in urban areas.

P erm anenturban residentsw ithouturban

residency should be issued residence cards,

thus enabling them to enjoy,as provided for

by law ,the rightto accesseducation,em ploy-

m ent,m edicalcare,and other basic public

services.

The developm ent of sm alltow ns and

sm alland m edium -sized cities in the central

and w estern regions w illbe prom oted to help

or start businesses in urban areas closer to

hom e so thatthey do nothave to choose be-

tw een earning m oney and taking care oftheir

fam ilies.

— P rom ote the developm entofgovern-

m ent-subsidized housing in urban areas and

the steady and healthy developm entof the

realestate m arket.

A totalof6 m illion housing unitsw illbe re-

builtin rundow n urban areasand m ore people

displaced by the rebuilding ofsuch areas w ill

receive m on etary hou sing com pensation

ratherthan housing.

The tax and credit policies for support-

w illbe im proved,and cities w illtake policies

appropriate to theirlocalconditions to ease

the realestate industry’s problem ofexcess

inventory.

A ho using system w illbe put in place,

w hich encourages both renting and purchas-

ing. Eligible non-registered urban residents w ill

be allow ed to applyforpublic rentalhousing.

— Redouble efforts to im prove urban

planning,developm ent,and m anagem ent.

Source: overnment Work Report

M jor U rb niz tion G o ls nd T sks in 2 0 1 6

N T I O N



http://www.bjreview.com MARCH 17 2016B E I J I N G R E V I E W

T he author is a researcher w ith the In stitute of E urop ean

S tudies under the C hinese A cadem y o fS ocialSciences


C om m ents to zanjifang bjreview .com

poor m anage

m e n t a n d

public services.

O ne consistentand serious

p ro b le m e n

co u n tered in

th e urba niza

tio n p ro ce ss

is that a large

num berofrural

surplus lab or

e r s h a v e n o t

been absorbed by cities. A lthou gh C hina’s

num ber of perm anent urban residents ac

countfor m ore than 5 0 percent ofthe total

po pulation, residen ts w ith city h ousehold

registration m ake up less than 40 percent.U nderthe u ou system , the C hinese

system thatassigns access to public services

based on household registration, w hich isoften

their children do not have adequate access

to urban m edicaland education resources.

C onsequently, m any ofthese w orkers have left

theirchildren in theirvillage oforigin. O fficial

statistics show that as of 2 0 1 5 , there w ere

m ore than 6 0 m illion “left behind” children in

ruralareas, w hich creates a w hole otherhostof

com plexsocialissues.

T o m ake m atters w orse, today, large cit

ies that are already overcrow ded are unable

to accom m odate m ore people, w hereassm all and m ed ium cities lacking strong

industries are unable to generate enough

S om e new cities thataren’tbacked by strong

industries end up m ore like ghosttow ns.

C hina’s export dependenteconom y w as seri

T hereafter, the C hinese G overnm ent began

to shiftits focus from encouraging exports to

stim ulating dom estic dem and.

T he new type urbanization is expected

to be an effective force bo osting C hina’s

tw in goals ofdom estic consum ption foreco

nom ic needs, and sustainable developm ent

forthe future.

In the early urbanization process, lakesw ere filled u p to reclaim lan d, trees w ere

chopped dow n to create law ns, and histori

cal buildings w ere bu lldozed to construct

new ones. U nder the new m odel, such prac

tices w illbe stopped. R ather, a city’s history

and culture w illbe respected, and its unique

naturallandscape and localcharacteristics

w illbe retained.

M oreover, cities w illn ot on ly be m ade

to be be autifulbu t also m ore habitable.

P arks, hospitals and schools w illbe built

in residen tialareas to m ake people’s lives

m ore con venien t and redu ce transpor

tation tim e. D rainab le p ipelines w ill be

im proved to preven t w aterlog ging and

proper garbage collection and disposalfa

cilities w illbe putin place.

C ities w illalso be encouraged to pursue

low carbon and green develop m ent. For

instance, buildings should adopt naturalven

tilation and lighting system s.

U nder the new type urbanization, C hina

attaches im portance to drawing relevantexperi

ence from developed countries. Forinstance, in

2 0 1 3, C hina and France signed an agreem ent

on urban sustainable developm ent. In 2 0 1 4,

to m ark the 5 0 th anniversary ofthe establish

m entoftheirdiplom atic ties, the two countries’

leaderssigned a m edium to long term plan for

the developm entofbilateralrelations, w hich

included cooperation in betterurban planning.

French citiescan also offerbestpractices

T he north French city of L ille’s traditionapillar industries such as textile, m etallurgy

and quarrying w entbustafter being hithard

during globalization. T he city, tapping on its

architecture and o ther culturalheritages

then vigorously developed culturalindustries

to becom e new anchors for regionalpros

perity.

R eim s, a city in no rtheastFrance, used

to be a m ining center. A fter the localindus

try faded, it becam e the site ofa branch of

the esteem ed L ouvre M useum . N ow , abou

5 0 0 ,0 0 0 people visit the branch m useum

every year, w hich creates new econom ic op

portunities forthe city.

D eveloping tertiary industries su ch asculturaland tourism industries and nurtur

ing sm alland m edium sized enterprises are

viable w ays for C hinese cities to attract and

acco m m odate ruralresidents m igrating

to cities. W hile p roviding jobs for m igrant

w orkers, cities should also give their new

residents access to urban socialinsurance

and public services.

affm em bersw ork in thelligentm icrogrid m aster

controlroom ofJiangxiR isun SolarE nergy C o.

on Septem ber24, 20 1 5 .Intelligentm icrogrid andtheren ergy conserving

chnology isprom oted in

Xinyu, JiangxiProvince

N T I O N









U S I N E S S

Green developm enthas becom e a crucialcom ponent of China’s initiative to push

forw ard supply-side structuralreform .

Am idstthe current econom ic slow dow n,

resolution and courage should be strengthened

to encourage progressin sustainable industries

and econom ies,because itis neitherfeasible

norviable to pursue tem porary GDP grow th at

the expense of the naturalenvironm ent,said

W u Xiaoqing,Vice M inister of Environm ental

P rotection ata press conference forthe Fourth

Session of the 12th Chinese P eople’s P olitical

Con sultative Conference CP P CC)N ation al

Com m ittee on M arch 7. H e also stressed that

environm entalprotection should notbecom e

an obstacle to econom ic developm ent.

In the pastthree decades,China’seconom y

w as based on the w holesale construction of

industrialfacilities,m anufacturing ofconsum er

goods,im provem ent of housing conditions,

m otorization oftransportation,etc. H ow ever,

the m assive use ofm aterials involved in those

tasks hasresulted in excessive per-capita energy

consum ption,seriouspollution and subsequent

clim ate change. Aside from that,the econom y

has now reached a bottleneck,and can no

longerbe supported by the low -end capacity

expansion,m assproduction oftraditionalcon-

sum ergoods,and low environm entalstandards

and laborcostsofthatera.“Green and low -carbon developm ent is

totally differentfrom w hatChina haspursued in

the past. The focus is on both prom oting eco-

nom ic developm entand im proving the quality

ofpeople’s life,” said Zhou D aliin an exclusive

interview w ith Beijing Review during the U nited

N ationsclim ate change conference in P arislast

Decem ber.

“Green developm ent,w hich is prim arily fu-

eled by innovationsin technology and boosting

developm entquality,is in line w ith the purpose

of supply-side structuralreform ,” Fu Chengyu,

form erChairm an ofSinopec Group,told BeijingReview .

In fact,the initiative to pursue green de-velopm enthas already yielded som e results.

During the 12th Five-YearP lan 20 11-15)pe-

riod,energy consum ption perunitofGDP w as

brought dow n by 18 .2 percentyearon year,

outpacing the previously setgoalof16 percent,

w ith the em issions of m ajor pollutants dow n

m ore than 12 percent. From 20 13 to 20 15,

energy consum ption perunitofGDP decreased

by 3 .7 percent,4.8 percentand 5.6 percentre-

spectively.

Furtherm ore,P rem ierLiKeqiang pledged

thatcities w illenjoy good airquality 8 0 percent

ofthe days during the 13 th Five-YearP lan pe-

riod,w hich spansfrom 20 16-20 .

Sm og-filled days are prim arily a resultof

coalburning and autom obile exhaust,therefore,

achieving thatgoalw illbe an arduous process

for m any cities,said Q in Dahe,an academ ician

w ith the Chinese Academ yofSciences.

To this end,respo nsibilities should be

explicitly defined and detailed tasks should be

assigned to governm entofficials at alllevels.

Also,an appraisaland accountability system

needs to be setup and theirperform ance in

com pleting these tasksshould be considered

w hen assessing theirachievem ents. M oreover,

strict law enforcem ent m easures should be

respected and prom oted and short-term

econom ic grow th should not be put before

long-term environm entalgoals setby the gov-

ernm ent,and environm entalprogress should

be exposed to public supervision,said W u.

L ingering problem s

In its Inten ded N ationally D eterm in ed

Contributions subm itted to the U nited N ations,

China prom ised to reach peak carbon em issions

by 20 3 0 ,since the nation is stilla develop-

ing country. “Due to the ongoing process of

industrialization,urbanization,agriculturalm od-

ernization and inform ation-system s adoption,

China needs energy to fuelits developm ent. At

the sam e tim e,italso needs to substantially adjustitsenergy m ixand industrialstructure,”said

Xie Zhenhua,China’s SpecialRepresentative on

Clim ate Change A ffairs.

In recentyears,China’s progress in energy

conservation has been con spicuous. In the

pasttw o decades,itcontributed 58 percent to

the totalam ount ofenergy saved throughout

the w orld. Beyond that,its installed capacity for

renew able energy usage m akes up 24-25 per

centofthe w orld’s total,according to statistics

from the N ationalD evelopm ent and Reform

Com m ission.

Despite that,there is room for im prove

m entin legislation,standards and aw areness

During the 12th Five-Year P lan period,north

A B reath of resh A irC hina strives to b laze n ew green trailfor econ om ic su ccess B y D eng aqing

W orkers atthe Sh ijiazhuan g Zhongbo N ew -Energy

Bus Co. Ltd. assem ble a buson D ecem ber9 20 15




U S I N E S S


C om m ents to deng yaqing bjreview .com

w est C hina’s G ansu P rovince w itnessed itsinstalled capacity ofw ind and solarpow er hit1 2 .5 2 gigaw atts and 6 .1 gigaw atts respectively,

and autonom ous region s, according to the2 0 1 6 reporton the w ork ofthe G ansu provincialgovernm ent.

H ow ever, due to w eak localdem and andan incom plete grid system that has notincorporated allof the new energy pow er sources,w ind and solarpow ercom m only goes to w astein G ansu.

“L ast year, roughly 39 percent of w indpow er installed capacity stood idle on average,and som etim es the ratio could even reach 7 0percent. T he idleness ofsolarpow erinstallation

w as also very high,” said L iN ingping, P residentof G ansu P rovince E lectric P ow er Investm entG roup C orp.

T hou gh the R enew able E nergy L aw requires electricity grid com panies to buy allthepow erproduced by renew able energy generators, few green pow er generation com panieshave been able to take advantage ofthe policy,and therefore have to discard the w ind and solarpow ergenerated by theirprojects, said L i.

O n the other hand, the m assive installedcapacity of fossilfuel pow er is stilla largecontributor to som e provinces’ G D P , and localgovernm ents are reluctant to leave thosesystem s behind. T his leaves little consum ptionspace forrenew able energies, said L i, urgingauthorities to strengthen related legislation andenforcem entofthose policies.

In addition to that, C hina’s industrialstandard is relatively low er than that ofdevelopedcountries. “T he energy intensity in C hina is asm uch as 2 .9 tim es of the best perform er inE urope, w hich is stillthirsty forim provem ent,”said Fu, noting thatit’s a resultoflow industrialstandards setby the governm ent and C hineseenterprises’ failure to fully com ply w ith those.

T he governm ent as w ellas ordinary peo plealso need to im prove their aw areness andbehavior regarding these issues, and stick toen vironm en tally frien dly production m odelsand lifestyles. “In C hina, the governm enttendsto constructspecialbuildings forvarious eventsand conferences, as opposed to m any foreigncountries, in w hich ven ues for these activities are just large w arehouses or tem poraryconstruction s,” said Xie. H e suggested thatthe governm enthold internationalevents in athrifty and energy saving w ay.

“N ew en ergy autom obiles are a pillarindustry in the nation alecon om y and a symbolofa nation ’s econo m ic com petitiveness,”

said H e Xiangjiu, a m em ber of the 1 2 thC P P C C N ationalC om m ittee. H e noted thathe green initiatives w illnotonly prepare the

from national secu rity, clim ate ch an geen vironm en talprotection and structuraupg rading, b ut also prom ote sustainableeconom ic developm ent.

B y the end of2 0 1 5 , C hina had seen thenu m ber of in service ne w energy vehiclesreach 5 83,2 0 0 units, a year on yearincrease o1 6 9 .48 percent, ofw hich 332 ,0 0 0 units w erepurely electric cars. Thatm arked a year on yearincrease of31 7 .0 6 percent, according to statis

P ublic S ecurity M inistry.C hang A njin, P residentofA nhuiJianghua

A utom obile C o. L td., argued that inadequatecharging facilities forthe cars poses a stumbling block for the popularization of thenew energy cars. “T he go vernm ent shou ldbo lster the construction of the suppo rtinginfrastructure through preferentialpolicies,”said C hang.

M eanw hile, authorities should elevate therequirem entsform arketaccessand strengthenitsm anagem entofm arketadm ittance, in orderto elim inate potentialbattery safety risks, saidH e, the C P P C C N ationalC om m ittee m em ber.

A s the w orld’s largest ne w en ergy caruser, C hina sho uld form ulate co ordinatedplan s to set standards, solve q uality problem s, and construct the required charginginfrastructure, so that the popularization othe new energy cars can progress in an orderly w ay, said Xie.

“It’s a fledgling industry, and the governm en t sho uld de libe rately p lan for itsdevelopm entbefore heavy lossesare incurred,”said Xie.

I N

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U

A





The 13 th Five-Year P lan 20 16-20 )pe-

riod is crucialin China’s m odernization

process,asis the year20 20 in term s of

readjusting the country’s econom ic structure

and transform ing its grow th pattern. At the

sam e tim e,20 20 also servesasthe deadline forChina’s com pletion ofits goalto build a m od-

erately prosperous society. The achievem ent

ofalldevelopm entgoals during the 13 th Five-

YearP lan period w illbe param ountifChina isto

fosterfairand sustainable econom ic grow th for

the foreseeable future.

China’s econom ic transform ation is at a

pivotaljuncture. O n one hand,a slow econom ic

shift w ould inten sify dow nw ard pressures.

China registered a GDP grow th of6.9 percent

in 20 15— but even though the econom y is

stable— grow th suppression has been increas-

ing. Ifthe pace ofthe econom ic transform ation

w ere to decelerate,itw ould notonly intensifynegative effectsin the shortterm ,butalso raise

concerns on C hina’s m id-and long-term eco-

nom ic prospects.

O n the other han d,investm ent-driven

grow th has reached the end ofits line. China is

now facing severe challenges w ith regards to

cutting excessive industrialcapacity,destocking

and de-leveraging. The form ation of excessive

production capacity,unsold hom es and high

leverages w ere inevitable outcom es of the

investm ent-driven era,and also highlights the

unsustainable nature ofthe investm ent-led

grow th pattern.

W hetheror not cutting excessive indus-

trialcapacity,destocking and de-leveraging

w illbe effective depends on the success of

the planned breakthroughs in readjusting the

industrialstructure. During the 13 th Five-Year

P lan period w e’ve justentered,and especially

throughoutthe com ing tw o years,ifthe gov-

ernm entleads China tow ard the appropriate

path,the dow nw ard pressures of econom ic

grow th in the short term w illbe alleviated. If

this is the case,the country w ould unleash

its significantpotentialforeconom ic grow th

in the m iddle and long term . O therw ise,the

country m ight lose the initiative in term s of

econom ic grow th,thereby arousing system ic

econom ic and socialrisks.

W hy is the 13 th Five-YearP lan period cru-

cialforthe structuralreform ?

Firstofall,econom ic transform ation faces

obstruction from a variety ofstructuralprob-

lem s. An outstanding exam ple ofsuch an issueis that the current structures of supply and

dem and don’tcom plem ent each other. The

dem and’s role in guiding the supply has not

been developed to itsfull,and atthe sam e tim e,

the supply has not m et dem and effectively.

Therefore,w hile expanding the totaldem and

appropriately,the governm entshould intensify

the supply-side reform in orderto im prove the

Second,there are serious structuralprob-

lem s betw een consum ption and investm ent.

Since the 12th Five-YearP lan 20 11-15)period,

the im balance betw een the tw o has been

im proved,w ith consum ption’s contribution toGDP rising. H ow ever,since the investm ent-driv-

en grow th pattern hasn’tbeen fundam entally

changed,those tw o factors have yet to find

eq uilibrium . Also,problem s featuring inad-

equate supplies to bolster consum ption have

becom e increasingly prom inent.

Third,there are inherentissuesin the policy

being m ade and the institutions driving them

forw ard. To alleviate the econom ic stresses,we

shouldn’trely solely on policy stim ulus,buton

institutionalarrangem entand innovation,too.

Forinstance,stim ulus policies,especially m acro

financialcontrolm easures,should be the last

resortto preventsystem ic risks by cutting ex-

cessive capacity. Institutionalproblem s causing

surpluscapacityshould be elim inated through a

change in the adm inistrative approvalsystem ,a

m arket-oriented adaptation to production fac-

tors,the im provem entofthe taxation system

Facing these problem s,the governm ent

should be m ore com m itted to advancing struc-

turalreform and exploring new pathsto clearits

obstacles.

To begin w ith,the reform should be adopt-

ed in order to advance industrialrestructuring.

AfterChina entered the m iddle and late stages

ofindustrialization,the em ph asis in m arket

T r nsform tion T hrough S tructur lR eform

U S I N E S S MARKETW ATCH

O PIN IO N

resource allocation w as transferred from the in

dustrialsectorto the service sector. The m arket

should therefore be relied on to develop m ainly

m odern producerservices and advance the

transform ation ofthe m anufacturing industry.

N ext,alleconom ic restructuring shouldbe oriented w ith the revam ping ofurbaniza

tion policies. China w illentera new stage in its

plansto urbanize itspopulation during the 13 th

Five-Year P lan period. The governm ent m us

consequently seed the household registration

system w ith new ideas,aim ing to accelerate the

process and unleash the biggestdividends in

the future.

Furtherm ore,structuralreform should push

forw ard consum ption restructuring. The key

to realize the m ajor breakthroughs needed

for a consum ption-driven grow th pattern is to

innovate in term s ofsupply,satisfy the increas

consum ers,and accelerate the transform ation

ofinvestm ents.

The Third P lenary Session ofthe 18 th CP C

CentralCom m ittee held in N ovem ber 20 13

putforth a m asterplan forbolstering econom ic

reform . The achievem ents in the lasttw o years

have show ed that reform in som e fields has

been progressing ata rapid pace,grasping rea

breakthroughs. Butin othersectors,the reform

hasbeen carried outslow ly.

Eversince the reform has reached deeper

into the core ofthe econom y,fundam enta

changes have taken place in the con ditions

necessary for restructuring,m aking reform

efforts m ore difficult and com plicated. Thistherefore requires thatthe governm entestab-

lish new ideas in developing the econom y in

an innovative,coordinated,green,open and

inclusive w ay. Furtherm ore,the governm ent

estgroups and build a betterenvironm entfor

reform s,so as to provide im petus for the eco

nom ic transform ation.

Th is is an edited excerptofan article w ritten by ChiFu lin,

D irectorofthe C hina H ainan )Institute for Reform and

D evelopm ent,and pu blished in c o n o m i c I f o r m a t i o n D a i l y

Co pyed ited by Bryan M ichaelG alvan

Com m ents to yushujun@ bjreview .com




U S I N E S SMARKETW ATCH

N U M B E R S

58 %Year-on-yeargrowth innetrevenue ofJD.com ,China’s second largeste-com m erce com pany,in2015

6 .4 7 tln yu anOutputofChina’s m arineeconom y in 2015,up 7percentyearon yearandaccounting forabout9.6percentofthe nation’sGDP

5 5 . 1 % technologicalprogress’contribution to China’seconom ic grow th in2015

8 .3 tln yu anOverallinvestm entam ountof7,110public-private partnershipprojects from 2013 toFebruary 19,2016,covering 19 sectorsincluding energy andtransportation

3 .2 tlnChina’s foreign exchangereserves as ofthe end ofFebruary,down $28.57billion from January

26 .4 7 b ln yu anVolum e offunds raised yearon the New ThirdBoard,China’s over-the-counterm arket,as ofM arch 4

10 b ln y ua n China’s top m obile phoneproducer,released onM arch 7,suggesting thatthe com pany does notrequire capitalm arket

1.2 tln yu anAm ountofm oneyChinese tourists spentoverseas lastyear

($1=6.6 yuan)

Private Equity and Venture apital Investment

ases by Sector

F e b

S o u r c e : Z e r o P O )

Private Equity and Venture apital Investment

Value by Sector

F e b ( m ln )

Distribution of Private Equity and Venture

apital Investment by Region

F e b

50Internet

$1,394.79

Telecom m unications and value-added service

IT

Finance

Realestate

M achinery m anufacturing

Biotechnology/m edicalservice

Entertainm entand m ass com m unication

Others

Internet

Telecom m unications andvalue-added service

IT

Finance

Realestate

M achinery m anufacturing

Biotechnology/m edicalservice

Entertainm entand m asscom m unication

Agriculture/forestry/anim al

Chem icalraw m aterial and processing

Others

$136.29

$32.16

$143.78

$191.83

$62.92

$301.07

$34.83

$1,295.03

$332.82

$321.20

15

25

19

11

10

5

5

5

53

33.99%

16.34%

Others33.33%

GuangdongProvince

Beijing

Shanghai

Chem icalraw m aterialand processing

63.11%14.56%6.97%

15.36%GuangdongProvince

Beijing

Shanghai

Cases ValueOthers

16.34%









C U L T U R E

N o D ifferen e

A t A llI nclu sive p resch oo ledu cation is accessible for

B y W eiYao Yuan Yuan

March 3 m arked the 17th NationalEar Care D ay.The Beijing Q icongKindergarten w as established w ith

assistance from the China RehabilitationResearch CenterforDeafChildren (CRRCDC)in 1983.It enrolls both hearing-im pairedchildren and those w ithoutdisabilities fromaround the nation.The kindergarten helpshearing-im paired kids getready foreducationin regularschools and socialcom m unication

by integrating them with theirpeers w ithout

courses forchildren in need ofhearing-aiddevices.

“I hope that allhearing-im paired children thatcom pulsory education can be extended tothe preschoolperiod forchildren with disabili-ties,” Long M o,a m em berofthe 12th NationalCom m ittee of the Chinese People’s PoliticalConsultative Conference,China’s top politicaladvisory body,and deputy head ofthe CRRCDC,

toldeijing Review

.

(Photos by Wei Yao)

1

2




C U L T U R E

5

1. Yu anyuan com m unicates alm ostas effectively

as non disabled kids

2. Children learn to feeltheirears

3 . P ing’an’s m otheraccom panies him during a

one on one class

4. D raw ings by hearing im paired kids atthe

kindergarten

5. K ids hug each otheras partofa gam e





F O R U M

D e rR e ders,

oru is acolum n thatprovides a spacefor varyingperspectives oncontem poraryChinese society.

W e invite you tosubm it personalview points on pastand current topics(in either Englishor Chinese).

yanw ei@ bjreview .com

Please provide yournam eand address along w ithyourcom m ents

W ill O vercapacity C uts Lead to M assive Layoffs?

ta press conference on the sidelines ofthe annualfullsession ofthe NationalPeople’s Congress,China’s top legis-

lature,in early M arch,Xu Shaoshi,M inisterof the NationalD evelopm ent and ReformCom m ission,predicted a positive outlook forthis year’s em ploym entfigures.He believesthatefforts to cutexcessive industrialcapacityw illnotincurm assive layoffs like that ofthelate 1990s when a large num berofpoor-per-form ing state-owned enterprises (SOEs)axedtens ofm illions ofjobs through bankruptciesand reorganization.

Overcapacity in the steeland coalsectorshas recently received significant attentionagainstthe backdrop ofa slow down ofChina’seconom ic grow th.Falling prices ofrelevantproducts have placed m ostcom panies in the

two sectors,m ostofwhom are large SOEs,indifficultconditions.In the process to reducetheirexcess capacity,about1.8 m illion workerswillhave to be laid offorrelocated,according to

Helping w orkers m ade redundantregaintheirfooting w hile atthe sam e tim e offeringjobs to the 15 m illion new additions to the na-tionallaborforce in 2016 poses an enorm ouschallenge to the Chinese Governm ent.W hilethe CentralGovernm enthas pledged 100 bil-lion yuan ($15.4 billion)to help laid-offworkersreestablish them selves,localgovernm ents alsoclaim thatthey are com pletely capable ofcop-

ing with this task.The governm ent’s prom ises have helpedto calm the nerves ofsom e people w ho believethat the socialand laborenvironm enttodayis quite differentfrom w hatitwas in the late1990s,so severalm illion job losses won’tham -string the econom y as a whole.How ever,othersargue thatthis is nota sm allnum ber,and ifnotproperly dealtwith,the w hole society’s stabilitym ightbe severely affected.

LiHuadong e o p l e ’ s D a i l y ):Addressingexcess industrialcapacity is a necessity fortheoptim ization ofChina’s industrialstructure andthe sustainability ofsound econom ic grow th.Although this willinevitably lead to a large num -

beroflaid-offworkers,this tim e w illbe differenfrom whathappened in the late 1990s.

itis urgentto reduce overcapacity in industriesplagued by the problem ,especially the steeand coalsectors.This is in line with the m arkerule.W e don’tneed to be overly pessim istic.

The governm enthas pledged to provide100 billion yuan to help workers who lose theijobs in the process ofovercapacity cuts,andtogetherw ith socialsecurity benefits,variousfavorable policies forbusiness startups,newjobs created by enterprises’restructuring andalso a broad reem ploym entm arket,itis nottoothorny ofa task to help the unem ployed gereem ployed.

Nowadays,China’s laborm arketis stillshorof sufficientlaborers,which prom ises m any

job opportunities forlaid-offworkers.W ith thedevelopm entof Internet-based businessesthere is a brightprospect for reem ploym entparticularly because m ostredundant workersfrom SOEs are equipped w ith relatively highprofessionalskills.

O uyang M ijian s t C e n t u r y B u s i n e s s

H e r a l d ):In the late 1990s,a large-scale reformofSOEs and a slow dow n ofeconom ic grow thled to m assive layoffs,w ith tens ofm illions oworkers being letgo.Surging unem ploym entdealta strong blow to the econom y and overaChinese society,while the laid-offindividualsdaily lives and even psychologicalhealth were

severely affected.Atthattim e,the pressure ohelping these people getreem ployed was anunbearable burden on the shoulders ofgovernm entatvarious levels.

M ore than two decades have passed,buthe m em ory is stillfresh.Therefore,when Chinais again faced with econom ic grow th slow downand the necessity to cutovercapacity in som eindustries,the concern ofpossible m assive layoffs rises again.

How ever,the situation now adays is lesssevere than atthattim e.Instead oftens ofm illions ofw orkers to be laid off,today,the num beis notas big.

Still,w e m ustbe cautious aboutthe pos




F O R U M

sible risks. T he C entralG overnm enthasstressed

that during the process, m ergers and acquisi

tionsare preferred to bankruptcies and closures

of overcapacity plagued com panies, so as toreduce the num beroflaid offw orkers.

M ostof those w ho are laid offdue to the

cutting ofexcess industrialcapacity need to

find a new job, w ith som e of them choo sing

to startup theirow n business orturning to the

service sector. B utthese are notsolutions for

the m ajority ofthose w ho w illbe affected. T hus,

the restructuring m ustbe accom panied by in

dustrialupgrading, to reduce negative im pacts

on the econom y and em ploym ent.

Lin B oqiang GlobalTim es):O vercapacity

w illlead to a sharp slide in com m odity prices,

w hich in turn w illresultin a drop ofproduction

struggling com panies. Ifby cutting the excess

capacity, both the m acroeconom ic situation

is necessary to lay offw orkers from unneeded

jobsafterreceiving training in new skills.

Zh u H aibin Finan ce.sina. com .cn ):

W orries about the forthcom ing m assive lay

offs are overstated. T he situation is far better

than in the late 1 9 9 0 s, when tens of m illions

of w orkers w ere laid offoverjust a few years.

B esides, atthat tim e, w orkers laid off from

S O E s had alm ost no opportunities for reem

ploym ent, m ostly because cheap laborforces

from ruralareas keptsw arm ing into the cities

forjobs. H ow ever, C hina’s w orking age popula

tion started falling in 2 0 1 1 , w hich m eans som e

sectorsare experiencing a labor shortage. T hegovernm ent m ay also encourage reem ploy

m en t by increasing financialinputs in skill

training forlaid offw orkers.H uan g Zh izi Redn et.cn):T he cutting of

un needed capacity in the steelsector m ight

result in the sacking ofabout 5 0 0 ,0 0 0 w ork

ers. A dded togetherw ith the large scale layoffs

in the coaland m anufacturing sectors due to

upgrading and restructuring, this issue m ustbe

appropriately addressed.

M ostof the w orkers in the coal, steeland

m anufacturing industries are m iddle aged. T hey

devoted theiryouth and energy to the w ork

they have been doing so fordecades and havem ade great contributions to C hina’s industrial

ization and rapid econom ic grow th. T oday, the

restructuring and upgrading oftheirenterprises

w illforce them aw ay from theirposts, and they’ll

have to look fora new job atan aw kw ard age. It

isa realchallenge fortheirfuture life.

T here m ust be training program s target

ing reem ploym entforthese w orkers, together

ernm ent and banks for them to startup their

ow n business, effective reem ploym ent guid

ance, etc.L a n H e n g m in Eco no m ic H erald):

G en erally speaking, localgo vernm en ts do

the process ofgetting rid of excess capacitybu tthey hope the enterprises w illtry to keep

the w orkers, even if in a different positionIn the p ast severalyears, as lon g as an un redundant w orkers at certain posts m ay berelocated to o ther po sts w ithin the sam ecom pany, to preventjob loss.

H ow ever, w ith industrialadvancem ent, thefeasibility for w orkers laid offto m ove from oneassem bly line to anotherw illdecline. M eanw hilesom e com panies are bound to be totally closeddow n. T hose w ho are capable o f finding aproperjob tend to leave frailem ployerslong before they are forced to go, w hile those w ho staytend to be less com petitive in finding a goodem ployer.

T he governm entis responsible for protecting the legitim ate rights ofw orkers faced w iththe fate of being laid off, such as econom iccom pen sation an d socialsecu rity benefitsT hese w orkers sho uld also be encouragedto find jobs in em erging sectors, such as elderly care, dom estic service, w orking as a m aicourier, etc. T hese industries are now shortofsufficient em ployees, and at the sam e tim ethey are grow ing fastand offerprom ising careeprospects.

C op yedited by M r L ee D urrell

L I S H

I G O

N

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E S S Y

G rit nd S trength y Lan Xinzhen

n M arch 5,2013,Fu Ying,a form erChinese am -bassadorto the U K,created history in China byappearing as the spokesperson of the plenary

sessions ofthe NationalPeople’s Congress (NPC),thehighestorgan ofstate power.

forChina’s highestlegislative body in 30 years and wonaccolades forherresponse to questions from the m edia

and depth and breadth ofthe issues.This year,Fu,stillthe NPC spokesperson,wow ed the m edia.

Atthe NPC press conference on M arch 4,a corre-spondentofCBS ofthe United States raised a questionon the South China Sea situation,alleging the presenceofChinese m ilitary facilities on som e islets would affectthe region’s peace and stability.

To m any observers,the question containedprejudice and hegem onic thinking.In her pream bleto answering the question,Fu drew attention to bi-ased reports on the situation by a section ofthe U .S.m edia.She said she had noticed that the U.S.m ediaoften used the w ord “m ilitarization” when m entioningChina in the South China Sea context.M ilitarization,she said,m eanta hegem onic act,and inaccurate useofitw as bound to m islead people.

Then Fu began to explain the South China Sea issuecandidly.“Itis the U nited States thatis m ilitarizing theSouth China Sea,” she answered,pointing outthatm ostofthe advanced aircraftand warships currently passingthrough the South China Sea belonged to the UnitedStates.

“In keeping with its ‘pivotto Asia’strategy,the UnitedStates has decided to deploy a largernavalcontingentinthis region,and is also strengthening its m ilitary presence m ilitarization?”

Fu explained that China’s stance on the SouthChina Sea had been expounded by Foreign M inisteW ang Yiwhen he visited the United States recently.Shealso said she w anted to express the w illofthe Chinesepeople on the issue as well,including both law m akersand ordinary people.

“M ostChinese are not pleased and do not approve ofthe U nited States show ing offits m ilitary

pow er by sending w arships to w aters close to theSouth China Sea islands and reefs,” she said.W hilethe U nited States claim s thatitdoes nottake sides inthe South China Sea disputes,Fu pointed outthatitsacts and rhetoric,how ever,are m aking people feeliis raising tension in the region.

Regarding the m ilitary orcivilfacilities China has builon som e islands orreefs ofthe South China Sea,Fu saidChinese people w idely feelthatitis im portantforChinato strengthen its defense capability.China has neveaccepted othercountries’occupation ofthese islands“W e have suggested a policy ofputting disputes asideand pursuing jointdevelopm entin this waterarea,” shestressed.“This is on the prem ise ofsafeguarding China’ssovereignty over these islands and also m aintainingpeace and stability in the region.”

She ended herreply with anotherreference to theUnited States.“Ifthe U nited States is really concernedaboutregionalstability and peace,itshould supportnegotiations between China and neighboring countries,nogo in the opposite direction,” she rem arked.

China’s core interests.Atthe sam e tim e,she tem pered philosophy ofconduct:rem aining m odestand unaggressive butbeing unyielding inside.

F Y i n g ’ s

p e r f o r m a n c e

r e f l e c t s t h e

t y p i c a l C h i n e s e

p h i l o s o p h y o f

c o n d u c t

r e m a i n i n g

m o d e s t a n du n a g g r e s s i v e

b u t b e i n g

u n y i e l d i n g i n s i d e

Co pyedited by Sudeshna SarkarCo m m ents to lanxinzhen@ bjreview .com





Documents

Beijing Review - March 17, 2016