Educator Takes on New Challenge

Zhu Qingshi, former President of the University of Science and Technology of China, has been tapped to head the first science university in Shenzhen, a bustling business hub in south China's Guangdong Province.

The Shenzhen Municipal Government announced on September 10 the appointment of Zhu as president of the Southern University of Science and Technology, which is now in the pipeline.

Unlike other heads of Chinese higher learning institutions, who were appointed by education authorities, Zhu was selected in a headhunter-led worldwide search amongst more than 200 educators. It was the first time China has used such a procedure to select a university head.

Zhu, a 63-year-old chemist, served as president of the University of Science and Technology in 1998-2008. He is also an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the largest organization in Europe for advancing the chemical sciences.

The Southern University of Science and Technology is expected to open next year. It will enroll 15,000 students upon completion. Zhu's tenure will last five years.

Billionaire's Big Deal

Self-made billionaire Lu Zhiqiang is now a director of Legend Holdings, after his China Oceanwide Holdings Group bought on September 8 a 29-percent stake in the state-owned parent company of Lenovo Group, the world's fourth largest PC maker. The deal, worth 2.76 billion yuan ($404 million), made Oceanwide the third largest shareholder in Legend.

In an interview with news portal Sina.com, Lu, Board Chairman of Oceanwide, said that the partnership with Legend, which is considered one of the most successful Chinese companies in the past 30 years, would contribute greatly to his company's growth.

Lu, 57, who holds a master's degree in economics, founded Oceanwide in 1988. In the past 20 years, he has expanded his business empire to include real estate, finance and energy. This year, Lu ranked No.468 on the Forbes World's Billionaires list, with a net worth of $1.5 billion.

Documentary Director Wins Prize

Director Du Haibin's earthquake film 1428 won the Orizzonti (Horizons) Prize for Best Documentary at the 66th Venice Film Festival on September 12.

1428, which began shooting a few days after an 8.0-magnitude temblor jolted Wenchuan, southwest China's Sichuan Province, last year, was named for the exact timing of the disaster, 14:28 on May 12. Festival judges praised the "sincere and human-oriented" film for not only focusing on the natural disaster but also depicting local residents' post-earthquake life.

After receiving his award, Du, an independent filmmaker in China, said that he planned to visit Wenchuan again to shoot another documentary on the reconstruction process in the quake-affected zone.

Du, 37, graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in 2000. Since 1999, he has produced several documentaries, including Dou Dou (1999), Along the Railway (2001), Beautiful Men (2005) and Umbrella (2007). Umbrella, which shows social transitions in rural China, was nominated for the Orizzonti Prize for Best Documentary at the 64th Venice Film Festival.

"All of these political, social and economic achievements [of China] should be a role model for many developing countries that are still aspiring to achieve such development."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, praising China's development in an interview with Xinhua News Agency before the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China

"There are, I think, real concerns... that this action won't do anything to create a single American job."

John Murphy, Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, criticizing President Barack Obama's decision to impose added duties on China-made tires

"There are countries that have no fiscal space for stimulus. Low-income countries need to be talked about and have the developed countries help them."

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director of the World Bank, discussing the impact of the current global economic crisis at a BBC World Service debate

"I never thought things would be the same again. But man, I was wrong. We came back strong."

Wilson Ortega, manager of a parking garage in New York City's Tribeca neighborhood, saying that life has returned to normal in the area near Ground Zero eight years after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001

"A while ago I did not even intend to stand for president but fate decreed otherwise, and this is why I do not make plans too early and do not exclude anything."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, indicating that he might stand for a second Kremlin term in the 2012 presidential election at a September 15 meeting with the Valdai Discussion Club

"Here I am free, but my country is still captive. I am not a hero, but I am a man of opinion and attitude, who was shocked by the killing of Iraqis."

Iraqi reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi, who threw his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush, after he was released from prison on September 15