PROPERTY MARKET DIPS: Since Beijing began to enforce a restriction on home purchases, house transactions have been in a sharp decline. The capital city has also set up a price reduction policy (XINHUA)

Control Targets

Of all cities' property price control targets, Beijing's is the first to declare its market is "stable and dropping" and it is likely to be the only one realizing price reductions.

The State Council issued an eight-point regulation in January instructing local governments to establish and announce new house price control targets in the first quarter of the year.

The announced targets were, to a large extent, tied to local GDP performance and per-capita disposable incomes, and many cities set targets at around 10 percent.

For most people, even if current prices are cut by 10 to 20 percent, houses will still be unaffordable, let alone if there is 10 percent growth rate.

Housing prices in China are no longer a problem solely of the economy but are gradually growing into a social issue. The Central Government has thus decided to curb the rocketing prices that have long irritated the public.

The new eight-point regulation, which has been considered one of the "most severe measures" in history, initially gave people big hopes of decreasing housing prices.

To cut property prices is not easy, but it does not mean it's unattainable. Thanks to the severe eight-point regulation, speculative investments are dropping. This can be seen in the sharp drop in house transactions since the regulation was issued. Meanwhile, the housing supply to low-income families is increasing. Factors favorable to price reduction are accumulating. Beijing's reduction targets confirm the possibility of the state's control aims. What matters is government's, especially local governments', determination.

People's Daily

Earth Hour

Communities, enterprises and universities in China's 86 cities participated in Earth Hour on March 26, an energy-saving event initiated by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The public's wish to save energy and protect environment is great, but the campaign itself is not immune from criticism. For example, when turning off the lights, some people lit candles to pray for the world. The problem here is the cost of a candle is higher than an hour's lighting from electric power. At the same time, candle burning produces a lot of carbon dioxide.

It's true turning off lights for only an hour doesn't save too much electricity and few people expect to realize low-carbon targets depending on this campaign. But Earth Hour is more a symbolic suggestion than a tangible energy-saving action.

As the theme of this year's Earth Hour campaign says: Turn off the lights and let's make the change, apart from the hour, just making the change itself is important. Government should take the lead in saving energy; enterprises ought to fulfill environmental protection obligations by creating energy-saving technologies; and individuals also need to save energy in their daily lives.

Xinmin Evening News

Government Building

The government office building of Wangjiang County, Anhui Province, which is under construction, covers 12.1 hectares of land and exceeds the scale of eight White Houses. In response to criticism, a local joint investigation panel said the construction area has not exceeded standards for size, but problems did exist, which are imperfect project approval procedures and excessive interior decoration.

The fact Wangjiang is an impoverished county makes the construction of a sizable and luxurious government building out of sync. What is more surprising is the local authority's claim it is not exceeding the size standard.

The relevant regulations issued in January 2009 set the average floor area for offices for county-level officials at 20 square meters, and officials at lower levels are to possess smaller areas. The floor area of Wangjiang's office building amounts to more than 40,000 square meters, which will be able to accommodate more than 2,000 county-level officials.

Although the investigation panel points out deficiencies in the estimation and appraisal procedure of the building project and the excessive decoration of building, it still is trying to play down the issue. Such an investigation is really questionable.

Beijing News

Tomb Sweeping

Tomb sweeping is the Chinese nation's long tradition to show respect and commemoration of their ancestors during the Tomb Sweeping Festival, which usually falls around April 5. The Central Government has also designated a legal holiday for the festival.

But more and more problems seem to have emerged during the festival. Every year, tens of thousands of tons of paper is burned as a sacrificial offering for the dead in front of tombs. Apart from the waste of resources, paper burning may also cause fires. The movement of flocks of people also causes traffic jams, among other problems.

There are many different ways. Instead of burning paper, putting flowers on the tombs is a good alternative. To use flowers as a sacrificial offering will not hurt even a little of the people's wish to express commemoration and respect for the dead. And the festival will move in a more environment-friendly direction.

Nowadays, it's not even necessary for people to go personally to cemeteries. They may try "online tomb sweeping," or they may choose to go to cemeteries on different days to avoid crowded traffic during the festival.

Accepting new methods will enable tomb sweeping to become more environmentally friendly and allow it to keep pace with modern society.

Xinmin Evening News