Build New Economic Cycle

Outlook Weekly
March 10

The efforts for economic recovery made by every major economy around the globe since 2008 financial crisis have shown that those who can create new demand will dominate the future global economy. This view has been demonstrated in the TPP and TTIP plan that are being promoted by the United States as well as in Japan's Abenomics.

For China, its export-oriented economic pattern can be sustained no longer. Since the opening and reform policy was implemented in the late 1970s, China's growth has been relying largely on the export processing industry and export trade. Developed economies are now building a new trade system to find a way out of economic recession. The global economic environment has changed drastically, and the favorable conditions for China are vanishing. Therefore, economic transition is a major task for China's new leadership. In particular, boosting domestic demand is key for economic growth.

The Statistical Communique on the 2013 National Economic and Social Development recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics shows that consumption contributed to over 50 percent of GDP growth in 2013. The tertiary industry accounted for 46.1 percent of the GDP of the same year. For the first time, the share of the value added of the tertiary industry surpassed that of the second industry. Furthermore, the just concluded NPC and CPPCC National Committee 2014 annual sessions have announced that China will carry out a series of significant reform measures in many sectors of the country. It is expected that the huge market of 1.3 billion people will lead to much larger demand.

City Governance

China Newsweek
March 10

China is prepared to reform its traditional governance system. However, policy making is only the first step of the new round of reforms. How to implement policies is the key question. China is a large country made up by numerous cities and regions. Local governance is directly related to the whole country's governance. To some extent, the Central Government is responsible for top-level design while local governments focus on strengthening executive ability.

The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China last November pointed out that the economic system reform is the focus of the future reform. The underlying issue is how to strike a balance between the role of the government and that of the market. Local governments are important implementers and conductors that let the market play the decisive role in the allocation of resources.

Today, China gives priority to promoting the development of central and western areas. In the face of new construction opportunities, less developed cities in the country must learn lessons from the past to avoid development traps. For example, along with the acceleration of China's urbanization, many Chinese cities have been troubled by social and economic problems, such as traffic and environmental pollution. To resolve these problems, local governments must shift from ruling to governance and service. Furthermore, city construction should be in accordance with environmental bearing capacity. Local governments should work to improve people's livelihood and create more job opportunities rather than purely chase GDP growth.

Smoke-Free Session

Legal Daily
March 4

Before the convening of the session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) this year, eight non-governmental organizations put forward a proposal: to make this year's session smoke-free. Throughout the opening day, no representatives were found smoking inside or outside the meeting halls, which shows respect for the relevant laws and regulations.

It is widely recognized in the Chinese society that smoking does harm to health, but still smoking on public occasions are often seen. It's by no means an easy job to control tobacco. At the end of 2013, the Central Government issued a document demanding officials to set an example of not smoking on public occasions.

The smoke-free CPPCC session is a tangible implementation of the tobacco ban and also signals the government's strong determination to control tobacco.

Paid Vacation

Guangming Daily
March 14

The government work report by Premier Li Keqiang at this year's NPC session set forth clearly that the Central Government will put the paid vacation system into practice.

In actual fact, labor laws of China have explicitly set rules for paid leave. But in reality, many enterprises overemphasize their own benefits and interests and neglect the legal rights of their employees, often passing on their administrative costs to them. Enterprises' violations of labor laws are seldom punished. In addition, many employees have no knowledge of the rights granted to them by labor laws.

To change the current situation, mere media exposure or the public voicing of complaints is not sufficient. It is necessary to place the implementation of paid vacation system under the enterprise evaluation system at the top of the priority list, for the sake of the dignity of the employee and the law.