VOL.49 NO.46 NOV. 16, 2006

TAKINGTAKING THETHE PULSEPULSE OFOF TRADITIONALTRADITIONAL CHINESECHINESE MEDICINEMEDICINE

BEIJING1 REVIEW JULYJUNE 3,26, 2003 2003OLYMPICS COULD SAVE FOLK ARTBEIJING INDUSTR REVIEW JANUARY Y19,1 2006 VOL. 49 NO. 46 CONTENTS NOV. 16, 2006 2 EDITOR’S DESK 2 The Medicine War 3 PEOPLE & POINTS 4 WEEKLY WATCH 10 WORLD 10 A Steady Course Midterm elections results unlikely to affect Sino-U.S. relations 12 Where Does U.S. Policy Go From Here? Democrats’ control could mean bigger focus on diplomacy 14 Moving Closer China-Africa Forum sees big deals signed and strategic 18 partnerships take root COVER STORY Hotly debated at home, but 16 VIEWPOINT flourishing globally. Traditional Chinese 16 Coming Up to Speed Medicine (TCM) is standing at the edge of a The quandry of reforming state-owned assets cliff, according to Chinese public opinion. 18 NATION Calls to have the ancient healing methods 18 East or West: Which Is Best? scrapped are gaining momentum. Yet Traditional Chinese Medicine finds Chinese herbal medicine is a multi-billion international markets 22 To Your Health dollar industry internationally. It’s an Herbal cuisine a popular option interesting scenario. TCM is viewed as a 24 Ancient Cures for Modern Pets accumulation of experience, not science, yet Traditional Chinese Medicine healing for thousands of years it has been the basis four-legged friends 26 A New Taste of the Countryside of patient care throughout the East. Having Rural Xinjiang becoming tourist hotspot withstood the test of time, TCM is bound 28 The Winds of Change to weather the current domestic storm—or Ancient nomads in northern China adapts to is it? 21st century 30 Traditional Crafts Highlighting Olympics 40 Chinese Media Morphosis Communication industry is turning a fast buck 34BUSINESS 42 State of the Market 34 Stabilizing China’s Finances Government targets discount exporters 46FORUM 36 Re t a i l e r s Reshuffle 46 Will Real Name Registration Harm Mobile Big ret a i l e r s gob ble up local cha i n s Phone User’s Privacy? 38 Dotcom Ven t u re r Entrepreneur living the American dream in 48 INTERVIEW China 48 ASEAN Good for Globalization

Beijing Review (ISSN 1000-9140) is published weekly for US$64.00 per year by Cypress Book (U.S.) Co., Inc., 360 Swift Avenue, Suite 48, South San Francisco, CA 94080. Periodical Postage Paid at South San Francisco, CA 94080. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Beijing Review, Cypress Book (U.S.) Co., Inc., 360 Swift Avenue, Suite 48, South San Francisco, CA 94080. EDITOR’S DESK The Medicine War A News Wee k l y Published Since 1958 ht t p : // ww w .b j r evi e w.c o m . c n By ZHANG ZHIPING E-mail: [email protected] President & Editor in Chief: Wang Gangyi hile the rest of the wor ld is embracing trad i t i o n a l Vice President: Qi Wengong Chinese medicine (TCM), in its birthplace it is facing a Associate Editors in Chief: Li Jianguo Huang Wei Wli fe - o r- d e a th situati o n . Executive Editor: Zhou Jianxiong An Internet petition to rem o ve traditional medicine from Assistant Executive Editors: Yao Bin, Ding Zhitao, Ch i n a ’ s healthcare system has brought the predicament into the Zhang Zhiping, Francisco Little spotlight. Its vanishing legac y, the probl e m a tic situation of both Editorial Administrators: Li Ning, Shi Bosen Senior Consultant: Shao Haiming TCM practices and the medicine market, and its res t ri c t e d Opinion Editor: Yao Bin de velopment due to the prevalence of Wes t e r n medicine World Editor: Ding Zhitao Nation Editor: Tang Qinghua remind us that TCM is in danger in China and something mus t Business Editors: Yu Shujun, Lan Xinzhen be done to save it. Editorial Consultants: Linda Mattson, The issue of abolishing TCM is not a new topic. About 100 Matt Young Staff Reporters: Tang Yuankai, Feng Jianhua, yea r s ago, when Wes t e r n scientific concepts wer e introduced to Zan Jifang, Ding Ying, Ni Yanshuo, China, some Chinese alrea d y insisted on eliminating the use of Ding Wenlei, Wang Jun, Yan Wei, Tan Wei, Li Li, Liu Yu, Liu Yunyun, tr aditional medicine. The patt e r n of judging TCM from the Yin Pumin, Jing Xiaolei, Pan Xiaoqiao pe rs p e c t i ve of Wes t e r n crit e r ia still exists in today’ s argu m e n t . Photo Editor: Wang Xiang With its deep roots in Chinese culture, the millennia-old Photographers: Jiang Xiaoying, Wei Yao Art: Li Shigong tr aditional medicine has developed its own rules and system. Design & Layout: Xu Husheng, Hou Lina, The Chinese people have long benefited from traditional medi- Wang Yajuan Proof Reading: Qin Wenli ci n e . TCM is more than just techn o l o gy, and it invol v es the tra- Online Editor: Li Zhenzhou ditional philosophy of pres e r ving health and the way the Advertising Director: Cheng Guangyan Chinese perce i ve things. Distribution Directors: Wang Weiwei, Pan Changqing TCM, whi c h on the surface seems out of date and even is Human Resources: Zhang Xiaoli International Cooperation: Pan Shuangqin deemed to be a pseudoscience, does have certain magic a l Legal Counsel: Yue Cheng ef fects in dealing with some medical prob lems, especially viral North America Bureau in f ections and chr onic diseases. The four proc e d u r es of TCM Chief: Wang Yanjuan di ag n o s i s — o b s e rv i n g , smelling, consulting and pulse-taking, Reporter: Chen Wen Tel/Fax: 001-201-792-0334 while limited in their functions, are used pretty effec t i vel y by E-mail: [email protected] some vet e r an prac t i t i o n e r s. General Editorial Office Tel: 86-10-68996252 TCM and Wes t e r n medicine, while two differ ent systems, Fax: 86-10-68326628 both have the same objective: human health. To measure trad i - English Edition tional medicine by the crit e r ia of Wes t e r n medicine is unscien- Tel: 86-10-68996259 Advertising Department ti f ic and even rid i c u l o u s . Tel: 86-10-68995813, 68326072 Fu rt h e rm o r e, even though it is an age-old tradition, TCM is Fax: 86-10-68329398 E-mail: [email protected] ahead of the time in some of its concepts, theories and method- Distribution Department ol o gy. The r e has been a growing interna tional interest in and Tel: 86-10-68310644, 68995807 st u d y of TCM. Its philosophy and “eco-medicine” concept can Fax: 86-10-68328738 E-mail: [email protected] be used as a strong wea pon to combat worl d wide medical Published every Thursday by cr ises. The r e is no reason to disregar d this traditional medical BEIJING REVIEW, 24 Baiwanzhuang Lu, le gac y. To discard these medical traditions is to abandon the Beijing 100037, China. Overseas Distributor: China International Book Trading quintessence of a nation. No one is willing to see that happ e n . Corporation (Guoji Shudian), P. O. BOX 399, The petition case is sending a war ning signal. It is urgent to Beijing 100044, China Tel: 86-10-68413849 Fax: 86-10-68412166 im p r ove the management of TCM to get it out of its curren t E-mail: [email protected] pr edicament. The diminishing of TCM hospitals is att ri b uted to Website: http://www.cnokay.com the poor cultural envi r onment in whi c h they operate . The r e General Distributor for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan: Peace Book Co. Ltd. will be no inheritance or innovation of a culture if it doesn’t 17/Fl, Paramount Bldg, 12 Ka Yip St, Chai Wan, HK win gen e r al rec o gnition from the people. The re fo r e, we need to Tel: 852-28046687 Fax: 852-28046409 po p u l a ri z e education in Chinese traditional culture and TCM SUBSCRIPTION RATES (1 Year) al i k e to integrate the ancient medical practice into our modern Australia...... AUD 135.20 society and to foster a favor able envi r onment for its devel o p - New Zealand ...... NZD 144.00 ■ UK ...... GBP 48.10 me n t . U.S.A...... US$ 75.30 Canada ...... CAD 114.40 Ha ve a comment, complaint or question? Beijing Revi e w welcomes your fee d b a c k. Printed in China by E-mail our editorial team at co n t a c t @ b j r ev i e w.c o m . c n or write to us at Beijing Revi e w, BEIJING LEEFUNG-ASCO CHANGCHENG PRINTERS CO. LTD. 24 Baiwanzhuang Lu, Beijing 100037, China. Letters may be edited for length or content.

2 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 Time’s Up for Saddam PEOPLE & POINTS Sentenced to death by hangin g . That ’ s the “WTO membership also helps No vember 5 ver dict of an Iraqi court on Viet Nam refine its reform Sa d dam Hussein for his part in the 1982 killing of 148 Shiites in the city of Dujail. The r e wer e process, creating opportunities mi x ed reactions in Iraq and around the wor ld at for trade expansion, which is an the news. important tool for economic Pr otests held by Sunnis in Sadda m - l o yal com- growth.” munities wer e juxtaposed against celebr ations of Shiites, a vol a tile situation that has sent jitters acros s Vietnamese Trade Minister Truong Dinh the region and the interna tional commun i t y . The Iraq i Tuyen, after the World Trade Organization Go ver nment strengthened its security by introd u c i n g formally approved his country’s membership a curfew to avoid eruption of any possible of the global free trade system after 12 la r ge-scale violence. years of negotiations Ir aqi media echoed some local ob s e r ver s that it did not seem like a coinci- “We will fight poverty, encourage dence that the sentence came just two days be fo r e the U.S . midterm election, when the investment in Nicaragua and Bush administration is under grea t pres s u r e create a new political culture that to readjust its Iraqi policy that has been would set aside our differences cha l l e n g ed by bombs, kidnappings and ram - and put the Nicaraguan people, pant crimes in the war- t o r n country. The the poor, first.” White House denied any link between the ver dict and the elections and President George W. Bush called the ver dict “a milestone President-elect Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua in Iraqi people’s effor ts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law.” listed top priorities on his agenda on The European Union, however , condemned the capital punishment and war ned that November 7 an y execution would bring new tensions to the region, while Islamic leaders exp re s s e d wor ry that the ver dict could “inflame those who revile the United States, undermining its “They were unanimous in po l i c y in the vol a tile Middle East and inspiring terror ists to strik e.” Sa dd a m ’ s trial has been a nine-month rol l e r -coaster watc hed avi d l y by an emotional suggesting that the time is na tion. During the trial three defense lawye r s and a witness wer e murd e re d . Defiant and appropriate for India to shouting “Long live the people undertake a manned mission.” and death to their enemies. Indian Space Research Organization, the Long live the glorio u s he Chinese state-run space agency, announced its first na tion, and death to its ene- indigenous manned mission into space, Gov e r n m e n t mies!” after hearing the aiming to put an astronaut outside the ver dict, Saddam had to be will alwa ys stick earth’s atmosphere by 2014 “T phy s i c a l l y led out of the to the principal that Sadda m co u r t. Hu s s e i n ’ s fate should be decid- A disheveled Sadd a m , “This will be a useful tool for ed by Iraqi people. Whateve r who had ruled Iraq with European companies seeking an cast iron fist, was dis- practical advice and assistance the decisions they made, China c ove red undergro u n d hopes to see stability in Iraq near his home village on intellectual property theft. and peaceful life for the Iraqi n o rth of Baghdad in However, nothing will ultimately people at an early date.” December 2003, hav i n g substitute for better enforcement Chinese Foreign Ministry fled from Ameri c a n of Chinese anti-counterfeiting fo rces in Bag h d a d. Two spokeswoman Jiang Yu ye a rs later he went on laws on the ground.” t rial for ord e ring the EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson he hanging of Dujail ge n o c i d e. welcomed in a statement the establishment Saddam Hussein will Under the current Iraq i of a network of centers in 50 large Chinese turn to hell for the la w, Saddam still has a cities charged with investigating reports of “T chance to appeal error s of intellectual property infringements Americans. Bush will use this the law or trial proc e d u r e case to tell the voters that within 30 days after the “Clearly, I think in a number of Saddam is dead and that the se n t e n c e . Should the ver - dict be upheld on app e a l , difficult areas the differences Americans are safe. But actual- the death penalty will also cannot be bridged, so I believe ly the American people will be au t o m at i c a l l y req u i r e there should be more reflections in more danger with the death revi e w by Iraq ’ s three - m a n Pre s i d e n c y Council, whi ch , in the capitals and also I believe of Saddam.” we need to talk to each other.” Vitaya Wisethrat, respected ac c o r ding to Associate d Pr ess, agreed six months China’s UN Ambassador Wang Guangya, Muslim cleric in Thailand ba c k not to blo c k the death after an international meeting on sanctions penalty for Sadda m . against nuclear-ambitious Iran

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 3 WEEKLY WATCH

OPINION The wor ry now is how to effec t i vel y deliver the donations, as Free Education Could Restore th e r e are repo r ts that relief funds are being embezzled in some ar eas. Under the current system, donations are tran s fe r red to disas- Teachers’ Standing ter victims by local gover nments, whi c h means the funds are actu- It was rec e n t l y disclosed by Tan Songhua, Vice Chairman of al l y at the disposal of local officials. the Chinese Society of Education, that the Chinese Gover nment is It ’ s proposed that civil affai r s depa r tments should set up exp l i c - planning to offer free education to students in six normal univers i - it standards for relief fund quotas and subsidies and also announce ties direc t l y under the Ministry of Education. them to the public to make the programs tran s p a r ent. Besides, The news is ext re m e l y wel c o m e , given the increasing blame on in s u r ance companies can also play a role in the management of the ed u c a tion in recent yea r s. Sever al yea r s of commerci a l i z a tion of funds. Since natu r al disasters are an annual occurrence and people the education sector have eroded some of the aura surrou n d i n g ar e always kind enough to make donations, why not establish a te a ch e r s, who are no longer regar ded as models of morality by special institution to manage the funds? Funds could be used for their students, as they now teach as a prof ession. Against this back- in vestment to gen e r ate more ret u r ns in the future, enabling a regu - grou n d , the resumption of the free education system is expected to lar supply of financial support for disaster victims. help rebuild teache r s’ for mer standing to some ext e n t . It ’ s high time this fla wed distrib ution system was improved , or The logic is simple: If normal univer sities cha r ge high tuition pe o p l e ’ s enthusiasm to offer aid will be ext i n g u i s h e d , as they have fees, students there are actually making an investment in their own no idea whe r e their donations end up. ed u c a tion and it’s only natu r al for them to rea p prof its when they Peo p l e ’ s Daily th e m s e l v es become teache r s. That ’ s why teache r s’ moonlighting in var ious for ms is a common practice today. Some cha r ge ext r a fee s for tutoring after class and there are often all kinds of arbitrar y Coal Stoves Making a Comeback cha r ges in schools. Ac c o r ding to Or iental Morning Pos t , China’s three largest oil Tea c hing is differ ent from other prof essions, whi c h req u i r es a and gas companies—CNPC, Sinopec and CNOOC, sent a petition high moral standard. It is hoped that the free education for future to the gover nment at the end of October, asking for higher natu ra l te a ch e r s will help to improve the deterio r ating moral standard gas wholesale prices. Chinese consumers had expected che a per oil among teache rs . pr oducts, given that crude prices in the interna tional market began Beijing Youth Daily to decline in the second half of this yea r . But the fact is, not only will the oil prices remain as high as they wer e, but liquefied natu ra l gas (LNG) will also become more exp e n s i ve. Transparent Relief Fund Needed Higher LNG prices will inevi t a bly boost people’s daily costs. As winter app ro a c hes, huge donations for those stric ken by In the face of climbing prices, some have to turn to che a p coal, floods in summer around the country are pouring in. While the resulting in the question: Do the high LNG prices signal the ret u r n Mi n i s t r y of Civil Affai r s and Ministry of Finance have alrea d y of the age of coal stoves? al l o c a ted a relief subsidy of almost 3.1 billion yuan, ordi n a r y peo- Once we wer e happ y to say goo d b ye to coal stoves, and ple are also contrib uting clothing to fel l o w countrymen in disaster rejoiced at the arrival of LNG, as we could no longer stand the pol- are a s . luting and energy- i n e f ficient coal. But today so many have no choice but to again use coal stoves for cooking and heati n g . On l y monopoly should be blamed for the ret u r n of coal stoves . Of ficial sources say that CNPC, Sinopec and CNOOC have con- tr olled almost ever y link in the exp l o i t a tion, proc e s s i n g , tran s p o rt a - tion and sales of natu r al gas. Without monopoly status, I wonder if the three companies would dare to cha l l e n g e public tolerance to pr opose higher gas prices? The Market News Finding the Right Representative Di r ect voting for deputies to gras s r oots people’s congresses, is gover ned by the Electoral Law on the National Peo p l e ’ s Congres s and Local Peo p l e ’ s Congresses, but some principles seem to have al re a d y fallen far behind people’s rising awar eness and demand for de m o c ra c y. It often happens that vot e r s and deputy candidates do not know each other at all. As a result, the for mer are blind to de puties’ ideas and candidates are ignorant of wha t the vot e r s wan t them to bring up in parli a m e n t a r y discussions. In Beijing, however , vot e r s are now able to meet the depu t y ca n d i d a tes and moreo ver , able to choose deputies through a vari e t y of questions. The candidates are eligib le for selection only whe n their vot e r s feel sati s f ied with their answer s and believe they are cap a ble of exp r essing their ideas. This Q&A method ensures that vot e r s know their repre s e n t at i ves, suitability of candidates, and tra n s p a re n c y of the entire selection proc e s s . COAL MAKES A COMEBACK: Due to rising liquefied Be i j i n g ’ s attempt to cha n g e the current voting system seems to be a good way to improve gras s r oots democrac y in China. natural gas prices, honeycomb coal is once again China Tim e s heating some low-income Chinese homes

4 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 WEEKLY WATCH

Chinese Doctor to Lead WHO Margaret Chan was elected director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) in a full assembly vote on November 9, marking the first time a Chinese has held a top-level leadership position of a UN body. The 59-year-old Hong Kong native obtained her medical degree from the University of Western Ontario in Canada and joined the Hong Kong Department of Health in 1978, where her career in public health began. She was named the first female director of the department in 1994. In 2003, Chan became head of WHO’s Department of Protection of the Human Environment. Two years later she was appointed special representative for pandemic influenza and assistant director general for communicable diseases. Chan’s directorship bid received strong support from the Chinese Central Government and the Hong Kong local administration, in recognition of her dedicated leadership and crisis management skills in handling the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreaks during her tenure in Hong Kong. As new WHO chief, Chan said she would focus on reducing poverty, promoting health and preventing diseases and sufferings, especially in developing countries.

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 5 WEEKLY WATCH

SOCIETY Urgent Work Safety al for um in Shanghai. Training To accommodate this Nuclear Plant On the Ch i n a ’ s wor k- expanded urban populati o n , Yangtze place safety watc h- the country needs a huge China will build its firs t do g, on November 7, amount of res o u r ces, curren t l y nuc lear plant on the Yan g t z e called for more trai n - accounting for 40 percent of Ri ver , subject to app r oval from ing for millions of the worl d ’ s total annual cement the National Development and mi g rant wor ker s consumption and 30 percent of Re fo r m Commission, accord- em p l o yed in the dirti - the annual steel consumption. ing to a Xinhua repo r t. est, hardest and most In addition, current con- The pros p e c t i ve plant in cen- da n ge r ous jobs. st r uction projects account for tr al Anhui Provi n c e , whi c h will The training of ar ound 30 percent of the come under the management of “m i g rant wor ker s has global total, said the Vic e China Guangdong Nucle a r become the bigges t Mi n i s t e r . He estimated that it factor in work p l a c e Power Holding Co., will have would be another 30 yea r s sa fe t y . The pace of four power units with total be fo r e the initial phase of installed capacity of 4 million tr aining must be ac c e l e r ate d ,” said Sun Chinese urbanization wou l d KW . The expected total inves t - be completed. ment will top 46 billion yuan. Huashan, Vic e Ac c o r ding to a local news p ap e r , Minister of the State ELECTING LEGISLATORS President Practical Marriage Views Ad m i n i s t r ation of Hu Jintao casts his ballot at a Beijing co n s t r uction is expected to start polling booth on November 8 to elect Ac c o r ding to an online sur- in 2008 for the facility to go into Wor k Safet y , during a na tional video confer - deputies of local people’s congress in vey conducted by China You t h op e r ation in 2015. ence on the issue. his district. Eight million voters in the Da i l y and China’s leading capital came out to elect a total of Ideal Idols Su n ’ s call came in instant messaging servi c e 14,386 legislators at different levels pr ovider Tencent, 51.6 perce n t Successful entrepre n e u r s the wak e of a spate of Dep a r tment, rec e i ved Leaders of females and 58.8 percent of ha ve surpassed pop stars as the major accidents at coalmines for a Living Planet certi fi c at e s males think abundant mate ri a l idols of college students, a rec e n t and a refi n e r y that killed for their conservation achi e ve- wealth is necessary for a happ y su r vey by Shanghai-based do z ens of wor ker s from the second half of October. In ments at a cerem o n y held in the Fudan Univer sity has fou n d . ma r ria ge. Nearly 12 percent of no rt h w est Gansu Provi n c e , for pr ovincial capital of Changchun. Out of a sample of 150 stu- male respondents noted that exa m p l e , three coalmine acci- The provi n c e , whi c h is ric h dents from differ ent grades and th e y would not propose to their dents between October 31 and in fore s t r y res o u r ces, intro- dep a r tments in September and girl f r iends unless they had No vember 2 killed 34 miners. duced a law in Janu a r y 1996, Oc t o b e r , 96 chose successful al re a d y purchased a home and banning the hunting of all ter- a car, now symbols of a decent en t r epre n e u r s as their idols, 91 WWF Awards res t r ial wildlife, the fir st such li f e in China. ad ded scientists and scho l a r s to No r theast Jilin Province was mo ve in the country. In t e re s t i n g l y, more than the list; only some 75 opted for ho n o r ed by the Wor ld Wil d l i f e en t e r tainment perso n a l i t i e s . Fund on November 7 for impos- Accelerated Urbanization half of the respondents thought The results cha l l e n g ed the ing a ban on hunting as well as Half of the 1.3 billion it was man’s responsibility to popular perce ption that you n g for var ious conservation effort s Chinese population are exp e c t e d su p p o r t the fam i l y, whi l e co l l e ge students are most over the past decade. to live in cities by 2010, as abo u t almost all the rem a i n d e r im p r essed by pop culture star- Go ver nor Wang Min and 13 million rur al people are favor ed mutual effor ts by both dom, and influenced by highly Liu Yan c hun, Director of the flooding into the cities each yea r , se xes; but virtu a l l y none popular national singing con- Jilin Provincial Fore s t r y Vice Minister of Construc t i o n thought it was up to women to tests like Supergir ls. Qiu Baoxing told an internat i o n - pr ovide the support alone.

YELLOW ANCIENT HARVEST MIRACLE Grapefruit Thai visitors farmers view the label from Meixian of a replica of a County of jade shroud southern sewn with gold Guangdong wire, unearthed Province are in China, at a in a good four-month mood after exhibition on getting top Chinese prices for ancient their technology bountiful being held in harvest Pathum Thani in central Thailand

6 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 WEEKLY WATCH

ECONOMICS liquidity has long been a prob - tightening of land and cred i t tr illion this yea r , up more than lem in the interbank bond mar- su p p l y, take effect. This echo e d 20 percent over last yea r , said Fresh Accounting ket, exp e r ts said. ea r lier gover nmental pred i c t i o n s Fu Ziying, Assistant Minister of Standards The new rules should also on economic growth that the Co m m e r ce on November 5. The Ministry of Fin a n c e reduce price swings and an n ual growth rate for 2006 Fu told a China Industria l has issued guidelines for app l y- im p r ove the effic i e n c y of the would be slowed down to 10.5 De velopment For um in Beijing ing new accounting standards ma r ket as well as prom o t i n g pe r cent from 10.9 percent in the th a t China’s for eign trade had to domestic enterpr ises, accord- smoother cle a r ing and con- fir st half of the yea r . maintained rapid growth in the ing to a Xinhua repo r t. tri b uting to stable market opera- The repo r t, composed by fir st nine months of the yea r , with The new action marked the tions, the central bank said. the economic res e a r ch institute the import/ ex p o r t volume rea c h- pre l i m i n a r y completion of the under the Nati o n a l ing $1.27 trillion, a yea r- o n - ye a r Hong Kong Economic De velopment and Refor m in c r ease of 24.3 perce n t . co u n t ry ’ s new accounting stan- Prospects Commission, says that “the “China repo r ted robu s t da r ds system for enterpr ises, in a The Interna tional Monetary policies and measures taken in growth in for eign trade in bid to help domestic companies Fund (IMF) expects the Hong the latest round of macro con- recent yea r s, but only achi e ved fol l o w interna tional prac t i c e . Kong economy to grow tr ol moves are app ro p ri a te and me a ger prof its due to low val u e From the beginning of next yea r , be t w een 5.5 percent and 6 per- ef fec t i ve, and the economy is ad ded in exp o r ted prod u c t s ” , 48 new auditing standards for cent this yea r , and about 5 per- li ke l y to make a soft landing.” said Fu, adding that it was time ce rt i f ied public accountants will cent in 2007 and over the medi- The repo r t is based on sam- to shift the growth mode from be implemented at domestic um term. ple studies of two cities, Zibo in qu a n t i t y - o r iented to quality-ori- accounting fir ms. The main near-t e r m risks are the eastern Province of en t e d . The new system aims to a sharp slowd o wn in global Shandong and Baoding of cen- He encouraged Chinese im p r ove the competitiveness of de m a n d , parti c u l a r ly in the United tr al Hebei Provi n c e . en t e rp r ises to spend more on Chinese enterpr ises by demand- St a tes, and a rise in prot e c t i o n i s t te ch n o l o gical innovation and ing more tran s p a r ent and accu- sentiment against the Chinese Buoyant Foreign Trade foster a number of internat i o n - rate fiscal repo r ts, said Vic e ma i n l a n d , the IMF’s Hong Kon g Ch i n a ’ s imports and exp o rt s al l y rec og n i z ed brands, in orde r Minister of Finance Wang Jun at of fice was quoted as saying by a volume is expected to hit $1.7 to meet this req u i re m e n t . a training class for accountants. pr ess release from the Hong Bond Market Changes Kong Special Administrati ve Re gion gover nment. The Peo p l e ’ s Bank of China Ov er the medium term, has announced it will introd u c e growth prospects will depend on se c u r ities lending to the inter- ho w well the evolving fin a n c i a l bank bond market to boost in t e gration with the mainland is de velopment. The new rul e s , ma n a ged and exp a n d e d , and due to take effect on Novem b e r ho w well Hong Kong copes 20, allow banks to borrow or with competitive pres s u r es from lend bonds for a maximum of other regional financial centers, 365 days, the central bank said the IMF believes . in a statement on its webs i t e No vember 6. Economic “Soft Landing” Al l o wing bondholders to A repo r t of a govern m e n t lend securities they do not need think tank has concluded that ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLYAUT O A four-wheeled intelligent car will increase the volume of Ch i n a ’ s over h e a ted economy is developed by the Chinese University of Hong Kong is claimed pa per in the market, whi c h in sh o wing signs of a “soft land- to have achieved a 40 percent improvement in combustion tu r n helps bolster liquidity, the ing”, as the govern m e n t ’ s macro efficiency, while reducing emissions by up to 60 percent. It is ce n t r al bank exp l a i n e d . Low co n t r ol policies, parti c u l a r ly the expected to go into mass production in two years

PLAYING IN TRAINING ETHNIC AUTUMN TECHNICIANS A SUNSHINE vocational school China in eastern experienced Shandong Province its warmest has admitted 500 autumn in 55 students from the years as the western region, average including those of temperature ethnic minorities, in October under a joint reached 11.7 program with a degrees dozen vocational celsius schools in the western provinces, to provide better teaching

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 7 WEEKLY WATCH

PEACEMAKER REMEMBERED Israeli writer David Grossman speaks to thousands of Israelis gathered to mark the 11th anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv on November 4. Rabin was shot after a peace rally in the city for initiating the peace process with the Palestinians

EUROPEAN BLACKOUT An undated image from NASA shows a view of Europe at night. A sudden weekend surge in demand for electricity in Germany due to freezing weather plunged much of Europe into darkness late on November 4, nearly causing an unprecedented Europe-wide blackout GOLDEN CHRISTMAS An employee of Japanese jeweler Ginza Tanaka introduces a gold Christmas tree, which pops up FEMALE BOMBER The sister of 18-year-old suicide from a gold Christmas card, in bomber Mirvat Massud holds her photo at their Tokyo on November 7. The home in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza jeweler produced the 6 kg solid Strip. Massud blew herself up in an attack on gold pop-up card worth Israeli troops on November 6, as Israel pressed an $254,000 as an eye-catching offensive in the Gaza Strip that left 54 Palestinians display in the shop for the and one soldier dead over six days Christmas gift season

8 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 WEEKLY WATCH

NEW MEMBER Panamanian Ambassador to the UN Ricardo Alberto Arias receives a congratulatory hug as his country is formally elected to serve on the Security Council for the next two years. It won the spot after Guatemala and Venezuela dropped out to end a three-week stalemate

HISTORY REENACTED Russian soldiers wearing World War II Soviet military uniforms march in Red Square in Moscow on November 7 during a parade marking the 65th anniversary of the military parade on Red Square when soldiers went directly to the war front REVOLUTIONARY PLANE Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cambridge University pose with a model of the “Silent Aircraft” in London on November 6. The design is intended for the generation of aircraft expected to enter into service in 2030 and will substantially reduce noise and improve fuel consumption

OPPOSING AN EMBARGO On November 8, the UN General Assembly votes overwhelmingly for the 15th time in a row to demand TREATING TOXIN Containers are discharged from the MN an end to the four-decade-old U.S. embargo against Cuba, which Toucan, a ship carrying 3,000 tons of deadly toxins blamed for Cuban Ambassador to China Carlos Miguel Pereira Hernandez called the deaths of 10 people in the Ivory Coast, upon its arrival at the “longest” and “most brutal” in history at a recent press France’s main Atlantic Ocean port of Le Havre on November 7. conference in Beijing The waste is to be treated in France

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 9 A Steady Course The U.S . midterm elections will not bring a sea change in Sino-U.S . relations, experts predict

VOTE FOR CHANGE: Voters cast their ballots at a polling station in Virginia on November 7

By ZAN JIFANG But exp e r ts also see possible effects on bi l at e r al ties. The y think the Democrati c lthough U.S . politics will fol l o w a Par ty has close rel a tions with labor unions ne w scenario after Democrats and thus supports trade protectionism. As a gained control of Congress from result, there may be more trade fric t i o n s Rep u b licans in the midterm elec- be t w een the two countrie s . tion on November 7, that will have “Although the House of Repre s e n t at i ves Aa rather limited effect on the U.S . diplomat- ac t u a l l y has limited influence on the deci- ic course , including its policy towar d China, sion-making rel a ted to for eign policy, the an a l ysts pred i c t e d . cha n g e in the Congress will still have some Most Chinese exp e r ts say the election impact on the rel a tions betwee n result will not gravel y affect Sino-U.S rel a - Washington and Beijing,” said Jin Canron g , tions. The y hold that the views of Pres i d e n t Pro f essor at the School of Internat i o n a l Ge o r ge W. Bush and the Democrats on for - Studies of Renmin Univer sity of China. eign policy are basically alike, and they just “R ep re s e n t at i ve Nancy Pelosi, who will di f fer over the specifics of some issues. be the Speaker of the House, has a biased view Though the two parties have had heate d of China, and so in the future Congress will deb a tes over many issues, they rea c hed a talk more about issues such as human rig h t s consensus on the counterte r ror ism cam- and the U.S . trade deficit with China, whi c h paign. Even on the Iraq war , the disputes ma y bring about a cacophony in the devel o p - be t w een the two parties are mainly foc u s e d ment of Sino-U.S . rel at i o n s , ” Jin said. on more perip h e r al issues such as the Pelosi has a pro- Ta i w an att i t u d e , app ro a c h to withdrawing U.S . troops and Chinese scho l a r s say. When Chen Shui-bian ho w to deal with the Iraqi Govern m e n t . was elected the leader of Tai w an, she was Things are not as simple as Bush sayi n g one of the leaders of the U.S . Congress who “w e should stay” in Iraq and the Democrats called Chen to congratu l a te him soon after sa ying “we must go right now.” the election. In November 2001, when the

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Chinese Govern m e n t opposed Tai wa n ’ s att e n - dance at the Asian and Pac i f ic Economic and Co o p e r ati ve Summit held in Shanghai, Pelosi joined with 95 other repre s e n t a - ti ves in writing to Bush, asking him to speak up for Tai w an. The Democrat- d o m i - na ted Congress will put mo r e pres s u r e on the Whi t e House to use diplomacy, su c h as in the policy towar d China, said Wang Yiw ei, a res e a r cher at the Center for Am e r ican Studies of Fudan Un i vers i t y . “T he defea t of the Rep u b licans in the mi d t e r m election will great l y affect the pres i d e n t All SMILES: Casting his ballot brings a look of joy to this Los Angeles voter exer cising his policy,” he sa i d . Wang holds that the Foreign policy views tion both Democrats and Rep u bl i c a n s De m o c r ats pay more att e n - On the North Kor ean nuc lear issue, focused on the Iraq war and the Middl e tion to the interests of small De m o c r ats are ver y likel y to show a more East situation, and Sino-U.S . rel at i o n s and medium-sized flex i b le stance and may even be willing to wer e not a topic. Both parties are awar e of Am e r ican companies and talk with North Kor ea bilate ra l l y, he said. the importance of Sino-U.S . rel a tions, and their wor ker s than do the “D e m o c r ats also have differ ent thinking so the election will only cha n g e the com- Rep u b licans, and believe fr om Repu b licans on Iraq. Democrats may position of Congress, not bring a major th a t the influx of too many want Iraq ’ s neighboring countries, such as cha n g e in rel a tions between the United “made in China” prod u c t s Sy r ia, Iran and Tur key, to coor- St a tes and China. will seve re ly harm the di n a te on solving the Iraq Although many elements affecting the domestic manufa c t u ri n g p ro blem, rather than smooth development of Sino-U.S . rel at i o n s in d u s t r y. Such a stance will wha t President Bush come from Congress, the president domi- ha ve some effect on is doing, whi c h is na tes for eign policy. fu t u r e trade between the tr ying to res o l v e the “T he policy itself won ’ t cha n g e in the United State s pro b lem through the sh o r t term, because the president has the and China. in t e r nal cha n g e of po wer to vet o , ” David Brad y, Depu t y Ir aq itself,” Wan g Di r ector of the Hoover Institution, told sa i d . Beijing Revi e w. The Chinese But he also for esees that the Democrats exp e r t thinks the will place more emphasis on job prot e c t i o n - De m o c r ats may ism, U.S . trade deficit with China and tr y to cha n g e the human rights. “But it will not bring a fun- pre s i d e n t ’ s Iraq damental cha n g e in a couple of yea r s, ” po l i c y by using Bra d y said. their app ro p ri a - In his view, the United States and tions and over - China have a ver y solid wor king rel at i o n - sight power s in ship now. “The two countries are work i n g Co n g ress. to gether on the North Kor ea issue. The We s t e r n tr ade rel a tionship between the two coun- an a l ysts share t ries is also ve ry go o d. Besides, the vi e ws similar Chinese Gove rnment has fl o ated the to those exch a n g e rate of the yuan against the dol- of their la r . All these are positive. C h i n e s e “Although some people in the United c o u n t e r- St a tes want to see China as an enemy eco- p a r t s . no m i c a l l y and militaril y and there are also T h e y some people in China who want to see the note that United States as an enemy, I think those DOING ALL THAT SHE CAN: A voter registers p rior to people are not ascendant, and they are in the in a polling station in Virginia on election day the elec- mi n o r ity in both countrie s . ” ■

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 11 WORLD Where Does U.S. Policy Go From Here? Democratic control of Congress may mean a more diplomatic ap p r o a c h to international affairs and less pursuit of free trade

By ERIC PFEIGGER

ow that Democrats have won con- tr ol of the U.S . Congress for the fir st time since 1994, it is exp e c t - ed that there will be signific a n t cha n g es in Americ a ’ s diplomati c Nand trade policies. Critics of Pres i d e n t Ge o r ge W. Bush’s for eign policy can expect his administration to lean more he av i l y on diplomacy. However , prop o - nents of free trade are likel y to see a Co n g ress that is far less open to trade part- ne r ships and the importa tion of goods onto Am e r ican shores. In 2002, President Bush narrowl y won app r oval for the right to direc t l y negot i at e tr ade deals with other nations. The Whi t e House has until Jul y 2007 to negot i at e su c h trade agreements without the interfer - ence of Congress. This places increa s e d pre s s u r e on Bush to make progress on wo rld trade talks that many consider HARD FUTURE: U.S. President George W. Bush shakes hands with a supporter as he al re a d y in jeopardy. arrives for a campaign rally at Elko Regional Airport in Nevada on November 2. After “If you ’ re going to ask for a ren e wal of the defeat of Republicans in the Congressional elections, Bush is likely to encounter more pressure from Congress in the last two years of his tenure tr ade promotion authorit y , you ’ re going to ha ve to say wha t you want to ren e w it for ,” Jeff r ey Schott, a senior fel l o w at the Pet e r son Institute for Internat i o n a l Economics, told Reuters. “Obvi o u s l y, the best answer is to have a compreh e n s i ve result in the Doha Round.” De m o c r atic lawm a ke r s tend to vot e against bilate r al trade agreements because of their financial and political ties to Am e r ican labor unions, whi c h seek to pro- tect their own financial interests throu g h res t ri c t i ve interna tional trade policies. For their part, Democrats say their objection to su c h agreements is rooted in their opposi- tion to the labor practices of other nati o n s . Because of this opposition, proponents of fr ee trade such as the Cato Institute say it will be difficult for Bush to negot i a te new deals with nations such as Per u and Colombia. In addition, most exp e r ts say it is SUCCESSFUL REELECTION: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger presses the flesh as he visits the Republican Volunteers on November 7. Schwarzenegger was The author is the national political reporter for the reelected Washington Times

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sp o k esman for po l i c y on this front will happen in the near Sch w ab, told fu t u r e. repo rt e r s after the With the Democrats also app e a r ing to No vember 7 election co n t r ol the Senate , they will have more results. “For a num - le ver age over U.S . policy with China and ber of yea r s, almost N o rth Ko rea. A re s e a rcher with the ever y trade vote has na tional res e a r ch institute told the South been pretty muc h Kor ean news p a per Chosun Ilbo th a t it bi p a rt i s a n . ” would be unwise for the U.S . Congres s For his part, and White House to send “differ ent sig- Ra n g el released a nals” concerning possible engage m e n t st a tement sayi n g , with the North. “If the U.S . Congress and “We ’ ll find ways to the gover nment send differ ent signals to in vol v e more mem- us, it may further complicate the alrea d y be r s on issues like ver y unstable bilate r al dialogue cha n n e l s , ” tr ade policy so we he said. can show the Some Democrats fear that if the Whi t e Am e r ican people that House gives China too muc h authority in expanded trade does- ne got i a tions with North Kor ea, the United n’ t always have to St a tes will lose interna tional pres t i g e. mean the loss of Ho wever , U.S . leaders, including UN goo d - p a ying jobs Ambassador John Bolton, have made it he r e at home.” clear they believe the six-party talks are Ho wever , most in t e gral to maintaining and improvi n g races in the U.S . st r ong diplomatic ties with China. elections this yea r U.S . presidents are trad i t i o n a l l y given wer e focused on wide lever age to pursue their interests in A COMPLETE VICTORY: Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton of Ir aq, not trade poli- in t e rn a tional diplomacy, even if the other New York gets a hug from her husband, former President Bill cy. While cha n g es in pa r ty is running Congress. Experts say it is Clinton, after winning her second term, as Democrats Am e ri c a ’ s policy mo r e likel y that the Democrats will aggres - celebrated at a rally in New York on November 7. Democrats to war d the Middl e si vel y push for Seoul to take over all res p o n - captured both houses of Congress from Republicans, who dominated Congress for 12 years East are not likel y to sibilities for security along the North - S o u t h ha ve a direct impact bo rd e r . ■ ext re m e l y unlikel y that a Democrati c - c o n - on its rel a tions with tr olled Congress would vote to ext e n d China, some cha n ge s Bu s h ’ s trade agreement authorit y . ar e exp e c t e d . “T he election means that the pres i - Ev en befor e de n t ’ s trade agenda has come to a scree c h- De m o c r ats won con- ing halt,” Daniel Gris wol d , Director of tr ol of Congress, the Trade Pol i c y Studies at the Cato Institute, Bush administrati o n told Agence Fran c e - P re s s e . “Divided gov- has been sending sig- er nment will mean no bold trade liberal - nals that it was open iz a tion, but no bold protectionism either. to more comprom i s e We’ re looking at two yea r s of stalemate in over the diplomati c U.S . trade policy.” st a l e m a te with North It is widely expected that Repre s e n - Kor ea. In rec e n t tat i ve Charles Rangel, a Democrat from yea r s, Democrats Ne w Yor k, will take over as cha i r man of the ha ve advoc a ted that House Ways and Means Committee, whi c h the White House con- has jurisdiction over taxation, tarif fs and sent to direct negot i a - other revenu e - r aising measures. Rangel told tions with North repo rt e r s on November 8 that he hopes to Kor ea as a viable ta k e a “bipartisan app ro a c h” to the issue of al t e rn at i ve to the cur- tr ade and will meet with U.S . Trad e rent six-party talks Rep re s e n t at i ve Susan Schw ab and other s t r u c t u r e . me m b e r s of the House to negot i a te the next Nonetheless, even co n g ressional session’s trade agen d a . while he has been Ho wever , even if Rangel and the Democrats wi d e l y crit i c i z ed for ar e united in their opposition to new trad e his Iraq policy, Bush deals, Bush will have his powerful pres i - has rec e i ved a fai r dential veto to counter any moves to res t ri c t amount of praise for tra d e . his app ro a c h to North “Ambassador Schw ab and this adminis- Kor ea. The re fo r e, it tr ation have wor ked well with members [of seems unlikel y that a both parties in Congres s ] , ” Sean Spicer, a major rever sal in U.S .

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 13 WORLD

roa d m a p for the partn e r ship emerged . “C h i n a - A f r ica cooperation brings rea l be n e f its to the two peoples, and enjoys br ight pros p e c t s , ” said Hu in summariz i n g the two-session rou n d t a ble of Chinese and Af r ican leaders. Moving Closer “It is ver y interesting to hear how grea t- ly China can help Africa. We think that it is The two-day Forum on China-Africa a totally new opportu n i t y , especially for the pr ivate sector, to whi c h I belong,” Luwis K. Cooperation summit produced business Tie n go u e , Director of Interna tional Proj e c t s at Group Eoulee in Cote d’Ivoi r e told deals and the start of a strategic Beijing Revi e w. His company has severa l pa rt n e r s in China, including Tia n j i n pa r t n e r s h i p Ma ch i n e r y Import and Export Corp., who s e an n ual trade exceeds $100 million. He By NI YANSHUO political rel a tions, broadening economic noted that his main task in Beijing is to fin d co o p e r ation, expanding cultural exch a n ge s , ne w partn e r s in other parts of China and eijing was the best place to fin d pr omoting balanced and harmonious global noted that he had contacted some Chinese Af r ican leaders in early Novem b e r . de velopment and strengthening cooperati o n en t e rp r ises. Ne a r ly 50 top officials from the and mutual support in interna tional affai r s. “China is the best market we can have continent assembled for the Beijing At the same time, at the opening cere- in the worl d ,” he said. Summit and Thi r d Ministeria l mo n y, he also put for wa r d eight specific BCo n fe r ence of the For um on China-Afric a me a s u r es the Chinese Gover nment will take Generating excitement Co o p e r ation (FOCAC), whi c h prom o t e d to develop the strate gic partn e r ship, inclu d - Liang Yan is the manager of the Beijing Si n o - A f r ican rel at i o n s . ing financial aid, prefe r ential loans, setting of fice of Afriland Fir st Bank in Cameroo n . Du r ing the two- d a y summit on up a China-Africa development fund, debt After the opening cerem o n y, she immedi- No vember 4-5, highlighting “frie n d s h i p , ca n c e l l a tion, duty exemption and perso n n e l ate l y phoned the bank’s General Manager , pe a c e , cooperation and devel o p m e n t , ” most tra i n i n g . Alamine Ousmane, describing in detail the Af r ican leaders exp r essed their wishes to In order to implement these measures , eight measures Hu had put for wa r d. ach i e ve more pragm a tic results throu g h the Beijing summit app r oved an action plan “Y ou know, it was noon Beijing time Si n o - A f r ican cooperation. for 2007-09. Notably, China committed itself when the cerem o n y ended. But in Li b e r ian President Ellen Johnson Sirle a f to doubling its 2006 assistance to Africa by Ca m e r oon, it was about 4 or 5 o’clo c k in the said she hopes her country can obtain tech- 2009 and trying to increase the bilate r al trad e mo rn i n g . After the gen e r al manager was no l o gy from the Chinese and make bamboo volume to $100 billion by 2010. wok en up by my call and infor med of the fu rn i t u r e for exp o r t. Gabo n ’ s President Omar The summit issued the Decla r ation of the eight measures, he was so excited that he Bo n g o said he hopes more Chinese inves t o r s Beijing Summit of FOCAC, setting out the decided to gather all the top officials of the will crea te job opportunities in his country. es t a blishment of the strate - bank immediate l y to study China’s new pol- And after China National Machi n e r y and gic partn e r ship in the ic y towar d Afric a , ” she said. Equipment Import and Export Co. intro- for m of a political UN Secret a r y General Kof i Annan wel - duced its plan to cooperate with Afric a n d o c u m e n t . comed the Chinese Govern m e n t ’ s announ- co u n t r ies on infras t ru c t u r e construc t i o n , Thus, a cement that it would double its aid to Afric a Gu i n e a - B i s s a u ’ s President Joao Berna rd o by 2009. “This summit is an historic oppor- Vie i r a immediate l y asked for detailed plans. tunity for China and Africa to build on these “A total of 48 African delegations came sh a r ed ideals, and to advance South-South to the summit and ministerial confere n c e co o p e r ati o n , ” he said in a statement rel e a s e d fr om distant places, whi c h indicates not only by his spokesman. their deep friendship with China, but also the “Vi e wing President Hu’s speech, espe- ur gent needs of deepening cooperation on ci a l l y the measures to train African profe s - both sides,” said Qu Fujun, for mer Chinese sionals, send agric u l t u r al exp e r ts to Afric a Ambassador to the Democratic Repu b lic of and increase the number of Chinese Co n g o. He added that both sides hope to Go ver nment scho l a r ships to African stu- fu l l y utilize FOCAC, an effec t i ve dialogu e dents, we can see that China is cha n g ing its pl at fo r m and cooperati ve mechanism, to fur- mode of aid to Africa from mate r ial aid to ther promote Sino-African ties. su p p l ying the fou n d a tion for them to devel - “T he grea test political achi e vement of op indepe n d e n t l y. This can promote the sus- the Beijing summit of FOCAC is boosting ta i n a ble development of African countrie s , ” the rel a tionship between China and Africa to said Shen Jiru, a res e a r cher with the a new type of strate gic partn e rs h i p , ” he said. Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Trade and investment wer e new highlights A new start of the summit. After two days of dialogu e Es t a blishing and developing a Sino- among more than 1,500 entrepre n e u r s from Af r ican strate gic partn e r ship was the core of TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE: both sides, a total of 14 cooperati ve agree - the summit. Chinese President Hu Jintao A businessman of Cote d’Ivoire speaks ments wer e signed with a contractual val u e de s c r ibed the partn e r ship as deepe n i n g to Beijing Review magazine rea c hing $1.9 billion. Meanwhi l e , the China-

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The eight steps the Chinese Government matic relations with China. has proposed to assist African countries 6. China will further open its market to Africa by are as follows: increasing from 190 to over 440 the number of export 1. China will double the 2006 level of assistance to items receiving zero-tariff treatment from the least Africa by 2009. developed countries in Africa having diplomatic ties 2. It will provide $3 billion of preferential loans and with China. $2 billion of preferential buyers’ credits to Africa in 7. It will establish three to five trade and economic the next three years. cooperation zones in Africa in the next three years. 3. It will set up a China-Africa development fund that 8. Over the next three years, China will train 15,000 will reach $5 billion to encourage Chinese companies African professionals; send 100 senior agricultural to invest in Africa and provide support to them. experts to Africa; set up 10 special agricultural tech- 4. It will build a conference center for the African nology demonstration centers in Africa; build 30 hos- Union to support African countries in their efforts to pitals in Africa and provide 300 million yuan of grants strengthen through unity and support the process of for providing artemisinin and building 30 malaria pre- African integration. vention and treatment centers in Africa; dispatch 300 5. It will cancel debt in the form of all the interest- youth volunteers to Africa; build 100 rural schools in free government loans that matured at the end of 2005 Africa, and increase the number of Chinese govern- owed by the heavily indebted poor countries and the ment scholarships to African students from the cur- least developed countries in Africa that have diplo- rent 2,000 per year to 4,000 per year by 2009.

Af r ica Joint Chamber of Commerce and Chinese Ministry of Commerce , the Sino- Ar temisinin is one of the new medicines In d u s t r y was established on November 5. Af r ican trade volume in 2006 is expected to res e a r ched and developed by China and reg- Ac c o r ding to a recent repo r t from the exceed $50 billion. is t e r ed worl dw i d e . The Wor ld Health Wor ld Bank, China’s investment in Africa is Ca i r o will host the next FOCAC meet- Or gan i z a tion (WHO) has assessed the drug exer ting a positive influence on the conti- in g , and economic rel a tions between China to be the one of the most effec t i ve medicines ne n t ’ s economic growth and that influ e n c e and Egypt also made a brea k t h r ough at the to trea t the disease. China has almost 80 will continue to increase in the future. summit. On November 6, the two countrie s pe r cent of the worl d ’ s supply of raw mate r i- “T he for um supplies an excellent plat- signed a memorandum of underst a n d i n g als needed to produce artemisinin, since 90 for m to bring entrepre n e u r s from China and under whi c h Egypt ackn ow l e d g es China’s pe r cent of the wor ld supply of artemisia, the Af r ica together and can give us access to the full market economy status and prom i s e s major herb used in the drug , grows in the grea t market in Afric a , ” said Fu Dongxing, fair trea tment for Chinese companies in Wuling Mountain areas in Hunan, Hubei, Ma n a ger of the Africa Sector of the Overs e a s in t e rn a tional trad e . Si c huan and Guizhou provinces. Ma r ket Depa r tment of Zhenzhou Yut o n g Eg ypt, the fir st African country to estab- Si n o - A f r ican cooperation in fig h t i n g Gr oup, one of China’s veh i c le makers . lish diplomatic rel a tions with China, curren t - malaria has been going on for three At the Second Confer ence of Chinese ly is China’s sixth-largest trading partner on decades. Up to now, China has supplied and African Entrepre n e u r s held on the continent with last yea r ’ s bilate r al trad e an t i - m a l a r ia medicines at no cost to more No vember 5, Fu was one of the busiest per- hitting $2.15 billion. The fig u r e totaled $1.96 than 10 African countries, including sons there. Within an hour he had spoken to billion in the fir st eight months of this yea r , Ni ge r ia, Repu b lic of the Congo, Somalia, ne a r ly 10 African enterpr ises from Togo, up 47.6 percent over the same period of Ni ge r , Togo, the Central African Repu bl i c Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, Tan z a n i a 2005. According to Bo Xilai, China’s and Cameroo n . and Egypt, discussing opening veh i c le fac - Minister of Commerce , Sino-Egyptian trad e “W e are rea d y now. We can prod u c e to r ies in Afric a . ma y rea c h $5 billion in the next five yea rs . ar temisinin immediate l y after we rec e i ve “W e have done business in Egypt for Cu r ren t l y, China has sever al billion dol- ord e r s from the Chinese Gover nment. We tw o yea r s and our next step is to set up la r s of investment in Egypt and the fig u r e is can guarantee the timely supply of high- as s e m b ly plants in Afric a , ” he said. “It is expected to exceed $5 billion in the coming quality artemisinin medicine to Afric a n rea l l y outside of my exp e c t a tion that so se ven to eight yea r s. co u n t ri e s , ” the head of an artemisinin pro- ma n y African enterpr ises have shown an Al ge r ia, Sudan, the Central Afric a n duction fac t o r y said at the Sino-Afric a n in t e r est in cooperating with us.” Yut o n g Rep u b lic and Sierra Leone also signed An t i - M a l a r ia Exhibition on November 5. rec e n t l y established a facility in Egypt to me m o r andums of understanding with WHO data indicate that a total of 2.5 in c r ease its after-sales service in Afric a . China on November 5 to ackn ow l e d g e its billion people live in malaria zones, espe- full market economy statu s . ci a l l y in Africa. Of the 300 to 500 million Boost in trade To date , more than 60 countries have ma l a r ia suffere r s that emerge each yea r , Trade between China and Africa contin- granted China the full market economy sta- Af r icans account for 90 percent. Malaria ues to increase dram at i c a l l y. Curren t l y, tus, including 14 African countries. has become one of the grea test obstacles to China is Afric a ’ s third- l a r gest trading part- de velopment for African countrie s . ner after the United States and Fran c e . In Cooperation on malaria “W e are prepa r ing to establish two 2005, the bilate r al trade volume rea ch e d At the summit, Hu promised to build 30 ph a r maceutical fac t o r ies in East Africa and $39.74 billion, up 35 percent year on yea r . hospitals in Africa and provide 300 million West Africa. We expect to locally prod u c e The number is 10 times that of 1995. yuan in grants to provide the drug medicines in 2007,” said Lu Chunming, Ac c o r ding to Zhou Yabin, head of the Wes t ar temisinin and build 30 malaria preven t i o n Ge n e r al Manager of Beijing Holley- C o t e c Asia and Africa Affai r s Depa r tment of the and trea tment centers in Africa. Ph a r maceutical Co. Ltd. ■

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 15 VIEWPOINT

ca r ried out? In a macro persp e c t i ve, the big SOEs will withdraw from the economic sectors whe r e they have no competitive advan t a ge, to leave the market space to small and Coming Up to Speed me d i u m - s i z ed enterpr ises. Meanwhi l e , as At a seminar on the operation of state - o wned enterpri s e s for the key industries vital to national wel l - be i n g , the livelihood of the people and (SOEs) in Sept e m b e r , Shao Ning, Vice Chairman of the na tional securit y , such as infras t ru c t u r e St at e - o wned Assets Supervision and Administrati o n co n s t r uction, it would be better to allow Commission of the State Council (SASAC), China’s top SOEs to hold major shares. The national economy and livel i h o o d watch d o g of state - o wned assets, suggests that the top prio ri t y of the people is a dynamic concept, and for SOE refo r m is to introduce more outside inves t o r s and muc h thought needs to be given to key ma k e more effor t in realizing own e r ship divers i fi c a tion. Shao in d u s t r ies rel a ting to economic security as well as the core enterpr ises playing leading sh a r es his unique insight into China’s future refo r m on state - roles in the industries. owned assets in an intervi e w with The 21st Century Business The increasing number of merger s and acquisitions of China’s leading industria l He ra l d , one of China’s leading business news p ap e r s. Excerpts of companies by over seas inves t o r s are of grea t the intervi e w fol l o w. co n c e r n, for cing us to make tran s a c t i o n s tra n s p a r ent to the publi c . It The 21st Century Business Heral d : em p l o yees. Internal tran s fe r is ver y likel y that we will Wha t is the latest progress on the would be the easiest solu- de vise a method by whi c h refo r m of SOEs and state - o wned assets tion for own e r ship refo r m the whole process can be ma n a gement system in major cities? without giving the rei n s placed under public super- Shao: At present, major refo r m has over to outsiders, thus it vision. been seen in small and medium-sized will not face muc h res i s - For other big SOEs left st at e - o wned enterpr ises, while plans for the tance in the proc e s s . in market - o r iented competi- bi g ger ones have been on trial or under Ho wever , because of the tion, the business strate gie s , as s e s s m e n t . unequal access to inform a - to pull back or to enter into Re fe r ring to the own e r ship refo rm , tion, it might enable some the market, will be decided mo r e than 90 percent of small and medi- people to rea p unfair gai n s by their shareh o l d e r s based um - s i z ed state - o wned enterpr ises are du r ing the refo r m process. on their interests and bene- in vol v ed in the program. One thing wort h At the same time, fits. Fran k l y, this issue was mentioning is that new own e r ship struc - without introducing the not listed on our agen d a tu r es have been initially established in east ca pital, products, tech- until the country’ s state - Ch i n a ’ s middle and small-sized SOEs, but niques and corpo r ate gov- owned asset managem e n t for state - o wned businesses located in the er nance measures that the system was installed by and po o r ly developed wes t e r n area and old en t e rp r ises rea l l y need, the la r ge rec e n t l y. Now, after in d u s t r ial cities, progress seems slower . refo r m might not be help- REFORM st at e - o wned assets supervi - As res t ru c t u r ing and merger s progres s , ful for the future devel o p - PRESSING sion and administrati o n by the end of last yea r , we had closed up to ment of the invol v ed bus i - AHEAD: commissions at all level s 3,658 bankrupt state enterpr ises, with 7.19 nesses. ar e in place to exer cise the million employees invol ve d . Actually, we The bigger the enter- Shao Ning, Vice po wer of inves t o r s on ar e drafting a new fou r- y ear plan to bring an pri s e , the more help it Chairman of the behalf of the govern m e n t , end to the 2,100 loss-incurring enterpri s e s needs from outside part- State-owned th e y will make the fin a l being kept aflo a t by gover nment and hope ne r s with adequate capi t a l , decision. to prop e r ly accommodate the tran s f er of 3.5 ad vanced techniques and Assets To sum up, I think the million labo re r s to the market by 2008. pr oducts, as well as fres h Supervision and readjustment in struc t u r e ideas in corpo r ate gover - Administration of state assets should be Wha t is your next step in the refo r m na n c e . In most cases, Commission of the cla s s i f ied into three major pr ocess of big SOEs in major cities? st r ate gic alliance with out- components. For the In addition to pushing for wa r d the si d e r s proves better for State Council, sees in d u s t r ies whe r e SOEs refo r m within a legal fram e wor k, improv- fu t u r e development, at ownership ha ve no competitive ing the proc e d u r e effic i e n c y and regu l at i n g least more effec t i ve than diversification as ad van t a ges, they will the flo w of state - o wned assets, we still rel ying on internal opera- grad u a l l y drop out; how- ha ve to be rational in deciding whi c h way to rs . key to the refom of ever , they should rem a i n to take for specific enterpr ises, and to Of course , the lack of state enterprises ac t i ve in major industrie s reduce refo r m costs to the minimum. an authorit at i ve gover n- of vital importa n c e . For Though the refo r m shows signs of initial ment agen c y to well protect state assets other aver age industries, the govern m e n t success, we are still wor ried about the tran s - should also be blamed for exc e s s i ve inter- should set up a good business envi ro n m e n t fer of state assets in terms of the prop o rt i o n , nal tran s fe r s. to allow businesses feat u r ing var ious types be l i e ving that a large part of them have been of own e r ship to compete on an equal foo t - in transactions to business operato r s and Ho w will the refo r m of big SOEs be in g . As for the role of SOEs in these fie l d s ,

16 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 VIEWPOINT

SIMULTANEOUS LIST: The H shares of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China’s biggest lender, start trading in Hong Kong on October 27. Stock market listing is considered an effective recipe to vitalize China’s large state businesses it depends on the maintenance and incre- side inves t o r s. th e y can be divided into two. Fir st, whe t h e r ment in value of state - o wned assets as wel l The ext e r nal board direc t o r s, selected the enterpr ises that we withdraw support as the natu r al selection of stakeh o l d e r s. by the SASAC and direc t l y res p o n s i b le to fr om can survi ve in the market or not. If the the SASAC, will play a bigger role in tro u b les facing them can be solved after the Ho w will the big SOEs devel o p su p e r vising the use of state assets and the refo r m, it becomes a success. th e m s e l v es in the competitive fields? co l l e c t i ve decisions made by the leadersh i p The second is whether the shift in rol e The driving for ce and direction of the of the enterpr ises. of state - o wned businesses after refo r m refo r m would be the divers i fi c a tion of The aim of SOE refo r m should be the could make them market - o r iented entities own e r ship, whi c h could be rea l i ze d actual combination of the state - ow n e d and whether their management methods can th r ough two channels: partn e r ships with ec o n o m y and market economy. cat c h up with the market cha n g es or not. As outside inves t o r s and listings. Most out- a matter of fact, the divers i fi c a tion of own e r - side strate gic inves t o r s ask for a control - Ho w do you define the success of ship will help the establishment of a strea m - ling stake. As for the large SOEs, whi c h SOE refo rm ? lined corpo r ate gover nance system and get - pl a y a special role in our economic sys- SOEs wer e born with the central l y ting rid of the heavy financial bur den left by tem, the pragm a tic solution would be list- planned economy, suited to the specific hi s t o r y. Wha t is more, the own e r ship can be ing on stock markets, including domestic env i r onment in China’s old system. As the fr eed up along with the market i z a tion of or over seas share sales, or simul t a n e o u s l y. ec o n o m y moved from a planned to a mar- both the employees and business operato rs , In my view, it would be ver y helpful for ket - o r iented one, prob lems emerged show- whi c h indicates the upgrading of both the the big SOEs to cha n g e their bus i n e s s ing that the SOEs wer e not in tune with the la bor for ce and business own e r s. op e r ation methods. em e r ging market economy. This was obvi - Ma r ket rules should not only app l y to For who l l y state - o wned enterpr ises, the ous in all areas, ran g ing from the enterpri s - the way of doing business, but also to the SA S A C is piloting its board of direc t o r s es themselves to employees and rapi d l y wi t h d r awal of enterpr ises by sale, auction, system in the management refo r m. As a cha n g ing social envi r onment. reo r gan i z a tion and clo s u r e. ma tter of fact, most SOEs over seen by In response we have to push refo r m The refo r m should consist of the com- SA S A C are not yet operating under a mod- for wa r d to make the SOEs and state - bi n a tion of state - o wned economy and mar- er n corpo r ate gover nance system, since owned economy even t u a l l y become adapt - ket economy, making it an organic compo- their boards of direc t o r s are mainly made able to a market - o r iented economy, mean- nent of the latt e r , rather than an inflex i bl e up of personnel chosen within the enter- ing the eventual rea l i z a tion of a seamless on e . To rea l i z e this, we should seek more pr ises. Instead, they should implement a co m b i n a tion of market economy and state - help from gover nment depa r tments in ful- system with clear accountabi l i t y , to ensure owned economy. filling their social responsibility and other a balance of power and protection of out- If we look at issues plaguing enterpri s e s , fac i l i t a ting refo r ms. ■

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 17 NATION

By FENG JIANHUA sc i e n c e ,” said, “Traditional Chinese medi- cine theory, being all at sea, is a typical pseu- Traditional hang Gongyao, a prof essor at Central do s c i e n c e , whi c h repr esents a ‘backwa r d South Univers i t y , rec e n t l y launche d pro d u c t iv i t y ’ . ” Chinese an online petition calling for the Ac c o r ding to those who advoc a te abo l i s h - rem o val of traditional Chinese medi- ing TCM, modern medical disciplines (i.e., medicine faces cine (TCM) from the country’ s Wes t e r n medicine) is based on such sciences as a tough time hZe a l t h c a r e system. This provok ed a big pub- ph ysics, che m i s t r y, biology and statistics. The lic outcry. cu r ati ve effects and side effects of Wes t e r n at home Some Internet users signed their names in medicine can be explained and proven by its su p p o r t of the move, but things did not end th e o r ies and clinical exp e ri m e n t s . but gets an enthusiastic East or West: reception abroad Which is Best? th e r e. When some wel l - ness and side effects. It kn o wn public fig u re s will benefit the country’ s joined the side of rem o v- medical situation to get ing TCM from the health- TCM out of China’s ca r e system, the debat e he a l t h c a r e system,” said went wider and deepe r . Zh a n g . Zh a n g , who res e a r ch- Traditional medicine, es the history of scientific whi c h dates back severa l thought, is not an influ e n - thousand yea r s, used to tial fig u r e in the trad i t i o n - be the quintessence of the al medicine commun i t y co u n t r y, and Wes t e r n but his supporte rs , medicines wer e not pop- ac c o r ding to some media ular until 1949, when the repo r ts, come mostly Peo p l e ’ s Repu b lic of fr om the health and med- China was establi s h e d . ical fie l d s . Be fo r e that, TCM was A battle to defend traditional medicine pr edominant in the Chinese medical system. bro k e out. An outraged doctor at the hospital By contrast, the yin and yan g and five- It ’ s no surpr ise then that the debasing of TCM af fil i a ted to the Hunan Academy of element theories of TCM seem to be too has encountered muc h opposition. Traditional Chinese Medicine decided to sue abs t r act and metaph ysical, and difficult to “I’m a little suspicious of trad i t i o n a l Zhang for libel after legal consultati o n . explain through science. What ’ s more, Chinese medicine, but wha t I’m pretty cer- To calm the heated situation, Mao un c e r tainties often occur during the cli n i c a l tain is that it has such a long history and an Qun’an, a Ministry of Health official, said at app l i c a tion of TCM. For instance, in TCM, ir repl a c e a ble position in human medical his- a recent press confer ence that people who th e r e may be 10 differ ent trea tment methods to r y,” said Chen Dazhi, Deputy Director of denied the historical achi e vements, curren t for just one disease. Besides, the perfor - the Organ Transplant Center at Chaoyan g function and scientific basis of trad i t i o n a l mance and side effects of each TCM mate r i- Hospital in Beijing. Chinese medicine wer e cle a r ly ignorant of al hasn’t been proven through strict cli n i c a l Chen said that while TCM theories can’t hi s t o r y. exp e r iments. The re fo r e, TCM is viewed as be explained by modern science, it doesn’t “T he online petition to repu d i a te trad i - no more than an accumul a tion of exp e ri e n c e , ne c e s s a ri l y mean that TCM is unscientific . tional Chinese medicine is a farc e ,” said a not a science, though it has some effec t i ve It ’ s just a matter of time befor e TCM can be sp o k esman for the State Administration of medicines and therapi e s . in t e rp r eted by current science, just as many Traditional Chinese Medicine. Recent negati ve repo r ts on TCM also have other phenomena that used to be considered put ext r a pres s u r e on it, resulting in a lessening un ex p l a i n a ble wer e later proven scientific a l - A ‘pseudoscience’? of public trust. The most recent one happ e n e d ly. Even within the Wes t e r n medical fie l d The key to the deba te is whether TCM is in August, when the UK’s Medicines and th e r e are some things that cannot be a science or not. He a l t h c a r e Products Regu l at o r y Agen c y fou n d explained by modern medical theory. In He Zuoxiu, a theoretical physicist and th a t one traditional medicine, Fufang Luhui ad dition, TCM does have good curati ve academician of the Chinese Academy of Ji a o n a n g , contained toxic levels of mercu r y. ef fects for many diseases that can’t be cured Sciences and a reputed “fighter of pseudo- “T he prob lem with TCM is its effec t i ve-

18 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 TRADITIONAL PHARMACY: A pharmacist dispenses traditional Chinese herbal medicines in a TCM pharmacy in Beijing NATION by Wes t e r n medicine. cru t c h and a week later she could go shop- Chinese medicine sees it as the result of a Song Aizhu, a doctor at the Beijing pi n g . In a month she was totally cured and wea k ening of the immune system. Thus the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, is headed back home. Half a year late r , whe n tre a tments differ . A Wes t e r n doctor might sug- kee n l y awar e of the special curati ve prop e r - she ret u r ned to the hospital for fol l ow - u p gest medicine to ease the symptoms, while his ties of TCM. Her institution has rec e i ved tre a tment, she could even scamper about. Chinese counterpa r t would suggest a therapy pa tients from around the worl d , and the cup- “Chinese medicine is so magical, I will to improve the functioning of the whole body. bo a r d in her office is stuffed with gifts sent by in t r oduce it to more people,” she said in sim- “TCM and Wes t e r n medicine are actual- the many healed pati e n t s . ple Chinese. ly two complementary things,” said Hou. Mi y u r i Makabe , a 50-something Se ver al patients at the hospital from “I t ’ s not proper to say whi c h one is better. Japanese woman who was badly injured in a Sw i t ze r land and Romania wer e ran d o m l y TCM does have some defects, but it makes bo a ting accident, came to China for help as k ed their reaction to the issue of rem ov i n g no sense to exc lude it on the basis of Wes t e r n after two yea r s of Wes t e r n medical treat m e n t TCM from China’s healthcare system. All me d i c i n e , and it’s unfair to trad i t i o n a l failed to wor k. “When I landed in this hospi- lo o k ed surpr ised and shook their heads as if Chinese medicine.” tal I was like a robot with steel struts tied to to say, “Why? I don’t get it.” my body and crut c hes under my armpits. I Hou Manzhen, a vet e r an practitioner of Facing a predicament co u l d n ’ t walk without support, ” she rec a l l e d . TCM, has his own point of view on the issue. Le a ving aside the argument about the After careful exa m i n a tion, a panel of Chinese medicine theory is built on macro rem o val of traditional Chinese medicine exp e r ts decided to put her through acupunc- ph i l o s o p h y while its Wes t e r n counterpa r t is fr om the Chinese healthcare system, wha t is tu r e trea tment, supplemented by some herbal based on micro philosophy, he said. Tak e the clear is that TCM is now in difficulty in its remedies. The next day she showed improve- common cold for exa m p l e . Wes t e r n medicine place of origi n — C h i n a . ment. On the third day she needed only one vi e ws it as the result of a viral infection whi l e Sina.com, one of China’s largest Interne t po r tals, conducted a survey involving 20,046 respondents. When asked the question “Wh a t do you think of TCM,” 74 perce n t voiced their support while only 17 perce n t opposed it. However , when asked “Wou l d you choose to go to a traditional medicine or Wes t e r n doctor when you are sick, ” about 58 pe r cent chose Wes t e r n doctors, 16 perce n t - age points higher than the rate of those choosing TCM. What ’ s more frus t r ating for TCM was another survey conducted by Wang Li, the leading surgeon at the Peo p l e ’ s Hospital of Peking Univers i t y . The survey showed that 90 percent of the respondents don’t believe in TCM any more. The reasons include TCM’s long period of trea tment, complicated thera- py methods and the exa gger ated publicity of some TCM hospitals, she said. “Pushed by the economic benefits, a few small TCM hospitals and private cli n i c s boast they can heal any disease, whi c h is of co u r se impossible . This has brought a bad in f luence on traditional Chinese medicine,” said Song, the traditional medicine doctor. “T raditional Chinese medicine is some- thing ext e n s i ve and profo u n d , and many herbal medicines or trea tment methods take the for m of secret recipes, whi c h gives an opportunity to a few designing people,” said Hou. Ac c o r ding to the certi f ied physician law of China, one is req u i r ed to have at least fou r yea r s of medical school education to take the test to become a certi f ied physician and two fifths of the test is about Wes t e r n medicine. Ma n y of the most exp e r ienced TCM pra c t i t i o n e r s don’t know Wes t e r n medicine or for eign languages, although they are goo d at curing diseases, and thus they cannot obtain the certi fi c a tion, whi c h will lead to the di s ap p e a r ance of traditional medical wisdom when they die. HERBALS GO ABROAD: Beijing Tongrentang, a leading producer of traditional The present medical law enforc e m e n t Chinese medicines, opened a branch store in Australia last November and supervision system hampers the norma l

20 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 NATION pr ivate practice of TCM. Even if a perso n medicines come to about $16 billion, of Cu r ren t l y there are 32 TCM colleges and dies a natu r al death under a private TCM whi c h 80 percent is taken up by Japan, 15 un i ver sities in China, with 390,000 students. pra c t i c e , the practitioner will be punished if pe r cent by South Kor ea and only 3-5 perce n t Five yea r s ago, the number was a tiny someone sues him, since he does not have fr om China. China’s herbal medicine exp o rt s 80 , 0 0 0 . ce rt i fi c a tion. Another unrea s o n a ble point is stood at only $800 million in 2005. “T he current TCM education system th a t a medical accident occurring in TCM While in difficulty in its home country, focuses too muc h on the classics of trad i - pr actice must be examined by Wes t e r n med- TCM is getting an enthusiastic rec ep t i o n tional Chinese medicine, and it is adrif t ical techn o l o gy even though the two belong el s e whe r e. According to Deng Tietao, pro- fr om clinical exp e ri m e n t s , ” said Hou, the to differ ent medical systems. As a res u l t , fessor at the Guangzhou Univer sity of vet e r an prac t i t i o n e r . “Medical educati o n TCM trea tments are too cautious and conser- Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture sh o u l d n ’ t bli n d l y stick to the classic work s , vati ve in innovati o n . St a tistics show that the number of TCM pra c t i t i o n e r s stood at 800,000 in 1912, 500,000 in 1949 and is now below 300,000. The number of Chinese vet e r an TCM prac t i - ti o n e r s has dropped to the present 500 from 5,000 in the 1980s, with most of them abo ve the age of 88. The re fo r e, some war n that Chinese med- icine is facing the loss of its legac y. But Zhang Bing, a prof essor at the Beijing Un i ver sity of Chinese Medicine, said the cri- sis is a “prob lem in progres s , ” and people should not be so wor ried about it because it will be eased with the advancement of high- er education in TCM. TCM has been grad u a l l y margin a l i ze d . TCM hospitals are facing a declining bus i - ness, and local financial support is insuffi- ACUPUNCTURE MODEL: A foreign student at Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese cient. In Hunan Provi n c e , the provincial fis - Medicine studies acupuncture points on a bronze model with his teacher cal reven ue stood at 73.9 billion yuan in 2005 but only 5 million yuan was allocated to is making its way into the mainstream med- it should respect the actual curat ive TCM, and the spending hasn’t seen any ical care system in Britain. In the United ef fec t s . ” in c r ease over the past 10 yea r s. St a tes, acupuncture has been app r oved in 35 Another vet e r an practitioner of TCM, “M a n y TCM hospitals would rath e r st a tes and the District of Columbia, with over Gao Rugui, wor ries about the wes t e rn i z at i o n adopt Wes t e r n medical trea tments instead of 10,000 acupuncturists and 1 million pati e n t s of Chinese traditional medical educati o n . pre s c r ibing che a p Chinese herbal medicines rec e i ving treat m e n t . Wes t e r n medical knowl e d g e makes up the to survi ve in the bus i n e s s , ” said Bai “M a n y countries are investing big money bulk of TCM students’ classes, and TCM Zh e n g p i n g , Deputy Dean of a hospital affil i - in the res e a r ch and development of Chinese te xts are intermingled with Wes t e r n medical ated with the Hunan Academy of Trad i t i o n a l herbal medicine, whi c h is cha l l e n g ing the thought, whi c h can lead to students’ losing Chinese Medicine. It costs only 60 yuan to de velopment of Chinese herbal medicine in faith in TCM. cu r e a frac t u r e through traditional treat m e n t Ch i n a , ” according to a Chinese Govern m e n t “TCM education is looking for a rea s o n - but the cost for having surger y is 1,600 yuan. document concerning the future devel o p - able patt e r n. It’s natu r al to have argu m e n t s To earn more money, hospitals would rath e r ment of TCM in China. and controver sy during the process. In my put frac t u r e patients through surger y. In this document, whi c h was issued in opinion, TCM education is moving toward s “Most of the current TCM hospitals don’t August, the gover nment proposed detailed a more rational direc t i o n , ” said Profe s s o r li ve up to their names,” said Lu Bingkui, the me a s u r es and set up objectives to protect the Zh a n g . for mer Director of the Chinese Medicine co u n t ry ’ s legac y. By 2010, TCM clinics or The folk tradition of passing down Bu r eau of the Ministry of Health. “The y are TCM services should be set up in all the health kn ow l e d g e from masters to their app re n - mi x ed hospitals with both traditional Chinese ce n t e r s at the township level; TCM legis l at i o n tices is also being revi ved . The govern m e n t and Wes t e r n medicines.” should be put for wa r d and a TCM standard is setting up a high-prof ile TCM res e a r ch system should be establi s h e d , and the preven - and study class in Guangdong Provi n c e . A renaissance abroad tion and trea tment capacity of TCM for seri- The class is led by some vet e r an prac t i t i o n - The Chinese Gover nment is awar e of ous diseases such as diabetes, cancer and kid- er s of TCM, and attended by students who TC M ’ s difficult situation and is wor king on ne y diseases should be enhanced. ha ve mastered basic TCM knowl e d g e and al l ev i a ting measures . On October 22, the State Administrati o n ha ve ric h clinical exp e ri e n c e . Traditional Chinese medicine has sprea d of Traditional Chinese Medicine announced “I t ’ s a complex and systematic proj e c t to over 130 countries and regions in the th a t during the 11th Five- Y ear Plan (2006- to revi ve traditional Chinese medicine,” said worl d . Global sales of Chinese herbal medi- 10), the Central Gover nment will invest 5 bil- Zh a n g . “I think the most important thing is cines have been increa s i n g . According to lion yuan to support the development of to build our own TCM theory on a scientif- Wor ld Health Organ i z a tion statistics, in the TCM; the investment was only 800 million ic basis. Without a clear and straight under- ne xt five to 10 yea r s, Chinese herbal medi- yuan during last Five- Y ear Plan. standing of the TCM mechanism, there’ s no cine sales will rea c h $200-300 billion worl d - Apa r t from gover nment support, it is di a l o gue or exch a n g e between the two med- wi d e . Fig u r es from WHO also showed the ur gent to cha n g e the current TCM educati o n ical systems, and wha t we can have is only an n ual sales of the worl d ’ s veget a ble - b a s e d mo d e , exp e r ts say. mi s u n d e rs t a n d i n g .” ■

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 21 NATION

By FENG JIANHUA INTRICATE DELICACY: Wang Youhong, the head chef ang You h o n g ’ s life has been in of an herbal cuisine restaurant, a whi r l ever since the res t a u ra n t prepares a soup dish for customers whe r e he is the head che f opened six months ago. Wan g , 34, wor ks in a res t a u r ant in Wno rt h e r n Beijing that specializes in herbal cu i s i n e . Ever y day he is busy showing visit- ing chefs around as well as having discus- sions with people interested in partn e ri n g with the res t a u ra n t . Despite the remote location of the res t a u - rant, business is buo yant. Its customers in c lude many fore i g n e r s who have been att r acted to the res t a u r ant by wor d of mouth. Ac c o r ding to Wan g , herbal cuisine br ings in reven ue of over 400,000 yuan ever y month, whi c h is the envy of res t a u r ants of a similar scale. “C h i n a ’ s herbal cuisine industry faces a good opportunity for devel o p m e n t , ” said Wan g . “I believe in 10 yea r s China’s herbal cuisine will have its own famous brands as wel l - k n o wn as the ‘Quanjude’ Peking roa s t du ck . ” Herbal cuisine has a long history in China. One exp l a n a tion of its orig in is that in gath e r ing food in the wild, the ancient Chinese found that some plants could be pre- pa r ed as food as well as being used to cure di s e a s e . These special plants with the com- bined natu r e of food and medicine are seen as the basis for herbal cuisine. Ac c o r ding to historical rec o r ds, the firs t pro f essional chef of herbal cuisine app e a re d in the Chinese emperor ’ s palace over 1,000 yea r s ago. With the country’ s social devel o p - ment, herbal cuisine has grad u a l l y become ac c e s s i b le and popular among ordi n a r y peo- pl e . While traditional Chinese medicine uses mo r e than 5,000 kinds of herbs, according to Li Baohua, Vice Director of the Chinese As s o c i a tion of Herbal Cuisine Studies, only 108 herbs are permitted to be used in herbal cu i s i n e . Since the end of the 1990s, many big cities in China have been hit by a fever for herbal cuisine. “Serving herbal cuisine” has been adopted as a marketing strate gy by small res t a u r ants as well as those in five- s t a r hotels. To Your Health Concept is misused “T he popularity of herbal cuisine refl e c t s Herbal cuisine, which combines the rise of people’s living standards , ” said Li. “Chinese people are paying more attention to the properties of food and medicine, the cultural and health aspects of their diet.” is becoming more popular, but its future Ho wever , due to a lack of supervi s i o n , the concept of herbal cuisine has been depends on customer education and abus e d . For exa m p l e , many res t a u r ants trea t herbal cuisine as an adver tising catch wo r d, regulations to insure safety while their chefs know nothing about the cha ra c t e r istics or prepa r ation of such foo d .

22 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 NATION

Wang cited a ver y common example: some ord i n a r y che f . Wan g ’ s res t a u r ant has 400 sine can only play a supporti ve role in safe- res t a u r ants add some traditional herbs to an se a ts and only four herbal cuisine che f s . gu a r ding health,” he said. “The effects are ord i n a r y dish and then call it a herbal cuisine For another thing, the popular view of us u a l l y slow, and not effec t i ve for all dis- di s h . not taking medicine when it can be avoi d e d ea s e s . ” As a matter of fact, the culinary exp e rt i s e is harming the populariz a tion of herbal cui- Zhou Jian is an associate prof essor of req u i r ed for herbal cuisine is muc h more sine res t a u r ants. Wang said the ad campaigns nut r ition at the Beijing Univer sity of Chinese co m p l i c a ted and intric at e . While prepa ri n g for the medicinal diet industry have cha n ge d Me d i c i n e . She confir med that the proven herbal medicine dishes, the chef should bear their slogans to “health pres e r vation” and ef fects of herbal cuisine include nouris h i n g in mind the body type and health situation of “health protection” to over come public rel u c - the hair, skin, brain and bones, helping in di n e r s, the season and the geo graphical envi - ta n c e . weight loss and improving sexual function. ronment, and base the choice of herbs on these fac t o r s. According to trad i t i o n a l Chinese medicine theories, spring is the best season for taking nourishment for the liver , summer for the spleen and stomach, autumn for the lungs and winter for the kidneys . Casual prepa r ation of herbal cuisine without knowl e d g e of the natu r e of herbs could harm diners’ health, exp e r ts say. Ho wever , Wang believes an importa n t factor inhibiting the rapid development of herbal cuisine is people’s mistaken perce p- tions about it. To be specific , trad i t i o n a l herbal cuisine has for a long time placed exc e s s i ve emphasis on its curati ve effects and ne glected the culinary pleasure for diners. Under such guidelines, herbal cuisine dishes wer e not appetizing at all and the medicinal taste kept many diners away. “My herbal cuisine dishes are fir st and for emost savor y dishes,” Wang said. “I would fir st make sure that they are delicious HERBAL DRINK BAR: A restaurant in Beijing specializing in herbal cuisine displays and then think about their nut r itional func- various types of herb-infused alcohol for customers to choose from ti o n s . ” Wang has been in the herbal cuisine in d u s t r y for nearly 10 yea r s. When he starte d Gap in understanding But Zhou cautioned, “Without consulting as an app r entice cook in 1997, his mentor “M a n y people refuse to try a medicinal pro f essionals, nobody should casually eat was Jiao Mingyao, one of China’s top-notch diet due to their misunderstanding that a herbal cuisine.” herbal cuisine chefs. Jiao used to be the head medicinal diet is a kind of medicine, whi c h is Wang said if a customer does not have a chef of Ton g rentang Emperor Foo d , the not true ,” said Wan g . clear req u i r ement, the wai t e r s and wai t re s s e s res t a u r ant under China’s best-known phar- Ma n y herbal cuisine res t a u r ants are try- who have rec e i ved prof essional trai n i n g maceutical bran d , Ton g ren t a n g , whi c h was ing to cha n g e course to cater to customers. should give tailored suggestions on orde ri n g appointed to prepa r e pres c r iptions for the Gi ving up the model of singularly pursu i n g based on the physical situation of each cus- em p e ro r . the medical effects, they are paying increa s - to m e r . These suggestions will be carried out Wang has developed a patented “100- ing attention to the tastiness of the foo d . For on l y after being app r oved by the head che f . herb banquet” that includes over 200 dishes. exa m p l e , an herbal cuisine res t a u r ant in “Deliciousness and safety are our top pri- “T he recipes for all these dishes have Ch i n a ’ s southern city of Chengdu devel o p e d ori t i e s , ” said Wan g . been put to the strictest test,” Wang said. a new type of edible ros e , whi c h earned the He said he believes that the herbal cate r - “T he job for our chefs is to make them res t a u r ant instant fame and a prof it of 3 mil- ing sector is exhibiting an unhealthy trend of sa vor y and achi e ve the best combination of lion yuan over six yea rs . po l a ri z a tion. The fas t e s t - d e veloping sectors medicine and diet.” “It tastes good and has the fragrance of a ar e high-end res t a u r ants and low-end res t a u - Ac c o r ding to Wan g , Beijing has only ros e ,” said patr on He Xiaofen g . rants. In contrast, mid-level herbal cuisine se ven or eight res t a u r ants specializing in a Ma n y customers said the principle rea - res t a u r ants cate r ing to the largest number of medicinal diet, but there are innum e r able son they like herbal cuisine is its taste. cu s t o m e r s are developing ver y slowl y. res t a u r ants in the city using the term herbal Se c o n d a ri l y, they hope the cuisine can help “T his is a big market with huge poten- cuisine for self-promotion. Wang exp l a i n e d st r engthen their health. ti a l , ” Wang said. th a t there are two reasons for such a scenario . But some diners turn to a medicinal diet As for the govern m e n t ’ s role in prom o t - For one thing, there is a limited supply of to find a cure for disease. Wang said his pre- ing the development of medicinal diets, qu a l i f ied herbal cuisine chefs. Although the sc r ibed dishes once cured the chr onic consti- Wang said he believes that gover nment agen - Chinese Association of Herbal Cuisine pa tion of an elderly customer who came to cies should guide public understanding of Studies began to intensify training of herbal his res t a u r ant for rel i e f . herbal cuisine. Another measure is to rai s e cuisine chefs sever al yea r s ago, the gap Ho wever , Wang emphasized that he the entry standards for herbal cuisine che f s be t w een demand and supply remains large. would fran k l y tell a customer not to have and further cla r ify the req u i r ements of the Ac c o r ding to Wan g , the salary of an herbal too muc h hope if he or she is seeking a cure position, whi c h will nurt u r e the healthy and cuisine chef is two or three times that of an fr om herbal cuisine. “After all, herbal cui- ord e r ly development of the industry. ■

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 23 NATION

50,000 in 2000 and over 400,000 in 2005. By the end of October of this yea r , the total had jumped to 550,000. If unregis t e r ed dogs and other pets are inclu d e d , the number of pets in Beijing exceeds 1 million. If the aver age spending on each pet is 100 yuan Ancient Cures ever y month, then Beijing residents are spending a stagger ing 1.2 billion yuan on pet care ever y yea r . And that fig u r e is fai r ly co n s e r vati ve, considering that 100 yuan is For Modern Pets not enough for a bath at a pet salon in Be i j i n g . Traditional Chinese medicine The sharp increase in the pet populati o n in the capital has trig ger ed an expansion of is showing its edge in helping pets the number of pet hospitals. In 1995, there wer e eight such facilities in Beijing. The as well as humans number climbed to 30 in 2000 and to near- ly 300 curren t l y. And it is a lucra- By FENG JIANHUA ti ve business. A source from the China Animal Agric u l t u r e fter traveling on a bus for the entire As s o c i a tion, who req u e s t e d mo rn i n g , He Guoping and his wife an o ny m i t y , told Beijing Revi e w, fin a l l y arrived at the animal hospi- “As far as I know, most pet hospi- tal of the Chinese Agric u l t u ra l tals can rea c h a prof it rate of over Un i vers i t y , ackn ow l e d g ed as the 300 perce n t . ” Abest such facility in Beijing. In He’s arms With the increase in the num - was his beloved pet, a six-yea r -old dachs - ber of pets and the unique therapy hu n d . of traditional Chinese medicine in At the hospital’s clinic of trad i t i o n a l reh ab i l i t a ting pets, trad i t i o n a l Chinese medicine, the couple was met by medicine for pets has become a Liu Zhongjie, a vet e ri n a r ian exp e r ienced in vi b r ant industry in some places. the fie l d . Ac c o r ding to a repo r t of the “Our dog was bouncy and cle ver . But Guangzhou-based Yan g ch e n g the other day, it jumped onto the sofa after Ev ening News, a new type of coming back home, only to find that it could tr aining course for vet e ri n a r ians of not move its hind legs , ” said the sad pet- tr aditional Chinese medicine is own e r . “The symptoms developed so quick- being offer ed in Hong Kong and ly that it could not even stand up.” Guangzhou, including courses on He took his pet to smaller animal hospi- ma s s a ge and acupuncture. Hong tals near his home, but to no avail. After Kong set up its fir st animal hospi- being introduced by doctors there, he came tal specializing in trad i t i o n a l to the wel l - k n o wn animal hospital as the last Chinese medicine in Apr il, whi c h ho p e . is the fir st of its kind in Asia. The Li u ’ s diagnosis was that the dog suf- business of this pioneering hospi- fer ed from a herni a ted spinal disc. tal is parti c u l a r ly goo d , with aver - “H o w can my dog be cured?” He asked . age monthly reven ue of over “S u r ger y in this case would cost at least 300,000 yuan in the fir st fou r HEALING HANDS: Traditional medicine 10,000 yuan, whi c h your fam i l y can’t months. veterinarian Liu Zhongjie checks the joints of a “Ac c o r ding to my cli n i c a l af for d,” said Liu. “But this can also be trea t- paralyzed puppy ed by traditional Chinese medicine and you r exp e ri e n c e , the number of cases of do g will be given acupuncture ever y other cu r ing pets with trad i t i o n a l da y.” Mo r ning Post, the total number of pets in Chinese medicine is on an obvious surge,” Liu said according to his clinical exp e r i- China has rea c hed 100 million, nurt u r ing a said Liu. en c e , pets suffer ing from herni a ted lumbar potential market wor th 15 billion yuan. The Ac c o r ding to Liu, traditional Chinese in t e r vert eb r al discs can grad u a l l y devel o p same repo r t estimated that the number of medicine can cure a wide array of pet dis- pa ra l ysis in all legs without trea tment. The pets in China will rea c h 150 million by eases. However , for var ious reasons, trad i - Wes t e r n therapy is both costly and unrel i a ble . 2010 and the total sales volume of pet-rel a t- tional Chinese medicine has mainly been By contrast, he said the rec o ver y rate from ed industries could rea c h 40 billion yuan. adopted for areas whe r e the results of ac u p u n c t u r e trea tment is abo ve 80 perce n t . The r e has been a surging interest in havi n g Wes t e r n medicine are poor, such as nerve He ’ s fam i l y was great l y rel i e ved to hear pets on the Chinese mainland, especially in dysfunction, sciatic nerve paral ysis, chro n i c th a t their pet could be cured . “I should have big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, di ge s t i ve diseases and liver and kidney dis- kn o wn better to come here earli e r ,” He said. Guangzhou and Shenzhen. eases. Ac c o r ding to gover nment stati s t i c s , “C o m p a r ed with Chinese medicine, Growing pet population Beijing had fewer than 10,000 dogs regis - Wes t e r n medicine enjoys the advan t a ges of Ac c o r ding to a repo r t in the Beijing te r ed in 1995. This fig u r e rose sharpl y to co n venience in prepa r ing medicine and

2424 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 NATION qu i c k effec t s , ” said Liu. “The re fo r e, who “Zhenzhen” for three yea r s. However , three sion of medical trea tment of pets throu g h will use traditional medicine when Wes t e r n months ago, the usually active dog sudde n - tr aditional medicine,” said Hou Manzhen, a medicine can cure the disease?” ly became sluggish. Its owner took it to a wel l - k n o wn private traditional medical doc- Among the nearly 300 animal hospitals ne a r b y animal hospital. Without giving the tor in Beijing. in Beijing, many provide certain therapi e s reason for the disease, the vet e ri n a r ian pre- Ho wever , Liu Zhongjie said Chinese using traditional Chinese medicine but only sc r ibed a dizzying ran g e of antibiotics. Yet people started to develop knowl e d g e of 10 have set up specialized clinics for that Liu found that the more medicine the dog tre a ting cattle with traditional medicine as pu rp o s e . took, the wea k er it became. ea r ly as 7,000 to 10,000 yea r s ago. About Without further delay, she took the dog 3,000 yea r s ago, China had profe s s i o n a l Market is still small to a bigger animal hospital. The vet e ri n a r i- vet e ri n a r ians of traditional medicine. As far as Liu Zhongjie is concerne d , an there told her that her dog suffer ed from Ar ound the 1840s, a compreh e n s i ve system although his hospital has a traditional med- li ver fai l u r e and could have been cured if of vet e ri n a r y knowl e d g e was developed in icine cli n i c , it does not have its own trad i - tr aditional medicine therapy had been the country. tional medicine pharma c y. The own e r s of adopted in the fir st place. But by taking too “I think vet e ri n a r y traditional medicine si c k pets just pay a small diagnostic fee and ma n y antibiotics, the dog deterio r ated so has a ver y bright future,” said Liu, noting buy the medicine at regular pharma c i e s . qu i ck l y that it became incurable . the rapid growth in the number of people “T his is hardl y sustainable considering that “I did not know that pets could be trea t- st u d ying vet e ri n a r y traditional Chinese Chinese hospitals mainly rel y on selling ed with traditional Chinese medicine. But medicine abro a d . He told Beijing Revi e w medicine to earn money,” Liu said. no w it is too late ,” said Liu. th a t sever al of his univer sity cla s s m at e s “F or the time being, animal hospitals Ma n y pet own e r s like Liu have little ha ve opened their own vet e ri n a r y clinics of ar e rel at i vel y small. The establishment of a kn ow l e d g e of traditional medicine for pets. tr aditional Chinese medicine in the United ph a rm a c y of traditional medicine req u i re s Some of them are curious about it but still St a tes and Canada and earned a fai r ly hand- hi r ing at least two people. If all the costs are do n ’ t trust it much . some income. ad ded up, running a pharma c y of trad i t i o n - “Ac t u a l l y traditional Chinese medicine Liu said although many trad i t i o n a l al medicine will prob a bly become a fin a n - has its own limitations in curing pets. For Chinese medicine colleges offer vet e ri n a r y cial bur den of the hospital,” Liu adde d . exa m p l e , the four basic traditional Chinese co u r ses, many are limited to theoret i c a l Besides the cost consideration for hos- medicine diagnostic methods are to kn ow l e d g e and don’t provide clinical prac - pitals, people’s lack of awar eness is another ob s e r ve, listen and smell, ask about the tice opportu n i t i e s . factor inhibiting the development of trad i - pat i e n t ’ s backg round and take the pulse. “I can say that the city has too few vet - tional medicine for pets. Animals cannot speak and therefo r e it is eri n a r ians of traditional medicine who can Liu Yanxia, a middl e - a ged Beijing res i - ha r d for the disease to be accurate l y diag- pre s c r ibe the correct medicati o n , ” said Liu. dent, has kept a papillon dog named no s e d . I am perso n a l l y against the exp a n - “S u c h a situation is quite wor ris o m e .” ■

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BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 25 FARMHOUSE HOTEL: New farmhouses are being built to accommodate tourists in Pingxiliang Village of Shuixigou Township, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

A New Taste Of the Countryside Rural tourism programs in Xinjiang are giving the region’s residents new options

By JING XIAOLEI gu e s t s , ” she exp l a i n e d . In this way, herdsmen parti c i p a te in the Both yurts share the same cement base. se r vice industry and immediate l y have their riving 110 km towar d fam o u s Ac c o r ding to Marziya, the local gover n- income increa s e d , whi c h is an importa n t to u r ist att r action Tia n c hi Lake from ment invested a total of 10 million yuan in ob j e c t i ve of rur al development. Uru m c hi, capital of the Xinjiang co n s t r ucting the folk village. What ’ s more, as herdsmen become set- Uygur Autonomous Region, clu s - Last year there was a flood and most of tled residents, it is good for the envi ro n - te r s of yurts can be seen alongside the old yurts wer e destroyed , so the gover n- ment, since grazing does some harm, said Dthe winding roa d , set amid the trees. The ment allocated a large sum of money to Qin Xiaoling, a local offic i a l . tr aditional nomads’ homes all look new, rebuild their homes. “The gover nment spent ea c h with a number printed on the door. about 100,000 yuan for each fam i l y, inclu d - From farmer to hotel manager Then a signpost catc hes the eye: It rea d s ing the cement base, the construction of the Aside from the folk village exp e ri e n c e “W elcome to the Kazakh Fol k l o r e Vil l a ge!” tw o yurts and water and electricity sup- pr ovided for the tourists, there is another Ma r z i y a, 39, is the owner of one of the pl i e s , ” said the own e r , adding that the res i - “fa r mhouse hotel” economy booming in yu r ts. She is a Kazakh who raised catt l e dents have to pay only 300 yuan a year for Xi n j i a n g , and Shuixigou Township is a typ- mo r e than 10 yea r s ago on the other side of ma n a gement exp e n s e s . ical exa m p l e . Tia n c hi Lake. “We used to be herdsmen and It costs about 150 yuan per day to rent a On l y 50 km from the capital city ba re l y did any business exc e pt for selling yu r t. Each is decorated differe n t l y, accord- Uru m c hi, Shuixigou Township is locate d some smoked horse meat, ” she said. ing to the taste of the own e r . Tou r ists can adjacent to the Southern Mountain scenic Of ficial fig u r es show there are about 1.4 ea t, sleep and sing karao k e inside the yurt. spot, whi c h has a favor able cli m a te that is million Kazakhs in Xinjiang, accounting for The food served here is home-style. cool in summer and war m in winter. 7 percent of the total population in the “Sometimes I hire a dance team to per- Gi ven the cli m a te advan t a ge, autonomous region. for m for our guests,” said Habi e k e, owner of Fangjiazhuang Vil l a ge, under the juris d i c - Ma r z i ya ’ s yurt is No. A-2, the second yurt another yurt in the folk village. tion of Shuixigou Township, has devel o p e d in the A section. According to Marziya, there Hab i e k e, also a Kazakh, used to be a the far mhouse hotel business. According to ar e three sections in this fol k l o r e village, with tour guide and has sold handicraft arti cl e s the village Par ty bran c h secret a r y, Xian Hui, sections A and B completed and section C still for some time. the village finished rec o n s t r uction wor k in under construction. “Since I took up the folk tourism bus i - 2003, with all the old houses torn down and “W e have 58 households in section A. ness here sever al yea r s ago, I’m doing bet- ne w ones built. The construction of each Ea c h household owns two yurts, a bigger ter and better. Last year I made a net profi t far mhouse cost 110,000 yuan, with 60,000 one and a smaller one. The bigger one is to of some 80,000-90,000 yuan,” he said. yuan paid by farm e r s and the rest coming ac c o m m o d a te tourists and the smaller one is Hab i e k e is too busy to run his bus i n e s s fr om a gover nment subsidy. whe r e we live and prepa r e food for the alone and he employs two wor ker s to help him. This village used to be povert y - s t ri c ken ,

26 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 NATION with a small agric u l t u r al production of whe a t near the foot of the mountain and help them sions are made bli n d l y due to a lack of prop - and potatoes, but it now rec e i ves a touris t rebuild their houses. When these new hous- er macro-adjustment and guidance from the po p u l a tion that is growing year by yea r . In es are fin i s h e d , they also will be used to gover nment. Inves t o r s also fail to do suffi- 2005, there wer e 56,000 visitors, and that op e r ate a hotel business. cient market res e a r ch and planning befor e number has risen to 73,000 so far this yea r . In recent yea r s, Shuixigou Town s h i p th e y jump into the heated tourism bus i n e s s . “I didn’t quite understand the point of has introduced 29 enterpr ises and a total Chen pointed out that rur al touris m te a r ing down my house and rebuilding it in vestment of 1.8 billion yuan to help devel - remains at the level of providing lodgin g until the next yea r , when I made a net prof - op the local economy, focusing on rea l and foo d , not going deepl y enough into it of 100,000 yuan through accommodati n g es t a te and tourism. exp l o r ing real folk customs. As a res u l t , the touris t s , ” said village resident Xian Hui. It seems that the effor ts have paid off. In rur al tourism activities fol l o w the same pat- Xi a n ’ s house is clean and bright, with a 2005, the per capita net income of the town - te r n: eat home-style foo d , drink tea, play spacious guest room, two bedrooms with fou r ship residents was 4,317 yuan, with 47.7 mahjong and sing karao k e. beds in them, a bath r oom and an enterta i n - pe r cent coming from touris m . Another prob lem is of even more concern, ment room for playing mahjong. According to Though there are no statistics yet on how said Chen. Countryside tourism in some Xian, all the far mhouse hotels have undergon e muc h of a contrib ution this rur al touris m places destroys the natu r al rur al landscape . a sanitary inspection and meet those standards . ma k es to the autonomous regio n ’ s overa l l Ig n o r ing the basic considerations of simplici- “Y ou won ’ t believe that a film celebri t y to u r ism revenu e , according to Naiyimu Yas e n , ty , natu r alism and harmo n y, fla s h y and luxuri- li k e Li Yapeng once stayed at my hotel,” the head of the Xinjiang Tou ri s m ous tourist facilities are being put up, whi c h by said Xian with excitement and prid e . Ad m i n i s t r ation, “Countryside tourism is gai n - no means fits into the countryside scene. The neighboring Pixiliang Vil l a ge, on ing momentum and will flo u r ish in five yea rs . ” Ru r al tourism is viewed as importa n t the other hand, still looks like a construc t i o n because it is considered to be one of the most si t e . Bulldozer s move back and for th; a few Dealing with problems ef ficient ways to improve the lives of the rura l ne w houses are standing but others have not While the gover nment has helped to po p u l a tion. Without resolving the probl e m s yet taken shape . in c r ease farm e r s’ income and improve their th a t occur in the process of developing coun- Not far from the site, a ski slope is being li velihood through var ious channels, inclu d - tr yside tourism, however , there will be no fur- built on one side of the Southern Mountain. ing tourism, the current situation for devel - ther sustainable development, Chen said. Ac c o r ding to township official Chen Kua n , oping rur al tourism does have some defec t s , These prob lems so far might be denied or the local Xinjiang Hongjing Group Co. ac c o r ding to Prof essor Chen Chuangan g overl o o k ed by local gover nments, but exp e rt s Lt d ., a telecommun i c a tions company, has with the Center for Recrea tion and Tou ri s m ha ve advice on developing healthy and sus- in vested in developing a ski res o r t whe r e Re s e a r ch of Peking Univers i t y . ta i n a ble rur al tourism, the most important sug- Pingxiliang Vil l a ge used to be locate d . So The most univer sal prob lem, said Chen, gestion being to develop an integrated plan the company has to rel o c a te the villager s is duplication. Sometimes investment deci- be fo r e diving into the booming business. ■

YURT INN: Yurts in the Kazakh Folklore Village are scattered among the trees in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 27 NATION

ca pita income rea c hed 4,200 yuan in 2005, with 67 percent coming from touris m , ac c o r ding to the village’ s official statistics. “To u r ism brings a lot of benefit to the The Winds of Change local Tuv a res i d e n t s , ” said Gerelit. “The most important result is that our income is The legendary Tuvans, one of the oldest in c re a s e d , as is our livel i h o o d . The quality of our people is also enhanced.” nomadic peoples in northern Xinjiang, feel the The deputy chi e f ’s house provides evi - impact of embracing the outside world dence for that assertion. The house is spa- cious and tidy, with large, delicate carpe t s By JING XIAOLEI bra n c h of the Mongols as they are believed co ver ing the wooden flo o r . In one corner is to be the offs p r ing of the troops of Genghis a big-screen color TV. ext to the Kanas Lake “monster,” Khan as he conducted his campaign of con- Ge r elit also mentioned the envi ro n m e n - to many people the Tuv ans are the qu e s t . tal prob lems that tourism causes. “Rubbi s h second most mys t e r ious inhabi - Tuv ans believe in Tan t r ic Buddhism and can be found along the road and the river - tants of the Kanas region in north - ha ve pres e r ved the traditional beliefs of si d e ,” he said. “But compared with the goo d er n Xinjiang Uygur Aut o n o m o u s their tribe quite well. Religious and trad i - results tourism has brought to us, such a NRe gion. The Tuv ans, however , actually are tional fes t i vals are always jolly and active. pro b lem so far hasn’t posed any serio u s one of the oldest nomadic peoples in north - For almost 500 yea r s, the Tuv ans lived th re a ts to our natu r al envi r onment and we west China. in a picturesque and peaceful region gen e r - al re a d y have this under control . ” The Kanas region is the only place in ation by gen e r ation, sepa r ated from the out- In Kanas Vil l a ge, however , the touris m China that is home to the Tuv ans, who side wor ld and undisturbed. business has grown a bit too fast and in number 2,000 and mainly live in three vil- In the mid-1990s, however , Hemu recent yea r s complaints from tourists have la ges around the Kanas Lake. The r e are Vil l a ge began to open up to the outside mo u n t e d , focusing on the shabby lodgin g about 200,000 Tuv ans worl dw i d e , with wor ld and tourism was introd u c e d . Woo d e n and dining facilities. 30,000 living in Mongolia and the res t ca bins wer e rented to the tourists, horse s The re fo r e, starting this yea r , most of the ma i n l y in the Repu b lic of Tuv a, whi c h is wer e trained to carry the backp a c ker s and to u r ism establishments are being disman- pa r t of the Russia. rustic food and drink wer e served to the tled to protect the envi r onment of the Kanas “W e belong to the Mongol [tribe] and in c r easing number of visitors. region. As compensation, ever y Tuva n ever y Tuv an here considers Genghis Khan household in Kanas Vil l a ge will rec e i ve our hero, ” said Buhedi, a 65-yea r -old res i d e n t Profiting from tourism 20,000 yuan ever y year for five consecutive of Hemu Vil l a ge, one of the three villages of Not long after, the tourism economy yea r s. The money comes from ticket sales the Tuv a in China. Tuv ans believe they are over took the traditional agro- p a s t o r al econ- to the Kanas scenic area. In addition, the descendants of Mongol troops, and they om y and became the main income source scenic area has employed 116 Tuv ans to be honor Genghis Khan by hanging a portr ait of for the Tuv ans. The per capita income ros e for est guards, custodians and provi d e r s of him on the wall of their wooden houses. to 1,900 yuan last year in Hemu Vil l a ge, other servi c e s . But the orig in of the Tuv ans remains a with tourism reven ue accounting for 52 per- Gi ven all these measures, the total mys t e r y. Some exp e r ts think that the Tuva n s cent of the total, while in 1993, the aver age income of the 110 Tuv an households each in China migrated from the Repu b lic of income was merel y 356 yuan, according to year will come to 4 million yuan, 1 million Tuv a 500 yea r s ago but others Ge r elit, the village’ s deputy chi e f . yuan more than in the past, when the vil- ar gue that they are But the 1,900 yuan income in Hemu is la ger s rented houses and provided food for a lo w compared with that of Kanas Vil l a ge, the visitors. another area of the Tuv a in China. Kanas Ac c o r ding to var ious tales, Tuv ans are Vil l a ge started its touris m also famous for their alcohol consumption. business a little earli e r But when asked about it, Gerelit, the depu t y than Hemu chi e f , had a quick res p o n s e . “Don’t believe Vil l a ge and th at , ” he commented to Beijing Revi e w. its per “Suppose we Tuv ans wer e all alcoholics and went around with a bottle of wine in hand all day long; who do you think put up so many wooden cabins and fences and raised these horses?” Wha t has cha n g ed along with the eco- nomic patt e r n is the honest and simple ways of the people. One repo r ter complained that he was welcomed in a Tuv an fam i l y with milk tea and local pastries, whi c h he thought was free , but when he was about to le a ve he was cha r ged 45 yuan for the foo d and drin k . LEGENDARY PEOPLE: An “I was pretty surpr ised and felt awk - elderly Tuvan lady stands war d about this, but it seems that free hos- in front of a traditional pitality is a thing of the past alrea d y,” said wooden house the repo rt e r . ■

28 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006

FAMOUS FIVE: Folk artists Chen Hongchuan (right) and his son Chen Yichen make sculptures of the Olympic Fuwa mascots with rice flour

di d a te app r entices for craftsmen of trad i - tional arts that are on the ver ge of ext i n c t i o n . Tang learned that China’s only craf t s - man carrying on the tradition of making Traditional Crafts br istle dolls, Bai Dache n g , was seeking app re n t i c e s . “I once saw a bristle doll perform a n c e by Bai on TV,” said an excited Tan g , and Highlighting Olympics she found them intric a te mimics of the im a ges presented in Peking opera. Durin g The Beijing Olympics offers an the perform a n c e , Bai put two bristle dolls dr essed as war rio r s on a bron z e plate and unprecedented opportunity for China to kn o c ked the plate with a wooden stick. Thi s cre a ted a rhythm to whi c h the two dolls sa ve its disappearing folk arts res p o n d e d , their arms and hands “coming to li f e.” Recalling this unfor get t a ble show, By TANG YUANKAI Ol ympics. This Beijing gir l will grad u at e Tang became so exc i t e d . fr om univer sity about the time the capi t a l The manufa c t u r ing of bristle dolls orig i- ang Yin gy i n g , a 19-yea r -old history hosts the 29th Games. “I will study for a mas- na ted over 100 yea r s ago, deepl y influ e n c e d ma j o r , bears clear hallmarks of the te r ’ s degree late r , but, during the summer by Peking opera and leather shadow puppet Chinese you n g er gen e r ation: she vac a tion, I can be an Olympics vol u n t e e r .” pe r fo r mances. Earlier craftsmen made the oo z es confidence and a sense of Tang is a little confused over cho o s i n g bo d y of the six-inch puppets with cla y and su p e ri o r ity; and differ ent from older fr om a kaleidoscope of vol u n t a r y servi c e s , st r aw and dressed them in a silk coat; fin a l l y, Tgen e r ations, she often says “I” instead of su c h as interpre t a tion, rec e ption, medical the faces wer e painted to mimic the masks of “w e.” She wants to live her life according to ca r e and stadium guide. Peking opera. The last proc e d u r e req u i re s her own ideas and she dares to pursue suc- But she fin a l l y had a revel a tion on see- st i c king a flex i b le bristle under the bust of the cess, excellence and new things. But the ing a news item on the Internet: China’s puppets so that this elasticity enables them to un i ver sity junior admits that she has some leading instant messaging service provi d e r mo ve rhyt h m i c a l l y. That ’ s how perform a n c e un usual hobbies for her age. Influenced by Tencent and the Chinese Young Vol u n t e e r s of bristle dolls earns its name, “show on a her gran d f ath e r , Tang is a big Peking Opera As s o c i a tion had jointly launched a nati o n a l pl at e .” fan. She also likes Chinese traditional craf t s , campaign to protect the nati o n ’ s non-mate r - The craft of making bristle dolls was on pr ompting her decision to major in history. ial cultural herit a ge. Differ ent from other the ver ge of extinction in the 1940s when war For the time being, Tan g ’ s biggest hope su c h campaigns, this program is to enlist ravaged the country. Bai, who was raised in a is to become a volunteer for the 2008 regis t e r ed young vol u n t e e r s to become can- tr aditional Chinese hu t o n g [a l l ey w ay], has

30 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 NATION OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN en j o yed Peking opera and painting for as ha ve powerful forc e ,” said Xu. pe r fo r mances for the 2008 Olym p i c s . long as he can rem e m b e r . Despite his draw- Ma n y people believe that the prop e r Tang said she had made up her mind to ing and painting talents, however , he rare l y qu a l i fi c a tion of folk artists holds the key to le a r n the bristle doll craft from Bai to fulfil l thought he could one day become the suc- pr otection of the nati o n ’ s non-mate r ial her- her two dreams of becoming an Olym p i c cessor to the art of making bristle dolls. it a ge; allowing unqualified craftsman to pass volunteer and parti c i p a ting in cultural pro- In 1959, he had to withdraw from an on the craft, however , would prove destruc - motion activities during the Games. ae r onautical academy due to health prob - ti ve. In response to such wor ries, Xu said the Ba i ’ s req u i r ements are quite demand- lems. By coincidence, he was introduced to qu a l i fi c a tions of all folk craftsmen in this in g . Candidates must not be profi t - d r iven in a second-gen e r ation bristle doll artist, Wan g ac t i vity would be caref u l l y che c ked accord- le a r ning the art and must have deep knowl - Ha n q i n g . After seeing Bai’s art work s , ing to regu l a tions and industry rules. ed g e of China’s traditional arts and history Wang invited him to learn the techniques of Ho wever , Bai’s qualific a tions are not in and some knowl e d g e of stage perform a n c e making bristle dolls in order to pass on the doubt, as far as Xu is concerne d . Bai’s bris - and traditional operas. cr aft crea ted by Wan g ’ s fath e r . tle dolls wer e showcased at two internat i o n - Tang believes she meets all the req u i r e- “T he cha r m of bristle dolls is that they al folk arts expos repr esenting China’s fol k ments. “Cultural herit a ge is a bond linking contain the nati o n ’ s ric h culture,” said Bai. ar ts and he was also invited by the Pari s - the past and the future as well as the root of He said there wer e a story and a piece of based France-China Association to lecture Ch i n a ’ s pros p e c t i ve innovati o n - d r iven soci- hi s t o r y behind ever y doll. on Chinese folks arts at schools in major et y ,” she insists. “Innovation can only be Besides inheriting the techniques of the Fren c h cities, Xu points out. As an activi s t based on the protection of herit a ge.” Wang fam i l y, Bai has made some refo rm s in salvaging cultural herit a ge, Bai has a She said that, as a history major, she and innovations. Bristle dolls used to simply la r ge personal collection of var ious folk art st ro n g l y opposes the perce ption that prot e c - ha ve a cone under the waist, while Bai has work s . tion of traditional crafts is a bur den of mod- ad ded legs and shoes to ever y doll. What ’ s Of Beijing’s effor ts to host a humanistic ern i z a tion. Instead, she believes that it mo r e, he also improved the craft of fac e Ol ympics in 2008, one important initiati ve is should be trea ted as a component of mod- painting and the dresses of dolls to make to promote China’s traditional arts by show- ern i z a tion. She gives an example that a tech- them more complicated and delicate . casing them on the sidelines of the games. In nique in producing bron z e war e invented in The 67-yea r -old craftsman, who used to line with this initiati ve, Beijing launched a China thousands of yea r s ago was adopted ta k e manufa c t u r ing and the perfor mances of citywide census on non-mate r ial herit a ge in Germa n y in manufa c t u r ing high-perfor - br istle dolls as his livel i h o o d , now regar ds pass- res o u r ces last Jul y, and this will be fin i s h e d mance gea r s and borrowed in the United ing on the craft as his biggest responsibility and by the end of this St a tes in making turbo fan s most urgent task. He doesn’t want the ancient yea r . The goals of for the early jet planes. In cr aft to die with him. Sever al yea r s ago, he had this census are to co m p a r ison, such a tech- the entire process of making a bristle doll sa ve the craf t s nique was lost in China. rec o r ded by China Central Tel e vision, but he facing ext i n c t i o n “I will be as persi s t e n t no w thinks that’ s not enough. and draft a as an Olympic athlete in “I am willing to pass on all I know abo u t di re c t o r y of le a r ning the craf t , ” she the bristle doll art to app r entices selected folk arts said arde n t l y. ■ fr om the Interne t , ” said Bai, who became one of the fir st batc h of folk artists parti c - ip a ting in Ten c e n t ’ s initiati ve. “T he protection of traditional arts and no n - m at e r ial cultural herit a ge req u i r es the attention of people of all walks of life, espe- ci a l l y young people. In att r acting youth, the In t e r net can be ver y helpful. “T he traditional media have limitati o n s in disseminating inform a tion on folk arts while the advan t a ges of the Internet great l y reduce the dissemination cost,” said Xu Ch e n ye, Vice President of Tencent. He exp r essed the hope that his company’ s web- site could effec t i vel y spread the idea of pro- tecting traditional culture among the publi c . Xu also said his company wanted to play the role of a brid g e, linking people of common in t e r ests and hobbies in traditional arts with el d e r ly folk artists in an efficient way. The cha t softwar e developed by Tencent has millions of regis t e r ed users. “W e wou l d n ’ t have so muc h con- ON A PLATE: fidence in this campaign without the Folk craftsman pa rt n e r ship of the Chinese You n g Bai Dacheng gives Vol u n t e e r s Association, but its a doll performance na tionwide networ k of 17 at a temple fair in million vol u n t e e r s means Beijing during the our cooperation will Spring Festival

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 31 HOTEL INFORMATION

Sofitel Wanda Beijing Kunlun Hotel Gerhard Zimmer, General Manager of Sofitel Wanda Beijing and concurrently Ge n e r al Manager Delegate for Accor Hotels in Beijing, is a highly exp e r ienced exp e r t and senior exec u t i v e in the hospitality industry. United Nations Secretary-General Zi m m e r , specialized in hotel administra- tion, graduated from Cornell Univer s i t y . Designate Ban Ki-Moon enjoyed lunch Ov er the last 14 yea r s , he has served as at Hotel Kunlun’s Shanghai Flavor a senior exec u t i v e of Accor—the Restaurant on October 27, 2006. European leader in the hospitality in d u s t r y. He was the opening general manager of the first ever Sofitel in China, the Sofitel Hyland Shanghai from 1992 to 1994, vice president and general manager for Accor in the Philippines and director of opera- tions for Accor in China. Crowne Plaza Beijing Kerry Center Hotel

A delegation led by Prime Champagne Bar, located Minister H.E. Fernando da on the lobby floor in Crowne Piedade Dias dos Santos from Plaza Beijing, held an excit- Angola stayed at Shangri-la’s ing Veuve Cliequot Kerry Center Hotel for the Halloween party. Guests in Beijing Summit and the 3rd costume crowded the bar, Ministerial Conference of enjoying DJs, dancing, bub- Forum on China-Africa bles, and thrilling decora- Cooperation, which ran from tions. Pictured are dressed- November 4 to 5. Upon their up waiters and waitresses arrival, hotel General Manager welcoming guests. George Yang and his associ- ates extended a warm wel- come.

Presidential Plaza Hotel China World Hotel

For the second year running, Guinea Bissau President Shangri-la’s China World Hotel S.E. Sr. Joao Bernardo was voted as the Best Business Vieira stayed at the Hotel in Beijing by readers of Presidential Plaza Hotel for the Asia Pacific edition of the recent Beijing Summit Business Travelers in the maga- and the 3rd Ministerial zine’s 2006 readers’ poll. Conference of the Forum on China World Hotel’s General China-Africa Cooperation. Manager Stefan Bollhalder (left) Arthur Krieger, General accepted the award from the Manager of the Presidential presentation ceremony’s guest Plaza Hotel, and his man - of honor, Dr. David D. Ho, agement team warmly wel- Scientific Director and CEO of comed him and his delega- the Aaron Diamond AIDS Center, tion. at the award ceremony held in Hong Kong recently

Jing Guang New World Hotel The Swissôtel Beijing This golden autumn, the Dynasty Taste the “Grüezi” from Switzerl a n d Restaurant in Jing Guang New World The Swissôtel Beijing presents the Hotel has chosen the fine Yangchen unique Swiss flavor of the fam o u s Lake hairy crab for everyone. If you Cheese & Meat Fondue and Raclette. are interested in the famous crab, The finest imported Swiss cheese, dry please come to try our steamed, baked ham and other specialties from and pan-fried hairy crab. Meanwhile, Sw i t ze r land are avai l a b le at Café Swiss. there are also some delicious dishes We hope the Fondue and Raclette wou l d with crab, including crab meat with br ing war m season’s greetings from seafood soup, sauteed beancurd with Sw i t ze r land this winter! Cheese Fondue & crab meat, and crab roe with meatball soup. The price ranges from 68 yuan to Raclette is just delicious! 168 yuan per person. Ven ue: Café Swiss, Swissôtel Beijing *All prices subject to 10 percent sur- Time: winter 2006 charge. Telephone: 86-10-65978888 For reservations: 86-10-65532288 ext. 2127 China Europe International Fangcaodi Primary Scho o l Australian International Business School (CEIBS) Fangcaodi Primary School values School The Fou r th Annual China Aut o m o t i v e Industry Foru m quality teaching at its core. It has always Aus t r alian International School of Beijing successfully concluded on October 31, at the Shanghai paid a great deal of attention to develop- (AISB) has been successfully operating since campus of China Europe International Business School ing students’ abilities and intelligence. 2004 and is the only school in Beijing (CEIBS). As one of the premier events to gain new The school’s vision is to attend to the licensed for Aus t r alian curriculum. Aus t ra l i a n insights into China’s evolving automotive industry, this needs of every student in order to help cu r r icula are respected and used throughout yea r ’ s for um was attended by more than 250 gover n- him or her develop in a well-rounded the wor ld. Our curricula are designed to ment officials, business leaders and senior exec u t i ve s manner. The curriculum design is com- de velop the whole child socially, phys i c a l l y , from the automotive industry, and attracted more than plete and optimized and is outstanding emotionally and academically. 50 members of the international media. in courses like Chinese, English, com- We provide: Opened by a war m welcome from Pedro Nueno, the puters, music and art. ● A relevant and challenging curriculum Exe c u t i v e President of CEIBS, the for um explored the To meet current community demands, that caters to the needs and abilities of our question: China’s automotive industry— fe a s i b le and the school has developed into a large- students su s t a i n a b le development. Aut o m o t i v e industry exp e rt s , scale educational entity with branches in ● Equality of opportunity such as Chen Qingtai, research fel l o w of the different localities. It has a main campus, ● Courses that develop students as cre- De velopment Research Center of the State Council of a boarding school campus, the new ative and critical thinkers across the spec- the PRC, Sergio Marchionne, President of the Yuanyang campus and an overseas divi- trum of learning areas European Automobile Manuf acturers’ Association, and sion. Each of the school’s campuses is ● An environment that promotes mutual Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Group, gathered together beautiful, featuring spacious classrooms, respect and cooperation to give their own perspectives on many issues, includ- well-equipped football fields with artificial ● An ethos that stimulates the pursuit of ing cooperation and consolidation, expansion of the turf and advanced teaching facilities. All excellence and personal best ● au t o m o t i v e component industry, and the devel o p m e n t of these contribute to a healthy and Processes that generate the skills of of environmental regulations. www.c e i b s. e d u pleasant educational environment for self-discipline, intrinsic motivation and children. www.fcd.com.cn acceptance of responsibility. www.aisb.com.cn

Peking University New The Western Academy of Yew Chung International Channel Chinese Learning Beijing (WAB) School Center The Wes t e r n Academy of Beijing (WAB) cele- Colorful culture and cuisine captured Peking University New Channel Chinese br ated the International Day at the elementary students’ interest and stirred imaginations Le a r ning Center is the only language training cen- school gym on Frid a y, October 27, 2006. As usual, at the Olympic International Day held at ter with official accreditation from Pek i n g WAB ’ s international students celebrated their diver - the Yew Chung International School of Un i ve r s i t y ’ s International College for Language sity with students from grades 1-5 attired in their Beijing (YCIS) on November 10. St u d i e s . All of our teachers are from Pek i n g home country’ s native dress. Students perform e d Each grade chose to represent an Un i ve r s i t y . They have much Chinese teaching da n c e s , songs and skits from their native countrie s . Olympic host country for the day, and exp e r ience and many of them are the authors of The International Food Fair also took place, at worked hard at organizing a wonderful Chinese language learning text b o o k s . which students gathered in their homeroom class- array of unique music, culture, interesting We currently offer var ious courses for Business es to share an “interna t i o n a l ” l u n c h . facts, food and games of that country. Ch i n e s e , General Chinese, HSK, Business This yea r , WAB invited Ryan Hreljac as the It all started early in the morning in Chinese Test (BCT), priv ate classes and prepara- keynote speaker for this special week. Ryan is a spite of the harsh cold when the students tion classes for university entrance exa m s . Over 14 - y ear-old Canadian humanitarian who has been marched proudly in their selected nation- 500 foreign students have studied with us already. re c o g n i z ed internationally for his global effor ts to al costumes, and then sang the national When all required courses are completed, stu- pr o vide wells and clean water for African rur al vil- anthems of the six most recent Olympic dents can obtain a certificate on Chinese lan- la g e r s . host countries. Then students became guage study endorsed by Peking Univer s i t y . WAB ’ s annual International Day is an opportu n i - their peers’ teachers and led them on a ww w. n ew c h a n n e l . o r g / d w h y ty for WAB students and staff to display their cultur- multicultural tour of China, Greece, al diversity and to reflect on what it means to be Australia, the United States, Spain and global citizen s . www.wa b. e d u South Korea. www.ycef.com BUSINESS Stabilizing China’s Finances A stabilized Chinese financial industry not only will be conducive to domestic development, but will also contribute to the world economy

By LAN XINZHEN in t e rn a tional market . ” ened and the financial envi r onment is Among the big four state - o wned banks, im p r ovi n g ,” noted Liu. n October 30, the Peo p l e ’ s Bank of Bank of China, China Construction Bank The repo r t shows the payment servi c e Ch i n a — C h i n a ’ s central bank— and Industrial and Commercial Bank of ne t wo r k system is for med and is becoming issued the Repo r t on Chinese China have finished joint stock refo r m and mat u r e. An emergen c y mecha n i s m , Financial Stability 2006. The repo r t ar e listed, with the non-perfor ming loan rate en a bling quick res p o n s e , was initially estab- co n c luded that China’s fin a n c i a l at 5.41 percent, 3.51 percent, and 4.69 per- lished with the system. At the same time, Orefo r m has undergone tremendous brea k - cent, res p e c t i vel y. Agric u l t u r al Bank of financial legis l a tion had achi e ved grea t th r oughs, financial risks have been handled China is prepa r ing for refo r m measures . de velopment. The amendment of the pro p e r ly, and that the Chinese fin a n c i a l In the securities fie l d , the fin a n c i a l Co m p a n y Law and Securities Law in d u s t r y is gen e ra l l y stable . repo r t pointed out that the res h u f fle of secu- enhanced the law enfor cement effor t. The “A stabi l i z ed Chinese financial sector is rities companies made a positive achi e ve- en t e rp r ise accounting standard was furth e r good news for the wor ld economy,” noted ment. Eight securities companies, namely, im p r oved , and a nationwide data networ k Liu Fuxiang, prof essor with Univer sity of China Galaxy Securities, Guotai Jun a n on the credit inform a tion of enterpr ises and In t e rn a tional Business and Economics, who Se c u r ities, Huaxia Securities, Beijing in d i viduals is now functioning. focuses on interna tional finance study. Se c u r ities, Tiantong Securities, Southwes t Add i t i o n a l l y, an anti-money launderin g The repo r t is second of its kind. The firs t Se c u r ities, Xinjiang Securities and Shenyi n campaign is ongoi n g . repo r t was issued on November 7, 2005, & Wanguo Securities, have all been res h u f - “T he Chinese Gover nment has been co n c luding that the Chinese financial sector fle d , resulting in a rea l l o c a tion of res o u rc e s wor king ver y hard to stabi l i z e its fin a n c i a l was gen e ra l l y stable , the same as this yea r . in the securities sector. ma r ket , ” noted Liu. Ho wever , the fir st repo r t also pointed out In terms of insuran c e , insurance compa- Liu said that the Central Govern m e n t th a t Chinese financial stability was con- nies established standardi z ed managem e n t injected 1.4 trillion yuan for the refo r m of fr onted with 10 cha l l e n g es, including the st ru c t u r es and 40 of the domestic insuran c e st at e - o wned banks. Adding the money to economic growth mode and the manage- companies had cha n g ed to a shareh o l d e rs ’ pr event financial risks in city credit cooper- ment of financial companies. system. By the end of 2005, the direct stock ati ves, rur al cooperati ve funds, inves t m e n t Liu said that, after the Asian fin a n c i a l in vestment conducted by insurance compa- and trust companies and city commerci a l cr isis in 1997, when people marveled at the nies rea c hed 15.89 billion yuan. banks, the gover nment had injected no less ef for t China had made to stabi l i z e the Asian “M o r e importa n t l y, the construction of than 3 trillion yuan in all, amounting to the financial market, they wer e also wor rie d financial infras t ru c t u r e is being stren g t h - fiscal reven ue of the whole country in 2005. about whether China could successfully deal with its own possible financial cha l - le n g es after the full opening of the Chinese financial market at the end of this yea r . “Ju d g ing from the current situati o n , th e r e is no need to wor ry. The Chinese financial market is capa ble of dealing with all odds , ” Liu said. The eight-year trek From 1998, preventing and res o l v i n g financial risks has remained the focus of the Chinese financial market. Up till 2006, the Chinese financial industry has undergon e fundamental cha n ge s . “In the past, the high rate of non-per- for ming assets and low level of market i z a - tion bore many risks. The capital adequacy ratio, and the asset quality have been im p r oved . The profi t a bility and the sustain- able fiscal development have also been st re n g t h e n e d ,” said Liu. “Curren t l y, our BOOMING MARKETS: Real estate is red-hot in China, and that has a big impact on the banking industry is competitive even in the financial industry as well

34 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 BUSINESS

ty ,” said Zhou Maoqing. On rec o gnizing the difficulties, the Peo p l e ’ s Bank of China stated in the repo r t th a t China will continue to carry out sound fiscal and monetary policies, and improve and optimize macro- c o n t r ol in an effor t to boost the sustainable and healthy devel o p - ment of the economy and fin a n c e . Me a n wh i l e , the gover nment will speed up to establish a deposit insurance system, cov- er ing all deposit financial institutions to enhance protection of depo s i t o r s and sup- plement the current financial supervi s i o n . Mounting problems ANSWERS FROM ABOVE: ICBC Chairman Jiang Jianqing (right) answers questions The prob lems affecting financial stabi l - posed by reporters about the bank’s recent ity go far beyond wha t the repo r t cited. IPO as a Merrill Lynch representative (left) He Dexu, res e a r cher with Institute of watches closely Finance and Trade Economics of CASS, noted that the effec t i ve market access of financial institutions is conducive to the sta- To secure long-term stability br ought about by an imbalanced global ble development of the market. He said After sever al yea r s of financial refo rm , ec o n o m y, flu c t u a tions of oil prices, the China needs to improve its legis l a tion on the Chinese financial market is opened fur- st ru c t u r al prob lems of the domestic econo- finance and insuran c e . ther to the outside worl d . my and fin a n c e , the growing competition in The flu c t u a tion of the macro economy, The financial stability repo r t shows that, the financial sector and the potential risks of the decrease of real estate prices and rea l by the end of 2005, the number of fore i g n - financial innovation. es t a te loans, and the loss of banking cred i t , owned or for eign-funded banking institu- The imbalanced global economy will caused by the flu c t u a tion of the real estate tions had rea c hed 254, with combined lead to long-term low interest rates, the hik- ma r ket, are three potential risks confron t i n g assets of $87.657 billion, accounting for ing res o u r ce and asset prices. Meanwhi l e , the financial market . 1.89 percent of over all banking assets. the adjustment of the imbalanced global As the financial sector increases its sup- Cu r ren t l y, 154 for eign banking institutions ec o n o m y, especially a disorde r ly one, will po r t to the real estate industry, the latt e r ’ s ar e allowed to operate renminbi business in ma gnify the swings of exch a n g e rates of the ca pital will account for more on the fin a n - 25 cities, and another 25 for eign fin a n c i a l worl d ’ s major currencies, slowing down the cial market. According to statistics from the institutions hole shares in 20 domestic U.S . economy, therefo r e impacting China’s ce n t r al bank, by the end of 2005, the loans financial institutions in the banking sector. exp o r t and economic growth. rel a ting to real estate rea c hed 3.07 tril l i o n The r e are curren t l y seven fore i g n - Mo re o ver , the flu c t u a ting supply and yuan, making up 14.84 percent of the total en g aged securities companies. The total pr ices of res o u r ce products such as oil is a loan balance of all financial institutions. number of fore i g n - e n g aged fund manage- major concern for China, giving rise to Real estate is, to some extent, posing a ment companies is 20, while the number of in c r easing import cost and potential infla - th re a t to the whole financial sector. qu a l i f ied for eign institutional inves t o r s is 32. tion pres s u r e, whi c h consequently wou l d As a matter of fact, the Shanghai The r e are 40 insurance operational insti- ma k e the economy suffer a res o u r ces bottle- Financial Stability Repo r t issued by the tutions involving for eign funds, 23 of whi c h ne c k and threa ten economic sustainabi l i t y . Peo p l e ’ s Bank of China on August 31 had ar e Sino-for eign joint ven t u r es and the The struc t u r al prob lems, such as exc e s - rec og n i z ed the abo vementioned probl e m s . remaining 17 are who l l y fore i g n - f u n d e d si ve fix ed assets investment growth, inade- As an important economic and fin a n c i a l with total assets standing at 40.18 billion qu a te consumption, and an imbalanced hub of China, the financial situation of yuan and 26.606 billion yuan res p e c t i vel y, in t e rn a tional balance of payments, are plagu - Shanghai is imperati ve to the over all eco- accounting for 2.64 and 1.75 percent of the ing sustainable economic growth, bui l d i n g nomic situation of China. The Shanghai over all insurance assets of the country. up infla tion pres s u r e, causing excess liquidi- repo r t revealed that the real estate devel o p - “T he Chinese financial sector is grad u a l - ty and hikes in asset prices. These will lead to ment of Shanghai is heavi l y reliant on bank ly becoming an interna tional financial mar- banks facing a rising credit risk along with loans and that the flu c t u a tion of the rea l ket. After the full opening up of the Chinese sy s t e m a tic risks of the economic and fin a n - es t a te market will direc t l y affect the price of financial market on December 11 this yea r , cial sectors. The struc t u r al prob lems of the financial assets and loan quality. In 2005, this trend will speed up. The re fo r e, it is financial sector made banks shoulder some Sh a n g h a i ’ s real estate market showed signs im p e r ati ve that our financial industry responsibilities, whi c h should have been of cooling off. Thus special attention should remains stable ,” said Zhou Maoqing, sh o u l d e r ed by the financial market. The be focused on risks brought about by indi- res e a r cher with Chinese Academy of Social mounting financial risks confronting banks vidual housing loans due to the depre c i at i o n Sciences (CASS). ar e harmful to the healthy and sustainable of mortg aged prop e rt y . The financial repo r t also pointed out de velopment of the banking industry. “Although the financial stability repo r t th a t the Peo p l e ’ s Bank of China will furth e r The repo r t admits that the innovati o n co n c ludes that the financial sector is gen e r - boost the healthy and sustainable devel o p - ability of financial institutions is not stron g al l y stable , we should not take it for gran t e d ment of the financial industry as well as its and they are short of a system encouragin g and at the same time, we should att a c h grea t st ab i l i t y . th i s . im p o r tance to other elements whi c h will The repo r t noted China should pay “If those prob lems are not res o l ve d , it is in f luence financial stabi l i t y ,” said Zhou attention to the possible negati ve influ e n c e ha r d to maintain long-term financial stabi l i - Ma o q i n g . ■

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 35 BUSINESS

Ho wever , in south China, Trus t - M a r t is kn o wn to nearly all. The top 300 chain store list in the firs t half of this year conducted by the Ministry of Commerce showed that Trus t - M a r t Retailers Reshuffle ran k ed 11th. Curren t l y, Trus t - M a rt ’ s cha i n st o r es number more than 100, most of Retail industry competition is white hot, whi c h are located in southern cities like Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hangzhou. It has with acquisitions being the ultimate not been long since Trus t - M a r t made its way into Beijing and Tianjin in 2003. trump cards Thus, the distinct advan t a ge Trus t - M a r t br ings to Wal - M a r t is its large number of By LAN XINZHEN domestic and fore i g n — a r e being swal - chain stores. After acquiring Trus t - M a r t, the lo wed whole by others. Trus t - M a r t is a case number of Wal - M a rt ’ s stores in China will n October 29, a Satu rd a y, whe n in point of why that is so. boost to 170, up from the current 66. Thi s em p l o yees of many companies Se c u r ity and profi t a bility will likel y go will help brid g e Wal - M a rt ’ s gap with wer e off enjoying one of Beijing’s to those ret a i l e r s that can grow throu g h Ca r refo u r , whi c h has more than 200 stores in fine autumn days, Trus t - M a r t acquisition. China. After withdrawing from the Japa n e s e em p l o yee Li Xiaomei was fee l i n g ma r ket in 2005 and from the South Kore a n Oexhausted and insecure. Trusting in Trust-Mart ma r ket in 2006, Carref our has been parti c u - “W e know that Trus t - M a r t has been The value of Trus t - M a r t to Wal - M a r t la r ly keen on the Chinese market. ac q u i r ed by Wal - M a r t, but our boss has not is n ’ t app a r ent judging by surface app e a r - But Wal - M a rt ’ s bold move is just one told us yet , ” said Li. an c e s . recent highlight among a growing num b e r Wal - M a r t, by acquiring Trus t - M a r t for The superma r ket Li wor ks for is small of merger s and acquisitions in China’s ret a i l about $1 billion (the agreement was rea ch e d with narrow corrid o r s. The goods are not in d u s t r y whi c h is seeking a competitive be t w een the two companies and it may take ar ran g ed in an orde r ly way, although they ed g e in a cutthroa t market. a while for the agreement to take effec t ) , ar e cla s s i f ied to some degree . Acquiring advantage had made Li’s alrea d y difficult life— wo r k- Ove r all, the store’ s look and feel is com- ing six and sometimes seven days a pl e t e l y differ ent from Wal - M a rt ’ s gran d e r Since China fully opened its retail mar- wee k — m o r e stressful, not la yout and comfort a ble shopping envi - ket in 2004, interna tional retail tycoons kn o wing whether she ronment. ha ve been strate gizing hard to penetrate the would be laid off soon or Trus t - M a r t, a Tai w anese super- ma r ket . si m p l y have new man- ma r ket regis t e r ed on China’s Ce rt a i n l y, part of that strate gy is devel - agement. mainland in 1997, has only fou r oping new stores. B&Q, the U.K . ’s leading In many respects, Li’s bra n c hes scatt e r ed in Beijing. do - i t - yo u r self and gar den center ret a i l e r , walk on eggshells refl e c t s The y are utterly incomparable plans to boost its store count by 10 to 15 the same stroll the ret a i l - to Carrefo u r , Wal - M a r t, Whi t e an nu a l l y, with its target fix ed at 126 by ing industry is taking Go a t Superma r ket and Merry 2010. It curren t l y has 51. At the these days in China. Ma rt . same time, Holland Makro hopes As an industry marked Ma n y Beijinger s said that to open 50 stores by 2010, by consolidation, many com- th ey ’ ve never heard of although it curren t l y p a n i e s — b o t h the company. on l y has five. But the model for g r a b b i n g m a r k e t

BIG SLICE: A Carrefour employee packs shelves at one of their over 200 stores in China

36 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 BUSINESS

for eign businesses to adopt an in d u s t r y became fie rc e , many ret a i l e r s easier and a more conven i e n t be gan to lose money. Some superma r ket s way to expand their bus i n e s s - hence sought acquisition. es: Acquisition.” Despite the competition, China’s ret a i l Tod a y, acquisitions are sector should grow steadily by 8 or 10 per- sp r eading like wildfir e. cent each year for the fore s e e a ble future, From early this year until ac c o r ding to statistics from the Ministry of no w, there have been nearly Co m m e rc e . Furth e r , there are more than 10 retail acquisition cases 3,000 for eign ret a i l e r s in the Chinese market . su r passing tens of millions of do l l a r s each in China. Gome Foreign privileges El e c t r onics acquired Yon g l e Cu r ren t l y, for eign ret a i l e r s enjoy more (China Par adise Electron i c s favor able gover nment policies than domes- Retail Ltd.). The Wan g f u j i n g tic enterpr ises in this realm. Dep a r tment Store swal l o wed The tax rate of domestic companies is up Xuzhou Hualian. Best 33 percent while that of for eign companies Buy took over Five Star is 15 percent. Meanwhi l e , domestic compa- App l i a n c e . And the list con- nies are taxed store by store, while fore i g n ti n ues. companies are taxed on an over all operati o n In the case of Gome, basis. This means for eign companies can after having acquired deduct individual store losses from their Yon g l e , its store num b e r ta x a ble income, whe r eas domestic compa- should rea c h 697, three nies cannot. times more than that of rival He n c e , He Jihai, President of China Suning Electronics, whi c h Ge n e r al Chamber of Commerce , noted that owns only 224 stores. The the net prof it rate of the Shanghai-based sales volume of Gome also Lianhua Superma r ket Holdings Co. Ltd.— DON’T HATE THE PLAYER: British B&Q is stepping up is slated to surpass the com- the largest domestic superma r ket compa- its efforts in expanding into the Chinese retail market bined sales volume of ny—is 1.5 percent, while that of Wal - M a r t Suning and Best Buy. and Carref our is 3.3 percent and over 3 per- sh a r e is cha n g ing from one of devel o p m e n t Di believes that mass acquisition is a cent, res p e c t i vel y. to one of acquisitions. nat u r al market tren d . Me a n wh i l e , domestic ret a i l e r s are suf- “In the past, for eign enterpr ises tended to Se ver al yea r s ago, he said, retail market fer ing from a sort of copyc a t syndrom e : set up more stores to grasp the Chinese mar- access was easy, resulting in a surging num - im i t a ting for eign ret a i l e rs — f r om operati o n s ket , ” said Di Jiankai, an official with the ber of superma r kets throughout the country. to management—without ever being suc- Mi n i s t r y of Commerce . “However , such a The r e are curren t l y over 60,000 superma r - ce s s f u l l y orig inal. method of development was time-consuming kets, selling centers and neighborhood The lack of uniqueness and creat iv i t y and req u i r ed at least two or three yea r s. Fully st o r es nati o n w i d e . results in undiffere n t i a ted market solutions, opening up the retail industry included urgin g But, as the competition in the ret a i l leading to over -competition among many retail companies of the same grade and the same style in the same region. For eign ret a i l e r s are not sympathetic to the pleas of unfair competition or of their flo u n d e r ing domestic counterpa r ts. “Competition is fie rc e ,” said Trus t - Ma rt ’ s Li Xiaomei. “Befor e our superma r - ket opened, there wer e two small superma r - kets in this commun i t y . But both of them wer e shut down because of us.” The future: Mega-mart? In June 2005, Ernst & Young conducted a study of ret a i l e r s’ road to success in China. Its repo r t pointed out that in the five yea r s ahead, the Chinese retail market would look completely differ ent, with the st r ong becoming stron ge r . Among the winners, they hyp o t h e s i ze d , would be domestic Shanghai Bril l i a n c e (G r oup) Co. Ltd. and Gome, and fore i g n ret a i l e r s like Wal - M a r t and Carrefo u r . Due to competition, merger s and acqui- sitions, many of China’s current 60,000 GOME OVER HERE: The opening of the first franchise store of Gome Electronics in retail companies will disapp e a r , the repo r t northwest China’s Lanzhou CIty attracts many customers pre d i c t e d . ■

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 37 BUSINESS

While we couldn’t pin him down on exactly what the Made in China American Dream means to him, his story tells us: It’s about creating whatever you want. In China, that may be American Dreams: most possible. Invent, reinvent or just show up here and In the final article of our five - p a rt seri e s, we fe a t u r e you might find your creative juices flowing and taking Fritz Demopoulos, who seems to most closely define shape, according to Fritz. He arrived one day in 1997 with what it means to achieve the American Dream in China. almost no prior China knowledge and has become one of Fritz is a bit of a rebel. Quitting his gravy job with New s the country’s dotcom moguls. C o rp., he stru ck out like his European and now Ameri c a n Le t ’ s face it, China suffers from over c r o wding, underde- parents to build something of his own. But compared to veloped health care and substantial pollution. In the eyes the life they built—three kids, a couple of cars, a house of for e i g n e r s , it’s probably not exactly the ideal place to and a bu s i n e s s — Fritz doesn’t see his American Dream raise kids. But on the whole, it may be the most desirabl e the same way. place to turn dreams—at least business ideas—into reality.

He ’ s the kind of guy who ends most sentences with “right?” and just makes you want to res p o n d , “Right on, man!” In d e e d , Demopoulos was born in Los An g eles and went to college there. Dotcom Venturer But his father was from Greece and mother from Aus t r ia, immigrating to the Fritz Demopoulos has proven an United States in the 1960s. Tha t, in addition to his parents’ bus i n e s s American can have dotcom success in success, gave Demopoulos a bit of a bug to do something other than surf. China once. Can he do it again? “B a c k in the 1960s when my paren t s im m i g rated to the States, wha t was the By YU SHUJUN Am e r ican Dream?” Demopoulos asked rh e t o ri c a l l y. “You had three kids, a couple ver y for eigner in Beijing either ca r s, a house and a business. That ’ s wha t my kn o ws wha t qu na’r means or mus t pa r ents did [even] as immigrants, rig h t ? ” think it stran g e that only taxi driver s Right Fritz, but wha t about your own seem to substitute this greeting for ni dr eam, our staff won d e re d . And why do you ha o . But to Fritz Demopoulos, its lit- st a y in China? Eer al meaning, “Whe r e are you going?” had “My dad’s an entrepre n e u r ,” Demopou- far grea ter significance than a simple taxi los said. “That ’ s why I wanted to become an dr iver ’ s inform a tion solicitati o n . en t r epr eneur too, even t u a l l y.” No w founder of Qunar.com, an apt ly - As for China, Demopoulos had a named Beijing-based travel search engin e , the st ra n g e yet poignant answer . 37 - ye a r -old American has gone a long way in “Sometimes here, you can do well just the Chinese media, Internet and wirel e s s by showing up,” he said. Showing up, we in d u s t r ies since he fir st arrived in China in won d e re d , without language skills? Wit h o u t 1997. kn o wing the culture? Iro n i c a l l y at that time, the even t u a l “In China, a lot of people don’t have all founder of Qunar didn’t know whe r e the the exp e r iences and refe r ence points that I he c k he was goi n g . ha ve,” Demopoulos said. “In the States my “My [old] company sent me to China,” exp e r iences and refe r ence points are the Demopoulos said. “The y gave me the same as every wh e r e else. In China there are chance to come out to Asia. But at that time, REBEL WITH A CAUSE: Years ago, these natu r al advan t a ges. Par t of the tric k is I didn’t know about China. I was lucky, Fritz Demopoulos eschewed his cushy we have to understand wha t we think we super lucky! ” job with News Corp. to do his own thing can do well and understand the limitati o n s . ” Ar riving in China only by cha n c e , much more successfully Demopoulos quickl y rec og n i z ed there was for eigner doesn’t need billion dollar compa- Rejecting corporate office space a lot more whe r e that came from . ny perks or a slick embassy aura to live out While Demopoulos doesn’t underst a n d “O p p o r tunities are every wh e r e,” the American Dream in China. Actually, he Chinese culture as well as locals, his res u m e Demopoulos said. “I remember that the for - sh o ws one can be more successful without boasts a stellar corpo r ate pedigree , whi c h mer Minister of Inform a tion Industry of them—and maybe just by “showing up.” en a bled him to come here. China Wu Jichuan said, in some way, China Demopoulos began his career in China is the most open market in the worl d .” Showing up in 1997 as business development manager And it’s true , he said. When Demopoulos talks, he exudes a for News Corp., having been invol v ed in a Demopoulos’ career path proves that. bit of Califor nia cool, putting our Be i j i n g ran g e of initiati ves with var ious News What ’ s more, Demopoulos proves that a Rev i e w st a f f at ease right away. Co rp . - a f fil i a ted companies inclu d i n g

38 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 BUSINESS

Ch i n a B y t e .com, STAR TV, NDS and th a t many Chinese still are accustomed to Twentieth Century Fox. the traditional way of booking air ticket s But when you fir st meet Demopoulos, and other services—in person with a known you know he’s not a company man. agent. Even Beijing Revi e w’s fore i g n Young and laid back, he speaks in quick st a f fer s, who in their own countries are pu r poseful bur sts that likel y incubate better mo r e accustomed to orde r ing air ticket s in the clutter of a start-up rather than a com- on l i n e , often find che a per prices going to pa n y boardro o m . the travel agent down the stree t . Demopoulos left News Corp. to co- Ce rt a i n l y, the online travel market in found Chinese-language sports Internet por- China is tiny. tal Shawei.com in 1999, although he spoke Ac c o r ding to statistics from the China almost no Chinese at that time. Na tional Tou r ism Administration (CNTA), as “I just said this is the time to do it,” of September 2005, online travel tran s a c t i o n Demopoulos said. “I remember a friend said, volume was about 4-5 billion yuan, account- ‘Get a desk, a phone and an office and just go ing for only 1 percent of the whole market. In for it.’ So I did that. I remember the fir st day the United States, reven ue of the online travel we wer e sitting there— t h at ’ s when the clo c k ma r ket rea c hed $54 billion in 2004, gras p i n g is ticking because you ’ re bur ning your own 20 percent of the whole market. mo n e y. It’s rea l l y a lot of pres s u r e.” Ac c o r ding to a Deutsche Bank repo rt , Fort u n at e l y for Demopoulos, the pres - U.S . travel consumers drove the share of su r e didn’t cause any key business ingred i - total bookings from around 1 percent in ents to explode other than popularit y . 1998 to about 19 percent in 2003. The “W e thought we would have a news l e t - repo r t also pointed out that China consol- ter and as we got more people we wou l d id at o r s will likel y develop more slowl y than ha ve a proper webs i t e ,” Demopoulos said. the U.S . online, but the opportunities and “W e just grew that bus i n e s s . ” pro fi t a bility are likel y to be grea ter in China. Sh a wei soon grew to become one of The Chinese travel market itself is enor- Ch i n a ’ s largest sports websites. In 2000, mo u s . be fo r e the Internet bub ble burs t , CN T A statistics also show that in 2005 the Demopoulos sold Shawei to Hong Kon g - number of Chinese travel e r s traveling within based Tom Group for $15 million. China was 1.212 billion (note the entire popu- But for Demopoulos, being anti-estab- la tion is 1.3 billion), and those traveling over - lishment didn’t mean cutting himself off YES MEN: Going to work every day for seas num b e r ed 31.2 million, up 10 percent and fr om media networ king in China. someone else’s corporation may look impressive, but it only takes you so far, 7.5 percent res p e c t i vel y over 2004. B e fo re starting Qunar.c o m , as Fritz Demopoulos proves Me a n wh i l e , as of the end of the fir st half Demopoulos served as advisor to an array of this yea r , the number of netizens in China of wel l - k n o wn Chinese and internat i o n a l He n c e , Demopoulos rea l i z ed there was had rea c hed 123 million, according to the media companies including Titan Sports , an enormous travel adver tising market wai t - China Internet Networ k Inform a tion Center. Hai Run Media Group and InterActive ing to be snatch e d . However , the Chinese These fig u r es may give confidence to Co r p., as well as interim head of bus i n e s s online travel market had been dominated by De m o p o u l o s . de velopment for Netease.c o m . tw o Nasdaq-listed companies: Ctrip . c o m “W e certa i n l y feel we can cha n g e the Last yea r , he co-founded Qunar.c o m and Elong.com. tr avel landscape ,” said Demopoulos, with his for mer Shawei.com partn e r although he declined to discuss reven ues or How could Qunar carve a niche? Douglas Khoo, a Malaysian, and form e r ea r nings, whi c h would give some indicati o n Sh a wei Chief Tech n o l o gy Officer C.C. In fact, Ctrip and Elong are actually of his company’ s growth. Zh u a n g , a Peking Univer sity grad u at e . In online agents of hotel accommodation and If language is any indication of growt h , June 2005, Qunar finished its beta test of a ai r fa r e groups. ho wever , Qunar is poised for the big time. Ch i n e s e - l a n g u a ge ver sion and it was for - But Qunar is just a search engin e . Besides its present simple Chinese and ma l l y launche d , thus becoming one of the “Our business model is a little bit differ - English ver sions, Qunar is slated to launch fir st travel search engines in China. en t , ” Demopoulos said. “We fight with Japanese and Kor ean ver sions, as well as Baidu and Google for reven ue and fig h t SideStep look alike? tr aditional Chinese. with Ctrip and Elong for customers. ” In the final analysis, Fritz’ Americ a n Demopoulos ackn ow l e d g es Qunar.c o m Cu r ren t l y, Qunar.com searches over 300 Dr eam is a wor k in progress, but no doubt is similar to SideStep.com, a wel l - k n ow n Ch i n e s e - l a n g u a ge travel websites. The s e it ’ s happ e n i n g . So if you happen to be a taxi tr avel search engine in the United State s . se a r ch results provide consumers with rea l - dr iver , the next time you ask Frit z But Qunar cle a r ly has a better grasp of time pricing inform a tion and other descrip - Demopoulos, qu na’r, listen caref u l l y. He the region here, with far more listed search- ti ve details from more than 20 airlines and might tell you an inspirational story that able regional flights, and in the host coun- 10,000 hotels serving the Chinese main- could cha n g e your life to something a little try ’ s language of cho i c e . la n d . Thr ough Qunar.com, consumers can mo re — s ay — A m e r ican. ■ In developing his business sche m e , qu i ck l y, easily and in real-time compare vir- Demopoulos and his partn e r s exa m i n e d tu a l l y all avai l a ble prices for air ticket s , This concludes “Made in China: American Go og l e . He found that Google worl dw i d e hotels, car rentals and tour packa ges online. Dreams,” a five-part series that began from the No. gets about 23 percent of its reven ue from Qunar aims to allow consumers the best 38 issue of Beijing Review, appeared biweekly and revealed how and why entrepreneurs and executives tr avel - re l a ted advert i s i n g , and Googl e choices and value in travel . are increasingly realizing their American Dreams in, China gets about 18 percent. Ho wever , one big obstacle for Qunar is or because of, China.

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 39 BUSINESS FINANCE

than a cli c k of your remote control (or iPod). Chipping away at CCTV China’s Media Morphosis “In the Chinese TV industry, there are on l y two real areas of competition: enter- tainment programs and soap operas , ” said From new content to new media, Li Ruigan g , President of Shanghai Media Gr oup (SMG). “The latter is simple—you communication is more profitable than just have to pay for them. Self-prod u c e d en t e r tainment programs are the true source ever in China of competition.” Tha t means CCTV, the national televi - By SUNNIE WONG & After successive yea r s of continuo u s l y sion networ k, has muc h grea ter competitive JEREMY WANG high growth, the total pre-tax prof it of the st r ength than local channels, whi c h are con- media industry has exceeded that of the st r ained in terms of program production by alking the streets of Beijing, a tobacco industry, making it China’s fou rt h a lack of res o u r ces. Wes t e rn e r , glancing at the la r gest business. Adver tising reven ue has A 20-city survey carried out in the firs t ma n y news p ap e r s being rea d in c r eased in volume 20 times in 10 yea rs , half of this year revealed that the top 20 pro- by Chinese, might think that topping the 100 billion yuan mark in 2003, grams in terms of viewer ratings are all Ch i n a ’ s media is vas t l y under- with aver age annual growth of 35 percent. sp o rt s - re l at e d , and none are produced local- Wde vel o p e d . With its short history, rapi d l y cha n gi n g ly (exc e p for in Shanghai). The reason for In fact, the media industry has been la n d s c a pe and China-specific regu l a tions, the this phenomenon is simple: The broa d c a s t - mo ving for wa r d in leaps and bounds, and co n t e m p o ra r y media industry here can be ing rights for most top sporting events are in those news p ap e r s are more a ref lection of el u s i ve to for eign underst a n d i n g . But with a the hands of CCTV. Ch i n a ’ s social wel fa r e for idle saunterer s little help from this media che a t sheet, you But new entertainment programs are than true indication of its media. ma y find investment opportunities clo s e r be ginning to cha n g e every t h i n g , especially

OUR HERO: Fans of My Hero talent show turn out in droves to support contestant Song Xiaobo, proving the popularity of this genre in China

40 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 BUSINESS FINANCE for Changsha-based Hunan TV, whi c h has sider me as a traditional media repre s e n t a - become a domestic media success story. ti ve?” He argued that television business in Hunan TV was the fir st TV broa d c a s t e r China actually began in the 1980s and, in China fully dedicated to enterta i n m e n t given its short history, should not be regar d- pr ograms. Two reality shows, the Olym p i c - ed as a kind of old media. rel a ted I’m a Champion and rol e - p l ay i n g Mobile phones, he adde d , are consid- Me t a m o r phosis, wer e launched by Hunan er ed to be among new media due to their TV in the second half of this yea r , fol l ow i n g SMS capa bility but they need television as a the Super Girls singing contest, the hottest revenu e - ge n e r ating platfo r m. Digital TV, talent show in the country over the past two soon to be launched by TBI, is the newes t yea r s. form a t in the arena of new media. The success of Hunan TV’s Joy Camp, Di g ital TV, in fact, has devel o p e d a program with popular stars playing enter- exc ep t i o n a l l y quickl y in recent yea rs , taining games, also inspired many TV sta- thanks to significant gover nment encour- tions to fol l o w suit with similar prod u c t i o n s agement. Qingdao in Shandong Provi n c e , of their own. Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province and Liu Shabai, Vice President of Hunan Shanghai have offer ed digital TV program s TV and Broadcast Interme d i a r y Co. Ltd. to local viewer s. TBI began prepa r ing digi- (TBI), believes that the reason Hunan TV tal TV programs a year ago even though the has excelled in its market segment is ho u s e h o l d - o r iented distrib ution of set-top because it grasps a simple but key point: bo xes, necessary accessories for digital TV, Vie wer s watc h TV for entertainment. has still not begu n . Hunan TV’s self-positioning is in line Media bosses are fully awar e of the with this fundamental philosophy. pr omising prospects offer ed by digital TV. Hunan TV has in recent yea r s gai n e d Gi ven the 2 million existing regis t e re d both in repu t a tion and prof it from its view- ca ble TV subscrib e r s in Hunan Provi n c e , it er- o r iented and interac t i ve con- is estimated that, of these subscrib e r s, 20 ce pts. According to the Blue Book pe r cent will quickl y tran s f er to digital TV. of China’s Culture released by the TBI is expecting to sign up 400,000 users Chinese Academy of Social upon the digital TV launch. Supposing that Sciences, over the past yea r , the annual reven ue from a digital TV view- Hunan TV has pocketed at least 18 er in Hunan was 2,000 yuan, then TBI million yuan in adver tising rev- would rec e i ve 800 million yuan per yea r . en ue and 30 million yuan from Co n s i d e r ing this, it’s no small won d e r SM S - v oting as a direct result of th a t stocks rel a ted to digital TV operato r s the Super Girls fren z y . In fact, the and new media continue to surge. sh o w was so tren d y that one Hong In addition to digital TV, mobile phone Kong-listed company’ s stock ral - TV and IPTV are new additions to the new lied after it claimed to shoot a soap media fam i l y. SMG has embraced all of op e r a called Super Girl. these for ms. According to SMG Pres i d e n t But Hunan TV’s dominance of Li, mobile phone TV is a parti c u l a r ly hot the entertainment niche has been co n c e pt. The r e are 20 million exi s t i n g sh a k en. The competition talent mobile phone users in Shanghai. If 10 per- sh o w My Hero, launched by SMG cent of them embrace mobile phone TV, in 2006, turned out to be just as pop- ea c h paying 1 yuan per day, then SMG ular as Super Girls. The run n e r- u p stands to rec e i ve 2 million yuan in addi t i o n - winner in the My Hero competition, al reven ue per day. Song Xiaobo, has a speaking and That ’ s 730 million yuan ext r a for SMG he a r ing disabi l i t y , whi c h sparked a ea c h yea r . na tionwide wave of learning sign In addition, media groups are broa d e n - la n g u a ge and proved the clout of the ing their scope. SMG, for instance, has ne w show with viewer s. es t a blished talent management agen c y sub- Me a n wh i l e , other shows si d i a r ies. Such innovations are unprec e d e n t - aimed at cha l l e n g ing Super Girls ed in the Chinese TV industry. ar e in the work s . As TBI’s Liu put it, “Continual innova- tion will ensure a pros p e r ous future for us Which is new media? al l . ” ■ TB I ’ s Liu rec e n t l y attended a (Xinhua Fin a n c e ) for um whe r e the organ i ze r ar ran g ed for him to sit with repr e- DISCLAIMER: The information contained herein is based on sources we believe to be reliable, but is se n t at i ves from a selection of tra- provided for informational purposes only, and no ditional media organ i z a tions. representation is made that it is accurate or Liu said he was unhapp y with complete. This briefing should not be construed as this arran g ement and cha l l e n ge d legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy the organ i ze r , “Why did you con- or sell any securities whatsoever.

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 41 BUSINESS

Ch i n a ’ s coal output in the fir st nine months totaled 1.57 billion tons, a yea r- o n - State of the Market year increase of 8.4 percent, or 121.9 mil- lion tons, over the same period last yea r . Foreign Trade while exp o r ts declined in Sept e m b e r , The gover nment abolished the exp o r t tax Ch i n a ’ s for eign trade volume is exp e c t - ac c o r ding to the latest repo r ts from the reba te on coal as of September 15. Na tional Development and Refor m ed to hit $1.7 trillion in 2006, a yea r- o n - Auto Industry year increase of more than 20 percent, said Commission (NDRC). Fu Ziying, Assistant Minister of The two repo r ts on coal supply condi- Pro d u c t i o n Ch i n a ’ s auto industry post- Co m m e rc e tions released by the NDRC showed that in ed a 63.87 percent prof it growth year on Ac c o r ding to Fu, the country’ s fore i g n coal-consuming coastal areas, the price of year to rea c h 22.004 billion yuan during the tr ade volume has risen from sixth to third in coal went up 5 yuan per ton on aver age in Janu a ry - A ugust perio d , outpacing the 29.87 the wor ld during the past five yea r s, with Sep t e m b e r . pe r cent growth in sales revenu e , said the im p o r t and exp o r t volume growing at an The per-ton price of coal for power China Association of Aut o m o b i l e aver age annual rate of 24.6 percent. plants increased to 515-525 yuan in Ma nu fa c t u re r s (CAAM). China has set the goal to kee p fore i g n Guangzhou and 505-515 yuan in Shanghai The latest fig u r es released by the tr ade volume at $2.3 trillion in 2010, with a and Ningbo by the end of Sept e m b e r , the CAAM showed that the auto industry ended balance between imports and exp o r ts. The repo r t said. pro f it declines it had exp e r ienced since growth rate will be maintained at 10 perce n t As the price increa s e d , coal exp o r ts fel l 2004. an nu a l l y, according to the 11th Five- Ye a r in Sept e m b e r , according to the repo r t. Coal The turning point comes as domestic Plan of the Ministry of Commerce . exp o r ts fell 9.1 percent year on yea r , or demand for automobiles surged while steel “China has repo r ted a rob ust growth in 491,000 tons, to 4.93 million tons in pr ices dipped, say industry insiders. for eign trade in recent yea r s, but only Se ptember and those in the fir st nine Truc k exp o r ts in the fir st eight months ach i e ved meager prof its due to low adde d months stood at 47.22 million tons, a jumped 52.2 percent to rea c h 95,600 veh i - value in exp o r t prod u c t s , ” said Fu, addi n g de c line of 12.8 percent, or 6.95 million tons, cles wor th $604 million. Pas s e n g er car th a t it is time to shift the growth mode from fr om the same period last yea r . exp o r ts rea c hed 14,400 units valued at $296 qu a n t i t y - o r iented to quality-orie n t e d . The NDRC att ri b utes the price hikes to million. China should also “moderate l y increa s e rising tran s p o rt a tion costs and market Up to 97.4 percent of the automobiles its imports , ” said Fu. de m a n d , fueled by heavier dependence on pr oduced in the fir st eight months have been coal by power plants and prel i m i n a r y stock- so l d , CAAM fig u r es showed . Coal Price piles for heating supply in the coming win- Re s e a r che r s war n, however , that over - Ch i n a ’ s coal price continued ris i n g ter season. su p p l y could still plague the industry, whi c h

42 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 BUSINESS also faces the prospect of rising steel pric e s . 804 new fore i g n - i n vested hotels wer e estab- The future of the auto sector remains com- li s h e d , down 6.2 percent. The paid-in capi t a l pl e x, they say. ar rived at $550 million, a rise of 38 perce n t Im p o rt s China imported $5.43 billion over a year ago. wor th, or 165,000, automobiles in the firs t th r ee quarte r s, up 55.4 percent year on QDII yea r , according to statistics released by the Ch i n a ’ s fir st qualified domestic institu- Ge n e r al Administration of Customs. tional investor (QDII) fund, managed by Im p o r ts from Europe and the United Hua An Fund Management Co. Ltd., has St a tes totaled 88,000, compared with be gun operati n g , the fir m announced. 49,000 from Japan and 26,000 from South The subscription stood at $197 million Kor ea. fr om 16,652 subscrib e r s betwee n Auto analysts att ri b uted the stron g Se ptember 13 and October 20. growth in auto imports to the revi ved mar- China started the QDII scheme in Jul y, ket demand, reduced tarif fs and app re c i at i o n al l o wing domestic institutions and res i - of the renminbi. dents to buy financial products overs e a s Deposit Reserve Rate via mainland commercial banks and other financial institutions. The Peo p l e ’ s Bank of China (PBC), Fol l o wing eight Chinese and fore i g n - the country’ s central bank, announced that funded commercial banks, Hua An Fund it is to raise the deposit res e r ve rate of was awar ded a QDII license in August and co m m e r cial banks, exc luding rur al cooper- raised more than $6 million on the fir st day ati ve banks and credit cooperati ves, by 0.5 of subscription. pe rc e n t a ge points beginning November 15. The fund will be invested in stocks , It will be the third rise in the depo s i t bonds, real estate investment trusts and res e r ve rate this yea r , whi c h had been other mainstream financial products in raised 1.5 perce n t a ge points in total. in t e rn a tional markets such as New York , The move is aimed at tightening the London, Tok yo and Hong Kon g . banks’ liquidity management, ensuring sta- In ves t o r s can only withdraw their ble growth of the money supply and cred i t mo n e y from the fund six months after their and maintaining the sustained, coordi n at e d and healthy development of the economy. co n t r acts take effect, said Hua An Fund “It is the way for the gover nment to Ma n a gement Co. Ltd. sq u e e z e credit and rel i e ve the pres s u r e on Es t a blished in June 1998, Hua An set the curren c y,” said Wang Xiaogu a n g , an up China’s fir st open-ended fund and economist at the NDRC. no w manages nine securities inves t m e n t The hike will bring the res e r ves that funds valued at 35 billion yuan, inclu d i n g most banks are req u i r ed to deposit with the four close-end funds and five open-end ce n t r al bank to 9 percent. The PBC rai s e d funds. the bank deposit res e r ve rate by the same By the end of Sept e m b e r , altoget h e r ma r gin of 0.5 perce n t a ge points in Jul y and 11 Chinese and for eign-funded commer- August. The previous two hikes helped take cial banks had acquired QDII licenses, ar ound 300 billion yuan out of commerci a l with eight granted quotas totaling $10.3 banks. bi l l i o n . Hotel Industry China-ASEAN Trade The Ministry of Commerce (MOF- Bi l at e r al trade between China and COM) predicted that sales of the hotel ASEAN will grow more than 20 percent in in d u s t r y would hit 1.07 trillion yuan this 2006, said Bo Xilai, Minister of Commerce , yea r . at the opening cerem o n y of the China- The latest data published by the MOF- ASEAN Expo. COM showed rob ust growth during the firs t Bo pointed out that over the past 20 nine months, with retail sales rea ch i n g yea r s since China’s refo r m and opening up, 749.3 billion yuan, up 102 billion yuan over ASEAN has been ver y positive in inves t i n g the same period last yea r . in China, whi c h promoted economic devel - Retail sales of the hotel industry opment of China. With the development of accounted for 13.6 percent of the country’ s Ch i n a ’ s economy, more and more Chinese total retail sales of consumer goods from en t e rp r ises will invest in ASEAN and bilat- Janu a r y to Sept e m b e r , said MOFCOM er al cooperation will be further broa d e n e d . sp o k esman Chong Quan. Bo said that the proposed China- He said the industry contrib uted 15.6 ASEAN Free Trade Zone would be a free pe r cent to the over all growth of the coun- tr ade zone integrating the largest popula- try ’ s retail sales of consumer goods in the tion of the worl d , whi c h would be substan- th i r d quarte r . tial for the development and pros p e r ity of Du r ing the Janu a ry - S e ptember perio d , an integrated Asia. ■

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 43 Inv estment Opp o r tunities & Job Inf o rm a t i o n

res u m e @ c hi n a j o b .c o m

about our products (archi t e c t u r e, protocol, design, process, etc.) and prepa r e techn i - Professional Vacancy: cal training mate r ials in PPT and/or Documents; NET EXPAT is a rapi d l y growi n g 2. Deliver the training to Carbon Nanotube (CNT) engin e e r s including both new co m p a n y with unique services. We spe- and existing employees (Dev & QA and PSG) for all engin e e r s in CNT; ci a l i z e in coaching newl y assigned exp a - 3. Prepa r e and deliver a speech on how to write technical documentation; and tri a tes to integrate quickl y and effic i e n t l y 4. Revi e w and polish technical documents written by CNT engin e e rs . into their new business envi r onment. We Re q u i re m e n t s : also help the husbands, wives or partn e r s 1. Excellent English and Chinese commun i c a tion and coordi n a tion skills. of exp at ri a tes find jobs in their new host 2. Knowl e d g e and/or exp e r ience in softwar e devel o p m e n t . co u n t r y, thereby enabling them to pursu e 3. Tec hnical training exp e r ience as a prof essor in a univer sity or a technical trai n - their caree r s. Our clients are pres t i g ious corpo - er in an IT company. rations and belong to the top 1000 worl dw i d e . Contact: Trac y Zhao, email: [email protected]. Our team consists of 87 people, and we cover Tel: 86-22-58392562, Fax: 86-22-58392501. mo r e than 42 countries. We have offices in London, Asian Metal, an inform a tion networ k on metals in China, provides the late s t , Br ussels, Par is, The Hagu e , Dublin, Fran k f u r t, Geneva, ac c u r ate and compreh e n s i ve market news and breaking prices on the metal indus- Zu ri c h, New Yor k, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapo r e. We tr y, cover ing base metals, minor metals, precious metals, rar e earth, ref ra c t o r y iron ar e ISO 9001 certi fi e d . 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To promote our inform a tion service to those European or U.S . compa- access. ni e s . Visto Tianjin was established in October 2005 and serves Ot h e r : as an R&D center in China. For more inform a tion, visit: At t ra c t i ve commission based on sales. One-year contract is a minimum . ww w .v i s t o . c o m . Wor kload is around seven hours per work d a y. We are looking for a Tec hnical Trainer/Consultant to: Please indicate your expected salary for this position considering a free apa r t- 1. Wor k clo s e l y with British and American staff, especial- ment is provi d e d . We will invite selected applicants for an intervi e w. Please submit ly with engin e e r ing teams; collect technical inform at i o n your resume to in f o@ a s i a n m e t a l . c o m .

email to unihoriz [email protected] for more details. Teaching Vacancy: Fore i g n e r s Join to Correct Chinese-style English for the Beijing 2008 Olym p i c Xiamen Univer sity Tan Kah Kee College, app r oved by the Ga m e s Mi n i s t r y of Education of China, was established jointly by Xiamen Beijing started using English signs in its public places in late 1980s for the 11th Un i ver sity and Xiamen Tan Kah Kee Educational Development Ltd. Asian Games in 1990. This act had brought grea t convenience for for eign visitors. in 2003. As a compreh e n s i ve and independent college that origi n a t- With the upcoming Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, fore i g n e r s from all over the worl d ed from Xiamen Univers i t y , Tan Kah Kee College curren t l y offer s ar e traveling to Beijing, thus making English sign usage more frequent. These signs un d e r grad u a te programs with support from Xiamen Univers i t y . ha ve become the “face” of Beijing. However , fore i g n e r s may have rea l i z ed that there The college shares with Xiamen Univer sity not only their teach- ar e many mistran s l a ted signs throughout shopping centers, hotels, parks, buses, sub- ing facilities and faculty but also their wel l - k n o wn pedagogy, ways and even the airpo r ts. Hotels misuse “scatter” for “evac u a te” in their whi c h ensures the high teaching quality. Furth e rm o r e, to meet the em e r gen c y inform a tion signs while tobacco shop billboards in t e rn a tional standards of higher education and the ever- g rowi n g sa y they sell “smoke” instead of “cigare t t e s , ” for exa m p l e . needs of a market economy for qualified college grad u a tes, Tan Kan To prepa r e for an excellent Olympics Games in 2008, Kee College dedicates itself to talent-cultivation and constant innovati o n s Beijing has embarked on a campaign to improve its in its course struc t u r es. Please visit www.e n . x u j c .cn to learn more abo u t English signs, and Beijing citizens are expected to us. If you want to join us, please contact Wen n y at wen n y8 3 @ x u j c .c o m ta k e part in this campaign. The Beijing Tou ri s m or call at 86-596-6682425. Bu r eau has issued a regu l a tion req u i r ing hotels Un i - h o ri z on Education Grou p , located in Guangzhou City, is and shops to tran s l a te their names, service hours, rec r uiting two enthusiastic nati ve English teache r s for prim a r y students room rates and notices into accurate English. A in Guangzhou. Salary offer ed will be 6,500-8,500 yuan per month for no n - g over nmental organ i z a tion has been set up nine to 10 teaching hours per week. The y also provide health and by Chinese and for eign exp e r ts to improve the accident insurance and rou n d t r ip air ticket for one-year contrac t . si t u a tion. Though argument on how to improve Ca n d i d a tes are requested to be nati ve English speaker s from the the situation still exists, we believe when the United States, UK, Canada, Aus t r alia or New Zealand, with a Beijing 2008 Olympic Games starts, for eign visitors ba ch e l o r ’ s degree or abo ve and teaching exp e ri e n c e . Please send ma y find it easy to rec og n i z e most signs. Chamber of Commerce Information

AustCham Beijing The China-Australia Chamber of Canada China Business Council Commerce The Canada China Business Council (CCBC) is a private, (AustCham) Beijing membership-based association that seeks to facilitate and pro- was founded in 1996 as a non-profit and private-sector organiza- mote trade and investment between Canada and China. tion promoting Australian business and AustCham member inter- CCBC members range from some of the largest and best- ests in China. AustCham Beijing’s membership comprises more known Canadian and Chinese firms to than 240 corporations and close to 300 members that represent leading innovators and SME (small and Australia’s service, manufacturing and mining sectors. medium-sized enterprise) entrepreneurs in both Canada and China. Members rep- Previous events resent a variety of sectors including finan- November 7 cial services, legal services, information Investment Seminar Series with Lowes Wealth Management: and communications technology, educa- “Value Investing: the Only Investment Strategy for the Intelligent tion, manufacturing, construction, trans- Investor” portation, mining and energy. With over November 8 300 member companies, the CCBC also A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport Interchamber Networking has a small but growing number of Upcoming event Chinese member companies. November 28 Previous event Intellectual Sergio Marchi Sergio Marchi, President of the CCBC, Property Rights visited China recently. On November 3, as seminar series with Canada’s former International Trade Minister and Ambassador AustCham and to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva,Marchi Rouse & Co. delivered a keynote luncheon hosted by the CCBC Beijing International Civil Chapter at the Beijing Kerry Center Hotel entitled, “The WTO Litigation in China and China—the Need for Mutual Leadership.” For more informa- tion please see Upcoming Event www.austcham.org The Great Canadian Christmas 2006 will be held on AustCham Beijing Chairman John Pendergast, or contact the sec- Saturday, December 16th 2006. For more upcoming events addresses the Second Biannual Australia-China retariat at 86-10- Business Forum. Seated at the dais are Mark Norris, and membership inquiry, please call 86-10-85261820. Wang Chao, Teresa Ganbaro, and Kevin 65959252 or Hobgood-Brown

[email protected].

British Chamber of European Union Chamber of Commerce in China Commerce The British Chamber of Commerce in China is an independent, The European Union Chamber of non-profit and membership-based organization providing connec- Commerce in China serves member compa- tivity for British businesses in China. It was formally established in nies by being the voice of European busi- 1993 to represent the interests of its members, and provide a net- ness in China. The chamber actively focuses work platform for British businesses operating in China. on discussing the operational business concerns of European BC C C ’ s membership companies with policymakers through dialogue. consists of a broad The chamber is built around 31 industry-specific working sp e c t r um of small, groups that bring together senior executives for strategic dis- medium and large cussions ranging from market access to the evolution of the Br itish businesses and business environment in China. organizations in China, Upcoming event as well as enterpri s e s The chamber’s Charity Gala Dinner is fast approaching and op e r ating in China with will be held on Friday, December 8, at the Kempinski Hotel. significant UK-related Following last year’s success in raising over 1 million yuan, the business interests. chamber hopes to double the amount this year. The evening Through a series of will include a fashion show to raise funds for warm winter regular even t s , BCCC’s BCCC Chairman Michael Fosh speaks to members at a Business Panel Event clothes for those in broad networ ks and need, multiple raf- sector-based and hori- fles with great zontal issue-based member fo ru m s, members have access to a prizes, and a band host of opportunities to express their views , promote their bus i n e s s to get people mov- interests and benefit from the knowledge and exp e r ience of fel l o w ing after a great members and associates. dinner. Upcoming event For more infor- mation on the work BCCC Christmas Party: 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 14, of the European 2006 Union Chamber of For more information please contact Mickey Zhao on 8525 1111 Commerce please ext. 707. For more information about BCCC membership please have a look at visit www.pek.britcham.org. www.european- Celebrating China’s Five-year WTO Partnership chamber.com.cn. FORUM

th a t subscrib e r s could affor d. If we just think about controlling costs to overs i m p l i - Will Real Name fy the regis t r ation proc e d u r e, we might fac e mo r e future prob lems. Clients willing to provide operato r s Registration Harm Mobile their personal inform a tion show their trus t , and in ret u r n the service provi d e r s should Phone Users’ Privacy? do the same. Disputes do not stem from the real name regis t r ation but the abuse of the in d iv i d u a l ’ s inform a tion that could cause he days of Chinese consumers Knowing who you are helps tro u b le for the users. Per h a ps the rul i n g getting mobile service without Chen Jinqiao (assistant chief engi- dep a r tment could also give some considera- ha ving to register with their neer of the Chinese Academy of Tel e c o m - tion to this. real names are num b e re d . The mun i c a tions Research under the MII): Xiong Peiyun (Or iental Morni n g Mi n i s t r y of Inform at i o n Some ambivalent users are not totally Pos t ): I don’t agree with people who say TIn d u s t r y (MII) has announced that in orde r against the new system but wor ried abo u t th a t the real name regis t r ation for mobile to become cell phone subscrib e r s, people the side effects of such regis t r ation, for phone users will affect our commun i c at i o n will soon have to register with their ID instance the abuse of giving customer infor - fr eedom. Countries from ever y continent, ca r ds. Detailed regu l a tions are expected to ma tion away or the possible rise in costs for in c luding the United States, Britain, Fran c e , be promu l g ated by the end of the yea r . mobile service operato r s. The r e is no use Aus t r alia, South Kor ea, Japan, Singapo r e Yi Mingyu, consulting director of the pa n i c king over these prob lems when we and South Africa, all req u i r e that cell phone CCID Group, a Beijing-based IT servi c e could adopt other supplementary measures us e r s register their names. Are people in pr ovi d e r , war ned subscrib e r s, who have to to res o l v e them. these countries blo c ked from commun i c a t- pr ovide their identity card at regis t r ati o n , It needs time to promote the real name ing? If so, why don’t they prot e s t ? could be turned away by the complicate d system. Look at it as four stages: Fir st, to get Obv i o u s l y, the real name system doesn’t pro c e d u r e to start the servi c e , resulting in a ever ything rea d y, whi c h means we will af fect their lives at all. loss of business on the part of mobile ser- weigh up the advan t a ges and disadvan t a ges As a matter of fact, we notice that those vice provi d e r s. and then decide the way in whi c h to best committing crimes through disseminati n g Despite the inconvenience and rise in be n e f it our customers and reduce manage- ha r mful inform a tion online, under the dis- op e r ational costs, Yi stressed that the rea l ment risks. The operato r s should know guise of false names, are app r ehended by name system will fundamentally be benefi- whe r e their obli g ations and market potential the net police. In other cial to users. “We know that a large sum of exists. Second, is the softwar e and hardwar e mo n e y has been embezzled simply by im p r ovements. The service provi d e r s fr audulent text messages, and the regis t r a- should kee p adjusting the system based on tion of real names will be a grea t help to reactions and suggestions solicited from co n t r ol such crim e s . ” their customers. Thi r d, would be a tran s i - Yi suggested a gradual phasing in of rea l tional period to monitor the safety of name regis t r ation, starting fir st with account st r eamlining the regis t r ation proc e d u r e. ho l d e r s and then the pre-paid customers. Du r ing this perio d , it is important to differ - “T hough the transition period would brin g en t i a te the new users from the ones that higher financial costs to both operato r s and need to be rer egis t e re d . Also, the gap us e r s, in the long run it will be helpful to reg- be t w een differ ent regions and cities should ul a te the market , ” said Yi. be fac t o r ed in, perhaps by setting specific In s i d e r s predict that by knowing who deadlines for differ ent regions befor e full their customers are, service provi d e r s will im p l e m e n t a tion. Fou r th is testing. The be able to reduce the rate of over due sub- pro b lems found should be assessed sc r iptions and also tailor-m a k e service pro- and adjusted. It won ’ t cause muc h grams better suited to the customers’ needs dispute if the proc e d u r e is cle a r ly The number of China’s mobile phone de f ined and effec t i vel y carrie d us e r s has surged up to 400 million accord- out. ing to latest statistics of the MII. Of this Ye Lin (prof essor at total, more than half are unidentifie d . the Renmin Univer sity of Fol l o wing the practice of South Kore a , China): In my eyes, a Tha i l a n d , Aus t r alia, Japan and South Afric a mo d e r ate release of one’s whe r e the subscrib e r s have to show their ID pe r sonal inform a tion does be fo r e purchasing either mobile phones or not necessaril y mean phone cards, the regis t r ation system has in f ri n g ements upon the pr oved to be helpful in a wide ran g e of co n s u m e r ’ s privac y. Thi n k social issues, from antiterror and track i n g about regis t e r ing to rent an cr iminals to curbing message spams. apa r tment, you should also Those opposed to the usage of a rea l pr ovide ID. The real name name system argue against its effec t i ven e s s for cell phone users may on curbing crimes and doubted the confi- ad d more proc e d u r es ini- dentiality of personal inform a tion of the ti a l l y, but it should be a clients. rea s o n a ble service cost

46 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 FORUM wor ds, the false names actually contribu t e exa m p l e . The y often req u i r e the people who The real name regis t r ation should be mo r e to social disorde r , rather than creat e want to open an account to give their rea l aimed at an expansion of business scope, pro b lems for free commun i c a tion. On the identity for future inquiries. Of course , all su c h as online banking systems, or payi n g co n t ra r y, a society that has true freedom of this personal inform a tion of clients is pro- bills by cell phones, instead of curbing exp r ession should allow free commun i c a - tected by confidentiality agreements, whi c h p h o n e - re l ated crimes. It is similarly tion under real names. ar e not be seen by others. Yet, seldom do ridiculous for police offic e r s to for ce con- Hu Jian (China Youth Daily): The an y clients complain that the real name reg- su m e r s who buy knives to show their ID pu b lic policy of real name regis t r ation will is t r ation in the banking in the name of securit y in f luence a nation with such a large num - system has impinged on co n c e r ns, as it is for ber of mobile phone users, so furio u s their privac y. Dear Readers, the purchase of deb a tes over the policy is inevi t a ble . Thi s Ac t u a l l y, most “Forum” is a column that mobile phones and could show the raised awar eness of our cit- phone users in the provides a space for varying ca r ds. iz ens, it also ref lects the cha n g ing concept United States have to perspectives on contempo- Liu Yi k u n of gover nment administration. Junk and pr ovide their identity rary Chinese society. In each ( h l j . re d n e t . c n ) : A il l e gal messages are not the only target s ; when buying a phone. issue, “Forum” will announce su r vey conducted by a the ultimate goal is to test the justice of the Ho wever , few of them the topic for an upcoming p o rtal web s i t e po l i c y. feel wor ried as they are issue. We invite you to submit revealed that, 63 per- As a public policy, it should be neces- sat i s f ied with the matu r e personal viewpoints (in either cent of the re s p o n- sa r y. The real name regis t r ation for cell co n f idential system. English or Chinese). dents believed the rea l phone users, though not yet entren c hed in Es s e n t i a l l y, it is not Upcoming Topic: Does name system will help la w, at least does not go against the prin c i - the regis t r ation that golf have a place in the cur- in crac king down on ples of legis l a tion. On the other hand, with- cha l l e n g es the free d o m riculum of China’s higher edu- te xt message crim e s , out other effec t i ve ways to curb illegal and of inform a tion and cation? while 60 percent of tr ash spams and avoid message frau d , it is te l e c o m mu n i c a tion. E-mail us at xqpan@cipg. the re s p o n d e n t s the right time for us to put the real name sys- org.cn lo o k ed deeper into the tem on trial. The only concern for me is how Keep it private p riva cy issue, and Yang Tao (Peo p l e ’ s Please provide your name, to balance administrati ve power and the telephone number, zip code another 37 perc e n t Da i l y Online): We are in d i vidual rights of each user? and address along with your p roposed the police su r rounded by the Chen Jieren (Na n f ang Daily): As we comments. era d i c a te the use of all know, telecom companies who ask for req u i r ements of vari o u s fa ke identity card s Pan Xiaoqiao regis t r ation of their clients aim at provi d - cr edibility systems as Editor: fir st. It is obvious that ing a better service and society advances. But not all people agree mo r e efficient man- we are won d e r ing wha t with the new system, agement of the will be the fac i l i t a ting measures to prot e c t some are even suspicious about the conse- business. Tak e our privac y from being intruded upon. quences and afraid of having their privac y c o m m e rc i a l The expansion of administrati ve power vi o l at e d . banks for will of course reduce the individual rig h t s Mo re o ver , big telecom companies abi d e and should be well managed . The phone by confidentialities, but not the many small num b e r , real name and identity card are pri- sales agents. You can never be sure wha t vate things not avai l a ble to the publi c . small businesses will do with your inform a - Unless permitted by the citizens, nobody tion. So the authoriz a tion and penalty of else has the right to disclose it to the publi c . su c h release of customer inform a tion is ver y Be fo r e brin g ing in a real name regis t r ati o n ne c e s s a r y. system, the policym a ke r s should fir st think The real name regis t r ation of cell phone of how to protect customer privac y over us e r s is not only way to prevent rel at e d telecom operato r s and the sales agen t s cr imes, but also to help telecom companies whe r e phone users have to regis t e r . im p r ove their servi c e , ensuring the benefit s Also, we are calling for the telecom and interests of customers, while allowi n g op e r ato r s, sales agents and govern m e n t them to accept the regis t r ation rule at their dep a r tments to be self-disciplined in pro- own risk. tecting the privac y of individuals. Xu Lifan (China Youth Daily): The Ou Muhua (Yanzhao Metrop o l i s real name regis t r ation demands mutual trus t Da i l y): The success of anti-spam on porno - be t w een customers and authorities. In Japa n graphic and fraudulent messages in fore i g n and South Kor ea, the gover nment has made co u n t r ies req u i r es a self-disciplined telecom dual rules to kee p both sides in line. in d u s t r y. The real name system is not for the Me a n wh i l e , investments in ren o vation and se r vice provi d e r s to escape from the system update also trou b le China. It should ac c o u n t a bility to protect customers’ priva- be commonly rec og n i z ed that, the costs of cy, but to better serve more customers. te l e c o m mu n i c a tion infras t ru c t u r e improve- As common people, we doubt the bene- ment should be shared by the publi c , fits for the public of such a system and fee l au t h o r ities and business operato r s. In this it hard to accept. Maybe the telecom opera- regar d, the real name regis t r ation system to r s are finding excuses for their ineffic i e n - could be of little help. ■ cy in message management and supervi - Note: Opinions used in this column have been sion. gathered from Chinese mass media.

BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006 47 INTERVIEW

The process of freeing up trade in goo d s be t w een ASEAN and China has alrea d y st a r ted and there is no reason why the aim ASEAN Good for Globalization of rem o ving all tarif fs on ASEAN-China tra d e , at least between China and the ASEAN 6 [Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, While leaders from China and 10 Ma l a ysia, Philippines, Singapo r e and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Thailand], cannot be achi e ved by 2010. The Na tions) countries gath e r ed in late li b e ra l i z a tion of trade in services and of the October in Nanning, capital city of south flo w of investments is being curren t l y nego- Ch i n a ’ s Guangxi Zhuang Aut o n o m o u s ti at e d . However , these are gover nment mea- Re gion, to commemorate the 15th su r es that are meant to free up the condi- an n i vers a r y of the initiation of their tions for trade and investments. It is up to bi l at e r al dialogu e , Ro d o l f o C. the business people, the trad e r s and the Se veri n o , For mer Secret a r y General in ves t o r s to take advan t a ge of the oppor- of ASEAN and Senior Research tunities thus opened. If they do, the Fel l o w of the Institute of Southeast ASEAN-China Free Trade Area will be Asian Studies, Singapo r e, shared his the largest free - t r ade zone in the worl d vi e ws on the regio n ’ s further devel o p - and should be a major contrib ution to the ment of bilate r al ties and free trad e wor ld trading system. with Beijing Revi e w in New York . Wha t do you think still needs to be Beijing Revi e w: You began serv- ASIA TALK: Rodolfo C. Severino discusses ties done to establish such a free trade zone? between ASEAN and its neighbors during an ing as secret a r y gen e r al of ASEAN in event hosted by Asia Society, a nonprofit and non- To free up trade between ASEAN and 1998 when Asia was suffer ing a painful pa r tisan organization in New York City China, it is not enough to cut and rem o ve financial crisis. Wha t did ASEAN mem- ta ri f fs. More important are the technical and be r s do collectivel y to ride out that fin a n - As Premier Wen Jiabao and other non-tarif f barrie r s to trade that need to cial storm and wha t did they learn from [P h i l i p p i n e ] P r esident Gloria Arroyo be rem o ved . Important also are trade in ser- it? How do you see today’ s economic de cl a r ed at the commemorati ve China- vices, the harmo n i z a tion of product stan- de velopment of the regio n ? ASEAN summit, ASEAN-China rel at i o n s da r ds, the streamlining of customs proc e - Ro d o l f o Sever ino: The financial cris i s ha ve never been better. The y can devel o p du r es and smooth tran s p o r t and telecommu- had three dimensions—domestic, interna - fu r ther if both sides build confid e n c e , dissi- ni c a tions systems. tional and regional. Domestically, the pa te mutual suspicions, are more open to ASEAN countries, each in their own way, ea c h other in terms of strate gic outlook, The establishment of a China- un d e r took refo r ms of their nati o n a l in c luding on the energy question, rem o ve ASEAN Free Trade Area will accelerate economies, including their financial sectors. ob s t a c les to trade and investment betwee n regional integration in Asia. How does Some of these refo r ms entailed political them, and together persuade their people regional integration help the countrie s up h e a vals. Internat i o n a l l y, ASEAN wor ked about the benefits to them of a stren g t h e n e d in vol v ed deal with their own devel o p m e n t with the interna tional financial institutions ASEAN-China rel a tionship. pro b lems? And wha t do you think of and submitted ideas and proposals for the regional integration in the globalizati o n refo r m of the interna tional financial struc - In the recent China-ASEAN Business co n t e xt? tu r e. Regio n a l l y, ASEAN advanced the and Investment Summit opened in Re gional integration would be a grea t deadlines for the reduction of tarif fs on intra- Na n n i n g , Chinese Premier Wen Jiaba o help to development. A large regional mar- ASEAN trade so as to hasten the integrati o n vowed to further open markets and ket would att r act investments into the of the regional economy. Together with in c r ease imports from ASEAN despite region. For exa m p l e , without trade barrie r s China, Japan and South Kor ea, ASEAN set the current trade deficit. How do you see be t w een China and Viet Nam, inves t o r s up a networ k of bilate r al curren c y swap and Ch i n a ’ s effor ts in promoting trade rel a - could invest in Viet Nam in order to sell repu r chase agreements, called the Chiang tions with ASEAN? their products to the Chinese market and Mai Initiati ve, enabling and committing each The expansion of trade will depend on thus produce jobs in Viet Nam. Provided the pa r ty to support the curren c y of another me a s u r es to rem o ve obstacles to that trad e , region remains open to the rest of the worl d , pa r ty that may be under speculati ve att a c k pa rt i c u l a r ly the technical and other non-tarif f regional integration would gen e r ate trad e an d , therefo r e, discourage such speculati o n . ba r rie r s to trad e . It will depend also on how and investments in gen e r al and thus pro- The Chiang Mai Initiati ve also provided for well and how rapi d l y business people on each mote the purposes of globalization. the collective surveillance of the regio n a l side get familiar with the business opportu n i - ec o n o m y. Tod a y, all Southeast Asian coun- ties and conditions on the other side. The gov- Wha t kind of rol e , in your opinion, is tr ies can be said to have rec o ver ed from the er nments and business people on both sides China playing in Southeast Asia? financial crisis and to have been stren g t h - should cooperate with each other on this. Li k e other grea t regional power s, China ened economically by their responses to it. is seeking good rel a tions with its immediate The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area ne i g h b o r s in Southeast Asia and stability in Wha t are your comments on the rel a - is planned to be in place by 2010, whi c h th a t region. It also wants to make sure that tions between China and ASEAN since is four yea r s from now. Do you think that th re a ts to its security do not come from the two sides initiated bilate r al dialogu e s this target will be fulfilled by then? Wha t Southeast Asia or from the use of Southeast to further bilate r al ties in 1991? And how will such a free trade area imply for Asia. It therefo r e considers stron g er rel a - do you expect such rel a tions to develop in ASEAN members, for China and for the tions with Southeast Asia to be in its nati o n - the future? en t i r e wor ld trade system? al interes t . ■

48 BEIJING REVIEW NOVEMBER 16, 2006