SPENDING SPREE National Day Holiday Illustrates Potential for Domestic Consumption
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EYES ON JAPAN’S POLITICAL FUTURE P.14 EDUCATING PARTY CADRES P.22 VOL.55 NO.42 OCTOBER 18, 2012 WWW.BJREVIEW.COM SPENDING SPREE National Day holiday illustrates potential for domestic consumption RMB6.00 USD1.70 AUD3.00 GBP1.20 CAD2.60 CHF2.60 JPY188 邮发代号2-922·国内统一刊号：CN11-1576/G2 VOL.55 NO.42 OCTOBER 18, 2012 INDEX THE DESK BUSINESS 2 A Boon to the Economy THIS WEEK COVER STORY WORLD 34 A New Crossroad Reflections on the global economy 36 Market Watch CULTURE 10 Cover Story A consumption boom 17 Intentionally Ambiguous? The U.S. position on Diaoyu Islands puzzles China 18 Orientation East Forging closer ties between China and Canada FEATURES NATION 10 Golden Harvest China’s holiday week boosts economy 14 An Uncertain Future 42 Species Scanning Diaoyu Islands dispute has global ramifications The future of DNA bar-coding 24 Making Science Cool 22 All-Around Training FORUM What will it take? Party cadres head back to school 46 Appraising the Golden Week 26 Filling an Empty Nest Holiday Kids leave, parents struggle to adapt 32 In Top Gear EXPAT’S EYE 28 Picky Critics A domestic carmaker’s ambitions Netizens voice concern on urban 48 Ordinary Times in an construction Extraordinary Life 40 A Jade Sculptor’s Dream Never a dull day in Beijing The life of one of Beijing’s most esteemed craftsmen COVER PHOTO: Tens of thousands of tourists flood the Qibao Ancient Town in Shanghai on October 2, during the eight-day National Day holiday (LAI XINLIN) Beijing Review (ISSN 1000-9140), is published weekly for US$64.00 per year by Cypress Books, 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 Books, 360 Swift Avenue, Suite 48, South San Francisco, CA 94080 THE DESK A News Weekly Magazine Published Since 1958 iPad APP http: //www.bjreview.com E-mail: [email protected] President & Editor in Chief: Wang Gangyi A Boon to the Economy Vice President: Qi Wengong Associate Editors in Chief: Li Jianguo, Huang Wei, Wang Yanjuan, Zhou Jianxiong During the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday from Assistant President: Li Zhenzhou September 30 to October 7, about 425 million people—equivalent to the Assistant Editor in Chief: Wa Chunfang total population of North America—traveled the country, creating sales in Executive Editor: Ding Zhitao the retailing and catering sectors in excess of 800 billion yuan ($127.04 bil- Assistant Executive Editors: Yao Bin, Zhang Zhiping lion). This sum is roughly 10 percent of South Korea or Mexico’s GDP in Editorial Administrators: Zhang Xiaoli, Shi Bosen 2011. The travel rush set a new record for China’s eight-day holiday. Senior Consultant: Shao Haiming Opinion Editor: Zan Jifang Despite China’s slowing growth, booming sales during the holiday in World Editor: Yan Wei China illustrates the potential for consumption. Nation Editor: Yao Bin The holiday reflected the dynamic nature of the economy. Transaction Business Editors: Yu Shujun, Lan Xinzhen Culture Editor: Liu Yunyun statistics released by China Unionpay (CUP), a financial organization that Editorial Consultants: Joseph Halvorson, Evan Z. Hall, Elvis Anber covers most Chinese banks, showed that the total inter-bank transactions Staff Reporters: Tang Yuankai, Ding Ying, Ding Wenlei, Wang Jun, Li Li, with CUP cards increased by 41 percent compared with the same period Yin Pumin, Liu Yu, Pan Xiaoqiao, Yuan Yuan, Wang Hairong, Liu Xinlian, Yu Yan, Yu Lintao, Zhou Xiaoyan, Bai Shi, Xu Tao, Deng Yaqing, Ji Jing last year. According to the Ministry of Commerce, major retailing and ca- Photo Editor: Wang Xiang tering enterprises increased sales by 15 percent over last year. In 2011, the Photographer: Wei Yao added value of the service sector accounted for 43.1 percent of the GDP; Art: Li Shigong Art Director: Wang Yajuan we are likely to see a higher rate this year. Chief Designer: Cui Xiaodong The flourishing holiday economy raised employment. Scenic spots, Designer: Zhao Boyu transportation, hotels and restaurants had a strong need for service staff. Proofreading: Qin Wenli, Ma Xin Many enterprises were willing to pay more than usual to recruit new em- Distribution Director: Pan Changqing Human Resources: Hou Jin ployees. International Cooperation: Zhang Yajie The number of tourists increased by 40.9 percent over the same period Legal Counsel: Yue Cheng of last year, with crowded tourist attractions, gridlocked highways and North America Bureau packed airports, railway stations and shopping malls the norm during the Chief: Huang Wei week. Unprecedented crowds of visitors revealed shortcomings in the tour- Tel/Fax: 1-201-792-0334 E-mail: [email protected] ism industry. For example, the Huashan Mountain in Shaanxi Province General Editorial Office attracted 27,000 visitors on October 3, leading to disorder at the famous Tel: 86-10-68996252 scenic spot. Numerous visitors were stranded through the night on the top Fax: 86-10-68326628 of the mountain. Other tourist sites fared no better. Hotels reached capacity, English Edition Tel: 86-10-68996259 forcing some visitors to sleep in tents. Advertising Department However, these problems show the potential for growth and further Tel: 86-10-68995813 investment opportunities in the tourism sector. Fax: 86-10-68329398 E-mail: [email protected] China is currently carrying out income reform. Rising income will Distribution Department drive economic growth. Meanwhile, spending—from tourism to retail— Tel: 86-10-68310644 will see a significant boost. Problems that exist now during holiday periods Fax: 86-10-68328738 E-mail: [email protected] will be resolved gradually. n Published every Thursday by BEIJING REVIEW, 24 Baiwanzhuang Lu, Beijing 100037, China. Overseas Distributor: China International Book Trading Corporation (Guoji Shudian), P. O. BOX 399, Beijing 100044, China Tel: 86-10-68413849, 1-416-497-8096 (Canada) Fax: 86-10-68412166 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.cibtc.com General Distributor for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan: Peace Book Co. Ltd. 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Beijing Review (USPS 2812) is published weekly in the United States for US$64.00 per year by Cypress Books, 360 Swift Avenue, Suite 48, South San Francisco, CA 94080 北京周报 英文版 2012年 第42期 ISSN 1000-9140 广告许可证 0171号 News Postage Paid at South San Francisco, CA 94080 北京市期刊登记证第733号 邮发代号2-922·国内统一刊号：CN11-1576/G2 国内零售价：人民币6.00元 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Beijing Review, CHINA......RMB6.00 U.S.A.......USD1.70 AUSTRALIA......AUD3.00 UK......GBP1.20 CANADA......CAD2.60 SWITZERLAND......CHF2.60 Cypress Books, 360 Swift Avenue, Suite 48, JAPAN......JPY188 EUROPE......EURO1.90 TURKEY......YTL5.00 HK......HKD9.30 NEPAL......RS40 South San Francisco, CA 94080 2 BEIJING REVIEW OCTOBER 18, 2012 http://www.bjreview.com THIS WEEK “China is planning a three-phase probe HUANG ZONGZHI to collect samples from the Mars by 2030. The three stages are remote sensing, softlanding and exploring, and returning.” Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of China’s lunar orbiter project, said on October 10 at a lecture organized by the Chinese Society of Astronautics “Excessive PM 2.5 concentration in the air of Beijing will be detected regularly for a long time to come.” Zhao Yue, Deputy Director of the Environmental Monitoring Center of Beijing, commenting on the city’s air quality “We saw nothing but the back of peo- ple’s heads. We wanted our 11-year-old son to learn something from the trip, but we only ended up exhausted.” Guo Zhijun, a visitor to the Palace Museum in Beijing, describing their tour in the capital during the weeklong National Day holiday “As I enter this next chapter, I am excited to play for the Qingdao Eagles in China. I have been to China several times in the last few years and I love the people and the country. It will be an honor to play for them.” Tracy McGrady, the seven-time NBA all-star, announcing in a post on his website on October 10 that he is signing on to play for a Chinese Basketball Association team “Since boys are about two years behind girls in their stages of mental develop- Let’s Play Music ment, girls should start school at 6 to Pedestrians walk on piano-style stairs at the Wulin Plaza 7 years old, while boys could start at in Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province, on 7 to 8. The Chinese education system needs to improve and allow alternative October 9. When setting foot on the stairs, a sound plays like education and evaluation methods.” the keys of a piano. Many pedestrians forgoed the convenience Wu Bihu, a professor at the College of Urban and of an escalator for the emitting stair music. Environmental Sciences of Peking University, questioning the practice of requiring both boys and girls to start school at the age of 6 on his micro-blog http://www.bjreview.com OCTOBER 18, 2012 BEIJING REVIEW 3 THIS WEEK SOCIETY WANG HUA WANG COLD-RESISTANT TRAIN A test train pulls into the terminus of the new Harbin-Dalian High-Speed Railway in Dalian, Liaoning Province, on October 8, when China began testing the world’s first alpine high-speed rail line STUNTMEN Coast guards take part in a training session in Dalian, a coastal city in northeast China’s Liaoning Province, on October 9 XINHUA conference that China’s reforms would be Judicial Reform based on its own present circumstances, in- The Chinese Government on October 9 issued stead of simply copying from other countries.