E-waste Recycling

South Reviews
December 18, 2012

For the past 20 to 30 years, residents in Qingyuan, south China's Guangdong Province, have made a living by extracting precious metals such as copper from e-waste. According to Qingyuan Statistics Bureau, the revenue of the Qingyuan resource recycling industry reached 51.82 billion yuan ($8.22 billion) in 2010, accounting for about one fourth of the city's industrial output. Around 2.5 million tons of e-waste have been processed.

However, e-waste discarded after valuable metals have been extracted has caused serious environmental pollution. In recent years the Ministry of Environmental Protection has tightened control over the import of e-waste and the copper price has sunk sharply, forcing the extraction industry to transform.

In this issue, South Reviews looks back at the rise and golden age of the industry and discusses measures the local government is taking to cope with new challenges.

A big industrial park was recently built by China Recycling Development Corporation Ltd. in Shijiao Town of Qingyuan, with the aim of housing dispersed family workshops and reducing pollution. However, it is not easy to persuade such workshops to move to the park due to high rent. A lot remains to be done by the local government.

Suzhou's New Opportunity

Oriental Outlook
December 27, 2012

Wujiang City, formerly a county-level town, was merged into Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, as one of its districts in September. Oriental Outlook looks at the impact of administrative transition on the future development of Suzhou, a city known for its scenery and rapid economic development.

After Kunshan, previously a county of Suzhou, came under the direct jurisdiction of the Jiangsu Provincial Government, Suzhou's economic strength weakened. Wujiang is among the top 10 economically strong counties in China and will increase Suzhou's overall economic power.

People in Wujiang worry that merging with Suzhou might restrict the town's development. Xu Ming, Vice Mayor of Suzhou and Party leader of Wujiang District, pointed out that it is important for Wujiang to work out a new development strategy. While for Suzhou, the inclusion of Wujiang will undoubtedly enhance the role of the central city in the region's economic development.

Leader Transparency

China Youth Daily
December 26, 2012

Xinhua News Agency released a series of profiles on the new members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) leadership in December 2012, containing details regarding their achievements and family lives in an open and transparent way. These reports have since evoked a wide public response.

The profiles highlight two aspects. First, the families of top leaders are shown to the public. Second, the profiles give detailed illustrations of their working experience. Rather than praising their achievements, the profiles aim to answer the question as to why these leaders have been appointed.

In short, as China deepens reform, the profiles of top CPC leaders will set an example for officials at all levels to persevere in the country's rapid development.

Land Law to Be Revised

The 21st Century Business Herald
December 26, 2012

Recently, a draft amendment on the Land Administration Law was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for examination and discussion. One possible change underlines compensation on land requisition as set out in Article 47.

The amendment deletes the limit of compensation and stresses that payment occurs in a fair, equal and open manner. The amendment explicitly states that land requisition be prohibited if compensation funding is not finalized.

Without doubt, the amendment will play an important part in China's nationwide urbanization progress. Land requisition and compensation has caused a lot of problems over past years. Breakthroughs show China is advancing legal protection for rural property. Though the amendment gives people more bargaining rights when making price offers, they still have to negotiate with the government. In addition, possible higher compensation will raise land prices further and slow the speed of urbanization.

Educational Equality

South Weekend
December 20, 2012

The argument on whether to permit students who are not registered as residents of a region to attend local university entrance examinations is heating up since the Ministry of Education demanded new exam registration policies be worked out by the end of 2012.

In large cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, the dispute on whether to permit children of migrant workers to take the examinations in the cities where their parents work has reached boiling point. People from other places call for equal education rights for their children, while residents worry that children from other regions will scramble for limited educational resources with local students.

But it is actually a fight for privilege. Under current circumstances, migrant workers' children have to return to their hometowns to attend university entrance examinations. But, the preferential policy for local students will soon be a thing of the past. Both the privileged and unprivileged should approach the matter in a calm way. Along with deepening reform, educational inequality is bound to decrease in the near future.