Upgrading Urbanization

Oriental Outlook
February 28

China's urbanization speed is picking up. According to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics on August 17 last year, the country's urban population accounted for 51.27 percent of the overall total in 2011. From 2002 to 2011, China's urbanization rate increased 1.35 percentage points on average every year while the urban population rose 20.96 million on average annually.

Many local governments equal urbanization to expansion of city territory. Experts say that urbanization of the rural population falls far behind that of rural land. Although a large area of rural property has been included into city territories, many people haven't become urban citizens.

The report to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China laid down the path of new urbanization with Chinese characteristics and called for coordination with agricultural modernization. The report also set the target of improving urbanization quality by 2020. Despite the new direction, traditional thinking patterns persist—since April 2012, a city expansion movement has been going on in many areas. Some local officials want to carry out construction projects to add to their achievements, which may help them gain promotions.

How new urbanization should be carried out will decide the fate of both cities and villages in this country.

Lenovo's Path of Internationalization

Lifeweek
February 25

Lenovo, a Chinese company, started its path of internationalization in 2004 when it purchased IBM's PC business. According to a report by Gartner, Lenovo takes up 15.7 percent of the global PC market, the highest in the world.

Lenovo purchased IBM's PC business for its technology and the global market behind. However, whether the IBM brand, which cost more than $1 billion, can be managed properly by Lenovo and how to keep its value, remain problems. Liu Chuanzhi, then Chairman of Lenovo, chose to compromise. He resigned from the chairman position and Yang Yuanqing filled in. An experienced foreigner was assigned CEO of Lenovo, which is a powerful post. Yang even designated English as Lenovo's official language.

When Lenovo had become a company managed by a foreign management team after three years of internationalization, many regarded Lenovo as an American PC company. Therefore, how Yang and his team manage Lenovo decides whether Lenovo is a Chinese or an American company.

In order to succeed, Lenovo not only has to learn the basic rules of international companies and cooperation between employees of different cultures, but also study the fast changing PC industry.

Calling for Qualified Baby Formula

Beijing Evening News
March 5

The law of Hong Kong stipulating that a person can carry only two cans, or 1.8 kg, of baby milk formula out of Hong Kong took effect on March 1. Violators will be fined 500,000 Hong Kong dollars and sentenced to two years in prison. In two days following the implementation of the law, 45 people were arrested for carrying excessive baby formula.

There are two reasons for people from the mainland carrying over baby formula to the mainland: First, imported formula is sold at a lower price in Hong Kong; second, mainland parents have trust in the quality of Hong Kong's imported baby formula. However, as Hong Kong has a limited amount of imported formula, increasing sales caused a price hike, which upset locals and prompted the government to take measures.

When asked about Hong Kong's new baby formula law at the first press conference of this year's National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the spokesman said that 99 percent of mainland baby formula is safe. The problem is that mainland people don't have enough confidence in mainland products.

However, for parents, they not only want to buy safe formula, but want everything their children use to be better than theirs. No parents want their children to have that 1 percent substandard baby formula.

Zhou Bohua, Minister of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, said livestock raisers, dairy companies and the government are all responsible for the quality of baby formula. These three parties should recognize their responsibilities and make all domestic formula reach the standard within the shortest time.

The government should also reduce and even exempt taxes for dairy companies. It should also give subsidies to cow raising and dairy companies that produce qualified baby formula. For the health of our next generation, it's high time for fiscal subsidies to play a role.

Volunteer Spirit

Xi'an Evening News
March 5

Half a century since Lei Feng passed away, the motto "Learning from Comrade Lei Feng" seems a little bit old. However, Lei Feng still exerts an influence on the Chinese and inspires them in concepts of contribution and the value of life. Today, we still need the Lei Feng spirit.

In 2000, March 5 or the Lei Feng Day, was designated as Chinese Youth Volunteers' Service Day. The volunteer spirit, which means contribution, friendship, mutual help and progress, is a lofty ideal pursued by the whole world, and coincides with the Lei Feng spirit.

On the one hand, this spirit needs to evolve with the development of society. In modern China, this spirit should have multiple forms of expression. On the other hand, the current moral dilemma, such as whether we should help a fallen old man or woman up, doesn't mean that Lei Feng spirit is disappearing.

According to statistics from the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the number of registered Chinese youth volunteers had reached 33.92 million and 175,000 volunteer service stations had been built as of December 2011. Take Beijing for example, registered volunteers have exceeded 1.7 million, nearly 10 percent of the city's total population. The Lei Feng spirit may have changed forms of expression, but it is always around us.