Insurance Reform

Caijing Magazine
December 30

As an important part of financial reform, insurance reform is to be launched soon. Insurance reform will cover four aspects: insurance against natural disasters, agricultural insurance, endowment insurance and health insurance.

Xiang Junbo, Chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), has clear thoughts about the reform. He said that insurance reform will be carried out with the goal of building up market-oriented pricing, capital utilization as well as entrance and exit mechanisms.

When Xiang took over the CIRC in 2011, China's insurance industry bid farewell to its previously rapid development and reached a bottleneck. During China's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10), the industry witnessed an annual growth rate of 24.2 percent in insurance premiums. In 2011, the first year of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), the growth rate dropped to 10.4 percent. Then in 2012, it dropped to 8 percent, marking the end of the double-digit growth rates it had enjoyed before. In the meantime, innovations in financial products and services in the banking as well as the securities industry form a new challenge for the insurance industry. This means Xiang now shoulders the responsibilities of both bringing the industry out of its difficulties and encouraging the creation of new innovations.

Xiang said the fundamental reason for the slowing of growth is that insurance is insufficiently market-orientated. The year 2014 will be crucial for the insurance industry as it ensures risk precautions. How will the reform be carried out? How effective will the reform be? Both of these questions will ultimately be answered by the market.

Academician Misconduct

China Youth Daily
January 7

Recently, Wang Zhengmin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and a professor of otology at Fudan University, has been accused of plagiarism. Wang is suspected of copying academic papers and cloning an artificial cochlea developed foreign inventors while passing off the innovations as his own. However, the academic committee of the university merely admitted Wang's research work did not conform to academic standards.

What makes the public disappointed is that the CAS has never released the results of investigations regarding such cases. Most incidents involving academicians being disciplined date back to the 1990s, when the CAS dismissed two academicians due to misconduct committed during their research.

Academies should have the strictest standards when it comes to selecting academicians and the should have a zero tolerance policy toward any misconduct. The Central Government mapped out a plan to reform the current academician system at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee that concluded in last November. According to the plan, the title of academician will no longer be a lifelong honor.

Palace Museum Renovations

Beijing Times
January 7

Starting from January 6, the Palace Museum in Beijing will be closed every Monday for renovations. Like a person, the Palace Museum also needs regular rest, especially since it receives 15 million visitors annually.

During its time off, maintenance work will be carried out to make sure that its collections are all kept in good condition. According to the museum, on the museum's first Monday off, the work included cleaning up chewing gum on the floor, wiping dust of the throne of the emperors and reinstalling lights in the cases for some parts of the collections. The regular closing will give the museum more time to conduct systematic renovations.

Every thing that the Palace Museum does catches the attention of the public, not only because it is the nation's treasury but also because it has witnessed a series of scandals in recent years, including burglary and damage to historic relics.

Shan Jixiang, the current curator, vowed to make reforms to resolve such problems when he took office in January 2012. The public generally considers the museum to be making progress. For example, since last January, the Palace Museum publicly listed the details of its collection for the first time, which aims to ensure public supervision plays a part in protecting its precious artifacts.

Japanese in China

Oriental Outlook
December 26

Despite worsening relations between Japan and China, the number of Japanese people in China has not dropped. According to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the number of Japanese people in long-term or permanent residence in China has hit a record high since 1949. From October 2012 to October 2013, there were 150,000 Japanese people living in Chinese territory excluding Taiwan, making China second only to the United States in the number of Japanese expatriates living in it. In 1997, the figure was 19,300.

Of the 150,000 people, 1.7 percent, or about 2,550, have the right to permanent residence in China. These Japanese expatriates mostly live in compact communities in China's most economically dynamic districts and cities.

It is worth noting that China's second-tier cities are attracting more and more Japanese residents. These cities often own industrial parks for electronics and microelectronics, which the Japanese have a good advantage in. Although these industries have declined somewhat in Japan, they are doing well in China. In addition, these industrial parks have beneficial policies for foreign companies. For instance, Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, is a very popular place among Japanese people. Being near Shanghai, many everyday objects made in Japan can easily be bought, and the local government's policies are more flexible. These factors make Suzhou a paradise for Japanese people who want to escape the pressures of living in Shanghai.

At the beginning of the century, within Japan, people started discussing whether the rise of China was an opportunity or a challenge. Eventually, most of them approved it as an opportunity.