Entrepreneurs Face New Tasks

South Review

June 4

Modern Chinese enterprises started to develop in 1984, when the focus of China's reform shifted from the countryside to cities. That year, former leader Deng Xiaoping's inspection tour of the south spurred the birth of such modern institutions as Lenovo, Haier, and Shanghai Vanke.

Over the past 30 years, these industrial enterprises have played an integral role in pushing forward China's market economy, and the entrepreneurs who have grown alongside them have accumulated wealth and enjoyed the high social status that comes with it.

What also comes with prosperity is not just prestige and honor but responsibilities. At this transformative juncture—when China is facing multiple modernization, economic, and territorial issues—Chinese entrepreneurs should set positive examples, serving as astute role models for the betterment of their country and its people.

Free Trade Zones

Outlook Weekly

June 2

For the last eight months, the Shanghai Free Trade Zone has successfully been in operation, spurring several local governments in China to submit materials establishing their cities as "free trade zones" as well. Yet these applications only show that many still don't understand the true purpose behind these local-economy-boosting hubs.

A free trade zone acts as an important platform for implementing new commercial reforms, namely aimed at increasing an area's degree of marketization, or the diversification of ownership of its businesses. Successfully carrying out such reforms on a city-by-city basis will decide whether or not the country's overall revitalization can lead to new economic breakthroughs.

Some local governments, however, are requesting preferential treatment and scrambling to invest in the creation of new infrastructure—methods that have been widely used over the last 20 years to win bids for economic development zones and industrial parks. As a result, the utility of the Chinese free trade zone in carrying out reforms is overlooked, if not entirely forgotten. Should such a trend continue, the latest attempts at market modernization may be postponed indefinitely.

An industrial experiment like the Shanghai Free Trade Zone is not simply a combination of manufacturing and exporting. It is a critical step in the rise to greater internationalization and the expansion of economic opportunities. Historically, its task is to enable reforms. Local governments applying for the free trade zone title, then, would do well to keep this in mind and focus more on exploring ways to diversify market ownership than waiting for special favors.

Tobacco Ads

The Beijing Times

May 6

The State Council's newly passed draft amendment on the Tobacco Advertisement Law is seen a big step forward compared to its former iteration, but there is still a wide gap between the stipulations in this amendment and those suggested by the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The latter explicitly promotes a "comprehensive ban" on all tobacco ads, while the new draft legislation provides some exceptions.

Some might contend that a total ban is too strict. Advertising has always been an effective way to persuade public opinion and wield influence, especially over youths. In theory, though, the most effective way to curb tobacco use in all age groups is to impose an outright embargo on its advertisement. A legally enforceable, comprehensive ban could empower watchdogs and even aid law enforcement agencies to curb tobacco's effects on public health.However, in real life, regardless of the number of places and occasions marked offlimits by the amendment, these promotional campaigns and the companies behind them will always find a way to sell their products.

Thus, a non-comprehensive ban may actually leave the door open for such advertisements to thrive and grow into new territories. Only when the proverbial door is sealed tight and tobacco companies lose their stranglehold on the market can we expect to decrease use of this harmful product. Unglue some officials' eyes from the industry's huge profits, and they will be able to see the significant improvements in air quality, sanitation, and public health that a reduction in tobacco consumption might provide. Any legislation passed should fully block the undue influence of tobacco ads for the greater benefit of society.