| CAS Head Goes Global
Bai Chunli, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was elected President of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, formerly the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), at the General Meeting of the Academy held in north China's Tianjin on September 18, becoming the first Chinese scientist to assume the post. Bai will take office on January 1, 2013.
The TWAS was established in 1983. It is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit international science organization sponsored by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It holds an academician conference each year and an academic conference every two to three years. Currently, it attracts nearly 1,000 academicians from 90 countries and regions.
Bai, an expert on nanotechnology, has been engaged in the research of his field since the mid-1980s and has made significant achievements.
The slowdown in China's economic growth will be curbed in the fourth quarter of the year following government measures, but uncertainties remain for future development, said a report released by the Center for China in the World Economy of Tsinghua University on September 23.
China's economy is expected to grow by 7.7 percent in the first three quarters of 2012, while the growth for the entire year is forecast at 7.8 percent, according to the report.
China still has potential for rapid growth in the mid- and long term, and urbanization will be the greatest boost for the country's future development. The report estimated that China's GDP will grow by 8.2 percent year on year in the first half 2013, while achieving 8 percent growth on average for the whole year.
However, the report said China's economy is also facing enormous risks, including global political upheaval and limited choices in crafting monetary policies.
Real estate prices in China are in no condition to rebound as the government continues its hold on the property market, People's Daily reported on September 23.
Despite a rise in sales in recent months, speculative buying is still under control, and both property prices and housing inventories have remained at a stable level, an official from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) told People's Daily.
The recent rebound in home-buying activities is due to higher demand that had been suppressed, an increase of new housing supply and lower loan rates. But there has not been a widespread rebound in property prices.
Growth of China's investment overseas has slowed as a result of the global economic downturn and softening growth in the world's second largest economy.
Its outbound direct investment (ODI) in the non-financial sectors rose 39.4 percent year on year to $47.68 billion in the first eight months of the year, said Shen Danyang, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce.
The increase was slower than the 52.8-percent expansion seen in the January-July period, as global growth faltered and flagging property investment and exports weighed on the Chinese economy.
Of the ODI in the first eight months, investments in the form of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) reached $13.2 billion, or 28.7 percent of the total, Shen said.
Overseas M&As by Chinese investors have seen relatively fast expansion but have not shown a spurt in growth as some expected, he said.
Customer satisfaction with major automakers has climbed to its highest point in the past 10 years, according to the China Automobile Customer Satisfaction Index released on September 21.
The index uses data from customer interviews to measure satisfaction regarding 125 auto brands created by more than 36 automakers.
The auto industry achieved a score of 80 out of 100, the highest mark since 2002, when the index was launched.
The industry's performance this year has been impressive in terms of product quality, as well as sales and after sales service, according to Fan Tianshun, Director of the Users Affairs Department affiliated with the China Association for Quality, which is responsible for compiling the index.
The customer complaint rate stood at 15.6 percent, down 1.6 percent year on year, said Fan, adding that high fuel consumption and air conditioner problems annoyed consumers the most.
Joint venture automakers, including Shanghai General Motors, Shanghai Volkswagen and Beijing Benz, led the index, although domestic brands, including Chery, Geely and BYD, have improved their rankings because of better designs.
However, there is still a gap between domestic brands and joint ventures regarding brand image and perceived quality, Fan added.
Current overcapacity in the shipbuilding industry is likely to end by 2020 with a rebalance between supply and demand, attendees of the World Congress of Ocean have predicted. The congress took place on September 20-22 in Dalian, a coastal city in northeast China's Liaoning Province.
The global shipping market's overcapacity is a result of fallen demand, and the capacity built during the boom years is no longer being used sufficiently, explained Corrado Antonini, Chairman of Fincantieri, an Italian shipbuilder and the world's largest builder of cruise ships.
However, the rebalancing act may not be so easy. "We will first need a recovery of the global economy and the reduction of excessive capacity which was built during the boom years," said Antonini.
"But I am confident that shipbuilding and shipping will be in balance again before the end of this decade," he added. | 
