No Water in Water Town

Wuxi, a lakeside city in east China, recently suffered from serious water shortages: sources of drinking water were largely polluted and in some river sections, the water was so dirty that it couldn't even be used for washing. Because of the stinking water, local residents rushed to buy bottled water for daily use, while the local government had to resort to deep wells to cope with the emergency.

The crisis resulted from the outbreak of blue-green algae in nearby Taihu Lake, China's third largest freshwater lake. The waters have been fouled up for some time and, despite cleaning measures, the problem remains unsolved.

Wuxi is not the only victim of water pollution. Half of China's seven major water systems have been seriously polluted, and the river water quality in 86 percent of the country's cities can't meet the safety standard. Nearly 35 million people across the country are drinking water with an excessive amount of nitrate-a substance that can cause cancer.

The area around Taihu contributes 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product and 16 percent of the state revenue, yet the lake's ecosystem has suffered a complete breakdown.

If the current environment-unfriendly economic growth model is not changed, more disasters are expected.

The Beijing News

Give Migrants Fair Deal

Recent years have seen a large number of rural workers go to cities for jobs, leaving their children alone at home. Local governments try to solve the problem by finding these children surrogate parents or letting them live with other families. However, all these measures only solve part of the problem. The best solution is to reunite these children with their parents in cities.

The process of modernization is also a process where farmers are transformed into urban residents, which is true in Europe, the United States and Japan. As far as the country's future is concerned, it's better to let migrants go into the cities now than in several years' time-the earlier they become urban residents, the easier they get integrated with urban culture.

To make this goal more attainable, the government needs to increase migrant workers' wages, so that they can afford life in the city when their children are with them. Moreover, the government should offer subsidies to make it possible for migrant workers to have low-rent housing and offer compulsory education to their children.

Workers' Daily

Price Hikes Need Monitoring

According to official statistics, compared with April, the prices of 22 commodities, including pork, eggs and peanut oil, saw an increase in May.

In response to accelerating price rises, the Ministry of Commerce announced that when necessary, the state will unload the meat reserves to stabilize the market; and the Ministry of Civil Affairs gave orders that allowances should be offered to ensure low-income families still live a relatively good life. This shows the government's concern for the public.

Price increases may have little impact on rich people's lives, but it proves to bring heavy pressure to bear on low-income families and farmers.

Current measures are useful, but they can't fundamentally solve the problem. In the long run, price increases of agricultural products are an irreversible trend. The key is to boost the whole nation's purchasing power by evenly distributing social wealth and the government is expected to make the people live more easily by increasing state input in education and public health. In the face of price increases of major foods, the government is responsible for keeping the increase in check.

Guangzhou Daily

Corruption Fuels Disharmony

The discipline watchdog of the Communist Party of China has recently launched a thorough investigation into government buildings constructed after 2005 and those under development after a recent scandal in which more than 20 officials were punished for constructing lavish official buildings.

According to the Party's Central Commission of Discipline Inspection, the purpose of the probe was to ascertain if government buildings are excessive in terms of size, decor or facilities.

Astonishing extravagance and waste in some Chinese government agencies have drawn growing attention in society as a result of consecutive media exposure. Especially in economically backward areas, if the limited public funds are embezzled by the authorities for their own good, it will definitely lead to a decrease of welfare for average residents.

In some cases, in order to finance the construction of opulent office buildings, some officials exchange their power for money from businesses. This will undoubtedly annoy the public. Extravagance is always accompanied by corruption. When the government officials rob the people of public finance, social harmony is seriously affected.

Compounding the problem is China's current supervisory system, still much too weak to curb government wastage. How to strengthen supervision and build a firewall for public funds therefore needs to be carefully studied.

Shanghai Securities News