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Opinion
Print Edition> Opinion
UPDATED: May 23, 2011 NO. 21 MAY 26, 2011
OPINION
 
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FESTIVAL OF TOONS: The Seventh International Cartoon and Animation Festival is held on April 28-May 3 in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province. Cartoon characters in animated movies parade down the streets in the city during the festival (XINHUA) 

Expired Goods

It's only been one month since Hainan Province began practicing its offshore duty-free policy, but already the policy seems to be overshadowed by a recent scandal involving expired cosmetics. The duty-free shop in Sanya said the cosmetics in question were labeled with incorrect production dates by the shop's new employees.

Hainan's offshore duty-free policy has kindled Chinese tourists' enthusiasm for consumption, but this scandal is just pouring water on a recently lit fire.

These shops are state-run entities, so the quality of commodities being sold will reflect on the government's image. The policy is still in its experimental phase and it is critical now more than ever to build that image and establish a solid reputation.

Already, the public is not believing the shop's explanation that it's a wrong label by the new employees. Despite the shop's promise to compensate consumers, the negative influence will be hard to shake.

The offshore duty-free policy is meant to promote Hainan as an international tourism destination. More importantly, it means to stimulate domestic consumption by lowering commodity prices after cutting taxes. Sanya's duty-free policy could serve as an example to implement elsewhere in China.

Chinese travelers spent about $923 million on various goods while traveling to France in 2010. Perhaps the domestic market needs to reconsider the way it treats domestic consumers.

Xinmin Evening News

Cheap Vegetables

China's Ministry of Commerce recently issued several notices to local commercial departments to work out more detailed measures to help farmers sell their vegetables.

The difficulty for farmers to sell vegetables has been discussed heatedly by the media. Some suggest a direct link between farmers and supermarkets, subsidies to farmers and exemption of market management fees.

Apart from these solutions, we have to realize that farmers in China operate on their own and are scattered about the vast countryside.

Vegetable farmers or sales agents are traveling around the country in an effort to sell their products to wholesale markets. This movement objectively has increased the cost in the distribution process, further pushing up retail prices.

However, despite lowering vegetable purchase prices, some farmers remain calm and confident, and their vegetable bases are making big profits. One thing they share in common is they are members of local agricultural cooperatives.

Throughout China, farmers of vegetables, fruits and grains operate by themselves or with a family unit. Their relative isolation from larger urban centers puts them at a disadvantage in terms of access to information, transportation and capital. They are thus vulnerable to even the smallest fluctuations in the market.

Agricultural cooperatives prove to be effective as they can help farmers struggle through various market storms. Shandong Province has 6,393 registered agricultural cooperatives, while Henan Province has 7,255 registered rural professional economic associations.

Agricultural cooperatives are now set up based on farmers' free will. In these organizations, members help each other and are united in dealing with difficult market situations.

This new vegetable crisis tells us that to revitalize the rural economy and help protect farmers' rights and interests, professional agricultural cooperatives are a good solution.

Guangzhou Daily

Cartoon Production

The Seventh China International Cartoon and animation Festival recently released a report on China's cartoon and animation industry. The report pointed out China's annual cartoon production reached 220,000 minutes, surpassing Japan as the world's top cartoon producer.

However, some industry insiders say domestic animated products are costly garbage. Despite years of progress, the quality of domestic cartoons remains low. China's 3D technology falls at least 20 years behind that of developed countries. More importantly, cartoon makers seem to be more interested in making money than working to produce content for children. With a massive production lines at their disposal, producers can make as much money as they want, but how many of these poorly produced cartoons will stand the test of time? How many of them can even compete with foreign cartoons or secure a footing in the international market?

Why are foreign cartoons prevalent all over China? Because they are able to give children and even adults a deep impression by presenting cute figures and interesting stories. Can our domestic cartoons manage to do this?

The real question is: What is the objective of making cartons? Is it to entertain children or just to promote the cartoon industry and turn a profit? Carton producers must put children first and always remember to bring them joy and make them laugh, instead of concentrating on the number of cartoons being produced.

Arbitrary Fines

Lindian County is a state-level poverty-stricken county in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The local Transport Management Station of the county harvested 3 million yuan ($ 460,000) road-related fines and forfeits in 2010. The fines were collected for staff's salary payments, the station said recently.

Of the station's 40 staff members, only 19 are formally employed, so to pay the rest, the station can only turn to fines. This explains why the fines the county collected are higher than in other counties.

This explanation seems reasonable, but the question is, why is this station so heavily overstaffed? In general, the staff size of these agencies is a result of careful calculation based on the amount of work.

These extra employees are not officially appointed and therefore do not have law enforcement power. But they are empowered by the station to fine drivers. The station has to hand in the fines to the county government, and then the government appropriates funds to the station. The more fines the station collects, the more funds they'll get from the government. But, China's Administrative Punishment Law forbids financial departments to refund forfeits or fines to law enforcement departments.

Throughout China, overstaffing and arbitrary fines are not limited only to impoverished counties. They often happen even in rich areas. Because of this profit-oriented objective, it's easy to understand why the collection of road tolls is so hard to eradicate in China despite the public's strong desire to abolish it.

Dazhong Daily



 
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