On Chinese Media

China Weekly

Issue No. 7， 2015

A Century of Rural Construction

Chinese society has always looked upon agriculture， rural areas， and farmers as critical issues. The countrys prosperity over the past three decades has relied on agricultural accumulation and support. Social stability and all-round progress is inextricable from the countryside. Maintaining economic vitality and sustainability has demanded all farmers participation in the modernization process. Cognizant of these realities， Chinas ruling party and its central committee made the strategic decision to build a new socialist countryside.

Since entering the modern era， China has made constant efforts to transform and construct the countryside. The prevailing ideology in the 1920s and 1930s that building the countryside amounted to saving the country spurred intellectualscommitment to rural areas. The movement achieved remarkable success in both retaining the rural spiritual heritage and absorbing external excellence.

New houses， advanced infrastructure， and young farmers are features of the current rural construction that is effecting the unprecedented transformation of Chinas rural areas under the leadership of a strong central government.

At the same time， however， villages have been standardized to an extent that nullifies their defining characteristics. Tides of large-scale urbanization have steadily washed away the traditional features of villages. The opening lines of Charles Dickenss A Tale of Two Cities： “It was the best of times， it was the worst of times， it was the age of wisdom， it was the age of foolishness… it was the spring of hope， it was the winter of despair” read like a footnote to todays rural construction in China.

This issues cover story examines the rural construction that is in full swing but has reached a crossroad. In the process of throwing out the old， we must retain respect for the countrys organic and cultural genes while learning from the experience of more developed countries. We are confident that the present rural construction that involves the largest population and vastest area in history will end neither in ecological nor cultural disaster.

South Reviews

Issue No. 16， 2015

Chinas A-share Fluctuation Apocalypse

After sharp fluctuations over the past month， at the close of the market on the penultimate Friday of July Chinas A-share market stood once more at 4，000 points. No consensus has been reached on where the market is headed. However， leverage is recognized as the culprit of this particular bout of market turbulence. From margin trading and short selling to highratio stock match endowment， investors abandoned themselves to leverage gambling based on the vain belief in a government and reform-backed bull market.endprint

The markets plummeting point position dealt a heavy blow to most investors. On average， each suffered losses of RMB 420，000 in just 20 days. The word is that this speculative hubbub looted 10 years of middle class wealth accumulation.

The strongest bailout – undoubtedly a rescue plan based on a governmental decision – occurred at the end of June. To the central government， a steady market is much more valuable than a bull market.

Currently the main market concern， particularly of those mired in leverage， is whether or not the government will continue the bailout policy. What is certain is that， post turbulence and bailout， the direction of the A-share market will be determined more by government expectations of the capital market and the whole economic reform and process， than the appeals of a few interest groups.

Xinmin Weekly

Issue No. 29， 2015

Overseas Online Shopping Boom

Shopping today is more important than we could ever have imagined. You can consider yourself way behind the times if you have never ordered products directly from overseas shopping sites， where the best deals and discounts， particularly on Black Fridays， are just a click away. The Amazons of the U.S.， Japan and Germany are within everyones reach. Luxury goods are available at reasonable prices， even including tax exemption， compared to those in Chinas shopping malls.

Ministry of Commerce data show that China has become one of the biggest markets for products on global online shopping sites. In 2013 about 18 million Chinese purchased from such sites， a figure estimated to double in 2018， signifying a yearly expenditure of RMB one trillion.

Overseas online shopping adds a footnote to the concept of globalization. In such an era， events everywhere have a far more rapid and direct effect on everyone. In other words， the decisions we make for ourselves produce global effects. Chinas international online shopping has hence changed the established rules of the global logistic system. It creates vast opportunities for foreign sellers keen to formulate a processing and service model tailor-made for Chinese consumers.

Life Weekly

Issue No. 31， 2015

Summer Reading： Free Your Soul

The history of reading goes way back to when written characters first appeared. Reading has changed the course of social development， and reconstructed the spiritual world of individuals.“Printing fostered the modern idea of individuality but it destroyed the medieval sense of community and social integration，” so writes Neil Postman in his influential monograph Amusing Ourselves to Death. People obtain knowledge and， more importantly， the capacity to free the mind and introspect through reading. This enabled humans to escape the medieval spiritual plight and nurture the “modern idea of individuality.”endprint

Neil Postman believes that reading is a solitary behavior and so allows us to return to our spiritual world and infinitely approach the freedom of the soul. This is why Postman asserts that reading is antisocial behavior. It denotes nonconformity rather seeking the limelight.

In books you meet strange people and things， unfamiliar scenarios and startling ideas. Reading， reflecting and finding enlightenment makes people want to read and explore more distant locales and times. Reading enables people to break through individual limitations and social conventions and find freedom.

However， smart phones now monopolize peoples attention. IM apps， entertainment programs and social networks bring us abundant information， fragmenting our time and attention. Socalled “new media” make reading faster and easier， allowing unlimited replication. We busily dig out， spread and share fragments of information， and delight in the positive responses to it. This is an era of information overload. Reading is everywhere but lacks vitality.

Insight China

Issue No. 17

Graduation Season

About 7.49 million young adults graduated from college in 2015， 220，000 more than in 2014. This year has been called “the hardest year to find a job，” attributable partly to the economic downturn， but also to the issue of structural unemployment.

China is challenged with rising pressure from the economic downturn as the world economy languishes in the doldrums. “Plunges in economic growth and also in the total quantity of labor force have resulted in a dual droop in both supply and demand on the human resource market，” according to associate research fellow at the Institute of International Labor and Social Security， Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security Chen Yun. He made the comment at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences（CASS） launch ceremony of the 2015 Blue Book of the Chinese Society. Relevant statistics show that about a fourth of graduates have failed to find a job before graduation. And opportunities dwindle as time elapses.

One of the difficulties in job hunting lies in the gap between studentsexpectations and reality. People cant find jobs in the job market， and neither can companies find employees. Zhang Juwei， director of the CASS Institute of Population and Labor Economics， believes that this phenomenon reflects the structural contradictions of the job market. “The contradiction in facts lies in the issue of mismatching between， for example， positions and talents， or different areas，” Zhang said. He went on， “Thus far， there is not a surplus in college graduates， as the ratio is far lower than in more developed countries. The difficulty in finding a job signifies the dearth of positions suitable for graduates， similar to the situation for technical talents.”endprint