Less Is More

Change is a word synonymous with China. Since inaugurating its reform campaign 29 years ago, the nation has seen countless examples of change, from the social, economic, political and cultural perspectives. Many of these changes have been dramatic and have spawned social problems and related disputes. The 21st Century Business Herald, a leading Chinese financial news- paper, recently convened a group of eminent scholars specializing in social sciences to discuss the challenges facing China's further reform and the trend of its social development. Professor Zhou Weimin, Editor in Chief of Study Times, Yang Fengchun, Dean of the E-Government Research Center of Peking University, Professor Mao Shoulong, Faculty Director of the Department of Public Administration of the Renmin University of China, and Professor Zhen Xiaoying at the Central Institute of Socialism, give their opinions in the following excerpts:     

More Investment,More Woes?

正Critics worry dozens of approved urban rail projects are unfeasible The city of Shijiazhuang, a three-hour drive from Beijing, received some long-awaited news on September 5. The city, capital of north China’s Hebei Province, got the go-ahead to build its first     

Levying Inheritance Tax Now?

Whether China should levy inheritance tax has become a hot topic of discussion.One survey about levying such a tax on high-income earners conducted by a consul-tancy agency of China Youth Daily shows 48.46 percent of 11,203 respondents thought it was not yet the right time while 34.03 per-cent of them said it was and 17.51 percent were not sure.     

More Investment,More Gold Medals

China began to implement Project 119 in 2001. It applies to 119 offshoots of the three main events -track and field, swimming and water sports - that have been designated key training. In order to be a serious contender with the United States and Russia in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games China must make serious progress within these three big events.     

More Proactive?

Tax reduction will dominate fiscal policy in 2013 China will maintain a proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy in 2013.That’s a conclusion made at the Central Economic Work Conference—an annual meeting held every November or December to set the economic tone for the following year.     

Is Social Security Tax Feasible?

China’s Finance Minister Xie Xuren recently wrote an article for an official publication of the Central Committee ofthe Communist Party of China on deepening taxation reform. He said that China was     

No More Talks?

North Korea's vows to quit the six-party talks create a stir in the international community,china has called for calmness on all sides in response to North Korea's announcement that it will withdraw from the six-party talks and restore nuclear facilities disabled under the agreements of the talks. We hope parties concerned bear in mind overall interests, exert calmness and restraint, and jointly maintain the process of     

Is China Ready for Environmental Tax?

On February 9, Zhang Lijun, Vice Minister of Environmental Protection, said that his ministry, along with the Ministry of Finance and the General Administration of Taxation,     

Can Property Tax Curb Housing Prices?

After years of test runs, property tax maybe adopted all over China, with Beijing and Shenzhen as pilot cities, said the Shanghai Securities News in December 2009.     

Should China Levy an Inheritance Tax?

According to research by Beijing Normal University on wealth distribution, China should levy an inheritance tax when at least 5millionyuan($800,000)ispasseddown. The result of a survey done by China Youth Daily on whether the country should start collecting the tax shows that 48.46 percent of the 11,203 people     

Will Farmers Spend More?

The government hopes to stimulate rural consumption and purchasing power by offering subsidies on a variety of products The government has introduced several     

The Kindness of a Chinese Immigrant

ON September 10, 2002 Mary He was thirty thousand meters above the Pacific Ocean, en route from Vancouver to Beijing. But the Chinese capital was not her final destination. Chinese-born Mary He, who now lives in Canada, took a 4-hour connecting flight to Urumqi, and then another 2-hour flight to Kashi in western China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. She spent the third day of her journey on a coach, traveling for more than 10 hours across the Gobi desert to Hotan. There, she continued her 30-year search for a Uygur boy named Ircken.     

More People, Greater Power

Tian Guirong recently received the "2005 Person of the Year of Green China" award. The 54-year-old farmer has collected 65 tons of disused batteries since 1999, which cost her more than 200,000 yuan ($24,813). "The land is the most precious thing to me and I fear nothing other than the pollution of the land," Tian said. She began this project from a very simple thought: to reduce the ecologi     

Is a Luxury Goods Consumption Tax Useful?

U.S. management consultancy firm Bain& Company has released a report showing in 2009 China’s luxury goods market swelled by nearly 12 percent, reaching $9.6 billion and accounting for     

Athens Has Gone, Beijing Is Coming：More Investment, More Gold Medals

Having attended various meetings oJcelebration and citation, Cui Dalin, deputy chief of the Chinese Sports Delegation to the Athens Olympic Games, heaves a sigh of relief as he sits in his spacious office in the Training Bureau of the State General     

How Should We Look At the Tax Burden?

<正>In March 2009, Forbes magazine produced a Tax Misery Index list, listing countries in descending order and evaluating the harshness of the taxes imposed in 50 countries it selected.     

How Will a Tax Overhaul Affect People's Lives?

China's personal income tax threshold is expected to rise to 5,000 yuan ($776) per month from the current 3,500 yuan ($544), according to a draft amendment on the Individual Income Tax Law recently submitted to the country's top legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The amendment is the seventh tax overhaul since the personal income tax code was issued in 1980.     

Will Joint Ownership Housing Help The Less Well-off?

Recently, a local government’s decision to pay part of housing costs for individuals attracted nationwide attention. In an effort to help middle and low-income groups buy