Reforming the International Order

正The accusation that China is seeking to overhaul the current international order is often lobbied by Western nations in their attempts at provocation and containment.But is China really fomenting such a change?The remarks of Chinese President Xi Jinping on numerous international occasions suggest not.China is in fact a beneficiary of the current international system,and the process of reform and opening up continues to adapt China’s domestic conditions to better fit this global     

Voices

正"The way that the Chinese conceive of themselves in the world is very dif erent from the Western tradition I imagine that most people think that as China rises it will be a bit like the U.S.in some shape or form     

Will Tipping Help Improve the Services of Tour Guides?

<正>The National Tourism Administration has recently issued a document to support the legalization of tips in the tourism industry in China.In Western countries,tips are a tradition that is widely accepted,but in China,the public is not used to this concept,although the practice of giving tips has already been introduced to some popular tourism cities on a trial basis.     

China＇s Monocameral System Opens Up

DEMOCRACY is a topic often mentioned when certain Western people talk about China. China has chosen to practice a form of democracy that is different from that in Westem countries. As early as in 1987 Deng Xiaoping said, ＂In the West, democracy means separation of the three powers and multi-party elections. We have no objection to their doing so, but in the Chinese mainland we don＇t practice multi-party elections, separate the three powers, or use a bicameral system. We practice the monocameral system - the National People＇s Congress. This bests suits China＇s realities.＂     

Should Westernized Place Names Be Driven Out?

正A residential community in a small city in China has been christened Venice.Another is named Manhattan after the famous New York borough.These are just a couple of examples of the current phenomenon sweeping construction sites across China:naming them after Western landmarks.Some worry that the trend of using     

Dream Factory --Made in Xi＇an

CAPITAL for more than a dozen royal regimes - national or regional - Xi＇an in Shaanxi Province is a monument to China＇s rich and splendid past. Now it is putting its stamp on one of the industries that define the nation＇s future - manufacturing. In its northern suburb, the largest manufacturing center in western China is on the rise. Jingwei New City is the latest star to be born in the Western Development Drive.     

The Tao of Weiqi

The coexistence of a gigantic bureau-cratic state with an overall social plasticity and transtor-mation whose scale has no equivalent in world history is a paradox that puzzles China watch-ers. Why is China so comfortable with change while Western democracies dangerously lack the capacity to question their assumptions and could be, in the long term, threatened by immobility, inertia and complacency?     

Do We Need Our Own Mother's Day?

正On May 13,this year's Mother's Day,mothers in China received an outpouring of gifts and greetings from their children.For the past years,along with many other Western festivals,Mother's Day has become popular with the Chinese.However,some people believe China should draw on its own traditions to express gratitude and respect to mothers in a Chinese way,rather than borrow from a Western custom.This is not a new topic.Many think that the Chinese are widely regarded for stressing family bonds,and filial piety is an old     

Rural Governments Find a Voice

WITH a history of about a decade,the press spokesperson system is new in China.Especially when it comes to county and township governments,the system is still in its infancy.On a recent visit to Changfeng County in Hefei City,Anhui Province,China Today reporters were surprised to learn that there were 67 spokespersons for the local county and township governments.To learn more about how this quintessentially Western system of government-media contact has affected rural society,China Today interviewed several of the county’s press spokespersons.     

Not Quite There Yet

Despite China's remarkable economic achievements, staggering trade volume and trillions of dollars in foreign exchange reserves, it remains a developing country. Zhou Shijian, Standing Councilor of the China Association of International Trade , and Wang Lijun, Associate Prof essor at the Capital University of Economics and Business, have tried to set the record straight and present a true picture of China's curren t economic status in the global context. They believe that a developed China is still far from a reality. In explaining the gap caused by different economic measurement standards between China and the Western world , they note that China's economic capacity as seen by others is somewhat exaggerated .     

Through the Looking Glass

Chinese democracy is making progress along a way unique to itself, despite the fact that political modernization in the country often escapes the vision of many Western observers.This is what David Gosset, Director of Academia Sinica Europaea at Shanghai-based China Europe International Business School, told a forum on China, sponsored and organized by the oundation Marcelino Botin (Spain), late last year. Excerpts follow:     

Domination Is Not in the Chinese DNA

正A lot of people see the rise of China as a threat.Western powers,most specifically America,are used to being in the front row seats.And suddenly,the front row seats are occupied by people who are different,the Asians.This is the first time in history that the power center of the planet is not in the West.     

An Expat Christmas in China

There is a delicious irony of buy ing Christmas decorations in the Western world with the tag, "Made in China," and then being present for the holiday in the land where they're manufactured. They seemed oddly out of place on the store shelves in Beijing, but not in my apartment. Chinese New Year is celebrated and recognised globally by everyone, including me. But, a Chinese Christmas - well, that was something else to be reckoned with.     

TCM Breaks New Ground

Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),along with Chinese kungfu and Peking Opera,is one of China’s cultural symbols recognized worldwide.There used to be a debate in China about whether TCM or Western medicine was better,and arguments can still be heard today.But actually,TCM and Western medicine are two different medical theoretical systems that cannot replace each other.     

Business in Brief

Airbus to Build Plant in ChinaTo commemorate its 20th year in the Chinese market, Airbus is to establish its firstaircraft manufacturing plant in China. The company says that industrial and technologicalcooperation between the two sides hit a new high in 2005. More than half of the 3,700Airbus planes in operation have parts made in Chinese factories. It is expected that by2007, China will become a major producer of single-engine aircraft. China is an importantAirbus market. From January …     

Chinese Communication Styles

正China has become an economic superpower,but that success is not contingent on Chinese businessmen,government officials,and other elites on having assimilated into a Western style of communication.There are still vast differences in the ways in which Chinese interact with Western people,and with the world at large.Significantly,the primary function of Chinese communication strategy     

New Tasks for Chinese Economic Development

Western `evelopmentDeng Xiaoping had stressedthat economic development inwestern China should be quickened.Economic development incoastal areas has reached a saturation point in recent years. andmany businesses are now eagerlysearching for new markets inChina. Western China is waiting tobe explored. Zhang Hainan. assistant provincial governor ofShaanxi. says the starting point ofwestern China's developmentshould be higher than that of otherprovinces two decades ago.Development strategies s…     

Why China Won't Suffer a “Debt Crisis”

正INACCURATE articles sometimes appear in the Western media claiming China faces a"severe debt crisis."Factually these are easily refuted.Changyong Rhee,the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department director,recently pointed out that China’s national and local government debt is only 53 percent of GDP,while the U.S.government’s debt is roughly     

Is There Profit in China''''s Foreign Credit Card Market?

Recently, a survey by Lafferty Group, a provider of business information on global retail banking, has attracted much attention in China. The survey claims that Western banks that are rushing into the Chinese credit card market may find that it's impossible for them to make profits in China before 2010.