Appreciating Happiness

China Central Television released the results of its recent happiness survey on January 12. The results show that almost 45 percent of more than 80,000 respondents—all Chinese—feel happy or very happy;about 11 percent are not happy. Recently,Beijing Review interviewed Hu Dayuan,Deputy Director of the China Center for Economic Research(CCER) at Peking University. Hu was a consultant on the survey and has done research on happiness for several years.     

Auto Sales Soar,Quality and Service Decline

Statistics from the WHO show secondhand smoke kills 600,000 people around the world, and the number in China is estimated at 100,000. A survey by Chinese Center for Disease Control andPrevention （CDC） found that 73 percent of Chinese people are endangered by secondhand smoke, a big leap from the 53 percent calculated in 2002. The study was conducted from last December to this March with approximately 13,000 subjects over the age of 15.     

WEEKLY WATCH

OPINION Spend the Money on the People A recent survey shows that 79.9 percent of respondents are eager to see the new health care reform scheme be launched soon, and 58.7 percent of them believe that the key of the reform is to actually spend the money provided by the government for the purpose of public health on the people.     

Strengthening Control of Antibiotics

IT is a well-known fact that buying guns is much easier than purchasing antibiotics in the United States. In China, however, the situation is different. According to a recent WHO survey, about 80 percent of Chinese inpatients take antibiotic medicines, and 58 percent of them are prescribed multifunctional antibiotics, which compares alarmingly with the international average of 30 percent. Every year, about 200,000 Chinese patients die from medicinal side effects, 80,000 of these deaths resulting from misuse of antibiotics. A staggering 20 million people in China suffer from hearing impairments, and between 60 and 80 percent of these cases are attributable to antibiotic overuse. Zhang Yongxin, president of the Antibiotics Research Institute affiliated with the Huashan Hospital in     

Happiness Survey

<正>Are Chinese people happy in today’s fast-paced, modern society? What are the sources of their happiness? In today’s rapidly developing economy, is happiness closely related to wealth or not? A recent happiness survey conducted in China gives some answers.     

A Worldwide Celebration

As people across China started to celebrate the Spring Festival, which fel on February 16 this year and marked the start of the Year of the Dog in the Chinese lunar calendar, they were not only happy to return to their homes, but also buoyed by the knowledge that Chinese culture and traditions have brought joy to so many worldwide.     

WEEKLY WATCH

OPINION Costly Education As a rule, the more families spend on education, the more developed a society is. In developed countries, families usually spend less than 10 percent of their incomes on children's education, but this can be as high as 32.6 percent for rural Chinese families, according to a recent survey. Parents' traditional high expectations of their children are partly responsible for this. Despite the staggering costs of education, par-     

WEEKLY WATCH

OPINION Making Educated Decisions According to a recent survey by Horizon Research Consultancy Group,40 percent of the surveyed people believe the returns of ed- ucation are unsatisfactory,given high tuition fees,while only 16 percent of the respondents think education is worth the tuition fees. In 2006,a report issued by the Horizon Group indicated that education spending was the primary reason for household deficit spending.Today,the situation seems worse: The higher education background people have,the less they believe they have spent valuable money on their education.What nurtures this pessimism?     

ENCOURAGING SIGNS

正Private business sectors in China and U.S.remain optimistic The China General Chamber of Commerce-USA (CGCC) released its annual survey on Chinese enterprises inthe U.S.on August 10,showing a bullish trend despite challenges on various fronts.Sixty percent of those surveyed stated that they were committed to the U.S.market,where their investments remained the same.     

Social Issues in Proposals

During the annual session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) that concluded on March 14,1,992 of the total 2,236 members at the beginning of their five-year term in China's top advisory body submitted 4,772 proposals. Members of the CPPCC National Committee put forward proposals to offer comments and suggestions on major po- litical and social issues of the country.A proposal can be raised by one member or a group of members;by one or more groups jointly;in the name of a party or non-government group that has joined the CPPCC;or in the name of a sub- committee of the CPPCC National Committee. Out of the proposals that were classified during the conference,1,863 or 41.16 percent were on economic matters;1,405 or 31.04 percent were on education,scientific research,entertainment,health care and sports;and 1,258 proposals or 27.8 percent were on legal affairs and social seeurity. During the pnst five years,the CPPCC National Committee handled over 23,000 proposals,of which 21,843 were sent to government branches in charge of the matters for solution. Following are summaries of some selected proposals.     

Intelligent Senior Care

正A city in southeast China explores a new elderly service model China is aging.The number of people aged 60 or above reached 241 million by the end of 2017,accounting for 17.3 percent of the total population,according to the Office of the National Working Commission on Aging.In May,the China Research Center on Aging(CRCA)released a survey showing that the elderly in the country are facing multiple chal enges,including a generally low income,     

CASS： Women Migrant Workers Paid Less Than Their Male Counterparts

Female migrant workers are paid considerably less than their male counterparts, according to the recent report Gender Differences in the Migrant Workers＇ Market. Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences （CASS） carried out a survey in Dalian, Shanghai, Wu- han, Shenzhen and Chongqing. Among the 2,398 migrant workers surveyed, 52 percent were female, with an average age of 28.1, The average age of male respondents was 30.3. The survey found female workers＇ average monthly salary ts RMB 910.78, RMB 200 lower than men＇s. As well as being paid more, male workers spend longer periods in the city-one and half years on average.     

Should News Anchors Speak Only in Mandarin?

More than 80 percent of people on the Chinese mainland communicate through thousands of dialects daily     

Link Between Trade Surplus and Labor

The past four years have seen China's trade surplus soar. It accounted for 7 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006.Indications are that this will exceed 10 percent in 2007.Given the swelling trade surplus and its rising proportion to the GDP,many people conclude that China's economy is seriously imbalanced.Li Yang,Director of the Institute of Finance and Banking,the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,recently shared his views on the issue in an article in Wen Hui Bao,a Shanghai-based newspaper.     

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     

Want to Be Happy? Consult Wind and Water

PEOPLE all over the world love their homes anddesire a happy family life.Chinese people are no dif-ferent, but have the enviable capacity to place and arrange their homes in a manner that guarantees auspiciousness for the whole family. This know-how is based on the art or science of fengshui.Fengshui became a generally known term in the West around 20 years ago. Today it is a source of fascination to thousands, as may be     

China＇s First Dragon Chip Supercomputer Is Cheap, Fast, and the Size of a Fridge

According to the China Internet Development Report, issued by the China International Network Information Center, China＇s broadband users account for 85.9 percent of the country＇s domestic network users, with ADSL responsible for 46.5 percent of that figure. In 2007, nearly 40 percent of newly registered users were rural dwellers, while the total number of China＇s Internet users reached 210 million people in the same year, setting China on a course to surpass the U.S. in early 2008. in addition, the number of Chinese domain names reached 11.93 million with an annual growth of 190.4 percent, and .CN domain names increased fourfold over 2006, to 9 million,     

A friend worthy of eternal honor——Remarks by CPAFFC Vice-President Li Xikui at opening ceremonyof Photo Exhibition Tour in Memory of Helen Foster Snow

<正>Ladies and gentlemen, friends, good morning! I am very happy that the Photo Exhibition Tour in Memory of Helen Foster Snow has come to Hunan province. Allow me to extend, on behalf of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, warm congratulations and sincere thanks to all the Chinese and American friends for their efforts in making the exhibition possible. Helen was a true friend of the Chinese people, worthy of honor forever.     

The Internet Propelling China to Greater Vitality and Openness

正China did not connect to the Internet until 1994,25 years after it fi rst appeared.It has since fl ourished rapidly and robustly.Today,618 million Chinese use the Internet,500 million of them via mobile phones,representing 73 percent of the urban population and 25percent of rural residents.More than 80 percent are young people.An open,free,shared,and innovative space,the Internet appeals to people of a country that has achieved rapid economic growth.It has changed their lifestyle,most profoundly as regards communi-     

Chinese Officials Lighten Up Under Pressure

Chinese officials are displaying a far more human public persona these days than their traditionally severe demeanor, a change welcomed by the people. Formerly stem and rigid, they are now animated and unafraid to express enthusiasm in public. Chinese civil servants no longer blend into a solid gray wall of officialdom, one indistinguishable from the other by virtue of the dry-as-dust officialese they speak. In the interests of promoting their work and achievements, officials are now happy to stand out as individuals.