TIMELY AND TOPICAL

Oxford-FLTRP EnglishChinese,Chinese-English DictionaryPublished by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press and Oxford University PressPages:2,064Price:RMB 199(China) (Published in UK as Oxford Chinese Dictionary at ￡45) IT is predicted that in a few years,the English-learning population in China will exceed the combined total population of all native-Englishspeaking countries.     

Land Transfers Support Modern Agriculture in Xiaogang Village

XIAOGANG Village in Fengyang County,Anhui Province,is a typical rural settlement where most farmers live by growing grain crops.In 1978,18 of them bravely began to explore a household-based land contract system,turning a new page in the history of China’s countryside.Since     

Moveable Feasts

WHETHER you are nostalgic for your own culture or keen to experience another, food,it seems,is the sensual conduit to the comforts of home or to irresistible adventures abroad.Two Beijing-based culinary entrepreneurs are remarkable just for their longevity in the art of providing taste bud tours.     

Branch Secretaries,More Than Political Leaders

IN the greenhouses of Chenjiadian Village,Helong Town,Nong'an County,Jilin Province,mushrooms sprout,cucumbers dangle,and celery thrives in the sunshine.The village runs its vegetable business through a cooperative,and Dai Guofeng is its Party secretary.We have built our own brand in the market,and the demand for our products has surged beyond our supply, he says proudly.The village has 80 greenhouses,each of which makes annual profit of between RMB 60,000 and 70,000.     

China＇s Huge Contribution to the Multilateral Trade System - An Interview with Sun Zhenyu,China＇s First Ambassador to the WTO

THIS year marks the 10th anniversary of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Before joining the WTO in 2001,many Chinese were afraid that membership would have a substantial negative impact on some of China’s main industries. At the same time,there were misgivings in some countries about China’s ability to fulfill its commitments and that its WTO membership would affect other countries badly.     

Keyhole Surgeon

HIS eyes are riveted on a TV monitor while confidently making an incision into the patient’s abdomen. Then Zhang Xu "ambles" through the gory labyrinth of tissue, vessels and     

Chen Guanghui, Pioneer of Sustainable Agriculture

SWALLOWS flit over the paddy field where frogs croak and a traditional Southern Chinese rural scenario that Chen Guanghui is doing his best to restore. ＂The setting is, in fact, of ecological significance, as swallows, frogs and loaches protect the rice by eating pests,＂ Chen said. ＂But our de- pendence on pesticide has destroyed this ecological balance.＂     

Born to Be Wild Artificially Bred Panda Heads Back to Nature

LAST October saw a special new resident move into the Liziping Nature Reserve in Shimian County,Sichuan Province.His name is Taotao,and he’s a giant panda.Arriving at the Liziping reserve from Wolong Panda Breeding Base,Taotao was released into the natural environment to start his new life in the wild.It was a cause for celebration.     

China’s Monocameral System Opens Up

DEMOCRACY is a topic of-ten mentioned when certain Western people talk about China. China has chosen to practice a form of democracy that is dif-ferent from that in Western countries. As early as in 1987 Deng Xiaoping said,     

FINANCING POLITICAL PARTIES

In this and the next issue we print some articles on alternative ways of funding political parties. He who pays the piper may not always get quite the tune he expects, but it is certainly in the public interest to consides that public funding of parties is possible, as well as controls of types of contribution and enforced publicity. We begin the symposium by reprinting from The Times of April 11, 1973, a characteristically provocative piece by the late Richard Crossman from his all too short-lived "Personal View Column". We thank The Times for permission to reptint, and pay tribute to the memory of Crossman who was a member of the Board of THE POLITICAL QUARTERLY from 1939 to 1960.