News & Reports 2010-10-30

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In This Edition

Chinese Premier 1 Wen Jiabao vows 2 to further enhance the strategic partnership 3 and economic cooperation between China and Southeast Asian nations.

Foreign Ministers of China and Japan agree that it is in the fundamental interest of the two countries to maintain and promote the bilateral 4 relations.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticizes the zero-sum mentality 5 on US-China relationship, stressing the two countries should work together for a positive, cooperative, and comprehensive relationship.

And the Chinese public reacts positively 6 to the just adopted social insurance law that will affect millions of individual workers' benefits.

Hot Issue Reports

Premier Wen Vows to Enhance Ties with ASEAN

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has vowed 7 to further enhance the strategic partnership and economic cooperation between China and Southeast Asian nations.

Addressing the 13th China-ASEAN Summit in Hanoi on Friday, Wen Jiabao says two sides should also improve interconnectivity of road, rail and water transport networks, of telecommunications and of energy pipelines 8 and power grids 9.

He says the two sides should also deepen financial integration 10 and increase investment in sustainable development.

"No matter how great the changes in the international situation are, China and ASEAN have steadily 11 deepened their political trust as well as strategic communication and coordination 12. This has helped maintain regional peace and stability. China has become the largest trading partner of ASEAN."

Trade between the two sides reached $211 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months this year, marking a 43.7 percent rise year on year.

Wen Jiabao also expressed China's support for ASEAN's plan to form the Political-Security Community, Economic Community and Socio-Cultural Community by 2015.

Chinese FM Meets Japanese Counterpart in Hanoi

Earlier in Hanoi, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with his Japanese counterpart Seiji Maehara , for the first time since a diplomatic standoff after Japan detained a Chinese trawler captain last month off the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.

Both sides agreed to maintain regular contacts and make joint 13 efforts to push forward bilateral ties.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

"As you know very well, Sino-Japanese relations are extremely important to both countries."

The two sides agreed that it is in the fundamental interest of the two countries as well as the two peoples to maintain and promote the bilateral relations.

Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara praised the meeting.

"The discussion took place in a good atmosphere. It was held calmly while both sides said what they wanted to say. I think it was a very forward looking meeting."

US-Sino ties not zero-sum game: Clinton

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has rejected the view to apply "a zero-sum calculation" on US-China relationship, insisting the two countries are working together for a positive, cooperative, and comprehensive relationship in the new century.

Clinton made the remarks in her Asia strategy speech in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she began her sixth trip to Asia.

"Now the relationship between China and the United States is complex and of enormous consequence, and we are committed to getting it right. Now there are some who believe that China's interest and ours are fundamentally at odds 15. They apply a zero sum calculation to our relationship so whenever one of us succeeds, the other must fail. But that is not our view. In the 21st century, it is not in anyone's interest for the United States and China to see each other as adversaries 16."

She added that U.S looks forward to working closely with China, both bilaterally 17 and through key institutions.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry 18 says Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and U.S.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will hold an unofficial meeting in South China's Hainan Province within the next few days.

Indonesia Grapples with Post-Tsunami 19 Relief, Compounded by Fresh Eruptions 20 of Merapi

Heavy rain and high tides are obstructing 21 relief efforts in Indonesia as the death toll 22 from the twin disasters now nears 430.

Boats are trying to deliver supplies to the isolated 23 Mentawai islands off the west coast of Sumatra.

At least 394 people are now confirmed dead from the earthquake-triggered tsunami, which washed away wooden and bamboo homes, displacing more than 20,000 people. More than 300 people are still missing.

Disaster-relief officials now plan to start dropping aid by air, but reports say there are not enough helicopters to reach many of the devastated 24 areas.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has now toured around the area, suggesting to survivors 25 that they may not be able to rebuild where they were.

"It will need a reevaluation of housing that is located in areas prone 26 to earthquakes, tsunamis 27, and landslides 28. These kinds of areas are not suitable for housing."

Meantime, Mount Merapi, which erupted earlier this week on Java and killed 33 people, has let off yet another round of ash and gas. Thouands have been evacuated 29 from their homes as a result of the unstable 30 volcano.

There were no reports of new injuries or damage.

It was unclear whether the new activity was a sign of another major blast to come.

The Chinese Red Cross has donated some $30,000 US dollars to help with the disaster relief efforts in Indonesia.

Brazilian presidential election: Analysis

Anchor: The second round of the Brazilian presidential election is going to take place at this weekend, during which Dilma Rousseff, of the ruling Workers' Party, will face the opposition 31 candidate Jose Serra.

A latest poll shows Rousseff has increased her lead over Serra to 17 points.

For more on the imminent 32 election, CRI's Larry Chan earlier spoke 33 with Dr. Wang Peng, research associate at the Institute of Latin America under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Back Anchor: That's Dr. Wang Peng, research associate at the Institute of Latin America under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Expo a driving force for China's urbanization

Anchor: With the theme of "Better City, Better Life," the 2010 Shanghai Expo has aimed to share experiences to make cities better living places. Wan 14 Jifei, Executive Director of the Expo, talks about the impacts that this historical event has brought to China's fast urbanization process.

Chen Zhe has the story.

Reporter: From bidding for the Expo, organizing it to its ending, Wan Jifei has been a witness and a participant.

"The number of visitors has exceeded 70 million. The whole process has been smooth and safe. The total investment of the Expo has been 28.6 billion yuan. It has made remarkable 34 profit considering ticket sales, sales of licensed 35 products, sponsorship income and re-development of the Expo site, not to mention it has upgraded the infrastructure 36 in Shanghai."

Wan Jifei says the Expo received more than one hundred world leaders and has enhanced China's international influence.

More importantly, China has found in the Expo the gap between itself and developed regions.

He says by bringing the world's best urban practices to China and through exchanges in culture, science and technology and city development, the Expo has given China ideas on how to promote the quality of urban life.

"Many Chinese cities have organized trips to the Expo to learn experiences in city construction, management and the development of new energy. They signed cooperation agreements with cities such as Madrid and Hamburg. District officials in Shanghai visited the Taipei Pavilion to learn their experience in garbage disposal. China has just begun to realize the importance of low-rent housing. In the Expo's Urban Best Practice Area, some pavilions have displayed their low-rent housing and welfare housing practices."

Wan Jifei says during the Expo, China showcased both its achievements and its shortcomings.

"At the Expo, there were Chinese people throwing garbage on the roads and jumping the queue. Some healthy people skipped queues in wheelchairs. Foreign visitors have also experienced China's environmental pollution and traffic congestion 37. Some of them visited not only Shanghai but also some underdeveloped areas of China. China cannot dodge 38 the problems. Instead, it will solve them in an open manner."

Wan Jifei says China has made the most of the Expo and will put into practice what it has learned from other countries to make the country a sustainable and better place.

For CRI, I'm Chen Zhe.

China Embraces a Boom in Cinemas

In recent years, cinemas in major Chinese cities have been investing in state of the art technology, upgrading to 3D and Imax screens.

One of China's mega cinema chains, Wanda Cinema Line Corporation, which has over 50 regular cinemas across the country, already boasts 5 Imax equipped cinemas.

In 2012 this number is expected to grow to 14.

China is already Imax's fastest growing market, with more than 50 of its theatres scheduled to be open by 2012.

Li Chow, Vice 39 President of Sony Pictures Releasing International, says the country now has more than 5,000 screens including 3,000 digital and nearly 800 3D screens, serving 1.3 billion people.

This is in stark 40 contrast to the 40,000 screens in the US, which has less than a quarter of China's population.

"We are very happy that China is building more cinemas and more screens. Now it's like everyday you almost have 2 (new) cinemas per day, so they are building a lot and that is excellent. And I think that China is still 'underscreened', very much 'underscreened'."

With China's rapid growth, people are more willing to spend on entertainment, fuelling demand for movie tickets.

Box office sales have increased by over 5 times in 5 years according to government box office sales figures.

The final year-end box office take is expected to hit $1.5 billion US dollars compared to only $290 million US dollars in 2005.

Basic Public Insurance Fund to Be Established Soon

Anchor: China's top legislature has voted to adopt a social insurance law that will affect millions of individual workers' benefits. The law requires the central government to manage the country's basic workers' pension fund rather than the local governments. The entire step-by-step is just getting underway.

Let's take a closer look with reporter Liu Min.

Reporter: As China's aging population increases, local governments have found that they can no longer manage social insurance funds on their own.

Many of the country's underdeveloped provinces can hardly makes ends meet to support all the retirees who live in their areas, while economically developed regions have excess funds.

Now, a new social insurance law stipulates 41 that China must set up a general, nationwide social insurance fund guaranteeing that all workers receive pensions after they retire.

Yang Shunchang, Deputy Director of the Shenyang Labor 42 and Social Security Bureau, says the city of Shenyang in northeast China is one of the places that needs help.

"The city of Shenyang is an old industrial base in China. There are lots of workers in this city, and now the number of retirees has reached one million. So the city has a heavy burden to support lots of people by providing pensions based on the old system under the planned economy format 43. China is a country with unbalanced economic development across the country, so it urgently needs an overall management program to oversee 44 the social insurance fund."

But local regions tend to protect their own benefits. Economically developed regions are worried that they may have to share some of their excess funds with the country's underdeveloped areas.

Yang Shunchang says the central government has yet to work out a detailed 45 plan about how the funding scheme.

"I think the country needs to establish a fund to manage the social insurance fund at a certain level. And at the same time, the central government needs to give local departments some authority to adjust their own funds. This could be a workable plan in the future."

China's pension system was set up only about 20 years ago. Under the planned economy, the government provided pensions for all workers without an overall social insurance fund.

Currently, China's public pension fund is carries a 1.3-trillion-yuan deficit 46.

Many Chinese are concerned about whether they will have enough money to support themselves after they retire. This is why the Chinese have traditionally saved more and spent less. Only when people feel confident about being guaranteed an adequate pension will they start to buy more, further boosting domestic demand for goods and services and driving up the economy.

Zheng Gongcheng, a professor of Social Welfare Research at Renmin University, says a general, nationwide social insurance fund is necessary to mitigating 47 citizens' concerns.

The country's plan in the next five years is to set up a basic overall public insurance fund. But whether ordinary citizens will be able to spend more without worrying about their futures 48 depends on whether a public pension fund as well as ongoing 49 healthcare reform are successful.

At the moment, both appear to be quite difficult to accomplish.

For CRI, I'm Liu Min.

Q&A--China Tudou hires banks for $100 mln plus Nasdaq IPO

Anchor: As we have reported this week, China's leading online video website Tudou has hired Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank for its initial public offering on the Nasdaq.

Venture-capital backed Tudou is similar to Google's YouTube and Hulu. It streams millions of online videos and original content daily and allows users to share files.

Tudou is hoping to list on the Nasdaq in the first quarter. And the firm is hoping to raise between $100 million to $150 million US dollars.

For more on the story, I spoke to Lu Gang, Tech blogger, co-founder of MOBINODE.com and KUUKIE.com.

And that was tech blogger Lu Gang, speaking about Tudou's plans to list on Nasdaq.

Beijing's 2010 2nd Expat Services Expo to Kick Off Saturday

Anchor: In many countries, finding a dentist or paying a bill is a simple phone call away. But in China, how does one renew a visa? Pay electricity? Study Chinese?

Beijing now has an estimated 80,000 expatriates. Business and service industries have been scrambling 50 to figure out what these expats really need.

The last few years in Beijing have yielded job fairs for foreigners, expat fairs and on October 30 and 31 this year, the Swissotel will hold the "2nd Expatriate Services Expo."

Andrea Hunt has more.

The 2nd Expatriate Services Expo kicks off Saturday morning at 10 am sharp and concludes Sunday at 6pm, offering two days of information, socializing and activities.

Colin Friedman, President of the Expatriate Services Expo recalls arriving in 1998 during a time when expat life wasn't so convenient.

He's since tried to use his experience to answer the typical questions every expat struggles with.

"How do I do this? Why does that happen? Who do I need to talk to? What should I do? The answers are becoming more and more available. One of the reasons we have the Expat Services Expo is to give people the chance to come and ask the questions and get the answers from the people who can point them in the right direction."

It's not just connecting services to consumers, Friedman notes; that can always be done using simple marketing 51 techniques. The local government has offered support and participation 52.

Both visitors and exhibitors benefit, explains Ms. Zhangtao, project director for the Expat Services Expo.

"One the one hand, the highlight for this event is to allow the Beijing government to use this platform to listen to opinions and suggestions as well as the questions regarding the expatriates living and working in Beijing. On the other hand, we are trying our best to give our official recommendation for the approved vendors 53 in this industry who can provide service to the expatriates so we try to help them to promote their brand as well as inviting 54 the target customers for them."

Organizers are hoping for around 3,000 visitors this year, with about 40 exhibitors.

This year features services in education, medical care, culture and food, along with two full days of seminars.

Ms. Connie Zhao works at Amcare Women and Children's Hospital, one of the medical service providers attending.

Zhao hopes they can educate visitors about their pediatric and family services.

"I think this kind of event provides a good chance for the expats to know us and a good chance to promote ourselves."

This year's expo also aims to provide activities, including a kid's area, lucky draw, free Chinese classes, a wine bar and even a tea lounge.

Ms Cherry Yu coordinates 55 the cultural activities at the China Culture Center, one of this weekend's exhibitors, and says these kinds of classes are important for newcomers.

"Firstly, lots of them, they are really into Chinese culture so they're willing to learn more about China. Secondly 56, because some of the people do business here in China so they feel it's necessary to know more about Chinese people and the culture to make their lives in China easier."

Friedman points out that the event aims to be casual, warm and a place for questions.

"A place to not just talk with the vendors, not just talk to the people leading the very seminars but in an informal environment it's possible to connect and talk with other foreigners and share experiences."

For two days of answers, know-how 57 and people, Beijingers can take a chance on the 2nd Expat Services Expo at the Swissotel downtown.

For CRI, I'm Andrea Hunt.

Media Digest

Media Picks

Out of the China Daily: As the Shanghai Expo draws to a close, China is already considering a bid for another and is confident of hosting the global showpiece again in 2025.

Wan Jifei, deputy director of the Shanghai Expo Organizing Committee, said a number of Chinese cities, including Ningbo and Guangzhou, have offered themselves as potential hosts.

Wan also said that it's common practice for a country to host more than one Expo. The United States tops the list with 30 Expos - including eight comprehensive fairs like the one in Shanghai.

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From People's Daily Online: A metro 58-themed cultural park, built out of construction waste, will open in Beijing by the end of this year to exhibit 40 years of the city's metro history.

The park, covering 19 hectares in the north of Daxing District, will be free to the public.

Meanwhile, the 22-kilometer-long Daxing Line, which is under construction, will be connected with the 29-kilometer-long Line 4, becoming the longest metro line in China and will also cross Beijing from south to north.

Market Update

US stocks edged higher Friday to close out one of the stock market's best months of the year.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.04 percent, to close at 11,118. The Standard and Poor's 500 Index fell 0.04 percent, to 1,183, while the technology focused Nasdaq composite index rose less than a point to 2,507.

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index fell 0.05% to 5,675, Germany's DAX 30 index slipped 0.01% to 6,601, and France's CAC-40 index fell 0.03% to 3,834.