Magazine 40 edition

Magazine_Layout 1 6/24/2013 8:26 PM

News Editors

Summer WongJi Long

Mike LincolnJenny Alvin

Designing & Layout

Asmat Ullah KhanAwais Shehzad

Raja Pervaiz

EditorJamshed Ullah

Technical Support

Sultan HaroonIqbal Bukhari

Co-ordination

Sobia Noreen

Research & Analysis

Wang AiguoHe Cheng

Shi Chengweileon LudwigUzma Zafar

Internet Edition

John NelsonRehmat Chughtai

Contact

Head office:CASH Mass Media, 1102-1103 11th Floor,

Longhang No 555, Nathan Road, Mongkok,Kowloon, Hong Kong

Islamabad Office: Shakeel Chambers 01

Khayban-e-Soharwardy, Islamabad Email: [email protected]@[email protected]

[email protected]

EditorialFood self-sufficiency

Editor

According to reports, China is set to remain self-

sufficient in the main food crops, though output

will slow in the next decade under increasing re-

source and rural labor constraints, China will import

more oilseed and livestock, for both the meat and dairy

sectors, as consumption growth will outpace production

during the 2013-2022 period.

The country's imports of oilseed are expected to rise

by 40 percent in the next decade, accounting for 59

percent of global trade, while dairy imports are pro-

jected to rise 20 percent, according to the OECD-FAO

Agricultural Outlook 2013-2022.

Rise in prices for both crop and livestock products

are expected in the next decade due to a combination

of slower production growth and stronger demand, in-

cluding for that for the bio-fuels.

It is said that limited expansion of agricultural land,

rising production costs, growing resource constraints

and increasing environmental pressures will pressurize

agricultural production, which is expected to grow 1.5

percent annually in the period, down from an annual

growth of 2.1 percent between 2003 and 2012.

Despite all the prevailing and expected challenges,

it is a really good omen that the country will remain self

sufficient with regard to food demands. It clearly indi-

cates that the Chinese leadership is keeping a very spe-

cific focus on the food requirements of the nation in the

coming years and is successfully evolving policies and

measures to ensure the country’s self sufficiency. It also

clearly reflects that while the Chinese government is

keeping an eagle eye on maintaining a foolproof secu-

rity of country’s geographical boundaries, at the same

time it has by no means, ignored the food security per-

ception at all. We believe that the model for food self

sufficiency that the Chinese leaders have set, must be

followed by all the countries in the region to ensure a

starvation-free future of the nations.


24, 30 June 2013

Cover Story

Battle cries ofexaminees reflect reality

04

Hometowncould affect yourhealth

06

Vodafone and ChinaMobile have withdrawntheir joint bid for one oftwo licenses offered in

Myanmar, saying the re-turns do not justify their

investment.

in this issueMagazine_Layout 1 6/24/2013 8:26 PM

in this issueTwo newfunds toboosttrade withAfrica

ChinaSoftwins China

Mobile’sWirelessFetion

contract

How couldShanximerchantsthrive for100s ofyears?

09 12

Vodafone, China Mobile

withdrawMyanmar

license bid


04

Society

Battle cries ofexaminees reflect reality


CED Monitoring

BEIJING-How do Chineseschools psych seniors up forgaokao, the all-importantnational college entranceexamination that is heldaround this time every year?A number of slogans andmottoes doing the rounds inhigh schools have hit the In-ternet recently. And theyare both amusing and dis-turbing.

The lighter ones encour-age students to aim for topChinese universities with asense of humor: "Go to Ts-inghua (University) to beyoung alumni of the presi-dent and premier", or "TodayBeida (Peking University) is inmy dream, tomorrow I'lldream in Beida". In a videothat went viral on the Inter-net, students of a highschool in Fujian chanted"May elder sisters be butter-flies emerging from cocoonsand elder brothers eaglessoaring in the sky" in unisonto wish seniors good luck ingaokao.

But many others havecreated controversies be-cause they intend to exertextreme pressure on stu-dents to persevere throughthe ordeal of cramming, in-cluding "Why need to sleepso much? You can rest longafter you die", "Never raiseyour head, be soundless(while studying)" and "Youmust go crazy first to be suc-cessful".

Some even play on thepublic resentment againstthe widening social divide:"Without gaokao, do youhave a chance to compete

with the rich second gener-ation?" Or, "Let's score betterthan the rich and the hand-some, and outsmart the chil-dren of officials".

I took gaokao decadesago when it was much morecompetitive with a nationalcollege enrolment rate ofabout 5 percent. For almostall high school graduatesthen, the options were eitherto go to college or to takeup work in a factory or afarm. School buildings thenwere adorned with sloganssuch as "Study hard forChina's modernization" and"One red heart, two prepa-rations", which studentsfound a little pompous andfunny. Yet no school orteacher would tell studentsopenly that the exam was amake-or-break time forthem.

Ironically, the tribulationsof the national college en-trance exam have in-creased many fold,especially in provinceswhere good universities arefew, despite the decreasingnumbers of high schoolgraduates, exodus of richstudents to foreign cam-puses and the proliferationof colleges and courses inrecent years that have re-sulted in a dramatic in-crease in the enrollment ofstudents.

While more seats areavailable for fewer appli-cants, the stakes have beenupped for high schools as anincreasing number of par-ents and students are keento get into elite universities, atrend further exacerbatedby the preferential treat-

ment meted out by the ed-ucation authorities and em-ployers to such universities.Many high schools havelong prided themselves onbeing able to producecrops of top scorers everyyear owing to their toughmanagement and teachingmethods.

Education policymakershave long known that hold-ing the same test for differ-ent universities is not the bestway to select students fromdiverse backgrounds andabilities, and admissionsbased mainly on a singleexam have forced manystudents to spend as muchas a year to raise just a fewpoints to surge ahead.

But they cannot domuch about the system, be-cause in times of wide-spread mistrust of theprivileged and powerful,gaokao results are still seenas the fairest criterion for ad-mission to college, as well asone of the few avenues stillopen for poor and connec-tion-less people to move upthe social ladder.

Besides, it would be diffi-cult to expand the scope ofgaokao and change its em-phasis on rote memory be-cause of the vast gapbetween students from fam-ilies living in cities and thosefrom poor rural areas.

Until gaokao is rele-gated to just one of the cri-teria for admission, as manyeducation policymakershope, we may just have tocontinue hearing examineesgiving battle cries like "Everypoint raised eliminates 1,000rivals".

05


Society

06

Hometowncould affect yourhealth

The place you call homecan affect your likelihood ofbeing a smoker, overweight orobese, according a report re-leased Friday by the AustralianBureau of Statistics.

The Australian Health Surveyfound that people living in outerregional and remote areas hadhigher rates of daily smoking in2011-12 (22 percent) comparedwith those living in major cities (15percent).

People living in areas of mostdisadvantage were even morelikely to smoke every day than

those living in areas of least dis-advantage -- a gap of one infour compared with one in ten.

"While rates of daily smokingin remote areas of Australia havedropped over time, they are stillsignificantly higher than the ratesin major cities of Australia adecade ago," said Louise Gates,Director of Health at the Aus-tralian Bureau of Statistics.

The survey also found linksbetween remoteness and social-economic disadvantage andobesity -- with seven out of tenadults living in outer regional and

remote areas overweight orobese compared to six out of tenin cities. However, the surveyfound that the relationship be-tween obesity and socio-eco-nomic status was not the samefor both women and men.

While women living in areasof most disadvantage weremore likely to be overweight orobese (64 percent) comparedwith women living in areas ofleast disadvantage (48 percent),men had similar obesity rates de-spite their level of disadvan-tage.(XINHUA)


07


08

Finance

Two newfunds toboost tradewith AfricaCED Monitoring

BEIJING-The China-Africa Busi-ness Council and the China-Africa Development Fund havedecided to set up two new fundsthis year boost China's invest-ment in Africa. One fund is forcommercial ventures, and theother, for mining activities.

Zheng Yuewen, Chairman ofCABC, which represents the in-terests of more than 550 Chinesecompanies in Africa, said eachfund will raise $1 billion in its initialphase from member companiesand the CADFund, China'slargest private equity fund focus-ing on African investments. Of-fices for the funds will beestablished in Beijing this month.

"China has been looking toinvest in different ways in Africa,instead of focusing only on build-ing infrastructure projects such asroads, bridges, ports and stadi-ums throughout the continent,"said Zheng.

The changing global invest-ment environment and the lin-gering debt crisis in the eurozonehave prompted majoreconomies such as the UnitedStates, the United Kingdom,France, India and Japan to shifttheir investment focus from tradi-tional markets in Europe andAsia, to Africa.

Additionally, Africa's hungerfor urbanization, commodities,jobs, new overseas markets, andimproved manufacturing, trade,

services and resource sectors,has presented unprecedentedbusiness opportunities to foreigninvestors.

"African countries havegood opportunities to capitalizeon high international commodityprices, their young energeticlabor forces and abundant re-sources," Zheng said.

"They also have the opportu-nity of taking advantage of theglobal investment trend to seeksolutions to poor levels of infra-structure, the high unemploy-ment and poverty byaccelerating transformationthrough commodity-based in-dustrialization.

"The continent can gothrough the same industrial trans-


09

formation as China did threedecades ago, and in time it willbecome a major goods pro-ducer, rather than just being ashipper of raw materials to differ-ent foreign destinations," Zhengsaid.

He said that during this long-term transition, more Chinesecompanies will move their facto-ries to Africa to help the conti-nent upgrade its technologicalability.

The two new funds will pro-vide capital to Chinese enter-prises seeking investmentopportunities in Africa, particu-larly in the mining sectors, com-mercial and trade investment.

To further strengthen coop-eration with Africa, the Chinesegovernment has consistently en-couraged capable State-ownedand private companies to investthere.

It has also supported theAfrican Development Bank andthe West African DevelopmentBank by injecting funds, cancel-ing debts, and establishing jointfunds for a number of manufac-turing and construction projects.

China-Africa trade stood atnearly $200 billion last year, whileChinese investment in Africa hasreached $17 billion, according tothe department of African affairs

at China's Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs.

In December of 2012, CABCsurveyed the 198 member com-panies which had established apresence in 32 countries acrossAfrica. With 34,000 local employ-ees and 6,400 Chinese workers,the companies had trade rela-tions with 51 African countriesand $2.4 billion in sales revenuelast year, representing about 16percent of their total businessrevenues.

The 198 companies, includ-ing Chongqing-based automo-bile producer Lifan Group,Guangdong-based shoemakerHuajian Group and power sup-plier Shenzhen Energy Corpora-tion, have so far invested $1.1billion in the 32 African countriesand have plans to invest an ad-ditional $5 billion over the nextthree years.

Around 80 percent ofCABC's members are privatecompanies and the rest areState-owned enterprises.

Chi Jianxin, president of theCADFund, said: "In contrast toState-owned enterprises, whoseAfrican sales are largely basedon huge infrastructure projects,private-sector Chinese compa-nies are more sophisticated inprocessing local products like

cotton and leather into manu-factured goods such as gar-ments and shoes."

Chi added that even thoughlogistics costs remain high inAfrica, preferential tariffs forAfrican exports to developedmarkets, low labor costs and fa-vorable investment policies canmake up for this.

More than 700,000 peoplehave benefited from the CAD-Fund throughout the continentover the past six years. Its invest-ment now contributes $1 billion intax revenues to different Africangovernments, and funds the ex-port of some $2 billion worth ofgoods each year.

The latest China-Africa ven-tures to be created include apartnership between Chinesecement producer Tangshan Ji-dong Cement Co Ltd and house-hold appliance manufacturerHisense Group, who have cre-ated a cement plant with 1 mil-lion tons of annual productioncapacity, and a home appli-ance factory that will be opera-tional in South Africa this month.

Elsewhere, a cotton spinningindustrial park in Tanzania and aniron mine that produces 1 milliontons per year in Liberia, will belaunched in the second half ofthis year.


10

Finance

How couldShanximerchantsthrive for100s ofyears?


Finance

12

CED Monitoring

BEIJING-How could Shanximerchants stay at the top ofChina's business worldthroughout the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911)dynasties? And why did somany Shanxi people take tobusiness? In a sense, this wasdetermined by both geo-graphical and historical fac-tors.

At the same time, thespirit of Shanxi merchants wasanother important reason fortheir prosperity. They showedno fear towards any kinds ofdiff icult ies, which were de-scribed by Western scholars as"the Spir it of Shanxi," or moreprecisely, "the Spirit of ShanxiMerchants."

Shanxi is not a goodplace for crop production. Sothroughout the ages peoplehad to earn their l ivingthrough business. The earl iestrecord of this can be found inHistory Record. According toother historical l iterature, thesouthern part of Shanxi wasnot able to provide enoughfood for residents, so peoplehad to do business in otherareas. Yet few people in northShanxi needed to do so.

Beginning in the Ming Dy-nasty, the arable soil becamemore precious due to the in-creasing population. There-fore, more and more Shanxipeople began to leave theirhome to do business.

Most Shanxi merchantswere originally miserablefarmers with l itt le property.They were forced to start theirbusiness from scratch. Whenthey obtained some profits,they became models forneighborhood, which gradu-ally led to the creation of

merchant groups.Bordering the northern

section of the Great Wall,Shanxi lay next to the nomadsof Inner and Outer Mongolia.South Shanxi contained plainsfor agriculture. Therefore,Shanxi l ied in the junction ofthe stock raising, agriculture,and handicraft industries.

Shanxi merchants' busi-ness route

The geographical positionmade Shanxi into the commu-nication center for the pro-duction of theabovementioned industr ies.The nomads bartered horsesfor tea, fabric, and crops withShanxi merchants. Meanwhile,the merchants also carvedout trade with the Russians.Since 1768, Kiakhta has beenthe trade center for Russiaand China.

Shanxi's geographical im-portance has given many ad-vantages to its people.Starting from the Yuan Dy-nasty(1271-1368), the trans-port channels were graduallydeveloped by Shanxi mer-chants, who organized camelteams to deliver goods. Themerchants also purchasedsi lk, sugar, fabric, and othergroceries from different cities,and sold them in Xinj iang,Mongolia, and so on.

Until recently, in the longhistory of Chinese society,agriculture has always beenput at the top in social devel-opment, while business hasbeen given little importance.

However, in Shanxi, espe-cially in its middle part, it hasbeen a tradition for people tolearn to do business since theSong Dynasty (960-1279).Shanxi people long believedthat it was a good way to ob-tain wealth by trade, and

then to purchase arable soi l ,or to invest in the finance andbank industry to generatemore wealth.

Shanxi merchants be-lieved that to be faithful andhonest were the best ways toexpand markets. Accordingto business ethic principals,merchants are driven by prof-its, yet cheating and fraud isnot allowed. Actually, faithful-ness and honesty have longbeen at the core of Shanximerchants' value view. This isalso the reason why Shanximerchants enjoyed their goodreputation for such a long pe-riod. A Guanyu temple, whichsymbolizes honesty and jus-tice, could be found in almostevery town in Shanxi.

As has been mentionedabove, the natural environ-ment in Shanxi is rather harsh.So in the past, people had toleave their hometown to gaintheir l iving. They traveledthroughout China to purchasecommodities and then organ-ized camel teams to tradewith Mongolia, Russia, andeven Japan. In this processthe merchants had to over-come various obstacles suchas different languages and,habits of l i fe. Hence persist-ence and entrepreneurshipwas also crit ical for the suc-cess of Shanxi merchants.

Shanxi merchants be-l ieved that "harmony bringswealth." They competed witheach other, while helping andlooking after each other whenneeded as well. Since most ofthe Shanxi merchants hadgood faithfulness and hon-esty, they would believe ineach other even in the mostdifficult times.


13


IT

14

Vodafone, China MobilewithdrawMyanmarlicense bidCED Monitoring

BEIJING-Vodafone and ChinaMobile have withdrawn theirjoint bid for one of two l i-censes offered in Myanmar,saying the returns do not jus-tify their investment.

According to media re-ports, world's two largest mo-bile operators said theconsortium decided not toproceed with the bid as it didnot meet "strict internal invest-ment criteria" which bothcompanies adhered to.

The Chinese and Brit ish

telcos had partnered in Apri lto bid for a l icense in Myan-mar, where the governmentwas looking to increase thenumber of mobile operatorsfrom two to four.

The two operators hadbeen among 12 applicants tomake the shortl ist which in-cluded Airtel Consortium; Axi-ata Group; Digicel; FranceTelecom-Orange andMarubeni; KDDI, Sumitomo,Myanmar Information andCommunication TechnologyDevelopment and A1 Con-struction; Mil l icom Interna-

tional Cellular; MTN Consor-tium; Qatar Telecom; SingTel,KBZ and Myanmar TelephoneCo; Telenor; and ViettelGroup.

Industry watchers said in aprevious ZDNet Asia reportthat as Myanmar looked to-ward economic reforms whichwould open up its telecommarket to outsiders, invest-ments might take a long timeto pay off as telcos wouldface a lack of clarity in regu-lations, government red tape,and the l imited infrastructurewhen roll ing out networks.


15


IT

16

ChinaSoft winsChina Mobile’sWireless Fetioncontract


17

CED Monitoring

BEIJING-ChinaSoft Interna-tional Limited ("ChinaSoft" or"the Company"), a leading ITsolutions and outsourcingservice provider in China hasannounced that it wasawarded the 2013 WirelessFetion contract by ChinaMobile. This one-year con-tract amounts to approxi-mately RMB 100 mill ion, andis expected to have positivecontribution to the Com-pany's overall profitabil ity in2013 and beyond.

Launched by China Mo-bile in 2011, the new Fetionprovides SMS, voice, imageand document messaging

cross the different platformsfree of charge to the user. Itis a internet social network-ing platform focusing oncommunicating, l isteningand sharing, and it is also acrucial element within ChinaMobile's mobile internetstrategy. As a comprehen-sive communications servicewhich integrates IVR(Inter-active Voice Response),GPRS, SMS and other meansof communication, Fetion isnow a major domestic mo-bile Internet platform con-necting a large number ofusers between PCs and mo-bile phones.

The Wireless Fetion proj-ect recently won by China-

Soft wil l provide businessconstruction and support forMobile Fetion and Fetion HDproducts to China Mobile(Guangdong). The projectaims to provide product de-sign, technology implemen-tation plan and formulate adifferentiated competit ivestrategy, according to theChina Mobile's telecom op-erator business features aswell as Fetion business's coreadvantages. The Companywil l provide excellent solu-tions based on the mobileterminal features, to contin-uously strengthen IM basiccapabilities and provide mo-bile IM new product fea-tures.


18

IT

Meanwhile, the designand implementation of thisproject wil l give ful l consid-eration to its integration withChina Mobile's other busi-nesses, and wil l provide uni-f ied standardized interfaceto quickly achieve integra-tion. It wil l provide ChinaMobile's customers withricher content services anda more user-fr iendly experi-ence through various prod-uct types and contents,including but not l imited to,

cross-platform audio andvideo services, Fetion Desk-top Launcher, Fetion ROM,and the integrations withChina Mobile's other mobileinternet businesses as well asthe third-party businesses.The Company plan to use allresources available to en-sure the successful imple-mentation of this large scaleproject including bringing onother consult ing partnerssuch as YunBo Digital.

Through the acquisit ion

of MMIM Technologies Inc. in2010, ChinaSoft strength-ened its mobile internet serv-ice capabil it ies andbecame a core serviceprovider for the mobile in-stant messaging, mobilecommunity and app storebusinesses of China Mobile.With its strong product de-velopment capabil ity andvaluable experience in themobile internet field, China-Soft won this contract whilecompeting against a num-


19

ber of strong peers for thishighly coveted project.Through our active partici-pation in Fetion project, Chi-naSoft wil l further strengthenits strategic partnership withChina Mobile. Last year, theCompany also won ChinaMobile Wireless City opera-tion platform project.

ChinaSoft strongly be-lieves that all over the worldthe IT services businessmodel is changing due tothe evolution of information

technologies l ike social net-working, mobile communi-cations, big data analyticsand cloud computing. Aspart of its growth strategyset in 2011, ChinaSoft em-braced the Professional,Outsourcing and Emerging(POE) structure. The Com-pany will pursue growth in itstraditional IT professionalconsult ing & solutions busi-ness (P) and outsourcingbusiness (O) while pushinginto innovative and emerg-

ing technologies (E) such asmobile communications andcloud computing. The Com-pany believes that this trans-formation is in al ignmentwith the strategies of its cus-tomers such as China Mo-bile, Huawei, Al ibaba andMicrosoft. Winning the ChinaMobile Wireless Fetion con-tract further demonstratesthat the company is on trackin its execution of its businessstrategies.


20

Industry

Chinese travelersmoving up the value chain


21

CED Monitoring

BEIJING-Years ago there was

a phrase in the international

travel industry describing Chi-

nese tourists - they "sleep

cheap, shop expensive".

Even today, shopping still

dominates their spending

with 34.1 percent of the total

while traveling, followed by

transportation at 21.6 per-

cent and hotels at 14 per-

cent, according to a report

released by the China

Tourism Academy in April.

Though still compara-

tively low, Chinese spending

on overseas hotels last year

was 4 percentage points

higher than that in 2011.

Statistics show that Chi-

nese travelers are becoming

more willing to stay in

medium-priced star-rated ho-

tels rather than low-budget

accommodations.

In 2012, almost half of

Chinese tourists stayed in two

or three-star international

hotel chains, up 10 percent-

age points over 2011. Some

15 percent were willing to

pay for four-star-rated hotels

or above, 7 percentage

points higher than the year

previous.

"The quality of accommo-

dations is tipped as the next

big thing," said an industry

observer.

But the spending sprees

of some Chinese consumers

overseas have generated at

times eye-popping news

even by international stan-

dards.

In 2012, Chinese travelers

made some 83 million out-

bound trips, an annual rise of

15 percent. A KPMG study

puts the growth at 71 percent

this year.

While overseas, they

spent $85 billion, double the

annual revenue of Exxon

Mobil. And 72 percent of

these travelers said that they

bought luxury items on these

trips.

Another report said that

of all the luxury spending by

Chinese consumers world-

wide, a whopping 60 percent

happens outside China.

A strong Yuan and pro-

hibitively high prices at home

are cited as the driving forces

for their binge buying over-

seas.

In the bigger picture, as

China grows more affluent

more people can afford to

travel abroad and more peo-

ple spend more. But as con-


Industry

sumers they have special

needs: They require quality

services and are at the same

time value conscious.

The design of a travel itin-

erary, attitude and profes-

sionalism among tour

operators are rated as the

decisive reasons in how rich

Chinese book luxury travel,

according to a report by the

China Tourism Academy and

leading domestic travel

agency Ctrip.

Of the 83 million out-

bound trips Chinese made

last year, more than 92 per-

cent were made for private

reasons, unlike the business

delegation group tours of

years ago paid by sponsors.

And a rising number of

Chinese tourists are opting for

natural resorts and historic

destinations instead of the

hustle and bustle of hurried

sightseeing.

By 2012, the number of

high net worth individuals in

China climbed to 700,000, up

from 500,000 in 2011 and

320,000 in 2009, according to

a study by China Merchants

Bank and Bain & Company in

May. Such wealthy individuals

are defined as those with liq-

uid cash of at least $1 million.

Another wealth report, is-

sued by Citibank in March

2012, said all of Asia has

18,000 ultra high-net-worth

people, each with liquidity of

at least $100 million, exceed-

ing the number in North

America for the first time. The

study said there are now

17,000 in North America and

14,000 in Western Europe, sig-

nifying a global shift in the

economy and fortunes to the

East.

Estimates say there will be

26,000 billionaires in Asia by

2016. About 60 percent of

them say travel tops their

recreational activities.

The South Pole, South

America, South and East

Africa, Oceania and even

outer space are among their

luxury travel destinations.

Though Asia is still the

most visited locale for out-

bound Chinese travelers -

some 90 percent of the total

- per person spending in lux-

ury travel is 10 to 50 times

higher than a conventional

traveler.

Private jets, cruise liners,


luxury hotels, seamless tailor-

made transport services, and

customized cultural touches

throughout the whole trip are

major features of luxury

travel.

"Especially the affluent

are glad to pay for joyful, un-

forgettable, in-depth and

rare experiences," said Liu

Deqian, a senior tourism in-

dustry expert.

Abercombie & Kent, a

global luxury travel service

provider, told the Daily Tele-

graph that "what we're trying

to do with China is to try to

understand the quirks of that

particular nationality and de-

sign products that suit their

wants and needs".

"Anyone who conquers

the Chinese market will really

do well," A&K founder Geof-

frey Kent told media.

Only 3 percent of the Chi-

nese population now holds a

passport. If the ratio increases

to 10 percent, the numbers

become irresistible to travel

companies worldwide.

The China Tourism Acad-

emy report says the number

of Chinese outbound travel-

ers will increase 15 percent to

94.3 million this year. Their

total spending is projected to

hit $117.6 billion, a 20 percent

surge over 2012.

When tour is not only

about sightseeing and hotels

are not just for an overnight

stay, the allure of a special

experience is increasingly im-

portant. Doing something

unique gives tourists an in-

centive to come back.

It is gaining in popularity

for the new rich in China as

well.

"Reservations for South

Pole group tour scheduled at

the end of 2013 were full at

the beginning of this year,"

said Wu Zhiyuan with the A&K

China office. The 16-day tour

- with 10 days spent on the

way in and out - costs each

of the tour members about

160,000 Yuan ($26,052).

"Most of them are cou-

ples, wealthy and well-edu-

cated, 40 to 50 years old,

younger than their counter-

parts from Europe and the

US," said Wu.

She said offering the most

knowledgeable and profes-

sional private guides is their

trump card.


24

Industry

Industry to getshock treatment

CED Monitoring

BEIJING-Chinese local govern-ments are once again trying tojump-start the electric-vehicleindustry as potential customersremain largely ambivalent toincentives to get them to buywhat is billed as the transport ofthe future.

The strongest performer inthe industry, Telsa Motors of theUS, says it delivered 4,750 carsin the first quarter of the year,

but none of its competitors hasbeen able to come up with aformula for getting many cus-tomers to buy their products.Most of the electric cars on theroad are run as part of govern-ment pilot projects.

The Beijing new-energy de-velopment center says the Bei-jing government has now comeup with incentives to lift sales,including a subsidy of up to120,000 Yuan ($19,548; 15,132Euros) and exemption from the

ballot system under which num-ber plates are granted. Themeasures are expected to takeeffect this year, the center said.

Only electric models are el-igible for these favorable poli-cies, not hybrid or plug-invehicles. The terms are similarto those of previous incentives,but for the first time the govern-ment is codifying the rules inlegislation.

Local governments havegenerally accepted that it may


25

take a long time to get peopleto abandon conventional carsin favor of electric ones, andthe approach they are takingvaries widely. However, oneapproach that some see as asolution is to rent electric carsto individuals or governmentbureaus rather than to sellthem.

One of those doing that isthe biggest state-company inthe capital, Beijing AutomotiveGroup Co. The head of BAIC'snew-energy division, Lin Yi, saysthe company will soon launcha high-end electric car target-ing domestic customers andgovernments.

The company had previ-ously said it would sell 3,000electric cars in Beijing by theend of this year.

Lin says the company is

looking for people willing to testdrive the electric vehicles it hasproduced, the E150 and theC70.

One of the biggest prob-lems with electric cars hasbeen recharging them, andBAIC is working with State Gridto erect charging poles for thetest drivers. The catch is thatthe drivers must own a garagewhere the poles can beerected. The company says ithopes to soon have "severaldozen volunteers".

Charging stations andpoles will be built in big com-munities, near the premises ofcar rental companies, and inpower stations, the governmentsays. The goal is to have atleast one charging pole avail-able every 5 kilometers in Bei-jing.

Central and local govern-ment efforts over the past threeyears to encourage people tobuy electric cars have beenhampered not only by the lackof charging stations but wide-spread anxiety about the lim-ited range of the cars, giventhat a battery can run only 15okm on one charge. A taxi in Bei-jing usually runs 500-600km aday.

In 2009 the central govern-ment launched a three-yearplan to introduce electric vehi-cles in major cities under which10 cities will be selected everyyear to demonstrate 1,000electric vehicles.

But the demonstration proj-ects have aroused little buyerinterest, and most of the elec-tric vehicles running on theroads are paid for by local gov-

One of the biggest problems with electriccars has been rechargingthem, and BAIC is workingwith State Grid to erectcharging poles for the test drivers.


26

Industry

ernments, and used either aselectric buses, taxis or as citycleaning trucks, running fixedroutes and serving limitedareas.

Two of the most publicizeddemonstration projects havebeen with Foton's 250 Midielectric taxis, serving in Yan-qing county in northwesternBeijing, and 800 BYD electrictaxis operating in Shenzhen.

Beijing Municipal Scienceand Technology Commissionsays the city plans to add an-other 2,000 electric taxis and tryto bring them from suburbanareas into the city.

Zhao Jingguang, vice-pres-ident of Foton, says Midi is just a"transitional product" for theChinese market, and the com-pany "will definitely replace itwith an upgraded product by2015".

Zhao declines to give moredetails about the new model,

but voices confidence aboutthe future of electric cars.

"Compared with foreigncompetitors, Chinese brandshave accumulated a bit moreexperience in electric-vehicledevelopment, so we are notstarting from nothing."

Last year the State Coun-cil's plan for new-energy vehi-cles called for the country toproduce 2 million electric andplug-in hybrid vehicles by 2020,and the market should have 5million electric vehicles on theroad by then.

That plan has excitedmany Chinese automakerswho are eager to retrieve theground lost to foreign brandsin the field of conventionalvehicles.

But some industry veteransare skeptical about this grandplan. John Zeng, the Asia-Pa-cific director of LMC, says indi-vidual purchase is not viable in

China because 70-80 percentof customers are first-time carbuyers, who are highly unlikelyto buy a novel electric model.

"Even the most matureelectric models such as ChevyVolt and Nissan Leaf have notfound a successful businessmodel, but rely heavily ongovernment subsidies," Zhengsays.

"Telsa seems to have founda feasible way to sell its cars,but it is more of a premiumsports car than an electric vehi-cle designed for the public."

An intermediate Telsamodel is priced at $67,400(52,174 Euros), about what youwould pay for an Audi A6 in theUS.

"I'll bet that eventually thegovernment will sell these elec-tric vehicles to taxi companiesor government departments,but not the public, as it hadhoped," Zeng says.

"Compared with for-

eign competitors, Chi-

nese brands have

accumulated a bit more

experience in electric-

vehicle development, so

we are not starting

from nothing."


27


28

Automobile

Time for ChineseAutomakers tothink out of box


29


30

Automobile

CED Monitoring

BEIJING-The road traveled byTesla Motors, a game changerin the global electric car indus-try, reminds Chinese automak-ers that they should thinkoutside the box by exploringcommercially viable ways topromote new energy vehicles.

After the Silicon Valley-based electric car maker re-ported its first profitable quarterin early May, its stock doubled

to around $90 within onemonth, increasing the com-pany's total market value toaround $10 billion.

Tesla also raised its 2013sales target to 21,000 units of itshigh-end model S cars, up fromthe previous sales target of20,000 units.

If it manages to reach thisgoal, it could exceed China'stotal electric vehicle sales in2012, which stood at 11,375units, according to figures from

the China Association of Auto-mobile Manufacturers.

Such a comparison wouldeclipse all Chinese automakers'efforts in this respect, includingWarren Buffett-invested BYDAuto, which only sold around1,690 E6 electric cars last year,mainly to taxi companies. Tesladelivered 4,750 Model S cars inthe first quarter of this year.

Chinese automakers needto rethink their strategies togain a concrete market share


31

for electric cars in theworld's largest auto mar-ket. Otherwise, they maysquander the huge in-vestment made in elec-tric car manufacturingand research and devel-opment in the past fewyears.

The relatively highprice of electric cars hasbeen a major obstacle interms of attracting con-sumers, but the TeslaModel S costs at least$70,000, without takinginto account tax breaksfor electric cars.

In many ways, Tesla'sproducts are constrainedby the problems facingall electric carmakerssuch as limited drivingrange, the high cost ofbatteries and an inade-quate charging infra-structure.

Such a success storyakin to that of Teslashould also have achance in China, theworld's largest and mostdynamic automotivemarket. Around 19.3 mil-lion vehicles were sold inChina in 2012, some 5 mil-lion more than in theUnited States.

China, which in 2009launched perhaps themost extensive programin the world to promoteelectric cars, has a moreserious energy securityproblem and there's amore urgent need tocurb emissions from thetransport sector.

Tesla uses lithium-ionbattery packs in its ModelS vehicles. China is amajor player in lithium-ionbattery manufacturing,supplying about half ofthe world's lithium-ion

batteries for phones,smartphones and lap-tops.

The Model S is a styl-ish and well-designedcar. Chinese automakersshould learn from this byhiring a world-leading de-sign company to design acar like that. In addition,China has no lack ofeager luxury-car buyers.

Tesla is also leadingthe way by synergizingelectric cars with freshand innovative ideasfrom Silicon Valley.

An iPhone and iPadfan could easily becomea Tesla car fan, whetheror not they could affordsuch an expensive car.

The Model S has thelargest monitor, a 17-inchtouch screen, which isbigger than two iPads,and drivers get full ac-cess to the Internet whilethey drive.

Tesla software knitstogether Google Voice,Slacker Radio and theGracenote music data-base, and streams over3G, said Elon Musk, TeslaMotors chief executive.

But if Tesla wants toremain successful, itneeds to provide afford-able models to con-sumers. However, itscurrent success alsoshows that there will al-ways be a niche market ifproducts are appealingenough to customers.

Zero emissions is alaudable concept, butautomakers also needother selling points tohelp consumers make thedecision to buy a greenercar at a higher cost, asthere is little prospect ofbatteries getting much

Such a successstory akin to thatof Tesla shouldalso have achance in China


Automobile

32

cheaper before large-scaleproduction gets into full swing.

Sales of electric cars re-main lackluster in China de-spite active governmentsupport.

At the recent ShanghaiAuto Show, automakers werenoticeably less keen to discussplans for the commercializationof their electric models.

The government has said it

will renew its incentives for newenergy vehicles for an addi-tional three years, but industryinsiders said that the dividendfor electric cars is likely to endsoon, and the new policy will


33

be shifted to supporting vehi-cles' fuel efficiency, whichmeans regular hybrids may getmore subsidies.

According to the previouspolicy, the government offered

60,000 Yuan ($9,680) for an all-electric car and 3,000 Yuan fora plug-in hybrid car.

With the expiration of thespecial protection period, it'stime for automakers to spark

their own vitality and innova-tion not only in technical ex-pertise, but also in businessmodels and market strategies.Only those able to think outsidethe box will last the pace.


34

Automobile

On the road to adriverless future


35

JERUSALEM - On a freewayfrom Jerusalem to the DeadSea, I sat in the driver's seat ofan Audi A7 in April while soft-ware connected to a videocamera on the windshielddrove the car at speeds up to100 kilometers per hour: makinga singular statement about therapid progress in the develop-ment of self-driving cars.

While the widely publicizedGoogle car is festooned withcameras, radar and the laserrange finders called lidars, thisone is distinctive because ofthe simplicity and the relativelylow cost of its system - just afew hundred dollars' worth ofmaterials. "The idea is to getthe best out of camera-onlyautonomous driving," saidGaby Hayon of Mobileye VisionTechnologies, the Israeli com-pany that created the systemin the Audi.

The Mobileye car does notoffer the autonomy achievedby Google's engineers. TheGoogle car will merge ontofreeways, drive safely throughintersections, make left andright turns, and pass slower ve-hicles.

By contrast, the Mobileyevehicle is capable only of driv-ing in a single lane at freewayspeeds, as well as identifyingtraffic lights and automaticallyslowing, stopping and then re-turning to highway speeds.

But by blending ad-vanced computer vision tech-niques with low-cost video

cameras, the company isdemonstrating how quicklyautonomous driving can becommercialized. "You cannothave a car with $70,000 ofequipment," said AmnonShashua, a founder of Mobil-eye, referr ing to Google'sl idar system, "and imaginethat it wil l go into mass pro-duction."

Mobileye has recentlybegun offering the third gener-ation of its technology, whichcompanies like Volvo have pro-moted for its ability to detectpedestrians and cyclists. Nissanalso recently gave a hint ofthings to come with a demon-stration of a car that could au-tomatically swerve to avoid apedestrian. The system wasbased on Mobileye technol-ogy.

As soon as this summer, thefirst limited systems offering afeature known as "traffic jamassist" will begin arriving frommore than five major automo-bile makers. Those cars willdrive safely in stop-and-go traf-fic, but will require drivers tokeep their hands on the steer-ing wheel.

But more advanced sys-tems will be introduced as earlyas 2016, according to Mobil-eye, and it was that advancedcapability I experienced.

In California in 2010, I wasthe first reporter to drive in theGoogle car, a Toyota Prius fit-ted with sensors that created aremarkably detailed map of

the world around the car. It was a tour de force. The

car was taken out of automaticpilot just twice - while passing acyclist and then again to backinto a parking space.

In the Google car, I hadfelt detached from the ma-chine intelligence that guidedit. As the car piloted itselfthrough its first curve, there hadbeen an eerie more-human-than-human sense.

But in the Mobileye car Iwas acutely aware of the au-topilot's limitations. The car hada tendency to weave a bitwhen it started to pull awayfrom an intersection - behaviorthat did not inspire confidence.Once, while passing a parkedcar, the Audi pulled in the di-rection of the other vehicle.Not wanting to learn the car'sintentions, I nudged it back tothe center of the lane.

The Mobileye engineerssaid the single camera wouldbe supplemented with an arrayof five more: a wide-rangecamera and additional side-mounted and rear-facing cam-eras. The goal, they said, wasto build a system with the samecapability as the Google car's.

After 20 minutes of freewaydriving, I put the Audi back onautopilot and headed towardJerusalem. The demonstrationwas not as dramatic as myGoogle ride, but it gave me aclearer understanding of whatthe automobile industry has inits sights.(Agencies)

Amnon Shashua, a founder of Mobileye, referring to Google's

lidar system, "and imagine that it willgo into mass pro


36

Construction

China establishesgroundwatermonitoring network


37

BEIJING-China has set up apreliminary groundwater moni-toring network as part of thecountry's effort to preserve itsgroundwater resources, said anofficial with the Ministry ofWater Resources.

So far, 24,417 groundwatermonitoring sites have beenbuilt, 10 percent of them capa-ble of monitoring water quality,said Chen Ming, an official withthe Ministry of Water Resources.

With the network beingformed, the ministry will work toensure the sustainable use ofgroundwater resources by im-proving the management ofwater resources and promotingthe construction of a water-saving society, he said.

The majority of these moni-toring sites are located in northChina, the country's breadbas-ket where most water is pol-luted to varying degrees.

The recent achievement isthe result of a national ground-water monitoring projectlaunched three years ago.

The National Developmentand Reform Commission,China's top economic planner,said in a statement issued inNovember 2010 that a total of1.7 billion Yuan (269.8 millionU.S.dollars) would be investedto build and renovate 20,445groundwater monitoring sitescovering nearly one third of thecountry's territory.(Agencies)

The majority of these monitoring sitesare located in north China, the country's

breadbasket where most water is pol-luted to varying degrees.


Automobile

38

BANGKOK -- Thailand will beconnected with China via ahigh-speed railway runningthrough northern Laos withinthe next seven years, assuredThai Transport Minister Chad-chart Sittipunt.

Delivering a key-notespeech at a seminar and exhi-bition entitled "Thailand 2020" inthe Thai northeastern provinceof Nakorn Ratchasima, thetransport minister said the gov-ernment has planned to build a625 km rail system to linkBangkok with the northeasternborder province of Nong Khai,across Mekong River from theLao capital of Vientiane whileChinese high- speed trains willarrive from southern China.

During the initial stage of a730-billion-U.S.-dollar rail andlogistical program, designedfor reconstruction of major railroutes in all regions of Thailand,a 250 km Bangkok-Nakorn

Ratchasima route will be builtfirst.

Then, the next phase willsee a 375 km NakornRatchasima-Nong Khai routebuilt up for the Thai high-speedtrain to shuttle passengers andcargoes, especially includingfruits and vegetables, betweenThailand and Laos, which willbe connected via the high-speed train with southernChina, Chadchart said.

Given such a modernizedrail system, Thai food will be de-livered fresh and daily toChina, according to the trans-port minister.

"Nakorn Ratchasima is notonly the economic hub of theentire northeastern region ofThailand but a gateway to wel-come an ASEAN EconomicCommunity, which will open in2015," he commented.

Thailand will have one railsystem for all high-speed trains

to run throughout the country,including the Bangkok-Phitsan-uloak- Chiang Mai route to theNorth, the Bangkok-Hua Hinroute to the South and theBangkok-Pattaya-Rayong routeto the East and the Bangkok-Nakorn Ratchasima-Nong Khairoute to the Northeast.

Besides, the Thai govern-ment will build motorways toaccommodate prompt logisticsand transportation betweenBangkok's outlying areas andmajor provinces, including aNonthaburi- Kanchanaburi mo-torway and an Ayudhya-Nakorn Ratchasima motorway.

Kanchanaburi, a westernThai province, will be linked viarail and roads with Dawei, asoutheastern Myanmar town,where a deep- sea port andSpecial Economic Zone projectis being built by a Thai con-struction giant.(XINHUA)

THAILAND TOLINk BANGkOkWITH CHINA VIA

HIGH-SpEEDTRAIN


39

"Nakorn Ratchasima is not onlythe economic hub of the entirenortheastern region of Thailandbut a gateway to welcome anASEAN Economic Community,

which will open in 2015


40

Real Estate

CED MonitoringSHANGHAI-Shanghai is China'smost promising city for invest-ment and development asconfidence in the real estatemarket shows signs of recovery,a report said.

A survey issued by UrbanLand Institute has found a sig-nificant revival in market confi-dence among major cities inthe Chinese mainland, and thetop four cities in this year's listall scored higher this time thanlast year's highest-ranked city— Chengdu of Sichuanprovince.

The strengthened marketsentiment indicates a growingconfidence about China's eco-nomic outlook, and investorshave noticed the real estateopportunities brought about byChina's growing middle classesand its younger population.

The report credits Shang-hai's top position to its maturingreal estate market, which hasmore liquidity and less volatilitythan almost all other Chinesecities.

Suzhou of Jiangsu provinceis the second-most favorable

city for both investment anddevelopment prospects, jump-ing 11 and 12 places respec-tively from last year.

As Shanghai's largest indus-trial satellite, Suzhou is a vibrantcity in its own right and benefitsfrom a substantial concentra-tion of high-tech manufactur-ing, said Kenneth Rhee, CEO ofHuhan Business Advisory(Shanghai) Co Ltd.

Beijing rose from ninth tothird place for investmentprospects and from 16th to fifthfor development prospects.The capital city was favored byinvestors because of its well-de-veloped office sector. The de-mand for Grade A office spaceis expected to continue rising,but the supply shortage won'tease until 2015.

Chengdu, which hastopped the rankings for bothdevelopment and investmentprospects for the past twoyears, fell to seventh andeighth places respectively thisyear. But Rhee said the city'sactual scores changed slightly,and its decline in the rankings isa result of the uplift in confi-

dence among other Chinesemajor cities.

The report also highlightedrespondents' growing interest ina number of specific marketsectors, such as industrial prop-erties. China is experiencing ashortage of high-quality mod-ern warehousing and distribu-tion facilities, partly because ofthe soaring demand from e-commerce.

E-commerce accounts for6.1 percent of all retail sales inChina, and transactions raisedby 66.5 percent in 2012 to 1.3trillion Yuan ($212 billion), ac-cording to figures from ChinaInternet Network InformationCenter.

Despite the strong interestin the industrial and distributionsector, real estate investors arefinding it difficult to capitalizeon this opportunity because ex-isting assets and land zoned forindustrial property are in shortsupply.

Urban Land Institute is aglobal nonprofit education andresearch institute. This is thethird year the ULI has issued thesurvey.

SHANGHAI TOpS IN

INVESTMENT & UpLIFT

pROSpECTS


41


Real Estate

42

CED Monitoring

BEIJING-The Chinese real estate industry has reached a crossroads, and Han Qingtao is well aware of it. The director of China poly Group Corporation's real estate department - the second-largest real estate company

in the country - said that it is crucial that Chinese real estate companies be in top form due to changing economiccircumstances.

"The Chinese real estate industry was complicated in the past few years," Han said. "But it's vital that the industry transforms itself, and quickly, if it hopes to establish itself, especially as the market

cools." China's GDp totaled 51.9 trillion Yuan ($8.47 trillion) last year, according to figures from the National Statistics

Bureau, and the value of real estate contracts amounted to 6.4 trillion Yuan, about 10 percent of the nation's GDp. "There's no doubt that real estate has become one of the country's pillar industries, and it's closely linked with

REAL ESTATESECTOR AT

CROSSROADS


43

other industries such as steel andiron," Han said.

However, the real estate markethas cooled down since 2010, whenthe central government introducedpolicies such as higher downpay-ments and restrictions on third-homepurchases to curb prices.

In March, a 20 percent capitalgains tax was imposed on second-home sales.

Despite the challenges, manyreal estate developers say they ex-pect more growth, particularly whenthe urbanization drive is intensified.

Wang Jianlin, chairman andfounder of Dalian Wanda Group,said property prices will grow mod-erately over the next 10 years.

"As China's urbanization contin-ues, there will be strong demand inthe domestic real estate marketover the next 10 years. A big drop inprices is unlikely. In fact, propertyprices will continue to rise, butgrowth will be limited because evenstricter government policies arelikely to be implemented," Wangsaid.

Han said that poly Group re-gards the industry as critical to itsdevelopment and is confident about

its future. "No doubt there will be turbu-

lence in the market in the short term,but there is great potential in thelong term," Han said.

The group entered the real es-tate industry in 1992, and the rev-enue of its real estate unitaccounted for nearly 90 percent ofthe group's 98 billion Yuan in rev-enue last year. Its home sales rosenearly 50 percent last year, makingit the second-largest property devel-oper, and accounting for 1.96 per-cent of the whole commercialresidential building market.

Sales from poly Group's real es-tate business rose five-fold from 2008to 2012.

Han highlighted three areasthat need attention if sound growthis to be maintained: building gov-ernment-subsidized housing, tap-ping the markets in second-tiercities, and diversifying its mix of realestate products.

As a large-scale SOE, polyGroup says it will unswervingly as-sume its social responsibilities andsupport the government by activelytaking part in the construction ofgovernment-subsidized housing.

By 2012, the group had 37 gov-ernment-subsidized housing projectsunder construction throughout thecountry, with a construction area of3.4 million square meters.

poly Group is also already tap-ping the markets in second-tiercities, he added.

It has a presence in 25provinces and 60 cities, and plans toincrease its presence in more sec-ond-tier cities, such as Taiyuan, thecapital of Shanxi province.

Diversifying poly Group's realestate products is another way forthe group to strengthen its real es-tate arm.

"Besides building residentialproperty, we will develop otherproducts such as urban complexesand combine functions of residentialand entertainment housing, amongother measures" Han said.

Although land is the main rawmaterial for real estate companies,compliance with the government'smacro-economic controls is also im-portant.

The group's real estate businessalso enjoys advantages such as agood access to the capital market,Han said.


Agriculture

44

CHINA TO MAINTAINFOOD SELF-SUFFICIENCY

BEIJING -- China will remain self-sufficient in themain food crops, though output will slow in thenext decade under increasing resource and rurallabor constraints, according to a new forecast bytwo international agencies.

China will import more oilseed and livestock,for both the meat and dairy sectors, as consump-tion growth will outpace production during the2013-2022 period, the Organization for EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD) and theFood and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in ajoint report released here.

The country's imports of oilseed are expectedto rise by 40 percent in the next decade, account-ing for 59 percent of global trade, while dairy im-ports are projected to rise 20 percent, accordingto the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2013-2022.

The report also predicted rising prices for bothcrop and livestock products in the next decadedue to a combination of slower productiongrowth and stronger demand, including for biofu-els.

It said limited expansion of agricultural land, ris-ing production costs, growing resource constraintsand increasing environmental pressures will pres-surize agricultural production, which is expectedto grow 1.5 percent annually in the period, downfrom an annual growth of 2.1 percent between2003 and 2012.(XINHUA)


45

The report also predicted risingprices for both crop and livestockproducts in the next decade dueto a combination of slower pro-

duction growth and stronger de-mand, including for biofuels.


46

Agriculture

CED Monitoring

BEIJING-As urban travelers tryto find an escape from thehustle and bustle of the city,"Happy Farmhouse Tourism" isincreasingly popular.

The agri-entertainmentapproach to leisure time of-fers pastoral scenery and ahands-on experience of farmlife.

Chengdu is at the fore-front of the field. It was namedthe "Birthplace of HappyFarmhouse Tourism" by theNational Tourism Administra-tion at the opening ceremonyof the first China Rural TourismFestival in 2006.

There are now more than6,000 Happy Farmhouses inthe city out of the total100,000 in China.

Most agri-tourism opera-tions are clustered aroundtwo areas of suburbanChengdu - Sansheng villageand the Eco-Tour Loop Line

Five kilometers to thesoutheast of Chengdu properis Sansheng - or Three Sages -village, known as a paradisefor rural tourism.

Villagers have made theirliving by cultivating flowers

pASTORAL'HAppY

FARMHOUSE'TOURISM

pROVES TOBE NATURAL


47

and trees from one genera-tion to the next. Since 2003,the village has opened up tovarious forms of tourism - sim-ply leisure, sightseeing, flowerappreciation, fruit tasting andexperiencing farm work.

Local authorities havenow divided the villages intofive sections, each with a sig-nature view such as lotus poolunder moonlight, plum forest

and farming fields.The five themed scenic

sites won the village the title ofthe "Five Golden Flowers". Theappealing environment alsohelps inspire creation and hasdrawn some artists to set upcreative studios in the village.

The Eco-Tour Loop Line isanother choice for weekendcountryside tours. Of the sev-eral towns around the loop

line, Dalin is known for its pearblossoms, Hejiang has threecherry seasons a year and Xin-glong has a famous rose gar-den.

With such a large ruralpopulation, China's officials atvarious levels are trying hardto boost the countrysideeconomy. Agri-tourism is oneof the most appealing op-tions.


Science and Technology

48

JIUQUAN - China success-fully launched its fifth mannedspacecraft, sending three as-tronauts on the country'slongest space trip.

With 10 astronauts and sixspacecraft launched intospace in a decade, China isspeeding up on the path of ex-ploration and building a homefor Chinese in the galaxy.

At a see-off ceremony heldhours before the launch, Chi-nese president Xi Jinping ex-tended good wishes to thethree astronauts.

"The mission's crew mem-bers carry a space dream ofthe Chinese nation, and repre-sent the lofty aspirations of theChinese people to explorespace," said Xi.

The president laterwatched the launch at the Ji-uquan Satellite Launch Centerin northwest China, and shookhands with staff at the centerafter the successful launch.

Unlike the space trip ofYang Liwei, China's first astro-naut who boarded the Shen-zhou-V spacecraft in 2003, ofless than a day, the three astro-nauts will stay for half a month.

In its journey, Shenzhou-Xwill dock with the orbitingspace lab Tiangong-1 twice,once through automatic oper-ation and the other manual,and a lecture will for the first

time be given on board the as-sembled orbiter to a group ofteenage students on theground.

Compared with the previ-ous nine Shenzhou spacecraft,the Shenzhou-X is no longerexperimental but consideredan applicable shuttle systemfor transporting astronauts andsupplies to orbiting modules.

"It is like developing a newtype of car. You have to try iton roads of different condi-tions. Now trials are over andthe car can be put into formaloperation," said zhou Jianping,chief engineer of China'smanned space program.

On the other hand, theupgraded Long March-2Fcarr ier rocket is technical lythe same as the one usedwith the Shenzhou-IXmanned spacecraft .

"No alteration means thatChina's rocket technology isbecoming mature," said JingMuchun, chief designer of thecarrier rocket.

This mission aims to furthertest technologies designed fordocking and supporting astro-nauts' stay in space, as well asto use new technologies re-lated to the construction of aspace station, said Wu ping,China's manned space pro-gram spokeswoman, at a pressconference on Monday.

The Tiangong-1 space labhas been in orbit for about 620days, and about three monthsare left before the designatedend of its service.

The module is consideredthe first step toward China op-erating a permanent spacestation around 2020 and mak-ing it the world's third countryto do so.

The nation is likely tolaunch a space station before2016.

There are risks that theconditions of some compo-nents on Tiangong-1 might notbe at their best since the mod-ule is near the end of its serviceand has gone through fourdocking tests, Wu said.

For Nie Haisheng, com-mander of the three-membercrew and a second-time spacetraveler, this mission will belonger, with more experimentsto be conducted, than his pre-vious outing in 2006.

"It will be a new challengewith greater risks," Nie told themedia.

However, he is looking for-ward to entering the space labmodule. "My colleagues and Iwill work in a home for Chinesein space," he said.

For this mission, themanned space program alsoconsidered approaching thepublic.

SpACE DREAMCRYSTALLIzED WITH

SHENzHOU XLAUNCH


Magazine 40 edition

Documents

Transcript of Magazine 40 edition