2006 Cross Culture Forum held in Beijing

Beijing--The 2006 Cross Culture Communication Forum, organized by China Foreign Languages Publishing and Distribution Administration, also known as China International Publishing Group (CIPG), in Beijing. Attending the one-day forum on "cross culture exchange and soft power building," are 12 well-known writers and entrepreneurs.
In his keynote speech delivered at the opening ceremony this morning, Cai Wu, Director of the Information Office of the State Council said: "The forum will undoubtedly deepen our understanding of cross culture exchange and soft power building, which is the focus of China's external publicity work and an important component of the broader publicity strategy. It is China's major task to build soft power by facilitating cross-cultural communication and exchange and promoting the country's cultural attractions and influence. As part of its opening-up program, China should carry forward the rich culture of the nation, give full play to its cultural advantages and embrace the impact of external cultural exchange upon cross-culture communication."
The forum will deepen the understanding of strategic, pressing, and long-standing issues in China's soft power building in the spirit of "peaceful development and a harmonious world," the fundamental requirement of external publicity. It will also be a platform for participants to exchange the latest research findings, to raise questions and to make suggestions to relevant departments under the control of the Party's central committee.
Afterwards, Cai Mingzhao, Deputy Director of the State Council Information Office, shared the problems and challenges facing China's soft power building with the audience. He says soft power development in China is still rather weak and China still suffers from a heavy cultural deficit. The way China is viewed around the world, particularly by those that subscribe to the 'China threat theory', results mainly from misunderstandings about cultural values between the east and the west, which requires further research and consideration. There are still many problems to be clarified and much work to be done.
Wu Jianmin, former Chinese ambassador to France and current President of the Chinese Foreign Affairs University speaks at the 2006 Cross Culture Communication Forum in Beijing, Aug.31.
All the guests attending the forum are experts in cross culture communication and exchange. They include Zhao Qizheng, former head of the State Council Information Office and current Dean of the School of Journalism at the People's University of China; Ye Xiaowen, Director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs; Wu Jianmin, former Chinese ambassador to France and current President of the Chinese Foreign Affairs University; Yu Qiuyu, a famous scholar and writer; Yan Lan, Chairperson of Sun Media Investment Holdings Limited; Steve Chan, Chairperson of the board of Coca Cola (China); T.B. Song, Chairperson of O&M Greater China; Shirley Young, former Vice-President of General Motors; Cao Jingxing, a top political critic from Phoenix Satellite and Zhao Qiguang, Director of the Asian Language and Culture Department at Carleton University.
Sponsors say they will hold the forum on a regular basis on various topics according to what is most relevant. Meanwhile, the forum will extend its cooperation and exchange to relevant central and regional departments, media, as well as research institutions both at home and abroad, making it an open forum during which ideas can be freely exchanged.

—People’s Daily, Daily Mail news exchange item

China urges lower commodity prices

Beijing (China)—China has signalled it will demand a larger role in setting global commodities prices, with an announcement that it will form new industry negotiating groups to leverage its buying power to secure lower prices.
Wei Jianguo, a vice-minister for commerce, the ministry responsible for trade, said China would establish negotiating groups "as soon as possible" covering oil, alumina and copper, in the same way it did for iron ore this year.
Mr Wei's comments reflect a belief in China that its emergence as the largest, or fastest-growing, market for many commodities should allow it to have a greater influence over their price.
Many of China's old-style officials, also believe that any profit made by sellers of raw materials should be limited to a small margin above the cost of production.
China's plan faces potential legal barriers because global trading rules limit such bodies if they are government-run, and it also must overcome the multiple other factors that dictate resource prices.
In China, most heavy industrial sectors are still state-owned and remain closely supervised if not controlled by the government.
China's rapidly growing industrial economy has been a key factor in pushing raw materials prices up to generational highs, especially for commodities such as iron ore, copper and alumina.
Resentment has been smouldering in official circles in China since 2005, when the world's main iron ore producers won a 71 per cent annual increase in the price of iron ore in negotiations with Japan and Europe.
Although China is by far the largest importer of iron ore, which is used to make steel, it played no role in the talks and was forced to accept the price.
China organised an industry group for this year's annual iron ore negotiations, which, although it did not manage to set a benchmark price, stuck together relatively well, a first for the fragmented local industry.
"With reference to the model set for iron ore, we should start as soon as possible a price-negotiating system for oil, alumina and copper and other commodities, and expand the use of long-term trade contracts," Mr Wei wrote in the Economic Daily, a local newspaper.
"We are a large buyer but lack international pricing power, and as a result, the cost of buying resources and energy products is getting higher and higher."
Jim Lennon, a commodities analyst with Macquarie Equities in London, said that China, by trying to form a united industry front in negotiations, was simply trying to do what Japan had done in a number of resource sectors for many years.
China's prevalent, short-term, trading mentality, combined with its inexperience in managing long-term contracts, has resulted in many of its companies relying on the spot market for resources.
This has been a disastrously expensive strategy over the past four years, a period in which tight supplies have forced spot prices even higher than contract prices.
China's size and the fragmented nature of its industry structure have made it difficult for the government to force companies to negotiate together, unlike in Japan, where industrial associations are well-established.

Working-age population set to decline

Beijing—Growth of the country's working-age population will slow down and lead to labour shortages, a leading expert warned yesterday after it was announced this week that the number of Chinese aged 65 or above hit 100 million.
To sustain economic development, the country will have to shift from a labour-intensive growth mode and cope with an ageing population, said Cai Fang, a director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
"Between 2005 and 2030, China's working-age population (those between 15 and 64) is projected to grow at 0.4 per cent a year, far lower than the global average of 1.2 per cent," Cai said, quoting United Nations projections.
Coupled with the ageing of the workforce itself for example, those aged between 50 and 64 will increase by 67 per cent the country will inevitably witness a general shortage of workers, Cai, the chief of the academy's Institute of Population and Labour Economics, told China Daily.
The mainland's population reached 1.306 billion at the end of last year. Slightly more than 100 million, or 7.69 per cent of the total, were aged 65 or above, pushing China into the ranks of ageing societies, according to latest official figures.
The number of senior citizens will account for at least 10 per cent of the total population by 2017, Cai said.
"As a result, the growth rate and the absolute number of the working- age population will decline, which will lead to an inevitable labour shortage," he said.
The working-age population was estimated at 918 million in 2005, or 70 per cent of the total, according to Wang Guangzhou, a researcher with the China Population Development Centre. That group is expected to account for 72.14 per cent of the country's total and peak at 997 million by 2013.
From 2015, the growth rate of the working-age population will shrink dramatically, Cai said.
A plentiful labour supply has long contributed to China's economic miracle. At least one-fifth of the country's GDP growth between 1978 and 1998, for example, was contributed by the migration of the workforce from agriculture to industrial and services sectors, according to Cai.
The shortage of workers will result in an increase of wage bills for skilled labour, which could erode China's comparative advantage in labour-intensive industries, he said.
Factories are already finding it hard to employ migrant workers at low salaries despite a contingent of 150 million awaiting migration from rural to urban areas.
The change of labour supply patterns should prompt the country to change economic growth path, for example, by developing capital- or technology-intensive businesses, Cai said.
Bao Minghua, a researcher with Renmin University of China, said the increase in labour costs as a result of worker shortage will not significantly affect foreign investment.
"China cannot rely only on inexpensive labour to attract foreign investors," Bao said recently. "The increasing number of high-technology industries in the country do not count on cheap labour."

—The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item

15 killed in NW China flash floods

LANZHOU--Fifteen people have been killed in flash floods this week in northwest China's Gansu Province, the provincial flood control and drought relief office said on Friday.
A heavy rainstorm that lasted about two hours hit Luqu County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and triggered a flash flood at 11 p.m. on Wednesday in the pasturing area.
The flood swept away 13 children and old people who were sleeping in tents in Maori village of Shuangcha Township.
A downpour also triggered a flash flood in Zhuoni County of the same prefecture on Thursday, killing two people.
Local officials have rushed to flood-hit areas for rescue and relief.
Typhoon-triggered floods have caused over 1,000 deaths and huge economic losses in southern and eastern coastal regions in China this summer.

—The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item

China calls for comprehensive, lasting peace in Sudan's Darfur region

China favors replacing the African Union peacemakers in Darfur with a UN operation, but has major reservation over the wording of the text and the timing of the vote, therefore cannot but abstain from the vote, said a top Chinese UN envoy.
Addressing the Security Council after the vote, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Wang Guangya said that China has agreed upon or accepted almost all contents of the resolution. Meanwhile, the Chinese side has urged the cosponsors to clearly put in "with the consent of the Government of National Unity" to the text, and urged the cosponsors to carefully reconsider the timing of vote.
"Regrettably, the cosponsors have failed to earnestly heed to China's sincere efforts. Due to our principal reservations on the timing of vote and the text itself, China cannot but abstain from the vote," the ambassador said.
Wang described replacing the African Union force in Darfur ( AIMS) with UN troops as a "realistic option," which will help improve the situation in the region and serve the interests of all parties.
"We therefore support, with the consent of the Government of National Unity, to deploy UN troops in Darfur as soon as feasible. We also agree that the Security Council needs to make necessary decision at an early date, so as to effectively fulfill the responsibilities set forth in the UN Charter and assist the Government of National Unity in achieving comprehensive and lasting peace and stability in Darfur," he added.
Ambassador Wang said the Darfur Peace Agreement has instilled new dynamics and offered new opportunities for resolving the Darfur issue. But unfortunately, the good momentum was not fully used by the parties involved, and the provisions of the agreement failed to yield peace yet.
What is more alarming, he noted, is that the security situation and the humanitarian condition in Darfur have further deteriorated. AMIS, as the only peace-keeping force in Darfur, shoulders arduous tasks and is also confronted with enormous difficulties.
"To address and resolve the Darfur crisis, we need to bear in mind both the sense of urgency and sober assessment of the complexity. We need to demonstrate both the firm determination and corresponding patience, as well as effective approach," Wang said.
The Chinese ambassador stressed that the transition of AMIS to a UN mission can only be possible and the mission can only be deployed with the consent of the Sudanese Government. This is the understanding and decision of the African Union and the Security Council respectively.
He noted that as a direct high-level dialogue at the Security Council among parties involved is likely to be held in early September, the Chinese side deems it unnecessary for the Security Council to put the draft to the vote in a hurry, which on the contrary "may trigger further misunderstanding and confrontation from the country directly involved and even cause problems on implementing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement process."
Wang Guangya reiterated China's firm support for the peace process in Sudan. "We call upon all major parties to act in a good faith, show mutual respect and understanding, continue to conduct frank dialogue, increase mutual trust and reinforce cooperation, so as to create good political conditions for the final settlement of the Darfur issue," he said.
The Security Council adopted the resolution on Thursday to create a UN peacekeeping force in Sudan's Darfur region. China, Russia and Qatar abstained from the vote.

—People’s Daily, Daily Mail news exchange item