For cleaner air

After the days of stifling smog that have shrouded Beijing and many other cities across China's eastern and central regions, a ray of sunshine emerged in the capital on Wednesday with cold winds clearing the air.

The ball in America's court

Barack Obama will be sworn in as US president for a second term on Jan 21. Obama's re-election as US president and Xi Jinping's election as China's top leader have intensified global discussions on whether the two countries' ties will improve or deteriorate and whether a new power-to-power relationship will develop between them.

Spare a thought for migrants this festival

Migrant workers said they feel sad for a couple in Foshan, Guangdong province, who were detained on Monday for booking train tickets online and selling them to migrants desperate to return home for Spring Festival by charging just 10 yuan extra. They believe the couple have been wronged by being branded "scalpers", because they were actually helping migrant workers get the elusive train ticket.

Letters

Better environment, healthy people

From the chinese press

Don't force others to drink

Overseas investment approach

In the context of China's accelerated efforts to push forward its "go global" strategy, domestic enterprises have conducted an increasing number of overseas business and investment activities, but also encountered ever-growing investment risks.

Cartoon

Lesson of London must be learnt

Despite China's ambitions and its efforts to build itself into a beautiful country, residents and travelers in Beijing have been subjected to excessively bad air quality in recent days.

Sino-Indian ties

Since the New Year, interactions between China and India at multilateral and bilateral levels have been eye-catching. Beijing and New Delhi have expressed willingness to step up security cooperation and work for common development.

Improving stock market

China's stock market rocketed on Monday on the news that the country will allow more foreign investment in the fragile market.

Cut State share in SOEs

Fifteen years ago, I told the IMF-World Bank annual meeting that China had to deepen the reform of State-owned enterprises by reducing its State share in their stocks from 100 percent to less than 30 percent. Much progress was made in the five years that followed: most of the small and medium-sized SOEs were reorganized and many SOEs were listed and became very profitable.

Pros and cons of shale gas for China

Shale gas in China could become a game changer. With recoverable resources of up to 36.1 trillion cubic meters, China has the world's largest deposit of shale gas, and if accessed properly, it could turn its energy problem on its head.