Capital's concerns

What do Beijing residents expect of their new mayor? Of all the things that need improving, cleaner air will be at the top of many people's wish list.

Operational risk in Africa

Mali is already yesterday's news. In the United States at least, the focus has shifted from the French intervention in Mali to Algeria, where a hostage crisis ended with the reported death of 90 people, including 58 foreigners, earlier this month. Many multinational companies, including Shell, Rio Tinto and Huawei are recalibrating their involvement in African countries.

Kids more vulnerable to environment

The recent high environmental pollution levels in Beijing and other Chinese cities should be seen as a great threat to children's health and quality of life. A large number of children die every year from environment-related diseases.

Letters

Not much option for Japan

From the Chinese Press

Reverse thinking needed

Changing trade structure

China's foreign trade was sluggish last year. Although it increased to $3.866 trillion, up 6.2 percent from 2011, this was significantly lower than the 10 percent annual growth goal set by the government. Exports reached $2.05 trillion, up 7.9 percent, and imports totaled $1.82 trillion, an increase of 4.3 percent. The trade surplus was $231.1 billion, expanding 49.2 percent.

Cartoon

How long will the stock rally last?

The stronger-than-expected rebound of the Chinese stock market in the past couple of months has understandably raised the hopes and fired the imagination of the army of depressed investors and cash-strapped enterprises in the property and other sectors.

Energy-saving upgrading

China's target of cutting the amount of energy used per unit of GDP by 16 percent from 2011 to 2015 will hopefully be met if the country adopts a balanced economic strategy that highlights both growth and sustainability.

Against food waste

The message the "Eat Up All On Your Plate" campaign tries to convey is not new. Our ancestors had verses about the importance of frugality in the consumption of food. But it makes a lot of sense when many are yet to have the awareness that food waste borders on a crime.

Single children 'little emperors'

A study recently published in Science by four Australian scholars (myself, Professors L. Cameron and L. Gangadharan of Monash University and Associate Professor N. Erkal of University of Melbourne) suggests that individuals who grew up as single children as a result of the strict implementation of the family planning policy in 1979 are, on average, less trusting, less trustworthy, more risk-averse, less competitive, more pessimistic and less conscientious.

Too early to judge family planning policy

Research by four Australian scholars claims China's family planning policy has had behavioral impacts on the generation of single children, saying such children tend to be less trusting, less trustworthy, and more risk-averse and pessimistic. The study also claims that such personal traits have implications for China's labor market and social development.