FTA would benefit Australia

Australians who oppose the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement should look at the larger picture of bilateral trade and the great impact it will have on China-Australia interaction and regional economic integration.

Cheating in car emissions test again shows need to root out corruption

Each car in China must pass an annual exhaust emissions test. However, a recent China Central Television report shows no matter how bad a car's emissions are, it can pass the test as long as the owner pays an agent 200 yuan ($31), of which 150 yuan goes to the testing staff. Comments:

Market needs, not lots, should decide majors

The Department of Civil Engineering at University of South China in Hengyang, Hunan province, reportedly asked its 500 fresh students to decide their majors in a creative way: the top 200 students in terms of academic performance got an opportunity to choose, while the remaining 300 drew lots. Comments:

School's closure after scandal only raises questions

The Hanzhong Health Vocational School in North China's Shaanxi province was recently shut down after photos of its principal forcing female students to drink with him and his guests at a local KTV last year were posted on the Internet. Comments:

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China's advantage to avoid 'Japan syndrome'

China seems to be in the same position, economically speaking, that Japan was in the early 1970s. Japan relied heavily on exports to register extraordinary growth in the 1950s and 1960s. But its rapid growth was halted by the 1973 oil crisis, which also had a devastating effect on the world market. During the next decades, Japan's GDP grew 3.4 percent a year, barely 40 percent of the average rate it had achieved in the 20 years before the oil crisis. And when its real estate bubble burst in 1993, Japan's GDP began a long period of virtually zero growth, with its domestic price levels declining secularly.

US should give up its hegemony in cyberspace

High hopes have been placed on President Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States, because many believe it could boost bilateral cooperation in cybersecurity in times of a looming "war" over cyber theft. In fact, cybersecurity is expected to top the agenda of the meetings between President Xi and his US counterpart Barack Obama.

EU must compel US to take in Syrian refugees

Politicians in Brussels are known to splash eye-catching slogans across huge banners adorning the 13-story European Commission building to drum up support for their political agendas. But recent months have not seen any such banner.

Needed change in family planning policy

A couple in Chuxiong in Southwest China's Yunnan province face a dilemma, for they have to choose between the husband's job as a policeman or having a second child since the wife is eight-month pregnant. The cause of their dilemma: the existing family planning regulations do not allow them to have a second child.

Mistrust not in the interests of US, China and the world

The dropping of criminal charges against Chinese-American Xiaoxing Xi by the US Justice Department on Friday is hopefully the end of his particular tribulations, but it will not be the end of the political climate under which quite a number of scientists or people in other key areas with connections with China will be closely watched, simply because of the United States' paranoia about China.

Banning buses insensible

After years of dealing with smog, it has become an extensive consensus in most of China's regions stricken with air pollution that reducing the use of government and private vehicles and encouraging the use of public transport and other greener means of travel are effective ways to curb haze.