IN BRIEF (Page 3)

Diplomacy

Peaceful development key to building ties

China does not believe it is inevitable that emerging powers will confront established ones, and the nation is confident that clashes can be avoided by working on the issue with the United States, Foreign Minister Wang Yi says.

Wang made the remarks two days after media reported that a Chinese warship escorting China's sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, in the South China Sea on Dec 5 confronted the guided-missile cruiser USS Cowpens, which was closely following the Chinese ships despite warnings from the Chinese.

Despite the tension, the foreign minister called US Secretary of State John Kerry on Dec 15 to discuss bilateral ties and other international issues, including the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

Addressing a year-end seminar in Beijing focusing on changes in China's foreign policies under the new government, the minister said that throughout history, it seems to be a matter of fate that "major powers, especially emerging powers and established ones, will compete, confront and even clash with each other.

"However, today, in the 21st century and given fast-developing globalization, China neither believes in nor agrees with the idea of such a fate."

Finance

Fiscal policy urged to start reform plans

Fiscal reform should take the lead as China rolls out a grand reform plan next year, economists said.

Finance adjustments must go ahead of other reform initiatives, as they are closely connected with different components of society and can lay the basis for other policy changes, the central bank's former vice-governor Wu Xiaoling said at the Sanya International Forum on Dec 14.

Given fiscal reform's complexity, it should begin with a Budget Law revision to ensure subsequent steps are carried out correctly, she said at the event in Hainan's provincial capital.

"Past experience has shown issuing government documents and policies will not be enough to realize the reform promises proposed at the Third Plenum due to a lack of legal validity," Wu said.

"Those measures endorsed by the plenum, such as transparency and accountability, should be included in the Budget Law's draft amendment."

Wu said economic development is only sustainable if based on the rule of law, and the country's top legislative body should speed up reform work.

Policy

Gift ban applies to festivals

Local governments are not allowed to send various gifts, including fruit and vegetables, to the Ministry of Agriculture on New Year's Day or during Spring Festival, an official from China's top anti-corruption watchdog said on Dec 13.

The ministry also urged affiliated departments to cancel various celebrations and banquets during the holidays to save on public spending, said Zhu Baocheng, head of the ministry's inspection team sent from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China.

Zhu said the ban on festival gifts is in line with the "eight-point" rules, which were put forward by the Communist Party of China Central Committee last December.

The ministry's expenses on receptions, government vehicles and official trips this year have been cut by 5.25 million yuan ($864,000; 628,000 euros) compared with last year, Zhu said.

Tourism

Catering guilds object to removal of rules

Restaurant owners and customers in China are witnessing a seesaw battle between catering industry guilds and commerce authorities over "unfair requirements".

The China Tourist Hotel Association, which is administered by the China National Tourism Administration and has more than 2,600 members, issued an open letter to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on Dec 16, urging the administration to rectify some "improper directions" made by the Beijing commerce authority to local catering businesses.

On Dec 9, the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce asked catering businesses in the capital to remove six requirements that it deems unfair for consumers, including customers having to pay for tableware, spend a certain amount of money to use VIP rooms and a ban on drinking liquor they bring.

Restaurants must cease these "unfair" practices within one month, the Beijing administration said. However, the hotel association said it believes the government should not meddle when the market can govern itself by its own rules.

Education

New English tests draw complaints

Changes in the new national College English Test level 4 and level 6, held on Dec 14 for the first time, have prompted complaints about the listening and translating sections.

In an online survey initiated by Sina Weibo, a Chinese micro blog platform, 23.1 percent out of 3,835 test-takers said they did not finish the listening comprehension section, and 17.4 percent said they handed in a blank answer sheet.

The national College English Test committee announced in August that several changes would be made to the biannual tests, which were introduced in the 1980s to test the English proficiency of undergraduates. The changes included reducing the test time for the listening section from 35 minutes to 30 minutes.

Auto

Residents go on car-buying spree

A new measure by Tianjin to restrict the number of new car license plates created a buying spree by residents eager to buy cars at the last minute.

In an attempt to reduce traffic jams and air pollution, the city imposed a quota on new car plates starting on Dec 16, requiring buyers to take part in a lottery or bid at auctions to win a plate, according to a notice issued by the city government on Dec 15.

Cars bought before 12 am on Dec 16 would be issued license plates, the notice said, leaving only five hours for residents to obtain the last freely issued plates.

He Shuang, a salesperson at an Audi dealership in Tianjin, said the policy increased the store's sales volume tenfold between 7 pm and midnight. Xue Kun, a manager at a used-car market that accounts for half of all car transactions in Tianjin, said it sold more than 800 cars on Dec 15, four times more than usual.

Science

China expands research bases in Antarctica

China is expanding its presence at the South Pole, with construction workers leaving its Zhongshan Station on Dec 18 to build the Taishan summer field camp, the country's fourth Antarctic base.

Site inspections for another research station will also be carried out at Victoria Land, Antarctica, during a 155-day expedition launched on Nov 7.

It is China's 30th mission to the continent since 1984.

China has built three Antarctic research stations - Great Wall, Zhongshan and Kunlun.

"As a latecomer to Antarctic scientific research, China is catching up," said Qu Tanzhou, director of the State Oceanic Administration's Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily 12/20/2013 page3)