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UNDP, Ningbo reach agreement on sustainable development

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Category: Ningbo News
Published: Friday, 04 January 2013 14:41

NINGBO, Zhejiang, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and east China's Ningbo city on Friday signed a cooperative framework agreement regarding the promotion of sustainable development.

The agreement will cover a wide range of fields, including social governance and oceanic management, which are expected to contribute to Ningbo's sustainable development.

The agreement marks the UNDP's first attempt to work with municipal authorities after years of cooperating with the state-level government, according to Gu Qing, UNDP's program manager.

The first project will involve supporting social management innovation in rural areas by giving full play to social service functions and creating more channels for orderly public participation.

The project will see the establishment of a participatory, comprehensive cooperative organization in a selected rural township to strengthen public service provision and community governance through a public-private partnership.

Ningbo's civil affairs bureau will provide support for the project.

In addition, a conceptual and practical assessment framework will be created to guide, evaluate and compare social governance reforms in Ningbo and other regions within and outside China.

Ningbo Yinzhou Bank Welfare Foundation has agreed to provide 2 million U.S. dollars to fund the campaign.

In many parts of China, policies are usually implemented in a top-down manner as the governments pour in funds and solely administer the operation, leaving residents as passive recipients. People sometimes become unsatisfied and complain of defects in government-ran schemes.

However, by relying more on public-private partnerships, civil society organizations (CSOs) and communities, the planned rural mechanism is building a platform for local residents to administer public affairs using their own initiative, which is expected to help improve service quality, alleviate social tensions and resolve disputes, according to Gu.

The mechanism is expected to relieve government organs of the management of massive public affairs and empower people to form CSOs that offer tailor-made services in response to the needs of the local residents such as elderly people living independently and pre-school children.

Ningbo's strong economic growth has dramatically improved the lives of millions, yet, "government, private sector and society must work together to overcome challenges that have built up during this process of rapid development," said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNDP Associate Administrator Rebecca Grynspan at the signing ceremony.

"Ningbo and other port cities around the world are facing pressing issues including deteriorating resources, imbalances between rural and urban areas, and a lack of continuous social innovation. That is why public-private partnerships are so vital," she stressed.

Ningbo has seen booming growth in its private sector, especially over the past five years. Private companies account for 90 percent of all firms registered in the city and the private sector makes remarkable contribution to the economy, according to Liu Qi, mayor of Ningbo.

The rural project will create opportunities for the business community, which has growing enthusiasm for supporting public welfare undertakings, to work along with the government in finding solutions for sustainable development challenges, according to Lu Jianfan, UNDP special advisor.

The concept of "social management" has gained popularity since it was put forward by the Communist Party of China (CPC) leaders last year.

Social management, or social governance, encompasses government tasks excluding economic management and administrative management, such as social justice and stability, public services, civic participation and community governance.

Strong and innovative social governance will help to promote social development, which otherwise lags far behind economic development. It reflects China's development trajectory evolved from a top-down, GDP and growth-oriented model to a bottom-up, harmonious model that allows wider civic participation and social autonomy, Gu explained.

Following the social governance innovation road map laid down in China's 12th Social and Economic Development Plan (2011-2015), CPC committees and governments at all levels are prioritizing governance reform featuring decentralization, activating self-service and self-governance in society and broad civic participation.

The project in rural Ningbo is considered an experiment in building a "small government and big society," said Gu.

"With the combined leadership and global insights that the government and UNDP can provide, I believe the road ahead for social management innovation will lead to greater progress in the development of Ningbo," said Grynspan.

Editor: Yang Lina

East China province holds hearing on uninhabited islands

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Category: Ningbo News
Published: Friday, 04 January 2013 14:39

HANGZHOU. Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A legislative hearing has been held in east China's Zhejiang Province to standardize the development and use of uninhabited islands in the region.

It was the first hearing on the management of uninhabited islands launched by the province, which boasts the largest number in the country.

The regulation which was discussed on Thursday details how the uninhabited islands in Zhejiang could be used, said Wu Qiangjun, deputy director with the legislative affairs office of Zhejiang Provincial Government.

It will be China's first provincial government to rule in this area.

Twelve representatives from the province, including common people, experts, lawyers and entrepreneurs, attended the hearing.

Topics discussed included whether the right to use an uninhabited island can be transferred through public auction; how to balance the environmental sustainability of the remote islands; and whether the longest term for the use of the islands should be 50 years.

Yan Guangsheng, one of the representatives, said protection should be highlighted when the islands are being developed.

"It is difficult for individuals or enterprises to construct infrastructure facilities such as power and water supplies, so I suggest the government help build infrastructures," said Cui Yansheng, a retired engineer in Hangzhou, capital of the province.

Netizens were able to comment during and after the hearing and their views have been collected for reference, Wu added.

In April 2001, the Chinese government issued a list of 176 uninhabited islands for development. These islands are along China's eastern and southern coasts.

Land use rights of an uninhabited island off the coast of Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, were auctioned off to a developer for possible yacht recreation in November 2011. It was the first such plan after China encouraged business people to occupy and develop remote islands in its territorial waters.

Editor: Chen Zhi

hinese are attracted to branded British universities

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Category: On The Campus
Published: Friday, 04 January 2013 14:39

BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- What we perceive to be the best of British products for cars and clothes are the shiny labels - those that scream: "I am the best".

Yet, carrying a Cambridge University certificate into a Fortune 500 company interview in Beijing, screams that out loud, too, for Chinese nationals, doesn't it?

Chinese account for 22.6 percent of the total non-EU international population in Britain, according to statistics provided by the Higher Education Statistics Agency in Britain for the year 2010-11. Therefore, this is an imperative market to uphold for the Brits, who rely heavily on international funding to bolster their universities.

"They (Chinese) like brand names. The more unobtainable it is, the better," says Jazreel Goh, marketing director of the British Council, the culture and education section of the British embassy. "They want to be seen."

Emma Leech, marketing director of Nottingham University, winner of the 2011 International Brand Master award, says: "I think we are one of the strongest brands in China because predominantly we've been established for a while and we are fairly well networked in China."

When questioned about whether such issues as the post-study work visa cancelation in April this year and higher tuition fees have led to a decrease in application numbers, Leech says: "No, just the opposite. Our numbers have actually gone up."

Indeed, Nottingham is one of several exemplary universities as it was the first foreign university to enter China and create a satellite campus in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, in 2004.

It was initially the cooperative board of governors at the University of Nottingham that provided the British member of the Russell Group, which represents 24 leading British universities, with the opportunity to enter China, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Nottingham Chris Rudd says.

Vice-Chancellor David Greenaway explains that Nottingham University primarily got in via the credentials of their chancellor Yang Fujia, the previous chancellor of Fudan University, which has been rated among the top three universities in China.

"Institutions which have been most hit by application numbers are the institutions without a strong brand," Leech says.

Goh highlights other universities, such as Warwick, LSE, Manchester and Imperial, as successful brands in China.

"It is linked to the fact they have strong networks, marketing, and agents to recruit here," she says.

Yet another issue about British universities is that they don't all have a strategy, Goh explains.

"You have to look at the (brand) success based on whether the university has a strategy and whether they are successful in their strategy."

Giana Eckhardt, an expert in global marketing and consumer behavior in China from Suffolk University in the United States, explains that American pop culture is an influential factor of the American university brand image in China, when one compares it with the British one.

Yang Wei, director of the international development section of education consultancy China Education Service Center, says the TV series Beijinger in New York was an important medium in branding New York City.

The story displayed the lives of Wang Qiming and his wife Guo Yan, who worked hard toward their American dream, showing their immigration, employment, their daughter and the eventual success and tragedy of their story.

Chinese students have longed to live the same dream, Yang says.

Equally, Shi Anbin, associate dean and professor of the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University, highlighted that former Cambridge University student Xu Zhimo's poem Farewell to Cambridge, which is recited by all high school students in China, was influential in promoting the leading British university in China.

Silently I go,

As silently I came.

Silently I wave my hand

And bid farewell to the west clouds.

The golden willows on the river bank

Are brides beneath the setting sun;

Their flaming shadows in the wave's light

Move softly on my heart.

(Excerpt from Xu Zhimo's Farewell To Cambridge)

Which would you prefer to buy next year - a British car, bag or education? The choice is yours. But knowing more about the brand through mediums, such as Xu's poem, might sway you to one side or another.

(Source:China Daily)

Chinese navy conducts rescue drills in W Pacific

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Category: Ningbo News
Published: Friday, 04 January 2013 14:38

ZHOUSHAN WARSHIP, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- A fleet of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy on Saturday morning carried out search and rescue drills, together with a helicopter, in the western Pacific Ocean, according to a Navy officer onboard.

Four Navy warships, namely Hangzhou, Ningbo, Zhoushan and Maanshan as well as a ship-borne helicopter participated in the drills, separately in two sea areas, Fan Zaijun, deputy chief of staff of a destroyer, told Xinhua.

The drills were based on the scenario of some local law-enforcing vessels being confronted by foreign warships while carrying out their duties, resulting in two Chinese law-enforcers falling into the sea. Upon receiving a simulated plea for help from civil law-enforcement vessels, the Chinese navy fleet rushed to the site for the rescue.

The helicopter was firstly sent to the area to search for the "victims" and then it guided the warships in rescue operations. Two search and rescue drills were successfully carried out as both of the overboard law-enforcers were saved.

The drills proved quite difficult, said Fan, because of bad weather that caused three-meter-high tides in the areas, though their successful completion was helpful for the navy to improve its capabilities in non-combat tasks and for the local law-enforcers to improve their professional abilities.

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