South Reviews

Issue No.5， Published on February 25， 2015

President Xis New Diplomacy

March 2015 witnessed the end of the second year of President Xi Jinpings tenure. The “One Belt， One Road” flagship of Chinas new diplomatic initiative has also been at full sail for a year and a half. As the Year of the Sheep commences， a look back on the“Chinese Dream” diplomatic strategy over the past two years respectively of the snake and the horse presents a new insight into a world that has habitually relied on the U.S.s pilotage.

During the last year， the state heads of more than one third of the worlds countries have come to China to discuss the future. President Xi appeared as the pivotal figure of more than half of his overseas multilateral activities. In the recent two years， China has invested more than US $ one billion in a number of multilateral cooperation organizations， but the contracts Chinese enterprises have clinched exceed them by far.

To better manipulate the international landscape and avoid being constrained by other countrys interests， China should construct a think tank on international studies to teach Chinese policy makers and operatives how to play the game， rather than just transmitting Chinese propaganda to the world and providing the government with advice.

Diplomacy in the new era has evolved from the traditional modes of vaults， diplomatic missions， institutes， and newspapers to the new channels of round tables， television， think tanks， and social media， and moved from ideological discourses to Institutional Realism. The new diplomacy also features the transfer of power from developed countries to the emerging powers， and cooperation between the two.

Chinas magnificent new diplomatic journey is by no means a cover for “jingoistic diplomacy” or “a tough response.” As an emerging power， while defending its core interest， China needs to maintain a certain ambiguity as far as its real interests are concerned. When faced with inevitable confrontations with potential competitors， we must go beyond isolated and passive “peace”moves towards a more constructive strategy of collective and cooperative security.

China Weekly

Issue No.2，

Published on February 5， 2015

South-to-North Water Diversion Project

On December 27， 2014， a crowd of citizens in Open Channel Square of Tuancheng Lake in Beijing jostled to scrutinize the roadmap of the South-to-North Water Diversion. The same day， the open channel of Tuancheng Lake opened its locks， signifying the formal completion of the projects Beijing section. This represented a dream realized for several generations of state leaders， and a new chapter in the south-tonorth water diversion project as a whole.endprint

It was after the establishment of new China， when every undertaking started from scratch that Chairman Mao Zedong first began to ponder the south-to-north water diversion project. On August 29， 1958， the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC） unequivocally stated in an official instruction on water conservancy work， “Apart from the planning work in each province， nationwide and long-term water resource planning should also be included on the schedule. The entire plan entails scientifically transferring water from the Yangtze River to the northern terminals and connecting all Chinas water systems.”

In December 1979， the Southto-North Water Transfer Project Planning Office was officially established. In 2002， the whole project broke ground.

The project has resolved the problem of northern Chinas water resource shortages， and will hence promote economic and social development as well as urbanization.

CBNweekly

Issue No.6，

Published on February 9， 2015

Competitive Huawei Cellphone

“You cannot imagine how hard it is to purchase the new Huawei product， even on intranet！ I tried several times as soon as it went on sale， but failed at each attempt. I wonder how many have been put on sale，” one middle-level Huawei Company manager complained after failing to buy a Mate 7.

Huawei began to sell the Mate 7 through its retail outlets in the middle of last September. Previous market reactions show that the majority of retailers are wary of new products， and liable to reduce their prices. That the prototypes in most stores would sell out before the end of the seven-day National Day Holiday in early October was beyond all expectations. Keen retailers hence immediately changed their sales tactics to marking prices up rather than down. Huawei has since bombarded factories with more orders for this model.

It took Huawei just four years to appear on the Interbrand Top 100 list. The Huawei brand has now entered the medium-high level cellphone market. Shao Yang， vice president of marketing for Huawei consumer business， commented that years of experience have improved Huawei in multiple aspects， including research and development， retail channels， and service. As in the Dragonball Evolution animated feature， where once a person collects seven dragonballs he may realize one dream – for Huawei the dream is to challenge Samsung or Apple.

Economy & Nation Weeklyendprint

Issue No.3，

Published on February 9， 2015

Changes in Domestic Software and Hardware Industry

Chinas domestic software and hardware industry is now amid the historical reform era. The expected changes will not only alter its industry landscape but influence the orientation of Chinas science and technology industry. The drive for change originates in a new round of revolution in information technology wherein the collision between traditional technology giants and emerging science and technology enterprises has nullified the formers development route.

This clearly offers domestically produced basic software and hardware the best chance to develop. After decades of standing in the shadows of international industry giants， to domestic enterprises the unimagined opportunities these reforms bring are a ray of sunshine.

The Gartner market research company recently reported market shipment data for the third quarter of 2014. It shows a dramatic 53.1 percent growth in domestic server manufactures， while foreign brands， like IBM， HP， and Cisco， experienced a descending sales volume. Domestic software and hardware can successfully counterattack those global brands in all fields of information industry including chips， operating systems and data bases.

The majority of reports from security traders and experts voice the same comment to sum up this phenomenon： the spring of Chinas domestic produced software and hardware is coming.

New Urban and Rural Areas

Issue No.2， Published on January 25， 2015

New Down to the Countryside Movement

Thanks to the Lunar New Year， Chu oranges made a killing on the market over the Spring Festival. Business savvies having fallen in love with agriculture last year， Chu oranges（created by Chu Shijian， general manager of Yuxi cigarettes）， Liu peaches（the brainchild of Liu Chuanzhi， CEO of Lenovo）， and Pan apples （courtesy of real estate bigwig Pan Shiyi） were the most eye-catching fruits of the season. Moreover， JD.COM and NetEase joined the agriculture reclamation corps – one grew rice and the other raised pigs. Although the results were less than ideal， neither regretted taking part in the rural fray.

Capital played a significant role. Someone once joked that anyone dedicated to a capital operation who has no program for investments in the countryside is backing a loser.

“From tomorrow on， I will be a happy man. I will groom horses and chop firewood. I will cultivate foodstuffs and vegetables and live in a house facing the sea surrounded with spring blossoms.” The Utopia of this poem is now the leisure pursuit of the well-to-do urban middle classes. Business bigwigs， social white-collars， artists， intellectuals， and young mothers， all dream of countryside scenery.

An estimated four groups of people constitute the new urban craze for the countryside： retirees who relish a quiet life in a rural setting； middleaged people 40-50 years old weary of the wage earning grindstone； younger people on high incomes who want to earn cash through organic agriculture； and the parvenu stratum that likes to purchase land and build manors.endprint