"Fat" wax shocks London mayor

BEIJING, May 8 -- London mayor Boris Johnson vowed to exercise more to make
him look slimmer after expressing shock at the girth of the new waxwork
sculpture made in his likeness on May 5.

"It's only when you see yourself in 3Ds (three dimensions) you realize just
how fat you are. I have got to get out and start jogging more," he said,
standing next to his wax sculpture at Madame Tussauds in London.

"I have to lose some weight. But it is a brilliant job they have done. It
is amazing," he added.

Johnson, a colorful former journalist who ousted "Red Ken" Livingstone from
London's City Hall a year ago, also got in a dig at the plight of Prime Minister
Gordon Brown's Labor administration.

Brown is struggling as polls suggest the opposition Conservative party will
win in the general elections next June.

He said he hopes the museum will redo the waxwork after he sheds some
pounds.

"I look forward to the figure being remodeled in a few months in keeping
with the more lean and lithe physique I hope will soon emerge," he said.

(Source: CRIENGLISH.com/Agencies)

A/H1N1 flu confirmed cases down to 8 in Asia-Pacific region

HONG KONG, May 6 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed cases of influenza A/H1N1 in the Asia-Pacific region drops to eight as New Zealand ruled out one case on Wednesday.

More tests were carried out on a sixth person who had been identified earlier as having the influenza A/H1N1 virus but the tests ruled out the virus.

There are two confirmed cases of the influenza A/H1N1 in South Korea while one in China's Hong Kong.

The Ministry of Health in New Zealand said there are 14 probable cases - one down from the number of Tuesday. There are 84suspected cases and another 358 people are in isolation and treated with Tamiflu.

Meanwhile, six students and two teachers from Avondale College in Auckland are in self-imposed isolation after traveling on a plane from America with a person suspected of having the virus.

Numbers of suspected cases, and those receiving treatment and in isolation, will fluctuate when more suspected cases are found, or suspected cases are ruled out, a spokesman with the country's health authority said.

There is no evidence of community transmission in New Zealand which is in the containment phase.

Despite there being no confirmed cases of the new flu in Australia, the country's Health Minister Nicola Roxon said on Wednesday that the threat level was not downgraded.

"We do have medical experts saying to us we still don't know how this global virus will develop over future weeks," Roxon told reporters in Melbourne.

The latest suspected cases in Japan are a woman, in her 20s, who recently returned home from the United States, and a man, in his 40s, who tested positive in flu A examination and is yet to be confirmed, according to Japan's health ministry.

Japan has yet to confirm any cases of the A/H1N1 strain so far, although some people have tested positive for the influenza A virus.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura on Wednesday ordered the health ministry to make preparations for a possible upgrade of the World Health Organization's pandemic alert for the A/H1N1 flu to the highest level of 6.

In contrast, the authorities in Singapore said it will lower the alert level for influenza A/H1N1 from "orange" to "yellow."

Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan told a news conference that the downgrading will be done progressively over the next five days, but adding that Singapore will remain vigilant and act nimbly.

In Hong Kong, where the first infection case in Asia was confirmed on May 1, 12 Mexican travelers left the city for Mexico on a Mexican charter plane on Wednesday morning. But the Mexican index patient, in stable condition, remained in hospital.

Four Mexican travelers, including two who have been quarantined in Metropark Hotel in Wanchai and another two in Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), were among the 12 Mexicans.

Quarantine orders imposed on other people in connection with the case would be withdrawn when the orders expire later this week, provided that they show no symptoms of influenza A/ H1N1 infection, a spokesman for the region's health authority said.

The charter plane was sent by the Mexican government to pick up Mexicans "who wanted to leave China." It had flown to Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou to pick up passengers.

The Bruneian government also lifted quarantine on about 200 passengers, who had arrived on a flight from Britain on Monday evening.

A passenger on the flight had higher-than-normal body temperature, Health Minister Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman said, adding that two other passengers on the same flight had traveled to flu-affected countries.

The minister said these three cases made it necessary for the authorities to take precautionary measures and quarantine all passengers on the flight.

To prevent against influenza A/H1N1, the government of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Wednesday announced that it will initiate a series of anti-flu activities which mainly involve a campaign to clean the entire city.

The region's health authority will launch a city-wide anti-flu activities, including the cleaning of public facilities, relevant exhibition and seminars of A/H1N1 flu prevention so as to raise the resident's awareness of personal and public hygiene.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), together with China, Japan and South Korea, will hold a "Health Ministers' Special Meeting" for combating influenza A/H1N1 on May 7-8 in Thailand.

The urgently-arranged meeting is aimed to slow down the propagation of the new Influenza A/H1N1 epidemic in the region, Dr. Suphan Srithamma, spokesman of Thailand's Ministry of Public Health said on Wednesday.

The main objective is to assess the latest development of the new strain of influenza in ASEAN countries and improve control and preventive measures while working on new effective control innovation, he said.

The control measures are expected to include surveillance system, laboratory examination, stockpiles on anti-viral drugs, research and development on vaccine development and epidemiological information exchange.

Singapore to lower H1N1 flu alert level

Special Report: World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu 

SINGAPORE, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Singapore will lower its alert level for
Influenza A/H1N1 from "orange" to "yellow," the country's Health Minister said
on Wednesday.

Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan told a news conference that the downgrading
will be done progressively over the next five days, but adding that Singapore
will remain vigilant and act nimbly, according to TV broadcaster Channel
NewsAsia.

The Health Minister said that precautionary measures such as temperature
screening at border checkpoints and hospitals will continue, but the one visitor
per patient rule at hospitals will be lifted.

A/H1N1 flu death toll rises to 29 in Mexico

Special Report:
World Tackles A/H1N1
Flu

MEXICO CITY, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Mexican health ministry announced three more confirmed deaths from A/H1N1 flu late Tuesday, bringing the national death toll to 29.

According to a statement issued by the ministry, the tally of confirmed infected patients is 942. It noted that the epidemic was waning in Mexico as it had peaked last week.

Health authorities were still carrying out tests on another 39 people who were suspected to die from the disease in the past weeks, the statement added.

Restaurants and shops in Mexico will reopen on Wednesday while universities and high schools will resume classes on Thursday.

Flight passengers in contact with influenza A/H1N1 to be out of quarantine on Thursday

BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Passengers quarantined in
the Chinese mainland who took the same flight with a Mexican national later
diagnosed with influenza A/H1N1 in Hong Kong will be out of quarantine on
Thursday if they display no flu-like symptoms, China's Ministry of Health said
Wednesday.

The passengers, scattered in 18 provinces, autonomous regions
and municipalities on the Chinese mainland, would be free to go by 6 a.m.
Thursday, after local health authorities confirm they show no fever, acute
respiratory symptoms, or other signs of influenza A/H1N1 infection.

Those who show flu-like symptoms will be isolated at
designated health institutions and will receive medical treatment there, the
ministry said. People in close contact with them will also be quarantined.

None of the passengers had yet showed any flu-like
symptoms as of Monday, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

A flight crew of 13 Mexicans and 166 passengers who
remained in the Chinese mainland were put into a seven-day quarantine on May
1after taking Thursday's Mexican flight Aeromexico 098 from Mexico City to
Shanghai.

The quarantine came after a 25-year-old male Mexican
who took the same flight was confirmed on Friday in Hong Kong to be infected
with influenza A/H1N1.

On Tuesday, a Mexican chartered plane arrived at the
Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Tuesday to pick up the quarantined
Mexicans.

Andres Pena, vice consul-general of Mexico in
Shanghai, said those who got on the plane included 43 crew and passengers on
board the AM098 and 34 others, who worked and lived in China but were not under
quarantine. Six Mexican nationals volunteered to stay in the city.

China faces challenge of growing elderly society

BEIJING, May 6 -- The growing population of the elderly in the country is a colossal challenge for which we appear to be least prepared, if not altogether unprepared.

Recent studies and articles by researchers both at home and abroad have sounded alarm bells for alerting us to the gravity of the situation the country will be facing in the coming decades.

According to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, the current ratio of 16 elderly per 100 workers is set to double by 2025 and rise to 61 by 2050. By then China will have 438 million people aged 60 and over and 103 million aged 80 or over.

Information from China's State Information Center and the China National Committee on Aging also showed a similar trend.

In a matter of 18 years, China has achieved an aging population ratio that developed countries reached in several decades or nearly a century. This means the challenge for China is far greater because we are becoming a greying society before the country becomes rich.

What it means for the economy is that the population dividend - the steady supply of fresh workforce and the high savings rate - we have been cashing in on during the last three decades of economic boom will finally come to an end. We will instead face a shortage of labor, which spells a potential disaster for the world's "manufacturing workshop."

The vast aging population will also have a negative impact on the living standards of every Chinese as more government money would be spent on pension and other services related to senior citizens. That is probably why many experts call the "fast-greying population" as one of China's biggest challenges in the 21st century.

Such an unprecedented challenge facing a developing nation would require the early preparedness to avert a devastating blow to the country a few decades from now.

Unfortunately, our country is ill prepared even for the aging population of today. For example, there are only a little over 2 million beds in various senior citizens homes, averaging 11 beds per 1,000 elderly, compared with the average of 35 to 50 beds in other developing countries.

Surveys in Shanghai show that the elderly yearn for more home services, community medical service and psychological and mental comfort, all of which are seriously lacking now.

This is an appalling situation for a nation, which boasts a tradition of reverence for old age, and calls for immediate action on the part of both the government and society.

We must spend more money on pension and include people in the vast countryside, where the challenge is even bigger. We should also build more public facilities for the elderly in local communities to make their twilight years easier and more comfortable. The list could go on.

Such efforts and expenditure would mean less money for other sectors and possibly slower economic growth. But unless we act now, act decisively and courageously, we will be making a terrible mistake in dealing with one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century.

(Source: China Daily)

Australian gov't to subsidize breast, bowel and kidney cancer

CANBERRA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Australian federal government said on Sunday it
will allocate 600 million Australian dollars (432 million U.S. dollars) in the
upcoming budget to subsidize expensive bowel, breast and kidney cancer drugs.

"I think it's a sign that while we are in tough economic times, we still
are determined to do the things that are needed to help people in very
vulnerable circumstances," Health Minister Nicola Roxon told local media Ten
Network.

Roxon said that from July, the bowel cancer drug Avastin will be subsidized
under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which will cost the government about
311 million Aust dollars (223.9 million U.S. dollars) over the next four years.

"These drugs are expensive. We've made room for them to be able to be
funded. Sutent, Avastin and Herceptin deal with some of the most severe forms of
cancer ... bowel cancer and breast cancer," Roxon said.

Listing the drugs will mean new patients suffering advanced bowel cancer
will pay about 33 Aust dollars (23.75 U.S. dollars) for Avastin instead of more
than 2,000 Aust dollars (1440 U.S. dollars).

Sufferers of metastatic breast cancer will also receive a boost with the
free Herceptin program at a cost of 166 million Aust dollars (119.5 million U.S.
dollars).

With the free Herceptin program, patients will save about 60,000 Aust
dollars (43,200 U.S. dollars) a year.

World hails China's quake response, reconstruction

Special Report:Reconstruction After Earthquake

by Xinhua writers Gu Zhenqiu, Wang Xiangjiang, Bai
Jie

UNITED NATIONS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The speed,
effectiveness and transparency of China's response to the devastating May 12
earthquake last year are "very impressive," and "very much appreciated by the
international community," the United Nations relief chief said here on Monday.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, John Holmes,
the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief
coordinator, said: "What was impressive, I think, was the way the Chinese
authorities, local and centrally, responded to that, the speed with which they
did that, the effectiveness with which they did that and I think also, the
openness, which I think is worth mentioning, which was very much appreciated by
the international community."

The magnitude-8.0 quake that hit southwest China,
including many parts of Sichuan Province, on May 12, 2008 killed more than
69,000 people. It also left nearly 18,000 missing, more than 374,000 injured and
millions homeless.

"This was a huge earthquake with huge repercussions
on the people of the area, both in terms of people killed and injured and of
course the massive destruction of property, residential property, factories,
schools, hospitals," Holmes said. "The impact was absolutely enormous."

As the first anniversary of the massive Wenchuan
earthquake approaches, the message Holmes has for the Chinese government and
people is "one of renewed condolences on the magnitude of the disaster and the
magnitude of the losses that China suffered."

IMPRESSIVE
RESPONSE

"As I say, it was an enormous tragedy and it will
take many years to recover from it fully," Holmes said. "But we were very
impressed by those efforts and by the capacity by the Chinese government has
acquired in terms of responding to disasters, and by the amounts of resources
that China was able to mobilize to deal with this, both in terms of the People's
Liberation Army and other people who were able to help, the amount of efforts
that have gone in since then to actually rebuilding property and so on, and
beginning to establish basic services."

"This was a very impressive operation in a very, very
tragic situation, and we were able to help a little bit," he said. "I don't want
to exaggerate the degree of international help; for example, from the central
fund, we were able to offer 8 million U.S. dollars to help with some of the
immediate aid and assistance, and we are attempting through the UN agencies who
work in China, to help with the recovery and reconstruction process as well."

"As I say, it is a relatively small amount compared
to the overall response from the Chinese authorities but we think it's valuable,
we hope it's appreciated and we want to go on working with you in what will be,
as I say, is a very long-term process of recovery and reconstruction despite the
speed, with which you are tackling it at the moment," he said.

During his recent two-day visit to China, Holmes was
given an account by various government officials and the Chinese earthquake
administration on China's post-quake reconstruction work.

"I think what I was most impressed by was the plans
for rebuilding the permanent housing for the 5 million people or more who were
made homeless by this earthquake," he said. "The idea is within a very short
period of time, within a year or two from now, everybody will have been
re-housed in proper housing. That is an enormous task but clearly that's the
ambition the government has set for itself, and I have no doubt with China's
capacity to mobilize resources, to mobilize people, and to galvanize activity,
that's what will happen."

On April 22, Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu met
with visiting Holmes, and Hui said that China has made remarkable progress in
enhancing its risk management and disaster reduction capabilities. This is a
great contribution to the global humanitarian cause.

GOOD EXAMPLE FROM
CHINA

"China, unfortunately for you, is a very
disaster-prone country," Holmes said. "It is so enormous you have virtually
every threat that we know about and every given year there are bound to be
several significant disasters."

"That means you have acquired an enormous amount of
experience, sadly, in dealing with disasters, but you've also come to recognize,
earlier, I think than many others, the value of reducing the impact of those
disasters before they happen," he said.

"A very good example is the work that's been done on
China's main rivers in trying to reduce the impact of the flooding, which is
going to happen in one way or another virtually every year, and some years can
be extremely bad," he said.

"We believe that China set a good example there
because this is a demonstration that money invested in those kinds of measures
is a good investment," he said. "It brings benefits, it saves lives, it reduces
damage and that's a better investment than money simply spent afterwards on
responding to disaster after it has happened."

"I think that's an absolutely crucial lesson to the
world," he said. "We face more and more disasters, natural disasters in the
future, not least because of climate change, which is going to produce more
floods and more hurricanes and more droughts in different areas, for example."

"Therefore, disaster risk reduction will be even more
important in the future than it is now," he said. "As I say, China has a lot of
experience to offer, has a lot of practical lessons to offer other people, and
we hope China will play a very central role in discussing this at international
levels."

50 canditates announced for world's "best job"

BEIJING, March 4 (Xinhuanet) -- A list of
50 candidates has been announced for "the best job in the world" -- being
well paid while enjoying the life on a tropical island in Australia, according to
media reports Wednesday.

From the United States, Britain, Russia, India,
China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia,and Kenya, they were
selected from a total of 34,684 applicants from some 200 countries and regions.

"Yesterday, a team of Tourism Queensland marketing
and international staff along with a professional recruitment company made the
very tough decisions necessary to cut the shortlist to the Top 50," said state
Tourism Minister Desley Boyle.

The tourism promotion campaign -- finding a caretaker
of Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef was run by the Queensland state
government. The winner would get 150,000 Australian dollars (about 100,000 U.S.
dollars) for six months and includes free airfares from the successful
candidate's home country to the island.

"There's everything from action and adventure,
comedy, animation and a choreographed musical number that just stays with you,"
Boyle said.

The Top 50 will be narrowed down to a final 11, 10 of
whom will be chosen by Tourism Queensland with an 11th "wild card" applicant
chosen by popular vote.

They will be flown to Hamilton Island in early May to
take part in the final selection process with the successful candidate announced
on May 6.

(Agencies)

Will Asia use crisis as catalyst for change?

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

(Photo Source: China Daily)
Photo Gallery

BEIJING, April 25 -- Will Asia - in particular China and India - be able to
avoid a deep recession amid the current breakdown of the global financial system
and the resultant collapse of international trade and investment?

Some observers paint a rosy picture of a region that will fare much better
than during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Some even talk about signs of
recovery. But the data contradict these expectations. In fact, Asia is suffering
even more today than it did in 1997. The speed and ferocity of the region's
economic downturn have shocked even the pessimists.

Asian Development Bank projections for 2009 show a 3.4 percent decline of
gross domestic product in Asia (outside of Japan), down from 6.3 percent growth
in 2008. By contrast, IMF data show that even during the peak of the 1997
financial crisis, Asia continued to grow by around 3.7 percent.

We need to discard the rosy picture and address explicitly the potentially
game-changing impact of the crisis. An important characteristic of the current
crisis is that the more export-oriented a country, the more vulnerable it is.

Korea - a leading exporter of memory chips, mobile handsets, cars and ships
- has been hit hard by the global downturn. In February, Korean exports dropped
as much as 26 percent from a year ago and imports plunged 40 percent, dragging
down industrial production and investment and increasing unemployment.

And what about China, a country whose rise as the dominant global factory
has catapulted it over the last few years into the exclusive club of global
economic powers?

The World Bank projects a 6.5 percent growth this year. While this looks
like a dream figure from a US perspective, from a Chinese perspective it
actually represents quite a dramatic decline from the 9 percent growth in 2008.
Most importantly, a 6.5 percent growth may be insufficient to cope with China's
growing unemployment.

Of particular concern to the Chinese government is rising unemployment for
migrant workers and university graduates. The government estimates that 20
million migrant workers lost their jobs or were unable to find employment in
2008, and the picture may grow worse in 2009. China's Academy of Social Sciences
reports that 7.8 million graduates will search for jobs this year. Of these, up
to 40 percent - around 3 million - will not find jobs. Pieter Bottelier, a
respected China expert, projects that, overall, 48 million Chinese may be
looking for jobs this year, while the number of newly created jobs is likely to
be less than 7 million.

How deep and persistent will Asia's downturn be? If the world economy will
take years and not months to recover, which I think it will, it follows that
profound adjustments may well be necessary in Asia's export-oriented development
model.

Take China for instance. Driven by a rapidly expanding global economy, its
dependence on international trade has doubled since 1998, from 30 percent of the
GDP to as high as 60 percent in 2008. But this year, both international trade
and investment are falling off the cliff.

As the global crisis deepens and hits demand in the US and Europe as well
as in emerging economies, Chinese exports have suffered the biggest slide in a
decade - 26 percent in February - while its imports fell almost 24 percent.

Coping with these fundamental external disruptions will require profound
adjustments. Hence the real question is, both for China and for Asia at large:
Will governments be able to use the crisis as a broad catalyst for change? There
is much talk that Asia needs to upgrade its economies through innovation. Such a
shift in strategy is necessary to address the region's vast needs for food,
shelter, medical services and infrastructure, and to counter its environmental
degradation.

But as of now, Asia is still ill-prepared to mobilize resources for
economic recovery. As a share of the GDP, the stimulus packages announced in
much of Asia are considerably smaller than in the US (8 percent), Japan (6
percent) and Germany (3 percent) - with two exceptions: Singapore (3.2 percent)
and China (7.1 percent). What sets China apart from its Asian neighbors is that
high fiscal reserves and a very low level of debt provide ample resources to
continue priming the economy.

Most observers expect China to move sooner than most other countries to
economic recovery. This could facilitate attempts to implement real "upgrading
through innovation" strategies. But a relatively quick recovery could also
undermine such efforts as so many vested interests (in State-owned enterprises
and the national security apparatus) are pushing for the status quo.

There are some positive changes already in the works - efforts to promote
new domestic industries like next generation vehicles and creating a domestic
solar market. China's stimulus package also includes substantial investments in
healthcare and education, two key aspects of building up a more diversified
economy, where manufacturing is complemented by a domestic service economy.

Yet even for China, the barriers remain stacked high against attempts to
use the crisis as a catalyst for change. For instance, the freefall in global
demand, combined with widespread excess capacity, is giving rise to price
deflation and reduced wages, which in turn will constrain China's own
consumption.

The scariest prospect is that the crisis may well prompt governments
worldwide to move toward more protectionist policies, possibly igniting trade
wars with global ramifications.

Let's hope that leaders in Asia as well as in the US, Japan and the EU
recognize the urgent need for new strategies and new economic growth models
before that disturbing scenario comes to pass.

The author is a Senior Fellow in Economics at the East-West Center in
Honolulu Research Program.

(Source: China Daily)

Focus on Boao: When will global economy recover?

Special Report: Boao Forum For Asia
2009

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

BEIJING, April 21 -- The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA)
Annual Conference 2009 concluded on April 19.

During the forum, attendees from China and abroad
focused much attention on China's economic trends. Although some expressed
concern as to whether or not China will be able to achieve its goal of 8 percent
GDP growth, most were confident in China's economic recovery and believed that
Asia, especially China, will have the ability to get out of the crisis.

China's
economy

China's economic stimulus package achieves
preliminary results

Recently released economic data for the first quarter
brought encouraging news to BFA attendees, showing that China's economy is
beginning to show positive signs. Li Rongrong, Chairman of the State-owned
Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council of China,
said on April 19 at BFA that, in March, operation indicators of enterprises
under the direct control of the Central Government noticeably picked up, with
profits increasing 26 percent year-on-year and 86 percent month-on-month. He
expressed that the measures adopted by the Chinese government to cope with the
financial crisis have already take effect.

Although he is holding a "cautiously optimistic" view
of the future, Li said the recovery of the economy might be beyond people's
imagination because the final outcome depends on joint efforts by the government
and enterprises.

In the current situation in which developed economies
are experiencing negative growth while the growth of emerging economies is
generally slowing down, according to Edgar Hotard, Chairman of Monitor Group
(China), the Chinese economy's 6.1 percent growth rate in the first quarter is
sufficient to shore up the confidence of China and other countries in the world.

Zhou Xiaochuan, Director of the People's Bank of
China, also believes that the positive financial policies and moderately relaxed
monetary policies implemented in November 2008 have helped prevent the Chinese
economy from sliding downward too fast.

When will the economy
recover?

Emerging economies are likely to step out of the
crisis first

Recently, some international organizations have
successively lowered their forecasts for this year's global economic situation.
The International Monetary Fund predicted that the global economy would drop by
0.5 percent to 1.5 percent, with the economies of developed countries slipping
by 3 percent to 3.5 percent. The World Trade Organization (WTO) predicted that
the global economy would drop by 1.6 percent while global trade volume would
drop by 9 percent.

However, the Chinese economy achieving 6.1 percent
growth in the first quarter has indeed struck a bright spark for the global
economy on its path to recovery.

"Many people who issued very pessimistic research
reports earlier in the year have now changed their tones," said Li Jiange,
Chairman of China International Capital Corporation Limited.

Klaus Engel, Chairman of the Executive Board of
Evonik Industries AG, said in order to cope with the financial crisis, the
Chinese government has adopted many effective measures, and everyone has reasons
to believe that Asia's emerging economies, especially China, will soon recover
to restart economic growth.

Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the WTO, said China
has been very active in financing international trade. If other countries are
willing to make the same efforts as China, they are likely to tackle the
international financial crisis through trade financing.

In the first quarter of the year, China's economy
generally performed better than expected. Just like Li Jiange and Klaus Engel,
most Chinese and foreigners who attended BFA expressed optimism that China's
economy will take the lead in escaping the crisis.

When will the global
economy and the Chinese economy bottom out?

The global economy will recover early next year or
sometime a little later next year, believes Nouriel Roubini, professor at the
Leonard N. Stern School of Business of New York University. Once the global
economy recovers, he claims, growth will happen very quickly, especially in
emerging economies like China and India.

"It is now time to listen to voices from Asia, from
China and from emerging economies," stated Long Yongtu, Secretary General of
BFA. China and other emerging Asian economies will take the lead in stepping out
of the crisis and onto a path of healthy, rapid development once again.

"Risks" and
"opportunities" coexist

China should seize new opportunities for development

The international financial crisis is still
spreading, problems existing in the financial system remain unresolved, the real
economy situation is still severe and trade protectionism is gaining momentum. A
World Bank report revealed that from last Novembers G20 summit in Washington to
this February, 17 countries from the G20 adopted a total of 47 trade
protectionism measures.

In these conditions, China's economic and social
development will face many difficulties. China's imports and exports will not
improve much as long as major economies have not recovered, expressed Zeng
Peiyan, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the BFA.

"The domestic economy is in a crucial period when the
development pattern is changing and the economic structure is being adjusted,
and new challenges posed by the crisis combine with existing contradictions to
make things more difficult for China to solve problems and seek stable
development," Yao Gang, Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory
Commission pointed out.

Despite heavy pressure, opportunities also exist for
China during the crisis. Looking back at the experience gained and lessons
learned from the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Li Jiange said that this
international financial crisis might be ushering in another opportunity for
development in China.

Meanwhile, attendees also
suggested that China pay more attention to the quality of economic development
and takes advantage of the crisis to promote a more balanced model for economic
growth.

Fan Gang, Director of the National Economic Research
Institute, said that whether or not China's economy can maintain eight percent
growth this year is not important. The key is whether the trend of growth is
healthy and whether it can lay the foundation for balanced development in the
future that will pave the way for further recovery next year.

"China will seize this historic opportunity to
advance strategic adjustments to the economic structure, to accelerate reform
and opening-up and to realize stable and rapid economic development that will
contribute to the world's economic recovery," said Zeng Peiyan.

(Source: People's Daily Online)