China＇s Economic Reform and Its Prospects

China＇s economy can be characterized as having two correlated imbalances, i.e. imbalances in its domestic and international economic structures. It would be very difficult to identify a causal relationship between the two imbalances. In any case, this is an outcome of the past few decades. The same situation can also befound in other countries. Where are China＇s economy and its reform heading towards？ At the macro-level, the econmnic policies guiding China＇s economy and its performance are closely related to the two imbalances. One thing is for certain： world economic equilibrium will help balance various economies including China. But the world economy cannot automatically balance itself. Various economies must restore their balance before equilibrium can be achieved at the global level. For individual countries, balancing their domestic economy is what they can concentrate on. In other words, China needs to rely on its own efforts to achieve internal economic balance through reform. Internal econontic balance will promote sustainable development and contribute to the world economic balance. The questhm is where will such internal balance come from？ How can China achieve an internal rebalance？

The Social Security System in Reform

China,already possessing a large number of retirees,will become one of the countries with a predominant-ly aged population by the end of the century.A retirement boom is ex-pected for the year 2030,when China will have over 100 million senior citizens living on an annual pension of billions of yuan.There-fore China is working to legislate a Chinese style social insurance system by the year 2000.This system will be independent of enterprises and cov-er workers in both rural and urban areas.It will be reasonable in its.expenditures because its funding will come from a wide range of sources.It will make a balanced and rational use of these funds and will be run by a highly socialized and coordinated administration.

On the Underlying Reasons for the Success of LUCKY JIM

Lucky Jim, written by the British novelist, Kinsley Amis, is a masterpiece which sets a background of a post-war British college in 1950 s. With the influence of the"Angry Young Men"movement, this novel depicts a young college instructor,Jim Dixon's work life and his emotional experience. Except for the Kinsley Amis' writing gifts, what else contribute to this novel's great success? The underlying reasons that lead to its large popularity are discussed from the major perspectives of social background, Kinsley Amis' personal experience and the novel itself in this paper.

Planning Coordination,Social Innovation,and System Reform:Annual Conference of China City Planning 2013 Successfully Held in Qingdao

More than 6,000 urban planners,urban administrative staff,professors,and college students from all over China,as well as representatives from international organizations such as UN-HABITAT and USEF,gathered in Qingdao from Nov.16 to 18 and attended the Annual Conference of China City Planning 2013.Relating to the conference theme of'Urban Age,Coordinated Planning,'they discussed and explored various significant issues of urbanization,coordination between urban planning and other planning,village development,urban planning informatization,etc.

Assessment for Social Security Pilot in Jilin and Hei Longjiang of China

The present paper reviews the social security pilot in Jilin and Hei Longjiang that was carried out between 2004 and 2005. The pilot in the two provinces has basically achieved its main objectives, but there are still some unsolved problems, the most severe being lack of effective investment of the funds accumulated by individual accounts. During periods of high economic growth and high growth in average wages, this problem might undermine the partially-funded security system. To this end, the paper makes some suggestions, one of which is to introduce the notional defined contribution system.

Institutional Root Cause of the Irregularity of Social Security Funds in China

This paper analyzes institutional defects in the Chinese social security system, based on irregularities in social security funds revealed in the Audit Report by the China National Audit Offce. The author divides the irregularities into five categories according to the nature of fimd use. The results show that the institutional root cause of the irregularities lies in the unreasonable design and operation of the social security system, which currently faces management and institutional risks, This paper argues that simple rhetoric about strengthening regulation and supervision cannot help to reduce illegal practices, or to realize risk control. The only solution is to reform the social security system. Specifically, the Chinese Government should regulate the administrative cost of the social security system, and the behavior of its agencies, through legislation, reform the investment regime to increase rate of return of pension assets, and adjust and reshape the existing social security system, so as to elevate its pooling level.

The Chinese Model of Development： An International Perspective

With the success of China＇s reform and opening up, increasing attention has been paid to the Chinese model of development both in China and abroad. However, in studying the Chinese model, many scholars, particularly Western ones, have avoided studying China＇s political model. Instead, they have conceptualized the Chinese model of development as a matter of purely economic success. Actually, it is extremely hard to understand the Chinese economic model without discussing the Chinese political model, because it is China＇s political model that has driven the success of its economic model. Many underdeveloped countries face the grave challenge of building a stable political and social structure. There can be no doubt that the political and economic implications of the Chinese model of development provide a valuable lesson in this respect.