Verbatim

2007/01/16

"After the new tax is implemented, people buying large houses will also have to pay for their usage.”

Vice-Minister of Construction Liu Zhifeng said on December 16. According to Liu, the ministries of construction and finance and the State Administration of Taxation are jointly studying the feasibility of levying a tax on owners of large-sized houses, including the imposition of a long-discussed property tax. In addition to a levy on big homes, China is also planning to award designers of small homes.

"It is a fact that multinationals in China have created many job opportunities for Chinese graduates, and they have also attracted many Chinese students studying abroad to return home.”

Wu Yikang, senior advisor of the Chinese Association for International Science and Technology Cooperation, said that although multinationals pose great challenges to local companies and research institutes, they have helped retain local talents who might otherwise have sought opportunities abroad. More local talents in China have turned to multinationals, since multinationals are mostly engaged in cutting-edge, high-tech research and offer high salaries.

"China is willing to cooperate with other countries in developing and exploiting energy resources, especially in he areas of energy conservation, improvements in energy efficiency, the development of alternative energy resources and in environmental protection concerning energy utilization, and will contribute to maintaining the stability and security of the international energy supply.”

Premier Wen Jiabao spoke during a five-country energy ministers meeting that convened on December 16. India, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and energy ministers from the United States joined their Chinese counterparts in the meeting. Wen said that energy efficiency is a strategic issue in China’s economic development and that China is striving to build an energy-efficient society.

“A lack of economic motivation is the fundamental reason for the local governments’ weakness in reducing energy consumption and improving environmental protection.”

Chen Qingtai, vice-director of the Economic Committee under the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee, said while analyzing the situation China faces in energy saving. Official figures from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) show that China will fail to meet its 2006 target for reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by 4 percent.



	Article featured in Business Beijing, January 2007 Publication sponsored by Information Office of the Beijing Municipal Government, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Development & Reform Commission of Beijing Municipality, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (Beijing Sub-Council)