@Geezer
I can read French poorly - but I have no clue what I'm reading.
@Peter
China may have "gone off the rails" for you - but during that time of "going off the rails", it sustainably eliminated poverty for over 800 million citizens, with roughly half the GDP of the entire USA - for which it was recognized and lauded by the UN.
That feat is worthy of being called the 8th wonder of the world - as it's never ever been done before in the recorded history of the world.
Most westerners and quite a few domestic Chinese gripe about the freedoms observed and enjoyed in more open societies - but they don't have that massive burden of responsibility for 1.4 billion people.
In fact - the world should be ecstatic that China controls it's population. Can you imagine 1 million Chinese uber/lfty drivers in any country in the world - that's true asphalt terrorism.
Or constantly, consistently, and persistently flooding markets with whatever's trendy today - fly-by-night Starbucks knockoffs - 10 per city block - saturating the market until everybody goes bankrupt?
The examples are plentiful.
The system isn't great - but it's not there for entertainment or to make people feel good.
If you're REALLY interested in China affairs and trying to understand this country and its development philosophy - try reading any of the national five year plans - they even publish them in English. ndrc.gov.cn
They are some of the finest and most professional project management documents I've ever seen, worthy of being called "world class".
The western media typically and traditionally ridicules these plans, but that merely shows their extreme ignorance of the scientific method of world-class project management processes and the intended purpose(s) of these specific documents.
Has ANY ambassador or consulate general EVER read China's Five Year Plan? That will show you the maturity and intent of that country's key in-country representatives.
Patrick Scally hands GK editorial reins to Vera van de Nieuwenhof
Posted byI was wondering what's next for Patrick. Wish him well in his future endeavors.
Report: Poverty levels continue to drop significantly across Yunnan
Posted by@Geogramatt
Assuming your question was serious - a simple google or bing search will yield a plethora of results. The UN (un.edu) has an excellent article on China and India's definition of "poverty lines", but the information is probably outdated as China's economy zooms ahead. China's National Development & Reform Commission - which manages the national five year plan strategies contains the general high level requirements for sustainable development of this country (en.ndrc.gov.cn).
China's five years plans used to be mocked and ridiculed by the western media - but if you've ever performed or witnessed requirements engineering and the processes and artifacts - you cannot but conclude these artifacts are world class professional documents. The Five Year Plans are essentially high level requirements, which indicate the government's architecture for this country - which are then supposed to be devolved by project owners (government officials) into detailed planning documents for execution, monitoring & controlling, and phase out - following generally accepted globally recognized professional standards for professional project management.
Report: Poverty levels continue to drop significantly across Yunnan
Posted byMany of China's sustainable poverty elimination plans included seeding of livestock (chickens, pigs, etc) to enable animal husbandry, to increase annual income of the farmers. Last reports were China had sustainable eliminated poverty for over 800 million citizens, with roughly 70-80 million to go. Xi JinPing's goal is 100% elimination by 2020.
Regardless of definition - the consistent attention to poverty elimination is laudable and China's accomplishment in this area is unparalleled in recorded history - resulting in formal recognition by the UN for its successful efforts in this area.
Occasionally, there are questionable ploys to eliminate poverty - such as merely moving people from poverty stricken areas to a different place, to accomplish the numbers - however moving to more fertile or arable ground with better access to transportation, water, healthcare and education facilities can also be considered an improvement in quality of life.
China's current Five Year Plans call for the industrialization of the rural areas, in a responsible sustainable manner. This next move will involve a major cultural shift in the rural areas as farmers begin to aggregate land and resources, pay more attention to water and soil pollution, and reduce the uses of chemical fertilizers and insecticides.
Animal husbandry is another area of potential aggregation - with tremendous opportunities for the high technologies from developed nations such as the EU (+UK), Japan, and USA.
All of these technologies offer the opportunity of significantly reduced water usage and significantly reduced water pollution. It's actually a rather exciting period of history to watch as this massive country continues its transition into a developed nation and global leader and expands into the belt and road with infrastructure development for its neighbors.
If the China model can be applied along the belt and road - the entire Middle East and Africa will finally have the opportunity to similarly eliminate poverty, develop sustainable economies, and perhaps even make serious dents on global terrorism.
Property conglomerate Hang Lung opens Spring City 66, Kunming's tallest building
Posted byTerrifying. Two years to get architectural drawings approved and 8 years from inception to project completion. Absolutely terrifying process. I wonder why HangLung was so consistently motivated to develop this project in Kunming?
Video: Zen and the art of patisserie with chef Igor Nataf
Posted byMeanwhile - back to Igor's, the video was quite nice also...Thank you.