| 分类： 遨游翻译时空 |
2007年3月19日
China's smaller cities rise in Asian rankings
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-16 09:21
Multinational companies might now have an easier time
encouraging expatriate
Living conditions in those towns - once considered "hardship"
postings - have
experienced the biggest improvements in
Asia in recent years, according to the latest location ranking by
ECA
International, an international human resources
consultant.
The ECA survey compares living standards in 254 locations around the world based on categories that include climate, the environment, health services and infrastructure. Human-resource managers use the scores to set allowances for expat staff who work in difficult locations.
Living standards throughout China achieved an average 28-position rise in the rankings over the past five years, according to the new survey. The China improvement was double the average increase across Asia.
Chinese locations that improved the most included Chongqing, Dalian, Wuhan and Xi'an. Within Asia, Wuhan and Xi'an experienced the biggest jump, both moving up 46 places to world rankings of 147 and 160.
"With the general improvement in living conditions in China over the past five years, we now recommend lower hardship allowances in many places," said Lee Quane, general manager of ECA International Hong Kong. He said the lifestyle enhancements would make many job assignments to China more cost-effective.
Ranked 76th in the world and 11th in Asia, Shanghai justified its position as the best city on the Chinese mainland for foreigners because of its superior infrastructure and facilities.
Beijing dropped one spot to third place in the rankings on the Chinese mainland due to its high pollution and less favorable climate.
Despite the dramatic leap forward, many of the second-tier cities remained the least-favorite places in China for foreigners to work because of the lack of suitable living facilities and harsh climates.
The
survey reported that Xi'an, Chengdu, Wuhan, Chongqing and Shenyang
made up
An earlier survey by Cendant Mobility, a provider of global mobility management, suggested that family adjustments and concerns about a spouse's career and children's education were big barriers for expats to work on China's mainland.
expatriate
expat
tier
postings
ECA
cost-effective
2007年3月20日
Six Parties
Begin New Round of Talks
The six parties to the Korean
Peninsula nuclear issue talks began a new round of
talks in Beijing on Monday with the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States resolving the
issue of 25 million U.S. dollars frozen in a bank in
Macau.
"We are still faced with a lot of difficulties and obstacles on the road ahead," top Chinese negotiator Wu Dawei said in his opening address before the closed-door talks in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
As the chair of the six-party talks, Wu said the session would review the progress of five related work group meetings and discuss the specific steps for the DPRK to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor.
Wu called on all parties to take part in the talks with "a flexible, pragmatic and constructive approach and make positive contributions".
"The current session will run about three days," Wu said.
"The DPRK has proposed the transfer of the 25 million U.S. dollars frozen in the Banco Delta Asia (BDA) into an account held by DPRK's Foreign Trade Bank at the Bank of China in Beijing," Glaser said.
"We believe this resolves the issue of the DPRK-related frozen funds," he concluded.
In September 2005, the U.S. Treasury Department, suspecting the BDA of helping the DPRK launder money, ordered American financial institutions to suspend business ties with the Macao-based bank, which subsequently froze the U.S. dollar accounts held by the DPRK.
Rejecting the charge, the DPRK demanded the U.S. lift the financial sanctions before it could return to the six-party talks, which remained stalled for 13 months since the end of 2005.
As part of the nuclear deal reached during the last round of talks in Beijing on Feb. 13, the United States agreed to settle the financial dispute with the DPRK within 30 days.
"I think tomorrow the focus will turn to the completion of the tasks within the 60 days," chief U.S. envoy Christopher Hill said at his hotel on Monday evening.
pragmatic
envoy
ROK
address
Hanoi
normalizing relations: 关系正常化，normal relations
正常关系
2007年3月21日
Chinese
President to Pay State Visit to Russia
Chinese President Hu Jintao will pay a state visit to Russia from
March 26 to 28.
"At the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Hu Jintao will pay a state visit to Russia from March 26to 28," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular briefing on Tuesday.
During the three-day visit, President Hu will also attend the opening ceremony of the "Year of China" held in Russia.
China hosted the "Year of Russia" in 2006, which involved the organization of some 300 functions with the participation of more than 500,000 Chinese.
The "Year of China" in Russia is expected to feature some 200 events, including a Chinese national exhibition, a cultural festival, a business forum and an investment conference.
On Tuesday morning, President Hu met with journalists from Russian media in Beijing, briefing them on issues from China-Russia relations and "National Year" activities to trade cooperation, from the building of a harmonious society and the 2008 Beijing Olympics to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Russian Ambassador to China Sergei Razov said the purpose of holding national year alternately between Russia and China is to deepen mutual understanding of the domestic situation and people's life of each country.
Russian people are becoming more and more interested in China and the upcoming "Year of China in Russia", Razov said during an interview with xinhuanet.com Tuesday afternoon.
He said the
Russia-China strategic
partnership has reached an unprecedented height, and there
are no political problems in the bilateral relations to upset both
countries.
functions
brief
2007年3月22日
China
China plans to set price caps and cut
domestic mobile roaming fees this year, said an official of
the Ministry
of Information Industry (MII) on Tuesday.
Zhu Jun, an official in charge of regulating the cost of telecommunications services, said this at a development plan and policy briefing session in Beijing.
The high roaming fees, two-way charging mechanism and high monthly rental charges have all drawn complaints from Chinese consumers.
"Since cross-province calls have to be transferred from one local operator to another, roaming fees are reasonable," Zeng Jianqiu, a professor with Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, said.
"As technology improvement has lowered operational costs, cutting domestic roaming prices has become a worldwide trend," he said, "and developed countries in Europe, North America and Asia have already started the process."
Some technology experts argue that roaming calls actually incur almost no extra cost for operators.
"China cannot eliminate roaming fees immediately," Zeng said,
"as it will put fixed-line
companies
Data
from the MII show that while the domestic revenue share of major
fixed-line players China Telecom and China Netcom has
fallen, China Mobile's share shot up
to
To ensure a steady development of the telecommunications market, China can only cut the roaming price step by step, Zeng said, adding that the country should allow fixed-line companies to join the mobile market and vice versa.
MII
data shows China had 461 million mobile users at the end of last year, 17 percent up
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