China - The success story

I got this from an email and i think it is worth sharing with you all guys and girls, boys and girls.

US President Barack Obama recently visited China, primarily to find out what exactly & how exactly China is doing things that makes it such a success story, surpassing all the so-called "expert economic planners" of the US & Europe.

His team found these 5 basic lessons behind China 's success - it applies equally to our beloved country Malaysia as well as other developing countries :

LESSON No 1 - BE AMBITIOUS

The Chinese believe in Setting Goals, Making Plans, & Focusing on Moving Ahead - there is always the sense of foward motion.

As an example, a huge 6-lane highway in Shanghai took only 2 years from planning to ready for traffic. In the US, 2 years will only get you the environment and local authority permit if you are lucky.


LESSON No 2 - EDUCATION MATTERS

The Chinese are obsessed with ensuring kids get the right education - English, Maths & Science. They made sure that ther education system reached even the most remote rural areas - today the literacy rate in China is OVER 90%, surpassing even the USA 's 86%. According to American Educationists, the Chinese kids are way ahead of the kids in the USA .


LESSON No 3 - LOOK AFTER THE ELDERLY

The Chinese DO NOT send their elderly to nursing care centres - they personally look after & care for their parents. In the US , nursing care of the elderly is now costing each resident USD 85,000 annually, & this is rising. The Chinese also believe that the grandparents at home make the best tutors for their children. It also provides a sense of cultural continuity - this helps bind society.


LESSON No 4 - SAVE MORE

In the USA , savings dropped to zero in 2005, and is only now slowly rising to 4%. In China , the savings rate for every household has exceeded 20%. The Chinese believe that fugality & a healthy savings rate are a sure indicator of a country's financial health. High savings lead to increased investments - results in increased productivity, innovation & job growth.

In the West, & aped by our Malaysians, the status symbol is to spend more than you earn, with as many credit cards as possible. In the end, the whole country gets into debt.

LESSON No 5 - LOOK OVER THE HORIZON

In China , eveyone is foward looking - never backwards. New graduates make a vow - never ever will their children & grandchildren ever work in the fields again. With this kind of foward mentality, people are always thinking & planning how, not just to succeed, BUT how to be the best in the world in everything they do.

Well according to reports, China or The People's Republic of China (PRC), is the most populous state in the world with over 1.3 billion people.

At about 9.6 million square kilometres (3.7 million square miles), China is the world's third- or fourth-largest country by total area and the second largest by land area.

China is the fastest growing major economic power in the world today.

Since economic liberalization began in 1978, China's investment and export-led economy has grown 70 times bigger.

China is also the world's second largest nominal Gross Domestic Product at 34.06 trillion yuan (US$4.99 trillion), with per capita income of US$3,700.

Infact, China's economy is second only to the United States.

China success stories are believed to have begun in the year 1978 when then leader, Deng Xiaoping initiated China's market-oriented reforms.

In terms of Tourism Industry, China is the fourth most visited country in the world with 50.9 million inbound international visitors in 2009.

According to World Trade Organization, WTO, Chinais the world's second largest trading power behind the US with a total international trade of US$2.21 trillion.

Its foreign exchange reserves have reached US$2.4 trillion, making it by far the world's largest.

China owns an estimated $1.6 trillion of U.S. securities and holding US$801.5 billion in Treasury bonds, making the nation the largest foreign holder of U.S. public debt.

It is the world's third largest recipient of inward Foreign Direct Investments, FDI by attracting US$92.4 billion in 2008 alone.

China's foreign investments of US$52.2 billion in 2008 alone has also elevated the nation as the world's sixth largest outward investor.

Well done and continue shining China...!!!

China's CCTV - TV station on the news...!!!

The CCTV tower



The Mandarin Oriental on fire, situated about 200 metres from the CCTV tower

TV stations normally cover news events.

But instead China’s Central TV station or CCTV caused the news.

CCTV, China's largest TV station was blamed for causing one of the biggest fire ever seen in Beijing, last monday.

No doubt, it was big breaking news!!!

It all started when a staff of the TV station hired a fireworks company for a fireworks show outside CCTV iconic new headquarters in Beijing.

But the show went awfully wrong – it caused a huge fire and destroyed a nearby building, the nearly completed Mandarin Oriental Hotel which is part of the iconic CCTV tower complex.

As a result, the 241 rooms, 30 storeys and 159 metres high Mandarin Oriental Hotel is now history.

A firefighter was reportedly killed while fighting the blaze.

Luckily the there were no guests at the Mandarin Oriental as the hotel was not yet opened.

The story here. (source China Daily & Xinhua)

CCTV apologizes for great loss caused by lethal blaze

BEIJING -- China Central Television (CCTV) on Tuesday apologized for a massive fire that engulfed part of its new headquarters in the eastern central business district of the capital.

The fire broke out on Monday evening, and one firefighter was killed tackling the blaze and seven other people were injured.

In a statement on its website www.cctv.com, the broadcaster said it "feels sorrowful for the great loss that the fire inflicted on national assets. CCTV sincerely apologizes for the traffic congestion and inconvenience that affect residents nearby."

"CCTV will do everything possible to cooperate with relevant departments in dealing with aftermath of the fire," the statement said.

Beijing Fire Control Bureau has confirmed that a senior official of the office of the CCTV new headquarters construction project hired people, without any reference to superiors, to illegally set off fireworks, which caused the fire, according to the statement.

The fireworks company ignited several hundred large festive firecrackers in an open space outside one of its nearly-completed buildings, said Luo Yuan, spokesman and deputy chief of Beijing Fire Control Bureau.

4 camcorders recorded the fireworks display and the entire ignition process.

The people who ignited the fireworks are being questioned by police and remains of fireworks have been seized.

The 30-storey building, about 200 meters from the iconic CCTV main tower, houses the luxury Mandarin Oriental Hotel, a television studio and an electronic data processing center.

The CCTV tower and the Mandarin Oriental hotel were designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.

The CCTV tower was listed as one of the wonders of Chinese architecture by U.S.-based Business Week magazine and viewed as the most radical structure in the country.

The new CCTV headquarters, at a height of 230 meter and a floor area of about 400,000 square meters, combines administration with news, broadcasting, studios and program production - the entire process of TV making - in a sequence of interconnected activities.

Although the building is 230 meter tall it is not a traditional tower, but a continuous loop of horizontal and vertical sections that establish an urban site rather than point to the sky.

The irregular grid on the building's facades is an expression of the forces traveling throughout its structure.

The second building, the 115,000 m2 Television Cultural Center (TVCC) includes a hotel, a visitor's center, a large public theatre and exhibition spaces.

It is visible from the main intersection of the Central Business District through the "window" of the CCTV headquarters.

The 241-rooms Mandarin Oriental, fully furnished with luxury facilities, was intended to be Mandarin Oriental's flagship property in China.

The building was used during the Olympic Games, but the companies moved out afterwards," said a CCTV staff member surnamed Chen, adding that he didn't know whether there were still people in the building.

Firefighting was hampered by height of the building, as water from the hoses could at most reach 40 meters high.

Beijing is dry during the season, as the city has not seen any rainfall in 106 days.

Witnesses said that the flame was about 80 meters at one time.

Snow-like ashes fell as far as 1 km from the building and smoke eclipsed the full moon.