No. 345, Dec. 10(1)

Highlights from the Economic Observer, issue no. 345, December 10^th 2007

Appeals from Wall Street
Cover story
Wall Street has presented a white paper urging for more open and transparent Chinese financial markets ahead of the third Sino-American Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED III) in mid December. The alliance's unanimous demands include the abolishment of constrains imposed on equity in financial services companies, transparency in financial regulations and procedures, and a more open QFII and QDII market. Some market watchers and academics in China, however, retain that a fast-paced opening-up of the Chinese financial market could expose the country to greater risks.
Original article: [Chinese]

A True Sense of Public Participation
Cover, Editorial
Soliciting public opinion and feedback is only the first step towards promoting public participation in a country’s policy making. Recent developments in Xiamen involving public disapproval of a chemical engineering project are heartening, and should be looked to as a model. But we argue that more is needed in China for such phenomena to be truly meaningful. Empowering public-elected representatives to relate the demands and wishes of the people through legislative mechanism should be the way forward. This could bring the current trend of gathering responses through hotlines, emails and public seminars to the next level.
Full English translation forthcoming
Original article: [Chinese]