Curb use of official cars

Two weeks after Beijing and many other parts of China were covered by toxic smog, some cities are experiencing the same conditions again. But the smog this time appears more hazardous, reducing visibility and causing huge traffic jams. Perhaps one way of reducing the smog is to cut the number of cars on the streets, including official cars plying to deliver gifts before Spring Festival, says an article in Qilu Evening News. Excerpts:

The smog this time covers 1.3 million square kilometers and is particularly hazardous in Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province, and Jinan, capital of Shandong province. It poses a health risk even in other provincial capitals such as Wuhan, Hubei province, and Xi'an, Shaanxi province. Smog-affected cities are encountering another problem: serious traffic jams.

The cause of the smog and thus the traffic jams can be attributed partly to the increasing number of cars, especially official cars used to deliver gifts before Spring Festival.

Pollution levels have risen with more official cars blocking the already busy roads and thus causing traffic jams and increasing emissions. It has been a tradition for centuries to give gifts during Spring Festival, but when public resources are used for the purpose some people become more generous, even extravagant. A case in point is the use of official cars to deliver gifts.

The Party is teaching people to practice thrift, especially when the occasion involves public expenditure. But the use of official cars to deliver gifts is contrary to that policy, especially when many cities are covered by hazardous smog. This is turning the officials into polluters, which is opposed to their role as promoters of environmentally friendly practices.

Therefore, they should stop using official cars to deliver gifts to reduce pollution and clear the smog.

Competition good for programs

Zheng Xiaolong, art director of Beijing Television Art Center, recently said: "There is overproduction of TV programs in China, and since many of them cannot be telecast it is a huge waste of resources." Though he suggested reducing haphazard investments, the increase in the number of TV productions may be good for competition, says an article in China Youth Daily. Excerpts:

Zheng said 7,000 TV episodes were enough to meet the demand of viewers in the country but more than 17,000 were produced in 2012. He talked about the need for TV only, but with the Internet becoming an important channel for broadcasting, there is plenty of room for such productions.

That not all TV programs can be telecast is also the obvious result of competition. In fact, such competition is fiercer in Hollywood. Although it produces 600 films every year, only one-third of them are screened in cinemas. The rest either have to be shown on TV or sold through DVDs to earn their money. But still Hollywood rules the global film industry.

Since China's culture industry is still in a fledging state, producers should be encouraged to make more TV programs and films. The fear of competition comes from monopoly and privilege.

A low budget film, Lost in Thailand, has created a new box office record in China by collecting 1.2 billion yuan ($192.84 million), which has surprised the film industry. If we avoid competition, we will not see such dark horses again. In a creative industry, not all big-budget productions succeed.

To build a really free market, we should improve the system, and prevent illegal competition and mismatch of government investment.

(China Daily 02/01/2013 page9)