(一)
Since the end of 2002, driven by growing domestic demand, China kept increasing investment in industries featured high input, high energy consumption and heavy pollution. Given the country’s current industrial structure, a 1.3-percentage-point drop of energy consumption per 10,000 yuan of the GDP can be realized provided that the proportion of added value of hi-tech industries grow by 1 percentage point and that of high energy-consuming sectors like metallurgical and chemical industries falls by 1 percentage point.
Some experts predicted that China would see more distinct results in energy conservation with the strengthening of technological renovation of high energy-consuming enterprises and the quickened pace of industrial restructuring.
However, some people warned that the acceleration of China’s industrialization and urbanization would further increase the pressure on energy supply in urban areas.
Per-capita housing in China’s urban areas is expected to surge nearly 30 percent to 26 square meters in the next five years and that in rural areas will grow 20 percent to 30 square meters. Air-conditioners owned by every 100 urban households will increase 1.6 times to 81 sets and cars owned by every 100 urban households will rise
6.7 times to 3.4 units. This will lead to a robust jump of high energy-consuming products, such as cement, steel, glass and others.
Moreover, China’s coal consumption may approach to 1 billion tons during the next five years, according to China’s current demand for energy, even if the government closes down or eliminates backward productivity and intensifies energy saving of high energy-consuming enterprises. All posing a great challenge to China in its effort to meet the goal of cutting its energy consumption by 20 percent.
(二)
It is a fine tradition in China to respect the old and love the young.As early as the Han Dynasty, the government issued laws many times to advocate and reward behavior relating to treating the old with respect.The Chinese people treat their offspring with love and education, with kindness and strictness, embodying a strong sense of moral responsibility.The tradition of respecting the old and taking care of the young has been carried forward in modern times.At present, the old and the young in China have their own legal holidays—Elders' Day and Children's Day.Besides, the government has issued specific laws to protect women and children; and some laws also stipulate in explicit terms that Chinese citizens have obligations to take care of parents and raise children.
(三)
Recently, it has been practiced by some local universities that dialect is made a compulsory course for some students, under which students are subject to learning the local dialect and then graded as one of the judging factors for them to graduate. On the one hand, people approving the practice maintain that it will help to prevent the dialect from extinguishing so that the local traditional culture and the cultural diversity can be enhanced, and the unique urban identity can be preserved simultaneously. On the other hand, people in opposition to the practice contend that it will give rise to the appearance of educational inequality, for the local students will enjoy absolute advantages over those from other places. Moreover, the inclusion of dialect in compulsory courses will bring forth other problems like teaching material, teachers and examination standards. As far as I am concerned, dialects, as an indispensable part of local traditional culture as well as a tool for communication, can be acquired and used voluntarily, not compulsorily.
