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In agriculture at the same time they proceeded towards de-collectivisation of the land. This they announced in 1980, and by 1983 98% of peasant holdings were no longer collective. The method they used was to lease out the land. So in theory the land remained the property of the state. In practice the families that controlled that land behaved almost as if they were the owners. They could transfer it to their children.
Once they had made further concessions to the capitalists, the investments started coming in. I have here an interesting article from The Guardian (a December issue). It quotes some capitalists in the west, people like Murdoch. It says, “Many a right-wing fat cat will tell you that the Chinese capitalist transformation could only have happened under the stern rule of the Communist Party of China…” It then adds, “Who would not like to do business with a country with no trade unions?” Paradoxically their investments are safer in China than in Russia where the whole system collapsed.
Once they saw that it worked … this is how the bureaucracy thinks obviously… they see that it works, that it develops the economy in these areas… they increased the special zones, ending up with a situation where practically the whole coast of China and the area around Beijing is made up of special capitalist zones.
Thus we see how from 1978, starting off with tentative steps to introduce some market stimuli to the economy, they have been moving, step by step, closer to capitalism. But if you read the declarations, and even the writings of Deng in the 1980s, they state clearly that the state sector must be dominant. That was their thinking then. It would be wrong to think that the bureaucracy consciously planned all this back in 1978. The bureaucracy has been gradually creating conditions that have then pushed them even further down the road of capitalism.
It is interesting to follow the statements of the key political meetings in China, the Politbureau, the Plenum, or the Congress. We see that up till 1992 in all their declarations they maintained the position that the state-owned sector should remain dominant.
The process began to unfold throughout the 1980s. To give one example: in 1978, 78% of urban workers were employed by state owned enterprises. By the mid-1980s this figure had gone down to 70%. Not a huge difference, but the direction is the important question. You can already see the changes taking place. But, as I said, until 1992 the official position remained that the state must dominate.
However, in 1992 the XIV Party Congress met, and that is where they officially abandoned the idea that the state sector must dominate. In the same year Deng launched a new stage in the “reform programme”, as they called it. He went on a tour of the special zone of Shenzen and made a famous declaration, “As long as it makes money it is good for China.” And the Party Congress announced that it was going to establish what it called “a socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics”. This was an attempt to justify what they were doing. For while paying lip service to social guarantees, they were actually laying the basis for one of the most brutal forms of capitalism.
Of course, the process did not start in 1992. Market mechanisms had already been operating for some time. What was significant about 1992 was that the party officially decided to abandon its commitment to maintaining the state owned enterprises as the dominant sector. They decided to shrink the state sector. Up until then what we had was the development of the private sector outside the state sector. Now they decided to proceed towards the privatisation of state owned enterprises. They selected 2500 locally run state owned enterprises and 100 centrally run companies for this conversion. And by 1998 this was complete.
In 1994 they extended the programme and they stated that they would maintain control over the 1000 largest state owned enterprises while all remaining state firms would be available for leasing or sale into private hands. By the end of the 1990s state owned enterprises employed 83 million people, but this represented only 12% of total employment and even in the urban areas only one third of employment. We see an enormous change from 1978 when 78% of urban employment was in the state sector to this figure of one third.
At the end of the 1990s the contribution of these companies to GDP had fallen to 38%. In September 1999 at the 4th Plenum of the 15th Party Congress they took another step. They called it the “Let go of policy” position, i.e. the state loosening up and renouncing its control. They proceeded to loosen up in medium and small state owned enterprises. In July 2000 the Beijing City government that covers a large area announced that state and collective ownership would be phased out in all small and medium sized state owned enterprises within three years. And by 2001 state enterprises accounted for only 15% of total manufacturing employment, and less than 10% of employment in domestic trade.
Here we see the process that has been unfolding. But there are some other interesting figures. This is a document called “China’s Ownership Transformation”. It stresses the same point, that privatisation started in earnest in 1992. Referring to 1995 it says, “the state decided to keep between 500 and 1000 large state firms and to allow smaller firms to be leased or sold”. It explains that there was a good reason for this because in 1997 the 500 largest state firms, most of them controlled by the central government, held 37% of the state’s industrial assets, they provided large revenues for the state and so on. Thus they proceeded along the road of privatisation. It says at one point, when they were speeding up the process, “the trend reflected the belief that for an enterprise to be truly transformed it is necessary for the management to own the majority of shares”. And in the Chinese tradition the slogan now became “the state retreats and the private sector moves forward”. They invent a slogan to get the message clearly across to the masses.
However, we should also stress that it is not a simple process of just selling everything off. That is why it is not just a question of looking at the percentages of state and private ownership. It is not merely how much is in the hands of the state, but how that sector that remains in the hands of the state is functioning, and with what aim. It is quite clear that in the process of capitalist transformation they haven’t yet developed a bourgeoisie that is capable of running major corporations on the scale of some of the American and Japanese multinationals, without the help of the state.
What we have seen is the selling off of most of the small and medium sized companies and at the same time the development of private companies that were never in the hands of the state. As we said, 450 of the top 500 multinationals operate in China. So it also a question of the private sector, which has been developing faster than the state sector. And if we look at what remains of the state sector, we see that part of it is being prepared for further privatisation. We see this phenomenon of taking large state conglomerates and breaking them up into different companies, closing the inefficient sectors and selling off the more profitable sectors.
You have this phenomenon where the management of state owned companies is busily involved in asset stripping. They have their friends in the private sector, and they let these have the best machines, the best parts and so on, and they let the company go into disrepair and decline. The feeling among these managers is “this factory is going to be privatised sooner or later and I am going to be offered the factory”. So the idea is to reduce the company to a state where it is worth the least possible so it can be bought off cheaply. In many towns you have the local councils deciding that the best way to get a company working is to sell it off cheaply to the managers to stop the asset stripping, the idea being that once the mangers become owners they will use the assets to develop the companies as they will reap the profits.
The news was greeted with great fanfare: The Dead Sea, it was announced last week, is among the finalists in the competition to determine the seven natural wonders of the world.
Up against the likes of the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and the Great Barrier Reef, people around here have high hopes that this salty inland lake, the lowest place on the Earth's surface, will emerge victorious by the time ballots from around the world are tallied in 2011.
Looking out across the pale blue water and the ancient Judean Hills to the west, Maysoon Zoubi, Secretary-General of Jordan's Ministry of Water and Irrigation, is pleased that the Dead Sea entry was the product of co-operation among Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. All three border the body of water - it's known as Yam Hamelach or "Sea of Salt" in Hebrew; Bahr Lut or "Sea of Lot" in Arabic - and all three hope to cash in on the tourism that such international recognition will stimulate.
For decades, Israeli hotels and spas have stood on the southwestern shore of the Dead Sea; Jordan has built 8,000 hotel rooms on the eastern side and plans 25,000 more. The Palestinian Authority hopes to benefit from visits to the northwestern shore, including Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea scrolls were uncovered.
There's just one problem: This coveted, unique body of water may not be around to enjoy the accolades for long. The surface of the Dead Sea is falling at the rate of one metre per year. "Unless something is done soon, it will be gone in 50 years," says Ms. Zoubi, who knows it will take further co-operation among the three parties if this fate is to be avoided.
The Dead Sea has no outlet. Its loss of water comes from the considerable evaporation that results from the region's year-round hot climate. But until 40 years ago, enough water flowed into the Dead Sea to keep its level constant.
The problem is that the Jordan River, which flows into the Dead Sea, is no longer deep and wide. It's reduced to a trickle (mostly of effluent) after Israel and Jordan have used its water for irrigation and fish ponds.
To compound the problem, the Sea of Galilee, the main provider of the Jordan's water, is at its lowest level ever recorded. Opening the dam at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee (also known as Lake Kinneret in Israel) would make no difference - there isn't enough water to reach even the lowest level of the even the lowest level of the dam.
What's the solution to the Dead Sea's demise? Once again, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have displayed remarkable co-operation in agreeing on an approach, but it's a cure that may prove more devastating than the illness. The three governments say the best solution is to construct a pipeline or canal to bring water to the Dead Sea from the Red Sea, 190 kilometres to the south.
It's not the first time that a scheme to replenish the Dead Sea with water from either the Red Sea or the Mediterranean Sea has been proposed, but it's the first that may actually get built. For while the World Bank is still conducting feasibility studies, Israel and Jordan are impatient to begin work.
Encouraged by President Shimon Peres, Israeli entrepreneurs have proposed a multi-faceted project that would convey water from the Red Sea via a combination of pipeline and canal, giving rise to waterside residential communities and resorts along the way, as well as hydro-electric generators to take advantage of the 400-metre drop to the Dead Sea, and desalinization plants to produce drinking water.
Environmentalists, however, have railed against the idea, and Jordan's King Abdullah announced this year that his country will proceed on its own with a simple pipeline if Israel insists on pursuing such a time-consuming scheme.
The reason for Jordan's enthusiasm for the Red-Dead scheme is obvious: Jordan is one of the world's most water-deprived nations. While it gets some water from Israel, its chief supply is from underground aquifers, and it's currently using water from 10 of the 12 aquifers at twice the sustainable rate. Maintaining the level of the Dead Sea will ensure the aquifers aren't further drained, officials reason, and a pipeline can bring water for desalinization as well.
"We have no choice," says Ms. Zoubi. "Our population has grown so quickly," largely because of the influx of refugees from Iraq in recent years, on top of Palestinian refugees already in the country. "We have to do something."
Some question whether the Red-Dead scheme will work.
"The plan is a disaster," says Dan Zaslavsky, Israel's former water commissioner and a professor of hydrology at the Technion technological university in Haifa. "It's idiotic. It's uneconomic and it's harmful."
First of all, says Prof. Zaslavsky, "the Dead Sea doesn't need a pipeline or a canal; it already has one, the Jordan River.
"If Israel stops diverting water from the source of the Kinneret and the Jordan River," he explains, "water will flow naturally into the Dead Sea as it did 50 years ago."
As for Israel's water requirements, "it makes more sense to satisfy those needs with desalinization facilities on our Mediterranean coast," he says. "And we can do it for nothing."
Prof. Zaslavsky says Israel could produce 400 million cubic metres of water annually using desalinization, at a cost of $200-million a year. That's less than relying on the drought-afflicted Sea of Galilee. "With desalinization, you get a 100-per-cent reliable source," Prof. Zaslavsky says. "And a profit."
Restoring 400 million cubic metres of fresh water to the Dead Sea every year would maintain the sea at its current level, he says, "and might even recover some of its loss." It would also save the $50-million a year currently being spent to remove excess salt that settles in the sea's southern evaporation ponds.
In contrast, the Red-Dead plan suffers from some serious flaws, several scientists have noted.
First, it would be constructed right on the fault line of the Arava, the northern extension of Africa's Great Rift Valley. "There's almost a 100-per-cent chance that earthquakes will cause harm to any water conduit," Prof. Zaslavsky says.
Second, despite the 400-metre drop in elevation, the energy needed to move the water those 190 kilometres would require a power station of its own.
Given such objections, why hasn't the Israeli government agreed to restore the Jordan River flow and opt for desalinization?
Akiva Eldar, chief political columnist for the Haaretz newspaper, says it all comes down to the Finance Ministry's refusal to support the budget for desalinization facilities. They don't want to "waste money" on desalinization, Mr. Eldar noted recently, because "God is great, and perhaps next winter he will open the tap and fill the Kinneret."
In the meantime, he says, the government is content to have Israelis conserve water by not watering their lawns.
Prof. Zaslavsky thinks there's one factor that may finally get the authorities to pay attention to the northern alternative.
He notes that when seawater, such as that in the Red Sea, is mixed with water from the Dead Sea, "a chemical reaction takes place that spontaneously produces gypsum."
The creation of gypsum, he says, "will turn the water milky," and few people will want to float in that.
Then, wonder of the world or not, it will be the Dead Sea's highly valued tourism that will evaporate.
The Dead Sea is vanishing at a rate of one metre a year in depth.
Israel began to divert the Jordan waters north of the Sea of Galilee in 1965.
Jordan's major tourism centre is south of Suwayrah.
The Dead Sea is shrinking because the Jordan River is being tapped for drinking water and irrigation.
Thermalright's Le Grand Macho is one of the best CPU air coolers we've tested in a long time. You need to take a look at this one. Read the review.
Looking to cool your Intel or AMD CPU inside the confined space of a SFF chassis? REEVEN's BRONTES CPU cooler might well be for you. Read the review.
Thermalright's Macho Direct CPU cooler gets investigated under our cooling and sound tests to determine if it's worth buying or not. Read the review.
be quiet! proves it hasn't lost its touch when it comes to case design as we look at the Dark Base 900 Pro full-tower chassis. Read the review.
The third and final case to be released by Corsair today is the Crystal Series 570X RGB tempered glass premium ATX mid-tower chassis. Read the review.
Corsair's second case in the trio to be released today is the Crystal Series 460X RGB mid-tower compact ATX chassis. Here's our full review. Read the review.
Corsair has released a trio of new cases today. We start out by checking out the new Carbide 270R mid-tower chassis. Read the review.
Thermaltake's Core G3 Slim ATX cases represents tremendous value for money in terms of what you get and what you can do with this unique product. Read the review.
Cooler Master's brand new MASTERAIR PRO 4 CPU cooler does a great of impressing in most categories, especially its sub-$50 price tag. Read the review.
Cooler Master's MASTERAIR PRO 3 CPU cooler is the first product to go under testing on our new cooler rig setup. So, let's see how it does. Read the review.
EVGA's DG-87 full-tower beasty gaming case got on our radar and goes under the spotlight. It's one of the best cases we've ever reviewed. Read the review.
Rosewill's Cullinan mid-tower case goes under the spotlight. And while it may be a clone of another case, it does enough to stand out. Read the review.
Anidees' AI Crystal mid-tower case with all its tempered glass goodness gets thoroughly tested in our full review. Read the review.
BitFenix's Aurora mid-tower case goes under the spotlight and we find it offering a significant amount for its asking price. Read the review.
Corsair's latest chassis is the Carbide Air 740 High Airflow PC cube case. It's awesome and you're probably going to want one after reading. Read the review.
Cooler Master raises the bar in features and quality with its MasterCase Pro 3 Micro-ATX tower chassis. Here's our full look at it. Read the review.
In need of fan control for your system? Reeven's Polariz RFC-04 fan controller offers plenty of style, features, and power to get the job done. Read the review.
Enermax's Ostrog ADV LED Gaming Fortress mid-tower case goes under the chopping block as we work out if you should buy it or not. Read the review.
The PM01 ATX mid-tower case is SilverStone's first Primera Series chassis which offers plenty considering the reasonable asking price. Read the review.
Just in time for the holiday shopping season, a new boutique has opened on Robertson Boulevard marrying East and West Coast style.
Reservoir is the concept of New York City transplants Aliza Neidich and Alissa Jacob, and features a well-edited mix of clothing, accessories and home goods with an easy sophistication made for L.A., including Ryan Roche hand-knit sweaters, Denis Colomb ponchos, Ellery sleek crepe dresses and tops, Solid and Striped denim jumpsuits, Madeworn tees, Newbark shearling slides, Dosa patchwork totes and Wendy Nichol fringed leather bucket bags.
"We gravitate toward clothing with minimal, clean lines … things that are easy to slip on and layer," said Neidich, who has a background in fashion PR.
Home furnishings and gift items have a handmade modern vibe, including leather laptop sleeves by downtown L.A.-based brand This Is Ground, resin wear Champagne buckets by San Francisco designer Tina Frey, wind chimes by Ladies and Gentlemen Studio in Seattle, chairs by L.A.'s Bend Goods, and hand-tufted rugs by Brooklyn's Cold Picnic.
"When we were curating the brands, we really wanted to support as many local L.A. emerging designers and established designers as we could," said Jacob, who previously worked in retail, and has been best friends with Neidich since they were 2 years old.
Alison Lou "days of the week" undies, Morgan Lane "Dreaming of Diamonds" eye masks, and jewel-shaped Soap Stones add a touch of whimsy to the merchandise mix. The store also stocks candles, books and magazines.
Reservoir features several exclusives, including an Edie Parker acrylic U.S. map clutch highlighting the state of California, and a cool capsule collection of chokers, chains and cuff bracelets by Sidney Garber, the fine-jewelry collection designed by Neidich's mother-in-law, Brooke Neidich.
Reservoir's Robertson location is actually a temporary holiday pop-up open through December to preview the store's permanent location, opening in 2016 at 3329 W. Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake. That store is designed to be a "one-stop shop for fashion on the Eastside," said Neidich.
"This pop-up is actually a blessing in disguise," said Jacob. "This way, people will see us on this side of town, and when we move they will have a reason to come east to check us out."
Reservoir, 154 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 300-5309, reservoir-la.com. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
About 20 percent of Australia's unique mammals are threatened with extinction, along with 12 percent of its birds.
About seven percent of the world's species live in Australia, making it home to the most diverse selection of animals on the planet.
Most of those animals are unique, in that they live only in the island continent.
Researchers, however, say that 20 percent of the country's surviving mammals are threatened with extinction, along with 12 percent of its birds.
The threat to the country's wildlife has prompted one organisation to restore a large tract of farmland near Canberra back to its original state, before the arrival of European settlers in the 18th century.
Venice, Florida -- Venice Theatre celebrated the start of its 64th season with a party for sponsors, donors, advertisers, patrons and volunteers Monday night.
The Theatre said just before the reception kicked off, the theatre's Board of Directors approved the docket of productions presented to them by the theatre's play selection committee and Artistic/Executive Director Murray Chase.
Designated the third-largest community theatre in the country by the American Association of Community Theatre, Venice Theatre offers four series that give audiences the opportunity to see traditional Broadway-style shows (MainStage), contemporary works (Stage II), light musical revues (Cabaret) and family-friendly fare (Generations). The theatre also offers a variety of concerts and special events, classes and outreach projects.
Season subscriptions will go on sale in mid-February. A total of seven different packages are available. Prices range from $35 for a child subscription to the Generations Series to $319 for the Golden Ticket which includes all 18 shows.
The actress shares 5-year-old Luca with her ex-husband, Mike Comrie.
July 19 (UPI) -- Hilary Duff shared a sweet video of her son blowing her a kiss while water tubing this week.
The 29-year-old actress posted the cute clip with 5-year-old Luca from their family vacation Monday.
"Casual wave and and air kiss," she captioned the video on Instagram.
Duff had shared a photo Saturday of herself and Luca taking off on their trip. She opened up about her son and life as a mother in an interview with People published last week.
"I have a giant child," the star joked of Luca. "He is just under my chest. I can barely carry him anymore!"
"I just say enjoy every moment," she advised. "Hunker down and not put too much pressure on yourself and really enjoy the days as they come ... [Parenthood is] such an amazing adventure to go on and such a miracle."
Duff shares Luca with her ex-husband, retired NHL player Mike Comrie, from whom she split in 2014. She was spotted kissing SOLr Energy Consulting CEO Ely Sanvik during an outing to the beach this month.
"They were in Malibu," a source told E! News. "They played cards on the beach, hugged and kissed each other a lot. They were both very friendly and talked with everyone."
Duff came to fame on the Disney Channel sitcom Lizzie McGuire, and presently stars on the TV Land series Younger. She confessed in June that she "didn't know how to respond" after Luca recently discovered she's famous.
"I picked him up from school and when we got home he's like, 'I know your name,'" the star told Good Morning America. "I was like, no, I'm not ready for this yet!"
TAMPA, Fla. — Among the grown-up speakers at the annual Great American Teach-In this year, a 16-year-old in a slick suit stole the show.
Aniruth Narayanan is a junior at Tampa’s King High School . He visited the grade-schoolers at MacFarlane Park Elementary to teach them about speaking in public with confidence.

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