英語角-圓桌會議 RoundTable - 犯罪之鄉(xiāng)地圖

Topic1 Second Thoughts about Property TaxReal estate tycoon Ren Zhiqiang, aninfluential microblogger with more than 16 million Weibo followers says China shouldn'tlevy property tax now.

The reason, according to Ren while responding to netizens' questions on Weibo, is that urban home buyers don't have land ownership and there are already a multitude of fees and taxes they have to pay while purchasing a property.

The outspoken blogger says the country should reform the current real-estate taxation system before introducing any property tax.

His speech obvious runs against the tide, as a few Chinese cities have already begun levying property tax, and more are thinking about doing so. Does he make sense?

Topic2 Advisor Suggests Welfare-based Housing AllocationProfessor Xu Yan of Guangdong University of Finance says in order to ease traffic jam, the government should resume welfare-oriented distribution of public housing that had been widely adopted for 40 years but ceased since 1998.

Xu Yan explains that now many people buy apartments that are far from work places because of therelatively lower price. This increases the use of private cars and worsens traffic. If employers can offer cheap apartments around workplaces, 40% of private car use will be reduced.

Does he have a point?

Topic3 Highways Will Charge Toll Fee on Spring Festival EveAfter being criticized for "knowing nothing about politics", the officials in Heilongjiang transport department claimed that they will continue charging tolls on their highways this Chinese New Year's Eve because the day is not an official public holiday.

Why does this decision have to do with politics?

Topic4 China Has Many Patents, But Not Many Profitable OnesBack in October, 2010, TheEconomist carried an article examining innovation in China, titled "Patents, yes; ideas, maybe?" It says "Patents are easy to file, but gems are hard to find in a mountain of junk."That comment still describes the reality in China when it comes to patents that are abundant in number but are probably less valuable than those in America or Europe.

It's estimated that Chinese companies are still 20 years lagging behind their US or Japanese counterparts in terms of profits made from patent filing, litigation and monetization.

What's the current situation with patents in China? Why do China have so many patents?

Topic5 Crime Map of ChinaRecently a crime map becomes very popular on the internet. On the map, several places in China are highlighted and annotated with criminal behaviors such as pick-locking safe, stealing cars or sms fraud. It illustrates the most popular crimes people from different places tend to commit.

Is there any science to it?

Topic6 Wuhan Fires Worst-Performing Chengguan10 out of 8,000 chengguan have recently failed to reach the professional standards in the city of Wuhan. The result of the evaluation means they will lose their job.

The city's initiative, which came into form in 2013, is the first official evaluation system in China. Chengguan will be evaluated regularly based on their performance.

According to the official statistics, these 10 people are temporarily registered as Chengguan.

Stories of chengguan are much in the news these days, usually as sources of conflicts, rather than making the city better, which should be their duty. In some extreme cases, chengguan have even become killers in clashes. Is it good to know that the worst performing ones can be fired?