Highlights

Sheng Hong: Fulfilling Constitutionalism with Everyone's Action

When this year just started, constitutionalism was a highly discussed topic among common people. This is an encouraging fact for us, the advocators of constitutionalism. However, many people, including ourselves, have a misunderstanding of constitutionalism. First of all, it is often ragarded as the issue at the state level, implying that there is little relation between the common people and constitutionalism.

In fact, it is the opposite. Constitutionalism is a structure between different levels of rules. The general principle of constitutionalism is that lower rules should obey higher ones, which exists on every level of society ranging from world to family. For example, the family order is more important than the property institutions.

Since constitutionalism can be implemented at all levels, it also involves every individual, while constitutionalism only works at the state level, ordinary people can not reach it. One can implement constitutionalism at once if it can be implemented at his level. Every level of the society is composed of many people, who need to deal with the relationship between various principles. The Confucian idea of self-educating, family's perfecting, state's governing, and world's peacing, contains family's perfecting . But that is not an easy task , as in order to realize family's perfecting , we must implement constitutionalism in the family.

Starting from ourselves, we can promote constitutionalism as well as improve people's constitutional consciousness. Experiencing the benefits of constitutionalism by ourselves will increase our expectations on the positive effects that constitutionalism can have on different areas of and levels of society and thus popularizing constitutional consciousness. If most people have such experiences and reach a consensus on constitutionalism, it will not be difficult to promote constitutionalism. Even those people who are against constitutionalism will change their opinions when they benefit from constitutionalism.

As a small unit in our society, Unirule Institute of Economics is always following the principle of constitutionalism in decision-making, operating and managing. In a manner of speaking, we are performing a small constitutional experiment. It is believed that our staff is all very excellent, but we must realize that we are all ordinary people, who have their shortcomings,, which should be remedied by institutions. It is the constitutional institutions which can constrain the human's weakness and enlarge and aggregate their advantages. We now advocate constitutionalism without sadness for there are some critical voices expressing refusal towards constitutionalism. for we know very well that each of us could be a practitioner of constitutional reform. An increasing number of small units like Unirule following principles of constitutionalism will brighten the future prospects for China 's constitutional reform.

Sheng Hong
Director, Unirule Institute of Economics

Current Events

Unirule 2012 End of the Year Working Summary Meeting

The Unirule 2012 End of the Year Working Summary Meeting was held in Fragrant Hill Hotel on Jan. 26th and 27th, 2013. To begin with, Prof. Mao Yushi, President of Unirule, read out the results of the employee survey, emphasizing that Unirule should adhere to its ethos and improve its work. Furthermore, Prof. Zhang Shuguang, Chairman of the Academic Committee of Unirule, summarized Unirule's academic work and put forward the further development direction. Then, Prof. Sheng Hong, Director of Unirule, made a comprehensive summary of Unirule's work including academic work and financing cooperation. Furthermore, each department was responsible for presenting their work by giving an end of the year summary. Finally, Prof. Yao Zhongqiu, Chairman of Unirule, brought forward his expectations and encouraged members of Unirule to hold to its philosophy of playing an important role in the transformation of Chinese society as an independent think tank.

At the evening party, Mr. Gao Yan announced the list of individuals of Unirule, who were chosen to be rewarded for their achievements in 2012: Ms. Wei Lanying won the “Best Unirule Person Award”; Ms. Yang Hua won the “Outstanding Contribution Award”; Ms. Liu Qian won the “Unirule Dark-horse Award”; Mr. Mou Yuhuan won the “Best Cooperation Award”. The Unirule members gave various performances and played many games on the evening get-together party, including magic tricks, chorus, solos, dances, etc.

Memorial Meeting for Prof. Deng Zhenglai held by Unirule

Mr. Deng Zhenglai, famous jurist, politician, translator and the director of Unirule, ceased to think on January 24th, 2013. Unirule colleagues held a memorial meeting, mourning deeply over the loss of Prof. Deng Zhenglai. The memorial meeting was conducted by Mr. Yao Zhongqiu, Chairman of Unirule. More than thirty persons attended the memorial meeting including Mr. Deng's friends, students and followers. Many scholars including Wang Yan, Zhang Xiaojin, Zhang Shuguang, Zhang Weiying, Mao Shoulong, Xu Youyu, Sheng Hong, Li Weiguang and Feng Xingyuan delivered their eulogies.

Southern China Water Investment and Financing Forum

The Southern China Water Investment and Financing Forum was jointly and successfully held by Jun Zejun Law Offices and Unirule Institute of Economics at China Import and Export Fair Pazhou Complex in Guangzhou on March 5th, 2013.

The conventioneers included renowned economist Mr. Mao Yushi, director of Unirule, Mr. Sheng Hong, former deputy inspector of Ministry of Construction and deputy secretary of the China Urban Water Supply Association, Ms. Liu Zhiqi, deputy inspector of Chongqing Development and Reform Commission and director of Chongqing World Bank Loan Project Management Office, Mr. Zhou Linjun, lawyer and senior partner of Jun Zejun Law Offices, Mr. Yan Jun, executive director of Southern China Research Center of Unirule, Mr. Zhao Xu and many other experts in the fields of water, investment and finance as well as renowned water executives. During the forum, the participants discussed possible ways to seize opportunities and meet various challenges to innovate water profit patterns as well as reform the water supply system.

The Unirule Institute of Economics puts great importance on marketization of the water supply system and reform of the regulatory system. With the establishment of Unirule Southern China Research Center in Guangzhou, the Unirule Institute of Economics will enhance its capacity to promote the marketization and reform of the water supply system.

News

Prof. Zhao Nong was invited to attend the 7th and final Chinese Industry-US Government Round Table

Prof. Zhao Nong was invited to attend the 7th and final Chinese Industry-US Government Round Table on January 25th, 2013, in Beijing, at the Kempinski Hotel, organized by the Research Center for Chinese Politics & Business (RCCPB). More than 20 people from China and abroad participated in the round table. Prof. Zhao made a speech on “Chinese enterprises going abroad”.

Prof. Gao Yan and Mr. Zhao Xu were co-opted onto to the Board of Beijing Unirule Consulting Co. Ltd

Prof. Gao Yan and Mr. Zhao Xu were voted and co-opted on to the board of Beijing Unirule Consulting Co. Ltd at the shareholder's meeting.

Unirule Academic Thought Teaching Class by Prof. Mao Yushi for the first group of students was held successfully

Unirule Academic Thought Teaching Class by Prof. Mao Yushi for the first group of students was held successfully in Beijing on February 21th, 2013. Mr. Mao Yushi, Mr. Gao Yan and Mr. Zhao Nong held interviews and auditioned eight students from Beijing, Tianjin, Liaoning, Henan, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhejiang, and Guangdong.

The First Rural Woman Development Public Welfare Foundation in China was set up

As the First Rural Woman Development Public Welfare Foundation in China, Guangdong Green Shoots Rural Women Development Foundation was set up in Guangzhou on March 6th, 2013. The Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus, the famous economist and president of Unirule Mao Yushi and eleven other people were invited to be strategy consultants of the foundation. The executive director of Unirule Southern China Research Center Zhao Xu was appointed as a member of the board of the foundation. In the forum, Prof. Mao Yushi and Mr. Zhao Xu delivered speeches and participated in the discussion.

Prof. Feng Xingyuan was invited to attend the Lingnan Forum

Prof. Feng Xingyuan was invited to attend the Lingnan Forum on March 23th, 2013, lecturing on the subject of New Urbanization and The Way for China .

Current Researches/Consultings

Research on the Fairness and Efficiency of the Allocation of Financial Resources 

The first-order problems about the fairness and efficiency of the allocation of financial resources are whether the overall tax burden level lies in the optimal range, and whether the tax type and tax system hurt the economic growth. The second-order problems are whether the expenditure structure, especially the transfer payments of financial resources, is in line with the principles of justice under the conditions at a given tax burden level, as well as the efficiency of fiscal spending, in particular the proportion of general administrative expenses.

The Unirule Institute of Economics will conduct a research on the fairness and efficiency of the allocation of financial resources, focusing on the above mentioned second-order problems. Allocating financial resources, as commonly used in the world, is a way to achieve fairness in a society. Two ways of intervention can be adopted: direct intervention and indirect intervention. Through direct intervention, financial resources are directly allocated to individuals in order to adjust personal income distribution, e.g. pensions and social assistance fees, rural relief fees and social insurance fund expenditures in China's fiscal expenditure projects. By indirect intervention, the government increases the expenditure in agriculture, infrastructure, culture, education, science and healthcare. This research focuses on the fairness of the allocation of financial resources. Moreover, the study will pay attention to the transfer payments of financial resources, and whether the transfer payments are in accord with Rawls's Second Principle of Justice, i.e. the transfer payments can be slightly leaned towards the poorest people when violating the First Principle of Justice. The allocation of financial resources also encounters efficiency problems. China's general administrative expenditures are above the world average. There are problems with loss and waste of public financial resources (about a trillion Renminbi a year). For the efficiency issues of the allocation of financial resources, this research will analyze the change of proportion of administrative costs (plus other related costs, such as public healthcare costs of government officials and housing subsidies costs) and fiscal revenue and expenditure. The reform of the fiscal system is one of the core issues in China. This research selects the fairness and efficiency of allocation of financial resources instead of a comprehensive study of the fiscal and taxation system, in order to make a preliminary assessment of the allocation of financial resources in China.

Research on Endogenous and Sustainable Urbanization: Reassessment and Correction of China's Urbanization

Urbanization is one of the most important economic and social policies of the new government. The key point of the policy is the urbanization of middle and small sized towns. In China there are thousands of towns with developed industry, however in terms of social governance quality, these towns lag far behind.

I) Lots of people are stuck between rural and urban areas and therefore are unable to accomplish their “urbanization”. Hundreds of millions of migrants are employed by modern industries in towns. These people will not migrate back to rural areas. However, without a “hukou” they can not enjoy equal rights like urban residents in education, housing, etc.

II ) In spite of their developed industrial sector, these towns still fall far behind in terms ofsocial governance. In the Chinese administrative system, local governments are divided into different levels, and different administrative levels mean different access to resources, like administrative power, budget, staff, etc. A town's government, at bottom level (lower than county) in the Chinese administrative system, is unable to get adequate resources for providing necessary infrastructure and public services to its big population. Instead, it has to hiretemporary staff and informal power (sometimes illegal power) to govern the society.

III ) China's urbanization is disordered as mega cities' expansion is pushed forward by administrative power, while those self-evoluted towns are not “allowed” to be promoted to “city status”.

IV ) “Half-urbanization” blocks industrial upgrade and damages sustainable growth in those developed industrial townThe key to industrial upgrade is upgrade of personnel. For sustainable development, enterprises must be able to attract and retain highly qualified staff and investors, who require high quality living, which is not provided in “towns”. Meanwhile, “half-urbanization” also dramatically restricts the development of service industries, especially high-level service industries. The restriction of those developed industrial towns, which account for a significant part in China's economy, restricts the upgrade of China's economic structure.

The purpose of Unirule Institute of Economics planning to launch a research on China's endogenous urbanization is improving social governance in developed industrial towns, in particular, promoting urbanization of millions of rural migrant workers, advancing the route of urbanization and finally achieving a democratic and autonomous governance.

Research on Public Governance of Chinese Provincial Capital Cities

During the year of 2007, rights movements were raging like storms. These movements are symbols of resistance against the power and unequal position. It is the powerful people, who violate others' fundamental rights. The main reason for the gap between the wealthy and the poor lies in the inequality of rights and status. At present, the most powerful side is obviously the government, which also stems from lacking of effective supervision by the common people.

Based on this, Unirule Institute of Economics conducted a research on public governance of Chinese provincial capital cities from 2008, performing surveys on the performance of provincial capital cities and giving quantitative evaluation. The method of research is face-to-face conversation, more than 3000 valid responses were obtained in 2007 and more than 6000 in 2008. Compared to the past, there was a significant improvement in the the sampling method in 2008. The third investigation was conducted in 2010, sampling more than 6000 valid responses. Furthermore, Unirule conducted the forth investigation at the end of 2012, focusing on reasons for changes in the ranking and the fairness of financial payment.

Research on Improving Transparency in Local Governments

With the development of the reform and opening up policy, space for reform is shrinking, vertical flow of population structure is solidifying and conflict of interest is expanding. In order to cope with the effects of unstable factors, a stability system is formed by establishing a system of politics and law, supported by public security, legal courts, petitions, urban management and other institutions as well as responsibility at the grass-roots government level. The expenditures for maintaining such a stability system have caused a lot of controversy. The maintenance of the stability system is unsustainable and transparency in governments is the most efficient way to address this problem. Public governance is meant to guide people to understand but not to guard against the common people, among which communication and full information are the most crucial ones. Without transparency in the government, no fair and open supervision system can be achieved.

Based on this, Unirule Institute of Economics conducted a research on transparency in local governments starting from 2011. The research touched Regulation on Open Government Information in China and evaluated the implementation effect of Regulation on Open Government Information in some cities. Then, the research drew lessons from law on open government information from developed countries, putting forward seven goals, namely: cadre information transparency, fiscal transparency, decision-making mechanism transparency, administrative transparency, public service transparency, local government enterprise transparency and rights protection transparency.

Upcoming Events

Prof. Mao Yushi 's Academic Thinking Training

Application period: January 15 th to April 8 th
Opening Date: April 13 th , 2013
Contact Person: Li Yunzhe; Liu Qian
Tel: 010-82571544-8000
E-mail: liyunzhe@unirule.org.cn ; Liu Qian@unirule.org.cn

Chinese reform is in a crucial period. China is crying for calm and rational thoughts, to face new emerging problems in the period of transition. As an outstanding representative of “public intellectuals”, Prof. Mao Yushi goes carefully into human rights, freedom and ethical questions from the view of humanities economics and has his original ideas on matters of great public interest.

Prof. Mao dedicated his life to academic research. He cares for the younger generation andis quite willing to develop and pass the knowledge and thoughts he acquired through his research. Hence, in order to meet the demand of the market, Unirule will offer Prof. Mao Yushi 's Academic Thinking Training, agreed to by Prof. Mao Yushi.

Economic Liberalism Forum 2013: Sichuan Private Enterprises and Private Financial Development Summit Forum

Sichuan Private Enterprises and Private Financial Development Summit Forum will be held by Unirule Institute of Economics in Chengdu on May 25th, 2013. Some subjects will be conducted such as: impact analysis of government macroeconomic policy on the development of private enterprises after the NPC and CPPCC; opportunities and challenges for the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle and city group under the background of Western Development; development opportunities for private entrepreneurs whether or not under the background of state-owned economy's market share outstripping private enterprises' market share, the form of folk finance and its role in promoting the development of private enterprises, capital markets and private enterprise; interpretation of the land reform and the new policy on real estate market; the Confucian philosophy in business management culture. Experts and scholars, including Mr. Mao Yushi, Mr. Zhang Shuguang, Mr. Sheng Hong, Mr. Yao Zhongqiu, Mr. Feng Xingyuan, Mr. Chen Zhiwu and Mr. Zhaonong will attend this forum.

Unirule Twentieth Anniversary Celebration

Unirule Twentieth Anniversary Celebration will be held in Beijing on July 26th, 2013. When the time comes, national well-known scholars and business leaders as well as political circles will be invited to participate in the anniversary celebration. As the most influential and independent think tank, Unirule upholds its spirits of supporting and promoting high quality research and studies on economic theory as well as analyzing social and economic problems. Unirule always stands at the forefront of reform, speaks out, and seeks solutions for system innovation.

Unirule Biweekly Symposiums
Unirule’s Biweekly Symposiums are known in China and throughout the world for their long history of open and in-depth discussions and exchanges of ideas in economics and other social sciences. Over 470 sessions have been held and over 15,000 scholars, policy makers, and students, as well as countless readers on the web, have directly and indirectly, and participated in the Biweekly Symposium for close to 20 years.

Biweekly Symposiums begin at 2 p.m. every other Friday and are free and open to the public.

Schedule
Biweekly Symposium No. 473: April 12th , 2013
Biweekly Symposium No. 474: April 26th , 2013

Previous Biweekly Symposiums

Biweekly Symposium No. 467

Time: December 7th, 2012
Topic: The Rise and Fall of A Communist Utopia: Public Canteen and Canteen Report
Lecturer: Prof. Zhang Shuguang

Prof. Zhang Shuguang is doing a research on The Knowledge Rain In Fifty Years: History of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Economic, which aims at studying the history of 60 years of China's economic thoughts and reproducing the changes and transition, which the Chinese society underwent during more than half a century.

In this forum, Prof. Zhang Shuguang introduced one chapter of this research, namely Public Canteen and Canteen Report. Collectivization changed our mode of production and public canteen changed our way of life. We need to rethink and reflect this period of history. Prof. Zhang mentioned ten questions considering the relationship between public canteen and the emancipation of women, public canteen and food problems, public canteen and fertilizer and fuel, public canteen and collectivization of life and the problems of canteen management. In addition, Prof. Zhang rethought four questions, namely the communist nature of public canteen, personal freedom and rights, the Communist Party governance form and highest decision-maker's behavior as well as other research problems.

Editor: Liu Qian
Revisor: Hannah Luftensteiner