1. Jiefang Daily: I have a question: spokeswoman Jiao said that, during the period of the city's 11th Five Year Plan (2006-2010), Shanghai will facilitate vocational training according to the requirements of the so-called "One, Two, Four, Five and Five" system. As a concept, can you introduce it in detail, especially the "Four Guarantees"?

Jiao Yang: The concept of "One, Two, Four, Five and Five" is what I learnt from the relevant department and it is their idiom. It is at the core of the city's decision to facilitate vocational training. 'One' is to establish a notion of 'great vocational training', which is an important ideology of the city government. Vocational training is not covered by the educational department only, but is an open system for which all the relevant departments should take responsibility and to which the whole of society should pay attention and make an effort to achieve. The managing of all levels of vocational education and training as a whole entails the integration of educational resources including academic education and vocational training before employment and adult education thereafter to form a perfect vocational training management system. It is a very important concept.

The notion of 'Two Systems' is to build up a modern vocational education system and a permanent study and training system. The two systems cover both the vocational education system on campus and the permanent study and training system post-graduation. As for vocational education, we have just introduced you to several key statistics: for instance, the graduates of secondary vocational schools number nearly the same as those of high schools; those of higher vocational schools number half that of universities and colleges; and more than one-third of local workers acquire new knowledge and receive skill-improvement training every year. The permanent study and training system also has some requirements, such as on the construction of vocational training centers, the establishment of vocational training groups and the adoption of a chain business model.

The reporter wants to know about the 'Four Guarantees' in greater detail. The 'Four Guarantees' are namely the system guarantee, financing guarantee, subsidy guarantee and consensus guarantee.

The system guarantee is to gradually adopt an employment admission system and to improve the vocational qualification system. It is very important and also meets the requirements of modernization. It has two principal aspects, the first being to gradually adopt an employment admission system, that is to say, people should be employed after vocational training. It is a very important concept, The second is to facilitate the establishment of a system of vocational qualification standards representing the needs of both local economic development and the labor market. That is the system guarantee.

The financing guarantee is to increase the amount of money spent on vocational education so as to ensure its healthy and sustained development. This also has two principal aspects. Firstly, the city plans to increase investment in vocational schools. The city's investment on secondary vocational schools will grow to 30 percent of the local education budget this year compared to 22 percent last year, with an additional one percentage-point increase annually thereafter. By 2010, vocational training is expected to account for 34 percent of the city's education spending. Special funds will be launched for district and county-based vocational training and also for higher vocational education. Special funding will be gradually increased for privately-owned vocational schools, and the standard for public funds per secondary vocational school student should be established. Companies that volunteer their workshops as training bases for students are also expected to enjoy tax breaks. That is one aspect. Secondly, the city will strictly follow state regulations covering companies' use of funds for employee training. The regulations are in place, and need to be implemented in a strict way. That is the financing guarantee.

The subsidy guarantee aims to establish a subsidy and reward system for secondary vocational school students. Its main purpose is to offer subsidies to needy or disabled students and those from rural households. Students from agricultural disciplines and those disciplines in great demand by society will be awarded grants.

The consensus guarantee is to enhance the popularization of vocational education and improve the public recognition of its status and function. Its purpose is to form a positive cycle whereby vocational education serves society and society supports the education. That is the last of the four 'Guarantees'.

Of the final two 'Five's' of our concept, the first is to enhance the five plans for vocational training as follows:

Firstly, the construction plan for model vocational schools. The number of secondary vocational training should be cut to below 100, all meeting the requirements of national model vocational schools. The city will also establish several state and city-level model higher-vocational schools.

Secondly, the construction plan for a vocational training system. The plan requires the establishment of a number of vocational training centers in both urban and rural areas, with a reasonable geographic distribution, covering major local industries and for the benefit of residents. Qualified schools should also have evaluation institutes to test vocational skills.

Thirdly, the creation of vocational training groups. This is an innovation aimed at establishing vocational training groups and adopting a chain business model. It means that, with the lead of famous and model vocational schools, groups will be established with the help of relevant companies and industries to build up links between vocational education and the social economy and also to boost communication between the elements of vocational education, training and skill-evaluation. Shanghai plans to establish such groups initially in ten sectors - electronic information, Mechanical/Electrical digital control, transportation & logistics, construction, light industry, chemicals, tourism, modern arts, modern care & treatment and modern agricultural. It is useful to the sharing and complementing of educational resources of various fields, the combination of industry and education and also for scientific and technological development. It is significant to the overall development of vocational education.

Fourthly, the plan for training vocational school teachers. Such teachers are different from normal ones as they are required to practice their skills in companies on a regular basis. Over a two-year period, each teacher should practice in companies for two months. Vocational schools have high requirements on teacher's practical experience and manual ability, and technicians and engineers will be invited to teach in the schools. By the end of the period of the 11th Five Year Plan, the number of teachers with both theoretical and practical ability is expected to account for more than 30 percent of the total.

Fifthly, the plan to reform curricula and textbooks. Vocational schools should use their initiative to adjust their curricula according to changes in economic structure, social development, scientific and technological progress and the labor market to enable students to be conversant with new technologies and techniques.

The final 'Five' is the five projects. Here I will just briefly name them for you: firstly, the training project for national skilled talents; secondly, the training project for re-training farmers; thirdly, the training project for practical rural talents; fourthly, the training project for adult education and employment training; and fifthly, the training project for migrant workers. The first four projects follow the State Council's stipulations on the facilitation of vocational education. The fifth project has been decided upon in light of Shanghai's particular needs. Local government departments will divide the work according to their particular responsibilities.

2. Shanghai Morning Post: Mr. Zhu Chenggang (Secretary-General of Shanghai Municipal Economic Commission), you have mentioned that three measures will play a positive role in the guidance of commercial investment. I know that in some foreign countries, the government will play an important role in the planning process, especially relating to hypermarkets, such as holding a hearing on site-selection. Can you tell me whether we can learn from overseas practice? What are your comments on the business model of existing local hypermarkets and future trends? The next question is for the spokeswoman: it has been reported that policies for home-buyers seeking mortgage loans from the city's public housing fund would be adjusted. Local citizens want to know more about it. Can you tell me when the new policy will be implemented and whether the maximum limit of such a loan will be 600,000 yuan (US$75,000)? Can such funds be spent on commercial loans or housing rents? Please provide some details. You have mentioned several times, in press conferences, the fluctuation of international oil prices, and Shanghai is considering the launching of a system to link international crude oil prices to local prices. How is the work going?

Zhu Chenggang: Your first question, on whether Shanghai will learn from overseas on the management of the comercial outlets, especially for large-scale developments: there are different management models abroad , mainly relating to market resource allocation, but some countries have laws on the establishment of large commercial facilities. For example, Japan has laws on the establishment of large-scale retailers and France also has such laws. The area taken up by Shanghai's retailers has increased rapidly over recent years. The Shanghai Municipal Economic Commission is still focusing on the market adjustment, while the government will adopt some measures to play a guiding role. The three measures of today are our measures. We are also paying attention to and studying foreign practice. This year, the Ministry of Commerce is likely to issue an ordinance on the management of commercial outlets in urban areas, which will have a series of regulations on commercial planning. After the ordinance is issued, we will follow its tenets.

Now let me come to the second question. Regarding the development of Shanghai's large commercial outlets, I think there are two trends.  One is of development via intensive cooperation. In other words, more and more large commercial outlets will emerge, as the existing separate outlets will group together as functional entities and thus form large commercial centers. Particularly during the period of developing a new socialist countryside, more large commercial facilities are likely to appear in suburban areas. The other trend of commercial development runs counter to this and is individualization. The number of fashionable small stores and those with their own intellectual property rights will increase.  These stores will cater to more specialized and diverse consumer demands.

Jiao Yang: Responding to recent media reports on public housing fund policies, we have consulted the Shanghai Provident Fund Management Center.  We learned that, last year, Shanghai twice made  adjustments to the maximum limit for homebuyers seeking mortgage loans from the city's mandatory provident fund and the optional supplementary housing fund.  On March 1 this year, the fund management center, again, fine-tuned the limits for loans for second-hand housing. In general, Shanghai strictly adheres to the State Council's "Provident Fund Management Regulations" and the city government's newly enacted " Regulations on Shanghai's Provident Fund Management", which took effect from January 1.  Based on these rules and in an effort to maximize the  provident fund's function of improving local housing conditions, Shanghai will keep adjusting the fund policies after taking into consideration such factors as the fund's financial status and citizens' realistic housing demands.

Attempting to realize the city government's goal of establishing a multi-level housing insurance system and improving on it, as well as have the provident fund scheme play a role in the local housing insurance system, the fund management center is studying and deliberating on a series of more policy adjustments relating to fund payments and withdrawals.  The work is still underway and the new policies will be rolled-out when the time is ripe.

Regarding concerns about the oil-taxi pricing scheme,  Shanghai has well-prepared follow-up measures to help implementation of the national oil price-based scheme.

The departments concerned are giving full and comprehensive consideration to the oil-taxi scheme and making active arrangements.  Enactment, preparation and implementation requires a series of legal procedures, including public hearings and approval procedures. Government departments, regarding their particular responsibilities and work processes, will publicize their part of the work in due course.

3. SETV:  I have a question about vocational education. It's well known that both the municipal government and the education authority have advocated the principal of developing and adjusting Shanghai's vocational education system into an employment-oriented one.  Therefore, we are very interested in the employment status of graduates from varied types and levels of vocational education institutions. Could you please give us some data on this? As graduates with vocational skills require a workplace to demonstrate their skills, how do employers' evaluate them?

Jiao Yang: You have raised a very good question.  It is crucial that the government's promotion of vocational education is based on the principle of employment-orientation.  I'd like to give a brief introduction to Shanghai's vocational education and  employment issues.

The critical principle of Shanghai's promotion of vocational education is employment-orientation.  During the 10th "Five-Year" period, Shanghai restructured vocational education and reprogrammed the curricula in line with its industrial restructuring.  It has established an employment mechanism that is market-oriented and government-guided.  Schools take a primary role in finding a job for their graduates by offering recommendations, while  intermediary social agents play a supplementary role in the job-hunting process.  Students and employers have an equal say in reaching an employment agreement.  Also, Shanghai has taken a national lead in establishing an annual system to publicize employment results for mid-level vocational schools so as to help achieve full-employment of graduates.

Currently, there are 135 polytechnic schools (243,900 students) and 61 vocational colleges (168,700 students) in Shanghai. Last year, 98.31 percent of mid-level graduates found jobs, while 96.18 percent of the seniors were employed.  Data indicates that, of local residents joining the city's labor pool, over 60 percent are graduates from vocational education facilities.

Employers have high regard for Shanghai's vocational graduates.  Mid-level polytechnic graduates are praised as being keen at job finding, business start-ups, further schooling and life-long learning.  Senior-level graduates are praised as diligent, stable, adaptable to new jobs and technologies, and well-versed in professional skills and theories. Thanks to these merits, Shanghai's vocational graduates are favored by employers and have topped their peers nationwide for consecutive years in terms of their high employment ratio.

The reporter's second question was about the evaluation of vocational graduates. I think it is because of high evaluations that the students are favored, thus leading to a high employment ratio.  The ratio has long-been the highest nationally. Thank you!

4.International Finance News: Last year, the city government initiated subsidies for taxi drivers following the national raising of oil prices. Will similar measures feature this year? I've heard the country plans to locate the financial futures market in Pudong. Could the spokesperson please confirm this report?

Jiao Yang: For your first question, I have already answered it when dealing with the issue of the oil-taxi pricing mechanism.  The mechanism is an effective long-term one, rather than a short-term one, in that subsidies will be triggered when oil prices change. However, to establish this mechanism, we will have to go through a series of legal procedures, such as approvals and hearings. Prior to the establishment of the mechanism, the government and taxi companies will study changes in oil prices and decide whether or not to provide subsidies to drivers.

5. PhoenixTV: A human case of bird flu infection has been reported in Shanghai.  It has aroused high attention from Chen Liangyu and Han Zheng. Chen Liangyu has stressed that we can never underestimate the difficulty faced by a metropolis such as Shanghai in preventing and controlling bird flu. Why is it difficult? Currently, are there any new human or poultry infections in Shanghai? What prevention and control measures are in place?

Jiao Yang: Many thanks to the PhoenixTV reporter for being concerned for Shanghai and the good knowledge displayed of the requirements put forward by the city leaders.  The notion of "never can be underestimated", appearing in today's newspapers, is a quote from Party Secretary Chen Liangyu.

As an open international metropolis, Shanghai has big difficulties in disease prevention and control due to the dense population, far-reaching transport links and mass migration.  Upon the detection of the first case of human infection, Shanghai immediately publicized the news and related government departments  responded quickly with prevention and control measures. So far, there are no new cases detected among either humans or poultry.

As required by city party and government leaders, Shanghai has already adopted the following measures to prevent and control bird flu:

I. Strengthen bird vaccination and market sterilization.
Vaccination is the most effective and basic measure to prevent bird flu infection. Starting in 2004, Shanghai has regularly conducted mandatory vaccination of poultry across the city.  As well as enhancing resistance to disease, this method can extinguish the sources of infection and cut off channels of infection so that the risk of possible bird flu outbreaks are reduced. The latest observation indicates that vaccination has basically covered the whole city.

II. Reinforce  monitoring of epidemic outbreaks.
Here the monitoring occurs in two ways. One is on poultry bred in the city, and the other on that sold in local markets but originating from outside the city. Government departments have reinforced random checks on poultry imports at local road gateways to the city and monitoring of live chickens at designated wholesale markets.  Meanwhile, observation and monitoring has been intensified on migratory birds at 14 local observation points.  A daily report system is in place.

III. Tighten-up supervision at road entrances.
Twenty-four-hour supervision is underway at eight designated road entrances. To prohibit non-qualified and substandard poultry and products from entering the city, examination of vaccination certificates issued in the places where the poultry is bred is carried out, and sterilization and random checks are conducted.  At road entrances other than the eight mentioned, police, transport authority and local district/county governments take charge of supervision, arranging policy promotion and notification and organizing checks to vehicles engaged in transporting poultry.

IV. Regulate the poultry trade.
In addition to strengthened monitoring, the city's three live-poultry wholesale markets and 461 designated live-poultry retail markets are regularly closed for routine sterilization.  Illegal trade conducted at places other than these markets is strictly banned, such as trade of live poultry other than chickens or off-market trade of live chickens. In consideration of the multiplicity of potential sources, trading in birds has been banned at local markets since November 30.

V. Intensify cooperation and coordination.
To help implementation of bird flu prevention and control measures, the local commerce and agricultural commissions as well as the administrative authorities of industry and commerce, health and press are cooperating closely, under the guidance of the municipal government, to share information.  With each facing up to their particular responsibilities, the departments are devoted to the prevention and control work.
 
6. Shanghai Afternoon Post: I have a question for Mr. Zhu Chenggang.  Regarding the information system for large-scale commercial developments you mentioned just now, what are its main functions and characteristics?  What is the purpose of the three measures adopted by the Shanghai Municipal Economic Commission on the launch of this system?  Can you give us more details? Thank you.

Zhu Chenggang: The website of this information system is at www.bigshop.31gis.com.  There are four main functions of this system.  The first is the Search, which has two categories.  One is large-scale commercial , including big malls, shopping centers and department stores.  The other is the newly-programmed area that focuses on modern services.  The second function is that the Issuance.  Documents released by the Economic Commission can be found here, namely the recently-issued guide to commercial land-use.  You can find this guide on the site.  The third is the Statistics.  Data and materials in geographical order is available here.  The last function is Analysis.  The environmental aspects, say the distance between two shops, the surrounding facilities and the nature of a business, can be analyzed via a GIS system.

To answer your second question, there are three main purposes behind these three measures.  First of all, the booming rate of business investment recently, up over 60 percent last year, has led us to create a transparent information system which will balance the investment situation by guiding capital flows to an increasing number of destinations.  Secondly, these three measures will help investors to know more about the market and avoid potential mistakes caused by unscientific decision-making.  Lastly, they will boost the coordination of new commercial investment with the construction of public infrastructure, which will benefit investors.

7. China Business News: My first question is about the establishment of a new suburb mentioned in the 11th Five-year commercial plan. Can you detail the plan relating to this new suburb?  What are your main concerns? What is the final vision for this new suburb?  Also, how many large-scale commercial projects are there currently and what is their distribution? The last two questions are for Ms. Jiao Yang.  Due to the increased price of oil and a possible strain on energy sources, the municipality  has recently started several research projects to find substitutes, including research at Tongji University on the new moto.  What is the present situation and the background to this research?
The Ministry of Public Health held a meeting yesterday on the crack-down on bribery in the medical system.  Can you disclose the potential measures the city will take in response to this?  Also, what new initiatives will the city take to further lower the price of medicine and bring greater convenience to the sick? Thank you.

Zhu Chenggang: Commercial development in the suburbs is really at the top of the agenda in the 11th Five-year commercial plan for the city.  Consequently, the establishment of new suburbs, as a key point in the future development of the city, features large in the plan.  During the commercial development of the suburbs, we have the following points to make.  Firstly, the establishment of new facilities should follow the planning regulations of the towns.  Secondly, large-scale commercial facilities should be the focus, including logistics centers and big shopping malls.  Thirdly, these facilities should bring greater convenience to the daily lives of the people there.  For example, they can be built within residential areas.  Of course, we will add some new measures during the implementation of the 11th Five-year plan.

Your second question is about existing large-scale commercial developments.  By last year, the floorspace of commercial retail shops had reached 32 million square meters, which is comparatively low on a per capita basis.  There are some other cities in China where the figure is much higher.  Shanghai has almost the same rate as some international metropolises.
As a whole, local retail facilities, especially large-scale ones, are healthy.  However, we hope that, during the process of investing in future large-scale projects, investors will follow our basic business plan and the overall program of the city.

Jiao Yang:  As for your second question,the municipality has been strongly supporting, promoting and encouraging the research and development of  new energy sources.   You can refer to the particular departments for the details of the research work.

Your third question is about the crackdown on commercial bribery.  It's a serious issue which involves policy-making, the economy and culture as well as the honest development of the party, societal ethics and the anti-corruption campaign.  The municipal party committee and government place high emphasis on this, and held a special work conference to set targets and make proposals.  First of all, after carefully studying the requirements of the central government, the city will establish a leadership team to guide the crack-down on commercial bribery. Secondly, we will research and investigate the real situation in the city and draft appropriate counter-measures.  Thirdly, based on the this, we will draft the detailed operational schedule and requirements of this leadership team.  Last but not least, the administrations of industry and commerce, at all levels, shoulder an important responsibility to maintain orderly business operations, and face a difficult task in the fight against commercial bribery. 
We hope the city will have a  more fresh and favorable ethos after this campaign, and that we will finally realize the dream of building a harmonious society.

Now, the last question.

8. Expo2010china.com: Can Ms. Jiao Yang brief us on why the city is boosting the development of vocational education?

Jiao Yang: Mayor Han Zheng pointed out during a work conference on local vocational education situation today that a better system will optimize the local industrial structure, boost the employment market and raise the overall quality of the workforce.

On one hand, revitalizing the city through science and education is the main strategy, which requires that new scientific advances can be put into production as soon as possible.  This process demands a number of specialities in research, design, management and development.  Meanwhile, workers who specialize in technical operations and front-line services are needed.  Consequently,  vocational education plays an important role in raising the overall quality of the workforce, which in turn will sharpen the competitive-edge of local enterprises.

On the other hand, many international metropolises in other developed countries share our experience in that the vocational education system is operated and managed by local government.  The government fully encourages the development of this system with positive policy guidance, seeking to pursuade people to support and undertake trianing to further their careers.  This helps people to choose a career that both suits their own situation and also meets the needs of the city in its development as well.  The development of society needs the participation of numerous specialist workers.  The strategy to revitalize the city through science and education brings with it new and higher requirements on the quality and technical level of the workforce.  This is a must for the development of society.

The newly-released Decisions follow the particular requirements for the development of the vocational training system by the state and tally with the real situation in the city.  It sets practical targets to achieve certain scientific outcomes and outlines the policy measures needed.