Word: won
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...Surprisingly, it is provincial cities like Xi'an that are leading this transition. In China's heartland, you won't find many factories churning out cheap toys or clothing for overseas markets, the kind of industrial activity that underpinned China's economic miracle and made Shanghai and Shenzhen wealthy. Total international trade represents a mere 18% of Xi'an's GDP, compared with 160% in Shanghai. Xi'an is being built instead on the burgeoning spending power of its own consumers, and on the expansion of Chinese companies churning out products for Chinese. "The domestic market will be the leading...
...Humans won't be the only animals to benefit. Clearing land for palm-oil plantations is Indonesia's leading cause of deforestation, says a 2007 U.N. report, with Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua the three worst-affected provinces. Thanks largely to the global appetite for palm oil, which is found in everything from chocolate bars to biofuels, the natural habitat of endangered animals such as the orangutan and Borneo rhino shrinks further each year. REDD could save them, said a recent study of Kalimantan by researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia. They believe that the revenues generated by preserving...
...chalets, Berlin the tormented critics. But if you're bored of those usual suspects, consider the continuous and colorful calendar of specialized screen festivals that take place in Asia. South Korea's Pusan International Film Festival - held in a port once known more for cuttlefish than cinematography - has won a permanent place of prestige in the global film industry's annual circuit of stars and schmoozers. There are plenty more below the radar, however, advancing good causes and, from time to time, good work. Here's a roundup of a half-dozen events that may be short on glamour...
...match for millions of commuters, who swarm through and around them undeterred as they shake with the surge of the crowd. During this year's national elections, urban voter turnout remained well below that of the villages, and none of the reform-minded independents who ran for Parliament won more than 2% of the vote - including the outspoken, idealistic banker Meera Sanyal, who ran in south Mumbai. R.R. Patil, a Maharashtra state politician who resigned when his remark that Mumbai's death toll could have been worse sparked public outrage, is back in office - once again in charge of security...
...There is also concern that growth will slip backward once China's recession-fighting stimulus is scaled back. One reason Xu's minivan sales have accelerated is government tax breaks and rebates offered on certain car purchases - incentives that won't last forever. State subsidies have also been given to rural residents to spur sales of refrigerators and washing machines. Though the government is implementing longer-lasting plans to convince citizens to spend more money (including a $125 billion program to improve national health care, especially in less developed regions), those efforts will take years to reach their full impact...