Traditional economic theory holds that China's large trade surplus with the rest of the world is good for the country, but bad for its trading partners.
But now with that surplus falling, one Chinese professor says that's actually good for the country.
What to do with a budget surplus is vexing the Chinese government. This year's total budget was about one trillion US dollars. At the end of November, 300 billion was leftover.
Officials are now concerned provincial and central government departments will embark on poorly thought out attempts to spend the remaining money for fear of their budgets being cut next year.
China's finance minister has warned governments at all levels to tighten spending to avoid a rush on things like luxury offices, expensive government cars, or even disbursing generous year-end bonuses to staff.
China’s Civil Aviation Administration - the equivalent of the FAA in the US - recently disclosed that more than 200 pilots in China had been suspended after it discovered they had what it called “falsified” experience records. The CAAC says it will now be scrutinizing the records of all 13,000 commercial pilots in China.
Economists say that international trade is leading the world out of recession and on the road to recovery. But that doesn't mean the world's biggest trading blocs are in agreement. Andrew Livingstone reports on a trade dispute threatening to open a rift between the European Union and China.
Doro has considerable experience travelling all over China. She tells us the story of her travels with her parents and a Tibetan guide in Lhasa and her Buddhist experience during this time.