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"Real estate prices in first-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai will keep rising as the administrative structure is keeping high-quality resources there. The price rise is part of a regular market pattern."

Li Tie, director for the China Center for Urban Development, a think tank under the National Development and Reform Commission, speaking at an economic summit in Beijing on July 31. China's first-tier cities are not facing property bubbles, he said.

"I have been wearing this facial expression all my life. If you believe the expression suggests I am smiling, I can do nothing about it."

Zhu Dali

, a community official at the Qijiawan neighborhood committee of Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, quoted by Xinhua News Agency on Aug 1 defending himself against online criticism. Zhu, 50, was called callous and even cold-blooded when he was caught in a picture "smiling" while handling a child-drowning case last week.

"Driving a BMW but drinking polluted water - that is definitely not the modernization prospect we foresee."

Zhou Shengxian, minister of environmental protection, quoted by the People's Daily speaking on Aug 7. Zhou says progress in building an ecologically responsible society can be guaranteed only by implementing strict environmental regulations and the rule of law.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/09/2013 page3)