您现在的位置: Language Tips> Columnist> Liu Shinan  
   
 





 
A smile that shows the face of China
The smiling "iPhone Girl" probably best represents the present mindset of the Chinese...
[ 2008-09-03 14:01 ]

 A smile that shows the face of China

A British customer bought an iPhone set, in which he found a few photos of a woman worker on the assembly line of what obviously was the plant producing the mobile phones.

Instead of feeling angry at the manufacturer's mistake, the customer posted the photographs on the Internet. There was soon an online search for the girl. It turned out that the photos were shot as a test of Apple's new 3G handset in a plant in Shenzhen but the tester apparently forgot to delete the pictures from the phone's memory.

The image of the smiling Chinese girl soon became popular with netizens in what the world media called an "iPhone-girl frenzy". The girl's radiant smile plus her status as a worker was undoubtedly the main reason accounting for the worldwide attention. The round-faced girl grinning with white, neat teeth may not be the prettiest type of Chinese women but is definitely lovely and healthily good-looking.

Commodities made in China can be found in almost every corner of the world but it was probably the first time ever that consumers at the other side of the globe have seen a Chinese worker who hand-assembled their home appliances. That gave them a real sense, and a happy reminder, of globalization.

In recent years, the omnipresent "Made in China" has been criticized in some parts of the world as a synonym for job opportunity robber, child labor abuser and environment polluter and a symbol of the "China threat". It is actually a false story circulated to stay further and further away from the truth.

This columnist does not intend to discuss all the accusations made against China's exported products but wants to say a few words on the relationship between Chinese and the world economies.

Since it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, China has become the world's fourth largest economy and the third biggest importer/exporter. In its World Economic Outlook and Global Financial Stability Report published last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pointed out that the Chinese economy accounted for only 4 percent of the world economy but contributed nearly one-third to the global economic growth. Of this contribution, consumer goods made up the bulk part.

A smile that shows the face of China

Inexpensive Chinese goods have greatly benefited consumers throughout the world, especially those in the United States, Europe and Japan, the largest importers of "Made in China". American economist Gary Clyde Hufbauer once made a calculation on how much money Chinese goods had saved for American families. He found that each household saved more than $500 in 2003 through buying Chinese products. It amounted to the benefit President George W. Bush planned to bring to American families through a tax reduction program.

This is a proof of the positive role of globalization, in which China played an import part. Are cheap Chinese goods not a boon but rather a drawback for common people in the world?

While contributing to the stability and growth of the global economy, Chinese people improved their livelihood standards. They know they have benefited from the process of economic globalization. But they also hope to see economic advancement in other countries, because they know that no nation in the world, China included, can fare well without common prosperity of the global economy. That is why they believe in "One World, One Dream", as was best illustrated in the recently held 29th Olympic Games in Beijing.

The smiling "iPhone Girl" probably best represents the present mindset of the Chinese people - confident, full of hope for the future and friendly to the rest of the world.

E-mail: liushinan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/03/2008 page8)

我要看更多专栏文章 

 

About the author:
 

刘式南 高级编辑。1968年毕业于武汉华中师范学院(现华中师范大学)英文系。1982年毕业于北京体育学院(现北京体育大学)研究生院体育情报专业。1982年进入中国日报社,先后担任体育记者、时政记者、国际新闻编辑、要闻版责任编辑、发稿部主任、《上海英文星报》总编辑、《中国商业周刊》总编辑等职。现任《中国日报》总编辑助理及专栏作家。1997年获国务院“特殊贡献专家政府津贴”。2000年被中华全国新闻工作者协会授予“全国百佳新闻工作者”称号。2006年获中国新闻奖二等奖(编辑)。

 
英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883631联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。
相关文章 Related Story
 
 
 
本频道最新推荐
 
Walking in the US first lady's shoes
“准确无误”如何表达
英国新晋超女苏珊大妈改头换面
猪流感 swine flu
你有lottery mentality吗
翻吧推荐
 
论坛热贴
 
别乱扔垃圾。怎么译这个乱字呀?
橘子,橙子用英文怎么区分?
看Gossip Girl学英语
端午节怎么翻译?
母亲,您在天堂还好吗?