The state of China's government finances do not normally grab the headlines amid the economic data emanating from the world's second-largest economy.
Linda Yueh, adjunct professor of economics at the London Business School
Leading economist George Magnus believes China is set to face a severe fiscal squeeze. Fiscal revenues are set to grow at just 1 percent this year, the slowest growth since 1981, according to a Deutsche Bank report.
The Chinese government's fiscal deficit was one of the hottest topics across the country during the annual CPC and CPPCC meetings. There was much interest in Premier Li Keqiang's announcement of a 2.3 percent fiscal deficit target for this year as he unveiled the Government Work Report on March 5.
China's economy is undergoing a difficult structural transition on many different fronts. The shift away from investment-heavy, industry-led growth toward a new model where consumption and services dominate is not an easy one.
China's record in infrastructure development puts it in a good position to play a greatly increased role in renewable energy projects in Africa.
Lessons learned from China's national policy to promote the use of improved cookstoves in rural areas may prove useful if Kenya implements recommendations made by civil organizations in East Africa, including international NGOs.
Two government-approved solar projects in Kenya will be financed and built by Chinese companies.
Fewer than 40 percent of Africans have access to electricity, a fact that starkly shows how serious the continent's shortage of energy and investment in the infrastructure that can produce it is.
While government and private enterprises are crucial players in improving conditions in developing countries, the experience of one nongovernmental organization shows how civil society also has a large role in making such positive transformations.
The plume of dark smoke that rose over Nairobi National Park in Kenya on March 3 was like a signal, one to tell those who love elephants and other wildlife that the world is taking a stand against poaching and the ivory trade. That day a pyre of 15 tons of elephant tusks had been erected and set alight.
As China has increased the number of seizures of ivory and convictions and penalties related to it, it has demonstrated its tougher stance against the illegal trade, says John Scanlon, secretary-general of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
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