An earlier report analyzing the phenomenon of Women dominate in postgraduate studies in China.

Experts analyze that many factors contribute to this phenomenon. One important reason is that many male students find it easier for them to look for a job than their female classmates, and some work units even employ male students only. Under high employment pressure, women might miss out on many of the job opportunities and go back to school to study for a higher degree. In addition, some experts say that China’s current examination system is more suitable for female students, and many female students perform better in examinations than male students, placing them in a more advantageous position since currently universities will enroll students as long as they pass the university’s scoring requirement.

The Second World Forum on China Studies was held on 21-22 September, 2006 in Shanghai. Here is a list of references:

• The official website for the Second World Forum on China Studies.
• The Eastday special report webpage on the second forum.
• The official website for the First World Forum on China Studies.
• The Eastday special report webpage on the first forum.

The first forum was held on 19-24 August, 2004.

On September 5th 2006, shortly after the 2006 Beijing Cross Cultural Communication Forum, the People’s Daily Online published an exclusive interview article entitled Significance of cross cultural communication can’t be underestimated, Wu Jianmin, highlighting the roles and importance of intercultural exchange in development and peace.

Wu Jianmin was the former Chinese ambassador to France and currently is the President of the Chinese Foreign Affairs University. The points made in the interview are useful references since it represents in many aspects China’s official views on intercultural exchanges. Here is the report.

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二零零六年八月三十日， “06’跨文化传播论坛”在北京昆仑饭店举行。此处转引余秋雨先生在会上发言的主要论点部分。发言全文及详细论述见于余秋雨先生的不同博客上。以下引自余秋雨先生的新浪博客，文章标题为“2006年8月31日上午在北京跨文化传播论坛上的发言”。分上、下两篇。观点发人深省。

第一，我们应该承认，文化在至高的精神层面上，是人类共通的精神价值。在这一点上，中国文化不具有终极意义上的特殊性。把民族价值置之于人类价值之上，是我们在文化交流上的首要障碍。任何再古老的文明，都会在发展过程中接受人类共同原则（也就是普世原则）的筛选，并把自己的优秀成分加入人类大文化。如果没有这个意识，就会沦为井蛙观天式的部落文明、酋长文明而失去大格局中的生命力。中国文化即使在还没有与其他文化频繁交流的时候也懂得这一点，先秦诸子一再指出文化的底线也就是人与禽兽的区别所在，后来在中国文化中又经常出现“天下公理”、“人间大道”这些带有普世意义的词汇。既然这样，我们就应该在一些精神大原则上大大方方地承认共同性、人类性、普世性，并扩大中国文化在这方面的份量，而不要过份强调一些早已成为人类常识的内容是中国人“独创”的，这会使旁人感到共同精神财富被一方争夺的不舒服。例如大家知道，“已之不欲，勿施于人”这个原则，人类几大古文明中都提出过。又如，我们现在提出的“以人为本”原则，是以人性、人道、人权为基点的人文主义起点，提得很好，表示我们的加入，却不是我们的独创。另外，像“和平”、“科学”、“和谐”、“平衡”、“与时俱进”这些概念，也一直是全人类的智者所共同坚持的，我们常常会赋予它们一些有针对性的政策含义，但不宜在文化意义上说成是中国文化的独创独有。如果要用某个概念向国际社会表述一点特殊的内容，那也必须用国际话语系统把那一点特殊的内容简明、直接地表达出来，不要朦胧含糊。

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Reported by People’s Daily Online that a China-Italy institute was started in Shanghai on September 17th 2006. “The institute, co-established by China’s prestigious Tongji University, the Polytechnic University of Milan and the Polytechnic University of Turin, is aimed to foster talents in engineering and information technology”, and “a first batch of more than 80 students have been recruited by the China-Italy Institute. They will study at Tongji University for three years and at a cooperative school in Italy for one year. Both Chinese and Italian bachelor’s degrees are to be offered upon their graduation”.