Dear readers

We are right now in the new year， and yet to come into another New Year of Chinese Lunar Calendar， which falls on the 28th of January，2017， the Year of the Rooster according to Chinese astrology zodiac sign. On behalf of our editorial team， let me express our best wishes to you for a happy and prosperous Year of the Rooster！

New year is the time for making a new resolution， a traditional formality that has been observed through years of history to make promises to change an undesired trait or behavior and strike a determination to make tomorrow better than what it was yesterday. Besides religious significance， the ordinary people nowadays have a very practical wishes for their new-year resolution to reach popular goals， including physical wellbeing improvement： eat healthy food， lose weight， quit smoking， drink less alcohol， and kids also have a resolution to stop biting nails， spend less time in watching TV cartoon series， men sonorously promise to pay bank loans while staying committed to life improvement for family.

But for the world economy， what resolution is expected to be made for the new year of 2017 remains unknown， as the global economic entities are complex and diversified in different countries and regions. It is the common sense to believe that a new-year resolution already made by any economy is aimed at making a change， a shift from an undesired trait to an unembellished harvest of what is ploughed， sown and grown. According to the World Banks Global Economic Prospects， the January Report 2017 that is just released on Jan.10th， the world economy is forecast to grow at the rate of 2.8 percent， better than 2016 that saw 2.4 percent growth. Although the global growth is projected to accelerate gradually， a wide range of risks threaten to derail the recovery， including sharp-than-expected slowdown in major emerging markets， sudden escalation of currency volatility， heightened geographical tensions， slowing activity in advanced economies， and diminished confidence in the effectiveness of policies to spur growth. As I can perceive， some of these derailing factors will continue to impact a more robust growth projections， compounded by growing uncertainties in European Union where governing power shifts are to take place with the advent of new elections in some member countries， and by even more uncertainties in the United States where Donald Trump will be sworn in as new president of the world largest economy only 9 days away from today when I am writing this letter.