Category: Society

(China Daily)13:19, June 22, 2019

Students of Shuanghe Central Primary School attend a temporary tent classroom on Friday, four days after a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Shuanghe county in Sichuan province. (Photo: China Daily)

First day back, teachers emphasize lessons showing gratitude for help

Only days after an earthquake struck, 12-year-old Hu Yibing got up 6 am excited about going back to school in a makeshift classroom in Shuanghe town of Changning, Sichuan province.

My school was damaged in the earthquake and we were told on Thursday to attend a tent classroom that opened today, said the boy, a sixth grader from Shuanghe Central Primary School.

With its epicenter in Shuanghe, the earthquake struck at 10:55 pm on Monday, killing 13 people and injuring 226. Estimated direct economic losses have reached 8.89 billion yuan ($1.29 billion), according to the latest number from the Yibin city government.

Like Hu, many students have had classes suspended after the quake. By Thursday, over 11,000 students had resumed the classes, while more than 33,000 students in the counties of Gongxian and Changning, the areas hit most severely by the quake, were still waiting.

Hu and another 180 sixth graders will take a graduation examination on June 28.

Its hot in the tent. But Im happy to be with classmates I will miss after graduation, said Li Xiao, a 13-year-old student.

The tent was donated by the Yibin military subarea of the Sichuan Military Area and assembled by 30 militiamen, said Liu Xiao, head of the Changning County Peoples Military Department.

They put themselves at risk in damaged classrooms to take desks and stools to the tent classroom, Liu said.

Hu Yibings father Hu Zhiqiang, who works in a shoe factory in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, said the parents of all the sixth graders received a notice on WeChat that classes would resume.

I didnt know how many sixth graders would come to the tent classroom as some of them were injured in the earthquake and some of their homes were damaged. But most of them came, said Guo Gang, the deputy headmaster.

As the tent could not fit all the students at once, it allowed 94 students into the tent and accommodated the rest at a home for the elderly in the town.

Music, fine arts and composition classes were given in the tent classroom.

In the music class, Zeng Yingtian taught the students how to sing As Resilient as Bamboo.

Written by a high school teacher in Changning, the song said quake-affected people would not cry, even if they shed tears, as they were uncrushed bamboo and green hope would arise from the debris.

In the fine arts and composition classes, students were told to draw pictures of people involved in earthquake relief and write words of gratitude. Some of the students sent their drawings to policemen and people in charge of quarantine.

Since the earthquake, the Changning quake zone has received donations of more than 100 million yuan from companies and individuals.

The first three classes in the tent were aimed at teaching students to be grateful to people who helped, said Chinese teacher Hu Yan.

(Xinhua)15:25, June 22, 2019

JINAN, June 22 (Xinhua) — Baby red-crowned cranes have been recently spotted foraging in the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve, the first recorded natural breeding of the rare species in the area.

As migratory birds, nearly 100 red-crowned cranes flock to the nature reserve in east Chinas Shandong Province around November each year and migrate to the Zhalong National Nature Reserve in northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province for propagation in February or March the following year.

Red-crowned cranes are an endangered species under first-class national protection in China.

It is believed that about 1,500-plus red-crowned cranes live in the wild worldwide, mainly in east Asia. China has the largest population, with more than 1,000 red-crowned cranes.

The 153,000-hectare Yellow River Delta reserve, established in 1992, is known as a paradise for rare migratory birds.

(Xinhua)09:36, June 24, 2019

BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) — The National Health Commission (NHC) issued a basic standard for community hospitals, requiring at least 30 beds to be open for patients in each hospital, and the utilization rate for sickbeds should above 75 percent.

The community hospital should offer, at least, general medical service, rehabilitation treatment and traditional Chinese medical services to patients, according to the standard.

The NHC also requires that at least one attending physician or a practitioner with a higher post for each clinical department and at least three general medical practitioners in each community hospital.

Non-medical service personnel should be less than 15 percent of all employees in community hospitals, noted the standard, adding that each sickbed should have at least 0.7 medical service personnel to cover it. Enditem

(Xinhua)09:40, June 24, 2019

BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) — The General Offices of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council on Sunday published a guideline for enhancing rural governance.

By 2020, China aims to develop an institution structure and policy system for modern rural governance, with the primary-level CPC organizations playing a leading role, self-governance by villagers further enhanced, consultation systems about village affairs better established and the level of rural governance raised, according to the document.

By 2035, the country plans to advance rural public services, governance and public security, and perfect the Party-led rural governance model which combines self-governance, rule of law, and rule of virtue.

The guideline listed 17 main tasks including improving systems and mechanisms of rural governance led by village Party organizations, regulating affairs managed by village organizations, honing villagers ability of self-governance, introducing various consultation mechanisms about village affairs, providing better cultural services for rural residents, ensuring law and order and fighting corruption at the primary level.

Party committees and governments at all levels were told to put rural governance as a priority of their work, enhance coordination and pool resources from different departments.

They should also spend more resources in training rural officials at the primary level and encourage local business people, migrant workers, college graduates and veterans to return to villages and play a constructive role in rural governance.

(China Daily)09:43, June 24, 2019

MA XUEJING/CHINA DAILY

A new United Nations report says Indias population is expected to increase by about 273 million between 2019 and 2050, and India is likely to surpass China as the most populous country in the world by 2027.

The loss of the title of the most populous country, however, will not be big for China. On the contrary, it should prompt China to accelerate the transformation of its economy from quantitative growth to qualitative development.

The Peoples Republic of China has made remarkable achievements in human development in the 70 years since its founding, which in turn has facilitated its social and economic development.

A fine example of human development

Among developing countries, China has taken the lead in demographic turnaround. It took just 46 years－from 1949 to 1995－to lift its peoples average life expectancy from 40 years to 70.8 years, an accomplishment all the more admirable because China is still a developing economy. As such, China has set a fine example for human development.

As a leading developing country, China has notably closed the gap with developed countries in terms of peoples life expectancy and health. In fact, by 2015, Chinese peoples average life expectancy at birth had increased to 76.34 years.

Compared with the mortality rate, however, the changes in Chinas fertility rate have been astoundingly rapid. China became a low fertility country toward the end of last century with its total fertility rate dropping below the replacement the level in 1992 from 5.81, about 2.8 times of replacement level, in 1970. China has had a fertility rate of about 1.6, equivalent to developed countries average, for quite a while.

The fast decline in the mortality as well as fertility rates has changed Chinas population growth trajectory. As a result, Chinas natural population growth rate dropped below 1 percent in 1998, declining further to 0.381 percent in 2018 from a high of 2 percent in the 1950s and 1960s. Chinas demographic turnaround has also had a major impact on world population growth. In the early 1950s, one out of every five persons in the world was a Chinese as was one out of every four newborns. But the ratio of Chinas population to the world total had dropped to 18.9 percent by 2015 while that of newborns to 8.2 percent.

Besides, the quality of Chinas population, reflected mainly in peoples physical constitution and educational qualification, has greatly improved. According to the World Health Organization, Chinese peoples average healthy life expectancy at birth was 68.7 years in 2016.

The education level of the Chinese people has also significantly improved. China has transformed from a mostly illiterate country before 1949 into one whose working-age population on average had 10.5 years of schooling in 2015. By 2017, out of every 100,000 people, 2,576 were seeking higher education－39 and 117 times of that in 1977 and 1949. And last year, 7.53 million students graduated from college, 38 and 358 times of that in 1977 and 1949. From 1980 to 2018, China produced more than 100 million college graduates and 7.12 million masters degree holders. These developments have helped China to metamorphose from a traditionally human resources-rich country into a human capital power.

Urbanization has changed structure of population

Chinas population distribution pattern in urban and rural areas, too, has undergone radical changes with extremely high population mobility. In 1953, when China was an agricultural country, 87 percent of the countrys population lived in rural areas. Even as late as 1982, about 80 percent of Chinas population lived in rural areas.

With the deepening of reform and rapid economic development, Chinas urbanization process gathered pace; as a result, about 60 percent of the countrys population lives in urban areas today. Interestingly, Chinas urban population crossed 46.3 percent, the average level of that in middle-income countries, in 2006 and 50 percent in 2011, eventually surpassing the world average of 53.5 in 2014 and reaching 59.58 percent in 2018.

Chinas urbanization is as much a result of socioeconomic development as it is a byproduct of the high population mobility in the development of market economy. For the past few years, Chinas migrant population has hovered around 240 million. The figure increased from 6.7 million in 1982 to 102 million in 2000, reaching 253 million in 2014, among which more than 80 percent of migration was from rural to urban areas.

Population development drives social economy

Human development has made remarkable contributions to Chinas socioeconomic development: the low dependency ratio brought about by the rapid demographic turnaround almost in tandem with reform and opening-up has won China many demographic dividends, while the fast decline of the population growth rate has greatly reduced the population pressure China felt at the beginning of its economic takeoff.

The general improvement in the quality of population has injected lasting vitality into society and the economy, notably increasing public welfare. Urbanization and migration have also helped drive various reforms, further improving peoples livelihoods and promoting social equality.

Facing new problems and tasks, China has entered a new historical phase in terms of human development. The low fertility rate and mortality rate have caused the turnaround in the working-age population and dependency ratio, and led to the rapid increase in aging population, and will soon result in negative population growth. Increasing the fertility rate to the replacement level is a prerequisite for healthy and balanced human development in the long run, as well as a key way to offset the negative effects of the rapidly aging population on the economy.

The government is developing a policy and taking measures to build a social environment that would be conducive to lifting the fertility rate. Yet it has to do much more to lift the fertility rate even though it is making efforts to build a society which would be vigorous enough to neutralize the effects of a fast aging population.

Promote creativity, inclusiveness and support

To build such a society, however, the authorities need to take measures to promote creativity and inclusiveness. In an aging society, education, and science and technology should promote economic development and help generate and accumulate national wealth. While the mechanism and arrangements for improving peoples well-being including income distribution, employment, education, and social insurance and welfare should be reformed to promote social equality and intergenerational solidarity, an active, healthy and supportive environment and social service system should also be built to improve the livelihoods of individuals and households so they can provide better care for senior citizens.

As a saying goes, preparedness ensures success, unpreparedness spells failure. It takes long-term planning and in-depth understanding of socioeconomic factors to devise the right population development strategy and realize the balanced development of the economy and the population.

The author is a professor of populations at the School of Economics, Nankai University. The views dont necessarily represent those of China Daily.

(Xinhua)09:59, June 24, 2019

LANZHOU, June 23 (Xinhua) — The first metro line running under the Yellow River, Chinas second longest river, started trial operation on Sunday in Lanzhou, capital of northwest Chinas Gansu Province.

The city is located on the upper reaches of Chinas mother river, which runs 5,464 km from west to east before entering the Pacific.

The fast urban transit has been a dream for 3 million residents in the city, where the river runs through the middle, creating a heavy traffic pressure on the road bridge. Construction of the metro line started in 2014.

The 25.9-km long section in service on Sunday is the first phase of Lanzhou Metro Line 1, passing through four urban districts of Lanzhou from east to west.

The first metro line in Lanzhou is also the first rail transit line crossing the Yellow River in China. The tunnel passes through a pebble layer with a depth of 200 to 300 meters, which is highly permeable and unstable.

The metro construction has accumulated experiences for other cross-river urban rail and tunnel construction in similar geological and stratigraphic conditions, said Duan Tingzhi, chairman of the Lanzhou Rail Transit.

Huang Jianwei, deputy secretary-general of the China Urban Rail Transit Association, said that by the end of 2018, a total of 35 cities in China had opened 185 urban rail transit lines with an operation mileage of 5,761 km.

(CRI Online)13:28, June 24, 2019

Residents and city administrators have turned to video cameras as a quick fix to address the problem of objects falling or being thrown from high-rise buildings, reports Yangtse Evening Post.

Some residential areas in Nanjing have resorted to using cameras to spot objects coming from high-rise buildings. Since the cameras were installed, no instances of falling objects have been reported.

A resident named Jiang who lives in Nanjing in an area where the cameras are installed said he witnessed a narrow escape for one passerby who was nearly hit by a large bag of garbage that came from the window of a high-rise residential block. Ive never seen in happen since the video cameras were installed, he said.

The local property management center said the cameras are positioned so they can see the outside of the building, but not into the apartments themselves. Cheng Qiaozhen, the director of customer service at the property management center, said they gained the collective support of the homeowners before the cameras were installed.

According to Chinas Tort Liability Law, all of the residents of a high-rise building can be held accountable if an individual perpetrator cannot be identified. Some experts believe that intelligent high-definition cameras will allow authorities to identify the people responsible should an incident occur.

The issue of objects falling from high-rises has been a matter of contention in China recently after several recent incidents. The most high-profile case happened earlier this month, when a 5-year-old was killed by a piece of glass that fell from a high-rise building. The story dominated domestic headlines and discussion on social media.

There has also been public fury towards residents who throw objects such as household garbage out of their windows or off their balconies.

Some lawyers have recommended that mainland lawmakers review the current legislation in Hong Kong regarding high-rise building safety, according to the Yangtse Evening Post report.

In 2003, Hong Kong introduced legislation stipulating that residents living in public housing who throw objects from their balconies or litter out of their windows will face a fine of 1,500 Hong Kong dollars and penalty that could see them disqualified from public housing for cases of repeated bad behavior. If the incident causes an injury, they face a fine of up to 10,000 Hong Kong dollars and six months in prison. If the incident causes a death, they face being indicted.

Other suggestions include a stricter review of the design and construction of high-rise apartments, more quality checks on the manufacturers of windows and glass, and more efforts to raise awareness of the risks of dangerous behavior for residents.

(Xinhua)15:25, June 24, 2019

BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) — A total of 303 candidates have been selected to be national ethical role models and the list will be released on major media sites Tuesday.

Around 60 candidates were chosen for their outstanding deeds of helping other people, 60 for acting bravely for a just cause, 56 for being honest and trustworthy, 65 for working hard and making great contributions and 62 for showing filial piety and love for their family.

The candidates were selected from all walks of life such as workers, farmers, military personnel, teachers and doctors.

Representative candidates with brilliant achievements include Du Fuguo, a demining soldier who lost his eyes and arms in an explosion, and Zhang Fuqing, a 95-year-old war hero.

A vote will be held to decide the national ethical role models after the list is released.

This is the seventh national campaign to identify and honor ethical role models since its inauguration in 2007.

(Peoples Daily Online)15:51, June 24, 2019

An unmanned fixed-wing aircraft completed a delivery task over the sea from Shanghai to Shengsi Island in east Chinas Zhejiang province on May 29, thepaper.cn reported on June 24.

The U650 amphibious seaplane, carrying a full load of mail, landed smoothly in the waters of Shengsi Island after traveling 110 kilometers in 52 minutes.

It took the drone producer, UVS Intelligence System based in Shanghai, and the client, China Post, about half a year to apply for approval from air traffic management authorities for the flight.

The drone maker said it plans to carry out more trial flights with its domestic clients to make sure that the delivery service is extendable to other islands in the Hangzhou Bay area.

(Xinhua)08:21, June 25, 2019

BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) — The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee reviewed two sets of regulations on the Partys work related to the staffing of institutions, and rural areas, at a meeting Monday.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting.

The implementation of the work rules on the staffing of institutions is significant for improving the rules and regulations of Party and state institutions, pushing forward the legalization of the staffing and enhancing the quality of related work, said a statement released after the meeting.

It stressed that the work related to the staffing of institutions should keep serving the general cause of the CPC and the country, to provide solid institutional and organizational guarantee for securing the decisive victory in finishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, fully building a modern socialist China, and realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

Enacting the rules on the Partys work related to rural areas is significant for strengthening overall leadership of the Party over rural work, consolidating the foundation of the Partys governance in rural areas, and ensuring the correct political direction of rural work for the new era, according to the meeting.

Stressing the implementation of the rural vitalization strategy as a focal point, the meeting pointed out that addressing issues relating to agriculture, rural areas and rural people should have a central place on the work agenda of the Party.

The meeting also called for efforts to strengthen Party building in rural areas.