On Feb. 2, China has lifted over 700 million Chinese people out of poverty since the reform and opening up policy was adopted. 60,000 poverty-stricken people have got rid of poverty since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), reducing the poverty rate from 10.2 percent to lower than 4 percent. And the 19th CPC National Congress set out the goal of eradicating poverty in rural areas by 2020.

 

 

 

On Feb. 5, China’s central authorities unveiled a three-year action plan to im-prove the rural living environment.

 

Improving the rural living environment is an important task for the country to accomplish its goal of building a moderately prosperous society by 2020. It has great significance to the well-being of farmers and harmony of rural society, according to the document.

 

 

 

On Feb. 7, China called on foreign enterprises to follow basic ground rules, after Mercedes-Benz apologized for putting a poster with quotes from the Dalai Lama on its Instagram account.

 

 

 

The transportation infrastructure in China’s poor areas has been greatly improved in the past five years. China will build asphalt roads for qualified counties, towns and villages by the end of 2019 and to connect all poverty-stricken areas with national main expressways by 2020, according to the Ministry of Transport of the People’s Re-public of China (MOT).

 

We should improve the transportation infrastructure across the country in the pro-cess of building a well-off society, said Li Xiaopeng, minister of the MOT on a press conference on Feb. 7.

 

 

 

China aims to build a national public legal service system by 2020 that covers all groups in both urban and rural areas, the Ministry of Justice said on Feb. 8.

 

 

 

China’s judicial departments are stepping up efforts to prevent, review and cor-rect wrongful convictions to ensure justice, the Ministry of Justice said on Feb. 8.

 

 

 

Communist Party of China Central Committee General Secretary Xi Jinping paid a visit to poor families in a mountainous area in Sichuan province on Feb. 11, where he talked with villagers about poverty reduction, ahead of the upcoming Spring Festi-val.

 

 

 

China’s basic medical insurance now covers 1.35 billion people, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

 

The coverage rate of the insurance is stable at 95 percent of the population, said Wang Hesheng, deputy director of the commission, at a press conference on Feb. 12.

 

 

 

On Feb. 14, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Spring Festival greetings to all Chi-nese people with references to hard work and family values have struck a chord with overseas Chinese.

 

 

 

On Feb. 22, the number of nursing homes in China has more than tripled in the past five years, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

 

Statistics show that the country had more than 144,600 nursing institutions as of September 2017, 226 percent more than that of the end of 2012.

 

 

 

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee made public its pro-posal on amendments to China’s Constitution on Feb. 25.

 

The proposal, raised to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Con-gress (NPC), was made in accordance with the new situation and practice of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

 

 

 

China has made great achievements in poverty reduction, environmental protec-tion and assistance to third world countries since China adopted the policy of reform and opening up 40 years ago, a U.S. expert on China said Feb. 27.

 

 

 

On Feb. 28, a senior Chinese diplomat called on all parties to work together to jointly promote the building of a community with shared future for human beings and to promote the establishment of a fair, impartial, open and inclusive global human rights governance system.

 

 

 

Deepening reform of Party and State institutions has great significance for the completion of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and national rejuvenation, General Secretary Xi Jinping said.

Xi, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remark while meeting with representatives of non-Communist parties. The CPC Central Committee has held two meetings with non-Communist parties, on Feb. 6 and on Feb. 28.

 

 

 

On Feb. 28, Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping released the Blue Book of National Geographic Conditions of China 2017 in Beijing. It is China’s first blue book on the country’s geographical conditions.

 

 

 

 

On the afternoon of March 3, China’s top political advisory body started its annu-al session in Beijing, vowing to take on new mission for the country’s goal toward a “great modern socialist country.”

 

Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the 12th Chinese People’s Political Consultative

 

Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, delivered a work report to 2,149 political advisors who gathered to discuss major political, economic and social issues in the world’s most populous nation and second largest economy.

 

 

 

The government has vowed to make solid strides in targeting poverty alleviation, formulating guidelines on a three-year initiative for winning the battle against poverty through specific measures, according to the annual work report of the State Council released on March 5.

 

 

 

China will do more to directly benefit the people, address their difficulties, and ensure that their basic living needs are met, Premier Li Keqiang said on March 5.

 

 

 

On March 5, China will promote infrastructure construction as one of the mea-sures for rural revitalization, according to a government work report delivered by Pre-mier Li Keqiang in Beijing.

China will launch a new three-year renovation plan to address housing in run-down urban areas, starting with construction of 5.8 million units this year.

 

 

 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called for joint efforts to advance reform and open-ing-up, promote innovation, sustain economic growth and improve people’s livelihood at the ongoing national legislative session on March 6.

 

 

 

About 57.7 percent of the respondents are willing to register for organ donation, according to a survey released by the China Youth Daily on March 6.

 

 

 

On March 7, a prominent Chinese scholar said that the Chinese central govern-ment and the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) have made great efforts in respecting, preserving, inheriting and promoting outstanding traditional Ti-betan culture and have made remarkable achievements.

 

 

 

On March 7, experts expounded efforts and achievements in the cultural develop-ment in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) during an event on the sidelines of the 37th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The event held at the building of the United Nations office at Geneva was spon-sored by the non-governmental organization China Society for Human Rights Studies. More than 60 experts, government officials, representatives from international and non-governmental organizations as well as media reporters took part in the sympo-sium titled “Protection and Development of Tibet Culture.”

 

 

 

On March 8, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the rural vitalization strategy is the leading agenda for government work on agriculture, rural areas, and rural resi-dents.

 

 

 

Letting the public feel fairness and justice in every judicial case is the goal of courts across China, a work report of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) said on March 9.

From 2013 to 2017, the SPC handled 82,383 cases and concluded 79,692 cases, 60.6 percent and 58.8 percent, respectively, higher than those in the previous five years, according to the report available to the media.

 

 

 

On March 9, a Chinese scholar introduced the use, protection and development of Tibetan language to the 37th session of the UN Human Rights Council, saying that the Tibetan language is still full of vitality in the process of modernization and will continue to be inherited and developed in the future.

 

 

 

On March 11, the constitutional amendment adopted by China’s national legisla-ture, including a revision regarding the President’s term of office, is good for China’s enduring peace and stability, an official said.

 

 

 

The first session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) holds its closing meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 20, 2018.

 

Lawmakers will vote on a draft supervision law and draft resolutions on the gov-ernment work report, and the work reports of the 12th NPC Standing Committee, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

 

 

 

China aims to generate more than 13 million new urban jobs this year, Premier Li Keqiang said on March 20.

 

The minimal target is 11 million, but the government will work hard to reach the bigger goal, Li said at a press conference after the conclusion of the annual legislative session.

 

 

 

More than 20 million Chinese people will be covered by a serious disease insur-ance program as the government is increasing subsidies this year, Premier Li Keqiang said on March 20.

 

 

 

On March 20, President Xi Jinping’s important speech delivered reflected his people-centered philosophy of governance as well as his commitment to building a community of a shared future for humankind, analysts said.

 

 

 

The Blue Book on the Rule of Law in China (2018) was released at a seminar on March 22 in Beijing.

 

The Blue Book issued China’s first third party assessment index system for chil-dren’s rights protection.

 

 

 

China will raise the basic pension payments for retirees in 2018, the 14th year of increase. From the beginning of this year, the average monthly payment for pension-ers of enterprises, government agencies and public institutions has been lifted by 5 percent from the 2017 level, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said in a statement on March 23.

 

 

 

On March 24, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a China-sponsored reso-lution titled “promoting mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of human rights,” in which states were called to uphold multilateralism and work together to promote mutually beneficial cooperation.