A white paper published by the Chinese government on April 3 has clarified the rules on foreigners’ religious activities in China.

 

Foreign visitors and residents in the country are welcome to attend religious activities at temples, mosques, churches and other places of worship, according to the white paper on China’s policies and practices on protecting freedom of religious belief.

 

 

 

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region began building 82,300 houses in impover-ished areas in the first three months of the year, authorities said April 6.

 

The region plans to build 300,000 subsidized houses this year. About 210,000 will be for families in extreme poverty, those receiving the minimum living allowances, and households with disabled members.

 

 

 

China is looking to make quality medical resources available to more people, according to the National Health Commission on April 6.

 

The focus of public healthcare work will be on the grassroots level with more resources, and more hospitals “on people’s doorsteps.”

 

 

 

China can sustain an annual average growth rate of 6 percent in the following 10 years and ascend to the high-income stage by 2025, said Justin Lin Yifu, honorary dean of the National School of Development at Peking University, on April 9, 2018.

 

 

 

Thanks to the great achievements since its reform and opening up, China is playing an increasingly important role in the global governance system, said Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations on April 9, before he left for China to attend the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2018.

 

 

 

China has launched three campaigns against illicit cultural content to foster a “positive” and “healthy” cultural environment on April 10.

 

 

 

On April 12, Chinahumantights.org launched its English-language mobile version.

 

The mobile website will provide the latest news on the human rights development and progress both in China and around the world.

 

 

 

The seminar “Building Chinese Human Rights Discourse System in a New Era”, co-sponsored by the China Society for Human Rights Studies (CSHRS) and the Publicity Department of the Hunan Province Committee of the Communist Party of China, was held on April 12 in Central South University in Changsha, capital of Hunan province.

 

 

 

China continued to see a stable job market in the first quarter this year, with a low unemployment rate, strong demand in the job market, and improved job prospects for certain groups of people, according to the National Development and Reform Com-mission on April 18.

 

 

 

Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has helped 41,000 impoverished people in the most poverty-stricken south part of the region find employment in the first quarter, the regional government said on April 18, 2018.

 

 

 

The Jilin Provincial Higher People’s Court on April 20 overturned the conviction of Liu Zhonglin in a murder case more than 20 years ago.

 

He had his conviction overturned on April 20 as the higher court ruled that the previous convictions were based on unclear facts and insufficient evidence.

 

 

 

 

China announced its first 80 national bases for promoting reading in families on World Book Day, which falls on April 23.

 

The bases, covering 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, were announced by the All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF) at an event for this year’s family reading campaign held in Beijing.

 

 

 

China Tuesday published a report on the United States’ human rights situation.

 

The report, titled “Human Rights Record of the United States in 2017,” was released by the Information Office of the State Council, China’s cabinet, in response to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017 issued by the U.S. State Department on April 20 local time.

 

A Chronology of Human Rights Violations of the United States in 2017 was also released by the office on April 24, 2018.

 

 

 

On April 24, China pledged to establish more intellectual property protection centers, according to the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO).

 

China has established 19 intellectual property protection centers nationwide, said Shen Changyu, head of the SIPO, at a press conference of the State Council Information Office.

 

 

 

China plans to introduce default judgment in corruption-related criminal cases as authorities step up the fight against crooked officials who have fled overseas.

 

Lawmakers were briefed on the move on April 25 as a draft revision to the Criminal Procedure Law was submitted to the top legislature for review.

 

 

 

The Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) will launch a nationwide campaign to improve human rights protection of detainees, the SPP said in a statement on April 26, 2018.

 

The campaign, which runs from April 2018 to December 2019, will focus on protecting detainees’ rights to rewards and rest, and their rights to meet lawyers and obtain remuneration for labor, according to the statement.

 

 

 

The Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) will launch a nationwide campaign to improve human rights protection of detainees, the SPP said in a statement on April 26.

 

The campaign, which runs from April 2018 to December 2019, will focus on protecting detainees’ rights to rewards and rest, and their rights to meet lawyers and obtain remuneration for labor, according to the statement.

 

 

 

On April 27, China’s top legislature passed a law on people’s assessors, which allows a group of citizens to work with professional judges to try cases in court.

 

 

 

 

China will continue cracking down on rural gangsters who manipulate village elections, encroach upon collective assets and terrorize the countryside, a ministry spokesperson said on May 2, 2018.

 

 

 

A seminar, sponsored by the Law School and Human Rights Research Center of Renmin University of China, on the sinicization and development of Marxist human rights theory is held in Beijing on May 5.

 

 

 

China’s central government has dispensed all its planned 2018 poverty alleviation funds to local governments on May 6, two months earlier than last year.

 

The poverty alleviation fund stands at 106 billion yuan (16.7 billion U.S. dollars) this year, 20 billion yuan more than last year.

 

 

 

The populous central Henan Province vows to help 1.1 million people in rural areas shake off poverty this year, the provincial government said on May 7.

 

The province plans to lift a total of 2,365 impoverished villages out of poverty, and relocate 62,900 people from poverty-stricken communities to more developed areas.

 

 

 

On May 9, 2018, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) launched a targeted crackdown on solid waste pollution following frequent cases of the illegal disposal of harmful materials in several regions.

 

 

 

On May 10, China’s Ministry of Education (MOE) promised that no students will face difficulty in attending school or drop out of school due to unreasonable geographic distribution of schools in rural areas.

 

 

 

China is developing a “youth credit system” to encourage young people to take an active part in building a high-trust society, officials said on May 10.

 

The project is based on a five-year guideline to build a database and develop creditrating criteria, incentives, and services for young people by 2020. The efforts have been led by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and the People’s Bank of China.

 

 

 

China and Pakistan held the 4th negotiation on human rights on May 10, 2018.

 

The negotiation was co-chaired by Liu Hua, special representative for human rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and Khalil Hashmi, director of UN Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan. Both sides exchanged views on global human rights situation and cooperation, and bilateral technical cooperation on human rights.

 

The Chinese delegation also visited the Ministry of Human Rights of Pakistan and held discussions on human rights protection with Agah, permanent secretary of the ministry.

 

 

 

China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) has stressed on May 11 strict enforcement of a new law to protect the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs.

 

 

 

China has raised the minimum standard of basic pensions for rural residents and unemployed urbanites, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on May 15.

 

 

 

Chinese police have cracked down more than 90,000 economic crimes since 2017, recovering losses of 100 billion yuan (15.8 billion U.S. dollars), the Ministry of Public Security said on May 15, 2018.

 

 

 

More elderly Chinese are saying they live a happy life, according to a survey on the living conditions of China’s urban and rural older persons, published on May 15, 2018.

 

 

 

China continued to see the job market remain stable in April, with the unemployment rate at a relatively low level, official data showed on May 15, 2018.

 

 

 

Senior legislator Cai Dafeng has called for consistent efforts in the prevention and control of infectious diseases to build a Healthy China on May 18.

 

He asked for awareness of the significance of preventing and controlling infectious diseases for economic and social development, as well as for national security and stability.

 

 

 

The consensuses reached during economic and trade consultations between China and the United States meet the interests of the people of the two countries and whole world, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said on May 21, 2018.

 

 

 

The history of the development of China’s Constitution shows the history of China’s modern development in miniature, an official from China’s top legislature said on May 22, 2018.

 

 

 

Themed on “Sharing and Promoting Cooperation: Joining Hands in Poverty Reduction”, the 2018 Poverty Reduction International Forum was held in Beijing on May 23. Nearly 200 officials and representatives from both China and international organizations attended the forum.

 

 

 

China will increase investment in education in poverty-stricken areas and on weak links in the sector, take measures to boost its dairy industry, and give priority to developing service trade, according to a State Council statement on May 24.

 

The central government will add 13 billion yuan (about 2 billion U.S. dollars) of funding to support compulsory and vocational education in central and western regions, poverty-stricken and rural areas, according to the statement released after a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang Wednesday.

 

 

 

On May 24, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang instructed a national government meeting to work for stable employment of college graduates this summer.

 

It will be a tough task to help the record 8.2 million graduates find jobs and start careers, said Li in a written instruction to the meeting.

 

 

 

China will lend stronger financial support to improve education quality in remote rural areas to improve the country’s weak links in education, a senior official said.

 

Zheng Fuzhi, assistant education minister, said during a news briefing held by the State Council’s information office on May 25 that China will direct another 13 billion yuan ($2 billion) toward fiscal transfers to local governments for education.

 

 

 

About 60,000 suspects were prosecuted for harming minors from January 2017 to April 2018, including several high-profile abuse cases, according to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) on May 29.