News-Clips (2018. 06-2018. 07)
August 2018
Disaster-relief materials sent to flooded areas in Xinjiang
China’s Ministry of Emergency Management on August 1 sent a batch of disaster-relief materials to flooded areas in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The materials, including tents, foldaway beds, and quilts, were transported to the storm-hit regions from the central government’s reserve warehouses in Urumqi and Kashgar, the ministry said.
On July 31, some areas in the city of Hami in eastern Xinjiang were pelted by heavy rain.
From: Xinhua
China moves to improve legal services for disabled
Chinese authorities have pledged to improve legal services for the disabled and enable them to fully participate in litigation, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) said on August 2.
People’s courts are required to facilitate ways for the disabled to engage in proceeding such as filing a case, trial, or investigation, according to a circular issued by the SPC and the China Disabled Person’s Federation.
From: Xinhua
China reports 18,400 voluntary organ donors by July
China has recorded 18,433 voluntary organ donors, who donated 52,213 organs, from 2010 to mid-July this year.
The numbers were released by the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, organizer of the Chinese Transplant Congress held on Aug. 3 in Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province.
From: Xinhua
Health authorities required to provide information, observation for rabies vaccines recipients
Health authorities and healthcare institutions across China must provide observation and consultation services for people who have received rabies vaccines from Changchun Changsheng Life Sciences Ltd., according to a statement issued by the National Health Commission (NHC) on Aug. 7.
Health authorities and healthcare institutions across China must provide observation and consultation services for people who have received rabies vaccines from Changchun Changsheng Life Sciences Ltd., according to a statement issued by the National Health Commission (NHC) on Aug. 7.
The measure is aimed at safeguarding the health and safety of the public and protecting the legitimate rights of vaccine recipients, the NHC said in the statement.
From: Xinhua
Chinese people’s pursuit for better life unstoppable: article
Come rain or shine, the steps of Chinese people in pursuing a better life are unstoppable, according to a Chinese language commentary which was published under the byline “Xuanyan” in the People’s Daily on August 8.
The 4,700-character article, titled “Create a better life, come rain or shine,” summarized China’s development and reform since 1949, as well as its attitudes towards the challenges facing the country.
From: Xinhua
China welcomes Bachelet’s appointment as UN human rights chief
China welcomes Michelle Bachelet’s appointment as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and is ready to work with her on the development of international human rights, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said on August 13.
The United Nations General Assembly on August 10 approved the former Chilean President as the next UN human rights chief.
From: Xinhua
China slashes foreign media for smearing anti-terror measures in Xinjiang
China on August 14 criticized some foreign media for smearing China’s anti-terrorism and crime-fighting measures in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, saying their reports are driven by ulterior motives.
“Some anti-China forces have made false accusations against China for political purposes,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said in a written statement.
The United Nations committee on the elimination of racial discrimination reviewed the situation in China at its 96 th session on Aug. 10 and 13 in Geneva.
From: Xinhua
China’s Red Cross society donates relief fund for flood-victims in Myanmar
The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) has provided relief fund for Myanmar people in flood-affected areas in Yangon on August 13.
On behalf of the RCSC, Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang handed over 100,000 U.S. dollars’ relief fund to Myanmar Red Cross Society.
In accordance with the figures from the National Natural Disaster Management Committee and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, at least 20 people were killed by flooding across Myanmar, especially in southern part of the country recently.
From: Xinhua
China, Africa to strengthen cooperation in poverty reduction
China and Africa will step up cooperation to reduce poverty, a Chinese poverty relief official said on Aug. 14.
The two sides will strengthen communication to share their experience of poverty alleviation and work together to conduct research in the field.
From: Xinhua
China begins 3-year action plan to improve environmental monitoring
China’s top environmental watchdog will implement a three-year action plan from this year to clamp down on environmental offenses including fabrication and interference of monitoring data.
China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment will step up supervision and checks on the data gathered by monitoring agencies at provincial, municipal and county levels, an official with the ministry said on August 16.
From: Xinhua
China releases guideline on winning battle against poverty
China released a guideline on Aug. 19 on winning the battle against poverty in the next three years to prepare the nation for eradicating poverty by 2020.
The guideline reiterates the country’s target of lifting all rural poor and impoverished counties out of poverty and eliminating absolute poverty by 2020 to build a moderately prosperous society.
From: Xinhua
China working on long-term poverty relief strategy
China’s campaign against poverty will not come to an end in 2020, as the country is working on a long-term strategy for poverty reduction, an official said on August 20.
“To become a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020, our biggest area of weakness lies in rural areas, especially the poor people in rural areas,” Han Jun, deputy director of the office of the central agricultural work leading group, said at a press conference.
From: Xinhua
United focus urged for poverty relief
China will adhere to the current criteria for determining the size of its poor population and enhance poverty relief policies to ensure extreme poverty is eliminated by 2020, a government official said on Aug. 20.
The central government released a document in 2015 saying that in order for people to qualify for government assistance, they should meet five criteria or have an annual income under 2,300 yuan ($335), as set in 2010, and adjusted annually for purchasing power parity.
From: China Daily
China to deepen fight against gangs: official
A senior Chinese official on Aug. 21 demanded deepening the fight against criminal gangs.
The order was given at a national workshop chaired by Guo Shengkun, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Commission for the Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee.
From: Xinhua
Premier urges more efforts to develop western China
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for more efforts to boost growth momentum and improve people’s livelihood in the country’s less-prosperous western regions on August 21.
Western areas should continue with reform and opening-up and vigorously innovate to achieve high-quality development, said Li, who is also head of the State Council leading group on the development of western regions.
From: Xinhua
Chinese ministry announces new measures for poverty alleviation
China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs on Aug. 22 unveiled new measures to support the fight against poverty.
These include strengthening social welfare support, mobilizing non-governmental organizations, volunteers, philanthropists to join the anti-poverty campaign, improving subsidies for people with disabilities, providing better care for the elderly and left-behind children in rural areas, and improving community-level governance and its oversight.
From: Xinhua
China launches emergency flood relief response in Anhui
China’s disaster relief authorities have launched a level IV emergency response plan to help flood victims in Anhui Province, the Ministry of Emergency Management said on Aug. 22.
About 2.63 million people in the east China region were affected by floods as rivers saw surging water levels due to heavy rains and influxes of water from upper reaches.
From: Xinhua
Major China city to be coal-free to battle pollution
The northwestern Chinese city of Xi’an has set a target to be coal-free by 2020 in a bid to tackle air pollution.
Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi Province and home of the Terracotta Army, has rolled out a spate of tough measures for cleaner air in a three-year action plan, the city government said on August 23.
From: Xinhua
Authorities order Didi to improve safety after passenger killed
The Ministry of Transport (MOT), the Ministry of Public Security and local authorities on Aug. 26 ordered ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing to rectify operation patterns so that ensure safety with its services after a female passenger was killed in east China’s Zhejiang Province.
According to local police, a 20-year-old woman went missing after hailing an auto from Didi in the city of Wenzhou. The driver was caught by police and confessed to rape and murder.
From: Xinhua
Draft tax law revision eyes fairer income distribution
Chinese lawmakers on Aug. 27 began the second reading of a draft decision on the Individual Income Tax Law at a bimonthly session of the top legislative body.
Explaining the draft to lawmakers at the start of the National People’s Congress(NPC) Standing Committee session, Xu Hui, vice chairman of the NPC’s Constitution and Law Committee, said that it is necessary to revise the current law to enable taxation to better play its role in adjusting income distribution.
From: Xinhua
Lawmakers mull regulation to protect memorial ceremony for Nanjing Massacre victims
A draft regulation to protect the national memorial ceremony for Nanjing Massacre victims was submitted for deliberation at a session of the Standing Committee of the Nanjing Municipal People’s Congress that opened on Aug. 28 in east China’s Jiangsu Province.
According to the draft, speech that distorts or denies the facts of the Nanjing massacre, behavior such as photo-taking or video-shooting dressed in the uniforms of Japanese invaders at memorial sites, and infringements of the right of name and portrait of victims, survivors and martyrs of the Nanjing massacre will all be banned and punished.
From: Xinhua
China allocates 177 million yuan for flood relief
China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Aug. 29 said it has allocated relief fund totaling 177 million yuan (about 26 million U.S. dollars) for the flood-hit Shandong Province.
Shandong has suffered from severe floods after Typhoon Rumbia, the 18th this year, brought heavy rains to the coastal province. As of Aug. 23, at least 3.8 million people were affected, with six dead and 15 missing, according to local authorities.
From: Xinhua
Boost for western areas mulled
More measures are in the pipeline to boost investment in infrastructure in China’s western areas, a senior official with the nation’s top economic regulator said on August 30.
The planned measures will seek to stem the investment downtrend that may hinder balanced development of the economy, he said.
From: China Daily
China adopts new law on soil pollution prevention
China’s top legislature on August 31 passed a law on soil pollution prevention and control, as the country has escalated its fight against pollution.
The law was adopted after the third reading at a session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC).
From: Xinhua
September 2018
China lifts 740 million rural poor out of poverty since 1978
China lifted 740 million people in rural areas out of poverty from 1978 to 2017, roughly 19 million each year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Sept. 3.
The poverty ratio in rural areas dropped 94.4 percentage points during the same time period with an average annual decrease of 2.4 percentage points, according to the NBS.
From: Xinhua
Red Cross Society of China strengthens cooperation with Tibet
The Red Cross Society of China and the regional government of southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region signed an agreement on Sept. 4 to further reinforce cooperation in humanitarian aid.
The organization will help and promote emergency rescue training, humanitarian aid, and international exchanges and cooperation in the region, according to the agreement.
From: Xinhua
China to release updated essential medicines list
China’s National Health Commission on Sept. 5 announced its recent plan to publish the 2018 National Essential Medicines List, which will cover 165 more medicines than the prior edition.
The updated list will have 685 medicines, made up of 417 Western medicines and 268 Chinese-patented medicines, Zeng Yixin, vice director of the commission, said at a press conference.
From: China Daily
Gov’t funds aid 520 million students in six years
China has financially aided 520 million students since the 18 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, spending 886.4 billion yuan (129.6 billion U.S. dollars), an official with the Ministry of Education said on Sept. 6.
According to Zhao Jianjun, deputy head of the ministry’s finance department, six new policies on the financial aid were released during the six years, while 13 relevant policies were improved.
From: Xinhua
Violence on campuses takes a dive
China has seen a continuous drop in cases of violence on school campuses in the past three years, thanks to improvements in the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law and efforts aimed at protecting juveniles.
The number of offenses on campuses, including kindergartens, primary schools and colleges, exceeded 1,000 in 2015, but fell 16.5 percent in 2016 and then declined another 13.4 percent in 2017, according to a report issued by the China Justice Big Data Institute on Sept. 6.
From: China Daily
Financial aid given to 95.9 million students
China spent 188.2 billion yuan ($27.5 billion) last year helping 95.9 million students — from preschools to universities — attend school, the Ministry of Education said on Sept. 7.
The funding represented an increase of 92 percent from 2011, while the number of students receiving financial support from the government was up 22 percent in the same period, Tian Zuyin, director of the National Center for Student Financial Aid, told a news conference in Beijing.
From: China Daily
China calls for food safety checks at schools
China’s Ministry of Education (MOE) on Sept. 7 released a circular calling for better food safety work for the country’s nutritional improvement plan for students.
The circular was based on recent food poisoning incidents in several regions that involved a large number of students.
From: Xinhua
Vice premier calls for raising food safety standards
Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng on Sept. 8 stressed the focus on solving problems in the country’s food safety work while presiding over the first plenary session of the food safety commission of the State Council.
Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the food safety commission, said that food safety concerns the health of everyone, and is one of the top concerns of the people.
From: Xinhua
Beijing rebuts human rights allegation
Beijing said on Sept. 10 that the Human Rights Watch NGO has always been full of prejudice against China and distorted the facts when it accused the Chinese government of suppressing Uygurs.
The organization said in a report that the Chinese government conducts mass arbitrary detention, torture, mistreatment and daily pervasive controls on Uygurs.
From: China Daily
China launches safe travel initiative
A safe travel initiative aimed at raising awareness of traveling safely and providing humanitarian aid during travels was launched on Sept. 10 in Beijing.
The “Safe and Responsible Travel Initiative” was jointly announced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges, China Tourism Academy, and Ctrip, China’s leading online travel agency.
From: Xinhua
Xi stresses social norms of respecting teachers, valuing education
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the Communist Party of China (CPC) and society to promote the social norms of respecting teachers and valuing education on Sept. 10.
Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the statement at a national education conference on Sept 10, which marks the 34 th Teachers’ Day in China.
From: Xinhua
China urges Sweden to guarantee safety and legitimate rights of Chinese tourists
China has called on Sweden to guarantee the safety and legitimate rights of Chinese tourists, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Sept. 11.
“In the early morning of Sept. 2, three Chinese tourists, including two elderly,were brutally treated by local police on the outskirts of Stockholm,” Geng told a routine press briefing.
From: Xinhua
Over 6 million children benefit from China’s neonatal screening programs
More than 6 million Chinese children in poverty-ridden areas have benefited from neonatal screening programs, the National Health Commission said Sept. 12.
It is estimated that 5.6 percent of newborns have birth defects in China. Data from the China Disabled Persons’ Federation suggests that about 900,000 babies are born with birth defects every year.
From: Xinhua
China slams a Japanese man for kicking ‘comfort women’ statue
Mitsuhiko Fujii, a citizen of Japan who was in Taiwan representing 16 civilian groups who objected the building of a “comfort women” statue, was captured by surveillance cameras kicking the bronze statue and posing for pictures on Sept. 6.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang on Sept. 12 said China hopes Japan will take up its responsibility and handle the incident properly, when asked about China’s stance on the man’s conduct.
From: CGTN
Chinese ambassador questions Swedish police after tourists thrown out of hotel
Chinese ambassador to Sweden Gui Congyou said he couldn’t understand the Swedish police’s claim, which said the policemen who brutally treated Chinese tourists didn’t violate the law.
“The head of the local police station met with my colleagues at this noon,” the ambassador told Aftonbladet on Sept. 17. “The police chief confirmed that the three tourists didn’t break the Swedish laws, but also said the policemen didn’t break the laws either. We can barely understand the statement.”
From: CGTN
China to become world’s largest country of organ transplants in 2020
China is expected to have the most organ transplant surgeries in 2020, said Huang Jiefu, director of the China National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee.
The number of registered volunteers for organ donation in China had neared 615,000, with 19,380 successful donation surgeries resulting in 54,956 organs transplanted as of Sept. 9 this year, according to the Third China International Organ Donation Conference that opened in Xi’an on Sept. 21.
From: Xinhua
Environment watchdog talks with local officials on misuse of natural reserves
Local officials in eight regions and heads of forestry in three provinces were called for environment watchdog talks on Sept. 26 regarding misuse and damage of natural reserves.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) commanded local authorities to strictly manage natural reserves, prohibiting them from pursuing temporary economic benefit at the price of worsening the environment.
From: Xinhua
China unveils air pollution control plan for Beijing, neighboring region
China will begin reducing the average intensity of PM2.5, a major air pollutant, by around 3 percent year on year in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and surrounding areas this fall and winter, according to an official plan released on Sept. 27.
The plan was released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, several other central government departments and the governments of six provincial-level regions.
From: Xinhua
Action plan aims to add more clear winter days
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment released an action plan on Sept. 28 that aims to add more days of clear skies this autumn and winter.
The plan will be implemented in 28 cities, including Beijing, Tianjin and cities in Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong and Henan provinces.
From: China Daily
