China's Labour and Social Security Minister Tian Chengping urged the country to accelerate legislation over social insurance on Saturday.Addressing a national social security forum in Beijing, he said the country's social security work still lacks laws or high-level laws to go by.Gao Fengtao, deputy director of the legislative office of the State Council, said at the forum that the social insurance law is being drafted and will be submitted to the National People's Congress (NPC) for deliberation as soon as possible.A senior NPC official said earlier the NPC Standing Committee will deliberate the draft of social insurance law this year, noting a sound social insurance law is important to ensuing social stability.
Central China's Hubei Province has banned pearl farming in all lakes, rivers and reservoirs in an attempt to prevent water quality from worsening, local aquatic products administration said Saturday.Pearl farms have covered a total area of 13,000 hectares in the province, and the annual output has exceeded 400 tons, a spokesman with the administration said.Some farmers resorted to pesticides and manure to farm the pearl oysters, which has caused swathes of algae to bloom in the water, and turned the water stinky, he said.The administration said it would not approve new applications to establish such farms, and has ordered all water areas used to cultivate pearls to be cleaned.Over the past several months, blue-green algae outbreaks, usually caused by pesticides runoffs and other pollutants, have been reported in Taihu Lake, Chaohu Lake and the Dianchi Lake in southwestern China, endangering domestic water supplies.Zhou Shengxian, director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), unveiled a set of tough new rules early July to tackle worsening pollution in the three lakes.The rules include a ban on all projects involving discharges containing ammonia and phosphorus. He also ordered all fish farms to be removed from the three lake areas by the end of 2008.
Central China's Hubei Province has banned pearl farming in all lakes, rivers and reservoirs in an attempt to prevent water quality from worsening, local aquatic products administration said Saturday.Pearl farms have covered a total area of 13,000 hectares in the province, and the annual output has exceeded 400 tons, a spokesman with the administration said.Some farmers resorted to pesticides and manure to farm the pearl oysters, which has caused swathes of algae to bloom in the water, and turned the water stinky, he said.The administration said it would not approve new applications to establish such farms, and has ordered all water areas used to cultivate pearls to be cleaned.Over the past several months, blue-green algae outbreaks, usually caused by pesticides runoffs and other pollutants, have been reported in Taihu Lake, Chaohu Lake and the Dianchi Lake in southwestern China, endangering domestic water supplies.Zhou Shengxian, director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), unveiled a set of tough new rules early July to tackle worsening pollution in the three lakes.The rules include a ban on all projects involving discharges containing ammonia and phosphorus. He also ordered all fish farms to be removed from the three lake areas by the end of 2008.
WUHAN -- The rainstorm and floods have killed 68 people and 25 others were missing in central China's Hubei Province since the flood season began in June, according to local government. Another 402,200 people have been evacuated from affected areas, said Liu Hui, deputy head of the disaster relief office under the provincial civil affairs department at a press conference on Sunday afternoon. Hubei, which is also called "the province of thousands of lakes", has experienced six major rainstorms since June, which have triggered floods in more than 2,000 rivers, mountain torrents and landslides, causing an economic loss of more than 3,800 million yuan, said Liu. The central and local governments had allocated more than 90.5 million yuan of relief fund to the affected areas and all the evacuated people have been well accommodated, said Liu. "The evacuated residents have been arranged to live in tents, government buildings, schools or at their relatives and local governments have sent medical teams to treat the injured," said Liu. The official with the provincial flood control office warned local government of preparing for new floods as heavy rainstorms were said to hit Hubei from Tuesday to Friday. "Although the large rivers, like the Yangtze and the Hanjiang Rivers, remain calm so far, the water level of 2,000 rivers of smaller size have risen dramatically, posing a serious threat to the flood control in the counties where the dams are poorly maintained," said Guo Zhigao, deputy director of the provincial flood control office. In addition, most of the reservoirs in Hubei have used out its capacity and some were even reported with leakage and overflow, according to Guo. More than 90,000 people have been patrolling on the dams and around the reservoir and residents nearby have been asked to evacuated to safe places. (One U.S. dollar equals 7.6 yuan)
Yichang - Construction of a tunnel under the Yangtze River that will form part of a gas pipeline project running from Sichuan Province to Shanghai was completed Monday.The 1.4-km, 3.08-m diameter tunnel sits 20 m beneath the riverbed and connects two wells on either side of the river in Yichang city, Hubei Province, Liu Juzheng, head of the Hubei section of the pipeline, said.With a total length of 2,203 km, the pipeline will serve as an "energy artery" as part of the West-East gas project, Liu said.The pipeline is expected to channel 12.1 billion cu m of natural gas a year from the Puguang field in Sichuan to central and eastern regions of the country, including Chongqing Municipality, the provinces of Hubei, Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and Shanghai Municipality.The tunnel, which took 325 days to complete, is the first of five to be built under the Yangtze.Industry experts say the new pipeline, which will cost 62.7 billion yuan (.4 billion) to build, will provide an opportunity to develop western regions based on their rich natural resources.Chen Deming, vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said the pipeline will be completed in late 2010 and the gas it transports will help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by tens of millions of tons a year.Figures from the China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) put Puguang's proven reserves at 356.1 billion cu m. The country has total proven natural gas reserves of about 2.66 trillion cu m.The government has been promoting the use of natural gas to improve energy efficiency and reduce air pollution.Under an NDRC proposal on natural gas development, the government plans to increase the natural gas pipeline network to 44,000 km by 2010 to meet demand.Although China's natural gas output will reach 94 billion cu m in 2010, up from 58.6 billion in 2006, an additional 16 billion cu m a year will still have to be imported to meet demand, Sinopec said.In Shanghai, demand for natural gas soared from 4 million cu m in 2003 to 1.9 billion in 2005.In 2004, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) opened its West-East gas pipeline, which runs more than 4,000 km and channels 1.2 billion cu m of gas a year to Shanghai from the Tarim Basin in the country's westernmost region of Xinjiang.CNPC is to build a second West-East pipeline to carry gas imported from central Asia to the Pearl and Yangtze river deltas. Construction will begin next year with the line, which is designed to carry 30 billion cu m a year, becoming operational in 2010.
Wu Bangguo,chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress,delivers a speech during the seminar marking the 10th anniversary of implementing the Basic Law in Beijing June 6, 2007. [Reuters]The central government will continue to support Hong Kong in developing a democratic system that suits its conditions, but any reform must be gradual and in accordance with the Basic Law, top legislator Wu Bangguo said yesterday in Beijing. Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, made the remarks at a seminar marking the 10th anniversary of implementing the Basic Law. The Basic Law is the constitutional document for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). It enshrines the key concepts of "one country, two systems", "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong" and "a high degree of autonomy". Wu said events have proved, and will continue to prove, that the principle of "one country, two systems" is workable and feasible and the Basic Law is a sound law able to withstand the test of time. He emphasized that Hong Kong must uphold State sovereignty and ensure prosperity and stability while enjoying a high degree of autonomy. Being an SAR directly under the central government, "Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy is not intrinsic, but authorized by the central government". "It only has as much power as authorized by the central government. There is no so-called residual power." But Wu said the central government will never interfere in affairs within the purview of the autonomy of the SAR. Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said at the seminar that the SAR has retained its international features, rule by law and various kinds of freedoms guaranteed by the Basic Law after its return to the motherland. "With State care and assistance, we have strived to display our unique advantages and made significant achievements widely recognized by the international community," Tsang said. The Basic Law has laid a solid foundation for Hong Kong's economic and social development and the improvement of people's livelihood, he added. Former secretary of justice Elsie Leung added that to achieve the ultimate goal of universal suffrage, and maintain prosperity and stability in Hong Kong, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the relationship between the central government and Hong KongLeung said Hong Kong has made gradual progress in democracy in accordance with the Basic Law over the years. Since its return to the motherland in 1997, the number of members in the Election Committee, which elects the chief executive, has grown from 400 to 800; and they are from different social strata and sectors. In the Legislative Council, the number of directly elected seats has also increased from one-third in the first term to half in the third term. The Basic Law itself is a result of broad participation of Hong Kong citizens as well, Wu said, pointing out that 23 of the 59 members of the drafting committee were from Hong Kong. The full text of the draft law was made public twice for public comments. Different social strata, sectors and groups in Hong Kong came up with nearly 80,000 comments and proposals. "In other words, each and every article of the Basic Law represents the broad consensus of Hong Kong society," Wu said.
扬州双眼皮手术几种
Soaring global oil prices have led to small refiners drastically cutting down on production - forcing Sinopec to fill the void.Since the prices of refined oil products are set by the central government, the refiners - private or local-government-owned - find it unprofitable when the price of crude is as high as is now. Crude prices reached a record .80 a barrel at the New York close on Monday."Surging international crude prices are exerting mounting pressure on the local market (by discouraging small refiners). We are already running at full capacity to ensure fuel supply," Mao Jiaxiang, vice-president of Sinopec Economics & Development Research Institute, told China Daily Tuesday.Sinopec is Asia's top refiner, feeding the bulk of fuel consumption in China. But due to capacity limitations at its plants, there is a rising gap between demand and supply.Mao pointed out that fuel shortages are mainly triggered by the production drop at medium- and small-sized refiners scattered around the country, which contribute 5 to 10 percent of the country's supply.The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the top economic planner, keeps a tight lid on domestic fuel prices to fend off inflation, only allowing refiners to set prices within an 8 percent band of a government-imposed benchmark.Sinopec will have more refining capacity on stream next year, which will help ease supply pressure, Mao said.This year, it is believed Sinopec may import more oil products from abroad if necessary. The company imported 60,000 tons of gasoline in September and sold it at a lower price.Gasoline retailers raised prices by 2.92 percent in the first nine months after crude costs climbed, the NDRC said in a statement on its website on Monday.However, the NDRC said last month that energy prices will not be raised "in principle" this year after the consumer price index (CPI) hit a 10-year high of 6.5 percent in August."As global crude prices and the CPI stay at high levels, it is possible for the authorities to seek a compromise by not raising fuel prices but giving subsidies to major refiners at the end of the year," said Niu Li, an economist with the State Information Center affiliated to the NDRC.
BEIJING -- The successful staging of the 17th National Congress of Communist Party of China has been selected by the country's netizens as the top domestic news in 2007, Xinhuanet.com said on Friday.About 800,000 Internet users voted for news items on 38 major news websites across the country, including People.com.cn, China.com.cn, cctv.com and Xinhuanet.com."China succeeds in its first moon-probing mission" came second and "China's National Congress passes Property Law" was the third, according to Xinhuanet.com, which posted the top ten news events on its website on Friday.The major news events were selected by Internet users from a pool of 20 items, an executive with Xinhuanet.com told Xinhua. The executive declined to provide information on detailed voting results.The top three international news stories were: "World oil price close to 100 US dollars a barrel", "US sub-prime mortgage market crisis shakes global financial market" and "National theme years fuel momentum for Sino-Russian cooperation".
There is growing nationwide debate over whether there is sufficient early intervention help available for people contemplating suicide.According to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, some 287,000 people take their own lives every year in China.The Ministry of Health (MOH) puts the number at 25 out of every 100,000 people.In addition, the Beijing Suicide Research and Prevention Center has estimated that between 2.5 million and 3.5 million people every year attempt to end their lives.Among them is a growing number of well-to-do professionals, which sparked the latest round of debate.Last month, Yu Hong, a 50-year-old doctor and teacher at Renmin University of China, took his life by jumping from a 10-story building in Beijing."Giving up life means a kind of courage and self-respect for me, even if it is considered a negative choice," Yu wrote in a blog before his death.Nie Zhenwei, head of the psychological counseling center at Beijing Normal University, told China Daily yesterday that it was a "misconception" that well-educated people with more wealth and social status were able to better cope with the pressures of everyday life."Having strived for wealth and a successful career, some of these people have in turn accumulated a certain amount of mental pressure," he said.Ashamed of their fragile mental state, many vulnerable people turn to self-harm instead of seeking help, he said."People feel they have to follow that path because of the pressure of work, relationships or health issues," Nie said.Zhang Yanping, vice-chief of the research center at Beijing Huilongguan Hospital said research into the incidence of suicide in China goes back only as far as 2000, making it hard to identify emerging trends.He told the Guangzhou Daily that China needed to update its research to determine whether the suicide rate is increasing.People are not getting appropriate treatment for depression and other mental illnesses, he said.Nie said: "We need more mental health experts and society as a whole should provide more channels for people to deal with psychological crises".
GUANGZHOU: The Guangdong People's Procuratorate on Thursday called on the public to continue to help it identify and prosecute government officials found to be guilty of dereliction of duty. Figures show that of the 2,200 such cases reported by the public since 2005, 738 people in 678 cases were subsequently prosecuted. Of those, 65 were county-level officials, with five holding more senior positions. Since the beginning of 2006, the procuratorate has rewarded 23 people for providing information on such cases, Huang Liming, director of the anti-dereliction of duty division of the provincial procuratorate, said. Also on Thursday, the provincial disciplinary watchdog disclosed details of four its most serious cases. In one, two police officials in Huazhou, Guangdong, were charged with torturing to death Huang Weiqing in November 2002, who had earlier been arrested for being a grifter. A court heard how police officer Huang Weiguang, who had been drinking alcohol prior to interrogating the suspect, repeatedly beat the man about the head, chest, back and legs until he lost consciousness, in a bid to extract a confession. Huang Weiqing later died of his injuries on November 14. A second police officer, Li Hanyu, was found guilty of failing to intervene; he instead simply left the room. Almost 40 police officers from the station unanimously testified that the suspect had killed himself by hitting his head on a table while being questioned. However, the dead man's family continued to appeal to government departments for justice. The provincial procuratorate eventually set up a special team and after a two-month investigation reached its decision on the police officers involved. Huang was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Li got two years for dereliction of duty. A number of other police officers were also punished. In another case, Fu Zuoqing, the former president of the Qingyuan Intermediate People's Court, received 11 years' imprisonment for misuse of power, bribery and embezzlement.