WEEKLY WATCH

WEEKLY WATCH

OPINION

Students’ Sleep

On May 16, the China Youth and Children Research Center revealed that in the past decade or so, children’s sleep times have decreased. At least 80 percent of primary and middle school students do not get a good night’s rest.

In general, Chinese adolescents’ health is also deteriorating. The past two decades have seen a sharp rise in students’ obesity rates and eyesight problem rates. Almost 60 percent of junior middle school students are shortsighted, and the proportion for senior middle school students is 70 percent and 80 percent for college students.

Academic pressure is the main culprit for a lack of sleep. The Central Government proposes cutting pressure on students, and in some places, local education departments even offer complaint hotlines for students to complain about heavy class work and study requirements. But this is just not enough.

Students are struggling to stay awake in class. Is it very difficult to give students more time to rest? Schools, parents, the government and society as whole are accountable for students’ sleepiness. Educational departments must cancel additional school requirements.

Lack of sleep is harmful to children and adolescents. Education reform should be steered to transfer overemphasis on exam results to the development of students’ comprehensive quality.

Guangzhou Daily

Suspicious Projects

The recent rumors that the Jianfu Palace Garden in the Palace Museum in Beijing had been used to be a wealthy private club have aroused the public’s attention. (see page 18)

It is very common to see “imperial restaurants” in some historical sites in Beijing, such as the Summer Palace or the Temple of Heaven. The question is that how these businesses manage to go through approval procedures.

China’s current law does not forbid proper commercial use of historical and cultural relic sites. The protection of cultural relics needs money, so if these commercial programs can economically help relieve taxpayers’ burdens, it’s all right to have them.

However, cultural relics are treasures that belong to the whole nation. Thus, any commercial programs related to these sites should not serve a small group of people while at the same time block out ordinary people by expensive admission tickets.

In many countries, even the smallest bit of reconstruction or renovation of historical sites needs to go through an arduous application and approval process. In contrast, China has much looser rules and regulations on cultural relic preservation.

As for the commercial operation of cultural relics, there should be explicit regulations on operation ranges and strict approval procedures. If any cultural relic protection agencies want to get involved in commercial programs, they must subject the program scenarios to the public’s examination.

The Beijing News

Improper Charge

It is reported that the real estate management department of Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province, demanded that every renter pay 30 years’ rent in order to move into the low-rent houses built by government for low-income people. But 20 years’ rent is a considerable amount for needy families applying for the houses. This practice stopped after it garnered media attention.

Low-rent houses are designed for relatively poor urban residents, and so if they are asked to put up 30 years’ rent before they even move in, this housing program will never really serve its purpose.

The county government claims they are only doing this because they lack the funds needed to build the low-rent houses. The government is a provider of basic public services and necessities, not a market entity that is free to chase maximum profits like businesses. This case reveals that it’s urgent to reform the administration of government. Governments at various levels must understand that their responsibility is to serve the people. Government’s budget must be open to the public and the use of fiscal revenue must be go through strict procedures.

Guangzhou Daily

Tourism Day

May 19, 2011 marked China’s first National Tourism Day. Many scenic spots chose to offer discounted tickets to attract more visitors on the day.

Chinese people are now becoming increasingly interested in tourism. Last year there were 2.1 billion trips made. Nevertheless, frequent tourism-related complaints and disputes imply that China’s overall tourism industry needs substantial improvements. Against this backdrop, the National Tourism Day was meant to further standardize China’s tourism industry and improve tourism services.

Favorable measures are necessary, but they are not enough. The development of tourism should be based on more efforts. For example, tourism departments may set up more information centers to make traveling more convenient and crack down on illegal practices in the tourism market.

As far as scenic spots are concerned, its better for them to strive to improve the cultural taste and service quality than to harvest immediate economic interests.

China Culture Daily

DAY OF TRAVEL: People enjoy the beautiful scenery at the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, Hubei Province, on May 19, the first National Tourism Day

SOCIETY

Water Plight

A severe drought has hit regions along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the country’s longest waterway.

Data from meteorological authorities shows rainfall in these regions in east and south China is 30 to 80 percent less compared to levels in normal years. Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces and Shanghai Municipality are suffering from the worst drought since 1954.

Water levels in the mainstream of the Yangtze are 25 to 70 percent less compared to normal years.

In order to ensure steady supplies of water and safe passage for vessels on the Yangtze River, the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has ordered more water discharges from the Three Gorges Dam, the country’s largest hydropower project.

Health Benefit

China will appropriate 30 billion yuan ($4.62 billion) this year to expand basic public health services for the public, said the Ministry of Health.

Regular physical examinations and vaccinations would be offered to all children under the age of 6, said Qin Huaijin, Director of the ministry’s Women and Children Health and Community Health Department. These services were previously available to only children aged 3 and younger.

Under government-funded programs, each child is accessible to a total of 13 free basic health services at community clinics until they turn 6. The services include growth evaluation and guidance for children’s growth.

SHARING EXPERIENCES Chinese President Hu Jintao meets North Korean top leader Kim Jong Il in Beijing on May 25. Kim visited Beijing as well as Heilongjiang, Jilin and Jiangsu provinces on May 20-26

Pregnant women and people aged above 65 will receive regular and comprehensive physical examinations. The latter are also eligible for one free healthcare visit each year.

Moreover, the funds will be used to improve the food safety monitoring system of grassroots medical institutions in communities, villages and towns.

Real-Name Tickets

A “real-name” ticket booking system for high-speed trains came into effect on June 1 throughout China.

The new system allows passengers to buy train tickets with 23 kinds of identification, including ID cards, driver’s licenses, and passports, according to the policy issued by railway authorities.

The real-name ticket buying system was launched to curb rail ticket scalping and improve security.

Fish Cleaner

China has begun the second phase of a research project to explore the use of fish to clean up water pollution in the Three Gorges Reservoir on the Yangtze River.

China Three Gorges Corp., operator of the world’s largest hydroelectric station at the Three Gorges Dam, has released 600,000 carp into the Gaolan River that flows into the Three Gorges Reservoir, to study how well they could clear algae blooms.

The first-phase test, between 2008 and 2009, showed certain species of fish did help prevent algae outbreaks in the highly polluted Gaolan River.

ECONOMY

Absurd Statements

Some irregularities and disciplinary violations were found in the financial statements of 17 centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) for the 2009 fiscal year, according to audit reports released by the National Audit Office (NAO) on May 20.

Assets worth about 1.9 billion yuan ($292.4 million) and profits of 2.63 billion yuan ($404.6 million) were overstated in the financial statements of those SOEs, while 3.43 billion yuan ($527.7 million) in liabilities were falsely included, according to the NAO reports.

Also, profits of 1.2 billion yuan ($184.7 million), assets worth 2.9 billion yuan ($446.2 million) and liabilities of 2.5 billion yuan ($384.6 million) were undercounted, according to the NAO.

Some of these SOEs, including CHALCO, Sinosteel, Sinochem, China Three Gorges Corp., China South Industries Group, COFCO, and China Southern Power Grid, confirmed the audit’s findings and said they are taking measures to fix the problems.

Plane Export

AVIC Xi’an Aircraft Industry (Group) Co., the maker of the Modern Ark 60 (MA60) passenger plane, confirmed May 24 that it had signed a contract to sell four MA60s to a Peruvian airline express company.

The MA60, which was introduced in 2000, is China’s only domestically developed regional passenger aircraft in service.

MA60 aircraft have been delivered to 14 countries in Asia, Africa and South America and are in use on more than 100 routes, according to company statistics.

UK Rating Down

China’s first domestic rating agency, Dagong Global Credit Rating Co. Ltd., on May 24 downgraded the local and foreign currency long-term sovereign credit rating of the United Kingdom by one level to A+ from previous AA- with a “negative” outlook.

The Chinese rating agency said the downgrade reflected the UK’s deteriorating debt repayment capability.

The rating agency said the British Government’s move to revive its economy would not substantially reverse the situation of the government’s serious fiscal deficit and increasing debt burden in the long term.

More Futures

The Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) is expected to launch silver futures by the end of this year, said Yang Maijun, General Manager of the SHFE on May 21 on the sidelines of the Lujiazui Forum, an annual high-level financial forum held in Shanghai.

Yang also stressed the importance of introducing crude oil futures in China, noting that about 55 percent of China’s crude oil has to be imported and that this percentage is likely to increase in the future.

“The SHFE hopes to step up its efforts to launch crude oil futures,” he said. However,“this will be determined by the domestic spot market for crude oil and by how much of its production and logistics is market-based,”Yang said.

HYDRO-POWER BOOM The first generating unit at the Three Gorges Dam’sunderground power station officially comes into operation on May 24. Thestation’s six 700-megawatt hydro-generating units are scheduled to come into operation within two years

1. THE UNITED STATES

Actor Jack Black arrives on the red carpet for the premiere of Kung Fu Panda 2 at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood on May 22

2. BRITAIN

U.S. President Barack Obama watches British Prime Minister David Cameron play table tennis at the Globe Academy in London on May 24 during a state visit

3. BULGARIA

A students’ band participates in a rally to celebrate the Bulgarian Education and Culture, and Slavonic Literature Day in Sofia on May 24

4. MALI

Bamako residents pass a new bridge built with grants from China on May 23. The bridge is expected to come into use in September

5. SOUTH AFRICA

China’s top legislator Wu Bangguo is greeted by Nomaindia Mfeketo, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa, upon his arrival in Cape Town for an official visit on May 23

6. ICELAND

A cloud of smoke and ash is seen over the Grimsvotn Volcano in southeast Iceland following an eruption on May 21