IN BRIEF
Tourism
Xanadu gets World Heritage status
June 29 marked a historic day for Xanadu in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region as it gained a place on the World Heritage List. The announcement came at the 36th session of the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Xanadu was China's only candidate for World Cultural Heritage status this year and is the first site to gain the recognition from Inner Mongolia. It is also China's 42nd World Heritage listing.
Lying in Zhenglan Banner and Duolun county of the Xilin Gol League in central Inner Mongolia, Xanadu was the first capital of Kublai Khan (1215-94) and later became the summer capital of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).
Legislation
Legal status for asylum seekers
The National People's Congress Standing Committee has approved an Exit and Entry Administration Law that permits refugees to stay on in China after obtaining an ID card from the public security authorities. Asylum seekers will also be allowed to use a temporary ID card to stay in the country while their refugee status is under examination.
The new law combines two existing laws that pertain to exiting and entering the country and to foreigners. The old laws will expire when the new one comes into effect on July 1, 2013. China is now a party to two international refugee pacts - the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol. Even so, its Legislation Law states that international protocols only have force if they are written into domestic laws.
Health
Drug prices set to fall further
Public hospitals in Shenzhen and one in Beijing have begun scrapping their drug markups, paving the way for a comprehensive public hospital reform that aims to improve the quality of medical services and lower drug costs.
On July 1, the hospitals in both cities undertook what is deemed the boldest and hardest part of the medical reforms as a trial of the policy intended to take effect across the Chinese mainland, said Ma Xiaowei, vice-minister of health, while inspecting Beijing Friendship Hospital, which was selected for the trial.
In the early 1980s public hospitals began to make money by selling medicines to support their daily operations after government funding cuts. As a result, doctors have tended to prescribe excessive or unnecessary medicines, driving up medical costs and straining doctor-patient relationships, according to Ma.
Under the new initiative, the markup is removed and the economic losses incurred will be covered by higher consultation and service fees.
Media
Publishers given financial boost
Publishing houses in China may get at least 20 billion yuan ($3.17 billion, 2.50 billion euros) as loans over the next five years to support their overseas projects.
The Export-Import Bank of China signed an agreement with the General Administration of Press and Publication on July 3 to provide financial support for publishers' attempts to explore international markets, according to a GAPP statement.
The GAPP will recommend a list of eligible companies for the loans and they will be short-listed by an expert panel before being submitted to the bank for examination, the statement said, without elaborating on the number of firms that might receive the loans. In January, the GAPP promised to work out favorable policies for domestic publishers to enter overseas markets.
Culture
Contest fosters global exchanges
The 11th Chinese Bridge contest opened in Central China's Hunan province on July 2. The contest aims to encourage young people from around the world to study Chinese and strengthen their understanding of Chinese language and culture.
With the theme of "My Chinese Dream", 117 college students from 70 countries will showcase their Chinese language capacities, knowledge of Chinese culture and talent during the competition, which will run for more than 20 days in Changsha, capital of Hunan. The contest, sponsored by the Confucius Institute, has been held annually since 2002.
Employment
Environment majors on top
Students studying environmental sciences may find more employment opportunities in China, according to a recent survey. Environmental ecology undergraduate students had an employment rate as high as 94.3 percent in 2011, marking the third consecutive year of surging employment, according to the Chinese College Graduates' Employment Annual Report 2012.
The employment rate of environmental ecology undergraduates ranks sixth among the most sought-after majors, followed by power and energy, geology and mining engineering, nursing, civil engineering and agricultural engineering.
In 2010, 306 colleges in China began offering programs in environmental engineering and attracted 18,444 students. Another 50 colleges enrolled 3,200 students in environment-related majors, taking the total enrolment close to 22,000.
China Daily
Xanadu gets World Heritage status
June 29 marked a historic day for Xanadu in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region as it gained a place on the World Heritage List. The announcement came at the 36th session of the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Xanadu was China's only candidate for World Cultural Heritage status this year and is the first site to gain the recognition from Inner Mongolia. It is also China's 42nd World Heritage listing.
Lying in Zhenglan Banner and Duolun county of the Xilin Gol League in central Inner Mongolia, Xanadu was the first capital of Kublai Khan (1215-94) and later became the summer capital of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).
Legislation
Legal status for asylum seekers
The National People's Congress Standing Committee has approved an Exit and Entry Administration Law that permits refugees to stay on in China after obtaining an ID card from the public security authorities. Asylum seekers will also be allowed to use a temporary ID card to stay in the country while their refugee status is under examination.
The new law combines two existing laws that pertain to exiting and entering the country and to foreigners. The old laws will expire when the new one comes into effect on July 1, 2013. China is now a party to two international refugee pacts - the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol. Even so, its Legislation Law states that international protocols only have force if they are written into domestic laws.
Health
Drug prices set to fall further
Public hospitals in Shenzhen and one in Beijing have begun scrapping their drug markups, paving the way for a comprehensive public hospital reform that aims to improve the quality of medical services and lower drug costs.
On July 1, the hospitals in both cities undertook what is deemed the boldest and hardest part of the medical reforms as a trial of the policy intended to take effect across the Chinese mainland, said Ma Xiaowei, vice-minister of health, while inspecting Beijing Friendship Hospital, which was selected for the trial.
In the early 1980s public hospitals began to make money by selling medicines to support their daily operations after government funding cuts. As a result, doctors have tended to prescribe excessive or unnecessary medicines, driving up medical costs and straining doctor-patient relationships, according to Ma.
Under the new initiative, the markup is removed and the economic losses incurred will be covered by higher consultation and service fees.
Media
Publishers given financial boost
Publishing houses in China may get at least 20 billion yuan ($3.17 billion, 2.50 billion euros) as loans over the next five years to support their overseas projects.
The Export-Import Bank of China signed an agreement with the General Administration of Press and Publication on July 3 to provide financial support for publishers' attempts to explore international markets, according to a GAPP statement.
The GAPP will recommend a list of eligible companies for the loans and they will be short-listed by an expert panel before being submitted to the bank for examination, the statement said, without elaborating on the number of firms that might receive the loans. In January, the GAPP promised to work out favorable policies for domestic publishers to enter overseas markets.
Culture
Contest fosters global exchanges
The 11th Chinese Bridge contest opened in Central China's Hunan province on July 2. The contest aims to encourage young people from around the world to study Chinese and strengthen their understanding of Chinese language and culture.
With the theme of "My Chinese Dream", 117 college students from 70 countries will showcase their Chinese language capacities, knowledge of Chinese culture and talent during the competition, which will run for more than 20 days in Changsha, capital of Hunan. The contest, sponsored by the Confucius Institute, has been held annually since 2002.
Employment
Environment majors on top
Students studying environmental sciences may find more employment opportunities in China, according to a recent survey. Environmental ecology undergraduate students had an employment rate as high as 94.3 percent in 2011, marking the third consecutive year of surging employment, according to the Chinese College Graduates' Employment Annual Report 2012.
The employment rate of environmental ecology undergraduates ranks sixth among the most sought-after majors, followed by power and energy, geology and mining engineering, nursing, civil engineering and agricultural engineering.
In 2010, 306 colleges in China began offering programs in environmental engineering and attracted 18,444 students. Another 50 colleges enrolled 3,200 students in environment-related majors, taking the total enrolment close to 22,000.
China Daily
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