THIS WEEK SOCIETY

?

THIS WEEK SOCIETY

XINHUA

Race on Ride

Riders perform at a horse race festival in Shangri-la，Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Diqing in southwest China's Yunnan Province，on June 9.

A total of 194 horses participated in the three-day ethnic traditional horse race festival.

Residents Permits

Chinese police provided about 746，000 unregistered citizens with household registration permits，a crucial document entitling them to social welfare，in the first five months of this year，according to the Ministry of Public Security.

In China，various social benefits such as medical insurance and access to basic education are based on household registration，or hukou，and are supposed to be in line with long-term places of work and residence.

The move to register unregistered citizens，which are estimated to amount to 13 million，or 1 percent of the entire population，was announced in December 2015.Between January and May，more than 1.09 million unregistered people were confirmed，according to a ministry statement on June 8.

They include orphans，the homeless，and those who have yet to apply for a permit or who have simply lost theirs.In addition，parents who violated the family planning policy often refrained from obtaining hukou for their children in order to avoid fines.

The ministry also revealed that police across the country have confiscated 3 million duplicated hukou and more than 1.7 million IDs that have duplicated numbers.

Last year，the ministry reported that some of the duplications were honest mistakes from manual errors or separated police management systems in the past，but others were the result of police officers illegally using professional privilege to seek benefits for their connections.

Human Rights Report

On June 14，the Chinese Government released a report reviewing the progress made on an action plan to improve human rights carried out from 2012 to 2015.

The National Human Rights Action Plan of China （2012-15），announced in June 2012，was the second of its kind，following the first one from 2009 to 2010.

Major targets and tasks set by the plan had been fulfilled as scheduled by the end of 2015，said the report issued by the State Council Information Office.

About 48 percent of the binding targets and over 50 percent of the targets concerning people's livelihoods had been met ahead of time or exceeded，thus realizing the comprehensive implementation of the plan，the report stated.

Record Keeping

China plans to speed up its establishment of a social record-keeping system，according to a recent guideline published by the State Council.The “social credibility rating” will contain information on wrongdoings or breaches of law and government rules and regulations by individuals or market entities.Such information will be recorded and shared across agencies and localities in a more effective manner.A universal mechanism for punishing recurrent transgressions and rewarding those who stick to the rules will help maintain market order and a sound social environment，said the document.

Preferences will be given to honest market entities，while behavior that sabotages market stability or social order，or endangers national or personal interests，will be dealt with in accordance with the law，it said.

More Zones for Innovation

The Chinese Government said on June 8 that it will accelerate the building of two more national-level development zones to encourage innovation，as the country seeks to stimulate growth.

The government approved the establishment of the two “national innovation demonstration zones”in Fujian Province and Anhui Province，respectively，according to a statement released after the State Council's executive meeting on June 8，chaired by Premier Li Keqiang.

The decision was made as similar zones，including Beijing's Zhongguancun and Shanghai's Zhangjiang hi-tech zone，have played an experimental and pioneering role in the nation，and those models need to be replicated across the country，said the statement.

The government vowed to cut red tape and provide better services to the development zones，making them serve the nation's economic rebalancing drive more effectively.

A string of new measures was also announced to provide more finance for medical aid to residents in poverty-stricken areas.

Rural residents living in poverty will receive greater reimbursement when they are hospitalized and will be covered by the critical illness insurance，said the statement.

The government also vowedto build a health and medical data platform across the country，which aims to improve healthcare services and to be a key part of the country's supply-side structural reform.

College Employment

The employment rate for Chinese college graduates remains stable，with more graduates employed by private enterprises，a recent survey shows.

The employment rate of college graduates in 2015 was 91.7 percent，a negligible change from 92.1 percent in 2014 and 91.4 percent in 2013，according to a survey by education research company MyCOS Institute released on June 12.

Breaking the numbers down，92.2 percent of university graduates and 91.2 percent of graduates from junior colleges and higher vocational schools found jobs，said the survey.

It also showed that more graduates are starting their own businesses，with 3 percent registering as self-employed in 2015.Most graduates secured start-up funding from their parents，relatives，friends or personal savings.

Industries including education，medicine，the media，and information and communications hired more graduates，while construction and hardware manufacturing sectors employed fewer.

The survey also covered some 41，000 employees who graduated from college in 2012.Their average monthly income in 2015 was 5，696 yuan （$868），87 percent more than what they earned three years previously，according to MyCOS.

Taller Children

Chinese children are on average much taller and stronger than they were four decades ago，with the height gap standing at 8 cm，a government survey showed on June 8.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission（NHFPC） surveyed 161，774 healthy children under 7 years old from nine cities and their suburbs in 2015.Health authorities have conducted the survey once every 10 years since 1975.

Taking children aged between 5 and 5.5 for example，the boys on average measure 113.6 cm，8 cm taller than boys in 1975 and 1.7 cm taller than boys in 2005，while girls have an average height of 112.5 cm，8.2 cm more than four decades ago and 1.8 cm more than 10 years ago，according to the 2015 survey results.

They also weigh 3.28 to 3.7 kg more than children four decades ago，the survey showed.

The physical development of the children surveyed surpassed the World Health Organization's child growth standards，according to the NHFPC.

The weight and height gaps between urban children and rural children have also narrowed，said the survey.

In 1975，urban boys aged 4 to 5 were on average 4-cm taller than their rural peers，but the gap was only 0.6 cm in 2015，while for girls of the same age，the difference dropped from 4.3 cm to 0.4 cm.

XINHUA

Blood Donation

A volunteer donates blood during a mobile donate drive in Hengshui City，north China's Hebei Province，on June 14，World Blood Donor Day.

The theme of this World Blood Donor Day is “Blood Connects Us All.”

Box Office

China's box office is anticipated to surpass the United States' in 2017 and claim the title of the world's largest box office，according to a report by international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers （PwC）on June 12.

The report forecasts that China's box office revenue will hit $10.3 billion next year，while the United States is expected to muster $10.14 billion.

With compounded average annual growth of 19.1 percent，China's box office takings are expected to reach $15.08 billion by 2020，the report said.

It also estimated a whopping $49.3 billion of box office earnings across the globe in 2020，with nearly one third of it to be generated in China.

Jiang Xiaoping，a PwC China partner，said the robust expansion of China's film industry is driving the global development.

According to predictions，revenue from advertising in the Chinese film industry will exceed $161 million by 2020，and the average ticket price will climb to $6.04 from $5.44 currently.

WU SHAOXIA

Sutra Study

The Dunhuang Conference on Sutra Transmission and Translation kicks off on June 15 in Dunhuang，Gansu Province.

More than 100 experts and scholars from over 20 world-renowned universities and institutions attend the conference，which lasts for four days.

XINHUA

Helping Hands

Robots work on a glass production line in Fuqing，Fujian Province，on June 14.

Since the beginning of this year，the inspection and quarantine authorities of Fujian have begun to provide customized services for major local enterprises，helping them apply for certificates of origin，tariff reductions and cutting and enhancing their competitiveness in overseas markets.