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News » China » New media has hold on kids |
- New media has hold on kids
- Reports question quality of children's clothing
- Experts warn on economic stimulus policies
- Wen visits students in rural school
- Li: People's livelihood top priority
- China, Uzbekistan agree to enhance military cooperation
- Police solve 102,000 economic cases since March
- China, ROK to boost anti-monopoly cooperation
- China farm produce prices drop again
- Heavy rains ground planes in central China
- New punishments for police abusing prisoners
- Officials expect 5th China-Arab Cooperation Forum to lay new cornerstone for ties
- China to boost relations with Timor-Leste
- China committed to building harmonious world, official
- DNA tests show driver is not a fall guy: police
- China to include fingerprints in ID
- China's cotton demand expected to rebound
- Stronger clampdown on child trafficking urged
- Peng, Gates make anti-smoking call
- China boosts strategic emerging industries
| Posted: 30 May 2012 12:52 PM PDT Survey director: Digital devices changing how children think Digital devices are playing an increasing role in children's development after school, according to a survey released on Wednesday. More than half of respondents have cell phones and up to 67 percent regularly use iPads for entertainment, the survey said. In the survey, conducted in March and April, more than 5,000 students from 50 primary schools and youth centers in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, were asked about their new media habits. "In an era of mass information, children are now living in an environment of diversified media. They have easy access to emerging media devices such as iPads and cell phones," said Zhang Haibo, of the Guangzhou working committee of China Young Pioneers, a youth organization for Chinese children ages 6 to 14. Zhang, who directed the survey, urged parents to pay more attention to the "Apple generation" phenomenon, which refers to the rising popularity of electronic media among children. "Compared with traditional media such as newspapers and television, digital media can easily harm children because they cannot judge whether or not the things they encounter there are appropriate for them," Zhang told China Daily. According to the survey, up to 90 percent of children regularly use entertainment applications such as Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds on iPads and cell phones. Eighty-two percent of respondents log onto the Internet daily, and 84 percent have used QQ, a popular Chinese instant messenger. More than half of respondents have used micro blogs on Sina Weibo and Tencent. "Unlike their parents, who depend a lot on newspapers and television to gather information, children have developed great interest in new media, which also definitely changes their thinking and ways of studying and social communication," Zhang said. Twenty-seven percent of survey respondents said the Internet has become a reliable source of information to supplement their studies. "I like to go online to learn because the things you find there have a fun way of teaching," said Lin Qiucheng, an 8-year-old student at Nanwu Primary School. Li Juan, the mother of a 4-year-old daughter, said it is hard for parents to avoid using new media applications in front of children. "We know it's not good for children to use digital gadgets. But they easily learn how to use them. That makes me sad because my daughter doesn't have many friends in such a lonely society," she said. The kindergarten Li's daughter attends has "golden pad" items, similar to Apple's iPad, for children to use in class. Liu Xuemei, a teacher at Nanwu Primary School, said that instead of barring children from digital media, parents should give children more guidance in using them safely. "Parents and teachers should show children the right way to use the iPad. They shouldn't just be passive recipients," he said. To better provide entertainment facilities for children, local authorities started setting up youth centers in residential communities, said Yang Jundong, director of the Guangzhou Children's Palace, a public facility where children can engage in extracurricular activities. "The youth centers in residential communities enable children to better enjoy specially designed public education and entertainment," Yang said. Some 30 new experimental centers will be built this year, according to Yang. "We will promote teaching methods we have developed and provide more entertainment facilities in these community 'palaces'. Underprivileged children and kids left behind by migrant-worker parents will be given free access to the program," Yang said. qiuquanlin@chinadaily.com.cn  | ||
| Reports question quality of children's clothing Posted: 30 May 2012 12:52 PM PDT Quality watchdogs across the country have released a series of reports on problems with children's clothing, including products from some big brand names. Children's wear from famous fashion brands such as ZARA and Disney failed to meet national standards during a survey of major manufacturers in Shanghai conducted by the Shanghai Quality and Technology Supervision Bureau. According to the report released on Monday, ZARA's children's shirts were of poor quality in fiber content. The pH value of Disney's long-sleeve shirts could not meet the standard. Another 15 batches of children's clothing among 93 tested failed the standard. Shen Weimin, deputy director of the bureau, said substandard pH value in clothes could harm human skin and may lead to infections. "All children's wear involved in the report have been pulled from the shelves," said an employee surnamed Yin in the public relations department of ZARA's Shanghai office. However, the clothes won't affect children's health, Yin said, adding that they have contacted ZARA's headquarters in Spain. Disney also confirmed the quality of its clothing. "To our understanding, the alleged quality inspection happened in March this year. After that, the manufacturer took immediate remedial action to address the situation. The unqualified products have never been put on a shelf," a spokesperson from Disney said. About one-third of children's clothing sold in Beijing was found to have problems in fiber content, pH value and other indicators, said a report released by the Beijing Consumer Association on Sunday. The association bought 63 kinds of clothing from upmarket department stores, such as Joy City in Xidan and Wal-Mart supermarkets, and online shopping sites like vancl.com. Three kinds of the clothes had excessive formaldehyde content and aromatic amine dyes, which are harmful to children's skin and have the potential to cause cancer, the report said. Problematic clothes in Bairong World Trade Center in Beijing have been taken off the shelf, and shops have received a warning and fines, a staff worker from the center said on Wednesday. In Guangzhou, Guangdong province, 37 of the 100 children and baby clothing samples, including T-shirts, knitwear and dresses, failed the test commissioned by the city's industry and commerce authority. The stores selling the substandard clothes were fined, and the clothes in question were ordered withdrawn. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, China's top quality watchdog, released a national result on children's clothing on Tuesday, saying 26 out of the 200 kinds of clothes examined from nine provinces were substandard. Hou Xiaoju, from Beijing Children's Hospital, said the hospital has received a few cases of children getting sick due to wearing substandard clothes. In most cases, they also have other pathogenic factors that are more serious than the harm from the clothes. | ||
| Experts warn on economic stimulus policies Posted: 30 May 2012 12:52 PM PDT Analysts say big spending not the best medicine for slowing economy A large package of stimulus policies to simply promote investment projects would be "dangerous" for the weakening Chinese economy as the excess production capacity may result in more serious economic fluctuations, economists warned. Beijing's recent new set of demand-boosting policies has raised economists' worries about a repeat of the side-effects brought by the 4 trillion yuan ($630 billion) stimulus package launched in 2008. "The key problem for Chinese companies is the overly competitive environment thanks to excess production capacity, rather than a lack of capital," said Pan Jiancheng, deputy director-general of the China Economic Monitoring and Analysis Center of the National Bureau of Statistics. "A rough expansion of investment may offer temporary relief, but it could result in disasters in the future," Pan said. The deepening eurozone crisis and worse-than-expected industrial production indicators have lowered many economists' predictions about the growth rate in the second quarter. Liu Ligang, head of China economics at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, forecast that the manufacturing purchasing managers' index, an indicator of the operating conditions of the sector, is likely to drop to 51.1 in May from 53.1 in April. The NBS and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing will jointly release the latest PMI data on Friday. "The government needs to accelerate implementing the 2012 fiscal plan, and expand public housing projects, instead of undertaking a new round of fiscal stimulus," Liu said. In May, there have been indications that the authorities are speeding up the approval process for major projects. The National Development and Reform Commission has approved new airport projects in provinces including Gansu, Hainan and Heilongjiang. Meanwhile, the large-scale and long-delayed expansion projects of Wuhan Steel and Baosteel have also reportedly been approved. The new stimulus policies focus more on encouraging private-sector participation, but many of the measures appear similar to the 2008 package, said Stephen Green, an economist at Standard Chartered Plc. The property market, the cooling of which was one of the drags on economic growth, has already seen an adjustment in the authorities' stance with easier financing for large developers and the central bank encouraging first-time buyers. "Any easing of the property policy may result in a rebound in house prices, which could ruin the impact of previous macro-control efforts," Pan warned. According to Pan, the slowdown in economic growth doesn't matter so much. "What we should really care about is if the slowdown leads to rising unemployment and falling incomes. So far, we haven't seen these two things happen in China," said Pan. Michael Heise, chief economist of Allianz Group, said it is not necessary for the Chinese government to launch a large-scale stimulus package, as the economic situation, both domestically and globally, is much more stable than in 2008-09. "If the government does need to implement some stimulus measures, I would suggest the focus should be on private consumption instead of investment," he said. "We expect the Chinese economy to start picking up speed again in the course of the current quarter. The easing of monetary policy initiated in December 2011 is now starting to bear fruit, with lending picking up since the beginning of the year," Heise added. "All in all, we expect to see China's real economic growth of 8.5 percent this year and 8.3 percent next year," he said. Contact the writers at chenjia1@chinadaily.com.cn and huyuanyuan@chinadaily.com.cn | ||
| Wen visits students in rural school Posted: 30 May 2012 12:52 PM PDT
Premier says nutrition an investment for future generation Premier Wen Jiabao urged rural schools to guarantee food safety when he visited some "left-behind" children in the mountainous region of Central China's Hunan province. Wen made the remark while visiting a primary boarding school in Shuangxi township of Guzhang county, on Friday, to present his best wishes to the children for International Children's Day, which falls on June 1. He inspected the students' dorms and talked with the teachers during the visit. Local governments in Hunan are participating in a national program — the "nutritious meal" project — aimed at improving nutrition in rural primary and middle schools. Through the project, the central government provides the schools with a 3 yuan (47 cents) daily subsidy per student, and the money is used to buy nutritious food, including milk and eggs, for the children. The subsidies to improve the children's nutrition are also an investment for the future, because children's physical condition and academic development are closely related, Wen said. There are 355 students in the primary school visited by Wen, and 280 of them are "left-behind" children — children whose parents are away from home most of the year working in coastal cities — said Liang Huicong, the principal of the school. Most of the left-behind children at the school are being raised by their grandparents, and many of them are withdrawn, lonely and miss their parents, Liang said. Some of the students said that they could not help crying when talking with their parents on the phone. The teachers at the school are trying to help them become more sociable, and have had some success with many of the children, the principal said. Wen said that migrant workers have made great contributions to boosting economic growth, and the left-behind children will be well taken care of in their parents' absence. Given that some rural schools have been merged and many children have a long walk to school, Wen said that local authorities should establish new or reopen some old ones so that students won't waste so much time on getting to school and back. Local authorities should take students' safety into consideration when building new schools, Wen added. | ||
| Li: People's livelihood top priority Posted: 30 May 2012 12:52 PM PDT Vice-Premier Li Keqiang urged provinces and municipalities to focus more on projects related to people's livelihood and environmental protection when offering aid to support the development of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. The provinces and municipalities should act more efficiently in pushing projects such as housing, employment, medical care and social security in Xinjiang, Li said on Wednesday during the third national work conference on "pairing assistance" projects to support Xinjiang's development. The latest round of "pairing assistance" projects, first unveiled by the central government in March 2010, involve 19 provinces and municipalities. He also said it is important to develop infrastructure construction such as traffic and water resources facilities as well as environmental protection projects. In addition, the provinces and municipalities should strengthen talent support and help the region develop science, education and government officials' skills, Li said. He affirmed the achievement in supporting Xinjiang's development during the past two years. In 2011, the region received 128.1 billion yuan ($20.1 billion) of cooperation funds from the 19 provinces and municipalities, an increase of 60 percent year-on-year, according to a China Central Television report on Wednesday. Li pointed out that China's economy is facing increasing pressures, and thus it is necessary to insist on expanding domestic demand. With a vast area and rich resources, Xinjiang is one of the major "battlefields" to help enlarge domestic demand and to receive industrial transfers from developed regions. Meanwhile, the expenditures on people's livelihood in Xinjiang took up 74 percent of the local government's general budget in 2011. A total of 80 key projects on improving people's well-being, including low-income housing, a herdsmen relocation and settlement program, and employment projects, were completed at the end of the year, according to a report by xinhuanet.com, a website run by Xinhua News Agency. In addition, more than 5,600 scientists, technicians, teachers, doctors, entrepreneurs and government officials have entered Xinjiang to help local development, according to another report by xinhuanet.com on Wednesday. Alim Shek, a 19-year-old Xinjiang native who lived as a vagrant in Chengdu, Sichuan province, for almost four years, is now studying cooking skills at a vocational school in Kashgar run by professionals from Shenzhen. Shek said he is "very satisfied" with his current studies in his hometown and is willing to find a "decent job" after his graduation. "I've learned the government has paid more attention to our Xinjiang locals. Lots of teachers and experts have come here from the developed cities to help us. I feel confident that I will have a better and happy life," he said. Cao Suzhen, a gynecologist from a maternity and childcare hospital in Taizhou, Jiangsu province, arrived in Xinjiang's Zhaosu county in December 2010. "I've been 'the badly needed person' for local farmers and herdsmen. Sometimes I have five surgeries a day. With our help, the locals now can see doctors easier despite the poor traffic and medical conditions," Cao said. "The medical conditions have been greatly improved. We trust these doctors like Cao. They have changed our lives," said Shen Yuzhen, a local farmer. | ||
| China, Uzbekistan agree to enhance military cooperation Posted: 30 May 2012 10:57 AM PDT China would like to work with Uzbekistan to enhance their bilateral military cooperation, a visiting senior Chinese military official said here on Wednesday. | ||
| Police solve 102,000 economic cases since March Posted: 30 May 2012 10:56 AM PDT Chinese police have solved 102,000 cases of economic crime since launching a special crackdown on the issue on March 1, according to the Ministry of Public Security. | ||
| China, ROK to boost anti-monopoly cooperation Posted: 30 May 2012 10:55 AM PDT China and the Republic of Korea on Wednesday agreed to advance cooperation and coordinate efforts in the anti-monopoly sector. | ||
| China farm produce prices drop again Posted: 30 May 2012 09:46 AM PDT China's farm produce prices fell for a fourth straight week from May 21 to 27, according to a Ministry of Commerce (MOC) report released on Wednesday. | ||
| Heavy rains ground planes in central China Posted: 30 May 2012 09:44 AM PDT Heavy rain has caused the cancellation of 18 flights and stranded 1,700 passengers during the last two days in Yichang city's Sanxia Airport in central China's Hubei Province. | ||
| New punishments for police abusing prisoners Posted: 30 May 2012 09:44 AM PDT Chinese police will face punishment ranging from demotion to dismissal if they are found to have abused inmates or connived in the maltreatment of prisoners, according to a provision published by the Ministry of Supervision on Wednesday. | ||
| Officials expect 5th China-Arab Cooperation Forum to lay new cornerstone for ties Posted: 30 May 2012 09:25 AM PDT Senior officials of China and the Arab League (AL) member states said here Wednesday that they hope the upcoming ministerial conference of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum will lay a new cornerstone for further developing their relations. | ||
| China to boost relations with Timor-Leste Posted: 30 May 2012 09:24 AM PDT Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng on Wednesday vowed to enhance friendship and cooperation with Timor-Leste at an event celebrating the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. | ||
| China committed to building harmonious world, official Posted: 30 May 2012 09:14 AM PDT China is committed to helping build a harmonious world, a senior political advisor said here on Wednesday while addressing a forum that focuses on the role of political mechanisms in promoting world peace and prosperity. | ||
| DNA tests show driver is not a fall guy: police Posted: 30 May 2012 08:30 AM PDT | ||
| China to include fingerprints in ID Posted: 30 May 2012 07:28 AM PDT Updated: 2012-05-30 21:19 ( Xinhua) BEIJING - China will require its citizens to register their fingerprints when applying for ID cards from January 2013 in a bid to curb counterfeit ID cards and ensure faster identification, according to the Ministry of Public Security. The first version of ID cards, launched in 1985, will be prohibited from use from January 1, 2013. Meanwhile, these cardholders will receive second-version ID cards by the deadline, said Vice-Minister Huang Ming Wednesday at a meeting on the management of citizens' ID cards. In 2004, the country introduced the second-version card. By 2010, 1.04 billion people or 77.6 percent of China's population, had received the second version. According to Huang, citizens applying for ID cards for the first time as well as those applying for replacement cards will be required to have their fingerprints taken. And those still holding valid second-version ID cards can register their fingerprints on a voluntary basis. Urging various public security departments to include fingerprint-collecting expenses into their budgets, the ministry promised to keep the ID application fees unchanged and punish those charging in the name of recording fingerprints. The move came after the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, adopted an amendment to the Resident Identity Card Law last year to require citizens' fingerprints recorded when they apply for or change ID cards. Lawmakers hold that including fingerprints data in the ID cards will help identify people in a faster and more precise manner and will effectively curb the counterfeiting and altering of the cards. | ||
| China's cotton demand expected to rebound Posted: 30 May 2012 07:28 AM PDT China's domestic cotton consumption is positive this year despite its economic slowdown, the Cotton Council International, the export promotion arm of the US National Cotton Council, has said. "We are very optimistic about China's retail market," said Karin Malmstrom, China director of CCI. "According to our surveys, we are seeing a growing middle class in China that is willing to pay more money for natural fibers, such as cotton." Cotton demand in China, the world largest user, may rebound this year. Consumption may rise to 9.58 million metric tons this year from an estimated 9 million tons in 2011 amid a recovery in the textile industry, said the Hong Kong-listed Weiqiao Textile Co, China's biggest cotton textile manufacturer, on its website. Although cotton demand is rising, output of the fiber is not increasing. "In 2012, domestic cotton production is not optimistic as decreasing planting areas as well as increasing labor costs, low level of mechanization and narrowed production," said Zhou Shengtao, director of China Cotton Association. A recent cotton association survey concluded farmers are likely to reduce their planting area by almost 17 percent this year because of the rising costs of labor, fertilizer and seed. According to the International Cotton Advisory Committee, the area of cotton fields worldwide is expected to decrease by 7 percent to 33.6 million hectares in response to lower prices. The decline in the supply of raw cotton will be driven by China, which is expected to produce a 6.4 million ton cotton crop, 13 percent less than last year. But China still needs millions of tons of cotton to feed its mills, which produce 40 percent of the world's cotton goods. And with global prices cheaper than domestic and the domestic textile industry recovering, Chinese mills will be looking for more imports, industry analysts said. China's cotton imports may jump by 54 percent to 18.5 million 480-pound bales (4 million tons) this year, the most in the six years, according to a March estimate by the US Department of Agriculture. "China has huge domestic market demand. … So its cotton industry should be based mainly on the domestic market and improvement of international competitiveness," said Zhou with CCA. "The appreciation of the yuan and rising labor and transportation costs have affected China's competitiveness in the global low-end textile market compared with India and Bangladesh," said Weiqiao Textile said on its website. "We are trying to boost sales in the domestic market and also upgrade our goods to better compete in the high-end market." | ||
| Stronger clampdown on child trafficking urged Posted: 30 May 2012 07:28 AM PDT Updated: 2012-05-30 21:07 By Zhao Yinan ( chinadaily.com.cn) China's top court on Wednesday called for more efforts to clampdown on child trafficking. The situation in the country is "still severe", the Supreme People's Court said in a statement issued ahead of Children's Day on June 1. Authorities nationwide should maintain strict crackdown on human trafficking and find solutions to new problems that arise, the statement said. In addition to kidnapping and trafficking, some regions have also seen criminals sell their own babies, according to the court. In a case study included in the statement, a couple who sold their son for 26,000 yuan ($4,093) was sentenced to three years in prison with a five-year reprieve and fined 30,000 yuan. In 2009, Wu Yajun and his wife Guan Qianqian sold their 4-month-old son with the assistance of a local nurse. Police later found and released the baby boy from his adopted parents after Wu's father reported the case. In another case, major culprits who have trafficked in at least 38 toddlers were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, which is usually means life in prison. Police rescued all of the children, the top court's statement said. China's criminal code elevated the maximum punishment for child traffickers, holding them punishable by death, when the National People's Congress amended the Criminal Law last year. Police solved 5,320 trafficking cases involving children last year, rescuing 8,660 children, according to the Ministry of Public Security. | ||
| Peng, Gates make anti-smoking call Posted: 30 May 2012 07:28 AM PDT
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| China boosts strategic emerging industries Posted: 30 May 2012 07:28 AM PDT BEIJING - The State Council on Wednesday adopted a plan to boost the development of seven strategic emerging industries amid the country's economic slowdown. "It is an important and strategic task to develop strategic emerging industries, particularly when the economy is facing increasing downward pressure," said a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao. The statement said the development of strategic emerging industries is of great significance in terms of maintaining long-term and steady economic growth. The meeting resulted in the creation of plans to launch 20 major projects related to the seven strategic emerging industries. According to the statement, the strategic industries include energy-saving and environmental protection, information technology, biology, advanced equipment manufacturing, new energy, new materials and new-energy vehicles. The healthy development of these industries, the statement said, will mainly rely on a market that can play a fundamental role in allocating resources, an optimized policy environment and market participants. The State Council urged indigenous innovation and enhanced international exchanges and cooperation while promoting the development of strategic emerging industries. China's economy grew at its slowest pace in almost three years in the first quarter, with its gross domestic product expanding only 8.1 percent during the period. A string of economic indicators in April suggested further economic weaknesses in the world's second-largest economy amid renewed uncertainty in Europe, prompting policymakers to adopt swift measures to stabilize growth. The cabinet meeting also approved a plan to start settlement projects for 1.16 million rural herdsmen by 2015. The cabinet called for local authorities to prioritize the construction of residential units and stables for the herdsmen, as well as support the construction of water treatment facilities, electricity networks, roads, communication infrastructure, clinics and schools. The cabinet reminded local governments to respect the herders' customs while working on the projects. |
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