China Report Issue 48 May 2017

(coco) #1

WHat’s


not?


High-Interest
Campus Loans
university students have been able
to get their hands on cash easily via
campus loans, but many have been
unable to pay back what they owe
on time due to high interest rates.
The newspaper Southern Metropolis
Daily reported loan sharks usually
use loopholes to cheat students who
lack skills of money management
and budgeting. But according to
the news portal http://www.infzm.com,
many students could use loans to
start or invest in businesses, and
as adults, they should take on the
responsibility. The same news article
suggested banking institutions
should allow students to apply
for credit cards in order to largely
reduce the harmful impact of illegal
campus loans.

Misunderstandings of
Domestic Violence
After a female journalist in Ordos,
a city in the Inner Mongolia
Autonomous region, died after
being subjected to severe domestic
violence, the All-China Women’s
Federation (ACWF) called for new
thinking on domestic violence.
The ACWF noted that the idea that
domestic violence is embarrassing
and should not be mentioned to
outsiders is mistaken. Many victims
also assume perpetrators will
apologise and change their attitude
after using violence. Women are
concerned over the impact of divorce
on children and believe that they
must tolerate the violence, and the
notion that domestic violence is just
a family affair should be altered
as well.

Anti-graft TV drama 3,024,
A new anti-graft drama, In the Name of the People, built around a
complex corruption case brought to light by conflicts at a factory in a
fictional province, has attracted widespread attention, particularly among
young audiences.

Xiongan New Area 792,
China’s decision to establish the Xiongan New Area in Hebei – the
province that encircles Beijing – will help ease the capital’s burden
and advance the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-
Hebei region. The New Area will be an area of national significance
along the lines of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the
Shanghai Pudong New Area, China’s successful testbeds for reform
and opening up.

toP Five searcH queries


The Case of Yu huan 152,
A group of thugs physically assaulted Su Yinxia, and her 23-year-old son,
Yu Huan, attacked all four of the men with a fruit knife, and one died of
his injuries.

On for the week ending April 10


Trump Accepted Xi’s invitation to Visit China 297,
At the Xi-Trump meeting, Xi invited Trump to make a state visit to China
before the year’s end. Trump accepted the invitation and said he would
expect to visit at an early date.

Beijing Starts
Landmark Medical
Reforms
On the morning of April 8,
about 3,600 Beijing hospitals
switched to the new medical
system, as released by the Beijing
Health Authority. This reform
separates drug sales from medical
treatment at public hospitals
and scraps the previous markup
on drugs under the old pricing
system, causing some to question
whether fees for the medical
services would be raised to recoup
lost money on drugs sales, which
are a major source of income for
public hospitals. Yet, Fang Laiying,
head of the Beijing City Health
and Family Planning Commission
(BCHFPC) noted that current
official data show the overall
medical costs for Beijing residents
remains flat.

WHat’s


Hot?


Some of the images used in this section are from the internet

famous Martial Arts writer died 140,
Wong Cho-keung, pen name Huang Yi or Huang An, died of a heart attack
on April 5. He was a Hong Kong writer of wuxia (martial arts fiction) and
science fiction novels. Xun Qin Ji, or A Step into the Past, is one of his
most widely-read works.

toP blogger ProFile


Bi feiyu
Followers: 795,334 by April 10
Bi Feiyu, a literature professor at Nanjing University (NU), is also a writer. His
most famous novel Massage has won the Mao Dun Prize, one of the most pres-
tigious literature prizes in China, and has been turned into a film. His recent
rise to fame has followed his taking part in China Central Television’s hit pro-
gramme The Reader and holding four book events for his
new book, Fiction Reading. Based mainly on Bi’s literature
lectures at NU since 2013, this book is a collection of
magazine columns on his understanding of classic nov-
els, both Chinese and foreign. His reviews on world-
class writers, written with colloquial and humour-
ous expression, are wildly popular online, and
he loves to chat with his readers about nov-
els. Fictional creations are seen as artefacts
that he can examine carefully at any time
and play with, said Bi, adding that someone
who can write novels may not be good at
reviewing or analyzing them, and the writ-
ing of novels should focus on both practi-
cal and academic study.

‘Good Samaritan
Laws’ Protect Helpers
The new revisions to China’s Civil
Law at this year’s Two Sessions,
China’s annual parliament,
stipulates that aid-givers who
offer help will not face civil
liability even if they make
mistakes while helping, in order
to encourage people to be willing
to help strangers in need. Yang
Lixin, from Renmin university
of China, praised the legislation
for protecting good Samaritans
and said it would make a huge
difference in the way people act,
reducing bystanders’ hesitancy to
offer help. But Yang also warned
that new rules might come
with some risks. For instance, if
helpers lack medical knowledge,
they could actually worsen
the situation, so as well as the
new laws, he suggested, other
provisions against inappropriate
aid should be issued.
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