Emigration Options

Southern Metropolis Weekly

July 14, 2010

As millions of students rose early to do last minute cramming for China's national college entrance exam on a morning of this summer, many middle school students abandoned the exam, or gaokao, and chose to study abroad. According to the Ministry of Education, about 840,000 people registered to abandon the exam in 2009, and the number rose to nearly 1 million in 2010. Most of the students going to study abroad are quite young, being born in the 1990s. Their families believe that a degree from a reputable foreign university will help their children clinch a good job in a tight employment market. Apart from a wider selection of leading universities abroad and the prospects of a better education, the greatly improved financial situation of the average Chinese family had made study abroad more affordable.

Also, many simply did so because their wealthy families, especially those in big Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, have dreams of emigrating. According to a report from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a new wave of emigration of increasing number of Chinese social elites has drawn much attention from the public. In order to avoid problems facing their children studying abroad, such as anxiety and loneliness, and pressure from their new schools, they prefer whole-family migration so as to accompany their children.

Inaccessible Subsidies

Sanqin Daily

July 5, 2010

A heat wave swept across most of China in July. In some regions, the temperature exceeded 40 degrees Celsius. The hot weather has rekindled the issue of high-temperature subsidies and vacations. The local government in Shaanxi Province has announced that security guards will be given 2 yuan ($0.3) per day as a subsidy. However if labor authorities do not closely monitor employers, the subsidies are often not paid. On construction sites and in small private companies in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi, no subsidy has been given at all. China's only legal regulation on high-temperature subsidies was issued in 1960, an interim regulation applicable for 50 years. Generally, migrant workers are paid based on how many days they work. Even if they are allowed to have one or two days' leave because of high temperatures, most of the workers continue to work as they don't want to lose income. How to improve the welfare of those working in high temperatures is an urgent task facing government.

Hold Them Accountable

The Beijing News

July 2, 2010

In China, the harnessing and maintenance of large waterways are the Central Government's responsibility, while those of smaller rivers and tributaries are fall under local governments. Local officials often complain about fund shortages. Yet if that is true, why are they so interested in building landscaping projects along the rivers? It is because these projects add points to their political achievement records but flood control projects bring no immediate rewards. As a result, they seldom spend a penny on the latter. The Central Government would always offer local government relief funds once big floods occur, and local governments can benefit from fund allocations. Without any strict accountability mechanisms, local governments may completely neglect water conservancy projects. As a result, flooding sometimes is not purely a natural disaster. It's important for the Central Government to improve the country's overall flood prevention and control system by holding non-performing officials accountable post-disaster. This will be one of the most effective methods of strengthening flood prevention and control projects.