TRAFFIC SAFETY ALERT

The Beijing News

October 9, 2011

Three traffic accidents on October 7 killed more than 50 people. The accidents were all related to excessive speed on expressways and overloaded vehicles.

The incidents are an indication that traffic departments must improve their management. For example, they must put in place various traffic regulations to curb traffic law violations, such as speeding. There are traffic cameras on some roads, but because there is no nationwide monitoring network yet, cars that break traffic rules are rarely punished.

Responsible driving is part of the process of developing a country's car culture. Traffic departments should also learn lessons from frequent accidents and make more effective measures to upgrade traffic safety management. 

GUTTER COOKING OIL 

Xinmin Weekly

October 3, 2011

Illegal cooking oil made from discarded kitchen waste has presented another food safety scandal for Chinese consumers.

Xinmin Weekly looks at the industrial chain of the illegal oil, including where the raw material comes from, and how the oil is refined and sold to consumers. The oil refined from discarded kitchen oil is unsuitable for cooking, but with current technology it can be processed into biodiesel fuel, soap and chemical auxiliaries for industrial use.

To eradicate illegal cooking oil the government should not only punish those responsible, but also encourage enterprises to make use of it in the right way.

EDUCATION INPUT

Changjiang Daily

September 28, 2011

Ningshan County in Shaanxi Province, an impoverished county, has taken the lead in providing 15-year free compulsory education.

With low annual fiscal revenue, it is difficult for local authorities to provide free education. However, the local government has contributed almost 40 percent of its fiscal revenue this year to education by cutting expenditures in other areas.

This is in stark contrast compared to the 4 percent of GDP input into education on the national level and the customary system of counties using revenue to attract commercial investments or set up certain image projects in order to embellish local officials' political performance records. If a poverty-stricken county is able to input almost half of local fiscal revenues into education, why can't economically developed areas do the same?