Risks of Obesity

Oriental Outlook

February 7, 2013

Gaining weight is a common topic of conversation when Chinese get together with old friends. In this issue, Oriental Outlook notes that obesity has become an increasingly serious problem in China. Rapid urbanization has brought about changes in people's lifestyles, with easier access to food, especially junk food, and more time spent in motor vehicles and chairs. People are unconsciously eating more food and exercising less.

In the long run, obesity will be a burden on China's medical system. Obesity is a particularly serious problem because it can cause many chronic diseases, like diabetes and cardiovascular problems. It is believed that the food industry and government should take responsibility for teaching citizens how to eat healthily in order to keep them from becoming obese and developing related chronic diseases.

Future Wealthy Chinese

China Newsweek

January 28, 2013

In the next decades, which industries will produce wealthy people in China? And how will fortunes be made in these fields? Observers believe that future lucrative industries will have a large market scale and give entrepreneurs easy access to clients.

Mobile and Internet communication meet these prerequisites, both attracting a large number of grass-roots entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial companies in this field are customer-oriented and will provide more qualified products and efficient services.

Catering to people's need for sound health, Chinese fortune-seekers combined the Internet with medical services, creating online platforms that provide medical information both for doctors and patients.

In previous days starting a business required a certain amount of cash, but now finding a creative business model is more important for entrepreneurs to build a lucrative future.

Charging Tuition Fees

Guangzhou Daily

February 8, 2013

Starting from the fall semester of 2014, all newly enrolled postgraduates in China will be charged tuition fees, the State Council, China's cabinet, recently announced. Previously, postgraduate students enjoyed government-funded scholarships as they earned their master's degrees.

Pursuing higher education is supposed to broaden one's knowledge base and grant access to more employment options. Without improving the teaching quality in postgraduate education, charging tuition fees will only result in putting postgraduates in an even less advantageous position and preventing quite a number of excellent but impoverished students from pursuing a better life.  

Rural Land Transfer

Minsheng Weekly

January 28, 2013

Land is the bread and butter of farmers. As urbanization speeds up in China, more and more lands are taken from farmers and used for commercial purposes.

Minsheng Weekly reviews rural land use right transfers during the past three decades and problems brought about by the transfers. Land is the only thing farmers can count on for a living during urbanization. But the lack of legally acceptable proof of land ownership leaves farmers' interests poorly protected.

The magazine noted that farmers' legal rights should be protected by clarifying farmers' ownership of lands. It added that farmers should be entitled to a higher proportion of the value increases of expropriated land so that they will gain original capital, which will ultimately facilitate the sustainable development of China's rural economy.  

Mask-Wearing Traffic Police

Qilu Evening News

January 31, 2013

Many netizens are calling on authorities to allow traffic police to wear face masks in smoggy weather to protect them against serious air pollution. The Public Security Bureau of Jinan, the capital of east China's Shandong Province, announced on January 30 that it will allow traffic officers to wear masks when on duty during smoggy weather.

As smog becomes more frequent in Chinese cities, allowing traffic police on duty outdoors to wear masks puts people first. Traffic officers suffer more from bad weather conditions than indoor workers.

In addition, the meteorological department should publish up-to-date weather data and the health department should give guidance on when to wear masks. Laws and regulations protecting outdoor workers should also be enacted.