Economy/Resources - 275. page

The State Statistical Bureau announced that China’s inflation rate was 6.5% in August, 0.9 percent higher than July and the highest since December 1996.

According to China News Service, the process of desertification is accelerating for China’s most beautiful wetland prairie, the Ruoergai Marshes. It is now difficult to find bogs, and the desertified areas are increasing at an annual rate of 11.65%. With over two hundred out of three hundred lakes dried up, the wetlands have shrunk to less than 40% of their original area.

On October 12, 2007, the Ministry of Public Health of China issued a report that, from January to September, nation wide (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan not included) there were 2002 urgent public health events reported through the information managing and reporting system of urgent events of public health The report also stated that there were 76,000 patients and 393 deaths. There were no events reported from the Tibet autonomous region.

At 9:40 on October 31, 2006, a man jumped to his death from the 7th floor of a student dormitory building in Zhongying College, Quanzhou, Fujian Province. The police found a suicide note. The deceased said he committed suicide because he could not find a satisfactory job and did not want to be a burden to his parents. It is getting harder and harder for undergraduate and graduate students to find work. More undergraduate students are choosing to work rather than go to graduate school. In one study, 60% of graduate students regretted going to graduate school.