Social Stability - 139. page

People’s Daily reported that Premier Wen Jiabao chaired a State Council Executive Meeting Work Conference on December 16, 2011, during which the Council established the “Employment Plan for 2011 to 2015.” 

The Council predicted that the eligible labor force will grow one million each year during the twelfth five year plan (2011-2015) compared to the eleventh five year plan (2006-2011). There will be increased friction because labor skills will not always be consistent with job requirements, with labor supply and demand, as well as with the ever increasing employment pressure.

The Council set the employment target for the twelfth five year period. It will include the growth of 45 million new jobs in urban and rural regions, reallocate 40 million from the surplus labor force in the countryside, keep the unemployment rate below 5%, enable social security benefits to cover the entire labor force, and improve the stability of the employment environment.

The meeting listed plans on how to meet the target: increase economic development, implement a favorable employment policy, better coordinate the job market for the urban and rural regions, implement training plans for the technically skilled and high tech labor force, and improve the flexibility of the labor market.

The Council also discussed the topic of improving fire prevention work.

Source: People’s Daily, December 16, 2011
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1024/16633304.html

BBC Chinese recently reported that Chinese netizens widely criticized the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs because, on November 25, 2011, China donated 23 school buses to Macedonia. On November 16, 2011, a school bus accident in Gansu Province had just caused the death of 19 Chinese children. At the time 64 children were on a school bus that had a maximum capacity of nine children.

The donation of 23 luxury school buses to Macedonia immediately triggered massive online discussions. BBC English reported, "On Sina Weibo – one of China’s Twitter equivalents – more than 480,000 entries on the subject had been published by Monday. One commentator, Liang Yu, a TV news presenter in the southern city of Guangzhou, asked with an emoticon in tears: ‘Where are our school buses?’" The Ministry’s spokesman explained that the agreement of the donation was reached at the beginning of the year and the donation “demonstrated China’s international responsibilities.”

Source: Chinese, November 28, 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/chinese_news/2011/11/111128_china_school_bus.shtml
BBC English, November 28, 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-15916190

On November 28, 2011, the department of Chinese Rural Studies at the Central China Normal University published a report based on a recent survey on the current attitudes of Chinese farmers. The report showed that 41.2 percent of Chinese farmers believe that the disparity in income between the rich and the poor is obvious; 73.3 percent of the farmers believe that the income disparity impacts social interaction; 66.2 percent experienced feeling inferior when interacting with wealthy people. The survey also showed that fewer farmers who are under the age of 30 are assuming such social responsibilities as casting votes, participating in meetings, and voicing opinions, as compared to those who are over 60 years of age.

The survey was conducted among 4,794 farmer’s families from 270 villages and 31 provinces. It took over 200 students and teachers five months to conduct the survey.

Source: Xinhua, November 28, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/society/2011-11/28/c_111201081.htm

Beijing Morning News reported that. on its 30th year anniversary, the China Association of Marriage and Family Studies (CAMF) published the results of a survey conducted in 2010 among 30,000 families on their opinions on marriage and family. The results showed that the younger generation tends to seek fun, benefits, and material gain from marriage.

Survey results showed that
1) 70 percent of the people surveyed believe that the “woman should marry for wealth rather than having to work hard for a living by herself;
2) 80 percent of those surveyed accept matchmaking due to young people’s limited social networks and the limited time they have;
3) The concept of “compatible social and economic status” remains an important factor in marriage selection;
4) 40 percent showed tolerance towards extra-marital affairs;
5) More successful career women are choosing to remain single, which impacts the problem of China’s aging population.

Source: Xinhua, November 29, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/society/2011-11/29/c_122348538.htm

China News Service recently reported that Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party, asked the officials from the central government and the Xinjiang Autonomous Region to focus their work on effectively suppressing illegal religious activities. The comment was made at a meeting to advance nine primary tasks in Xinjiang during the year 2012. The nine tasks include plans for starting new construction projects, creating new jobs, enhancing education, and maintaining social stability. The latter includes such tasks as suppressing illegal religious activities, preventing terrorism, and improving international propaganda. Zhou asked the central government branches to make sure coordination effectively insures the rapid implementation of the policies.

Source: China News Service, November 25, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2011/11-25/3487947.shtml

On November 25, 2011, Henan Province joined 31 other provinces in allowing the couples who were both the only child in their families to have a second child. The change in policy came about because the “one child policy” had a number of negative effects, including an aging population, the quality of the population, and the gender mix.

According to statistics from the 6th census, published on April 28, 2011, China’s population increased to 1.339 billion from 1.265 billion in 2000. The census revealed that 13.3 percent were 60 years and older which was 3 percent higher than in 2000, while 16.6 percent were  under the age of 14 compared to 27.69 percent in 1990. It was predicted that China’s population will have a net increase of 200 million over the next 30 years reaching 1.5 billion by 2033. Experts are calling for a conservative approach to opening up the “two child policy.”

Source: Xinhua, November 27, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2011-11/27/c_122340832.htm

From November 23 to 25, 2011, the State Council Information Office held training sessions in Beijing on the proper handling of “Public Emergency Incidents." Those attending included the spokesperson from the central media as well as the key personnel in charge of broadcasting local news.

Wang Guoqing, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office spoke at the training. He said the improper handling of sudden public events in the past resulted in negative media reports and unfavorable consequences. He stressed that the goal of the training was to study and learn from past examples in order to improve the media’s ability to handle public emergency incidents.

Source: People’s Daily, November 27, 2011
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1026/16402017.html

On November 18, 2011, an article titled “The Most Dangerous Time Arrives: Four Groups of China’s Social Elite on the Run; All Emigrate Overseas” was published on a blog in ifeng.com, the website of Hong Kong based Phoenix TV.

The article listed four categorizes of China’s social elite who have emigrated or are going to emigrate abroad. They are those who have power (officials), those who have fame (movie stars), those who have money (private business entrepreneurs) and those who have expertise (scholars).

“Actually, China’s economy has entered into the most dangerous period of time: a drain of private capital, the collapse of manufacturing companies, a decline in the price of property, and heavily indebted local governments. … Unless China is careful, the entire economy will collapse.”

"The whole nation’s morale is so low that people want to leave.”

Source: ifeng.com, November 18, 2011
http://blog.ifeng.com/article/14734086.html