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