Delicious Festival.doc

1、Delicious FestivalWomen of the Dong ethnic group prepare a special treat for the Bamboo Rice Festival as part of celebration activities in Wugong Village， Rongjiang County， southwest Chinas Guizhou Province， on May 3. Healthcare Input China has spent 5.64 trillion yuan（$871 billion） since 2009 to im

2、prove its healthcare system， according to official statistics. The health budget for 2016 is 1.24 trillion yuan （$190 billion） ， said the National Health and Family Planning Commission （NHFPC） on April 28， adding that the average annual growth rate of medical input has surpassed 20 percent over the

3、past seven years. The ongoing healthcare reform in China aims to create a universal health security system， which focuses on equal access to basic public services for all. The budget is also used to promote the reform and upgrading of public hospitals at or above the county level. The Central Govern

4、ment will grant each county 3 million yuan （$462，000） annually to accomplish the goal while providing a lump-sum of 20 million yuan（$3.07 million） to every city， according to the NHFPC. China is also making efforts to cut the financial burden of healthcare for its poverty-stricken population. Accord

5、ing to a survey by the NHFPC and the State Councils Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development， in 2013， 12.56 million households were in poverty directly because of unaffordable medical bills， accounting for 42.4 percent of the total number of households officially classified as po

6、or. Poverty Delisting A policy to gradually remove people， villages and counties from Chinas poverty relief list was unveiled on April 28 as part of its efforts to eradicate entrenched privation. The process will be strict and transparent and must win the recognition of the people， according to a do

7、cument jointly published by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council， Chinas cabinet. At the end of 2014， China had 70 million people in the countryside living below the national poverty line of 2，300 yuan （$354） in annual income. The country aims to eliminate pove

8、rty by 2020， when its 13th Five-Year Plan is completed. According to the document， the poverty delisting process should reflect the real situation； those who are above the standard of “stable”should be delisted， while newly added poor people and those who slip back into poverty should be included so

9、 that they gain access to poverty relief programs. It states that poverty delisting should be open and should have complete and auditable paperwork in preparation for third-party assessment and supervision. The State Council and local governments will carry out regular and random inspections， and sh

10、ould any significant errors arise， those responsible will be held to account， according to the document. Law on NGOs China hopes for a positive and objective attitude from relevant countries toward its new law on regulating overseas NGOs， Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on April 29. A

11、ccording to the law， which was adopted by the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress， Chinas top legislature， on April 28， overseas NGOs must secure approval from Chinese authorities before they can operate on the Chinese mainland. This applies whether they are planning to open permanen

12、t offices or operate temporarily. The Ministry of Public Security（MPS） and provincial police departments will be responsible for registration and regulation. Overseas NGOs operating on the mainland without approval will be punished. The law will take effect on January 1， 2017. Hua said the law aims

13、to guide and regulate the activities of overseas NGOs and protect their legal rights and interests in China. Governments at all levels will be obligated to accommodate the legal operation of overseas NGOs， providing necessary assistance and services. NGOs will enjoy preferential tax policies， accord

14、ing to the law. China has accepted opinions from many different sides in the process of drafting the law and made some amendments to relevant clauses， said Hua， stressing that the management of overseas NGOs varies with different national conditions. According to the law， NGOs must meet several crit

15、eria to set up offices on the mainland. For instance， they must have been legally founded outside the Chinese mainland， be able to bear civil liability independently and have been operational for at least two years. NGOs shall not undermine the countrys unity， security or ethnic solidarity， nor harm

16、 the interests of the state， public or the legal rights of citizens and other groups. They will be banned from engaging in or sponsoring commercial， political and religious activities. No Gender Selection Individuals and organizations that conduct medically inessential prenatal sex discernment or se

17、x-selective abortions will be fined up to 30，000 yuan （$4，600） ， under a revised regulation that came into effect on April 30. Besides a fine， the government will confiscate the income generated from such screenings and abortions， which are illegal in China. Those who induce expectant parents to tak

18、e up illegal prenatal sex discernment and selective abortions will also face the same punishment， according to the regulation， which was jointly issued by the National Health and Family Planning Commission， the State Administration for Industry and Commerce as well as the China Food and Drug Adminis

19、tration. Advertisers will also be punished for publishing adverts for illegal prenatal sex discernment and selective abortion services. The prevention of illegal prenatal sex discernment and selective abortions will be taken into account in family planning officialsperformance assessments. The revis

20、ion has been made to tackle Chinas high gender imbalance， which is a direct result of pre-birth sex discernment and sex-selective abortions driven by a cultural preference for boys. Chinas sex ratio at birth stood at 113.51 boys for every 100 girls in 2015， much higher than an international accepted

21、 normal level of 103 to 107， though it had decreased from 121.18 in 2004. Social Organizations China had 664，841 registered social organizations at the end of March， the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on April 30. The registered organizations include 329，000 social groups， 4，841 foundations and 331，

22、000 private non-enterprise entities， according to the ministry. Private non-enterprise entities include schools， hospitals， elderly care centers and museums that are established without state assets by enterprises， public service institutions， social organizations， other community organizations or i

23、ndividual citizens for the purpose of engaging in non-profit service activities. “Private non-enterprise entities， with their rapid development， have played a critical role in social undertakings， ” said Huang Ru， deputy head of the Social Organization Management Bureau under the Ministry of Civil A

24、ffairs. According to Huang， private non-enterprise entities will be renamed social service agencies after the Charity Law takes effect in September， and they will take part in charitable activities through providing free professional services to the disabled， the poor and the elderly. Wetland Parks

25、The State Forestry Administration has agreed to provide financial and promotional support for four new wetland parks in southwest Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region. The approval of the parks in Qamdo City， Shannan Prefecture and Nagqu Prefecture brings the number of state-backed wetland parks in Tibet

26、to 14， said Zhang Hucheng， Deputy Director of the Wildlife Protection Section at the regions Forestry Department. The new parks cover 15，400 hectares. “Establishing more wetland parks will help us protect water resources and biodiversity， ” Zhang said. With over 6.5 million hectares of wetland， Tibe

27、t has more than 5 percent of the total area of such habitat in China. The Tibet Regional Government has allocated 48 million yuan （$7.3 million） for the 2016-18 period to compensate local communities for their contribution to the protection of the wetlands. Cheers for Tunes Music fans rock up at the

28、 Taihu Midi Music Festival in Suzhou， Jiangsu Province， on April 30. The three-day event drew about 100 bands and musicians from China and abroad. VAT Scheme Completed China has replaced all business tax with value-added tax （VAT） after extending the policy to cover the construction， real estate， fi

29、nance and consumer services sectors on May 1. They were the last four sectors still taxed based on their revenue. VAT refers to a tax levied on the difference between a commoditys pre-tax price and its production cost. Revenue tax refers to a levy on a businesss gross revenue. The expansion of the V

30、AT scheme is expected to ease tax burdens by more than 500 billion yuan（$76.9 billion） this year. Chinas service sector is increasingly picking up the slack of manufacturing， as the worlds second largest economy is shifting toward more sustainable growth driven chiefly by consumer demand. Expanding

31、VAT to more service sectors is also part of the supplyside structural reforms authorities have been promoting since last year to address the structural imbalances in the Chinese economy. The VAT scheme first started in 2012 as a pilot program in Shanghai， covering a number of services including tran

32、sportation， IT and logistics. It was later expanded nationwide and covers other businesses. Over the past four years， the VAT scheme has saved businesses 640 billion yuan （$98.5 billion） in taxes. PMI Expansion Chinas manufacturing activity expanded slower than expected in April， official data showe

33、d on May 1. The purchasing managersindex （PMI） came in at 50.1 in April， slightly down from Marchs 50.2， according to the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing （CFLP）. A reading above 50 indicates expansion， while a reading below 50 reflects contrac

34、tion. NBS statistician Zhao Qinghe said the countrys manufacturing activity kept steady growth in April， partly due to a recovering housing market and accelerated infrastructure construction. The PMI tracking Chinas iron and steel sector increased for the fifth consecutive month to 57.3 in April， up

35、 7.6 percentage points from March. It is the highest monthly reading since March 2013 and also the first time the index has climbed above 50 in two years， indicating the expansion of the steel industry， according to the CFLP. On the other side， business activity in Chinas non-manufacturing sector ex

36、panded more slowly in April. The PMI for the non-manufacturing sector stood at 53.5 in April， down from 53.8 in March and well above the 50 mark that separates expansion and contraction. The non-manufacturing PMI tracks business activities of both the service sector and the construction industry. The service sector sub-index was 52.5 in April， down 0.6 points from March.