劳动与社会保障卷A

中国近现代史纲要分类笔记

After 18 months of deliberation and public consultation, legislators passed the long-awaited Labor Contract Law on Friday to improve workers' basic rights. The law, which would take effect on January 1 next year, won 145 of the 146 votes of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC). One vote was not cast. The new law is considered the most significant change in the country's labor rules in more than a decade. It establishes standards for labor contracts, use of temporary workers and severance pay. It makes mandatory the use of written contracts and strongly discourages fixed-term contracts. According to the law, severance should be paid if a fixed-term contract expires but is not renewed without an appropriate reason. It is also stipulated that employers must submit proposed workplace rules or changes concerning pay, work allotment, hours, insurance, safety and holidays to the workers' congress for discussion. After the recent exposure of forced labor in brick kilns in Central and North China, the final draft added stipulations that government officials guilty of abuse of office and dereliction of duty would face administrative penalties or criminal prosecution. Xin Chunying, deputy chairperson of the NPC Law Committee, said the law is not intended to replace the current Labor Law but rather, to further standardize labor contracts in favor of employees. Li Yuan, one of the legislators in charge of drafting the law, said the law targeted bosses and officials who exploited workers. The draft law was first proposed in 2005 amid complaints that companies were mistreating workers by withholding pay, requiring unpaid overtime or failing to provide written contracts. Many workers were also becoming trapped in short-term contracts. Last March, the draft was made public for consultation, and legislators received about 192,000 public responses in a month. Only the Constitution, drafted in 1954, received more. However, business lobbies are worried that stricter contract requirements could raise costs and give them less flexibility to hire and fire employees. Both the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai (AmCham Shanghai) had made submissions to the NPC, suggesting the law might exert negative influence on foreign investment in China. In a letter to the NPC last year, Serge Janssens de Varebeke, then-president of the European Union chamber, warned the "strict" regulations could force foreign companies to "reconsider new investments or continuing their activities in China" because of possible cost increases. But Xin said there wouldn't be a substantial cost increase for companies that strictly follow the existing Labor Law. "All the principles have been included in the current law. The new law just details the provisions to facilitate implementation," she said.

Donald Tsang wins in HK Chief election(Xinhua/Reuters)Updated: 2007-03-25 14:27 Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang and his wife Selina stand on a bus as they wave to thank local residents at a polling station after winning the election in Hong Kong March 25, 2007. [Reuters]Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang waves after winning the chief executive election, at the polling station in Hong Kong March 25, 2007. [Xinhua]

The Bank of Communications (BoCom), China's fifth largest lender, said its net profit reached20.3 billion yuan (2.86 billion U.S. dollars) in 2007, up 65 percent from 2006.     By the end of 2007, total assets of BoCom stood at 2.1 trillion yuan, up 22.7 percent from a year earlier, according to its 2007 annual report released on Wednesday.     Net interest rate income rose 36 percent to 54.1 billion yuan and fee income from credit card sales and asset management products surged 137 percent to 7.1 billion yuan.     The Shanghai-based bank and HSBC Holdings Plc., which holds a roughly 19 percent stake in BoCom, are preparing to establish a credit card company and a pension fund company, according to the report.     BoCom, which listed on the Hong Kong stock market in 2005, returned to the mainland's A share market in April last year. Its shares rose 2.77 percent to 10.39 yuan in Shanghai on Wednesday.

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China will cooperate more with the European Union (EU) to develop safety and security criteria for products, a leading official from the top product quality supervision authority said Wednesday.To increase joint efforts to establish a product safety control system, the two sides have agreed to establish a joint information platform for industrial products, Wei Chuanzhong, vice-minister of General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), said."We will assess what it will take to set up a database for the platform by the end of this year," Wei said."The information platform will help solve problems arising from bilateral trade, providing a more effective way to push forward win-win trade development," Wei said.Wei made the remarks after the sixth annual meeting of the Negotiating Mechanism on Sino-EU Industrial Product and WTO/TBT (World Trade Organization/technical bar-riers to trade), which took place in Beijing Wednesday.Under the negotiating mechanism, which was launched early in 2002, China and the EU have set up 10 working groups covering trade issues in several industrial sectors, such as textiles, medical devices, electrical and mechanical devices, chemicals and cosmetics.He said a four-month product-safety inspection campaign launched by the AQSIQ is currently underway nationwide.Prior to yesterday's meeting, the EU also signed the first agreement for cooperation on pharmaceuticals and related products with the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration, according to the delegation of the European Commission to China."We will not impose any discriminative supervision regulations on Chinese products exported to the EU market. Instead, we are willing to offer technological support to Chinese enterprises to ensure an effective control over product safety," Heinz Zourek, director general for Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission, said.

A regional pilot scheme designed to provide basic medical insurance for all urban citizens will go nationwide this year, a senior labor official said Tuesday.A further 229 cities will be added to the scheme this year, Wang Dongjin, former vice-minister of labor and social security and head of a team of experts involved with the pilot, said at a national teleconference.By the end of the year, the scheme will cover 317 cities, Wang said.Dubbed by the public as a lifesaving project, the scheme has been well received by residents in the 88 pilot cities and has brought financial and medical relief to all beneficiaries, he said.Launched in September, the program, as of December, covered 40.68 million people with 620,000 of them already benefiting from it, Wang said.With an average annual premium of 236 yuan () for adults and 97 yuan for children, the scheme will be extended to at least 240 million non-working urban residents, such as children, students, the elderly, the disabled and the unemployed.These groups have been given access to the insurance plan through agents at schools and neighborhood communities, Wang said.For the disabled, home visits will be offered to help them sign up, he said.The premiums are paid by households, instead of individuals, he said. And the government will give subsidies annually to each participant, with more going to families of low-income earners and the disabled.Wang cited a recent survey showing 68 percent of those insured giving it the thumbs up.The poll also found that, between October and December, the number of patients who refused medical treatment for fear of high costs decreased by 10 percent.While subsidized by both central and local governments, the insurance scheme presents both personal and governmental liabilities and cannot be considered a welfare program in its entirety, Vice-Premier Wu Yi said at the conference.Personal contributions to enroll in the scheme cannot be lowered, she said.With the new scheme, China now has a three-layer medicare system, including the health insurance plan for urban employees launched in 1998 and the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme launched in 2003.Among those already covered by the medical scheme are more than 10.8 million urban residents in Jiangsu province, almost 4.7 million people in Anhui province, and in excess of 2.2 million urban residents in Gansu province.

DALIAN: Visiting Japanese lawmakers said on Saturday they were confident that China-Japan relations would develop further, and sport may have something to do with it."Japan and China are partners and our relations are facing good momentum of development and opportunities," Seishiro Eto, a member of the Japanese House of Representatives and former vice-minister of foreign affairs, said.During this visit to China, Eto also wore another hat: that of captain of the Japanese lawmaker soccer team. On Saturday, the team played a friendly soccer match with Chinese lawmakers in the coastal city of Dalian, Liaoning Province.The Chinese team has 35 members with an average age of 45. Most are deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) including government officials, scientists, entrepreneurs, teachers and doctors.Participants from Japan are 23 lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner the New Komeito Party, the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, the Japanese Communist Party and the People's New Party.Both sides said "soccer diplomacy" was aimed at deepening friendship. "Ping-pong diplomacy broke the ice in the Sino-US relationship during the early 1970s - and now another sport, soccer, has become a new way to improve Sino-Japanese relations," Lu Yongxiang, vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said.Lu said China-Japan ties had entered a new phase after former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe's "ice-breaking" visit to China last October and Premier Wen Jiabao's "ice-thawing" visit to Japan this April.The game was particularly important as this year marks the 35th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral ties.He said it was the first time that NPC deputies engaged in a sports exchange with Japan.There was a push to hold a soccer match among Japanese, Chinese and South Korean lawmakers next year in Japan, as well as form a cheering squad for Japan during the next year's Beijing Olympic Games, he added.During the friendly soccer match, whenever there was a physical confrontation, players helped each other to get up and shook hands. There was no sign of aggression on the field, only smiles.At the end of the game, players took photos of each other against the background of a big screen where a message read: "friendship first, competition next".Both teams were free to change as many as players, and dangerous actions such as slide tackles were forbidden."It's indeed an easy and comfortable game," Wang Ning, a NPC deputy and professor at Ocean University of China, said.Wang said he had been looking forward to the game for a long time, and was very happy to interact with Japanese lawmakers in such a unique way.Suzuki Tsuneo, a member of the Japanese House of Representatives, said China-Japan ties had witnessed ups and downs, but were now back on track because of extensive efforts by both sides."However, I believe that no matter how the bilateral political relationship goes, friendship will last if communication and exchange among the people continue," he said.

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XI'AN -- A fire burnt up trees and shrubs on a mountain that shrouds one of the most famed imperial mausoleums in the ancient city of Xi'an in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, but no damage was caused to the cultural relics, local museum officials said on Sunday.The fire broke out around 2:00 p.m. Saturday on the western part of a mountain that encased the tombs of a powerful Chinese empress Wu Zetian and her husband Gaozong in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The Qianling Mausoleum, as the tombs are called, reportedly houses the most precious possessions of the two rulers, including paintings, ceramics, calligraphy works and jewelry articles.The fire was fanned up by sandstorms which struck the area on Saturday, said Fan Yingfeng, curator of the Qianling Museum.More than 100 local villagers and 15 fire-fighters managed to put out the fire around 3:10 p.m. on Saturday. About 30 trees and a few shrubs were lost to the blaze.Initial investigation showed the fire was caused by a deserted cigarette end in the dry grasses."Although the fire didn't cause any major damage, it reflected an urgent need to educate residents in neighboring villages to guard against fire risks," Fan said.He said lessons should be learnt from the destruction of a 600-year-old Namdaemun gate in Seoul, one of the most treasured landmarks in the Republic of Korea. The two-tiered gate was set ablaze by a man upset over a land dispute.

The newly approved Labor Contract Law will not undermine the investment environment although it will better protect workers' interests and rights, China's top trade union body said yesterday. Liu Jichen, director of the law department at the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, denied that the law - which goes into force from January 1 next year - is biased toward employees. "It not only protects workers' interests and rights, but also equally protects employers'," he told a press conference. The law, passed on Friday by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, had raised concerns that stricter contract requirements could raise business costs and give companies less flexibility to hire and fire employees. Liu, however, said that the law takes into account employers' interests. For example, he said, employers can sign non-competition contracts with workers, with a non-competition period of not more than two years to encourage innovation and ensure fair competition. So an employer can rest assured that an employee does not walk out at the end of the contract period and join a direct competitor. It also softens the terms under which employers can cut staff - if an enterprise switches to other production, adopts a major technological innovation or changes its mode of business. Liu stressed that the law will help create a harmonious labor relationship. "Labor protection is a worldwide trend," he said. "With working conditions improved and rights protected, employees will feel more secure, which leads to a higher productivity." Liu pointed out most labor disputes result from violations of workers' rights. Because of the huge supply of labor force, workers are in a disadvantaged position, he said. Liu said the federation has succeeded in keeping most of the items on protecting workers' rights and interests in the law. For example, the law makes mandatory the use of written contracts and strongly discourages fixed- or short-term contracts. It also stipulates severance be paid if a fixed-term contract expires but is not renewed without an appropriate reason. The law requires all employers to submit proposed workplace rules or changes for discussion to the workers' congress - concerning pay, work allotment, hours, insurance, safety, holidays and training. Employers and trade unions will then jointly decide on workplace agreements. It stipulates trade unions have the right to sign collective contracts with employers on behalf of workers. In a position paper released yesterday, the European Chamber of Commerce in China said it welcomes the law and its aim of improving labor conditions and creating workplace harmony. "A more mature legal environment should be considered as an advantage in attracting foreign investment," the statement said. However, the chamber said the key challenge remains compliance by employers and the enforcement by authorities of the existing laws.

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CHANGSHA -- Central China's Hunan Province said it has taken effective measures to prevent epidemics after about 2 billion rats chomped their way through cropland around the Dongting Lake, the country's second largest freshwater lake. "It's not possible for rodent-borne diseases to break out in the lake area," said Chen Xiaochun, vice director of the provincial health department. Local health authorities have been watching closely over the rodent situation after the rats fled their flooded island homes and invaded 22 counties around the Dongting Lake last week, he told a press conference on Wednesday. Results of their observation are reported daily to the provincial health department and the public, he said. Meanwhile, local health and disease prevention and control authorities have intensified management of raticide and pesticide, for fear they might contaminate food and water, Chen added. No human infection of any rat-borne disease has been reported in the central Chinese province since 1944. The provincial government also ruled out widespread suspicions that rats flooded the area because one of their natural enemies -- snakes -- had been served at dinner tables. "The Dongting Lake area is not an ideal habitat for snakes," said Deng Sanlong, a top forestry official in the province, "and the only two species that inhabitate the region feed largely on fish and frogs." He said the top enemy of the rats are hawks that spend winter in the wetland around the lake but fly away in spring. China's Ministry of Agriculture and the Hunan provincial government have allocated 900,000 yuan in total to eradicate the rats.

BEIJING, March 22 -- When outsiders try to put a lens on the lives of Shanghai's migrants - a group receiving more attention these days - they may well encounter problems of access and privacy. After all, they're on the outside looking in.     In the "My Shanghai" project, however, around 50 children of migrant workers were taught basic photography, armed with cameras, given a roll of film and told to tell their own stories.     The exhibit opens today at TwoCities Gallery at 50 Moganshan Road. Proceeds from sales of some photos will be donated to the Jin Hu Primary School in Minhang District.     On two recent Saturdays, around 35 Chinese and expat volunteers visited the school to glimpse a world quite unlike their own - and to help kids share that world.     Together they taught basic photography to four classes of sixth-graders at the school for migrants' kids. Four expats were the instructors; Chinese volunteers translated.     Film cameras, mainly provided by individuals and schools in the United States, were given to the students to capture their own lives.     The 11 most evocative winning photos have been enlarged and exhibited with around 100 smaller pictures.     "My Shanghai" was launched with a screening of the Academy Award-winning documentary "Born into Brothels," attended by most volunteers. It's about a similar photography project in the red-light district of Kolcata (Calcutta), India.     Eva Ting, director of TwoCities Gallery, wanted to undertake a similar project in Shanghai where little is known about migrant workers and their families. The group is receiving more attention nationwide as many complained of job discrimination and other problems.     "(The film) struck me as a powerful way to bridge the distance between peoples who perhaps don't fully understand each other," says Ting. The 29-year-old Chinese American hopes to hold a summer art camp for the migrant workers' children.     Ting is among an increasing number of artists in Shanghai stepping out of their studios to help migrant students. "My Shanghai" aims to empower the children and give them confidence to express themselves creatively through photography and art. It also aims to increase awareness of the situation and problems of migrant workers and their families.     "Having a foreigner and a Chinese working together and teaching migrant children about photography is really important in showing them they are important individuals," says Grayson Stallings, 23, one of the American teachers. "We want to let them know that we find real importance in what the children see and we can't see what they do except through them."     The photographs have a raw and authentic quality: free from formal aesthetic considerations, they give an insight into the little-seen world of migrant families.     The top prize went to a simple picture of a birdcage against a blank white wall. The message of the cage, of course, is that migrant children are restricted and confined; the blank wall suggests a lack of opportunities. It was taken from a position below the cage and distant, suggesting the young photographer was looking on.     Another photo presents a leafless tree in winter, its branches reaching high into the sky, as if seeking freedom and opportunities. The young photographer shoots upward, but the sky is empty. This image, along with nine other "picks," will be sold in postcard size for 15 yuan (US.10)     Other pictures take an unflinching look at shabby furnishings, wistful siblings hugging toys for sale, and simply happy play with friends in the street.     "I want to show everyone my family," says 15-year-old He Chuanqi.         Other students feel the same. Most used half the shots on their 36-roll film to take pictures of their families.     The project is also important to the volunteers as it brings together expats and Chinese.     "It was great finally getting to know a small but nevertheless real part of Shanghai rather than just hanging out in a separate world of our own," says Daniel Allegri,22,an American assistant in the photography class.