Focus

Third Party Car Insurance Mandatory

The recently issued Motor Vehicle Traffic Accident Liability Mandatory Insurance Regulation formally comes into effect on July 1, 2006. The regulation stipulates that Chinese motorists should purchase mandatory insurance for nationally unified indemnity amounts. The Chinese government will also establish a road traffic accident social assistance fund to handle special cases. These special cases include incidents when the victim’s medical bills are higher than the insurance payout, and when the driver is uninsured or flees the scene of an accident. In cases of death, the fund will cover victims’ funeral expenses.

Blogging is becoming increasingly popular.

Chinese Blog Population to Exceed 60 Million

The recently released 2006 Chinese Media Industry Development Report says that China’s blogging population will soon exceed 60 million. The report says there were 16 million Chinese bloggers by the end of 2005, among a global population of about 100 million. The surge in blogs indicates growing individuality in China as the Internet moves from the commercial to the social sphere. Blogs first appeared in China in 2002, and they became an instant hit. By the end of November 2005, there were already more than 600 Chinese blog servers and more than 36 million blog websites.

Hong Kong/Macao Visa Valid for One Year

A new visa for the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao has been made available to residents of Beijing. The new visa is valid for one year, and applicants can choose to travel once or twice with tour groups or individually. It replaces the old 3-month Hong Kong/Macao visa, and means that Beijing residents no longer have to rush their applications to travel to the two SARs in the run-up to the three week-long holidays. The classes of visas available have been reduced from 14 to six, namely, T-class (visiting relatives), S-class (business), L-class (group travel), G-class (individual travel), Q (others), and D (stay).

The Hanyang Mausoleum Museum.

China’s First Underground Relics Museum Opens

The Outdoor Pit Protection Exhibition of the Hanyang Tomb Museum has recently opened to tourists. Work on the exhibition started in the 1990s with a total investment of about RMB 100 million. Situated on the northern bank of the Weihe River in Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province, 20 kilometers from provincial capital Xi’an, it is the first underground relics museum in the world to have adopted modern protection methods. The tomb was originally completed in 126BC for Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty (206BC—24AD). The reinforced glass that protects the exhibition hall better maintains the relics’ original environment Tourists can view the museum’s rich collections in a mysterious primitive environment.

English Road Sign Standardized in Beijing

As part of its plan to adopt bilingual signs (Chinese and English) in public places, the Beijing Municipality recently issued the standard for the English translation of road signs. It stipulates that pinyin will be used in the translation of streets, roads or bridges that are named after certain institutions, and signs that direct to those institutions should use their English translation. Names with Beijing characteristics, such as hutong, li, qu, and yuan will remain in pinyin. By the end of 2006, all road signs in Beijing will be changed to adopt the new standard. In the near future, English signs in all public places, including scenic spots, commercial districts, museums, cultural facilities, medical organizations and sports stadiums will all be standardized.

China is stepping up its efforts to combat IPR violations.

Intensified Efforts to Combat IPR Violations

IPR protection organizations from China, the EU, the US, Canada and Australia as well as those of other countries passed the “Shanghai Initiative” at the 2006 China Forum on Criminal IPR Protection. The initiative calls for intensified efforts in fighting intellectual property rights infringements, and better judicial cooperation in battling interregional and international crime. It also put forward other measures such as information exchange and joint campaigns to thwart the production, storage and sale of pirated products. In the five years from 2000 to 2005, Chinese authorities cracked over 6,700 IPR infringement cases and detained more than 9,300 suspects for intellectual property right violations involving RMB 3.5 billion (US $437.5 million).

Poverty Reduced in Rural Areas

According to the mid-term assessment of the Outline for Poverty Alleviation and Development of China’s Rural Areas (2001-2010) issued by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, from 2001 to 2005, the number of impoverished rural people dropped from 29.27 million to 23.65 million, a reduction of 5.62 million people. Meanwhile the number of those classified as low-income earners decreased from 61.02 million to 40.67 million, a reduction of 20.35 million people. Social and economic conditions in poverty-stricken areas have improved dramatically. More work is to be carried out in order to free the poor from poverty and raise incomes for low-wage earners.

The Chinese railway network sees rapid development in recent years.

China to Join Trans-Asian Railway Network

The Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network was signed at the 62nd session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta in April this year. According to the agreement, an extensive 81,000-kilometer-long railway network linking 28 countries in East Asia, Central Asia and Europe will be formed. The section from southwest China’s Yunnan Province to Singapore via Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia is considered a golden corridor, which will promote more trade and investment activities, as well as economic and technological cooperation between China and Southeast Asia.