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COLD SNAP: A vessel sails through drifting sea ice off the coast of Qinhuangdao, north China's Hebei Province, on January 8 (YANG SHIYAO) |
More than 160,000 Party officials were punished in China for disciplinary violations in 2012, according to official figures released on January 9, 2013.
The information was released at a press conference held by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China and the Ministry of Supervision.
Disciplinary inspectors launched investigations into more than 155,000 cases in 2012 based on tips from the public. More than 153,000 cases have been concluded, resulting in punishments being handed down for 160,718 people.
The investigations led to the recovery of 7.83 billion yuan ($1.26 billion) in direct economic losses resulting from the violations.
The Chinese Government will raise subsidies for rural residents' medical insurance in 2013, Minister of Health Chen Zhu announced on January 7.
Under the New Rural Cooperative Medical Program, the annual government subsidy for each rural resident will be increased from the current 240 yuan ($38.57) to 280 yuan ($44.99), Chen said at the National Health Work Conference in Beijing.
Rural residents participating in the program will each pay an annual premium of 60 yuan ($9.64).
China launched the rural insurance scheme in 2003 in a bid to ensure that the country's vast number of rural residents have access to affordable medical treatment and to reduce disease-triggered poverty.
The amount of people covered by the program has skyrocketed from 80 million to 900 million.
Chinese authorities have decided to raise the pension for corporate retirees by 10 percent to cope with the rising cost of living, according to a cabinet meeting on January 9.
The new rules took effect retroactively on January 1.
According to a press release issued after the meeting, the pension for corporate retirees in 2013 will be raised based on the basic level of their monthly pension per capita in 2012.
The Central Government pledged to establish a pension-adjusting mechanism to ensure that pensions for corporate retirees could be raised gradually.
China has raised pensions for corporate retirees since 2005. Their per-capita monthly pension has been lifted from 700 yuan ($112) in 2004 to 1,721 yuan ($277) in 2012.
The Chinese Government is planning to increase the capacity of the nation's voluntary drug rehab centers, said Minister of Justice Wu Aiying on January 9.
Since 2006, a total of 25 such rehab centers have been operating in 14 provinces and have taken in about 51,000 drug addicts, Wu said at a meeting in Beijing.
The centers are open to drug users who volunteer to receive treatment and those who leave compulsory drug rehab facilities but want further medical and psychological help.
The government will build more rehab centers in more provinces, according to Wu.
About 922,000 Chinese participated in compulsory drug rehabilitation over the past four years, according to a report by the Ministry of Public Security released in June 2012.
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