4G Is Coming

Caixin
May 6

Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei said the country might issue fourth generation (4G) mobile network licenses to domestic telecom operators by the end of 2013.

In the cold winter of the telecom industry, developing 4G is believed to bring great benefits to telecom operators.

At present, among China's three telecom providers, only China Mobile offers 4G services. It has already set up 4G networks for trial use in 15 cities.

The other two major telecom operators, China Unicom and China Telecom, are not eager to develop 4G technologies because they have reaped great benefit from third generation (3G) networks. However, China Mobile has put all its hope on 4G because of the unsatisfying performance of TD-SCDMA in 3G. In the 3G market, China Mobile's market share shrank from 72 percent in 2009 to 63.41 percent in March 2013, pushing the company to develop 4G to regain market share.

According to a 4G blueprint revealed by Xi Guohua, President of China Mobile, the company will build 200,000 4G stations in over 100 cities, covering 500 million people.

Improving Cultural Service

Outlook Weekly
May 13

The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in November last year set up the target of establishing a public cultural service system and making the cultural industry a pillar of the national economy.

Recently, the Chinese Academy of Governance held a forum to discuss how to build such a system. Representatives from the culture industry across the country reached a consensus that the government and social organizations should be actively involved in the construction of the future cultural service system.

At present, China has built a public cultural service network covering both urban and rural areas. How to further improve the public cultural service level has become a topic of concern for those present at the forum.

Currently, the functions of government, society and market haven't been well coordinated. The government has a stronger presence, but the market and society are weaker. How to solve this problem is the priority of strengthening public cultural service.

Safety Education Urgently Needed

Legal Daily
May 13

On May 11, five second-year students from a middle school in Luoyang Town of south China's Guangdong Province drowned in a river while barbecuing on its banks. When one accidentally fell into the river, the other four students linked hands in an attempt to rescue their friend, but subsequently fell in too and succumbed.

Experts have since stated that linking hands is not conducive to lifesaving, due to the possibility of rescuers being dragged into trouble by an extremely fearful victim. In recent years, there have been a number of such failed rescue attempts across the country, with most incidents involving students.

While it took a huge amount of courage for the students to try and help their friend, the disaster reveals a gap in lifesaving education, with most pupils unaware of its complicated nature as well as procedures related to first aid. For this reason, the public is calling for the enhancement of safety education at schools.

A major factor causing accidents is the poor condition of public facilities, especially in rural areas. Drowning, for example, is a major killer among juveniles, accounting for 41.73 percent of all fatalities. Society must urgently spread a safety net to guard kids against accidents.

Large Shortage of Nurses

Workers Daily
May 13

International Nurses Day fell on May 12. While hospital workers are widely praised for their contribution to public health, staff shortage has become a major concern in hospitals across China.

According to the Chinese Nursing Association based in Beijing, the country needs at least 1 million nurses to meet medical service demands at present. Several days ago, Beijing announced that it would take measures to make available 12,000 nursing jobs in the next two years and make the number of staff members per thousand persons reach over four. Even so, the proportion of doctors and nurses would barely reach 1 to 1.4, while the international standard is 1 to 2.

The massive lack in nurses has promoted the market for care workers, with patients having to rely on family members or employ unprofessional carers to look after them in hospital, which not only affects recovery, but also aggravates expenditure. In particular, the employment of care workers is likely to produce legal dispute.

Although nurses are urgently needed, many hospitals are unwilling to fill vacancies. Unlike doctors, nursing staff create no revenue and mostly serve as a financial burden, perhaps due to public hospitals being insufficiently funded. In order to balance revenues, health services are often cut, with staff members forced to work part-time.

Furthermore, the salaries and social status of nurses are far from satisfactory. Health staff members often work overtime with little career development aspects, resulting in a lack of experienced nurses.

With shortages bound to affect public health, the government should aim to resolve the problem as soon as possible, by for instance, improving incomes, establishing labor security systems and offering more jobs. A pivotal aspect relates to allocating more funds to hospitals to return the focus to public welfare instead of profit.