CARE FOR THE DISABLED: A woman wearing an eye mask feels her way typing as a person with vision disability on May 15, the 21st National Day of Assisting the Disabled in China (LI FANGYU)

Floating Allowances

China has established a system to peg basic living guarantee allowances for low-income groups to consumer prices.

Local governments should take the basic subsistence costs, local Engel's coefficient or the expenditure-income ratio, into account when setting their own allowance standards, said a circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance and the National Bureau of Statistics on May 18.

Local plans of setting and adjustment of allowance standards, approved by local governments, should be published via websites, newspapers and other media for the public, the circular said.

H1N1 Virus

Hong Kong's quarantine authorities announced on May 18 two pig samples taken in a flu virus test were positive for H1N1, but no significant genetic re-assortment of viruses was found.

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said the result came from a regular influenza virus surveillance in pigs conducted by the University of Hong Kong from February to April.

A CFS spokesman said, given the wide transmission of the pandemic H1N1 virus in humans, detection of the virus in pigs would not be a surprise. It was expected positive findings might appear from time to time in the surveillance program in the future.

Wild Birds' Recovery

The population of 100 rare birds living in the wild is increasing in China due to intensified environmental protection, said the State Forestry Administration.

For example, the number of crested ibis has risen from merely seven to more than 1,600 over three decades.

But some of the country's rare birds are still at risk due to shrinking habitats and increasing human activity, according to the administration.

The administration said it would extend the protection network for birds and wild animals in the future by building more natural reserves and setting up more monitoring stations for animals in the wild.

Coalmine Safety

A sharp decline in coal mining deaths was reported in China for the first four months of this year.

The mortality rate fell 39 percent from the same period of last year, according to figures released by the State Administration of Work Safety.

The death toll dropped to 2,433 in 2010 from 5,938 in 2005, while the country's annual coal production jumped to 3.24 billion tons from 2.15 billion tons in the same period, said Zhao Tiechui, deputy director of the administration.

China has more than 20 coal mines with a depth of more than 1,000 meters, and the number has been increasing every year. Gas emissions rise as mining goes deeper.

Large and medium-sized coal mines in China are 456 meters deep on average, while the deepest is 1,365 meters.