Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged government officials to listen more, talk less and be pragmatic when attending meetings of the legislature and political advisory body.

Wen made the remarks when joining a panel discussion of members of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's political advisory body.

The Fifth Session of the 10th CPPCC National Committee started in Beijing on March 3, and the annual full session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), or the top legislature, began on March 5.

"To listen more means you listen to criticism, proposals and suggestions from all sides. To talk less means you do not give instructions [at the meetings] and do not indulge in empty talk," the premier said.

Size Control

China's State Council has approved a regulation on the establishment and size of local governments, which stresses responsibility and aims to tackle overstaffing problems.

The regulation requires local government at all levels to set up minimal, unified and efficient departments with reasonable numbers of staff.

The establishment of departments should be based on comprehensive consideration of responsibilities and ensure coordinated efforts in carrying out policies and decisions.

Departments with similar or identical duties should be unified by negotiation, and final decisions should be made by local governments if any disputes occur.

Meanwhile, the regulation limits the authorized size of local governments to within local financial resources, and bans the establishment of additional departments or the recruitment of more staff.

More Mandarin Speakers

More than half of all Chinese people can speak standard Mandarin Chinese, while nearly 70 percent of urbanites are fluent in the country's official language, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education.

The survey of half a million people shows that 53.06 percent of the population can effectively communicate orally in Mandarin. The fluency rate in cities was 66 percent while in rural areas it was 45 percent.

Although the Chinese share the same written language-Chinese ideograms or characters, which has been in use for 3,000 years-the pronunciation of identical characters differs from region to region.

Mandarin, which in Chinese is called putonghua, is taught in every school in the country and is China's standard lingua franca.

'Glass Ceiling' for Female Researchers

Female researchers are playing an increasingly important role in China's scientific research, but when it comes to being recognized at the top level they bang their heads against a "glass ceiling," according to a new report by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The CAS report, released on March 6, said females make up one third of the total number of scientific researchers in China. However, only 5.5 percent of the 701 members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) are female; and only 5 percent of the 704 CAS members.

Only a small number of female scientists take part in major national research programs, according to the report.

The CAS survey also found that female scientific researchers have to do more than their male counterparts to reach the same level of recognition.

Shooting Location Ban

Film and television production companies will be prohibited from shooting in "core" areas of nature reserves under a new limit jointly issued by four government departments, following a series of scandals over serious environmental damages caused by film production.

The new official limit imposes ban on filming in core nature reserve areas, and stricter control of filming beyond them.

Vice Minister of the State Environment Protection Administration, Pan Yue, said whoever causes environmental damage by shooting films or television programs in nature reserves or tourist destinations will be punished.

The senior environmental official also criticized some film producers who have seriously damaged the environment, including producers of The Promise, Stories of Heroes and Condor Hero.