Suggestion on Water Law

China's top legislature publicized a draft of the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, which promises heavier punishments for water polluters and irresponsible officials, to solicit public opinion.

The General Office of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) publicized the draft, which was submitted to the 29th Session of the NPC Standing Committee for a first review, inviting the public to convey their opinions through the standing committees of provincial or municipal people's congresses, the Law Committee of the NPC or the NPC website.

The draft law stipulated the amount of pollutants discharged into water by a factory should not exceed the limit set by national or local regulations, and offenders will be fined 100,000 to 1 million yuan.

Full Medical Insurance for Farmers

China's rural cooperative medical insurance system, initiated in 2003 to offer farmers basic healthcare, has covered more than 80 percent of the country's rural population, China's Minister of Health Chen Zhu said. He also said he expects the insurance system to cover all the country's rural areas by 2008.

The four-year-old rural medical insurance system is seen by many as a way to prevent Chinese farmers with virtually no medical insurance from being hit with high bills should they need medical treatment.

Under the scheme, a participant pays 10 yuan a year, while the state, provincial, municipal and county governments supply another 40 yuan to the fund.

When rural residents fall seriously ill, a proportion of hospital expenses will be covered from the pooled insurance. The rate of reimbursement varies according to different kinds of illness and the actual cost of medical expenses incurred. But many rural residents still complain that the percentage of medical costs covered by the insurance scheme is inadequate.

Diet, Porn and Premature Children

Kids are growing up faster because of nutritious food and access to pornography, doctors said.

The number of children experiencing an early onset of puberty has doubled over the past 10 years, according to a survey that analyzed children's endocrine diseases by the Women and Children's Hospital of Guangdong Province.

The survey found the average age for the onset of puberty of children dropped to 11 years from the previous age of 13 in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province.

Based on those figures, the frequency of earlier puberty among children in Guangzhou also rose to 1.3 percent this year, from 0.5 percent 10 years ago. This is 0.3 percent higher than the national average.

Premier Confident About Economy

The growth momentum of China's economy that has lasted for 30 years will continue, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at the opening session of the "Summer Davos" of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in northeast China's port city of Dalian, Liaoning Province, on September 6.

Being in a stage of rapid industrialization and urbanization, China has the material and technological foundation to sustain economic growth, growing market demand, an abundant and increasingly well-trained labor force and a large number of dynamic companies, he said.

The convening of the Summer Davos showed that the WEF attached great importance to China and exhibited its strong wish to cooperate with the country, said Premier Wen in a meeting with Klaus Schwab, founder and Executive Chairman of WEF.