DURING THE FIFTH PLENARY SESSION of the 12th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, Huang Jianping, a deputy from South China's Guangdong province, said the robust growth of virtual economy has taken a toll on bricks-and-mortar enterprises. Beijing News commented on Monday:
SPEAKING TO reporters on Saturday, Wang Peian, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said the two-child policy is showing "notable results", with the fertility rate expected to rise over the next few years. Gmw.cn commented on Monday:
If China's 7.6 percent military budget increase last year, the lowest since 2011, raised eyebrows, then the lower increase of only 7 percent announced for 2017 raised a question: Will such a low defence budget become the new normal in years to come?
The fat paychecks celebrities get for acting in movies and TV series have grabbed headlines during this year's annual sessions of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, the country's top political advisory body.
Chinese media is fuming over the rapid rise in celebrities' incomes. In 2016 Actress Zhou Xun netted an astounding 95 million yuan ($13.77 million) for a leading role in the TV series Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace. Sun Li, Zhao Wei and Wu Yifan were also paid tens of millions of yuan. Celebrities' payments are growing faster than housing prices.
It seems to be increasingly the case that, as soon as Chinese parents return home from a hard day's work, they start working as unpaid tutors to help their children with their homework.
As Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said, when speaking to the media on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the National People's Congress in Beijing on Saturday, a trade war between China and the United States would only cause pain, and benefit neither.
In response to what it said was China's trade retaliation for the Republic of Korea's deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system, the policy committee of the ruling Liberty Korea Party is considering filing a complaint to the World Trade Organization.
The Republic of Korea is set to have a presidential election, likely in early May, thanks to the country's Constitutional Court stripping Park Geun-hye of her presidential powers on Friday.
WHILE ATTENDING A PANEL DISCUSSION of the Shaanxi delegation during the fifth plenary session of the 12th National People's Congress on Thursday, Premier Li Keqiang vowed to reward research teams that are capable of unveiling the root causes of smog and offering viable solutions to curb airborne pollution. Beijing News commented on Saturday:
NING JIZHE, vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, pledged on Friday to make extra efforts to deal with consistently loss-making, debt-laden State-owned enterprises, so-called zombie enterprises. Beijing News commented on Friday:
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