News briefs

Polar bear twins make their first public appearance at Laohutan Ocean Park in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province on April 25. The twin cubs were born to two polar bears the Finnish government sent to the park as a gift 10 years ago. Chen Hao/ For China Daily

Philanthropy

2010 a very charitable year

The country's top think tank said on April 26 that donations hit 70 billion yuan (7.32 billion euros) last year, more than double the year before.

The figure is partly due to an outpouring of generosity after a series of natural disasters in 2010, such as a mudslide in Gansu province and severe drought in Southwest China, said Zheng Yuanchang, who oversees charity work at the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

"The year 2010 has been a quantum leap in the number of big donations," Zheng said. Donations of more than 100 million yuan were made 60 times last year, and the number of non-government organizations focusing on charity in China hit 439,000 in 2010, with more than 31 million volunteers.

The year 2009 saw fewer donations as donors were cashstrapped due to the financial crisis, though this year's tally was still behind 2008, when the devastating Wenchuan earthquake triggered record donations of 100 billion yuan.

Treatment

Home for child victims

Children affected by natural disasters in China now have safe places to recover from their trauma, according to Sun Wenzheng, an official with the National Working Committee on Children and Women.

The committee and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund have set up "children-friendly spaces" - welcoming places where children can recover from tragedy.

By March, 40 homes had been established in 21 counties in Sichuan province, which was hit by a 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Wenchuan county in 2008 that killed nearly 70,000 people.

"Professional knowledge of children's physical and psychological conditions is required," Song said.

Health

Organ donation

While applying to get driver's licenses on the mainland, the public can agree to give their organs away after they die, said Huang Jiefu, the vice-minister of health.

Under the new initiative, applicants will be asked to indicate if they are willing to donate their organs should they die, and, if so, which organs they would like to donate.

"This will lead to more voluntary organ donations among the public, will to some extent ease the severe shortage in donated organs, and finally, will save more patients," said Qiu Renzong, a bioethics researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Food

Additive blacklist released

In the wake of a series of scandals over the safety of food and drink in China, a committee under the State Council has published on April 23 a list of 151 ingredients and additives that have been banned during the past nine years.

The blacklist publicized by the food safety committee contains 47 "inedible" materials that have been used in the production of food, 22 additives that are open to abuse and 82 substances that are not allowed in animal feed or water.

Literature

Digital reading gaining ground

A growing number of Chinese people have turned to digital reading, a trend insiders said will greatly improve the quality of literature.

The Eighth National Reading Survey, released recently by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication, showed that the number of Chinese readers using digital media dramatically increased last year.

Some 23 percent of respondents read books via mobile phones, 3.9 percent via e-book readers, 18 percent on the Internet and another 2.6 percent by PDA/MP4/electronic dictionaries, according to the survey.

The nationwide survey was conducted from September to January and had 19,418 respondents in 29 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.

Environment

Climate change threatens water

The impact of climate change on water resources has become a growing concern for the country's water sector, Chen Lei, minister of water resources, said on April 23, adding that global warming has become one of the sectors most directly affected.

China faces an imbalance between the supply and demand of water to support its rapid social and economic development, while protecting the natural environment and ecosystems, Chen said.

"Global climate change could further exacerbate existing problems over water security, water supply and farming irrigation."

China experiences a water shortage of 40 billion cubic meters a year, with two-thirds of cities facing increasing scarcity of water, Chen said.

China's per capital water resources are only 28 percent of the global average, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

China Daily