IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Employment

Fresh graduates ready for lower pay

More than half of the college students who will graduate next year are willing to accept a monthly salary of less than 4,000 yuan ($640; 490 euros), according to a survey released on Oct 13.

The survey was conducted by renren.com, a popular social networking website, in tandem with its job-search services for graduates that started in July. The survey, which ran from Aug 21 to Sept 16, received more than 150,000 replies and had a valid sample size of 94,739 college students who are expected to graduate next year, said Wang Xiehua, an officer from renren.com.

More than 80 percent of the surveyed students said they expected their first monthly salary to be less than 6,000 yuan. More than 54 percent of the respondents said they would accept a monthly salary of between 2,000 yuan to 4,000 yuan, while 21 percent were ready for monthly salaries of less than 2,000 yuan.

"The expectation of a monthly salary of less than 4,000 yuan was objective. Actually the salary is higher than the average level of income in China," said Song Bao'an, a professor at the Department of Labor and Social Security at Jilin University.

Legislation

Law amendments on the cards

China's top legislature will deliberate a draft proposal to amend seven laws and review a report on the qualifications of certain lawmakers during a bimonthly session scheduled for next week.

The National People's Congress Standing Committee, the nation's top legislature, will hold a session from Oct 23 to Oct 26 in Beijing.

Sources familiar with the matter said the proposed amendment to the seven laws, including the Prison Law, will be a small-scale process that seeks to tweak the mandatory requirements so that they are in line with the Amendment to the Criminal Procedure Law which comes into effect on Jan 1, 2013.

Environment

Fourth census under way

The Ministry of Environmental Protection began the fourth nationwide census of the environmental protection industry on Oct 16 as part of its efforts to prepare better scientific data for the nation's policymakers.

The census will cover the manufacturing and operation of environmental protection products, resource recycling and environmentally friendly products in 2011.

Services related to the environmental-protection industry, including the operation of environmental protection facilities and the construction of environment-related projects will also be included in the census.

Policy

Residency rules may be changed

A draft regulation on China's permanent residency permits, which lowers requirements for applicants, is to be issued soon, a senior official with the Ministry of Public Security said.

The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are working together to draft the document, which could result in more permanent residency permits being issued, said Qu Yunhai, deputy director of the Exit and Entry Administration Bureau under the Ministry of Public Security, on Oct 15.

China started to issue permanent residency permits to foreigners in 2004. With Chinese "green cards", foreigners can enter or leave China without a visa and stay in the country freely.

Official figures show that by the end of last year, more than 4,700 foreigners had received the permits.

Development

Bridges replace ravine ropeways

More than 40,000 people in the Tibet autonomous region will be safer crossing the region's deep ravines because bridges are being built to replace ropeways, local authorities said on Oct 14.

Since 2009, a government investment of 220 million yuan has been earmarked to build 84 bridges to replace the ropeways that local residents have traditionally used to traverse the ravines.

So far, 74 bridges have been built and the remaining 10 bridges will be finished by the end of this year, said Tsewang Tobgye, head of the region's poverty alleviation office.

Education

New Shanghai college founded

Shanghai New York University, the first Sino-US joint venture university, which started operations on Oct 15, is looking to be the destination of choice in China for harnessing innovative talent and playing an important role in tackling the country's brain drain.

New York University and East China Normal University in Shanghai have joined hands to set up the new university in the Lujiazui financial area of the city. It will function as an independent legal entity and enroll the first 300 students next year from all over the world. There will be 151 places for Chinese students.

About 40 percent of the faculty will be recruited from abroad, while the student-to-faculty ration will be 8-1, half the average in Chinese universities.

China Daily

(China Daily 10/19/2012 page2)