(3) Children's rights

The legal system for the protection of minors has been improved. By 2010, among all the country's provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government, 18 had revised the relevant local regulations in support of the Law on the Protection of Minors, and five had made local regulations on the prevention of juvenile delinquency. In the past two years related government departments have jointly promulgated the Opinions on Further Constructing and Improving the Supporting System for Handling Juvenile Criminal Cases. The Supreme People's Court has issued the Opinions on Further Strengthening Juvenile Tribunal Proceedings. Amendment VIII to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China explicitly stipulates the conditions under which a juvenile convict shall be put on probation, or constitute a recidivist, and when a juvenile convicted of committing a small offence shall be exempted from the reporting obligation. At present, there are 2,219 juvenile courts established nationwide.

Children's right to health is guaranteed. The categories of national planned immunity vaccines for children have been increased to 11, aiming at the prevention of 12 diseases, with a vaccination rate of over 90 percent. In the past two years 57.629 million children below the age of 15 have been inoculated against Hepatitis B gratis. More than 70 percent of the expenses borne by rural children with leukemia and CHD (congenital heart disease) are covered by medical insurance, and for those from families meeting the specific conditions, an additional 20 percent of the related expenses will be covered by medical assistance funds granted by civil affairs organs.

Welfare institutions for children have been established in cities at and above the prefecture level all over the country, basically forming a service network of child welfare. In 2010 the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on the Strengthening of Care for Orphans. The central government allocated more than 2.5 billion yuan to offer per capita subsidies of 180 yuan, 270 yuan and 360 yuan, respectively, every month to orphans in the eastern, central and western regions. The government continued its "China Children and Teenagers' Safe & Healthy Growth Project," providing critical illness insurance to 117,000 orphans in Qinghai Province and other places. The Plan for the Construction of Welfare Institutions for Children during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) was implemented, with a fund of 1.52 billion yuan, increasing the number of beds for orphans in welfare institutions by 57,000. Such institutions can look after about 100,000 orphans every year.

The government has made headway in preventing and cracking down on the crimes of abducting and trafficking in women and children. The Action Plan to Crack Down on Abducting and Trafficking in Women and Children (2008-2012) has been implemented. Relevant departments have established a notification and verification mechanism for people of unknown identity and those who are suspected of being abducted. In April 2009 an anti-trafficking campaign was launched throughout China. By the end of 2010 the Chinese government had solved 9,165 cases of trafficking in women and 5,900 cases of trafficking in children, rescued 9,388 abducted children and 18,000 women, rounded up 3,573 trafficking gangs, and placed 22,500 suspects in criminal detention. In the past two years people's courts at different levels have concluded the trial of 7,395 criminal cases of abducting and trafficking in women and children, of organizing children to beg and other violations of minors' rights and interests, and severely punished 9,596 criminals in accordance with the law. In 2010 China and Vietnam jointly launched a campaign to combat transnational crimes of abducting and trafficking in women and children in their border areas, and signed the Agreement on Strengthening Cooperation in Preventing and Combating the Crimes of Human Abducting and Trafficking; China and Myanmar signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Cooperation in Combating the Crimes of Human Abducting and Trafficking.