Sign of economy's resilience

Chinese shares shrugged off weaker-than-expected trade figures to surge on Tuesday, brightening the prospects for the Year of Monkey, a Chinese zodiac animal usually associated with change rather than certainty.

Lack of parental care is the root problem for left-behind children

ON MONDAY, the first working day after Spring Festival, the State Council, China's Cabinet, published a guideline requiring all levels of local governments and families to better take care of left-behind children, those left in their rural hometowns by their parents when they work in cities far away. Better care means family reunions, not money, says The Beijing Times:

Zero-tolerance to non-recyclable plastic bags

SEVEN YEARS AFTER China introduced a bill forbidding supermarkets and shopping malls to offer consumers non-biodegradable plastic bags for free, Chinese shoppers reportedly still consume a great number of them every day. Some supermarkets even rake in considerable profits by charging shoppers for plastic bags. Beijing Youth Daily calls for a stricter ban on the production of non-degradable plastic bags:

Education ought to be more than just exam scores

A PUPIL IN WUHAN, central China's Hubei province was reduced to tears by his mother, because of his poor performance in a math exam. The boy scored two points lower than the class average of 96. Among 40 students in the class, 14 got the full marks. Rednet.cn comments:

Hot words

Diaries about rural hometowns

Cartoon

Freedom of navigation: a tale of two interpretations

Freedom of navigation is a buzzword of the day. Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr, Commander of the US Pacific Command, said on January 27, 2016, that the US navy will "continue down the path of freedom of navigation operations" and "you will see more of them, and you will see them increasing in complexity and scope".

Time to stop people monkeying with the law

The beginning of a new year is a time for reflection and the Year of the Monkey is no exception.

Human Rights Watch once again shows its bias

In its report on world human rights 2016, New York-based Human Rights Watch once again criticized the freedom of religious belief in China.

Spring Festival is still a time to celebrate

Is the traditional Spring Festival disappearing? This question was a hot topic on domestic social networks during this year's Lunar New Year holiday, with many saying the Spring Festival is no longer what it used to be.

A more rational mode of overseas investment

It's only one and half months into 2016. Yet by all estimates, Chinese companies' activity in overseas mergers and acquisitions will break a historic record this year, following a recent series of deals of quite substantial commitments.

Balanced way to reduce poverty

Underdeveloped, lacking a civilized style of life and still poverty-stricken were the impressions of remote rural areas posted online during the Spring Festival.