Innovative service providers deserve attention and help

Over the past couple of years, my son, who is now 9 years old, has made it a habit to demand spring outings. Usually, my answer is: "You need to wait for once-in-a-semester tour your school arranges" or "Let's schedule a family picnic next week or the week after". For working parents in major Chinese cities like Beijing, such a reply is neither too cruel nor too kind.

Manila's move shows it is the real provocateur

The Philippines is resuming work on upgrading a military airport on an island it seized from China, a move that again displays its expansionist nature and belies its self-assumed image as a victim in the territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Negative list for investment

The volume of foreign capital used nationwide was $11.76 billion in March, a decline of 6.1 percent year-on-year, while the first-quarter volume was $29.48 billion, a decline of 2.8 percent, according to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce.

Heavy pollution of underground water requires immediate actions

ON MONDAY, an official at the Ministry of Water Resources responded to a recent report suggesting that more than 80 percent of the water in China's aquifers is too polluted for human consumption by asserting China's deep underground drinking water sources are safe. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Tuesday:

Not all officials can retire early on a high pension

SOME CIVIL SERVANTS in their 50s in Central China's Hunan province have applied for early retirement. According the Civil Servant Law, officials retiring early can enjoy a higher pension than their salary. Shenzhennews.com commented on Monday:

Insurance ought to cover psychotherapy

A 36-YEAR-OLD paraplegic patient in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, Central China, spent all his savings to hire someone to kill him. But after being stabbed a dozen times by the "murderer" he had hired, he was still alive and called for help. As a result of the attack he has lost the movement and feeling he had in his upper body. The Beijing News commented on Tuesday:

Hot words

Innovative strategic partnership

Cartoon

China demise theory wrong and unhelpful

Predicting the end of China has now become a fad. In the past quarter century or so, at least three rounds of "death notifications" on China have been issued: first at the turn of the 1990s and then in the early 2000s, most famously epitomized by Gordan Chang's eye-catching book, The Coming Collapse of China. Last year, veteran China watcher David Shambaugh joined the rank with his op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, warning about "the coming Chinese crackup" and claiming the "endgame of communist rule in China has now begun".

Tax policy won't derail online retail sector

China's new taxation policy targeted at imported goods sold on e-commerce platforms has drawn a lot of complaints from dealers as well as consumers, but it will not prevent the industry from expanding at a fast pace.

Obstacles to railway deal must be ironed out for region's benefit

The latest twists and turns in the mega railway project between China and Thailand have triggered concerns in both countries. Such an undesirable scenario may be normal for an ordinary business deal, but the railway cooperation between the two countries deserves more prudence and sincerity as it is based on the premises of reciprocity and win-win outcomes.

G7 on wrong course following lead of Japan

Although it does not mention China by name, a statement issued after the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Hiroshima on Monday about the disputes in the South China Sea can be interpreted as veiled criticism of China for being the cause of the increased tensions in the region.