Growing middle class globe-trotters sign of great potential

For those who are bearish on the Chinese economy, they need to square their assumptions of dim growth prospects for the world's second-largest economy with the seemingly unstoppable rise of outbound Chinese tourists.

Abe backtracks over 'comfort women'

All looked well on Dec 28.

Growth challenges and gains

Since China has been a long-term engine for the global economy, its economic slowdown has understandably sparked worries among investors and policymakers.

Authorities must enforce the law and protect migrant workers' rights

THE TRAGEDY IN XI'AN, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, in which a migrant worker died on Jan 13 trying to get the pay he was owed has once again drawn attention to the problem of migrant workers asking for wages overdue. People.com.cn said on Tuesday:

If this prejudice is patriotism, forget it

JIANG YUE, a 19-year-old Chinese student in the United States, was shot to death by a local woman during a road rage incident over the weekend. While many in China have mourned her death, some "patriots" have claimed she deserved to die because she was being "unpatriotic" by staying in the US. It is time to give up the irrational mentality, says Qianjiang Evening News on Tuesday:

Teaching students first aid skills can help save lives

A MIDDLE SCHOOL invigilator in Taixing, East China's Jiangsu province, died of a heart attack while she was watching over an examination on Jan 14, Xinhua reported. As she was at the back of the classroom the students did not notice until the exam was over, when they immediately called for help and the emergency services. The students are not to blame for the invigilator's death, but they might have been able to save her life if first aid was taught in schools, says Guangzhou Daily on Tuesday:

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Growth continues to be slow but steady

The National Bureau of Statistics has reported that real GDP growth in China's two-track economy eased to 6.8 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, making the whole-year growth 6.9 percent in 2015, just shy of the government's target of 7 percent and in line with our expectations.

Xi's Mideast visit portrays all-round diplomacy

President Xi Jinping started his first tour of the Middle East on Tuesday, during which he will visit Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran. After fully assuming the country's leadership in March 2013, Xi has visited many countries, which signify China's increasingly maturing all-round diplomacy. And that is precisely why Xi's visit to the Middle East, which is also his first foreign tour in 2016, has acquired additional importance.

Dialogue still the way to resolve nuke crisis

In a televised address on Jan 13, Republic of Korea President Park Geun-hye urged the international community to strongly respond to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's recent claim of testing a hydrogen bomb.

Irresponsible talk of neighbors will not ease tensions

Vietnam and the Philippines have protested against China's test flights to its newly built airstrip on Yongshu Jiao in the Nansha Islands despite China's reiteration that the flights are within China's sovereignty.