Quotable

"Moving Teachers' Day from Sept 10 to Sept 28, the birthday of Confucius, has more cultural significance. But it is difficult for the authorities to offer teachers a pleasant holiday merely by doing so. The most urgent issue is to improve the status of teachers."

Xiong Bingqi, vice-president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, commenting on the State Council's proposal to change the Teachers' Day date.

"The safety of genetically modified food, including rice and corn, has been proved scientifically. People in the United States have been eating GM food since its introduction in 1990. The first organized taste test of GM food in China is a show popularizing science."

Fang Zhouzi, a biochemist and popular scientific writer, commenting after China conducted the first-ever taste test of boiled GM corn in Beijing on Sept 7.

"The migrant population, which has an increasing number of young people, wants a better social security net, a higher quality of life and more civic participation in cities. More importantly, they want to establish their roots in cities, rather than go back home after earning some money like their predecessors."

Wang qian, head of the migrant population bureau under the National Health and Family Planning Commission, discussing the migrant population's key needs at a news conference in Beijing on Sept 10.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 09/13/2013 page3)