Legislation

Law to curb tourism price hikes

The third draft of China's Tourism Law, which was delivered to lawmakers on April 23, seeks to curb price rises at scenic spots - something that is upsetting tourists nationwide. The draft proposes strict controls on the costs of tickets to access natural scenery and ancient relics. Such areas, the draft said, should hold hearings before raising prices to solicit opinion from tourists and business owners on whether the charges are necessary and reasonable.

The draft law, discussed in August and December last year, is the country's first legislation covering the industry. The proposal was delivered after a dispute over a new levy in Fenghuang, Hunan province. The old town, known for its well-preserved architecture dating back to its founding more than 300 years ago, has started to collect an entry fee of 148 yuan from travelers. Entry used to be free.

Defense

Sights on bigger carrier

China's second aircraft carrier will be bigger than the current one, and more aircraft carriers may be built to safeguard the nation's interests, a senior officer with China's navy forces said.

"The next aircraft carrier we need will be larger and carry more fighters," Song Xue, vice-chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army navy, said on April 23 in Beijing at a ceremony to mark the 64th anniversary of the founding of the PLA navy.

He denied foreign media reports that China is building new aircraft carriers in Shanghai and promised the navy will invite foreign military attaches to visit the Liaoning, China's only aircraft carrier.

IPR

Lawsuits see spike in 2012

Courts across China handled 83,850 civil lawsuits over intellectual property rights in 2012, up 44.1 percent year-on-year, according to an IPR white paper that the country's top court released on April 22. Because of the rising awareness about IPR issues, courts in China also saw a sharp rise in the number of related civil lawsuits they received last year, said Sun Jungong, spokesman for the Supreme People's Court.

Also in 2012, courts across the country received about 87,420 new civil lawsuits over IPR issues, a year-on-year jump of 46 percent. More than 60,000 suspects were detained for IPR infringement in 43,000 cases in 2012, with a total value of 11.3 billion yuan ($1.83 billion; 1.41 billion euros).

Education

Scholarship puts China on map

Tsinghua University has announced the launch of an international postgraduate program to train potential global leaders, with the aim of developing young talents' understanding of China. The program, called the Schwarzman Scholars, will provide full financial support to 200 students drawn from all over the world for a one-year program in Beijing.

There will be 100 students in the first class, which will start in autumn 2016. It will expand to 200 students a year from 2017. The program is the result of a $300 million donation, the single largest internationally funded philanthropic effort in China. One-third of the endowment is from Stephen Schwarzman, founder of the investment giant Blackstone Group. Once the program expands to 200 students, 90 will come from the US, 20 from China and the rest from across the world.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily 04/26/2013 page2)