The ancient town of Fenghuang county, Hunan province. The town recently began to charge tourists an entrance fee, which sparked a debate and a protest by local vendors. Zhao Zhongzhi / Xinhua

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

Nation sets 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 oceanic 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.

China, with a coastline extending 18,000 km and oceanic territories covering 3 million sq km, is the last of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to have an aircraft carrier.

IPR

Favored arena for rights disputes

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 the 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 (231 million euros) donation, the single largest internationally funded philanthropic effort in China's history. 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 United States, 20 from China and the rest from across the world.

Retail

Cooling-off period for e-shoppers

Online shoppers should be granted a seven-day cooling-off period, within which they would be able to get a refund, a draft amendment presented to the legislature on April 23 has proposed.

The move, which comes 20 years after the enactment of a consumer rights law, is aimed at ensuring e-shoppers' right to choose and giving them the right to unilaterally terminate contracts.

Li Shishi, director of the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the top legislature, said the proposal also applies to TV and phone sales.

This is the first time that the top legislature is considering amending the consumer rights law to protect online shoppers' rights and interests.

Tourism

More Chinese travel overseas

More people from smaller Chinese cities are traveling abroad, says a new research. Thanks to the country's rapid economic development, residents of second and third-tier cities are able to go overseas for their holidays, according to the China Outbound Tourism Development 2013 report, released by the China Tourism Academy. "Outbound tourism is no longer a privilege of the rich," said academy researcher Jiang Yiyi. "Lower-tier cities have and will continue to contribute substantially to its development."

For instance, from January to September last year, the number of Chinese tourists from second-tier cities who visited Singapore rose 28 percent year-on-year, while the number from first-tier cities increased 18 percent.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily 04/26/2013 page2)