Giant thangka, religious silk embroideries and paintings, on the mountains behind Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet autonomous region, attracted thousands of people on Aug 6 to mark the traditional Shoton Festival. Li Zhou / for China Daily

Economy

Service sector drives growth

The service sector is tipped to replace manufacturing and become the strongest driver of the Chinese economy.

Economists say China seems to be moving toward a more environmentally sustainable and less resource-intensive growth pattern, as the faster improvement of the service sector is in stark contrast with a sluggish manufacturing industry.

The British financial group HSBC reported on Aug 5 that July's service purchasing managers index was 51.3, signaling a modest increase in business activity in the service sector.

New-order growth in the sector rose to a five-month high as market demand increased. Employment in the sector also improved slightly, HSBC said.

The HSBC index reinforces the findings of the official non-manufacturing PMI data, published on Aug 3, a reading of 54.1 in July, up from 53.9 in June.

"The current indicators suggest that non-manufacturing growth is stable and sound, providing a solid foundation to the overall economy," said Cai Jin, vice-chairman of China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, which compiles the official non-manufacturing PMI data.

China 'to add more to global growth'

China's contribution to the global economy will continue to increase this year, remaining a major engine for world growth, according to a senior economist from a top government think tank.

A sharp drop in GDP growth, or a hard landing, is unlikely in the second half of the year, Wang Yiming, vice-president of the Academy of Macroeconomic Research under the National Development and Reform Commission, said.

Wang also said the 7.5 percent growth target for the year will be achieved, with an inflation rate of less than 3 percent.

Reforms will further strengthen sustainability of the Chinese economy, Wang said.

"Deepening the rebalancing of reform is the key to upgrading the economic growth pattern," Wang said, adding that the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, expected to convene in October, will give a framework for the overall reform direction.

After the session, reform is likely to proceed more quickly than had been expected, he said.

Since taking office in March, the new central leadership has introduced market-oriented reforms in a wide range of areas, from cutting tax to easing controls in the financial sector.

Health

Obesity rate on the increase

More Chinese people aged 20 to 39 are becoming overweight and their athletic ability is declining, according to a national survey released on Aug 5.

The survey of more than 43,000 adults found that more than 11 percent of people aged 20 to 39 are obese, an increase of 2 percentage points since the last survey in 2010.

The average weight gain of the group was 1.92 kilograms, higher than figures of the other two age groups (40-59 and 60 plus).

The General Administration of Sport survey of 10 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities also found that 34.4 percent of Chinese between 20 and 69 are overweight.

According to the survey, those between 20 and 39 are the least active exercisers. Fifty-one percent of them do not exercise regularly, citing a lack of time due to overloaded schedules.

The results also indicated that waist circumferences and hiplines have increased in all age groups, especially among young males and middle-aged females in urban areas.

New Zealand milk stokes fears

Chinese producers who bought contaminated batches of whey protein concentrate from New Zealand were recalling products on Aug 4, dealing the latest blow to Chinese consumers' confidence in milk powder products.

Diary giant Fonterra said on Aug 3 that tests had discovered Clostridium botulinum in its whey protein, which customers buy as raw material to produce baby formula and sports drinks.

Clostridium botulinum is one of the world's strongest toxins and can destroy the human nervous system if ingested. In infants under 1 year old, it can trigger neural paralysis.

Chinese consumers are very alert to the quality of dairy products, especially after a series of scandals, including one in 2008 in which at least six children died and about 300,000 were poisoned after being exposed to milk powder tainted with melamine, a toxic chemical.

China's largest beverage producer Hangzhou Wahaha's Health Food Co and its Import and Export Co, as well as infant nutrition company Dumex, and State-owned food producer Shanghai Sugar Cigarette and Wine (Group) Co, were found to have imported contaminated dairy products from Fonterra, the largest dairy business in New Zealand, China's top quality watchdog said.

Family planning

More care to parents who lose child

More than 1,700 parents who have lost an only child urged China's top legislature to revise the family planning law to enable them to receive compensation from the government, according to a joint letter issued by the group on social media.

Jiang Li, one of the online petition's organizers, said bereaved parents who obeyed the family planning policy "have sacrificed their happiness".

The National People's Congress, China's highest legislative body, should amend the law to ensure the government pays for their loss, she proposes.

The 59-year-old from Liaoning province published the letter on Sina Weibo, China's most popular micro blogging service, on Aug 4.

The government restricts most families to having only one child and such families risk losing their sole support in the parents' latter years as demographic studies show about five out of every 1,000 people will die before the age of 25, said the open letter.

"We think the government should be liable to provide remedies for people who 'sacrifice their rights or interest'," reads the letter that has been signed by 1,773 parents nationwide who have lost an only child.

The petition calls for the request to be taken into account in the country's population and family planning law that was enacted in 2002.

Property

Supervision tightened on public rental housing

Beijing will strictly inspect the eligibility of tenants of public rental housing projects to make sure the houses are fairly distributed and used by those in need.

The property management service of the housing projects will also be improved, said Qin Haixiang, a commissioner of the Beijing Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

At least two managers will be assigned to each public rental housing community and three to communities containing more than 500 households, Qin said.

Property managers will inspect each public rental house at least each year, and if they find a house is rented illegally, the tenants will be ordered to stop their rental, he said.

A tenant lost eligibility to rent a public rental house in June because he sublet it to make a profit, the Beijing Housing Security Office said.

A regulation enacted in December 2011 stated that low and middle-income earners, new employees and those who are not permanent residents but have worked in the city for a certain number of years, are eligible to apply for public rental housing in Beijing.

(China Daily European Weekly 08/09/2013 page2)