Top 10 National News Stories of 2014

Advancing the Rule of Law

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC） was held in Beijing on October 20-23. The rule of law topped the meetings agenda.

This was the first time a plenary session of the CPC Central Committee has taken the rule of law as its central theme. China will strengthen its efforts in building a law-abiding government， and will ensure the leadership of the CPC in the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics. It also pledged to rule the country in accordance with the Constitution.

To enhance social awareness of the Constitution， the plenary meeting also decided to designate December 4 as Chinas Constitution Day. The decision was then ratified during a bi-monthly session of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress （NPC） that ran from October 27 to November 1.

Anti-Corruption Efforts Intensify

The 18th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection （CCDI） of the CPC held its fourth plenary session in Beijing on October 25， vowing to further enhance its anti-graft campaign and to support the rule of law.

Ahead of the meeting， Wang Qishan， a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the CCDI， said Chinas fight against deeply engrained corruption will never end but requires “consistency， intensified supervision， discipline and accountability.”

Since President Xi Jinping launched the campaign against corruption upon assuming office in 2012， a series of corrupt senior officials have been revealed and detained. In 2014 alone， more than 40 provincial or higher level officials were nailed for graft and associated crimes， including former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang， former military leader Xu Caihou and former senior political advisor Su Rong.

Meanwhile， anti-corruption authorities also attached as much importance to the fight against fugitive officials who fled overseas. In July， China launched its Fox Hunt 2014 campaign targeting corrupt officials and suspects in economic crimes who have fled the country， and gave criminals a deadline to turn themselves in before December 1. By the end of November， Chinese police had seized 428 fugitives from 60 countries and regions， 231 of whom turned themselves in. Furthermore， China has also signed extradition treaties with 40 countries and regions， and has also signed mutual legal assistance treaties with 49 countries and regions.endprint

Fighting Terrorists

China has launched a joint mechanism to improve intelligence gathering for anti-terrorism efforts， according to a statement released by the Ministry of Public Security on November 12.

In late May， a year-long campaign against terrorism， focusing on the western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as the major battleground， was launched after an attack on a market in the regional capital Urumqi on May 22. The attack killed 39 people and injured 94 others.

Earlier on March 1， knife-wielding terrorists killed 29 innocent civilians and injured 143 at a train terminal in Kunming， the capital city of southwest Chinas Yunnan Province. Four of the perpetrators were shot dead by the police at the scene and four others were captured.

In July， the National Anti-Terrorism Leading Group Office released a counter-terrorism handbook， which urged citizens to be vigilant against any signs of terrorism.

Enhancing Cooperation

The 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation（APEC） Economic Leaders Meeting was held in Beijing on November 11-12.

The meeting yielded tangible results with the launch of the process toward the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific （FTAAP）. The meeting also promoted innovation， reforms and growth to seek new momentum for the Asia-Pacifics long-term development and blueprinted comprehensive connectivity in the region.

The Beijing Roadmap for APECs Contribution to the Realization of the FTAAP endorsed at the meeting has become a milestone in the history of the bloc and will move the region toward economic integration.

Against the backdrop of stalled WTO multilateral trade negotiations and complicated regional trade environments， the FTAAP is expected to become a paradigm of global free trade， which can change the economic landscape of not only the Asia-Pacific but also the world.

Occupy Movement Cleared

After Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Leung Chun Ying delivered a report on Hong Kongs constitutional development to the top legislature of China， the NPC Standing Committee on August 31 made a decision that allows universal suffrage in selecting Hong Kongs chief executive from 2017 onward with two or three candidates nominated by a broadly representative nomination committee.

The Occupy Central movement started on September 28 when protesters blockaded several main roads and streets in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island to show defiance to the NPC Standing Committees decision.endprint

In the following more than two months， the Occupy Central movement caused serious traffic disruption， less tourists， temporary closure of schools and banks and a slump in Hong Kongs stock market trading. There had also been a series of clashes between protesters and the police.

The Hong Kong police cleared the last Occupy site on December 15.

Under Hong Kongs Basic Law and the decision of the NPC Standing Committee， more than 5 million qualified Hong Kong voters could have a say to who will become the chief executive in 2017 through the “one man， one vote” election， which was never realized under the British colonial rule.

Paying Tribute

The Chinese top legislature approved the establishment of a national day to commemorate martyrs on August 31.

According to a decision by the NPC Standing Committee， Martyrs Day will be marked with events across the country on September 30 every year.

It is the third national memorial day created in China this year， following Victory Day of the Chinese Peoples War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression on September 3 and National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims on December 13， both ratified by the NPC Standing Committee in February.

Tackling Air Pollution

The State Council on November 26 passed an amended draft air pollution prevention and control law， which emphasizes addressing the sources， total discharge and density of pollutants.

The amended draft specifies punishment for violations such as discharging pollutants without a certificate， overdischarging pollutants and fabricating monitoring data. The amended draft has provisions on conducting coordinated control of multiple pollutants from coal burning， industry， automobiles and dust， as well as launching coordinated regional actions in key areas.

Since the beginning of 2014， rounds of smoggy days have become more and more frequent in China. The delta areas of the Pearl River and Yangtze River and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region have been the severely hit areas. In order to tackle the problem， the Central Government allocated 10 billion yuan（$1.63 billion） in May to the three major industrial zones.

New Household Registration Policy

The State Council unveiled new guidelines that reform Chinas household registration， or hukou， system on July 30， which state that urban and rural residents will no longer be registered separately， a move to put an end to a dual household registration system that has divided the nation into rural and urban populations since the 1950s.endprint

The guidelines also said that towns and cities should relax restrictions on household registration according to local conditions and expand basic public services to cover all permanent residents.

The guidelines mark a new step in Chinas urbanization drive. Currently， China is still going through a rapid process of urbanization. Relaxing restrictions on the urban hukou will help migrant workers and their families settle in towns and cities and enjoy equal social benefits with locals.

An Internet ‘Davos

The first World Internet Conference was held in Wuzhen， a typical southern waterfront town in east Chinas Zhejiang Province， on November 19-21.

The conference saw roughly 1，000 Internet professionals， officials and experts from more than 100 countries and regions in attendance. Founders of Chinas top three Internet companies Alibaba， Tencent and Baidu as well as executives from global giants including Apple， Amazon， Google and Facebook also joined the gala.

Chinese President Xi sent a congratulatory note to the ceremony， hoping countries can jointly build a cyberspace of peace， security， openness and cooperation and an international Internet governance system of multilateralism， democracy and transparency.

Second-Child Policy

In December 2013， the NPC Standing Committee， Chinas top legislature， decided to ease the countrys decades-long family planning policy and allow couples to have two children if either parent is an only child， in a bid to raise fertility rates and ease the financial burden on Chinas rapidly aging population.

On January 17， the birth control relaxation was first implemented in east Chinas Zhejiang Province. Since then， local governments around the country have gradually revised their family planning regulations.

Although 11 million couples have been granted a permit to have a second child， only 700，000 of them have filed birth applications， according to the latest statistics from the National Health and Family Planning Commission.endprint