FREE TUTORING FOR 25 YEARS

Pan Yulian， 75 years old， has been a volunteer homework tutor for 25 years. She provides free after-school tutoring to children from all ethnic groups in her local neighborhood in Kashgar Prefecture， northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Despite living on a low income， she managed to convert a 26-square-meter room in her home on the outskirts of Shule County into a classroom.

Pan， who claims both Han Chinese and Uygur ancestry， came up with the idea of tutoring children—mainly of primary school age—after noticing that many parents didnt have time or were unable to help their children with homework.

As a high school graduate， Pan believed she could do something for such children， so they could keep up with their classmates and wouldnt mix with the wrong crowd.

Clearing Obstacles to Driverless Cars

Yanzhao Evening News July 6

Chinese Internet search giant Baidu Inc. tested a self-driving vehicle in Beijing on July 5. Company chairman and CEO Robin Li sat in the passenger seat as the event was streamed live. Some netizens， however， said that the car was probably using the roads illegally. City traffic authorities said they have launched an investigation into the incident.

Technological developments mean that self-driving vehicles will likely soon revolutionize driving as we know it and usher in a new era in personal transportation. Large auto manufacturers and Internet companies are frantically engaged in research and development （R&D）， and some have announced that their new cars will take to the roads in 2018.

In addition to Baidu， Google， Uber and Chinese automaker Changan all have road test plans aimed at developing the technology so that it can cope safely with the complexity of real-world traffic conditions. Under current law， however， driverless cars are prohibited from using the roads， which is an obstacle to R&D.

Since driverless technology is presently beyond the bounds of the law， the lack of related regulations and laws is a common problem worldwide. China is at the forefront of global R&D of driverless technology and new energy vehicles. Now is the time to make breakthroughs in the whole industry； to take or miss the opportunity.

Rural Infants Fall Behind

China Newsweek July 10

A report on the early development of infants and young children under the Rural Education Action Program （REAP） has recently been published. REAP is a program jointly launched by the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Stanford Universitys Institute for International Studies in 2005.

Currently in China， the attention paid to the nurturing of infants， particularly in rural areas， is far from enough. The resources， both human and financial， are far from adequate. Nonetheless， it has been widely recognized that early-stage development， especially for infants under 3 years， is key to childrens future growth. So， this problem needs to be solved urgently.

REAP assessed 1，800 infants aged 6-12 months in rural areas of northwest Chinas Shaanxi Province and followed their development up to the age of 24-30 months. Of the infants tested， 41 percent aged less than 12 months lagged behind in their cognitive or language development. For those aged 24-30 months， the proportion was 53 percent. In cities and wealthy rural areas， the ratio for those aged 6-18 months was only 15 percent.

Presently， China has some 50 million infants， most of whom live in the countryside， according to Zhang Linxiu， director of REAP in China. “The problem of rural infants cognitive and language development has great infl uence on Chinas human capital in the future，” Zhang said.

REAP offers a series of intervention measures， including establishing nurturing centers in both villages and rural immigrants resettlement communities and providing nurturing guidance to parents at home. But the key to the solution lies primarily in public sector investment and the involvement of society and governments at various levels.

Entertaining or Destructive？

Peoples Daily Online July 3

The mobile phone game King of Glory has become a phenomenon in China， though it is also recognized as being extremely harmful. To satisfy both the adherents and detractors， how can it be made safe？

As a game， King of Glory is successful. But it is damaging to society. It has 200 million registered users in total and 80 million daily active users. Some 20 percent of the players are young people aged under 17. However， some tragedies related to playing King of Glory have occurred： A 13-year-old student jumped out of a window after being scolded for playing the game； an 11-year-old girl stole 100，000 yuan （$14，696） to buy virtual equipment； and a 17-year-old almost died after playing the game continuously for 40 hours.

The producer of King of Glory recently took measures to prevent addiction， including limiting the time that juveniles can access the game and strengthening real name authentication.

However， a lot of work can still be done to supervise games social effects. From the perspective of the game producer， social responsibility is as important as its product. Game developers should not give priority to thrilling experiences while ignoring potential hazards.

Its also urgent for the government to strengthen supervision over mobile phone games. Whether to strengthen examination and approval of mobile phone games， how to make regulations and whether to adopt a classifi cation system are the issues the government needs to consider.

HIGH-RANKING OFFICIAL INVESTIGATED

Wang Sanyun， Vice Chairman of the Education， Science， Culture and Public Health Committee of the 12th National Peoples Congress （NPC）， Chinas top legislature， is being investigated for severe disciplinary violations， said the Communist Party of China （CPC） Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on July 11.

Before he took the position at the NPC in April， Wang had served as Party Secretary of northwest Chinas Gansu Province for more than five years.

The 64-year-old Wang started his political career at the age of 31 in southwest Chinas Guizhou Province. He also worked as the vice Party chief of Anhui， Fujian， Sichuan， and Guizhou provinces.

“There are now calls for military action. Chinas position on this is firm and clear. We would never allow war or chaos to break out on the Korean Peninsula. The cost would be too high for everyone， including the U.S.”

Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai， speaking at the Seventh U.S.-China Civil Strategic Dialogue on July 10

“Its time we change our approach to fighting floods. For example， people in Anhui Province have deliberately kept some dike sections lower than others so that after [a river] reaches a certain level， excess water can flow out through the lower sections， thus reducing the human impact and financial loss.”

Cheng Xiaotao， a senior expert with the National Committee for Disaster Reduction， told China Daily

“The debt-to-asset ratio has been declining steadily and the capacity to repay debt has been enhanced in most centrally administered SOEs between January and June.”

Shen Ying， chief accountant of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council， which announced that centrally administered state-owned enterprises （SOEs） posted better-than-expected net profits

“[Chinese] Banks profitability and risk resistance are good compared with their global peers， and their international influence is also on the rise.”

Wang Zhaoxing， Vice Chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission， told Xinhua News Agency in a recent interview