‘Left-behind’ kids

    New policies to improve monitoring by China’s migrant worker parents and safeguard* the rights of more than 61 million “left-behind” rural children are being drawn up by the authorities.

    The State Council — the nation’s Cabinet — released a set of proposals on Sunday which aim to improve the protection and legal rights of these rural children. The policies, drawn up on February 4, are expected to promote the healthy development of children and also refine existing laws and mechanisms to help strengthen the role of parental monitoring.

    Luxury buys

    Chinese consumers spent 1.2 trillion yuan (US$183 billion) abroad last year, with the goods they bought ranging from luxuries to daily necessities, according to a luxury-market consultancy, China Daily reported.

    More than 60 percent of the consumers bought luxury products — including handbags, cosmetics and mobile gadgets* — spending US$116.8 billion on such goods, the Beijing-based Fortune Character Group said. This accounted for 46 percent of global luxury sales, the company added.

    Holiday spending

    Booming tourism, cinema and retail sales during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday show that China’s efforts to make its economy more reliant on the consumption power of its vast population are paying off.

    The increasingly affluent Chinese are not only willing to spend, they spend more wisely and healthily. Aside from big feasts during family reunions, activities such as domestic and overseas travel, movies and health products have caught on.

    Shops and restaurants across the country brought in 754 billion yuan (US$115 billion), up 11.2 percent over the same period last year, the Ministry of Commerce said.

    Taiwan quake

    Rescuers in Taiwan pulled out the remains of the final victims of the February 6 earthquake and with a minute of silence ended the search with the death toll of 116, most of them in a collapsed high-rise apartment building.

    All but two of the dead came from the 17-story Weiguan Golden Dragon residential complex, which toppled* when the 6.4-magnitude quake struck the city on February 6. (SD-Agencies)