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20090113: news.sohu.com: Chuan Kong Rehabilitation Centre (Chuan Gang kang fu zhong xin) opened

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

川港康复中心在四川挂牌成立 港府拨逾2亿援建

2009年01月13日  来源：中国新闻网

http://news.sohu.com/20090113/n261727006.shtml

（图片来源：大公报）

Chuan Kong Recovery Centre opened on 12th January 2009

Chuan Kong Recovery Centre opened on 12th January 2009

On 12th January 2009, the Chuan Kong Rehabilitation Centre (Chuan Gang kang fu zhong xin), funded with 224 million Yuan from the Hong Kong government, officially opened in Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital. This is the first rehabilitation centre the Hong Kong government has funded in mainland China and also one of 20 projects that the Hong Kong government plans to work on as part of its support for Sichuan.

The rehabilitation of the injured in the May Quake is a very important part of post-quake relief. Tang Yingnian, Hong Kong SAR Financial Secretary, expressed his concern and support on this issue when he and the Hong Kong inspection group visited Sichuan recently. Afterwards, the Hong Kong and Sichuan governments signed a letter of intention of Constructional Support from Hong Kong Government on 7th Nov 2008, when the initial 2 billion reconstructive support funds were approved. The main objective of this project was to establish a modernized rehabilitation system that would provide rehabilitative treatment and related training.

Also, on 22nd Dec 2008, the Chuan Kong Rehabilitation Training and Development Project, part of the Stand-Up Program that was started by the International Ethnic-Chinese Orthopedics Association, officially received financial aid from Hong Kong government.

It is understood that the Chuan Kong Rehabilitation Centre, consisting of a Training Centre and Orthopedic Limb Centre, occupies 27 thousand square metres, with 350 rehabilitation beds. Wei Hong, the vice governor of Sichuan Province, stated that CKRC will be a critical base that provides directions and training to rehabilitation centres in 39 substantially quake-hit townships, forming a rehabilitation network covering the entire province.
At present, the preparatory work and personnel training are underway. 4 rehabilitation professionals have already started work in Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, guiding and participating in rehabilitative work on those injured in the quake.

由香港特区政府拨款2.24多亿元人民币援建的川港康复中心，12日在四川省人民医院挂牌成立。据悉，这是香港特区政府在内地成立的第一家康复医疗中心，也是首批香港特区援川重建20个项目之一。
地震伤员的后期康复是灾后重建的重要内容。此前，香港政务司司长唐英年率团考察四川时曾表示，将积极支持四川地震伤员的康复工作，首批20亿援川重建基金获批后，香港特区政府与四川省政府于去年11月7日签署了“香港特区援建川港康复中心意向书”，在四川省人民医院内建设永久性的现代化康复医疗中心，建成集康复治疗与培训指导为一体的一流康复中心。
12月22日世界华裔骨科学会“站起来”计划“川港康复培训及发展中心项目”也正式获得香港政府资助。

据了解，包括川港康复培训中心和肢具矫形中心在内的川港康复中心，建筑面积为2.7万平方米，设康复病床350张。四川省副省长魏宏表示，将以川港康复中心为龙头，对全省39个重灾县的康复分中心给予康复培训和指导，形成全省康复网络。
目前，康复中心的建设前期工作和人才培训正在加紧进行中，“站起来”计划行动中的4位康复专家已常驻四川省人民医院指导并参与地震伤员的康复工作。

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Posted in Civil society, Donation, Education, Health care, Infrastructure, Investment, National government, Official news source, Physiotherapy / Rehabilitation | No Comments »

20090112: Xinhua: Quake area students to visit Philippines

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Students from Sichuan quake-hit areas to visit Philippines
www.chinaview.cn
BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — A total of 100 secondary school students from the areas hit by the May 12 earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province will pay a visit to the Philippines, at the invitation of the Philippine Government, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang announced here on Thursday. The students will visit the Philippines from Jan. 11 to 17.

China enjoys a traditional friendship with the Philippines, and the bilateral relations have witnessed stable development since the two sides forged diplomatic ties in 1975, said Qin.

He said the invitation fully demonstrated the friendliness extended by the government and people of the Philippines, to which China expressed appreciation and gratitude. China believed the visit will reinforce the exchanges and friendship between people of the two countries, especially between the youth, enrich the China-Philippines friendship of cooperation, and promote the bilateral relationship, said Qin.

The 8.0-magnitude quake, occurring in China on May 12 last year, left more than 69,000 people dead, 374,000 injured, 18,000 missing and millions homeless.

新华网1月12日电，中国外交部发言人秦刚宣布，应菲律宾政府邀请，四川地震灾区的100个初中学生将赴菲律宾度过一个有意义的春节。他们的旅行将从1月11日进行到17日。

中国和菲律宾长期以来维持着良好的互利合作关系，双边关系自1975年建交以来就一直经历平稳的发展和持续。

他说中国感激和感谢菲律宾向地震灾区孩子们提供的帮助和支持，这是两国人民和两国政府友谊的良好见证。我们相信这次访问会加强两国人民，尤其是两国亲少年的交流和友谊。

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Hundred China quake zone kids to rehabilitate in Philippines
2009-01-07 18:43:25

MANILA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) — Invited by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a group of 100 children who survived a devastating earthquake in China last May will arrive in the Philippines this weekend for rehabilitation, with visits to the archipelagic state’s stunning beaches, museums, schools and the Presidential Palace, officials said Wednesday.

The one hundred middle school students were from Beichuan, Mianzhu, Shifang, the worst-hit towns in southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, with many losing close relatives in the 8.0-magnitude earthquake on May 12, 2008, according to officials with the Chinese Embassy to the Philippines.

More than 80,000 people, including at least 19,000 school children, were killed in the killer quake, the worst natural disaster China experienced in three decades, the government statistics show.

According to the schedule, the quake zone kids, most of whom have never traveled abroad, will arrive at Manila on board a Philippine Airline charter flight on Jan. 11 and fly to the crystal water and white-sand beach in Bohol island after touring around the national capital. They will also call on President Arroyo in the Presidential Palace Malacanang a day before they return to China on Jan. 17.

The rehabilitation plan was formalized in August during Arroyo’s visit to Sichuan quake zone and meeting with her Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. Two groups of school children from the Sichuan quake zone took similar rehabilitation trips to Russia and Hungary last year.

In a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Brady said the visit is designed for the Sichuan students to have a meaningful time and interaction with the Filipino people to help them recover from the effects of the earthquake.

Brady said the visit is a “very significant milestone” in promoting people-to-people exchanges between the Philippines and China.

Yuan Zhiju, a teacher with the Leigu middle school in Beichuan, told Xinhua reporters in Sichuan that kids were very excited about going abroad and had hand-knitted with needles and threads three ethnic hand-bags that traditions say would bring good fortune to President Arroyo.

“It is a gift from us to represent our gratitude to President Arroyo and the Filipino people,” Yuan said.

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Posted in Civil society, National government, Official news source, Psychological health | No Comments »

20090205: Xinhuanet: Intel moving assembly operations from Shanghai to Sichuan

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Intel moving assembly operations from Shanghai to Sichuan

The economic downturn has had an enormous impact on the semiconductor sector, forcing companies to take measures to cut costs, said Liu Liang, an analyst at Industrial Securities Co. Ltd.     Moving operations from Shanghai, a high-cost city, to a cheaper place like Sichuan might be an effective way to cope with the financial crisis, he said.
In addition, such a move could stimulate the economy in Sichuan, which was still trying to recover from last year’s catastrophic 8.0-magnitude earthquake, Liu said.
The quake uprooted millions of people, leaving many without homes or jobs.
U.S.-based Intel announced the move in a notice posted on its website. The notice said the company would move a Shanghai-based assembly and test factory to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, within 12 months.
The move will mean increased activity in Chengdu and a corresponding workforce reduction in Shanghai, which will affect about 2,000 employees, it said.
The company said it would offer positions to the employees either in the Chengdu factory, a plant in Dalian that is under construction, or other Intel China locations that need experienced staff.
Intel also intends to increase investment in the Dalian factory, to equip it with the latest available advanced microprocessor technology.
The notice said Shanghai would remain its core research and development base in China, as well as its regional headquarters. Other Intel factories and projects would proceed as planned.
The company also said it would increase its registered capital by 110 million U.S. dollars in Intel China Ltd., the company’s investment holding firm in Shanghai.
“The plans are expected to enhance the capacity of the Chengdu plant, optimize manufacturing resources and consolidate Intel’s operations in China,” said Nancy Zhang, director of the public relations group.
“Intel has been very prudent in making decisions. The proposed policy changes demonstrate Intel’s deep-rooted confidence in the Chinese market,” she said.
She said she could not give further details about the planned changes.
Shanghai municipal commission of commerce said Intel has submitted an application to the Ministry of Commerce for recognizing Intel China Ltd. as a national-level headquarters. The company had been ratified by the Shanghai authority as Intel China’s regional headquarters before.
However, Nancy Zhang said she had no information about this.
According to Shanghai’s preferential policy taking effect last December, a foreign company could get a 5-million-yuan (over 731,000 U.S. dollars) subsidy for opening regional headquarters in the city and more than 2.6 million yuan for renting offices in three years. The opening subsidy could rise to 10 million yuan if the headquarters get recognition from the Ministry of Commerce.

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Posted in Employment, Enterprise, Finance, work and business, Government, Investment, Labour and migration, Local government, National government, Official news source | No Comments »

20090222: Sohu news: Job help for Sichuan migrant workers

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

今年北京安排上千四川人就业 保证住宿办保险
2009年02月02日  来源：法制晚报
http://news.sohu.com/20090202/n262012155.shtml

According to the Beijing City Labour and Social Security Bureau, Beijing City Government is planning to arrange thousands of jobs for Sichuan migrant workers this year.

The Beijing government will collect information of employment suitable for people in the quake-hit area and post relevant advertisement via media to spread such info from various organisations that are recruiting. Meanwhile, an Employment Assistant Office will also be set up in Shifang to improve the communication and coordination between the two cities.
According to the official plan, the Beijing government will organize a recruitment trip to the quake-hit region for work units in Feb, May or Jun, and Sep or Oct. This decision is based on the 3 expected “job-hunting peaks” that are caused by migrant workers, recently graduated students and the period following the busy farming season.

Companies that intend to assistant on such project can register themselves in the District Labor and Social Security Department. In line with relevant official requirement, companies must provide accommodation to employees and monthly wage must be no less than 1000. Also, basic social security should be provided.

The Government will offer certain subsidies (on social insurance and personnel training) to companies that employ people from quake-hit areas. Part of job applicants’ cost on health exam and transport fees will also be covered by some subsidies that are allocated from the Special Employment Fund.
A Management System and follow-up services will keep monitoring further situation of job applicants in terms of their contract-signing, salary and other aspects.

今年，北京市将积极采集适合灾区劳动者需求的空岗信息，并通过媒体发布爱心广告向社会广泛征集各类用人单位招聘岗位提供给受援方。同时，还将继续开通“驻什邡就业援助工作站”，加强两地的工作沟通和协调。

今年北京市还将组织本市用人单位适时前往灾区进行现场招聘。根据受援地春节过后大批求职者外出打工、夏季大量学生毕业、秋收农忙后富余劳动力外出打工的三个时期，今年将分别安排2月份、5或6月份、9或10月份在受援地组织3次大型现场招聘活动，统一组织本市用人单位赴灾区进行现场招聘会。

目前，2月份的招聘活动已进入筹备阶段。企业如果有援助意向可到区县劳动保障部门登记。根据要求，企业必须为灾区务工者提供住宿条件，并保证月工资不低于1000元，为员工缴纳基本社会保险。
企业招用灾区人员来京就业可享受一定的社会保险补贴和培训补贴。灾区人员进京务工的招聘、体检、旅途餐饮费用将由就业专项资金进行一定补贴。

对灾区来京就业人员将进行实名制管理和跟踪服务，对他们在京就业期间的劳动合同签订、工资按时足额发放、社会保险缴纳等情况进行跟踪服务。

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Posted in Agriculture, Employment, Government, Labour and migration, Local government, National government, Official news source | No Comments »

20090127: Xinhuanet: China’s Sichuan Province to “closely audit” quake rebuilding spending

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/27/content_10726131.htm

by Xinhua writer Zhou Yan

CHENGDU, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) — Southwest China’s Sichuan Province said Tuesday it will closely audit the use of post-quake rebuilding funds over the next three to five years and publicly release the results at the end of that period.

The province will carefully scrutinize the raising, distribution and use of funds and supplies, according to a document issued by the general office of the Sichuan provincial government.

“The funds and supplies [audited] will include appropriations by the provincial and local governments, as well as donations,” the notice said.

Central government appropriations will be separately monitored by the Beijing-based National Audit Office. Last year, the central government allocated 70 billion yuan (about 10.1 billion U.S. dollars) for a reconstruction fund for the quake zone.

The document, however, did not mention the controversial purchase of a luxury car in Beichuan, one of the hardest-hit counties.     The mountainous county, where about 20,000 people were dead or missing after the massive earthquake, paid 1.1 million yuan including taxes for a luxury Toyota land cruiser.     The deal, exposed in a blog, triggered public anger and was termed as “corruption” by some critics.     However, Beichuan’s public security Chief Zhang Depu defended the purchase Friday, saying tough transport conditions made high-quality cross-country vehicles necessary in emergencies.     He said the land cruiser would become a wireless communications car for emergency use in rescue and disaster relief work.

The provincial document said that auditors in Sichuan will give special attention to key projects and areas such as the rebuilding of homes, schools, hospitals, welfare homes and other public facilities.     Auditors will also scrutinize quality control systems in the post-quake rebuilding, it said.

The magnitude-8.0 quake that hit southwest China, including many parts of Sichuan, on May 12 killed more than 69,000 people. It also left nearly 18,000 missing, more than 374,000 injured and millions homeless.
The Sichuan provincial government estimated post-quake rebuilding will cost about 1.6 trillion yuan.

Workers from 20 provinces are involved in the reconstruction effort. Those provinces will allocate at least 1 percent of their annual fiscal revenues into the reconstruction projects for three years.

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Posted in Construction and infrastructure, Facilities reconstruction, Government, Home rebuilding, Infrastructure, Investment, Labour and migration, Local government, National government, Official news source, Relief, Transport | No Comments »

20090120: Xinhuanet: ADB provides China 1st grant to improve disaster management

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Asian Development Bank provides China 1st grant to improve disaster management

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/20/content_10689150.htm

MANILA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday said it is providing the bank’s first grant on enhancing disaster management to China, to solve the aftermath of the 8.0-magnititude earthquake which killed more than 80,000 people in southwestern Sichuan province last May.

The funds, totaling 650,000 U.S. dollars, will be used to conduct a full review of the current system and to help China develop a risk management strategy that is coordinated, effective, and more inclusive of the civil society and the private sector, ADB said in a statement.

It is the first time that ADB is providing technical assistance to support the development of public or private partnerships in disaster management, it said, adding that the need for an all-round disaster risk management system in China “has never been greater.”

“In the past there has been no mechanism for those (outside of government) who want to contribute and this TA will help address that concern. It will ultimately reduce the burden on the government,” said Manmohan Parkash, Principal Transport Specialist for ADB’s East Asia Department.

The grant complements an earlier technical assistance grant of 1 million U.S. dollars, approved in May 2008, to provide a preliminary assessment of the earthquake damage and reconstruction needs for Sichuan, the bank said.

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Posted in Government, Infrastructure, Investment, Local government, National government, Official news source | No Comments »

20081225China says May 12 quake damages 14,000 schools in Sichuan

Monday, January 19th, 2009

2008年12月25日20:21 新华网

http://news.sohu.com/20081225/n261426445.shtml

BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) — The deadly 8.0-magnitude earthquake that jolted southwestern China’s Sichuan province in May damaged close to 14,000 schools in 159 counties in the province, a senior official said on Thursday.

Lu Yongxiang, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, revealed the numbers during a briefing to the law-making body on the enforcement of the Law on Compulsory Education.

The 8.0-magnitude quake centered in Sichuan’s Wenchuan County left more than 69,000 people dead, 374,000 injured, 18,000 missing and millions homeless.

He did not disclose the casualties of students in the earthquake.

Many of the school buildings in the quake-affected areas needed to be rebuilt, Lu said, adding that many schools in the central and the western part of the country were still in poor condition.

He noted that after the earthquake, many school buildings in neighboring Gansu province were severely damaged, but their rebuilding were not covered in the government’s post-quake rebuilding budget.

According to Lu, 2.5 percent of China’s primary and middle school buildings were in poor conditions in 2007. More than 90 percent of those “risky” school buildings were located in the country’s rural areas.

Twenty percent of the primary school buildings and 11 percent of the middle school buildings were “risky” in southwestern Yunnan province as in 2007, he said, citing figures from the Ministry of Education.

Fire risks, traffic safety and hygiene also posed threats to many primary and middle schools in the country due to lack of safety education, Lu added.

Lu urged authorities to add reinforcement measures to all school buildings in the quake-hit areas and to conduct a comprehensive safety check on all primary and middle schools in the rural areas across the country.

Local governments should renovate all school buildings to meet anti-quake criteria “at a proper time”, Lu suggested.

He also urged for central and local governments to grant more funds to help middle and primary schools– especially those in the central and western rural areas — renovate their school buildings and raise safety education among students and teachers.

China had already stipulated in July this year that school facilities must observe higher quake-proof standards than common buildings in the same area.

新华网北京12月25日电 （记者周婷玉、陈菲）全国人大常委会副委员长路甬祥25日向全国人大常委会作义务教育法执法检查报告时说，这次汶川特大地震对灾区学校造成严重破坏，相当部分校舍需要重建。据四川省统计，共有159个县近1．4万所学校受灾，其中义务教育学校和完全中学占91％。

他还指出，目前中西部地区农村学校的危房比例仍然较高。据教育部反映，2007年，全国普通中小学危房面积占普通中小学校舍面积总数的2．48％，其中90％分布在中西部地区农村。云南省小学、初中危房比例最高，分别达到20％和11％。甘肃省甘南受灾地区学校校舍受损也很严重，其中不少校舍没有列入国家资助的灾区中小学校舍维修加固资金项目，而地方财政困难，难以进行修缮。另外，一些学校的安全教育还没有落实，在消防、交通、卫生等方面也存在着安全隐患。

路甬祥介绍，新义务教育法实施后，各级政府部门在严格学校选址规划、完善校舍设计和编制建设标准、提高校舍维修改造资金测算标准、严格学校安全监管、维护学校周边秩序等方面加强了工作。2008年7月实施的《建筑工程抗震设防分类标准》，提高了学校建筑的抗震设防标准，要求比当地一般建筑抗震设防烈度提高一度，这将对保障校舍安全具有促进作用。

为进一步加强学校安全建设，执法检查报告建议，加快全面排查农村中小学校舍安全情况的进度，当前特别要做好受汶川特大地震影响的地区校舍的维修加固工作。同时，各地政府对未达到抗震要求的所有校舍，应适时制定规划予以改造，使之逐步达到防震标准。

报告中还建议，应适当提高农村中小学校舍维修改造经费补助标准，中央财政应重点对中西部地区农村中小学校舍抗震加固工作加大支持力度；应当进一步健全学校安全管理制度，完善处置突发事件应急机制，定期开展安全教育和应急演练活动，不断提高广大师生的自我保护意识与防范危害的能力。

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Posted in Construction and infrastructure, Education, Facilities reconstruction, Governance and social policy, Local government, Media, National government | No Comments »

Funding earmarked to protect threatened Qiang culture

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009

CHENGDU, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) — Sichuan Province will seek investment worth 9.4 billion yuan (1.4 billion U.S. dollars) to save the threatened culture of the Qiang people, local authorities said.

A total of 7.9 billion yuan would be used to assist the Qiang culture protection and tourism in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture and Mianyang City where most of the Qiang people lived.

Part of the 9.4 billion yuan fund will be used to build an education centre to preserve documents and where Qiang cultural masters would have a larger stage to pass on traditions and festivals of their people. Sichuan will restore and build the cultural facilities, villages, ancient castles and gardens featuring the Qiang ethnic culture. The fund would also go to the exploration and development of the skills of tailoring, the arts and cooking, according to the handbook.

The Qiang people, with a history of at least 3,000 years, were famous for their unique language, customs, arts and religious beliefs. They were also known for the stone castles they live in, often three or four stories tall. It has a population of 300,000 people, 80 percent of whom are in quake-hit areas of Maoxian, Wenchuan, and Beichuan counties. The culture of the Qiang nationality suffered a near fatal blow from the earthquake on May 12. All the houses in Luobo village, the most ancient Qiang village of Wenchuan County, were toppled. The same tragedy also befell hundreds of typical Qiang houses, buildings and bridges in Beichuan, Maoxian, Lixian counties.  More than 30,000 Qiang people died in the quake, 40 of whom were cultural masters and experts.

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Posted in Arts, Ethnic minorities, Local government, National government | No Comments »

Canada assisting with wood-frame buildings

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009

From the China Daily via the China National Committe on Ageing:

Canada and British Columbia (BC) province are working with the Chinese government and partners in the Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction Project constructing quake-proof wood frame buildings.

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Posted in Construction and infrastructure, Enterprise, Environment, Home rebuilding, Investment, Local government, National government | No Comments »

NY Times story: Romance and Recovery in Quake Area

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009

From last week’s New York Times:

BEICHUAN — He lost his wife of 35 years when their home collapsed during the earthquake in May. She lost her husband of 20 years the same day in a cascade of debris at a construction site. They are distant relatives from the same town whose eyes still tear up when they talk about their dead spouses. But within months of the earthquake, which was the deadliest natural disaster to befall China in more than three decades, Jiang Zhongfu, 60, began courting Zhu Xiaoqiong, 42. Last month, he moved into Ms. Zhu’s prefabricated housing cube in a refugee camp in these scarred hills.

Posted in In Their View, Living conditions, Local government, National government | No Comments »

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