IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Society

Call for more holiday time

More than 40 percent of Chinese employees do not get paid leave, according to a national survey of people's leisure time and holidays published on May 19, the third China Tourism Day.

The study, conducted by the National Tourism Administration, collected data from 6,055 questionnaires filled out in seven regions and 14 cities.

According to a 2009 benefit and employment guideline released by Mercer, a consulting company focusing on human resources, China ranks last out of 39 countries and regions on paid holidays for workers.

Employees on the mainland get only 21 days of paid leave annually, including national holidays, compared with 41 for those in Brazil, which ranked first.

Food

New rules hard to stomach

The government's nationwide clampdown on graft and wasteful spending has left many high-end catering companies with a simple choice: Adapt or die.

On Dec 4, China's new leadership laid down eight rules aimed at improving the way officials work, which included scrapping extravagant banquets. The effect on exclusive restaurants was felt quickly.

A Ministry of Commerce survey in February found expensive eateries in Beijing had seen a 35 percent drop in business since the rules were announced. Those in Shanghai reported a 20 percent decrease. A separate study of the catering industry over the May Day holiday by the China Cuisine Association reported similar results.

"There has been an obvious decline in high-end food consumption," the association said in its report. "The fall in business for Shun Fung, Royal Garden Hotel and Xinhuafu Hotel all exceeded 50 percent."

Economy

First-tier cities barely livable

Most first-tier cities in China are barely suitable for living because of their poor ecological environment, despite rapid economic development and preferential regulations for investment, said a report released by a top Chinese think tank on May 19.

First-tier cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, failed to make the list of habitable cities even though they are in the top 10 in terms of commercial advantages, unification of city and countryside, and cultural development, according to a report on China's urban competitiveness from the National Academy of Economic Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Only two first-tier cities, Hong Kong and Macao, are among the country's most livable cities, said the report.

Beijing ranks best in terms of academic resources and intellectual atmosphere, second-best in business environment and sustainability, and third in cultural industry. But it dropped to 74th and 119th in habitable and ecological environment, the report said.

Commerce

Tobacco ads light up debate

Tobacco advertisers in China are taking to new media, particularly social networking platforms, to circumvent regulations and target the younger generation, according to a report released on May 21.

The report, compiled by think tank Research Center for Health Development, which is committed to tobacco control, comes ahead of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, whose theme this year is banning tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

China's Advertisement Law bans advertising tobacco products through mass media such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines and journals.

The Chinese mainland has more than 564 million Internet users, 420 million of whom access the Internet via cell phones.

Tobacco advertisers have turned to new-media platforms, including micro blogs and Tencent's popular messaging service, Weixin (marketed internationally as WeChat), as well as tobacco-themed online forums and tobacco company websites.

Health

Chicken back on the menu

With no new confirmed cases of the H7N9 virus on the Chinese mainland for more than a week, Shanghai is planning to allow cold-processed poultry meat onto the market by the end of May, giving the heavily hit poultry industry a chance at recovery.

In a meeting organized by the city's agriculture authority on May 16, most participants suggested that live poultry markets be eventually shut down. They said cold-processed poultry products should be promoted to gradually replace live poultry starting at the end of this month, according to the Shanghai Municipal Agriculture Commission.

China Daily - Xinhua

(China Daily 05/24/2013 page2)