LI: CHINA HAS ROOM TO BOOST ITS ECONOMY

China may achieve positive economic growth this year despite the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic, and still has ample policy room to keep the world's second-largest economy on a steady track of growth, Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday.

"We have reserved policy space on the fiscal, financial, social security and other fronts, and we are in a strong position to quickly introduce new measures, if necessary, without hesitation," Li said at a news conference after the closing of the annual session of the National People's Congress.

"I'm confident that we will, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, and with joint efforts of people across the nation, be able to prevail over the current difficulties, fulfill our tasks and goals for the whole year and complete the building of an all-around moderately prosperous society," he said.

"Keeping China's economic fundamentals stable in itself will be a contribution to the whole world, and China will remain a positive force driving global economic recovery and growth," he added.

China has decided to roll out a number of supportive policies to reduce the operational costs of enterprises, increase investment in infrastructure to generate growth and improve people's livelihoods.

The country has pledged more government spending, raising the fiscal deficit target to at least 3.6 percent of GDP and issuing 1 trillion yuan ($139.8 billion) in special treasuries.

The authorities have also planned to create more than 9 million new urban jobs, keep the surveyed urban unemployment rate at around 6 percent and maintain consumer inflation at around 3.5 percent.

"We will do our utmost to keep China's economic growth stable and, at the same time, we must ensure that all measures taken are well-calibrated," Li said.

"The recovery of the Chinese economy is on a solid track, judging from key economic data for March and April, as the country's macroeconomic policies have been very accommodative. I expect such trends to continue for the rest of the year."

But he said that special attention should be paid to the task of ensuring the survival of enterprises and preventing large-scale bankruptcy as they are directly linked with employment and people's livelihoods.

Li also said that the role of the market will be more respected, and the priority for supportive policies will be on "boosting market vitality".

CIVIL CODE ADOPTED AT CLOSING OF NPC ANNUAL SESSION

The country's first Civil Code−a fundamental and comprehensive civil law that refines rules for protecting civil rights and remedying their infringement−was adopted before the top legislature wrapped up its annual session on Thursday.

"It's the first law called a 'code' since New China was founded, and milestone legislation in comprehensively advancing the rule of law and improving the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics," said Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Li said if the whole of society abides by the code, "our society will be more civilized, harmonious and stable". He also called for national legislators to play a leading role in studying, popularizing and following the code.

Li made the remarks at the closing meeting of the third session of the 13th National People's Congress. President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders attended the meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The Civil Code, which will take effect on Jan 1, consists of general provisions, which clarify basic civil rights, duties and principles, and six individual sections on property, contracts, personal rights, marriage and family and inheritance and torts.

Fu Yuhang, a national lawmaker from Sichuan province, showed her enthusiasm after witnessing the birth of the code."I've been following its legislative process in the past few years, as it greatly matters to everyone's work, life and interests," she said.

Fu applauded the part of the code about protection of personal data, regarding it as a legal basis for formulating a law on personal information protection, which is on the legislative agenda for this year.

Li Jing, another NPC deputy and president of Tianjin High People's Court, said the code demonstrates a "people-centered" approach to legislation. She gave a thumbs-up to the section on personal rights, saying it shows the country is paying greater attention to protecting personal rights and dignity.

Zhang Xinbao, a law professor at Renmin University of China, said a lot of work needs to be done before the Civil Code is enforced.

"Before the code takes effect, we have about six months, and a lot of work awaits us," he said. "For example, the Supreme People's Court should draft, revise and clean up some interpretations on existing civil laws in accordance with the code, while the authorities need to explain the code to the public to ensure it will be effectively implemented.

"Lawyers specializing in dealing with civil cases have much to learn about the code, as the more they know the law, the better they can serve the people," he said.

They also passed resolutions on national economic and social development plans as well as on central and local budgets.

NATIONAL SECURITY LEGISLATION SET TO BOLSTER HK STABILITY

The top legislature approved a decision on Thursday afternoon on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to safeguard national security.

The national security legislation for the Hong Kong SAR is designed to ensure steady implementation of "one country, two systems" in the SAR as well as uphold its long-term stability and prosperity, Premier Li Keqiang said at a news conference following the closure of the third session of the 13th National People's Congress.

Li said the principle of "one country, two systems" is the country's basic policy and the central government has always stressed the need to fully and faithfully implement the principle, under which Hong Kong people administer Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy.

The adoption of the decision marks a major measure to further perfect the principle of "one country, two systems", said Li Zhanshu, chairman of the 13th NPC Standing Committee, at the closing meeting of the annual session.

The NPC Standing Committee will soon formulate related laws for Hong Kong as authorized by the decision in order to safeguard national security and sovereignty and ensure Hong Kong's stability and prosperity, he said. The decision is in accordance with China's Constitution and Hong Kong's Basic Law and applies to the fundamental interests of all Chinese people, including Hong Kong compatriots, Li Zhanshu said.

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Wednesday that the legislation will undermine Hong Kong's autonomy and freedoms and notified the US Congress that the Trump administration no longer regards Hong Kong as an autonomous region.

The Commissioner's Office of China's Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong firmly opposed and rebutted the statement on Thursday, saying such an accusation is purely defamation and distortion of the "one country, two systems" principle.

The legislation is the responsibility of the central government and targets only very few acts that seriously endanger national security without impairing Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy or the legal rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people, the office said.

Over decades, the US has called Hong Kong "a bastion of liberty" and attempted to use the "Hong Kong model" to change the social system on the Chinese mainland to split, subvert, penetrate and destroy the mainland, proving that the NPC's decision to enact a national security law is imperative and urgent, it said.

The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said the approval of the decision fully demonstrates the strong will and firm determination of the entire Chinese people against foreign interference in terms of safeguarding national security.

HUAWEI 'DISAPPOINTED' BY MENG RULING

Huawei Technologies Co expressed dissatisfaction with a Canadian court's ruling regarding its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, and the company said it will continue to stand with Meng in her pursuit of justice and freedom.

"Huawei is disappointed in the ruling by the Supreme Court of British Columbia. We have repeatedly expressed confidence in Meng's innocence," it said in a statement.

The comments came after the court ruled on Wednesday that the United States' extradition case against Meng can proceed in Canada, saying that the fraud charges against Meng satisfied the extradition requirement of "double criminality".

The necessary condition under the Canadian legal doctrine of "double criminality" is that the charge the subject faces would also be considered a criminal act under Canadian law.

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa responded by saying that Canada is "an accomplice to United States' efforts to bring down Huawei and Chinese high-tech companies".

Meng was accused of misleading HSBC about Huawei's relationship with a company operating in Iran, which the US government charged violated its sanctions on technology sales to Iran. Meng and Huawei have repeatedly denied the allegation.

Huawei said, "We expect Canada's judicial system will ultimately prove Meng's innocence. Meng's lawyers will continue to work tirelessly to see justice is served."

Meng's attorneys have long argued that because Canada ended economic sanctions against Iran in 2016, Canadian banks faced no risk in handling Iran-related financial transactions.

"This case is fundamentally about the enforcement of US sanctions against Iran," the defense argued, adding that surrendering Meng to the US would "require Canada to repudiate its own laws".

Wednesday's decision does not necessarily mean that Meng will be extradited to the US. Rather, it will start a new round of legal arguments, including whether her arrest at Vancouver International Airport in December 2018 was unlawful.

However, of the 798 US extradition requests received since 2008, Canada has declined only 1 percent of them, according to the country's Department of Justice, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, has claimed that her rights were violated at the time of her arrest. Meng has been living under house arrest in Vancouver since her apprehension in December 2018.

The court noted that Canada's minister of justice would have a chance to weigh in on whether a decision to commit Meng for extradition should be allowed to continue or would be "contrary" to Canadian values.

Commenting on the "unsurprising" result, Jiang Wenran, a visiting professor at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia, said it was a "bad day" for Canada and China.

UNIVERSITIES SHOULD BE STRICTER ABOUT INTERNATIONAL ENROLLMENT

Universities in China should not blindly pursue internationalization or expand the enrollment of international students, said the Ministry of Education.

Rather, they should focus on the quality of international education and attract more talented youth from around the world to study at Chinese universities, the ministry said in a recent notice.

Universities should adopt strict enrollment criteria and management systems for international students, improve educational resources for these students and build model projects for international education, it said.

They should put more effort into teaching international students about Chinese laws, regulations, cultures and customs to increase their understanding of China's development and tell the world what they have observed, it said.

The country remains committed to promoting international education exchanges and cooperation and opening up the education sector, the notice said.

The notice came as President Xi Jinping extended a welcome to excellent students worldwide to study in China in his reply to a letter from Pakistani students studying at the University of Science and Technology Beijing on May 17.

In his letter, Xi encouraged the students to communicate more with their Chinese peers and join hands with youth from all countries to contribute to promoting people-to-people connectivity and building a community with a shared future for humanity.

China has been the most popular destination for international students in Asia since 2014.

In 2018, the country welcomed 492,000 international students from 196 countries and regions to study at 1,004 universities and research institutes, according to the Ministry of Education.

Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences under the ministry, said that in an effort to appear more international, some Chinese colleges and universities have indiscriminately expanded the number of foreign students without paying enough attention to their credentials.

"That has caused the quality of the students to fall short of the criteria and affected the reputation of China's higher education," he said.

The quality of teaching at some colleges and universities is also low due to shortages of teachers capable of delivering courses in English, he added.

Yu Minhong, founder of New Oriental Education and Technology Group and member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, has proposed stricter regulation in the enrollment of international students.

As the number of international students in China has increased steadily in recent years, these students have received preferential treatment and have been embroiled in controversies, he said.

While Chinese students have to pass rigorous national college entrance exams to enter Chinese universities, international students have been admitted based on their test scores in high schools and the HSK exam, a Chinese language proficiency test, Yu said.

TRACKING SYSTEM MAY REDUCE LOST, DELAYED LUGGAGE

Whether on a long-anticipated vacation or important business trip, having baggage go missing during a flight puts an annoying crimp in any travel plan.

However, a whole-journey luggage tracking system may put an end to lost or delayed baggage, which poses security risks and costs airlines across the globe a lot of money.

According to a report released last year by aviation IT specialist SITA, the total cost to the civil aviation industry for baggage mishandling stood at $2.4 billion in 2018.

To counter that, China has kicked off a pilot program for a luggage tracking system on three air routes between six major airports-Beijing Capital, Beijing Daxing, Shanghai Hongqiao, Guangzhou Baiyun, Shenzhen Bao'an and Chongqing Jiangbei airports-according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

The system makes it possible for passengers to track the real-time status of their luggage on a mobile app that tracks identification tags attached to each piece of luggage, according to Beijing Capital International Airport.

The information about the luggage, including its location, is stored in the tags and will be updated at six key points in the journey-check-in, security check, sorting, truck loading, aircraft loading and luggage arrival.

Lyu Erxue, deputy head of the administration, said that mishandled or missing luggage are among the top complaints made by air passengers. The adoption of a whole-journey luggage tracking system is of great importance to China's civil aviation industry in enhancing its service to passengers.

By the end of 2021, passengers flying domestic routes between mega civil airports with an annual passenger throughput of over 10 million trips will be capable of tracking their luggage during their whole journey, he said, adding that the system will be promoted on all domestic routes by 2025 with trials starting on international routes.

The latest statistics from the Civil Aviation Administration of China show that the nation had 238 civil airports by the end of 2019, including 39 each with annual throughput exceeding 10 million passenger trips.

Li Xiaojin, a professor of aviation economics at the Civil Aviation University of China in Tianjin, said the move will cut down on inexplicably lost luggage and the number of extremely angry passengers.

"Passengers want to arrive with their bags. On the rare occasion when that does not happen, they want to know exactly where their bag is," he said. "Deploying an advanced baggage tracking system will help staff reduce mishandling and recover mishandled bags more swiftly."

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

We must not indulge in unfavorable views of mankind, since by doing it we make bad men believe that they are no worse than others, and we teach the good that they are good in vain. - Walter Savage Landor