Predatory banks and insurance companies targeted

Several ministry-level departments, including those responsible for banking and insurance, and education, have responded recently to issues of public concern.

Banks and insurers told to rectify improper business

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued a notice on Oct 10 asking local banking and insurance authorities, banks and insurance companies to rectify businesses that violate consumers' interests.

Such violations include false or misleading advertisements using inaccurate figures, exaggerating the performance of products or suggesting they are guaranteed against loss.

Credit card business targeting low-income groups is another target of the notice.

The campaign will conclude in December. Banks and insurance companies should carry out self inspections, fix problematic behavior, and report to local banking and insurance authorities no later than Nov 30. They should stop problematic businesses when they are detected and report illegal cases to judicial authorities.

The banking and insurance authorities will conduct spot checks and seriously punish firms that fail to detect existing problems or attempt to cover them up, according to the notice.

More talent to be nurtured in social service sector

Nurturing more talent in the social service sector was the focus of a guideline issued by the Ministry of Education and six other departments on Oct 9.
The guideline, which was released on the ministry's website, defined the social service sector as including domestic service, elderly care and child nursing－all fields in which professionals with expertise are in great demand.

The guideline said universities and schools should nurture a large number of highly skilled professionals by 2022 to ease talent shortages in the sector.
It asks related authorities to design educational programs in social service for undergraduates, graduates and vocational school students.

The authorities should also take measures to increase the number of students majoring in social service. They should encourage vocational schools to set up educational programs in a number of areas, including nursing, domestic service management, elderly care management and rehabilitation.

Vocational schools in each province should offer courses in domestic service and elderly care, the guideline says, and there should be at least one university in each province offering such education to undergraduates.

The authorities should also support social service professionals in seeking further education and studying for related master's degrees.

Guideline will aim to improve elderly care

The National Health Commission will issue and implement a guideline to improve health services for elderly people, an official said on Oct 11.

The guideline aims to set up a health service system that covers both urban and rural areas, and consists of health education, prevention, diagnosis and treatment, rehabilitation, long-term nursing and hospice care, Wang Haidong, director of the commission's Department of Aging and Health, said at a news conference.

The commission will continue a campaign launched in July to promote elderly health, and will push hospitals and other healthcare institutions to become more elderly friendly, Wang said.

It will also carry out a nationwide campaign to enhance the public's knowledge of preventing and treating Alzheimer's disease, work to establish a system for long-term nursing of disabled elderly people, and include more cities into its pilot hospice care program.

Better protection ordered for migratory birds

The State Forestry and Grassland Administration has asked provincial forestry authorities to better protect migratory birds.

Large numbers of birds migrating in autumn and winter are exposed to big risks of poaching, the administration said in a notice released on its website on Oct 8.

Provincial departments of wild animal protection should carry out their duties actively, and the protection of migratory birds should be taken into account when assessing the performance of local leaders, the notice said.

The provincial authorities should organize patrols to remove nets, traps and poisonous baits in the birds' habitats.

They should also strictly punish those who illegally breed, store, ship and trade wild migratory birds and those who sell illegal hunting tools.

They should also promote the idea of protecting migratory birds among residents, so that people who hunt and eat the birds will give up those practices.