Ministries respond to issues of public concern

Several ministry-level departments, including those responsible for education, finance, industry and information technology, and development and reform, have recently responded to issues of public concern.

Mobile phone apps told to rectify privacy breaches

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has launched a campaign to overhaul mobile phone applications that breach users' privacy.

A notice posted on the ministry's website on Nov 6 said apps that gather personal information without users' consent or gather information that is unnecessary for their operation are among those that should be rectified.

Another target is forcing users to consent to excessive permissions, including denying them access unless they agree to an app's requests, abusing users' personal information, or harassing them by frequently requesting permissions they refused to give earlier.

Apps that do not allow users to close their accounts or set unreasonable barriers to account closure should also correct their policies. App providers and distribution platforms have been told to inspect themselves and correct any such issues before testing institutes carry out spot checks on products and platforms.

Apps that fail to pass muster could face closure, among other disciplinary measures.

The campaign will last till Dec 20.

Schools urged to guard against food poisoning

The Ministry of Education issued an alert on Nov 5 to areas and schools that have joined a national program to improve inspection over food for rural students, asking them to ensure food safety this winter.

The areas should build more kitchens where food preparation is visible and improve the environment of kitchens to prevent any cases of food poisoning, the alert said.

The schools should provide sufficient and balanced meals to students, the ministry said, adding that meals should be fully cooked and kept warm in winter.

The schools' principals or teachers must dine with the students, it said, and people responsible for any food poisoning will be held accountable.

8 regions selected for pilot medical center program

China has picked eight regions for a pilot program to build quality medical resources in areas that lack them.

The regions are the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning, Anhui, Fujian, Henan and Yunnan and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a notice published online on Nov 5.

The program has chosen 30 public hospitals, most of them in Beijing and Shanghai, to work with the regions to develop quality medical centers and nurture high-level medical talent, so that people living there do not have to travel to major cities to seek treatment.

The program will later include private hospitals, the commission said.

The work should focus on enhancing those departments dealing with oncology, neurology, cardiovascular diseases, pediatrics, respiratory medicine and traumatology.

The regions will raise most of the funds for building the medical centers.

They will also be able to invite private hospitals that take part in the program to open nonprofit branches.

418m yuan in drought aid allocated by ministry

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management allocated 418 million yuan ($59.71 million) on Nov 7 to seven areas that have been hit by drought.

The areas are the provinces of Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Chongqing, a notice issued by the Ministry of Emergency Management said.

It said it had sent teams to the five provinces to help locals tackle the drought.