Briefs

'Lei Feng spirit relevant to today's social problems'

Learning about the 'spirit of Lei Feng' is relevant to addressing issues raised by the incident of 'Little Yueyue', the two-year-old girl who was run over twice in Guangdong last October without anyone coming to her aid, The Beijing News reports Guangdong party chief Wang Yang as saying. Lei, a soldier characterised as a selfless and modest model citizen after his death in 1962, is commemorated on March 5 every year. National People's Congress committee delegate Wang suggested that learning from Lei Feng not only meant keeping up tradition but applying his lessons to serious social issues today. Priscilla Jiao

Let women scientists stay retire later, scholar says

A scholar at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has called for a policy to postpone the retirement age of female scientists and intellectuals who are overseas returnees, the China News Service reports. The current retirement age of 55 is in fact a 'prime' age for many female scientists, said Wang Enduo , a National People's Congress committee delegate. 'If five female scientists postpone their retirement for five years each, that's like nurturing an extra PhD,' she said. Those who wanted to retire at 55 could still apply to do so if the policy was implemented, she proposed. Priscilla Jiao

Beijing in dialogue over mainland mothers in HK

National People's Congress spokesperson Li Zhaoxing said the central government will continue to co-operate with authorities in Hong Kong over the thorny issue of the increasing number of pregnant mainlanders going to Hong Kong to give birth. He also praised Hong Kong's development over the past 15 years since the handover, saying the special administrative region has been 'prosperous' and its people are enjoyed 'unprecedented democratic rights'. Priscilla Jiao