China’s resort island province of Hainan aimed to achieve growth of over 7 percent this year, after a 7.5-percent expansion in 2016, as its legislative session closed Friday.

Like Hainan, 20 other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities lowered or maintained their growth targets this year, indicating the basic tone of “seeking progress while maintaining stability” as set by the central economic work conference in December.

To date, all provincial-level regions have concluded their annual meetings for local lawmakers and political advisors.

The new measures in reform, opening up and structural adjustment announced at local sessions have raised high expectations for the annual sessions of China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), and the top political advisory body, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, in March.

The two meetings are among the most important political events in China,second only to the 19th National Congress of Communist Party of China (CPC) later this year, at which a new leadership of the Party will be elected.

The people’s congress system, the country’s political basis, has been in place for over six decades at the national, provincial, prefectural, county and township levels.

The NPC has nearly 3,000 deputies from provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, and the People’s Liberation Army. Its annual session deliberates and approves the economic and social development plan among other major policies, laws and regulations.

The new economic growth target to be announced at the opening meeting of the legislative session on March 5 will be of note.

China’s economy has been continuing its slowdown trend. It reported 6.7 percent GDP growth in 2016, the lowest level in nearly three decades, but likely to top all other major economies. China aims to achieve average annual growth of more than 6.5 percent over the 2016 to 2020 period.

A framework of “new normal” is being introduced to inject new vitality into the economy and ensure more balanced growth.

The provincial growth targets in 2017 will leave room for governments to push on with transformation and supply-side structural reform, including slashing overcapacity in sectors like coal and steel. All these are critical for China to achieve a sustained and healthy economic growth.

Coal-rich Shanxi and central Henan both aim to cut 20 million tonnes of coal capacity this year, after each slashed 23 million tonnes last year.

Hebei, which neighbors Beijing and produces a quarter of the country’s iron and steel, aims to further slash 32 million tonnes of steel capacity this year, after a similar level of reduction in 2016.

“This year will be our toughest for capacity reduction. No matter how difficult it is, we are determined to succeed,” said Hebei Governor Zhang Qingwei.

Environmental protection is another key item on the agenda, with new pollution treatment targets and measures included in local government work plans.

Beijing, a frequent victim of smog, aims to cut its PM2.5 density by 18 percent to 60 micrograms per cubic meter of air this year, at a planned cost of 18 billion yuan (2.6 billion U.S. dollars).

China’s opening-up is expected to gain new momentum this year, as the provinces and municipalities with free trade zones (FTZs) push forward and refine the FTZ system.

There will also be more projects under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Commodity and service centers will be set up in Shanghai this year to boost trade with countries along the Belt and Road. The city signed construction contracts worth 8.9 billion dollars with countries along the ancient trade route last year, up 66 percent year on year.

Moreover, southwestern Sichuan Province plans to double the frequency of cargo trains bound for Europe to 1,000 this year. Foreign investment into the inland province hit 8.5 billion dollars in 2016, featuring projects from 17 of the world’s top 500 companies.

“China is opening wider to the outside world and it is paying off with win-win results for all those involved,” said Xu Yaotong, a professor from the Chinese Academy of Governance.

Reviving the real economy was a hot topic at the local sessions of provincial lawmakers.

Zhejiang Vice Governor Feng Fei said the province would help lower the costs for companies this year so that more resources can be distributed to the real economy.

Poverty alleviation remains a pressing task. Southwestern Yunnan Province will bring 1 million of the 3.5 million poor people above the poverty line in 2017.

To achieve “Xiaokang,” or a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, by 2020, this year China will help another 10 million people out of over 45.7 million get rid of poverty.

New government heads of at least 11 provincial-level regions, including Beijing and Shanghai, were elected at the local sessions. These regions’ combined GDP exceeds that of Germany.

Notably, local two sessions also stressed the “four consciousnesses” — the ideology, the whole, the core and the line.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, was endorsed as the core leader at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in late October.

“It is natural to stress the concept. The centralized and unified leadership is gaining consensus,” said Dai Yanjun, of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

Three famous Chinese tourist spots were warned by the industry regulator Saturday for deteriorating quality.

The Old Town of Lijiang in southwestern China’s Yunnan Province was required by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) to improve management within six months.

As a 5A-level national tourist attraction, or the top level, the Old Town of Lijiang was subject to rising complaints and poor security, the CNTA pointed out after inspecting 5A-licensed tourism spots.

China has recently delisted three 5A tourist attractions and warned 19 others, while 20 attractions were added to the 5A category.

China has a tourism-rating classification system which rates a tourist attraction from one A to 5A for its overall tourism quality.

Nyima Drolma has spent 15 years as a police officer, helping Tibetan people in remote areas to acquire ID cards. Compared to her work in the field, days spent at her desk in Lhasa are a walk in the park.

An ID card in China is an absolute essential. Chinese people use ID cards for everything: buying houses or train tickets, checking into hotels, visiting the doctor. The ID card system was born in 1984 and introduced to Tibet in 1987.

“Tibet is so vast and herdsmen live in far-flung areas where transportation is often problematic. It is the officers’ job to help them take photos, fill in forms and actually get the physical ID cards to the herdsmen,” said Drolma, 45.

“I have ridden horses, yaks, donkeys and tricycles to reach people in remote areas,” she said.

In 1998, she and her colleagues spent days collecting information and taking photos of herdsmen in a settlement about 200 kilometers from the nearest town in Qushui county on the Lhasa River. “We lived in the tents of the herders. It was so cold that the photos could not be developed. Despite the hardship, we think it is important to make the system accessible to all people no matter where they live,” she said.

Thirty years on, now almost all adults in Tibet have ID cards and frequently use them in modern social life.

“There was nothing like ID cards in the old Tibet,” said He Xiaodong, a historian at the regional museum. The museum keeps private stamps of serf owners and indentures which tell the gruesome social structure. Serfdom was abolished in 1951 in Tibet.

Identity cards are a modern social necessity to grant each individual equal rights to public service, said He.

Tsering Namgyel, a 71-year-old carpenter in Lhasa, was one of the first Tibetans with an ID card.

“Before, we used the hukou registration document, and when we needed to travel to other places, we went to local community commissions to ask for stamps and endorsement, which involved complex procedures,” he said.

In the first generation ID card, personal information was hand-written on small cards. China has been issuing its second-generation ID cards, featuring computer chips and digital encryption, nationwide since 2005. The cards have validity periods ranging from 10 years to 20 years.

The Tibetan regional police department said over three million 2nd-generation ID cards have been granted.

Generally, people over 16 years old are required to have an ID card, and those under 16 years old can get one if they wish.

Phurbu, a tourist guide in Lhasa, frequently uses his ID to book tickets for travelling. He cited a 2015 film “Tharlo,” which depicted a pony-tailed Tibetan sheep herder’s life, far from modernity, but upended after a journey he made to have an ID card made in the city.

“Life is not as dramatic as the story in the movie,” said Phurbu. “ID cards tell who we are and record how we interact with the world around us.”

Two more human infections of H7N9 bird flu were reported in east China’s Jiangxi Province, bringing total number of infections to 30 in the province this year.

The new cases were reported between Feb. 13 and 23, said a statement issued by the provincial health and family planning commission.

As of Thursday, 10 people had died of the infection in Jiangxi, said the statement.

People are advised to avoid exposure to live poultry and buy licensed poultry-related products.

Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the
Labour Party, writing
in the Sunday Mirror, said:

Theresa May talks about delivering
an economy that works for working people. But in practice, she’s doing the
opposite. 

In next month’s Budget, the Tories
are set to press on with their endless austerity: still deeper cuts to health
and social care, education and local services.

They’re now trying to take away
more money from people with disabilities – while they’re handing out multi-billion
pound tax breaks to the wealthiest. It’s the nasty party all over again.

Labour is campaigning for an
investment-led economy that restores pride to every community. And we are
determined to end to a tax system rigged for the richest. We think everyone
should pay their fair share.

On Thursday, the people of Stoke
rejected Ukip’s politics of hate and division – and its sham claim to represent
the working class. They voted instead for the NHS, decent jobs and homes,
investment and fairness.

But the result in Copeland was
deeply disappointing. Labour’s share of the vote in Copeland has been falling
for 20 years and of course I take my share of responsibility.

Both these areas, like many others
in Britain, have been left behind by globalisation and lost out from a rigged
economy.

So it’s no surprise that they
rejected the status quo by voting to leave in the EU referendum. That’s why it
was important for Labour to respect the result and vote for Article 50.

The task now is to fight for a
positive future for Britain after Brexit – not the kind of bargain basement tax
haven the Tories want to engineer.

And we must take our message of
economic renewal and fairness to every part of Britain – and show that Labour
has changed under my leadership.

The Conservatives have neglected
working people by cutting investment and letting wages stagnate or fall year
after year. Six million people now earn less than the living wage.

Labour will be campaigning for
investment in decent jobs and homes, education for all, support for the NHS and
social care, and fair taxation.

Last year Labour forced the
Government to U-turn on £4bn cuts to personal independence payments for people
with disabilities. If we stand together we can stop the latest attack
too. 

We haven’t done enough yet to
rebuild trust with people who have been ripped off and sold out for decades and
don’t feel Labour represents them.

But if we stand together, I am
confident we can do that and turn back the Tory tide. 

I was re-elected Labour leader
five months ago with a bigger majority and I am determined to finish that job:
to reconnect Labour with our working class voters and values – so we can win
power to rebuild and transform Britain, for the many, not just the few.