Society

Chinese People Are Reading More

The Chinese Academy of Press and Publication recently revealed the results of the 13th national survey on reading. It shows that all kinds of reading among Chinese people， including that of paper books and digital materials， have increased over the past year.

In 2015 every Chinese read on average 4.58 print books and 3.26 e-books， up 0.02 and 0.04 respectively over 2014. Reading on mobile phones among adult Chinese increased by 8.2 percent from 2014， with the daily length of time spent reading growing by 28.39 minutes to reach 62.21 minutes. As for conventional media， adult Chinese spent an average of 19.69 minutes on reading every day.

The survey shows that younger people are more inclined to read on handsets. The rate is 89.6 percent among Chinese aged 18-29， and 82.2 percent among those aged 30-39.

More Support for Disabled Children

During the 2011-15 period， the central government increased funding for services to disabled children， including surgery， rehabilitation， and assistance apparatus. The number of children with disabilities who received such services during the period is about 400，000 person-times， said Feng Li， an official from the China Disabled PersonsFederation. Beijing， Shanghai， Jiangsu， Shandong， and Fujian have established rehabilitation aid systems for these children， and 18 provinces have launched regional aid campaigns.

According to Feng， during the 2016-20 period， his federation will help expand the rehabilitation aid system to more parts of China， and work towards offering free operations， assistance apparatus， and rehabilitation services to 0-6-year-old children with vision， hearing， language， mental or physical impairments， and autism. China will continue with rehabilitation aid projects for disabled children， and allocate more funds to this cause.

China has about 1.678 million disabled children aged six and below. Their number grows by 199，000 annually.

China Leads the World in Reducing Discrimination against Children

China ranked top in a Save the Children survey of 18 countries in its efforts to reduce discrimination against and neglect of children， with more than 70 percent of Chinese saying they had seen an improvement.

The survey results， released late April， showed that 74 percent of Chinese thought things were getting better – the highest proportion out of all countries surveyed. Other countries in the survey included the U.S.， India， and the U.K.

The survey also found that 77 percent of those who said they were affected by discrimination during childhood in China believed the situation in the country had improved – again the highest level among the countries surveyed. India was second， with 61 percent， and Nigeria third at 55 percent.

Worldwide， almost 40 percent of adults said they were discriminated against as children because of gender， ethnicity， religion， disability or of where they lived， according to the survey， which covered 18，172 adults in the participating countries.

Nearly half of those surveyed in Asia said they experienced discrimination as children. In China， the figure was 44 percent.

The survey was conducted for Save the Children between March 23 and April 14 by the international opinion research and consultancy GlobeScan. It was the largest survey of its kind to be undertaken by Save the Children， the worlds leading independent organization advocating for children.

Mainland Population Hits 1.37349 Billion

According to a sample census taken on November 1， 2015， the population of Chinas mainland now stands at 1.37349 billion， rising by 2.52 percent， or 33.77 million， over the sixth national census of November 1， 2010. The average year-on-year growth for this period is 0.5 percent. The net increase in Chinese population has been on a steady decline since 1982.

Males and females respectively account for 51.22 percent and 48.78 percent of mainland population， putting the male to female ratio at 105.02， slightly down from the 105.2 in 2010.

In a breakdown by age， the share of 0-14 years old in the population slid 0.08 percent to 16.52 percent， that of 15-59 years old fell 2.81 percent to 67.33 percent， and that of 60 years old and above edged up 2.89 percent to 16.15 percent.

Urbanization has further increased. Residents of cities and towns now account for 55.88 percent of the mainland population， up 6.2 percent from 2010.

Activity

Concert： The Little Singers of Paris

Date： June 2， 2016

Place： National Center for the Performing Arts

Price： RMB 80/120/180/240/300/400

The boys choir， The Little Singers of Paris （Les Petits Chanteursà la Croix de Bois）， first formed in 1907. In its early days， the choristers dressed in white albs and wore small wooden crucifixes. The choirs repertoire consisted exclusively of religious works until 1924， when an abbot， Abbé Maillet， became choir director. He reinvigorated the choir by bringing in a medley of international folk songs and other works by leading classical music composers. The choir stands among the elites in its category， along with the ilk of the T？lz Boys Choir and the Vienna Boys Choir.

Man and Superman by National Theatre Live

Date： June 5， 2016

Place： Shenzhen Grand Theater

Price： RMB 120/160

National Theatre Live is a groundbreaking project of the U.K.s National Theatre. Since 2009， it has broadcast the best of live theatre from the London stage to cinemas around the world. Cameras are carefully sited throughout the auditorium to ensure that cinema audiences enjoy an optimal“best seat in the house” view of each production. Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma perform in this latest adaption of George Bernard Shaws timeless drama Man and Superman.