More Steps Taken to Protect Language Resources

More Steps Taken to Protect Language Resources

China recently launched the second phase of a national language resources protection project. It aims to promote standard written and spoken Chinese and protect dialects and languages of ethnic minorities， the Ministry of Education said. More than 350 colleges， universities， and research institutes have participated in the project so far， involving over 4，500 professionals.

Initiated in 2015， it is the world’s largest-scale project committed to the protection of language resources. The Ministry of Education listed some results of the project， including a 20-volume collection of classic Chineselanguage culture.

The first phase of the project， completed in 2019， covered 34 provinciallevel regions in China.

Biosecurity Law Goes into Effect

China’s first biosecurity law went into effect on April 15， marking a “major milestone” for upholding the rule of law in areas critical to people’s health， the environment， and national security.

The law introduces regulations in eight major categories： infectious disease prevention and control， regulating research and applications related to biotechnology， biological laboratory safety and practices， protecting biological resources and human genetic resources， preventing invasive species and preserving biodiversity， tackling drug resistant microbial infections， deterring bioterrorism， and other activities related to biosecurity.

Experts called the law “foundational legislation” that will guide， coordinate， and introduce new laws and regulations related to biosafety， thus supporting a more sustainable and harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature.

China has nearly 100 pieces of legislation and regulation related to biosecurity， according to the law firm King & Wood Mallesons. However， many of them are either outdated or difficult to enforce. Prior to this point， the scientific and legal communities had been calling for a robust and unifying biosecurity law for years.

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress reviewed the first draft of the law in October 2019. The law was then passed in October 2020.

Chinese Courts Accepted Online Filing of 10.8 Million Cases in 2020

Chinese courts nationwide accepted the filing of 10.8 million cases online in 2020， accounting for 54 percent of the total suits filed in the first instance， according to a blue paper released in April.

Over 23 percent of the online applications for case filing were submitted outside the working hours of the courts， said the blue paper on the information-based development of Chinese courts released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Social Sciences Academic Press. By the end of last year， 98 percent of Chinese courts had started online litigation service websites as the country scales up the building of intelligent courts.

A nationwide one-stop dispute settlement and litigation service system was basically put in place in 2020， according to the blue paper.

Seventh National Population Census

China released key indicators from the seventh national population census in mid May. The census data showed that the Chinese mainland’s population maintained mild growth momentum over the past decade.