WARMTH IN WINTER: Community workers in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, offer food and other New Year gifts to senior people living in the community before the Spring Festival (XINHUA)

School Bus Safety

A school bus accident in Hengyang County, Hunan Province, on December 27 last year, killed 14 primary school students. Following the accident, six officials from the local education bureau were dismissed, including its director. The next day parents of the victims were promised they would soon receive compensation of about 200,000 yuan ($29,850) each. The Hunan Provincial Government instantly set up a group to investigate the accident and the result will be known around January 15. The public now pins great hope on the regulation of illegal school buses. But two important things remain to be done. The Hengyang Education Bureau and the local traffic police brigade said they knew about the illegal school bus and tried to persuade the school not to use it, but failed. They reported the situation to the county government, which did nothing. Who should be responsible for the loss of life? A spoken apology from county government heads is not enough. Despite the efforts of the local authorities, so far they have not said what will be done to solve problems concerning school buses. Without these illegal school buses, how will children manage to go to schools so far away from their homes? Such buses are popular with students and their parents because there are no other means of public transportation means. In backward areas, compulsory education operates in difficult economic conditions. When even desks and stools are unattainable, a school bus is really a luxury. Given the loss of young life, it is time for governments at all levels to consider allocating special budget funds for school buses. And a national school bus project is urgent.

Procuratorial Daily

Poverty Line Reset

The Chongqing Morning Post says the Chinese Government has decided to set the nation's poverty line at an annual per-capita net income of 1,500 yuan ($226) in 2011, up by 25 percent. Under the new poverty line, there will be a greater number of poverty-stricken people to help.

Under the former poverty line, by the end of 2009, China's impoverished population had dropped to 35.97 million from 94.23 million in 2000. A higher poverty line means, more importantly, years of the authority's poverty relief achievements may soon disappear. But this is not the case.

Continuous economic growth pushed up the overall living quality of all people, and the poverty relief level needs to rise too. Although the number of poor people seems to have risen, the Chinese are not really getting poorer. Instead, more people living in poverty are able to receive assistance. Poverty relief targets will no longer solely focus on food and clothing, but cover more areas.

To some extent, a larger impoverished population is not a bad thing, but good news for the poor. The higher the poverty line is, the more impoverished people will benefit and the gap between them and other social classes will narrow.

The government needs courage to raise the poverty line. As for the poor population, this move means justice and care and it implies the essence of social development.

Guangzhou Daily

No Counterfeit Paradise

Recently, China Central Television exposed the closing down of a prestigious online shop on taobao.com because it was selling fake products. This case sends a warning: The Internet is being used as a platform for trade in fake products and this will impede the further development of online shopping.

Sometimes, these shops openly tell clients they are selling counterfeit products, and the clients are happy to take these goods at much lower prices than the original genuine products. When online trading is so tolerant toward fake products, online shops are providing a paradise for the selling of counterfeit and shoddy products. In this case, sellers and buyers seem to be collaborating with each other to squeeze out legal traders engaged in honest business.

Although influential online trade platforms claim they are cracking down on trading in counterfeits, fake products are still traded in huge numbers. In this way, trading platforms and online shops have reached a stable coalition of interests. Online shops involved in counterfeit trading must take accountability for their misconduct. But, given the messy online market, closing down several illegal shops won't help to solve the fundamental problem.

The priority is to set up laws to effectively regulate the market and define the responsibilities that supervisory agencies and the trading platform operators, who are the biggest beneficiaries of online trading, should take. Every participant in online trading is responsible for the healthy growth of this new market. If online shops become centers for trading in counterfeits, these platforms will eventually lose consumers' trust, which is good for no one in the long run.

Qilu Evening News

New Year Gifts

With the Spring Festival drawing near, governments at various levels are busy offering money or material to needy people as New Year gifts. These gifts are usually rice, edible oil and an envelope containing cash. The intention of governments is good, as they hope to give some help to needy people. But sometimes, these activities are more like a show, surrounded by crowds, motorcades and cameras.

If officials are not clear about what people are really in need of, and are more interested in showing off than in offering substantial aid, this well-intended activity will gradually weaken bonds between governments and the public.

This activity is not only designed to let the poor feel "warmth" from the government, but is also a way for the officials to tap into the public's difficulties, so the government knows better where its efforts should be directed in the future.

This activity is actually an important channel for officials to become informed about needy people's difficult lives. Needy families are faced with hardships, so it's necessary to find out their real situations and provide them with tailored service, so they will really be lifted out of poverty and even find ways for further improvement. In this way, the needy may really feel tangible "warmth" from government and muster the courage to fight for a better life by themselves. This is the real "warmth" and it is badly needed.

People's Daily