Archive for ‘Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences’

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29/09/2019

Are China’s grandparents reaching their limits on free childcare?

  • Millions of Chinese children are raised by their grandparents but some seniors are demanding compensation
For generations in China grandparents have provided childcare, but some are no longer willing to do so for free. Photo: Shutterstock
For generations in China grandparents have provided childcare, but some are no longer willing to do so for free. Photo: Shutterstock

The traditional role of grandparents in caring for China’s children has been called into question with two recent lawsuits sparking debate about whether seniors should be paid for their efforts.

Two grandmothers took their demands for compensation to court in separate cases which have highlighted the reliance of Chinese workers on their parents to provide childcare while they pursue professional advancement.

A woman in Mianyang, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, was awarded more than 68,000 yuan (US$9,500) by a local court after she sued her son and daughter-in-law for the costs of raising her nine-year-old grandchild, according to Red Star News.

The woman, identified only by her surname Wang, had been the child’s full-time carer for eight years after his parents left home to seek better-paid jobs elsewhere. Wang said she had taken care of most of her grandson’s living expenses and had decided to seek compensation when his parents said they were considering a divorce.

They should respect our contribution. Grandmother Wang, Sichuan province

“I only want to let them know through this lawsuit that it’s their obligation to raise their children,” she was reported as saying. “The young ones should not take it for granted that old people ought to look after their grandchildren. They should respect our contribution.”

Despite winning the case, she has not received a penny and the boy still lives with her.

In another case, three months ago, a Beijing court supported a woman’s demand for compensation for helping to raise her granddaughter since her birth in 2002.

The stories of the two women generated a public reflection on the Chinese way of childcare which, for generations, has involved leaving most – if not all – of the burden on grandparents.

One of 60 million: life as a ‘left-behind’ child in China

From a cultural perspective, it has been a matter of course in a country with a long history of several generations living under one roof, for grandparents to participate in child rearing, according to Xu Anqi, a researcher specialising in family studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

“Today, as people face fierce competition and great pressure from work, it’s still common to rely on their old parents to look after their children,” she said.

While rapid urbanisation in recent decades has broken up multi-generational households, Chinese elderly still take an active role in child rearing, with many relocating to their children’s cities to take on the job.

Millions more families do it the other way round – with parents leaving children in their hometown with the grandparents while they seek better paying jobs in the cities. In August last year, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, China had nearly 7 million “left behind kids”, as they are known.

My little granddaughter is adorable, and generally I enjoy doing all this.Li Xiujuan, grandmother

“Many grandmothers like me would joke that we are ‘unpaid nannies’, but at the same time we feel it’s our responsibility to help them out – they would be in financial stress if one of them quit or they hired a nanny,” said Li Xiujuan, who relocated from her hometown in the central province of Henan to Shanghai two years ago to help look after her granddaughter.
“I’m a 24-hour nanny for my grandkid. I prepare food for her, wash her clothes, attend early childhood classes with her, take her for a walk in the park twice a day, sleep beside her at noon and night …” she said.
“I never cared for my daughter when she was little like I do her daughter now. You know, it was also her grandmother who mainly took care of her daily life when she was young,” Li said, laughing.
“My little granddaughter is adorable, and generally I enjoy doing all this. The hard part is that I miss my friends and relatives back home. We don’t have friends here. I have plenty of things to do at home, but here, nothing but babysitting. People are polite, but it’s difficult to make new friends,” she said.
‘Left behind’ sisters cry when parents leave home to go to work
In a 2017 study of about 3,600 households in six major cities including Beijing and Guangzhou, the Chinese Society of Education found almost 80 per cent of surveyed households had at least one grandparent as carer before children began primary school.
The study also showed that 60 per cent of parents still relied on help from grandparents after children were old enough for primary school at the age of six.
Whether grandparents should be compensated for their efforts split a poll of 49,000 users conducted by social media platform Weibo in late June, with half believing that the older generation should be paid for raising their grandchildren. Only 2.3 per cent said babysitting grandchildren was “an unalterable principle” for the elderly.
“This arrangement could be well managed and improve blood ties if children reward the elderly in their own ways, such as sending gifts on holidays and taking them on trips,” Shanghai researcher Xu said.

I think what they need more is words of appreciation, which many of us have neglected. David Dai, Beijing parent

Grandmother Li agreed: “I think regular payment is a little awkward, but I do expect some kind of reward, like cash gifts on festivals and daily necessities as presents.”
David Dai, a 30-year-old white collar worker in Beijing, said how to reward grandparents for their contribution depended on the financial situation of each household.
“My parents are farmers – they are in good shape and not so old – in their late 50s, and if they didn’t come all the way from my hometown in Anhui to Beijing to look after my son, they would still be taking some odd jobs,” he said.
“Therefore, besides covering their living costs at my place, I give them cash gifts on their birthdays, the Spring Festival and other important occasions, because babysitting their grandchild means they lose the opportunity to work,” he added.
“In some families, the grandparents might have retired and have a good pension. They don’t lack money and enjoy spending time with their grandkids. I don’t think they need to be paid. I think what they need more is words of appreciation, which many of us have neglected,” Dai said.
China boosts childcare and maternal health services in bid to lift birth rate
But for those who never show any gratitude, their parents have every reason not to offer child rearing help or to demand payment, Xu said.
Zhang Tao, a lawyer at the Hiways Law Firm in Shanghai, noted that as long as at least one parent of a child was living, the grandparents had no obligation to help with childcare.
“The grandparents should be compensated for the money they have paid for the child’s education, medical fees, and accommodation from the beneficiary,” he said.
But whether they should be paid has become the latest controversy as more grandparents find it a burden.
Source: SCMP

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05/09/2019

What Chinese women wear: debate reveals battle between freedom and tradition

  • When Kazakh actress Reyizha Alimjan arrived in Shanghai last month wearing jeans and a camisole it reignited a long-running debate over who gets a say on how Chinese women should dress
  • Fashion choices that would be regarded as unremarkable in Europe or North America are often seen as outrageous in the world’s most populous nation
Kazakh actress Reyizha Alimjan’s fashion choices sparked a social media storm in China last month. Photo: Weibo
Kazakh actress Reyizha Alimjan’s fashion choices sparked a social media storm in China last month. Photo: Weibo

When Li Xiang broke up with her boyfriend over a selfie she posted on social media, it was not just about a woman letting a man know he wasn’t entitled to tell her how to dress in public, but a matter of personal freedom, social norms and cultural tradition.

A few weeks ago, the 24-year-old media worker from Shanghai shared a photo on WeChat that showed her posing at her bedroom door in a camisole and mini shorts. Her boyfriend said it made him very “uncomfortable”, and they quarrelled.

“‘Look how scantily clad you are, and [if] that is not enough, you shared it online,’ he said,” Li recalled.

“I got mad when he said, ‘You should go and ask other men if they’d like their girlfriends to dress like that’, as if he should decide what I wear – as if I were his appendage,” she said, referring to the archaic notion that a woman is secondary to a man in their relationship.

What clothes Chinese women should or should not wear has been the subject of intense online debate in recent weeks. Photo: EPA
What clothes Chinese women should or should not wear has been the subject of intense online debate in recent weeks. Photo: EPA

Their argument was not unusual in China, especially over the past month when the online world became embroiled in a war of words about women’s freedom to dress as they please.

The controversy erupted when an article defending Reyizha Alimjan – the Kazakh actress criticised for showing too much flesh when she arrived at an airport in Shanghai in late July wearing jeans and a camisole – appeared on a WeChat movie review account called Staff of the 3rd Hall on August 12.

Reyizha Alimjan was criticised for her outfit on Chinese social media. Photo: Weibo
Reyizha Alimjan was criticised for her outfit on Chinese social media. Photo: Weibo

While that perspective was supported by many women online, others disagreed and said that society was open and tolerant but that people had the right to disagree.

By coincidence, a poll about women wearing camisoles in public was launched on August 10 by a WeChat account called Cicada Creativity. About 70 per cent of the nearly 14,000 respondents said they did not dare to do so.

More than 40 per cent avoided doing so for reasons such as thinking they were “not thin enough”, but a quarter said they said no because either their boyfriends disapproved or would not allow it, or they feared they would be harassed.

Chinese women spurn Victoria’s Secret for home-grown lingerie brands

Joy Lin, a feminist from Shanghai, said the debate was so fierce because it was not just about dress.

“It’s more about people’s judgment about one’s character and morals behind what she wears,” Lin said. “If you wear revealing clothes, they would say you are asking for harassment. If you show a little skin, you are frigid. And if you are casual, they call you ‘dama’ [Chinese slang, often derogatory, for middle-aged and elderly women].”

Some women say they are often judged by the clothes they wear. Photo: AP
Some women say they are often judged by the clothes they wear. Photo: AP

In her experience, Lin said that if she appeared on the streets of Shanghai – the most cosmopolitan city in China – without a bra, there would be judgmental looks from passers-by before she had walked 10 metres (33 feet).

In contrast, she did just that in Paris in July, and, “no one stared at me or came near me at all”.

“Usually, when it comes to comments about what we wear, they’re not about whether the dress matches the hairstyle or things like that, but about our bodies, whether we’re slim or not and stuff like that,” she said. “Some [comments] can be very malicious and insulting.”

#MeToo rally accuses Hong Kong police of sexual violence against protesters

While shaming women for their clothing choices has been an issue for many years, it reached peak public awareness in China after the #MeToo movement took off in the US.

The social media campaign went viral in 2017 when dozens of women accused American film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assaults over a period of nearly 30 years.

The #MeToo movement took off in the US in 2017 after dozens of women accused film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault. Photo: Shutterstock
The #MeToo movement took off in the US in 2017 after dozens of women accused film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault. Photo: Shutterstock

Lu Peng, a researcher from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said the online debate helped encapsulate conflicts between a growing desire for freedom, gender norms and generations of tradition.

“There will hardly be a consensus on such a question about whether women have the freedom to dress,” he said. “But if this discussion can make people realise that men, not just women, also face restrictions in dressing, then it’s bringing progress.”

The simplest example was to dress for the occasion, which applies to both sexes.

“We have never been free in dressing. We’re only free within a certain extent … About what to wear in public, I don’t think we should emphasise freedom only and ignore the local culture and society,” Lu said.

Keeping a low profile has long been part of the Chinese philosophy. Photo: Xinhua
Keeping a low profile has long been part of the Chinese philosophy. Photo: Xinhua

In China, there is no law banning states of dress or undress in public, nor do the Han people, who make up most of the population, have religious beliefs that restrict their mode of dress. But keeping a low profile and avoiding unwanted attention has long been part of the Chinese philosophy.

“My father will also ask me not to be ‘overexposed’, because he believes it’s increasing the risk of being harassed,” Li, the Shanghai media worker, said.

“They think they mean well, but I just want to be myself. I’m not breaking any law. I want to make my own contribution in changing this culture,” she said.

Source: SCMP

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07/08/2019

Xinhua Headlines: China expands Shanghai FTZ for further opening-up, globalization

BEIJING, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) — China on Tuesday announced the expanding of its Shanghai free trade zone (FTZ) in its latest major strategic move for further opening-up.

The addition of the Lingang area is a major strategic decision made by the Communist Party of China Central Committee to further opening up, Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen told a press conference Tuesday.

It also demonstrates China’s clear stand to adhere to all-round opening up in the new era and an important measure taken to actively lead the healthy development of economic globalization, Wang said.

The new Lingang section will match the standard of the most competitive free trade zones worldwide and implement opening-up policies and systems with strong global market competitiveness, according to an overall plan for the new Lingang area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone issued by the State Council, or the cabinet.

Lingang, with a start-up area of 119.5 square kilometers, will facilitate overseas investment and capital flows and realize the free flow of goods, according to the plan.

Aerial photo taken on June 27, 2019 shows the Lingang area in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

“The new area is not just a simple expansion of the existing free trade zone and a copy of existing policies. It is comprehensive, profound and fundamental institutional innovation and reform,” Chen Yin, executive vice mayor of Shanghai, told the press briefing.

The Shanghai FTZ had an area of 28.78 square kilometers when it was established in September 2013 and expanded to 120.72 square kilometers in December 2014.

Over the past years, the Shanghai FTZ has made remarkable progress in its bold exploration in sectors like investment, trade and finance and contributed precious experience to the all-around deepening of reforms and high-level opening-up, said Wang.

SPECIAL ZONE

The area will be built into a special economic function zone with global influence and competitiveness, to better serve the country’s overall opening-up strategy, the plan says.

“The status as a special economic function zone means that it is not adding more facilitation but moving toward real investment and trade liberalization,” said Shen Yuliang, a researcher with the Institute of World Economics under the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

By 2025, the Lingang area will have a relatively mature institutional system of investment and trade liberalization and facilitation. By 2035, it will be built into a special economic function zone with strong global market influence and competitiveness, becoming an important platform for the country to integrate into economic globalization.

The area, administered like a special economic zone, will establish an institutional system with its focus on investment and trade liberalization and set up an open industrial system with global competitiveness, according to the plan.

Aerial photo taken on June 27, 2019 shows new cars wating for shipment at a port in the Lingang area in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

It will strive to become a business cluster for international business, cross-border financial services, frontier technology research and development and cross-border services trade, and speed up the industrial upgrading of existing companies.

The Yangshan comprehensive bonded area will be set up there, and the area will also pilot free capital inflows and outflows and free capital conversion.

Income tax shall be levied at a reduced rate of 15 percent within five years from its establishment for qualified enterprises engaged in manufacturing and R&D in key fields including integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, biomedicine and civil aviation, says the plan.

Shanghai will also set up a fund of 100 billion yuan (14.2 billion U.S. dollars) in five years to support the development of the new area, said Chen.

OPENING-UP, INNOVATION LEADER

The plan says the new area will be granted greater administration power for self-development, self-reform and self-innovation, and regularly promote its experience to spearhead a new round of reform and opening-up of the Yangtze River Delta.

Apart from serving the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the new area is also designed to promote the coordinated development, reform and opening-up of the Yangtze River Delta, said Wang.

The Lingang area, home to Tesla’s gigafactory, has become a cluster of high-end industries after more than a decade of development, and it now emphasizes the development of key industries like integrated circuits, AI, biomedicine and civil aviation.

Aerial photo taken on July 25, 2018 shows Phase IV of the Yangshan Deep Water Port of east China’s Shanghai. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

China’s economy faces complicated external situations and to improve industrial competitiveness and move up the value chain, the boost of scientific and technological innovation capacity is the only way, said Yin Chen, secretary general of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone Comprehensive Research Institute with Fudan University.

With more openness, the new area can boost Shanghai’s high-end resources allocation ability and better represent the country to take part in global cooperation and competition, said Yin.

BOON FOR BUSINESSES

The addition of the new area to the FTZ is a boon for both domestic and foreign businesses.

“The new tax policy support will help speed up the commercialization of autonomous driving,”said Xue Jiancong, vice president of TuSimple, an AI company registered in Lingang that received the country’s first open road testing license for trucks.

“We hope that the new policies will help promote the free flow of auto parts,”said Song Feng, president of Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., citing current restrictions on imports of old machinery parts.

Yu Bo, a tax partner at accounting firm PwC, said China has been rolling out institutional reforms over the past years to allow domestic institutions in alignment with international standards.

China, among the top three investment destinations with the biggest development potential for business executives worldwide in an PwC survey, should continue to improve the business environment for foreign investment and conduct more institutional reforms to promote the higher-level opening-up, said Yu.

Source: Xinhua

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