Children

All news and posts of our editorial team on the topic

Tibet’s children forget their language
The sinicisation of Tibet's children and youth continues. To estrange them from their own culture, Chinese authorities force them into boarding schools far from their families. The students only see their families during the holidays. They speak their mother tongue less and less. continue reading →
Childcare Leave in China
The introduction of childcare leave in China is intended to help drive up the birth rate again. The leave is limited to only a few days, which is far less than what is customary in Europe. But it is a start that can be expanded upon in the future. However, the rules vary considerably from province to province. continue reading →
Birth rate continues to decline
Population growth in China has slowed. According to the latest Statistical Yearbook by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, there were 8.5 births per 1,000 people last year. This data shows that China’s birth rate in 2020 has dropped by the most since 1978. The Health Commission had already stated in July that the […] continue reading →
Vaccination for children under eleven
China plans to fully vaccinate all children between the ages of three and eleven against COVID-19 by the end of the year. China’s National Health Commission recently announced that more than 84 million children between the ages of three and eleven have already received the first dose of the vaccine.“Vaccinating children is voluntary,” said Wang […] continue reading →
Shaanxi to introduce one year maternity leave
The Chinese province of Shaanxi is planning to extend paid maternity leave to just under a year. The proposal is intended to increase the birth rate. So far, mothers are entitled to 168 days of maternity leave. Extending it by another six months would put Shaanxi’s standard on par with Germany and Norway, Reuters reported. […] continue reading →
More socialist values for families
China is about to introduce a law to promote families. But this is not only met with approval – because the bill includes new thumbscrews for parents. They are to be held accountable for their children's bad behavior. Not a very far-sighted plan for an emerging superpower. continue reading →
Law against excessive homework
The government wants to take some of the pressure off schoolchildren. A new law bans excessive homework and calls on schools and teachers to give children time for games and sports as well. The law will take effect on January 1, reports Xinhua news agency. The main aim is to break up the double burden […] continue reading →
Provinces: schools lack funding
More than a dozen provincial Chinese governments have raised concerns over a lack of daycare spots and tight school funding in the wake of the recent education reform. The authorities of Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Henan had pointed out in evaluation reports on the local school system that public funds and teachers were lacking, business magazine […] continue reading →
Young people doubt marriage
Many young people in China’s cities are growing skeptical about marriage. The reluctance is even stronger among women than men, according to a survey by the Communist Youth League. Some 44 percent of the women surveyed said they did not want to marry or were unsure whether they wanted to tie the knot, DPA reported. […] continue reading →
Douyin limits usage time for teens
Douyin, the Chinese version of the short video app TikTok, is restricting the time children under 14 are allowed to use the app. In the future, the time should only be 40 minutes per day. Between 10 PM and 6 AM., young people will then no longer be able to access Douyin at all. Douyin […] continue reading →
China regulates tutoring costs
China’s top planning authority NDRC plans to regulate prices for private tutoring. The NDRC announced on Monday that in the future it will take a closer look at the price range for private tutoring and the operating costs of the providers, as well as at salaries of employed teachers. According to the statement issued by […] continue reading →
Beijing’s new textbooks: “I am a disciple of Xi Jinping”
In September, the school year started with a series of new textbooks. According to a decree issued by the Ministry of Education, "Xi Jinping Thought on Special Chinese Socialism for the New Age" was to be included. Beijing is not just boosting the cult of personality through this. A year before the big election party congress, it is also a sign that Xi is willing and is going to continue to rule China – after all, his thoughts are now compulsory reading material in all schools. continue reading →
No more online games during workdays for minors
There is a new rule for the hundreds of millions of young gamers in China: no more video games during the school week. Even for Fridays, weekends and holidays, authorities have limited the time minors are allowed to spend online playing games to one hour. Beijing issued these new regulations on Monday to curb video […] continue reading →
No more exams for children under eight
The Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China has banned written exams for all six- and seven-year-old children. This new guideline aims to take the pressure off schoolchildren, as it is considered detrimental to the mental and physical health of young schoolchildren. Previously, it was common practice in primary schools for first-graders to […] continue reading →
Three-child policy: China’s planners cut chives
China's leadership has never changed its policy this quickly. Last Friday, the People's Congress allowed China's women to give birth to three children. Fears of a population decline, rapid aging and a shortage of young workers tipped the scales in favor of the radical departure from its former one-child society. But China's censors are now hardly able to suppress outrage among the population: If China now faces a low birthrate, why was there a need for cruel coercion in the past? continue reading →
Susanne Christine Heß – principal and Corona manager
How does a principal explain to her high school graduates that exams have to be postponed? How are young students able to learn when everyone has to stay at home? These are the kinds of questions many principals have asked themselves over the past year and a half – including Susanne Christine Heß, who had […] continue reading →
First Chinese city grants child benefit
On Wednesday, the municipal government of Panzhihua in the province of Sichuan became the first Chinese city to announce subsidies for the second and third children of families. The monthly allowance is ¥500, equivalent to €65, and will be paid for each of the second and third children up to the age of three, the […] continue reading →
Fines for content exploiting children: China reprimands online platforms
China’s Cyberspace Administration CAC has ordered several of the country’s largest online platforms to remove inappropriate child-related content. Kuaishou, Tencent’s messaging tool QQ, Alibaba’s Taobao and Weibo are to “correct” and “clean up” the illegal content, as the authority issued in a statement. The platforms were also fined. The CAC stated that the operation focused […] continue reading →